Hi my favorite humans :) this story was such a big leap for me and I'm so glad you're all enjoying it so much and I can't thank you all enough for being so patient between updates! I've been so stuck lately, I have three half-written one shots and no inspiration but hopefully now that CPD is back it'll help me get back in the swing of things! Stakeout makeout last night definitely helped ;) fingers crossed for more Linstead tonight! I hope you all enjoy this chapter – review, review, review! xo

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Babe, I'm home!" Jay yelled as he shut the apartment door behind him and lined his newly removed boots by the door. God, he loved being able to say that. He was met with a fit of giggles coming from his kitchen and raised his eyebrows in confusion as he made his way down the hallway to see what Brooke was up to.

"Hi!" Brooke exclaimed excitedly as he appeared in the kitchen, her surprise evident that she hadn't heard him come in or greet her. She placed her wine glass down on the table and stood up, swiftly crossing the kitchen to properly greet him with a kiss on the lips. "I missed you,"

"Aww," Nadia mocked from her place at the kitchen table and Jay realized her and Kim's presence for the first time. Well, that would explain the giggles.

Jay gave Brooke another quick kiss before she made her way back to her spot at the table. "Nadia, Kim. I'd say it's good to see you, but I just saw you like an hour ago. How did you get here before me?" He racked his brain to see if any of the women in front of him had told him of these plans, but came up empty.

Nadia rolled her eyes. "We left like three hours ago, you dork. That's what happens when you finish your paperwork on time."

Brooke laughed at the sass her boyfriend's partner gave him. "They're helping me get everything organized for the grand opening tomorrow." She smiled proudly, motioning to the mess on the table in front of her. Jay's normally neat eating space was filled with flowers, candles, party favors, pieces of paper – you name it, it was probably in that pile somewhere.

Jay shuddered at the mess as he reached into his fridge for a beer. "Do you need me to do anything?" he asked as he popped the top.

Brooke shook her head. "No thank you. You go relax and watch the game or something. I heard about your tackle today, you must be exhausted."

Jay groaned as Brooke brought his attention back the pain in his ribs. And his arm. And his head. And basically just about everywhere else. He hadn't wanted to tell Brooke about it, knowing she needed to focus all of her attention on her opening tomorrow night instead of worrying about him. "I'm fine, babe. Just yell if you need me, okay?" he asked as he began to walk back to the living room where his couch and the Cubs game was screaming his name.

"You got it," Brooke smiled at him as he retreated out of the kitchen.

"God you guys are cute," Kim groaned, not trying to let her jealousy show. Her and Adam were engaged but he wouldn't even meet her parents, yet here was Jay, wanting to participate in arts and crafts for a clothing boutique for his girlfriend of a few months.

Brooke just smiled as she arranged a vase of flowers. She never thought that this would be her; that she would have this life. No one ever referred to her relationships as "cute", they were always just "hot" or "sexy". Physical, not emotional. No one was ever jealous of her relationships. They were usually one sided and majority of the time, everyone knew she was being cheated on but her. This was so… different. It felt so right. And every time the thought crossed her mind, or someone pointed it out, she couldn't help but smile.

Later that night, when the flowers were arranged and the playlist was made and the paperwork was organized, Brooke led Nadia and Kim out of the apartment. She gave them a hug thanking them for their help and promised to see them the following night at the official grand opening of the Chicago location of Clothes Over Bros. Once the door was shut, Brooke breathed a sigh of relief that she was finally alone with Jay. While she had been enjoying the girls company and was thankful for their help, she had been secretly worrying about Jay ever since Nadia had relayed the story of the team's bust and Jay's subsequent tackle of a 300 pound man earlier in the day. She quietly made her way over to the back of the couch and stood behind it, placing her hands on Jay's shoulders and beginning to knead the tight muscles.

Jay let out a moan as he dropped his head to be back of the couch and looked up at his girlfriend, a smile overtaking his lips as he did so. "Hi pretty girl,"

"Hey," Brooke rasped back, keeping her hands on his shoulders as she leaned over the couch to press a kiss to his lips. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Jay repeated. And in reality, he was. Maybe he was a little sore, but the most beautiful girl in the world was standing above him and worrying about him and kissing him, so he was going to be just fine. "Come here." He patted the couch cushion next to him.

Brooke obliged, walking around to the front of the couch and sitting down next to Jay, immediately cuddling into his side. She made a move to pull away when Jay gasped in pain, but he immediately threw an arm around her shoulders to hold her in place. "I'm good."

