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TRICK OR TREAT???

The story so far…

Okay lets see, it all started with Prom night, and Brooke seeing the word whore on her dress. Gotta love Peyton's sense of humour right? Well anyway, seeing that made Brooke realise that Peyton hadn't completely given up on their friendship… and that made Brooke decide that it was time to finally come clean with the blonde.

So off she went grinning the whole way over to see Peyton. But when it came right down to it she was still terrified, not of the truth, she'd had more than enough time to accept that already, but of what would happen after. After Peyton knew she was in love with her. Well, they got as far as the telling, but the aftermath? A knock at the door cut that short, the boyfriend had arrived to take his date to Prom. Lucky him. So, sucking it up Brooke smiled, told Peyton to have a good time and left.

Peyton went to Prom still in shock, and who'd blame her for not having the time of her life after that? Right, him. So, faking a headache, or something, she tossed him aside to go home and think about stuff… :D but instead of those happy, happy thoughts what did she find on her return?

Brooke.

Or what was left of her after Ian Banks had gotten through with her for messing up his plans for the night by keeping him from Peyton. She wasn't a pretty sight and lets just leave it at that, okay?

So off to hospital they went, a few days of healing, lots of sleepless nights, a coma and several very worried friends later, Brooke was able to leave the hospital. During this time there was also some posters, pain in the ass reporters, cops, and family to deal with, not to mention a potential serial killer on the loose somewhere.

Oh, and Brooke having to find a new place to stay, the solution… well obviously she moved in with Peyton, duh people! Not at her place but at the apartment now that Naley had upped sticks to his mom's mansion as they waited to welcome their first child. Convenient right? I thought so, but between you and me I don't think the boyfriend was overly pleased. Tough.

What else? Oh right, Brooke was enjoying being out of the hospital, even though she wasn't fully recovered she'd hated being stuck there away from her friends, away from Peyton, who'd been with her as much as possible since she'd woken up. A Peyton who seemed happy to be around her, holding her, laughing with her, even sharing a bed with her again… maybe there was still hope that… but again the boyfriend arrived to drive home once more that Brooke wasn't who Peyton had wanted in her life.

It was just that she never felt second best when it was just the two of them, Peyton seemed to enjoy their time alone as much as she did. Take this morning for instance, if Haley hadn't walked in when she had, who knows what could have happened between them, alone, half naked, in bed together… but she did walk in, and Peyton did freak out.

Maybe it was time to stop thinking so much about Peyton and try worrying about getting herself back to who she was before the attack, if that was possible…

Sigh, and on we go.

Oh and by the way just in case you might be wondering about the time frame? It's been seven days since the day of Prom, that's right just seven days.

Part 36

Nathan glanced down at his watch as discreetly as he could before turning to Haley with a raised eyebrow. It was getting late, and they had already been sitting in his car for the last hour or more.

Haley replied by opening her hand out of sight of their back seat passenger and shrugging in a helpless expression just as unsure as her husband as to what to do.

Nathan sighed and stared out the windscreen as little by little empty parking spaces began to fill and disappear. The longer they waited the more people they would have to deal with once the got out of his SUV, and the harder it would be on Brooke to deal with. The whole point of getting here so early was that there would be fewer people for Brooke to have to be around.

He sighed again.

That is if we even manage to get out of the car at some point.

"Brooke," Nathan starts, keeping his tone gentle as he turns slightly in the driver's seat to look at his friend. "The longer we wait out here the more crowded it's going to get in there." He reminded her.

Brooke looked up from her study of her current choice in nail polish, it was a little strange to see and she wasn't at all sure why she had bothered putting it on in the first place. It wasn't like she wanted people looking at her. The last thing she wanted was to stand out more than she already would given her oversized clothes and the baseball cap she planned to hide under.

"I know." She bemoaned with a pout. Now that they were there she wished she could go back and beg Peyton to come with her. Instead, here she was about to go into public for the first time since her attack and where was the one person she needed?

Over on the other side of town because you told her you didn't need her with you for this!

