CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sinkin' soon

Brooke's eyes stopped on the poster pinned to the bulletin board. She followed the lines that had been meticulously drawn, taking the shape of a couple dancing together under a night-blue starry sky, and gazed at the way the stars seem to flock together and blend into the girl's dress.

It was mesmerizing, but that shouldn't have come as a surprise, since it had been her very talented best friend who had drawn it after receiving a request from the Prom committee. Peyton had finished it two weeks before, while Brooke had been busy fighting off her nightmares. Her eyes travelled to the upper part of the poster, where the words A night under the stars were painted in gracious white letters.

How ironic was it that Peyton, of all people, had designed the invitation to the event that could eventually lead to her death?

"Hey you," a familiar male voice whispered in her ear, startling her. She slightly turned her head, just enough to see Lucas standing behind her and smiling at her. His arm went around her, and his hand stopped on her waist. "What are you spacing out for?"

She gave a casual shrug and slid her hand into his own. "Nothing," she murmured before walking away from the board. She stopped after only a couple of steps, when she noticed that despite her tugging at Lucas' hand, he didn't budge. Instead, he kept staring at Peyton's poster. "We're gonna be late," she said, squeezing his hand.

Lucas' eyes shifted to hers, and his lips twitched. "Right," he murmured before following her down the hall. "So, um, I've been wondering…" he said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Have you found someone to go with?" he asked, his tone playful.

She sent him a confused look and, after a second, realized what he was talking about. "You mean to Prom?"

"Yeah," he said with a crooked smile. "You must have like a dozen of invitations a day."

"More like a hundred," Brooke retorted, making him chuckle. "I don't know, I've been studying them, one by one, but none of them seem worthy enough," she said, adding a dramatic sigh that made him laugh.

"Well," he said, his fingers playing with her hair, "if you don't find anyone suitable, we could always go together. But only as a last resort."

She giggled and turned her face to him, "Careful Champ, I might take you up on that."

Lucas didn't look too terrified by that idea as his lips stretched into a smile and planted a kiss on her head. "You better," he murmured against her hair.

They turned right and reached their classroom. As soon as she stepped into it, Brooke's eyes scanned their surroundings and when they didn't find what ─ or rather, who ─ they were looking for, the light-hearted mood that Lucas had just managed to give her vanished instantly: for the fourth day in a row, Peyton was missing school. Brooke took her seat, followed by Lucas, and quickly texted her best friend to ask her what she was doing.

Ever since the beginning of the week, Peyton had come down with what she had called a 'summer flu'. Brooke had not even known that these existed, but apparently that had been the diagnosis that her doctor had come up with on Monday, when she had presented with fever, muscle pain and coughing fits. That morning, when Brooke's eyes had fell on Peyton's empty seat, she had, at first, simply thought that her friend was late. But when it had stayed empty even after homeroom had started, a dreadful feeling had crept into her. She had quickly called Peyton as soon as she had been free from homeroom; her friend had then told her, in a strained voice, about the flu, and when Brooke had offered to come check on her after school, Peyton had vehemently refused, stating that she was too contagious ─ doctor's orders.

This should have put Brooke's mind at rest, but it somehow did not. She could not have helped but wonder if this so-called 'summer flu' had anything to do with her friend's impending future, or with the fact that just the day before Peyton had mysteriously taken off while Brooke had been taking a nap. There was something odd about her behavior ─ although Brooke couldn't quite put her finger on it. Peyton had told her that an emergency had come up, something about her drawings for the Post, and Brooke had had absolutely no reason to doubt her, yet a faint voice in the brunette's mind kept telling her that she had to stay alert.

That voice had gotten louder on Tuesday, and with each day that had gone by with Peyton staying confined in her house. And now, four days later, the voice was shouting at her to do something about it. To go check on her, even if Peyton didn't want her to.

Peyton's reply to her text happened to bring her anguish down a notch: Feeling better. Doc's cleared me for tomorrow.

"How's Peyton?" Lucas asked on her left.

She threw him a quick glance. "Better, she says she'll be back tomorrow."

"Good," he said with a smile, his hand mechanically rubbing her back. Although he hadn't commented on it, Brooke could tell that he had noticed her restlessness from the past four days.

"She says that…" her voice trailed off as she received another text from her best friend. Are you free on Sunday? Where was that coming from? Brooke was about to reply that yes, she was indeed free, when she felt a hand landing on her head and ruffling her hair. "Hey!" she cried, her eyes lifting from the screen to send daggers at the person towering above her.

Nathan answered to her dark look with a smirk and sat in front of her. "Stop staring at your phone."

She groaned and ran her fingers in her hair, trying to get it back to its normal state. "It's Peyton," she said, making his smirk go away.

He leaned forward, trying to peek at her phone. "How is she?"

She looked down at the screen and while she was busy typing an answer, Lucas filled him in with the latest news. After five seconds, Peyton sent her a reply. Is Nathan free too? "She wants to know if you're free this Sunday," Brooke told Nathan.

"Er, yeah, sure," he answered with a shrug. "What for?"

Peyton's answer to his question was very cryptic: she simply texted back that she was taking them on a trip. They tried getting more details from her, but on the next morning, when they ran into her at her locker, and after Brooke had pulled her into a tight hug that had surprised Nathan, she refused to tell them more.

"Just get ready to leave early," Peyton eventually told them after they had badgered her for more information. She walked into their classroom and went straight to her regular seat. "I'll pick you up early."

Nathan was walking right behind her. "What do you mean by early?" he asked with a suspicious tone.

Brooke heard Lucas chuckle next to her, but she kept her eyes glued on Peyton as she answered: "Around 5."

"5 am?!" Nathan shouted, startling their classmates. He sat next to her and stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "On a Sunday?"

Brooke shared a look with Lucas, who seemed as puzzled as the rest of them, and sat in front of Peyton. She silently gazed at her best friend, at the dark circles around her eyes, her worn-out look, her thinner-than-usual face. She looked like she really had been ill.

"Alright, five it is," Brooke said, ignoring Nathan's shocked face to focus on Peyton's bright smile.

When it was clear that Brooke was not going to back him up, Nathan turned to Peyton and asked: "Are you sure you still don't have a fever?" Peyton snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "I'm serious, you don't look that great. We could cancel tonight if─"

"What?!" Peyton's neck jerked in his direction. "No, no, we're not cancelling anything. You can come over at seven," she said, her eyes travelling to Brooke, and landing on Lucas. "Well, I mean," she added to Lucas with an apologetic look, "except you."

Lucas chuckled at that. "Don't worry," he told her with a brief glance toward Brooke, "I know the rules. And anyway, I already have plans with Haley, it's been a while since it's just been the two of us."

His accusing, sidelong glance at Nathan was enough to trigger his brother. While the two of them were busy bickering about the latter stealing all of Haley's time ─ though Brooke had been doing a lot of that too lately ─ Brooke focused on her own best friend. When Peyton noticed her staring at her, instead of sending her a quizzical look to ask her silently what was up with her, like she would usually do, Peyton avoided her gaze and stubbornly stared at the front of the room.

That morning, Brooke repeatedly got the feeling that Peyton was doing everything in her power not to make eye contact with her. By the time they reached lunch and met up with their regular group at one of the school's picnic tables, she was certain that it wasn't just all in her head. Mouth and Haley, however, didn't agree with her. While the rest of their friends were busy talking, Brooke pretended to go pick up some fresh drinks for everyone and innocently asked her two accomplices to come with her. She noticed that Lucas, while he was speaking to Peyton about his parents' upcoming getaway weekend, watched them as they left, and for a second, she also thought that Nathan had looked intrigued─ but that was probably not the case.

Once they were away from prying ears, and while they were walking to the vending machines, she told Mouth and Haley about Peyton's shifty behavior. Her friends told her that they both thought that she was acting as usual. They agreed that she did look tired, but that it wasn't surprising since she had spent the last four days down with a fever.

Maybe they were right. They probably were, and Brooke really wished that they were, but even so, she didn't manage to shake off that feeling. After all, no one knew Peyton like she did.

Evening came fast and soon, Brooke found herself sitting between her two childhood friends on Peyton's couch. Peyton had picked a movie called The Crow, which couldn't have been more Peyton Sawyer-ish. It was a movie from the 90's about a guitarist and his fiancée getting murdered, then coming back to life ─ thanks to a magical crow, hence the title ─ to get their revenge, all the while wearing black leather and black and white makeup.

After pausing the movie at the one-hour mark, they all went to the kitchen to refill their chip bowls. Brooke had been lost in her thoughts, thinking that Peyton was now acting normal and that maybe it had all really been in her head, when Nathan spoke.

"Dan stopped calling." He hadn't sound annoyed or angry when saying his father's name, yet Brooke could tell that he was. She leaned back against the kitchen table and watched as he emptied a bag of chips into the bowl, his eyebrows slightly twitching as if he was fighting the urge to frown.

Peyton stuck her head out of the fridge and turned to him. "You don't sound very thrilled."

He sighed and crumpled down the now empty bag. "Because now he's been showing up at Keith's shop."

"What?!" Peyton cried, slamming the fridge door shut. "Why?"

Nathan leaned against the table, imitating Brooke, and threw the bag into the trash can. It went in with ridiculous ease, which would have usually made him smile a childish grin, but tonight it didn't. "Same reason he kept calling… He came back two days ago."

When he decided to stay silent, Brooke shared a hesitant look with Peyton and asked, "What did he say?"

"Don't know," he answered with a shrug. "All I know is that Susan didn't let him in. He yelled some stuff at her and then he left when she threatened to call the police."

"Two days ago…" Peyton repeated, her arms crossed against her chest. "That was Wednesday. You don't work on Wednesdays."

"Yeah, I only know this because Susan talks too much. Keith didn't want me to know."

And he didn't want Lucas to know either, because as far as Brooke could tell, he had no idea this had happened. She wondered if that was the reason Keith had surprised Karen earlier that week with plans for the weekend ─ he had argued that ever since their wedding, they hadn't had time to rest, but maybe Dan's lurking had convinced him to go away for a couple of days.

Brooke's eyes traveled to Nathan, studying his face; he looked tired of all of this. She took the chip bowl in her hands and turned to him with a smile. "Hey, just remember that starting September, you won't see him anymore."

"Unless he follows us to Chapel Hill," Nathan grumbled when he walked past her and exited the room.

Before following him, both girls shared another worried look. They quickly went to the living room where Nathan was sitting, a sullen look plastered on his face.

