~My one regret in life is that I am not someone else~
"What time is everyone going to meet at your place Friday?" Rachel asked as she touched her make-up up in the mirror.
"I told Abby six or six thirty," she said, finishing up her homework from that day. "But I told Brooke around four is fine, maybe we can eat before."
"Yeah, that sounds good. We're still skipping Friday right?" the red head asked and her friend nodded.
"Yeah, so you can just come over Thursday night after school."
"Alright, but side note," she spun on the chair to face her friend. "Why is Abby being such a bitch lately?"
"Shit if I know," Quinn shook her head, still completely confused. "One day she is fine, the next she is pissed at the world. It's like she is going through permanent PMS."
"You don't think her real problem is Brooke do you? I mean that girl is seriously sweet. How can you just hate the little thing?" Rachel questioned, not at all getting Abby's hate for her. She was positive Brooke hadn't done a damn thing to her.
"I honestly don't know. I mean at first I thought she was just being Abby but she seriously goes out of her way to be a bitch to her. Like giving her shit over this weekend or a damn party? A party we can throw anytime?"
"I really think it's because of Luke," Rachel vocalized what she had been thinking all month. "You probably know better than me, but I think Lucas might have a thing for her."
"I don't know Rach," Quinn pondered the thought a moment. "I mean he…" she paused a moment tilting her head to the side. "It's Lucas…and she…she isn't his type."
"They are together all the time Quinn and on top of that he talks about her all the damn time," she pointed out. "Oh!" she snapped her fingers another thought. "Have you also noticed how he just stares at her?"
"I have noticed that…a little," she agreed, knowing at the mall yesterday she caught them in a moment. Lucas completely ignored it when she mentioned what was up and Brooke just darted off so fast but there was something there. What? She didn't know, but there was something. "But that would be just so weird!"
"I think it would be kinda awesome," the red head shrugged. "And I also think she would be good for him, maybe calm him out some."
"He is calm…" Quinn defended her best friend.
"Quinn, I love him and I know he is your bestie or whatever but he is the biggest whore ever," she said the last few words slowly and Quinn laughed.
"He is pretty…friendly," she agreed and received a laugh.
"Yeah he is friendly," she used air quotes and the girls giggled, the light tap on the glass door making them calm down a bit. "I wonder who that is…" Rachel muttered to herself as she grabbed a magazine off the bed and flipped it open.
Skipping off the bed, the dirty blonde moved over to the door and undid the lock, pushing down the handle and opening the French door to reveal one of her favorite boys.
"Hey baby," she beamed, pushing up on her toes to give him a sweet kiss.
"Hey," he offered a smile, lacing his fingers through his as she led him into the room. "Hey Red," he nodded at the girl in the corner who offered him a nod in return.
"Hey Davis," she greeted, flipping through the magazine in her hand. "You having a good night?"
"It's getting better," he admitted, dropping down on the bed beside his girl, resting his head in her lap as she rested against the headrest. "What are you two up too?"
"Talking about homecoming," Quinn told him, running her hand through his hair.
"Homecoming…" he growled, not wanting to talk about that thing. "It's lame…"
"It's not lame," Rachel objected, grabbing a pillow from the floor and pegging him. "Why do you hate all school functions?"
"Because they are lame," he repeated and she rolled her eyes making him chuckle. Rachel and he always getting along pretty well. Clay liked how good of a friend Rachel was to the girl he cared about and Rachel honestly loved how happy he made her best friend and when shit went down, it shocked even Quinn when they sided together. "And a waste of time…"
"You wouldn't even go to see me?" Quinn questioned and he peered up at her.
"Seeing you at a distance and staring makes me feel creepy…" he stated and she frowned. "Don't give me that look…"
"But don't you want to see me in my dress?"
"I will see you in your dress. When I drop off Brooke I'll see you and when you come over after I'll see you," he reminded her. "And then I'll see it off you," he smirked and she grinned, leaning down to give him a kiss.
"I think you should just tell Lucas to get the fuck over it and go with your girl," Rachel shrugged, thinking everything about this whole situation was stupid. If people love each other they should be together, as easy as that. Hiding in the corners would drive her mad; she honestly didn't know why Clay even put up with it.
