Part 50

Peyton stood with her arms crossed glaring at Principle Turner's closed door.

She'd gotten carried away with having finished the test before Brooke and somewhere between her gloating and Brooke's laughter, Turner had kicked her out of the room.

She still wasn't sure how that had actually happened.

But here she was standing in the middle of the corridor fuming with the secretary completely ignoring her while she typed away at her computer and answered the occasional call.

With a huff Peyton gave up her post and wandered off to the toilet. From what she'd seen of Brooke's paper from across the desk it could be a while before she was finished.

The toilet was empty as she'd expected but she checked the stalls anyway just to be sure. Satisfied, Peyton went over to a sink and turned on the cold water tap letting it run for a while before she ducked her head down and splashed her face. She held in a gasp as she scrubbed at her face, wiping the excess water away before switching the tap off. Her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror and she paused, staring at herself.

She felt so much older than her seventeen years. She felt different. With a sigh she turned around and leaned back against the sink, drying her hands off on her jeans and wiping her face on her long sleeved t-shirt.

She couldn't pin down what it was but after this last nightmare of a year she couldn't deny that right now, in this very moment, she wouldn't give everything she had to be able to take herself and Brooke and just never see this place ever again.

Not this school.

And not Tree Hill.

It just wasn't a place she wanted to call home any more.

Having had enough of her thoughts, especially given she couldn't really do anything to change the situation right now, Peyton took one last look around her and left the room. She walked along the hallway headed for her locker where she'd dumped her jacket before they'd headed back to Turner's for the test. She paused as she was just about to open it and instead trailed her fingers down the cold steel.

Dyke.

She could still see each letter in her mind's eye, a fresh lick of paint couldn't take that particular memory away. She'd been bemused at first, looking around to see if she could spot who'd done it, then she'd gotten confused as to why anyone would write that on her locker. Then she'd gotten angry but not for herself, for Anna, whom she knew was a lesbian, if a closeted one.

Now, as Peyton stared at her locker, she wondered how differently she would react had she and Brooke been involved at the time. Probably not half as well as she did, and she'd been suspended at that.

With a sigh Peyton slipped her jacket on and closed her locker. She didn't want to wish problems on herself but she knew attitudes like those of Felix Taggaro weren't uncommon in Tree Hill, it was North Carolina after all. Fleetingly she tried to recall comments Larry had made about gays, but she'd spent so little time with him over these last few years that she wasn't sure how relevant it would have been so she dismissed worrying about it.

Besides, it wasn't like he'd have a say in her current relationship anyway.

That brought a smile to the blonde's face and she let the thought of Brooke take over and push away any lingering worries she had. Tomorrow would look after itself.

She turned the corner and spotted Brooke leaning against the reception desk chatting away with someone, as she got closer she saw Turner stood behind the secretary.

Turner noticed Peyton's approach and couldn't help but grin as she scowled at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Brooke." He said politely, his eyes then flicking to Peyton as she came up to stand just behind her friend. "Peyton." He acknowledged before disappearing into his office.

Brooke grinned and turned around. "Hey, where did you get off to?"

"Jacket."

Still smiling, Brooke looped her arm through one of Peyton's and started down the corridor.

"Listen, my appointment isn't until two, so are you up for Karen's or do you want to head back to the apartment?" Brooke asked.

Peyton hiked up an eyebrow. She hadn't given it much thought but did either of them want to be heading in the exact same direction as Lucas Scott?

Brooke noticed Peyton's hesitation and frowned. "I thought you two had sorted things out."

That caused Peyton to pull up and turn to face Brooke. "When did you think that happened?" She asked incredulously.

Brooke looked confused. "The other day..."

Peyton thought hard about what Brooke was saying and ignored the 'having a blonde moment?' look that was being directed at her. Then she got it. She's talking about Karen.

