So we finally get to see Brooke and Nathan! I know, there are still a lot of introductions to be made but things will definitely start heating up in the next few chapters when they all know each other. Enjoy!
Ryan was the first one to pull himself together and smiled at Lucas. Lucas returned it and begun to lead them upstairs. Marissa and Seth stayed downstairs to have a cup of coffee and Summer lingered to talk to Kirsten.
"So it must be, like, really cool owning your own café." Summer said, seating herself down on one of the bar stools Lucas had placed by the counter and leaning over, as Karen worked behind the counter.
"Well, sure, it is, mostly," Karen replied, wiping a glass with a cloth. "But it's also a lot of work. A lot more work than you would think it was."
"I'm sure it is. So," Summer leaned over even more and said, in a slightly conspirational tone. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the story with Lucas's father?"
Karen turned around, surprised at the straightforwardness of the question. She wasn't offended. In fact, she rather liked the girl's infectious personality.
"It's kind of a long story," Karen said, sighing. "And I'm not quite sure I'm ready to tell it yet. But soon, alright? I promise."
Summer smiled warmly. "Oh, that's totally fine. Sorry I'm so nosey."
The bell above the door rang yet again and a very pretty dark-haired stepped in.
"Hey, Karen," she greeted her, walking right upto the counter.
"Hi, Brooke. All set for your birthday next week?"
Brooke made a face. "Not really, no. I mean, 18 was supposed to be this massive blowout party. But I'm not really in a party mood."
"Since when is Brooke Davis not in a party mood?" Karen said, laughing.
Brooke shrugged and looked around, noticing Summer. "Hey, I'm Brooke."
"Summer."
"Whoa, wait. Summer, as in Summer Roberts?" Brooke said, narrowing her eyes.
"The very one," Summer replied, wondering what she was getting at.
"Don't you remember me? I spent the last summer in California, in Orange County. My parents' beach house was right next to yours. We went shopping together, remember? And you took me to your friend…what's her name…Halle something's party?"
"Holly," Summer corrected automatically, before recognition hit her. "Oh my God, Brooke!" She threw her arms around the taller girl's neck. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
Brooke grinned. "Well, it's nice to know that I have one real friend in Tree Hill. C'mon, I'll show you around."
"Sounds great. Just one sec." Walking over to where Marissa and Seth were sitting, Marissa reading the latest Cosmo and Seth reading the newspaper, she tapped them both on the shoulder in turn. "Hey, Cohen. Hey, Coop. This is Brooke. You remember Brooke, don't you, Coop? From last summer?"
"Of course I do," Marissa smiled up at her. "Nice to see you again."
"Likewise." She turned to Seth. "And you are?"
"Seth Cohen." He held out his hand. Brooke took it.
"Cohen's my…boyfriend." Summer said it. She couldn't tell Brooke the truth, she hadn't even told Ryan or Marissa.
"Cool," said Brooke, smiling once again at Marissa and Seth.
"C'mon, Brooke. Enough niceties." Summer tugged at her friend's arm. "Let's go."
Brooke allowed herself to be dragged along and waved before she left the café.
"So," Lucas said, pushing open the door to the first room. "This is most probably going to be the guys' room."
It was an extremely nice room and done up like a proper suite, with tiled flooring, central air conditioning and two queen-sized beds.
"This is great," Ryan said. "But why would it be the guys' room?"
Lucas sighed and walked across the hall to the other room. "Because," he pushed open the door. "The alternate room is this."
It was an equally large room and structurally wise, it was the same design as the previous one. Except that…it was pink. The walls, the bedspread, the curtains. Even the bathroom tiles were pink.
"Whoa, okay," Ryan said. He stepped back and squinted. The brightness of the room was hurting his eyes.
"Yeah," Lucas said. "I told Brooke – that's my ex girlfriend - she was in charge of decorating this one while we were still together and she kind of went a little nuts doing it her way."
"Never mind. Marissa and Summer'll love it." Ryan stepped inside, his eyes slowly adjusting. He sat down on the pale pink sheet covering one of the beds. "So your ex girlfriend, huh?"
"It's a long story. But basically, I thought I loved her and than I broke her heart." Lucas sat down on the opposite bed.
"It's funny, isn't it? Thinking you love someone?" Ryan lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I mean, either you know you love them but you don't want to tell them, because it might break your own heart if you commit herself or you just think you love them but you tell them that you do because if you don't, it might break their heart."
Lucas turned to look at the boy lying on the other bed. "Wow, man, that's really deep. You sound like you've had your heart broken a few times."
Ryan shook his head. "Not really."
"So…what's the story with you and Marissa? I could sense some tension." Lucas asked.
"Tension?" Ryan propped himself up on an elbow, staring at Lucas. "We're dating."
Lucas's eyes widened. "Are you serious? I couldn't tell. I mean, I could sense straight off that Seth and Summer had a little something going on, but you and Marissa? No way, man. You just don't look like a couple."
"Well, we're not exactly a conventional couple," Ryan replied, sitting all the way up. "Maybe we should be going downstairs. The guys will be worried."
Ryan stood up and walked to the door. Lucas stopped him. "Hey, Ryan, do you wanna, like, go somewhere?"
Ryan turned around. "What do you mean?"
"It's your first day here," Lucas said. "Let me be your unofficial tour guide. Not that there are a lot of places to see in Tree Hill. But still."
Ryan looked doubtful.
"Oh, c'mon," Lucas encouraged him. "It'll be fun."
"Uh…okay," Ryan agreed reluctantly."If you insist."
"What are you doing here, Jake?" Peyton asked. They were standing in the dark hallway and Peyton's accusing voice echoed throughout the house.
"Jenny's with my parents. I finally got the court to take my side but I just…I couldn't live without seeing you. And Jenny misses you. She loves you. So do I, Peyton," Jake ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry I didn't call or anything. I've just been really busy."
