Author's Note: God, you guys are amazing. Honestly. When I read your reviews, it just completely makes my day better. It makes me feel like I can write, you know? Even when I feel like I can't.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling a lottttt of you aren't going to like me very much after this, but I'm hoping you'll stick with me anyway to see how it all ends up.
Movie Script Ending
Chapter Twenty-Three: First Day of my Life
There was activity in every direction of the crowded airport. Families wishing each other goodbyes, children returning home from weekend visits to estranged parents, people welcoming loved ones or seeing off friends that had been kind enough to spring for a New Years visit.
Brooke couldn't help but feel like she was the only unhappy person there. Most of the time she loved airports, but not when she was seeing Lucas off for another business trip. Especially not when this business trip was going to be for two weeks. However, her only consolation was that this was Lucas' last trip in a long while. He'd promised her that morning when she'd awoken, asking to take him to the airport.
Lucas tossed his empty cup of Starbucks coffee in the trash can, now looking towards his wife, who had tears shining in her green-hazel eyes.
"Hey," He said softly, tugging her into his arms. Nathan shifted uncomfortably, swinging his car keys in his hands, and taking a seat at one of the gate's many empty chairs. Brooke turned to jelly in Lucas' arms, tears wetting his expensive business suit. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm going to be back soon," he paused, "with presents!"
This only made her cry harder and he sighed, smoothing down her hair, still damp from her shower this morning. "Baby, I'm going to be back before you even know it, okay? And I already told you, after this, I'm done. I'm going to be spending a lot more time at home, I promise."
She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his lips, and then nose, and then forehead. "I miss you already."
"I'm sure once I'm gone you and Nathan will be throwing a party." He joked with a lazy grin, and she shoved him playfully.
"Well, now we will."
He covered her body with his once more, kissing her hair and locking their fingers. She pulled away, holding his lips in a slow, soft kiss. He leaned close to her ear, whispering something.
Nathan strained his ears to hear, but he could not make out any of their words and he sighed, frustrated. A few weeks ago, he would have allowed the lovers to have this moment in peace, but now all he could feel was jealousy surging through his veins. They were standing so close, and they were so obviously together. He couldn't stand it. Even more, he could not stand himself for not standing it.
He had resolved that he was a terrible person and an even worse brother, but there was no use dwelling on the fact because it would make it no less true.
He sighed, waiting for the two to part. When they finally did, exchanging one more kiss, he simply waved a goodbye to Lucas, who was gone in a matter of moments, disappearing through the gate and out to the airplane.
Brooke sighed, "I hate saying goodbye."
While he'd normally agree, right now, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He would not feel as guilty about liking Brooke when it was just them, he knew. Since he'd realized his feelings for her, he'd noticed that they were not so terrible when it was just the two of them.
Maybe because he could then pretend that she felt the same way.
-
Brooke was flipping through the stations on the radio, unable to decide on what they should listen to. It was driving Nathan crazy, not only because she could not simply choose something - anything - but also because the top of her head was dangerously close to the bottom of his, and he could smell the fruity shampoo she had used earlier.
When him and Haley had been married, he'd often found himself smelling her bottle of shampoo while he showered. She'd used the same vanilla smelling shampoo since high school, and he'd always loved the way it smelled, even when they were fighting. It fit her personality, and he'd like that about it. The vanilla smell was gentle and soft, just as she'd been once. The smell of Brooke's hair was a sharp contrast to Haley's. It was tangy and more tropical, like maybe guava or watermelon or both!
Nathan sighed, fighting not to close his eyes and lean closer. "Brooke, this is fine."
"Are you kidding?" She said as some rap song began to play through the speakers. "I hate this song."
"Well, can you please decide on something?" He asked, frustrated.
"Fine," She huffed, settling on some station still playing Christmas music. Nathan groaned loudly and she couldn't help but giggle, knowing his hatred towards Christmas music well.
"Come on," Brooke chuckled. "You know this will only be playing for a few more days before it's back to the normal music."
He nodded. "How about I choose the music?"
"How about not?"
He reached for the buttons on the radio he'd put into the old car himself, and Brooke slapped his hands away. He grunted something about it being his car, which should have given him the right to choose what was played, but she simply ignored him, turning the music up louder.
Had he not been crushing on her severely, he would have been more annoyed.
When they arrived to the Scott household, Nathan couldn't help but feel like they were a couple returning home from some errand. As they entered Brooke and Lucas' large house, he felt as if he were the husband in the situation, and should say something like, 'Well, what should we have for dinner, honey?' Almost instantly he felt the need to call himself insane, and he rubbed his head as they simultaneously threw themselves down on the living room couches.
"You know, this house seems so empty. Which is weird, considering Lucas is never really around here that much, even when he is."
Nathan nodded in agreement, not knowing what he should say.
