TROUVAILLE | BROOKE DAVIS

eighty.

Brooke looks outside the window of her house to see a moving truck. She grins as she turns to Peyton who's sipping from her mug of coffee.

"We have neighbors!" Brooke exclaims as she looks back out the window, "And they have an excellent interior designer."

She looks over to Peyton who is staring at her, "How can you tell that?"

"Come here," Peyton groans and comes over to the window and looks out of it, "See that couch?"

"That is a nice couch," Peyton says, "I think our neighbors are wealthy."

"We should invite them over for," Brooke says, "Maybe it's a guy and he's single. You can get back out in the field."

"Or maybe it's a loving couple that has been married for a couple of years," Peyton tells her, taking another sip from her mug, "You never know."

"Well, we will know. Tonight, we're inviting them over. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure everything is ready for my grand opening tomorrow," Brooke says as she grabs her purse and keys.

"Think Parker will show up?" Peyton asks raising an eyebrow.

"I know Parker will show up," Brooke says, "We're friendly now."

"Friendly," Peyton says, as though saying it for the first time, "Last time you were friendly with someone, they ended up in your bed."

"Shut up," Brooke says, "Rachel and Parker are together, which I respect. At least until I don't respect it anymore."

"Brooke Davis the homewrecker," Peyton nods her head, "I like it."

Brooke rolls her eyes, "I'm not homewrecking. I'm being Parker's friend. If Rachel and Parker magically decide to break up, then I'll step in."

"Right," Peyton says, "Well go make sure everything is ready for your homewrecking – I mean store opening."

Brooke sticks her middle finger up at Peyton as she heads to the door. Peyton laughs at her shouting, "See you later!"

When Brooke arrives at the store, construction was already underway. Brooke smiled to herself. Perhaps she didn't need Victoria and could run Clothes Over Bros by herself. She walked over to the light switch and flipped it on, but nothing happened, immediately wiping the smile from her face.

"Come on guys, we're opening the store in like a day," Brooke says, her confidence dwindling. It hit rock bottom when she saw her mother enter the store, just as she had when Parker was here.

"I don't see luggage," Victoria says to her and Brooke glances down at the floor, "This town is dead, you won't sell anything."

"Don't say that. Tree Hill is home," Brooke replies, but Victoria scoffs.

"Not anymore. Get in the car," Victoria orders.

"No," Brooke says. Not standing her ground was what lost her Parker. So if standing her ground was what it took, then she'd stand it until she was the woman that Parker had once loved, and most importantly, the woman that she had once been proud to be.

"For the last couple of years, you have told me what to do, who to date, what to say and I let you because you are the brains behind this whole operation-"

"And the company didn't seem to suffer," Victoria interjects.

"I agree and I am grateful," Brooke tells her, "But I learned a lot and I know I can do this. Just give me a chance to prove it to you."

Victoria takes a step towards her and Brooke tenses up, "Alright."

"Alright?" Brooke asks.

"Alright," Victoria repeats, "I can't force you to go back to New York, especially not when Parker's here. If this is what you really want, then I respect your decision."