Okay so I would love to say all these wonderful things and how reaching chapter 20 is such a milestone for me but it's nearly 2:30 am and I need to sleep before I pass out on the keyboard and forget to post this. Once again, thank you, you're awesome and you're all succumbing to the force of hating Lucas, I mean um, yeah Lucas won't be nice anymore. Sorry! I need to make Brooke suffer as much as possible. Enjoy..
Brooke came to a screeching halt when she got to the party. She threw the car in park, pulled the emergency brake up and got out of the car, car keys still in the ignition. But she didn't care, why should she? Storming up the long and winding walkway, Brooke stopped once she got to the doorstep. It was now and never and now was the only option she had.
She opened the door and tried to ignore the obnoxiously loud rap music that was blaring throughout the large house. There was definitely more people there than before and finding Christian was going to be even harder. But it was all worth the wait when she would get the chance to absolutely pound Christian into the ground and she was going to make sure everyone was watching.
"Shot?" A random guy that Brooke recognized from school said, holding the tray up to her. Brooke nodded and took one, knocking it back within a second. "Alright," the guy cheered before walking over to the girl behind Brooke. She wandered around the house a little more before walking past the open bathroom, spotting Claire in there glancing at herself in the mirror.
"Claire?" She asked, walking further into the bathroom to get a better look at the blonde girl.
"Brooke?" Claire turned around in surprise, holding her hand over her heart, "you scared me. What are you doing here?"
"Sorry," Brooke mumbled before sitting on the edge of the bathtub, "I'm here to beat the living shit out of your brother."
"Why? What did he do?" Claire asked in fear. "Please tell me he didn't hurt Haley." Brooke nodded and stood up.
"She's got this huge bruise covering most of her stomach," Brooke whispered, her voice shaking at the memory. "Why, why does he do that?"
Claire sighed and hugged Brooke. It was really weird, if you knew them last year they hated each other's guts. Now it was them against half their cheerleading squad. Theresa was an evil dictator that they somehow needed to bring down. "Brooke, do me a favor?" Brooke looked at her and nodded. "Don't go after him, please."
Brooke broke out of the embrace and shook her head. "Don't go after him? Claire, if you've seen the size of the bruise-"
"I know, I know how big they are. Because, Brooke he does it to me too, okay? He's done it to every girl he's ever dated and he's even done it to my own mother. But, Brooke you have to listen to me, he will hurt you so bad if you go after him. The physical and emotional pain is unbearable."
Brooke was silent for a minute and looked down at her feet. "Pain doesn't hurt when it's all you've ever felt," she whispered harshly looking back up at a wide-eyed Claire. She turned to walk out of the room with Claire right on her heels.
"Please listen to me, Brooke," Claire pleaded looking into Brooke's eyes. "He could kill you. Please don't do anything."
"So let him kill me," Brooke said with no emotion to her voice, "at least I know I died protecting my sister." Claire watched in horror as she disappeared out her sight and down the hall.
Brooke walked into the kitchen and looked around at the group of guys crowded around the counters. She sighed when she couldn't find Christian. Claire tried her best to keep up with Brooke to make sure her brother didn't hurt her. Brooke went into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. There he was, sipping on a beer and joking around with a group of guys.
She walked up behind him and he turned around with a grin on his face. It soon faded to a frown when he saw who it was.
"Can I help you?" Christian asked in a bored tone. Brooke stood there silently, taking deep breaths. She mustered up all her courage and delivered a sharp punch to his face. He dropped the beer bottle and it spilled all over his pants and the rug. The guys behind him made surprised noises and looked at Brooke with their mouths wide open.
"No, but I can help you," she said in the sweetest voice possible. Christian quickly recovered and wiped the blood on his lip.
"What the hell is your problem you crazy bitch?" He yelled over the music playing. "If this is about me dancing with Haley then get over it."
"It is not about you dancing with Haley, it's about you hitting her," Brooke snapped, staring him down straight in the eye. He laughed and titled his head back, the anger and rage building up inside of him.
