OK, so this time I can actually blame it on my stupid computer that got broken almost two months ago and only now came back from the shop. I was freaking out a little cause I thought I'd lose everything I had already written on this story but it turns out it's all in here safe and sound. Yay! Now just bear with me for some time more and I'll update again. This time I merged two chapters together as a 'I'm sorry' and 'please forgive me' bribe. I hope you enjoy and I hope I can update soon for real this time.


Monday came and with it, cheering practice. Brooke had scheduled the gym for the squad to practice after classes and before the team started their own. All the girls were already there, stretching and gossiping while Brooke glanced every two minutes to her watch, worried about Peyton's delay. Just when Bevin and Ashley started to argue about one of the moves, Peyton waltzed into the gym with her stereo on her hands and dropped her bag on the floor, next to the other ones.

"Music's here!"

"And it's right on time" Brooke walked next to her and pointed to one of the steps of the bleachers, "Put it here."

Peyton put the stereo down while Brooke snooped through her bag to find the CD with the choreography's song. She set it up and turned to the blonde girl next to her who was taking her sweater off to get ready for practice.

"So I have an invitation for you."

Brooke's eyebrow arched with curiosity, "Uh, party?"

Peyton's chuckled, "Not really. I was thinking of going to check out that new coffee music place down at the Riverwalk tonight."

"Sounds cool."

"It'd be me, you…" she held her breath for a second, "And Lucas."

Brooke's enthusiasm quickly faded as she slightly shook her head, unsure "Peyton, I don't…"

"C'mon!" she didn't let her friend finish, "We never hang out the three of us anymore."

"We never hung out just the three of us" Brooke clarified, annoyed.

Peyton shrugged, "Can't we start? Give it a shot, if it doesn't work, I'll drop it."

Brooke pondered for a moment or two and then nodded, giving up, "OK. I'll give it a shot."

Smiling, Peyton gave her a side hug as a thank you and the two girls were walking back to rejoin the rest of the group when Haley showed up holding a wicked basket.

"Hey!" she sounded chipper, "I brought brownies" and lifted the basket in the air, proudly.

All the girls turned to face her and Peyton opened her eyes widely, "Whoa."

"Aren't you soccer mom already?" Brooke peeked inside the basket as Haley opened it, "What's this for?"

"Well, I can't practice anymore but I'm still part of the squad, right?"

"Yeah" Brooke confirmed, "I only wish you were still a practical part, though. With Rachel gone and you in maternity leave I'm gonna have to make huge adjustments on my routine and that can't be made over night, you know? I have to make some careful thinking" she started to daze off, "I might need Mouth for this…"

Haley and Peyton exchanged looks and chuckled as Bevin shouted from the middle of the court, "Captain, are we practicing or what?"

"Yeah!" Brooke shouted back and turned to Haley with a wink, "Stick around."

They group gathered again and finished their warm up. Brooke personally placed girl by girl on the exact spot she wanted them to be in and returned to her position in front of them, to take a better look at the group. She nodded, proud of herself and gave the sign for Haley to press play on the stereo. As the music's intro played along, Brooke bent over to tie her sneakers but when she came back up she felt the room around her spin and lost her balance, almost falling back.

"Are you OK?" Peyton came to wrap one arm around her waist, to support her up.

Haley was already behind Peyton and leaned over to Brooke's other side, "Brooke…" she whispered wanting to know what was going on, but Brooke brushed both of them off.

"I'm fine. It was just a head rush" she barely finished her sentence and then fell back again, with Peyton's hand on her back to stop her from hitting the floor.

"That it's still going" she walked Brooke with Haley's help, to the bleachers again and made her take a sit on one of the steps, "Maybe it's your blood pressure."

"I also brought chips!" Haley quickly went back to her basket.

"No!" Brooke protested, "No chips, I'm fine."

Peyton took a seat next to her and kept one of her hands on the girl's back, "If it's your blood pressure you gotta eat something salty."

"It's not!" she tried to raise her voice but it only came out on a whisper, "I don't wanna eat anything."

Haley came back with a bag of chips on her hands and handed it to her, but the girl only made a face and turned it down. Peyton grabbed the chips and opened the bag, decided to shove it down Brooke's throat if she had to, when they heard the stereo making a weird sound.

"Peyton?" Ashley called out to her, "Your stereo's going funky."

