Here Comes Goodbye

(4/?)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they are property of One Tree Hill, it's writers and Mark Schwahn.

General Summary: Change affects everyone, and they cope with it the best they can.

Pairings: Brulian, Naley, Leyton

* * * * * * *

Most people didn't realize it, but the entire situation with Brooke and Julian had been strongly affecting her. It had changed everything in her life. For Samantha Walker, her world had been indefinitely altered when Brooke had made the eventual decision that they would stay in Tree Hill, that they wouldn't be going to Los Angeles with Julian. It was something that she was trying her best to understand, but at the same time was something that she didn't agree with it. Brooke and Sam had gone around on the subject and she was sure of the fact that no matter what she said to Brooke that it wasn't going to change anything. Sam breathed heavily as she brushed lightly at a tear that had slid down her cheek. She had been sitting in the diner in Tree Hill, a place that she had frequented often, drinking overly-sugared coffee with Julian across from her exchanging a banter-like relationship, and an understanding. He was the closest thing to a father that she had ever had.

Letting out a quiet breath, Sam looked down at the notebook that she had been scribbling mindlessly in. The truth was that it was stream of consciousness. It was therapeutic for Sam. She knew that if she had told Brooke that she would have understood. That if Brooke had known that she was struggling with all of this so much, that she would have listened, and that she would try to be there for her. And Julian? She still talked to him several times a week. It had already been three weeks since Julian had moved back to Los Angeles, after the abrupt stop to production of An Unkindness of Ravens. And though she saw Brooke everyday, even though she talked to Julian and she had Jack in her life- she still didn't feel like she should be opening up to any of them about her feelings. They were all going through so much. And so the one place she could be utterly open with what she was thinking and feeling, with all that had been running through her mind recently was pen and paper. It didn't judge, and it didn't have feelings- it wouldn't hurt or cry, or make decisions based on what she said, or in what they thought were in favor of her well being.

There was a level of guilt in the whole situation that Sam carried with herself. Nobody had ever once said that this was her fault. There hadn't been a finger pointed in her direction, and yet within herself she knew it to be the truth. Brooke had made her decision because Sam was in her life- if it hadn't been for Sam, if she hadn't been Brooke's foster daughter she wouldn't still be here in Tree Hill. She would be in Los Angeles with Julian, with someone that Brooke loved even if she was scared to say so. Brooke was heartbroken. Julian was heartbroken. And Sam? She was heartbroken, too. Not to mention confused and overwhelmed. Sam reached in front of her and brought the hot coffee to her lips, taking a few long sips. There was so much to consider and as she turned the envelope that had been addressed to her around in her hands, she wondered what exactly she was going to do.

* * * * * * *

"Look, Dad, I appreciate what you are trying to do. I do... But it's not needed." Julian finished as he leaned back in his chair, silently pinching the bridge of his nose as he held the phone against his ear. Julian had never had an especially close relationship with his father, Paul. The truth was they had practically been strangers to one another over the last ten years of his life, less for anything related to the business. His father had always been sure to remind him that he hadn't been good enough, that no matter what he wouldn't amount to anything. His relationship with Paul was nearly a mirror reflection to the relationship that Brooke shared with Victoria. Neither of them would be nominated as parent of the year anytime in the near future. Or likely, ever.

"It's not needed?" There was a tone of utter disbelief in Paul's tone as he spoke to his son. Then there was a long pause, as though searching for the right words to get through his son's thick skull. "Julian, what is it that you want?"

"What is this, a trick question?" Julian asked after a moment, suddenly baffled by his father. His forehead creased. As though his life wasn't confusing enough with the current mess that his love life had been in. With Brooke being out of his life, he had struggled a lot. Though the relationship that they had shared hadn't been long lived, it had definitely been real and intense. And Julian had loved her deeply. He still did. That wasn't something to be forgotten easily. It was with him everyday. That wasn't to say that he hadn't gone out to a bar, or looking for comfort in unhealthy ways- in a bottle, or in another woman. Surely, he'd had his share of drinks since arriving back in Los Angeles, but he hadn't been able to find it in himself to kiss another woman, let alone use them as a means of escape. "In all the years of my life you have never been concerned with my well being, and now you want to know what I want?"

"Julian." There was almost a scoffing tone to Paul's voice as he rolled his eyes on the other end of the phone. "Could you stop being dramatic for a moment? I could care less what you want in your personal life- you do what you want, no matter what I say. Just like you made the decision to come back here. But I have invested a lot of money in you as of late, a lot of money in your career and your little projects. You've been back for three weeks, and you've had endless manuscripts and scripts come across your desk. Pick something."