"Are you okay? Brooke was looking at him now. "You look a little, I don't know, sick. Like your head hurts. Does your head hurt?" She was semi-babbling and he swallowed the urge to laugh.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired," He said quietly.
"I'm tired too," She said after a moment.
He felt very uncomfortable, and he cursed himself for developing this little crush. Maybe he'd been crushing on her for a while, but when he'd actually forced himself to realize it, he'd made their relationship awkward and strange, even if she had yet to realize it. He could only imagine how their next two weeks would go, and he was not looking forward to it.
-
Nathan shut the door behind him as he entered, pulling off his blue sweatshirt, and then the thermal underneath it so that he was just in his white t-shirt. Stepping out of his sneakers as well, he rubbed his hands together, walking towards the kitchen.
The past two weeks had been surprisingly easy, and not half as awkward as he'd thought they would be. Him and Brooke had fallen into their usual pattern of teasing and banter, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that his feelings for her had not managed to ruin their relationship. Yet. He assumed it would only be too long before she finally started to sense what he was feeling for her.
As he entered the kitchen, a strange scent filled his nostrils, and he made a face. There was Brooke, hovering over the stove, stirring something unidentifiable.
"You're lurking," She said after a moment.
"Right. Um, what are you making?"
Giving up, she flicked off the stove, turning to face him. She was wearing an apron.
Oh. Shit.
"You're cooking," Nathan said, his eyes meeting hers, silently pleading her to stop.
"Yes. I can cook, remember?" Hands on her hips, Brooke began to stare him down.
"Um, sure."
"Oh god, here we go again." She said dramatically.
Nathan chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I'm really curious. Is there a specific reason you chose tonight to.." He trailed off, mentally thinking poison us all to be a reasonable ending to the sentence.
"Well, of course," Tugging an elastic off her wrist, she pulled her hair into a pony-tail, and he noticed that her hair wasn't very thick - whereas Haley's was very thick - and it made her ponytail look exceptionally cute. "Lucas is coming back tonight!"
"God, you're right," He could hardly believe it had been two weeks. For some reason, he felt like he'd been seeing Lucas off at the airport just a few days before. "He does come back tonight."
"Yup. And since our last little dinner for him didn't go quite as planned at all, and he didn't really get to enjoy it, I thought we'd do it again."
Nathan sighed. "I don't know, I mean--"
"Plus," Brooke winked. "Remember how much fun we have when we go grocery shopping together?"
He couldn't help but smile. Since they'd started doing the grocery shopping together, him and Brooke had had many interesting and fun encounters. He really enjoyed shopping with her, and he liked the fact that she had loathed it before doing it with him.
"Well, I guess," But he was smiling, and she knew she had won.
-
"You know," Brooke said, pulling a shopping bag from the car and then another. "I think we bought one of everything."
"Yeah, make that two of everything." Nathan took one look at his car. His backseats were covered in shopping bags, as well as the floor. Not to mention the trunk was full, and Brooke had been holding two bags on her lap.
Nathan hefted several into his arms, watching as she carried two measly bags towards the house.
"Uh, where do you think you're going?" He asked her, eyebrow raised.
"Inside, obviously," She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I don't think so. You're carrying two bags. I'm carrying eight."
"Well, you're bigger than me."
"Well," He began, and then he stopped, looking over at her amused smile. They were bantering like a young, cute married couple. He'd remembered arguing like this with Haley several times. "Well, at the rate we're going with your help, we'll be done by midnight."
She sighed. "Well, I'll put everything away then."
"Well, fine."
He followed her into the house, and watched her begin to load things in the refrigerator and various cupboards. He didn't realize he was staring until she stopped to look at him. "Can I help you?"
"N-no," He stuttered. "I was just looking." It was the very time since he'd known about his feelings that he'd said something vaguely flirtatious to her, and he could have sworn he saw her realize it; saw a flicker pass through her eyes. But as soon as he'd seen it, it was gone, and she was asking him to go get more groceries, so he did.
When he returned to the kitchen, Brooke had somehow produced four cookbooks and all of the tools they'd be needing to cook with.
"So, I was thinking we'd start off with a salad, then lobster with a side of baked potatoes and pasta." She was saying as he entered, her head deep in one of her books.
He made a face, saying sarcastically, "Wow, how fancy."
"I know," She scrunched up her nose. "I don't know where my head is at. How about we make soup then, and quiche! Lucas loves quiche." It was true. His brother had a certain fasciations with the texture of quiche itself, and he was willing to try almost any flavor. You could probably make him a cotton candy/chicken flavored quiche and he'd still be willing to try it.
"Brooke, quiche isn't really an easy thing to make, though." He didn't want to rain on her parade, but he'd seen Haley make it at the café once or twice and it was definitely a challenging course.
