A/N: Hey everybody, here is the next "installment", I guess would be the word. Today in my bio class I was having an overflow of Brucas love, so much so that I couldn't concentrate on the notes. So instead, I wrote a bit of this story. Luckily, though, we're learning about Ecology, which has got to be the easiest effing ting in the world.
Ok, enough of my ranting, here is the next part. Oh, and if anyone can spot the slight little reference to an early episode I put in here, well, you get a virtual pat on the back! But really, see if you can find it…
"Hey, P. Sawyer, what's up?" Skills shouted across the court, jogging to grab the ball that had just floated through the hoop. Peyton was walking towards him on the old Rivercourt, and happy but determined smile on her face.
"How are you , Skills?" Peyton smiled warmly, but even Skills could tell there was something going on behind her sunny exterior.
"I asked you first, and you know I ain't talking about yo' general well-being."
The two walked to the bench and sat down, and Peyton laughed and leaned back in exasperation.
"I don't know what is going on with Lucas. He is so hot and cold sometimes, I just don't know."
"Well, P. Sawyer, I'm always looking out for my boy Luke, and I want to see him happy. If that's with you, then so be it. But I want to see you happy, too. Don't worry, Luke will come around. He'll find the one he's meant to be with," Skills assured her, giving her a pointed look at the last words.
"Yeah, ok," Peyton said with an uncommitted shrug. Skills considered her thoughtfully for a moment.
"P. Sawyer, who did Lucas write his book about? Peyton Sawyer. It's going to be fine. Just make sure he doesn't meet anyone named Bevin… she'll cheat with anyone…" His voice became suddenly bitter and he looked away.
"Hey, Skills, thank you. You have always believed in Lucas and me." Peyton stood up, nodding to him with a new, calm, confidence.
"Sawyer, just go get him. He's supposed to be at the airport today" Skills waved her away, and she went back to her newly washed Comet.
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Lucas ran his hands through his hair, then laughed at his habit. He had picked it up senior year, after countless meaningless fights with Brooke that were solved within minutes. Still, he couldn't forget how infuriating she had been, with her brazen opinions and crazy ideas. If she had a thought, she was going to fight it until it was heard, or better yet, agreed with. The habit had come out of his frustration of her
particular trait. It was amusing to him now, and he still remembered how alive and real they made him feel.
He was slaving over his dedication of his newest book. Lindsey had asked him several days ago for the page, and Lucas had yet to think of one, let alone send it in. There were just so many implications of what he could write, regardless of what the book was actually about. If he wrote something about love, Lindsey would know her suspicions were verified, about him loving someone else. Plus, a love dedication or anything of the sort would confirm in many peoples minds that the book actually had a meaning deeper than what he had intended.
In the end he just decided to skip the entire thing, and go and see Haley and Nathan off. He needed to clear his mind.
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The drive to the airport was short, but Brooke was determined to make the half hour drive in ten minutes. She was eager to see Jamie and see the beginning of her "Naley Reunion" plan go into action. After all, what hope do the rest of us have if there is no Haley and Nathan? In fact, for as long as she had known the tutor girl, Haley had always been with Nathan. Of course she had known Nate form his reputation, but Brooke had only really started to get to know him, the real Nathan Scott, after he had gotten married to Haley.
Brooke's subconscious mind had always associated her and Lucas's relationship with the Nathan and Haley relationship, in high school at least. Granted, Nathan and Haley had always been better than her and Lucas, but Brooke felt there were still small parallels. Brooke and Nathan were the ones headed down the wrong path, partying and getting drunk and laid every weekend. Then, Lucas and Haley had emerged onto the scene. Instantly, Brooke and Nathan had begun to change, for the better. Sure, they had some digressions, but mainly, Brooke and Nathan had been saved by Lucas and Haley.
For some reason, whirlwind thoughts that she couldn't even connect, thoughts of Jamie, Lucas, Nathan and Haley, Peyton, books, everything that had happened in the last few moths, consumed her for the rest of the ride, causing her to push her foot even harder to the pedal.
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When Lucas got to the airport, he was already a few minutes late. Hurrying forward to gate number 111, Lucas was just in time to see Brooke talking to a departing Nathan and Haley, with Jamie at her side.
He took a step forward, intending to call her name, but just then he heard a recognizable, "Lucas!" Turning, he saw Peyton running towards him, happy that she had accidentally run into him. "Accidentally."
Lucas decided to call her on it. "Hey, Peyt, what are you doing here?" He knew Nathan and Haley had gotten a hold of her to inform her of the trip, and Brooke had been too busy planning. Only Skills knew that Luke was going to the airport today.