"So, um, how's Haley doing?" Peyton asked him as she sat on his left. Nathan blinked at her and seemed to know what that she was trying to do. "You know," she added, "being pregnant and all."

He definitely knew that she was trying to lighten his mood, and from the faint smile he showed, he appreciated her gesture. "Actually, she's doing great." Brooke sat on his other side while he paused and said, "Well, she's been crying more than usual, but I guess that's normal." Brooke stared at the bowl resting on her lap, trying her best not let it show on her face that there was more to Haley's stress than he knew off. "I'm freaking out more than her."

"About what?" Peyton asked him.

"You know," he said with a shrug, averting his gaze, "the whole fatherhood thing. I thought I'd have more time to get ready."

Peyton snorted. "What did you think? That she'd stay pregnant for two years?"

Brooke and Nathan chuckled. His shoulders seemed to relax for a bit and he replied: "I just didn't think it would go this fast." He blindly took a handful of chips and shoved them in his mouth. "I'm not sure I'm ready."

"You will be," Brooke told him with a comforting smile.

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know that?"

Peyton leaned forward, staring at Brooke while she was struggling to come up with an answer. "Well, because I, er… Because I know you."

Nathan didn't look too convinced by that. "I didn't really have a great fatherly figure growing up, remember?"

"No, but you'll have us to knock you on the head if you ever start screwing things up with your kid," Brooke retorted, making him smile. "Right, Peyt?" When Peyton stayed silent, they both turned to her. "Peyton?" she called again.

Peyton blinked and noticed that they were both staring at her. "Er, yeah, sure," she replied, her eyebrows twitching. "So, um, when are we going to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"In a month," Nathan said with excitement.

"What's with your smile?" Peyton asked Brooke, dragging her from her thoughts.

Brooke blinked at her, realizing that she had been smiling because she knew that it was going to be a blonde-haired boy. "Nothing," she said in what she hoped was a casual tone, "I'm just happy for him." Peyton sent her a suspicious look, and before she could ask something else, Brooke cut her off by asking: "Any name ideas?"

This was enough to get Peyton's attention back to Nathan. "Haley said no to Kobe," he said, making them laugh, "and I don't have any other idea for boys. So, I guess she'll get to choose if it's a boy."

Of course she would, Brooke thought as she moved the bowl to Nathan's lap. "And if it's a girl?" Peyton asked him, getting a few chips for herself.

"I was thinking maybe Dorothy."

Peyton almost choked on her chips, and after a coughing fit, stared at Nathan. "Dorothy?" she repeated, wearing the same horrified look as Brooke.

"Yeah," he answered with a raised eyebrow. He clearly couldn't see where their shock was coming from. "You know, like my granny." Deb's mother, and Nathan's only decent grandparent. "I know it's a little old fashioned, but─"

"A little?!" Peyton repeated with a scoff. "We know you love her, but do you really want your kid to be bullied for life?"

When all Nathan did was roll his eyes, Peyton leaned forward to send a silent, help-seeking gaze to Brooke. "She's right," Brooke chimed in. "Unless you want your daughter to be constantly asked about Kansas and red slippers, you should find another name."

"Whatever," he said with a shrug, "Haley said she was okay with it."

"No way!" Peyton cried.

"I know, I was surprised too," he mused back.

Before Brooke could realize it, she let a chuckle escape her lips. She couldn't help herself, as she knew why Haley would ever agree to naming her daughter that way: there wasn't going to be any daughter. Once again, she noticed that Peyton was keeping a watchful eye on her. Brooke cleared her throat and said, "It's cute. She probably doesn't want to hurt your feelings." Before Peyton could say anything, Brooke grabbed the remote control. "Can we go back to the movie now? I'd really like to know how this ends."

Maybe she was getting paranoid, but despite what Mouth and Haley had told her earlier that day, and even though Peyton wasn't being weird that night, she really had the feeling that her best friend was keeping something from her. What if she really was doing that? What if it had something to do with her future? What if, by ignoring it, Brooke failed to save her?

She wished she could travel soon, for it seemed like the only way to get answers to her questions. And it wasn't just about Peyton too, someone else's future was supposedly doomed, yet they had no idea who that could be.

All these interrogations didn't help with her nightmares, on the contrary. She had spent a weekend free of them, and now they were back with a staggering force, keeping her awake at night. Well, all of them weren't nightmares, and some even had happy endings. But most of her dreams still ended with Brooke waking up in the middle of the night, feeling helpless.

It was 4:30 when she opened her eyes on Sunday. After a minute of confusion, she remembered that Peyton would come pick her up in half an hour. She turned around in the bed, her eyes falling on Lucas' sleeping face, then quietly got up and grabbed her duffle bag as she left the room. She winced as the door creaked when she closed it, but after resting her ear against it and not hearing any noise, she figured that Lucas was still asleep. She blindly walked down the corridor, guiding herself through the dark by trailing the walls, and easily reached the bathroom ─ she was really starting to know this house very well.

After a quick shower, she brushed her teeth and put on the clothes she had prepared following Peyton's instructions: a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that she wasn't afraid of getting ripped or stained, and a sweater just in case it got cold. When she had told them what to wear, Nathan had jokingly asked if they were going to boot camp, to which Peyton had mysteriously replied to wait and see. Brooke finished putting on her clothes and watched her reflection for a moment; maybe it was just an impression, but it looked like her body was floating in Lucas' hoodie more than usual… Had she lost some weight? Well, her mother had pointed out to her several times in the past three weeks that she had been eating less than usual, so maybe she really had─

She jumped up when she heard a rattling noise coming from outside the bathroom. She quietly opened the door and saw a stream of light coming from the kitchen. Lucas was standing near the sink, his back turned to her, yawning and scratching his head.

"Why are you up?" she asked, startling him.

He swiftly turned to her, his shoulders relaxing when he saw her standing in the frame. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, to the toaster sitting behind him. "I figured you'd be hungry." And right on cue, two grilled slices of bread jolted up.

Brooke walked to the table, where a cup of coffee, an empty plate and an open jar of jelly were waiting for her. She really must have lost some weight. When she sat down, Lucas came to her side and placed the bread on her plate. He dragged his chair closer to her and rested his chin on his hand, his elbow propped against the table. "Thanks," she murmured, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before taking a slice in her hands. "Sorry I woke you up," she mumbled in-between bites.

"It's okay," he answered, stifling a yawn. "When's Peyton coming?"

She glanced at the clock. "Fifteen minutes."

"And you still don't know where you're going?"

She shook her head, still wondering what was up with Peyton ─ she wasn't one to plan surprise trips. "When are your parents coming home?"

"Not before tonight." His hand grazed her thigh, his thumb tracing invisible lines above her jeans. "Are you sure you want to go?" he asked, his tired eyes suddenly gleaming. "We could have the house to ourselves for another day."

"Sounds nice," she answered with a crooked smile, "but you'll have to deal with Peyton."

His fingers froze and gave a light tap on her leg. "Alright, off you go then."

She giggled and grabbed the second slice of bread. "They're still going on a honeymoon, right? I mean, it's not just this weekend, they're planning to go somewhere?"

"Yeah, this summer," Lucas answered with a fleeting smile. "They don't know where, but probably somewhere in Europe. They've definitely earned some time away from here." He paused and frowned. "And from Dan," he added, his voice shaking slightly.

"Let me guess," Brooke said with a sigh, "Susan told you he came to the shop?"

"Yesterday, yeah," he said, crossing his arms. He lowered his head, staring at his lap in silence while she finished eating.

"Hey." When he didn't move, she put a hand around one of his arms, squeezing it, and planted a kiss on his cheek. This managed to make him look up at her. "He'll drop it eventually."

"I hope so," Lucas said with a sigh, his arm relaxing under her touch. "I just don't want him creeping around my niece or nephew."

Or his little sister, although he wasn't yet aware of her future existence. Was Lily already conceived? If she wasn't, then it wouldn't take very long, because Brooke could tell that she was only a little younger than Jamie. Maybe she could get a bottle of their favorite wine the next time she was invited for dinner, and see whether Karen took a glass. But what if Karen was already pregnant and didn't know it yet, would it be dangerous for the baby if she had a drink or two?

Lucas' fingers moved next to her head, brushing a few strands of hair off her face. "What are you thinking about?"

"Um, n─ nothing interesting," she stammered, avoiding his gaze.

"Really," he murmured, his fingers now playing with her hair.

Would he believe her, if she were to tell him about his soon-to-be little sister? Well, considering his future self knew all about her travels, he probably would… She did wonder how he was going to act around his sister. After all, he was turning eighteen very soon and was about to leave town to go to college in New York. What kind of relationship would he get to build with Lily?

Knowing him, a close one, despite the distance. Brooke could easily picture him as the protective older brother. She truly pitied Lily's future boyfriends for having to deal with both Keith and Lucas.

"Brooke?" he called, dragging her from her thoughts. "You're dazing off again."

"Sorry," she said, blinking at him. "I was just thinking about what you said."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "About Dan?"

"No, about your future niece or nephew." She paused and hesitated before saying, "Although, if we are talking about Dan… You still haven't told anyone about what he did to you?"

"I told you."

"Yeah, but… I just don't get how you could not tell anyone for a year, not even your parents." She would never be able to hold onto a secret for that long, and her travels didn't count, because Mouth had been in the know since the beginning.

"I just…" He sighed and gave a shrug. "I just don't want to bother them with that."

"I get it now," she murmured, her eyes shifting to the table.

He tilted his head, intrigued by her words. "Get what?"

"Well, before we started talking, every time I looked at you, you were always brooding. Now I get why."

"Every time?" he repeated with a smug face.

She rolled her eyes, trying hard not to smile. "Whatever. Maybe you should keep a journal or something." When she noticed that he had no idea what she meant, she added, "You know I've been keeping one, right?" He nodded. "It was my mother's idea. She said it could help with all the stuff I didn't want to tell her or my dad. And it did help me a lot." It still did.

He stayed silent for a moment, his fingers still twirling around her hair. "You know what, I might give it a try."

Her enthusiastic grin made him chuckle. "And if you don't, you can always come and bother me with anything."

The last bit of sleepiness that had been lingering on his face seemed to vanish in an instant. "How generous of you," he murmured before leaning into her neck. His lips grazed her skin, stopping at the spot right above her collarbone. Her eyes fluttered open when she heard the familiar sound of her phone buzzing. "Peyton?" Lucas mumbled against her neck.

