Brooke/Julian one shot.
Summary: She was in a full sprint now, trying to catch up to a guy she barely knew for a reason even she herself hadn’t figured out.
He was a poison to her, plain and simple.
Something she wanted like an addiction, but something she had to stay away from. She could never go to him, succumb to his charms and chivalry no matter how much she desperately wanted to. It wasn’t like the Brooke she was, wasn’t like the Brooke she wanted to be. The cold exterior, the warm heart, all factors that made Brooke who she was. She didn’t need anyone, especially not men, but the thought of having someone close to protect her from everything was more appealing than what she had been telling herself the past couple months.
He popped up out of nowhere about a month ago. The only ones that knew he was in town were Lucas and Peyton and Brooke wanted to laugh at the irony. He was here for Lucas and Peyton, just in two very different ways. With Lucas’ book, Julian seemed very invested in turning it into exactly what Lucas’ vision was. He was being professional when it came to Lucas’ project, and Brooke noticed this early on. But always being on Team Peyton made her forget these thoughts and focus on how to get rid of him to keep Lucas and Peyton’s relationship perfect.
And how perfect their relationship actually was. Brooke tried to ignore the fact that they were going to get married, but it just never happened for her. She tried to stop the feelings she got when she saw Lucas, but truthfully they were still there every time she saw him. At first they were overpowering, the kind where you had to leave the room or else you were going to have a panic attack kind, but then she learned how to deal with them, how to control them, and became friends with him instead. However, this didn’t help the growing sensation of emptiness that filled her every time she saw them together. She knew their future, and she knew it was bright and filled with love and picnics and family gatherings and everything else that soulmates did. Because that’s what Lucas and Peyton are: soulmates.
Brooke fought hard to keep her eyes from rolling.
Sam was the only thing in Brooke’s life that filled her with some kind of satisfaction. No matter how bad Sam was sometimes, she never wanted to give her away or tell her to leave. Brooke knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it. But Brooke was bored with her love life, her social life, and the men in her life. She wanted something more, and she thought Owen was it. And he was for a little while, until he showed his true colors that ended everything. Brooke wasn’t about to get sad over that though, she knew better. Peyton however didn’t, and went into a frenzy when Julian came to Tree Hill.
The first time he hit on Brooke wasn’t the first time she realized there was something good in him, something she liked. When she first saw him in Tric, standing by the pool table, something in her ignited. A space in her heart was filled with something that she immediately recognized as hope. She left before she or the feeling could let anything or anyone else in.
The second time she saw him, when he hit on her, she noticed he was good-looking. She studied his face, his chiseled jaw, his strong features, and was slightly intrigued. It wasn’t until Brooke looked up into his eyes that she saw something that gave away who he truly was. However, Peyton dragged her away before she could figure out what the truth behind his eyes meant.
The more he came around, the easier it was for Brooke to be in the same room with the perfect couple. Her feelings for Lucas went to a dull flame, just something that sparked slightly when he looked at her, or when he talked to her. No longer was the nervous jittery feeling she felt by just having him in the same room as her. Something about Julian gave her tranquility in the midst of the chaos.
What really got her thinking was when he came into her shop and told her about the opportunity he was bestowing on her. Even when he was explaining what a hard worker he was, even when he was going through the motions of how everything would work, and even when she uttered the words ‘no’ when he was all finished, Brooke knew somehow they were going to work together. She could feel it; it tingled on her skin right when he walked into her store. This time was different though, there was no Peyton to come and take her out of the situation. They were there alone, no one around them, and the close proximity of it all made Brooke really see the effect he had on her. Then he left, and Brooke went back to work.
And then Sam went missing.
Brooke searched frantically all over, asking everyone to see if they had seen her walking anywhere, maybe possibly with someone, anything she just needed any detail. She tried Owen but that didn’t go so well, not like she was surprised. She asked Julian, that small part of hope filling her again, that small hope that hadn’t filled her in the longest time. And when it came a second time, she let it in a little bit more, still not fully giving into it. Julian shook his head though, and claimed he wasn’t that guy. Excuses, that’s all it was. The two guys Brooke had gone to had let her down.
She was determined not to get discouraged.
She rushed out of the place, ignoring Owen’s protests and kept looking. When she went into that little coffee place though, everything changed. It was when Brooke looked at Julian in a whole new light, a light that Brooke wanted to get to know. Once the lady had uttered those words about how the last guy that came in just asked the same thing, Brooke knew something was about to change for her.
Julian had been looking for Sam. He went in there, not for the coffee he was claiming to get but to actually look for Sam. He cared.
Brooke’s heart started to melt and she quickly stopped it. Well damn him. Damn him and all the feelings that he evoked in her. And damn him because he even made her forget what was really going on around her. He made her forget that her first love was marrying his first love, and he made her forget that she went through a traumatic experience, and he just made her forget.
It wasn’t like she wanted to still think about Lucas, didn’t want to actually feel something when he called or when he talked about her, but she did. The spark wasn’t like how she used to feel it, wasn’t as strong as before, but it was still glowing dimly in background.