Rolling her eyes, Peyton dropped the chips and got up to go check what was wrong. Left alone with Brooke, Haley sat next to her and brushed some of her hair away from her face as the brunette glanced down at her own shoes.

"I'm gonna throw up" she mumbled.

"You had chemo today?" Haley whispered already knowing the answer, "You shouldn't make exercises."

"I couldn't cancel practice so close to game day" Brooke tried to explain, but at Haley's disapproving look, she waved her hand in the air, "Don't say anything, Haley. Just take me home, please."

Doing as told, Haley helped Brooke back on her feet and when Peyton approached them again, asking where they were going, Brooke said she wanted to go home and take some rest so she could feel better for practice the next day. Peyton agreed and Brooke left her in charge of the squad for the time being.

Once at Rachel's house, Haley took Brooke to her bedroom and helped her lay down on her bed, arranging the pillows around her. She was practically a mom already.

"Here you go" she sighed, throwing her long dark blond hair behind her shoulder, "Feeling better?"

Laid on the bed, Brooke closed her eyes and moaned, "Only when this is over."

Haley took a seat next to her on the bed and caressed her forehead, "Do you want me to spend the night here?"

"No, it's OK" she opened her eyes again and forced a smile, "I just need some rest and I'll be good as new."

"You sure? Cause I can stay."

"No, you can go."

Haley stuck around for a while before she finally left. She wanted to make sure Brooke was really well enough to be left alone, but when the girl threatened to kick her out by herself, Haley figured she was pretty good already. The cell phone rang twice before Brooke could reach it and flip it open, without looking at the screen to see who it was first.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me" Peyton's familiar voice was on the other side of the line, "Are you better?"

"Yeah" she lied… again. "It was just blood pressure after all."

"Good! I mean, that it's nothing serious."

Brooke sighed loudly, "Yeah."

"So we're still up for tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure, I'll see you there" Brooke was going to say no, but the excitement on Peyton's voice made her change her mind.

"Cool. Bye!"

---

After fifteen minutes of turning around and stirring on her bed, Brooke decided to get up, get changed and go talk to Peyton. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle hanging out with both the girl and Lucas. She didn't even want to. The constant lies she had to tell them every time they were around were just too much for her to take and it was something that consumed her daily. It hurt her more than she could express in words when her best friend and her boyfriend sneaked around behind her back and she didn't wish that to anyone. To be lied to, like she was. And now she was doing the same thing to them. She wasn't cheating but she was hiding something huge, something she knew she should've told them a long time before. But she didn't and now she couldn't even face them anymore.

Not knowing exactly what she was going to say, Brooke drove to Peyton's house anyway. She didn't knock – she never really did – and climbed the stairs, breathing slowly to try and calm down. Without knocking on the open door, Brooke walked in the bedroom with a weak smile on her face.

"Hey, P. Sawyer!"

Sitting on her bed, Peyton had a laptop on her legs and turned her head around to see the girl by the door and smiled back, "Hi" and frowned a little, "Aren't you early?"

"Yeah… no" she stuffed both hands on her jeans' back pockets, uncomfortably; "I can't go out with you and Lucas tonight."

"Why not?" Peyton shut the laptop and put it aside on the bed.

Brooke opened her mouth twice but hesitated too much to form any sentence. She bit her lower lip and glanced down at the rug next to Peyton's bed and slowly lifted her eyes, "Something came up and…"

Peyton knew Brooke all too well to know when she was lying or trying to hide something from her and she knew she was. Not only right now, but for the last few weeks. She thought it had something to do with her dating Lucas; it had to be, because that was the only thing that changed between them since she started acting weird.

"You can't see us together" she concluded, "I get it."

Brooke's shoulders contracted closer and she shrugged confused, "What?"

The locks on Peyton's hair shook as she sat differently on the bed; sticking her legs out, "The other day when you were having ice cream and I showed up and you left…" she shrugged sympathetically, "I got it."

Not quite believing the irony of it all, Brooke shook her head, "That's not it."

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Peyton's question hammered Brooke on the head as she got up from the bed, facing the girl who was still standing close to the door, "Cause you can tell me, I wanna know."

"What?" Brooke scoffed, bringing both hands to cover her face as she threw her head back and mumbled to herself, "God, that's so screwed up…" she put her hands down, "No, that's not it. Listen… you wanna sit down again?"

