Author's Note: Here it is, finally an update. I know that it's been a crazy LONG time since the last update, but yet again life got in the way. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Tree Hill.
Why on earth had she agreed to do this? Why would she actually agree to something her mother wanted her to do? Brooke wondered as she stepped into the house that still looked like people lived there, not actually lived in but held as a home, almost a model home of sorts. Picking up the load of cardboard boxes Brooke started up the walkway and into the house determined to get the house packed up by Thursday. Feeling determined Brooke turned the stereo up and went about taking apart her living room.
Over an hour later Brooke had taken a break from the living room and was heading into the dining room when the front door opened and Jake strolled in holding two coffees and smiled at her. "Hey Bossy." He joked handing her one of the coffees and sitting on the stairs with her. "How's it going so far?" He asked looking at all the boxes in front of her.
"I've gotten half the living room done and now I'm just going from room to room, trying not to get bored." She replied sipping her coffee and smiling since Jake had remembered her favorite coffee and even got it from her favorite place. "You remembered." She whispered looking at him a huge smile on her face.
"Well yeah, of course I did, I mean I've only been there with you a thousand time and ordered for you a thousand times. Did you really think I would forget?" Brooke shook her head knowing that Jake could never forget. "We had a lot of fun times in this house didn't we?" Jake asked moments later standing up and taking a walk throughout the house.
"You actually made this place fun to be in, you know that? I never wanted you to leave when you came over to play and when we lost touch it was hard to be in here and not relive our memories together."
"I know what you mean, my house is just as bad. What happened to us?" He asked stopping in the middle of the kitchen catching Brooke off guard.
"High school, Ashley took me under her wing and introduced me to the world of high school basketball players. She told me that it would be social suicide to be seen with the loner basketball player and I stupidly believed her. I can't believe I let someone influence me that much to give up the only true best friend I ever had." Brooke replied hopping up onto the counter and looking over at Jake. "I never forgave myself for that and when Ashley slept with Nathan I knew that she was just using me to make herself look better. Thinking back on it that's the same thing I did."
"I didn't help matters either by pulling myself away from you. I probably could've became more popular and gotten back into your social circle, but you looked so happy that I couldn't do that to you. I didn't want to ruin the only sort of family you had ever had." Jake replied leaning against the counter right across from Brooke.
"Why does this feel like an Oprah session?" Brooke joked a few moments later smiling at Jake as he laughed.
"So any plans with Nathan this weekend since he finally has some time off?" Jake asked breaking the silence between the two.
"I was thinking about surprising him if I finished early, but otherwise no. What about you and Jenny? Wasn't she going to fly down here and spend some time with you?" At the mention of Jenny's name Jake broke eye contact with Brooke and looked out the window. "Jake?"
"We're not together anymore." He whispered still starring out the window.
"What?" Brooke asked jumping off the counter and moving in front of Jake.
"Yeah she called the other day and told me that she didn't know where I fit in anymore. She didn't think that she wanted to settle down so quickly with the instant family. She wanted time to discover herself so she broke it off."
"Jake." She murmured wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry I know how much you cared about her. I'm so sorry that you're hurting right now." She whispered tightening her hold on him.
"Thanks Brooke, but there's really nothing I can do but keep myself busy and try not to think about it."
"Well it won't be long until you'll have another girl beating down your door trying to get to you, you're a great catch and any girl would be lucky to have you." Brooke replied hoping to make Jake feel even a little bit better. Jake smiled and squeezed Brooke once more before letting go and taking a step back.
"Now let's get back to work so that maybe we can go see that boyfriend of yours. Plus this house reminds me too much of Victor-a-bitch and it's freaking me out." Jake replied laughing a little at his nickname for Brooke's 'mother'. Brooke laughed too and grabbed some boxes to begin packing up the kitchen. "What are you doing with this stuff anyway?"
"Well I get to keep the kitchen stuff and the sofas, maybe my bed, but otherwise I'm shipping it out to California for my mom and then they're selling the house." Jake nodded glad for the distraction and Brooke knew that he really didn't care about what was happening to the stuff in the house, he just wanted something new to talk about. Brooke stopped packing the cabinet in front of her and walked over towards Jake and wrapping her arms around his torso. "Thanks Jake, you've made it so much easier this past two months." Jake smiled and turned wrapping her in a proper hug and gave her an extra squeeze.
"Don't worry about it Brooke, that's what I'm here for." He sighed and kissed the top of her head before pulling away and going back to the drawers in front of him. The two of them made quick work of packing up the house making Brooke's goodbye trip to Tree Hill a little bit shorter.
It's time to say goodbye, there's nothing holding her back here anymore. Anything that could have any hold on her is packed up in boxes ready to be shipped off to its new home. An odd feeling rises in her throat, she didn't think that she would be upset about the selling of her childhood home, but as she watches the moving men picking up the boxes she feels something. The pile of boxes going to California gets smaller and smaller as the feeling gets bigger and bigger. If Brooke really thought about it the feeling felt something close to sadness, it was the final chapter of this part of her life. Before she could've returned and pretended like her departure never happen but now, now she had to face reality. She left this life behind and got a chance to do it better.
