A/N: If anybody loves watching Once Upon a Time and is a Captain Swan shipper, please check out my new story "There's No Place Like Home" and let me know what you think.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Don't Dream It's Over

Haley waited patiently at the picnic table until she saw the familiar blue Volkswagen Beetle drive into the parking lot. Watching Brooke storm out of the vehicle and seeing the frustrated look on her best friend's face made Haley realize something had happened with her parents. Haley wasn't expecting that since she needed someone to listen to her and comfort her, but she was willing to do the same for Brooke.

Haley didn't even have a chance to ask before Brooke let out a huge groan of frustration. "I can't believe him! I thought he changed, but he ended being the jackass he always is!" she exclaimed angrily as Haley gave her a lost look. "Do you know why it was taking so long for my dad to find out about the baby's gender?" she asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "Because Renée was hiding the fact she knew the baby was going to be a girl! And my dad flipped out and called off the engagement! And he took off and left her because he once again wasn't going to get the son he so desperately wanted. Now Renée doesn't even want my sister because she can't stand the thought of being a single parent."

Haley couldn't believe her ears. "Your dad left Renée? Just because she was going to have his daughter?" Brooke nodded. Haley shook her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. What is Renée planning to do with the baby?"

Brooke let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know, but I don't want my baby sister to grow up around strangers when she can grow up with family. I would love to ask Keith and Karen if they could take in the baby too, but their house is full already with Lucas, Nathan, me and Lily. Another kid would be too much for them."

Haley gave her a look. "Hey, there were nine of us crowded in a four bedroom house. I had to share a room with Taylor and Quinn for awhile because Vivian didn't want any of us to move into her bedroom after she left for college. I was so glad when she got married because she didn't care after that. It was better to get a hotel room for her and her husband so they could have some more privacy."

"Now you have all the privacy you want. Yet, you still want to go to my house," Brooke replied. "What's up with that? And now your house is quieter than mine." Haley became quiet herself as she heard that sentence. Brooke remembered the reason why she came to meet Haley. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Haley took a deep breath before she spoke. "Nathan and I broke up last night." Now Brooke was the one who was shocked. She couldn't believe her ears. She thought Nathan and Haley were perfect for each other and that they would last way beyond high school. Brooke was ready to ask questions. Yet, Haley didn't let her interrupt her. "The break up was mutual. We both realized how much we have grown apart over the past several months and it wasn't working anymore. We're going to take a break while he is in Charlotte for the summer." Brooke gave her a confused look. "Nathan thought about moving back to Charlotte, but Keith and Karen didn't want him to miss his senior year here. So it is going to be a trial run to see if he truly wants to move back there."

"That explains why I felt so much tension in the house over the last few days," Brooke replied. "Why is it that I'm always out of the loop?"

"You're not always out of the loop," Haley defended.

Brooke gave her a look. "Really? Then why didn't you tell me about you tutoring Peyton right away? Or why Lucas didn't tell me about his short marriage? Or why my mom didn't tell me about Ian getting off parole?"

Haley knew she had a point. "Okay, we have been keeping a lot of secrets from you lately, but it was only to protect you. I didn't want to hurt you because I knew you weren't friends with Peyton. And I knew it would only cause drama if you knew we were becoming friends."

Brooke couldn't argue with her there. "You know what we need? We need a weekend away from all of this drama. How about I invite you and the Scott cousins to my parents' cabin for the weekend?" Haley had to admit it sounded tempting, but she believed it would be too awkward with Nathan there. Brooke could sense why she was worried. "I know it is usually just the two of us, but Lucas and his family has been through a lot too."

Haley hated to admit it, but she was right. "Alright. I'll go. But what about Mouth? It wouldn't be fair if we invite Millie and not Mouth. And if we are inviting the Scott cousins, how are the bedroom arrangements going to work out? After all, the only ones who are married are Julian and Rachel."