"Yeah," she said, reading her best friend's text. "She's here." He let out a disappointed sigh and when he leaned back, Brooke noticed with a giggle that he looked genuinely sad. "Hey, at least you get to go back to sleep."

Lucas kissed her temple and walked her back to his room, opening its door while she was putting on the old sneakers Peyton had told her to bring along. "I can't tell if Nate's asleep or in a coma," Lucas observed with amusement. Brooke got up from the bed; Lucas was leaning against his door frame, waving at who she guessed was Peyton. "All good?" She nodded, threw her duffel bag over her shoulder, and walked up to his side. Peyton's car was parked along the sidewalk, and Nathan could indeed be seen sitting on the front seat, his head and right arm dangling from the lowered window. "Have fun," Lucas told her with a peck on her cheek.

She silently thanked him with a smile and hopped down the porch steps. Peyton opened the truck just as she reached the car, and after freeing herself of her bag, she climbed on the back seat. "Hey," Peyton welcomed her with a bright smile, one that no one would have expected at 5:00 in the morning. "Buckle up, we have a long way to go."

"Okay… Hi Nate." When she didn't get an answer, Brooke kicked his seat, make him jolt up just as the car was pulling away from Lucas' house. He looked around groggily, until he saw her. "Hi," he said, then turned to their driver. "Alright, so now that we're all here, can we know where we're going?"

Brooke was curious about this too, but she noticed something in Peyton's hair that piqued her interest. "You're wearing braids," she mused. That was weird; when was the last time she had seen her wearing braids? Why did it seem like it was not so long ago?

Peyton looked at her through the rearview mirror. "Yeah, I figured it would be easier with, um, where we're going."

"Which is where, exactly?" Nathan asked, his patience wearing thin.

"I can't tell you." She paused hesitantly, then added: "All I can say is it's near Charlotte."

"Charlotte?!" Nathan and Brooke repeated in synchronized, surprised voices. "It's a four-hour ride!" Nathan cried.

"I know, but I'm sure I can make it in less than that. That's why we have to leave early, otherwise we can't make the round trip in a day."

What was so important and urgent that they had to go all the way to Charlotte? And the braids… She remembered now why they looked familiar; Peyton had been wearing the same ones in a photograph that she had seen in her latest travel. A picture of the three of them, with Nathan looking eerily spooked. She tried recalling its details, thinking that there maybe was a clue there, but with each second passing by, Brooke could feel herself being lulled by the car, until her eyes closed.

When they snapped open, the first thing she noticed was the sharp pain in her neck: her head had been resting against the car door at a very uncomfortable angle. She groaned and stretched her neck, massaging it as she blinked, blinded by the sunlight. She had been sleeping for more than two hours, and Peyton was still driving, her eyes glued to the road. Nathan, from the way the top of his head was bobbing, was still asleep. Brooke could hear a faint music, but she couldn't recognize it, as her friend had probably lowered the volume so as not to wake them up.

Peyton did a double take when she saw through the rear-view mirror that she was awake. "Did you sleep well?"

Brooke's hand slid from her neck, and she leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of Nathan's headrest. "Yeah. Do you want me to take over?"

"Nice try," Peyton answered with a smirk, "but if I do that, I'll have to tell you where we're going."

Brooke's lips twitched, and she rested her head on her arms. "Your call." She silently watched her best friend for a few seconds, then asked, "So, why the surprise trip?"

Peyton's smirk slowly disappeared, and maybe it was just Brooke's mind playing tricks on her, but for a second, she thought she had seen her hands tightening on the wheel. "It's just… It's been a while, you know," Peyton explained with a fleeting smile, "since we did something, just the three of us."

It was a good enough reason to plan a surprise trip, but again, this kind of decision usually came from Brooke herself. The uncomfortable feeling of failing to grasp something important crept into her once more, and she stayed mostly quiet for the rest of the trip.

As announced by Peyton, it took her less than four hours to reach their destination, and when they passed Charlotte's sign, the car clock had just reached 9:00 AM. They drove farther, until they reached a winding road entering the woods at the edge of the town. They kept turning left and right, so much so that Brooke's stomach started churning. They weren't just slaloming, there were also going higher and higher, and for a while all they could see were two rows of trees on each side of the road, standing so tall that it looked like that the car was about to be swallowed whole. They eventually came out of the forest through a last turn, and now that there wasn't any tree to shadow them, Brooke blinked, blinded by the sudden gush of light. Peyton didn't seem bothered by it; she didn't slow down and kept driving until they arrived on a plateau. There wasn't anything there, except for a tiny parking lot that could only hold five cars, and a hangar.

Brooke's limbs were sore when she climbed out of the car. She was stretching her arms when she heard Nathan whistle in amazement behind her. She turned around: there, they could see the whole of Charlotte's. Well, not just Charlotte, but all the neighboring towns as well, along with the surrounding lakes, and the forest that they had just driven through. She took off her hoodie, realizing that she wouldn't need it, and scanned her surroundings. The plateau was huge and part of it was hidden by the hangar to their right, but it didn't look like anyone else was here.

Peyton checked her watch and told them that they had about twenty minutes. Nathan and Brooke shared a confused look, both wondering what that could mean. Peyton then opened the truck and took out a thermos and three cups. While she was sipping her coffee, Brooke looked around her once more and finally noticed a sign at the entrance of the parking lot, holding a red arrow pointing to the hangar and reading 'Southern Skies'.

Southern Skies… What could that mean? The picture she had seen in her travel flashed in her mind, and now that she was wide awake, she remembered it in detail: her unkempt hair, the helmets and harnesses, Nathan's aghast face… There wasn't much that could scare Nathan; he had once told them, long ago, that he was fine as long as his feet were on the ground.

"Er, Peyt?" she called, making both her friends turn to her. "Are you gonna go skydiving?"

Nathan almost choked on his coffee. "Seriously?!" he cried, sounding equally amazed and worried.

"No, not skydiving," Peyton answered with a chuckle.

Nathan looked relieved to hear that; he apparently still hadn't realized that whatever Peyton had planned on doing here, it was including him too.

They finally got their answers when at 9:30, Peyton led them to the hangar and stopped to talk to its receptionist. There, at the entrance, were displayed a dozen of pictures of different people. They had one thing in common: they had all been taken in the sky.

"Paragliding," Nathan mused next to Brooke before glancing in Peyton's direction. "Sawyer, you're paragliding?"

Peyton briefly stopped talking to the receptionist to send him an amused look. "Uh, Nate," Brooke said, getting his attention. "I don't think she took us both here just so we could watch her."

His face fell, and his eyes grew wide and restless, moving back and forth between Brooke and Peyton, who was now walking back to them. "No," he hissed, his voice getting more high-pitched with each word, "no, no, no." He then turned to Peyton and sent her a pleading look. "Come on, you know I'm not good with this kind of stuff."

Which was the understatement of the year, but that didn't seem to bother Peyton. "Don't worry," she told him as she gripped his arm, "you'll be just fine."

Nathan looked like he was about to run far, far away, but before he could do that, a man who was in his forties ─and from the way his hair kept falling on his eyes, was in a dire need of a haircut─ greeted them and took them to a briefing room.

Samuel, as he introduced himself, walked them through the main points of paragliding. He was apparently passionate about flying and proceeded to tell them all about the history of mankind flying, and despite his enthusiasm, Brooke didn't pay much attention to what he had to say. She was too busy wondering what the hell was happening. Why would Peyton decide to do this on a whim? She knew her best friend, she knew she had always wanted to try something like this, but why now? Was it just a coincidence? Did it have something to do with Peyton's recently odd behavior? With what Brooke knew of the future? Was she just reading too much into this? Or was she─

"Brooke?" Samuel's voice broke her trail of thoughts. "I know this may be boring to you, since you'll be flying in tandem, but you still need to know some basic stuff in case something goes wrong."

Brooke sent him an apologetic look and when he resumed talking, noticed that Nathan's face had gotten even paler with Samuel's last words. "Nate," she whispered, making him slowly turn his head to her, "are you okay?"

He blinked and nodded weakly. "Sure, yeah," he whispered in a tone that showed that he was anything but fine.

After half an hour, they moved to another room where they were presented with their flying partners and the equipment they would be using. Brooke's monitor was a 33-year-old woman called Lila; when she talked, Brooke felt confused at first, for her voice was eerily similar to Peyton's, except of course for the thick Australian accent she had.

It all went very fast, and in the blink of an eye, Brooke found herself standing at the top of the plateau, on the other side of the hangar, and staring at the steep hill she'd have to run down. By then, all the color from Nathan's face had completely disappeared. His assigned pilot, Max, kept telling him not to worry, but it didn't seem to work.

"Hey, Brooke," she heard him murmur next to her, "I don't think I can do this."

She turned to him and saw that he was fiddling with his helmet straps. "Why not?"

"Cause I'd rather stay alive."

She nudged him, making him look at her, and gave him an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine."

"You don't know that," he retorted with a dubious frown.

"I d─" Well, no, she couldn't tell him that she did know that. "Just have a little faith."

"Faith?" he repeated, dumbfounded by her laidback answer. "How is that going to save me from crashing into a tree?"

"Actually, that's what I'm here for," Max, who was standing on Nathan's other side, chimed in.

While he went over each step of the flight once more as a last attempt to reassure Nathan, Brooke recalled the picture she had seen in the future with her own eyes, the one that could only be the aftermath of their flight. She knew, more than anyone else on the plateau, that everything was going to go well, yet, if she had to be completely honest, she couldn't help but feel a bit of worry, amidst her excitement. There was something quite frightening in seeing her best friend, who had a sword of Damocles hanging over her neck, rise into the sky.

Peyton was the first to go. They nervously watched her getting strapped to Samuel before she started running down the hill, the wing of her paraglider dragging on the ground behind them. "Seriously, what got into her?" Nathan muttered next to Brooke, and with a glance she saw that he was sweating profusely. When her eyes shifted back to the front, Peyton wasn't on the ground anymore; she was hovering a few feet above the hill and going up fast. She was still close enough for them to hear her squeal in joy, but soon enough became just a distant dot in the sky.

Max kept telling Nathan that he could cancel his flight if he wanted to, that no one would judge him, but Brooke knew that his pride ─ a gift from his father ─ wouldn't let him do that. And so, a few minutes later, she watched Nathan's feet leave the ground. She heard him shriek ─ yes, Nathan Scott, shrieking ─ and immediately regretted not filming this, until she noticed that Lila had her phone pointed toward him. She would definitely have to get that video, but before doing that, she had to fly too.

