Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters...I own nothing but this story's plot!!!

Chapter 1:

Think of You

"Olivia," Brooke screamed when she walked into her home to find her living room in total disarray. She threw the mail down on the table and called for her daughter once more. "Liv, Rachel, where are you two?" She asked, flopping down onto her red micro-suede sofa and kicking off her brown leather heels.

"Here I is, Mommy," Olivia finally answered her, walking into the living room in nothing but her Disney princess panties.

"And just where are your clothes, little miss?" Brooke asked her, looking curiously at her child. She was sure the reason her daughter was clothes-less had something to do with the fact that there was paper and finger paint all over her coffee table and ceramic tile floors.

"Auntie Rachie said I's too messy," she told her mother, walking closer to her. "She taked them off so you not be sad. But my hands is all clean, see," she added, showing her mother her clean hands as she climber up in her lap.

"Liv, I wouldn't be sad if your clothes were dirty," Brooke explained to her little girl, giving her a hug. "You and Aunt Rachel can play, you just have to clean up your mess, remember?" she reminded the little girl, giving her a reassuring dimpled smile then kissing her on the forehead.

A smile that her daughter was able to match perfectly. "I sorry, Mommy. Auntie Rachie said you clean it up," she told her with a shrug.

"Oh did she?" Brooke asked, ruffling her daughter's light blonde hair. "Well let's just go find Aunt Rachel," she playfully said. "Where is she anyway?" She asked her little girl as she stood from the couch with her in her arms.

"She hiding," Olivia said with a nod of her tiny head. "She not want you get mad either. But I tell you, she in the washing room."

"Thanks Liv, I knew you couldn't keep the secret from mommy too long," she winked at her little girl and carried her back toward the laundry room where she was sure she would find her best friend/babysitter.

"So besides trashing my living room, did you and Olivia do anything productive today?" Brooke asked her friend as she took another sip from her wine glass. It was Wednesday, the night she gets Olivia in bed early and she and Rachel watch their favorite show and have a few drinks.

"Nope, that was pretty much it," Rachel told her, raising her glass and tipping it in her friend's direction. "How was your day?" Rachel asked, turning the attention from herself to Brooke. "Was Nate looking super fine at work today or what?" She asked her with a nudge of the elbow and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Nate Archibald was a gorgeous, green eyed gift to women. He had sandy brown hair with blonde highlights from all the time he spent out in the sun, and a body to die for. He was raised in New York City, his father was an admiral in the navy and his mother was one of extreme New York aristocracy. Nate on the other hand was nothing like his parents. He had moved out to California to escape the suffocating air of the life his parents expected him to live in New York. Since then he had made his own way. And it just so happened that he was crazy about one Brooke Davis. The only one who hadn't noticed it, of course, was Brooke.

Brooke rolled her eyes at the red head to her right. She was impossible. "If you care so badly why didn't you just come to my office and see for yourself," Brooke snapped back at her. "I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy…working."

"Yeah right," Rachel said. "You expect me to believe you don't notice the way he is almost always checking you out, or that he is always offering to help you with your assignments, or how he calls to check on you and Liv at least once a week?" She asked her skeptically. "Or how he is insanely hot?"

"Rachel," Brooke said through her teeth, a smile pulling at her lips. "When are you going to let the Nate thing go? I am in no place to get involved with someone, I have Liv to think about," she reminded her friend.

"Yeah, yeah," Rachel muttered in response. "You also said you had Liv to think about a year and a half ago when I first started bugging you about the guy."

"And?" Brooke snapped, wanting to know if her friend's incessant chatter had a point. Why was it that Rachel never seemed to understand when to drop a subject?

"And, the point is you are always going to have her to think about. She is your daughter. But you don't have to put your life on hold. You have got to move on and open your heart to love. You know, it doesn't knock very often, and when it does you have to let it in," She told her wisely. "I just don't want you to miss your chance because you claim to be worried about Olivia, but in reality you're just scared."

"Scared? I am not scared," Brooke stated, trying to dismiss the notion. "But I do have Olivia to think about. There's the matter of her getting attached, and then what if it doesn't work out. I won't do that to my little girl. I won't give her a father only to have him break her heart."

"Is that why you haven't told her about her father or him about her for that matter? Are you scared he'll break her heart like he crushed yours?" Rachel asked her delicately. She had approached this topic with Brooke once before and every time you had to use the utmost caution or the situation would explode.

Brooke sat her wine glass down on the coffee table and stared at her toes as she began to trace little boxes with them on the cream tiles. "She's too young to know about her father, I'll tell her when she's older. And if she asks, I won't lie," she said, looking up to meet her friend's gaze. "And as for her father, you know as well as I do he is happier the way things are. Now he can live the life he was meant to live. He's not stuck with us out of some deep-felt obligation. He made his choice," she told her, knowing that he had done just that.

