The Bitter Taste

Like A Man Possessed

You never fall in love the same way twice…

xxx

Brooke looked up at herself in the mirror in her bathroom. She had just snorted up two lines of coke; she wiped her nose and put a cold wash cloth on her forehead. Lily walked into the bathroom and saw her friend rocking side to side. Lily cleared her throat and Brooke looked over to her. She wiped her nose, "Hey Lil…"

Lily smiled wearily, "There's somebody downstairs…They want to see you."

"Can't you see I'm kind of busy," Brooke snapped as her hands began to shake. She looked at Lily's upset face and sighed, "I'm sorry," Brooke said softly, "I'll be down in a minute…"

Lily nodded and walked out of the hotel suite. Brooke wiped her nose once more and looked at herself in the mirror. She had lost 35 pounds since she had left Tree Hill. Her hair was bleached blonde and her skin was pale. Brooke hardly recognized herself, but it was change. And change was good.

She headed downstairs and saw Haley standing in the lobby with her arms crossed. Brooke shook her head and laughed as she walked up to the familiar face, "Let me guess," she began, "Nathan got himself into another car accident that I have to come home for. And then Nate and I will fall in love again and everything will just be peachy keen," she said sarcastically.

Haley took off her sunglasses and rested them on her head, "Are you always this bitchy in the morning, or did I just catch you on the wrong day?"

"Both," Brooke said as her and Haley walked outside. Brooke took out her cigarettes and showed the pack to Haley, "Smoke?"

Haley shook her head, "I quit. Lucas didn't want to kiss an ashtray anymore."

Brooke looked up at Haley as she lit her cigarette, "You and Luke are still together?"

"Yeah," Haley said with a soft smile.

Brooke took a drag, "So what can I do for you Haley?"

"I saw you on TRL the other day," Haley began, "You look like hell."

Brooke let out a cynical laugh, "And here I thought you came to congratulate me on my comeback."

"I'm here to ask you what the hell you think you're doing," Haley said sternly.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "You were in the music business Haley," she began, "You know all the perks and everything that goes on."

"The drugs you mean?" Haley asked, "The alcohol, the sex, the money…Yeah, I know the perks and everything," she said, "But I never let it get to me. You were always the one that was against drugs, and here you are snorting away what's left of you."

Brooke looked at Haley, "I've changed Hales," she said, "And you know what; if you had my life you would've changed too."

"So this is about Nathan and Rachel," Haley said.

Rachel. The name made Brooke's blood boil; she threw her cigarette down and looked away, "No," she said through gritted teeth.

"It's okay if you miss him," Haley said softly.

Brooke glared at her, "Listen Miss Haley, I don't miss that lying, no good, son of a bitch. He makes me sick."

"Nathan made a mistake," Haley said as she raised her tone, "God, he loves you more than anything in the world."

Brooke let out a dry laugh, "Lucas tried to tell me the same thing before I left…Nathan isn't worth it anymore."

"So the drugs…You do them just for the hell of it, or are you trying to forget who you are?"

Brooke groaned, "I keep trying to forget you people and Tree Hill, but people like you have to come back and give me a reality check. Well thanks Haley, because you made me realize how much I do hate Tree Hill and the people there."

"Nathan was in the hospital and you left!" Haley screamed, "How fucking selfish are you?"

Brooke took a step back, "I loved him!" She screamed back as a lone tear fell down her cheek, "He cheated on me after everything that we went through!"

Haley took a deep breath and got a picture out of purse, "This is Peyton's baby. Eric Nathan Scott," she said.

"He took Nathan's last name?" Brooke said as she looked at the beautiful baby boy, "Are Peyton and Nathan…" She trailed off.

Haley rolled her eyes, "Not that you care about him or anything, but no. They're not together; Peyton moved in with Nathan because they both had been abandoned. All of us are friends and everything's going well…"

"Then why ruin it?" Brooke said softly.

"We miss you," Haley finished. Brooke went to hand back the picture but Haley shook her head, "Keep it. I've got plenty back at home."

Brooke looked at her and smiled weakly, "Thanks," she said, "I guess I'll be seeing you next time I tour near North Carolina."

"Okay," Haley said quietly, "Bye Brooke," she said as the two of them hugged, "Can I ask you something?"

Brooke nodded and bit her lip to hold back the tears, "Yeah…"

"Are you really with Alex?" Haley asked, her worried voice gave Brooke's skin goose bumps.

The hug broke and Brooke looked at Haley, "Yeah…" She said in almost a whisper.

"Be careful," Haley said as she rubbed Brooke's skinny arm. She gave her one last smile and walked towards her car.

Brooke walked up to her hotel room and sat on the bed. Tears streamed down her face and she looked at the picture again. She has missed the birth of Peyton's child. Something that Brooke had once thought was the most important thing in the world. Brooke set the picture down and got out a little box that she kept in her suitcase. She opened the box which held her engagement and wedding ring; she looked at them and wiped her eyes.

Brooke got out her cell phone and found Nathan's number. She called it and heard his answering machine:

Hey, it's Nathan and Peyton. We're not here right now so just leave a message and you're name and number, and we'll get back to you.

BEEP

Brooke let out a deep breath, "Hi Nathan…It's Brooke," she began, "I called because Haley came and visited me just a couple minutes ago actually. I saw Eric, Peyton, he's beautiful. I wanted you to know Nathan that I left because I wasn't strong enough anymore. The affair," Brooke paused as she wiped her tears, "The affair was really hard on me, Nate. You have to understand that I've tried being strong, and I think I just gave up," Brooke voice got shaky as she began to cry, "And I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if we hadn't given up on each other. One day, I hope you look back at what we had and regret every little thing you did to make it all end. Maybe someday I can go to Tree Hill and confront you instead of leaving this all on your machine, but I don't want to see you, because…It hurts. I hear someone say the name Nathan and all I can think about is you. And it hurts. I hope you're doing okay, and I hope you're getting over me. Because right now…I'm getting over you."

Brooke hung up her cell phone and set it on the bed. She wiped her eyes and ran to the bathroom. Brooke leaned her head over the toilet and threw up. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

xxx

Nathan and Peyton walked into the house pushing Eric in his stroller. Peyton took him out and bounced him on her hip, "Did you have fun at the Zoo?" She cooed.

"Of course he did," Nathan said as he kissed the little baby boy on the forehead. He looked at the answering machine and saw the red, blinking 1, "We have messages." Peyton walked over and smiled as she hit the Play button.

"Hi Nathan…It's Brooke."

Peyton looked up at Nathan and patted his shoulder. She walked out of the room as Nathan sat down and listened to the message.

Nathan walked out onto the deck and sat down beside Peyton; she looked at him and gave him a comforting smile, "What did Brooke have to say?"

"She said that Haley went to visit her," he began, "She said that Eric's beautiful…And she said she hopes that I'm getting over her, because she's getting over me."

Peyton put her hand on Nathan's knee and have him a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry…"

"I always thought that I could somehow save her. When I saw her on TRL, I wanted to kill Alex and I wanted to just go to her and pick her up in my arms," Nathan said sadly.

"It's going to take time Nate," Peyton began, "Brooke was really hurt when the affair happened."

Nathan nodded his head and looked out onto the sand, "I miss her Peyton," he said.

"I know," Peyton said as she hugged him.

Nathan rubbed Peyton's back and kissed her on the forehead, "I'll be back in a couple of days," he said as he got up.

"Are you going to get her back?" Peyton asked as she got up and followed Nathan to the driveway.

Nathan looked at Peyton and gave her a small smile, "I'm going to try…" He said and then got into his car.

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A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!