The Book Of Love (Hallelujah #8)
Three years since the last story in this little series! But this has been sitting half finished for a long while, survived a couple computer crashes, and now it finally gets to see the light of day.
For those who don't remember, the 'Hallelujah Series' is several ficlets that that tell a Ryan/Brooke story. Lucas and Marissa are portrayed very negatively in this universe, as I took negative traits of theirs (Marissa drinking/romantic fickleness and Lucas' temper) and emphasized them. Below the first cut is a summary of the universe so far.
Ryan married Marissa, but she cheated on him repeatedly, and made several suicide attempts, culminating in one that caused a miscarriage and landed her in a psychiatric facility. This led Ryan to file for divorce and move to new York, basically ending his promising career as an architect. In new York, he met and fell for Brooke, and they were happy for a few years, until Brooke's mother came to visit and played on all of Ryan's self worth issues, and suggesting that if he ended things, she would fund Brooke's fashion line. So, Ryan ended things with Brooke and returned to Newport, hoping to get things back on track and prove himself good enough for Brooke. Before he reached the success he wanted, Brooke became engaged to her high school boyfriend, Lucas, and was later revealed to be pregnant. Ryan was heartbroken, but didn't interfere, just wanting Brooke to be happy.
What Ryan didn't know was that Lucas became abusive a few years into the marriage, hitting Brooke. She let him get away with it because he was a good father to her son, Jamie, but when Lucas became violent towards Jamie, shaking him and hitting Brooke while she held him, Brooke hit her limit and left Lucas, taking Jamie with her. She headed for California because the only person she felt she could trust completely was Ryan, and she was right, of course. Ryan, who had become incredibly successful and rich, opened his home to Brooke and Jamie and has gotten his own lawyer involved in helping them, as well as having employees of his dig up every scrap of dirt on Lucas that they could. Ryan has told Brooke that he'll only use the dirt if Lucas causes problems, but if he has to use it, he will destroy Lucas without regret.
As a side note, Summer is married to Zach, and they are Ryan's closest friends now.
"So, what's this about you and a mysterious brunette who's hiding her face behind sunglasses and a baseball cap?"
Ryan looked up from his computer, trying to glare at his friend but unable to as Zach just raised an eyebrow. "Long, complicated story."
"I have time," Zach replied, walking in and closing the door. "Please, I'm desperate for gossip that isn't the completely false rumors about me having an affair. Summer thinks it's funny to recount the latest ones while we have breakfast."
"You expect me to believe you're not screwing the 63 year-old wife of your gardener who has that constant oh so enticing sent of cat urine?" Ryan asked, trying not to smile.
"Who's the mystery woman?" Zach asked, ignoring Ryan's teasing.
Ryan sighed and sat back. "You remember how I came back from New York determined to make my fortune?"
"Yeah, Summer thought it had to do with you finally pulling yourself out of the black hole that was being married to Marissa," Zach said. "But then she found out about..." he paused. "Mystery brunette is the fashion designer?"
"Yup," Ryan said. "This stays between us, Zach. We're trying to keep it a secret that Brooke and Jamie are here..."
"Jamie?"
"Her son," Ryan said. "My son," he added after a moment.
"Your..."
"It's... complicated."
"I've got time."
"After Marissa and I's divorce was finalized, I went to New York, and I brooded, and I worked as a waiter in a crappy restaurant, and I blamed myself for Marissa's issues. Then I met Brooke, and... she pulled me out of the black hole. We were happy, but then... her mother came for a visit, and she got in my head with all this stuff about how Brooke had a future before me, and how I was keeping her trapped in a crappy life when she could be famous and rich and have everything she wanted, so... I ended things with Brooke, and came back here, and Kirsten gave me my old job back, and I thought I could make myself good enough for Brooke. I landed a couple big contracts, and I made millions in a couple months. Then suddenly it was all over the press that Brooke was pregnant, and getting married to her high school sweetheart, and... and after that, all I had was work, so... I threw myself into it. Even after I did the math and realized that her son was born seven months after she and I split up. And Brooke... she's a firm believer in birth control, except she'd been sick and missed a couple days a few weeks before we split up. So... yeah."
"Why's she here now?" Zach asked.
"Her husband hits her," Ryan said. "And last week, he was gonna hit Jamie. She distracted him, got him mad at her instead, and... she decided to run. Just put Jamie in the car and started driving."
"And she came to you."
Ryan nodded. "She said she trusts me."
