Chapter Two
Author's Note: I have to say I was very impressed by the number of responses I got to this fic. There's nothing quite like knowing a lot of people are reading and enjoying your story to make you want to continue with it. So I've decided that's what I'll do, but I wanted to address some of the questions I got first. If you don't see your question addressed, I'm sorry! I'm not ignoring you- the site's being really weird and I'm not getting all my reviews and I can't see all the ones I do have. There's no email alert thing working for that, either.
I received an anonymous review asking for clarification on whether Brooke or Lucas went to the same school. Brooke went to University of California: Irvine whereas Lucas stayed in North Carolina. It will be explained more in upcoming chapters, but the reason Lucas is in Irvine is because his basketball team was matched up against Brooke's during March Madness.
Little Miss Sunshine… I can't spoil the whole story for you now, can I? But in all seriousness, read the Author's Note for chapter one and you'll see we definitely agree about season 4, if that gives you a hint.
Joan. Joan, Joan, Joan. Sigh. You're totally right, but as I told you last night and I should tell others, I'm making a point of staying beyond where I uploaded. For instance, I have the first 21 chapters written for "Two Thousand Times A Day" so far, even though I've only uploaded 9. I plan to do the same with this.
Jalaye, I definitely plan to keep Lucas and Brooke in character! I've never seen the point in writing a fanfic where the characters are nothing like they are and just have the same name and physical description. There may be a little baking cookies later, but it certainly won't be in a Suzy Homemaker way.
Lynn, thanks a lot for reviewing! Hopefully that weird problem is solved now since I can see your review. The lines you quoted are interesting in the theme of the whole story because a big part of it is going to revolve around that- even if Lucas can convince Brooke to at least let him stick around and be part of the baby's life, he'll carry a lot of guilt for not having been there the past eight months.
September 5, 2007
It was almost 7:00 in the evening and Brooke Davis was laying in bed, cuddled up under her blankets. She'd always been a curious person, so being sick hit her extra hard because she liked to know what was going on around her.
"We missed you in practice today!" she heard an all too perky and all too loud voice as her bedroom door sprang open. "Are you feeling any better?"
Brooke lifted her head slightly to look at her roommate, crinkling her nose. "Not really," she admitted after a minute, hoping the other girl could tell by her tone that quiet was greatly appreciated. "I felt a little better for a while, and then I tried eating…"
Clementine made a face at her, skipping across the room and laying a hand on Brooke's forehead. "Well, you don't feel hot," she pointed out with a concerned look. "I hope you're not contagious, babe, because the squad's already down three people between you and Khrissy and Danielle randomly leaving for the week."
"Thanks for the concern," Brooke muttered dryly, glancing up at Clementine. "Would you mind getting me a water bottle?"
Clementine shook her head with just a little too much energy, her blue-black ponytail swinging from side to side. "No problem!" she announced as she scurried over to their mini-fridge.
Brooke sighed, closing her eyes for a second as she tried to ignore the nausea building up in her stomach. She and Clementine had been immediate friends, getting along a lot better than she'd expected. The morning she'd walked into her dorm room with all her luggage, Clementine had been sitting at her desk, dressed like a librarian and reading Nietzsche through her bifocals..
Then she'd burst out laughing when she'd seen Brooke's face and pulled the glasses off, telling Brooke she had her going for a minute. And she certainly had. Clementine was a good student, but far from the dork she'd decided to portray to freak out her new roommate. She never seemed to be studying or doing homework, and when Brooke had asked how she managed to do so well, Clementine had attributed it to her eidetic memory.
Before Brooke had any time to think any further on her roommate, Clementine had bounced her way back over to Brooke's bed and gingerly handed her a water bottle. "So… I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out tonight since there's this new club opening, but I'm thinking you're a no?"
Brooke crinkled up her nose at the idea of going somewhere packed with sweaty people and throbbing music. "Uh, yeah, I think I'll pass tonight. Sorry, Clementine."
Clementine just shrugged, narrowing her eyes as she studied Brooke. "Alright… but you really should try to eat today. I picked you up some crackers-"
"Yes, Mommy," Brooke interrupted with a teasing smile, not even wanting to think about eating at the moment.
"Mommy… hah," Clementine repeated with a roll of her eyes, growing pensive after a minute. "You know, it's kind of funny that you say that, because I was thinking earlier that all your symptoms remind me of when I was pregnant. If I didn't know better-"
"Wait, you were pregnant?" Brooke interrupted in shock, forcing herself into a sitting position and staring at Clementine through wide eyes. "When?"
Waving a hand in front of Brooke's face as if to push away Brooke's question, Clementine continued, "We aren't talking about me right now, Brooke. We're talking about you. And I was sixteen." She heaved a sigh, giving Brooke a small shrug. "But like I was saying, I know better… I mean, you said you dated some virgin all year, right?"
"Born again, but-"
"Whatever," Clementine rolled her eyes. "He's still lame. Point is, if you weren't having sex, you couldn't be knocked up, right?"
"Actually…" Brooke trailed off, pursing her lips as she thought about the night she'd gone to say goodbye to Lucas about a month ago.
Clementine giggled, rolling her eyes. "God, did they teach you anything in that high school, Brooke? I know it's the South, but this is just ridiculous. You can't get pregnant from giving a blowjob, regardless of how good it was!"
Rolling her eyes, Brooke locked gazes with her roommate, taking a deep breath. "Clem-" She broke off with a gulp, gesturing for her to sit down on the corner of her bed. "I- I think I should tell you something."
.
"Shh! Shh, calm down, it's probably just a false alarm," Clementine insisted, tiptoeing through the drug store with Brooke regardless of how "convinced" she was they were just being silly.
Brooke whimpered, glancing nervously around to make sure there wasn't anyone who knew them in the store before slipping into the aisle with pregnancy tests. "Yeah, but what if it's not, Clem? What am I going to do then?"
