Brooke woke to the smell of fresh coffee and pancakes. She sat up in bed, lazily running her fingers through her hair. After glancing at the clock she realized that it was only 8:15 and it was a Sunday. There was no way she was supposed to be up that early! She threw her head back against the pillow and pulled the blankets over her head. Her eyes drifted shut and her mind once again drifted back into an old life.
/flashback/
"Wake up cheery."
Brooke groaned. It was the last day of summer and she was eight months pregnant. For years she had been fond of her nickname but that was before she had gained 15 pounds and before her boyfriend had woke her up.
"Go to hell Broody."
He laughed at her and hit her with a pillow. She sighed and lifted herself up. "Did you at least bring me food?" He grinned and handed her a small brown bag.
"It's a cream cheese muffin and here's the orange juice." Brooke smiled slightly and patted the bed beside her.
"You can stay I guess."
Lucas chuckled and bent down towards her. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and backed away. She grinned. "Broody! Feel!" She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. Their baby had become quite a kicker. It had saddened them both that Lucas hadn't ever been around when she decided to move.
"Did you feel it?"
She whispered at him and he nodded his head gently. He kept his hand there perhaps waiting for another move as Brooke ate her muffin.
"I love you Brooke."
She giggled. "Good. Cause I love you too."
/flashback ends/
"Morning mommy," Isabella said as she jumped onto the bed. Brooke groaned as she pulled her daughter into a hug. "Uncle Nate told me to wake you up. Breakfast is ready."
Brooke nodded her head and sat up. "Well what are we waiting for? You know uncle Nate makes the best chocolate chip pancakes!" Brooke wanted nothing more than to start her day and once again forget her past. It was surreal to her that after all the years that had past the memories of him were still so vivid. When she remembered him, it was as if he was really there.
She sent her daughter back downstairs and went into her bathroom. After brushing her teeth she pulled the robe around her body and headed down the stairs. "Uncle Nate…I think we need to talk," she said as she entered the kitchen. He turned to face her with a smile on his face. She laughed as he stuffed a piece of bacon in his mouth.
"It was Princesses idea. I swear."
Brooke rolled her eyes knowing from the look on their faces that he was lying. Isabella sat at the table and poured syrup on her pancakes. "Nate we're gonna paint my room today right?" Nathan nodded at the girl and she squealed in delight.
"And remember your Aunt Peyton will be here tomorrow when you're in school to paint your mural. So that means all of your stuff has to be moved out of the room and put into the den."
"What are you doing today?" Nathan asked Brooke as she sat down and poured herself some orange juice. She poured his also and buttered his toast. He sat down and handed her three pieces of bacon.
Brooke smiled at him, part of her still amazed at how well they knew each other. A part of her wondered sometimes if they're relationship had become routine to him. If he was only there because he felt he owed it to her. She told herself she only thought those things to make herself feel better. So she wouldn't feel guilty for always wondering about Lucas.
Nathan must have noticed her drift off into thought because he put his hand on hers. "Are you okay sweetie?" He asked. Brooke nodded weakly and looked down at her plate of food. She knew that Lucas' letter had brought up buried memories within her and that she needed to tell someone about them. But Haley would be out of town until Wednesday and she wasn't sure if Peyton would understand.
"I'm going to go to the mall I guess. There's a sale at Macy's that I wanted to check out," Brooke said as she ate a piece of bacon. Nathan looked down at her still wondering what was wrong. She shook her head and looked towards her daughter. "I want you to be good for Uncle Nathan okay? And remember don't paint in any of your new clothes."
Isabella nodded and Brooke got up from the table. She made her way upstairs and entered Nathan's and her bedroom. It was painted a pale purple color and the silk sheets matched. Anyone who knew Brooke, knew that she was the one who had decorated it. As she opened their closet door she looked inside. His stuff was thrown in messily, where as hers was neat and organized.
Brooke ran her fingers across the outfits, her fingers resting on a yellow sundress. She pulled it out and grabbed the matching shoes. After getting dressed she opened her jewelry box and looked inside. There were several pairs of earrings, a few necklaces and quite a few watches. She opened the compartment for the rings and looked inside. Resting safely where she last put it was the ring Lucas had given her eleven years before.