"But Brooke, that's not fair," Rachel pleaded with her friend. "He didn't know—"

"It doesn't matter, Rachel," Brooke cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "If he had known it wouldn't have made a difference. Trust me, I know," she added almost angrily, hanging her head once more. "Did you see what came in the mail today?" She asked her friend down-heartedly, changing the subject.

"No," Rachel quietly answered, half afraid to know what had come.

Brooke picked up an envelope off the coffee table and flipped it towards Rachel as she held on to it with her middle and index fingers. "Here, have a look for yourself," she told her.

Rachel slowly took the envelope from her friend and flipped it open along the previous tear lines. She pulled out the stark white invitation and her jaw hit the floor. "No…way," she finally uttered, shocked to say the least, though she didn't really know why.

"I told you," Brooke said, her voice dripping with a forced know-it-all attitude. "He made his choice a long time ago."

"Oh Brooke," Rachel said, looking at her friend with empathetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I—I guess somewhere deep down I always thought it would be you."

"Well obviously you're not the only one," she said, gesturing to a picture of her daughter on the mantle. "But I guess the joke's on us. We should have known, just because something should be right, that doesn't mean it is. And sometimes, well love isn't enough. There are some things in this world that are just inevitable, and Lucas and Peyton are one of them."

Rachel watched as Brooke got up from the sofa and with a wave of her hand excused herself to the other room. She hated seeing her friend like this, but she knew Brooke Davis. And no matter how hard her friend tried, she had never been able to get over her first and only love.

Brooke walked into her bedroom at the end of her apartment's hallway. She was trying to hold back her tears; she had been trying to hold them in for so long now that she had given herself a headache. She didn't want Rachel to see her turn into a blubbering mess. The girl had seen her like that more times than Brooke cared to remember. And mostly she hated for her friend to know the truth, the truth that she had never gotten over Lucas Scott.

She went over to her bureau and opened the top drawer. Down buried in the very bottom of the drawer was a faded blue t-shirt. She pulled it out and held it tightly to her chest. And once that item was in her arms she let the water works flow. She sank to the ground in front of the piece of cherry furniture and buried her head into the soft cotton material.

"Why am I like this?" Brooke internally asked herself. "Why is my heart so stuck on the one guy who caused me the most pain in my life?"

She continued to cry and then she thought, "Probably because he gave me the greatest joys of my life."

She didn't think she was a completely masochist, but there had to be some part of her that was. Why else would she let a man she hadn't spoken to in nearly three years have this effect on her. I'll tell you why, because he wasn't just a man. He was the man.

He was the father of her child, her Olivia, the greatest source of happiness in her life. The one thing that made her life worth living. But he was also more than that. He was the one who made her feel worthy. He showed her that she actually had a purpose in this crazy world, and that she was deserving and worthy of love. Not only thought but he had taught her how to love, well really love, how to open her heart and show someone who she really was. He was the only one she had ever let all the way in.

And with that immensity of emotion and love, came the devastation of losing it all. She learned of betrayal, the worst kind from the two closest things to family that she had ever known. She was never the same after that incident. But she had risen from the ashes like a phoenix, and she thought she had overcome.

I guess you never really know how you feel about certain situations, especially long buried ones, until you are forced to deal with them head on.

Though Lucas was always in the front of her mind, how could he not be when she saw him all over her little girl, their little girl? She liked to think he was happy and that he still thought of her and the memories they share from time to time. She never imagined him with her ex-best friend. Maybe that was her naiveté or just her brain's way of protecting her heart. But whatever it was, it did not prepare her for the events of the past day. If anything it just made them that much harder.

She stood up and stripped out of her clothes from the day, down to nothing but her black La Perla panties. She slipped the now tear stained shirt over her head. It had been so long since she had worn it, and it felt so good against her smooth skin.

She wiped her eyes and walked to her door, slowly opening it. She hoped Rachel had shown herself out. And if she knew her best friend at all she was almost positive she had. Rachel knew when to leave her alone. She tiptoes across the hall to her little girl's room and quietly opened her door.

The lamp light in the Olivia's room cast an angelic glow across her features, so many of which were obviously from her mother. She crept in and squatted on the floor next to the tiny bed and began to stroke her daughter's hair. She just watched her sleep, so peacefully, and she wished she could feel that peace herself.

After sitting with Olivia for awhile Brooke had calmed herself down enough to return to her own room. She kissed the little girl's head and backed out of the room. "I love you, Liv," she whispered before she closed the door to a crack.

And she headed back down the hall to her own room, hopefully to get a fraction of the restful night's sleep the toddler was getting. She opted for leaving her door open, and the closet light on. She didn't feel like being trapped in the darkness any more than she had to be.

