It was a child's loud, giggling voice that woke Brooke up first, although it would have been only a matter of time before the sunlight in the room would have awoken her. She raised her head sleepily from the pillow.
"Whass goin on?" she asked stupidly. Everything seemed covered by a smoky veil; the world had been dulled by her drowsy eyes. Disoriented, she looked around the room. It was familiar, but her spinning head prevented her from placing the person to the bedroom. Brooke knew she hadn't been drinking last night, but after everything that had happened, she might as well have.
Last night! With that thought, the world snapped into clarity and Brooke was suddenly conscious of everything. Memories from the previous night flooded back crystal-clear, she knew whose room this was, and, most of all, she was acutely aware of the scruffy, shirtless blonde male sleeping facedown next to her.
Then came the child's giggling again, accompanied by garbled whisperings of some adult. "Jamie?" Brooke asked, confused for another moment. Next to her, she heard Lucas groan from under his pillow. Looking over, she watched him roll onto his back with more incoherent mumbling. Eventually, though, he turned to face her.
"Morning, pretty girl," Lucas whispered as a smiled played on his usually hard mouth. His blue eyes were soft as he looked at her.
"Morning, Luke."
Lucas looked Broke up and down. "Brooke, you know I love you, but do you ever sleep?" he asked as he became more awake.
"I'm a night person," she replied simply.
Lucas laughed and laid back down again. "I don't know if I'm a night or day person; I'm just know not a morning kinda guy."
"Yeah, I know," Brooke laughed. She had learned early in their relationship that you never wake Lucas Scott before nine. Therefore, she had made a point back in high school to wake him up at six am or earlier as often as she could, regardless if they were dating or not. She would also try and keep him up as late as possible.
It seemed strange to Brooke that they were talking so easily, so playfully, after everything that had happened last night. For one, it was only last night that they got together. For two, Peyton had seen everything, and gotten into a fight with Brooke about it. Yet here they were, talking as if last night had happened a year ago. To Brooke, it seemed almost wrong that they weren't talking about everything, like they were cheating; but she loved waking up next to Lucas on these sort of mornings and being like this.
The playful giggles of the girl outside interrupted Brooke's thoughts. "That's Lily," Lucas finally informed her from beneath his pillow. Brooke laughed and looked back to the door. She propped herself up on her elbows.
"Lily," someone said. This time Brooke could hear them. "Lil, you have to be quiet, you don't want to wake them…"
But the door burst open anyway.
"Lucas," came Lily's singsong voice as she ran to Lucas's bedside. "Lucas, wake up!"
Karen appeared in the doorway. "Brooke, Lucas, I'm sorry. Lily, c'mon, let them sleep—"
"No, Karen, it's fine," Brooke said, smiling and assuring Karen with a wave of her hand.
"No it's not," Lucas grunted, but only Brooke heard it.
"We were about to get up anyways," Brooke finished to Karen, and with an unholy grin to Lucas, said, "C'mon, Luke, time to get up!" She gave his pile of pillows a cheery slap, and she could only imagine his grimace.
"All the same," Karen said, taking Lily's hand, "We'll give you a second to get up." She led Lily out the door. Brooke waved to the little brunette as she left.
Five minutes later, Brooke was throwing on her clothes from last night. "Lucas!" She said as she pulled on her shirt. "Luke, get up." Then a thought entered her head, and she ran into the bathroom. "Luke, I'm in your bathroom; can you come help me fix my bra? It's not clasping." Brooke smiled and peeked outside. She watched Lucas's head perk up from the bed.
"Uh, yeah, sure, Brooke," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. Brooke bit her lip as she watched him swagger towards the bathroom. Right when Lucas put his hand on the door, Brooke burst out.
"Nevermind, I got it! But now that you're up, you can get dressed!" She smiled at him, biting her tongue and kinking her eyebrow in a flirty kind of challenge, as if daring him to refute. Lucas just laughed and shook his head, but Brooke could see the shadow of barely concealed disappointment. "Down boy. C'mon, we gotta shoot for a gradual ramp up to full relationship status; a status, I might add, that comes with full bra-fixing privileges and more. Oh, don't look so disappointed," she added when she saw his face fall again.
"Brooke Davis, you are something else."
"Yep," she said, not missing a beat and throwing his shirt at him. "I'll give you five minutes before I drag your naked ass out there in front of your mom, sister, and Andy. Oh, and I'll make coffee!" she promised. Then Brooke went out the bedroom door, leaving Lucas holding his shirt and shaking his head, mildly incredulous, still staring at the spot Brooke last stood.
