AN: Thank you for all your great reviews! I'm so thrilled to know that you like my story! Also thank you to those who answered to my question, so apparently you don't find it too slow…but I'll see if I can put more action in it.
Now I know I'm not updating as much lately and I'm sorry but I'm having a very busy week. Hopefully after the weekend it will get better. So I'm not completely happy with this one, but it will have to do for now. Please read, enjoy and review :D
Chapter 9
Thrilled to Finally Meet You
"Isn't it about time Brooke got here?" Nathan asked getting impatient.
"Nate…chill, when she's with Bevin and Theresa there's no telling how long she'll be, these three could go on for hours!" Peyton answered with a smile.
"Doesn't she want to see us? Can't she catch up with them later?" He asked again.
This line of questions had been repeated too many times for both Peyton's and Haley's liking.
"Nate!" They both exclaimed.
"Okay…Geez! I was just wondering…"
"She'll be here, Nate…" Peyton sighed.
"Why don't you just go find her and spare us?" Haley proposed sending him an evil glare.
"Do you think she'll mind?" Nathan asked turning to Peyton.
"Mind? Are you kidding? She'll love it. Go!" Peyton said relieved to get rid of him and his constant questions about Brooke.
Nathan seemed to seriously consider it much to Haley's dismay when Skillz approached the table and after greeting everyone took a sit next to Haley. After the interruption Nathan got up.
"Ok, I'm going and I'll see if I can find Luke and send him this way."
"Yeah" Peyton nodded. "Seriously, how long does it take that guy to get a drink?"
Jake, Haley and Mouth laughed. As impatient as Nathan was to see Brooke, Peyton was even more impatient to see Lucas. She had really missed him the last couple of days.
Haley looked at Skillz who seemed a bit uneasy.
"What's up?" she asked him loud enough for only him to hear.
"Urm…nothing." He said shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
"Skillz?" Haley insisted.
"I kinda saw Luke talking with someone"
"So?" Haley asked confused.
"He was talking with a girl, I walked towards them and…they seemed to be in a middle of a very intense conversation"
"A girl? Who?"
"I don't know her, and it was kinda dark…but she did seem somewhat familiar."
"And when you say intense conversation?" Haley asked curious now.
"I don't know…just both their expressions…I felt like I was interrupting"
"Well, what did Luke say, didn't he introduce you to her?"
"I didn't go to talk to them…as soon as I saw that they were talking seriously I left"
Haley nodded intrigued.
"What are you two talking about?" Jake interrupted them.
"Urm…nothing" Haley quickly replied. "Skillz was just telling me about his summer"
"Yeah, Dawg…you should have seen the girls I met at the beach this summer…"
"That's what you were telling Hales?" Jake asked laughing.
Nathan approached the table and stood in front of it with a worried look on his face.
"Where's Brooke? You couldn't drag her away from Bevin?" Peyton asked laughing.
"I didn't find her" Nathan replied.
"They were at the other end of the club Nathan, how could you not find them? This place is not that big!" Peyton said.
"Oh, I did find Bev and Theresa. But Brooke wasn't there."
"She wasn't?" Jake joined the conversation.
"Nope, they told me she left a while ago to come find us" Nathan replied looking more worried.
"Well, she probably ran into someone" Peyton said dismissively. "Don't worry, she'll be here shortly. What about Luke?"
"I couldn't find him either! He wasn't at the bar" Nathan shrugged.
"Who wasn't at the bar?" Lucas asked appearing behind him.
"Hey man, we thought you got lost!" Nathan said turning to face his brother.
"Hey Luke" Peyton called him from her seat.
"Hey baby" Lucas said taking a seat next to her and leaning to give her a haste kiss.
"Where were you?" Peyton asked him.
"Why, you send a search party after me?" Lucas chuckled looking at Nathan.
"No bro…believe me, I didn't go to find your sorry ass"
"No…Natey went to search for Brookie" Peyton said teasingly.
Lucas eyes turned dark but he tried to cover it.
"So where is she anyway? I thought you two were coming together" He said trying to sound casual.
"That's what I'm wondering!" Nathan cut in sitting back next to Mouth. "She was supposed to be with Bevin and Theresa but she left them and hasn't come here yet"
"Oh Nathan stop whining she'll be here soon enough"
"I am not whining! And let's not forget how you were until Luke got here"
Lucas smiled at Peyton.