Slightly relieved Peyton chewed on her bottom lip as Brooke waited on her response. She was trying to work out if she should mention the fact it was Lucas who currently had reasons to be upset with her, not Karen. Wait. Actually, if Karen now knew about the breakup she probably wouldn't be too happy with her right now either. But Peyton didn't think that was what Brooke was talking about. It had sounded like she was referring to the small falling out she'd had over contacting her father, which had been sorted out already like Brooke said.

Giving up Brooke rolled her eyes and grabbed Peyton by the hand, "Fine whatever, the apartment it is." Decision made she got them moving again, there was now a student or two entering the hallway so Brooke wanted to get out of there sooner rather than later.

It was still raining as they made their way out of the building, which meant none of the reporters were hanging around which pleased both girls, even if it did mean wet hair for Peyton again.

It was only after Peyton had pulled her car out of the car park and out onto the main road that she finally spoke, "You remember that guy I went out with, until, like, two days ago?"

Brooke giggled quietly as she watched her best friend wait until they were driving a car in the rain, down a fairly busy road, before starting a conversation with her that involved turning her head to look at her. It really was a marvel that she'd never been in a serious accident before now. However...

"Peyton, I love you, but I already have an appointment at the hospital, can we not get sent there because you suddenly want to talk?" She asked pointedly.

Peyton whipped her head back around and blinked, and then she switched on her windscreen wipers. That definitely helped with the view.

Now Brooke did let out a laugh.

Sheepishly, Peyton waited until a set of lights before looking at her again. "You said you loved me." She pointed out smugly.

Brooke snorted. "I was in fear of my life."

"Still counts." Peyton muttered happily as she concentrated on the road for a while.

Brooke sighed and shook her head. It was sad Peyton had to go to such lengths to get those words out of her. Maybe she'd have to make it a little harder for the blonde in future.

Just then she noticed where they were headed.

Peyton pulled over and turned the engine off leaving them to sit in silence just down from Karen's cafe.

Brooke wasn't sure what was going on. Cautiously she asked, "I thought you weren't keen on coming here?"

Peyton nodded as she looked down at the keys in her hand. She wasn't in a rush to end up here, but she had to wonder why Brooke didn't seem upset at the idea.

"Not really looking to run into Lucas just yet Brooke, or deal with Karen right now either." She admitted softly.

Oh. Now it was Brooke's turn to look uncomfortable as she tried to work out what to do next, but she did know one thing at least, "Lucas won't be here Peyton, he has another exam this afternoon so he'll still be at school." That got the blonde looking at her. Brooke reached over and covered Peyton's hand with her own giving it a squeeze as a sort of apology. "But if you don't want to chance running into Karen we can go somewhere else. I wasn't thinking."

Peyton blinked, she had no idea what Lucas' exam schedule was like but was relieved that she wouldn't be running the risk of seeing him if they went into Karen's. She did however find it a little strange that Brooke had known he would still be at school. But she let that go with a shrug of her shoulders. Sometimes it was just better not to know.

"Good." Peyton said. "Guess there's nothing to worry about then, huh?" She continued giving Brooke a half smile and opened her door and got out.

Brooke watched her friend travel around to her side of the car with a pang of concern. She hadn't thought about bumping into anyone they knew but obviously Peyton had, and she hadn't looked forward to it.

With a bite to her bottom lip, Brooke considered what she would do if she was faced with Lucas in the cafe. She already felt bad about upsetting Haley with news of her relationship with Peyton, was she ready to deal with Lucas' reaction to them.

She was pretty sure he'd be a lot more vocal not to mention a lot angrier.

She sighed unhappily as Peyton opened her door.

"Come on, let's go." Peyton said waiting for Brooke to get out before placing her hand on the small of the brunette's back as she guided her into the cafe. She was pleased to note that it wasn't very busy and that Karen didn't seem to be around. They moved off to one of the side booths and Brooke sat with her back to the door to prevent people spotting her easily when they entered. "I'll go order us some burgers and drinks, okay?"

Brooke nodded and then fiddled with a napkin as Peyton headed over to the counter.

She didn't think today had been too bad, at least up until this point. But now she was starting to wonder about her friends, or more precisely, Peyton's friends. Up until her attack she'd only really had Rachel as a friend. And after everything that she had been through it was hard to see past her need for Peyton to care enough about what anyone else thought of them being together.