"Promise? I don't want to hurt you," Brooke said softly as she gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"You could never," Jay promised, placing a kiss on the crown of her head and letting his lips linger for a minute. "Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Brooke nodded against his shoulder. "A little nervous though,"

"Why?" Jay asked as he absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair. "It's going to be great."

"I dunno," Brooke shrugged. "Life is just going really well right now. Like, life never goes this well for me and I feel like something has to go wrong soon. And this location… it's big. This could make or break my company,"

"Hey," Jay adjusted himself and Brooke so he was facing her. He gently held her chin in his hand to force her to look at him. "You are amazing. And your life is going well because you're working hard and you deserve it. I am so proud of you and so lucky to be on this journey with you. Tomorrow is going to be great and I can't wait to watch you blow everyone's minds. And your company is going to be better than ever."

Brooke took a deep breath and let her eyes flutter shut as she rested her head in Jay's hand. "Thank you," she breathed as she slowly opened her eyes. "I really needed to hear that."

"I didn't say anything but the truth, pretty girl." Jay leaned forward to once again rest his lips on her crown.

"I love you so much," Brooke moved her head so her lips met his. "Come on, I still owe you a massage," she winked as she stood up from the couch and grabbed Jay's hand to lead him into the bedroom.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are you ready? We're going to be late to your own opening!" Jay yelled to Brooke through the closed bedroom door. Brooke had disappeared to get ready almost two hours ago and other than popping in the bedroom for ten minutes to change almost an hour ago, he hadn't wanted to bother her. And he wanted to avoid the absolute mess that was his bedroom right now. He loved the girl, but it looked like her entire boutique was currently on his bedroom floor. He couldn't be mad though, he knew Brooke's nerves were getting the best of her and she wanted everything to be perfect for tonight.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, tension evident in her voice. Jay sighed at the sound and turned the doorknob to enter the room.

His jaw dropped when he saw her. She was wearing a dark, short sleeved red lace skater dress with a V-neck that dropped to just above her belly button. It hugged her curves in all of the right places and put her perfect cleavage on display in the most tasteful way. She'd paired it with black stilettos that made her legs look ten miles long and her long brown hair fell in loose waves down her back. "Brooke," he choked out, swallowing hard. "You look amazing."

She smiled as a blush similar to the color of her dress crept its way onto her cheeks. "Thank you," she rasped, her voice much gentler than it had been moments ago. "Sorry about this," she laughed as she motioned to the closet explosion that had happened throughout the bedroom.

"Don't worry about it," Jay shook his head, still unable to find an ounce of annoyance in his body. Especially when his girl looked like this. He stepped forward and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. "Let's go open the best store in Chicago, yeah?"

Brooke smiled gratefully as she squeezed his hand back. "Yeah."

A half hour later, Brooke inserted the key into the door of the newest shop on Michigan Ave. She let herself and Jay in and flicked on the lights, admiring her newest accomplishment. She'd spent majority of the morning and afternoon here decorating, dressing mannequins, organizing displays, and doing whatever else needed to be done to make tonight to as smoothly as possible.

"It looks great, babe." Jay came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her small body, pressing his lips to her neck.

"Thank you," Brooke smiled as she leaned back into him. "It's almost show time," she announced, glancing up at the clock that hung behind the register.

Jay placed a final kiss on her neck before releasing his hold on her body. "The team will be here soon. I think most of them are bringing their families. I hope there will be room for them when the entire city of Chicago shows up." He winked as Brooke rolled her eyes at him. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing… it's good. It's time." Brooke smiled proudly as she looked around her store again. Not a shirt, dress, or handbag was out of place on a hanger or shelf. There were comfy chairs and small accent tables around the huge space, strategically covered in candles and vases of flowers. A big table was set up in the middle of the store, holding bottles of champagne, glasses, and a sparkly ice bucket. String lights hung from the ceiling and the walls and the speakers were quietly playing today's Top 40 hits. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Brooke looked to her right to see majority of Jay's team standing outside.

"Let's do this, pretty girl." Jay squeezed her shoulder supportively as he made his way to the door to let Kim, Adam, Nadia, Kevin, and his little sister in. Brooke took a deep breath as she followed in Jay's direction but made her way to the front window of the store, pulling the chain to turn on the neon "open" sign. Her action was met by cheers from the team and a few other random Chicagoans who had followed them into the store. Clothes Over Bros Chicago location was officially open for business.

"Congratulations!" Nadia and Kim ran up to Brooke and engulfed her in a huge hug. "It looks amazing in here."

"Thanks guys," Brooke smiled proudly as she squeezed them back. She was next met with a hug by Atwater, who introduced her to his little sister Vanessa.

