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

Chapter 8:

You're not Sorry

"I feel like I should be apologizing," Brooke spoke into her phone. It was the morning of Jamie's birthday party, she had been in Tree Hill for a good few days now and she felt as if she had hardly spoken to Nate.

"Its fine," Nate laughed her off. Even though he missed talking to her, he knew she was busy in her olc hometown. "I know you have a lot to do there. And with Olivia I'm sure your hands are full."

"That would be an understatement," she said, as she put the phone down and hit the speaker button. She was trying her best to optimize her time since at the moment she wasn't being summoned by her child. "How are things back home?" She asked him.

"Well you know same as always, busy. And work is just not the same without you there," he said, hoping to get a smile from the brunette.

He did. "Well thanks. That's sweet," she said, popping her lips together. Voila, she was ready. "Well I miss you here, too."

"I know. And I don't think I'm going to get to come until the wedding some that's just about another week," he said, taking a deep breath.

Brooke almost didn't know to be sad or relieved. She wanted to see Nate, of course she did. But with the events of the past few days, she just didn't know how she would handle anything else. Or how he would handle being immersed in her situation.

While Brooke was thinking Olivia busted through the bedroom door and came hopping into the bathroom.

"Hop, hop, hop," she said, as she jumped. "I'm a bunny," she told her mom.

"Yes, you are sweetie," Brooke said, picking up her phone and pressing it to her ear. "Nate, I better go. But give me a call later, okay," she said.

"Alright, I better get back to working anyway. I mean that is what they pay me for," he joked. "I'll talk to you tonight."

"Bye," Brooke practically whispered, hanging up her phone. Then she turned to Olivia. "So are you ready for the birthday party today, you little bunny?" She asked, her, squatting down and turning the girl's body from side to side.

"Yep," She said, and gave her mother a big nod. "Can you do's me pigtail braids?" She asked her mom picking hair from each side of her head up into her tiny hands.

"I sure can," Brooke told the little girl, but judging by the look on her face you would think Brooke had just told her she'd won the lottery or something. "Hop up here," she said, putting the little girl in the sink so she could adequately style her hair without getting a crick in her back.

"So, what can I do?" Brooke asked, as she carried Olivia down the stairs. It was about 11 o'clock and Jamie's party wasn't until three, so they were just starting to get ready.

"Oh so now you want to help?" Rachel jokingly asked from where she was standing in the corner, blowing up balloons with a helium tank.

"Yes. Why is that so shocking to you?" Brooke snapped back, setting Olivia down once they had entered Haley's living room.

"Not shocking, just…giving you a hard time. You know, like I used to do before you got all drama-filled and crazy," the red head laughed, hitting a balloon she had just filled in Brooke's direction.

"What's drama filled?" Haley asked, walking into the room on the tail end of the conversation.

"Nothing," Brooke quickly said, flashing Haley a smile. She knew Haley would totally go into overdrive if she knew about Brooke's whole crisis. And she did not want to force that on her, especially on her child's birthday. "So where's the birthday boy?" She asked.

"Oh, Nathan got into town early this morning and picked him up for a father-son birthday surprise," Haley explained, grabbing some balloons by their strings and tying them to a chair.

"Sounds like fun, what type of surprise?" Rachel asked, before Brooke had a chance to say anything.

"I don't really know," Haley answered, her tone kind of puzzled. "All I know is that it got Jamie out of the house so we could get ready."

"Alright, well let's get to it," Brooke suggested to her friends. "What can I do? I know I have been kind of MIA on the whole planning process, but I am here now and ready to help."

"Well would you mind going to get the cake?" Haley asked, giving Brooke a pleading look. "I really want to stay here and fill the party bags. Plus you are already ready, and I haven't even had a shower."

"Okay," Brooke agreed. "But I'm taking the Equinox," she added with a devilish smile, as she fished Haley's keys from her purse. "Liv, you coming with Mommy?" She asked the tiny girl.

"Yeah!" The little girl screamed, and ran to the front door.

"We'll be back soon. Anything else I need to get?" She asked, looking back into the room over her shoulder.

"Ummm, some hamburger and hotdog buns would be great," Haley told her. "Oh and some juicy juice boxes, Jamie and Liv kind of got into the stash I had bought for the party.

