So, not too proud of this chapter but I'm just done with it and want to move on lol. I have big ideas for this story and I would like to get the ball rolling! So anyway, I hope y'all enjoy!
Lucas leaves shortly after, mumbling something about having to go into work to finish up an article. Brooke frowns when he leaves considering he hugs everyone but her. He just ignores her, brushing past fast on his way to the door. Haley tells her that he's been busy lately but Brooke knows that she's just trying to make her feel better.
Haley looks at the clock on the wall and curses under her breath. "I'm going to be late for work." She gets up and grabs her burger and then her keys. "Come over for dinner Brooke. We're having lasagna." Brooke nods as Haley kisses her boys goodbye before walking out the door.
"So Davis, where you staying?" Nathan asks, giving Jamie a few goldfish before popping a few into his own mouth.
"Currently? The Motel 6 on Peacock."
Nathan wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. "You can stay here Brooke."
"Nathan, I'm fine in a hotel. It's just until I find somewhere to rent," she tells him, stealing one of Jamie's crackers only to have him offer her another.
"Brooke, you are staying here. You can sleep in the bed with Haley and I'll take the couch." Nathan nods his head assertively, as if it is now a done deal, and gets up to get his son more juice.
"If you're going to make me stay, I'm going to sleep on the couch. I don't want to put you guys out of your way." Nathan rolls his eyes and tightens the lid on his son's sippy cup, turning it on to its side to ensure it won't leak.
"You're pregnant; our crappy couch isn't going to be good for you back." Brooke lets out a sigh before murmuring a 'fine.' "So tell me what's been going on with you. My wife clearly doesn't inform me on the important stuff," he says, motioning to her stomach while he slumps into his chair.
She smiles and rubs her belly softly. "Did you know I was dating Ben?"
Nathan shrugs. "Haley told me you guys 'hung out' after you saw him at work. Your words, not hers. Although you two seem to have done more than hang out."
"He's Big Ben, what did you think I meant by hang out?" Nathan cringes and waves his hands at her.
"I don't want to hear that. I had a hard enough time accepting you sleeping with Lucas. Hearing you sleep with someone who girls refer to as 'Big' Ben is just…" he trails off, shivering slightly as he does so. "Anyway, when did he split?"
Brooke pauses, counting months backwards on her hand. "Just about two months ago. I found out about the baby, told him, and he told me he was done." Nathan frowns and Brooke shakes her head. "Please, I'm not hung up on it. It's not like I saw us going anywhere. He was like my last hurrah in college."
Nathan nods and picks up Jamie who's been yawning in his high chair, his blue eyes drooping. The elder Scott lays the small boy on his shoulder and rubs his back softly. "And you're okay with everything?" Brooke nods, a soft smile on her face.
"I wasn't attached enough to care Nate. Really, I'm fine."
Nathan shakes his head and stands up. "I meant the baby."
She's surprised that he actually went into the office. She assumed that he'd just gone back to his apartment to get away from Brooke but he hadn't picked up his cell phone. And he only does that when he's working. So she sits slumped in the doorway between the kitchen and the front of Karen's Café, phone tucked between her shoulder and ear as she scribbles down an order on her pad. "Hello," he says when he finally picks up. She can hear the sound of papers rustling in the background followed by the continuous click and clack of the keyboard.
"You're working?" she asks in disbelief and there's a grunt on the other end.
"I told you I was going to. Did you think I was lying?" he retorts before draining his second cup of coffee.
"Yes. Especially since you told me you were going to take a vacation starting today." He rolls his eyes and tells her that he was but this article was just too good to pass up. "Or, it was a good excuse to get away from Brooke," Haley mumbles under her breath.
"Hales…" Lucas whines and Haley sighs.
"Fine, I'll leave it alone. One more quick thing though. Your mom wants to have a meeting with us."