"What would you do then?" Clay teased, them all knowing he wouldn't do anything to upset Quinn. "If I just showed up and kissed you in front of him and everyone?"
"Would you be dramatic about it? Come in wearing some tux you hate and ask me to dance in front of everyone? And then when I pause to long jerk me up and kiss the crap out of me?" she joked and he grinned.
"Do I have to wear the tux?"
"Mhmm…"
"Then I guess," he sighed, like it was such a chore. "If I must, it will happen," he joked and she giggled leaning to rest her head against his, smiling before giving him a kiss that made him grin.
Looking at her friend and Rachel shaking her head suddenly getting it, she knew she would hate behind closed doors but Clay seemed to slowly get over it. He loved her best friend, loved her more than anyone has probably loved the sweet girl and he would take her anyway he could get.
And Rachel seriously wondered if he knew that he said the word and Quinn would give up everything for him. She loved her Lucas, they had been best friends since birth but Rachel didn't doubt one second if someone really forced her to choose she would choose Clay, because even at just seventeen they shared a love that really everyone wished for.
"Mom!" Lucas jogged down the steps to the living room, finding like always her sitting there and reading her favorite book, a book he was almost positive she had read about fifty times. "Hey…"
"Hey, what's going on?" she asked, him walking over and dropping on the couch.
"Do you care if I go away from the weekend?" he questioned, pretty positive she didn't care but knowing he still had to ask.
"Well, where are you going and who all is going to be there?" she asked, a normal line of questioning he assumed she would wonder.
"It's just a couple hours away from here…Largo resort," he explained and her brow shut up. "I'd only be gone from Saturday morning and get back late Monday."
"Honey, can you afford Largo resort? I mean you have hidden money locked away somewhere?" she teased knowing she didn't have that kind of money.
"No…no I don't have hidden cash," he laughed, resting back on the couch. "But Brooke's dad sorta owns it…" he trailed off and her eyes widened.
"Wow," she let out a dry laugh, going back to flip through the pages of her book. "Must be nice."
"I don't have to go if you don't want me too," he frowned, hating his mom just worked and stayed at home. It was rare you ever saw her leave the house and if she did it was just to go to work or the store. Made him feel kinda shitty to leave her.
"No, I don't mind. I think it would be nice to get away. Yet it's not just you two right? I mean others will be there?"
"Oh yeah," Lucas told her quickly. "Quinn is going and Tony and Rachel, Abby is bitching but I think she might go and then Jake," he explained and she nodded at each. "Then Clay…" he said slowly and her eyes jerked up to him.
"Clay is going?" Karen asked, not so sure if that was the best idea.
"Brooke is Clay's cousin…"
"Lucas…"
"Mom I know," he held his hands up knowing her tone all too well.
"I don't think you do Lucas," she placed the book down to look at him. "That is not a good idea. Why would you even think it was a little bit of a good idea?" her tone rose a bit and he opened his mouth to speak but then quickly shut it when he realized he really didn't have anything. "Lucas, you know I like Brooke, I think she is sweet as can be but she is his cousin? Does she know that-"
"No!" he told her quickly, honestly not wanting to hear it because he hates going back to that time. He hates the feeling he gets by reliving that day from just a few years ago and he hates the look his mother gives him every time and he can tell she is still so disappointed in him. "No, she doesn't know ok."
"She has to know something Lucas…"
"Obviously she knows what happened, she knows Greg is gone but she just doesn't know all the facts. She doesn't know I was there…"
"You weren't just there Luke," her tone sharp and his eyes dropped down. "You all made a consensus decision that night Lucas and because of it none of your lives will be the same. That young girl deserves to know," she ordered him and he swallowed the lump and his jaw clutched a bit.
"Can I go or not?" he asked, not wanting the feeling bubbling in him to explode.
"Yeah, you can go," she shook her head and dropped back in the chair.
"Thanks…" he groaned, throwing himself off the couch and towards the front door, grabbing his phone from his pocket and hitting his speed dial.
"Hello…" she giggled into the phone, slamming her hand over her boyfriend's mouth.
"Quinn…" he growled, moving down the steps to his car. "What are you doing? Can I come over?"
