Disclaimers: I do not own OTH or the characters.
Spoilers: Season 4, episode 17 (Psycho Derek's attack); Season 6, episode 1–4.
Rating: T. Mentions of Prom Night
Notes: Cross-posted from Ao3. I have major issues with how Brooke's attack was handled and how Peyton reacted. There is no way in hell Peyton wouldn't be more concerned, not after everything they have been through together. So this is my fix-it.
Enjoy. :)
Peyton says goodbye to Brooke and waits for her to click off. As she does, she finds herself staring at the phone in her hand, the elated feeling from moments ago dissipating.
Luke watches the play of emotions flicker in her eyes. She had been so happy before, and excited as she told her best friend the good news.
So what is the problem now?
"You ok?" He has to ask. She stares at the phone for a moment longer and then looks up at him.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm okay," she starts to move to sit up. "I… I'm gonna call her back real quick, make sure everything's ok."
Peyton doesn't give much more explanation than that and he nods as he watches her hop off the bed, her phone already back to her ear.
Peyton steps out onto their balcony, grabbing a discarded blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders.
She sits and listens to the phone ring and ring and ring. It goes to voicemail and Peyton hangs up without leaving one. She redials immediately.
"Come on, B. Davis. Pick up the phone…"
She repeats this three more times. That feeling from earlier gnaws a nervous pit in her belly.
Finally, Brooke answers.
"Peyton?"
"Hey…"
"Is something wrong?" Brooke sounds concerned, and it'd make Peyton smile if the reason she was calling back so soon wasn't that she feels the exact same way.
"No, I- I just wanted to talk a bit more." She sits in a chair and pulls her legs up, wrapping the blanket around them. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming out here…"
She tries not to sound too worried. She has to be careful about this because even if something is wrong there's no way Brooke will admit to it, not over the phone and definitely not after Peyton just told her she is engaged.
"It's fine, Peyton," Brooke answers. "I was just… worried when you didn't come home."
Peyton looks at her ring. She feels bad about disappearing but she doesn't regret coming here. She loves Lucas, and the first person she wanted to tell after she had said yes, more than anyone, was Brooke.
They've been best friends for almost 17 years at this point. Which is how she knew something was up. Brooke just sounded… off. She said she was happy for her and then made up an excuse to hang up.
And yes, Peyton knows that's what it was: an excuse.
Her voice sounded off, and there was none of the excitement and true happiness she just knew Brooke would have felt.
She bites her lip and squeezes her eyes shut. Something is wrong, and her best friend has pushed it aside in favor of not bothering Peyton during such a happy moment.
"Brooke… are you alright?"
"Of course." The answer without hesitation hits Peyton particularly hard.
"Really? Because I know you, B. Davis, and your voice says something different."
Well, so much for being stealthy about it.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just busy with the store and-"
"Brooke."
God, Peyton wishes she were there. It is so much easier to get Brooke to talk to her when they are face to face.
"I don't what you want me to say, Peyton," Brooke sounds exasperated. "I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."
Peyton wants to smack her for being so stubborn. Instead, she sighs. "Okay. Well…" She doesn't want to push too hard because she knows Brooke could just hang up. And then not answer no matter how many times Peyton calls her back.
She'll just have to wait until she is back in Tree Hill.
"I'll let you go then." Peyton sighs, her heart hurting. She knows something has happened to her Brooke, at least to upset her, and she will just have to use the time between now and when she and Luke return home to think of a game plan on how to get her to talk.
"Okay." Brooke sounds so… apathetic. It worries Peyton so much.
"I love you, B. Davis."
Finally, as if the words themselves provoked it, she can hear a smile in her best friend's voice.
"I love you too, P. Sawyer. Now go enjoy being engaged."
Lucas glances up from looking at his laptop screen as he hears Peyton close the balcony doors. He had been sitting against the headboard for the duration of her… one-sided conversation with Brooke.
He couldn't hear exactly what she was saying but he could tell from her body language that it wasn't an excited "I'm celebrating being engaged with the girl who I love most in the entire world" type conversation.
He closes the laptop lid halfway and sets it aside, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Peyton walks over, chewing on one thumbnail and cell phone clutched in the other hand.
She looks up at him suddenly as of just now remembering that she isn't alone.
