a/n warning femslash – don't like, don't read!

Carter looked around, her eyes wandered over the lake. She was thinking, thinking about her mother, the person who tore the whole family apart when she left.

Carter's shoulders sagged as she choked back tears threatening to fall. She hadn't cried about this since the day that her mother left and moved all the way to England. She hadn't cried about it, hadn't talked about it, and hadn't even thought about it. But it was all coming crashing down on her now, two hours before Rosie flight was meant to arrive, when she finally got some alone time.

Carter sighed hearing footsteps, she quickly wiped her tears assuming her dad was back from his small shopping trip for groceries (which he only bothered to do because Rosie was visiting). She leaned in to the hand that was placed lightly on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" a voice asked,

Carter jumped, that was definitely not her dad. She stood up quickly, effectively knocking over the questioner in the process.

Brooke.

"What are you doing here?" Carter asked

"Donny sent me over for bait" said Brooke accepting a hand from Carter to stand "So what's wrong, I've never seen you so…sad I guess"

"Sad, more like vulnerable…" Carter mumbled before realizing she was admitting to have weakness and inputting "Nothing's wrong Brooke"

Brooke looked at her, she sighed.

"Look, I'm not the person I am when I'm with Chelsea…you can talk to me"

"Oh really? So who are you and why should I trust you anymore than I do Chelsea?"

"It's just…I care about…she's my friend…"

"and obviously I'm not, so stop acting and let's get that bait you're here for" Carter spat out, frustrated as she moved toward the bait shack.

Brooke stood in the entrance as Carter fished around for the bait, knowing exactly what and how much Donny wanted.

"Carter" Brooke said as Carter held out the package of bait

"Take it and go... I'm busy" Carter said, pushing the bait closer to Brooke

"There's no one here" Brooke stated looking around

"Rosie's coming back to visit" Carter said, giving up on handing Brooke the package and dropping it on the counter.

"Oh, well I guess there's no chance for me then" Brooke said grasping the package getting ready to leave

"What do you mean?" Carter asked

"Nothing," Brooke stated turning to walk to her car

Carter grasped hold of Brooke's elbow across the counter. With a firm grasp on Brooke she opened the small door and walked to the other side.

Brooke turned around to face Carter "What do you want"

"Tell Chelsea that when Rosie is here, if she even tries to talk to her I will find her" Carter said with an angry glint in her eyes. "If you guys try anything…"

Carter now had a grasp on both Brooke's elbows, she edged closer to Brooke; she didn't want anything to ruin this visit.

"What makes you think we care?" asked Brooke

"I hope you do"

"Why are you threatening me? Why can't we just be friends?" Brooke asked

Carter dropped Brooke's hand "Don't you know, don't you get it at all Brooke? You and Chelsea have made my life hell. Think about that before you ask why we can't be friends, it's because YOU don't want to and that's why you treat me like a piece of trash normally."

Brooke's head dropped "I'm sorry"

"You're sorry? Oh, cause that helps so much" Carter said getting really frustrated

"Carter…" Brooke started before looking up and going shoving past Carter to the counter. She placed the bait down before turning around to face Carter, whose eyes never left her.

"Carter, before I do this you need to know I never meant to hurt you. I've known you since I was a kid, but then I met Chelsea, and I tried to become…"

"…Popular, you are…" Carter put in

"Yes, but also someone I was not, because I tried to hide behind a façade of hating you but really…"

And then her lips where on Carter's and it only took Carter a few seconds to respond. Her soft lips molded against Carter's, the sensation slow and sweet.

Suddenly her hands were in Carter's hair and Carter's grasping her waist. They slowly broke apart.

"Do you like me?" Brooke asked hopefully

"You haven't given me much to work with" Carter said looking down

"I can work with that," Brooke leaned up to kiss Carter's cheek, "Don't think badly of me, but Chelsea is just another crush…"

"…and would hate you if she found you were...lesbian I guess. I'm in the same position, I really like someone else, but I'd have to be someone else to get them" Carter sighed.

She tossed the door back open and grabbed a stool, sitting down in the process. She took Brooke's waist and guided her to her lap.

"So we're equal, you don't expect me to be anything?" Brooke asked

"I just really need someone to…"

"So we're just using each other?" Brooke asked smiling a little "Don't worry, there is an attraction, there always will be, but with Chelsea…"

"…it's different" Carter finished off for her

"Yeah" Brooke agreed

"Besides, we're not using each other, we're helping each other!" Carter said grinning

There was a gentle silence while Carter played with the hem of Brooke's shirt while Brooke twisted a piece of Carter's hair around her finger.

"I feel like I'm dreaming" Brooke said

"This is too weird to be a dream!" laughed Carter

The silence grew before the distant roar of her dad's car snapped Carter out of her thoughts long enough to ask, "Hey, do you want to come and pick up Rosie with us?" softly into Brooke's ear.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her in ages and I really want to get off on the right foot with her this time…apologize about the whole Chelsea mess and all…" Brooke said

"Don't worry about it" Carter smiled, getting off the stool with Brooke, before waving to her dad as he drove in.