Author's Note: I'm so excited to post this that I'm not even going to look it over, so I hope there aren't too many mistakes. I'm so, so, so sorry I haven't updated in forever, but you guys have been amazing, and believe it or not, this season is a lot more inspiring than I thought it would be. I still love this story, and I'm hoping to get more writing done, so enjoy! Oh, and review! Love you guys!
Movie Script Ending
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Time Won't Let Me Go
"Nate… Nathan!"
He snapped his head up from his sketch pad, quickly lifting his eyes to his uncle. Balanced awkwardly atop a pile of tires, with one foot leaning against a cherry red '67 mustang he was working on, he figured he must have looked pretty stupid with his head buried in a sketch pad.
"Sorry, Keith," he chuckled softly. "Were you calling me for long?"
"No, I… just a couple sec…" Keith trailed off, waving his hand distractedly as he tried to get a look at what Nathan was working on.
Frowning in an amused manner, Nathan moved his hand so his uncle would not have to lean on one foot with his head at a strange angle as he was currently doing.
Keith laughed. "Sorry. I didn't know that you liked to draw."
"What? Oh, I don't, really. This is just some sketch I've been working on for a couple years. Of an apartment complex I'm trying to get built. I've been getting a bunch of new ideas lately, so I'm trying to get them all down on paper before I forget."
"Wow," Keith squinted, trying to get a better look at the faintly penciled lines, and couldn't help but nod in approval. "This is really good, Nathan. I didn't know you were this good."
"Eh, I'm not," Nathan blushed, staring down at his shoes. He felt a low sense of pride sinking into him; a complement from Keith to him was a great one, because it was always an honest one.
"So, where's all this inspiration coming from?"
The smile began to fall from his face, and Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'm finally beginning to focus on what's important."
---
"Open your eyes."
Try as she might, she could not. Everything was too perfect right now, and Peyton Sawyer felt that the simple task of opening her eyes could ruin this. Instead, she murmured a groan in response.
"Peyton," the voice laughed. "Peyton, come on."
Frowning slightly, she dared open one, crinkling her nose when it landed on Jake's amused smile.
"You're such a cute sleeper." He told her, eyes running slowly over her.
Okay, she was up.
This whole 'friends' thing between them was kind of starting to get to her. As much as she wanted to take things slowly, she found that, like always, it was almost impossible to do this with Jake actually there beside her.
Tree Hill sunlight shone into the room so sweetly that she had to say, the best part of this town was the weather. Most days, at least. Always just sunny enough when she wanted it to be, and always gloomy when she felt she needed the world to be just as down as she was.
With Jake beside her, propped up by his elbow and hand, she closed her eyes and felt like she was in high school again.
She opened them again, and Jake was still beside her. She could not even count the number of times she'd found herself in a situation like this, but when she'd open her eyes, he'd have been an illusion, all in her mind.
She reached a hand out, softly touching his face. He was so real. And she was so afraid she'd lose him again.
As if he sensed this was what she was feeling, he brought his own palm to hers, stroking her thumb softly.
"Jake.." she began, but she didn't know what she wanted to say. It began to dawn on her then that she didn't want to say anything. She just wanted to lay there with him.
This was enough for her.
---
"Brooke," Lucas sighed loudly. "I think we still have time before we do this. I mean, we don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet!"
Brooke laughed, her hand clutching Lucas' as she walked them towards the Baby Gap. "Yes, but Lucas, green and yellow are soin! Our baby is being born during the perfect time."
"Won't it still be the perfect time when your stomach actually protrudes?" Judging by the quality of people at this outdoor-mall area, Lucas could tell he was easily going to be spending half of his salary just on baby clothes.
"Uh-huh! We can come back then too." She giggled at his expression. "Come on, Luke. Don't you want us to have the most stylish kid around?"
He couldn't help himself; he grinned. They were having a baby! And hell, if he had anything to do with it, this child was going to get everything he or she wanted. Lucas kissed Brooke's head as she led him into the store.
Fifteen minutes later, they were both carrying armfuls of clothing.
Lucas pulled a random tiny, green scarf off of a shelf, glancing only for a moment at the price, which was $29.50. "Brooke! How about this?"
"Ooh, how cute! What about these?" She barely managed to hold up a large stack of colorful t-shirts, each with cute little phrases on the front.
"Perfect!"
A salesperson approached them timidly. "Um, can I put all that on the counter for you two while you look?"
Brooke dumped the load into the taller girl's hands. "Thank you so much. Luke, let's go look at shoes!"
He found that he was giddily following her, and realized he'd never really been giddy before in his life. Well, not with anyone but Brooke.
-
It pained her to see the room like this. Once, it had been her greatest project. She'd painted the walls with only a little help from Haley, she'd decorated accordingly. She and Lucas had spent hours sorting through baby clothes and random baby objects and toys they'd purchased.
Now, the room was covered in a thin veil of dust, all of her baby's toys and clothes having gone by the wayside, forever unused.
