Never Let Me Go

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Closure

"Closure has come to me myself

You will never belong to me"

*

It was a long night in Tree Hill. Jenny's disappearance had sent shockwaves soaring through the group. As soon as Jake announced Nicki's actions to Peyton, they sped off into the night and the party was abruptly called off. Everyone headed home, leaving Lucas and Brooke to clean up the mess.

Silently, they picked up discarded plastic cups and glass bottles, wrapped up the leftover food, folded the blankets, and hauled it all into the back of Brooke's car. When they were done, they sat down on a bench beside each other, exhaustion overtaking all of their limbs.

Brooke broke the silence after catching her breath. "I wanna say that I can't believe this happened but, knowing Nicki, I really can."

"Jake's gotta be going crazy right now," Lucas said solemnly. "He tried to run away so that nothing like this happened to her. His worst fears have come true."

"But they're gonna find her," Brooke stated as though it were fact. "Nicki won't get far. That bitch has a trail of destruction following her everywhere."

"All we can do is hope. I wish there was more we could do to help," Lucas admitted.

"Hold that thought," Brooke replied, as her phone began to ring. "It's Peyton." She flipped open her phone swiftly.

"Brooke, it's really, really bad," Peyton sobbed on the other side of the phone. "Nicki must have had help because someone knocked out everyone in the room so she could leave with Jenny. Jake's dad is banged up pretty bad."

"Oh my god, that's awful. Are the police there?" Brooke asked, her concern increasing drastically. Nicki went to serious measures to concoct this plan.

"Yeah, we've spoken to them. Since Nicki doesn't have custody of Jenny, they're treating it a lot more seriously than they did last time," Peyton informed her. "I'm gonna head home soon, there's nothing else I can do here and Jake is gonna be at the police station for a while."

"We'll come to you before we go home," Brooke stated. "See you soon." She hung up the phone and turned to Lucas. "How much did you have to drink?"

"Just one beer," Lucas replied.

"Can you drive us to Peyton's? I've had too much to drink. I'll pick up my car tomorrow."

"Yeah, of course. Let's go."

*

Peyton's car wasn't outside as Lucas and Brooke pulled up outside her house. Assuming she'd arrive soon, they decided to head inside knowing the front door would be unlocked. They walked up the stairs to her room and sat on her bed to wait for her.

"God, I hope she's okay," Brooke stated with concern.

"It's been a rough night but I'm sure she'll be home soon," Lucas consoled her. "Try not to worry."

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from Peyton's closet causing Brooke to turn around. The noise kept sounding over and over again, visibly irritating Brooke. Quickly, she stood up and stormed into the closet. The noise was coming from Peyton's computer. Brooke turned off the sound to stop the beeping but caught sight of the messages that were popping up on the screen.

She took a step back, her brow furrowed. "Peyton really needs to turn off that webcam sometimes. She's starting to attract weirdos." Quickly, Brooke picked up one of Peyton's t-shirts, that had been tossed onto the closet floor, and threw it over the webcam.

"Who was it?" Lucas asked, concern radiating from his voice.

"I don't know, it's an anonymous username. Probably just some internet perv," Brooke replied. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. "Peyton - is that you?"