Notes: I am so sorry that this took forever. School just gets in the way. LOL. Anyway, there are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter, so just warning a head of time in order to hopefully quell confusion. I tried to make the chapter longer. Thanks for taking the time to read it and/or review. Any comments are helpful! Here it is…
Chapter 2
"What do you mean she's on a plane to LA? She's supposed to be on TRL in two hours!" Peyton said into her cell phone, scurrying down a corridor of the MTV New York office building. She had quickly worked her way up to assistant producer of the show. "Sean Paul is in town this week. Get him on the phone and beg him to stop by the studio," she said right before she clicked the phone shut.
She was in her small office now, shutting the door behind her. Music posters and various pieces of her artwork hung around the room. Hers was the most decorated office on the floor. She dropped into her leather chair, her blonde curls bouncing off of her shoulders. Her stomach twisted with hunger. It was time for lunch, but she was too tired to move.
The click of the door made her jump. It had been five years since the stalker had tried to kill her, but part of her was still terrified of dark nights and empty rooms. She didn't think that would ever go away. Looking up to see who entered the office, she smiled.
"Hi, friend."
………………………………
Haley sipped at her morning coffee while she sat on the hotel balcony of their suite in Seattle. It had rained only hours before, blanketing the city in a deep grey from her viewpoint. It was chilly, but she hugged to Jake's large flannel jacket. Their concert the night before had been a success and was well-reviewed by the critics that next morning.
Jake. She still wasn't sure how she first came to kiss him. After she had left Nathan and Stanford, she had gone back on tour. But she had lost a lot of the momentum she had created her first tour. If she wanted to break out, the execs had told her that she would need a partner. She had called Peyton for advice, and Peyton mentioned Jake. He was reluctant because he did not want to leave Jenny in Georgia, but he also knew he had a chance to make a good life for both of them.
So, he accepted Haley's offer. Their deep, melodic voices harmonized to swoon crowds nationwide, and soon they had gone platinum. They were stars and at that time, still just friends. They stayed friends for three years until last year. She would never forget how it had happened…
They were having an interview with Rolling Stone. It was going to be a cover story. Everything was fine, until the reporter asked, "Records show that you were married for a brief stint in high school. Would you care to talk about how the dissolution of that marriage has affected your music?"
Haley's jaw had dropped. She knew that people would eventually start asking about her marriage, but she never wanted to talk about why it ended; she could not bear to even speak her baby's name without the tears coming.
Jake saw the pain and said, "I think all artists use their lives and loves to express themselves through music. Sometimes that's easier to do in the notes than in words."
The interviewer looked at him, impressed. He asked a few more questions, then had left.
Jake put his arm around her shoulder. "Haley, are you okay?"
She had buried her head into his neck and wept. They had sat in the silence of the hotel room, listening to each other breathe. A tear rolled down Jake's cheek. He could not imagine his life without Jenny, and he knew the loss of first love when he had lost Peyton three times. He wished he could take Haley's pain and make it his own. He wanted to release that burden from her.
"I know it hurts, Haley. And I know that it won't go away. But I'll be here for you."
She looked up into his big, brown eyes. She had known then that he knew what she was feeling. She had never been sure if Nathan had ever known, even when they first fell in love. Without thinking, she had reached up and kissed him and his lips had been open, ready for hers. The kiss was chaste and tender. There were no propositions or teasing between them.
They had waited a week before they kissed again. It had been seven days later, a Friday when he got the nerve to ask her out. And at the end of that date, he had kissed her, again tenderly and purely. They had waited eight months before they were ever intimate. They longed for each other's friendship more than anything physical.
Haley looked into their hotel suite now, stealing a glance at Jake, only a white sheet tangled around his waist as he slept on his stomach. She had the urge to run her fingers through his messy chestnut hair and rub her cheek across his stubble.