Peyton shook her head and crossed her arms, "I'm fine."

"Alright" Brooke courageously took a deep breath; straitening herself up, "I don't know how to do this with you" she started to lose her courage and held her hands together, staring at Peyton who anxiously waited for an explanation.

Brooke closed her eyes for a moment and wished, with all her strengths that she could open her eyes and realize it was all a bad dream. It was bad enough that she had to deal with this, but to tell the ones she loved and get them sucked in, too? It just wasn't fair and she hated that. But she also knew the longer she postponed it, the more she'd hurt and get hurt in the process.

"I've been sick for a while and doing a treatment to get better" she spilled at once and then slowed down a little, "But it's gonna take a really, really, really long time 'til I'm done."

Peyton didn't react. She kept standing still on the same spot she was before, with her arms crossed and staring at Brooke in front of her.

"I don't…" she blinked a couple of times, "How sick? What is it?"

Her voice was filled with fear of the answer to come, but she had to ask anyway. Brooke saw right through her and flashbacked to all the times in her life Peyton was the one with the problem and she was the one to help her out. She loved helping Peyton; it made her feel she mattered, but it also made her realize how fragile the girl was, far more than she appeared to be.

"God, Peyton" Brooke's voice cracked a little, "I don't wanna do this with you because I know what you went through with Ellie and…"

At the mention of Ellie's name, Peyton uncrossed her arms and immediately backed up, stumbling on her bed and getting away from Brooke as she shook her head, "No. No, that is not…"

"I have cancer."

The words echoed on the room for a moment. It was the first time Brooke ever pronounced that word and admitted to someone that's what she had. She kept on an internal denial so far, until the day Nathan said it. She managed to brush it off, but now, seeing Peyton like that in front of her, she knew she had to. If anything, her friends deserved the truth.

"No!" Peyton shouted and then shook her head furiously with her locks hitting her face, "That's not true, Brooke."

She kept on shaking her head as the tears flooded her eyes and started to roll down her cheeks. Brooke couldn't move, although she wanted to. Lunching on Brooke's direction, Peyton pulled her to a hug and held her tightly.

"I can't lose you, too" she cried on Brooke's hair, "Not you."

"You won't" Brooke rubbed Peyton's back up and down to try and sooth her, "I'm gonna get better."

"You can't be sick" Peyton ignored Brooke's words, "You're not sick!" she tightened the hug harder and Brooke felt her ribs crushing.

"Peyton, you're hurting me" she whined and slowly broke Peyton from her.

Sniffing, Peyton started to shake, "This can't be happening."

Brooke leaded her back to the bed and made her seat down next to her. She rubbed the girl's arms to make her stop shaking, "Look at me. Peyton? It's gonna be OK" she attempted a smile, "C'mon, where's the fearless P. Sawyer I know?"

Peyton continued to cry, "She's gonna be gone if you go."

Brooke brushed some tears from Peyton's face and struggled not to cry herself. She had to be strong all the way, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not, I promise you."

She smiled weakly one more time and hugged Peyton again. The girl kept crying for a while and then started to calm down, after losing her strengths. Brooke made her lay down and laid down next to her and after a while Peyton fell asleep, holding Brooke's hand.

---

Physically and emotionally exhausted, Brooke barely managed to drive back home and drag herself out of the car and into the house. She walked into the living room and was about to drop her tired body on the couch when she heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Quickly up and alert to any other noise, Brooke tip toed back to the door and grabbed an umbrella from behind it. She held it up with both hands and slowly walked towards the kitchen where another noise could be heard. Closing her eyes shut for a second, she wished it was just the wind, but when she opened them again she saw a shadow coming on her direction. She made a face and lifted the umbrella higher, letting a very loud scream out when the person collided with her on the hall. The girl screamed back and put both hands on her pregnant belly, in defense.

"What the hell, Haley!" Brooke put the umbrella down and one hand over her heart, "You scared the crap out of me!"

"I'm sorry!" Haley caught her breath, still holding her belly, "I didn't mean to. Your door was unlocked; you know you should lock it."

"What are you doing here?" she walked back to the living room with Haley right behind her.

"Deb just got us a new answering machine and since I know you don't have one and now that you're living alone… you might need one."

They both took seats. Brooke spread herself around on the big couch as Haley sat on the edge of the armchair, looking at her.

