lalabelle - Why yes, Julian and Rachel will be paired together.

SouthernBellBrooke - All I can say is God help the guys when Rachel gets there with said cookies!

KayyyReneee - Glad you're still enjoying this. Yes Peyton and Jake will be together as well as Rachel and Julian. I love your review!

RaptusMind - Rachel certainly is a live wire in this huh?

OTH-Brucas-love - I think any kind of Brucas together is perfect.

tanya2byour21, Diane Hermans, Vivian, The-Chadinator, BrookeScott, JackSawyer99, James McLean, Raven-Rachel23, Cheery Rose 23, Eve G, Ashley J Scott, Beth-J-Matthews, Jen loves Nathan, Holly-Roberts, Alyssia-Owens, MollyCW23, teambellaedward, The-Tommynator, Carter-James, Danny-Walker, The-Tim22, Lee Martin, Jason-Carlton, Riley Barnes, John Tate, Nicole-2223 - Thank you for your reviews! I appreciate it.

Enjoy the chapter.


"I'm so glad that I wore this skirt today," Rachel said as they climbed out of her car. "Otherwise I would have had to go home and change."

"That skirt makes you look like a hooker!" Peyton told her.

"Perfect!" Rachel said as she beamed. "They won't be able to resist me."

"You think we have enough fattening stuff for them all?" Peyton joked to Brooke as they got all the baked goods out of the car. As well as the cake they had purchased at Karen's, they had stopped off at a baker's on the way. They now had muffins, brownies, cookies and doughnuts. They headed across the road towards the firehouse. They noticed that the fire engines had returned from the crane fire. They went into the part where they were parked and saw no signs of life.

"Maybe they're all upstairs," Rachel said. "They're probably in the shower all naked and wet! Let's go and see!"

"Rachel!" Brooke and Peyton said in unison as the redhead took off running, or as close to running as she could in her heels, in the direction of the stairs.

"Come on girls. If you don't hurry up Brookie I'm gonna go and hump your fireman!" Rachel called over her shoulder. Peyton and Brooke shared a look and shook their heads before they followed Rachel up the stairs. Both hoped that she didn't drop the cake she was holding as soon as she saw one of the firemen.

"Can I help you?" a voice asked Rachel as she reached the top of the stairs. She turned to find a cute dark haired guy staring at her.

"Maybe you can," Rachel replied, going into full flirt mode, just as Peyton and Brooke arrived behind her. "You see my friend Brooke here is looking for a particular one of you guys."

"And which one would that be?" the guy asked Rachel as he checked her out. Rachel looked at Brooke.

"I don't know," Brooke replied. "I was in an accident the other night and he saved me. He was the one hanging from the rope earlier."

"She brought baked goods to say thanks!" Rachel said holding the cake in her hands up. "And me!"

"So you'll be looking for Lucas?" the guy asked. "Come on up. I'll show you where the rec room is. I'm Julian by the way; Lucas's cousin."

The three girls went up the last two steps and followed Julian. Rachel kept making faces at the other two girls as if to say; 'Oh my God he's so hot.' Brooke and Peyton kept shaking their heads at her. They stopped once they had reached the rec room. Rachel followed him in and was instantly like a kid in a candy store.

"Oh my god!" Brooke mumbled to Peyton.

"This should be interesting." Peyton mumbled back.

"Which one of you is Lucas?" Rachel asked. "My friend Brookie here wants to say thanks to him for saving her life."

"So you're the girl?" another guy said as he came over to the girls. "I'm Nathan, Lucas's brother. And that bump on your head does look nasty. He wasn't exaggerating at all."

"Brooke Davis," Brooke introduced herself. "These are my friends Peyton Sawyer and-"

"I'm Rachel Gatina," Rachel introduced herself. "I'm single by the way."

"Really?" Julian asked his ears pricked up at the single part. He was definitely attracted to this vivacious redhead.

"Uh huh," she said moving closer to him. "Are you?"

"Is Lucas here?" Brooke asked Nathan, trying not to pay any attention to Rachel's antics.

"Yeah he's just down the hall," Nathan explained as he laughed at Rachel's antics. "If you just carry on down to the last door on the right, you'll find him in there."

"Thanks," Brooke said. "Oh there are some brownies and doughnuts in here. Rachel has a cake and Peyton's got muffins and cookies."

