A/N: This is a one shot that I've had in my head for a while now. For those of you following my story, All for Love, the next chapter should be up within the next few days, but I just had to get this one out.
As you'll all see it's pretty much AU, but I've always loved the idea of a world where it was Brooke that Lucas met first, instead of Peyton. Here's my take on what would happen...
Please let me all know what you think and leave a review!!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. This world belongs to Mark Schwahn and the CW, I'm just playing with it. The title belongs to Switchfoot.
Let Your Love Be Strong
To everyone around them they're the odd couple. No one really understands them or how they came to be. His own friends don't even understand, and neither do hers for that matter.
They don't understand how people so distinctly opposite could ever work out. How could someone from two different worlds come together to become one? It just doesn't make sense to them and he understands. Because if he went back two months ago and someone told him that he, Lucas Scott, would be unconditionally in love with Brooke Davis, the girl on the path to becoming the most popular person in school, he would have laughed in their face.
They don't make sense. Not one bit. But that's what he loves about them.
And somehow, over only a short amount of time, they fell in love.
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He remembers the first time they actually talked—besides the few seconds back in fifth grade when she asked him for a pencil. It was two weeks before freshman year at Tree Hill High school was over.
He was sick to his stomach with some sort of stomach flu and was running to the nearest bathroom.
Then he bumps into her and his world has suddenly been turned upside down. They exchange a few words and, embarrassingly enough, he throws up right in front of her. She doesn't looked that amused, mostly she just looks worried.
She asks him if he's okay and he just shrugs and tells her it's some sort of flu. She asks him if he's Nathan brother and he finds himself growing angry. Any mention of Nathan usually did that to him.
"I don't like to be associated with him," he tells her.
She nods, seeming to not really understand. He helps her pick up the strewn pom poms that had been knocked over with her and asks her why she has them. She just laughs and tells him it's a favor for Morgan Finley.
"If I'm gonna be captain of the cheerleading squad by the time I'm a junior, I've gotta some major sucking up to do."
He's not sure why, but she's so much different than how he normally sees her around school. Around others she's bitchy and wild, as well as a tad bit slutty; she doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself. But, as she asks him once again if he's going to be okay, he starts to see that there's something different about her than the others.
Maybe she's not quite as one dimensional as he made her out to be…
888
She intrigues him, more so than he wants to admit. And so the next day when she asks him to be her partner in a school project, he says yes. It's for their English class and the project is for them to make a biography about their partner. He needs to know everything about her and she needs to know everything about him.
He's not sure if he likes this idea or not.
He's also not sure why she wanted to be his partner when her best friend, Peyton Sawyer, had been sitting right next to her in the back of the classroom.
Brooke is a mystery to him, one that he is in a hurry to solve.
"My house or yours?" she asks as they walk from class together. Peyton is walking a few steps behind with another popular cheerleader, Bevin. He notices the sharp stares they're both sending him and Brooke and he wonders if they're just as confused as him.
"Uh, you can decide. I'm open for anything."
"Yours then. My house is boring as hell. Plus, I'm not sure you want to meet the parents yet—they kind of suck."
It turns out that Brooke almost always gets a ride home with Morgan Finley and her crew. After all, a girl like Brooke can't be seen riding a bus home. But her friends aren't keen on adding an extra person to their already full caravan so she walks home with him. It's a bit of a long walk and he normally takes the bus with Haley, but he finds that he's having more fun talking to Brooke than he's had in a while.
They don't talk much about school. Instead she asks him about his favorite things, like food, movies, and TV shows. Then he's asks her what music she likes and he laughs when she tells her Justin Timberlake is her current favorite. Then he asks her what her favorite book is and she tells him she likes Cosmo best. He just grins and then they continue the Q and A until they finally make it to his house.
At that point he already knows that they are complete opposites when it comes to just about everything.
"Okay. Down to business…Mother's maiden name?" she asks as they sit down at the kitchen table.
"Roe," he says. "And it still is."
She nods and they ask each other questions off the of the interview sheet that their teacher gave them. He's bored with the questions and he can tell that she is too.
"Okay, I've got an interesting one," she says, looking at him mischievously. "And you've got to promise that you'll actually answer."
