A/N: Wow time goes by so fast. It feels like I only just updated a few days ago. Obviously not thought. Thank you very much dianehermans for sending me a pm since you couldn't review. BTW you were the only one who said anything at all…..so who knows maybe you're the only one reading, but oh well that's ok. I finished writing this today cause yesterday I already did all my homework since I was totally snowed in….it was super windy and snowing like all day. And right now it's probably like 5 degrees outside, and it snowed like a foot. Totally normal here I guess…:/. Anyway enjoy! Also just saying sorry for the cheesiness/childness of the sound effects….I couldn't figure out another way to describe the doorbell or a phone or something….yeah.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone….and I don't own the Lupus Foundation either. It's real by the way. They've called my house before.
Chapter 6: For You I Guess I Will
Peyton really needed to sign someone to Tric's opening night and Haley wouldn't answer Peyton. On top of all of the Tric problems, Luke had been acting weird last night, so she'd decided to come surprise him. It was a good thing that Karen and Keith were away for the weekend. That way Peyton could cheer Lucas up with something like s- Peyton's mouth dropped open.
"Brooke?"
Lucas' House
10 AM
Brooke groaned. Who would shout at her so early? The minute she opened her eyes and saw where she was, or rather who she was with, gave her the answer. Brooke quickly jumped out of the bed.
"Peyton….it's not-I"
"Nothing happened Peyton. We didn't do anything. She just turned up with no jacket in the freezing cold!" said Lucas.
"Yeah and I bet she just had nowhere to go, huh? What about her house where both her parents are? What about Nathan's house? Or Haley's? Or Rachel's? She had plenty of places!" shouted Peyton.
"Both my parents? You know how they are, Peyton!"
"I know you complain about your mom all the time, but at least she's alive!"
"Peyton….maybe you should-" Lucas tried to say.
"I should what? Get drunk and go to Nathan's house? Be just like Brooke?"
"Why are you even so mad? I mean at least I didn't kiss him like you did!"
"And I'm sorry for that!"
"If you were, then you wouldn't be so….so mean!"
"Well maybe if you weren't such as bitch then I'd be nicer!"
"Peyton…" started Lucas.
"Whatever. Thank you, Lucas." said Brooke as she stormed out the door.
:):)
Nathan's House
10:45 AM
Nathan, Haley, and Rachel were all sitting in the living room waiting for Brooke to call.
"This is pointless!" said Rachel as she threw her hands up, "We should be out looking for her! Not sitting here like a bunch of lazy dumbasses!"
"Rachel, calm down," said Haley.
"Calm down? Tutor-girl, maybe you were friends with Peyton first but to me she was always a home-wrecker."
"….what does Peyton have to do with this?" asked a confused Haley.
"For all we know, she could be kicking the f-"
"Ok we get it Rachel."
"Just trust me, she'll talk if she wants, but if she doesn't, then searching for her will just make her avoid us," interrupted Nathan.
"And you would know because you two are just the best of friends!" replied Rachel in a sarcastic tone.
Just then the phone rang. Nathan and Rachel both dove for the phone, but in the end Nathan got to it first.
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is the Lupus Foundation. We have a donat-" Nathan hung up.
"Why'd you hang up?" asked Haley.
"Some frickin Loopers Fountain," muttered Nathan.
"Oh!" cried out Rachel in frustration, "They suck! I swear they call like every freakin' day!"
"They've never called me," said Haley.
"Duh. You're like poor," replied Rachel.
"Excuse me?"
"Just speakin' the truth tutor-girl."
"Being richer than me does not mean you're better than me! Who do you think you are? You-"
"Ah-ah let's not spoil tutor-girl's no swearing record," taunted Rachel.
"How do you know I never swore? You're just a stupid little w-"
"Your mouth moves, but no words come out!"
"Ok enough! We're waiting for Brooke, not talking about money," intervened Nathan.
"Speaking of you it's stupid to think that Brooke will just-" began Rachel.
Ding Dong, went the doorbell. Nathan got up to go get the door.
"Hey…."greeted Brooke.
"Hey BROOKE," Nathan grinned, making sure Rachel would be able to hear him.
Brooke and Nathan walked to the living room, and were greeted by a surprised Rachel.
"…..b-brooke….you came on your own…" stated a discouraged Rachel.
She thought that she knew Brooke better than Nathan, but now she was making mental plans to hang out with Brooke more.
"Yes it is Brooke," replied a smug Nathan.
