Tree Hill
(based on season 2)
Emma, Brooke and Peyton were in a store in the mall looking for dresses. Well, Brooke and Emma were looking for dresses. Peyton had talked to her sister earlier, to make sure the girl wouldn't feel bad about her going with their mother's dress. And to Brooke's surprise, Emma and Peyton were going to pay for Brooke's dress, the brunette girl just didn't know it yet.
Brooke had stopped in front of a lilac dress and said.
"Maybe, I could just buy it, keep the tags on and return in the next day. I mean, it's a formal." Brooke had said as she looked at the dress, then looked at Emma and Peyton who were standing with their arms crossed looking at her.
"I'm not going to be wearing it for that long anyway." Brooke said.
The sisters laughed at Brooke's words. Brooke picked up the dress and put it in front of her.
"What do you guys think?" Brooke asked.
Emma and Peyton pretended not to like the dress, Brooke put the dress back on and Emma pulled it off the hanger and threw it to Peyton who was going to the cashier to pay for Brooke's dress.
"You two are so not my best friends anymore." Brooke said, pointing her finger at the Sawyer sisters.
"We are buying it for you, B. Davis." Emma said from the checkout next to her sister.
"You guys are so my best friend again." Brooke said jumping from joy.
The girls smiled and hugged Brooke. After paying, the girls went back to find a dress for Emma, who hated everything they had found.
"Okay, never mind. I'll reuse some dress from my closet." Emma said.
"Emm's, we can go to other stores." Peyton offered, but Emma shrugged and asked to leave.
When Emma arrived in her room with Peyton, the two girls saw a large box on the girl's bed.
"What did you buy, Emm's?" Peyton asked.
"Nothing." Emma said, looking strangely at the box.
Emma saw an envelope on top of the box and picked it up to read.
'I hope you haven't bought any dresses or the situation will get awkward.
I hope you like it.
Yours
Ethan.
Peyton was reading the card over her sister's shoulder and patted the girl on the arm, urging her to open it quickly. As soon as Emma opened it, she saw that it was a dress. Emma removed the dress completely from the box and put it on in front of her body, running to see it complete in the mirror. Then the girl ran into the bathroom to try on the dress, returning to show it to her sister.
"Emma, the dress is beautiful." Peyton said.
Emma couldn't answer, she just smiled at her sister.
"Okay, does that smile mean you're not going with me to Tric's to go to Ethan's to thank him?" Peyton asked.
"'Peyton, I'm going with you to Tric. Can I just call Ethan first?" Emma asked her sister, who just nodded.
Emma had changed again and left her dress stretched out on the bed, while she sat down on the carpet in her room to call Ethan, and on the second ring Ethan was already saying 'hi, pom-poms'.
"Hi, pretty boy."
"Did you like it?" Ethan's voice sounded on Emma's cell phone, questioning him.
"No." Emma said, Emma heard Ethan cough and start to stutter. "I loved it, Ethan." Emma said laughing.
"Don't play with my heart like that, Emm's."
"Sorry. But how did you know my number right?" Emma asked.
"Well, I tried to describe you to the woman in the store and then I made the poor saleswoman show me a trillion dresses that I imagined you would like." Ethan explained.
"Thanks, Ethan." Emma thanked the boy without stopping smiling.
[....]
Peyton had gone to Tric without her sister, and when Emma arrived Ricki was leaving. Emma didn't like it one bit.
Emma knows that Karen found out about the drug situation and said she didn't want Ricki in her club anymore. Karen was absolutely right.
When Emma met Peyton, Emma wasn't smiling.
"I've just seen Ricki. What did he want?" Emma asked.
"He left some CDs." Peyton replied and then saw the look on her sister's face. "Nothing happened, Emm's."
"Promise?" Emma asked.
"I promise."
Peyton came around the counter and put her arm around her sister's shoulder.
"Emm's, what do you think about you and Haley singing at Tric again?" Peyton asked.
"Count me in." Emma replied.
"A whole set?" Peyton asked more quietly.
"What?" Emma stopped walking.
"I'm serious, Emm's. You're great, people loved it." Peyton tried to reassure her sister.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely." Peyton said. "Now let's go over to Karen's café and see if Haley's up for it." Peyton said, pulling her sister along.
[....]
Emma was in her room, lying on her bed playing with the stress ball, when she heard Brooke's voice calling her.