"Oh…" her heart raced and she shifted off the bed and towards her bathroom, closing herself inside. "Well…"
"I just needed to talk to you," he told her, sinking down in the driver's seat and letting out a long breath. "Talk to someone…"
"Well Rachel is here…"
"Oh…sorry," he apologized. "Never mind forget it."
"No, she can leave. I mean," she rushed to say, not liking the shake in his voice. "Just come over…"
"Don't worry about it, tell her hey," he slammed the phone shut and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. Cranking the car and pulling out of the driveway, not sure where he was going but just knowing he didn't want to be there.
"Dinner was great mom," Brooke gave a very robotic smile as she placed her plate in the dishwasher. "Would you like to maybe have a cup of coffee?" she fiddled her foot over the other and chewed her bottom lip. A habit of theirs when things were good was a late night coffee drink. Normally they would curl up on the couch, watch old movies and sip the warm liquid as they caught up. Nothing big, just things that had happened that day. However that hadn't happened in a long time.
"I'm really tired honey," Tori told her, not tearing her eyes away from a spot on one of the dishes. "Maybe another night," she spoke and completely missed the frown on her daughter's face.
"O-ok," she agreed, pushing off the counter and heading towards the door.
"Brooke…" her father called but she just brushed passed him and raced up the stairs, her door suddenly slamming shut and he frowned.
"What?" Tori plated her hand on her hip, not enjoying the look her husband was giving her.
"She just wanted to spend time with you," he shook his head, walking over and placing his dish in the sink.
"And I will, right now I'm tired," she repeated, her tone rising just a fraction more and the doorbell ripped through the house.
"She is still here Tori," Richard reminded her, his eyes filled with such anger as he looked at the woman he loved so much. "We still have a little girl upstairs, a living breathing little girl," he sent her one last glance she didn't like before heading towards the door. Tori pulling in a sharp breath before knocking the tear, not getting why the stain wouldn't come out of the plate.
"I'm coming…" Richard moved towards the door and pushing down the lock, twisting the knob and opening it to reveal the boy on the other side. "Hello?" his eyes ran over the boy, not exactly sure who he was.
"Hi uh- is Brooke here?"
"Yeah, who are you?"
"Oh, Lucas, sir," he outstretched his hand and the older man slowly took it. "We go to school together," he told him, hoping his name didn't click in the man's head. "We're going to homecoming together…" he spoke slowly and watched as everything started to click.
"Right," he nodded quickly. "I remember her mentioning that. You and your friends are going away together this weekend?"
"Oh yes sir and thank you for letting us come. We are really excited."
"Of course," he stepped aside and opened the door. "Come in," he waved and Lucas slowly shuffled into the large home, swearing he had never seen anything so large before.
"Richard Davis," he told him. "But Brooke is upstairs," he told him and watched as the boy shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets and bounced on his feet. "Second floor, fifth door on the left," he explained and Lucas nodded and started heading towards the stairs. "But Lucas…" he called and the young man froze on the steps. "My room is the third on the left," he told him, Lucas catching the warning tone and nodding.
"Yes sir," he gave an uncomfortable smile and headed up the steps. Seriously wondering just how many rooms Brooke house had.
"Oh boy…" Richard breathed out deep, running his hand through his hair and heading towards his office. Making a mental note to head up stairs in about ten minutes…maybe less.
Counting each door as he went, Lucas took note of each closed door and frowned. It must be nice to have a life like this, a large house, a private pool and money. He didn't have nice things, of course he lived nicely, but he didn't have nice things. His mom did all she could but after his father left money got tight and Lucas did without.
"And five," he let out a dry laugh, lifting his hand to knock on the door; his wrist froze just a moment before tapping lightly. He wasn't sure why he was there, there was probably a million other places he could be but for some reason his car just drove him here.
And he honestly admitting he wanted to be here.
"Come…come in," his brows knit together at the broken greeting on the other end. Turning the knob slowly and cracked the door open, revealing the girl on the bed and heard a light sniffle.
"Brooke…" he approached slowly and her head popped up quickly.
"Lucas," she looked surprised, running her fingers under her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she slid to the end of her bed and hurried over to the closet, not wanting him to see her upset.
"I was just around," he said, tilting his head to the side and looking at her. "Are you ok?"
"Fine… I was just watching a sad movie," she plastered on a fake smile and he cut his eyes over to the TV that was turned off.