"You got it, lady," Brooke winked at her friend. "I'll be back soon and call me if you think of anything else," she added before walking out the door.

Brooke and Olivia got back to Haley house about an hour before the party was scheduled to start. Jamie and Nathan had arrived some time before and Olivia was anxious to play with her new friend some more.

"Sorry that took like forever," Brooke apologized, entering the house carrying Jamie's huge Power Rangers cake.

"No problem, really," Haley told her. "Rachel and I got everything done. And you went and did the hard part. Oh the cake looks awesome," she added, opening it up and taking a peek.

"Yeah, it took everything not to let Olivia look. She wanted to so badly but I was scared she'd tell Jamie and ruin the surprise," she told her. "I'll be right back, let me go get the buns."

"Already got them," Nathan announced, coming into the room with the shopping bags strung around his arms.

"We'll look at you," Brooke smiled, and patted Nathan on the arm. "My hero," she pretended to swoon, causing Haley to laugh furiously.

"Don't go and give him a big head now, Brooke," Haley got out between giggles. "He's already a big NBA player, so we don't want to send him over the edge."

Brooke laughed too. "I'm going to go change Liv into her party clothes," she told them. "She spilt some iced tea on her shirt and plus I figured she's want to put on her bathing suit."

"And will you be doing the same, Miss Davis," Haley asked raising her eyebrows.

Brooke was immediately hit with realization. "Awww, Haley. I thought I had gotten out of that," she whined, turning back around to face her friends in the kitchen.

"No way, Missy. You and Rachel are on little kid life guard duty with me and Nathan. There is no getting out of it," she instructed, pointing at Brooke like she did with Jamie when he disobeyed.

"Ugh, but Haley," she tried once more. "Can't I just watch from the edge?" She asked, as if it were a totally reasonable request.

"No. California girls definitely know how to swim and have to be the lifeguards. Besides, there are going to be about thirty three- and four-year olds here, and who knows how many parents will stay," Haley said. "Plus we are letting you stay at our house for free so you kind of owe me," she smirked at her friend.

"Very funny," Brooke rolled her eyes. "But for you and your perfect little family I will do it," she told her friend. "I'll be down in like twenty to start helping. Liv, come on. Time to get dressed," she yelled to the little girl as she walked up the stairs to her room.

Rachel tapped on Brooke's door a few times before barging in, "Knock, knock," she called upon entering the room. She was dressed in an aqua bikini and a pair of booty shorts. Not exactly kid's birthday material, but it was totally Rachel.

"Whoa, you look…" Brooke trailed off for lack of a better word and in an attempt not to hurt her friend's feelings.

"I know right," Rachel smirked at her. "If there are any hot, single-dads at this thing, I am so going to land one," she boasted, taking a seat on the foot of Brooke's bed.

Brooke just nodded and went to check on Olivia in the bathroom. The little girl had insisted on dressing herself. Brooke had agreed upon the bathing suit choice, but she just wasn't sure Olivia would be able to get into it alone.

"So I like that cover up," Rachel said, admiring Brooke's white mini-tube dress. "Is it new?" She asked, when Brooke re-entered the room with Olivia on her hip.

"Yeah, I got it like right before we left. Why?" She asked, slipping her feet into a pair of white wedges.

"Because I totally would have already borrowed it if it was old," she said. "Now let's get down stairs," she said, taking both Brooke and Olivia by the hand. "They can't start this party without the three hottest ladies in the house."

Lucas and Peyton entered the house and walked straight through to the backyard. As soon as they opened the French doors that led to the patio Lucas spotted her.

Looking like a vision in white, Brooke Davis was leaning over the pool and talking to a smiling Olivia who was floating in an inner tube. The dress made her skin look that much more tan than it actually was. And her heels made her legs seem to go on for days.

Lucas realized he was staring and immediately snapped himself out of it. Why was he thinking like this? He was getting married. That was probably why he was thinking this way, knowing he was going to be with Peyton for the rest of his life.

Speaking on Peyton, she must have notice Lucas staring as well. She tugged on his arm, hard, forcing him to look at her. "Don't talk to her," She instructed. "I mean it, Lucas," she added, before walking off in the opposite direction of Brooke.

"Lukie!" Olivia called, when she noticed Lucas standing in the center of the deck. She had climbed out of the pool and was running over to him.

