Title: The Roommate
Characters: Brooke/Veronica friendship, Brooke/Nate, Veronica/Dan, Serena/Dick
Genre: Friendship, Romance, Humor
Summary: OTH/GG/VM crossover. When Brooke gets Veronica as a roommate, will they make each other's college experience more interesting? Throw in Serena, Dan, Nate and Dick and I think they will…

Chapter 4 – A place for old friendships

They put the lights out in their dorm and entered the common room.

Veronica has passed it on her way earlier today, but now she saw it was in the same line as their dorm. Brooke, who needed an emergency escape to the bathroom, must've worked her magic there too. Serena was already there, talking to a guy. He turned around and Veronica scoffed in reaction.

"You?!"

The guy with the same black curls from that morning smirked at her. "Ah, the girl from Mars. Always a pleasure."

Serena to raise her eyebrows at their familiarity.

"You're the extra person? Can't say I'm surprised though. But you did impress me and that counter lady today. As far as evil glares go, Blair could learn something from her." he said to Serena, then he turned back to Veronica and smiled.

"I'm Dan. Dan Humphrey."

Veronica didn't know whether to slap him or smile back. She chose for the last option.

"Hi, I'm Veronica, obviously. And actually, I'm pretty nice. You'll see." Serena raised her eyebrows at that and chuckled.

They all heard a scream when Brooke came back from the bathroom and spotted Dan. She yelled his name and ran over to hug him. She giggled as she let go of him.

"Serena, you didn't tell me he was coming too! You guys are sharing a dorm? That's so cute."

"So, you two are married then?" Veronica frowned, remembering what Brooke had said about co-ed dorms. To her surprise, they all laughed at that.

"No!" Serena said with a weird look. "We're siblings." "But you're a Van der Woodsen and you're a Humphrey…"

"His father and my mother got married last spring. We're half-brother and –sister." she explained. "Although we did date a couple of years ago. Ah, never mind, it's all very complicated."

Brooke and Veronica shared a look. "Join the club." the brunette said as another door opened.

"Hey Nate, you're late." "Whoa, Serena, lay off the rhyming." a very handsome young man replied, with a playful grin and unbelievable blue eyes.

He turned to greet Brooke and Veronica. "I'm Nate Archibald, I grew up with these knuckleheads."

"But we like to call him Man Bangs. You should too." Dan joked, referring to his brown hair. They all laughed and Nate shook Veronica's hand while she said her name and then went over to shake Brooke's.

"Wow. I mean, Hi. I'm Brooke Davis." She stuttered, visibly stunned by him. Veronica elbowed elbowed her in the side and winked at her. "Oh, shush." she replied, waving her intentions away.

A loud voice came from Nate's room that had them all turn around. "All pretty ladies, have no fear. Dick Casablancas is here!"

Veronica's eyes grew wider as she realized who'd just come in the door. "You've got to be freaking kidding me." she complained.

Dick looked at her and grinned fiercely. "Well, well. VMars! What a coincidence. Come on, girl, hug it out!" he said and he put his arms around her. She grunted in response as he let go of her and moved his arm around her shoulder.

"You two know each other?" Dan asked, not seeming to understand the not-so-warm reunion.

"Of course! Neptune is our homestead! Trust me, this one's pretty feisty. Ever since she was little. I don't know if you could handle her, man." Dick mused, pointing at the dark-haired boy.

Veronica was boiling inside whilst everyone chuckled and grinned. She gave Dick a venomous glare and tried to wiggle herself free from his grip. "Stop talking, Casablancas. How did you ever get into Brown? I bet you had Kendall bribe someone."

"Whoa, easy, girl. You ever think maybe I'm just that smart?" "Yeah, I really doubt it." she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway," he continued, "hello people. Nice to meet you all. This year's going to kick ass."

