A/N: This is really just a filler chapter but please review and tell me what you think. I lost steam on this story, but I think i've got it back now and I think i'm gonna finish it. Please review!! Criticism and praise are welcomed!
Chapter 15
The morning after the worst night of her life, Brooke arrived back in New York on a mission. She had lain awake in her hotel room all night and had finally been able to make some definite decisions about her life. Now all she had to do was put them in action. The first phone call she made was to her father, Robert Davis, recent divorcee and big time advertising mogul with whom she arranged a lunch meeting for the following day. Being his daughter had significant advantages in messing up his extremely busy schedule. She then called her job and told them she would be taking a few personal days and finally, she called Logan who was due to return from Boston that day and whom she was supposed to be meeting for dinner that evening. As tacky as it was and she hated to do it, she broke up with him over the phone. He was of course surprised and a little confused because they had been having a lot of fun together, but Brooke knew her heart just wasn't in it and she didn't want to string him along. She didn't want to hold him back from the adventures she knew he was dying to get back to and she wasn't the kind of girl who was going to spend weeks trekking in the Amazon. Right now she had bigger fish to fry and a big plan to work out.
When Lucas woke up with a killer hangover for the second morning running, it wasn't to the usual sounds of the city that never sleeps, New York City, but to a sharp poking in his ribs.
"Luke." A tiny voice whispered. He kept his eyes closed, knowing that when he opened them, his head would explode. "Lucas" the small voice persisted, the pokes harder.
"Sophie Scott" Lucas warned "You better quit it or you're in trouble."
He heard a muffled giggle "Make me." She teased and before she knew it, a pair of hands flew out from under the covers and grabbed her whole torso, pulling her onto the bed and she screamed with laughter when her uncle tickled her and blew raspberries into her neck. She squealed with delight but managed to escape and scrambled to her feet, jumping up and down on the bed.
Lucas groaned. There was certainly no going back to sleep now when there was a 5 year old bouncing around his head at 8.30 in the morning. He should probably count himself lucky; Sophie would have been up even earlier and had shown great restraint by not waking him before then.
"Lukey Luke! My uncle Lukey Luke, drinks yucky beer and needs to puke!" she sang as she bounced around him.
"Sophie, Sophie, won't go to the park with her new bike if she doesn't get up off me." Lukey Luke sang back. She made her last jump a high one and landed on her butt next to his head.
"Mommy made waffles. Daddy's still in bed. I'm gonna wake him up too. Daddy, Daddy, when I jump on him he's gonna be so Mad-dy!" she sang again and Lucas chuckled.
"Soph, baby, light of my life; go and wake up your dad now. Let me sleep."
"But you said you were gonna take me to the park. Wake up Lucas! Get up and at 'em!" she yelled sternly, a remarkable impression of her mother.
"But my head hurts. I don't wanna." Lucas whined.
"Uncle Lucas, if you don't get out of that bed before I count to three, you're gonna be sorry." Sophie had jumped down from the bed and was leaning close to his face. She giggled when he opened one eye. "Wake up" she whispered "Or I'll scream really loud." Lucas groaned because he knew she would do it. What a pleasant conversation he and Rachel had had the last time they stayed here together and Sophie had been their wake up call. "One... Two...."
"Ok, I'm up!" Lucas sat up quickly and scowled at his niece but tugged her hair playfully. "Ya little brat. Now go wake up your Dad but don't give him any warning, just scream." He grinned as Sophie skipped out of his room to her parent's room and laughed out loud when Sophie's high pitched scream was followed by a loud thud and a string of curses.
"Lucas you are going to pay for that." Nathan called from his own room, the sound of Sophie's giggles carrying down the stairs.
Haley piled the sausages and fried eggs onto Lucas's plate and topped up his coffee. She also put a glass of water and two aspirin beside his plate. He smiled appreciatively and rubbed the stubble on his face. "I look like hell no doubt."