Despite knowing for sure that she was going to be fine, her heart started racing. Lila checked one last time that Brooke's harness was correctly strapped around her, and attached it to her own.

Her voice rang in Brooke's ear: "Remember, just like in the video" ─she maybe should have paid more attention earlier─ "keep running straight ahead and don't stop until you feel the wing pulling us up."

It was a strange feeling, running down a hill while having someone glued to her back, but it somehow worked. After just a few feet, she felt a force pulling her upwards; her left foot raised from the ground, then her right, and suddenly she was sitting on her harness, her legs dangling in the void. Her body acted on its own: her eyes shut tight, her fists clenched, and her jaw tightened. She tried to remind herself that as long as she could feel Lila's weight on her back, she was fine, but it wasn't that easy to do.

"Open your eyes, Brooke."

If it hadn't been for the Australian accent, Brooke would have wondered how Peyton had appeared behind her. She listened, and as she did open her eyes, her breathing hitched, and her muscles relaxed.

She was soaring above town, a slight wind blowing in her face, and her lips immediately stretched into a broad grin. There, high in the sky, she felt a kind of freedom she had never known before. It was almost magical really, as if time had stopped. She knew that it would not last very long, she knew that time would resume, and all her worries would come back to gnaw at her, but for the fifteen minutes it lasted, she enjoyed it to the fullest.

She was the last to land; Samuel had told them to stay alert during landing, since it could get pretty rough, and she should have taken his warning more seriously. She hit the ground with a force that made her lose balance and stumble on the plateau. She could feel that Lila was trying hard to pull back both of their weights, but it didn't prevent Brooke from scraping her knees and elbows, then from rolling on the grass. The wing fell flat on them, blinding Brooke for about five seconds, until Lila swiftly stood up and removed it from their heads.

Brooke heard a snap when Lila unlinked them. "You okay?" Lila asked her in a worried voice. Brooke rolled on her back and saw that her monitor was standing over her, her back hunched, squinting at her while she was carefully studying her face. When she saw her smile, Lila's face relaxed and she gave her a thumbs up.

Brooke stayed on her back for a short moment, hypnotized by the very few clouds moving in the sky. She sat up when she saw her friends coming to her side. "Nice stunt," Peyton told her with a chuckle.

"Thanks," she answered, removing her helmet. Her hair was a mess, but she couldn't have cared less. "Can we go for a second round now?"

Peyton laughed and pointed to Nathan, who was wobbling next to her until they both sat down. "I don't think he's ready yet."

Nathan didn't say anything, and he didn't need to: his face was still blanched from the ride. Samuel, who had already taken off his equipment, came over and asked them how they were doing, before taking a picture of them ─ one that Brooke had already seen. He then told them that they could enjoy the view from up here for a while longer, as long as they needed to get their nerves back to normal. Brooke understood what he meant by that: the intense high she had felt was gradually coming down, at the same time as Nathan's face was getting back some color. His lips even formed a faint smile, and he said: "You know what, that wasn't so bad."

"See?" Peyton told him with a grin. "So next time, you'll know that─"

"Next time?!" he exclaimed with a scoff. "That's not happening for another decade," he said, making them laugh.

They each thanked their monitors before leaving ─ Brooke thanked Lila even harder when she sent her Nathan's video, and immediately forwarded it to Haley ─ and went back to the car. Brooke had been behind the wheel for several minutes, going down the forest road, when she remembered something important.

"We need to turn back," she muttered, wondering where she would be able to do that.

Peyton, who was sitting next to her, turned to face her. "Why?" she asked with a frown. "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah, we forgot to pay."

"Shit," Nathan said from the back seat, "you're right." He paused and leaned forward, squinting at the road ahead. "There's no way you can pull a U-turn here, but maybe if─"

"Just keep going straight ahead," Peyton cut him off, "we don't have to turn back." She turned to the front, ignoring her friends' confused looks.

"But," Nathan said, "what about─"

"I've already taken care of it." She noticed that they still looked bemused and added, "You know, when I booked everything."

"Oh," Brooke said with a nod. "So how much do we owe you?"

"Nothing." She paused hesitantly then said: "It's on me."

They both gave her a dumbfounded look. "But that's…" Brooke murmured with a frown. "Well, I don't know how much it costs for one person, but three times that has to be a lot of money!"

Peyton shrugged dismissively. "Not that much." She saw that they were still staring at her and added: "You know I've been saving some money for a while."

"I thought you were gonna use that for LA?" Nathan asked, reading into Brooke's mind. "For rent, and food, and─"

"Not all of it, no," Peyton answered. "I also kept some for this kind of stuff."

Brooke shared a brief look with Nathan; they both knew that there wasn't much room for discussion, and silently agreed not to argue for now.

Since they were in Charlotte, they decided to linger around. They hung out at the lake they had all seen from the skies ─ Lake Norman, if Brooke had heard right ─ and headed back to Tree Hill after having lunch.

Brooke had been sitting on the back of the car for two hours, racking her brains on how to walk Prom into the conversation in a natural way, when Nathan, whose turn it was to drive, helped her unknowingly.

"So, Sawyer," he said, his tone playful, "got any Prom invites lately?"

Brooke's ears pricked up and she leaned to her left side, trying to take a look at Peyton's face when she answered: "Yeah, I did." She didn't sound too thrilled by that, actually she sounded annoyed. Could it be that, by some kind of miracle, Peyton didn't want to go to Prom?

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Wow, they were that ugly, huh?"

"No," Peyton chuckled, "it's just that… I don't want to go" ─Brooke's hopes shot up─ "with someone I barely know. I'd rather go on my own" ─and now they were suddenly switched by disappointment─ "or with a friend."

Maybe now was the time to try something. "You know," Brooke said after clearing her throat, "I heard the Prom committee isn't that into it this year. I'm not sure how good it's gonna be."

"Really?" Peyton asked, surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"Just some stuff I heard from the current student council," she said with a shrug.

Peyton raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Are you sure? Cause when I gave them the flyer, they looked really excited about it."

"Oh, erm," she said, trying her best not to avert her eyes, "that's not what I heard. I mean, maybe we should do something on our own."

"Like, get into the committee?"

"No, um, like…" How could she suggest boycotting their Prom and not make it sound like she had been abducted and replaced by an alien? "Have a plan B. That way we can leave early if it sucks."

There, that wasn't so unrealistic, was it? From the way Nathan's head jerked in her direction, and Peyton's eyes looked about to pop out of their sockets, she knew she had failed.

"Leave early?" Peyton repeated with a bewildered look.

Nathan had to watch the road, but Brooke could see that he was throwing glances at her through the mirror. "You've been talking about Prom since we've known you and now you want to bail on it? Peyton, I think you gave her your summer flu."

Peyton chuckled and turned back to the front, stretching her legs and resting her feet on the dashboard. "Come on, we can't miss Prom," she said, declining Brooke's suggestion with a swift hand movement. "It's our last chance to get together before our finals and then we'll all go our separate ways."

Again, her tone was definite, giving Brooke the impression that there was no reasoning with her on this, like there would have been no changing her mind on her resolve to paraglide.

On the next morning, when Brooke, Haley and Mouth talked about this, they all shared a gloomy look.

"So she's really deadest on going?" Haley asked in a murmur.

Brooke sighed and nodded, watching as the stream of students were walking past them to get inside their school. Some of them were sitting at picnic tables just like they were, but far enough for them to know that they wouldn't be heard.

"Then we stay with her all the time," Mouth declared with a frown. "We're all fine in the future, so if we all stick with her, she'll be fine too."

They weren't absolutely sure of that theory, but it was the only solution they had for now. Brooke was seriously starting to think that maybe burning down the gym wasn't such a bad idea, but how could she make sure to protect Peyton if she ended up in jail?

She kept thinking about it ─ that was all she could think about ─ until school ended and, after a short detour to the doctor's office, she went to the Café to do her homework. She had been struggling with focusing on her English paper for half an hour, when Karen came out of the kitchen to greet her. It was a quiet afternoon, with only three tables occupied, which allowed Karen to take a break.

"Lucas told me you were getting your staples off today," she said while sitting across from Brooke.

"Yeah," she answered with a smile, lowering her head and pointing at the now staple-free part of her scalp.

Karen smiled. "Good. So, um…" She gave a sidelong glance in Lucas' direction; he was busy waitressing a table near the entrance, away from them. She lowered her voice and said, "I'd like to do something for his birthday."

A surge of panic ran through Brooke's veins, and she quickly counted in her head the days left until Lucas' birthday: ten. Wow, and she had managed to completely forget about it, which probably made her the lamest girlfriend ever. Although, she had had a good reason, she had been way too preoccupied to think of a gift to get him, let alone plan a party. Peyton's possible death outweighed Lucas' birthday. It outweighed everything.

Karen's voice brought her back to the Café: "I wouldn't usually plan something during a school night, but since he's turning eighteen…"

"And I'm guessing he doesn't know about your plans?"

"No," she confirmed, shaking her head slowly. "I was thinking of doing it here, it would be easier than the house."

Brooke looked over her shoulder, at the bay window through which the sun was streaming. "Why not outside?" she asked, turning back to Karen. "We had a beach party for Peyton's birthday last year, and it was great. Well, it wasn't in May, but the weather's really nice right now, so it could work."

Karen looked thoughtful for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Sounds great. We could do a picnic there, and have a bonfire at night… He'll love it." She glanced at her son, who was now talking to a couple of clients who had just come in. "Can you pass the word?" She seemed to remember something and added: "But, um, just his close friends."

Brooke chuckled, easily guessing what Karen was afraid of. "Sure, just the Ravens, the River Court guys, Haley and Peyton."

They kept talking for a few minutes, deciding on when to meet, and who should bring what. Brooke's eyes shifted to Lucas, who was chuckling at some joke the guy he was serving had just told him. He caught her staring at him and gave her a playful wink, before going back to talking to his clients. "I don't have a gift," she murmured with a frown. "Any idea on what I could get him?" ─Karen opened her mouth─ "And please don't say 'anything'."

Karen chuckled and suggested something to do with basketball, which sounded like a safe choice, but not a satisfying one: she had a feeling that among all the people coming, at least one of them was bound to get him something sports related.

She could get him a book, but that seemed like a cheap option. He was turning eighteen, so she wanted something that he wouldn't just read and place on his shelves where it would eventually get covered in dust. She also wanted it to be personal, something that would suit him.

She had been watching him writing an order on his little notebook when Karen spoke: "He hasn't asked for anything specific, but you know him… He keeps a lot to himself."