"Thanks, but couldn't this wait 'til I was at the house?"

"I saw you weren't home and got worried" she bit her lips together, "You don't look so good."

Brooke sighed, heavily, "I told Peyton."

"Oh, honey" Haley got up and took a seat next to Brooke on the couch, taking her hand, "How bad was it?"

"Worse than I ever thought" she sighed again, closing her eyes to remember the scene, "She was so heartbroken; I mean… it broke my heart, too. She cried so hard that she lost it and then fell asleep. I sneaked out after a while."

Haley frowned, "You left her alone?"

"I wrote a note. I couldn't be there for when she wakes up, it's gonna be round two and I can't take it" she shook her head, tiredly, "I'm done, Haley. I'm done telling."

"But what about –"

"No, it's too hard. I don't wanna tell anybody else and I don't want anybody else to know either. Not the school, not the squad, not even my parents."

"You haven't told them yet?!"

"No and I'm not going to!" Brooke raised her voice for a second, "Haley, I can't. Not after Peyton. I really can't."

---

The week went by slowly and boringly. After sneaking out of Peyton's room and leaving her with nothing but a note, Brooke kept on avoiding the blond girl at every opportunity she got. Coming late for classes so they wouldn't have time to talk and leaving earlier, always with a note or something to excuse herself and spending lunch times at her car or with Mouth, somewhere away from Peyton's sight. She didn't mean any harm; she just couldn't deal with the emotional stress she knew she'd have to go through when she faced Peyton again after that day.

After quickly brushing her hair, Brooke put her brush back on her backpack and grabbed a neutral lip gloss and softly spread on her lips, looking at herself on the bathroom mirror. She shot one last look at her figure that was staring right back at her and sighed. She couldn't help but notice all those hair products she had been using her whole teenager life weren't being able to fight with the amount of medicine on her body and her hair was quickly losing its shine.

"Hi!"

Peyton's voice snapped Brooke from her thoughts. The girl stepped in the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking it and then rushing through the stalls to check if there was anyone in there.

"Peyton? What are you doing?"

She finished checking the bathroom and turned to Brooke, "We need to talk."

By her tone of voice, Brooke knew it wasn't just chit chatting or any dark secret she wanted to share in the girls' bathroom. Which it was usually what they did there, "What here? Now?"

"Yeah" she placed both hands on her hips, "Why are you avoiding me? You can't just drop a bomb on me like that and then run away, Brooke."

"I'm not running" she crossed her arms against her chest, defensively; "I just can't deal with this stuff right now."

"Oh no?" Peyton faked surprised and then her tone got harsher, "Then when? When it's too late and since you're dying anyway, so you decide – why the hell not – and bond with me again?" her words echoed on the almost empty bathroom. Brooke stood on her spot, not able to move and scared of the girl's aggressive tone of voice. She knew Peyton was projecting some of her contained anger towards her birth mother, but she couldn't help but to feel bad and take it personally.

Peyton saw the hesitation on Brooke's eyes and sighed loudly, trying to regain her calm, "Look, I don't blame Ellie for what happened because she only did what she thought it was right. But it wasn't and you saw it! So, please, don't do it, too" she pleaded, "Just let me in. It's all I'm asking."

They fell into a silence that lingered for more than it should. Brooke saw the anxiousness on Peyton's face and how much she wanted to be part of that and help her anyway she could instead of being a bystander. She twitched her mouth to the side and a single dimple appeared on her right cheek as she slightly shrugged.

"OK. You're right" she softly agreed.

Peyton gave her a warm smile and reached for her hands, "I'm here for you. Like always."

Brooke nodded to let her know she understood, "I was scared to tell you and how you were gonna react."

Peyton couldn't help the chuckle she let out. For all her life, Brooke was the one helping her out and when it was time for her to do the same for her, Brooke was afraid she wouldn't, "I love you for worrying but you shouldn't. You don't have to worry or be scared anymore, OK? I'm not gonna leave you."

Struggling with the tears that surfaced but wouldn't roll free, Brooke leaning towards her, "Don't make me cry" and hugged Peyton tightly, "I love you, P. Sawyer."

"I love you too, B. Davis" Peyton smiled as they prolonged the hug 'til the two of them felt like they had finally made peace with each other.