But maybe Peyton didn't feel like that.

And was it really fair to let the blonde lose that, lose friendships with people she'd known just as long as she'd known her?

Brooke sighed and glanced over to see Peyton chatting away with the woman behind the counter. She looked like an ordinary seventeen year old high school student, ready to be turned loose on the rest of the world, and just waiting to leave her mark on it.

They graduated in less than two weeks.

And until recently, Brooke had thought she'd go one way and everyone else would go another. She'd accepted that she'd lost Peyton, especially after Nathan's stupid sex tape, and had known that the second high school was over she'd probably never see the blonde again.

When Peyton turned in her direction and smiled brightly at her Brooke couldn't help but turn away, casting her eyes down instead. Her whole life was in chaos right now and Peyton didn't deserve to be dragged along for the ride.

Once the cops finally managed to hunt down Ian Banks, Peyton would be free to move on with her life and forget about the pains of life in Tree Hill.

Brooke couldn't do that, no matter how much she wished she could every time she closed her eyes she saw his face, every time she looked at herself in the mirror or looked at the scars on her body she was reminded of him.

For her there was no escape. Just a constant struggle not to let the memories take over her life, a struggle she didn't want Peyton to witness.

Not when Brooke could see how much the blonde blamed herself for what happened that night.

Brooke had never thought that the actions Ian Banks that night should be levelled at Peyton, not for a second. It had sickened her to have to listen to him proclaim that what he was doing to her was his 'gift' to Peyton, that she'd thank him for 'taking care of her' and see it as a show of how much he truly loved her.

Brooke shivered as she heard his voice whisper and laugh in her ear as it had that night.

"You okay?" Peyton asked her friend cautiously as she sat down across from her. She'd thought everything had been fine until she'd caught the look in Brooke's eyes a few moments ago. She had no idea what was going on, but that look had scared her. "Brooke?"

Brooke kept her head down and tried to compose herself enough not to cause Peyton anymore worry. "Hmm?" She asked and rubbed her hand over her eyes as she finally met the obviously concerned green eyes watching her. "Oh. Yeah. Just tired I guess."

Peyton studied her girlfriend trying to think of a reason as to why Brooke had just lied to her. "Are you sure that's all it is?" She asked hoping to draw a proper response from the brunette.

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, I could really do without this appointment on top of everything but I don't think you'll let me reschedule?" She asked, hiking an eyebrow up at the end and giving Peyton a pretty good impression of a smirk.

Peyton snorted as the waitress arrived and dropped off their food saying she'd return with their drinks in a minute.

After they'd been left alone Peyton smiled at Brooke and waved her fork in her direction. "You, young lady, will be going to the hospital and no arguing!" She said shaking her head at Brooke's behaviour. "It's for your own good remember? They'll have you back doing backflips and cartwheels in no time."

Brooke sighed and half-heartedly picked at her food. It was for her own good, she knew that, but maybe now she should start thinking about what would be best for Peyton.

"I guess."

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"So, do you think they'll be ready for us?" Skills asked bouncing the basketball and laying it off to Nathan who ran up to the hoop and slammed it in.

"Huh?" Nathan asked as he dribbled the ball back up the court.

Skills rolled his eyes and gave up trying to hold a conversation with Nate just held his hands out and accepted a pass before taking a few steps and trying for three points. The ball made a whooshing noise in the empty gym as it went straight in. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He said moving off to collect the ball. "Damn, we're good."

Nathan smirked at his friend and checked his watch. Haley and Lucas should be out of their exam by now. He eyed the door but it was empty.

"Heads up!" Skills called out just in time for Nathan to turn and get his hands up to receive the ball hurtling towards his face, instinctively he ran forward and dunked the ball through the hoop, swinging on it before letting go and dropping to the floor.

"Yeah!" Skills yelped. He couldn't wait to be playing college ball alongside Nathan in a few months. It was his big chance of making something of himself and with Nathan in the team they'd definitely be challenging for trophies.