He was sexy and strong. But not in the same way Nathan had been. Nathan was lean. His black hair was so stunning against his pale skin. He had always reminded her of dipping Oreos in a tall glass of milk. Combined with those eyes that looked like the blue flames from a hot fire, one look at him made a woman catch her breath. Jake was stockier and shorter. His tone was more honey like hers. A woman would certainly turn her head when he walked past, but she would probably still be breathing. It was that attitude Nathan had that was so addictive, that vulnerability hidden beneath cocky confidence. She could still see his face when he made that winning free throw in high school without even looking at the hoop. It was that look, that attitude that sucked a woman in.
She had been able to avoid seeing Nathan for four years. Touring helped her do that. She knew that he would be at Lucas' book reading, and she had fallen into it. Haley wondered why she finally agreed to be in the same room with him.
She didn't notice that she was rubbing her stomach.
……………………………
"Hi, friend."
Peyton smiled at the woman at the door. Waving her inside, she said, "Hey, Brooke. Is that food you got there?"
Brooke sat the two bags of Chinese carryout onto Peyton's desk. "Sure is, Buddy. Figured you were too busy or tired to go out."
Peyton sighed. "Oh, Brooke, you're a godsend."
Brooke smiled, lifting her eyes to the ceiling as she often did. "Well, I've been telling you that for years, Peyton E. Sawyer."
Peyton tingled with relief. She had missed Brooke. A lot. Brooke was her band-aid when they were growing up, helping her heal through her mother's death. But she had become more than that. They were sisters, best friends. The one thing she could not forgive herself for was hurting Brooke.
But, six months ago, their friendship got a reprieve. Peyton was making connections at a MTV Music Awards after-party when she heard an upcoming model praising Hoes Over Bro's. She heard two familiar voices thanking the woman. It had been Nathan and Brooke. One look between her and Brooke was all it took. The four years of bitterness and distrust melted. They were finally mature enough to forgive each other, to accept each other as they were. The two had been inseparable ever since.
"So, are you going to Luke's reading next weekend?" Brooke asked, stirring Peyton from her thoughts.
"I'm going to try. I'd like to stop by and see Whitey and my dad before I go back to New York." Peyton pushed her chopsticks through their packaging and grabbed a box of noodles.
"Hot Larry is home?" Brooke asked, her eyebrows raised in excitement.
"Down, girl. You have Nathan, remember?" Peyton smiled as Brooke calmed down. She looked at her sweet and sour chicken, saying, "Speaking of the basketball wonder, are you going to Luke's reading?"
Brooke's fork stopped in mid-air between her mouth and its box. Haley flashed through her mind. She had not seen Haley since she and Nathan became a couple ten months ago. She missed her friend but she now better understood why Peyton had risked their relationship for Lucas in high school. "We're all going to have to see each other some time. Probably better now than before we all get too serious, but I don't think I can yet. There's so much drama between all of still, you know?"
Peyton furrowed her brows. "All? Are you and Nathan going the threesome route?"
Brooke laughed softly, but inwardly cringed at bringing it up. "Haley is dating Jake. I'm sorry you heard it from me, Peyton."
Peyton shook her head. "No, it's okay. I just didn't know." But it wasn't okay. She had often wondered what would have happen if she hadn't left Georgia, if she had married Jake. Telling Lucas she loved him had turned out to be a mistake. Luke didn't feel the same way and she had lost Jake.
Peyton blinked to focus herself. "So, tell me again how you and Nathan became you and Nathan. That's one coupling I never saw coming."
Brooke shifted in her chair. "Believe me, I was the last one to see it coming. It just happened." She loved being with Nathan, but she hated the thought that it might hurt Haley. She never meant for it to happen. After graduation, Brooke was alone. She didn't have Lucas. Or Peyton. So she followed Nathan and Haley to Stanford. She had been there the day Haley lost the baby. She had never witnessed anything so heartbreaking. A part of her heart had died that day, and she knew that a part of Nathan and Haley's had as well. The day Haley left, she had asked Brooke to watch over Nathan.
"I can't do that, Haley. He needs you, he needs his wife," Brooke had said.