He's hesitant, but her flirty smile makes him give in. "Shoot."
"First kiss?"
He chuckles. "I don't really want that sort of info in my biography, Brooke."
She grins. "Off the record, then. Come on, Lucas, you promised."
He shakes his head stubbornly. Here is Brooke, a girl he's known about most of his life but had really only known for all of two hours and she wants to know who his first kiss was. She would have to work really hard to get that from him.
"I'll tell you mine! That is, if I can actually remember." She laughs at herself. "My first two kisses happened within hours of each other and they were with two different guys. I always have trouble remembering which one came first. Let's see, it was sometime in first grade so…"
He nearly doubles over with laugher.
She kinks an eyebrow. "What?"
"First grade? My first kiss wasn't until eighth grade, unless you count that peck on the lips from Haley in sixth grade which was completely accidental and grossed us out for life."
"Aw, so Haley was your first kiss?" She looks happy that she's got it out of him.
He shakes his head, trying to shake away the not so fond memory. "Doesn't count. Haley and I have already discussed it."
"So…you're not into her, are you?"
Lucas nearly gags at the thought. "Brooke, that'd be like me being into my little sister. We're best friends, nothing more."
"Okay….so your first kiss was I eighth grade. Now who was it? Don't make me guess, 'cause I will."
He doesn't know Brooke very well, but he can tell that she won't give in easily, so he gives up. "Fine. Jennifer Morrison."
She looks confused. "Jennifer Morrison…Wait, she's that drama nerd, right?"
He sighs. "Only in high school. In middle school, we used to hang out a lot. Anyway, it was pretty innocent. I didn't even like her that much. But there, that's your answer."
"Interesting…So, tell me…"
They go on and on about all the sort of things that would definitely not be appearing in their respective biographies until his mother gets home. And, after Brooke eats dinner with the two of them and his mother gets used to Brooke's wild, outgoing personality, he walks her to the front door.
"See you tomorrow," he says, smiling lightly at her.
"Yup," she replies, grinning. "I'll keep an eye out for you."
He watches her walk down the sidewalk and into the car of her one of her friend's parents. He thinks he's sees Peyton's curly blond hair through the window, but it's too dark to see. And, as they drive away, he wonders how in the world could have woken up this morning to a Brooke-less life.
She is already changing his world and he isn't sure how he feels about it.
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PE. Physical Education. One of his least favorite classes.
He's stuck with all the popular kids, although Haley's there to help him stick it out. But today is different.
Today Brooke Davis joins him as they are running the mile outside on the school track. He's running alone, Haley being a horrible runner and unable to keep up, when she slides slyly next to him.
"What lap are you on?" she asks, smirking at him.
"Fourth," he breathes out. Fourth and final. And he's pretty sure that he's beating Nathan. That'll be something that wipes the smile off his ungrateful face.
She laughs and tries to keep up with him. She's out of breath while his breathing is easy and strong. "I'm only on my second. You sure are fast, Lucas Scott. That's something I'll have to put in your biography."
He chuckles and then they're running past Haley, who he is lapping for the second time. There's a glare on his friend's face that she hides when Brooke waves back at her. He's frustrated by this; he wishes that Haley would understand the real Brooke Davis that he has gotten to know that past few days.
Because that Brooke Davis is like no one else he has ever known.
She is one of a kind.
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People at school are talking about them.
He and Brooke have been working on their project for a week now and their sudden friendship is growing stronger.
Students stare at them both with wide eyes as she searches him out in the cafeteria. She puts a hand on his shoulder and sits next to him with her tray on her lap. Haley, who sits across from him, looks annoyed and Mouth, Skills, Junk, and Fergie just look confused.
Standing a few feet behind her is Peyton and Bevin. They look at Brooke disapprovingly. A few tables down, Nathan is glaring at them fiercely.
"Hey, Broody." She calls him by the new nickname she gave him a few days ago. "Just wanted to say hi."
He grins as she smiles sweetly at him. "Hi, Cheery."
He can hear Haley's almost silent scoffing at their nicknames and he looks at her pointedly, trying to wordlessly tell her to stop.
"Your house tonight, right?"