With the final box Brooke feels relief suddenly wash over, it's done. She has no physical ties with Tree Hill anymore. The only thing connected with this town is her memories, she's only holding onto the good ones letting the bad ones be only remembered by the scars on her heart. She smiles at the delivery guy as he leaves with the final box; she's finished ahead of schedule today a fact that makes her smile. Looking over at the boxes under the sign that says to Boston she ponders about opening the one that contains her photo albums but she decides against it the sunshine calling her name. It's a beautiful day in Tree Hill and what better way to spend it than by taking a final trip down memory lane.
She walks outside a few steps and down the porch turning to look at the red door that she hid behind for so many years and part of her is suddenly nervous about not having the comfort of the red door to hide behind. Taking in the whole house Brooke couldn't help but tear up at the many lonely nights she spent in the house nursing a broken heart. The sad days greatly outnumbered the happy days, making her wonder why she stayed in town for as long as she did. Shaking her head and wiping away a stray tear she made her way down the street letting the sunshine wash over her.
Her next stop took her to Peyton's house. She walked up the walkway and stood in front of the house she had ever felt at home in. She even smiled at the final fight that Peyton and she had shared days before she decided to take off. She knew as she stood in front of the house that the friendship between her and Peyton was built to last. They had been through so much in their lives together that they couldn't just walk away from each other. She took one last look at the house bidding it a silent goodbye before going down the walkway and continuing on her goodbye trip down memory lane.
As Brooke walked through the familiar streets of Tree Hill doubt began to cloud her mind. She was having second thoughts about leaving town again. Tree Hill was a great place to grow up and she had so many connections to the town that she wondered if she could ever really turn her back on it. She stopped taking a look around the street on which she stood and she smiled. She could never truly leave this place. She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she continued walking heading towards her next destination.
Walking up to the eldest Scott brother's house filled Brooke's head with every single memory they had shared together and her eyes pooled with tears. Every time she actually thought about the relationship she shared with Lucas she would tear up. He was the first guy that she actually gave her heart to and no matter how much time goes by it still hurts to think about they turned out. Letting her mind go back to the last time she had been at the house Brooke balled her fist up at her side. It was dangerous going back to that place, that place was filled with crushing depression and a shattered heart. That was the lowest moment in Brooke's life; it was the moment that ripped the ground out from underneath her. She wiped at the tears falling down her face as she turned away from the house and began walking towards the river court, placing all the memories of her relationship with Luke back into the dark corner of her mind never to be thought of again.
As she walked up to the river court she spotted someone sitting on one of the picnic tables looking out into the river. She paused for a moment contemplating leaving until the familiarity of the person hit her. She smiled softly and continued on her way happy to see him.
Nathan sat on the picnic table starring out into the river. He sighed feeling the stress and tension of the past few weeks, no months, in his shoulders. Looking out into the river he tried to let the peaceful nature run over him but his mind kept going back to Brooke and how he should be with her on his lone weekend off in a long time. But he couldn't find it in him to pull his phone out of his pocket and call her; he knew that he should call her and at least talk to her but something kept his hand from reaching into this pocket.
"Hey." Brooke greeted softly smiling when she saw Nathan jump slightly before turning around and the recognition hit him. She didn't wait for him to reply before standing on the bench of the picnic table and sitting down next to him looking out over the river. "Taking a long weekend?" She asked a few moments later finally glancing at him since she had first seen him.
"Yeah I don't have basketball this weekend or classes tomorrow so I decided to head to my mom's for a little bit, maybe call you and see if you wanted to spend the weekend somewhere." He replied reaching over and grabbing her hand. Brooke smiled at their entwined hands; these were the little moments she loved about her relationship with Nathan. "Aren't you supposed to be packing up your house?" He asked suddenly remembering what Brooke had told him days before during one of their many conversations.
"I decided to come earlier than planned and finished earlier than planned. You have no idea how easy it was to divide up and pack up everything in the house."
"Divide up?" Nathan asked still looking out into the river just soaking in the moment.
"Yeah mom said that I could take some stuff for the apartment and some other stuff just in case I wanted it later on." Brooke replied hoping that Nathan didn't ask what just in case really meant; she wasn't ready to tell him about it just yet.
"That's awfully nice of your mom." Nathan felt that there was something more to her statement but decided to let it drop for now.
"So what are you doing just sitting here?" Brooke asked turning so she was facing Nathan. Nathan sighed and took a deep breath before turning towards Brooke.
"I just wanted to have a few moments to myself, some time where no one was bothering me about study groups, practice, or some random party they wanted me to go to, I wanted to capture the feeling of being at home with you away from everyone else." He rambled on not knowing how to exactly explain what he was feeling. Brooke just nodded and seemed to understand.