Brooke nearly jumped out of her bed at the sound of someone beating on her apartment door. She looked over at the digital alarm clock next to her bed…9:47.

"9:47!" She screamed as she bolted upward. She looked around the bright room and spotted Olivia in the bed next to her. This would have been perfectly normal if it had been Saturday, but it wasn't. It was Thursday.

There was a swift knock on the door again and Brooke slowly climbed out of her bed, careful not to wake her sleeping daughter. She walked out of her room pulling the door almost completely closed behind her.

"Coming," she yelled once she was in the hallway and out of Olivia's earshot.

She reached the door and peeped through the peephole, not really able to see who was on the other side. So she opened the door a crack and popped her makeup-less face outside.

"Nate," she breathed. "What are you doing here?" She asked him, clearly surprised as to why he was showing up at her house at this time of the morning. He should be at work. She should be at work.

"I could ask you the same thing," he laughed, taking in her fresh face and waves of chestnut colored hair. "When you didn't show up for work and you didn't call I didn't know what to think. I tried your cell but you never would answer," he explained to her. "I was getting worried so I came over here to check on you. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," She answered him, flashing her signature dimpled grin. "Here, you can come in if you want," she offered opening the door wide enough for him to enter her home.

"Thanks," he said as he walked onto her tile floor. Once inside, he could clearly see Brooke was clearly wearing nothing but a t-shirt, black lace boyshorts peaking from beneath its hem. Still, she seemed unfazed.

"You can have a seat if you want," she told him, yawning. "I've got to get some caffeine in me or I'll never wake up. You want anything?" she asked, as she went to the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee.

"Nah, I'm fine," Nate said. "I really can't stay long. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he said, shooting a glance her direction.

Brooke leaned over the kitchen counter to look at him in the living room. "Alright, suit yourself," she winked.

"Sorry I interrupted your day. You weren't busy were you?" He asked curiously.

Brooke laughed. "The only thing I was busy doing was watching the backs of my eyelids. I seriously just woke up when you knocked at the door," she told him. "I know I probably look disgusting," she added, gesturing to her body and disheveled hair.

"No, not at all," Nate reassured her. "If I can say this without you taking offense, you are actually one of the only women I know who looks as beautiful without makeup as she does with it on."

Brooke slightly blushed at his kind words, letting a small smile creep on to her face. "Well thank you Nathaniel. You aren't so bad yourself," she said sweetly.

Nate smiled back at her, and simply nodded his head.

Just then there was the distinct sound of a door opening, followed by the pitter patter of little feet coming down the long hallway.

"Mommy, where is you?" Olivia called in her quiet little baby voice.

"I'm in the kitchen, Liv," Brooke answered her, sending another smile in Nate's direction.

A few seconds later Olivia appeared in a pink, ruffled Sleeping Beauty nightgown. "You not wake me up," the little girl told her mother, not even noticing Nate in the living room. The little girl had walked straight into the kitchen and placed her little hands on her hips as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Baby," Brooke apologized to her. "I thought you might have still wanted to sleep. You know, like you let me sleep later sometimes so you just crawl into bed with me?"

Olivia jutted out her bottom lip in perfect Brooke-Davis fashion. "But you wake me up when you get up," she pouted. She was the spitting image of her mother. So much so that it caused their visitor to laugh.

Olivia spun her head around to see Nate sitting on the couch. "Natie!" She squealed her voice as light as air. The frustration with her mother was long forgotten as she ran towards one of her favorite people.

"Olivia," Nate said, as he stood and scooped the little girl into his arms. "I think you have gotten bigger since I last saw you."

"Yep," she nodded her head in agreement. "Mommy says I gets bigger every day," she told him. "Right, Mommy?" She asked, looking over at her mom for her to corroborate her story.

"This is true," Brooke answered with a laugh as she took a sip of her coffee. "As you just saw she is three going on twenty-three. Sometimes I think she is more mature than me."

Nate chuckled again and sat Olivia down on the ground. "I guess this is why you weren't at work earlier," he observed.

"You could say that," Brooke agreed with him. "Seriously I just overslept, but if you want to report back that Olivia is sick or something that wouldn't hurt my feelings."

"I not sick," Olivia said quietly, almost to herself.

"I think I could do that," He told her, ignoring the little girl's words as he walked nearer. "I better be getting back."

"Okay," Brooke said, moving closer to him to give him a friendly hug, one he relished. "Thanks for coming to check on me. You're a good friend, Nate."

"I try," he told her, breaking away from the embrace. "Maybe one day you aren't playing hooky the three of us can go get some lunch," he suggested to her.

"I'd like that. What about you, Liv?" she asked, turning to the sandy haired little girl.

Olivia nodded her head giddily. "I like it too," she said, smiling widely as she continued to bounce her head up and down.

"Well okay then," Nate said. "I guess it's a date." And he opened the door, seeing himself out.