"Yeah…it's me…"said a confused Brooke.
"So where were you?" asked Haley.
"Um…out."
"Out where?" pressed Rachel.
"Who's hungry? Huh? How 'bout some breakfast at Karen's?" said a grinning Nathan.
"What? Scott are you-" exclaimed Rachel.
"Rachel just calm down, I'm sure-" tried Haley.
"Yeah let's go," agreed Brooke.
"Ah-bu-but….what?" sputtered Rachel as Brooke and Haley walked outside.
"And you know because you two are just the best of friends," mocked Nathan in a falsetto voice, as he walked past Rachel with a smirk on his face.
"Don't get too smug. I'm still a much better friend to her. You can't just ignore what happened," hissed Rachel.
"Whatever you say, Gatina," replied Nathan in an arrogant tone.
:):)
Tric
11 AM
"Can I get another one?" Peyton called out to the first official Tric bartender, Chase.
"No, don't give her another one Chase," spoke Karen as she entered the soon-to-be-opened club.
"Karen! I wasn't expecting you until the afternoon," said Peyton, glancing at her watch.
"Obviously not," replied Karen as she looked at Peyton in a disappointed way, "I know that it's hard for you to have your dad gone all the time, but I can't help you fund Tric if you come her drinking all the time."
"No! No, Karen it's not like that," Peyton shook her head vigorously as if that would help sober her up. She'd had at least five drinks, "It's just….some things happened this morning."
"Some things…..concerning Lucas?"
"I…n-…how did you know?"
"I got home this morning."
"Oh…I-uh-I didn't see your car…I thought your flight was at one."
"Well since Tric is opening tonight, I thought that I'd get an earlier flight. Do you want to tell me exactly what happened?"
"I…well the other night, actually last night, we went to a party at Tim's….and after that he was kinda out of it when I left, so I thought that I'd go drop by this morning, and then-..then…Brooke was there!"
Karen raised her eyebrows, "I'm sure nothing happened. Brooke must've been there for some other reason."
"They're not even friends! And she was in the bed with him!"
Ring Ring Ring went Karen's phone.
"I'm sorry but I have to take this," said Karen, pointing to her cell phone, "I'll be back a little earlier than 3 to help set the opening up."
"I….oh um. Sure. Cool," stammered Peyton wondering why Karen didn't talk to her about Lucas.
:):)
Karen's Café
11:30 AM
Nathan, Haley, Brooke, and Rachel walked into Karen's Café.
"Hi," smiled Kayti a new waitress, "Can I help you?"
"Hey, Kayti," said Haley as she walked in front of the other three friends.
"Oh! Hey Haley! Do you guys want a table, the counter, or a booth?"
"We'll have a booth."
"By the kitchen preferably!" piped in Brooke.
"Okay sure, right over here."
Brooke breathed in the smell of Karen's Café. Tree Hill was a small town, but only Karen's Café had the true feeling of a small town diner. Haley and Kayti had met while Haley was working at Karen's Café, so if Haley asked for a booth, and one of her friends asked for it by the kitchen, Brooke knew Kayti would give them one.
Nathan and Haley slid into one side, while Brooke and Rachel slid in on the other, as Kayti handed them menus.
"Tori will be over soon. Just tell me if any of ya'll need anything," said Kayti with a smile and wave.
"Mmm, Hales I totally love that you worked here and can get us kitchen booths. The smell is absolutely fabulous.
Haley and Rachel smiled, even if they both didn't agree with Nathan letting Brooke keep her thoughts to herself, they both loved it when she was happy.
"Brooke it's not that big a deal. I'm sure if you requested it they'd give you it," replied Haley.
Brooke shrugged, "I know."
"Hey guys I'm Victoria, how can I help you?" asked the new waitress Victoria, while snapping her gum.
"I'll have a large," snap, "um a large coffee and-" snap, "a uh stack of pancakes, and," snap, "an apple cinnamon muffin," said Nathan.
"I'll have a large hot chocolate with marshmallows. Um a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, a cinnamon roll, hmmm,"
snap snap
"Stop snapping your gum!" muttered Rachel.
"What's that?" snap, asked Victoria turning to Rachel.
"Nothing. I was just telling Haley she should get a muffin instead of French toast sticks," Rachel fake-smiled.
Snap, "Mkay. You gonna finish ordering?" snap snap.
"Oh um yeah," replied Brooke, "I'll also have some chicken noodle soup. Oh and some French toast sticks too." snap.