"Emm's, Peyton's room."
Emma went into her sister's room and saw Brooke admiring the dress that Peyton was going to wear. It was the dress the girls' mother had worn to her prom. Emma knew that Peyton would be thrilled with the dress, but Peyton didn't seem excited.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Emma murmured next to her sister.
"Yeah, it's okay." Peyton said.
But Emma couldn't believe it. Brooke looked at the two sisters and said.
"It's going to be a great night. Just the three of us."
As if on cue, Anna's voice sounded behind the girls. Brooke closed her eyes, mumbling something, and Peyton went to try and make Anna not feel out of place.
"Brooke, don't be so jealous." Emma whispered to Brooke, seeing that the girl had pulled away. Brooke pouted, and Emma laughed at the girl messing up her hair. "Come on, B. Davis."
Anna then said she needed help with her hair, asking if Lucas preferred it wavy or straight. Emma laughed out loud when Brooke and Peyton stopped next to Anna.
The four girls started getting ready, applying make-up, fixing their hair and putting on their dresses, showing each other around. No more drama.
[....]
Emma had driven with Peyton and Brooke to the dance, and was going to meet Ethan there. The girls had entered the nicely decorated gymnasium, but Emma wasn't paying any attention, just scanning the place for Ethan. Emma heard Peyton say that Anna was saving a place for them at the same table as her.
The girls met up with Felix and Mouth, and Brooke ended up pulling Mouth into the first dance. Leaving Emma and Peyton with Felix. Emma felt a hand touch her arm gently.
"Dance with me, Pompons?" Ethan whispered in the girl's ear.
Emma turned to face Ethan and just nodded. Ethan led them onto the dance floor, while they danced to that slow song together.
"You look beautiful, Emma." Ethan murmured.
Emma lifted her face to look at Ethan's face, and the girl lost herself in Ethan's eyes. Emma had always thought that Ethan's eyes were the same color as the early morning sky. That light blue with a few clouds.
Emma didn't look away.
"The dress is the same color as your eyes." Emma murmured.
Ethan smiled, perhaps he liked the color of the dress so much because of that. Or maybe it was because Emma's eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than his. And he was in love with the way the girl's eyes seemed to sparkle when she smiled.
"I'm glad you liked it, Pompons." Ethan whispered.
Emma noticed her sister sitting alone, and Ethan looked in the same direction.
"Shall we go and accompany our Cinderella?" Ethan muttered.
"Our Cinderella?" Emma asked as the two teenagers walked towards Peyton.
"Yeah. Peyton looks like Cinderella, and she's ours. Your sister, my friend." Ethan explained in a serious tone.
Emma smiled and said nothing more. The girl couldn't be happier that Ethan was the way he was. Ethan caring and wanting Peyton to have a good experience, not worrying about just giving it to Emma.
When Emma and Ethan arrived at the table where Peyton was sitting. Felix was next to the girl. Emma sat next to Peyton, Ethan next to her, and on the other side of Peyton was Felix.
Emma stared at Felix, knowing that he had said something to her sister. Felix smiled at the three teenagers and left.
"Peyton, did he say something?" Emma asked her sister.
"Nothing important."
But for Peyton it was, the boy had just said that even if Peyton had fun, at the end of the night she would be alone. Peyton wished it was a lie, but she knew that Brooke would be with Felix, Emma would be with Ethan and Peyton didn't want her sister to notice her sadness, because Emma would drop everything to be by her side, Peyton couldn't let that happen, the girl needs her sister to enjoy life without worrying about her all the time.
"Why aren't you guys dancing anymore?" Peyton asked.
"We didn't want to leave the Disney princess alone." Ethan said shrugging. "It could be that the wicked stepmother shows up to ruin her night." Ethan continued.
Peyton looked at Emma without understanding what the hell Ethan was talking about. Emma looked at her sister and they both laughed at how seriously Ethan had said those words.
Emma and Ethan continued to keep Peyton company after a while. The three of them were trying to guess which couples were going to spend an evening together and what the evening would be like. Until Ethan got up and offered to get the two girls a drink.
Anna arrived at the table, and Emma let the girl sit next to her sister. Felix was sitting on the other side of Peyton, Anna had leaned over to whisper something to Peyton, but Felix stopped the girls from gossiping.
