OK cause so many of you gave me such good reviews (which I love reading BTW! Thanks guys.) I decided to update again today!
8 years, 5 months, 6 days
Chapter 1
"The chill never left with you
It stayed and takes pleasure in my pain"
-Anon
8 years, 5 months, 6 days later...
Black peep toe heels hit the floorboards as Brooke Davis exited the lift, stepping into her penthouse office. IPhone against her ear, she used her free hand to type furiously on her blackberry "No I need the silk delivered to Tree Hill, North Carolina and I need it in the next few days. The Oscars are coming up, I have four dresses to finish and do you want to be the one to explain to Sandra Bullock that she can't have the dress of her dreams when she takes home the gold?" She spoke into the phone as she paused at the front desk, smiling at her secretary and handing over her blackberry before mouthing hello and continuing on her way, all around her people were rushing from place to place, organising designs, magazine covers and various other things the Davis empire was in charge of. "C'mon Neil, how long have I been ordering from you? Do me a favour and put me above Lagerfield, you know he's a jerk anyway!" She ran a hand through her short chocolate hair, stopping in place when she spotted a small dark-haired little girl sitting in her office. She looked in through the glass and frowned, no longer focusing on the conversation, luckily Neil had finally caved "Thanks so much, your getting a big christmas bonus this year" She said before taking the phone away from her ear and shoving it into her Channel bag "Uh, Millie?" She called out, her eyes not leaving the child in her office
"Yes?" A woman with black hair and green glasses appeared by Brooke's side and Brooke turned a questioning look to her Executive Assistant
"What is my child doing in the office?" Millie looked at her in confusion and then followed her gaze to the little girl
"OH! I thought you knew, Rachel said she called you"
"I've been on the phone all morning trying to flirt our way up the list for all the suppliers"
"OK, well her father didn't turn up and Rach had a photo-shoot to go to so she dropped her off here" Brooke sighed, rolling her eyes
"Thanks Mill" She said before walking into the office "Hey beautiful" Brooke smiled at her little girl, who looked up as her mother walked in.
"MUMMY!" The child bounced over, throwing herself into her mothers awaiting arms, the brunette laughed and studied her daughter. Long jet black hair, dark skin, sparkling hazel eyes and dimples that resembled her mother, she was beautiful.
"How's my favourite five year old?" Brooke asked, kissing the little girl
"MUM! I'm five and a half!" The older Davis laughed
"I'm sorry, how's my favourite five and a half year old?" The child pouted
"Daddy didn't turn up" Brooke frowned
"I know hunny, I'll call him kay? How was the sleep over at aunt Rach's last night?"
"SO FUN!! Aunt Rachel let me and Jamie stay up really late AND she let us eat all the ice cream we wanted!" 'Typical Rach' Brooke thought, rolling her eyes in amusement, Rachel loved to spoil the kids.
"Hey baby, why don't you get Millie to take you to play in the design room while I call daddy OK?" Brooke placed her daughter on the ground who squealed and dashed out of the room, nearly barrelling into Millie as she ran. Smiling after her Brooke walked over to her desk, sitting down on her big black chair, reaching for the phone on her desk and typing in the number of her ex-boyfriend.
"Shit" were the first words she heard as the phone was picked up
"Shit is damn right Felix, where the hell are you?"
"Brooke, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to call! I got delayed in LA and can't get back until later tonight. It's crazy here, you know the Lakers won the championship last night?" Brooke sighed, yes she knew, five people had already felt the need to tell her, but she honestly didn't want to hear it. She hadn't watched a Lakers game in over eight years.
"I know" There was an awkward pause before Felix spoke again
"Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have said anything"
"It's fine Felix, It doesn't matter but what does matter is that your daughter was so excited, Kayla Haley Davis, remember her?"
"Davis-Taggaro and of course I remember Brooke, don't you think I would rather be spending time with her than stuck in the office with my ass of a father?" As furious as she was, Brooke did feel some sympathy for Felix. His father had always been a great grandfather to Kayla but she knew he had not been the same type of parent to Felix. Constantly putting him down, telling him what a disappointment he was and all out ignoring him most of his life.
"You should have called."
"I know, I'm an idiot."
