Last night had been great for Brooke. Her, Peyton, and Haley had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning talking about everything. Boys, school, New York, clothes and music. It was also the first night she had gotten sleep since her parents accident. She was glad she had at least a couple of friends and Nathan seemed pretty nice too but she didn't know if they were friends.

Now Haley and Brooke were sitting at the kitchen table having blueberry waffles, their favorite. Peyton had already taken off, saying she had a deadline that she needed to meet and that she would see them later. Just then the phone rang, which was next to Brooke. But she didn't make a move to answer it.

"Earth to Brooke, you going get that?" Haley asked "Oh, well I didn't know if I should-" she got cut off.
"Don't be silly, this is your house too, now answer the damn phone" Haley said playfully and Brooke smiled.

"Hello"
"Brooke"
"Yeah, who's this"
"Oh sorry, it's Nathan. How was your first girls night?" he said with a laugh which Brooke returned.
"It was great, Haley and Peyton are the best"
"Yeah, you're telling me. So is Haley around?" He said remembering why he called in the first place.
"Yea hold on." She said as she handed Haley the phone and mouthed 'Nathan'.

"Hey there" Haley answered huskily.
"Hey yourself. I miss you." he answered back honestly "Aw I miss you too." Haley answered sweetly.
"Brooke sounds like she is adjusting well." He stated. Haley looked over at her cousin. Brooke was spinning her spoon through the cereal. She could tell Brooke was still hurting but who wouldn't be?

"Yeah, but not healed yet. I'm sure she will be in no time though." Brooke rolled her eyes knowing that they were talking about her which caused Haley to laugh.
"So what's up?" She said wondering why her boyfriend called.
"Oh, well I was wondering if you guys wanted to hit the mall with me and Lucas" He questioned. "Uh...hold on, let me check with Brooke."

"Do you want to go to the mall with Nathan and Lucas?" She asked with a puppy face.
"Sure but who's Lucas?" Brooke said not really having a problem with the mall idea. She needed some new clothes anyways and if it was going to give her the chance to meet someone knew she was down for it.

She had decided that she was finished playing the part of the 'poor orphan'. Of course she would always miss and remember her parents, but she had known she had to move on for her sake and the sanity of those around her.

"Oh, he's Nathan's older brother." Haley answered completely forgetting that Brooke didn't really know anybody but she was glad Brooke agreed. So she turned back to the phone.

"Yeah we're going to come." She said, excited about getting out of the house and showing Brooke a good time. "Okay that's fine....yep...we'll be ready. Love you too...bye." And with that she hung up the phone. She grabbed Brooke's arm and dragged her upstairs.

"Hey! What's the rush?" Brooke joked.
"Come on, we got to get you ready." Haley teased as they disappeared into her bedroom.

'God I hate the mall' Lucas thought to himself. He definitely didn't want to go. He just wanted to sit at home, have a beer, and watch the game. But no! His brother had begged him to come so that Haley's cousin wouldn't be the third wheel. And of course he agreed. If she's related to Haley she's got to be hot right?

"Luke, one more thing." Nathan said sternly. "Don't be a jerk to Brooke, she's not, I mean she is just not in a good state right now." Nathan didn't know how to state it.
"What do you mean? She's not some crazy chick who is going to try to castrate me, is she?" Lucas said in a serious tone. "No man. Just don't--uh forget it I'll explain later." Nathan said realizing his brother had just pulled in the James' driveway. Lucas honked the horn and the two girls came out of the house.

Nathan's eyes lit up when he saw the two and all Lucas could manage was a "Damn." To which Nathan smacked him in the head for. "You better be referrring to Brooke." He said sternly, not wanting his brother hitting on HIS girlfriend.
"Of course! Haley is like a little sister, a hot sister, but yeah I was talking about Brooke. You didn't say she was that hot." Lucas said as he still stared at the girls.
"Just shut up, here they come." Nathan growled.

"Hey ladies" Nathan greeted.
"Hey" They both said as Haley leaned in between the front seat to give Nathan a kiss on the cheek.

