A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. And thanks to my awesome beta: Leeese.

Chapter Twenty Three

Something's Gotta Give

Haley was busy staring out into space when she heard her sister's teasing voice. "Are you writing Nathan a love letter?" Haley gave her a look. "Yeah, you're right. You aren't the type to leave Nathan love letters."

"My relationship with Nathan is none of your business," Haley replied before she answered her question. "And if you must know, I'm trying to think of the perfect ending for the play that we're putting together for Brooke. We have a lot of great scenes, but it needs an ending."

"Don't tell me that you put all of the good memories in the play," Taylor said. "Because that would be boring. All plays need some drama."

"Why should she have to relive the bad memories?" Haley asked. "She's got a hard enough time as it is trying to regain her memory. She doesn't need to have a flashback of her and Lucas arguing or her time with that psycho Ian."

Taylor hated to admit it, but Haley was right. "Maybe you're right, but it would help her to understand that Lucas wasn't the one who tried to hurt her."

"You know what? I think I'm going to go to the café," Haley said as she gathered her stuff up. "I'm sure Karen can help me with the ending." She grabbed her purse and keys before she headed out to the garage. "I'll see you later."

After the garage door opened, she started backing her car out when she noticed a familiar, but confused face in her rearview mirror. She turned off the engine and climbed out of the car. "Brooke, what's up?" she asked, almost nearly forgetting that she still didn't remember her best friend. "I'm Haley."

"I've heard that you wrote a play to help me try to get my memory back," Brooke said. "But I want you to cancel it. I'm tired of all this attention being on me." Haley was about to protest when Brooke cut her off. "Look, I know you want your friend back. And I don't blame you. But I hate that everyone is trying to force me to remember when I can't."

Haley gave her a confused look. "Brooke, nobody is forcing you to remember. We were told to take it slow and I can assure you that we are."

"Hey, what's going on?" Taylor asked as she came out to join them. She gave Brooke a warm smile. "You probably don't remember me, but I'm Haley's older sister Taylor. I was the one who recognized you at the hospital in Charleston."

Brooke returned the smile. "It's nice to meet you again," she said. "And no, I'm sorry. I don't remember you." There was a short pause before she spoke again. "In fact, I still don't recognize many faces. And I'm tired of everyone feeling sorry for me."

"You know what you need? You need a night out to forget this whole mess," Taylor suggested. She gave her a smile as an idea came to her head. "Why don't we go into Wilmington and hit the town tonight? It will take your mind off things." Haley was about to protest when her sister cut her off. "Haley, this girl obviously needs some time away from the media circus." She turned back to a thoughtful Brooke. "We can go right now if you want. After all, Wilmington is just a few hours away."

Haley made a face. "I don't think it's a good idea for her to be going with you," she explained. She didn't know if Taylor realized how vulnerable Brooke was right now, not to mention she didn't trust Taylor with Brooke.

"Would everyone please stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Brooke asked, speaking up. "I'm not a baby. I can make my own decisions. And your sister's right. I need to get out and figure out who I am without anybody's influence."

"Taylor isn't the right person to help you do that," Haley protested, trying to say anything to get Brooke to change her mind from going with Taylor.

"Don't worry. I'll look after her," Taylor said, trying to comfort Haley.

However, Haley wasn't convinced since Taylor was always one who got into trouble. "That's what I'm afraid of," she muttered as she watched Brooke lead Taylor over to her car. It had been fixed while Brooke had been missing. Haley had to try one last time and hurried over to Brooke. "Brooke, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," Brooke replied before she climbed into the driver's seat.

Haley just watched helplessly as Brooke pulled the car out into the street. Her sister waved to her as she passed her. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She couldn't blame Brooke for wanting to take a break from the frustration of trying to have her memory restored, but going with Taylor for a night on the town wasn't the right way to do it. It reminded Haley of the days before Brooke had decided to stop her wild partying ways and she had gone off to parties without her. She hoped that those days weren't returning.

After a few minutes of standing in the driveway, she decided to continue with her plans and drive over to the café. When she arrived, Karen and Lily were there to greet her. Haley kept quiet about her concern about Brooke as she listened to what Lily had to say. However, Karen could sense that the young woman needed to talk. After a few minutes, she sent Lily to play in the back so she could talk to Haley. "Is everything okay?"

Haley was quiet for a moment as she pondered what Brooke had said about pushing her. "Do you think that we're putting too much pressure on Brooke to remember us?" she asked.

Karen frowned. "No, I think we've been very patient in letting her remember in her own time. Why do you ask?"

"Because Brooke just took off with Taylor for a day in Wilmington," Haley said exasperated. Karen listened as she told her the whole story, starting with Brooke coming by and telling her that she didn't want to watch the play and ending her to drive off with Taylor. "I wasn't trying to push her into remembering. Yes, I want my best friend back, but I know it will take time."

