A.N 1 You didn't really think I'd just leave you hanging like that did you. Here it is the last chapter. Enjoy.
A.N 2 Just a small note to Aleese. I appreciate all feedback. But you might want to remember that this is fiction and not meant to be realistic. If you read my earlier authors notes you would see that I fully admitted that this is not like the Brooke from the show but a fictional story of my own making, using the characters of One Tree Hill. While obviously there are some similarities in the pairings and the fact that its set in High school, I'm just writing a story that is supposed to be a bit of fun. Theres no fun in simply rewriting the show. Its all just a product of my own warped imagination. Sorry you haven't enjoyed the story but I can't please everyone. Anyway like I said thanks for the feedback.
Giving In To Desires
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue.
4th April 2010
Standing over the grave that he was seeing for the first time he was overcome with guilt.
"You shouldn't be here. This is all my fault."
Up until now he could never bring himself to visit the gravesite but it had been five years since that disastrous day and he knew the time had come. He ran his fingers over the engraved words of the headstone. He skimmed over the name before tracing the dates.
5th July 1988 – 4th April 2005
So young! No one should die so young. You had barely begun to live.
"If only I had figured out sooner what she was planning to do maybe I could have saved you."
The counsellors he had seen over the course of the last few years had tried to convince him that he was not at fault but he knew otherwise and no one could tell him different. He was just as responsible as she was. He knew that he should have been punished too but for some reason when the courts had dealt out their form of justice he had remained unscathed.
Hearing voices approaching he looked up. He recognised the group and knew that they too were headed to this grave. He had to leave before they saw him.
"I'm so sorry for everything that happened Luke. You'll never know how much I wish this could all have been different." Dashing a hand across his face to rid himself of his tears Mouth stood from his kneeling position on the ground and melted in to the shadows.
Four more people came to stand at the grave. One of them a woman felt a sob begin to rise in her chest. The man standing with her wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a consoling fashion.
"Peyt its ok. Are you sure you want to do this?" Jake asked looking down at his wife's heavily pregnant form.
"I'll be ok" she assured him "its just hard knowing why he's here. I never thought she was capable of such a thing."
Theresa leaned back into Tim for support and his arms immediately wound around her waist.
"I miss ya buddy." He stated simply his voice rough with poorly disguised emotion.
The group stayed for a little while talking softly to their dearly missed friend. After some time had passed Theresa looked at her watch before looking regretfully up at Tim.
"We should go. I promised the babysitter we'd be back to feed the twins their lunch."
"We better go too Peyt. We need to collect Jenny from my mom's."
After each had said their farewells they departed going back to the lives they had built for themselves but each one left a small part of their heart behind.
Mouth watched them from the shadows, seeing for the first time just how much his actions had affected all these people. He settled himself more comfortably against the tree and remained where he was for the next 40 minutes contemplating what he had seen. He also thought back to the events that had led to this tragedy, for that's what this was, a tragedy.
Flashback
He was feeling so restless tonight. He had been trying for a couple of hours to get to sleep but couldn't seem to settle. This was often the case after commentating one of The Raven's basketball games but tonight it seemed worse than usual. Throwing back the covers of his bed he stalked to the window wanting to bring some fresh air into his stuffy bedroom. Opening it up he glanced out on to the deserted street. No not deserted he ammended as he saw a figure skulking around on the James' front lawn. Whoever it was, was staring intently up at a window and he gasped as he saw the flash of a camera go off. What on earth was going on out there?
Grabbing his jeans he pulled them over his boxer shorts and headed for the door hoping to get a better look at what was happening. Quietly he let himself out the front door and made his way down the drive sticking to the shadows where he was unlikely to be spotted. Whoever it was hanging around the James' front yard they appeared to be quite small. He couldn't get a good look at their face as it was too dark but he had a strange sense of familiarity as he watched them stand motionless their attention never wavering from the window. He looked up to the window himself trying to see what could be holding their attention and was shocked by the sight of Haley standing naked in plain view. He could see she wasn't alone and it was also obvious that it was not Lucas who stood with her. The man with her turned then and Mouth almost fell over in shock as he took in the features of Nathan Scott. He was so astounded at the sight before him that Mouth falied to notice the sound of an approaching car. Headlights flashed over the two people standing outside watching and the girl turned from her intense study of her boyfriend and supposed friend in the middle of a very heated make out session.