"She deserved to be kicked, the stupid bitch was ignoring me," he sneered, making Brooke kick him in the stomach.
"You deserve to be kicked in the stomach you no good son of a bitch." She kicked him repeatedly until he felt to the ground. Most everyone had migrated to the kitchen when they head the commotion out in the living room. "How does that feel? Being hit by a girl? Huh?" Brooke yelled, glancing up at everyone looking at her. They were whispering but she didn't care. All she cared about was making Christian pay for hurting her sister.
Christian took a deep breath and managed to get back to his feet, holding his stomach tightly. He couldn't let her know that she caused him any pain. "I wouldn't do that, sweetie."
Brooke screamed as he grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her into the wall. He raised his hand above his head, ready to knock her lights out. But she refused to show any fear. "Go ahead hit me," she taunted as she listened to his heavy breathing, "go ahead, Christian show everyone how much of a man you are. Hit me. You had no problem hitting my sister, why don't you hit me?" Christian's fist began to shake as he slowly brought it down closer to her. "I said hit me!" She yelled finally, pushing him over the breaking point. He raised his fist back and was ready to punch her when he felt someone grab his hand.
"Don't you dare hit her," Claire yelled, glaring at her brother. Christian pushed her away, causing her to fall over.
"Shut up," he snapped, looking back down at his sister through gritted teeth. Brooke walked behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "What do you want?"
"Leave her alone," she simply said, punching him in the face again causing his lip to bleed even more. Now he was pissed.
"You know I was only nice to you because we were around all these people, but now you're asking for it, bitch," He raised his fist yet again almost connecting with her face when someone grabbed him from behind yet again.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lucas seethed holding Christian back. Claire had since gotten up and walked over to Brooke and held her back as well.
"Let me go, Claire," Brooke yelled trying to get out of her grip, "I have to make sure he pays for what he did to my sister."
Christian pushed Lucas off of him and laughed. "Make me pay? Honey, you're lucky all I did was hit your sister. I could have let Nathan Scott rob her of her youth and screw her up more than she already is."
And that push Brooke over the limit. She pushed Claire off of her and lunged herself at Christian, kicking in the groin, making him fall over to the ground. He lay on this back groaning like a mad man. She straddled him and let the angry tears slip out of her eyes and onto his shirt. All she had left to do was to punch his lights out, and that's exactly what she started doing until Lucas pulled her off of him and into his arms.
"Brooke, stop, stop, it's not going to do any good." Lucas said trying to calm his ex-girlfriend down.
"Let me go, you asshole. You don't even care about, Haley." Brooke yelled, flailing about in his arms, trying to reach the ground. "Lucas, I'm serious!" She cried, tears rolling down her cheek, "put me down, please."
Lucas reluctantly let her go and the whole room fell silent as Brooke ran out of the room and out of the house, thankful to be alive.
Peyton sighed and fished through Brooke and Haley's DVD collection. She had waited until Haley fell asleep until she left the room. Bring it on or Bring it on again. What a hard choice she had to make. She went with Bring it on again because she hated Kirsten Dunst and every movie she starred in. Peyton sighed and popped in the DVD, hoping Brooke would be home soon. It had only been about fifteen minutes so she wasn't holding her breath.
"Peyton?" Haley asked quietly while she made her way down the stairs, holding Mr. Waffles against her chest. Peyton paused the movie and looked behind her to see Haley coming down the stairs.
"Oh, hey Hales. I didn't wake you did I?" Peyton asked softly, mentally cursing herself for having the movie playing too loud. Haley shook her head and sat down on the couch next to her.
"No you didn't. Is my sister home yet?" Haley asked with a tinge of hopefulness in her voice. She was starting to feel the affects of all the alcohol she consumed and started to feel dizzy again. She laid her head onto Peyton's lap and stretched her feet across the rest of the couch.
"No not yet. She should be home soon though." Peyton said reassuringly, covering Haley up with the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch.