"You look fine, nothing a shave and a haircut won't fix." Haley said as she topped up Nathan's coffee and took a sip from her own. Nathan looked almost as bad as Lucas himself.
"You guys look like you didn't get much sleep last night." Lucas commented on both of his friend's weary demeanour.
"Actually, we were up late talking." Nathan began a little cautiously, not quite looking his brother in the eye. He didn't want Lucas to know yet that they all knew about what happened to him back in Tree Hill. "We think you should stay here for a while until you figure things out. With you quitting your job and school maybe a change of scenery would do you good. You'd get to see Soph everyday and it's easier to get to New York from here than if you were back in Tree Hill."
"That's not a bad idea. You guys don't mind me crashing?"
"Of course not, we love having you here." Haley smiled at both Lucas and Nathan. She was relieved that he had agreed to stay. Operation: Get Lucas Back On Track was now in motion.
"Mornin' Jagielsky." Jake opened one eye and looked up to find Peyton sitting up in bed, staring down at him. He often woke to find her watching him; he didn't feel weird or self-conscious about it anymore. He quite liked that even when he was asleep he could still hold her complete attention.
"Mornin' Frizz." He grinned when she glared at the use of the nickname he had given her several years ago after a particularly hot, stifling day in New York when Peyton's natural curly hair was losing the battle against the humidity. She hated it of course.
Jake turned over on his side and raised himself onto his elbow. Peyton lay back down and while facing him, tangled her legs with his own.
"I want to stop by Nathan and Haley's before we go back home." She told him.
"Of course. We can't go without saying goodbye."
"I want to see how he's doing you know?"
"Absolutely."
"Brooke texted me not so long ago, she left at the break of dawn to go home. She said she had some stuff to get done."
"Is she ok?" Jake was a little worried for Brooke after last night. As badly as everyone felt, Brooke seemed to take it worse, placing all the blame on herself.
"I think so. I'll call her tonight and find out why she bailed."
"Are you ok?" Jake brought his free hand forward to push a stray lock of hair behind her ear but he kept his hand there, burying it into her wild mass of blonde curls. Peyton took a deep breath which quivered a little. Jake had heard her crying during the night, he pretended to be asleep when he curled closer to her knowing that she hates crying in front of anyone, including him.
"I didn't sleep much. And I'm sorry I kept you awake." She smiled at him knowingly. Jake obviously wasn't as convincing an actor as he thought he was. "I'm ok though. I'm going to do what Nathan said and just leave the past behind. None of it matters anymore. I'm all about the future baby."
Peyton grinned and pulled herself closer to her boyfriend, wrapping her arm around his waist, their chests touching. It was amazing that they had lasted almost 6 years together. God knows she wasn't the easiest person in the world to live with but Jake just seemed to get her. He challenged her when others were afraid of her temper, he sparred with her and he wasn't afraid to tell her to shut the hell up when she went on one of rants. He also always knew the exact right words to say to her when she ran out of steam and what parts of her body that made her laugh out loud when he kissed it. He knew that she always needed a kiss and a hug when she called her Dad and got his voicemail for the third time running and he knew about the warm fuzzy feeling she got whenever Jenny told her she loved her. And what's more is that he knew the guilt she felt about Lucas and how that wasn't going to go away no matter what Nathan said.
Jake raised his head slightly higher to see past Peyton to the bed beside them where their daughter slept peacefully. "It seems our girl is still wiped after a hard day of partying." Peyton smiled the goofy one she always did whenever Jake said something like 'our girl' or 'our daughter'.
"Jake, you know I love you right?"
"Yeah I know that. It is nice to hear it once and a while though. And I love you, crazy girl."
"I know I don't tell you enough. I definitely don't say it enough. But just so you know, I'm yours, you're mine, and this is for good. You know we're getting married someday right?"
Jake chuckled and kissed his feisty blonde. "Of course. No one else could handle you like I can."