Brooke spotted Olivia, dashing towards Lucas and immediately yelled to her, "Liv, don't run. You might slip." When she saw the little girl was safe at Lucas's side, she went back to scouring the pool.

"Hey Lukie," Olivia said, giving him a wet hug on his legs.

"Hey there, Liv," Lucas said, picking up the little girl despite her being soaking wet. "You having fun at the party?" He asked her, pushing the stray hairs back out of her face.

"Yeah, Mommy been watching me swim," she said, pointing at the pool. "You wanna swim with me?" She asked him with big blue puppy-dog eyes.

"Awww, Liv, I would," he started, "But I didn't bring a suit. Sorry little girl," he said, placing the girl back on her own two feet. "Maybe next time, okay?" He suggested to her.

Olivia smiled and nodded. "Will you push me on the swings?" She asked him hopefully.

Right as Lucas was about to answer he heard Peyton scream. "Lucas, I need you a minute," in a tone that sounded angry, but also like she was trying to be heard.

Lucas looked to his right on sighed. "How about I meet you over there in a minute," he told her, hoping not to break her jovial spirit.

"Okay," she huffed, and hung her head. And she stomped over to the swing set.

Brooke spotted her once happy little girl looking sad and all after she'd talked to Lucas. Immediately her momma bear instincts came out and she wanted to demand answers from her once lover. Luckily Rachel was right next to her to talk her down. She made Brooke stay and watch the kids while she got the story from Liv. And that was probably the way things should have been.

"What's up, Liv?" Rachel asked, taking a seat on the swing set next to the tiny blonde.

"Nothing," Olivia pouted. "Lukie not like me. He leave with that mean lady," she said, pointing to where Peyton and Lucas were standing talking to Nathan about something.

"Oh Liv," Rachel said, trying to comfort the little girl. "He does too like you. He's just getting married to that girl so he can't make her mad," she tried to explain. Man, talking down to a little kid can be hard.

Olivia just hung her head back down and looked at her grass covered feet. She was used to being the center of attention, so sharing, especially with someone she didn't know was hard.

"Hey," Rachel said, making the little girl look in her face. "Remember back home when I told you the story about all mine and mommy's friends?" She asked expectantly.

Olivia nodded, not really knowing where the girl was going but she did remember.

"Well that girl, over there with Lucas," she said, pointing to Peyton once more. "That's the witch with the swirly hair."

Olivia's eyes bugged out of her head. "Lukie no like witches," Olivia shook her head from side to side.

"Well Honey, I know you're young," Rachel said, talking to Olivia as if she was one of her best friends. Which she actually was, but more like she was a friend her own age. "But let me tell you something. A lot of the time, good guys can't see the witches."

Olivia looked at her confused, her little eyebrows wrinkled together. She knew Lucas could see Peyton he was standing right next to her.

Rachel thought for a moment, how could she make a three year old understand. "It's like, you know, on Ariel where the sea witch tricks the prince into almost marrying her," she said, waving her hands in the air excitedly.

"Oh," Olivia nodded as if it made all the sense in the world now.

"Way to go, Rach," Rachel said, mentally high-fiving herself for that one. "And bonus points for remembering the princess's name." I guess she was actually learning something while she stayed home with Liv.

Olivia just sat and stared in silence at Lucas and Peyton talking to each other. If this was like The Little Mermaid, she knew Peyton's secret, and she knew what she had to do. The only problem was how she was going to do it.

A short while later all the kids were out of the pool and Jamie was dying to open his presents. So of course, Haley gave in and had everyone gather around the patio table to watch Jamie dive into his gifts.

Brooke noticed Rachel had ditched the blonde handsome guy she had been talking to earlier, and for a moment she wondered what had happened. But she knew she would get all the details shortly. Then she spotted Liv who had made herself perfectly home here in Tree Hill. In fact, she was sitting in the chair next to Jamie and happily helping him tear into his presents.

With all the people in her life preoccupied, Brooke decided it was the perfect time to sneak into the house for a bathroom break. She slowly backed away from the action of the party and through the French doors. She was ever so careful to close them quietly behind her.

She made her way up the stairs and to the bathroom that was connected to her room. While she was there she figured she could go ahead and touch up on her face or anything else that needed it.