"You?" snap, Victoria asked Rachel.
"Large coffee with cream and sugar," snap, "stack of blueberry pancakes, and scrambled eggs," snap, "wait I also want bacon and a sugar cookie." Snap.
"K. How bout you?" asked Victoria, pointing to Haley. Snap.
"I'll have a cup of green tea, a stack of chocolate-chip pancakes," snap snap, "and a scone. Oh and a banana-nut muffin." snap.
"Mkay. It'll come later," snap snap.
"God could she not snap her gum?" asked Rachel the minute Victoria left.
"Rachel I'm sure it's just a bad habit," explained Haley.
-20 Minutes-
"Where in the heck is our food?" asked Rachel.
"Maybe she had to go to hell to get yours. After all, you're kind of a bitch," said Nathan.
"Yeah? Well at least-" snap.
"Here's your food," snap.
"Could you maybe not snap your gum anymore?" asked Rachel. Politely even.
Victoria paused. Snap, "It's habit."
"Well it's seriously getting on my nerves and it's definitely gross." Snap snap.
"Got a problem with it?" Snap.
"Whatever."
Snap snap.
:):)
Karen's Café
12 Noon
Karen locked the doors of her silver BMW. It was way out of her affordability range, but it didn't matter. She didn't buy it. It was a suck-up gift from Peyton. She felt bad accepting it and calling it a suck-up gift, but that was definitely what it was. Karen was glad that Kayti had called her. It was a welcome distraction from hearing Peyton's sob-story. She hated to be mean, really she did, but Peyton just was not her cup of tea. Kayti had said that Tori had been giving attitude to customers. Truthfully, the only reason Tori was even working at the Café was because Karen owed Laurali, Tori's mom, a favor. She walked into the Café and was surprised to see Brooke, Nathan, Haley, and Rachel. It seemed like Rachel was mad at Tori. Karen was about to go intervene when she heard that a different table needed help.
"Rachel, just let it go."
"No, Brooke it's disgusting, an-"
"Wait you're Brooke?"
"Yeah…"
"Like Brooke Davis?"
"Yeah…why?"
"Dude you're such a slut!"
"Excuse me?"
Karen stopped cleaning the counter, and was about to walk over to the table.
"This blonde curly-haired chick came in this morning. She was sitting at the counter all sad, so I played bartender and she said that a Brooke Davis was in her boyfriend's bed this morning. Then she set off. To a real bar, I bet."
Silence. "Hey look! She doesn't have to snap her gum…" said Rachel.
"You don't know the whole story. Thanks for the food. We'll talk if we need anything else," intervened Nathan.
"Whatevs," snap, "Just sayin'" Tori left.
Karen decided to go over there now.
"Hey guys," greeted Karen.
Brooke and Nathan looked up. Haley had gone to the bathroom, and Rachel just didn't care who it was.
"Karen! You're back early!" said Brooke, wondering if Karen had seen the whole thing with Tori.
"Hey Karen," greeted Nathan through a bite of his muffin, "Good muffins."
"Brooke, can I talk to you?" asked Karen.
"Um…yeah sure."
Karen and Brooke walked over to the side of the counter.
"I saw Peyton this morning."
"Oh! Cool! I haven't seen her since last night," there was still a chance Karen hadn't heard, right?
"I was here during Tori's outbreak."
Nope. No chance.
"….so you heard. Well Nathan was right Tori doesn't know the whole story, and whatever Peyton thinks, she's wrong."
"That's what I thought. What did happen?"
"Look, I know you want to know because he's your son, and I would totally tell you because you're the closest thing to a real mom I have, but I just….just know that nothing happened. Peyton was overreacting. Drunk or not, I wouldn't do that."
"I understand Brooke, but don't let this get to you too bad."
"Thanks Karen," smiled Brooke as she walked back to the booth.
"Hey, what'd she want?" asked Nathan.
"Oh nothing. Where's Haley? I think we should go now. I wanna go home. My parents left for Cabo this morning."
"Uh-but you barely touched your food…" observed Rachel.
"Kayti! Can we pack this up?" called Brooke
"Oh yes sure," replied Kayti.
"Hey guys, why haven't you eaten?" asked Haley as she wiped her hands on a napkin.
"According to Brooke, we're leaving," explained Rachel.
:):)
Nathan's Car
12:15 PM
"So who's closest?" asked Nathan.