Yeah, she snorted, why on earth would I need my best friend here to hold my hand, just because I'm shaking like a leaf at the thought of going in there… pah… I can do this on my own… oh suuure I can!

Brooke rolled her eyes at herself and looked out her window as another car pulled up a few spaces from them. She watched with a pang in her chest as a young blonde woman was helped from the car by a man with a wide smile. Her eyes followed automatically as the couple made their way towards the mall entrance, laughter ringing out as they went, arms wrapped around each other as if the world was a beautiful place in which only they existed.

There was no magic in Brooke's world at the moment, only the cold fear of the unknown, of what the future would hold for her now, or more precisely… who it wouldn't.

So all she could do was try not to think of the future, of what might be, and instead live in the here and now. Focusing as much as possible on the small steps she had to take in order to get her life back… well, it wouldn't be her old life… but it would be a life.

Maybe she could now have the life she wished for, without all the things she hated about her past. A future with only the things that mattered, really mattered, to her…

Like a best friend she needed with a desperation that went beyond the love she felt for the younger girl. She wanted Peyton in her life. There was no future Brooke could envisage that didn't have the blonde at the centre of it.

She sighed.

She needed to learn to crawl again with her dreams before she could spend time flying in that particular fantasy.

Last night proved that, Peyton has Lucas, and as long as that's true you have to deal with life as it is, not how you want it to be. Peyton can't always be there for you…

"We could always come back tomorrow, Brooke, if you want?" Haley offered softly as the early morning continued to slip away from them.

Nathan shot his wife a look. "Yeah, cause Saturdays are the slow days at the mall, nothing like a stampede at all." He muttered at her earning him a scowl which he ignored.

But, Brooke smiled, Naley are a damn good substitute when it comes to friendship and support.

"Fine!" Brooke said as she picked up the baseball cap beside her and slipped it on over head. "Lets get this over with." And with that she got up and left the car leaving Nathan and Haley to scramble out after her.

It was time for another baby step, and she knew her friends would be there for her if she needed them, hands at the ready in case she took a tumble.

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Peyton drummed her fingers against the steering wheel of her car as she sat frowning unseeing into the distance. She felt angry over what had happened between herself and Brooke this morning, and was upset that Brooke no longer seemed to want her around.

Why else would she have gone with Nathan and Haley, leaving me to talk to the guys, like that's so much more fucking important than going with her to the mall!

Yeah right!

She just didn't want me anywhere near her.

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, wishing she was wrong but knowing in her heart that she wasn't.

After Brooke had finished with her shower things between the two of them had been awkward, not unfriendly, but there was definitely something different. There was none of their usual laughing and joking while she helped Brooke through her exercises.

Just an uncomfortable silence as they worked that had only gotten worse as Brooke explained why they had such early morning guests. Last night, while she had been over at Lucas', the three of them had talked about Brooke seeing some of their friends over the weekend. And to Peyton's surprise Brooke had agreed, but had wanted to try going out in public first, just to see if she could cope.

So that's what she was doing right now as Peyton sat sulking in her car outside the school. She was over at the mall with Nate and Haley, seeing if she could handle being amongst other people again.

It had hurt. Hearing Brooke say she didn't need to come with them, even Nathan and Haley had been shocked at that, but they hadn't said anything, so Peyton had nodded and just went along with it. Agreeing when Brooke had asked her to meet with some of the guys at school and let them know they could see her sometime the next day.

What did I do wrong?

Her face tensed as she tried to remember back to that morning. Everything was fine wasn't it? She was in a great mood when she woke me up, it wasn't until…

"Shit!" Peyton whispered as her grip faltered on the steering wheel.

It wasn't until Haley came in and I freaked out over having her mention my boyfriend that everything changed. That was it, I did this, I hurt Brooke.

How are you going to fix this one Blondie?

Peyton groaned and hit the back of her seat with her head as she remembered back.

"I've missed this… us." Peyton whispered.

Brooke smiled up at her, dimples showing. "Me too."