"I'm sorry baby, I would be back sooner if I knew you got here" He said as he draped his arm around her.
"What took you so long?" Peyton said leaning at his shoulder.
"Urm…I run into some guys from the team" Lucas said scratching his head uncomfortably. He noticed Skillz looking at him curiously but thankfully he didn't say a word. The strange thing was that Hales was also looking at him weirdly.
They all continued talking mostly about their summer vacations; filling Skillz and Mouth in the road trip they had taken. Lucas kept looking through the crowd. She was late. Where the hell had she gone again? She said she would be here just after him. Was she all right? Of course she was. She seemed absolutely fine when she left him. She had no reason not to be, right? She wasn't affected by the whole thing, didn't she make that absolutely clear? She thought it wasn't a big deal. So he shouldn't be worrying about her. And if she wasn't why the hell should he care about it anyway? She probably went back to her friends or maybe she found another poor guy to play with. He scanned the dance floor once more but he couldn't find her. By now he hardly paid any attention to the chit-chat going on at their table and only answered when they asked something directly at him. It wasn't that he was worried about her. No, it was just that he was anxious about how the whole thing would play out. Unlike her he wasn't used to playing games and telling lies. So he was nervous. That's it. He wasn't a bit worried. Still, he couldn't help the feeling of relief he felt when he saw her prancing towards the table, with her beautiful smile etched on her face.
"Brooke!" Both Nathan and Peyton exclaimed.
Brooke gave them one of her dimpled smiles and took a quick glance around the table. Her eyes only momentarily stopping at Lucas.
"Whoa… a lot of new faces around here!" She said choosing to grin at Mouth that was looking at her with awe. He was the safest choice as she saw it. Broody was staring at her coldly and she could do nothing but hope that he wouldn't mess it up and that other guy…oh shit…he was the guy that had seen them talking together!
Lucas examined her quickly, she was smiling, dimples and all, she looked just fine. No need for worrying about her…she didn't even seem nervous about their upcoming introduction like he was.
"Well, let me introduce you then. " Peyton piped in. "This is Lucas, and Lucas as you probably figured out already this is my best friend, Brooke"
Oh, he had certainly figured that out.
He got up and offered his hand at her smiling tightly.
"Brooke"
"Well, well, you're Lucas. It was about time. I'm thrilled to finally meet you!" Brooke said smiling widely as she took his hand.
They both felt the shock as their hands touched and Brooke pulled it back hastily.
"Me too" Lucas agreed faking a smile. God, she was a good actress. Of course she was…all part of her role. Why was he even mad at her? She had let him know who she was from the moment they met; it's just that he thought she was different around him. Apparently he was wrong.
"Peyton has told me so much about you, I feel like I already know you." She said grinning. Crap! Sometimes she just couldn't help herself, and all the time she was worrying that he would mess up.
"Is that so?" He replied tightly. Was she mocking him?
"What, didn't she tell you about me?" She asked pouting to Peyton.
"Yes, she did" Apparently not enough!
Well, he was certainly being awfully chatty Brooke thought with annoyance.
"I was so disappointed when you didn't show up at the café yesterday"
"Believe me, I wish I had"
Brooke frowned but continued nevertheless.
"Yeah, some kind of family emergency? Well, at least I got to meet you now. Better late than never, right?"
"Right" He replied coldly.
Haley was observing them curiously. For some weird reason Brooke wasn't flirting with Lucas as she had so blatantly done with both Jake and Nathan. She didn't even check him out as she did with both of them and every other male that had appeared at the café yesterday. Maybe because Lucas was Peyton's boyfriend, maybe him being her best friend's boyfriend made even that cheer-slut back off.
Peyton looked at Brooke uneasily. She was being nice and more reserved than usual, probably taking the hint after yesterday's mess with Jake. But Lucas was unusually cold, bordering rude in her opinion. Haley must have gotten to him already, but she hoped that as he got to know Brooke he would change his mind. She would make sure of it.
"Yeah…okay…" Brooke said, apparently he was not in the mood for playing nice…so she turned again to Peyton, "So…aren't you gonna introduce me to the others?"
Lucas got back at his seat. This hadn't gone that bad he thought with relief, apparently they were able to get away with it. He started looking around aimlessly only to be met by Haley's curious eyes. He avoided her and his eyes met Skillz that looked at him completely shocked. Shit! He had recognized Brooke from before. Lucas sent him a meaningful look hoping that he would get the point and not say anything before he got a chance to explain. How was he supposed to do that again? Damn her and her stupid ideas! How were they supposed to get out of this one now?
