"The girls are asleep, finally," Haley whispered as she gently shut the door behind her.
"Jenny got settled in your room with a book. Hope you don't mind," Peyton told Haley. Haley waved it off.
"So do the two of you want to watch a movie or something?" Haley asked. With difficulty, Peyton eased herself onto the couch.
"Sure. I'm up for anything." Haley waddled over to her DVD collection and began to read off titles. Brooke smiled and then her phone rang.
"Sorry," she whispered, listening to see if the phone had woken up Haley's daughters. There were only the sounds of deep breathing. Brooke stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Hello," she said softly into her phone.
"Hey," a deep voice said from the other end. Brooke's heart skipped a beat.
"Hi." She tried to keep herself from smiling.
"Where are you, robbing a house?" the voice teased her soft tone.
"No Lucas, I'm at Haley's."
"Ah and the little ones are sleeping."
"Yeah and I've found that when Brooklyn wakes up she can be a bit of a spoiled brat."
"I think she gets it from her namesake."
"So is there a reason you're calling me other than to mock me mercilessly?"
"Actually yes. I think we got off on the wrong foot when you came back here. You know I can be a little…aggressive."
"Lucas, you don't need to apologize for anything."
"I know, but I feel weird. So to make up for it I was thinking that maybe we could go out to dinner. Catch up on our lives and everything."
"Like a d…" but Brooke couldn't bring herself to finish the word date.
"Like two old friends who haven't seen each other in a while catching up."
"Ok I guess we could." Brooke ran her finger along the edge of the counter, trying to fight the urge to smile.
"So tomorrow, at eight. I'll pick you up."
"Don't you think that's a little date-like?"
"Fine I can drive a car and you can follow me in a different car. We can even sit at different tables if that would make you feel more comfortable. Or you know what we could look for a couple restaurants in the same area and just go to those maybe call each other on the phone and talk that way, or would that be too date-like?"
"Picking me up at eight sounds great."
"You're a poet and you didn't know it."
"Bye Lucas," Brooke said as she hung up her phone. As she stared at her phone she felt a familiar churning in her stomach.
"So what did Lucas have to say?" Brooke jumped at the voice and turned around. Peyton and Haley were standing in identical poses, hands on their stomachs and leaning against the door frame of the kitchen. Haley smiled Brooke in a knowing way.
"He just wanted to say hey," Brooke lied.
"And his just saying hey got you smiling like the Cheshire Cat?" Peyton teased.
"No." Brooke forced the smile from her face. "No, I just, I saw this," she grabbed a piece of paper off of the fridge. "Audrey drew this? Wow she's like a child prodigy." She pointed to the picture.
"Brooke, it's a stick figure. The sun has a face," Haley pointed out.
"But it's a really good face. I mean the eyes and mouth are…proportional." Brooke gave it up and put the picture back on the fridge. "We're going out to dinner tomorrow night."
"Like a date?" Peyton questioned.
"No like two friends going out to catch up on their lives," Brooke defended.
"Just remember Brooke, that you are married. And some how I don't think that David would look too favorably on you sleeping with another man," Peyton joked.
"Peyton! What kind of a girl do you think I am?"
"Well I've known you since we were nine and let's just say you've always been a bit…friendly." Brooke slapped Peyton's arm.
"Lucas and I are going to dinner. We'll talk, have a few laughs, that is all. Now if you don't mind I'm not really in the mood to watch a movie. I think I'm going to go back to the motel." Brooke walked towards the front door, gathering her coat and bag.
"You know I was thinking about that," Peyton said as she followed Brooke.
"Me driving?"
"No, you staying in a motel. Jake and I have an extra room so maybe you could stay with us."
"What about Rachel?"
"She could sleep on the couch," Peyton suggested. Brooke gave her a look. "Or Jenny could sleep in bed with Jake and I and Rachel could have her bed."
"I'll talk to her about it. Thanks P. Sawyer!" Brooke hugged Peyton and then Haley. "I'll call the two of you tomorrow."
"Before or after the date?" Haley teased.
"See killing you would be cruel because your babies really haven't done anything to me. I mean I guess I could cut them out of your cold dead bodies, but…."
"Call me tomorrow morning when you and Rachel figure out if you'll be staying with us," Peyton cut her off.
"Bye." Brooke gave each of them another hug and then walked out to her car.
"Hey where you been?" Rachel greeted as Brooke slipped into the room.
"I was hanging out with Peyton and Haley. How were things at Mouth's?"
"Fine. I sat in a corner booth and made a mess. I kept sending food back to the kitchen and finally his employees begged for him to kick me out. So I'd chalk it up to a successful afternoon." Rachel was flipping through channels on the TV.
"So I was talking to Peyton and she said that if we wanted to we could stay with her while we're in Tree Hill."
"Would I have to sleep on the couch?"
"No, she said that you could have Jenny's room."
"Is it shaped like a castle?"
"I doubt it."
"A pirate ship?" Brooke shook her head. "Any other whimsical objects?"
"Have you met Jenny? I seriously doubt it."
"Ok then. We'll stay with your lame ass friend."
"Well don't get too excited about it."
"So other than a location change what's the game plan for tomorrow. I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping tomorrow afternoon and then head over to Tric in the evening."
"Oh." Brooke sat down on the bed.
"Oh that sounds great, or oh I have other plans."
"The latter," Brooke mumbled.
"Do share. Are you and the pregnant ladies hitting the town?" Brooke picked at the skin around her nail.
"No."
"You have a crazy babysitting night planned?"
"I'm going to dinner with Lucas!" Brooke finally broke.
"Well."
"Well what?" The remote made a thud as Rachel threw it on her bed.
"Well… that sounds like a date." Brooke shook her head.
"I swear the three of you, a broken record."
"Excuse me?"
"Peyton and Haley had the same reaction when I told them."
"That's because it's you and Lucas."
"What does that have to do with anything?" With a sigh, Rachel shifted herself to face Brooke.
"You and Lucas going out to dinner means something."
"Yes it means that the two of us are going to eat a perfectly platonic dinner."
"When it comes to you and Lucas, there's no such thing as platonic."
"Not this again Rachel." Rachel held up her hands.
"All I'm saying is that the two of you have a lot of history. A long history full of romance and lust."
"But that's just it Rachel. I keep telling you. It's history. As in the past. As in we're not together anymore. As in I have a husband."
"Just be careful Brooke. His heart's very fragile."
"Rachel nothing's going to happen. We'll go and talk about old times and such. I'm not going to pout my lips and bat my eyes only to tell him that I never want to see him again." Brooke stood up and collected a change of clothes. She walked towards the bathroom, ready to take a shower.
"Well just don't wear anything too low cut."
"I promise."
"Or too short. You know because one wrong move with the legs and Lucas has a heart attack." And then you've got to call the ambulance and spend the night with him in the hospital. And then you have to explain to David why you spent another man." Brooke rolled her eyes as she closed the bathroom door. "I'm just looking out for you!" Rachel yelled through the closed door. "Well this should be interesting," Rachel mumbled to herself as she resumed flipping through channels.
Brooke leaned her head against the door. Why was everyone making such a big deal about a dinner between friends? Why did no one believe that she and Lucas could be something other than romantic interests for each other? She kept telling everyone that they were just friends. Everything was completely platonic. As she turned on the faucet, she prayed to herself that she was right.