"Morning, Brooke," came Karen's voice for the second time today.
Brooke walked into the kitchen, where Karen and Andy were having coffee at the kitchen table. It seemed she got off the hook for her promise to Luke. "Hi, Karen, Andy. Good morning."
"Would you like some coffee?" Andy asked her, holding up a mug. Brooke hadn't really known the New Zealander when he first came to town, only seeing him when he came over to Karen's when Brooke was staying with her. She had known they were dating then, but Brooke had no idea what was going on between them now. Neither did they, it seemed.
"Uh, no thanks, I'm ok." Brooke looked at Karen. "Thanks for letting me stay here for a while, you two. Stuff with Peyton has gotten kinda messed up, and I wouldn't be able to stay at my house right now with her." Brooke seemed slightly uncomfortable, but it was probably the fact that she had spent the night with Lucas, and Karen and Andy had no idea what went on behind closed doors. She wanted to assure the couple that nothing had happened, but she didn't know what to say.
"No problem Brooke, stay as long as you need," Karen said warmly, assuaging Brooke's fears, and her eyes fixed on a point somewhere behind Brooke. "Oh, and here's Lily."
Brooke turned and saw the little brunette skipping down the hall, all smiles. She looked a confident and outgoing girl, but her face changed when she saw Brooke. Brooke almost smiled when she saw the flash of shyness, and the skips abruptly changed to careful steps.
"Lily, this is Brooke. She's a friend of your brother's," Karen announced.
Brooke bent down t eye level with the little girl. "Hi," Brooke said. "You're name is Lily? That's a pretty name. I'm Brooke." She held out her hand, and Lily shook it.
"Hi."
Andy looked around for something to say. "Lily, what are you doing in there?" He nodded to the living room.
"I'm watching my show, Zoey 101!"
Brooke smiled. "Hey, I love that show!" In truth, she had absolutely no idea what it was.
Lily brightened. "Wanna watch it with me?" she asked, grabbing Brooke's hand.
"Sure, Lily." As Brooke was led to the other room, she looked back at Karen and Andy. Zoey what? She mouthed.
Karen shrugged and laughed. "That's Lily."
Lucas emerged from his room five minutes later, fully dressed, partially awake even still. "Morning, everyone," he said, going to sit with Andy and Karen.
"Hi, Lucas. Coffee?" Andy offered again, and this time Luke took it.
"Thanks, Andy. Where are the girls?"
Karen motioned to the family room. "They're watching TV out there. Why don't you go say an official good morning to Lily?"
Andy stood up. "And while you're at it, tell her that breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." He went to the freezer and pulled out some waffles as Lucas walked into the living room.
"Hey, ladies," he said, "Good morning."
Lily and Brooke were sitting together on the couch, already laughing and talking together. When Lily saw her older brother, she jumped up. "Good morning, Lucas!" she laughed, running to hug him. Lucas picked her up.
"Hey, Lil. What are you girls up to in here?"
"We're watching TV," Lily said as Lucas put her on his hip.
"You are?" he said, looking at Brooke. She was watching the whole brother-sister scene silently with a smile on her face.
Lucas set Lily down, and she went running back to Brooke. Lucas followed and sat on the other side of his sister. Brooke finally turned to him.
"Well, good morning, boyfriend, thank god you got up. I thought I was going to have to pull your naked—" she stopped and looked down at Lily between them "a-s-s outta bed, but your fine now."
Lucas just smiled. He thought about how natural everything was now, how nothing was forced or uncertain. Last night seemed a million years away, and now it was just him and her. In just one night, they had fallen into perfect swing; a genuine, relaxed relationship.
Lily started teasing Lucas. "So she is your girlfriend!" Until now, Lucas had kept his eyes on Brooke the whole time. Now he looked at his younger sister.
"Yep, Brooke's my girlfriend." Brooke bit her tongue and smiled, staring straight ahead, listening rather than watching the exchange.
"Brooke and Lucas, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Lily chanted, getting up and running around the room, her show forgotten.
Lucas turned his eyes back to Brooke. She was had leveled her eyes straight forward, ignoring Lily's shouts, but Lucas kept his unflinching gaze on his girlfriend the entire time Lily taunted him. He caught Brooke's smile, and she looked both embarrassed and delighted. Lucas knew she was imagining the scenario.
Just then, Andy called from the kitchen. "Lily, we've got waffles!" And without a second glance, Lily stopped her taunting and tore into the kitchen, obviously energized by all the fun.