"Why the hell does she want us to have a meeting?" Lucas asks with a furrowed brow. Though he can't see her, he knows that she shrugs and it'll be the only response he'll get. Haley never was good at the whole 'phone' thing. "You're lucky I know you so well. Other people would think you hung up on them."
"Oh shut up. I only do it with you. Anyway, she didn't say much else before she had to go pick Lily up. Just make sure you're at her house for dinner tonight."
"Alright. See you there." He hangs up the phone quickly, shoving the spiraled cord away from the stacks of paper that have wound up on his desk. He shouldn't have taken this article. It's rather boring actually but he needed something to distract him. So in order to keep his mind off of Brooke Davis and the current child growing inside her, he volunteered to write an article on Jell-O. God he's a jackass.
She's running late. She hates that she always seems to be running late now. "Nathan! Get dressed, we should've been at Karen's ten minutes ago," Haley yells as she walks through the door, taking off her jacket and tossing it towards the coat rack. It misses, as always, but she wants to try and sneak in a shower so she'll have to pick it up later.
Nathan pops his head out from the bathroom, shaving cream covering his face, a line of newly shaved flesh poking through. "You told me we were supposed to be there at 5:30," he says and she shakes her head, swearing that she said 5.
"Is Jamie even ready?" Haley pulls out her hair tie, allowing her hair to fall out of the bun on the back of her head.
"He's been bathed and changed," Brooke announces proudly, walking out from his nursery with Haley's son on her hip. He's dressed in the outfit Haley would've put him in and Brooke's combed his hair so that he looks like an adorable old man.
"Perfect! Okay, I'm going to get into the shower and," she cuts herself short. "Wait a second. Brooke, what are we going to do with you?" Her eyes widen and she looks inbetween Haley and Nathan.
"What do you mean what are we going to do with her? I'm sure Karen won't mind her being over," Nathan says innocently, his face completely shaved now. Haley's eyes narrow and she tries desperately to get Nathan to, for once, read her mind. But instead he just stares at her stupidly and she has to keep herself from hitting him.
"It's fine Haley. If you don't think it would be… comfortable that I went, then I'll just stay here," Brooke answers instead, hitching Jamie higher up on her hip. He keeps squirming in her arms and his legs keep hitting her small belly; it's annoying and she's tempted to put him down but Haley's busy so he'll have to stay securely in her arms. "If you don't want to take Jamie then I can keep him here with me."
Haley looks at Brooke then at her watch before looking at Nathan. "Go get her and Jamie something from McDonalds or where ever. By the time you get back I'll be ready."
It's late when they come back through the front door. She put Jamie down hours ago after he fell asleep in her lap while watching one of the numerous Disney movies Haley bought for his collection. She's been lying on the small blue couch since then, watching Finding Nemo on repeat. It's an adorable little movie she's decided and she rubs her stomach unconsciously. It'll be one she'll have to get for her baby. She turns her head to see Nathan's tall figure walking in from the dark hallway, Haley staggering behind him. "How'd it go?"
Nathan moves to the side, allowing Haley to slump down into the recliner to his left. "Karen's moving." Brooke nods, unsure of why this would make Haley act like a zombie. Perhaps it was because they were so close? She'd never really met Karen herself. Not when she was carrying his baby nor when they were together afterwards. She pushes some of her brown hair behind her ears and thinks for a moment. Graduation. That was the only time Brooke's ever talked to Karen, and talked would be an overstatement. She had acted timid and awkward, not sure what to say or how to act. Karen just smiled politely, told her she looked beautiful, and asked where she was heading off to for college. She wonders now if Lucas ever told her about what happened between them, told her about what they shared.
"Does that mean you're out of a job now?" Brooke asks finally, still confused as to what was going on.
"It means that Lucas and I will now own Karen's café," Haley says, her hand coming up to her forehead to rub her temple. "But we also have to figure out who gets the house."
Now Brooke is utterly confused. "What do you mean you have to figure out who gets the house? Shouldn't Lucas automatically get it?"
"You'd think that wouldn't you," Nathan teases lightly before walking out of the room.