Clementine took a deep breath, studying her friend seriously. "Then we figure out what to do then, alright? We don't jump ahead and start worrying before you know anything." Sensing Brooke's hesitation, she rolled her eyes. "I'll go get the test; you stay here."
Giving her a grateful half-smile that didn't reach her eyes, Brooke nodded. "Could you pick up a few? Just so I can test a few times-"
"Yeah, of course," Clementine assured her, glancing around before darting the rest of the way down the aisle and returning a minute later with five different pregnancy tests in her hands. "I don't know if any kind's more accurate than the other, so I figured we could get a bunch of different kinds," she explained.
Brooke gulped, staring down at the tests. "Alright."
Studying her for a minute, Clementine sighed. "I'm gonna stay in with you tonight so you can't go crazy on your own, alright? And then tomorrow… if you want me to I'll be there when you take the test."
"That sounds good," Brooke murmured softly, letting Clementine wrap an arm around her back and lead her toward the counter at the front of the store with a sigh.
Clementine squeezed her side reassuringly, giving Brooke a coy pout. "See, this is why you don't sleep with exes," she teased with a giggle, earning a weak slap from Brooke.
"Not funny," she muttered with a pout as they stood in line at the counter.
Glancing at Brooke out of the corner of her eye, Clementine frowned. "I know."
.
"Alright, Brooke, if there's two lines, you're pregnant," Clementine instructed through the bathroom door, flipping through the manual that had come with one of the tests.
"Uh… alright, what about with the Clearblue?" Brooke asked, her voice obviously strained.
Clementine reached out for the box in question before pausing, cocking her head to the side and staring at the bathroom door. "Brooke?" she asked hesitantly, wetting her lips before continuing. "How many lines is there, babe?"
There was a pause that lasted just a little too long and Clementine knew the answer before Brooke spoke. "Two," came the soft reply.
Swearing under her breath, Clementine set the instructions down, glancing down at her feet as she tried to figure out a way to comfort Brooke. "Babe… that was the third test you got a positive result on," she pointed out after a long minute had passed, taking a deep breath. "Stop doing this to yourself. Lets just… let's get you to the doctor and have it confirmed. There's such a thing as a false positive, after all."
"It says right on the boxes that that's rare, Clem!" Brooke snapped, and Clementine couldn't really blame her. She doubted she'd be much sweeter if she were in Brooke's situation.
Clementine sighed, resting a hand against the door. "Come on out, Brooke. Sitting in the bathroom all day isn't going to change things, you know? You're going to drive yourself crazy if you don't go talk to the doctor."
The door opened slowly and Clementine's heart broke as she saw Brooke's tear-stained face. "The doctor's just going to talk to me about my choices, and I don't know, Clem. I don't know what to do."
Clementine frowned, pulling Brooke into a tight hug. "No one expects you to know what to do right away, Brooke. You have time to figure that out, alright? And you know I'll be your roomie regardless what you choose, right?"
Brooke nodded slightly, sniffling. "I'm gonna get tears on your shirt."
Clementine laughed slightly, just pulling Brooke closer. "It's discount, anyway. And even if it weren't, you're way more important to me than Marc."
.
"Well, Miss Davis, you're definitely pregnant."
Those were the words she'd been dreading. Brooke dragged her knees up to her chest as she stared at the campus doctor, open-mouthed. She didn't even know what to say. "Th-thanks," she mumbled, even though the news wasn't welcome.
The woman studied her through kind, bespectacled eyes. "I'm required by law to discuss your options with you and make sure you know there's a… clinic in Irvine."
"An abortion clinic?" Brooke assumed, her voice shaky at the idea. "I- I don't know."
"Is there anyone you want to contact? We don't have to have this conversation alone, Brooke. Parents? A boyfriend?"
Brooke shook her head, running her hand nervously through her hair. "No… I don't have either," she mumbled, swearing under her breath as she stared down at her stomach. "Uh, how long- do you know how long I've been pregnant?"
It was a dumb question; she knew the date of conception herself. She just wanted to hear the confirmation.
"Well, we'd have to do an ultrasound, but not very far. You still have plenty of time to make up your mind," the doctor misinterpreted, and even her kind smiles weren't much solace.
"I had sex about a month ago," Brooke responded candidly, biting her bottom lip. "Would that fit? I mean, it was the day before I came to school, so August 2nd."
The doctor paused, glancing down at her and nodding. "Yeah… that's most likely it. I still think you should make yourself an appointment with an OB/GYN and get an ultrasound, though. Have you considered what you want to do?"
Brooke gulped, glancing down at her hands. "It's all I think about," she admitted softly, not knowing what else to say. "It doesn't make the decision any easier, though, and it doesn't make me sure I'm doing the right thing."
The doctor nodded, sitting down opposite Brooke. "Do you have any feelings on abortion?" she asked after a minute.
Making a face, Brooke shrugged. "Not really. Like, I've always felt that it's a woman's right to choose, but not… I never pictured myself having to make that choice, I guess. I always pictured myself with a husband and kids… but not at 18."
With a small smile, the doctor continued, "Well, obviously that's a choice. What about adoption?"
"Uh," Brooke started uncomfortably, squirming around in her seat. "I don't think I'd be able to do that. It's really noble and all for the mothers who can and want their kids to have a better life, but… yeah. I just don't think that's for me." She wasn't about to tell a woman she'd just met that she couldn't imagine abandoning her son or daughter the way her parents had done to her.
"Well… it sounds to me like you've already made your mind up, Miss Davis."
Brooke paused, cocking her head to the side as she studied the doctor. She hadn't thought of it that way, but maybe the doctor was right. Maybe she wasn't ready for this, but maybe she'd have to be.