Damn, Peyton thought, why didn't I come up with a lie? Even if she had, though, Lucas would have seen right through it. He always had, just because they had such a connection. She decided to give it a try though.
"They said Derek might be coming home today. At least, that's what I heard. The real Derek, not Ian," she added quickly. She was pleased with herself over this lie, it wasn't even good; in fact, it was quite the opposite. She had lied intentionally so Lucas would call her on it, a sort of test for him.
"Oh, great, Peyton, is he getting in yet?" Lucas asked, trying to angle his vision over her shoulder to see if Nathan and Haley and Brooke had already gone, but no to no avail. He couldn't see them. "Say hi to him for me, ok?" With that, he patted her shoulder in a sort of 'Ok, that's enough, I have to go somewhere' patronizing sort of way. It wasn't that Lucas was intentionally blowing her off, he just wanted to see the group before they left.
"Yeah, Luke sure…" she said, disappointed. She began to notice his distracted demeanor, and she said, "Luke, are you alright?"
"What? Peyton, yeah I'm fine. Why are you here again?"
"I told, you, Derek--"
"No really, Peyton, did you talk to Skills?"
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Haley, Nathan, Brooke and Jamie were walking towards the departure gate, Nathan calm and enjoying himself, Jamie looking around the terminal at everything and everyone, Haley leaving instructions to Brooke, and Brooke mentally noting everything.
"Alright, you have our cell numbers, and Jamie should be fine, and all that," Haley said, as if casting around for something she had forgotten to inform Brooke of. "Ummm… Oh! I almost forgot, the microwave--"
"Hales, I'm sure Brooke can operate a microwave," said Nathan with a laugh. Haley glared at him, not really angry but more annoyed at herself for being so overprotective.
"Yeah, Haley, I'll be fine. And, I'm sure Jamie is mine and that Nathan doesn't love me, so we should have no problems," laughed Brooke, but Haley had to force a smile, and Brooke immediately realized she'd overstepped it. "Sorry, but really, if Carrie ever comes around, I swear I'll—"
Nathan quickly covered Brooke's mouth, which was forming around some very creative swear words about "that skank-assed little slut". Nathan gestured down to Jamie, and Brooke bit her tongue.
"Alright," said Haley, laughing a bit at Brooke as she bent down to say good-bye to Jamie. "You be good to Brooke, alright? And don't forget about our little arrangement…" Haley whispered this last part conspiratorially, and Jamie grinned and nodded. After a quick goodbye and hug from Nathan, Jamie and Brooke said good-bye to the couple as they walked across the asphault to the plane.
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"So, did you go ask Skills about me?" Lucas demanded.
Peyton sighed, but she was secretly happy he had caught her. "Yeah, I just wanted to see you. How about we go to dinner sometime and talk? The other night was really nice."
Lucas sighed, but this time in frustration. He had just seen Brooke and Jamie walking away from the gate, and they were already out of sight. For a moment he had internally smiled at Brooke's excited face, but Peyton brought him back to the present. "Really Peyton, right now I don't want anyone in my life like this. I don't need all of the drama that relationships between us bring." He dropped her hand, which she had entwined through his while asking him out. He knew that what he had said stung, but Lucas didn't want to deal with Peyton right now.
"Uh," stammered Peyton, taken aback, "O-ok, Luke, we can talk later." She watched him walk away with confused and bittersweet emotions roiling inside her, with occasional flashes of pain and hurt, like heat lightning in a summer storm.
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"Alright, Jamie, we are going to have so much fun this week," Brooke exclaimed, watching Jamie through her rear-view mirror as she sped away from the airport. Of course, she was going slow now that Jamie was with her. Lucas had always teased her about her driving: whenever she was angry or excited she drove very fast, reckless even, and whenever she was sad she seemed to move slowly and lethargically. This was true with almost everyone, but it was especially prevalent in Brooke.
"Yeah, sure," Jamie shrugged, watching planes leave the airport. Brooke's smile slipped off her face.
"Of course we are, bud. Tell you what, how about we stop for an ice cream?" Jamie's face immediately lit up.
"With two scoops?"
Brooke raised an eyebrow. "Of course! All growing boys need their share of ice cream! And especially when their Aunt Brooke is taking care of them for a week."
"Yes!" Jamie said excitedly, seeming to already forget his parent's departure.
This next week is going to be very interesting, said a little voice in the back of Brooke's head for some strange reason.
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By three pm, Jamie's excitement had worn off, even when Brooke offered to get him another ice cream. He just gave another lackluster shrug, instead staring into the heavens.
"Where'd my mom and dad go, Brooke?" he asked solemnly.