"Oh. What are you watching?"
Peyton's cheeks turned a shade of magenta and unpaused the movie, letting the opening credits roll. "Bring it on again," she mumbled, prompting a giggle from Haley, who shifted her position so she could see the TV.
"Brooke has some crazed idea that if I died my hair blonde I would be a clone of that girl who plays Marni." Haley said with a small laugh. Peyton's eyes widened at the resemblance and nodded her head.
"Holy crap you do."
Haley sat up and looked at Peyton, shaking her head. "Please don't tell Brooke or else she'll throw the whole 'I told you so,' thing in my face." Peyton laughed and nodded her head, signaling that she wouldn't. Haley looked around the dark room, still delusional and somewhat delirious.
"Peyton?" She whispered yet again, Peyton paused the movie and looked at her with a nervous face.
"Yeah, Hales?"
"Where's my brother?"
With every question she asked, Peyton became uneasy, dreading her answer to them. "I don't know exactly. Brooke said that he went away with his girlfriend."
"Oh okay. I don't really need him anyways," she mumbled looking at Peyton's legs. Peyton sighed and it her lip. It's not like he would come home anyways if she did need him. "Where's Taylor?"
"I think she went away for the week, Hales." Peyton said, praying that this question and answer round would be over.
"She didn't even say goodbye," Haley said, tears welling up in her brown eyes. Peyton's heart sank at the girl in front of her. She just wanted to hold her and never let her go.
"Oh, Haley, I'm sure she wanted to. She'll be back soon though."
"But I wanted to say goodbye first," Haley whispered, wiping away the tears that fell down her cheek. She probably had no idea what was going on but she didn't really seem to mind. She was so delirious she was surprised she knew where she was. Peyton moved over and gave Haley a hug, letting her know she was there for her. "Can I call her?" Haley sniffled, pulling out of Peyton's hug.
"I don't see why not," Peyton said, picking the phone up next to her and handing it to Haley. Haley smiled and began dialing the number.
"555-6548," Haley repeated each number while she pressed the button. The phone didn't connect and she threw back at Peyton in frustration. "Stupid thing doesn't work."
Peyton picked the phone up from her lap and looked at Haley. "Hales, you just forgot the area code, don't worry about it. Here I'll dial," she dialed the number and made sure it rang once before giving it back to Haley.
Haley waited anxiously to hear the sound of Taylor's voice on the other end. She sighed and was about to hang up when she head Taylor's voice.
"Hello?" Taylor said out of breath. She stopped walking through the airport and grabbed the nearest seat. "Hello?" She asked again, waiting for the person on the other line to respond.
"Tay?" Haley's voice shook on the other end. Taylor smiled, happy to hear the sound of Haley's voice. She felt bad for leaving and not saying goodbye. "Where are you?"
"I'm just about to change planes in Denver. Why, what's up?" Taylor stood up from the chair, regaining her composure. She heard her flight being called and became anxious. "Hales, I hate to be a bitch, but my flight is about to leave."
"Wait," Haley practically yelled on the other end, "where are you going?"
Taylor sighed and sat back down, hoping she wouldn't miss her flight. "I'm just going to see a few friends, I'll be back soon. Now I really have to go."
"But, you can't go," Haley cried on the other end. Peyton got off the couch, figuring Haley would like some privacy and went into the kitchen, peering out the window for any sign of Brooke. "I, I need you to come home," she tried to choke back her sob, but she couldn't in any longer. "Please?"
Taylor sighed heavily for the umpteenth time through the conversation. "Why, Hay? Just tell me what's wrong and maybe I can fix it over the phone in less than two minutes." Taylor quickly added in when realizing her flight was still boarding.
Haley gripped Mr. Waffles in frustration and bit her lip. "It doesn't matter, I just really need you to come home. Is it too much to ask?"
"Considering the circumstances, Haley, yes it is." She heard Haley sniffle on the other end and immediately felt bad. "Honey, where's Brooke? Can I talk to her for a sec?"
