The Bitter Taste
A Blue Sky Holiday
Relationships fall apart. Friendships end. Hearts break. But the love doesn't die.
xxx
"Hey Peyton," Jake said as he reached his hand out to help Peyton up.
Peyton grabbed his hand and shivered a little bit; "What are you doing here?" She asked.
Jake laughed to himself and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm actually a bartender here a couple nights a week."
"Jake Jykelski a bartender?" Peyton teased, "If the gang could see you now."
Jake let out a small laugh and dug his hands in his jean pockets, "Who's all here?"
"Well, me, Brooke, and Nathan came down with his girlfriend Veronica because she has some place down here," Peyton began.
Jake looked at her strangely, "Nathan's girlfriend?"
"Yeah," Peyton said, she had forgotten how much he had missed, "Brooke and Nathan got divorced."
He exhaled and his eyes got wide, "Wow," Jake said, "That really sucks. What happened?"
"Nathan cheated on Brooke with this secretary," she said softly, "Anyways, they still love each other…You can just tell."
Jake smiled and looked at his watch, "It's getting late…Do you want to come back to my place for a little bit?"
"Yeah," Peyton said with a big smile.
xxx
Brooke slowly got up from the floor and gathered up her clothes. Nathan propped up on elbows and watched her, "You're not going to stay here and lay with me?"
"Don't do this," Brooke said as she slipped on her underwear.
Nathan sat completely up and looked at her, "Do what?"
"Don't act like this is somehow going to solve all our problems," Brooke began, "You still have another girl upstairs that loves you and wants to be with you."
Nathan stood up and walked slowly towards Brooke, "Listen to me," he said softly as he cupped her face, "You can try and push me farther and farther away, but I want you back in my life Brooke. I love you."
"What we just did doesn't make me any better than Rachel," Brooke said in a hurt voice.
Nathan took a step back and crossed his arms, "I'm not married to Veronica."
"You might as well be," Brooke grumbled. Nathan grunted and Brooke grabbed his arm, "I see the look she gives you when the two of you look into each others eyes. And you shouldn't ruin something that could be good just because of me."
Nathan looked down at her and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, "Why are you so afraid of being with me?"
"Because," Brooke said in almost a whisper, "Once somebody hurts you once who says they're not going to do it again?"
He stared blankly at her and kissed her softly on the lips, "I'm not going to hurt you Brooke."
"This is hard Nate," Brooke said as she turned and walked towards the window, "What happened…Was so unexpected. I just think we just got out of control."
Nathan punched his fist in his hand and turned away from her, "You know," he said angrily as he snapped back around, "Dammit Brooke! Don't push me away!"
Brooke put her head down and softly began to cry; Nathan's face fell and he walked over towards her. He put his arms around her and rocked her back and forth, "Why do you want me?"
"Because you're my wife," he said simply.
Brooke pulled away from Nathan and looked up at him with her glossy eyes, "But I'm really not Nathan. The divorce was a chance for us to move on and we both did. You might have had better luck than me, but we both moved on."
"So tonight was just some mistake?" Nathan asked.
Brooke walked towards the staircase and then turned around, "Of course not…But I realized something…There is not rewind button in life so we just have to take responsibility for what we do."
"Fine," Nate said as he blew past Brooke and stomped up the stairs. Brooke leaned against the wall and slowly slid down it as she covered her mouth so that her cries didn't come out.
xxx
"This place is really nice Jake," Peyton said as she finished off her second drink, "And I can't believe how big Jenny is."
Jake smiled and then closed Jenny's bedroom door slowly, "Yeah, I'm so grateful my parents are helping out. Little girls are a handful."
"Just wait till they're teenagers," Peyton said with a laugh.
Jake laughed as well and the two of them sat down on the couch, "So how's your baby?"
"Good," Peyton said as she got out a picture, "His name's Eric."
Jake looked at the picture and smirked, "Where'd you get the name Eric?"
"He's named after his father," Peyton said softly and then looked away from him.
Jake set the picture down on the coffee table and brought Peyton's face towards him, "It's really good to see you."
"Yeah, you too," Peyton said as Jake grabbed a hold of her hand, "You kind of left suddenly."
Jake sighed and rubbed Peyton's hand, "I needed time to figure things out Peyton…And the whole time I was figuring things out all I could think about was how much I wanted you to be in my life. You never gave up on me."
"When you're truly in love you won't give up on someone," Peyton said as her eyes began to tear, "And sometimes it feels like you just gave up on me."
"Stay with me," Jake said as he passionately kissed Peyton on the lips.
After the kiss Peyton looked at him in shock, "Stay with you?" She questioned, "After at least a year I see you for one day and you're asking me to stay with you?"
"I know this is sudden," Jake began.
Peyton rifled through her hair, "I love you Jake…But I have a baby at home and…"
"Bring him to live with Jenny and me," he said, "We can be a family."
Peyton closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "You don't know how many times I've dreamt of you saying that to me. And each time I thought about it, I just thought about me running into your arms and shouting, 'Yes, yes!' at the top of my lungs. And then we would kiss and hug and everything would be perfect."
"I miss you," he said.
Peyton bit her bottom lip and stroked Jake's cheek, "I know…And I'm going to miss you too."
"So this is a no?" Jake said as he stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.
Peyton followed him as she put on her jacket, "I love you Jake," she said once more and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"I love you too Peyton," he said as they hugged.
Peyton wiped some gloss from his cheek and gave him a comforting smile, "It's going to be okay," she said as Jake opened the front door for her.
She stepped out and Jake looked at her one last time, "I know…" He winked at her and then watched her walk away. He closed the door slowly and walked back towards Jenny's room.
xxx
Peyton walked into her bed room and got into bed; Brooke rolled over and smiled at her, "Where were you?" She asked, half tired, half intrigued.
"I saw Jake," Peyton answered softly.
Brooke sat up with her mouth open wide, "And?"
Peyton let out a dry laugh, "Nothing happened…He asked me if I wanted to stay with him. Bring Eric back and be a family, but…After I thought about it I realized that maybe it was too perfect. I couldn't see Jake raising Eric with me, or see us as a family."
Brooke gave Peyton a sympathetic look and a hug, "You made the right choice P. Sawyer."
"What did you do tonight?" Peyton said as she blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes.
Brooke laid back down and sighed, "Slept with Nathan," she said.
"Oh," Peyton said in surprise, "Well?"
"Well it wasn't meant to happen," Brooke began, "It just kind of did."
Peyton looked over at Brooke, "What did he say about it?"
"He told me he loved me and that he wanted to be with me," she said, "But I know that Veronica loves him, and I know that he'll eventually fall deeply in love with her."
Peyton rolled her eyes, "You really don't want him to be in love with you?"
"No," Brooke said and then closed her eyes, "Then everything gets so dramatic and then we fall in love and then I get hurt again."
"Maybe it'll be different this time," Peyton suggested.
Brooke turned on her side and shrugged, "I don't have the heart to find out…"
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