Ethan arrived with the drinks and handed his to Anna, saying he would share one with Emma. Something the girl definitely didn't mind. As soon as Ethan handed it over, he said.
"Watch out, he's baptized."
Emma heard Felix saying something, but completely ignored it. Emma heard her sister's voice.
"I think she looks gorgeous." Peyton said, fixing a lock of Anna's hair.
"Wow. I didn't know this was a lesbian mixer." Felix said with a laugh, causing some of the boys from the basketball team to giggle.
Emma and Ethan's eyes widened.
"Tim, don't laugh." Ethan almost shouted at Tim, who stopped laughing at the same moment. "Being a fucking homophobe isn't funny." Ethan pointed his finger at the boys, who stopped laughing.
Ethan stood up from his chair and stopped in front of Felix.
"Say something like that again to Peyton and your mommy and daddy will have to sell their fucking convertible to pay for yours new face." Ethan basically growled in Felix's face.
Emma heard Anna's voice next to her whispering to Peyton, imagining that Emma wouldn't pay attention.
"Yeah, don't be so gay, Peyton."
Emma pulled Anna's shoulder, making the girl look at her.
"Even if my sister was a lesbian, she wouldn't be with someone so poor in spirit." Emma said, squeezing Anna's arm. "I disagree with my sister, Anna. You don't look pretty anymore, the personality of someone who is prejudiced makes them ugly inside and out." Emma said speaking a little louder.
Anna looked startled to see Emma's face so angry like that. Emma stood up, Ethan held one of Emma's hands, and Emma held out her free hand to her sister.
"Come on, Peyton. I don't like being around prejudiced people." Emma said looking at Anna and Felix.
Peyton stood up with her head down and somehow ended up in the middle of Emma and Ethan as they walked away.
"Ethan, you didn't have to-..." Peyton said quietly.
"Peyton, the way Felix and Anna spoke isn't right." Ethan said to the girl. "I don't care if you're a lesbian or not, I don't care about your sexuality. What I do care about is that no one can treat others that way because of their sexuality." Ethan said as he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up.
Peyton nodded and gave a slight smile, then looked at her sister.
"I thought you were going to hit Anna any minute." Peyton said.
Emma wasn't smiling, holding her sister's hand.
"Oh, I was going to. I just didn't want to spoil our evening any further." Emma said. "Peyton, I will never let someone treat you badly and not do something about it." Emma explained.
Peyton hugged Emma and Ethan.
"Thank you. I'll come back later, okay?" Peyton said to the couple.
Peyton went towards the bathroom, and Emma saw Nathan looking anxious. Ethan and Emma looked at each other and walked towards Nathan.
"Hey, Nate." The couple caught the boy's eye.
"Where's Haley?" Ethan asked.
"The million dollar question." Nathan grumbled.
"Would you like to borrow my date?" Emma asked smiling.
Ethan and Nathan looked at each other and then at Emma. Nathan patted Ethan on the shoulder.
"Thank you very much for the offer, Emm's. But I'll pass."
"Your loss." Emma shrugged, making Nathan smile.
"Come on, Pompoms. Let's dance before you decide to come back and punch someone in the face." Ethan said smiling as he kissed the top of the girl's head.
"What? Who did Emma want to punch?" Nathan asked.
"Who's the gossip now, eh, Nate?" Ethan asked back, pulling the girl to dance.
Ethan spun Emma around and hugged her back.
"Have I mentioned how sexy you look defending the people you love?" Ethan asked.
"Not today." Emma said, looking at him.
"Sorry for almost getting into a fight and possibly ruining our evening, Pompons." Ethan muttered.
Emma was leaning her head against Ethan's chest.
"Ethan, you were defending my sister. I would never be upset or angry with you for that." Emma said. "I'm upset because Peyton seems to be having a battle with herself internally, and some idiot thinks he has the right to be homophobic towards her." Emma explained.
Emma pulled her face away from the boy's chest and looked at him.
"I hate homophobes." Emma muttered.
"Me too, Pompons."
[....]
Emma and Ethan went to Nathan's parents' beach house for a post-prom party. Emma still couldn't believe that Haley hadn't told Nathan that she was recording a song with Chris Keller, and Nathan, unaware that Chris was involved, put the song on when they were crowned prom king and queen.
"Did you know, Emm's?" Ethan asked his girlfriend.
