Author- Emily-Grace Mendes (brookebynature)
Disclaimer- I don't own OneTree Hill, or the characters. I own this story, but I stole the title from Jessica Simpson's song.
A/N- Okay, so I know I said that my next story would be a 'play the game' sequel, but I worte the first chapter on my computer at school and forgot to save it onto my usb pen. So I'll keep writing for that story, but I can't post until January. So...I thought I'd begin a new story, and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy xxx
A Public Affair
Chapter 1: Green Light
It was September when it all began. When she realised that her marriage was going nowhere fast, and when he realised that he was in love with his brother's wife. People say that you always want what you can't have. Lucas Scott maintained that he just wanted her because he loved her.
Brooke Davis smiled into the mirror as she completed her hair style- a sleek updo with loose curls framing her face. Charity balls were common among Manhattan's celebrity scene, and she was beginning to grow tired of them.
"You look beautiful." Nathan purred from behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around Brooke's small waist as he paid his wife more compliments about her hair and her dress and her ass in that dress.
"Thanks" She whispered softly as Nathan helped her with the clasp of her necklace, the same necklace that Lucas and his wife Haley had bought her for her birthday.
Lucas was Nathan's half-brother, looking nothing like him and with opposite personality traits. He had blonde hair, Nathan had dark brown. He was quiet and spent his spare time reading or writing. Nathan loved to socialise and spent his spare time at sports bars or watching ESPN.
Brooke still loved him, she was sure of that. But she was in love with Lucas.
It was now almost November, and the charity Halloween ball, held at the prestigious Crowne Plaza would be offering Brooke a chance to see him, to talk to him without conversations about basketball and team tactics getting in the way.
-
The place was brimming with opulence, decorations spanning the length of the entrance hall and the main reception room as Nathan and Brooke entered, greeted by the usual hoards of paparazzi, who generally resided wherever there was a function.
Being Nathan Scott's wife would usually have granted Brooke celebrity status anyway, but America's sweetheart was a star in her own right. Hailing from small town Tree Hill, Brooke Davis had carved herself one hell of an acting career, and had recently turned her hand to fashion design- her special forte.
They had met through mutual friends, who had thought that Brooke and New York Knicks star Nathan would be the perfect couple. And they were. To everyone who didn't know them.
"Brooke Darling!" She was greeted by air kisses and over-enthusiastic embraces from people she hardly knew. Nathan stood beside her, hands dug deep into his pockets-something Brooke had tried to get him to quit.
"And the devilishly handsome Nathan Scott." They continued their welcoming, Nathan too, unable to escape the many elegant women offering their lips to his cheek. "My you too make such an attractive couple."
It was true, when Nathan and Brooke stood together, they looked nothing short of beautiful. She was wearing emerald green, to match the engagement ring that hadn't left her finger since Nathan had placed it there one New Years Eve. Black tie events weren't the kind Nathan usually liked to dress for, but Brooke enjoyed the sight of her husband in a suit, especially when she was able to remove it later on in the evening.
But that wasn't enough to get her through the night, not when she saw him enter. He always seemed to look a little untidy, a little rough round the edges. His hair was blonde and spiky and long. His clothes were a little less fitted and he always looked a little lost. But Brooke loved that about him.
"Lucas Scott!"
He received the same greeting as his brother and sister-in-law, his wife Haley, holding onto his left hand as he nodded somewhat shyly at the women flocking to where he stood, smiles at the ready, manicured hands poised to grab his arm.
Lucas had grown up in a small town too, and had married his high school sweetheart after graduation. Haley James Scott was beautiful, and Brooke couldn't help but love her. She was sweet and caring and completely old-fashioned, with a passion for literature, just like her husband. But loving her wasn't enough to keep Brooke from feeling the way she did about Lucas.
"Thank God." Lucas let his breath out as he and Haley caught up with Nathan and Brooke, the four of them forming their own group in order to find some kind of normality within the ball. "How long have you guys been here?"
"A few minutes." Brooke found herself answering with a smile. It was returned warmly, by the blonde-haired guy she knew she wanted more from.
-
They didn't have an excuse to feel the way they did about each other, not really. All Brooke knew was that she had fallen out of love with Nathan round about the same time she noticed Lucas acting differently towards her. Lucas was almost sure that he had fallen in love with Brooke round about the same time that she confided in him that she felt her marriage would soon be over if she didn't fight to save it.
"This place looks beautiful huh?" Brooke commented, sipping on her champagne as she inched a little closer to Lucas.
"Yeah, it does. But I can't help thinking it's such a waste."
"Why's that?"
Her eyes flickered over to Nathan, who was busy catching up with people he barely saw any more, and then to Haley, who gave a small, oblivious wave before turning back to her conversation with Nathan's coach's wife.
"They spend all this money decorating the place, when really, we could hold in it the street and raise even more money for charity."
"Lucas Scott, the good Samaritan." Brooke giggled, unsure as to whether it was just the champagne that was making her slightly giddy.
"I'm just saying, it's not a very well thought-out event." He replied, shaking his head with a small smile.
There was more general chatting among the guests, many keen to reacquaint themselves with the people they'd lost touch with over the years, some just meeting for the first time.
-
"Can I talk to you Lucas?" Brooke asked after Nathan had handed her the fur wrap she'd brought in order to keep herself warm in the late Autumn night air.
"I'll wait in the car." Nathan told her, dropping a soft kiss on her forehead before turning to leave, Haley deciding that she would accompany him.
"What is it?"
"I can't do this any more." She stuttered, biting her lip in between words. "Seeing you makes going home too hard."
"I can't not see you." Lucas almost pleaded. "Please Brooke."
Brooke fought the tears as she pulled the cream fur tighter around her body. "I told you I would do whatever it took to save my marriage."
"You're married to my brother, how can we not see each other?"
"I could be working, or shopping." She replied. "But this," she indicated the situation they were in, "It's all too hard."
"It would look suspicious." Lucas argued quietly. "You avoiding me. Don't you think Nathan would start to figure things out?"
"There is nothing to figure out Lucas!"
"We kissed Brooke!" He fought back. "How can you count that as nothing?"
"Because it was one kiss, one time, when you'd had too much to drink and I'd just had an argument with Nathan."
"It was a kiss we both wanted."
Brooke stared down at her dress forming a pool of green around her feet, suddenly seeming wildly inappropriate for that moment.
"We should go. Haley and Nathan will be wondering where we are." She said quickly, walking past him as though his words hadn't reached her.
"Brooke…"
"Don't Lucas, please."
-
And when she returned home, she was able to undress Nathan with military precision, falling beneath him as he routinely kissed her lips and then her collar-bone and then her breasts before slipping himself into her, their love making lasting only a few minutes before Nathan fell to sleep, leaving Brooke to ponder her relationships.
She wondered whether giving in to Lucas would help save her marriage, hoping that it would stir up the feelings she'd long since forgotten, at least towards her husband anyway.
Her fingers had dialled the number before she could even talk herself out of it, her heart pounding as he answered the phone. Thank God.
It was when she uttered the words in staccato over the receiver that she felt a rush of relief. "I need to see you."
It was the strictly confidential relationship that Hollywood couldn't discover, and the one he couldn't let go of. It was the same relationship that she'd fought for so long not to get herself lost in and much to Brooke's internal protesting, it had started to consume her, stealing her thoughts and occupying her time.
She loved Nathan, and this didn't change that. He loved Haley, it didn't change that either. But Lucas couldn't deny that he was in love with Brooke. And she couldn't deny that her own feelings were beginning to mirror his.
