Hey dudes! I'm back with another update! Life's been crazy these past couple weeks, so sorry it took a little longer to update! We're starting to get somewhere with all of this, so enjoy!
PEYTON'S POV
Well, mission accomplished.
Brooke and I are still sitting at TRIC, drunk as hell and laughing our asses off.
"I think it'd be a good idea for you girls to switch to water now." Owen says hesitantly
"But it's only 5." Brooke does what she does best; she pouts. "The night is still young." She picked up the tequila bottle to inspect it. "We still have tequila left."
"I'm not serving you any more." Owen makes a grab for the bottle
I reach it before he does and I bring it close to myself. "But we're having fun."
"No, it's fine." Brooke smiles and reached into her purse. "I forgot that I brought you a little office warming gift." She pulls out a bottle. "Everyone with their own office should have a bottle of liquor in case of a hard day."
"Sweet!" I can't help but giggle
Owen scowls at us. "You can't drink it here at the bar."
"You wanna know something Hottie Bartender Boy?" Brooke frowns in thought. "You are one big party pooper."
"I know." He smiles and walks away
"It's fine Brooke. We can go sit in my new shiny office 30 feet away." I grin before Brooke makes a scene
Brooke sighs and throws some money down on the bar and glares at the back of Owen's head. "Party pooper." She mumbles again
We giggle as we stumble to my office, falling onto the new leather couch.
"This office is awesome." Brooke nods her head in approval. "We did good."
"We didn't do anything." I laugh. "This was all you baby. I just work here."
Brooke looks at me with the unreadable expression that unnerves me for some reason. "What?" I can't help but wonder
She shakes her head and smiles, averting her eyes. "Nothing." Her voice is soft. "What's your plan? Thought of anything?"
I sigh. "Why must you ruin the good vibes?"
"Sorry." Brooke says, no apology in her voice
"I guess my next step is finding an apartment."
"Probably a good move. You can't stay at the hotel forever." She teases
"Are you really leaving in a couple days?" I ask before I even know what I'm asking
I've wanted to ask her that since I heard her tell Victoria she would be back in New York. I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that, but I guess now is a good time since we're talking about plans.
Brooke rubs the bridge of her nose. "I don't know. I have to go back sometime. Soon. I have a company to run."
"I know."
"How about I help you look for apartments tomorrow." She changes the subject with a smile. "I'll even put all of the deposits down."
"Come on. You don't have to do that."
"You're my employee. I can do whatever I want." She grins
"Ouch." I hold a hand over my heart in mock hurt. "That's all I am to you now? Just another employee?"
"Pretty much." She agrees with a nod of her head
"And here I thought we used to be best friends." I sigh dramatically. "I guess I was mistaken." I stand up. "Are you allowed to be seen drinking with us little people? Isn't that against the rules?" I tease
Brooke laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me back to the couch.
In my drunken state, I sort of trip over my own feet, and instead of falling into a sitting position, I fall ungracefully.
Ungracefully right on top of Brooke, pinning her under me.
Our faces are only inches apart, and I can feel her hot breath tickling my lips.
"I think I can make an exception." She whispers and looks down at my lips
"Whatever you say boss lady." I can't help but whisper back
I don't know why, but I have this urgent need to close the small gap between us. Searching Brooke's eyes for a sign of hesitation, I smile when I don't find any.
Slowly lowering my face to hers, there's a sudden knock at the door, breaking whatever trance was over us.
I jump up like I've been electrocuted as realization of what I was about to do hits me.
"Come in!" Brooke calls out, looking everywhere but me
Owen pokes his head in, and I could slap his pretty face right now. "I feel bad. Why don't you two come back out here and keep me company." He smiles and runs his hand through his hair. "I kind of miss the verbal abuse."
"Of course you do." Brooke smirks and walks right past me
She doesn't even look at me as she walks out of my office.
I can't help but feel like I've done this before.
Except last time, it was a hell of a lot more painful.
FLASHBACK
"Brooke. Don't go." Peyton quietly begged
Brooke was standing at the end of the bed, throwing clothes into her suitcase. She turned back to the closet, grabbed another pile of clothes, and threw those on top of the others.
"Brooke!" Peyton said firmly. "Will you please stop and talk to me."
When Brooke didn't answer, Peyton walked up to her and grabbed her by the arms, forcing Brooke to face her.