The two teenagers were far away from the party, sitting on the sand.
"Kind of." Emma muttered. "I thought she would have told him by now." Emma explained.
Ethan nodded and turned to look at his girlfriend. Emma looked at him.
Ethan had already taken off his blazer, his tie was loosened and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. Emma looked at her boyfriend and could only admire his beauty, but it was always his eyes that attracted her like a magnet. Ethan admired the girl, the dress that accentuated all her curves, the soft golden blonde hair that smelled of honey and was already loose, falling like waterfalls down her shoulders.
Ethan laid his head on his blazer, which he put on the floor, and pulled Emma to lay her head on his chest.
"How are things going with Jules and your father, E.?"
"Good. She makes him happy." Ethan recounted. "And Andy seems nice, I talked to him a few times when I went to Karen's café."
"Have you told Jules about the HCM test your father refuses to take?" Emma asked, knowing that it was a subject that was keeping the boy awake.
"Yes, she's helping me try to convince my father to go and do it." Ethan recounted. "Do you want to go, Pompons?" Emma nodded.
"Let's see if Peyton is still at the party." Emma said.
Emma and Ethan met Mouth at the entrance to the party and asked him if they had seen Peyton, Mouth confirmed that Peyton had left.
Emma and Ethan said goodbye to the people they saw and went home.
[....]
Emma and Ethan arrived at the Sawyer sisters' house, and as soon as they passed the bedroom corridor they heard a crying noise coming from Peyton's room.
Emma and Ethan walked slowly into Peyton's room, and saw her in the bathroom with the girls' mother's dress stained.
Peyton scrubbed trying to remove the stain as she cried. Peyton heard the noise the two teenagers made and saw the two standing in the doorway staring at her.
"It's ruined, Emm's. I'm sorry." Peyton spoke between sobs.
Emma slowly tried to pull her sister's hand out of her dress, and as soon as Peyton let go, Emma hugged her.
"I destroyed the dress. It won't be the way she wore it. I ruined it, Emm's." Peyton said.
Emma was still hugging her sister and stroking the girl's back.
"It's okay, Peyton. Tomorrow we can see if we can recover." Emma whispered to her sister.
Ethan looked down at the dress and leaned an arm on Peyton's shoulder.
"I can see if Karen knows how to remove it." Ethan proposed.
Peyton nodded, and Emma walked with her sister to her bed.
"I'm sorry, Emm's. I've been in your way all night." Peyton grunted and wiped his hand across his face.
"Peyton, you didn't ruin anything." Ethan said, looking at the girl as he fiddled with his cell phone.
"Okay. Karen asked me to take the dress to her right away. So she can see what you've done, if she need to soak it in any products." Ethan tried to explain. "I'm going to do Operation Rescue on the dress and I'll be right back." Ethan kissed his girlfriend's cheek.
"Ethan." Peyton called out to the boy, who was already on his way out of her bedroom door.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." Peyton said. Ethan just smiled and left.
Emma was lying on Peyton's bed, cuddled up to her sister. Peyton was calmer.
"Peyton, I saw it in the bathroom...." Emma didn't know how to continue.
Emma had noticed a CD with a white powder on it lying in the bathroom.
"I didn't use it, Emm's. I thought about using it, I almost did, but I didn't." Peyton said. "I promised I wouldn't use it anymore."
"I believe in you, sis."
The sisters remained silent, but were interrupted by Ethan and Anna standing in the doorway of Peyton's room. Emma and Ethan looked at Peyton.
"It's okay, Emm's." Peyton muttered.
Emma walked past Anna looking at her with a frown and went over to Ethan.
"I warned her that there was a good chance you'd punch her." Ethan said.
"Well, you didn't lie." Emma said.
The two teenagers entered Emma's room.
"Emm's, Peyton...." Ethan didn't know how to ask.
"No. She promised me she wouldn't."
Ethan nodded and threw himself onto the girl's bed, pulling her along.
"Ethan?"
Ethan looked at his girlfriend.
"Thank you."
"No problem, Pompons. I'll always be here for you." Ethan said, seeing his girlfriend smile at him.
"All mine?" Emma asked.
"All yours." Ethan replied. "All mine, Pompons?"
"I'll always be just yours, E."
AN: omg, i'm so sorry, I forgot to add a picture of the dress I imagined Emma wearing. But I've just included it.