"Yeah you are"
"Can I talk to her?"
"She's with Millie"
"OK, I will call her later then. What time can I pick her up tomorrow?"
"I have a complete day off tomorrow, I promised I'd spend the whole day with her and then we have dinner at Naley's."
"Oh"
"Do you want to come?" Brooke said, sighing but thinking how much her daughter would love it
"To the hang out or Naley's?"
"Both, Kay would love it"
"Sounds awesome, I'll pick you both up at ten?"
"See you then"
"Tell Kay I love her and I'm sorry"
"I will"
"Cya"
"Bye" Brooke hang up the phone and sat back. Felix loved his daughter, she knew that, but sometimes he could be so unorganised and it was usually Kayla that suffered for it.
She had met Felix six years earlier when she was in New York, the two had a short relationship before realising that although they did care for each other, they were much better off as friends. A few weeks after they went their separate ways, Brooke found out she was pregnant. She considered not telling Felix but decided it would be wrong, he could have as little or as much of a role in the child's like as he pleased. He surprised her by being exceptionally excited and was very hands on in helping her set up the nursery in both her house in Tree Hill and apartment in New York. He flew constantly from New York to Tree Hill to be there for Brooke through the pregnancy as well as for Kayla after she was born. He was there on the first day of school, the first time she walked and stayed up with her all night when she had the chicken pox. Felix had always been there but unfortunately with the new job his father had forced upon him, he hadn't been able to be in Tree Hill as much as he would have liked recently. Through all this Brooke and Felix had remained nothing more than good friends, who benefited occasionally.
Lucas Scott awoke suddenly, feeling like his head was on fire, he groaned at the sunlight streaming in from the window. Shutting his eyes again, he gave himself a moment before sitting up and looking around, clothes and alcohol bottles littered the giant bedroom and he wondered what the hell had happened the night before. Then it all came flooding back to him and he remembered his team winning the NBA championship the night before, himself actually making the winning basket., the team celebrating at all the biggest VIP spots in town before coming back to party at Andrew Bynum's pad. He also remembered the paparazzi and gulped at the thought of what they would have captured. Something stirred next to him and it was only then that he realised there was a sleeping brunette in the bed with him, for a moment his heart raced, from this angle she looked exactly like- but he stopped the thought, it was stupid, his mind was playing tricks on him and he wanted to get the hell out of the room before the woman next to him woke up. He slipped out of bed quietly and walked around to where his jeans lay on the floor, picking them up he searched the pockets in a frenzy, sighing in relief when his hand hit something cold and he pulled out a small silver chain, the length of a necklace. Wrapping it around his wrist twice and securing it, he then proceeded to put on his jeans before looking around for his jersey, his winning jersey. He spotted his shoes first and shoved them on before finally spotting his #22 jersey across the room and hurried to grab it and put it on. Before leaving, he took one last look at the girl in the bed, he couldn't believe how much she looked like... He stopped himself again and turned and walked out of the room. As he entered the kitchen he ran a hand through his long dirty-blonde locks and yawned
"You look like death Luke" Lucas looked up to see a tall, muscular black man drinking coffee in the kitchen, he smiled at his friend and team-mate
"What are you even doing here?" He questioned "don't you have a wife or something Odom?"
"Yeah but I'm nowhere near as lame as Bryant, my wife was here remember? You were getting cosy with her sister." Lamar said the last bit with a hint of bitterness and Lucas froze. Had he slept with a Kardashian last night? He knew Lamar would be so pissed at him if it were true. "Relax" Odom said after giving him a minute to ponder "Kim and Khloe left last night, I just stayed to make sure you, Bynum or Artest wouldn't do anything stupid. Maybe you should keep the hell away from Kim though." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Since when were you her keeper?"
