Hey guys I'm back with an update. I hope that you guys like this chapter and had a quick question for anyone who could maybe help me. I thought about having a YouTube video for this story, but I have no clue how to even do any of that. So if you guys know of anyone who could do one for me or help me I would appreciate it. I just thought that it would be a cute idea, but if you guys don't think so that's fine too. Anyhow, here's the chapter and feel free to leave comments/suggestions.
Brooke pulled her car up in the Jaglieski's driving way. She looked in the rear view mirror and wiped her eyes before taking a deep breath and opened her car door. She slowly made her way up the stairs of Jake and Peyton's porch and raised her hand and knocked on the door.
A few moments later Jake answered and looked at Brooke surprised "Hey Brooke, I thought you were with the girls tonight"
"I was can I talk to Lucas for a few minutes?" Brooke asked
"Sure, come on in" Jake said stepping out of the way of the door as Brooke slowly walked past him.
Lucas turned his head from where he was sitting on the couch and looked at Brooke. "Hey Pretty Girl"
Brooke forced a smile when she saw that all eyes were on her "Hey" She said softly.
Lucas got up from the couch and walked over to Brooke "Is everything ok?"
Brooke looked down at the floor and then at Lucas "I need to talk to you"
"Ok" Lucas said taking her by the hand and opening the door and stepping out on the porch. He shut the door behind him and felt Brooke slip out of his grasp.
He watched as she walked over to the railing on the side of the porch and look out at the night sky. He took a step towards her but stopped when he heard her speak.
"Why?" Brooke whispered fighting back tears as she kept her back to Lucas.
"Why what?" Lucas asked as Brooke finally turned to face him.
"Why are you lying to me about Lindsey?" Brooke asked.
Lucas felt every breath leave his body as he looked at her. She looked so…broken. How had she found out? He had no words he just stood there and looked at her. Nothing he could say in this moment would help, so he did the only thing he knew to do…he shook his head.
"Are you in love with her?" Brooke asked afraid of hearing the answer.
"What? Brooke…no" Lucas said walking towards Brooke.
"Stay away from me Lucas" Brooke said shaking her head.
"Brooke" Lucas offered.
"I just don't understand" Brooke said as the tears fell freely down her cheeks "Things have been so good for us Luke…so good. Just tell me what I've done that you have to lie to me about Lindsey"
Lucas sat down on the porch swing and looked out at the road that was illuminated with street lights. The whole Cul-de-sac was silent for it being only 8pm. "I knew you wouldn't understand"
"That I wouldn't understand what?" Brooke asked.
"Brooke, I've worked so hard on this book. It has taken me so long to get to this point. I've done rewrite after rewrite…Lindsey is the only editor that I've had that understands what I go through" Lucas explained.
"Lucas, I'm your wife" Brooke said "I understand what you go through, too"
"Yeah, but Brooke, you have to understand that there's a big part of my life after high school that you weren't around for. The time when all I had was my writing" Lucas offered.
"Don't do that Lucas" Brooke said furrowing her eyebrows at her husband.
"Do what?" Lucas asked.
"Make me feel guilty for chasing my dream. Because you don't know what it was like for me either" Brooke spat.
"Brooke, you had Peyton with you in L.A." Lucas said
"Yeah, when she wasn't flying back and forth to Tree Hill to see you. If you're forgetting Luke you two were pretty serious during this time" Brooke said.
"Brooke, what does that even have to do with anything?" Lucas asked.
"It has to do with the fact that you think that you're always alone when you aren't. Think about it in high school you always had Haley, then you joined the Ravens and you eventually had Nathan, and Peyton. You've always had the guys from the Rivercourt. Then when you and Peyton broke up you had Lindsey. I had nobody in L.A" Brooke said "So don't give me the crap about how you didn't have anybody"
"Brooke….I don't know what you want from me" Lucas said getting up from the swing and looking at her.
"I WANT YOU TO BE HONEST WITH ME" Brooke screamed.
Lucas looked in the picture window and saw Jake and Nathan looking at him and Brooke before taking the kids and going upstairs. "Brooke, I'm trying to be honest with you"
"I don't believe you" Brooke whispered.