"I like Natie, Mommy," the little girl told her mother. "Him's funny and nice. And he give me candies."

"Yeah, me too, Baby," Brooke responded dreamily. "Me too. Now how about we get you some breakfast? What do you want this morning?" She asked her.

Olivia put a tiny finger up to her cheek as if she was deep in thought. "Hmmm…pancakes!" The little girl finally declared as she threw her arms up above her head in excitement.

Brooke laughed and picked the little girl up and tickled her side. "I think I can manage that," she told her. Setting her down once more she added, "Now help me get the ingredients out of the fridge." And then two girls walked to the big white box and began taking out the things they needed to make their breakfast of champions.

Friday night Rachel had come over for a girl's night in with Brooke and Olivia. They ordered pizza, made cookies, and watched two princess movies of Olivia's choice. By the time ten o'clock rolled around Olivia was passed out on the cream colored chaise lounge, wrapped up like a ball in her pale yellow baby blanket. Rachel and Brooke sat side by side, on the sofa, preparing to watch another movie of their own choice.

"Look at Liv," Brooke cooed as she watched the little girl resting peacefully. "You think I should take her to her room?" She asked Rachel, turning her head to look at her friend.

"Nah, that girl sleeps like a rock. She'll be fine out here until you actually get ready to go to bed," Rachel told her, reaching for the remote to start the movie.

"Wait, before you start the movie I want to take some of this garbage into the other room," Brooke ordered as she stood up and began to pick up the paper plates and cups that littered her overly crowded coffee table.

"Fine," Rachel grumbled. "You want me to help?" She asked, noticing her friend still had tons of papers covering the table's once visible glass surface.

"Sure," Brooke called back to her from the living room. "Just bring my mail and set in on the mail basket in here. I'll sort through it tomorrow. And you can put Liv's artwork on the fridge."

"Yes, Ma'am," Rachel said, doing as she was told. Cleaning up the table she noticed that the one particular piece of mail was still lying where she had left it a few days earlier. She quickly picked it up and stuffed it to the bottom of the mail pile. Knowing her friend the mail would never get sorted and that would be the end of that whole ordeal.

"Come on. I'm ready to start watching," Brooke called to her. She was already back seated on the couch and was ready to start the movie before she fell asleep.

On second thought, maybe that invitation was better in the garbage. A place she knew Brooke would never stumble upon it. So Rachel "accidently" let the white envelope fall into the can as she held open with the foot pump. "Oops," she mumbled under her breath, as she let the lid fall back shut.

"Rach, what are you doing in there? Plotting ways to kill me?" She sarcastically asked her friend. "Get in here and start the movie already."

"Coming," she called as she walked back into the room. She let her body collapse on the couch and she hit the play button on the remote control. "So anything new going on with Nate?" Rachel teased her friend as they let the previews play through.

"Actually," Brooke told her. "I think we're going to go out on a date."

"You're what?" Rachel practically yelled, turning to face her friend. "What? When did this happen?" She asked her frantically.

"Well yesterday," Brooke said. "But it's not really a real date. He's taking me and Olivia out for like ice cream or something. It's not a big deal."

Rachel stared at her with a devilish smirk on her face. "Oh it's a real date," she told her. "Trust me. To him, it's as real as it gets."

"You think?" Brooke asked her, getting sort of flustered. She didn't know if she was physically ready. And she knew she wasn't emotionally ready.

Reading her friends mind, Rachel said, "Trust me, it's time you did this. You need to put yourself back out there so you can move on. And I know you don't want to get Liv involved, but with this one you don't really have a choice. I mean, he's known her practically since birth."

"In my head, I know you're right," Brooke told her. "But my heart is another story. I don't think I'm there yet."

"And you won't know for sure until you test it out," Rachel explained. "Give yourself a chance to be happy Brooke. We both know you deserve it."

Brooke nodded at her friend's words. "Now be quiet, the movie is starting," she ordered, and placed a finger over her lips to silence the red head. She did deserve to be happy. She knew she did. It had been too long since she had thought of herself and actually did something for her. Looks like Brooke Davis was going to be turning over a new leaf.

Okay, so I hope you guys liked this chapter! The whole Nate thing is kind of random I know, but he is so hot...I had to include him! Plus he is kind of my own version of Nate, basically, well you'll see. Though Brooke may have him as a type of distraction, he is not her main guy...if you can't tell from this chapter, there is someone else in her heart. So if you don't like that stuf, don't worry, it won't be a main focus. Also, I something I forgot to mention last chapter for the backkground: Brooke and Peyton never made up after the whole falling out over Lucas. So they still haven't spoken, till this day. Another thing, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I hope this one lives up to your expectations. Let me know! Also, the title of this story and the titles of these first two chapters belong to A Fine Frenzy! :)

Audra