"That's fine, we've got like, all night! It'll be wonderful. I was thinking spinach and mushrooms. That's his favorite flavor. What do you think?" She was looking towards him expectantly, one hand leaning against the counter and the other on her hip.
He forced a smile. "Good thing we bought both mushrooms and spinach."
-
After three failed quiches, Brooke's final attempt was beginning to look like an actual food, and not a bad one either. She'd mixed the Swiss cheese in just the right amount, and had not tried to experiment too much as she had before.
Nathan was carefully tossing a salad - his second - while watching her put the finishing touches on the pie-like food.
"It looks good," She decided, and he could tell that even if he disagreed, she would still think so. "I mean, damn, I'm good."
"Only took three tries." He couldn't help himself.
She giggled. "I'm going to just ignore that considering how yummy this looks."
"It does look pretty good. Nice work."
The soup they had worked together to make was also looking quite tasty, although not yet finished. Brooke looked at it briefly before placing the quiche back in the oven.
"It needs to stay warm until he's almost home. What time does his flight get in, again?" She made a face, clearly trying to remember the time Lucas had told her almost three times.
"Nine. It's eight-thirty, so he'll be landing soon," He cursed quietly as he cut himself attempting to cut some tomatoes. "He told me he'd be getting a cab back to the house, like he usually does."
"Okay, so I need to start setting the dinner table up, and get dressed too!" She was scurrying around the kitchen like a mad woman. "You know, I'm really excited. I mean, after this, Lucas wouldn't be traveling as much, and everything's going to be great. Plus, look how good all this looks! Even your salad." She nudged him playfully, and he rolled his eyes.
"Ha-ha. You know what, my salad is going to rule your quiche when it comes down to it."
"Please." She scoffed.
The kitchen phone rang once, and Brooke turned to look at it. "Great. I don't have time for phone calls."
"Knowing our luck," Nathan agreed, "it's probably your parents or something."
"Oh God, don't joke!" She grinned, but he could see the worry flash through her eyes as she went to answer it. "Hello?" A smile instantly grew on her face, and he had a sinking feeling that it was his brother on the other end.
"Luke!… Wait, what?… I thought - but you said… I know. Yeah, I know… I know it's not your fault. It's fine, really. Not like we had anything special planned or anything. It's okay… Love you too. Bye." She hung the phone up on the receiver slowly, and she didn't even have to turn around. Nathan could see that she had started to cry even from behind.
"Brooke.." He said quietly.
Brooke turned to look at him. "His flight got delayed, so he's not coming in until tomorrow morning. Just like last time."
Eyes burning, Brooke ran towards the oven pulling out the quiche she'd spent hours slaving over. In one swift movement, she'd tossed the pan to the ground, and Nathan winced as he watched it splatter all over the floor.
"I'll - I'll pick this up," Brooke leaned down so she was sitting on the floor, but she only started to cry harder.
Nathan sighed, lowering himself to her level and pulling her into his arms. "It's okay."
She was clutching to him, sobbing into his shirt now. "I know, I know. I'm s-such a baby, b-but I'm so angry! H-he always does this. I always go out of my way to make things s-special for him and then he doesn't show up. It's always been like this,"
He had a feeling she was talking about her relationship with Lucas since the beginning. When at first, he had wanted Peyton and she'd done everything she could to keep him, but his feelings for the curly haired blonde had not faltered. And once they were married and together, she'd needed him to be there when she'd been attacked, and he hadn't been. She had made him dinner and he had not shown up, and when they'd celebrated Nathan's getting-of-an-apartment-that-he-didn't-really-get, she had wanted him to sit and enjoy cake with them, but he'd taken a business call instead.
Maybe it had finally become enough for her.
She pulled away from Nathan, rubbing her eyes still. Nathan smiled. "You know he'd be here if he could be."
She couldn't help but return his smile. "You're always comforting me when I'm sad. Have you noticed that?" He could remember just a couple months ago when they had been at his father's house, when him and Haley had still been married and Brooke had run off to the bathroom crying, and he'd been there to comfort her. Had he thought then that he could feel this now?
"I've noticed," He nodded, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. As he did, Brooke turned to look at his eyes, so blue. Complete opposites with her hazel. He felt something inside her bend, and before he knew it, she was dipping her head towards his.
He knew it was wrong, but he could not think of that as his lips met with Brooke's, this kiss so much slower than their last. She wrapped an arm around his neck, tugging at his hair, and he leaned himself into her, his tongue begging entrance to her mouth. As they twined themselves closer together, Brooke slowly began to lift his shirt until it was completely off.
His breathing was heavy, and he could feel himself growing harder by the second. She stood, pulling him towards the bedroom upstairs.
If he would ever regret this night, he did not know, and frankly, he didn't really care either.