Chapter 1:
You and Me Against the World

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Brooke's P.o.v

"Davis!" He's always yelling, I swear the boy needs to calm down.

I rolled my eyes before plastering a sweet smile on my face, "Somethin' I can do for you?" I asked, batting my eyelashes at him fakely.

He looks annoyed, well what else is new? "You wanna freakin' quit that?" He snaps.

I grit my teeth and bite back a retort; I'm not fighting with him. Not today "What is it Nathan?" My response comes out tired.

He smirks, "Dropped that act" He says triumphantly, he drives me crazy "But now I lost my train of thought" He frowns.

I suppress a laugh, "Happens often huh Nate?" I can't help but tease.

His frown gets deeper, but he lets this one slide. "Oh" He snaps his fingers together "That half brother of mine, that you're so obsessed with…" he lets on with a wicked smile. I don't like where this is going, anything that involves Nathan and Lucas is enough to make me sick to my stomach.

"I'm not obsessed with anyone Nathan" I mumble, not that he's ever going to believe me,

He disregards this as if I hadn't even said anything, "He's on the team" he mentions bitterly, "Shouldn't you be grinning like a Cheshire cat?" He growls.

I'm so frustrated with him I could smack him, but I know he's going through stuff so I try my best not to "Nathan…c'mon this could be a good thing" I try, he's my best friend, so for his sake I try.

He laughs mirthlessly, he's mocking me "You're never gonna get it Brooke, you don't know" Nathan says condescendingly, "My mother's a pill head, my dad's a controlling ass and my estranged half brother is taking over my life…yeah it's a great thing" He says cynically, his sarcasm is always so offending.

I run a hand through my hair, "You wanna crash at my place?" It's the only thing I can offer him.

He looks at me for minute. I know why, it's because up until pretty recently it was the other way around. I'd spent more nights in his house then I had my own because of how lonely it was when my parents were away. And how unbearable their fighting would get when they were here. But then his world starting falling apart. "Yeah" He murmurs, I see his cobalt eyes softening.

And I know that's why we're best friends. Because when he's on that ledge I'm the only one who can talk him down. The only one he'd listen to, the only person that can get through to him. And it's the same exact way with me; he's the only person that I'm ever going to listen to.

He's my family, my friends, my life, my everything. And I know that your first impression of him hasn't been very good but he's the only constant in my life that I can fully depend on. So in the end, he can be an ass to me and I'll be a bitch to him as long as he's asleep beside me that night.

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"Looks the same" Nathan mentions as we walk into my house.

"What? Dark, cold and lonely?" I scoff; truthfully I can't stand being in my house. There's nothing homey or nice about it and god knows all of my worst memories have happened here, so when I offered Nathan a place to say I guess I kinda forgot I'd have to stay here too.

He knows his way up to my room, we've hung out with each other since we were kids—back when his mom baked cookies and my mother wasn't a cold hearted bitch…

"You didn't have practice today" I notice, turning on the light in my room.

He collapses on bed, "Yeah, Whitey had shit to do" he says with a careless shrug.

I grab the remote off my dresser and make my way over to my four poster bed, "Hm. What kind of stuff?" I press on distractedly.

Nathan moves up to sit beside me, we're both leaning against my head board "I dunno, just shit I guess…" He says, grabbing the remote from my hands.

"Hey!" I squeal, I hate it when he does that.

Nathan just looks at me and grins, "You know how it works with us Davis" He says honestly, changing the channel to Sports Center. And I do know how it works between us, we fight until one of us wins.

So when I lunge for the remote he sees it coming and takes it out of my reach, "Ass" I growl, sitting up Indian style.

He just smirks in victory keeping his eyes on the screen "Nathan, please" I whine, I can't take any more of this.

He doesn't say anything but I can see his resolve breaking, he's gonna give into me soon, "Please, anything but this?" I pout, and I know he's trying hard not to look at me because my pout is my ultimate weapon. The last resort. My trump card, he can't say no.

Finally he asks, "What do you wanna watch?" And that's how it really works with us. "I only wanted to see the high lights anyway" He adds so that it doesn't look like he lost.

"Yes" I clap my hands and snatch the remote from him, "You know…A walk to remember is on" I hint.

The look on his face is pure comedy, "Over my dead body" he retorts conventionally, I don't even like that movie that much. I just love messing with him.

But I make sure to look absolutely torn, "Fine" I sigh ruefully, "Then…Gilmore Girls is on" I wink at him, its five o clock on the dot and this was my plan all along.

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I turn over on my side and glance at my alarm clock. It's flashing 12:24 AM and I'm still awake. I'm not sure what it is about tonight but I just can't seem to fall asleep. Nathan's breathing is calm and I can here his light snores, signaling that he's deep in his REM sleep by now. I can't stop thinking about him.

We're about as different as two people can be. He likes to read. I like to party. He's into music and art. I'm into shopping and tanning. He broods and sulks. I cheer and laugh. He's a deep thinker. I'm a fast talker. He loves my best friend. And I hate her.

Well I don't really hate her, and she's barely my best friend anymore. I can't hate her, I can't hate anyone, and is it her fault he loves her? No not really and she has no idea I even like him so I can hardly blame her. Everyone assumes that because Nathan's my best friend and Nathan hates Lucas that I hate Lucas too. Even Peyton, though I wish she knew me well enough to know that's not the case.

Peyton used to be my best friend until really recently. We used to be pretty close and I was pretty sure that even if everything went wrong, I'd still have my Peyton and my Nathan. But then they broke up. For good. And all of a sudden it was Brooke, you're either team Peyton or team Nathan. I guess somewhere along the way, she made the decision for me

Now we hardly ever speak, if I see her in the hallway I don't look at her. If we're at practice, she's on the other side of the gym (that's when she danes to show up) and if we're at a party…she's all over Lucas. And I won't let anyone see it, but it breaks my heart every time.

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