When she came out of the bathroom, she closed the door behind her. She looked up and was startled to find that she wasn't the only one in the room.

"Peyton, you scared the crap out of me," She said breathlessly. "What are you doing here?" She asked, a little confused as to why she was standing before her. Because seriously, the only way she would have known Brooke was up here was if she followed her.

"I could ask you the same thing," Peyton snidely said back, narrowing her eyes in on Brooke.

"Excuse me," Brooke said, not sure she had heard the girl right.

"You heard me," Peyton responded. "What are you doing here Brooke?"

"Well I kind of had to go to the bathroom," Brooke told her. She knew she was being a total bitch and it wasn't what Peyton meant. But since when did she have the right to go and corner her?

"That's not what I meant, smart ass," Peyton retorted. "I meant what are you doing in Tree Hill? Why are you back here after all this time?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm here for Jamie's party, and if you don't mind it is somewhere I would like to return. So if you will excuse me," Brooke said, trying to sidestep past Peyton and out the door of the room.

"Not so fast," Peyton said, stepping between the brunette and the door. "We aren't finished here."

"What are you talking about Peyton?" Brooke asked her. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Really? Well good, because I have a hell of a lot to say to you. And it will go by a lot faster with you being quiet and letting me talk," the blonde told her.

"Like what? What could you possibly have to say to me after all these year, Peyton?" Brooke asked her.

"How about stay the hell away from Lucas," She spat out, venom practically dripping off her tongue with every word.

Brooke literally laughed, laughed, in the girl's face. Was Peyton really this insecure about her relationship that she had to threaten her? "Or what?" Brooke asked, trying her. "What are you actually going to do?" She wasn't here for Lucas, but if Peyton was going to bitch her out why not have a little fun and actually play the part.

Peyton was fuming at Brooke's challenging her. "Do you think I don't know why you and your bastard daughter came back here, now of all times," she said. "You want to take him from me. To make yourselves a perfect family. Well guess what, Missy? It's not going to happen. Lucas doesn't want any part of you or that waste of space you call a daughter."

That was it, Peyton had gone too far. "Don't you dare talk about Olivia like that!" She screamed. "You know nothing about her. She is a sweet and innocent little girl and you stay away from her," Brooke instructed, shoving Peyton out of her way and opening the door to the room. "We're done here Peyton," she announced.

"Like hell we are," Peyton said, following Brooke down the stairs. "This won't be over until you and your brat are back on a plane headed to sunny California—where you belong."

At the bottom of the stairs Brooke spun around to meet a glaring Peyton with anger-filled eyes. "If you want me gone so badly, then why did you even invite here to your wedding?" Brooke asked, wanting to get some answers from the girl.

Peyton scoffed at the remark, "Surely not because I wanted you there. What do you think this is? An episode of the Brady Bunch where we are going to kiss and make up and everything will be hunky dory?" Peyton asked her, laughing aloud at the idea.

Brooke just stared at her with a confused look in her eye, not sure she was following the blonde's logic.

"We will never be friends again, Brooke," She said, point blank. "And that invitation I sent you. Well it was more of a warning. Or an announcement of Victory, whichever way you want to look at it," she said.

Brooke just continues to stare; Peyton's word's stinging her like a freshly scraped knee. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have actually thought that after all this time she and Peyton could move on?

"Remember back in eleventh grade when you said I wasn't in your way when it came to Lucas?" Peyton asked her, dragging up ancient history.

Brooke nodded her head; she vaguely remembered a conversation of the sort. Well, she wasn't sure if she actually remembered or if Peyton's saying it was just a figment of her imagination itself.

"Well you were always in my way," she told the brunette, walking closer to her so that they were both now in the kitchen of Nathan and Haley's house.

The party was still going on as a backdrop behind them. And the party guests were totally unaware of what was transpiring just a few feet away.

"What? What are you talking about?" Brooke asked as she continued to back away from the blonde. One thing was for sure, she wasn't the girl Brooke had once shared everything with. She had changed and looking into her eyes, she couldn't even find a shred of the girl she once knew.

"You…with Lucas," She said, practically foaming at the mouth she was so angry. It was years of rage she had built up, and they were all ready to be released. "And your so-called relationship, if you could even call it that. It surely wasn't love, I mean, Lucas has told me he has never felt the way he feels about me towards anyone else, so that has to include you."