Shock was clearly written all over her face as she realised that she was not alone in her voyuerism and had in fact been joined by a boy she recognised vaguely from school. Furious she stalked over to him unsure how she should handle being caught in such a compromising position.
"What are you doing here?" she bit out angrily.
"Funny I was going to ask you the same thing." he replied before finally taking the time to look at the other person.
"Oh my God Brooke, what are you...?"
"I really don't think thats any of your business. Now what I need to know is what is it going to take for you to not mention this little incident to anyone?"
Giving him no time to answer she rushed on "I can offer you 100 dollars."
Mouth's eyes bulged as he heard the offer. He couldn't remember ever being offered that sort of money before. Brooke could see his interest and suddenly realised that maybe he was the perfect accomplice to help her finally bring her long held plans to fruition.
"There's a lot more where that came from if you're interested in helping me with a little project." She purred stroking her fingers lightly over his arm.
"You're a friend of Lucas' right?" she asked casually.
End Flashback
Breaking out of his reverie he moved to stand up but became aware of more people heading towards the grave and decided to stay a little longer. This was his own form of penance he meted out to himself, standing, watching the lives he had destroyed because he had lacked the courage to stand up for himself. This latest batch of visitors were familiar to him too. He had known they would come but had been unprepared for the stark reality of seeing them again after so long.
The couple walked assuredly hand in hand to the grave having been there many times before. The man lifted the small child off his shoulders and set her on the ground.
She smiled broadly stretching out a hand to touch the cold marble.
"Hi Uncle Luke, we've come to visit you again. I made you a present." She said bringing her other hand out from behind her back to reveal a card. On the front was a stick figure of a boy with spiky yellow hair and what appeared to be a basketball in his hand.
"Mommy showed me a photo of you and I drew this picture just like the photo." She stated proudly.
"Lucy why don't you find a rock to stop Uncle Lucas' card from blowing away in the wind?" Haley suggested.
The dark haired child looked up at her mother for a moment as she considered her suggestion.
"Ok." She agreed.
"I'll be right back. Ok Uncle Lucas?"
She scampered off in search of the perfect rock because nothing but the best was suitable for her Uncle Lucas.
"Hey Handsome," Haley greeted the grave quietly using her old nickname for him.
"I've missed you."
Nathan's arm tightened on her waist as he saw the tears forming in her eyes but he remained silent allowing her to finish what she wanted to say.
"Its hard to believe that its been five years already." She told him.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for you and what you did for us." Her voice broke on the last word and Nathan took the opportunity to begin speaking.
"Hey man. Everything Haley just said goes double for me. I wouldn't have them at all if it wasn't for you and I truly can't imagine my life without Hales or our daughter."
"You'll never know how grateful I am." He concluded heavily.
Lucy came back interrupting their moment and with a flourish placed the card on the marble slab with the rock to hold it in place.
Turning to face her parents she gave them a questioning look.
Deciding her mother would be the best source of information she asked "Why do you and Daddy always say thank-you to Uncle Lucas whenever we come here."
"Lucy we've talked about this before" Nathan told her but Haley placed a reassuring hand on his arm.
"Its ok I'll tell you again."
"Remember how I told you that Uncle Lucas stopped me from getting hurt when you were in my tummy."
She nodded slowly she knew this story but it was one she insisted on hearing everytime they came to see Uncle Lucas.
"But why did the bad lady want to hurt us and why did she make Uncle Lucas go away?" she asked uncomprehendingly.
Nathan's voice broke into their conversation "The lady was sick and she didn't know what she was doing?"
"Plus" said Haley "she didn't know about you. None of us did."
But Lucy's mind was still stuck on her father's words.
"Did she get some medicine?" she asked seriously.