"Come on." She replied standing up and holding her hand out to him.
"Where are we going?" He asked as they walked away from the river court. Brooke just shrugged her shoulder and kept walking. "Can I at least know what we're doing?"
"Before I ran into you I was taking a sort of goodbye trip down memory lane and I thought we could just finish it together." Nathan nodded and let her continue to follow him. They walked down the familiar streets of Tree Hill for about 10 minutes before they ended up in front of the elementary school.
Nathan stopped and starred at the building, the memories of the early days of Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott flashing before his eyes. "Do you remember the first day of kindergarten?" He softly asked afraid to ruin the memory of that very day. Brooke stood next to him smiling at the memory of that day.
"You were with Jake," She began almost seeing the memory materialize in front of her. "My nanny had just dropped me off and I didn't know anyone and Jake came over to me. He introduced you and him and asked if I wanted to play with you guys. We had so much fun in elementary school after that. Somehow we always managed to be put in the same classes almost as if someone was making sure that we stayed together." Nathan laughed at the fact the she still hadn't realized that they were purposefully always put together.
"You didn't know that my mom and Jake's mom had asked the principal to make sure that we stayed together?" Nathan asked slightly shocked that she hadn't figured it out.
"Why?" She asked laughing at how she had never really put the pieces together before.
"She said that when I was with you and Jake I wanted to go to school, said that it made it easier for me to adjust or something. I just wished that she could've done in middle school." Brooke nodded the memories of middle school suddenly flashing before her eyes. "Middle school was the beginning of our drift."
"Yep that's when Tropical Storm Peyton came into my life." Nathan laughed and grabbed her hand continuing on their walk. "So I didn't tell you how good it is to see you. I don't realize how much I actually miss having you around until I see you." Nathan laughed wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple as they walked down the street.
"Brooke, that's sweet but we saw each other two weeks ago when I got the flu and you came down to see me."
"I know but I wanted to make sure that you were being taken care of, I can't just entrust you in Luke's care."
"Wow Brooke, I would love to see Luke's face if he knew that." Brooke laughed and pushed Nathan. "So how much more of this trip down memory lane do you have left?"
"I was going to walk by the high school but thinking about it now, I don't really have any good memories there ya know? I mean sure there were some good times but nothing that really propels me to go back. So Karen's for some lunch is the last stop." Nathan nodded and turned heading towards Karen Café.
Walking into Karen's Café Brooke smiled at Karen, who was standing behind the counter leaning against it and reading a book. "It must be my lucky day!" She exclaimed coming from out behind the counter and pulling Nathan into a hug then Brooke. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked motioning for them to sit at the counter.
"Well I'm in town boxing up my parent's house and Nathan's taking a break from school." Nathan nodded smiling as she placed their drinks in front of them.
"And I thought that I was having a great day when Luke walked in earlier today."
"Where is Luke now?" Brooke asked taking a sip from her drink. Karen shrugged and instantly busied herself getting their orders ready. Nathan looked over at Brooke and sighed. "What was that about?" She asked completely missing the sudden awkwardness in the air.
"Haley was working when we arrived and they're spending time together." Nathan replied preparing himself for her reaction.
"Good for Luke, I'm glad that he's branching out and reconnecting with Haley, I mean they were best friends at one point." She shrugged and turned towards the door watching Luke and Haley walk in. Both stopped in their tracks, Luke starring wide-eyed at Brooke and Haley almost glaring at her. "Hey Luke, we're having lunch you wanna join us?" Brooke asked paying no mind to Haley, who was still stuck in her spot and looking between Nathan and Brooke. Luke glanced at Haley then back at Brooke mentally debating to himself which was the safest option. Haley nodded and pushed him towards Brooke muttering something about having to go back to work. Nathan chuckled a little bit at the slightly frightened look on Luke's face. Brooke got up and joined Nathan on his side of the booth giving Luke the seat across from them.
"Hey Brooke, where's Jake?" Luke asked hoping to avoid the awkward moment that was bound to happen since Haley was so close to Brooke.
"He's with his parents, I felt bad keeping him so occupied at the house that I gave him some time off to hang with his parents." Luke nodded and smiled as Haley placed his usual order in front of him. Nathan watched Brooke as Haley walked up to the table with this orders, ready to jump in on a moment's notice that nothing got out of hand. Brooke looked up and smiled, not wanting to spur on any altercation and as Haley walked away she let herself indulge in praise for her maturity, before joining in the conversation going on around her.
Her final goodbye to the life she had left in Tree Hill left Brooke with the hope that if she did ever come back she wouldn't have the constant reminders of the horrible memories. As she drove with Luke and Nathan back to Duke she felt as if the huge chip on her shoulder had been broken and she could finally move on. She could finally start fresh without the daily reminders of what had transpired in Tree Hill.
A/N: So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a mixture of two drafts that I had done and this afternoon as I was reading over them I decided to combine them and make them into this chapter. I hope you guys stick with me until the next update.