She let out a slow breath, there was no 'us', not in the sense of a relationship beyond that of the close friendship they had back again. She knew Brooke had expressed deeper feelings for her, but that had been before. She closed her eyes and recalled just how her body had reacted to having Brooke rapped around her from behind, her thumb stroking back and forth across the skin on her stomach.

Her breathing increased.

She remembered holding Brooke in her arms as they sat on the couch watching a film with Nathan and Haley. She'd spent half of her time trying not to let her eyes fall shut as the movie was ignored in favour of just enjoying having Brooke so close again, and the rest of it was spent making sure her hands stayed in the safe position the were in at Brooke's waist.

She swallowed hard as Haley's strange look that night suddenly held meaning to her.

"Oh."

"My."

"God!"

There was no way she could have really felt that… there was no way she could even be thinking this… she had a boyfriend! Lucas, who she'd practically stabbed her best friend in the back to have.

She winced, that had been a poor comparison given everything but it was accurate. She had gone after him while he was still dating Brooke, had been willing to sleep with him while she was still his girlfriend, had even faked shock when Brooke had cried to her that he'd broken up with her.

In the end the guilt of betraying her best friend caused her to end it with Lucas before it had really begun, but by then it had already been too late to prevent damaging her relationship with Brooke. It had taken her a long time but eventually she had managed to prove herself to the brunette again, convince her to give their friendship another chance.

But even that didn't last long, did it?

Because after promising her you'd never screw up their friendship over a boy again, and pleading for forgiveness, you still did it all over again, didn't you?

Only this time you didn't just hurt her, you broke her. Broke her faith in you and how much you meant to each other.

Knowing now just how Brooke really felt about her just added to Peyton's guilt.

Now what was she supposed to think? She couldn't deny that Brooke was upset with her over the way she had acted this morning, she also couldn't ignore how she herself acted around Brooke, whether consciously or not.

A knock at her window made Peyton jerk upright in her seat.

"What?" She groused as she rolled the window down.

"Hey, chill." Skills said as he knelt down eye level with her. "Nate said you'd be here before class, I've been looking all over for you."

Yeah, well congratulations, you've found me.

Peyton moaned as she got out of her car, her body protesting at her lack of movement. As she locked her car up she cast her eye upward and noticed the darkening sky.

Guess we're about to get a taste of that bad weather up here dad.

Funny how the thought of a coming storm matched the way she was feeling right now. Even as she nodded to Skills when he began telling her where they were headed and who was there, her mind continued to assault her with images of herself and Brooke together.

And with every image a warm glow began to spread out in her chest as a single feeling rang out above all others, a feeling she recalled clearly from last night.

A feeling that with Brooke held secure in her arms, she was at peace.

It was a feeling she had seldom had in her adult life, not really since her mother had been alive had she felt that way.

The question now was what, if anything, was she going to do about it?

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"See, this hasn't been too bad has it?" Haley asks Brooke with a nudge to her shoulder as they wait for Nathan to return. The three of them had made it to the centre of the mall without any trouble at all.

Brooke was even able to release her death grip on Nathan's arm eventually, having latched on to him while they were still outside in fear of what reaction she'd have once she was inside. She'd thought it would be unfair to run the risk of breaking Haley's hand or arm if panic were to overwhelm her.

Besides, Brooke thought with a grin, Nathan's a big strong guy, he can take it. And it'll give him an idea of what Hales will do to him when she's giving birth.

Hell, I was probably too gentle!

"Yeah, it's not too bad being here." Brooke replied, and even though she still had her face shielded she hadn't been afraid of being around other shoppers. She may have received a few curious looks but mostly they had been completely ignored.

They were both seated on a bench that faced the water fountain, the food court was on the opposite side, but they had all silently chosen to stop here, away from the hustle and bustle of people having late breakfasts or early lunches.

Haley had a hard time not thinking about which stores she would like to go into, they weren't here to shop, they were here to help Brooke. At least that's what she had to keep reminding herself as her eyes drifted to yet another baby store.

Were there always this many or am I just noticing them more because I'm pregnant?

She sighed quietly as she reluctantly moved her eyes and thought away from filling the new furniture she'd discovered in the nursery.