"Hey sweetheart," Brooke smiled as she bent down so she was eye level with the young girl. "Thank you for coming,"

"You're pretty," the little girl smiled at Brooke, reaching out to touch a curl of her hair.

"Thank you, you're very pretty yourself. Want to see something that would look amazing with that dress?" Brooke asked as she stood up, holding a hand out for Vanessa to take as she nodded eagerly. Brooke led her across the store to a display of handbags, carefully choosing a yellow wristlet that matched the young girl's sundress.

"Let me go ask Kevin if I can buy it!" Vanessa exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock as Brooke handed her the leather clutch.

"You don't have to buy it," Brooke laughed. "I'm giving it to you. It's a thank you gift for coming."

A wide smile spread across the little girl's face as she threw her hands around Brooke's legs in a hug. "Thank you!"

"Of course, cutie. Thank you for coming," Brooke ruffled her curly hair and the little girl ran off to show her brother her newfound treasure as more customers came up to greet Brooke.

Hours later, once the line at the register had finally come to an end, Brooke took the moment of peace to look out at her store. It was beginning to empty out due to the time but it was still filled with the members of Jay's team and their families, people whom she had just met but was already beginning to love. It was also filled with probably triple the amount of people she'd been expecting to show up tonight; there were probably more bodies in the store at this moment than had ever been in the Tree Hill location during its entire existence combined. Breathing a sigh of relief, Brooke switched off the radio and picked up the microphone on the counter.

"Hi everyone!" she spoke into the microphone and smiled at the crowd. "It's time to shut down for the night, but I can't thank you guys enough for coming out to the opening of Clothes Over Bros Chicago!" she paused for a minute as the crowd erupted in cheers. "I am so shocked and so thankful at the outcome of this night. I never expected this amount of support and I hope you all liked what you saw. It was my pleasure to meet so many amazing, welcoming Chicagoans tonight and I can't wait to continue to serve you. I just wanted to take these last few moments to say a thank you to everyone who helped this night come together and everyone who took time out of their busy lives to come see what my store was all about. And a special thank you to my amazing boyfriend, Jay. I couldn't have done this without you." Brooke stopped speaking again to catch her breath as the crowd elicited an 'aww'. "I hope to see you all back soon, thank you again!"

Brooke placed the microphone back down on the counter and turned the music back on while customers began to filter out of the store. Eventually, the space was empty and it was only her and Jay left. She watched with a smile as Jay held the door opening for the last customer, then locked it behind her before turning around. He began to walk towards Brooke as she walked out from behind the register, meeting him halfway in the middle of the store. "Guess what, pretty girl?" Jay asked as they met each other and he reached out to hold her hands.

"What?" Brooke asked, unable to wipe the smile off of her face.

"You did it." Jay smiled proudly at her as he let go of her hands to pull her in for a hug. He held her tight, resting his chin on her head. "You did it and I am so proud of you."

Brooke wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. "I couldn't have done it without you." Jay began to protest, but she quickly cut him off again. "Seriously. I would have lost my mind this week. I've never done this without Victoria or Millie before and it was hard, but you kept me grounded and helped me whenever I needed it and it just wouldn't have happened without your support. So thank you."

"Anything for you," Jay pulled out of the hug to press his lips to hers. "Let's clean up and get out of here, alright?"

Brooke nodded. "That sounds perfect." Everything in her life was perfect.

It was midnight by the time Jay and Brooke got back to the apartment and settled down on the couch in front of highlights of the Cubs game. "It's late, babe. You should go to bed so you're not tired for work tomorrow." Brooke mumbled from where she lay curled into Jay's side, even though she didn't want her personal pillow moving.

"I wanna hear about your night first." Jay smiled at her concern as he tightened his arm around her waist. He'd gladly be a zombie tomorrow if it meant more time with his girl tonight.

"You were there, you goof." Brooke laughed.

"But I wanna know what you thought. How'd the store do?" he asked.

"Good," Brooke smiled even though he couldn't see her face as she absentmindedly drew patterns on his chest. "We sold all of the original displays and emptied over half of the storage room in the back. I'm gonna have to place a rush order to restock in the morning."

"You're a rockstar." Jay leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.

Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "I love you," she told him and it gave Jay the very same butterflies it had the first time she said those words. She said it so simply, like they were the only three words in the world. So matter-of-factly. Like it was obvious. And from what Brooke had told him about her past, he knew it wasn't easy for her. He took pride in being able to get her to open up to him and being able to make her happy. He didn't have any idea what he'd done to deserve the girl lying in his arms, but he thanked God everyday for her.

"I love you too," he answered just as simply, and Brooke felt the same butterflies.