She approached the crib with tears in her eyes. Once, she had sat beside it all night long, knowing that in a few months, she'd have a baby inside it to sing to sleep and love and adore.
That seemed like so long ago now.
She dropped to her knees beside a bag clearly marked 'Baby Gap', sniffling and coughing as she pulled it open. Surprised to find it had not all been eaten by moths, she pulled out shirt after shirt, article of clothing after article of clothing, allowing herself to mourn her unborn baby one last time.
---
"Yeah, she hooked up with some other dude. I'm so pissed…" Jake and Peyton found themselves holding back bouts of laughter as they watched the True Life: My life as a serial dater on MTV. Finally, when the guy began picking up on other women at a nightclub, using the lamest pick-up lines, the two, unable to control themselves, exploded with laughter.
Peyton sighed loudly after a moment, realizing she and Jake had unconsciously moved closer to each other. "This guy's voice is so annoying," she lowered the volume until it couldn't be heard at all, and they sat watching in silence for a few moments.
Finally, he turned to her. "It's a beautiful day. Seems like a waste spending inside, don't you think?"
She nodded. "How about we go for a walk?"
---
He could hear her sobbing from his office.
Lucas frowned when he could no longer stomach the muffled cries. "Dean, I'm really sorry, I'm going to have to call you back with those numbers…Okay, bye."
He took the steps two at a time, biting his lip when he realized she was inside the nursery. He'd found it impossible to come inside here since she'd lost the baby, and even now he was hesitating. He didn't want to remember. He wanted all the memories from that time to stay locked in the part of his head he'd never visit for the rest of his life.
Knowing he needed to be strong for Brooke, Lucas took a breath and pushed open the door, fighting nostalgia as he looked through the dust for her.
-
"Wouldn't it be cool if we painted like, little basketballs around the frame?"
"Um, no." Both Haley and Brooke were looking at him like he was crazy, and he wished he had Nathan in here to back him up. Only problem was, it seemed Haley and Nathan had been fighting like crazy these days. And when one was over, the other was no where near sight. He wasn't sure what was going on with his brother and sister-in-law, but he was sure they'd work it out eventually.
"What if you have a girl?" Haley added, shaking her head.
"Girls like basketball too!"
"Please," Brooke scoffed. "If we have a girl, she'll be a cheerleader, not a basketball player."
He winced. "She'll only be a cheerleader if the cheerleading outfits look more like… snowsuits."
Haley laughed. "That's sure to inspire the boys."
Lucas couldn't help but chuckle as well. After all, it was true. Nothing had fired him up quite like Brooke shaking her little pom-poms at him. The thought of his own daughter doing the same made his smile quickly transform into a frown.
Brooke sighed. "So, ignoring Lucas' request, I think we should paint the walls yellow. It's a good color for any baby, boy or girl."
"I agree," Haley nodded. "We could even paint a few characters along the walls, or maybe some plants or butterflies or something. Give it an Alice in Wonderland type of theme?"
"Oh, good idea!" Brooke clapped her hands together.
"What?" Lucas gaped. "No. No basketballs but we're going to risk an Alice in Wonderland theme? I don't think so. No son of mine is having that on his walls."
His sister-in-law rolled her eyes. "Relax, you baby. Jeez. We're just going to make the room look kind of like a storybook. Nothing too exciting. It's not like we're going to paint a picture of Alice saying--" she was cut off by her own phone ringing, and Lucas could tell by the look on her face that it was Nathan calling. "I'll be right back."
He shook his head, watching her go. "Despite her, this is actually pretty fun."
"Isn't it?" She jumped up, her belly swelling only slightly beneath her thin, cotton, orange tank-top.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on his nose. "I can't wait to have a baby with you, Lucas Scott."
"Well, that's good," he smiled. "Because I can't wait to have a baby with you, Brooke Davis-Scott."
They both winced at the sounds of Haley shouting from downstairs.
Brooke nuzzled her nose against his. "Promise me we'll never be like that."
"I don't think I have to. You and me… we're just something else." For him, there were no truer words. Him and Brooke were a whole league of their own. Never seriously fighting, still in love after high school and college and no one thinking it could ever work out. Even now, he felt butterflies when he was with her, like they were still in the early stages of their love.
She turned her head to the side, contemplating. "Something else," she repeated. "I like that. That's totally us."
"Now," he kissed her forehead, still holding her tightly. "About this room."
Brooke sighed. "One basketball."
"Really?!"
"A small one."
They looked around the room, locked together in an embrace. Yes, Lucas thought, this was exactly what he wanted and where he wanted to be, and who he wanted to be with.
---
"I love this park," Peyton told Jake as they swung back and forth on the swings, both their legs a little too long for it to be really comfortable. "My mom always brought me here when I was little."
"Really?" Jake was looking around at the rusty monkey bars, the barely sand filled sandbox, the green grass all around. "I thought everyone from Tree Hill went to that park down by the high school. I don't think I've ever been here."