"Don't worry. We'll figure it all out by next weekend," Brooke assured her. "We just might have the girls all sleep over in the master bedroom and the boys can have the other rooms. That way, we don't have to worry about any awkwardness."

Haley didn't answer, but she decided to drop the subject. "What did Victoria say when she heard about your dad leaving Renée?"

"My mother wasn't surprised since he has always done stuff like this," Brooke replied. "But she did feel sorry for Renée. I hate her and I even feel bad for her. I feel worse for my baby sister." Brooke couldn't stand the thought of Renée giving her baby sister up for adoption. "There must be something I can do. I can't let her suffer the same fate I had by growing up feeling unloved and unwanted. I have to talk to Keith and Karen."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Haley offered. Even though she and Nathan had broken up, she was willing to stay by her side when she needed support. Brooke gave her a grateful smile and nodded in agreement. They gathered their things before they headed to their cars.

When they arrived at the house, they found Lily watching television in the den. She stopped watching it long enough to greet Brooke and Haley. "Hey, where are your parents?" Brooke asked her. "We need to talk to them."

Lily gave her a worried look. "You're not leaving us too, are you?" she asked.

Brooke gave her a comforting smile. "No, we're not leaving Tree Hill right now. You have another year with us before we go off to college."

Lily returned the smile as her mother came into the room. She was surprised but pleased to see them. "I thought I heard you girls come in. Would you like a snack? Lily and I just made a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. You can steal a couple before the boys and their friends take the rest." Brooke and Haley nodded in agreement as they followed Karen into the kitchen. Lily was right behind them.

"Where's Keith?" Brooke asked as she and Haley each took a cookie from the plate that was set out on the counter. She really wanted to talk to both of them before Lucas and Nathan returned with their friends.

"Keith just stepped out to take a phone call," Karen told her. "He should be back in a few minutes." From the way Brooke was acting, she sensed she had to tell her something.

Haley turned to Lily, knowing Brooke didn't want her to be in the room. "Lily, why don't we go and play with your dolls?" she suggested. Lily nodded in agreement and she led the way out of the kitchen.

Karen knew Brooke had something to discuss with her, but she didn't believe it was about Nathan and Lucas moving to Charlotte. From her knowledge, Brooke was still unaware Lucas was temporary moving back to Charlotte and wasn't sure if she should bring it up. "Brooke, is everything okay?" she asked.

Brooke let out a heavy sigh before she explained her predicament. "Renée called me this morning and told me my father left her. He had left his engagement ring and a note telling her he had found out the truth about the baby and he couldn't stand to be with a liar. He didn't want anything from her including my unborn sister. Renee was devastated at the thought of becoming a single parent and wants to put her up for adoption once she's born." Karen already knew where this conversation was going before Brooke even gave her a pleading look. "You have to do something. I can't stand the thought of strangers raising my baby sister. I'll never see her again if that happens."

Karen wanted to respond, but Brooke wasn't done. She wanted to get everything out before she could be interrupted. "I know it's already a full house here, but I don't want to lose her. Do you know how she will feel when she is older? She will think nobody wanted her, but I do. I want her to grow up around family. I know I'm not biologically family but I feel like I am. And this baby is my family. And I really hope she could become part of yours too."

Karen tried to calm her down as she processed what Brooke said. "Brooke, I'm glad you're willing to take responsibility for your sister since your father and Renée have decided to abandon their daughter, but this is a lot to think about."

"I know but I'll be forever grateful if you take her in too," Brooke replied. She didn't want to beg, but she didn't want to leave her baby sister behind.

"I'll talk it over with Keith," Karen told her as they heard the front door open and the sound of laughter and excitement. Lucas and Nathan came in with Tim, Jake, Mouth and Skills. They greeted Brooke as they spotted the cookies and snatched them up in a hurry.

"You should have been there to cheer us on," Lucas told Brooke. "Then maybe Jake and I could have won the game."