Nathan smiled at his teammate then grinned openly as he spotted Haley entering the gym.

He quickly threw the ball at Skills and jogged over to his wife.

"Yeah, I see how it is." Skills mumbled to himself with a shake of his head and carried on alone as he line up a shot for the basket.

Nathan leaned down and kissed Haley before glancing behind her. "Lucas not finished yet?"

Haley sighed and slipped her arm around her husbands waist. "No. He is, but he took off saying he was going home."

"He okay?"

Haley shook her head. "Not really, but he isn't talking about it, not to me anyway."

"Hm." Nathan didn't really know how to feel about it, on one hand Lucas was his brother and Haley's best friend, on the other Brooke and Peyton were his two best friends. He shrugged hoping Lucas would get over the breakup without the situation getting any worse for all of them. He was still hoping Haley was willing to go see Brooke soon. "He'll get over it."

"I hope so." Haley replied. She hadn't seen Lucas look so down as she had today since he'd told her about his heart condition. Losing Peyton had left him questioning the direction of his life again, and that wasn't something she could really help him with.

Losing basketball was one thing but to lose the girl of your dreams without really understanding why had to be difficult to deal with. She knew Lucas was looking for answers and that he'd eventually confront Peyton if he couldn't work it out on his own. That wasn't a day she was looking forward to especially given how ambivalent she felt over Peyton's handling of the situation.

God forbid Lucas then asks her to take sides.

"Ugh, I've got a headache on top of my headache." She muttered to Nathan with a pout.

Nathan sighed and rapped his arms around her and gave her a hug and a kiss to the top of her head.

"Want to head on home then?" He asked.

Haley blew out a slow breath and then stared up at her husband. There's was no accusations or condemnation in his eyes when he looked at her, just love, plain as day. And it struck her how incredibly lucky she was in life to not only have Nathan by her side ready to do whatever it took to make her happy but she also had amazing friends that she wasn't willing to give up on either.

She smiled up at Nathan. "Actually, I was thinking-"

"You want to go see Lucas?" He asked interrupting her, he knew she was worried about him.

"I want to go see Brooke, maybe fix things between us?" She told him.

Nathan beamed down at her. "Are you sure?" He hadn't thought she was ready for that, she still seemed unsure whether or not she was happy for the girls.

Haley nodded. "If she doesn't slam the door in my face that is."

"Who? Brooke or Peyton?" He asked with a chuckle.

She glared at him as they began to move out of the gym.

Skills watched them go and shook his head as he aimed at the basket again. "Hi Skills, how did your exam go? Oh, it went great, thanks for asking!" He spoke out loud in the now empty hall as he carried on playing.

He hadn't meant to listen in to their conversation but it had been a little hard not to overhear some of it. He knew Brooke and Peyton had problems at the party but Nate had sent him a text letting him know everything was cool again but now he was asking himself why Haley had a falling out with the pair, she hadn't even been at the party by then.

He bounced the ball a few times at his feet wondering what he should do, maybe it was a good time to catch up with Lucas, see if he knew what was going on.

If nothing else he might get some free food out of it if Karen was around.

"Heh, now that's what I call an idea!"

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Peyton wasn't liking her life right now.

This was the second time in a few short hours that she found herself on the wrong side of a closed door. And she liked it this time even less than at school.

Who knew Brooke had to go into this appointment alone?

Okay, so to be fair there wasn't much Peyton could have done if she had been allowed in other than cringe and wince every time Brooke looked to be in pain, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea that she was left sitting out here.

Brooke had found it amusing.

Peyton sighed and shifted in the hard plastic seat in the waiting area. She was also starting to wonder when she become so attached to Brooke that being away from her for any length of time actually seemed to cause her physical pain.

I must be going nuts! She'd never been clingy with anyone she'd dated in the past, not even Lucas, so she was finding this need to be with Brooke a little worrying, especially given she knew Brooke hated it when guys had acted that way with her.

"Well look who it is!"