"Why not?" Lucas asked
Brooke almost laughed in his face. "Because this is how it always is with you and me"
"Brooke don't start the high school crap again" Lucas said "We're not in high school anymore"
"It's not about high school, Lucas" Brooke said wiping her tear stained cheeks.
"Then why are you so threatened by Lindsey?" Lucas asked
"Because you didn't tell me that you had lunch with her and god knows what else you two have done together" Brooke told him looking down at the floor. She was too hurt to even look him in the eyes.
"It was a business dinner" Lucas explained.
"Who else was there?" Brooke asked.
"Half the damn company Brooke" Lucas shouted.
"Don't raise your voice at me Lucas" Brooke shouted back.
"You know, I can't win with you Brooke. I never have been able to" Lucas said throwing his hands up in the air.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooke asked.
"It means, if we're going to take a trip down memory lane that you have always looked for reason after reason to push me away Brooke. I'm tired of it. I've done nothing wrong, but like always you want to believe what your friends say over what your husband has to say. I just don't care anymore" Lucas ran rubbed his eyes tiredly. He didn't want to fight with Brooke; he just needed to get his point across.
"Well, I'm sorry that you feel that way Lucas" Brooke said walking off the porch.
"Where are you going?" Lucas asked.
"It doesn't matter, you don't care remember" Brooke simply said before walking off the porch.
"Brooke" Lucas shouted. It was useless though, all he did was stand there and watch her car pull out of the driveway and drive down the street.
Nathan and Haley's House
"I feel so bad" Peyton said lying on the couch as she rubbed her growing belly.
"Me too" Haley said running her had through her hair. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I know you aren't' used to Brooke being mad at you but I am" Peyton said.
Haley laughed at Peyton in spite of the situation. "I'm sorry Peyton, I know it isn't funny"
"She's been mad at me a lot. I've never had grown up Brooke mad at me but high school Brooke being mad at you was like hell busting open and the devil coming out" Peyton said.
"Peyton, I'm sure it wasn't that bad" Haley said
"Um, Haley not being mean but where the hell were you during senior year?" Peyton asked.
"If you're forgetting Peyton, I was pregnant with Jamie, I had a lot going on during this time" Haley said "Plus, I didn't want Brooke mad at me"
"I'm glad I know where your bread is buttered" Peyton said looking at Haley.
"Peyton, you did do kind of a crappy thing" Haley said looking at her friend.
"I know I did" Peyton sighed "I think if Jake would have been there the whole time that things would have been different. I was just really confused in high school and wanted what everyone else had. I just confused my love for Jake with my friendship with Lucas. It hurt a lot of people I know that now"
Haley was about to respond when the front door opened and she saw Lucas walking in the living room.
"I just want to think the two of you for what you've done" Lucas said.
"What are you talking about?" Haley asked.
"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT" Lucas screamed.
"Luke, chill out what happened?" Peyton asked.
"Oh, Brooke came to see me and I'm not sure if my marriage is over or not" Lucas said "Why the hell would you guys lie to her about me and Lindsey?"
"Lucas, we didn't lie to her" Haley said "We had a right to tell her she's our friend"
"Yeah, and she's my wife" Lucas said.
"Then maybe you should act like it" Haley spat.
"Haley, don't get me started on marriage when you're the one who walked out on Nathan" Lucas shot.
"Lucas, I know we're friends but you aren't going to come in my house and talk to me like that. Especially over something that happened when we were in high school" Haley shot back.
"Fine, I'll leave. But word of advice if you and Peyton are going to share a brain do us all a favor and find one that works" Lucas spat before walking out the door and slamming it behind him.
Haley and Peyton looked at the door and then at Lucas "What the hell just happened?" Peyton asked.
"I don't even know" Haley said "I've never seen him talk to anyone like that before"
"Me either" Peyton said.
"Screw him, if he's going to act like that I don't need that" Haley said getting up from the couch and walking to the window. She looked over next door and saw Lucas sitting on the porch steps of his and Brooke's house.
"Are you okay, Hales?" Peyton asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Haley said. "I'm going to take a shower are you going to be ok while I'm gone?"