"We'll stick this lot in the kitchen while you go and thank Lucas." Nathan told her with a wink as he took some cardboard boxes from her. Brooke's eyes widened as she figured out his meaning.

"I'm not gonna-" she began but Nathan cut her off.

"I don't care how you thank him. He's down there," Nathan told her as he grinned. He then added. "But I will say that he's not had any for about a year."

Brooke headed in the direction that Nathan had pointed her in and went in the door like he had said. It led into the room where they slept and there was no sign of Lucas. She walked further into the room and looked around. There was another doorway that obviously led to the bathroom area. She could hear water running so headed towards the window and looked out of it. A few minutes later, she heard the water shut off.

"Can I help you?" she heard a voice behind her ask a few moments later. It was a voice that she recognized. She turned round and found a very wet Lucas wrapped in just a towel.

"Wow every time I see you you're half naked and wet," Brooke found herself saying before she could stop herself. Her eyes went wide as Lucas smiled. "Sorry I don't know why I said that. It must be the concussion."

"Yeah it probably is," he said with a wider smile. "It's good to see you up, about and conscious."

"I saw you on TV earlier," she blurted. She didn't really know what to say to him.

"I wasn't half naked and wet on that!" he said as he tried to joke.

"Were you scared?" she asked. "When the crane collapsed?"

"It's my job," he told her softly. "I'm used to it."

"That's not an answer," Brooke told him. "You were weren't you?"

"Maybe a little." he confessed with a shrug.

"How do you do it?" She asked softly. He looked a little confused at her question. "You put your life on the line every time you come into work for people you don't even know. Like me, and you weren't even working then."

"I just do," Lucas said. He knew it wasn't really an answer. "If I didn't do something, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. It's the way I've been brought up. My dad's a firefighter so was his dad. My Uncle is too and my brother and cousins. So maybe it's genetic."

"Seriously? You're whole family are all firefighters too?" Brooke asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah we have been for generations," Lucas replied, amazed he was telling her all this. "You can probably call it the family business."

"Wow." Brooke said at a loss for words.

"Can I ask why you're here?" Lucas asked curious.

"I came to say thanks. For saving me," Brooke said with a small smile. "I brought baked goods for you guys."

"Baked goods?" Lucas asked with a slight smile.

"Cake, doughnuts, cookies, muffins and brownies." Brooke clarified.

"Are you trying to get us all fat?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh please! I bet you guys will burn off a whole cake when you do one weights session."

"That's probably true." he said as he laughed.

"Lucas, what you did for me. I never thought that anybody would ever do that for me," Brooke told him, her hazel eyes shining with unshed tears. "And I have no idea how to repay you for it."

"You don't have to Brooke," he told her gently. She was glad he had remembered her name. "How's your chest? Is it sore?"

"Yeah," she confessed. "The fleshy part is the worst surprisingly. Showering is a bitch and so is dressing."

"I can imagine. You must have hit the windshield and the steering wheel with some force," he told her with a slight frown. Brooke thought he looked even sexier when he did that. "Your head looks so painful."

"That doesn't hurt as much as my boobs," Brooke said before she could stop herself. "God my concussion is playing up today huh?"

"It is." he said with a smile.

"Thank you Lucas," she suddenly said her eyes full of more tears. They spilled through her eyelids as she closed her eyes. "I was so scared before I went in that river."

"Hey, don't cry." he told her. He went over to where she was stood and pulled her into his arms, making sure not to hold her too tight. The water from his body soaked into her clothes.

"I'm sorry," she said softly as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I owe you so much."

"You don't owe me anything Brooke." he told her as he moved back slightly to look at her face. He cupped her cheeks gently as he did. Brooke smiled as he wiped her tears away gently with the pads of his thumbs. She was in awe of this man that was stood before her. His good looks and amazing body began to make her feel hot.

Oh my God I've been around Rachel too long, Brooke thought to herself as she pictured him without the towel that hung dangerously low on his hips.

Before she knew what she was doing, Brooke moved closer to him once more and went on her tip toes to kiss him. Lucas was stunned as their lips made contact, but he didn't make any move to push her away. Her hands moved to his neck and rested there gently as her lips moved over his. He found himself opening his lips to her and they both deepened the kiss. Their tongues danced sensuously as Lucas moved his hands to her hair and sank his hands into her chocolate locks. Almost as suddenly as it had started the kiss ended. But Brooke didn't move away from him, she stayed in his arms, enjoying the contact of his warm body. He looked at her slightly confused as his blue eyes searched her hazel ones and he enjoyed the contact of her body against him.