He turns back to Brooke. "If that's what you want."
She nods. "It is." She looks quickly back at Peyton and the others and then turns back to him and his friends. "I'm Brooke," she says to them all and they all just nod; they know who she is. "Do you mind if I sit with you today?"
Haley's foot kicks his under the table and he holds back a groan at the pain that now radiates his foot. A fake smile is plastered all over his best friend's face and he knows how Haley feels about Brooke. But he can't say no and he doesn't want to say no.
"Sure."
And in that moment, he knew that Brooke Davis was not just a partner in a school project, but a friend.
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They're laying on his bed, having just completed the finishing touches on their projects, and the sides of their bodies are lightly touching. It's been two weeks. Two glorious weeks full of Brooke and he doesn't want it to end.
Her hand rests on his knee and his own hand covers hers. Over the last few weeks, he's noticed that she's a very touchy feely person, despite the fact that they're just friends. They touch each other in a way he would never dare touch Haley. She likes to hold his hand when they're walking home from school and sometimes, when she's tired or annoyed, she likes to pull his body close to hers and dig her face into the crook of his neck.
He likes to touch her hair. It sounds weird, but he does. He likes stringing his fingers through her hair when she's resting her head against his shoulder and then he'll wrap his arms around her.
People at school think they're a couple. He's never had a girlfriend before, something Brooke likes to joke about, so he's not one to judge, but the way they act sometimes when they're in public makes it look like they're together.
He likes her, though. A lot. And he wonders how everything will change once school is over. He wants to be more than just a friend to her. He wants to be with her. But somehow he doesn't see it working. Not when they're so different.
She flirts with boys all the time at school. Nothing has changed there. He's pretty sure she's not a virgin and that disappoints him slightly. But then again, Brooke Davis is no saint.
She knows him better than most other people. She almost knows him as well as Haley and his mother. After only two weeks of really knowing each other, she knows him amazingly well. He wonders how it happened.
He knows her well, too, but of course he doesn't know everything. He knows that her parents are virtually non-existent and most of her early childhood was spent with a nanny. Now that she's older, she spends most of her time at Peyton's. He learned that Peyton isn't really as hard-core as she sees at school; that she is an amazing friend with a great heart and that Brooke really wants all of them to hang out sometime soon.
She then tells him that Nathan, who is a good friend of hers, hates that she is spending so much time with Lucas. He asks if Nathan likes her, but she shakes her head. No, Nathan is apparently into Peyton. Lucas thinks that's an odd combo, but he isn't one to talk. He learns that Nathan doesn't want them to hang out after this project is over but she lets him know that that is impossible; he is already too big a part of her life and she needs him. That makes him feel very good.
She tells him that her parents have already bought her first car, a convertible powder blue Volkswagen Beetle, that's waiting for her in the garage the minute she turns sixteen. Even though she has her permit, she doesn't get to drive it much because there's no one to drive with since her parents are never home and Peyton's dad works all the time. He tells her his mom can help her out if she wants and she's excited at the prospect.
Then he learns that, despite all of her money and all of her expensive clothes and her fancy car, she hasn't always been very happy. She hates that her parents are never home and she hates that when they are they try to please her by buying her fancy gifts. And apparently, up until the time she met him, the only two things that kept her happy were Peyton and cheerleading. He feels a little bad for her when she tells him that, but he told her that he would be there for her no matter what. He likes seeing her happy and he is glad that he can make her happy.
"Can I ask you something?" he asks and she turns to look at him.
"Sure."
"Why did you pick me for this project?"
"You intrigued me," she answers simply. "You were different then any guy I've ever met."
"Because I puked in front of you?"
She laughs. "No…Because you seemed to look past my popularity and see the real me. You didn't cower in my presence like other boys and you didn't look at me like you wanted to jump me like most other guys. I just wanted to know more about you and why you acted that way."
He nods thoughtfully and they fall silent again. His fingers play with hers and he's tempted to ask if he can kiss her right then and there, but he doesn't. He can tell that right now she just wants a friend and if that's what she wants then that's what she'll get.
888
It's the last day of school and their projects were turned in yesterday. They now have no reason to hang out. But she still seeks him out once the final bell rings. This time Peyton is with her.