"So this is Mouth." Peyton continued. "You must remember him Brooke"
"Uh?"
"Brooke must have a problem with remembering faces" Haley said with a sugary smile.
Brooke decided to ignore her for now, she was dealing with too much as it was, and she didn't need her smartass remarks.
"Hello, Mouth. How do we know each other?" She asked him smiling sweetly.
"Hi Brooke, we went to elementary school together"
"Really? Mouth?" She said trying desperately to remember just to prove Haley wrong.
"Urm…my name is Marvin actually, Marvin McFaden"
"Marvin McFaden?! Oh I do remember you! You were sitting behind me at class!" Brooke exclaimed cheerily making Mouth ridiculously happy when she reached and gave him a small hug.
"See…she remembers him, but not you…" Haley whispered to Jake nudging him and giggling.
"They were friends, it's not the same!" Jake said wondering if he could possibly give a worst answer to that, by the look Haley was giving him, obviously not.
"And this is Skillz, he's in the team with the guys" Peyton concluded with the introductions. "Skillz, I don't know if you remember Brooke, she used to live here until three years ago"
"That's why you looked so familiar when I saw you earlier!" Skillz exclaimed causing both Brooke and Lucas to panic.
"Hi Skillz" Brooke said hesitantly trying to keep calm.
"You saw Brooke earlier?" Haley asked suspiciously.
"Urm…yeah I…I saw her talking to…" Skillz started noticing Lucas's pleading expression.
"You saw me talking to the girls? Bev and Theresa?" Brooke interrupted quickly.
"Urm…yeah, I think I saw you talking to Bevin and thought you looked familiar" Skillz said unsure.
Brooke just smiled in response and Lucas sighed with relief. Haley however eyed all three of them suspiciously. Was Brooke the girl Skillz saw Lucas talking to? It must have been. How the hell did they know each other? And why were they acting like they first saw each other only minutes before? Something was definitely up and she had to find out soon. What did this Brooke girl do this time?
"Are we done with the introductions?" Nathan said impatiently.
Glad for the interruption Brooke turned to him and gave him a teasing smile.
"Feeling neglected, Hot-shot?"
"Indeed I am! You didn't even say hello!" He exclaimed faking annoyance.
"My, my…how could I? Let me make it up to you."
"How…"
Nathan was interrupted as Brooke stood at her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hello…" she purred at him.
Lucas tensed as she saw him kissing his brother that looked absolutely thrilled.
"So am I forgiven?" She asked him playfully.
"Definitely!" Nathan agreed smiling back to her.
"Well…now it's your turn to apologize"
"Mine? Why would I be…"
"Because I'm standing here for more than five minutes and you still haven't told me how good I look!" Brooke said tilting her head at the side.
"My mistake." Nathan grinned. "You look gorgeous" He whispered at her as he too leaned and gave her a small kiss at the cheek causing her to giggle.
By now Lucas was feeling sick to his stomach. Brooke saw him and couldn't help but feel happy about the way he was reacting. It was evident to her that the sight bothered him, a lot. This was wrong of course, she shouldn't be happy, but she had to admit…she was!
"Come on you two, take a seat" Peyton gestured smiling happily.
Brooke sat next to Mouth and Nathan sat himself at her other side. Peyton was sitting next to Lucas at the top of the table and Haley was squeezed between Jake and Skillz at the other side of the table across Brooke, Mouth and Nathan.
"So…where have you been?" Nathan asked Brooke.
"Didn't Peyt tell you? I was with Bev and Theresa."
"I went to look for you but you had left a while ago" Nathan answered.
"Oh, did you miss me that much?" Brooke asked trying to dodge the question.
"Maybe…or maybe Peyt forced me to go"
"I doubt that" Brooke smiled.
"Yeah...nice try, Nate" Peyton said. "He kept asking us for you, he was unbearable!"
"Whatever Pey, you're one to talk! How many times did you ask where Lucas is?"
"Hey…Luke is my boyfriend!"
"Yeah…I know how you two can't stay a minute away from each other"
Brooke averted her eyes, she didn't want to listen to how happy Peyton was with Lucas or how in love or whatever! Thankfully Peyton was not one for PDA, cause honestly if she saw the two of them making out she would probably puke! To his credit he didn't seem comfortable with the turn this conversation had taken either.