"Oh, yes, forgive me, Paul. I knew that I must have been mistaken when you showed some concern for my well being. And... excuse me if I don't just choose the first manuscript that I read. This is a long process-"

"Don't lecture me on what kind of a process this is, Julian." Paul was silent before he spoke again. "You know what, you showed a lot of potential with that last little project of yours. And the truth? You never would have come across it if it hadn't been for Peyton. This was meant to happen, Julian. Make something of it. You either do something, or quit. End of story." And with that, Paul flipped his cell phone shut, shaking his head minimally at his son.

Son of a bitch. Julian shook his head silently as he pulled his phone from his ear. It wasn't that he was surprised, his father had always been abrasive. Quite simply the man wanted him to delve into his work, to find something and produce it. And it wasn't that easy- not to find a piece of work that had potential, that could translate onto the screen and could leave the audience to walk away with something more than what they had sat down to. There had only been one author who had truly spoken to him lately. Letting out an easy breath he leaned forward and logged into his e-mail, bringing it up on his screen. Julian bit down on his bottom lip momentarily, before his eyes took in the many e-mails that he'd been getting from the teenage writer, from Samantha Walker. He had been reading through her most recent work before his father had interrupted him, and it seemed as though each one was more real, more raw. She definitely had a voice that demanded be listened to. And one that he wanted to hear. Silently he clicked on the reply button and responded to the one writer who he had read over the last three weeks that he truly felt had potential.

* * * * * * *

Brooke Davis breathed out slowly as she sat at her desk in the nearly empty confines of what was once Clothes Over Bros. Though it hadn't been a hit right off the bat and the sales hadn't been there, it had brought her back home. The store had been something that she had believed in, everything that she had believed in. Brooke had worked tirelessly since high school to achieve all of the success that she'd had- and now? It was all gone. All that she had were her relationships with people, with her friends. They were her family now, Sam was her family. And she had once wished that Julian would be as well, but she knew that wish was far in the past now.

It was all she had. As the brunette glanced around slowly in the empty shop, she knew that it was all gone. The company that she had worked so hard for, all of the hours she had put into sketching out the spring line and Baby Brooke, the magazine- all of it was gone now. And Brooke didn't think that she would ever feel that success again. But it wasn't just about the success that she had felt as a designer, it was the feeling that her life had been beginning to feel complete. She had the beginning of a family with Sam and Julian, she had her friends back in her life. Her friends were still amazing- and they were there for her, they were a constant shoulder for her to lean on. But no matter how much she talked about Julian being gone, or about how sad or lonely she was it wouldn't bring Julian back. He had his own life to get back to, and he couldn't help the fact that Brooke wasn't ready to open her heart up to someone completely yet. And she still had Sam- and that was what had mattered the most. The girl had truly become like a daughter to her. And maybe someday soon they would make that official.

She hadn't expected it with the way that their relationship had begun- with Sam stealing from her store, and nearly assaulting her. They had been through a lot together and come along way. And they had really grown together and found that they could rely on each other. As Brooke let out a ragged breath, she looked down at the face that she had sketched, brown eyes staring back at her. She was thankful as she heard the sound of the phone ringing, bringing it to her ear, running her free hand through her hair in utter exhaustion. "Brooke Davis." There was a long silence on the other line and Brooke breathed out in frustration. "Hello? If this is a prank I'm really not in the mood." She paused once more, allowing the person on the other line a chance to talk.

"Brooke... it's Julian." It was Brooke's turn to respond with silence, her heart pounding hard in her chest at the mere sound of his voice. Silently, her finger brushed against the sketch of the man who was speaking to her now. Shaking her head minimally she opened the top drawer, slipping the sketch inside before closing it. He couldn't be doing this- he couldn't just go around calling her. He had said goodbye to her at the airport, and they hadn't spoken to each other since then. The only contact that they shared was through Sam, talking about submitting her stories to Julian, or the kind of day that she had shared with Brooke. But this, calling her at the boutique? It wasn't fair, not to Brooke it wasn't. It was hard enough to make it through a day without every moment in the day being consumed with thoughts of Julian, she didn't need a reminder. She didn't need to hear the voice that she had missed so much. What could he possibly want? "Brooke, are you still there? I need to talk to you about something."