He smiles politely at Peyton and looks down at Brooke, who has grabbed both of his hands. She swings them playfully back and forth.
"Wanna hang out with me and Peyton? We're thinking of heading down to the beach."
Going to a beach with Brooke Davis sounds enticing, but he's promised Haley to celebrate the last day of school by doing their usual thing at his mother's café.
"I'd love to," he says regretfully, "but Haley and I have plans."
"Haley?"
He looks at Peyton, who's looking at him in confusion.
"She's Lucas' best friend," Brooke explains. She turns back to him. "She can come with us." Brooke seems excited about the possibility and he knows it's because she has wanted Haley to like her ever since she and Lucas have become close.
But he knows that Haley's just not ready to spend a whole afternoon at the beach with the likes of Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer so he turns down the offer.
"Sorry, Brooke, but we've got this tradition…It's a little hard to explain. But how about you both come by my mom's café tonight? I can see if we can get some free food and just hang out. It'll be fun."
Brooke looks delighted at this idea, but Peyton looks uncertain. Brooke accepts his offer and before they part, she places a soft kiss on his cheek.
He takes a deep breath and then Haley is by his side, looking at him curiously.
"What's up with you?"
He just smiles. "Looks like you and me are hanging out with Brooke and Peyton tonight."
Her face contorts into both anger and disbelief and he visibly winces at her oncoming wrath.
Once Haley is finished punishing him, he's worried that his arm is broken and that he'll never be able to play basketball again.
888
By the time July rolls around, Haley has gotten a little bit more used to Brooke. She starts to actually talk to her when Brooke comes around for dinner at the café, sometimes with Peyton.
Lucas is starting to see why Brooke and Peyton are such great friends, although he's surprised at how opposite they are. He's learned that Peyton is into a lot of the same music he's into and that she loves to draw. And, even though Peyton is still a little awkward around him, they are becoming friends.
One night, when he and Brooke are sitting on the couch in his home after hanging out with Peyton at the beach earlier, Brooke tells him that his new friendship with Peyton is making her insecure.
He raises an eyebrow, surprised that she could ever be insecure by him and Peyton. He asks her why.
"You're so similar and I guess I'm just afraid that you'll wanna hang out with her more often once you realize how many things you have in common and how much we don't. I just wanna be selfish and keep you to myself sometimes."
He laughs. The idea of him ever choosing Peyton over her is insane to him, but Brooke doesn't really look amused. "Brooke," he says, looking at her seriously, "you and I share something that Peyton and I could never share. And that's the fact that we're so different that we fit together perfectly. We're completely unpredictable and exciting. Our friendship is unique. Me and Peyton, well if we were ever anything, it would be a brother-sister sort of thing. And who knows, maybe we were twins separated at birth?"
She grins and takes his hand in her own, stringing her fingers through his. "Yeah, you two do look and act a lot a like."
He looks down at their intertwined hands and smiles; he can't even imagine having Peyton when he could have a girl like Brooke and he just hopes she understands that.
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They're sitting in his mother's café—him, Brooke, Haley, Keith, and his mom—and they're laughing at some joke Haley just said.
He's not really sure what it was, but he is sure that he's never really been this content before. Brooke is sitting next to him, her hand playfully messing with his blond hair, which is cut short for the summer. Haley and Brooke are actually chatting like friends and his mom is watching them all interact with a smile on her face.
His mother had taken a liking to Brooke ever since the day he brought her home to work on their project. He thinks it's because she reminds her a little bit of herself when she was younger. He doesn't really care why his mom likes her, though, he's just glad she does.
His Uncle Keith, while still a little confused about his and Brooke's unconventional friendship, is also quite fond of Brooke. Lucas isn't surprised by that; if anyone took a little time to get to know the real her, they wouldn't want to let her go.
"Karen, can you and I go out driving tomorrow?" Brooke asks and Karen says yes, she'd be happy to. Brooke claps her hands together excitedly and Lucas just smiles.
Here, with Brooke added to the group, it feels like family.
It feels right.