Wait. Maybe that was it. "What do you think of─"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Karen suddenly looked furious. For a second, Brooke wondered what she had said or done to earn this death stare, but then realized ─ with much relief ─ that she wasn't looking at her, but rather at a point somewhere above her right shoulder. "I'll be right back," she told Brooke, before swiftly getting up from her chair and walking to the door.

Brooke turned around, and through the bay window, saw what had triggered Karen: a blue Chevrolet, parked right across the street. She squinted, trying to find out from her seat whether its owner was still inside, but she couldn't see much from this distance. But if she got up and went to the window, then Lucas would notice her and probably wonder what she was up ─ oh, well, too late.

Lucas was frozen on the spot, an empty tray in his left hand, and the right one curled into a fist. Brooke knew what he had in mind, which is why she jumped on her feet, and right before he could open the door, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. His initial reaction was to jerk his arm free, but when he looked down and saw her, his shoulders relaxed, and he let her drag him aside.

"What are you doing?" he asked her with a dumbfounded face.

She let go of his arm. "I could ask you the same."

"But Dan is─"

"Just let her handle it," she urged him pleadingly.

He locked eyes with her, and for a moment, Brooke was certain that he was going to push her aside and follow his mother, but instead he sighed and muttered: "Fine."

They both turned to face the window just in time to witness Karen knocking on the Chevrolet's hood. Soon after, Brooke got the answer to her earlier question, when Dan came out of his car. Something was off, she couldn't tell what exactly, but he looked… Different.

"Doesn't he look weird to you?" she asked.

"What?"

"Dan, don't you think he ─ Never mind," she said when Dan looked like he was about to talk. But whatever it was he had to say, Karen didn't let him, her lips moving at a fast pace.

"What is he doing here?" she wondered aloud.

Lucas sent her a quick glance. "Probably to corner Keith, since he can't do it at the shop."

She mechanically reached out for his free hand and grasped it; this whole thing was making her very uncomfortable.

Karen was done speaking now, and Dan said something back to her. They obviously couldn't hear him, but whatever he said, it angered Karen even more. Something snapped in her, and Brooke gasped when she saw her slapping Dan. It happened so quickly that, had she blinked, she would have missed it. She quickly turned to Lucas; he was gaping at his mother, his eyes grown wide. Karen then grabbed Dan's arm, shoved him back into his car, and kept shouting at him until he started driving away. When his car couldn't be seen anymore, her shoulders slouched and all the anger on her face seemed to vanish.

When Karen turned to the Café, Brooke and Lucas startled and rushed to the table that she had been using, sitting on the chairs just as Karen came back in. She smiled to her clients and walked past the tables, around the counter and into the kitchen.

Before she disappeared, Brooke caught a glimpse of her face and frowned. "Maybe you should go check on her," she suggested to Lucas.

He sent a quick look over his shoulder and turned back to her. "Not now, later."

The next morning, he told her how he had talked to her once they had been home, and how Karen had refused to get into the details of what Dan had told her, but did say that she shouldn't have hit him ─ something Lucas didn't agree with.

Although he was in a dire need for distraction, she could not tell him about his surprise birthday party. During the next days, Brooke made sure to know who could make it, and apart from a couple of Ravens, they would all be there. Peyton offered to handle the music; she would have usually spent the next days trying to find the perfect combination of songs, but instead was much more focused on her phone.

When Thursday came and all she did again was anxiously stare at the screen in her hands, Brooke asked her during lunch what she was doing.

"The concert," Peyton replied, her eyes still glued to her phone. "It's this Saturday."

"What concert?"

"The Cure." Oh, right, Peyton had talked about this concert before.

"So now you wanna torture us through music?" Nathan snickered. He ducked right on time when Peyton threw a morsel of bread in his direction, which ended up landing on Fergie's face. Peyton gave him an apologetic look and went back to scanning her phone.

"It did sound like you were being tortured," Lucas told his brother, his lips stretching into a lopsided grin.

"What?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked around and noticed that they were all smirking. "What's so funny?"

"You screaming like a little girl," Skills explained with a chuckle.

"I didn't ─ How do you…" his voice trailed off and his eyes instinctively stopped on Peyton and Brooke.

"Don't look at me like that," Peyton said, though her eyes still hadn't budged. "It wasn't me."

Nathan's glower moved onto Brooke, who gave him an innocent look. "I only sent it to Haley. It's not my fault if she showed it to everyone else."

"Brooke!" Haley hissed.

"Don't worry, Nate," Peyton told him with a chuckle, finally looking up from her phone. "I'm not taking you this time, but I might take Haley if I can."

It turned out, later that day, that Peyton did manage to get her hands on two tickets for the Cure. In the middle of their fifth period, and while she had still been constantly staring at her phone, she suddenly squealed.

"Anything you want to share with us Ms. Sawyer?" their teacher asked.

Peyton's head shot up, and she looked like she had just now remembered where she was. She shook her head sheepishly and waited until their teacher went back to whatever he was saying to show Brooke her phone: there they were, the golden tickets.

Peyton was elated and kept talking about the concert during the rest of the day, until they settled down at the Café and she could finally start planning what would be her second trip to Charlotte. Haley was working that day and came to sit with them when things got quieter, right when Peyton was discussing going to the Post in the morning, so that they could leave for Charlotte at noon.

Peyton's eyes were still stuck on her screen, now searching to book a hotel room for Saturday night, when Brooke asked a question that caught her attention. "Are you sure you want to drive another eight hours?"

"It's the Cure, Brooke," she replied matter-of-factly. Haley seemed to understand what she meant by that, but Brooke just wasn't comfortable with the idea of Peyton getting too tired before Prom. "I can't miss them, not now," she added, her eyes shifting to Brooke. Those words somehow sent a chill down her spine, until Peyton spoke again: "Now that I have the tickets, I have to use them." The chill disappeared.

"It would be a shame not to," Haley chimed in.

"Wait, when do you want to go pick up our dresses?" Peyton asked.

Brooke shared a knowing look with Haley; they still hadn't found a solution concerning Prom, and they needed to get a better plan that just following Peyton around. They couldn't have it cancelled, since it would only call for an alternative to take place, and Peyton was adamant on going. Which meant that they had to somehow sabotage their own Prom, make it impossible to stay there, so that they could all safely go home before anyone could get hurt. Maybe they could ruin the drinks and food, or─

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"I said, when do you wanna go pick up our dresses?"

If Brooke had been told just a few weeks before that she would not feel an ounce of excitement, but rather a sense of dread, about going hunting for Prom dresses, she would have never believed it. "I don't know," she said unenthusiastically. Peyton gave her a quizzical look. "I mean, er, whenever you're free."

"Well, with the concert this weekend and the surfing lessons starting next week─"

The what now? "You're taking surfing lessons?" Haley asked her in surprise, before looking even more astounded when she saw from Brooke's expression that she had no idea what she was talking about.

Surfing lessons? When had she decided that? "Yeah," Peyton said with a grin, "starting next week, every day after school."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to do that a month before our finals?" Brooke asked with raised eyebrows.

Peyton shrugged. "You know I've always wanted to try it."

"Yeah, but─"

"You should come too," she cut her off with an eager look. She turned to Haley and pointed to her pregnant belly, "Well, not you, of course."

For a moment there, Brooke was speechless. Surfing lessons, really? "Thanks, but I think I'll pass." It was stupid really, because she knew nothing bad would happen before Prom, but suddenly an image flashed in her mind: a surfing board knocking her best friend unconscious and making her drown. "But I could come and watch you while doing my homework."

"Sure," Peyton said with a smile.

It wasn't just about the need Brooke felt to constantly watch Peyton and keep her out of hazard. It was also the voice in her head, telling her to spend as much time as she could with her, when they still had time… She frowned and berated herself for thinking that way.

"How about this Saturday?" Peyton said, still going on about the damn dresses. "We could go in the morning, then we" ─she turned to Haley─ "could leave right away for Charlotte."

"But you said you were going to the Post in the morning," Brooke pointed out.

"I'll just call in sick," she answered with a shrug.

Come on, she couldn't be the only one thinking that Peyton's behavior was off… but from the looks of it, Haley hadn't been bugged by her answer.

Peyton loved her job at the Post… She would never bail on them just to go shopping; that actually sounded more like something Brooke could do. Something was off, and there was only one way to find out what it was. "Did something happen?" Brooke asked.

Peyton gave her a cautious look. "W─ What do you mean?" she stammered.

"At the Post," Brooke clarified. "I mean, you hate missing a day there."

A flash of relief crossed Peyton's eyes. "Oh, yeah, but we're only going to Prom once." Before Brooke could say anything back, she turned to Haley and asked: "So, what do you say? Shopping in the morning, then we leave straight for Charlotte. Is it too much in one day?"

Haley shook her head. "I'll be fine, but um… You still haven't told me how much my ticket cost."

Peyton averted her eyes. "Don't worry about that, it was cheap."

"But─" Haley got interrupted by clients calling for her and left to attend to them.

When Haley's ears were away from them, Brooke squinted at Peyton. "Alright, define cheap."

Peyton let out a small sigh. "Fine, maybe cheap isn't the right word. But it wasn't that expensive either─"

"How much?"

"Um…" She hesitated, but gave in under Brooke's stare. "Three hundred."

"Dollars?!" Brooke exclaimed. "Wow, are you telling me that all this time, the treasure was actually in your garden?"

Peyton chuckled at that reference, probably picturing Deb's face when she had come home one afternoon to find her garden filled with holes, dug by the trio after Nathan had been certain that they would find a chest full of gold there. "No, but I told you, I've got some extra money."

The feeling that Peyton was acting out of character lingered, but since Haley and Mouth kept telling her that they didn't see it, she tried to forget about it; she already had a lot to think about, and not much time left to do so. Two weeks, to be precise.

On Saturday morning, as planned, the girls met up at the mall and what should have been a fun, distracting, and enjoyable activity turned out to be a nightmare. Things went well at first, as long as Brooke was busy hunting for a dress. But as soon as she found it ─ a beautiful red strapless dress ─ Brooke was now free to focus on her friends' search, and particularly on Peyton's. For some reason, seeing Peyton try out Prom dresses was utterly gut-wrenching, and with each dress she put on, Brooke had to fight harder to hold back her tears… until she couldn't anymore.

While Peyton was walking back inside the fitting room, Brooke mumbled to Haley that she would be right back. Her voice had been shaking so much that the words had come out as choked up gibberish, but with a single look, Haley had silently told her that she had gotten her message.

