"So are you excited for your hot date tonight?"
"Meh yes and no" Brooke mooched in her closet looking for an outfit for the evening whilst on the phone to her best friend, Haley.
"Yes and no? What's not to be excited about? He's totally hot"
"Well why don't you go out with him then? You haven't exactly told me much about him... I mean for all I know he could be a cave man leading a double life as an axe murderer!" Brooke exaggerated knowing that of course her best friend wouldn't do that to her.
"His name is Lucas, he's my husband's brother, and what else do you need to know?"
"If he's Nathan's brother then why haven't I met him before?" Brooke not being as convinced as Haley was, in fact she was happy enough to stay in with a nice glass of wine and a film on the TV, she was sure she had seen The Notebook on the planner.
"Oh he's been travelling for around 5 years now? He comes to visit every 3 months but you're usually in New York doing your Clothes Over Bros thing" That was true, she did tend to divide her time between Tree Hill and New York. She could never bear to say goodbye to Tree Hill, it's who she is, where she's from and where the people she loves belong. It was her home.
"Hmm, so he's a traveller? Haley James-Scott! You did not tell me I was going on a date with Christopher Columbus!" Brooke gushed sarcastically into the phone.
"You could sound a little more excited? If you didn't want to go then why did you say yes?"
"I didn't! You said yes and then told me I was going! I really had no choice in the matter!" Brooke recalled.
"Yeah good point! But you should give Lucas a chance, he's really lovely!"
"It sounds to me like you married the wrong Scott brother! Which reminds me you told me to give creepy Paul a chance and look how that turned out?" Brooke shivered at the memory of the horrific date she spent in his old banged up car continuously going through the local drive through... never again!
"Creepy Paul with the ferrets?"
"No, other creepy Paul with the flea infested car and the drive through fetish! But don't even get me started on creepy Paul with the ferrets! You know Hales; you don't have a brilliant track record for these kinds of things..." Brooke was now sat at her vanity table, carefully choosing her make-up. She was actually considering whether to do a role reversal and make herself the creep on the date instead, surely that would get the temperature rising with the "amazing Lucas".
"Yeah well I promise you, you'll get on like a house on fire!" Haley laughed at herself
"I'm sure we will... Listen I better go get ready for this 'hot' date of mine, I'll call you later Hales... Love you"
"Bye Davis, have fun, you'll love him I swear! Love you too" Brooke chuckled to herself as she remembered the last 50 times Haley had said that.
Brooke Davis was sat at Tric, the local popular bar in Tree Hill, her date with 'Lucas' was supposed to be at 7:30pm but it was now ticking on an hour later and still no sign of Lucas. She had dressed herself in a cute black dress that hugged her perfect figure in the right places and finished just above the knee, she completed her look with her latest pair of nude court heels and if she says so herself, she looked good! She searched the crowd of people having a good time for anyone that seemed lost or looked alone, but she found nobody. She'd finish her drink and head home, hoping to catch The Notebook but her train of thought was soon interrupted.
"Been stood up, huh?" He recognised her as soon as he walked in, he'd seen various photo's of her scattered around at Nathan and Haley's house and not to mention the tabloids. He always thought she had been gorgeous as he had scanned the photos in previous years and the camera does not lie.
Brooke turned her head to the guy who had started talking to her; she immediately noticed his deep blue eyes and his handsome complexion. Maybe this Lucas guy standing her up wasn't so bad after all? "Hmm, what makes you say that?"
"Well why would a beautiful woman like you would be sat at a bar on her own looking as lovely as ever?"
"Oh, aren't you charming?" Brooke raised her eyebrow in a flirty manner
"Yeah I do my best" He grinned and took a seat next to her at the bar. "So can I get you a drink? Unless your here with somebody?" He looked around for any nearby approaching guys
"No, you were right, I'm here by myself. The douche bag stood me up!" Brooke grinned
"Douche bag? Ouch! Aren't you afraid he came in, saw you and then left?" He joked
"Oh gee, thanks... anyways you said I was 'a beautiful woman' 5 minutes ago, you soon changed your tune" Brooke laughed, actually quite enjoying his company
"Oh no, I do happen to think that without a doubt you are the most beautiful woman here tonight but who knows what the douche bag thought?" He said cheekily
"You really do have a way with your words, you know" She laughed again, starting to relax "I'm Brooke by the way" She smiled and held out her hand.
"I know" he took her hand and shook it as she looked confused "I'm Lucas, the douche bag that stood you up tonight, oh by the way apologies for being late" He smiled boldly.
"You're who?" Brooke was shocked to say the least "You mean you came here an hour late, pretending it's cool?"
"Well yeah – I figured if I didn't say who I was I could show you that I'm not actually that bad and I do have a perfectly valid reason as to why I'm late so there's no need to go too stressy" Lucas explained himself as innocently as the story would go
"Too stressy?" Brooke was getting aggravated and found him a little cocky
"Ok, bad choice of words but come on, let me make it up to you? Please?" Lucas pleaded
"Let me here your 'perfectly valid reason as to why you're late' and I'll think about it" Brooke folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow, this time being anything but flirty.
"My little sister Lilly was sick so someone had to go pick her up and stay with her until my mom got home from work; she's only four you see"
"Uhu and I'm supposed to believe that one?" Brooke wasn't quite convinced by his story, she'd known him for 15 minutes tops and so far she had gathered he was flirty, cocky, cheeky and smooth so who knew if he could make that up.