"I'm not his wife anymore. I can't be. We can't look into each other's eyes without seeing our loss. You're the only part of home he has once I leave," Haley said, holding Brooke's hands tightly in desperation.
Brooke had seen the pain in Haley's face and agreed to do it, but she had no idea how to. So, she had set out to help them both, Nathan by being there and helping Haley because she couldn't be there. Nathan and Brooke got closer every year.
And then it happened one night. They had gotten drunk together after watching a couple movies in her off-campus apartment. She had said, "So, you never told me about that dream you had of me naked." Brooke was just being playful as usual. She had developed feelings over the years while they were alone in California together, but she never planned on acting on them.
Nathan swayed, setting down an empty bottle of beer. Laughing in that stern way of his, he said, "Well, I was Lucas and in the shower. You were in the shower, too."
She had leaned closer in. "And what did you do about it?"
He blinked a couple of times as he tried to rein his mind back to the dream. "I ran."
Her long, dark hair swooshed around her neck as she giggled. "Now that doesn't sound like Nathan Scott."
"That's because I was Lucas Scott," he slurred.
"Then that explains everything!" she said, waving her arm in affirmation.
"I'm sorry to bring up Lucas," Nathan said, looking down at his hands.
Brooke's lips turned into a sad smile. "It's okay. It's over now for good. It has been for a long time."
"Do you miss him?" Neither noticed how close they were sitting together on the couch now. Nathan's face was so close to Brooke's that she could smell his warm cologne.
She tilted her head as she thought. "I miss him as a friend. I haven't thought of him as "the one" for a really long time."
Nathan moved a hare closer. He whispered, "Do you think of someone else?"
Brooke's heart puttered in her chest. She had not even noticed what was happening. She couldn't allow herself to believe that he may actually feel for her what she did for him. Without wanting to say too much, she replied, "Have someone in mind?"
He nodded. His breath fluttered over her hot skin as he said, "Yeah, I do." His lips brushed over hers so lightly that she almost hadn't felt the kiss. Almost. Her neck flushed with desire and longing, her belly tangling in butterflies. She nudged her head up to encourage his lips to return. He paused for just a second, then lifted his hand to her neck and kissed her fully. When Brooke's tongue tickled the crest of his upper lip, he moaned and deepened the kiss until he started to lean her back on the couch.
She had handfuls of his button-down shirt, but realization swam through her mind when her shoulders hit the cushions. Pushing him up, she had said, "I want this, but not when we're drunk. It's not fair to any of this if it's not what we want."
He was panting and could barely comprehend her words. "I do want this."
Brooke thought her eyes would roll back into her head from the pleasure of him saying that, but she stayed firm. "I want to make sure you still want it tomorrow."
So they had waited for sobriety. And the feelings were still there. The next night while eating pizza, they threw down their slices onto the table. When they reached each other, he put his hand on the small of her back, pushing her tightly to him as their lips met and stayed. They tripped over the couch and coffee table he led her into her bedroom. The next morning was awkward but dizzying. Both wanted more from the other, more comfort and more love. They had been together ever since.
"Brooke, are you ever going to answer me?" Peyton asked, smashing her fortune cookie. "How did you and Nathan hook up?"
Brooke looked around the room, remembering where she was. She often went into a daze when she thought about Nathan. Her eyes blurred with tears at the memory of how they got together. She was worried that she had him on borrowed time. That he and Haley would realize that they were meant to be. Part of her hoped for their happiness if that is what was supposed to happen, but that other nagging part was afraid that she would lose them both if they went back to each other, that her feelings for Nathan would never go away and she would be hurt by another of the Scott brood.
She glanced up at Peyton. "We, uh, were wasted and kissed. Then we got straight and kissed again. Some story, huh?"
Peyton smiled. "I think there's more to the story than that."
Brooke's forehead wrinkled. "Why? I told you the basics?"
Peyton leaned over her desk to say, "Because after Haley, Nathan isn't going to kiss just anyone."
TBC