"Uh Brooke, this is my older brother, Lucas." Nathan said as he pointed to the driver who was staring out his window.
"Hi, its nice to meet you." She said. He was definitely good-looking. His blonde hair and what she thought were blue eyes were just captivating.

"I'm sure." Lucas answered cockily. Nathan nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. "Hey! I mean...Hi." he said as he looked into the rearview mirror to see Brooke just looking at her hands that were placed in her lap. She really was beautiful and he almost felt bad but...hey he was Lucas Scott, he didn't have to be nice if he didn't want to.

'Just great' Brooke thought to herself. She had known him for all of 15.5 seconds and he already didn't like her. But there was nothing she could do about it. So she just looked out her window.

Nathan just shook his head at how stupid his brother could be.
"So planning to max out daddy's credit cards?" Lucas questioned Haley as he turned back to look at her. At the sound of shopping Haley perked up.
"You know it and now its going be twice the fun with my shopping buddy." Haley said as she nudged Brooke who just turned and gave a polite smile and turned back.

"Guess somebody isn't very sociable." Lucas said.
"Luke.." Nathan and Haley warned..but he didn't stop there.
"What I didn't even do anything, what the hell??" He said as he turned to look at Haley, not noticing the oncoming traffic.
"Lucas the truck!" Brooke's head popped up as she noticed the fear in Nathan's voice and that was when she saw the bright light and honk of the horn of the truck that was barreling towards her.

~Flashback~

Brooke was in the backseat talking to her mother and father.
"That's great honey, we're so proud of you." Her father cooed and Brooke just smiled, proud of herself for accomplishing her goal but her mother interrupted them with a blood curtiling scream.
It was night so all she could see was the blinding lights and flashes of metal as the truck met their small honda.

~end of flashback~

Brooke was brought back to reality by the sound of the crash. She opend her eyes and the car they were in was pushed up against the guard rail. She looked behind and saw the truck regain control and keep going down the road. Lucas must have swurved the car out of it's path.
"Is everyone okay?" She heard Lucas question.
"Yeah" Haley and Nathan answered.
"Brooke?" Lucas asked as he turned around. And all Brooke could do was stare at him "Brooke..Brooke?" he yelled but she still couldn't speak.

It was funny because all along she had been searching and begging for the tears to fall, but now she couldn't fight them away. She wasn't sure why, she didn't know if it was the way Lucas was calling her name, or how scared he looked, definitely a lot different than the cocky expression he had just moments before, or if it was the flashback. But she definitely didn't want them seeing her crying so she made a bolt for it. Once she was out of the car. She heard them all calling her name but she just kept running, running anywhere that would get her far, far away.

"What the fuck is her deal??" Lucas said returning to his old self as he stared at his brother then back at Haley, she wasn't a mess, sure shocked and she did have an expression that he just couldn't read. But she wasn't taking off like Brooke had done.
"What's the big deal, we're not dead, it's a silly little fender bender?" Lucas continued, ignoring the death glares from his little brother who had crawled into the back seat to comfort Haley. "You can be such a jerk Luke..it makes me sick." Nathan said as he pulled a now crying Haley into a hug.
"Can sombody please tell me what's going on?" Lucas begged as he frailed his hands around to signal that he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Haley's aunt and uncle, Brooke's parents....they died in a car accident like a week ago.." Nathan whispered, not wanting to upset Haley any further. He got nothing but satisfaction as he saw the color drain from Lucas' face. 'Good maybe now he'll realize what a jerk he is' Nathan thought

"Oh..." Was all Lucas could manage. An for the first time in his life he felt real remorse. If he had known he wouldn't have been a jerk, wait, yeah, he probably would have still been a jerk. But knowing this just made him feel even worse.
"Yeah...oh." Nathan answered as he comforted Haley and looked up at his brother and then turned to face the woods that Brooke had just run into moments before.

"Uh..I'm going to go find her." Lucas said as he untangled himself and got out and took off on a slow jog into the woods. Nathan just shook his head.