"She's not here," Haley's voice shook with every word she spoke. "I don't know where she is, Tay, That's why I need you to come home."
"You're not alone, are you?" Taylor's voice rose in concern. She knew something was off with Haley and it was starting to freak her out.
"No, Peyton's here," Taylor let out a sigh of relief. "But she doesn't know when Brooke is coming back."
"Final boarding call for flight 198 to Portland, once again, final boarding call for flight 198 to Portland."
"Hay, I have to go before I miss my flight. Just stay with Peyton and I'll see you soon, 'kay?" Taylor closed her eyes, cursing herself for her decision.
"No don't, please," Haley broke into a fit of sobs. "Please, come home. I'll never ask you for anything else, please, Taylor, please."
It was now or never. Portland or Tree Hill. Portland to see her daughter or to Tree Hill to see her pleading sister. In the end it was Tree Hill.
"Okay, okay, okay," Taylor said, trying her best to calm Haley down. She watched as the remaining people went through the terminal before the door was shut. "I'm going to see if I can get the next flight back, Hay. Just calm down and I'll be there as soon as possible."
Haley felt herself calm down knowing that Taylor would be coming home. "Thank you, Taylor. I love you so much."
Taylor smiled. "I love you too, baby." She hung up and walked over to the ticketing booth. "Hi, I was wondering if I could exchange this ticket for one to Tree Hill? And I also need the next flight out, I don't care how much it costs."
Peyton came back into the living room and did her best to smile at Haley. "Everything okay now?"
Haley smiled and wiped her eyes while motioning for Peyton to come sit down. "Yeah," she whispered, lying back down on Peyton's lap. "She's coming home." And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Haley felt truly loved by her sisters.
Peyton returned the smile, gently running her fingers through Haley's here. "Try and get some sleep, Hales. You're going to have a horrible headache tomorrow." Haley stifled her yawn with a laugh, gently closing her eyes leaving Peyton to stare in awe at the resemblance between her and Marni.
Twenty minutes later, Peyton was drifting in and out of sleep. She woke up immediately when she heard the front door open. Brooke walked over quietly and sat on the edge of the couch, resting her head on top of Peyton's. "Hi," she whispered in a nasal voice. Peyton reached over and put her arm over Brooke's shoulders and pulled her closer, waiting for her breakdown.
But she didn't. Both Brooke and Peyton hated crying in front of people, Brooke especially. "So how did it go?" Peyton asked quietly while lowering the movie. She tried to shift to face Brooke, but quickly remembered Haley.
"Well let's just say I'll probably be known as Brooke James: the man beater." Peyton looked at her in awe, causing Brooke to smile shyly. "I kicked his ass," she quickly glanced at Haley and smiled proudly. "No one messes with my Haley-bub."
"I'm just glad you're okay," Peyton said while gently slipping out from beneath Haley. "The next time you want to go around beating up guys, take me with you?" Brooke nodded and gave Peyton a hug, thanking her over and over again.
"Everything go okay with you?" Brooke said while glancing down at her sleeping sister. Peyton looked at Haley and back at Brooke, nodding.
"Yeah, she wanted to wait up for you I think but the poor thing's really tired and I think she got sick of waiting so.." Peyton trailed off, leaving Brooke to put the pieces together.
"Yeah, that's Haley alright," Brooke laughed, "she could never make it to midnight on new years. My dad always had to carry her up to bed and then she would wake up a few minutes later, yelling that we didn't wake her up to see the ball drop."
Peyton smiled and rubbed her eyes. "Well I think P. Sawyer is going to head back to Casa De Awesome and hit the sack." Brooke frowned and stared at her best friend.
"But P. Sawyer it's so late. Why don't you just stay here? Come on, when's the last time we had a sleepover?"
Peyton sighed and realized she wasn't going to win. "I don't know, like 10th grade? And that resulted in us getting drunk and you losing your virginity. And I don't think you want to go through that again."