"Are you jealous, Natey?" Peyton continued teasing him.
"Jealous? No…just tired of playing third wheel…"
"Hm…maybe you won't have to do that anymore. What do you say Brooke, will you keep our poor Nate company?"
"Oh I think I'm up to that!" Brooke said playfully.
Brooke continued talking animatedly mostly to Nathan but turning to Mouth at times as well. Nathan hardly paid attention to anyone other at their table except for her.
Lucas had his eyes fixed at Brooke and his brother. He saw her smiling at Nate like she was smiling at him minutes before. He watched her lean to whisper something in his ear causing him to laugh. He wondered if her raspy voice gave Nate goosebumps as well. He watched as Nathan teased her causing her to hit and shove him playfully. He couldn't make out what they were saying but it looked like they were having fun, just like they had fun together. Only now they weren't supposed to do that again, not that way. So he was supposed to sit back and watch her be all over his brother? Not that he was jealous. Of course not. He was just looking out for his brother. He obviously liked her a lot and if she was just having her fun again she would hurt him. But what if she really liked him too? He couldn't decide what would bother him more. But luckily watching Brooke as she was now smiling and teasing a blushing Mouth he did not have to worry about the second possibility. That was her…acting the same way towards every guy that came her way. Where had the girl that hated the role she was playing go anyway? That couldn't have been part of the act, could it? Or maybe it was, a way to show him that he was special, that she opened up to him…and he just like a fool fell for it.
She could feel his eyes on her. She kept trying to act as she usually would but she couldn't. It felt good to know he was watching her but it also meant trouble, big trouble ahead. His abrupt tone and his icy eyes told her he was probably mad at her and obviously convinced by her acting. She tried taking a look at him when she thought no one was watching and she could see the hurt she had seen before replaced by resentment. That made her stomach drop and she had to constantly fight to hold her emotions in check…otherwise the tears would soon follow again. She kept concentrating on his arm around Peyton, his girlfriend, the girlfriend he didn't mention. If he thought he had a right to be angry with her then what about her? Didn't she have the same right and then some?
"So what do you think about her?" Peyton asked him but she didn't receive an answer. "Luke…earth to Lucas? Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, of course why shouldn't it?"
"Don't know, you kinda zoned out on me"
"Sorry, baby I was just thinking"
"About?"
"Dan…" Maybe he wasn't that bad at this lying thing after all. And heck, at least his dad did come useful this time.
"Oh, so why did you two get into it again today?"
"I missed our morning run."
"Oh, you did? Why?"
"I overslept…"
Haley that had been observing Lucas from the moment she realized something was going on with him and Brooke almost jumped in her seat when she heard that.
"Are you okay, Hales?" Jake asked sensing her abrupt movement.
"Urh…yeah, yeah just fine" She shrugged.
"So I asked you what do you think about Brooke…when you weren't listening" Peyton continued asking Luke.
"What do I think?"
"Yeah…do you like her?"
"Peyt…we hardly exchanged two words together"
"Yeah, I know…but Nathan was getting impatient" Peyton chuckled.
Lucas didn't answer but looked at the two of them once again only to catch his brother putting his arm around her shoulder as she once again leaned to whisper something to him. The urge to rip his arm off was just too big.
"Don't they look cute together?" Peyton asked him again.
"Cute?" Lucas repeated trying really hard not to scream.
"Yeah…they're pretty cozy, aren't they?"
"They certainly do seem cozy" He hissed.
Peyton looked at him taken aback by his tone.
"Luke?"
"They're certainly moving fast"
"Well…it's Nate we're talking about here…I would say this is even slow for him" Peyton giggled.
"Your friend doesn't seem to mind either" He said sending a reproachful look to an oblivious Brooke.
"Yeah…Brooke is…she's like Nate in that aspect I guess"
"Sleeping around with random guys you mean?"
"Lucas!" Peyton said loud enough to cause everybody at the table to look at them.
Lucas cursed himself.
"What's up you guys?" Nathan asked concerned.
Brooke looked at Peyton who avoided her eyes and then at Lucas who was looking down.
"Nothing…" he finally mumbled and Peyton nodded.
Nathan shrugged it off, but Brooke shot Lucas a warning look. Oh, that girl had some nerve! Deciding to put her aside for the moment he turned to his furious girlfriend.
"Babe, I'm sorry…"
"What the hell was that Luke?" Peyton asked still angry.
