-1This is for my Amanda. She loves this couple so much, that as a special birthday present, I decided to try my hand at something new.
Hope you like it girl, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
This is set early season one, during Life In a Glass House, my version just takes a slight detour.
More Than Meets the Eye
"Jake… Jake, Jake, Jake," she said seductively as she walked up to him, grabbing his upper arm for support.
She was drunk enough to approach him, but not drunk enough to regret what she was about to do. Jake Jagielski was a man of mystery; quiet, soft-spoken, naturally humble, he didn't quiet fit in with the rest of the basketballs players. Normally she went for the guys who didn't give her the time of day unless she was in a tight red dress similar to the one she currently donned, but tonight she was going to try someone new.
"Oh, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke." he mocked back as he supported her drunken form.
To say that he wasn't attracted would have been a lie. She was the Brooke Davis, Tree Hill's sex goddess, and here she was hitting on him. He knew he should pull away, he knew he had responsibilities at home, he knew that she was set on luring Lucas into her bed, and he also knew that she reminded him way too much of a similar dark haired beauty who had broken his heart. He knew all of those things, but as she seductively ran her nails up his arm, suddenly none of it mattered.
"I'm drunk. You'll do," she purred as she grabbed his tie and leaned her face mere inches from his own.
"Oh, oh, hey, um, it's quite an honor, but I got to be somewhere," he choked out, trying to remember that he had someone else to get home to, but at the moment all he could see was Brooke's sexy smile and her dimples. Still, he managed to get out the words even though his voice became hollow as he rejected her.
"Oh, right-the big mystery." She tried to appear unaffected, but here was another man brushing her off for someone or something else. Drunk or not, she still felt the sting of that harsh reminder.
"Yeah. Anyway, I should…" he trailed off, the words dying on his lips as he saw the way that her face fell and the way that the tears glistened in her eyes as he spoke. This was something that he never saw from her - genuine emotion. She was always wearing a perfect smile on her pristinely glossed lips, one that he had never seen falter until now.
"You know, I do have to get out of here, but I wouldn't mind some company," the words just seemed to flow out of his mouth before his brain caught up. There was something in her eyes that he couldn't place, but it was something that pulled at his heart and made him invite her to come with him.
The moment the words left his lips, her smile returned, and this time it was different from the one that previously graced her features. He didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but this one seemed more sincere.
"Lead the way baby." There it was again, the Brooke Davis voice, her sexy and husky way of making anything she uttered sound intriguing. Jake couldn't help but smile as she wrapped her arm in his own and snuggled close to him. This was not in character for him to do in the least, but he knew that walking out of the party with Brooke Davis on his arm could only lead to something exciting.
As the pair walked out of the front door of the Scott mansion, Brooke immediately began to look for the car that she knew belonged to Jake, and frowned when she failed to locate it.
"Am I really that drunk, or is your car missing?" she said as she stumbled a little into his waiting arms.
"I walked," he chuckled as he watched her try and navigate her high heels in her current state. "Come on, it's not far."
"Jagielski, this is so not funny, there is no way I am ruining these shoes by walking in them," she pouted, but soon found herself walking alongside him, matching his stride step for step.
The pair walked for a few minutes in relative silence, Brooke tripping a couple of times, and Jake being there each time to steady her on her feet, and keep her on track.
"So Jagielski, your place or mine?" she purred again, trying her best to put on the act that she was famous for, the one that reeled in most boys hook, line, and sinker.
"How about we keep walking, I know a little spot that's perfect."
"Outdoors? Kinky, I like it."
He laughed a little at her attempt. It wasn't because he didn't want her, he was a boy, and anyone would admit that she was drop dead gorgeous, but he didn't want to be just another guy. He didn't want to be yet another reason for her to put up walls, or rely on her act to get noticed.
"I wasn't talking about that type of spot Brooke, I want to show you something." She couldn't help but wonder why he seemed to be brushing her off, but then he smiled at her and grabbed her hand, and she couldn't help but get butterflies from just that simple gesture.
She was a girl used to dark rooms and secluded corners, not one for walks and hand holding - she was beginning to think she liked the second option better.
"You know if you look out at the river from this exact spot, you can see the light from the stars dancing on the water and it kind of looks like magic." His voice cut through the silence as he quit walking all of a sudden. Brooke, still feeling the effects of her drinking binge ran smack into him, and was surprised as he once again steadied her and brought her body closer to his.
