The Other James ~~ One Tree Hill FanFiction

Season 7, Ep 17&18

No A/N

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We all sat around the table, without any words being spoken. I found myself watching my mother and trying to make sure I would never forget how she sipped her orange juice, or played with her wedding band, or brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I know it's been awhile since we've done this but I remember there being more talking and EATING during breakfast!" Mom spoke, breaking my chain of thought.

"I'm sorry, mom. This is just really hard for us, too." Haley sighed, reaching over and taking her hand.

"I know!" Mom scoffed, "But I just want to enjoy breakfast with my favorite people."

We all nodded in agreement and continued on with breakfast. That's when Jamie came in and took a spot on his grandmother's lap. I noticed that I was staring at him, in fact, everyone was. He was the only one that didn't know what was going on.

"What's everyone staring at?" He questioned, chowing down on his bacon.

"You just took the last piece of bacon, J-Luke." I stated, trying to cut the tension.

"Come with me, bud!" Mother smiled, "I wanna show you something."

With a goodbye smile she took Jamie elsewhere and we were left to be. I ended up leaving as well because we had more filming to do today and I needed to busy my mind.

***

I sat in my chair, just looking over the scenes for today. No matter what I did, I found myself thinking about something. Obviously, my mother was at the top of that list... but Brooke made it into my mind as well, typical. I had stayed with her last night, just talking and crying with her but left without defining what it was or if she wanted it. Just then, she joined me and took a seat in the chair next to me.

"How'd it go this morning?" She asked.

I exhaled and shrugged, "Different... that's for sure. Hey, Brooke, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She nodded, with a slight smirk.

"Last night... was it okay that I stayed? Did you feel trapped or like you HAD to help me?"

"Tobin..." She sighed, reaching over and placing a gentle hand onto my forearm, "You coming to me is okay... it will always be okay. I am here."

"Okay." I stated, making direct eye contact with those beautiful eyes.

"Okay." She smiled.

"Toby!" Alex shouted, "We're ready for you!"

***

The bar at Tric was quiet tonight, and I could see Haley, Brooke, and Mouth all sitting on a couch interacting.

"How ya holdin' up?" Grubs asked, pouring me a drink.

I chugged the drink quickly and used my eyes to tell him to pour me another. "Not well." I replied, looking back over at Brooke. "Not well at anything."

"Well, even though you probably won't listen to something the bartender says, I think you guys will be okay." He smirked, pouring me yet another drink.

"What makes you think that?" I questioned.

"Because when you look at her, she looks away. Then when you look away, she looks." He stated, glancing in their direction, "Which, she's looking now."

I breathed out a laugh and pushed the final drink away. Haley came over to say goodbye and shortly after that Mouth rushed out of the building like he was on fire. Then, the one and only Brooke Davis took a spot next to me.