And that was why Brooke was now sitting on the toilet seat of the mall, crying after she had tried, in vain, to control her sobs. She couldn't do that in front of Peyton, she didn't want to worry her. She just couldn't help remembering, all the time, that there were only two weeks left until Prom, until the day Peyton could ─ no, stop.She took a deep breath, wiped her cheeks, and straightened her back. She had to pull herself together. Peyton's life was at stake, after all.

Fortunately, her best friend didn't seem to notice her anguish when she went back to the store. Peyton found her dress shortly after ─ an elegant, emerald slip dress ─ and it took them a little longer to find Haley's. As it turned out, there were not a lot of choices for pregnant seniors. They did find a gorgeous white dress, but when it didn't exactly fit at her waist, Haley looked like she wanted this shopping session from hell to be over just as much as Brooke, until Brooke told her that she could make it fit. Haley declined, saying that she shouldn't bother, that she would find something else to wear. Clearly, Haley didn't want to add another trouble to her already full plate, but after Brooke insisted that she could do it ─ at least, it would give her some kind of distraction ─ she gladly accepted her offer.

When their shopping session ended, they bid goodbye on the mall's parking lot, and Brooke did feel slightly better when she saw how ecstatic Peyton was about going to the concert; all trace of the fatigue that she had gotten from her summer flu had vanished. Although Brooke would have rather stayed home that afternoon, she didn't: Nathan had asked her the day before to help him get a gift for Lucas. She had accepted, not without wondering why Nathan would ever need her help with that.

She got even more confused when, after picking her up from her house, he stopped his car in front of a jewelry store and then walked toward it.

"You're getting jewelry for your brother?" she asked him as he was opening the door for her.

He laughed and followed her inside. "We're not here for Luke."

Well, that made more sense. Brooke's eyes mechanically stopped on the central display, where Nathan was examining a wide range of rings… Engagement rings. "Oh my God," she squealed, grasping his arm. "Are you proposing?"

"Wha─ No!" he answered, putting an abrupt end to her excitement. He smiled when he saw how disappointed she looked. "I mean, not now, but I'm sure someday, in the future, yeah… We're gonna be busy with a kid, which requires a lot of money, and so does a wedding. We can't afford both."

That sounded like a very responsible and mature plan, but Brooke couldn't help but wonder if she had seen a ring on Haley or him, during the travels where she had met them. She didn't remember seeing one, but she had been too busy freaking out about other things to pay attention to their ring fingers. There had been one moment, when she had talked to Future Nathan, and he had brought her a glass of water… She tried picturing his hand, but failed to see if there had been a ring there.

"So, what do you want to get her?" she asked.

He pointed to a case on their right; Brooke walked closer to it and bent over, looking closely at the bracelets laid there. "Our first-year anniversary is in a month, so I figured I could get her a real one this time," Nathan explained as he too was looking at the bracelets.

She sent him a puzzled look. "A real wha─ Oh," she murmured, remembering how she had found a toy bracelet in his room, back in September, before she had even realized that she could travel in the future. "Oh, Nate," she said giddily, "that is so romantic!"

"Yeah, whatever," he answered with a shrug, making her giggle. "Just help me pick something she'll like."

After changing his mind three times, Nathan eventually went for a golden bracelet with three white pearls. It was elegant without being too fancy, so that it could be worn on regular days.

"Where are you gonna hide it?" she asked him after the sales assistant handed him the bag containing the very carefully wrapped gift box.

"Oh, right," he said as if he was remembering something. He turned to her and held out the bag in her direction. "Could you keep this for me?"

"Are you sure?" Brooke replied, taking the bag in her hands. "I could run away with it."

He chuckled and once again opened the door for her. "Just try it. You'll have a pregnant Haley chasing you down."

They came out of the store, laughing; Brooke fell suddenly silent when she saw who was standing next to Nathan's car. He noticed it and sent her a confused look "What's wrong?" he asked her, before following her gaze and cursing under his breath. He stood still for a moment, but eventually clenched his fists and stomped toward his father, glaring down at him when he stopped in front of him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Dan answered something, but Brooke was too busy detailing his appearance to pay attention to his words ─ if she had, she would have noticed that he kept talking about Keith turning everyone against him. She had only seen him from afar the other day, and now that she was looking at him from up close, she realized why she had thought he had looked different then. Since that time in Fayetteville's gymnasium, his stubble had become into a badly trimmed beard, his skin had turned sallow, and his eyes were now surrounded by dark rings. Brooke's eyes travelled from his head to his feet, scanning his unusually unkempt clothes.

"Just go away," Nathan said in a firm voice that startled Brooke. He pushed his father aside and murmured, "Let's go, Brooke."

She wasn't about to argue and swiftly climbed into the car, her eyes lingering on Dan as they drove away. Haley had been right: anger and resentment could never leave to anything good, and Dan was the living proof of that. She turned to Nathan, and could easily tell that beneath the anger showing on his face, he also felt conflicted ─ and she knew why. However, she decided not to dwell on it, and to instead change his mind.

"What's our next stop?" she asked him enthusiastically.

He glanced at her, surprised by her tone, and it seemed to be enough to indeed make him forget about Dan. His shoulders relaxed when he answered: "Sports store. Where do you need to go?"

"There's a paper store in Hampstead, I think they have what I need."

He scoffed. "You're giving Lucas paper for his birthday?"

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. "Just drive."

Peyton and Haley were still basking in bliss when she saw them on Monday. It looked like it had been a breath of fresh air for Haley, one that she had desperately needed, and apparently, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Peyton hadn't mentioned or done anything that could be related to what could happen during Prom. According to Haley, they had mostly talked about her college plans in Chapel Hill and her relationship with Nathan.

As promised, Brooke accompanied Peyton to her surfing lessons and watched from a distance as her best friend was having, well, a lot of fun. It was really heartwarming to see how carefree Peyton was, laughing her heart out whenever she got engulfed by a wave. She couldn't stand up on the board yet, but she was determined to get the hang of it.

On Wednesday morning, Brooke got up early and, before leaving her house, carefully wrapped Lucas' gift and placed it in her backpack. She didn't go straight to school, but instead stopped by his house. When she knocked on his door and got no answer, she wondered if he had already gone to school ─ which would have been too bad because what she had in mind required some privacy ─ but then remembered that it was still way too early for him to have left. His parents, however, should already be gone.

She opened the door and walked inside the empty bedroom. She got rid of her backpack, and was about to walk into the hallway, when the door flung open. Lucas startled when he saw her standing right in front of him. She smiled at him, her eyes travelling from his wet hair, to his bare torso, and stopping at the towel loosely hanging from his hips.

"Jesus, Brooke, you scared me," he said with a chuckle. "What are you─"

He mumbled the rest of his question against her lips, and after the surprise effect had vanished, he moved his hands to her waist and pushed her back inside his room. Pinned to the wall, she felt a few drops of water dripping from his hair and rolling down her face. She smiled, before lightly biting his lower lip and tugging at it, making him groan. Her right hand moved from his neck and grazed his skin down his chest, stopping at the knot that was keeping his towel in place.

"Happy birthday," she murmured, out of breath.

Her fingers were mechanically fiddling with his towel. He pressed their foreheads together and asked: "Can it be my birthday every day?"

She giggled and motioned to the door with her head. "Your parents?" He didn't need to use words; the way his eyes gleamed and his fingers tightened around her spoke for itself. "Good," she whispered with a grin, one hand pushing him to his bed, the other swiftly pulling on the towel.

Brooke was constantly thinking about Prom, Peyton and the future: at school, at home, and event at nights when her imagination kept her up… The only exception was when she got to spend time alone with Lucas; she didn't exactly forget about the crazy, stressful events happening around her, but she could at least push them to the very back of her mind, where they wouldn't bother her. Well, they would always end up crawling back to the frontstage, but at least for a short moment, she could think about something else. She could let go of everything.

"Brooke?"

She zipped her pants and turned to him. Lucas was sitting on his bed, now fully clothed, and was staring at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. He reached out for her hand, and after grasping it, pulled on her arm to make her sit on his lap. "I don't think we have time for round two," she said with a chuckle.

"I know that," he replied, nuzzling her neck. He stood still for a moment, and Brooke wondered what was going on, until he looked up at her and she saw his hesitant look. "Did your nightmares get worse?" he asked, his eyes studying her face.

"W─ Why do you ask?" she replied, averting her gaze.

He sighed and kissed her bare shoulder. "Because you look tired." He put a finger under her chin, making her face him. "More than before, and so does Haley. And Mouth." He pinched the skin on her waist. "And you've lost some weight."

"Barely," she said with a shrug, "like half a pound or─"

"Brooke." His voice was gentle but firm, asking her not to change the subject.

She knew he would believe her if she told him everything, and not just because she had met his future self; she simply knew it. Yet for some reason, her instincts were telling that she had to stay silent for now, that she needed him not to know.

"I'm not…" her voice trailed off, and she wondered how she could put this. "I'm okay," she murmured, meeting his eyes. That was as close to the truth as she could get: she wasn't doing great, or even fine… But she was still okay. And one of the main reasons for her being able to be okay despite everything, was staring at her right now. "If things get bad, I mean, really bad… I'll tell you."

"It's just that… I don't like seeing you like this and not being able to help you."

Her heart fluttered and she smiled, which surprised him. "You are helping," she replied with a soft kiss. This seemed to bring him some relief, and he smiled back at her. She stood up, picked up her t-shirt from the floor and put it on. "So, um, what are your plans after school?"

"Just the usual," he said with a shrug. Which meant Café and River court.

"What do you say we go for a walk instead?"

He stood up and walked to her side. "Sounds perfect," he replied, pecking her lips.

He didn't seem to suspect anything, and when their classes ended, Haley and Nathan told him that they would see him tomorrow, and Peyton pretended to leave for her surfing lesson. Brooke had to keep him busy for about an hour, which was the amount of time Karen had asked for. At first, she pretended to have forgotten her wallet at home, which is why they had to make a quick stop there; she knew her mother would be home, and she knew she would want to talk to Lucas. Brooke had been right: it bought her fifteen minutes. As for the remaining forty-five, she took him to the one place she knew he could spend hours without getting bored: the local bookstore.

When her watch hit 5:00 PM, she suggested offhandedly that they could go to the beach, seeing that the weather was so nice. They had been walking on the sand for less than a minute, when Lucas wrapped his arm around her and asked, "So, is this where the party's happening?"