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Summer's in full swing now and they haven't hung out much for the past couple of weeks. She's busy with cheerleading practice and her other friends. She goes to parties a lot too, parties that he isn't invited to, and, even though this is something she's been doing the whole summer, he's starting to wonder why she isn't coming around as often. Sometimes she'll come over at night and eat dinner with him and his mom and sometimes Haley and Keith. Otherwise, they don't see each other much. And it's worrying him.
She tells him she's busy when he mentions it, and that she's sorry, but he can tell there's something else, something she's not telling him
Now, two weeks into August, he's sitting in his mother's café, staring forlornly out the window, when he sees her walk by. She's with a guy, Mike Walton. A junior—well, senior now—and star of the basketball team. Nathan Scott is his little prodigy. Lucas hates the guy with a passion.
And he is holding Brooke's hand, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist.
Lucas feels his face heat up with anger and he suddenly understands why Brooke hasn't been hanging out with him much. She likes someone else. And it's not him. He shouldn't be surprised, but for some reason it really hurts him. Even though he knew she just wanted friendship, he had thought it would eventually turn into something more.
"Something wrong, Lucas?"
He looks up at Haley, who has just sat down across from him.
"No."
She doesn't look convinced and then her eyes follow his to the sight of Brooke and Mike walking hand and hand down the street.
"Luke, you knew that nothing could happen between you two, right? I mean, she's Brooke freaking Davis. She's off limits to guys like you. And, although I have to admit she's not as bad as she seems, you and I both know that nothing is going to change that."
He just shakes his head in anger. He doesn't want to believe Haley, but somehow he knows she right.
And he supposes he'll just have to settle for friendship.
That thought pierces his heart like a knife.
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He's running furiously around the River Court, bypassing Skills with ease as he dunks the ball in the basket.
Basketball. The perfect way to forget all his troubles and just let go.
Suddenly everyone on the court stops playing and he looks around in confusion.
Skills points towards the street. "Looks like your girl wants to talk to you."
And then he sees Brooke standing alone on the sidewalk, her arms crossed as she watches them play with a sad smile on her face. She waves feebly at him and, even though she's a good distance away, he can see her face is red from crying.
He drops the ball and heads over towards her. "Hey," he says, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. "What's going on?"
She just sighs and then a tear streams down her face. He pulls her into his arms immediately.
"Let's go for a walk," she finally says.
They walk silently down the street. The sun is just starting to set and he knows that he will have to call his mom once it's dark to let her know where he is. He waits for her to speak, knowing that she needed to time to figure out what to say.
They're in front of Peyton's house now and she stops him. She points to the Sawyer's backyard.
"Follow me."
He does and she leads him through their yard and into the small forest behind their house. They walk through the trees for about five minutes until they reach a small clearing. She's sits down in the middle of it and he sits with her.
He notices the dim light from the Sawyer's back porch peak through the trees and wonders if Brooke's been here before.
"I like to come here to think," she explains, answering his unspoken question.
He nods. It's getting chilly and so he wraps his arms around her. He's wearing nothing but a t-shirt and basketball shirts and she's in only a black tank top and a short pair of shirts. He's suddenly aware of her exposed skin and tries desperately to distract himself from it by concentrating on her tear streaked face. He can't help it; he gently sweeps back the hair that had fallen in front of her face and places it behind her ear. Then he cups the side of her cheek with his hand.
"What's wrong, Brooke?"
She chokes back a sob. "I…I screwed up."
He waits patiently for her to continue.
She composed herself and then continues. "I've been going out with Mike Walton for a few weeks—that's why I haven hung out with you as much lately— and I… I slept with him today."
His heart breaks at her words, but he shouldn't be surprised. Gossip around school told him that Brooke Davis was not hard to get into bed. The past few months he's begun to doubt that rumor, but now he wasn't so sure. Sex was one topic he and Brooke had narrowly avoided during their conversations, mostly because he didn't want to be disappointed by her.
"Lucas…" She's crying again and he pulls her closer to him. He can't seem to understand why she's so upset, though. "This may surprise you but…it was my first time."
His eyes widen in shock and he looks down to see her staring at him, obviously waiting for his reaction.
"Oh."