"Well duh, you can only be a virgin once," Brooke teased while sticking out her tongue. "Come on, Peyton. It's just Hales and me for the rest of the weekend and I'm sure she would love for you to stay. She's a big fan of yours."
Peyton smiled and relented, nodding her head in approval. Brooke squealed and walked over to Haley. "Need help?"
Brooke thought about it and nodded. "She may look tiny, but she's a pain in the ass to carry," she gently lifted Haley up in a standing position and wrapped her arm around Haley's waist. Peyton laughed and did the same on the other side. Brooke groaned as Mr. Waffles fell out of Haley's hands and onto the floor. Peyton kicked the bear with her right foot and managed for it to land halfway up the stairs. "Nice one," Brooke nodded in approval as they carefully walked up the stairs, Haley out like a light.
Once they got to Haley's room, Brooke gently let Haley go and opened the covers, watching as Peyton slowly slipped her in without her stirring. She smiled while she watched Brooke place Mr. Waffles in Haley's hand and pull the covers on her, kissing her on the forehead before leaning back up.
"Okay, so here's the thing," Brooke turned away shyly as she caught Peyton's dreamy look, "Haley has this thing where she needs to be tucked in every night in order for her to go to sleep."
Peyton smiled, unaware of Haley's need to be tucked in. "Aw, Brooke, it's so cute. Has it been going on long?"
"Ever since we were 7/8ish,"
Haley frowned and did her best not to cry as she watched her parents and brother gather into their car, driving off into the night. If she knew they were going out, she would have said goodnight to them earlier, but she just found out about it now. Every night at nine, her mother would come in and tuck both her and Brooke in. She would tuck Haley in first because she was on the bottom bunk and then climb up the ladder to the top bunk and tuck Brooke in. Sometimes, Brooke went to bed without being tucked in, but Haley was different. She loved when her mother tucked her in; it gave her a sense of security and the feeling of being loved by her family.
"Hi, Hales." Brooke said, bouncing into their room, fresh from brushing her teeth. "Whatcha doing?"
Haley held Mr. Waffles tighter and tried her best not to cry in front of Brooke. "Nothing," she whispered while still staring out the window. Brooke rolled her eyes knowing something was wrong.
"Haley, I just turned 8, I'm not stupid. Tell me what's wrong." She gently walked over to her little sister and put her hand on her shoulder. "I can help you, I've been around 9 months longer than you."
Haley looked up at Brooke and smiled. Brooke was so much braver than her it was ridiculous. "Promise not to laugh?" Brooke nodded, signaling she wouldn't. "Mom forgot to say good night before she left."
"And she didn't tuck you in?" Brooke said, finishing her sister's sentence. "Well I can do that! I've seen her do it billions of times."
Haley's eyes lit up and she smiled widely. "Really? You, you don't mind?"
"Of course not! What are big sisters for? C'mon," Brooke said while taking a hold of Haley's hand and leading her over to their bed. She pulled the covers down and motioned for Haley to get in. "Jump in." Haley did as she was told and got comfortable underneath the covers. Brooke waited until she stopped moving before she pulled the covers up on top of her. "Are you comfortable?"
Haley shifted one more time before nodding. "Uh-huh."
"Okay," Brooke said, leaning down and kissing Haley on the forehead. "Night, Hales. I did it right, right?"
"You just need to check under the bed for monsters," Haley said looking at Brooke wide-eyed.
"Oh yeah," Brooke leaned over the bed and checked under the bed, she knew nothing was there but she was just going to humor her sister. "All clear. And if there were any monsters, I wouldn't let them hurt you. You're the only baby sister I have and I'd like to keep you."
Haley giggled and reached up to hug Brooke. "Thanks, Brookie, you're the bestest big sister in the world."
"Even better than Taylor?" Brooke gasped, causing Haley to giggle more.
"So much better! Goodnight," Haley shifted over to her side and felt Brooke stand up on the bed, walking over to the ladder. She waited for Brooke to get comfortable before she spoke again. "Brooke?"