"But I'm afraid she won't be spending her time here," a familiar voice replied. Haley turned around to see Victoria. "Brooke has decided to join me in New York." Both Haley and Karen were surprised to hear that. "We've talked about it and she has agreed that living here is too hard for her. I know you are disappointed, but it's for the best."

Haley was about to protest, but Karen was ready to fight back. "Disappointed doesn't even cover it," she said as she eyed Victoria. "Victoria, you know as well as I do that Brooke belongs here. Why are you insisting on keeping her away from us?"

"I'm not the one who wants to leave," Victoria said. "It's Brooke who wants to move on from this town. And I don't blame her. There are too many bad memories here for the both of us." None of this was making sense to Haley. Something wasn't right about any of this. She could tell that Karen was feeling the same way. The expression on her face was one of suspicion. However, she kept silent as Victoria continued to speak. "You don't have to worry about packing her things. There are plenty of stores in New York City. And Brooke does remember she is a shopaholic. So I'm sure she will run up my credit card bills again."

"What else does she remember?" Haley demanded. "Because she seems perfectly fine with the way she is now, without remembering the fun times she had together with me and the rest of the gang." Her voice was getting louder and louder and she was disrupting the few customers that were in the café. Karen tried to calm her down, but Haley wanted to be heard. "In fact, she is acting like she was before the first car accident with Ian. What the hell is up with that?"

Victoria glared right back at her. "My daughter has just gone through a traumatic experience. She's lost and confused. Of course she is going to feel like she needs to get out and relieve some stress. And you might think I'm crazy for allowing her to do that, but it's better than pressuring her to remember you and your friends."

Haley couldn't believe her ears. "They are her friends too," she reminded her. "And I thought you approved of the different ways we came up with to help Brooke's memory return to her. You had even said that you were thinking about writing Brooke a letter."

"I did, but I have realized that an apology letter is just words on a piece of paper. They don't mean anything. It is better to take action. And the best way to apologize to Brooke is to respect her wishes and bring her with me to New York."

Haley wanted to ask her more questions, but Karen spoke up. "Haley, why don't you take the day off?" she suggested. "And can you take Lily with you? That way, she isn't underfoot when the place gets really busy." Haley didn't move from her seat until Karen gave her a pleading look. Haley gave Victoria one last glare before she disappeared in the backroom. There were a few moments of silence between the two women as they waited for Haley to return with Lily. After saying good-bye and closing the café, Karen got right down to business.

Victoria beat her to the punch. "I know you believe that I have a grudge against your son and your family, but this has nothing to do with this."

Karen looked at her hard. "Really? Because you seemed fine with Brooke moving in with my family before, but all that changed once the car accident happened. Who got to you? Was it Dan?"

"That is absurd. Dan has accepted the consequences of his actions. I doubt he will go back on his word now, especially since his family is refusing to speak to him. But that's really none of my business nor yours. Now I think I've wasted enough of my time here. Good day, Karen."

Victoria was almost to the door when she heard Karen's voice. "If it wasn't Dan, it had to be Cooper." That was the only other person who would try something like this. Victoria stopped dead in her tracks. However, she kept silent as Karen continued to speak. "Cooper put you up to this, didn't he?"

"I'm not allowed to say," Victoria replied quickly. Karen then knew it was the truth and Victoria had no reason to hide it any longer. She let out a heavy sigh before she turned around to face Karen. "I came home one day and he was waiting for me. I wanted to call the police, but he already had a gun out. He told me he wanted to complete his revenge on you and Keith and he knew your weakness was Brooke."

Karen began to understand the story. "So he forced you to convince Brooke that she would be better off in New York with you?"

Victoria nodded. "I wouldn't have done it, but he blackmailed me about some things in my past that I'm not proud of." Karen waited to see if she would say any of it. "It's my fault that Ian kidnapped Brooke." Karen wanted to assure that it wasn't, but Victoria had already spoken again. "I knew Mr. Banks had gotten out of jail and I didn't tell Brooke," she confessed. "I didn't know that he would go after her again." She was ashamed of the way she had acted towards her daughter. "If I had told her in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"That's not important right now," Karen said, dismissing what she just said about it being her fault. She had heard enough of that from her husband and son. "We need to focus on getting Cooper arrested and trying to help Brooke to realize where she really belongs."

"I know Brooke's friends want her to stay in Tree Hill, but New York is a place for a fresh start."

As much as Karen hated to admit it, she couldn't convince Brooke to stay in Tree Hill if she didn't want to. However, she had a request. "Then convince Brooke to come to the play," she said. "Haley and the gang worked so hard on it. They really want Brooke to see it." Victoria was quiet for a moment before she finally agreed.