Brooke sat on her bed and watched Nathan sleeping next to her before glancing up at the clock. It was 3 in the morning the day after she and Peyton had gone to lunch and Brooke was feeling a little weird because she and Peyton had been on the outs for almost a year and now they were just going to pick up the pieces and go back to the way it was before. Brooke didn't know if they could ever go back to the way it was before she and Luke got together.
Sure, Brooke wanted nothing more than for things to get back to some state of normalcy but how does one go about doing that? How does someone totally erase the pain from their hearts and memory and just start over? She looked over at Nathan again and smiled happy that Luke and Nathan were at least trying to make their brother thing work. Looking at the two of them together after she and Peyton had gotten back from their little peace talk gave Brooke hope that she and Peyton could be just like that and go back to normal.
But then again Brooke and Peyton's friendship was anything but normal. Peyton was the only family that Brooke had for the longest time and Brooke was Peyton's shoulder to lean on when things got tough after her mom died. Brooke could remember countless times when Peyton would call in the middle of the night and no matter what Brooke was there for her and together they overcame whatever was bringing Peyton down. Yet the one time when Brooke needed Peyton the most was the time that she could barely look at Peyton.
The first couple of nights after Brooke had found out about Peyton and Luke hooking up behind her back was hard for Brooke because she had no one to lean on. She would reach for the phone and sometimes even go as far as dialing Peyton's number but then reality would kick in and tell her that the one person she was going to call was the person who made her feel that way. Suddenly the Kelly Clarkson song, "Low"popped into Brooke's head and she found herself humming a few bars of the song that was the anthem for that moment in Brooke's life.
She watched Nathan stir at the sound of her humming and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Sure she and Nathan had their rough times but that didn't mean that Brooke didn't love him. Nathan was the person who made her want to fix things with Peyton, not because Luke was his brother, but because he made her realize that she needed someone besides him to rely on. Brooke was not the kind of person to completely walk away from someone who hurt her because she knew what it was like to be completely alone and she wouldn't even wish that on her worst enemy.
Thinking about being completely alone somehow made Brooke think about her parents and how the only contact she had had with them since they moved to California almost 2 years ago was to tell them that she was moving to Boston to start over, she even gave them her address in hopes that they would want to keep in touch with her. But yet again the dollar signs overpowered her and she hadn't heard from her parents which for some reason brought a tear to her eye. The only one who understood what Brooke felt about her parents was Peyton and yet again Brooke couldn't overcome the betrayal feeling she felt when thinking about Peyton sometimes.
Nathan finally woke up and looked over at Brooke and then the clock wondering what was going on and why she was up at 3 in the morning. He turned over and looked at her as she starred off seeming to focus on a certain part of blank wall across the room. Nathan sat up and looked at Brooke trying to grab her attention.
Brooke noticed Nathan looking at her and shook her head bringing her back into reality. She smiled at him and noticed that not even 5 minutes had gone by. "What are you doing up?"
"What are you doing up?"
"I've been up all night."
"What's wrong?" Nathan asked instantly worried that something had happened between Brooke and Peyton during their brunch earlier.
"Nothing, just thinking."
"About?"
"Peyton and I, if we can really go back to the way things were before all the drama went down. I mean I'm happy she's happy with Luke and all but still sometimes that little voice pulls into my head saying that she was the one that made me run."
"Brooke," Nathan started searching his mind for the right thing to say. "Things between Peyton and you won't go back to the way it was before too much has happened for that to happen. This is the time when you start over, turn over the leaf, start a new chapter, whatever saying you like. You're both in different places and now your friendship will be different."
"How come it's so easy for you and Luke?"
"Brooke, before all the drama went down things between Luke and me was strained. We've never had a great relationship and now we're trying to make the brothers thing work. Peyton and you have been friends since I can remember." Brooke smiled thinking back at the first time that Peyton and she had met Nathan.
"Still, what am I supposed to do about the little voice in my head?"
"It'll go away with time. You just need to focus on maybe having a relationship with Peyton." Brooke looked at Nathan actually taking in everything he said and seeing that there was some truth to it.
"When did you get so smart?" Nathan just shrugged and pulled Brooke close to him both of them slowly drifting off into a light sleep. Brooke woke up a little later and smiled, she had come to a decision before she fell asleep; she was going to make it work with Peyton because Brooke wanted her best friend back. She looked over at Peyton and both smiled a mutual agreement reached without words. It wasn't going too easy for them be friends again but both were willing to make an effort.
A/N: A little filler chapter of sorts…….the next couple of chapters are going to be a little on the dramatic side but I hope you enjoyed this chapter……R&R!