"With good reason," Zach said, finally sitting down. "What can I do to help?"
"Keep quiet?"
"Besides that."
"You and Summer come to dinner tonight. Brooke could use a friend."
"Sounds good," Zach said. "But I know you. You've got a plan, don't you? To make the asshole pay?"
Ryan nodded. "I got the call an hour ago that Lucas had been served with divorce papers, as well as copies of all the dirt I have against him. Proof that he is an abusive piece of shit, a DNA test that proves Jamie is my son, not his, and a letter promising to completely destroy him if he contests either the divorce or Brooke's request for full custody."
"You know, and this is not a 'oh I can use the pain of the real love of Ryan's life to my advantage' thing," Zach began, smiling slightly at Ryan's raised eyebrow. "Next week is the big stop domestic violence fundraiser that Summer's been planning for months. If he does even one little thing to cause problems, I'm sure it would both do Brooke, and the cause, a great deal of good if she got up on stage and revealed him as an abuser. No pressure on her, we've got other speakers, but if he does pull anything, we'd gladly make room for her to speak if she wanted."
"She may want to regardless," Ryan admitted. "Brooke's mentioned not wanting Lucas to get away with what he's done."
"Let her know about the offer, but it's up to her, and we'd love it if you both came anyway."
"I'll talk to her."
"And, just to make sure we're on the same page..."
Ryan laughed, knowing what question was coming. "You can tell Summer, that's a given."
"Good, because she sent me here to get the dirt and if I couldn't tell her..."
"Well, for what it's worth, I would have spoken very highly of you at your funeral," Ryan said.
"Gee, thanks," Zach said, getting to his feet again. "Shouldn't you go home and starting cooking? Summer's gonna want one of your almost gourmet meals to make up for you keeping all this from her."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah. And I need to fill Brooke in."
"Hey, she had the sense to come to you, she trusted you to help her. She'll understand."
"See you at seven?"
"Sounds good," Zach agreed.
~~~
"We made the tabloids," Brooke said as Ryan walked into his living room to find Jamie engrossed in watching a movie on the big screen and Brooke flipping through a small stack of magazines. "Apparently, either you knocked me up and we were at the clinic to 'take care of it' before anyone found out, or I'm your secret wife and pregnant with our first child and you're over the moon excited about it but keeping us secret to protect me from crazies," she recited showing him one of the photo spreads.
Ryan rolled his eyes and moved to sit beside her. "Last year? I was involved in a torrid affair with a married couple, either separately or in one big unholy threesome," he whispered, happy to see her laugh. "And said married couple is actually coming over for dinner tonight," he added. "They're my best friends, and... and I think you and Summer will get along famously."
"Do they..."
"I told Zach the basics this afternoon," Ryan said. "He actually had a good idea."
"Yeah?"
"Next week, they're hosting a fundraiser, and he suggested that you and I go together. Just get it in the open that you're here. Lucas received his divorce papers earlier today, and we'll know in a few days whether he's planning to cause trouble. And if he is..."
"If he is, it could look bad for me to be seen with another man so soon," Brooke said.
"If he does, it's a fundraiser for ending domestic abuse," Ryan said. "They can make room on their list of speakers."
"You mean get up on a stage and talk about how he hit me and I stayed until he went after Jamie?" Brooke asked quietly, looking at her son. "About how I stayed with him, even though he's not... he's not Jamie's... even though Jamie's real father would have helped us?" she said, looking up at Ryan to gauge his reaction.
"I knew the moment the gossip rags started talking about when you were due, Math was always my strong suit, remember?" Ryan told her. "But I thought you were happy, and you'd both be better off, so..."
"I want to speak, and I want to tell people, no matter how Lucas reacts."
"Okay. We can talk to them about it tonight."
"And I want... I want to tell Jamie the truth," Brooke added. "You both deserve that."
"I... I don't wanna confuse him, or upset him..."
"His stuffed bunny, the one I know you sent him even though you didn't send a note and you haven't commented... I told him it would protect him from monsters. And when we were in the car, he told me he thought it could protect us from Lucas. So I think he'll be okay with the news that Lucas is never getting near him again."
"And if he tries, it's not like I can't afford to move us to France. No extradition, and it is one of the fashion capitols of the world."
"You'd walk away from your life for us?"
"Don't you know I'd do anything for you, Brooke?" Ryan said, repeating his words from the night they had arrived.
Brooke smiled slightly and shifted to lean against him. "Let's tell him after the movie," she said as Ryan's arm slid around her shoulders.