---

They soon chose a spot at the dining table and ate the food that, apparently, Serena had prepared. "Wow, this is delicious. You made this?" Nate wondered, looking at her with a complete look of surprise on his face. "Oh, lose the surprise, Nathaniel. I can cook. I'm not as spoiled as you think. I used to make dinner all the time when Mom was off somewhere with Klaus." She glared at him playfully.

"Is that German Klaus with a K or Danish Claus with a C?" Dan asked. And although it sounded like a joke, Veronica wasn't sure if it was.

"With a K, I believe. Anyway, I wanted to ask you two…" she directed her question towards Veronica and Dick, "…what are you two studying? I know Brooke here does Fashion/Business, Dan does Literature and Nate got a lacrosse scholarship, but what brings you here?"

Veronica spoke first. "I want to catch the bad guys." She said making a gun again, directing it at her fellow-Neptuner. "So I'm going to make the Criminology department unsafe."

"You got that right. Maybe I should ditch Philosophy & Art and join you. We could do the good cop/bad cop thing, you being the bad cop of course." He replied, nudging her.

She glared at him once more. "Could you not do that? Everyone's going to think I'm aggressive or something. And by the way, you are studying Philosophy? I just can't picture that." Her glare turned into a grin.

"This isn't high school anymore, V. It's like you said; new people, new chance. I'd like one too." He admitted, leaving Veronica silent and looking at him differently.

"Wow, nicely said." Serena praised with a surprised smile. Brooke suddenly chimed in with a self-invented motto for their dorm. "Since we're all single, there needs to be a sacred rule to maintain our brother- and sisterhood. I created it with my best friend Peyton, and it will also be appropriate for us. Hoes over bros. Meaning no boy will ever come between us girls. For you guys that's bros over hoes, for obvious reasons. We all need to live by this rule if we want to keep being friends. Trust me, being stuck in a love triangle with your friends isn't fun." She ended with a sad smile.

Nate looked up at her and nodded. "I know." He returned her smile and their looks lingered for a moment.

"Right. Okay. I thought we had some schedules to go over?" Dan went on clearing his throat, a little uncomfortable.

---

"See you tomorrow, guys. Veronica will prepare breakfast." Brooke reminded her and the rest when they were about to go back into their room. "Sweet dreams, you two." Serena said as she closed the door, following Dan.

"Hey Mars, I like eggs and bacon in the morning, do you remember?" Dick stated, grinning again.

"Shut the door, Brooke, shut the door." Veronica ordered anxiously. Brooke chuckled as she did was she was told. "What are the chances of this, really? Of all the people here, Dick Casablancas is sharing a dorm with me."

"You two aren't exactly close, are you? Although he seemed really happy to see you."

Veronica rolled her eyes at that. "Well, we grew up together, but we didn't really hang out much. The occasional conversation and such. Lately we got along better though. Anyway, when are you going to ask Nate out?"

Brooke was completed caught off guard and reacted , "What? That's – no! I don't – like him." Her cheeks were flaming red.

"Oh, please, you were all over him. You need to get your game on, girl. He's cute, but not really my type." She confessed casually.

"Then who is? Someone like Dan?" Brooke received a scoff in return. "My God, are you crazy? He's such a know-it-all. Not like his stepsister by a long shot."

"Well, there's a fine line between love and hate." The brunette countered, in a sing-song voice. Veronica only glared. "Don't you have to go to the bathroom or something? It's your turn, right?" she insisted.

"You're lucky I do. We'll talk later." Brooke grinned on her way out as she smacked her roommate's shoulder playfully.

Meanwhile, Veronica put some pictures on her nightstand; one of her and Wallace, her and her dad and one with Mac. She missed all three of them very much. Wallace attended Yale and Mac was off to Harvard. Yale wasn't that far away, but still… they weren't down the hall. Keith was working on a case with Kendall, so he wouldn't be home for some time.

She grabbed the BlackBerry her dad got her and shrieked when it suddenly began to ring.

AN – wow, long chapter. I hope you liked it, this is where it all starts. :) next up: Veronica gets a call from someone she loves, that has something to do with Serena. And Brooke has a wet run-in. Literally.