Brooke turned to Lucas. "Well, she's a spark of life."
Lucas snorted. "Try a bomb," Brooke laughed, but Lucas pressed on, laughing as well. "Look, even now, we're left with that post-explosion silence, where everything seems louder."
"Well, she's a cute one."
"Yeah…"
Suddenly, in the silence, it seemed that the previous night's events finally caught up to the couple, and the calmness thickened and pressed heavier on them. Lucas, looking at Brooke, could tell that she was still thinking about what had happened with Peyton.
She saw him looking at her, and smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Brooke clapped a hand down on his thigh, where his hand was. They intertwined fingers. "Well, as much fun as making out in a tree sounds, I think I'm going to take a little walk. Clear my head, you know?"
Lucas nodded. "Ok, but come back soon?"
She smiled. "You bet."
With shaking limbs, Peyton rose from her bed. Rather than spending another several sleepless hours on that couch in Tric, she had actually come home last night, after her fight with Brooke, and fallen asleep at three.
Was she tired? No.
Did she relive last night? Not really. Only the important parts.
Was she emotionally spent? Hell yes.
She wasn't sick about the mere act of Lucas kissing Brooke. It was more the confirmation of the kiss, confirmation that told her that Lucas wasn't lying when he broke up with her in Tric that day. That she couldn't get him back.
And then her fight with Brooke. Brooke, who had been there for more than ten years, and yet she had said so many horrible things to Peyton last night. But that wasn't even the worst part. After the fight, Peyton had walked to the window to watch Brooke leave.
Brooke had left with him. Peyton had watched Brooke curl up close to Lucas, playing the victim in the whole situation, like she always did. In fact, Brooke had probably alienated Lucas from Peyton right then and there. Poor Luke.
But the day had to go on. Peyton had bands to check out, Mias to call, mail to pick up, songs to record, stuff to do. After throwing some clothes on (just a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt) she went out the door and climbed regretfully into the car.
Peyton couldn't help but smile as she drove, remembering one of the first times she had met her real mother, Ellie.
"Well, your eyes are puffy, which, from experience, screams textbook crying eyes. You have your hair up, so you're probably not planning on impressing any boys today. I'd say you're nursing a helluva broken heart, and not the schoolgirl crush kind, the real thing."
Peyton smiled again, thinking of how right Ellie had been when she had said that. It was just a couple days after Jake had left. Peyton was dressed today the same way she had been back then, and she was nursing a broken heart today, too.
The post office appeared on her left; Peyton just had to stop here before going onto Tric. She was expecting some stuff for the club, such as offers to play. Inside, she nodded to the clerk, who was busy opening a new bag of mail for the boxes that lined the walls.
"Bill, ad, ad, ad, bill, offer to play, oh, request to play, wow," Peyton mumbled to herself as she flipped through the envelopes. She was almost out the door when the clerk called to her.
"Wait, are you box 723?" he asked. Peyton nodded.
"Well, there's one more priority letter that just came in today for you, so here you go." The man held out a normal looking envelope, different only from the others because of the large red PRIORITY stamp on one side. Peyton took it gingery; she hadn't been expecting anything like this.
As soon as she got in her car, the letter was ripped open. Peyton had always possessed a potent curiosity for things like this. But the second she read the first line, the letter slipped from her hands. It fell, forgotten from the shock of its contents, to the floor.
When Nathan turned into the kitchen that morning, the first thing he saw was Haley, his beautiful wife, leaning on the counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. The morning sun shined through the wispy, out-of-place hairs that had escaped the ponytail she had done this morning, and for a second, they were back in high school, on one of the mornings when they would wake up together and stay home from classes all day.
Then Nate looked to Jamie, who Haley was talking to over his cereal, and Nathan beamed with pride. He made that. Jamie was going to be so great some day, already he was full of life and vitality.
Nathan couldn't be prouder of his family.
"Morning, Nate, glad to see you finally up," Haley teased. Late-rising just ran in the Scott family. Nathan, now that he had been discovered, wandered from the doorway and took the cup of coffee Haley was holding out. "Looks like you'll need this," she added, denoting his tired eyes and body. He had barely fallen asleep all night.
"Weird night, huh?" Nathan asked the two as he leaned his elbows onto the counter, mimicking Haley's position.
"Yeah," said Haley, "how do you think they're doing?"
Nathan laughed. "Well, unless Peyton committed a double homicide last night, I'd say they're doing fine. Lucas is probably still asleep."