"Hey, fiancé." She grins as she sits down on his lap. He returns the smile, one arm wrapped around her waist.
"Hello, yourself…" He smiles into the kiss and then sighs as he pulls back. "So, how was she?" He nods to the phone in her hand.
"Oh uh." Peyton loses the smile, and a tiny voice inside of him flickers up, leaving him thinking that Peyton hadn't been successful in getting Brooke to talk.
Because let's face it; even he knows there should have been more screaming and yelling and eardrum-bursting squealing when Peyton told her B. Davis that they are engaged.
"She said she was fine. And nothing is wrong." And by the inflection in her voice, Peyton knows that is a big, fat lie.
Which is exactly why he asks, "And do you believe that?"
Her silence says everything. He takes it and lets it help him feel confident that the choice he made almost as soon as Peyton had stepped outside was the right call.
"So, what are you going to do about it?" He asks because if there is one thing he knows more than anything it's that Peyton Sawyer does not play around when it comes to her Brooke Davis.
And being on the other side of the country will not stop her, nor will he allow it to.
She looks confused though, so he elaborates. "Something has happened. I know you know, even though Brooke tried to brush it off or tell you everything was fine." He uses a finger to brush loose hair behind Peyton's ear. "What's your next step?"
"Luke, I…" she tries for a response and fails a couple of times before finally deciding on, "We're engaged, and I-"
"Shouldn't be worried sick about the girl you know better than yourself?"
She smiles despite the situation and topic. "I don't know. I-… Luke…"
"Peyton… if this were Haley, if I was worried because she sounded like something had happened… would you expect me to push it away or forget it just because we are engaged?"
"Of course not." Peyton's response is immediate. She knows how much the young mother means to Luke. They've known each other almost as long as she and Brooke have and-
And, she realizes. He is right. If this was Haley and he couldn't get her to talk over the phone, she would want him to be there in person.
Lucas stays quiet as she works through this.
"No. I wouldn't. I would want you to go, to check on her… I would probably go too…" He nods as he would actually expect nothing less. Peyton would be there for Haley also.
She sighs and looks down at her ring, and then glances back up at him. The guilty look in her eyes gives him his answer.
To show he's not mad or upset, he smiles back and kisses her before he motions for her to stand up.
"That's what I expected. Which is why I did this-" Lucas sits back against the headboard and grabs his laptop, patting the spot next to him. Peyton sits, confused as he hadn't had the computer out earlier.
She opens her mouth to question him and then sees the screen. Tears well up as she focuses and realizes what he did.
"I don't deserve you, Lucas Scott."
Lucas simply smiles, kisses her temple, and whispers, "You deserve the whole world, Peyton Sawyer." He balances the computer on his leg and wraps one arm around her shoulders.
"I just have one last question… Tonight or tomorrow morning?"
*7 hours later*
Peyton and Lucas pull into the driveway of the beach house she shares with Brooke. The lights seem to be off which is to be expected. It is just before six in the morning.
Peyton looks over at Lucas in the driver's seat. Her fiancé (god the butterflies) takes her hand and kisses her knuckles.
They had gotten a flight as soon as they could. Lucas had convinced her to take a power nap and then they were on board and flying home. It was a five-hour flight and here they are now.
Lucas smiles. "Go on. Go take care of our girl."
Peyton nods and takes a deep breath, opening the door and going to grab her duffel bag from the trunk. Lucas gets out and meets her back there.
"Call if you need me?" He wraps her up in a tight hug. She had been so nervous and worried the entire flight and then the drive here. "I love you."
Peyton whispers a response and then he gets in, puts the car in reverse, and watches her enter the house. He backs away hoping that they are wrong.
He really hopes whatever happened is nothing to be worried about, and that is all he can think of as he drives back to his house because he knows if he allows himself to worry, he will fall apart himself.
And, his gut feeling tells him that Peyton will be the one to fall apart. He needs to be there for her.
For her and Brooke.
So he hopes nothing happened, and that right now his fiancée and their friend are jumping around and squealing in excitement about the engagement.
The next chapter will be longer as Peyton arrives home and sees what Brooke is hiding. Lucas will be mentioned a couple of times but this is mainly a Breyton fic.
Please review and let me know what you thought. :)