"Since she just broke up with Reggie, your an asshole and Khloe would kill me if I let you anywhere near her." Lucas rolled his eyes
"Kims a big girl, she can take care of herself"
"Watch it Scott"
"Whatever dude, she's hot and all but she's not my type anyway." Lamar laughed
"Oh that's right, maybe if she dyed her hair a little more chocolate brown, that's what your into right Luc? Or maybe if she had dimples.... Man you have the weirdest type"
"I don't have a type man, not my fault if every hot dimpled brunette is throwing themselves at me, maybe they have a type huh?" Lamar just laughed harder as Lucas scowled
20 minutes later Lucas was home, he knew Andrew was going to be pissed at him for ditching a girl in his house but he figured he owed him for busting up his place at a party earlier in the season. He walked into his 5.4 million dollar LA mansion and sighed, it was good to be at his house but even after winning the championship, a part of him still felt empty. He walked into the kitchen and it was only then that he was greeted by his 60 kg Pitt Bull cross, who barked at him, Lucas laughed and bent down to hug the dog "Hey buddy, you miss me? huh? Did you watch me on TV? Good boy" He walked over to make sure his dog walker had fed and watered the caramel coloured canine before picking his white iPhone up from the counter where he had left it. Looking down at it he saw he had 99 missed calls and 203 text messages, he smirked, scrolling through to see if there was anyone worth replying to. 20% were girls asking if he wanted to go round and fuck them, another 30 were people asking him if they could get an invite to the after-game party and the last 50% were congratulatory. Out of everything, there were only four he even cared about, the missed call from the Naley residence, the missed call from his mum, the text from Jamie (from Haley's mobile) and the combined text from Skillz and the rest of his old rivercourt-crew. He continued to scroll through the names and randomised numbers, looking for one in particular, somehow he had tricked himself into thinking this might be the day her number would flash up on the screen, or even the day she choose to let him know that she still remembered he existed but there was nothing. He put down the phone in disappointment and leaned on the bench, listening to the silence. He had been with the Lakers for six years and this had been their first championship win whilst he was with them, he loved the team and was overjoyed when they won but the gratification had only lasted so long and right now there was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had tried to deny for so long. Something between guilt, yearning and loss, perhaps brought on by the fact that even after eight and a half years of living here, Los Angeles had never really felt like home. He shook his head, sick of the silence and the thoughts creeping into his mind, walking into the adjoining lounge room, he switched on his massive sound system, which lay below his giant flat screen and could pump music through all parts of the house. He enjoined the pounding bass line for a moment before peeling of his shirt and heading to the bathroom, turning on the shower, his eyes couldn't help but wonder down to the simple silver chain around his wrist and he bought it up to eye level so he could stare. Something inside him awakened and his heart pounded as he suddenly knew what he had to do. To stop the ache inside him, to find himself again.
"Mumma we are gonna have so much fun tomorrow! I'm so excited that Daddy's coming!! We can go and get ice cream and go to the rivercourt and the beach AND the movies!" The small dark haired girl holding Brooke's hand shrieked in excitement and the brunette could not help letting out a laugh
"I'm glad your excited, tigger, but if you don't stop bouncing you wont have any energy left tomorrow"
"Yes I will!" The five year old protested causing her mother to shake her head
"If you say so kiddo" Brooke didn't bother knocking as she reached the front door of the house they were walking towards, instead walking in as if it were her own house, as soon as they were in Kayla let go of her mothers hand and dashed up the stairs. Brooke smiled but didn't follow her, instead opting to walk into the living room. A woman with light brown hair and dark brown eyes sat on a couch next to a tall man with jet black hair and sparkling blue eyes that reminded her so much of a man she used to know. Both looked up at her and smiled when she walked in.
"Hey Tutor-mum, Nate"
"Hey there Tigger" Haley said, motioning for her friend to come sit next to her, which she did "Where's Tigger Junior?"
"Leapt away from me and up to see Jamie the second we got in, typical" Nathan laughed
"Those two are sooo ending up together" Brooke leaned over and playfully slapped him
"Scott, that's disgusting, their cousins"
"Technically their just BFF's" Haley looked at her husband horrified
"Brooke is Aunt Brooke and were Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan, and you want to pimp them out?" Brooke chuckled
"Can you imagine the family gatherings 'Hey Aunt Brooke, slash mother-in-law can you pass the gravy' creepy" Nathan groaned
"Fine, it was a bad idea but don't the two of you look at me like that, I just thought it would be cute"
"So not" Brooke said, turning her attention to the TV
"What are we watching?" She saw E! was on
"Uh-Their playing back old interviews from the Lakers vault in celebration." Before Brooke had the chance to argue, Lucas flashed up on the screen. She recognised the interview immediately, it had been all over the news at the time it was filmed, two years earlier. It was the same interview that had gotten Lucas Scott into the hearts, and beds, of 99% of the women in America. It repulsed her.