---

They did made peace with each other and the days that came after that they went everywhere together as if attached by the hips. Brooke had made Peyton promise she wouldn't tell Lucas or anyone else about her and that she'd tell them in her own time. Even though she wasn't comfortable lying to Lucas, Peyton understood her reasons and promised her she wouldn't tell. But it was hard when he was around her to act like everything was cool so she spent most of her time with Brooke instead of with Lucas. Fortunately it was the same week that Lucas had to go to Charlotte for some heart exams almost everyday so he didn't even had the time to miss his girlfriend all that much.

It was the end of a Wednesday afternoon when Haley finished packing her hospital bag. She still had a few months ahead of her before the baby was born but she wanted to make sure she didn't have to worry about last minute details such as the bag she was supposed to take with her to the hospital when she got into labor. The bag was duly placed on the left side of her closet when the doorbell rang. She walked towards the living room, shouting.

"I'm coming!" she reached the door and opened widely to see her friend standing outside, "Hey, Peyton."

She squeezed between the door and Haley to step in, "Is Brooke here?"

"No, she's not" Haley closed the door and followed Peyton around to the kitchen area, "Why?"

"She missed her chemo session and I can't find her" she turned around with one hand over her forehead, making Haley get worried.

"What?" she shook her head, "She never missed a session before. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I was supposed to meet her at the hospital and give her a ride back home and she never showed up. And I waited for like, 40 minutes!"

Haley sunk on the kitchen stool, "Oh my God… well, she's not here, have you tried Mouth?"

"No, he was my next stop."

"OK" she quickly got up, "Calm down, I got it" reaching for the cordless phone, Haley dialed Mouth's home number and waited a few seconds, "Hello, Mrs. McFadden? Hi, it's Haley. How you doing? Me and the baby are fine, thanks for asking. Uh, Mrs. McFadden, is Marvin there? OK" she covered the speaker with one hand and whispered to Peyton, "She went checking."

Peyton made a face, "Marvin?"

"She doesn't like 'Mouth'" she shrugged off and then went back to the phone, "Yes? Oh, OK then. Thank you a lot. Bye!" she hung up and turned to her friend shaking her head, "He's not there and he doesn't have a cell phone."

"Then maybe he's with her, right?" she asked hopefully, "We just gotta find them."

"Just let me grab my jacket and leave Nathan a note" Haley hurried to do what she said.

A few minutes later and they were already in Peyton's car, driving around the streets and on the look for either Mouth or Brooke. They went over Mouth and Brooke's place, the Café, the school and were on their way back to Peyton's house when Haley grabbed Peyton's right arm.

"Wait! Turn around, I think I found them."

Doing as told, Peyton glanced ahead of them, "What are they doing at the Rivercourt?"

They parked right next to the court and popped out in a hurry as they walked over Brooke and Mouth who were in the middle of the court with a basketball with them.

"Brooke Penelope Davis, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Peyton shot as they approached.

Brooke giggled, thinking she was joking and waved, "Hey, girlies! What's up?"

They stopped in front of the boy and the girl, "You left me waiting for you at the hospital for almost an hour."

"Crap!" Brooke covered her mouth with both hands, "I forgot my chemo session!"

"Brooke, you know you can't skip those" Haley tried to reason with her and the girl frowned.

"I didn't skip."

"It's my fault" Mouth stepped in, "I should've known she had a session today."

"No, you shouldn't!" Brooke glanced over from Mouth to Peyton and Haley, "Look, thank you all for caring but I don't need babysitting. OK? Besides, it's no big deal; I'll just call Dr. Brown and reschedule a session for tomorrow. Alright?"

They all nodded together and Peyton sighed, "So what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well" Brooke's voice softened a little, "I made a list of things I wanna do before I get too sick to do it."

"Brooke…" Haley shrugged at the sound of that. She tried her best not to think in the worst case scenario and she didn't want Brooke of all people to do it.

"I know we're all very positive" Brooke rolled her eyes, "But it could happen" she smiled a little to make sure Haley was OK and went on, "Anyway, the top of the list was…" she turned to Mouth who finished her sentence for her.

"Learn how to do a free throw."

Haley laughed, "And you asked Mouth to teach you?"

Offended by her tone and insinuation, Mouth stepped ahead, "Hey, I may have never played but I've spent years watching the guys play so I think I'm up for the task."

Amused, Haley took the ball from Mouth's hands, "Like watching makes you an expert."