Brooke visibly flinched from Peyton's description of the love she and Lucas once shared. The love her daughter had been conceived from. She had some nerve. "Who the fuck are you to make judgments on my relationship?" Brooke asked her, regaining the voice she had lost for a moment.

"There she is, the Brooke Davis I remember," Peyton said, actually clapping her hands in Brooke's face. "I knew you were still in there. Look, when it comes to Lucas, you'll never be good enough. You'll always be the girl who he knocked up and regretted it for every second of his life. It is an action which he has never stopped apologizing to me for."

Brooke was trying to be strong; no way in hell was she going to break down in front of this bitch. "You're lying," she challenged, moving closer to Peyton.

Peyton laughed once more, the haughty kind of chuckle Victoria had always given her. "Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you?" She asked. "But sorry it's true. I mean, you had to have known it for yourself. Or did you not get the letter Lucas sent you all those years ago after you wrote him 'so alone and so scared'," she mocked, quoting parts of Brooke's letter to her.

It was a letter Brooke remembered word for word. "How do you know that?" She asked her, fighting to force the words out of her throat.

"Oh you think Lucas wouldn't show it to me, his girlfriend?" She asked in astonishment. "Lucas I don't know how to tell you this but I think I might be pregnant. No, actually there's no might to it. I am pregnant," Peyton quoted her voice hurtful and mocking. She quoted from Brooke's letter verbatim. The anger and jealousy she felt had forced her to memorized it all those years ago when she had intercepted it from it intended recipient.

"How could he show that to you?" She asked, more to herself than to Peyton as she looked anywhere but the blonde's eyes.

"How could he not. We were in love, as we still are now. It was always me," she said. "But what was my favorite part? Oh yes, 'I really don't want to do this alone Luke. I'm scared, and I know it isn't exactly the way we envisioned our future. But maybe this is a blessing in disguise. A way of showing me that you were right and that we really are meant to be together. That maybd\e love is enough? And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving without a proper goodbye, but I hope you can forgive me and we can move past this. I love you Lucas. I always have and I probably always will. And you might not feel the same way anymore, but please try to look past me and focus on our daughter'," She laughed as she practically screamed the words back in Brooke's face. Her imitation of Brooke had both the girls captivated, so much so that they hadn't noticed the door had opened halfway through the rant. Their eyes were locked, in an intense sort of stare down.

"Get 'way from my Mommy, you witchy," Olivia screamed as she pushed the blonde with curly hair in the stomach.

Brooke hadn't been able to hide it any longer, when Peyton had thrown her words back into her face after all these years, it was as if someone had broken the dam at Niagara Falls. But at the sound of Olivia's voice she looked up to notice her little girl in an altercation with Peyton.

Before either girl could react to Olivia's comment, they were both frozen in place by the fourth voice in the room.

"What are you two talking about?" Lucas asked, staring at each of the girls he had loved at one point in his life with hurt filled eyes. He was pretty sure he knew, but he wanted confirmation. He turned to Brooke but she immediately turned away, rushing instead of her daughter's side. The daughter Peyton had shoved off her and to the floor just moments before.

And Peyton, well the moment Lucas looked at her it was as if she shrunk three feet under his stare. She couldn't answer him. She had no idea what he had heard, or how to talk her way out of this one.

So the four just stared, Brooke was sitting on the floor, rocking Olivia in her arms as she tried to explain to the little girl that she was alright. Peyton had moved to the counter and was now looking out the window into the dusk's sky, searching for answers on how to escape this harsh reality. And Lucas, standing in between the two, trying to process the information he had just ingested and trying to decide what to do next.

Okay, so I hope you all liked this chapter! Personally it was on of my favorites so far! And idk if I was just really emotional the day I wrote this one, but I was almost crying processing the situation Brooke was in, and trying to place myself in her shoes...insane, I know. But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did writing it. Let me know with a review!! Oh, and this title was not from A Fine Frenzy...I know finally, right? This title was borrowed from a song by Taylor Swift. Love you all...And to all of you who were right on target with the letter incident--Way to go..You guys rock and I sooo wanted to tell you but I would rather you read it here then have spoiled it for you!! ;)

Audra