"This was my mom's favorite. It wasn't falling apart quite so badly back then, and we liked that it was just us. Dad would be at work, and mom and I would pretend this was like, our secret hiding place from the rest of the world. And in a way, it was. No one else ever came here."
There was a contemplative silence as Peyton balanced atop the swing, her curly head leaning against the chains holding it up. Jake was the first to speak. "I wish I could have met your mom."
"Me too." She didn't know why, but her eyes suddenly felt wet. What would her mother be doing right now if she were here? She'd missed out on all of Peyton's teenage years, all of her boyfriends, all of her growing up. She missed her mother so much, but in many ways, she was beginning to forget her.
Jake reached for her hand, and she held it tightly in her own.
---
"I'm sorry," was the first thing Brooke said to him, coughing loudly and covering her mouth to stifle her sob. "I don't know why I came in here."
Lucas swallowed, taking uneasy steps towards her until he was next to her. He lowered himself down so that they were sitting side by side. He sat with one hand holding the other's wrist and his trademark brooding expression on his face.
"I always think of the other baby." He admitted after a moment.
"Do you ever come in here?" She turned to look at him, her eyes filled with such grief a chill went up his spine.
He shook his head. "It's too hard. Seeing all this stuff. Remembering how happy we were. How much we were looking forward to having a child."
"It just… it feels like it'll be too hard for us to get back to that, you know? To that same happiness."
He nodded. "It already doesn't feel the same."
"A lot of mistakes have been made," she added, somewhat guiltily.
"We'll make it work," he promised, "remember? We're something else."
"Something else." She repeated, and then laughed lightly. Her laughter echoed off the walls as it grew louder, and before either of them knew it, she was crying again, delicate sobs sounding from her small frame.
Lucas took his wife in his arms and held her close, looking around at the remnants of what they'd been before.
-
They lay sprawled in bed, Lucas' head level with Brooke's stomach, rubbing it softly.
"You're so pregnant." He said dumbly, and she laughed, shoving him lightly.
"Really? I hadn't noticed."
"Well, pregnancy has made you quite the comedian."
She wiggled suggestively. "Well, it's definitely made me sexier. I have to say, I'm probably hands down the sexiest pregnant woman on Earth."
"What I love," he said, propping himself up onto his forearms, "is that it hasn't changed you at all. Still so down-to-earth, so grounded."
Brooke made a face. "Oh shut up, I'm kidding."
"Nicer, too!"
"Enough of your sarcasm, mister." She managed to sit up, just to pull him down for a kiss.
"Hey, hey," he said softly. "Be careful. We don't want you to put any strain on yourself."
"Oh Lucas, I'm fine," she grumbled. "I'm so sick of this bed rest thing. You know me, I always have to be running around. I feel so…useless."
"Considering you're currently housing another human being inside yourself, I'd say that's the exact opposite of what you are."
She didn't look convinced. Her eyes went to the stack of magazines on her bedside table, and then at all the dirty dishes that had accumulated around the room. "Ugh, at least let me do some cleaning up."
"Nope! I'm doing all that the second I get back from work. Hey… how about, how about I don't go to work? I feel bad just leaving you here. We can watch some movies, just hang out.."
Brooke shook her head. "No. No way. I'm not keeping you from work. I know that's the one place where you can escape from your crazy, hormonal wife."
"As a matter of fact," he smirked. "I love my crazy, hormonal wife."
"And she loves you too, but you have to go."
He stood worriedly, re-adjusting his tie. "Okay, but if you needanything, call me. And if by some crazy chance I don't answer, call Haley. Or Nathan. Or even--"
"Lucas! I'll be fine. Go, sweetie."
He lingered at the door for a moment, turning to look at her. Hair fanned out on a pillow, gleaming happily with pregnancy, pale skin glowing, she looked gorgeous. "You know, you really are the sexiest pregnant woman on Earth."
"Get out!" She giggled, and he shook his head as he left.
"Love you!"
"Love you too!"
It was the last normal morning of their lives, and he wouldn't even realize it until later when he'd see her flat stomach and broken eyes.
---
They walked home holding hands, talking about random things and not-so-random things, and by the time they'd reached home, Peyton had long-since realized she was completely, head over heels in love with Jake Jagielski. Again. Or perhaps she'd never stopped in the first place.
He pushed the door open, and she closed it behind them.
"I feel like pizza for dinner. You?" He asked as he sat on the armchair in the living room, pulling off his shoes. He looked so at home, and she realized that in a way, he was. He'd told her once home was where she was, and… here she was.
"Pizza sounds perfect."
He made a face at her. "You said that strangely poetically. Something up?" He chuckled.
"No," she said casually, heading into the kitchen to grab a soda. "Get everything on that pizza."
"Alright." He said as he dialed.
She knew now that perhaps it would take a while, or maybe no time at all. It could be hours or days or weeks. But she and Jake Jagielski would be together, possibly for the rest of their lives. He knew it and she knew it, and it was just a matter of time before they admitted it to each other.