"Sounds like a plan," Ryan agreed, turning his attention to the movie.
The End
For those who don't remember, the 'Hallelujah Series' is several ficlets that that tell a Ryan/Brooke story. Lucas and Marissa are portrayed very negatively in this universe, as I took negative traits of theirs (Marissa drinking/romantic fickleness and Lucas' temper) and emphasized them. Below the first cut is a summary of the universe so far.
Ryan married Marissa, but she cheated on him repeatedly, and made several suicide attempts, culminating in one that caused a miscarriage and landed her in a psychiatric facility. This led Ryan to file for divorce and move to new York, basically ending his promising career as an architect. In new York, he met and fell for Brooke, and they were happy for a few years, until Brooke's mother came to visit and played on all of Ryan's self worth issues, and suggesting that if he ended things, she would fund Brooke's fashion line. So, Ryan ended things with Brooke and returned to Newport, hoping to get things back on track and prove himself good enough for Brooke. Before he reached the success he wanted, Brooke became engaged to her high school boyfriend, Lucas, and was later revealed to be pregnant. Ryan was heartbroken, but didn't interfere, just wanting Brooke to be happy.
What Ryan didn't know was that Lucas became abusive a few years into the marriage, hitting Brooke. She let him get away with it because he was a good father to her son, Jamie, but when Lucas became violent towards Jamie, shaking him and hitting Brooke while she held him, Brooke hit her limit and left Lucas, taking Jamie with her. She headed for California because the only person she felt she could trust completely was Ryan, and she was right, of course. Ryan, who had become incredibly successful and rich, opened his home to Brooke and Jamie and has gotten his own lawyer involved in helping them, as well as having employees of his dig up every scrap of dirt on Lucas that they could. Ryan has told Brooke that he'll only use the dirt if Lucas causes problems, but if he has to use it, he will destroy Lucas without regret.
As a side note, Summer is married to Zach, and they are Ryan's closest friends now.
"So, what's this about you and a mysterious brunette who's hiding her face behind sunglasses and a baseball cap?"
Ryan looked up from his computer, trying to glare at his friend but unable to as Zach just raised an eyebrow. "Long, complicated story."
"I have time," Zach replied, walking in and closing the door. "Please, I'm desperate for gossip that isn't the completely false rumors about me having an affair. Summer thinks it's funny to recount the latest ones while we have breakfast."
"You expect me to believe you're not screwing the 63 year-old wife of your gardener who has that constant oh so enticing sent of cat urine?" Ryan asked, trying not to smile.
"Who's the mystery woman?" Zach asked, ignoring Ryan's teasing.
Ryan sighed and sat back. "You remember how I came back from New York determined to make my fortune?"
"Yeah, Summer thought it had to do with you finally pulling yourself out of the black hole that was being married to Marissa," Zach said. "But then she found out about..." he paused. "Mystery brunette is the fashion designer?"
"Yup," Ryan said. "This stays between us, Zach. We're trying to keep it a secret that Brooke and Jamie are here..."
"Jamie?"
"Her son," Ryan said. "My son," he added after a moment.
"Your..."
"It's... complicated."
"I've got time."
"After Marissa and I's divorce was finalized, I went to New York, and I brooded, and I worked as a waiter in a crappy restaurant, and I blamed myself for Marissa's issues. Then I met Brooke, and... she pulled me out of the black hole. We were happy, but then... her mother came for a visit, and she got in my head with all this stuff about how Brooke had a future before me, and how I was keeping her trapped in a crappy life when she could be famous and rich and have everything she wanted, so... I ended things with Brooke, and came back here, and Kirsten gave me my old job back, and I thought I could make myself good enough for Brooke. I landed a couple big contracts, and I made millions in a couple months. Then suddenly it was all over the press that Brooke was pregnant, and getting married to her high school sweetheart, and... and after that, all I had was work, so... I threw myself into it. Even after I did the math and realized that her son was born seven months after she and I split up. And Brooke... she's a firm believer in birth control, except she'd been sick and missed a couple days a few weeks before we split up. So... yeah."
"Why's she here now?" Zach asked.
"Her husband hits her," Ryan said. "And last week, he was gonna hit Jamie. She distracted him, got him mad at her instead, and... she decided to run. Just put Jamie in the car and started driving."
"And she came to you."
Ryan nodded. "She said she trusts me."
"With good reason," Zach said, finally sitting down. "What can I do to help?"
"Keep quiet?"
"Besides that."