But when Julian was there, it was like Lucas never existed.
She saw him throw away his coffee and begin walking. She started to call out after him when her cell phone rang and stopped her words from forming.
“Hello?” She said impatiently into the phone.
“Brooke? It’s me Lucas. I just heard about Sam. Do you need another hand?” Lucas asked in the most caring, frantic, kind way. Damnit. The flame slowly started to creep back up on her, making her feel like she needed him to come and save her even though each time she thought he was going to, he never did.
Brooke looked again for Julian. She silently wished he was closer to her so she could fight these feelings. She could still see him walking down the street. His pace wasn’t that fast, she could still catch up to him.
“Brooke?” Lucas prodded from the other line. “Are you okay?”
Brooke sighed. She still couldn’t say no to Lucas. Maybe one more hand would help.
“Yeah Lucas, that would be great if you could help.”
He sounded instantly calmer when she told him where she was and he hung up quickly. When she hung up she tried to find Julian again, and when she did, all she saw was his dark eyes staring back at her for seconds as he rounded the corner.
“Julian!” She called, her heart obviously taking over her mind. But that little flicker of hope was back, overpowering the flame Lucas brought out in her seconds ago, except this time it came back with more force, her heart beating more than she could remember it ever doing for Lucas. “Julian!”
She was in a full sprint now, trying to catch up to a guy she barely knew for a reason even she herself hadn’t figured out.
She had to be crazy.
She thought he was long gone, probably heard her and didn’t want to confront her about asking about Sam. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to Brooke, thought she was too involved now, too close. All these things ran through her mind as she ran down the street but when she rounded the corner she saw him stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, not facing her but just stopped, staring straight ahead at nothing.
She walked her steps now more tentative, more uncertain.
“Julian,” His name now came out in a whisper, her heart beating faster and faster as she waited for him to say something, to do something.
“I told you Brooke,” He finally said quietly as he slowly turned around. “I’m not that guy.”
He knew Brooke caught him, he had to.
His eyes were dark as always, and the current dark atmosphere wasn’t helping. Brooke found herself searching for that truth he had again. He was more mysterious in the dark. If this was anyone else they would have ran from him, but Brooke didn’t. She wasn’t afraid of him.
“Then why did you ask about Sam?” She asked.
He slowly started walking to her, speeding up Brooke’s pulse, making her anxious.
“I thought she might be there,” He told her, “That’s where we first talked about her future career in the business. It was just a guess Brooke.”
She nodded, her heart slowing down. She searched his eyes, noticing they weren’t as dark as they were when he was farther away from her. They were now softer, more vulnerable, more like the Julian she got a glimpse of not too long ago.
“Well,” She began, “Thanks for trying.”
She began to walk away when she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her back. Her skin felt on fire at the touch. Her speeding heart was back, and Brooke begged for it to stop. His touch just felt so protective, so meaningful, and so real.
“You might want to check that friend of hers’ place,” He told her suggestively and let go of Brooke’s arm, “That guy would do anything for her.”
And that’s when it hit her, he really had been looking. Had been searching suspects, eliminating places she could be, asking around just like Brooke was. In fact, Brooke would bet that he was considering going to that kids place right now.
“Sounds like someone I know,” Brooke told him, hoping he would catch what she was saying. “And good idea. I’ll go there now.”
He grabbed Brooke’s hand almost instinctively as Brooke turned to go, proving to Brooke that he really was that kind of guy. He would never let a girl go alone to a kids house that she didn’t know and let her handle it herself. She knew he wouldn’t.
But then he backed away, and Brooke could see the vulnerability was gone. It was erased from his face just like that, and when Brooke heard the voice behind her she knew why.
“Brooke,” A voice called from behind her. “Let’s go.”
Lucas decided to show up at the exact moment Julian was willing to show Brooke his true self. Brooke silently cursed Lucas and his bad timing. The tension between Lucas and Julian was obvious, and Brooke found herself wishing it was because of her. She wiped the thought away and focused on Julian.
She gave a long look at Julian, trying to make sense of what had just happened, what she had just felt with him but got nothing.
Lucas began pulling her back and she let him, because there was still a part of her that liked his protectiveness over her, when he showed it of course. A small part of her still wanted to believe Lucas was going to save her one day, that he was the one for her and not Peyton, but now as she saw Julian standing on the sidewalk staring at them, willing to help but just not getting the chance, she realized Lucas didn’t shine in her eyes as much.
When Julian was around she could deal with Lucas being close to her, she could stay in the room that much longer. And the fact that they only knew each other for a couple weeks made Brooke that much more scared. Because there was only one other person that made her feel like that, and he was leading her away with his hand locked in hers back to the car at this very moment.
Her heart started racing just like earlier and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. When she looked back at Julian she got the confirmation she hoped Julian would give her; he smiled, dipping his head low as he continued walking down the street, his hands now buried inside of his pockets.
And suddenly the truth was laid out right there in front of her, and she finally let the feeling of hope seep all the way in.