"Let me go." Brooke growled, avoiding Peyton's eyes
"Please don't run away from me."
Brooke broke free from the blonde and zipped up her suitcase. Picking it up from the bed, Brooke headed towards the door.
"Can we please just talk about this?" Peyton sobbed
Brooke stopped, but didn't turn around. "I don't want to talk. That's all we've ever done, is talk. I'm sick of it." She said harshly, hiding her tears from the blonde. "There's nothing more to talk about. I have a plane to catch."
"Brooke."
"Goodbye Peyton."
Peyton was left with only the sound of her sobs as Brooke walked out of the door.
"P. Sawyer!" Brooke yells with a laugh, snapping me out of my daze. "Get your ass out here. The place is hoppin tonight."
"It's not like we were gone that long." I glance at the clock
"Apparently there's this band playing in a little, and they must be pretty popular because it's packed."
"Let's get our drink on." I smile as I walk up to her
"Yeah, because we really need more." She teases with an eye roll and grabs my arm, yanking me into the bar
BROOKE'S POV
Damn there are some hot boys here tonight. It's funny how there are such good-looking men in a small town like Tree Hill. Sometimes I forget how many hot guys I snagged living here.
I glance at Peyton who's nodding her head to the music, and I can't help but giggle.
She looks like one of those bobble head toys.
"What?" She asks over the music when she hears my laugh
I shake my head with a smile, which I'm sure looks pretty goofy at the moment. "Nothing." I chuckle as I turn my attention back to the band.
They suck.
Which means it's exactly the type of music Peyton is into.
Not able to help myself, I glance at her again, but look away before she realizes that I'm dealing with a slight staring issue.
It might just be that I'm drunk, but I think Peyton almost kissed me earlier.
Scratch that… She did almost kiss me earlier.
And I wanted it.
"Hi." A voice suddenly says at my shoulder, pulling me out my thoughts
I turn to the voice with a fake smile to find a decently attractive guy smirking at me. "Hi."
"Can I buy you a drink?" He offers
"Can I get a name?" I counter with a raised brow
"Jared."
"Brooke." I smile. "You enjoying the music?"
Jared signals Owen over and orders me another drink that I probably shouldn't drink. "They're alright. Not really my style." He tries to discretely look me over
"Me either."
"You want to get out of here?" He asks suddenly and leans in closer
Wow. This guy has no tact. That might have worked when I was 16, but I'm officially not interested now.
"You know, I'm not sure my girlfriend would like that very much." I give him a sad smile
"Girlfriend?" He scoffs skeptically
I hope Peyton remembers this game as I grab her arm and pull her close.
"What the hell Brooke." Peyton grumbles
"Peyton, this is Jared. Jared, this is my girlfriend Peyton." I say pointedly
Confusion flashes in Peyton's eyes for only a second before her face breaks out into a smile. "Hi Jared. It's nice to meet you."
"You too." Jared mumbles and walks away with his tail in-between his legs
"What, no more free drinks?" I call out to his retreating form with a giggle
Peyton laughs beside me and I turn to her with a thankful smile.
"It's been a long time since we've played the girlfriend card." Peyton smiles
"I wasn't sure if you would play along."
"Why wouldn't I? We've had some fun playing that game." Peyton looks to where Jared disappeared. "His reaction was pretty boring."
"He asked me to leave with him after one drink. I figured I'd use you to help me run him off." I shrug
"Glad I could help." She leans in close, grabbing the back of my neck as she whispers in my ear. "Next time you want to play the girlfriend card, make sure we can at least have some fun with it."
I involuntarily shiver at her seductive tone, and I turn around to find Owen giving me a shit-eating grin.
"What's that look for." I scowl
He sets a shot down in front of me. "I know your secret Brooke Davis." He winks and turns away
I knit my brows in confusion.
What the fuck is he talking about?
A familiar face catches my eye, and I yell over the music. "Haley!"
Haley turns towards me, startled, and laughs. "Hey guys." She makes her way over to Peyton and me
"What are you doing here?" Peyton asks as she gives Haley a hug
Haley shifts nervously. "Me and umm… Just here to check out the band." She gives us a nervous smile
"What's wrong with-"
"There you are." Lindsey suddenly pops up next to Haley
"Lindsey!" Peyton says in surprise. "Hi."
"Hi." Lindsey says hesitantly
There's a moment where we're all sitting in uncomfortable silence as the band finishes their set. As soon as it's quiet enough for us to not have to yell, Lindsey turns to us. "Shots?"