"Oh…" he let it go; quickly noticing she didn't want to talk about it. "I can leave if you want."
"No! Don't leave," she said a little too quickly and he let out a smile, a blush sweeping across her cheeks. "I mean you can, but I'd like you to stay."
"Then I'll stay," he shrugged, walking over and sitting on her bed. Her room completely different then he would assume. Three walls were a dark purple, as one was black, her floor was almost like a glossy black wood however covered with a fuzzy purple rug that matched her walls, her bed large as it sat in the center of her room, sheets black with a white head board and box spring and then the rest of her furniture was white. Then on her night stand sat a unique shaped vase with three died up purple flowers. It was a little bare, a few photos here and there but not many, but it was a nice room. However looked more like it should be in a magazine.
"Are you ok?" she asked, slowly walking over and sitting on the bed beside him.
"Fine," he gave a smile, brushing her hair back. "Just wanted to get out of the house for a bit."
"Know the feeling," she let out a dry laugh, glancing around her room. "Want to maybe watch a movie with me?" she asked hopeful. "Maybe disappear in the life of other people and forget ours a bit?"
"That sounds perfect," he truly admitted and she smiled, sliding off her bed and heading over to her collection of movies. Running his eyes over her in just her sweat pants and loose top and he wondered why she looked so adorable in just comfy clothes. He's seen some girls, many actually in just sweats and swore they looked like a hot mess, minus the hot. However he liked Brooke like that. Liked her hair pulled up in the messy ponytail as strands fell out of it, the hair a little curled and her glasses once again removed, him honestly liking her more like that. Wishing she would go without her glasses more often.
"Ok…" she skipped over to the door and hit the light, dimming the room just a bit and then moving over to her bed. Swallowing hard at the image of Lucas laid across it.
"You ok?" he held back the grin as she chewed her lip.
"Yeah…" her heart raced a bit thinking about him on her bed.
"Come here," he reached for her hand and she slowly slid it in his and he tugged her up the bed. Feeling her hand tremble as he pulled her up and wrapped one of his arms around her small waist.
"Do you like this movie?" her mouth ran dry as she snuggled up against him, resting her head on his chest.
"Yeah," he nodded, running his hand through her hair and she tilted her head up to look at him. "It's one of my favorites," he told her and she nodded.
"Mine too," she wiggled up his body a bit and she bit down on her lip, him growling at the act that just drew his attention downward. "I'm glad you came by Lucas. I like spending time with you," her heart raced at the angle she put themselves in. They'd been in it before, at the mall the other day but both just ignored it and didn't talk about. However it didn't mean she hadn't thought about it nonstop.
"Brooke…" he growled, gripping his hand through her soft hair and pulling her up, his head resting against hers.
"Hmm?" she sucked harder on her lip and his right hand slid down her back and gripped onto her hip, jerking her up a bit. "Lucas…" she placed her hand on his chest and felt it race under her palm, opening her eyes to look into his and he frowned.
"You're a good kid, Brooke," his eyes dropped and completely felt as she deflated. "And you should really stay away from assholes like me," he told her and her brows scrunched up confused.
"I…umm…" she pulled back, feeling heat build in her eyes. "I don't understand…" she felt her mouth run dry and her heart hurt a little.
"I know…" he frowned, knowing she wouldn't get it. "Just trust me…"
"About what Lucas? I don't get at all what you are saying…" she let out a dry laugh running her hand through her mess of hair and fell away from him.
"I don't know," he ran his hands over his face and growled. "I'm sorry," he apologized, turning his head to look at her, knowing he wasn't making and since to her.
"Can we just watch the movie?" she asked, totally confused to what just happened.
"Yeah," he nodded, holding his eyes on hers and hated the look she gave him. "Yeah we can just watch it," he relaxed back on the bed, reaching to pull her into him and frowning when she rolled away. Not at all liking the feeling in him that just wanted her close to him. "You ok?" he whispered through the dark room and Brooke stayed quiet longer then he liked.
"Perfect," she lied and didn't get his sigh beside her, didn't get why his eyes lingered on her and didn't get one bit why for some reason she felt like Lucas would always just push her away. And felt like she would never be good enough for someone like Lucas Scott, not knowing with another glance around the room he was having very similar thoughts.