Brooke froze, for just a second, before getting back some composure. "Party? What party?" she asked with a steady voice.

He stared at her for a second, and when she held his gaze, his lips twitched and he chuckled. "You're a much better liar than Keith." When all she did was send him a quizzical look, he explained: "He always gets nervous when he's lying."

She was about to insist about about the nonexistence of a party, but she knew from his face that his mind couldn't be changed. "You have to act surprised."

"I'll do my best."

And he did, impressing Brooke with his acting skills, but even his best wasn't enough to fool his mother: when Lucas faked his surprise and hugged his friends, Brooke caught a glimpse of Karen rolling her eyes at her husband, and heard her say something about having to get rid of his sweating problem ─ whatever that could mean.

Everyone took turns to hand over their gifts; Haley had prepared a photo album filled with memories from their childhood and under each picture, had written a quote from a book. Nathan and the Ravens had gotten him a basketball that they had all signed. When Brooke had told him on Saturday that surely, he could get something better than a simple basketball, Nathan had argued that it wasn't just any ball, it was a limited series from something important ─ Brooke had stopped listening by then. And now she had to admit that he had been right: Lucas had been thrilled when he had recognized the ball, prompting Nathan to nudge her with a smug face. Peyton had found a mini basketball hoop, to which Brooke got a weird déjà-vu feeling, although she couldn't explain why. The River Court guys offered him a jersey, and his parents gave him an envelope.

All that was left was her gift, and Brooke silently thanked everyone for walking away from them to set up the beach volleyball net, because with each second passing by, she kept thinking more and more that it was a terrible gift.

"Can I have it, or are you gonna hold onto it until next year?"

Brooke looked up at and saw that Lucas was sitting down next to her, staring at her with an amused look. She lowered her gaze to the package sitting on her lap and sighed. "Fine," she said, handing it out.

"No Christmas wrapping this time?"

She chuckled. "No, I used it all last time."

"So, what is it?" he asked, examining the gift on its every side. "Feels like a book," he tried guessing when she stayed silent. "Is it another randomly picked up one? Cause I recall you're good with those."

"It's not a book," she said, nervously watching as he started unwrapping the package. "I mean, not really, but I guess it could be considered as…" her voice trailed off, and she realized that she was rambling. The paper now torn off, Lucas was studying the brown leather notebook in his hands. "It's a journal," she pointlessly explained when he kept silently staring at it. "You know, since, um," she cleared her throat, "I suggested maybe you could keep one, so that you can use it to put down your thoughts or whatever." She paused and frowned. Her voice slowed down as she was coming to a realization that hadn't yet crossed her mind. "Er, on what's happening to you… which is exactly what you've been doing with your book." So, it wasn't just a terrible gift, it was also a stupid one.

Lucas didn't say anything; he opened the journal and flipped its blank pages, then noticed the golden letters that Brooke had had added at the bottom right corner of the cover: his initials.

"I'm sorry," she said, finally making him look up at her. "I'm sure we can exchange it for someth─"

"What?" he asked, genuinely startled. "No, no way, Brooke this is…" His eyes lowered to the notebook, his fingers grazing the leather. "It's perfect."

She couldn't help raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes," he chuckled, gazing at her, "really. I love it."

She could tell, with much relief, that he really meant it. He started reading the little piece of paper tucked inside the pages, explaining how to take care of Italian leather, when Nathan interrupted them, yelling at them to stop flirting and join them already.

What started as a light-hearted game of beach volley, gradually got more intense, until each side desperately wanted to win ─ which shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering the people present that evening. Karen and Keith were named captains and picked their teammates, one by one; Brooke was called by Keith, and Haley acted as the referee. She had thought that her team would easily win, since they had two of the most competitive players in the group, namely Nathan and Skills, but they didn't.

The problem was that Nathan didn't want to admit defeat, so he kept asking to play another point, and another, and another… Until everyone, including his own team-mates, asked him to just drop it ─ they were all too hungry to keep playing.

Fortunately, Karen had prepared a little feast; they built a fire and ate around it. As the evening went by, Brooke's worries and fears got, once again, louder and louder, until she had to actually isolate herself for a short while, away from everyone else's cheerfulness.

"What are you looking at?"

She gazed up; Skills was crouching next to her, squinting at her. "It's Haley's photo album," she said, tapping it with a finger. She glanced around and noticed that the sun had almost set down; Karen and Keith had left just a few minutes before, and everyone was now playing beach soccer, except for Haley and Peyton who were sitting near the fire, and Nathan who had left to get some drinks, now that the adult supervision had ended. Her eyes shifted to the album on her lap; she had thought that maybe looking at it would make her feel better.

Skills sat next to her, his lips forming a smile when he saw a picture of Haley on a swing, looking terrified while Lucas was behind her, ready to push her farther and clearly having a lot of fun. "Luke told me you're gonna study business."

"What?" she asked, turning to him.

"Next year. He says you're going to New York to study business." She gave him a nod. "I thought you wanted to work in fashion?"

"I do," she answered with a smile, "but if I want to live off it, I need to know how to run a business."

"Clothes over bros, right?"

She chuckled. "Right." Skills tilted his head and looked hesitant to ask something, but she could guess what he was confused about. "I, er, I came up with that name when Luke and I were, you know… Maybe I should change it."

"Don't," a male voice said behind them, startling them. They both turned to see that Lucas was standing there, smiling at them. Brooke's eyes lowered to his bare feet, and she understood that the sand had muffled his steps, allowing him to sneak up on them. "It's a great name." He turned to Skills and told him that they were going to start a new beach soccer match in five minutes, and asked him if he wanted to be in; they both laughed when his friend's answer was to jump on his feet and run off to the improvised court. "How about you?"

Brooke's eyes shifted from Skills' running figure to Lucas, who sat next to her. "Maybe later," she answered, gazing down at the photo album. "First I wanna finish this."

Lucas' hand moved to the small of her back and he leaned closer, watching as she was turning the pages.

"You had a cat?" she asked, bemused. He looked at the picture she was pointing at, showing him with Haley, at eleven years old, sitting on his porch steps, and with an orange cat sleeping on Haley's lap.

"Ah," Lucas said with a quiet laugh, "Schrodinger."

"Schr─ What?"

He chuckled and repeated, "Schrodinger, my old neighbor's cat." His smile was filled with nostalgia. "M. Henderson used to live in the house across from ours, and Schrodinger always came by. Loved Haley, but kept scratching me all the time."

"And he was a German cat?"

"No," Lucas said with another chuckle, "M. Henderson was a science teacher." When Brooke sent him a confused look, not understanding what that had to do with the cat's odd name, he explained: "Schrodinger's cat, it's the name of an experiment."

Her eyes moved back to the orange cat. "What kind of experiment?"

"Er, I'm not sure I remember this right, but… Schrodinger was a scientist who suggested putting a cat in a black box, along with, er, something radioactive…" He frowned then said, "Can't remember what it's called. And some poison." She looked back at him, startled. "When the radioactive stuff disappears, the poison is released, and it kills the cat."

"What?" she cried, aghast. "Why would he do that to his cat?"

Lucas shook his head. "He didn't, it was just a theoretical experiment, he just wanted to make a point about, um, quantum theory, I think. M. Henderson explained it much better, but basically it means that if you keep the box closed, you don't know if the poison has been released or not. You know it will be, at some point, but you don't know when exactly, so as long as the box is closed, the cat is both alive and dead."

She frowned, trying to process what he had just said. "B─ But… That's impossible. It's either dead or alive, it can't be both."

"Well, technically, it's not, but until you open the box, you can't know for sure if it's still alive or not, which means…"

"Oh," Brooke said with a nod, "I get it. It's not dead for sure, and it's not alive for sure either. It's… in-between." It didn't make sense to her, but somehow, it also kind of did.

"M. Henderson loved telling this story, because he always wanted to know what people would do with the box. Whether they would open it or not."

Brooke glanced around them, her eyes stopping on Peyton and Haley, who were still talking near the fire. "Would you open it?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered without missing a beat. "You?" She was about to answer the same, but stayed silent, wondering if she really would open the box, if there was a chance to find out that the cat was dead. Wouldn't she rather not know? Staying in ignorance meant not risking gettin─ "Brooke?" He tilted his head, his eyes locking onto hers. "Would you open the box?"

"I─" They startled when they heard a shrill whistle and saw that some of the Ravens were waving at them. "I think they're waiting for you."

He scanned her face for a moment. "I can stay with you."

Brooke wondered what kind of expression she was making, to have him suddenly concerned about her. "Go," she told him with a soft kiss.

She watched him jogging toward his friends; sure, she wanted to spend time with him, but she knew she wasn't in a great mood right now, and she didn't want him to worry for her. They were all supposed to have fun tonight, and as much as Brooke wanted to join them, she knew she wouldn't be into it, since her eyes kept drifting in Peyton's direction.

She tried busying her mind with the photo album, but for some reason, the more she turned its pages, the more she felt depressed and lost. Maybe it was because flipping through it reminded her of the numerous similar pictures she had of Peyton, and because she had seen some of them in a memory box in the future.

"Hey," another male voice said, once again startling her. Mouth was standing in front of her, and like Lucas before him, she hadn't heard him coming. He was panting, exhausted from the match he had just played, and slumped down on the sand next to her.

Brooke sent him a faint smile. "Tired?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a chuckle. "You're not going?"

"Er, no," she replied, her eyes landing on Peyton, still talking to Haley, who was now tuning her guitar.

Mouth propped himself on his elbows, then sat up, and stared at her with a slight frown. He followed her gaze, then turned back to her. "Brooke, don't worry, it'll be fine."

"You don't know that!" she snapped, immediately regretting her sharp tone. "Sorry," she said with a sigh, "it's just that… We don't know that. I haven't travelled since last time, and we don't have a lot of days left until Prom." She clenched her fists and lowered her gaze. "Ten days, that's all that's left, and the only plan we have is to follow her around, but how are we gonna do that? What if she gets asked out by some random guy? What if he takes her away when we're not watching, and that's how─"

"Brooke, stop," Mouth said, putting a hand on her arm. "You're not doing yourself any good." His eyes lingered on Peyton. "But I see what you mean…"

He suddenly stood up, startling her. "Where are you going?"

"I have an idea," he murmured with a quick glance at her, before swiftly making his way towards the fire.