We all agree quickly.
"I'm going to go talk to the band." Peyton stands up after the shot and stumbles away
"Is anyone else here?" I wonder
"The guys are all on their way." Haley sighs
"Nifty." I burp
Lindsey laughs. "How drunk are you?"
"Well, Peyt and I are onto our second bottle of tequila, so we're both pretty much shit-canned and a half." I grin
"We should dance." Haley suggests and points to the crowd starting to gather on the dance floor
The three of us make our way to the middle of the people dancing and start to sway to the music.
"Hello ladies." Luke smiles as he joins us, giving Lindsey a quick kiss
"Hi Broody." I pull him into a hug. "Dance with me." I wink
Lucas turns to Lindsey to silently ask permission, and she nods with a laugh.
I grab his arm and start to dance with him. "You proposed." I say matter-of-factly
"Yep." Lucas smiles and glances at his fiancée. "I've been wanting to for a while."
"And you choose right now."
"No time like the present."
"Ah. Right." I say, a smile pulling at my lips
"What?" Lucas takes a step back. "What is it you're wanting to say."
"You propose a week and a half after a certain skinny blonde pops back into the picture."
"That's not fair."
"Oh really?"
"Let me ask you something. Why are you still here in Tree Hill?"
I stop dancing to stare at Lucas. "Wow. Tell me how you really feel."
"I didn't mean it like that." Lucas sighs. "All I mean is that you made such a big deal about needing to go back, yet you're still here. Still here, and staying with Peyton. Investing in her label… Everything because of Peyton." Lucas gives me a knowing look
"I don't know what you're talking about Lucas."
"Please Brooke. When are you going to stop lying to me and hiding the fact that-"
"Brooke!" Peyton runs up to me, her face lit up like a Christmas tree
I tear my shocked gaze from Lucas to look at Peyton. "What's up P.Sawyer?"
Lucas backs away to go back to Haley and Lindsey and I take a deep breath.
"You'll never guess what I just did."
"You found a guy and had mad, hot, passionate monkey sex in the bathroom."
"What? No!" Peyton laughed. "Ew." She crinkles her nose. "Shut up and listen to me! I went to talk to the band."
"You always talk to the band."
"They're coming in tomorrow to talk about being the first band I sign." Peyton beams
I don't know why the room is suddenly spinning, but it is, and it feels about 20 degrees hotter in here all of a sudden. Everything is starting to go fuzzy.
"Brooke?" Peyton asks in concern. "You're not looking so hot."
"Yeah. I, umm…" I trail off as I start to take in deep breaths
"Brooke. What-"
The next thing I know, I'm pushing past Peyton and rushing to the bathroom. As soon as I find an empty stall, I'm emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet.
Peyton is right behind me and starts to rub my back.
God. I haven't thrown up from drinking in… I don't even know how long.
I do know that I feel so much better now.
I stand up straight and give Peyton a sheephish smile. "Sorry."
"Was the band that bad?" Peyton jokes
I can't help but laugh. "No. I'm really excited for you."
"Come on." Peyton nods her head towards the door. "Let's head back to the hotel."
"But I want to dance." I pout
"Babe, you just blew chunks."
"Thanks Captain Obvious." I roll my eyes. "I'm ready for some dancing and some shots."
A dude suddenly walks into the bathroom and stares at us.
"Excuse us. This is the ladies room." I scowl at him
"Brooke." Peyton whispers and chokes back a laugh
I look around and blush. "Oops. Sorry." I smile at the guy and run out of the bathroom. Turning around, I slap Peyton's arm. "You could have told me it was the men's room."
"I didn't really have the chance with your head in the toilet and all." Peyton cracks up
"Now I really need another shot." I mutter and head towards the bar, Peyton laughing at me the whole way
PEYTON'S POV
Everyone is out on the dance floor having a good time, but I'm getting nervous about talking to the band in the morning.
So I decided to come to my office to sit and think for a minute in silence.
I'm sure I look like an idiot, sitting on the couch by myself, grinning at the wall.
At least I'm by myself until the door opens and Luke pops his head in, that is.
"I was wondering where you ran off to." Lucas smiles as he slowly steps in and shuts the door
"What are you doing here?" I can't help but snap
He shrugs and starts walking towards me. "You haven't talked to me much this past week. In fact, it seems like you're avoiding me."