"But, you forget that Brooke is staying with him," Haley reminded him, taking Jamie's empty cereal bowl. "She probably woke him up the second she opened her eyes. But let's not talk about it anymore; what happened, happened, and it's them now. We sit back and watch now."
Nathan agreed as Jamie hopped off the barstool. "Hey, Daddy, wanna go shoot hoops with me?" Jamie asked, gesturing towards the small rim outside.
"Sure, Jame. How about you go get dressed for school, then we'll shoot around for a few minutes before you go to school, ok?" Jamie nodded enthusiastically and went upstairs.
"It'll be fun for us to shoot around again, huh?" Nathan observed, turning back to Haley. She was watching Jamie's disappearing form up the stairs.
Haley's face had changed. It wasn't a complete collapse, like a building falling. It was more like watching water stream through a hole in a dam, and the crack in the wall getting wider and wider until everything snapped and madness burst forth. Her face seemed to progress slowly from happiness and laughter to a nervous, fearful expression.
"Hales, what's wrong?" Just as quickly as the change had happened, it disappeared and Haley jolted, laughing. But Nathan couldn't shake the uneasy feeling and the memory of her in that moment.
"Nothing… just panicky mom stuff. Yeah, it'll be fun for the both of you to start playing again." Nathan crossed to the other side of the bar and sat down in front of Haley, just where Jamie had been sitting a moment ago.
"Usually, Haley, your panicky mom stuff translates into my panicky dad stuff. What's up?"
Haley put down the towel she had been nervously cleaning the counters with. She bit her lip and examined a piece of granite for a moment, as if trying to word how she was going to say something, considering what she would tell him. Finally, she looked up at him. "Your— dream… your dream form last night reminded me of something. We— we never got Jamie checked for HCM."
"You mean, you were the comet? Tell me something, Peyt, when you were at the house, did you happen to see the book on my bedside table? Look's like you assume a little much. Lucas was right: I was the only one for him. Did he ever tell you how many times he wanted to be with me, not you? You ever wonder why you never had a nickname, why he never showed you his world, or wrote you letters, or anything special like that ? I'll always be in his heart, and as long as I'm with Lucas, you get sidelined. Think about it; you know it's true. And yeah, I know that you are going to always try and get him back with your sad, pathetic whining, and maybe you will, for a time. But he and I are meant to be, and we'll always find our way back."
Brooke smiled through her remorse, somewhat proud of her instantaneous rebuttal last night, even though she would take it back if she could. She had snapped, hurling the first hurtful words that came into her head at Peyton. Brooke walked down third street, allowing her feet a mind of their own, letting them take her wherever as she remembered last night.
She wasn't far from Lucas's house. When Brooke had first stepped outside, she had been almost unwilling to walk, for some reason. Whether it be that there were so many thoughts and regrets weighing on her, or she just didn't know what to do, it didn't matter. But Brooke was walking now, and she probably wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
Brooke was so wrapped up in her deliberations, she didn't notice the dark SUV slow down and drive next to her. That is, until the driver rolled down the window and called to her.
"Ms. Davis!" he yelled, leaning one arms and his shoulders out of the window. Brooke was momentarily startled into looking at him.
"Dan," she said, looking back forward and continuing to walk. There really was nothing else to say to the man who had killed Uncle Keith, the man who was hanging out of his car to talk to her right now.
"So, I hear you're with Lucas now," Dan said, and Brooke tried to detect anything more than casualness in his statement, but she couldn't.
"Yep. I stayed with him last night."
"Really?" Dan said, nodding as if considering this new piece of information. "So you've met Lily, have you?"
This time, Brooke looked at him, having a general idea of what he was getting at. She decided not to say anything about Lily. "You're driving on the wrong side of the road, you know?" Dan looked forward.
"There's no cars coming. Nothing to worry about, so I can. Now, about Lily—"
Brooke abruptly stopped and turned. "Look, Mr. Scott, I'm not going to tell you anything about Lily, or Lucas, or Jamie, or whoever the hell you're trying to learn about this week, ok?" She seemed unsure of herself, questioning whether or not she should be challenging someone like him. "You're wasting your time."
Dan shrugged. "Just trying to get to know my future daughter-in-law. Unless, of course, Lucas changes his mind again. Gets that from me, you see. You'll be seeing more of me, Ms. Davis." With a nod, Dan stepped on the gas, revving the SUV around the corner. Brooke stopped in her tracks and watched him disappear. Trepidation was plastered on her face, but she didn't know why.