"People call me a slut but that's only rumor. I'm not as easy as people claim. But Mike…God, I hate him. He's a such jerk and he only wanted me because he thought I was easy and he kept pressuring me and…it was horrible… It's just wasn't the way I pictured it."
There's anger sparkling in his eyes. "Brooke, he didn't force you to do it, did he?"
The thought alone makes him want to strangle Mike Walton.
She shook her head quickly. "God, no. I would've kicked his ass to the curb if he had even tried. I broke up with him afterwards, though. It was just so disappointing. I just…I wanted my first time to be when I was in love and I guess I settled. The whole time, though…I just felt so guilty and I don't even know why."
Lucas didn't know why either. To be honest, he didn't even know why she was telling him this. Not when she had Peyton. If she thought it would make him feel better to know that she had only just lost her virginity, then she was sorely mistaken.
"Lucas," she says, turning to look at him. "I…"
He waits, this time more impatiently. "Yeah?"
"I…I'm really sorry that I haven't been around lately. I want you to know that I never meant to put you on the back burner. These past few months with you have been amazing and I don't want the friendship we created to ever go away. But…"
He's curious now. "But what?"
She sighs and looks him straight in the eye. "But I think the reason I felt guilty about me and Mike today was because my heart belongs to someone else. And that someone is you. And I felt guilty because I knew it should've been you that I was with. It sucks that it took sleeping with Mike to realize that, but that's how it happened.
"But I don't want to ruin things with you, Lucas. I've let you into my life in ways that I haven't let anyone else in. Not even Peyton. And I don't want to lose that, Lucas. I can't lose that. I need you in my life and a romantic relationship with you could ruin it… Lucas, I need to know how serious you are about me or if you even feel the same way."
His heart is beating rapidly at her words. She wants him just like he wants her. But she has a point. If their friendship was ever ruined because they broke up…he couldn't bear to think of it. He couldn't even bear to think of a break up. To be honest he didn't see how it was possible. He could easily picture loving Brooke Davis for the rest of his life.
"Brooke," he began, "I know that we've only really know each other for two months now, but I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you. Actually, I think I am in love with you. And I can't ever picture myself falling out of love with you. It just isn't possible. I can see myself spending the rest of my life with you, if I'm being honest. And I know that sounds crazy but…it's just how I feel. I wanna be with you, Brooke. I have for awhile now. And that's how serious I am about you."
Her eyes fill up with even more tears, and he gently brings her hands up to his face, kissing her knuckles.
She moves closer to him so that nothing comes in between them. Their bodies fit perfectly—like they had found their match. "You're amazing, do you know that?"
He chuckles lightly. "You bring out the best in me," he whispers into her ear.
She pulls away slightly. "I've never been in love before, Lucas," she says seriously, "and I'm not so sure how it feels, but I'm pretty sure it must be something like this. Like how I feel about you. You've changed my life, Lucas Scott, and now I can't imagine life without you in it."
He just stares deeply into her brown eyes and smiles. Their faces move closer and closer until his lips are finally on hers. He's waited for this for two months now and it feels better than he could have possibly imagined.
And as they pull away, his grip around her tightens and she leans her head against his chest.
"You're my second kiss, you know," he says, breaking the silence that had formed.
She looks at him curiously. "Was I better than Jennifer?"
He cracks a smile. "She can't even compare."
She kisses him again, this time harder and more full of passion. Their mouths open and their tongues meet for the first time. He's never experienced something like this before and the feeling is almost indescribable.
A few minutes later and she's pulling at his shirt, but he pulls away, knowing where this is leading.
She looks a little disappointed as she looks back up at him, but not surprised.
"We have plenty of time for that," he says, stringing his hands through her hair. "But I want to take things relatively slowly. There's no need to rush."
She smiles. "That's the first time I've heard a guy say that."
He grins and kisses her again.
And he finally feels whole with her in his arms. Nothing else can make him feel this way except her. She is what holds him together and he's sure that there's no way he will ever let her go. It's not possible.
He sees a future with her—marriage, kids, a big house, maybe with a red door like her house right now—and he knows that even though he's just fifteen years old he's found his soulmate. And it's her, Brooke Davis, and he is completely, head over heels in love with her.
And he will be for the rest of his life.