"If that was the case then Tim would be a sex God" Brooke mumbled much to everyone's amuse.

"I'm married to the Captain of the team who has – in fact – taught me a few things" she cockily walked towards the hoop, "Observe."

She focused on the hoop for a moment, breathing in and then raised her arms with the ball on her hands, bent her knees a bit to take impulse and then threw the ball that went directly into it.

Peyton whistled high as Brooke clapped, excitedly, "Alright, Tutor Player! Come and teach me how to do that!"

Brooke walked towards Haley and listened carefully to what she had to say. Peyton and Mouth headed towards the small bleachers behind the court and took seats next to each other.

"So how's she doing today?"

"She's good" Mouth nodded and then tried to apologize, "If I knew she had chemo…"

"No, she's right" Peyton kept watching the two girls attempting to shoot hoops ahead of them, "She's responsible enough. I guess I just overreacted."

"You just care about her like we all do."

Peyton turned to Mouth and smiled, rubbing his arm. They kept watching Brooke and Haley for a moment when she took his arm and linked with hers.

"And how are things going on with you, Mouth? Any chicks I should be in the look out for being so close to your hotness?"

Mouth laughed, "Oh yeah. Plenty!"

He got quiet and looked down. Peyton bumped her shoulder with his, "You miss Rachel, don't you?"

"More than I thought I would."

"She's coming back" she reassured him, "It's just for a few weeks."

"I know, but she's not coming back to me" he admitted weakly.

Peyton felt sorry for him for had fallen for someone like Rachel. She never really understood how could a sweet and smart guy like Mouth like someone so… Rachel. Screaming with excitement for had managed to score her first throw, Brooke waved to them.

"Hey, Mouth! Come on! I think I can teach you now!"

---

Lucas walked into the school gym and took a seat by the bleachers where he could watch the team practice. He was so used to be in those practices for the last two years that he only realized he was heading there when he saw the gym's double doors at the end of the hall. He had to constantly remind himself he was not part of that team anymore. His heart couldn't be in it anymore, literally.

From the opposite side of the gym, Coach Durham spotted Lucas sitting alone and raised his voice louder than the players' rushed steps across the court, "Lucas! Do you plan on practicing?"

"No, Coach" Lucas shouted back, "I'm just looking."

"Well, there are no bystanders on my practice, young man. You're either in or out."

Nathan jogged half way to the court, listening to the small talk and stopped to give his brother a nod as he waved his hand, "Come on, Lucas. Show the old man you still got it."

Whitey saw the boys laughing and deepened his frown and raised his voice higher, "Watch it, Nathan. I can still bench your sorry ass."

Lucas lost his backpack on the bleacher, took off his jacket and got in the game. Nathan threw him the ball and they started playing, just like they always used to. After a 30 minutes practice, Whitey called it a break and the boys spread around the court to get some air and water.

Nathan threw a bottle of water to Lucas once they found seats and chuckled at Lucas' difficulty in breathing normally, "Careful not to collapse again, big brother."

"Thanks" he caught the bottle and took a huge loud gulp, "I missed this, you know?"

"What? Whitey constantly yelling how much we suck?"

They both laughed, "Even that. I missed this gym, fighting for the ball, team work… I missed this game" he explained, sadly.

"It's still here for you" Nathan shrugged, "You just gotta adjust."

"I can't play it half way" he shook his head, "It'd ruin some of the magic."

Nathan opened his mouth to add some words of comfort of some kind to his brother when he heard his cell phone ringing inside his backpack. He unzipped the bag and glanced over the screen once it was flipped open, "Hey, babe. What?" he frowned, "Whoa… slow down, Haley. OK, where are you guys now? OK, I'll be right there. Bye."

He hung up and met Lucas' anxious eyes, staring back at him, "What is it? Everything OK?"

"Haley's at the hospital with Peyton and Brooke."

"Is it the baby? She OK?" he asked already standing up.

Nathan grabbed his backpack and hung it over his shoulder, "No, she's fine. You might wanna come with me."

"Nathan" Lucas grabbed his brother's arm to make him stop, "What is it?"

Sighing heavily, Nathan let the words drop off his lips, "It's Brooke."


A bit of a cliffhanger to keep you guys hooked. Once again, I'll try to own up to my promise to update sooner than later. And now... review time!!