Brooke rubbed her fingers against the gold band and shut her eyes. If she concentrated, she would be able to describe in detail exactly as it happened. Her polished nail ran across the small diamond and she smiled slightly. It was so much smaller than she remembered. She had always imagined getting married to someone rich, who would by her a huge diamond ring and would promise her eternal happiness. Years ago, when Lucas had given her the ring she had been so caught up in the fact that he had purposed to her she barely even took notice of the ring. He had slid the ring on her finger and Brooke vowed never to take it off. So much had changed since then. Brooke had finally delivered Isabella, and Lucas and her had broken up. She had finished college and ended up dating Nathan.
It was only a few years ago that she had finally brought herself to take it off. It was Christmas time and Brooke had opened a package under the tree to reveal a plain gold band. On the inside were the words 'never gone.' The present was signed from Santa Claus and Brooke had never questioned who it had came from. Looking back on it, Brooke silently wondered what Nathan meant by those words.
The phone rang, and Brooke walked over to answer it. She could hear sobs on the other end as Brooke said into the phone "hello? Who is this?"
Brooke glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Haley.
"Hales. Talk to me. What's wrong?" Brooke sat down on her bed holding onto the phone. She could tell by Haley's cry that something was wrong.
"It's Chris."
"What happened? Did he hurt you Haley?" Brooke's voice was filled with anger. She knew something had been off with Chris Keller the day she met him, but kept her mouth shut for Haley's sake. Haley had wanted nothing more than to sing and Chris had given her that opportunity.
"He cheated on me," Haley whispered.
Brooke stood up and called Nathan into the room. "Haley where are you? Are you in New York?" She could hear Haley mumble a yes and she sat back down. Brooke felt helpless. One of her closest friends was hours away. What was she going to do?
"I'm going to book you a flight home Haley. Go to the airport and I'll call you," Brooke said. She hung up the phone and waited for Nathan to come. He came in and noticed the look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
Brooke suddenly felt guilty. Nathan had been a wonderful man, a great boyfriend and a loving uncle to her daughter. And she had spent the last ten years hoping that Lucas would come home. "It's Haley," she started to explain to him, not once pulling away. He held her until she was ready to be let go and took the phone.
"I'll book her flight. You just see if you can get a hold of Peyton."
Brooke nodded and opened her purse. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her friends number. "Hi Peyton, it's me."
……
"Is Aunt Haley okay?"
Nathan watched as his niece rolled blue paint onto her walls. He wasn't sure what was going on but Brooke had made him promise not to let Isabella know about anything. As she turned to look at him she put her hands on her hips.
"Don't lie to me either. If you don't want to tell me that's fine. Just don't lie." Isabella then folded her arms across her chest and waited for a reply. Nathan couldn't help but laugh at his niece's behavior. She was so much like her mother and neither one of them realized it.
"I'd never lie to you princess," Nathan said as he put the paint brush down. He walked towards her and kneeled down. "I don't know if she's okay. But I do know she will be. Your mom will make sure of it."
Isabella nodded and looked at him. "Like when I get a cut, mom is always there with a band aid?"
Even as he shook his head he knew that Haley was going to need much more than a band aid to fix her problems. Isabella was satisfied with his answer and turned back to her walls. "I can't wait to see what aunt Peyton is going to draw," she said as she moved the roller on the wall.
Nathan shrugged his shoulders and looked around at their paint job. "Well, it's finished. Why don't you go wash up?" Nathan asked as Isabella nodded her head. His phone rang and he answered it. "It's your mom." He mouthed to Isabella as she left the room.
"Hey Brooke."
"Nathan I'm going to stay here at Peyton's tonight, can you watch Isabella? Haley's flight doesn't get in till 12:00, and I want to be here for her," Brooke explained.
"It's okay Brooke. I understand. Send her our love."
"And Nathan?"
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say thank you. You've been great to Isabella and I."
"You don't need to thank me. I love you both."
"I know. And we love you. I was thinking, maybe we should stay at the beach house next weekend. Just you and me. Give us a chance to be alone?"
Nathan took a deep breath and grinned into the phone.
"Yeah, sure. I'd love that. Bye Brooke."