"Karen didn't think it'd be right to just give it to Lucas since we're crammed in this small place. So she told us to make the decision ourselves." Brooke smiles lightly; Karen cared a lot about Haley, who she realizes now might as well be Karen's daughter.
"Did you guys talk about it?" Haley shakes her head.
"We decided to just put it off till tomorrow. Besides, she's not moving for a few months anyway."
It's weird being awake before Haley. Usually Haley would wake up hours before Brooke to get ready aka get the warm water in the shower and to finish up the rest of her homework. Even on the weekends she would find Haley with a bowl of cereal on the couch, watching Saturday morning cartoons. She pauses for a moment wondering if she should slink back in to bed before her stomach growls.
She moves around the small cramped kitchen, looking through the cluttered cupboards for a mixing bowl and maybe a cup. She really wants coffee but all the books she's been skimming say that coffee is something she should avoid. So she refrains, instead starts to brew a new pot for the Scotts to enjoy when they wake up. She glances through the doorway and sees Nathan turn uncomfortably on the narrow couch. She really should find somewhere else to stay soon.
She opens the fridge and glances around before deciding that eggs and bacon would have to do. She stacks the bacon on top of the egg carton and, at the last second, grabs the orange juice. Brooke turns, using her sock covered foot to slow down the fridge door so that the slam wouldn't wake the slumbering man in the next room. She looks down at the frying pan that's been left on the stove; it looks clean and she runs her fingertips over the nonstick bottom. Deciding it's clean, she turns on the burner below it, allowing the pan to begin to heat up.
She's tired but sleep just doesn't sound appealing to her. It hasn't for a long time and she figures that she should just get used to it now; in a few months she'll be getting even less sleep and will be continuously tired for the next 18 years. She takes a deep breath and yawns, using the metal tongs to flip over the popping bacon. She brings the mug she found to her lips, gulping down the orange juice inside.
Suddenly she hears a small and distant whine. She looks towards Jamie's room and turns down the flame on the stove before putting down her tongs and exiting the room.
It's way to earlier for him to be up. But they had decided last night that they would sort it out first thing in the morning instead of prolonging their decision. So instead of being a slacker and waking up once Haley called him, he got up himself and even bought donuts for them.
He walks up the few steps that lead to the apartment that his brother and best friend have been sharing for two years. He turns the knob only to find it locked. He sighs, figuring they forgot to unlock it for him when they got up. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the spare key. Quickly he unlocks the door and immediately notices that it's unusually quiet when he opens the front door.
"Hello," he calls, walking into the house with the pink box of donuts placed securely under his arm. He looks into the kitchen and doesn't find Haley or Nathan. Instead he finds Brooke Davis standing in front of the stove with Jamie on her hip. He glances down at the pan and sees the eggs turning that perfect yellow color. She says something to Jamie and then he notices the boy empty a small bowl of cheese on top of the baking eggs.
Brooke turns off the burner and glances over at the doorway where Lucas stands. She raises her chin as a way of saying hello and then returns her attention to Jamie. "Good boy. Thank you for helping me make breakfast." She walks away from the stove and he clenches his fist before swallowing hard. That pang of regret and left over emotion hits him again, this time stabbing at his heart just a little bit harder.
"I see you learned to make eggs," he says quietly, holding the now useless box of donuts in his hands.
She smiles softly. "Don't tell anybody." She puts Jamie into his highchair, locking the plastic tray in place. "I'm glad you brought donuts, I really didn't want to make pancakes." He nods in response and she waves for him to enter the kitchen. "I can't believe Haley isn't awake yet. It's almost 8," she says with a small laugh.
As if on cue, Haley stumbles into the kitchen, hair going every which way, tired eyes blinking harshly as a way to escape the sun pouring into the small room. "You made breakfast," she says with a scratchy voice, running her hand over her son's head.