"I am."
I figure honesty is the best approach here. Especially since I've had enough alcohol to not give a shit.
"Why?"
"Why?" I scoff. "Lucas, are you that blind?"
"You turned me down Peyton." Lucas throws his hands up in agitation. "And then you let me walk out of your life. You didn't try to come catch me. You didn't try to call me for months. You didn't do anything Peyton. What was I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for you?" He looks me dead in the eye. "I'm glad I didn't, because I would have been waiting for 4 years."
"You left before I woke up!" I say softly. "You were just gone. I told you I needed time to think, and you just left."
"Because we both know the reason you were hesitant. I stood no chance against it. Why stay just to be heartbroken again when you woke up?"
"I did try Lucas. I had an entire notebook filled with letters."
"I'm happy Peyton." Lucas walks up to me. "And you could have an entire room filled with letters, because it never mattered. You never sent one."
"I still love you."
"No you don't. You're just drunk." Lucas says sadly and starts to walk away
"I was going to say yes." I blurt
Lucas whips around. "What?"
"After you fell asleep that night, I thought about it. I tried to wake you, but you were out. I fell asleep, and when I woke up the next morning, you were gone." I can tell that the tears are falling freely down my face. "I was going to say yes." I whisper
"Then you should have told me. By you not, I don't think that your heart was completely sure."
I don't know why, but I need to see if these feelings are still real.
Storming up to Lucas, I snake my arms around his neck, bringing my lips to his, and kissing him with everything in me.
He pushes me back in shock. "Peyton…"
"I'm sorry."
And I am.
I thought I would feel something, all those emotions, rush back when I kissed him.
But I felt nothing.
Maybe it's the alcohol, but I felt nothing.
"Well well." A voice says from the door and Lucas and I both turn around in fear. "I see you're both still up to your sneaky, cheating ways. Apparently some things never change."
"Brooke." I search for an explanation
"I'm just glad that I'm not the one getting fucked over this time." Brooke adds. "Lindsey was looking for you. Good thing I found you before she did." She glares at Lucas
Lucas takes one last look at me and walks out of my office.
"Can we please leave now." I whisper and wipe my tears
"Sure." Brooke nods
"Can you drive?"
"I'll have Owen call us a cab." Brooke gives me an understanding smile, and it breaks my heart even more for some reason
I can't believe I kissed him.
I can't believe I felt nothing.
I can't believe I've been living in the past for so long.
BROOKE'S POV
I walked in on Peyton and Lucas.
Again.
I feel like I'm back in High School when they were sneaking around behind my back. And it frustrates me that I felt all those feelings of jealousy and betrayal flare back up again.
It was years ago. Why can we not get over this?
Looking over at my old best friend, I can tell immediately that something is off. Lucas left, and she has this unreadable look on her face. I wonder what happened in there before I caught them.
Walking up to Owen to get the number to call a cab, Peyton orders a shot before I can even open my mouth.
"I thought you wanted to leave." I ask Peyton, confused
"Let's dance." Peyton says and downs her shot
"I'm not sure that's the best idea." I say slowly
"Are you my friend or my mother." Peyton snaps and signals Owen for another
I'm not going to argue with her right now.
"Owen." I say gently when Peyton turns around to watch everyone. "Can you call us a cab please?"
"Sure." He nods and turns around
"Hey!" I hiss quietly to get his attention. "If she orders more shots, use water." I instruct him
He gives me an odd look, but nods.
"You want to dance?" I turn to Peyton, acting like nothing is wrong
"Nah. I'm good. The alcohol is here." Peyton responds, a million miles away
Good God she's turned into an alcoholic.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I prod gently
"Nope."
"Ok."
She orders a few more shots, so drunk she doesn't even realize that they are water.
"I called a cab." I inform her a few minutes later. "It's probably here."
"Whatever."
I throw money down for our tab and grab her hand. "Come on. Let's head back to the hotel."
Peyton nods and lets me lead her outside. We get into the cab and ride in silence back to the hotel. Peyton is staring blankly out of the window, and I rub circles on her hand with my thumb.
She hasn't let go of my hand since we left TRIC.
I'm not going to push her to talk. It's never done any good in the past, and I know her well enough to know that she'll open up eventually.
We get to the hotel and walk into the room, still not a word spoken between us. I throw my purse down and take my heels of, sighing in relief. "Those were killing me feet." I say, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm going to go brush my teeth real fast."