"I'm down the street, and Rachel is in that new area, by Tim's house," said Haley.
"Stalker much, tutor-girl?"
Haley turned and faced Rachel, "I picked you up last night."
"Chill, I know. I was just joking."
"This is me. Bye Rachel, Brooke," Haley hugged Nathan, "bye."
"See ya, Hales," said Nathan as he closed the passenger door.
"Bye Hales"
"Later Tutor-girl."
"Finally, no more arguing." said Brooke.
"Oh don't be too sure. The asshole in front might say something," replied Rachel.
"Don't even, Gatina," warned Nathan.
"Why not, Scott? Afraid you can't take it?"
"Nope, just concerned that your feelings might get hurt.
"Oh look there's your house now, Rach! Bye! See ya Monday!" interrupted Brooke, eager for the fighting to stop.
"Oh yeah. Don't think this isn't over Scott."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Later Brookie!" said Rachel as she shut the door.
Brooke crawled up to the passenger seat.
"I wanna leave."
"Well yeah that's why we're not at the Café anymore."
"No. I mean Tree Hill."
"Wait what?" Nathan pulled over to the side of the read and turned to face Brooke, "Where is this coming from?"
"Um. Yesterday after Tim's party I told you so-"
"But you were just kidding right? And this morning….I mean why are you telling me?"
"Because I know you won't tell anyone else. And besides, I don't want to take off with no one knowing, and be assumed dead."
Nathan ran his hands through his hair and sighed.
"Fine, if you're set on running away Brooke, then I'm coming too."
"Nate….I'm not asking you to, I'm just saying I want to and I think I will."
"Well I'm coming."
"Nate-"
"We'll stop at your place first and then we can stop at mine."
"Thanks, really. I know it's probably weird that I want to ru-"
"It's ok Brooke. Your, as cheesy as it sounds, like my best friend, B.
:):)
Brooke's House
"I'll be right out."
"Ok sure. No rush," Nathan waited until Brooke was completely out of sight before pulling out his cell phone.
"Hey Nathan what's up?" greeted Haley.
"So listen Brooke wants to run away and since she's got it in her head I'm gonna go with her. I'm tellin you cause I don't want you to think I just left, and I want someone to know. I can like send you secret agent-ish texts about where we are or something," spilled Nathan.
"I-whoa…I'm…I'm glad you told me, but….are you sure you can't just stop here?"
"No, believe me I tried."
"Ok well…"
"Look she's getting out of her house so I can't talk anymore, but whatever you do, don't tell anyone."
"I promise I won't. Bye Nathan."
"Bye Ha-Deb," Nathan corrected himself as Brooke slipped in the car.
"Why was Deb calling?"
"She wanted to tell me that she and Dan were going to Europe to 'escape some troubles'," Nathan said, recalling a note on his door that he found yesterday.
"Oh. So are we gonna stop at your place?"
"Yeah, sure."
:):)
Nathan's House
"So I'll just get some clothes, food, and money I guess."
"Ok sure. I'll wait here."
Nathan walked into his house and was surprised to see Lucas in the living room.
"Uh what are you doing here? How did you get in here?" questioned Nathan.
"Oh um the back door was unlocked. I just wanted to tell you that last night when Brooke ran from here-"
"How did you know?" interrupted Nathan.
"Would you let me finish?"
"Yeah keep talkin'," replied Nathan as he began to find a bag.
"So Brooke came to my door, and she asked if she could stay. She said that she snuck out when you went to open the door for Rachel and Haley. I told her that I should call you and let you know where she was, but she asked me not to and so she just stayed, but then Peyton showed up this morning."
"So you came to say it wasn't your fault huh?"
"No! I came to tell you where Brooke was last night."
"Ok well thanks," Nathan said as he threw some clothes into his bag.
"Hey man where are you going?"
Oh shit. Why did he start packing? "Oh I'm just…donating some stuff. Deb's been hounding me. It makes them 'look good'"
"Oh well I guess I'll be going now," said Lucas with some suspicion as he headed towards the front door.
"Oh hey dud, take the back. Y'know the whole Dan thing. We've got cameras in the front."
"Alright then."
"Yeah."
Nathan made sure that Lucas was gone, and then started getting money, food, and the rest of his clothes.
:):)
Nathan's Car
"Ok so I got everything."
"Are you sure you want to run away? I mean you don't have to come with me."
"It's cool. So, where to?"
Please review? Pleassee pleassee