It had been months since Brooke and him had actually been alone. He knew that she was thinking about Lucas again and a part of him felt guilty for falling in love with his brothers ex girlfriend. He had never intended on falling for her, he just wanted to protect her. But over the years his feelings had slowly changed as did hers. But the last couple of months Nathan could notice a difference in Brooke. When she thought no one was listening she would cry herself to sleep. He also noticed that she had been looking at old pictures of them.
Nathan made a vow to himself that he was going to be there for Brooke no matter what. She needed someone to protect her, someone to love her the way that Lucas hadn't. He was going to be that man for her. And a weekend alone was the perfect place to prove it to her.
……
Lucas stood at the bus stop with his bag over his shoulder. For weeks he had been debating on returning to Tree Hill but couldn't because of his team. But there was two weeks before the finals started and he had left another couch in charge so he could return. He knew he would miss his daughter's birthday by a few days, but hoped she would forgive him.
Lucas hadn't seen her since she was a baby. Haley had sent pictures to him for a few years but then he had switched cities and they had lost contact. He wrote his daughter every holiday and on her birthday's he would send her presents. When he had left Tree Hill, he had told himself he would only be gone for a little while. He wanted to make something of himself so that his daughter and Brooke would be proud of him. But weeks turned into months, and months turned into years and pretty soon Lucas found it impossible to return home.
When he realized his daughter would be ten and he had missed out on her childhood he knew he had to go back. He didn't want his daughter thinking that he never wanted her or even hate him the way that he had always hated Dan.
Brooke had also been a reason why he had stayed away for so long. When he had met her she had the world at her feet. She could have done anything she had wanted, and he felt as if he had taken that away from her. Being pregnant at 18 had limited her abilities of going after the life she had always dreamed of. A life he wasn't sure he could be apart of.
When their daughter had been born, Lucas couldn't help but think that a part of Brooke had died. Her spirit and flare for life had changed and she was just so temperamental. His mother had told her that it was just Brooke dealing with postpartum but Lucas felt as if she resented him. After their breakup he waited for her to call. But she never did. When he finally realized that she wasn't going to call he packed his bags and left town. He had loved her enough to give her the space that she had needed. It was easier than he had thought it would be because he knew his friends back home would be there for her.
But after all the years of being away from her it still hadn't changed a thing. He still loved her. As much as he wanted to pretend those feelings were in the past he couldn't. It didn't matter how many girls he slept with, how many girlfriends he went through. The love had made it.
"Where are you headed?"
The bus drivers voice asked him. Lucas looked up a bit startled from his thoughts. He gave the driver his pass and picked up the bags. "Home." He wondered briefly if he still had a home after all these years.
Two hours later the bus pulled to a stop. "Tree Hill," the bus driver said as Lucas picked up his bag again. He headed out of the bus mumbling a thank you to the man. The bus driver nodded his head and pulled off. Lucas looked around the familiar bus station and started to walk towards the pay phone.
He dialed his mothers number but no one answered. A few minutes later he had given up and decided that he would walk to his mothers cafe. It was six blocks away and Lucas needed the time to think.
Tree Hill hadn't changed much. The houses were still the same and he noticed familiar faces as he walked by. People must have recognized him to because a few people had waved at him. A few streets down he could see three girls playing in the front yard of a house.
Instantly, he knew it was Brooke's home. As he approached the street he could see the girls more clearly. He would have known her anywhere. The girls must have all been eleven, all with their individual looks. Lucas took in a deep breath and looked at his daughter.
Her straight brown hair was down past her shoulders and she had her head back laughing hysterically at something the other girls said. She was wearing denim jeans and a white tee shirt that simply had the number three on it. He found himself smiling at the number on her shirt as he remembered a time where he too wore that number. One of the girls pointed at him and she turned to look who it was.
Shit.
He had been caught. Lucas turned away from her and made his way down the street ignoring the girls glares. He wanted to go and talk to her but he knew he needed to talk to Brooke first. After ten years he didn't know a thing about his daughter and didn't want her to freak out after she saw him. As the sun went down he finally made his way into the café. As he opened the door, a familiar face bumped into him.
"Peyton."
tbc...