Disclaimer: Don't own One Tree Hill
A/N: Ok, here's the next chapter. I just want to say that I don't condone cheating, I just think that there are different situations and I definitely don't think that Peyton and Lucas held no blame. Anyway, I hope this chapter helps to show that.
Chapter 2: Ex-Friends
"Peyton?" Two blonde heads swivelled towards the door, and their eyes widened in shock at the same time.
"Brooke?" Peyton was the first to speak, and the word came out barely above a whisper. Lucas reached down and took her hand, and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Brooke, what are you doing here?" He asked, and she bit her lip, and took a deep breath before answering.
"I was looking for Peyton. Looks like I found her, huh? And you, too. Funny that. I thought you said you broke it off with him? Cause from where I'm standing, you two looking very much together." She said, staring at their linked hands, her voice rising as she spoke.
"Brooke..." Peyton started, but she was cut off.
"No. I came looking for you to give you the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe you were telling me the truth about you and Lucas, but now..."
"Now what, Brooke?" It was Lucas who spoke this time. "We're not together Brooke..."
"I don't want to hear this from you right now. You told me that you needed time to heal, to be alone. Well, you don't look too alone right now." She snapped at him, and he actually leaned away in shock.
"Brooke..." Peyton started again, but this time she was cut off by Haley.
"Don't, Peyton. It sounds like I was wrong. Maybe your relationship isn't as strong as I thought."
"Oh, Tutor Girl. You know, as smart as you may be, you don't know everything. And you don't know what you're talking about here. So maybe you should keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong." Nathan put his hand on Haley's shoulder, but she shrugged it off and moved towards Brooke.
"You know, I really think you should just leave now. You know that saying, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all? I think that applies to this situation, and since you clearly don't have anything nice to say to any of us, why don't you just go." There was silence in the cafe, and all eyes were on Haley as she let out a huff of breath, and crossed her arms. Peyton sent her a small smile, and she returned it before returning to glare at Brooke. Brooke looked between the four of them, then laughed, a short, disbelieving laugh.
"Fine. I'm the one who got screwed over, and lied to, but whatever. You all just sit here, feeling all high and mighty. I'm gone." And she turned and headed out, but she paused in the doorway and looked back at Peyton. "You said that I didn't deserve you letting Lucas go for me, well you know what? I don't want it. Go ahead, be happy together. You're both lying backstabbers, so you should be perfect for each other." She walked out and the door shut behind her. Three heads turned from the door at the sound of a cry, and they saw Peyton sitting there, crying. Haley raced forward, and Lucas pulled her up into a hug. Haley joined in, and even Nathan came over and gave her a pat on her back, still unsure how to act around her, or any distressed female.
A few minutes later, the tears had stopped flowing, and she was laughing at herself in embarrassment. "God, that's what? Three times in one night? You all probably think I'm some sort of psycho or something." Lucas smiled and wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
"Nah, we don't think you're a psycho. But I was considering that maybe you and Haley had switched places..." Haley hit him, and he gave them an innocent look. "What? Nathan, back me up here. Were they not acting like each other?" Nathan looked torn, but eventually he gave a small nod of his head.
"Yeah, just a little. I've known Peyton a long time, and I don't think I've ever seen her cry. But that telling off that Brooke got, that was very Peyton like. She tends to be more bitchy." Both girls glared at him, and he glared at Lucas, who shrugged.
"Just admit that for once, we're right. I really don't think it'd kill ya." The girls looked at each other, then turned back to Lucas and glared. "Or it would, apparently. Uh, not to break up the party or anything, but if I'm not back in the next 10 minutes, my mum's gonna send out a search party or something, so Peyton, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm good now. Thanks, Haley." The two girls stood and hugged, and Haley whispered something in Peyton's ear and they both smiled. Peyton headed out towards the kitchen, and Lucas' waved to Haley as he left, and he gave Nathan a small smile, which was returned. Then he followed Peyton, through the kitchen and out the back door to her car.
They were quiet on the drive home, until they were outside Lucas' house. He turned to her, a smile on his lips.
"What's on your mind, Lucas?" She asked, and he said nothing. He reached over with his good arm and brushed her cheek before he turned and got out of the car. He turned back before he shut the door, and leant in.
"So, do I get to know what Haley said to you before we left?" Her smile grew, and her eyes held a little bit of mischief in them, but she shook her head.
"Not tonight you don't. All in good time, my friend, all in good time." He shook his head and shut the door. She waited until he was inside before she put her car in drive and pulled away from the curb.
The next morning Peyton rang the doorbell of the front door at Lucas'. Karen answered, and smiled when she saw the blonde.
"Peyton, hi. Come in. Lucas is still asleep, but he should wake up soon." She said as she stepped aside to let her through.
"Thanks, but I actually came to see you." She smiled at the surprised look on Karen's face.
"Really? Ok, let's go into the kitchen." Once they were settled at the kitchen table with coffee, Peyton took a deep breath.
"Ms Roe," she paused at Karen's look, "Karen. First, I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened yesterday with Lucas. It was my fault he left. I guess I was kind of avoiding him and Brooke yesterday, so he decided to come to me instead. And I also wanted to say thank you, for letting Lucas take me to see Haley last night. I don't know what Lucas has told you about what's been going on the last few days, but it really meant a lot to me." Karen reached out and took Peyton's hand, and at that small gesture, Peyton broke down again, and Karen moved around the table and held her. A few minutes later, when the tears had stopped, Peyton looked up and started laughing at herself. "God, I must look ridiculous. And I feel horrible." She started to cry again, and Karen soothed her until she was done again.