"I am sorry. I don't know where that came from. I'm…I'm upset with Dan" God, how much more would he blame on Dan tonight? Not that the bastard didn't deserve it.
"So you vent out on Brooke? Lucas you hardly met her!"
"I didn't mean it that way; it just came out all wrong"
"I don't know what Haley told you, but I would appreciate it if you tried to like her Luke. You know how much I love her"
"I do, I'm sorry. And Haley has nothing to do with it. I just…it won't happen again" Geez, how many times was he gonna apologize tonight?
"It better not Luke!" Peyton said still somewhat angry but deciding to let it go this time, after all she knew how bad Dan could get on both of his sons nerves.
Brooke watched with worry at the fight the two of them where apparently having. She sure as hell hoped it didn't concern her and their meeting. Peyton turned and smiled at her reassuringly. Ok…so obviously the crisis had been avoided. But then Lucas looked at her as well, and his expression told her that the whole fight was her fault somehow. The two of them stared at each other for a while and both turned almost simultaneously when they realized what they were doing.
"So you're all on the team?" Brooke asked curiously after a while of chit-chat around the table.
"Oh, I'm most certainly not!" Mouth exclaimed.
"Mouth is our official sports caster" Nathan explained.
"What?"
"I describe the games. I used to do it back at the Rivercourt, and now I do it for the school's radio station."
"The Rivercourt?" Brooke said in a quiet voice stealing a glance at Lucas who in contrast to before was also looking at her sadly.
"Yeah…it's Luke's favorite court" Peyton supplied.
"It's a great place, at the riverside park, really peaceful" Nathan said.
"Do you like basketball, Brooke?" Jake asked.
"I am a cheerleader, aren't I?"
"Well, Peyton is as well but she never watches the games on tv and I doubt she had ever touched the ball!" Nathan said laughing.
"Oh, Brookie has played, haven't you Davis?" Peyton teased.
Lucas tensed up. Brooke must have given Peyton a full account of their morning meeting. He felt immensely curious to find out what she had said to her friend before realizing who he was, but it was not like he could actually ask her.
"You play?" Nathan asked genuinely interested and slightly surprised.
"Of course not. That was a one time thing and it won't happen again, ever" Brooke said resolutely.
He was sure that statement was directed at him. But he could also discern some sadness in her voice and again he doubted the sincerity in her words when she assured him that she was not hurt by their situation.
"Didn't you like it?" He asked not being able to restrain himself.
"I did, but it has too many risks involved" She replied staring at him.
He stayed quiet, what could he say anyway? She was absolutely right.
"Risks?" Nathan asked confused.
"Well…I wouldn't want to break… a nail now, would I?" She said kinking her eyebrow at him.
Everybody at the table broke into laughter, except Lucas. Even Haley had to laugh with that.
"Did you break one the last time you played?" Lucas asked her again too serious for the conversation they were having.
"No, I stopped just in time" Brooke replied with the same serious tone he used. She wondered if everyone else thought they were crazy talking so seriously about…breaking nails! Haley probably thought she actually meant it Brooke thought amused.
"Next time we can play together, I can teach you how to play. It will be fun." Nathan offered smiling.
Lucas again fought the urge to tell his brother that he had no place teaching her anything, let alone the game they played together.
"I think I'll stick to cheerleading from now on."
"Cheerleading also involves risk. You may…sprain an ankle?" Lucas continued.
"I've done it for years, I know how to not get hurt."
"Yeah…but shouldn't you try new things some times?" Lucas tried again.
"No…I think it's better to stay with what you know. It helps avoiding unpleasant surprises, you know?"
"I think I do" He replied sadly. He just hoped everyone at the table still thought they were talking about the game.
"How come you haven't taught Peyt how to play?" Brooke asked.
"Lucas? He's too impatient to do that!" Haley answered instead.
"Is he?"
"Yes, I asked him to teach me and after just looking at how I was holding the ball he deemed me a lost cause and sent me to Nate!" Peyton said laughing.
"Oh" was all Brooke could manage while Luke kept staring at her intently.
The conversation soon drifted from the subject and Brooke turned to Nate while Peyton started talking to Lucas.
Haley kept observing both of them. Sure, Brooke was all over Nate just like yesterday …but she had caught her stealing glances at Lucas too many times. Lucas on the other hand was not that discrete staring at the two of them almost all the time. She didn't get a good feeling about all this. She had to talk to Luke as soon as possible.