"Yeah, Haley-bub?"
"Will you promise to tuck me in every time Mom's not home? I like the way you do it."
Brooke smiled and popped her head down to look at Haley. "I'll do it even when she's there."
Haley smiled and fiddled with Mr. Waffles some more.
"Brooke?"
"Yessum?"
"Will you just stay down here until I fall asleep? Mom usually checks on me before she goes to bed and would it be okay if you just did that? Only for a few minutes, I promise." Brooke smiled and immediately sat up in her bed, carefully stepping down her ladder and jumping into Haley's bed.
"How about I stay with you all night? I'll watch over you and protect you from the wrath known as Taylor. Because I was listening to her phone call with her friend before I came in and I know she'll come in here and yell at me."
Haley hugged her sister and made room for her to lie down. "You're really brave, Brooke. I wish I could be as brave as you."
"You will be. It all comes when you're 8." Brooke giggled, holding Haley close to her. "Night, Hales."
"Night, tigger."
"So yeah, it's like our little tradition I guess," Brooke said, trailing off before finishing the rest of the story. Peyton couldn't help but smile at how motherly Brooke was to Haley. "Say something, Peyton."
"It's, it's just I've never seen this side of you before, it's hard to imagine you being so nice to Haley when you ignored her in school."
Brooke bit her lip and shrugged. "I wasn't going to let her be alone at night even when I ignored her. I promised her and I won't break it."
Brooke finished brushing her teeth and spit out the toothpaste before rinsing her mouth with water. She sighed and glanced at the hall clock, it was almost 10. 'Right on schedule,' she thought before walking into Haley's room.
"Hey, Tutor Girl," Brooke said while walking into Haley's room. Haley looked up at her and forced a smile, trying to ignore the fact that Brooke was a major bitch to her at school today. She was so different at home and it frustrated her every time Brooke made a scene at school.
"Hi, Tigger," Haley whispered getting up from the floor and watching as Brooke lent against the wall.
"Ready for bed?" Brooke asked in her best caring tone. She knew Haley was probably mad at her for being so rude at school but she wasn't in the mood to bring it up. If Haley wasn't going to say anything, then neither was she.
Haley looked around the room and noticed she hadn't put her books into her bag. "Yeah, just a second." She quickly walked over to the books and shoved them in her bag, zipping it up rather fast. Brooke had already pulled the covers down so Haley could get in easily.
"Take your time," Brooke said noticing that Haley was extra squirmy that night. "I've got all night."
"Have you seen Mr. Waffles?" Haley asked shyly looking around the room for her favorite teddy bear. Brooke looked around the room too, before realizing she had it.
"Oh yeah, I threw him in the wash earlier because he was looking a little dingy," Brooke said before walking out of the room returning seconds later with the bear in her hand. "Here you go, nice and clean."
Haley smiled and smelled the bear. "He smells nice too," she giggled which prompted Brooke to roll her eyes before laughing herself.
"That's the general idea of the washer machine, now come on get into bed, babe," Brooke said while sitting on the edge of the bed. "Comfortable yet?"
"No," Haley retorted while giving Brooke a kick, "your fat ass is in my way."
Brooke got up from the bed. "Ha ha, now that my fat ass is out of the way, are you all set?" Haley nodded and Brooke leant over and put the covers over here, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.
"Brooke?" Haley asked as Brooke got off the bed to turn the light off.
"What, Hales?" She knew it was going to be one of those nights where Haley needed Brooke to stay with her seeing as it was starting to rain. "Will I stay with you? Of course I will."
Haley smiled, thankful that she didn't need to ask Brooke. "So tell me, how was tutoring? My councilor told me I needed to be more involved with my family. And unfortunately for you little sis, that's you."
"Ugh, that was such a Taylor thing for you to say. Don't call me little sis, it makes me feel like a kid." Haley said, staring Brooke in the eye. Brooke bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Brooke! You know I hate when Taylor calls me that, I don't need you to call me that."
