Does anything really need to be said after such a long time between updates or do people just want the update? Well maybe this, again please forgive me if these updates aren't always left aligned, I write them center aligned and do forget to change it when I post them.
Chapter 11
It had been 3 days since Peyton had left the hospital and went to Maine with her dad, and Brooke was completely aware of every second that had gone by. After Nathan and Haley had dropped her off a couple of days ago, she had walked in the house and plopped down on the couch. That was the furthest that her legs would take her on the amount of energy that she was running off of. She didn't need to turn on the lights because she and Nathan were in such a rush to leave hours ago, that they forgot to turn them off. It didn't matter anyway, because the sun was already starting to come up. She just sat there, staring off into the room while it slowly crept higher into the sky and shone through the windows.
She couldn't bring herself to move, never even removing her jacket as kept her eyes trained on a broken vase that was on the floor by the stairs. For hours she sat in one spot and through blurry eyes she thought of how the vase could have ended up on the floor, broken. How the small table that it sat on could have been overturned. Had Peyton been in a rush to get somewhere? It made the brunette's stomach hurt to think that maybe something had happened in their house; Peyton was a freak about things being in their places, so for the vase and table to be left like that?
Those thoughts led to other thoughts and by the time the sun was in full bloom, Brooke was in complete tears. From the little that Peyton had told her when they talked in the hospital, to the little that the police had told Brooke when they had questioned her, her imagination had added its two sense to the party and she was just lucky that she hadn't drunken herself to sleep instead of crying herself there.
A big part of it was that Peyton didn't want to talk to her, and she had told her that much as they waited in the hospital room right before a nurse came in to wheel her off for tests. It was common knowledge that the blonde could hold a grudge, but never with her. Brooke knew full well that she deserved everything that Peyton was giving her; it was her who left for New York angry, her who wouldn't answer her phone. When Brooke thought about one of those calls possibly being about what might have been happening here, she buried her head into the seat of the couch and screamed. She screamed for her stupidity and anger, she screamed for not being here or being able to help her girlfriend. The thing she screamed the most about though, was what she saw when she first laid eyes on Peyton after she had gotten to the hospital.
The image was seared into her mind, only a couple of days had passed and they were the only images Brooke's mind would pull up. They would have given most people nightmares, but Brooke hadn't really slept since she left for New York anyway. Even though it was somewhat morbid, she would never let herself forget those images. It was a form of self-punishment that she thought she rightfully needed to bear. That and they fueled a vengeful streak Brooke tended to get when someone that she loved was hurt.
As she walked into her store, she walked straight to the back office and took a seat at her desk. She had just come from the police station where she was meeting with the detective that was handling the case. She had first met him at the hospital, when he had questioned her. Accused her, she thought bitterly as she looked down at the man's business card she had in her hand. He had clearly been barking up the wrong tree and he didn't seem like he was too inclined to climb down. He had made some bigoted comment about high estrogen levels and a lover's quarrel, and Brooke had immediately stopped thinking the man could be of any use.
Even after Peyton had told him that it was Ian, the paparazzo that had done it, the useless detective continued to take the route that maybe it might have been Brooke, even with Brooke in the room. As it stood they had yet to find Ian and had 'no solid leads', but were working as hard as they could. That might have just been the police trying to cover their own backsides though.
While in the hospital room, Brooke had found out that Peyton had gone to the police a couple of days before, saying that Ian had become aggressive. Brooke almost lost her shit when Peyton informed the detective that the officer that took the report said that maybe she was being overly cautious and that rich people couldn't use police officers as their own personal security every time something made them a little uncomfortable. So the formality of Brooke going down to the station today was to get the first incident report that Peyton had filed, the police report for the attack and the report from the arson investigator. She wanted to completely cover her tracks and be as well informed as she could, with having so little information.
Brooke ripped up the card that she held in her hand and threw it in the trash can, after her first meeting with the detective she knew for a fact that she would not be going the route of the police to make sure Ian got what he deserved. She had taken the files out of her bag and set them in a neat pile right in front of her. She walked out of her office and told Millicent that she had a meeting later and to send the man back.
When Brooke had woken up in the late afternoon from crying herself to sleep, after she had returned to her empty house by herself, she had made one phone call. It had been to a man named Jeff, the head of security at the Clothes Over Bros headquarters in New York. She told him the situation and that she needed Ian found yesterday. She didn't care how much money it would cost; and this was the part where being a celebrity came in handy. She was also paying for discretion, because when Ian was found, she wanted him to immediately be lost again. Her one and only condition was that he not be killed; now if he was dropped off in some remote third world country, with no way of getting back, because both of his legs were broken…It had taken less than twenty minutes for Brooke to explain this to the man that Jeff had sent, she almost laughed to herself when she thought about meetings she had sat in about picking out fabric samples that had taken weeks to settle.