"Well, so've I, Jake!" Peyton exclaimed, although a little less angrily. "I have a life too, you know. And either you're in it, or you're not. You can't always be in the middle, walking in and out whenever you feel like it."
"I haven't exactly been wiling away my time, Peyton!" Jake said, raising his voice annoyedly. "I've been working – to get my daughter back."
"Yeah, well, I don't need a person like that around. So just go, Jake." She yanked open the door. When Jake didn't move, she shook her head impatiently.
"You know what, fine. Than I'll go. You had better be gone by the time I get back." Walking out, she slammed the door behind her.
Seth had wandered off down the road in search of a decent comic book store and Marissa had fallen asleep in her chair by the time Ryan got back downstairs. He very gently prodded her awake.
"Hey, Marissa. Lucas and I are going to the…" He looked at Lucas for help.
"The river court," said Lucas. "It's kind of historic for me. It's where I discovered my dream." Turning to Marissa, he asked, "Do you wanna come?"
"I'll pass," Marissa replied. "I've barely gotten any sleep in the last three days. As soon as I get a chance to rejuvenate myself I'll start taking part in the festivities. So anyway, I'll see you, Lucas. Ryan."
Ryan kissed her briefly and the two of them walked out. A few moments later a girl with curly blonde hair and a distracted expression on her face walked in. She ordered a latte and sat down at the table next to Marissa's, her eyes wet. Intrigued by the girl Marissa leaned over. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Her voice was shaky and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"No, you're not." Marissa got up and fished a tissue out of her handbag. "Here, take this."
The girl took it, shooting Marissa a grateful look and blew her nose on it.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Marissa asked, motioning to the seat across from the girl. She shook her head and Marissa sank down on it.
"Who are you anyway?" The blonde girl asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
"I'm Marissa Cooper. I came here for a holiday with my friends Seth, Summer and Ryan. What about you? Do you live here?"
"Yeah, I'm 'one of the locals'," The girl drew her hand across her eyes a last time. "And I'm sorry for that. I want you to know I don't usually do things like that."
"Things like what?"
"Things like cry in front of strangers. Can we just start over? I'm Peyton, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Peyton. And I'm cool with starting over." Marissa smiled and leaned back in her seat. "You know what? I think we're gonna be friends."
"And this…" Brooke got out of her car and Summer followed, curious. "Is the river court. It may look like your average local basketball court but a lot of crazy things happened here. It's the other place my friends and I used to hang out. Before things got all weird and complicated, that is."
"It sounds so nice to live in a small town." Summer said wistfully, sitting down suddenly in the middle of the river court. "You know, where everyone knows everyone else and money isn't the only thing on their minds."
Brooke sat down next to her, smoothening out the back of her denim skirt as she did. "It is nice. You know, no matter how bad things got here, Tree Hill will always be home to me. I can't imagine living anywhere else."
Summer and Brooke both turned suddenly, hearing the engine of a car and watching as a familiar looking car pulled up next to theirs.
"Hey, isn't that…" Summer pointed at the car. The two boys got out.
"Lucas?" Brooke said incredulously.
"Ryan?" Summer said, leaping up to greet him. "What are you doing here?"
Ryan walked over to her. "Actually, Lucas is showing me around."
"That's awesome!" said Summer, bouncing up and down. "Brooke's showing me around. Oh," she said suddenly. "How rude of me. Ryan, this is Brooke. Brooke, this is my friend Ryan."
"Hey, Brooke."
"Hi," Brooke replied, inspecting him critically. Wow, she thought, he's cute.
"And you're Lucas," Summer told him. "Sorry about earlier. It wasn't nice of us to just gape at you while you were trying to help. It's just…we expected a Cohen. You know, gawky. Nerdy. And you're…well, you're hot."
"Uh…thanks, I think." Lucas shot Ryan an amused glance. Ryan tried not to crack up. Clearly Lucas would take a while getting used to Summer.
After a moment of looking between both Lucas and Brooke curiously and ignoring the warning glances Ryan was shooting, Summer said, "Wait, do I detect a chill in the air? What went down with the two of you?"
"Summer," Ryan hissed.
Neither Lucas nor Brooke spoke. Than Lucas turned to Ryan. "Hey, we've still got a lot of places to go see. We should get going. Nice seeing you again, Summer."
"Bye, Ryan," Brooke said pointedly.
"Bye, Brooke," Ryan shot her an apologetic look.
"Bye, Lucas." Summer waved at him. "We'll meet again."
There was not a single comic book store. Seth had walked nearly ten blocks and had yet to come across even one comic book store. It was maddening.
"Hey, can I help you?"
Seth turned around. It was a boy. His age. Tall. Dark-haired. Definitely a jock. So what was he doing, talking to Seth?
"No, it's okay," Seth said nervously, anticipating a wisecrack about his hair or his clothes or just himself in general.
"Because you look lost," The boy continued. "And I could help you. I've lived here pretty much my whole life."
"Well," Seth stuttered. "I was…I was looking for a comic book store."
"Sure, I know one. It's pretty close, too."
"You read comic books?" Seth said disbelievingly.
"Guilty as charged. I'm Nathan."
"I'm Seth," said Seth, eyeing his basketball jersey. "You're a jock."
"Not a big fan of labels, but basically, yeah."
"So, you read comic books and you help poor geeky out-of-towners?" Seth inquired. "What the hell kinda jock are you?"
Walking to his car Nathan turned around and smiled. "Well, if I told you that, than I'd have to kill you." He got into the driver's seat.
Works for me, Seth thought, going around the other side of the car to sit on the passenger side.
And that's the end of chapter 3...let me know what you think! Feedback very much appreciated (even if you hate it).