Nothing to Regret Δ One Tree Hill [ 2 ]

chapter thirteen

It's been a couple of weeks and Jessica has still been keeping her emotions locked up. She acts okay, but sometimes during nights she'll cry some.

Today she gets to Brooke's house only to walk in on a panicked Brooke.

"Hey. You okay?" Jessica asks.

"What are you doing here?" Brooke asks.

"We were supposed to hang out today." Jessica says.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry, honey, I just... Sam ran away and is missing, and I-I don't know what to do." Brooke says, pacing.

"Okay, okay, it's okay. We can go look for her. We'll go to the police and stuff." Jessica says.

"Jessi, you really don't have to help me with this." Brooke says. "I promise we will hang out another day."

"No, I want to help you." Jessica tells her.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"How are you so selfless?" Brooke asks, hugging the teenager.

+++

"Excuse me. Excuse me." Brooke calls as her and Jessica walk along the streets, looking for Sam. "I need some help. My daughter-- well, she's not my daughter. She's my foster daughter... sort of. She's... she's gone missing or run away or something." Brooke states.

"Okay, madam, slow down." A police officer tells her.

"Okay. Not a madam. And I'm-- I'm sorry. It's just, I've been up all night looking for Sam. Her name is Sam and she's usually back by now." Brooke says.

"Okay, so, Sam, and she's done this before?" The officer asks.

"Yes, but just to annoy me. It's..."

"And she comes back?"

"Yes, but this is different because..."

"Okay, madam, so far, all you have is a kid who's not really yours and who always comes back. There's nothing much we can do about that."

"So, that's it?"

"I'm sorry. Look, come down to the station tomorrow if she hasn't returned, okay?"

"To protect and serve, my ass."

+++

Brooke and Jessica split up to look for Sam, both thinking that it'll make the progress faster. Jessica has been going to houses and knocking on doors, asking if they've seen her. She gets to a white house that has 3 small windows on the door and knocks. It takes a few moments before the door is opened by a man probably in his 30s, possibly late 20s, and a shaved head.

"Hi." Jessica greets, suddenly feeling small, getting an unsettling feeling from the man.

"What do you want?" The man asks.