"You and Summer come to dinner tonight. Brooke could use a friend."
"Sounds good," Zach said. "But I know you. You've got a plan, don't you? To make the asshole pay?"
Ryan nodded. "I got the call an hour ago that Lucas had been served with divorce papers, as well as copies of all the dirt I have against him. Proof that he is an abusive piece of shit, a DNA test that proves Jamie is my son, not his, and a letter promising to completely destroy him if he contests either the divorce or Brooke's request for full custody."
"You know, and this is not a 'oh I can use the pain of the real love of Ryan's life to my advantage' thing," Zach began, smiling slightly at Ryan's raised eyebrow. "Next week is the big stop domestic violence fundraiser that Summer's been planning for months. If he does even one little thing to cause problems, I'm sure it would both do Brooke, and the cause, a great deal of good if she got up on stage and revealed him as an abuser. No pressure on her, we've got other speakers, but if he does pull anything, we'd gladly make room for her to speak if she wanted."
"She may want to regardless," Ryan admitted. "Brooke's mentioned not wanting Lucas to get away with what he's done."
"Let her know about the offer, but it's up to her, and we'd love it if you both came anyway."
"I'll talk to her."
"And, just to make sure we're on the same page..."
Ryan laughed, knowing what question was coming. "You can tell Summer, that's a given."
"Good, because she sent me here to get the dirt and if I couldn't tell her..."
"Well, for what it's worth, I would have spoken very highly of you at your funeral," Ryan said.
"Gee, thanks," Zach said, getting to his feet again. "Shouldn't you go home and starting cooking? Summer's gonna want one of your almost gourmet meals to make up for you keeping all this from her."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah. And I need to fill Brooke in."
"Hey, she had the sense to come to you, she trusted you to help her. She'll understand."
"See you at seven?"
"Sounds good," Zach agreed.
~~~
"We made the tabloids," Brooke said as Ryan walked into his living room to find Jamie engrossed in watching a movie on the big screen and Brooke flipping through a small stack of magazines. "Apparently, either you knocked me up and we were at the clinic to 'take care of it' before anyone found out, or I'm your secret wife and pregnant with our first child and you're over the moon excited about it but keeping us secret to protect me from crazies," she recited showing him one of the photo spreads.
Ryan rolled his eyes and moved to sit beside her. "Last year? I was involved in a torrid affair with a married couple, either separately or in one big unholy threesome," he whispered, happy to see her laugh. "And said married couple is actually coming over for dinner tonight," he added. "They're my best friends, and... and I think you and Summer will get along famously."
"Do they..."
"I told Zach the basics this afternoon," Ryan said. "He actually had a good idea."
"Yeah?"
"Next week, they're hosting a fundraiser, and he suggested that you and I go together. Just get it in the open that you're here. Lucas received his divorce papers earlier today, and we'll know in a few days whether he's planning to cause trouble. And if he is..."
"If he is, it could look bad for me to be seen with another man so soon," Brooke said.
"If he does, it's a fundraiser for ending domestic abuse," Ryan said. "They can make room on their list of speakers."
"You mean get up on a stage and talk about how he hit me and I stayed until he went after Jamie?" Brooke asked quietly, looking at her son. "About how I stayed with him, even though he's not... he's not Jamie's... even though Jamie's real father would have helped us?" she said, looking up at Ryan to gauge his reaction.
"I knew the moment the gossip rags started talking about when you were due, Math was always my strong suit, remember?" Ryan told her. "But I thought you were happy, and you'd both be better off, so..."
"I want to speak, and I want to tell people, no matter how Lucas reacts."
"Okay. We can talk to them about it tonight."
"And I want... I want to tell Jamie the truth," Brooke added. "You both deserve that."
"I... I don't wanna confuse him, or upset him..."
"His stuffed bunny, the one I know you sent him even though you didn't send a note and you haven't commented... I told him it would protect him from monsters. And when we were in the car, he told me he thought it could protect us from Lucas. So I think he'll be okay with the news that Lucas is never getting near him again."
"And if he tries, it's not like I can't afford to move us to France. No extradition, and it is one of the fashion capitols of the world."
"You'd walk away from your life for us?"
"Don't you know I'd do anything for you, Brooke?" Ryan said, repeating his words from the night they had arrived.
Brooke smiled slightly and shifted to lean against him. "Let's tell him after the movie," she said as Ryan's arm slid around her shoulders.
"Sounds like a plan," Ryan agreed, turning his attention to the movie.
The End