After that she was back off to an empty house, to be by herself. It wasn't that no one wanted to be around her at the moment, though that was a little true. Brooke had taken it upon herself to stay focused on only two things, Peyton and Ian. She was completely leaning on Millicent, to make sure that her company was functioning without the designer practically giving it her full attention like she normally did.
Right off the plane from Fashion Week, Millie was on top of the extensive PR it took to explain the designer's absence from the media panel at the end of the show. Brooke told Millie that her number one priority was to keep Victoria away from her, and Tree Hill for that matter. Brooke didn't like her mother, but after the previous week, she no longer trusted her. She had stepped up her efforts to completely remove the woman, who acted as more of a nuance than anything, out of her life for good.
She wasn't as naive as people thought she was, she knew that Victoria was only after money and power. When she first started the company she had known that, but thought that because Victoria was her mother for goodness sakes, that she could/would change. At best Brooke thought she might be able to buy off her love, but how ever verbal the brunette was with her girlfriend about the way her father treated her, Peyton was ten times that when it came to Victoria.
So as Brooke sat on the couch and stared at the broken vase and knocked over table by her staircase, she thought that as a fully grown adult, with a multi-million dollar company, who was newly engaged with her high school sweetheart who currently was not talking to her, that one less problem off her shoulders couldn't hurt anything.
Brooke looked to the front door when the doorbell rang. She knew that it was either Nathan or Haley, or both, but she really didn't want any company right now. Everyone had given her her space for the first couple of days and for that she was grateful; she figured it had something to do with Nathan, he was the only one beside Peyton that knew her well enough to know that she needed it. But halfway into the week, Nathan had started to call and text her. He wanted her game plan; sure that she had one by this point. The only thing she told him was that she just needed to make sure that Peyton was okay.
"Nathan, I told you not to come when you called earlier" Brooke said as she opened the door, but didn't move out of the doorway.
"Cut the shit Davis, Millie called and told us you had a meeting with some military guy?" Nathan said as he pushed the petite brunette out of the doorway and closed it behind him.
"Poachers, mink is going to be in again next season" Brooke said as she went back to sit on the couch.
"Bullshit" he said as he too sat down on the couch, but faced his friend.
"Nate-"Brooke said warily, she really had just enough energy for the only two things that held her attention as of late.
"Where's Peyton?" Nathan changed his strategy as he looked around the house like she would walk out.
"Nathan, what do you want?" Brooke's voice rose. She had finally lost the grip on the tight reign she had over her emotions.
"To know what the hell is going on?" he yelled back just as frustrated.
"What's going on? What's going- have you not been paying a-fucking-ttention, Nathan" Brooke laughed at the stupid question even though she didn't think it was funny.
"So from your foul ass mood, I'm guessing she's still at her dad's" Nathan stated. He loved Brooke to death, but they were one in the same and nothing easy came when two bulls locked horns.
When he heard Brooke scoff he looked over at her, but then followed her eyes to the mess that lay at the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened to Ana's vase?" Nathan asked. He was surprised to see it broken, he, along with the rest of their close friends knew that Peyton only had a couple of her mother's things and she completely cherished them.
"She's gonna hate me for that too" Brooke said as her eyes started to water again at the sight of the broken object.
"She doesn't hate you, Brooke, she just needed to get her bearings" Nathan said. Scooting over on the couch, he put his arm around the designer and pulled her into his side.
"But you should've seen her when that dumbass detective was accusing me" Brooke said as she continued to sniffle, her hazel eyes never moving from their position.
"What, she thinks you had something to do with it?" Nathan asked in disbelief.
"No, she stood up for me" the designer chuckled humorlessly again.
"But?" Nathan asked as he looked down at her.
"But I could see it in her eyes that she didn't trust me to protect her" Brooke whispered.
"Brooke-"
"I keep failing at stuff. I never use to fail before, Nate" Brooke's voice was still a whisper, but tapered off as she began to cry.
"We can fix this" Nathan said as he squeezed her shoulder.
He wasn't used to Brooke crying this much. Peyton yes, she cried when she was frustrated and couldn't express herself properly. But Brooke was like him and they didn't tend to cry, this was huge though so he figured it deemed tears.
"Nathan, she hates me" Brooke cried harder as she turned her head into his shoulder, slightly aware that someone was witnessing her breaking down.