"It's true, look hang on" Lucas reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, he tapped in some digits and held the phone to his ear as it rang "Hey Lils it's me, are you feeling ok?... Ok well make sure you take your medicine like mom told you and maybe convince daddy to go get you some ice cream?" He laughed "... yeah I'm with Brooke right now sweetie, in fact she wants to talk to you" Brooke shook her head desperately and mouthed 'No! I believe you!' Lucas just grinned at her "Ok, Lils here she is" Lucas handed over the phone to Brooke which she took reluctantly; she shook her head at him but also grinned. He grinned too.
"Hello?" she said quietly
"Hi, my names Lily Roe Scott, I am four years old and I can count up to 20!" The little girl exclaimed
"Hi Lilly, that's a beautiful name! You can count up to four? Wow you are clever" Brooke smiled as she talked to the little girl, she could tell she was precious to Lucas as he blushed and shook his head.
"Thank you, I have to go now; my mommy says it's time for the yucky medicine! May I say bye to my big brother before I go?"
"You sure can sweet girl, feel better soon!" Brooke handed the phone back to Lucas with a sincere smile
"I'll come see you tomorrow Lils, I love you" Lucas hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket "So that was my baby sister..."
"Awh, she's adorable! I think I might be able to forgive you for being late but I'm not sure if my stomach can.. Do you want to reschedule?" Brooke hopped off the bar stool and gathered her things.
Lucas jumped off after her "No, no! I promised you a date or an evening meal and you're going to get one"
Brooke chuckled "Well we missed our dinner reservations by an hour so...?"
"Oh don't worry about that, I know a place that's open just when you need, come on" He smiled at her and held out his arm for her to link which she did so.
"As long as it's not a fast food diner, then I'm there!"
"Erm no, but let's go" Lucas a little confused but escorted her out of the club "Is it alright if we walk there? Tree Hill is beautiful at night and it'd be a shame to miss it" He was right, Tree Hill was lovely during the day but at night, it was something else.
"No, that's fine" She smiled and enjoyed the view of the night sky
"So tell me, how long have you known Haley and Nathan for?"
"Well, I've known Haley since we were freshmen in high school and Nathan since they started dating in senior year, what about you?"
"Well Nathan's my brother so I'd like to think all my life" He grinned as she realised how stupid she sounded
"Right! Bit of an error there, Brooke!" They both laughed
"Yeah just a bit, well Nathan and I share the same dad-"
"Ah, the infamous Dan Scott"
"Oh so you've heard the horror stories then?" They both laughed
"Well, I've heard bits and pieces from Haley, but Nathan doesn't really like to talk about it"
"I see"
"If you're Nathan's age, then how come I never saw you around school?"
"Oh I moved to Charleston with my Uncle Keith for a while, I came back for a month of senior year?"
"How come you left?" She questioned him, the guy sure liked to travel
"Things were tough with Nathan and Dan and Tree Hill was starting to feel less like home I don't know. Nathan came out to spend the summer with Uncle Keith and I and we bonded, forgot about everything and I don't know I felt like I'd been away for too long so I came back" Lucas explained, Brooke sympathised with him because she know how awkward parents could be and especially Dan.
"...but you left again?"
He chuckled "Yeah, that's not important right now. I saw some amazing places while I was gone, but like when I was living in Charleston, I felt I'd been gone too long. So here we are a call from Haley and bam I'm on a date with a beautiful Brooke Davis who knows my family's dirty secrets but I know nothing about you..." Lucas challenged but Brooke just giggled.
"Hmm, what would you like to know?" She smiled, somewhat mesmerised by the douche bag from before.
"Who is the Dan Scott in your family?" They both laughed again, enjoying each other's company and ridiculing Dan.
"I have two"
"Two! Wow, you were a blessed child!" He joked with her; they had just strolled past the docks which would lead them to the place
"Pfft yeah! My parents were never about as I was growing up and when they were; they were never pleasant with each other. I think they're 'temporarily separated' as my mother calls it, they may as well get divorced I mean they're not together for my benefit, I'm 25 and living on my own. Anyways Haley and I called her 'Bitchtoria' and to be honest it fits perfectly" She giggled
"Why 'Bitchtoria'?" He laughed too
"Urgh, you will understand if you ever meet her and I hope to God you never have to!"
"Thanks, I'll bear that in mind for if we ever get married" He smiled and winked at her, although part of him was serious.
"Married? Wow, you have high hopes and it's only the first date! Speaking of, are we nearly there?"
"You have perfect timing for your questions, here we are" They stopped outside 'Karen's Cafe'
"You do realise it's closed right?" Brooke looked at him, stating the obvious
"Not when you have a key..." Lucas grinned as he pulled the key from his coat pocket
"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Brooke stood as she watched Lucas open the door and step inside
"You know for a Tree Hill girl, you sure don't know a lot about the place... Karen's Cafe is my mom's business, I have a spare key in case of emergencies and in your case, this is an emergency"
Brooke stood still outside the door, amazed that she had never connected the dots before
"So are you coming in or what?" Lucas stood holding the door for her
"Yeah, I guess I am"
"Thanks for walking me home, I appreciate it" Brooke smiled at him as they approached her door
"Anytime for you" He winked as she blushed, he also noticed her statement red door "Wow, so you're the girl behind the red door, huh?"
Brooke chuckled "Yeah, red is kind of my thing"
"Hmm, I'll have to bear that in mind... it does suit you, I'll admit" Lucas stepped down from the door step "I better get going, see if my mom or Uncle Keith need anything"
"Ok, well you have my number"
"And you have mine"
"That I do... Thank you Lucas for a lovely night, it was –better than I anticipated to say the least" Brooke laughed at herself
"Well that's good, I hope?" Brooke nodded and leaned in and pecked him on the cheek
"I'll see you Lucas" She smiled and closed herself behind her red door
"I'll see you too Brooke" Lucas smiled to himself, feeling a whole lot better about the night than he did before.