"And Lucas brought donuts to go with," Brooke responds taking the pink box from his hands and opening it up on the table in between the plates of bacon and eggs.
"I smell food," Nathan grumbles as he walks into the kitchen, immediately sitting down at the table. Haley sits down too and then looks up at Lucas.
"You're awake." She looks confused and then looks over at Brooke. "You made food." Brooke nods wearily and then Haley shrugs her shoulders. "It's like waking up in the Twilight Zone."
They've been going back and forth for hours. Both she and Nathan who sit at opposite ends of the tiny table stare at each other blankly. He doesn't care about this; he'll be happy with whatever decision gets made. And Brooke, well she isn't a factor in this; whatever happens, happens it's not like it'll effect her. Jamie gurgles from Nathan's lap, looking up at his father with a toothy smile before slapping his chubby hands down on the table. The noise doesn't seem to affect Haley or Lucas who keep discussing the pros and cons of every situation. Brooke's honestly surprised that Lucas hasn't just given in one way or the other yet but then again Lucas never has been impulsive.
"I just feel like if we were to take the house it'd be awkward," Haley says in between a gulp of her now cold coffee.
"It's too big for me though," Lucas responds and that's when Nathan stands up.
"Looks like we've got it figured out then," he says cheerily, moving Jamie on to his hip. The two blondes look up at him confused from their spot at the table. "We'll move in, if it gets too awkward we'll move out and Lucas you can have it back. I'm gonna go shower." He places Jamie in Haley's lap and walks out of the room, leaving Brooke laughing behind him.
"You two have to admit it's a good way of solving your problem," Brooke tells them before getting up herself, rubbing the small of her back as she does so. She picks up the plates in front of the two friends, her belly rubbing against Lucas' arm softly. She moves over to the sink and Lucas rubs the spot on his arm. He looks down at it and shivers slightly. He looks back up and Haley shrugs.
"Are you okay with the arrangement?" she asks while Jamie pulling her finger into his mouth to chew on. She pulls her hand from his grasp and hit's the back of his hand lightly, causing the little boy to frown.
"I am if you are."
Haley nods. "It's settled then." A small smile works it's way on to her face, though it seems a bit forced. "Brooke you're more than welcome to stay with us when we move into Karen's."
Brooke turns and shakes her head. "If you don't mind, I was thinking about renting this place after you. I mean, you guys won't be moving horribly soon that way I can save up some money to pay the rent and what not."
"That sounds wonderful Brooke," Haley says from the table before standing up, her arm wrapped around Jamie's waist as he lies against her torso. She crosses into the living room, leaving Brooke and Lucas alone once again.
It's silent for the most part, the only noise coming from the clatter of the dishes and running water in the sink. Lucas clears his throat awkwardly and stands up. "That was a really nice breakfast Brooke. Thank you."
She smiles back at him. "You're welcome." She pauses for a moment, ready to say more, ready to say anything. She hates the awkwardness between them.
"You know," Haley says, stepping back into the room without Jamie. "I think that you should move in with Brooke once we move out." She nearly drops the plate in her hand.
"What?" She and Lucas respond at the same time, both with a hint of fear in their voices. "Why would I move in with Brooke? She doesn't want me here crowding the place," Lucas stutters, barley glancing back at the brunette by the sink.
"Lucas has his own apartment, why would he want to get a roommate?" Brooke adds and Haley shrugs.
"I just figured it would easier on both of you. Luke, you could have some extra spending money and Brooke, you could have more money to save up for the baby. I mean, doesn't that make sense to the both of you?" Haley looks between them both and though she looks as though she means nothing by it, Lucas can tell she's plotting. She always gets that look in her eyes… he wonders if Brooke can see it too.
"Hales, I think we're fine with the way everything is," Brooke says quietly, shrugging simply as she stares at the back of Lucas' head before returning her gaze to Haley. "Besides, I'll need the extra room for the nursery."
She doesn't see it but Haley does; the frown that makes it on to Lucas' face when she mentions the nursery.