"Yeah, playing the game is more fun in front of an audience," Nathan agreed. "You should have come and watched us, even if you were going to cheer for the other team." Brooke didn't answer as Nathan turned to his mother. "Is Lily watching television in the den? We want to play some video games, but we want to make sure she wasn't watching anything first."

"No, she's playing in her room with Haley," Karen replied as she gave him a knowing look. Brooke watched to see Nathan's reaction and he just smiled as he followed his friends into the den. Lucas stayed behind with his mother and Brooke, knowing this was the perfect time to tell Brooke about his summer plans. However, Brooke turned to Karen first. She didn't say anything but Karen could sense what she wanted to ask her. "I'm aware Nathan and Haley broke up last night. As much as I love them together, it is perhaps best they take a break right now. Our family has gone through a lot over the past several months and we need to find ourselves again especially Nathan and Lucas."

Brooke caught on to what Karen was saying and become worried. She turned to Lucas as she realized the possibility of him leaving too. "Does this mean you're going back to Charlotte too?"

Lucas knew there was no way around it and told her the truth. "Yeah, I'm going back with him," he admitted. "I realized how much I have changed since the move and I want to get back to normal. I want to get back to feeling like the guy you met back on that first day of school and that is going to take some time."

Brooke was crushed to hear he was thinking about moving back to Charlotte. At the same time, she was confused. "I don't understand. Your family moved here to get away from all the drama with Lindsay and now you're saying you want to move back there?"

"I don't know," Lucas admitted. "I just know I need to get away from here for a while and figure some stuff out. You weren't the only one who experienced the drama with Dan and Ian. I did too. So did my family. We need some time."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Brooke asked. "I thought I was a part of this family, but all you have done since I've been here is keep secrets from me!" Karen wanted to comfort her, but she pushed her away. "No wonder you don't want to take in my baby sister!" she exclaimed before she ran out of the room and to her bedroom. A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door. It wasn't a surprise to hear Haley's voice on the other end. "Come in," she called.

Haley opened the door and entered the bedroom. She gave her best friend a sympathetic look as she closed the door behind her. "Lucas told me about his summer plans. Twins really do think alike, don't they?" she joked. Brooke managed a small smile as Haley joined her on the bed. "Maybe it can be just the two of us at the cabin this weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood to have the Scott brothers join us." Brooke had to admit that sounded like a good idea since she didn't want to talk to Nathan or Lucas. Or even Keith and Karen right now.

Keith and Karen gave Brooke permission to eat dinner with Haley and her parents. Jimmy and Lydia could sense both girls were unhappy, but they didn't press them on it. Brooke didn't come back until her curfew. When she walked into the house, Keith and Karen were both waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Brooke, we need to talk to you," Keith said and motioned her to sit down at the table. Brooke wanted to make an excuse, but Keith wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Brooke sat down across from them, curious to hear what they had to say. Keith cleared his throat before he spoke. "We can't tell you how sorry we are in making believe you aren't part of this family. Because you are."

"We love you like you're our own daughter," Karen added. "And we would love to take your baby sister in, but there is just a lot going on right now. And the reason why we didn't tell you about what has been going on is because you have gone through a lot yourself." Brooke couldn't argue with her there. "And we didn't want you to worry. Besides, we were still trying to figure out how to handle it ourselves."

Brooke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Nathan and I made some stupid mistakes that night we confronted Ian at the factory," Lucas said as he came into the kitchen. He had also waited up for Brooke. He had wanted to talk to her, but his parents beat him to it. "We should have been arrested, but not for murder. There were some other things we did that we're not proud of and we are going back to Charlotte to fix them." Brooke was still lost and Lucas wished he could explain the story. "I know it's confusing, but that's all you need to know."

"Are you going to come back to Tree Hill after the summer is over?" Brooke asked hopefully. "Senior year wouldn't be the same without you and Nathan."

Lucas wished he could give her the answer she wanted. "I'm not sure," he admitted.