"Hey, we can fix this" he said again as he pulled back to look at his best friend, "But it doesn't help that she's all the way up in what, Maine?" he asked, still slightly unsure where Peyton's dad had moved.
"She won't answer her fucking phone" Brooke cried as she dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, completely frustrated.
"Brooke, why the hell are you even trying to call her?" Nathan asked a little annoyed with his friend.
"Be- because it's Peyton" Brooke answered what she thought to be the stupidest question she had heard since talking with the detective at the hospital.
"I meant, why are you calling her?" Nathan repeated the question for Brooke, but she didn't get to answer because Haley walked through the front door.
"Hey sweetie" Haley said as she walked over to the couch were her husband and friend were sitting.
"Hey Tutor Mom" Brooke said as she wiped at her eyes after Haley kissed her forehead, before sitting down on the other side of the designer.
"Oh my gosh, what happened to Peyton's mom's vase?" Haley asked as she got back up and went over to pick up the pieces.
"I don't know, but Haley don't touch it" Brooke rushed out the last part wanting to stop the mom before she might ruin or further damage anymore of the pieces.
"Was Ian in the house?" Nathan asked as he watched his wife back away from the staircase.
When Brooke didn't answer him, he sat up more in his seat and leaned forward so that he could see her face. The designer did the exact opposite and slouched down when Haley came back to join them on the couch. He kept his eyes on her and when he saw her trying to avoid eye contact, he knew that something wasn't right.
"Brooke?" Nathan asked when she remained silent.
"Brooke, I got the impression that Ian had been bothering Peyton leading up to the fire. Lucas said-" Haley caught on that Nathan knew something she didn't, but she was cut off by Brooke.
"It's fine" the brunette's voice was huskier than it usually was because of the emotions that she had been trying to hold back.
"Bullshit" Nathan threw the curse word out. He leaned back against the arm of the couch and just stared Brooke down.
"Nathan" Haley reprimanded her husband. For one she wasn't particularly fond of when he used foul language, she also hated when he talked to their friends that way.
She noticed that he only really did it when he slipped up and when he got frustrated with the two occupants of the house they were currently sitting in. It almost always made the girls cave and give Nathan the information that he wanted, but she preferred the softer approach.
"Bullshit that you would let this go" Nathan said, completely ignoring Haley.
"I know that look Brooke, you're about to do something stupid" Nathan continued to stare at his friend who seemed unfazed by anything, which was the exact opposite of how she had been before Haley walked into the house.
"Nathan, it's fine, I got it" Brooke said, her emotions completely collected from earlier.
It wasn't like the questions they were asking weren't any that she hadn't asked herself, or the information they were giving wasn't anything that she didn't already have by now. By the end of the day, she would know Ian Banks better than the woman that was unfortunate enough to give birth to him. She wouldn't let anyone else distract her, she was completely focused.
For the next three days the only things that Brooke Davis did was work and get updates about Peyton from Larry. She had deflected all other aspects of her life to Millie, who was a multitasking machine. She handled the press; from Brooke leaving New York in a rush, to the lack of information about what had happened in Tree Hill. The most important thing that she did was kept Victoria away from the designer. Brooke didn't trust her mother and had her suspicions about her possible involvement in this nightmare, so to say she felt like she could be anywhere around her without losing her shit, was a complete understatement.
Brooke had finally lost all of her patience when she had finally gotten Peyton to talk to her on the phone. The conversation was short, if it was even considered a conversation, because all that Brooke heard through the phone was muffled crying for a couple of seconds and then Peyton apologizing and ending the call.
That's it.
That was what had Brooke on the first flight to Camden, Maine. She knew she had been fucking up a lot lately, but this, Peyton was not something that she was going to let go of. Not just easily, but at all. As creepy as it sounded, she considered the blonde to be like a protective skin, and her nerves felt completely raw without her around. She knew for a fact that the same thing went for Peyton after speaking with her dad. Her girlfriend wasn't sleeping, and wasn't that talkative either. Larry didn't know because he was never really around, but this was classic Peyton. You had to reach in there and yank her out, usually kicking and screaming. It took expert hands and a stiff upper lip, but she would come. Peyton looked like this weak, skinny little blonde that couldn't defend herself, but she wasn't. The fight was there, you just had to rattle her cage the right way. Brooke had perfected it over the years, become a pro, so she was nothing but determined when her flight landed at Knox County Airport in Maine.
On a side note, It might just be the American in me, but I'd like to take a moment of silence this Thanksgiving weekend for all the poor souls who work in retail.