"OK so the question on every girls mind right now, Lucas Scott, is there anything any of them can do to make you settle down? You haven't had a single girlfriend in all the years since you have been with the Lakers, are you just that picky or are you scared of commitment? Do you not like dating? Will you ever settle down?" Oprah peered across her beige couch at the playboy NBA star, her voice soft but curious
"Ah" Lucas said, rubbing a hand across his (then) buzz cut "It's kind of personal"
"Come on Lucas, the world is dying to know" Lucas hesitated for a moment before looking up at the queen of talk-show hosting
"I gave my heart away a long time ago and I never got it back. I can't give it to anyone else because it's not mine to give." Brooke snorted and Haley shooshed her as the Oprah audience let out an 'awwwwww'
"So what happened between you two?"
"I was an idiot, I let her down in a big way and I don't think she can ever forgive me for it" he paused "but, I make sure I have this" he held out his wrist, revealing a silver chain wrapped twice around his wrist "at every game, I'm not allowed to wear it on the court but I make sure I have it within reach all times, at least then I know she's with me, even when she's not." The crowd 'awwww'd' again.
"What would you say to her right now if she were watching this interview?" Oprah looked at Lucas sympathetically.
"I know her, and there's no way she would be watching me on TV but if she was, I'd tell her that no matter what I love her and will be here for her if she ever needs me and not a day goes by that I don't think about her and miss her.." Another round of 'awwws', Brooke scoffed
"Hales, do we have to watch this?" She said in annoyance, Haley turned to her
"C'mon Brooke, it's been nearly nine years, can't you at least try to get over-it?" Brooke starred at her friend incredulously
"I am over IT Haley and I am over HIM but that doesn't mean I want to sit here and watch him use me to pimp himself out to gullible woman"
"I don't think that's what he was doing"
"Oh Hales, don't tell me you actually believe his bullshit?"
"I think he was sincere, I think he misses you Brooke" Brooke sighed
"Fine then, if what he is saying is true then why if I supposedly 'owned his heart' did he not want me to go to LA with him? huh? Why has he never in eight years once tried to write, call or contact me in anyway? Why hasn't he come back to Tree Hill ready to beg for my forgiveness? " Haley went silent, she didn't know why, Brooke had made her swear that she would never talk about her with Lucas.
"I don't know"
"I do, it's because we were just high school, he never really loved me and you know what?" she looked back at the TV which had flashed onto Lucas at the ESPY awards, one of his many brunette whores at his side, she starred at him for a moment and wondered how she had ever loved such a selfish man "It's fine. It's been eight years and I stopped being angry at him a long time ago, I have better things to worry about now"
"MUMMA!" As if on cue Kayla came barrelling down the stairs and over to her mother
"What kiddo, your not even gonna give me a hug?" Nathan asked and Kayla leapt from her mother's lap over to Nathans
"HI UNCLE NATE!" She squealed, hugging him before pouncing into Haley's arms "HI AUNT HALEY!" Haley smiled at the little girl before looking up to see Jamie enter the room, Jamie walked right over to Brooke and jumped into her lap, Brooke laughed and hugged the little boy.
"Hey there Handsome"
"Heya Aunt Brooke"
"Mumma?" Kayla questioned, turning in her aunts arms to face her mother
"Yes baby?"
"How come I've never met Uncle Lucas?" The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife
"Uh, what?"
"How come I have never met Uncle Lucas?" Brooke looked down at Jamie
"James Brooklyn Scott, what have you been saying to my daughter?"
"I just told her how cool Uncle Lucas was, winning the NBA"
"Your dad won three years ago"
"I know, and that's so cool but Uncle Lucas is cool too!" Brooke chuckled, thanks to Nathan the Charlotte Bobcats had won the championship three years prior, unfortunately Jamie had been to young to remember.
"What about me, am I cool?" She questioned, Jamie smiled
"The coolest!"