"Well you're my little sister, like it or not Haley. Besides it's cute. Little sis, aw, it just makes me melt saying that." Brooke said while pinching Haley's cheeks. Haley looked less than thrilled but she had to admit, it was cute.
"Fine, then big sis, you call me little sis, I'll call you big sis. See how you like it."
Brooke smiled and poked Haley in the stomach. "You can call me big sis whenever you want, because after all-"
"You're my big sister, I know," Haley finished the sentence off with a sigh. "Well big sis, tutoring was okay, the kid I tutor got an A on his math test. How was cheerleading?"
"Well little sis, cheerleading was just super great. My whole squad, minus P. Sawyer, is a bunch of fake blonde bimbos who do nothing but drool over Nathan Scott. I mean he's not that good looking."
Haley nodded her head in agreement. "He's a jerk too. He practically knocked me down today without even saying sorry."
Brooke frowned and bit her lip. She saw that and thought it was really funny. She laughed along with her friends and the others who saw and watched as Haley picked up her books and hurried off down the hall. "Yeah, I saw that. I'm sorry. I'll have Luke kick his ass, little sis."
"Okay, Brooke you're killing the little sis. You can't call me that anymore, it's dead, dead and buried. Six feet under-"
"Okay! I get it, it's dead." Brooke frowned, not in the mood to come up with another nickname. "But I'm not in the mood to think of a super cute nickname to call you now. Haley-bub is already patented by Taylor and so is little sis, Tutor Girl doesn't really apply to you here. What the heck can I call you?"
Haley rolled her eyes and shrugged when Brooke looked at her. "Here's a crazy idea. How about Haley!"
Brooke shook her head and nudged Haley with her foot. "Cute," she said with a laugh before launching into deep thought. "I could be really, really like motherly and call you baby. Because you are like my little baby, I take care of you when you're sick, I take you to school and back, I think it's perfect, baby!" Haley frowned at the thought of Brooke calling her baby. Her Mom used to call her that but she never let Brooke or anyone else know that. "So can I call you baby?"
Haley turned away and tried not to cry. "No," she whispered before Brooke leaned over to look at her.
"What's wrong? Was it something I said?"
Haley quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head. "No, no it's nothing. Just do me a favor, and don't call me baby okay? Go back to little sis." Brooke nodded, unaware of why Haley was getting so upset over the nickname baby.
"Yeah sure," she whispered watching as Haley turned away from her and lay down. She got off the bed and shut the light off and slipped into bed, staring at Haley's backside. Haley sniffled trying to rid herself of the tears, but they were coming out. "Hales?" Brooke called out, turning her sister over to her so she could see what was up. "Mom used to call you baby didn't she?" Haley nodded before letting the tears come out. "I'm so sorry," Brooke whispered, pulling Haley close to her and holding her tight. "Come here," she rubbed her back gently, in hopes of Haley calming down. Eventually her sobs died down and she managed to stop herself from crying again.
"Thanks, Tigger." Haley mumbled as Brooke laid her back down, rubbing her shoulders in comfort.
"Get some sleep, Haley, I'll be right here if you need me." Haley smiled at the reassurance in her voice and closed her eyes before drifting into a peaceful sleep.
"Night, baby," Brooke whispered, careful for Haley not to hear. She gently stroked her hair before turning over to go to sleep.
"Night," Haley whispered back, making Brooke smile from ear to ear. Even though Brooke didn't talk to her in school, she sure as hell made up for it at home.
I tried to make Baley cutesy as possible. I hope it's cutesy enough because the next chapter is all Brooke, so I just want to warn you all before you have a heart attack and yell at me and threaten to kill me. Again, it's really really late and I should be sleeping, but i'm here instead. But i'm going. Goodnight and thanks again for your awesome reviews!
And I threw those Hil/Joie references in there for my own amusement. I'll give someone a prize if you can point them out. As if they're really hard. And, Britney, this excludes you!
Kristin