"She went to a special hospital where the doctors could take care of her and other sick people like her." Haley explained knowing the concept of mental health was not something a four year old needed to hear about.
Latching on to another fact she knew about the uncle she had never met she asked, "Uncle Lucas was your brother wasn't he Daddy?"
"That's right." Nathan replied glad the conversation had returned to safer ground.
"Was he your brother too Mommy?"
"No sweetheart he was just a very special friend of Mommy's."
She had long ago accepted the fact that that was all she and Lucas should ever have been and she knew he too had come to that realisation before he died. They say things become a lot clearer right before you die and it had certainly seemed to be the case for Lucas. She smiled sadly at the memory.
Flashback
The impact of his body sent her flying out of harms way and she landed on the ground with a thud. Lying dazed for a moment she tried desperately to regain her breath. Forcing herself up she looked at the spot where she had been standing just seconds before. Lucas lay there very still blood pouring from his many wounds. Haley scrambled over to him terrified of what she would find on closer inspection.
"Lucas," she screamed, "Lucas are you ok? Please be ok."
He turned his head slightly to look at her.
"You and Nathan are going to be really happy together Hales. I'm really glad for you."
Inhaling sharply he said his last words.
"I love you Hales."
Tears streamed down Haley's face as she clutched his arm hoping against hope that he would wake up again but it wasn't to be. She heard Nathan's voice yell her name across the parking lot and the sound of his footsteps running towards her then everything faded to black.
End Flashback
In a small, stark white room located in a town not too far away a young woman sat in a chair rocking to and fro. Her hair was a tangled mess and her thin body was practically swallowed up by the fluffy robe she wore. In her lap she held a plastic brown haired doll and as she rocked her voice could be heard echoing throughout the room its singsong tone almost melodic.
"Haley's been a naughty, naughty girl. She will be punished."
As she said the last words she looked down at the doll in her lap but she was not seeing a doll she was seeing a living, breathing person, a person by the name of Haley James. Twining her fingers through the matted hair of the doll she violently wrenched the head from the body and laughed joyously to herself.
In a room just down the hall a nurse watched this happen on her monitor and sighing wrote a note for the next shift.
Patient B. Davis will need another doll.
She didn't know why they just didn't buy a whole supply of dolls at a time rather than someone having to make the trip to the store at least three times a week to replace the doll that had been destroyed in some way. Surely they knew by now that the new dolls never lasted more than a day or two.
"Haley honey," Nathan's voice broke into her reverie and she pushed aside her thoughts of Lucas for the time being. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes" she answered smiling. "I'm ready."
His large hand enveloped hers and she held her daughter's much smaller one in her other hand and together they walked out of the cemetery. Together they headed home to the life they had built as a family.
A.N Well there it is the end of my second story. I have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I have recieved for this story. I still find it amazing that people find such positive things to say about my writing. If you're interested in reading any more of my OTH fics check out my new story The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same and my first story How The Mighty Have Fallen. Hope you enjoy them.
I want to say a special thank-you to my sister Jane who has definitely helped me in writing this story. She has given me lots of honest feedback about what she feels worked and didn't work and has offered me a few suggestions which I've been able to make use of. All this while she has been completing her honours year at University and trying to write her thesis. I really appreciate it Jane. Love you.
My other thank-you has to go to all my wonderful reviewers.
clarkson04, cherrymfzb, MisFaith1029, tinydancer7, Miss Mills, chicky39, Kaysie, hesfadedme, thetroublew/loveisi'm2lostinU, crystal, LiasonFan2, emogeek1, reader, ravenschickie23, jenaebee and marianne-larsen who all reviewed so regularly and genuinely gave me something to smile about.
I also want to thank my other reviewers Kendall, ababy99, Jenna, kaos2405, Magy, swtxshelly77, guest, Jessica, alex, Mik, Selene Romanov, complicatedsimplicity, aleese, heather dawn and Britt. I really appreciated all your feedback.
Please let me know what you think of this last chapter. Are you happy with the way I ended it?
Hopefully I'll hear from you all again with my next story.
Thanx again.
Ange x.