Chapter 34-We Belong Together
"Brooke Penelope Davis, will you marry me?"
Lucas opened up the black velvet box, displaying a 9ct gold diamond princess cut ring, with ½ carat diamonds encrusted on the band. It was the exact ring that Brooke had described to him months before.
Her mouth gapped open, speechless
"Brooke?" he said uncertainly
"Yes" she replied faintly
"Yes?"
"Yes!" Brooke exclaimed, tears staining her porcelain features.
Lucas removed the ring and slid it in Brooke' left hand
"I was hoping you were going to say yes" he said before kissing Brooke sensually on the lips
"I had no doubt" she said sincerely
"I have one more surprise for you"
"Oh Luke" she sighed contently
"Come with me"
Lucas walked back through the pathway, and headed towards the limousine.
"Where are we going Luke?" Brooke asked
"It's a surprise" he replied mysteriously
Brooke joined Lucas in the limousine. Brooke stretched her long feminine legs across Lucas' lap, and stared at her ring.
"A penny for your thoughts" Lucas said
"Its just…this ring" she muttered quizzically
"You don't remember, Cheery?" he chuckled
Brooke and Lucas walked down a quiet Tree Hill street. Not known for its mainstream stroes, the mall was littered with antique shops and second hand book stores.
"Lucas, can we go to Macy's please" she whinged
"I just want to get this first edition book for Peyton from the store around the corner"
"But-" she started
Brooke stopped in her tracks. She walked up to the window of an antique shop that looked close to bankruptcy. Her nose was almost pressed up against the glass, seemingly ignoring Lucas.
"Brooke?Earth to Brooke?" he called
He walked up to the window, trying to ascertain what was making Brooke so transfixed. Lucas tapped her lightly on the shoulder.
"Huh?" she said transfixed
"What is it?" he asked
"It's that ring" she said pointing to the lone green box in the window, and hesitantly walking away from the store.
"What about it?" he asked as they continued walking, Brooke glancing longingly back at the store
"Since I was like 5, I used to visit my Grandma in Connecticut. I spent days playing dress ups in her clothes and jewellery. There was this one ring that I was always mesmerised by. The way the light reflected of the diamond, and the way it sat proudly on my grandma's finger, I just thought it was the most precious thing in the world. Then Gran died." Brooke looked away from Lucas, tears falling down her youthful cheeks.
"I remember" he muttered quietly
"Mom and Dad got rid of all her things, without forethought of what they would mean to me. They never quite understood the connection Gran and I had. And that ring, it looks exactly like the ring my Gran had" Brooke said in amazement
"Why don't you just buy it then?"
"It wouldn't bring my grandma back though, would it? In junior year I was so sad, because I had always imagined my future husband asking my Nan for my hand in marriage" she replied sadly, her head drooping in grief.
"Why is that?"
"Well that ring, it's my Nan's engagement ring. My Pop gave it to her before he left for the war. And well any potential fiancé would know how…difficult my parents are, and how close I was to my Gran." She continued, twisting the ring on her finger nervously.
"I'm sure whoever you marry will find the perfect ring for you, just wait and see" Lucas said
"I guess" Brooke whispered, wiping the last few tears from her eyes "Let's find that book for Peyton, ok?"
Brooke quickened her step, and they rounded the street corner, as if nothing had happened.
Brooke slipped the ring off her finger examining the inside metal strip. She could faintly make out the inscription "Together Always".
"Lucas?" she said, her lip quivering
"Yes?" he said, stroking her hand
"Is this my grandmother's ring?"
"Yes"
"But how?"
"It wasn't easy. I always remembered the day you told me about the ring in the window, and once Peyton and I broke up, I started looking for it." Lucas replied
"But how did you know it was this one"
"Easy. The inscription" Lucas said, smiling
"But I never told you about it" she asked
"Well kinda" he replied sheeishly
Brooke ran into an empty classroom, tears staining the perfect makeup she had applied that morning. She hid behind the door, and turned off the light. Curled up in a ball, she cried. Really and truly cried.
"B.Davis?" Her best friend's voice called, echoing in the empty classroom.
"P. Sawyer, what are you doing here?"
"Haley said she saw you run into here upset" Peyton said, walking over to a distraught Brooke.
"Trust tutor girl to tattle" Brooke replied, rolling her eyes.
Peyton joined Brooke on the floor, hugging Brooke as she continued to cry.
"It's Gran" she sobbed, her body shaking with grief.
"What about Gran?" Peyton asked, panic laced in her voice. Peyton was almost as close to Grandma Davis as Brooke was. She had spent every summer there since they were 9; she was the mother figure that Peyton sorely needed after her mother died 5 years prior.
"She's gone. Mom said" Brooke sobbed loudly "it was congestive heart failure. I didn't even know she was sick" Brooke cried into Peyton's shoulder.
"Oh Brooke"
Peyton was well aware of losing a loved one. No consoling or understanding could make up for the fact that someone Brooke loved, probably more then her parents, had died.
They sat in silence and darkness, Brooke's sobs finally subsiding. However, the mourning teenagers failed to see a particular blonde haired, blue eyed boy, listening through the crack in the door.
"You were listening to us?"