"Awesome"
"Mumma, why haven't I met Uncle Lucas though?" Kayla questioned again, not letting the issue go
"Because were usually away when Lucas comes to town and we don't go with these guys when they visit him in LA"
"Why not?" Brooke sighed, how was she was supposed to explain to the little girl that 'Uncle' Lucas didn't even know of her existence and that if he did, he probably wouldn't be too pleased. Then again, Brooke thought, he'd probably think he'd dodged a bullet.
"Cause Lucas is Jamie's Uncle hunny, Jamie gets Uncle Lucas and you get cool Aunt Anna see?"
"But Jamie hangs out with Aunt Anna too!"
"Yeah but not as much as you get to"
"But I still want to meet Jamie's Uncle Lucas" Brooke didn't know what else to say, luckily Nathan stepped in.
"Hey you already have one cool Uncle who has won the NBA, you really don't need another, Uncle Lucas is nowhere near as cool as me, huh Jamie?" Jamie nodded, not wanting to offend his father
"Totally!" And the issue was dropped, which each adult was very glad of.
To any outsider they would seem like the perfect family, Brooke holding one of her daughters hands, Felix, with dark hair and skin that matched his daughters, the other, the three walked down the street, Kayla bounding between them, jumping and demanding her parents make them long moon jumps by holding their hands higher to support her. Brooke laughed as Kayla giggled in delight and Felix smiled down at his dimpled princess, he was so glad she had forgiven him for not being able to come see her the day before. As they walked past a fruit store, Brooke stopped the group, looking up and smiling. "OH!" She said " this place has the best chocolate almonds!" Felix laughed
"Brooke, were going to the movies, you can buy candy there" Brooke scoffed
"You can't buy chocolate almonds there"
"Yes, you can"
"Fine, but you can't buy ones this good" Kayla starred between her parents before deciding on her next move
"Daddy, I want chocolate almonds too" Felix looked down at his little girl, well aware she was only saying that so that he would hurry up and buy them and they could go to the movie, patience had never been one of Kayla Davis-Taggaro's strong suits, she got that from her mother.
"Fine! I've been out voted, I'll get them, you two wait here."
"Thanks daddy!" Kayla squealed as Felix walked off
"Yeah thanks daddy!" Brooke said jokingly, Felix winked at her before entering the store. Brooke's phone began to vibrate and she dug into her bag to get it out, NEIL flashed up across the screen and she groaned "hey hunny I just have to take this real quick OK?" The little girl let out a groan
"Promise you'll be quick?"
"Promise" The little girl starred around
"Can I go look at the fruit?" Brooke kinked her eyebrow at her daughters strange request "I like the smell." Kayla continued, explaining
"Sure but stay where I can see you and don't talk to anyone." She watched Kayla walk a few feet away to the outside fruit where she began studying each different colour, she let out a small laugh before answering the phone.
Kayla starred at the strawberries, transfixed by their aroma and colours, she looked up when someone appeared beside her, grabbing a container of raspberries from beside them. She couldn't believe her eyes for a second and then her mouth dropped open as she grabbed the man beside her, he looked down at her puzzled
"Your Uncle Lucas" Kayla said in a matter-of-fact tone, Lucas looked at her in confusion, the child looked so familiar
"Excuse me?"
"Your Uncle Lucas" The child said again
"Where's your mum hunny?"
"Your Jamie's Uncle Lucas" Kayla ignored Lucas's question "your his Uncle Lucas who mumma won't let me meet"
"You know Jamie?" Lucas smiled, he had been back in Tree Hill for less than two hours and hadn't even had the chance to go see his nephew, brother or anyone else yet. He had decided to grab some healthy food before walking to the Naley residence.
"He's my cousin" Now Lucas was confused again, as far as he knew neither Quinn or Taylor had a kid.
"Really?"
"Yep" Kayla nodded her head furiously and then she smiled and suddenly something clicked inside Lucas and he starred at her wide eyed.
"Davis?" He said, as if all the wind had been knocked out of him, he couldn't believe it, of all the people he could have run into what are the chances he would see the child of Brooke Davis standing in front of him when he hadn't even been in Tree Hill for a day. He didn't want to believe it, his Pretty girl had a child, but there was no denying those dimples and hazel eyes. Before the little girl got to answer however, a loud voice came from behind her and as Lucas looked up, the wind was knocked out of him again.