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay. I didn't mind honestly. It's not everyday I get kissed by a pretty girl," he told her with a soft smile Brooke smiled and blushed at his comment as she reluctantly removed herself from his embrace. They both immediately felt the loss and both put it down to the fact that he had saved her. "I'm gonna get dressed now. Then we'll go back in the rec room and sample some of that sweet stuff you brought. Well the other sweet stuff."

A few minutes later, Lucas emerged from the bathroom in his uniform t-shirt and trousers. Brooke ran her eyes over him appraisingly. They then headed out of the sleeping area and back towards the rec room. They saw Peyton in deep conversation with a firefighter.

"Who's that?" Brooke whispered curiously.

"That's Jake. He's one of my cousins." Lucas told her.

"Peyton looks smitten." Brooke said with a smile.

"What's that noise?" Lucas asked as he heard something that resembled music.

"Oh no! Peyton! Code red head." Brooke said an alarmed expression on her face. Peyton immediately ceased her conversation with Jake, got out of her seat and quickly came up to Brooke. She heard the noise too.

"Oh please tell me she isn't." Peyton said her eyes wide.

They opened the rec room door. The noise was what Rachel considered music. Rachel was in the process of putting on a show that would have made strip club bosses proud to employ her. Jake came up behind Peyton and saw what the three were looking at. Rachel was giving Julian a lap dance and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. He had his hands on her hips encouraging her. The other guys in the room were cheering her on. Except for Nathan who was trying his best not to pay any attention to Rachel's antics.

"What the hell is this?" Keith asked Lucas as he came up to the door. "What are these girls doing here?"

"I came to say thanks and bring cake and she ended up doing that." Brooke said completely shocked.

"We are so sorry for her behavior." Peyton told him in an apologetic tone.

"We should have locked her in the car." Brooke said mortified.

"Julian! Get that girl out of your lap!" Dan shouted at his son as he came up to the crowd that was gathered at the doorway. Rachel practically jumped out of his lap at the sound of Dan's bellowing shout. "This is a firehouse not a brothel."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said sounding a little nervous. "I got carried away. He's just so gorgeous that I couldn't help myself. I mean just look at him and he must have a hot body underneath that uniform."

The people listening had to bite their lips to keep from laughing, including both Dan and Keith. Julian sat there basking in her comments.

"We'll just get the slut and go." Peyton said as she took hold of Rachel's wrist and began pulling her out of the rec room.

"Can I get your number Julian?" Rachel asked. She then wriggled free of Peyton and went over to him and whispered in his ear. "Call me tonight and we can hook up. I'm so horny. You can fuck me all night if you want to."

"What's your number?" Julian asked. Rachel told Julian her number and then walked away from him in an exaggerated sexy style. Julian watched amazed at the redhead's performance.

"God she's like a dog on heat!" Brooke said causing the firemen to break out into laughter. "We'll go. Sorry for the trouble. But you have cake and stuff!"

"I'll walk you out." Lucas said and began to walk with the girls.

~X~

That night at about nine, Lucas was at the river court playing alone. He had the whole place to himself and he loved it. He felt so free when he was playing basketball; everything seemed a million miles away. He'd been playing for just over an hour and decided that he had been there long enough. As he went after his ball, he noticed a lone figure stood by the riverbank, staring out at the black water. Concerned that somebody might be thinking about throwing themselves in, Lucas sprinted over to the river side. The person was Brooke. She was stood, staring out over the river at the spot where her car had been submerged. She looked distraught.

"Hey Brooke," Lucas said a little breathlessly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just looking and realizing what an isolated part the other side of the river is," she began to cry. "And just exactly how few cars go past it."

"Thinking like that is only gonna upset you." Lucas told her softly.

"My parents haven't even asked how I am," she confessed. "I'm all alone in that house and I'm scared."

"Can't you stay with one of your friends?" he asked her in a caring tone.

"Probably. I haven't asked," Brooke replied. "I think I'll ask Peyton. Rachel will be too busy humping Julian."

"He's my other cousin," Lucas informed her. "Did you walk here?"

"Yeah he said," Brooke replied. "And yeah I walked."

"Well let me drive you to Peyton's." He offered.