"It really is beautiful Jake." She was in awe of the twinkling lights, the sheer wonder of it all. They were standing at the top of a small hill, in a clearing, and she wondered why she had never been here before.
She smiled as Jake tugged her down to the ground besides him and didn't even worry about messing up her dress. The pair sat there under the stars, just watching, looking, hoping to see something beautiful.
"You know, sometimes I come up here to sit, just to think about life. This is my escape, and here I always find peace. I've never shown anyone this before, you know."
"Why did you show me?"
He flashed her the shy grin he was famous for before replying, "You just looked like you needed a place that would make you happy."
She stared at him for a moment in shock. Here was a boy she had only exchanged casual conversation with, and he could read her like a book. Suddenly she felt more naked under his stare than she had ever felt with her clothes off.
"How did you know?"
"Because I knew a girl like you once. She was beautiful and bold, loud and outspoken, and I loved her. But she never saw herself for what she was really worth, and she never gave herself enough credit. I just wanted to make sure that another beauty didn't end up the same way."
Brooke could see the pained expression in his eyes as he talked about his mystery woman, and even in her haze, she could tell that he knew she was headed down the same path.
"When I was little, I wanted to play piano. I wanted to be a musician, but I told my friends my dream and they laughed at me and told me to stick to something that made me look pretty. So I became a cheerleader and the queen of the school, and it seemed that role was easier to fill." Se spoke more to the night than to Jake, never even telling Peyton her secret ambition before.
"Who knew, Brooke Davis, the reluctant cheerleader. I thought you were born with pom-poms in your hand," he joked as he lightly nudged her.
"What about you Jake, you never want to be in the spotlight? You know you could easily rival Nathan as Tree Hill's star."
"Nah, that's just not me, I like the game, but that's all it is, and anyway, I happened to have all the pretty girls chase me down as is."
"Such a way with words," she joked back.
The two fell into a comfortable silence again, their hands still entwined, just soaking in the beauty of the night around them.
"Its late, let's get you home."
She smiled as he extended his hand to help her up, and was practically giddy once he kept her hand in his, somehow making her fell safer than she had in a very long time.
The walk to her house was fairly quick, and the conversation was light and comfortable. Somehow they had both gotten a look into the other's world, and it seemed to make more sense now.
As they walked up to the red door, they both knew that their night was coming to an end. As easy as it would have been for one or the other to lean in and take the plunge, neither wanted to ruin the moment by letting hormones take control. After all, Brooke Davis didn't do kissing with emotions, and even though he was a very appealing candidate, her heart wouldn't let her take the risk.
"Well Brooke, thank you for a lovely evening," he smirked as he leaned in, just barely grazing his lips to her cheek. He let them linger for just a second before pulling away, a twinkle in his eyes.
"Jake, thanks," she said as she leaned in once again and brought him into a tight hug.
"Oh Brooke," he said as he turned to walk to his own house. "Don't be afraid to let people in, your more than just a pretty face and some pom-poms, let the whole world know that." His voice wained in the distance, but Brooke just smiled behind him. "I will," she whispered as she let the door close and the night end.
She smiled as the red door clicked shut. She knew that tomorrow they would return to their normal routine, and that tonight would be a memory burned forever into each of their brains. She knew she would go back to standing in the spotlight, while he would go back to standing in the shadows. It was the roles they had become accustomed to, but she also knew that they would share a secret. Tonight they had both seen the other side and learned that they had more in common than they originally thought.
Tonight was a memory that she would cherish, because he wasn't like the other guys, the ones who didn't give her the time of day unless she was in a tight red dress similar to the one she currently donned, and that was more than fine.
She touched her hand to her cheek, the place where his lips had delicately brushed hers and she thought to the kiss they shared. It wasn't one of those kisses that were marked by alcohol and fueled by lust, and that's why it had been different. Jake had treated her with respect and seen her for more than the drunken party-girl, and that kiss, that one perfect moment meant more to her than any other kiss she had shared with any other boy.
She knew that no one would think that she would care, and that such a moment would mean the world to her, but it did. Jake had shown her that there was more to him than just being the nice guy and she had shown him a bit of her true colors, and she hoped that he had seen that there was more to her than meets the eye.