"Kayla Davis-T! What have I told you about talking to strangers!" Brooke Penelope Davis stood in front of him, her hair shorter, her eyes brighter, she was more stunning than ever. He hadn't seen her in years, how had she gotten even more beautiful?
"Brooke." He whispered and Brooke's head snapped up from looking at her daughter. Her face drained of all colour as she starred, she couldn't believe it. Lucas Eugene Scott stood in front of her, in Tree Hill, North Carolina, talking to her daughter. Long scruffy hair, slightly overgrown stubble, his eyes darker with age but still radiant blue, Lucas was but a shadow of the man she remembered.
"Lucas?" She said in complete disbelief "Wh-what are you doing here?" Lucas continued to stare at her, he couldn't stop, he thought this might be a dream, he would wake up at any moment.
"I'-I'm back for off season" Brooke didn't bother saying anything, she was still in shock "you had a kid?" Brooke looked down at Kayla before averting her eyes back to Lucas
"Yeah" was all she could say
"She's beautiful, she looks so much like you"
"Thankyou!" Kayla said, happy at the compliment, Lucas looked down at her, hesitant to take his eyes of Brooke but still curious of the child no one had bothered to mention to him.
"What's your name gorgeous?" Lucas bent down to look her in the eyes and something in Brooke was repulsed, knowing he probably would have used that same sentence as a pickup line in the past. On anyone else it would have been innocent but in Brooke's mind anything that Lucas said was sleazy.
"Kayla Haley Davis-Taggaro" the little girl stated proudly
"Nice to meet you I'm uh.... Uncle? Lucas." Kayla smiled and again Lucas was dumbfounded by how Brookeish she was "how old are you Kayla?"
"Five and a half. I'm only two months younger than Jamie" Lucas laughed and stood up
"Wow" he said "the two of you are nearly teenagers" he looked back at Brooke "Brooke-" he tried to start a sentence but no words would come out, she was still starring at him like he was some form of alien "you look beau-" but he was cut off as Felix walked up to Kayla, grabbing her and throwing her into his arms playfully before placing an arm around Brooke and giving her peck on the head
"Sorry I took so long baby, there was a line." Lucas looked daggers at him
"You got the almonds daddy?" Kayla asked, peering into the bag Felix was holding
"Sure did kiddo" he looked at Lucas who was starring at Felix's hand around Brooke waist
"Hi, I'm Felix" Lucas tried his best to smile
"Lucas"
"I know who you are! Lakers right? Awesome win the other night" He was acting overly friendly just to rub it in Lucas's face. Brooke had told him years ago about Lucas and he didn't like the man one bit. Anyone who hurt the mother of his child that badly didn't deserve to be in her life.
"Uh-thanks" Felix turned to Brooke
"Shall we go babe?" Brooke looked at him and smiled
"Yeah, we don't want to be late" she looked at Lucas "were-uh going to a movie, so uh-bye"
"Oh-huh I'll see you later I guess." Their goodbye was probably the most awkward thing either had ever gone through in their lives.
"Nice to meet you man" Felix said knowingly
"Uh-You too"
"YEAH! Nice to meet you Uncle Lucas!" Lucas smiled at the little girl in Brooke's arms
"It was really nice to meet you too Kayla" Felix guided Brooke around to start walking in the right direction
"Ten bucks says he's still staring after us" He said once they were a few metres away and Brooke chuckled, leaning her head against Felix's shoulder, incredibly glad he had been there to save her from the situation. Well the immediate situation anyway, because the whole issue wouldn't go away that easily, Lucas was back in Tree Hill and there was no running from him this time.
There's first chap! If you loved it, let me know. If you hated it, let me know (and tell me why!)
BUT...
Before you all start complaining! There will not be any sort of love-triangle between Felix, Lucas and Brooke and Felix will not feature THIS heavily in the rest of the fic, I just needed him for the first few chapters.
THANKS FOR READING!
Next up... Brooke and Lucas's reaction to each other AND Dinner at Naley's!
=D