Peyton grunts in response.
Apparently her kiss with Lucas has made her fucking speechless.
We still haven't gotten another room. I don't think either of us care at this point though, to be honest. We had plenty of opportunities to, but neither of us ever made the effort.
After we've both gotten ready for bed, we climb in and I can't help but pray that the room stops spinning. Fucking alcohol.
After taking a few minutes to get comfortable, I'm almost asleep when I feel the bed shaking.
Peyton's crying.
"Peyton?" I whisper and put my hand gently on her shoulder
"What did I do?" She sobs
"You followed your heart."
She turns around and throws herself into my arms. "Oh Pey." I sigh and run my fingers through her hair as she cries
"I made an idiot of myself."
"Sweetie-"
"I thought I still loved him. 4 years later, and I fooled myself into thinking that I still wanted him. You know what upsets me the most? I didn't feel a thing. Not a fucking thing." Peyton lets out a bitter laugh
"What?"
I was not expecting that. Peyton has been pining over him for so long, it feels like a lifetime.
"I think I was more in love with the idea of it all." Peyton shifts to get more comfortable, and I suddenly realize our position
She's lying on top of me, her arms around my neck, my hand running up and down her back comfortingly.
Peyton must have realized the same thing, because she sits up slightly to wipe her tears. "Sorry." She smiles shyly and starts to move
"It's ok." I say quickly and tighten my grip on her
She grins and puts her head back down. "What do I do now? It's going to be so awkward."
"When has it not been awkward between you two?" I joke. "Just play it off like you were so drunk you don't remember."
Peyton chuckles, and I smile knowing she's not as upset. She sighs and I tense as her breath tickles my neck.
Peyton shifts again, and the next thing I know her tongue is darting out and lightly licking the side of my neck.
"Peyt." I can't help but moan when she bites down lightly
Peyton pulls my hair, yanking my head to the side, exposing more of my neck.
My fingers grip her back tightly as my body starts to respond to her actions.
"What are you doing?" I breathe heavily
"Whatever I want." Peyton mumbles and sucks on my pulse point
She's drunk and hurting, and I'm just here and convenient. This is wrong. I don't need to give her something else to regret in the morning.
I don't want anything to regret in the morning.
I knew sharing a bed would come back to bite me in the ass.
"Please." I beg. "Stop."
"Do you really want that?" Peyton scrapes her teeth against my collarbone
I push Peyton off of me. "I don't want to be the person you use when you're emotions are all mixed up."
"You didn't care before." Peyton has an evil smirk on her face
"That's not fair." I scoff
"Life isn't fair Brooke."
I look at her thoughtfully as she moves towards me again.
Oh, what the hell.
I grab her and pull her back on top of me, crashing our lips together. I moan as her teeth tug at my bottom lip and use it as an opportunity to shove my tongue into her mouth. She shudders when our tongues meet, and we battle for dominance.
This feels so good.
So bad, but so good.
So familiar.
FLASHBACK
"Brookie." Peyton taunted drunkenly as she slowly crawled her way up the bed towards the brunette
"You and Luke have a fight again?" Brooke muttered and flipped the page in her magazine
"Does it matter?" Peyton asked
"What happened this time." Brooke sighed
Peyton pouted and stopped her advances. "You're no fun tonight, you know that?" She complained
Brooke shrugged. "I'm not in the mood to be fucked with."
Peyton smirked and started to run her hand up and down Brooke's thigh. Brooke finally set her magazine down and reached for Peyton all in one motion.
"I knew you'd give in." Peyton mumbled against Brooke's lips
"Just shut up and fuck me." Brooke grumbled, pulling the blonde's shirt off roughly
Peyton's hands are in my hair and her leg is making its way in-between mine as I remember back.
She had gone back to Lucas the next day, like she did every time, acting like nothing had happened.
"No!" I practically yell and push Peyton off of me again, jumping out of the bed
"What the fuck?" Peyton snaps
"I'm not going to be another drunken mistake you make tonight." I say harshly
I'm not trying to make her upset.
I know it was a low blow.
But I also know it's the only way I'll be able to stop this from happening.
"Let's just go to bed." I say calmly
"Right. Whatever Brooke." Peyton shakes her head and rolls over, passing out immediately.
I get back into bed and try to fall asleep. My thoughts are racing, and I realize that sleep probably won't be coming for a while.