"I saw you run into the classroom, and was going to come in after you, but Peyton beat me to it" he replied
"But you barely knew me back then" Brooke said in amazement
"Yeah but I was always intrigued with you Brooke, even though you seemed so happy on the outside, I always thought you were sad about something"
"But that doesn't answer the question about the ring…." Brooke asked, twisting the ring on her finger.
"Together forever" Brooke whimpered
"What?" Peyton asked
"Every year on the anniversary of Pa's death, Gran would tell me the story of how Pa proposed to her." Brooke replied wistfully
"Yeah? I never heard it before"
"They grew up in a small town in Connecticut, and fell in love as teenagers. Gran said that he was everything she wanted; kind, thoughtful but manly" Brooke smiled slightly, recalling the description of the grandfather she hardly knew.
"That sounds nice" Peyton murmured, thinking he sounded just like her crush, Jake.
"Yeah. But Grandpa was conscripted to the army. On their last night together, Grandpa took Gran out dancing. She said it was a beautiful night, only the stars to guide the way. Grandpa took Gran to the place they first kissed; it was a bridge on the nearby lake. He said to her,
"Even
though we are going to be apart for days, months, maybe even years,
Claudia O'Connell, we are
going to be together forever. Will you marry me?"
Brooke recited from heart.
"That's beautiful" Peyton whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
"And of course Gran said yes, and when Pa returned from the war, he gave her an engagement ring, and inscribed in it was "Together Forever". I always thought it was such a magical thing, finding someone at such a young age that you want to spend the rest of your life with"
"Do you think we are going to find that Brooke?" Peyton asked hopefully
"I hope so" she said, still thinking of the ring, and her grandmother.
"But how did you find the ring? I thought Mom sold it years ago" Brooke said, scowling at the thought
"Well, your mother isn't exactly the brightest tool in the shed"
Brooke grunted in agreement
"So I tracked down a list of pawn shops in the area your grandma lived, gave the owners incentive to find the transaction records from 4 years ago, found your mothers name, and the address of the buyer…"
"And you bought the ring back?"
"Yeah"
Brooke stared at her fiancé in amazement
"I can't believe you did that all for me" she said kissing him on the lips, and then leant comfortably against his shoulder
"I would do anything for you, Brooke Davis, soon to be Scott" he said, and kissed the top of her head.
The couple sat in silence, Brooke fiddling with her ring, and Lucas stoking her arm, as they watched the sights of Tree Hill flash by.
Brooke shot up out of Lucas' embrace.
"4 years" she said abruptly
"What?" he said laughingly
"You said that you tracked transaction records from 4 years ago….but Gran died when we were 15, Luke" Brooke said panic evident in her voice.
"Calm down Cheery" he said holding both her hand in his.
"But I don't understand" she whispered
"I've had this ring for 4 years, Brooke."
"For me?"
"Of course for you. It was wrong for me to go after Peyton, both times. In the middle of freshman year of college, I was UNC, and Peyton was in LA. But it was the strangest thing. I didn't miss Peyton. I missed the girl with the emerald eyes and the infectious laugh. I miss the girl who talks a million miles an hour when excited, but just as happy to sit in silence. I missed the girl who managed to read me better then everyone else including Peyton…."
Lucas sat in his dorm room, listening to his Ipod, while he attempted to study for his Shakespeare class. The sound of his phone disrupted his trance. The name that flashed on the phone was supposed to bring joy to the young man. Most guys would love to hear for their girlfriends of nearly a year. But each time the phone rang, his stomach flip-flopped in the hope it was a certain bubbly brunette.
"Hey Peyton" he said sighing into the phone
"Lucas, how have you been?" she asked distractingly
"Fine, and you?" he asked, feeling like he was greeting a distant cousin.
"Not good" She said
"Oh?"
"Luke,I don't this is working" she whispered. Lucas didn't say anything for a while, his heavy breathing the only sign he was still on the line.
"Luke?" Peyton asked nervously
"Oh thank god, you feel it too" he said, a wave of relief washing over his body. He instinctively glanced over to the photo of Brooke and himself at the rivercourt.
"Yes, Look we tried to make it work, and I have no regrets, but I just…" Peyton said earnestly
"Don't think we belong together anymore?" Lucas finished
"Yeah exactly"
"So what are you going to do now?" Lucas asked
"I think I'm going to Savannah" Peyton said, Lucas could almost see her grinning.
"To Jake?"
"Yeah, some part of me has always loved him, Lucas. I don't think I can ignore that anymore"
"I think I know how you feel" he said, looking at a photo on his desk
"Go to her, Lucas. She's always loved you, and in a way I never could." Peyton said, glad that the eternal love triangle was finally over.
"Thanks, Peyton, keep in touch ok?"
"Yeah, you too"
"The next day I started looking for the ring, but I never had the courage to find you in New York"
"Why not?" Brooke asked
"I was afraid mostly. Afraid that you had moved on, that you loved someone more then me"
"Impossible. I have loved you since I was 16, Lucas Eugene Scott, and I never stopped"
"Excuse me, we are here, Mr Scott" Joe said through the intercom
"Thanks, Joe" Brooke called
"Brooke?"
"Hmm?"
"I never stopped loving you either"