"Now Peyton, tell me what's been going on? Would this have anything to do with Lucas breaking up with Brooke the other day?" She asked as she pulled Peyton back to study her face. She nodded.
"I messed up, Karen. And I tried to undo it, but she found out and everything got worse, and then I just got so mad and I was yelling, and then Haley yelled at her. I didn't want any of this to happen, I didn't mean to let it go this far." She had stopped crying now, but she shook her head and stood up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be dumping all this on you, you need to look after Lucas, and I need to get to school." She headed to the kitchen door, and paused as she opened it. "Um, will you tell Lucas I'll be by to see him after school?" Karen nodded, and she left. After she was in her car, she let out huge breath she hadn't known she was holding, and put her head on the steering wheel.
Lucas woke as Peyton left, and after slowly getting dressed, he made his way out to the kitchen, where he was greeted by the sight of his mother, apparently waiting for his arrival.
"Hey, mum. Did I hear someone leaving?"
"Yes, you did. I think you better sit down, Lucas." He looked at her warily, but didn't say anything as he took a seat at the table. "Peyton stopped by to see me this morning, to thank me. She mentioned something about messing it all up, and a fight with Brooke. I think you better explain what happened."
"Uh..." He did know what to say, but after a minute, his mother's staring broke him down, and it all came out, every detail of the past 6 weeks.
Peyton pulled into the parking lot of the school, unfortunately with 15 minutes to spare, which meant that there were still plenty of people around. She scanned the front of the school, and saw, with little surprise, Brooke surrounded by the cheerleading squad. She grabbed her bag and got out of her car. She started walking towards the school, when she heard her name. She had a two second debate with herself, and turned around to face Brooke, who was standing in front of the squad, hands on hips.
"So you decided to show your face, did you? I'm surprised you didn't decide to spend the day hiding out at Lucas'." Brooke said, and Peyton could hear the scorn in her voice. She was tempted to turn away, but the part of her that had taken her to Lucas' the night before to break things off stopped her. So she decided to try one last time.
"Brooke, I told you, we're not together. And last night, at the cafe, that wasn't what you think. I never meant to hurt you Brooke, neither of us did. You're my best friend..."
"Was. I was your best friend. As in, past tense." Brooke interrupted.
"Fine. You can see it that way, and maybe we'll never be best friends again, but I still want us to be friends. I never meant for any of this to happen, to let it get this far."
"Funny, you don't mention never letting it happen at all."
"You know what, if I could go back and change this, I would. But I wouldn't go back to that night at the motel, cause even if it hadn't happened then, I think it would've happened. It might suck, but it's the truth. No, if I could go back, I'd go back to that night at Nathan's, when I ran from Lucas." Brooke stared at her, wide eyed, in shock at this admission, and even Peyton was shocked. "Brooke, I know it probably won't mean much, but I'm sorry. I really am. You don't deserve any of this." And then she turned and walked away.
Karen and Lucas had been sitting in silence for a good 5 minutes before Karen spoke.
"I just... why would you start a relationship with Brooke if you really wanted to be with Peyton?" she asked finally, and he looked up, startled by the question.
"I... I don't know. I thought that I didn't want to deal with all the drama that came with Peyton, and she'd turned me down, and Brooke was so much fun, and there was no drama. I thought I would forget about wanting to be with Peyton. But then... I messed up, I know I did. But I don't know how to fix it."
"I don't think this is something that will be easily fixed, Lucas. It's going to take time, especially Brooke. She was hurt by two people she cares deeply for, and it's hard enough to be hurt by o ne person you care about, let alone two. I think she'll come around eventually. Her heart's too big, and despite what's happened, I think she still cares for you. She actually stopped by here looking for you or Peyton last night, I guess before she went to the cafe, and I could see that she didn't want to lose you. Now, it clearly didn't go very well, but the fact that she went looking is a good sign. I think she still hadn't gotten over the shock when she saw you together."
"What do you think I should do? I mean, I don't know if Peyton's going to talk to me, or how we stand. But I don't want to hurt Brooke more."
"Well, like some of the best things in life, it's going to take time, and effort."
"Peyton, wait up." Peyton slowed and turned her head towards the voice, and saw Haley walking after her. She slowed down completely until Haley was beside her. Then they walked into the school together.
"So, I heard you guys."
"It was so quiet, I think everyone in the school heard. And now the entire school knows I screwed my best friend, sorry, ex best friend, over."
"Peyton..."
"No, it's ok. I deserve it. I just hope we can work this out sometime."
"I think you will. Maybe, just give her some time to cool off."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." They walked in silence until Peyton stopped and turned to Haley. "I have a question for you."
"Ok, shoot."
"Well, as inappropriate as this might seem at this particular point in time, what do you think I should do about Lucas? I mean, I'm not sure where I stand with him." Haley actually laughed, and Peyton looked confused. "What?"
"You honestly don't know where you stand? Peyton, he's not getting over you any time soon, trust me. Don't forget what I told you last night."
"So what should I do? I mean, jumping into a relationship doesn't seem like an answer, especially since I told Brooke we're not together, and I broke up with him last night."
"Just wait and see what happens. Trust me, what's meant to be will be. But can I give you bit of advice? Don't push him away, and don't shut him out." Peyton smiled.
"Yeah, I don't think I need any more ex-friends." They both smiled, and despite the situation, they laughed all the way to class.
A/N: Ok, so let me know what you thought. And please be honest, I won't get offended... probably. Tell me what needs fixing, or what works/doesn't work.