Brooke watched as Mouth sat down next to Peyton, interrupting the conversation she was having with Haley, and said something to her. After a few seconds during which Peyton looked surprised ─ although Brooke wasn't sure of that, she couldn't properly see her from this distance ─ she broke into a grin and high-fived him, then stood up and ran toward the beach soccer group, yelling at them to wait for her.

What had just happened? Brooke jumped to her feet, strode to Haley and Mouth, and sat between them.

"What was that?" she asked Mouth, her gaze still following Peyton.

"I just asked her to go to Prom with me." Brooke's head jerked in his direction, and he smiled at her. "That way we're sure she'll be in good hands."

"Mouth, that's…" How had she not thought of that before? Brooke threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You're a genius!"

Haley and Mouth chuckled, and she leaned back, sitting crossed-legged. For a moment, they stayed silent, and all they could hear was the familiar tune that Haley was playing, accompanied by the cracking sounds coming from the flames. "We still need to find a way to cut it short," Haley murmured. Brooke's eyes moved away from the fire. "Prom," Haley added, although she had not needed to.

"Yeah," Brooke said with a nod. "I don't even feel sorry for ruining everyone else's night."

"Peyton's life comes first," Mouth agreed. "Whatever we can do to save her, we should try it."

"Except maybe break her legs to make sure she can't go," she said, making her friends chuckle.

"Actually…" Mouth said with a frown. "Whatever we try, it has to be safe, I mean… What if we do something too dangerous and we end up causing her death? That would be…"

"Awful," Haley muttered. "And there's also that other person too, who's supposed to die with her, we still don't know who that is."

"Maybe we could steal the stereo," Brooke suggested, "or─"

A voice came from behind them: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Haley's fingers slipped on the strings, producing a very displeasing sound that should have made them all wince, but they were too stunned by Nathan's sudden presence to have any kind of reaction. "Nate?" Brooke said, her voice shaking. "How long…"

He was holding a grocery bag in one hand, and his shoes in the other. "What the hell are you talking about?" he repeated, and she could hear a mix of confusion, fear and anger in his voice. The trio shared a knowing look and slowly got up. He responded by taking a step back, his eyes darting between the three of them. "I asked you a question," he said in a firm tone.

"Nathan," Haley murmured, reaching out for his wrist. He immediately jerked it away, dropping his shoes in the process, and for a second looked like he regretted doing so when he saw the hurt look on her face.

"Maybe you should sit down," Brooke suggested tentatively. He didn't; instead, he kept staring at them as if he didn't know them. Brooke quickly glanced around, and after making sure that no one was near them, turned back to her childhood friend. "What did you hear?"

Nathan crossed his arms against his chest; his eyebrows were now touching each other. "Some kind of nonsense about stopping Prom so that Peyton wouldn't…" He paused and looked like he was wondering if he really had heard that right. "Die?"

They really should have been more careful… She had completely forgotten that Nathan had been sent out for drinks. What was she going to do now? She shared a worried look with Haley, and knew that there was only one option. "Okay, erm… I know this is gonna sound crazy, but, um…" Where was she supposed to start? "Do you remember when I passed out at school? And at your house?"

"Yeah," he answered warily, "but what does that have to do with─"

"I wasn't─ I'm not just passing out. I can, erm…" She took a deep breath and said: "I can go to the future."

His reaction wasn't the one she had expected: he laughed, like she had just cracked a very funny joke. "Yeah, right," he said, shaking his head at her, "and can you fly too?"

"Nathan, she's being serious," Haley told him with a frown.

He could tell from her voice that she was being serious too, and turned to Brooke with a confused look. "The future?" he repeated with a scoff. "Come on Brooke, you can do better than that." His eyes travelled to Mouth and Haley, sending them an accusing stare. "And you're in on this too?"

Her friends being seemingly out of words, Brooke answered for them: "Mouth has known since the beginning, and I told Haley a while ago when she found out about J─ her pregnancy." She could see from his expression that he was starting to maybe believe her, just a little bit. "Anyway, during one my trips to the future, I found out that…" her voice cracked. "That, erm," she cleared her throat, "Peyton is─"

"Dead?" Nathan asked with a disapproving frown. "Brooke, this is a sick joke. And why are you two playing along?!" he cried at Mouth and Haley.

"Because she's telling the truth," Mouth told him in a calm voice. "I know it sounds insane, but─"

"That's right, it is insane!" he exclaimed, his eyes shifting to a spot behind the trio. "You know what, I… Let me get someone," he murmured before brushing past them and stomping toward the beach soccer match that was going on.

Brooke's blood froze, and for a moment, neither of them seemed able to do or say anything; and then her instincts kicked in, and she found herself sprinting in Nathan's direction and remembering their old rugby lessons from middle school. When she knew he was within her reach, she launched herself at his legs and tackled him to the ground.

Nathan fell flat on his face and hit the sand with a muffle thud, letting out a pained grunt as he did; luckily for Brooke, he stayed groggy for about five seconds, which was more than she needed to pin him down to the ground, one hand on his neck and her knees pressing against his back.

"What the─ Brooke!" he cried when he tried to get up but failed. "What the hell, let me go! What's wrong with you?!"

She probably wasn't helping her case, but she didn't mind if he thought she was crazy. "You can't tell anyone!" she cried back, her hand pressing harder against his skin when he tried to move.

"I have to! Brooke you need help! I can't let you go around thinking that you can─"

"No, you don't understand," she said pleadingly, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to hold him off much longer, "if you tell Peyton then she'll─"

"Stop, you're not thinking straight, you need help if you really think that─"

"Nathan." Haley's voice had come from their right, and they both turned their heads ─ well, Nathan could probably only see her legs ─ to watch her kneel next to him. "Just listen to her," she said, her voice firm but calm. She brushed his cheek and gave him a faint smile. "I know it doesn't make any sense, I know it sounds impossible, but it's true."

Nathan's muscles relaxed, allowing Brooke to release the pressure on his back. She could see that he was still very doubtful, but at least he wasn't moving. Mouth sat on their left and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She really went to the future," Haley continued, not taking her eyes from Nathan. "And you know me, I don't believe in anything I can't touch or see for myself, but… She knew things, things that no one but some very specific people could know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our son."

"Wh─ What?" he murmured, blinking at her in confusion. "What do you mean our─ How do you know? The ultrasound isn't before another couple of weeks, so how can you─"

"Because I've met him," Brooke answered atop of him. He tried stretching his neck to look at her, but couldn't. "Look, I know why you think I've gone nuts. Hell, I would think the same too if I were you, but… I'm not lying, I swear," she said, her voice cracking again. She felt tears pricking her eyes and tried ignoring them. "Come on, what are the odds that both Mouth and Haley went nuts with me?"

"She's telling the truth," Mouth added with a sad note in his voice. "We all are."

For a moment, Nathan didn't say anything, during which Brooke kept sending worried glances to Haley, but for some reason, Haley didn't seem too anxious. "Get off my back, Brooke," Nathan murmured in a calm voice.

Brooke gave him a wary look. "You won't run off to tell everyone that I need to be in a psych ward?"

"I won't."

Nathan sat down in front of them, staring at Brooke with still a hint of distrust. "Come on, Nate," she told him with pleading eyes, "you know me, you really know me…" She bit her trembling lip and curled her fists into the sand. "Do you think I would ever make up stuff like that?" she asked, her voice cracking. "And about… About Peyton?"

"Doesn't sound like you, no," he admitted with a frown. "So… you haven't gone crazy? And it's not a stupid, morbid prank?"

"No," Brooke replied, her vision now blurred. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, making a few tears roll down her cheeks.

Haley moved closer to her and gave her a side hug, before stroking her back. "Oh, Brooke…" she murmured, her own voice shaking slightly.

When Nathan spoke, it sounded like it was more to himself. "You're… You're serious." His eyes grew wide with fear. "You can see the future?"

"Not see," Mouth answered for her. "She goes there."

"And Peyton is gonna─ No, that's impossible, she's…" his voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder. Brooke wiped her cheeks and raised her head, following his gaze. There, several feet away from them, they could see their childhood friend stealing the ball from one of the Ravens, then sprinting down the court to successfully shoot it in the goal they had improvised with shoes. Peyton laughed and ran around in a circle, her arms raised up in a victory pose. "Come on, it can't be," he murmured, turning back to Brooke. He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "That's why you've been so secretive, all of you. And… That's what you've been stressed about? And, and erm, all these discussions you have, you were…" They all nodded at him at the same time. "How… How does it work?"

Brooke sniffled and shrugged. "Don't know," she murmured hoarsely. "It just happens."

"And you're sure that Peyton will…" he didn't finish his sentence, as if he couldn't say the last word, now that he was starting to believe her time-travel ability.

"If we don't do anything about it, yeah," Mouth answered darkly. "At Prom."

"Prom?!" Nathan shouted, making them jump. "But that's… That's next week!" he cried, suddenly panic-stricken. "Y─ You mean that next week Peyton could be─"

"We know," Haley whispered in a trembling voice. She grasped his hand and made him look at her.

"A─ Are you sure you're not on some heavy drugs? And you're not just dreaming either?"

"No, Nate," Brooke said with a sigh, "I'm not."

"It's just… Kinda hard to believe."

"Trust me, it was hard for me too," she replied, lowering her eyes to her lap. "At first, I thought I was just dreaming, but then so much stuff happened, and we knew it couldn't all be just coincidences."

"What stuff?"

"Huh?"

"What happened to you exactly?"

She blinked at him. "You want the whole story?" He nodded at her, a determined look on his face. "It might take a while."

"Go ahead," Nathan replied with a shrug, "I've got time."


And that's it for now.

Thank you for reading this, and again, thank you so much for the reviews and the messages, I always feel giddy reading them, and I have to say that they really helped me through my crappy August month. I'm feeling better now, probably still gonna need to undergo treatment for a bit but I'll be able to write!

Someone noted that it's been a year since I posted the first chapter... I hadn't even noticed! I knew when I started this that it would be a long one, but I never thought it would take me more than a year. But don't worry, as you've probably guessed already, we're nearing the end. Although, I have to say, I've been enjoying writing this so much, I kinda don't want it to end.

As usual, I can't answer to most of your questions without spoiling anything... But someone did note that Neo follows a white rabbit to get into the matrix, well guess what... I'm a huge Matrix fan.

Also, someone asked if I listened to drama queens podcast and the answer is no, I've heard about it, but I haven't taken the time yet to listen to it. So anything here that links with the podcast is just a coincidence.

Next chapter should be up by the end of October... Prom is coming.

Thanks again so so much for reading and reviewing.