"Fuck!" Lucas swore as he stepped right into a mud pile in his brand new shoes.
He wanted to find her, find her and yell at her for making him ruin his shoes, yell at her for forcing him into the woods when it was like 20 degrees out, but then again he didn't want to find her because he wasn't going to know what to say to comfort her, what if he let something stupid slip? He was never one good with emotions, that was always Nate. But there was this one feeling he couldn't shake, and that was the desperate need to have her in his arms so he could comfort her. 'Wait a damn minute' Lucas thought, he had spoken what, 4 words to her and was a complete jerk and now he was having these sort of feelings. He just didn't get it. But he knew he couldn't let his few emotions get in the way. Yeah she was hot, but she was still a sophomore and he was a junior. If she wasn't going to be a cheerleader, then he would definitely be in another league. But all his emotions were put aside when he saw her.

She was sitting up against a large tree. With her knees brought under her chin and her face in her hands. He could tell she was crying because he could see her shaking from 8 or 9 feet away. 'Great, what the hell am i supposed to say?' He thought as he as he slowly approached her, not wanting to scare her any further. So he just sat down next to her and started playing with a twig. He looked over at her. Her mature figure, her beautiful chestnut hair, and the sound of her sobs were really getting to him. So he did the only thing he could think of. He put his arm around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, surprised that she hadn't pushed him away. Also surprised that he was actually feeling....sorry.
He felt her tears soak into his shirt but it didn't really matter beause something was happening to him, he didn't know what and he didn't like it. The side of him that he never let out was breaking through...his 'emotional side'. He just held her tight until finally her tears subsided and she pulled away and wiped her face.

She turned and looked at him. It wasn't until then that he noticed her lip was a little purple and that she had a cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little. He looked into her eyes trying to read her which proved to be a big mistake because once they locked eyes neither of them could pull away. "I'm sorry." They both breathed. She was referring to his shirt which now had a wet stain on his chest. He was referring to his insensitive behavior in the car. But hey, he really couldn't help it, in real life he WAS an insensitive guy.

"No, I'm sorry I was a jerk, I just can't help it sometimes." He said as she finally looked away and down at the ground. She nodded. Lucas was about to hit the breaking point, she was just so...beautiful and Lucas Scott never uses the word beautiful. He really wanted to kiss her but he knew it was definitely not the right time. He lifted her chin with is hand. When she looked up it was the first time he noticed, her deep chocolate brown eyes. He wiped away a stray tears with his thumb and smiled. He stood up and then offered her his hand which she accepted.

"Come on, we better get back to the car before Nate and Haley start making out." He joked trying to lighten the mood and it seemed to work because she smiled. He hadn't realized it but he was still holding her small hand. As he guided her through the forest careful to help her over fallen branches and other things that could hurt her. He didn't know why but her hand felt so right within his. He couldn't believe what this one girl, this one girl who he had met not even five mintues ago was doing to him. Finally they reached the car and found Haley and Nathan surveying the damage. When they heard footsteps they turned around. Lucas noticed that Nathan had a little blood on his shirt and that Haley had a slight bruise above her left eye. But it didn't look as though it was bothering them.

The only thing they both noticed was Lucas' hand intertwined with Brooke's and they both seemed very content with the situation.

"Something we should now about?" Haley asked in a joking tone. As she gestured towards their hands.

That question hit Lucas hard and brought him into reality. What the hell had gotten into him? He was THE Lucas Scott, king of players and now he was going all soft.

"Pshh, yeah right." He said as he reluctantly dropped her hand, fighting the urge to be next to her as he walked over to his brother to help him with the car.

His last comment hurt her. She was beginning to think he was different than the way he appeared. But she guessed wrong and the worst part was she kind of thought she had already fallen for him and his baby blue eyes. She reluctantly stood next to Haley, watching them mess around with something under the hood. All she wanted was to desperately be back in the woods, to relive the couple of minutes he shared with her but that obviously wasn't going to happen as she watched him hop into the driver seat and start the car.

"Come on already, let's go! We'll go to our house and get fixed up." He growled.

The three did as they were told, but Brooke couldn't get his face out of her mind. Lucas couldn't get her face out of his.