"Yeah, the twins and I are going to be just fine" Peyton said as she watched Haley walk to the back of the house. She waited until she heard the bathroom door close and the water start running before she got up from the couch and walked outside.
Peyton rubbed her hands up and down her arms before she stepped off the porch. There was a slight chill in the night air and she took a deep breath and walked over to Lucas and stood.
"What do you want, Peyton?" Lucas asked softly.
"Well an autographed vintage The Cure album would be nice, but in the essence of time and money I want my friends to be happy again" Peyton said softly.
"What am I going to do, Peyton?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know" Peyton said sitting down on the porch beside Lucas. "Luke, do you have feelings for Lindsey?"
"No, absolutely not" Lucas answered quickly.
"Do you love Brooke?" Peyton asked.
"More than words could ever say" Lucas said.
"You've had a hard time showing it to her since Lindsey came to town" Peyton said.
"I know it" Lucas sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
"Do you know where she went?" Peyton asked.
"I have no idea" Lucas said.
"It's going to be ok, Luke" Peyton assured as she bumped her shoulder with Luke's.
TRIC
Brooke sat at the bar looking down at her glass of wine. She hadn't taken a single sip but she felt like she was already hung over. She was exhausted and had a headache that wouldn't quit. Her heart was breaking and no amount of alcohol was going to fix that.
"Hey, long time no see" A voice said from behind her.
Brooke turned around and saw Julian standing behind her. "Julian? Right?" Brooke asked
"Yea, that's right" Julian said giving Brooke the Baker smile that Haley and Peyton had been talking about. "Is this seat taken?"
"No" Brooke said softly. She could smell Julian's cologne as he took a seat on the barstool next to her.
"So, what are you doing out so late?" Julian asked.
"I just needed a night alone I guess" Brooke said. "A night to evaluate everything that's going on in my life. Everyone and everything"
"Well, if you're doing that you're going to need a lot more than a glass of wine" Julian said. "More like a nice dinner and a Coke a Cola"
Brooke's stomach rumbled at the thought of food. Through all the stress of the evening she'd forgotten to eat dinner. "That sounds really nice. I need to get home though"
"Well, anytime you are alone and hungry think of me. The invitation is always open" Julian assured.
"Thank you" Brooke said forcing a smile as she got up from her stool and reached into her purse to pay for her glass of wine.
"I've got it" Julian said laying the money down on the bar.
"You don't have to" Brooke said.
"Yeah, I did. You seem like you need someone to do something nice tonight" Julian said looking into Brooke's eyes.
"Thank you" Brooke said walking out of the club. Completely aware that Julian had watched her the entire time.
Later That Night
Lucas stood in front of the door as he waited to knock. He knew that she had to be home. He hadn't seen her since earlier and knew that she had no other place to go. He knew she probably didn't want to talk to him but he needed to talk to her so he raised his hand and knocked on the door. A few minutes went by and Lucas was going to knock again but the door opened and he came face to face with Lindsey.
"Lucas, it's almost 1am what are you doing here?" Lindsey asked.
"I need to talk to you" Lucas said.
"Can't this wait until in the morning?" Lindsey asked yawning.
"No, it can't. I've done some thinking" Lucas assured.
"Thinking about what?" Lindsey asked.
"Me and you" Lucas said.
"Oh, ok you can come in then" Lindsey said stepping back and allowing Lucas to walk into her hotel room.
"Lindsey, this isn't easy for me. I'm so confused about things" Lucas said sitting down on the couch.
A smile slowly made its way to Lindsey's face and she walked over to Lucas and sat down beside him. "You can tell me anything"
"I don't know, I mean if I tell you this it's going to change everything, forever" Lucas said looking down at the floor.
"Lucas, change can be a wonderful thing, if anyone needs change it's you" Lindsey assured.
"You're right, I've worked too hard and I deserve to be happy. I need to stop caring about doing what everyone else wants and do what I want" Lucas said.
"I've told you that all along, Lucas" Lindsey said smiling.
"Lindsey, I have something important I need to tell you" Lucas said turning to face her.
"What is it Luke, tell me" Lindsey said taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
"You're fired" Lucas whispered.
So, I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter and if you want anything in it just let me know. I am to please. Have a nice night, Ashley