heyy! thanks again and hope you enjoyed the last chapter! since i'm on summer time now there will be plenty more updates and even new stories on the way! WOOT! so i'll make this author's note pretty brief but thanks for the reviews, keep them coming, i don't own oth, blah blah blah, have a wonderful day and much love! :) p.s. - so i'm diverting from the regular storyline in one tree hill as you can tell...so to all the peyton lovers out there you're not gonna like this chapter or any of my stories. it is what it is and i'm sorry i'm just not a peyton fan. just a little heads up/spoiler for y'all :)
special thanks to:
- ciaranoelle
- cheergirl5398
- dianehermans
- alysef : to be honest i still have no clue as to what's going to happen. at this point whatever happens, happens and whatever comes to me will happen. thanks for the review though! just wanted to clear it up for you :)
- ashdashtray
- strawwberry
They all planned to meet at Peyton's house at noon. Nathan and Brooke were the first to arrive, and they all just sat in the livingroom with the news on and the phone placed right in front of Peyton. They all sat in silence with the sound of a few small sobs coming from Peyton. Brooke held her hand to comfort her. About ten minutes later the door opened and Lucas walked through to the livingroom taking a seat on the chair next to the couch.
"There's got to be something we can do." Brooke said being the first to speak.
"No. We've tried everything. Nothing works." Peyton said sadly.
"But there has to be something else. Have they found his boat yet?"
"Nope."
"Have they tried looking?"
"How should I know?"
Brooke sat there silent for a minute thinking and Nathan looked at her. "What are you thinking of B?"
Lucas cringed at his new nickname for her as Brooke stood up pulling her phone out of her pocket and walking into the other room. She came back into the room a few minutes later hanging up the phone and sitting back down on the couch. "Taken care of."
"What?"
"As much as it pains me, I called my parents and told them what happened and my dad is on the phone with a few people who will be looking everywhere for your dad."
"Are you serious? Thanks Brooke!" Peyton yelled as she stood up and hugged her. They let go and there was a knock on the door and Peyton sprinted after it to go answer in hopes that it was her father. Instead a Miss. Haley James walked into the livingroom and everyone went silent.
Brooke and Nathan both stood up though and started to walk towards the door. "Well now that things just officially went into freak mode we're gonna head out. I'll keep in touch Peyton." And as soon as the door shut behind them the three were left to ponder how bad things had really gotten.
The walk home was silent and awkward to say the least. Nathan dropped her off at Lucas' house and told her to text him if she needed anything, he'd only be at the rivercourt. As he left to clear his head, she went to the livingroom and watched tv mindlessly. Maybe Grey's Anatomy could help her out. As she focused soley on Derek and Meredith she didn't recognize Lucas come in through the front door. He sat down next to her and she tried to smile at him.
"You know I don't see why she'd want to be with him. I mean he's still married."
"Well i've never really followed the show but it looks like she really does love him. And the look on his face says the same thing."
"Why though? She could do better than a married guy. He can make up excuses and stories all he wants but at the end of every night, he goes home to his wife."
"Maybe he doesn't want to go home to his wife though anymore. Maybe he did, but things changed the day he met her and feelings for her overpowered the ones for his wife." He looked down at the girl he used to call his own, remembering how badly he screwed up and how he wanted nothing more than just hold on to her and never have to let her go. "Can we talk?"
"We already are."
"No. About us, not some tv show."
She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the tv off. "You have fifteen minutes."
"Okay. Look i'm sorry about what I did. I regret it every single day, hour, minute and second. When you left, I thought I lost you forever and you can ask Peyton, I went into depressed mode, like more broody than you've ever seen. But I only did what you did because Peyton said it was okay because of what you said to her..."
"Wait..." She interrupted him. "what did I say to Peyton?"
"She told me you were tired of me and was planning on leaving me anyway? That I was a total bore or some stupid made-up word I can't remember now."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"What?"
"I was talking about the summer assignment for english when I was talking to her about that. Not you. The fucking bitch twisted my words and used it to get to you!"
"So I fucked up for nothing?"
"You still did it. You could have come to me instead of to her."
"I know but...I don't know. I can make it up to you. I can make things better."
"I don't know Luke." She stood up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen. He, of course, followed behind her and once she was in the kitchen she grabbed a knife and started cutting a knife.
"Please, Brooke. I'm begging you! Isn't everyone entitled to at lease one do-over? People make mistakes."
"You shouldn't have screwed my best friend. You should have come to me first!"
He took the knife out of her hand and turned her around pinning her up against the counter. "Brooke listen to me. If I could take back that night, you know I would. I love you with all my heart. Not Peyton, it's never been Peyton and it never will be Peyton. It was always be you. How else can I prove it to you?"
"Show me. Prove to me that you're even worth my time and that it really is me you want." She said as she gently nudged him out of the way so she could walk out of the kitchen. He grabbed her by the arm though and turned her around to kiss her. She pulled away after a few seconds a little stunned and he smiled and whispered in her ear, "I'll prove it to you for the rest of my life, pretty girl."
She didn't know what to say or do. She just stood there motionless, like an object frozen in time, when her cell phone ringtone of 'What the Hell' by Avril Lavigne broke her out of her state. She flipped open her phone to read the text message.
New Text Message from: Natey ;)
S.O.S. ...haley!
Her jaw dropped and Lucas looked down at her. "Everything okay?"
"Umm...uhh- yea. Yes. It's just...Nate needs me." She said as she sped walked into the livingroom and grabbed her keys and purse. "I don't know when i'll be back. I'll try to be back for dinner though."
"Oh. Okay. Well my mom's gone out of town for the next week or so...some seminar or something. But just let me know if you want dinner and i'll fix something or grab some takeout."
"Okay. Sorry, i'll try to make it back. Bye!" She yelled over her shoulder as she threw the door shut behind her leaving a sad Lucas left in the dust. A few minutes later Brooke was at the Rivercourt and found Nathan laying in the middle of the court. She laid down beside him, "You okay?"
"She wants me back. She said she wasn't happy on the road and Chris wasn't supposed to be there. She found out a little too late."
"That's funny. Lucas just professed his love to me too."
"So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. But I'm starting to miss California."
"I hear you, Brookie." And he wrapped his arm around her and she curled up next to him. As the sky got dark the two just looked up at the stars, not a care in the world. In that moment, they didn't have to worry. And they realized their questions they had would soon be answered.
