Chapter 11- One Step at a Time

Brooke was sitting at work Monday afternoon thinking about how bummed she was. She had had an awesome weekend with Peyton, but now she was gone and Brooke didn't know when she would get to see her again. With Peyton gone Brooke had all the time in the world to think about Nathan leaving. She was meeting him in a few hours for dinner and she knew that that was what they would be discussing.

After a few more minutes of brooding Brooke decided that this wasn't how she wanted it to be. She didn't want to sit there all sad. Brooke had spent far too many years being sad about boys, even being sad about Scott boys, she didn't want to go back to that again. She looked at the clock and realized that if she could finish up two more articles she would be done with all her work for the day and she could skip out a few hours early and go shopping. That would definitely put her in a better mood.

ooooOoooo

Hours later armed with quite a few shopping bags Brooke made her way to her car. She found quite a few good buys on suits that she needed for work. And of course she found a new outfit to wear for tonight. She had ducked into the bathroom right before she left to put on the pink strapless sundress and matching shoes. Looking in the mirror she applauded herself for her new purchase as she touched up her makeup. She knew that a few more outfits like and Nathan would be kicking himself for having to leave.

ooooOoooo

Nathan was already waiting at the restaurant when Brooke walked up. As soon as he saw her he felt a flutter in his stomach. He wondered how she did this to him, just the sight of her turned his knees weak. He never in a million years thought that is would be Brooke Davis of all people who would turn his world upside down. "You look beautiful." Nathan told Brooke as she approached him.

"Thanks, you don't looks so bad yourself." Brooke loved that Nathan knew how to dress in different situations. She hated the guys who thought that sneakers were appropriate to where everywhere, Nathan certainly wasn't one of them. They were eating at a pretty casual restaurant that had an outside patio, as so many places in Florida did, and Nathan was dressed perfectly in khakis, a baby blue polo that brought out the gorgeous blue of his eyes, and some nice leather flip flops. Brooke had to laugh about this to herself, she could remember back in the day when all Nathan wore were basketball shoes or Timberlands, he definitely had done some growing up.

"They don't take reservations here so I put our name on the list and they said it should be no more than half an hour. Do you want to grab a drink at the bar while we wait?"

"Definitely, I am dying for a margarita."

A few minutes later, with drinks in hand, Brooke and Nathan headed towards a little waiting areas out on the patio, it looked over a lake and was absolutely gorgeous. Nathan looked at Brooke, thinking of what to say, but became mesmerized by how beautiful she looked sitting there with her hair blowing in the wind. After a few minutes he was able to find his words, "So, I think that we need to talk."

"Yeah, we definitely do. I am sorry that I got all freaked out and quiet when you told me how soon you were leaving, I was just really surprised." Brooke was relieved that she was able to stay quiet after he told her, instead of unleashing some of her senseless babbling.

"I understand. I hadn't wanted to tell you that way, but you asked how soon I left and I didn't want to lie to you. I don't want to keep things from you Brooke, and I want us to be able to talk about stuff like this, no matter how hard it is." Nathan wasn't going to let her out of this conversation until they had it all worked out.

"I appreciate you saying that, and I want that to, but you have to realize that my track record isn't great with trusting guys. Because of that I have a habit of just pleading the fifth. It is easier than letting people in." Brooke knew that she had to let Nathan know that this was hard for her.

"I know that you have had problems in the past and that is why it is so important to me to do it this way, talking about everything. I want you to trust me so badly, I don't want you to be scared that I will hurt you. I swear to you that I will try my best to not hurt you Brooke, sometimes things happen, like this move, that might hurt you, but I promise that I will try to avoid it at all costs."

"I know you will, but it is nice to hear you say it. I promise that I am really trying to let you in, so that being said, lets talk about this move."

Just as Nathan went to say something they hostess came over to take them to their table. They placed their appetizer and entrée orders and the Nathan started in again, "So this move, in about two weeks. I don't want that to be the end of this Brooke. I know that it is still new but it is amazing. I wasn't expecting something like this, and especially with you. We have known each other for years and the thought of us never even crossed my mind before, but you are this amazing woman and I fell for you without even really knowing it was happening. But it has and I don't want it to end. I want us to find a way to work through this."

"Wow. Nathan, I think that you are amazing too. And I love what has been happening between us. But how can we make it work? It isn't like you have a constant schedule like I do, with weekends off. What about when you start games? Then it will be really hard to see each other?" Brooke was glad to hear he wanted to make it work but she didn't know how it possibly could.

"Okay, well how about we deal with it one step at a time? I won't start games until pre season in October. So that is four whole months away. Until then I will just have practices during the week. We have weekends off until games start, and we are usually done early on Fridays, just like you. Miami is only like 2 hours away, so it won't be a bad drive to see each other for the weekend. What if we just see how that works out?"

"That sounds good. I can handle that. We already don't see one another that much during the week because of me working, so this wouldn't be too much of a change." Brooke was starting to feel hopeful again. Nathan really wanted this to work. He had clearly already though about it. She was thrilled, she wasn't ready for this to be over.

"Well, thankfully that is still a few weeks away, until then I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Are we still on for Miami this weekend?" Nathan knew that an entire weekend with Brooke would be amazing, he wanted to start on the details of the trip as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I definitely want to go. I have heard awesome things about Miami, it is supposed to have a great night life." Brooke knew that her and Nathan would have a blast there no matter what they did.

"Yeah, I have heard that too. I will talk to my agent and find out where the hot spots are. I will make all of the arrangements."

"Just let me know when you book the hotel how much it will be, I will give you half." Brooke didn't want to make Nathan pay for the whole weekend.

"Absolutely not. This weekend is on me." Nathan wanted to give Brooke the kind of weekend she deserved, one fit for a queen.

"No way, that will be too expensive." Brooke felt a little guilty about Nathan paying for everything.

"Brooke, think about it, I have a contract with the NBA. I am not hurting for cash, not at all. I only have one question." Nathan didn't want to rub his money in her face, but he did want her to realize that he could treat her to things like this and she didn't have to worry about his wallet.

"Sure, anything?"

"Do you want me to get a room with one bed or two?"