Part 18

Haley slowly opened her bedroom door and made her way over to Peyton, who was currently curled up on top of the bed.

She was exhausted after everything that had happened and was glad she'd finally managed to persuade Nathan to leave with Lucas.

"Did they leave?" Peyton asked as Haley sat down next to her. She had stopped crying but she still felt broken inside. The emotions that had rose during her argument with Lucas draining her of her earlier energy.

Not that her day had started off very well, but Brooke had seemed in really good spirits during their visit and it had left her feeling happy. Happy enough that the prospect of going into town with Lucas had appeared relatively harmless, so she had agreed.

Little did she know.

"Yeah, Nathan took some convincing but he left." Haley explained. "He really wanted to make sure you were okay though."

"Bit late for that." Peyton grunted as she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest.

Haley patted her on the leg but remained silent.

"You get it though, right? I mean you saw her today." Peyton asked wanting to know she wasn't the only one that cared.

"Peyton, of course I understand." Haley said softly. "Even if I didn't know who Brooke was, I am a woman. Just the idea of having to see a picture of the man that had violated me like that, every time I went into town, it would tear me apart." She continued with a shake of her head.

Peyton nodded.

Haley got it, why had it been so hard for Lucas and Nathan to see that?

"They don't get that she would put a brave face on, that she'd just act like Brooke. Even if it was killing her." Peyton said sadly.

"Has she been like that the whole time?" Haley asked. It wasn't that Brooke had acted soo differently during their visit. It was that she had smiled and joked and talked about anything and everything except about what had happened to her.

During the entire visit she hadn't once mentioned any of her injuries or how they had happened, she also hadn't asked about how the police search for her attacker was going.

Not that Haley blamed her. She hadn't been sure about what to say if Brooke had started talking about it.

"No." Peyton replied quickly. "But today might have just been a nervous thing, I mean with me she's… more quiet?" She frowned trying to explain. "And she'll cry and stuff." Peyton said with a shrug.

"Well I'm sure it's going to take her some time Peyton, no one wants to push her or start conversations she isn't ready to have." Haley said.

Again Peyton just nodded.

"Plus she trusts you Peyton." Haley said sagely. "It'd probably be difficult for her not to pretend she's coping, at least right now, with other people."

"I guess." Peyton answered even as the thought rang true to her. She knew Brooke trusted and accepted her.

"What did that nurse want? You never said when you got back." Haley asked no longer able to hold back her curiosity. Peyton had returned almost ten minutes after she had left only to remain silent, not just silent but Peyton had resumed her position behind Brooke and had buried her head into the brunette's neck.

As much as Haley had been surprised by that action, Brooke had just continued talking without missing a beat. It was almost as if she was oblivious to the blonde haired girl practically attached to her as she stared at Haley while she talked.

"Umm…" Peyton blushed somewhat at the question and tried to work out what to say to Haley. That wasn't a complete lie. "She just… umm… she asked about Brooke's parents."

Which was true, Shannon had asked if they would be visiting soon.

"She… I guess she just wanted to know if they'd been in contact." Peyton said.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Haley agreed. "I've spoken to my parents a couple of times since it happened. Still no word?"

"Nope." Peyton said exhaling, she hated Brooke's parent. She just couldn't understand why they treated their only child so badly.

Brooke was practically an orphan.

But that was okay, because Peyton could relate.

"Speaking of parents, have you called your dad back yet?" Haley asked, smiling when Peyton groaned and collapsed back onto the bed and covered her face with a pillow.

"No." Came the muffled answer.

"And why not?" Haley continued with a smirk.

"Because…" Peyton began as she removed the pillow. "I've no idea what to tell him. It's not like I've spoken to him a lot recently, and he sure as hell hasn't been back here in a while." She continued almost bitterly.

"Well, you are going to have to tell him sometime Peyton, if only so he stops calling here and giving me a heart attack, okay?" Haley said.

Peyton grinned, she remembered Haley explaining to Brooke that she'd picked up Larry's call and hadn't a clue what to tell him. Nathan and Lucas had both refused to help her out, but she had eventually managed well enough on her own, up until she'd slipped and mentioned Peyton being at the police station that is.

Brooke had loved it.

"So, if you don't want to call your dad back, what do you want to do right now?" Haley asks her.

"Well one of the reasons I was going into town with Lucas earlier was to get a new cell phone, I'm kinda sick of everyone having my number." Peyton explained.

"Okay." Haley said standing up from the bed. "Let's go do that then, we can probably go get something to eat after that then maybe head back over to see Brooke." She continued.

"Sounds like a plan." Peyton said following her out of the room.

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Nathan looked out of the passenger side window as Lucas drove them to meet Mouth somewhere in town.

He shook his head as he took in what he was seeing, they hadn't travelled that far but he'd already seen lots of posters around. It only served to make him feel all the more guilty for his part in the whole thing.

"We soo screwed up, I can't believe we thought this was a good idea." He says to his brother.

Lucas just kept driving.

"If Brooke ever hears about this we are dead, if Peyton doesn't kill us in our sleep before then." Nathan continued as he returned his gaze to his window.

Lucas could ignore him all he wanted, but Nathan knew they'd got things wrong, totally wrong, and he'd count himself lucky if Peyton was still talking to him. But he was prepared to beg for forgiveness, both of the girls had gone through so much lately, it made him feel like shit for adding to their problems.