Peyton flinched out of her thoughts and jerked her head around in the direction of the voice only to come face to face with the nurse from the ward that had looked after Brooke not that long ago.

"Hey, Shannon isn't it?" Peyton asked hoping she'd remembered correctly as she sat up properly in her seat.

The nurse smiled at her having been standing there long enough to have seen the scowl on the younger woman's face as she glanced at a door down the hall.

"It is. And I take it Brooke's having her first physio session?" Shannon asked delicately but couldn't help but smile at the blonde.

"Yeah." Peyton grumbled before catching the smirk being directed at her. "What?"

Shannon shook her head and glanced at the wall clock nearby. "How long has she been in for?"

Peyton eyed the clock. "Ten minutes." She replied quietly and blushed as the nurse let out a soft laugh. Peyton rolled her eyes accepting that her behaviour could be seen as funny. "Fine, laugh away."

"I think it's sweet." Shannon told her. "But why don't I shout you a coffee over in the canteen?" She saw Peyton hesitate and look at the door Brooke was behind. "She's perfectly safe in here and we'll be back before she's finished, I promise."

Peyton sighed and nodded. There wasn't much else to do other than clock watch and that probably would drive her up the wall.

"Good, come on."

Peyton got up and reluctantly followed after the nurse. The older woman had been pretty alright when Peyton had been in to see Brooke and she'd even let her spend the night, so Peyton didn't see anything wrong with spending a little time with the nurse.

Shannon took Peyton along the hall and through several security doors before opening the stairwell and leading her down the staircase. The hospital wasn't that big, but if you didn't know your way around it was very easy to end up in the wrong place.

"Here we are."

Peyton walked through the door Shannon was holding and gave her a smile in thanks.

"Why don't you go grab a seat and I'll go get that coffee, is there anything else I can get you?" Shannon asked but Peyton just shook her head. "Okay, back in a bit."

Peyton watched her head off to the counter and looked around for somewhere to sit. The place wasn't that full thankfully and she eased over to a table by the window away from anyone else and sat down. The rain seemed to be off again but the sky hadn't brightened any so Peyton doubted it would last much longer.

"Here you go, I wasn't sure how you took it." The nurse said as she sat the coffee down along with some milk and cream cartons as well as sugar pouches.

"Black's fine." Peyton answered as the nurse sat down across from her.

Shannon nodded and they fell silent sipping at their drinks.

"Aren't they going to be missing you somewhere?" Peyton asked only now wondering why the nurse had approached her.

"No, it's been pretty quiet of late."

Peyton smirked. "Yeah, things never seem quite so normal after Brooke's been around."

"Talking from personal experience?" Shannon asked carefully.

Peyton shrugged and went back to her drink.

"How is Brooke doing?" The nurse asked cautiously.

Peyton set her drink back down onto the table and looked the older woman square in the eye. "Why do you want to know?" She asked suspiciously.

Shannon sighed wondering why she'd thought it would have been easy to talk to the blonde about her friend. "She's been through a lot Peyton, I was just wondering how she was coping with it all. Has she talked about it to anyone yet?"

"Someone other than me you mean?" Peyton accused.

"Peyton," That last thing Shannon had wanted was to get the blonde on the defensive, she had seen how much Brooke relied on the girl across from her with her own eyes, but sometimes one person just wasn't enough. "As much as I know you want to help your friend, don't you think it would be better for her to talk it over with a professional, someone that could help her work through everything she's been through?"

Peyton didn't know whether to be angry or insulted.

The chair made a screeching noise as she pushed it back to stand up. Whatever the nurse thought of her and her attempt at helping Brooke, it wasn't her place to force Brooke to do something she wasn't willing to do.

"Thanks for the coffee."

And with that she left the nurse sitting there staring after her as she walked away.

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AN/

So, hmm, hands up if you're looking forward to the next part?

Ah. Now I wonder why that is?

But never fear, it could be months before you have to read it anyway so that's a plus right? :D

Haha.

Oh and just out of curiosity is there anyone still watching the show?

Next time guys.