There was Mimi, and Mark of course.
But there was also Collins, professor and anarchist, who was paying for everyone's dinner with recently liberated cash.
Maureen, Mark's ex, and her girlfriend of a year, Joanne, who were just calming down after Maureen flirting with Brooke when she was first introduce.
And Steve, an occasional tag along who lived in the building next door to Mark and Roger's loft.
There were also the occasional drive-by friend, but they went by too fast for Brooke to remember them.
"So what did you guys do today?" Mark asked, directing the question towards Mimi and Brooke.
"Nothing." They both replied quickly, before exchanging a brief smile.
The waiter came by, "Can I get you guys anything else?"
"Wine. Red." Collins grunted.
Both Maureen and Joanne called for beer.
Mark followed Collins request.
It got to Brooke, but Roger broke in, "She's underage, but I'll take a beer. What about you Meems?"
"I'll stick with the water." She whispered into Roger's ear.
She was met with an odd look, "Since when don't you drink?"
Mimi looked over towards Brooke, who nodded a go ahead.
"Since I became pregnant, Rog." Mimi whispered back into Rog's ear.
"What? How...what about..." Roger went off.
Mimi interuptted, "Shh...it's fine. That's why we went to the doctor today."
Mark's attention was grabbed at the word 'we'. "'We' who went with you...?"
"Br..Brooke came...for support..." Mimi attempted, but Brooke's face was already betraying her.
"Roger...can we talk...outside?" Brooke whispered.
"Go ahead and share with the whole table..."His voice was borderline impatient.
"Rog," Collins cationed.
"No, if she could share it with my girlfriend, she can share it with everyone."
He was upset.
"I am...preg..."She couldn't say the word and the tears were starting to well, "I..am...the doctor...today...said he heard two...heartbeat..."
Roger stared at her for a moment. "Twins? That's great, Brooke." His voice a mix of sarcasm and overprotective anger, "Damnit."
And with that he stormed out of the cafe, and Brooke's floodgates opened.
Mark and Mimi carefully escorted her through the city and back to the loft where Roger had locked himself into his bedroom. Mimi guided Brooke to bed, while Mark tried to talk to her brother through the door. Brooke clung to pillow as she listened to the doors open, some rushed talking, and then the front door slam.
"It'll be okay, Meems...it's not you...it's just...he's a little..." Mark's voice could be heard.
"I know, Mark. I'm just worried about her."
After that Brooke just tried to sleep, but it refused to come, her mind was reeling. He was her brother, but then again they hadn't really talked in eight years. What gave him the right?
A couple of hours later, sleep still wouldn't come, but the sound of the front door interupted the silence, then footsteps, and finally she could her her door open and her brother's breathing.
He took a deep breath and she kept on pretending to be asleep, "I...I don't know if you're asleep or not, but I'm gonna bet you're still up. It's just...I've done a shitty job at being your brother...and...well, the way I reacted didn't help any, did it? It's just that...I guess when you showed up I guess I could make it up...but I guess...I'm just stupid. We all have our secrets, but I want...want to be here for you now...I'm gonna...We need to...talk...Tomorrow its just going to be you and me catching up...Okay?"
She kept her back turn and her eyes shut.
"Yeah...'night squirt."
xx
The morning came too fast for everyone in the loft.
Collins had stayed at Joanne and Maureen's in the first place.
Mimi went to work a couple of extra shifts at the Cat Scratch Club.
And Mark quietly excused himself to go out at get some more shots for his newest idea.
Brooke slowly followed the sound of the guitar to the roof.
Her brother sat on a chair slowly finding the right tune on his beloved Fender. The tune slowly died, aknowledging the fact that he had company.
She took a deep breath, "His name's Jake. He was always there for me, but he already had a daughter...Jenny, her mother left him after she was born. So when I found out, I was...well, when I found out...I figured what he didn't know couldn't hurt him, but I guess this doesn't make me any better than Jenny's mom...it's just I couldn't do that...this there. Tree Hill is the place for secrets...but I wanted to be safe still. So I came here. I want to be here."
A small tear escaped out of her eye. Roger came to her, and Brooke allowed herself to be embraced by her brother.
"We try to do anything that we think will help, protect the people we love. that's why need to talk.."