He also hoped Haley wouldn't stay too mad at him, he could still remember the cold look she'd given him when he and Lucas had been about to leave, even his puppy eyes hadn't melted it.

He'd have been happy with a smile, or just the hint of one, but no, he got nothing but ice from her.

Nathan turned back to face his brother again.

"And just so you know, I'm going to let you explain to Mouth and Skills we have to take all the posters down because Brooke doesn't have a clue about them and that Peyton never agreed to them in the first place." He stated clearly.

Lucas' only response was a clenching of his jaw and a tightening of his grip on the steering wheel.

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"Hey, just in time Sawyer." Brooke said with a smile as Peyton entered her room. "Get that cute butt of yours over here." She continued with a pat to the spot on the bed beside her.

Peyton grinned at the brunette and tried to ignore the blush that was beginning to cover her cheeks. It wasn't like Brooke had never said anything like that to her before, it was just that it was different now.

Not a bad different, just different.

"So, now that I am here what can I do for you?" Peyton enquired as she took her place beside her friend.

"Well, for starters you can give me your hand." Brooke replied holding her own out in the small space that lay between them.

"Okaaay." Peyton reluctantly agreed as she slowly placed her hand in Brooke's having no idea what the brunette was up to. But from the glint in her eyes she was definitely up to something.

Peyton was caught somewhere between curiosity as to what Brooke wanted with her hand and the happiness she felt at seeing that glint.

Brooke let out a little yelp of excitement and quickly pulled Peyton's hand closer to her.

The blonde could only smile at the actions of her friend. Brooke started to trail her fingers over her hand, but when she began stroking the palm softly Peyton had to close her eyes and swallow hard at the flood of feelings that were evoked within her.

"So, you flying solo this visit?" Brooke asked, not that she minded, she'd rather spend the time with the blonde than trying to make everyone feel comfortable with being around her.

"Um, no. Haley's outside waiting for Lucas and Nate to get here… umm, they were running late I think." Peyton replied.

Brooke smirked at Peyton, not that the blonde could see that. No, Brooke had Peyton exactly where she wanted her.

After spending a moment to take in her friends expression she quickly did what she'd set out to do and hopped off the bed.

Suddenly Peyton felt something, blinking her eyes open she looked on in shock at what her friend had done.

There, sitting comfortably on her index finger, was the lead to Brooke's heart monitor.

"Ah… Brooke… what?" She asked nervously as she watched Brooke slowly back away from her, a smug grin firmly in place.

The rate of beeps coming from the machine began increasing as Peyton began to panic.

"Oh, hey don't do that." Brooke instructed as she pointed to the small screen beside the bed. "Keep that up Peyt and you're gonna have everyone rushing in here thinking I'm having a heart attack."

"Not helping!" Peyton squeaked out as the beats continued to come at a quicker pace. She couldn't help it, she'd even broken out in a sweat.

"Peyton?" Brooke began as she limped the few feet that separated them and placed her hands on the blonde's thighs. "Peyton, you need to calm down for me, okay?" Brooke said softly.

Peyton nodded and closed her eyes trying to focus on slowing her breathing down. She was beginning to feel better just with Brooke being there, but when Brooke reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear she didn't need the monitor to know she had calmed down a great deal.

"That's it." Brooke encouraged her before she began to back away again.

Peyton opened her eyes again, this time she returned the smirk on Brooke's face with one of her own. As much as Peyton loved the other girl, she really was nothing but trouble.

"You're not planning to escape are you?" Peyton asked accepting that whatever scheme Brooke was trying she would sit there and play her part.

"No." Brooke scoffed.

"Well?" Peyton asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brooke grinned at her. "Tell you when I get back?" She responded with an innocent shrug.

"But you're not running away?" Peyton repeated.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "No."

"Fine." Peyton reluctantly accepted. "But should you even be walking around Brooke?" She asked concerned that the brunette might be hurting herself.

"I'm fine Peyton, don't worry okay?" Brooke said not wanting Peyton worrying when she really was okay to be walking around. Okay so that was stretching the truth a lot, but the exercise would probably be good for her.

Brooke watched as Peyton nodded and then turned her gaze to look at her newly encased finger, she laughed quietly when the blonde lifted it and wiggled it slightly.

"We'll talk more when I get back." She said as Peyton looked at her again. When she received a nod of agreement she finally turned to leave, only to hear the heart monitor beeps begin to increase again the closer she got to the door.

Turning her head back around she saw what had caused that reaction.

Peyton was staring at her, more specifically her back. Her back that was exposed due to the hospital gown she wore that didn't close at the back properly.

She felt her stomach drop.

Part of her back was covered in a protective dressing that had only just recently been changed by one of the nursing staff. But just as she was about to turn and go back over to her friend she noticed something about Peyton's gaze.

It was aimed a little lower.

With a shake of her head she faced forward again and made her way out of the room leaving Peyton with a final comment as she went.

"Peyton, stop looking at my ass!"

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AN/ Aww you guys! Really you guys are the best!!

Thanks so much to everyone that takes the time to review this, I love you for it!

And to everyone reading I hope your enjoying it.