"They just went away for a little while, to London, for a break," Brooke said as she strapped him into the booster seat. They had just come from the park, and Brooke had decided on going home to get settled in.
"Why?" Jamie asked, looking up at her inquisitively. Brooke didn't think about her answer before she said it.
"They went to do grown-up things," she said, then immediately groaned and shut her eyes, all the while mentally smacking her forehead. Of course Jamie would ask, and Brooke knew the few grown-up things they would do, ones that Jamie wasn't exactly old enough to hear. Brooke didn't want to lie to him, plus she had never been good at lying unless she was dealing with her own feelings staying private.
"Like taxes?"
Brooke heaved a quiet sigh of relief from the front seat. Disaster avoided. "Yeah, like taxes…"
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Five hours later, Jamie had resumed his energy. After dinner, he had pulled out all the things he wanted to show Brooke, and then decided that they would look better strewn about the floor. Currently, he was racing through the house with his cape streaming behind him and a Superman action figure at his side. Brooke was desperately trying to clean up the toys, but no such luck. She couldn't even get Jamie to listen to her. It was perhaps one of the first times in her life that she was actually being a pushover.
She heard the door open through the loud screams of joy and peals of laughter, and relief washed over her as Lucas entered the room, a little shell-shocked.
"Brooke, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm ok, but I'm kinda stressing because he won't listen and it's like I'm in high school again, babysitting—"
"People actually left their kids to you? In high school?" Lucas teased.
"Ha Ha, very funny," she sneered, "Actually, it only happened once. Now that was a disaster." Lucas laughed. "But really, Luke, can you help? You've known Jamie for longer than I have and…"
Brooke's defeated ramblings faded off as Jamie came tearing around the corner, cackling madly. Suddenly Lucas's arm shot out and grabbed him around the middle, and lifted him up so that Jamie was helpless in mid air. He was still giggling.
"Hi, Uncle Lucas!"
"Hey, Jamie," Lucas greeted him, a little surprised to be carrying a conversation with him in this position. "Listen, I've got a favor to ask you."
"Alright, what is it?" Brooke watched this exchanged, slightly awed by Lucas's sudden fatherly tone and caring yet firm voice.
"You see Brooke, over there?" Lucas asked, setting Jamie back on the floor and bending to eye level with him. Lucas whispered conspiratorially, because he knew that (1) Jamie would strain to hear him and stop yelling and (2) Jamie would feel very excited about having a secret talk. Lucas, however, knew that Brooke was listening as well and kept his voice just loud enough for her to hear.
As expected, it worked. Jamie looked to where Lucas was pointing, saw Brooke, and swiftly turned back to Lucas with a giggle. "Yeah."
"Well, Brooke is very close to me, and I want her to be happy. So, how about we make a deal? If you're good to Brooke and listen to everything she says, then I'll take you to the toy store and you can have whatever you want."
Jamie rolled his eyes towards Brooke, as if considering whether she was worth the deal. Then he looked back at Lucas. "Ok, but it has to be anything."
"Alright," Lucas smiled, holding out a fist for Jamie to pound. "It'll be our guy secret, ok?" Jamie nodded. "Now, I'm sure Aunty Brooke wants you to go get into some pajamas, so how about you go do that?"
As Jamie ran off, Lucas straightened and walked over to Brooke.
"You're so good with him," Brooke marveled, "You're good with all kids."
"Nah, I just know Jamie. I know how to get to him, you know?" Brooke nodded, and Lucas rubbed his hands together, casting around for a subject. "So, how's your first day of non-psycho nanniness?"
Brooke laughed, giving him a reluctant smile. "How do you know I'm not a psycho?"
Lucas looked thoughtfully forward, trying to imagine a psycho Brooke. "Yeah, that would be bad," He decided, nodding with a slight look of horror on his face.
"But anyways, thanks for checking in. Haley said you would come to see on Jamie."
"Yeah, I'll be here every so often, just to see him and everything else. Haley told me she told you."
"Yep," was all Brooke could think to say.
The silence stretched between them with each passing tick of the clock, thickening and spreading until it was almost a tangible entity that was pressing, suffocating them until one of them decided to breach the stifling blanket of uncomfortable peace.
"Anyways," Lucas said, with a feeble attempt. He moved slowly to the door. "I think Jamie will listen to you now. But if you need anything, just call. I'm here for you."
It didn't occur to Brooke how badly she needed to hear those words until much later. Until then, they were just dust in the wind, meaningless words that were exchanged between two friends. In fact, she didn't even acknowledge them, other than right as Lucas said them, until much later. But again, the little voice came.
Yup, this week will definitely get interesting…