"Finally, I mean how long does it take to order a latte?" Brooke asked herself as she spotted Nathan making his way back towards them.

"Hmm?" Haley mumbled, her attention drifting back to the store again, and the 'sale now on' sign. "Oh, yeah."

Brooke glanced sideways at the girl and then followed her gaze to see what had her so fascinated. She smiled, she couldn't really blame Haley, they were at the mall after all, and there was probably still a mountain of things the young couple still had to get for the impending arrival.

Maybe… Brooke smiled as an idea began to form in her mind.

Nathan handed Brooke and his wife their drinks before sitting down on the other side of Brooke to drink his own. He took a moment to flex his hand out of the brunette's line of vision, grateful that the feeling had eventually returned to his hand. He may not be left handed, but he did plan on using both hands to hold his wife and son when the time came.

"So, are we waiting for Peyton to show up here or is she heading over to our place when she finishes at school?" He asked hoping there time at the mall was about to come to an end. He wasn't stupid, he'd seen Haley stare a little too long at several of the stores they had past, but he also knew that wasn't why they were here.

Not that he was using Brooke as an excuse not to trail after his wife as she browsed in store after store using him as a glorified pack mule, but he was kind of hoping it would give him a reprieve. At least for today, he knew Haley would have no problem if Brooke wanted them to try this again tomorrow, and he had a good idea they would probably be back here tomorrow, Brooke or no Brooke.

"Tell you what, why don't we let Haley here have a quick look in that store over there while we finish our drinks here. Then after that we can call Blondie up and see what to do next." Brooke said watching Haley's face brighten at the idea of shopping.

She ignored Nathan's response.

"Are you sure Brooke?" Haley quickly asked, placing a hand on the brunette's arm. "That wasn't part of the plan for coming here." She continued, not wanting Brooke to be suggesting something that would make her uncomfortable.

"I'm sure." Brooke reassures her friend. "This hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not about to run around waving my hands in the air or anything." She said with a grin. "Nathan and I are just going to sit right here until you get back, I'll be fine, if not we'll come find you okay?"

Haley wavered but Brooke really did seem to be okay with it and Nathan would be with her the whole time.

"Okay I guess a quick look couldn't hurt, but you had both better not move from here while I'm gone, got that?" Haley said as she hauled herself up from the bench.

"Yes mom!" Brooke replied to her, going so far as to give her a little salute which cause Haley to smile back at her.

Nathan and Brooke watch as Haley slowly move away from them and towards the baby store.

Silence descended over the pair for a few moments.

"So it's just the two of us," Brooke says turning her head to the side to send Nathan a quick grin. "Hmm… whatever shall we do?" Brooke asked coyly as she turned back around to watch Haley disappear into the store in search of some bargains.

Nathan laughed nervously as Brooke shifted closer to him.

"I think we should probably take this opportunity… to talk." Brooke said as she placed her arm through Nathan's and guided him forward out of their seats.

"We should?" He asked her nervously as he glanced back in the direction his wife had gone in. Didn't Haley tell us not to move? Well his options were pretty limited and in the end he didn't have much choice other than to follow where Brooke lead them.

"Oh yes," Brooke agreed nodding her head. "First there's the little matter of some posters."

"Oh..."

"And then I think we can move on to just what kind of stuff you've been asking my best friend lately."

"Umm…"

"But don't worry," She said sweetly, flashing her dimples at him. "I'm sure we can find more to talk about if Haley isn't back after all that."

"Ah." Nathan sighed despondently as he resigned himself to his fate.

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AN - hey guys, doesn't guilt work great on a writer?

Well anyway I hope this was a treat for those still reading ;) you know I love you!!

What can I say other than sorry it's taken this long, and sadly I doubt updates will ever go back to weekly, I just can't find the time. I know this update was a long time in coming and I am sorry, I'll try not to let it go that long again.

Thanks go to every single person that has read this story.

Those that review, sorry about the lack of replies, but thank you for taking the time to do that, it means a lot!

And hey we are getting closer to Breyton people!!

Another five or six chapters and we'll totally be there….

LOL

Next time!!