Author- Emily-Grace Mendes (Brookebynature)

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters excpet tammie. Why the hell did I even create her? Oh well...

A/N- Thank you guys for the amazing reviews you have left me. I'm so in love with this story now, so i hope you are enjoying it as much as I like writing it. This is a long chapter, mainly because it was hard to split up, but also becuase I'm in the middle of A level exams at the moment, so I am actually trying to do well. HOWEVER: I'll start writing the next chapter tonight, and it should be up by the weekend.

Please read and review. xxx

Life Is What You Make It

Chapter 10- Cali Rose AndA Club

'It'll be quick' Brooke thought to herself as she made her way along the dark street. At least it had started to warm up a bit. For the past few weeks, it had been unusually chilly for the Spring, but now as the nights were getting lighter, the weather had started to improve. Still, no matter what time of day, or what kind of weather it was, Brooke hated walking down this street.

She had been all ready to go out, and had even managed to cover up most of the bruises with concealer, when she'd gotten a call from one of her regulars. Knowing that he would pay her a decent amount of money, Brooke accepted his call, telling herself that she would be able to make it back to her apartment again to have a quick shower.

Justin, his name was, had become one of her 'favourite' clients, if you could call it that. He was a truck driver, originally from New Jersey, he'd told her, and was now living in New York after separating from his wife. She'd kept their two kids, and he wasn't even allowed to see them on weekends.

Justin treated her better than any of her other clients, and after he had started to tell her about his life, she warmed to him a bit more. She used to think that men who used girls like her were only wanting rough sex, not feeling anything, not caring about their feelings. But Justin was lonely. Brooke knew that, and she didn't blame him. After all, she was doing the same thing.

Lucas stepped out of his shower, cursing when he saw that he hadn't unpacked the new towels he had bought. He made his way from the bathroom to the main living room, crouching down as he moved past the window so that nobody could see his naked form. He knew Brooke would laugh if she could see what he was doing, and thinking about her made him smile too. He wondered whether she was getting ready right now. Mind you, this was Brooke, so she'd probably be leaving it until that last minute, making her late as usual. Not that he minded. Just spending time with her was enough.

Hey Justin" Broke entered the room, swaying her hips as she moved past the large man standing in the doorway. She made her way to the bed, wishing that she could just get it over and done with so that she could shower, and then catch up with Lucas.

She hitched the barely-there skirt higher on her waist so that she was showing even more of her legs as she perched on the end of the bed, undoing the buttons of her corset-style shirt as she looked Justin in the eye. He made his way over to her, licking his lips as he neared Brooke, who had uncrossed her legs so that he could see right up her skirt.

She hated feeling this dirty, this cheap, but New York wasn't an easy place to get a job, let alone one that paid well and she enjoyed. Still, she'd talked herself into prostitution, telling herself that it was better than living on the streets. Sometimes though, she wasn't so sure.

"What's the matter?" Justin asked gruffly as he pushed her down onto the bed, taking the buttons in his hands, and undoing them quickly. Broke shook her head, a little afraid.

"Nothing" she mumbled, trying to distract him by working on the zipper of his jeans.

"Lighten up then. World's not ending" he gripped Brooke's shoulder hard as he freed himself of his dirty jeans, surveying her nearly topless body below him. She winced in pain. Her skin was beginning to get very thin from the constant bruises and lack of proper nourishment.

It wasn't over and done with quickly like she'd hoped. This time, he wanted something extra, he wanted her to do more. Brooke looked at the clock on the beige wall. She was definitely going to be late.

"Turn around" he said harshly as he practically forced Brooke's body so that she was bent over the bed, her dignity completely taken away. He pushed himself deeply into her, causing a small cry to escape her pale lips. It was all she could do not to cry and scream. He moved in and out of her, his rough hands groping her breasts as he grunted with each thrust.

Brooke could feel the bruise on her shoulder start to form, and she knew that by the next morning, there would be marks on her breasts too. She just wished that the bra she was wearing covered more of her skin. Her breasts were the only part of her that she wouldn't let clients see. The pain he was causing inside of her was starting to get worse as her muscles tensed up even more.

"You're tight tonight" Justin said breathlessly in between grunts. A tear escaped down Brooke's cheek as she knew he was near his release.

She hadn't exceeded the expectations that everyone had had for her back in high school like she had wanted to so badly. She was being used in the same way that she always had been, only this time, she was getting paid for it. Classy.

Lucas finished drying himself off in his bedroom, his naked body safely hidden behind the closed blind. He deliberated over which shirt to wear, as he had no idea what kind of a club they were going to. Brooke had said it had a dance floor, and somewhere to talk, so he guessed smart-casual.

The room was practically empty apart from the double bed and various cardboard boxes on the cream carpet. He'd never seen an apartment look more bland than this one did. Still, he'd only moved in a few days ago, and he planned on staying in New York for a while, since he had found Brooke…..or she had found him, whichever way you wanted to look at it.

Brooke's shaky hand placed the key in front of the lock, but she could barely see through her tears. The one client she hadn't felt threatened by, had now take away every last inch of dignity and self-confidence she had. She shut the door behind her and practically ran to the shower, flicking on the radio to drown out her own sobs.

She managed a smile to herself when she heard the upbeat rhythm of 'you got the music in you' Wincing as she let the warm water wash over the newly-formed bruise on her shoulder, Brooke closed her eyes, trying to take her mind off what she'd just done, and focus instead on her and Lucas.

"Broody, I've just heard about the awesomeist party ever! It's gonna totally kick ass" Lucas caught her hands as she clapped them excitedly.

"Brooke" he said slowly, smiling at her perfect features.

"Yes?"

"We have our term papers due in tomorrow."

"So?"

"So I don't think a party is the best idea. Even if it is the awesomist one ever." Lucas frowned at the use of his terminology. "Awesomeist by the way, isn't a word. It's the most awesome."

"Whatever Wordsworth, the party will kick ass, and I'm going, and you know you want to go too."

"Do you even know who Wordsworth is Brooke?" Lucas chuckled, letting go of her delicate hands and placing them by her side.

"Someone I made up"

"Oh God" he laughed. He knew fine well he'd be going to this party. Brooke always got what she wanted, and if this party was gonna 'kick ass' as she put it, there'd be no way in hell that she would let them miss it.

"So you're coming right?"

"I guess I don't have a choice anyway."

"Good Broody" she smiled, kissing him softly on the cheek. "Now I gotta go round up some more of the troops. See ya later."

Yep. Thinking about Lucas always made her smile.

Lucas paced the front of his apartment building, checking his watch every few seconds, a worried expression on his face. She'd said she would be there, so he really had no reason to doubt her. But this was Brooke, and Brooke was unpredictable to say the least. He'd tried telling himself that she was just taking a long time to get ready, which was always the case back in high school and college.

Brooke pulled the black sweater over her head, smoothing it down over her sore breasts. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she gave herself a satisfied nod, silently reminding herself that she would have to buy some more concealer soon. The bruises were hardly visible now, and the one on her shoulder was covered nicely with the sweater.

Even if she did get hot, the club would be dark and crowded so Lucas wouldn't be able to notice the dark swelling. Her purse was set on the chest of drawers which housed her favourite photograph of herself and Lucas back in high school. Smiling at the memory, and the thought of tonight, she grabbed the silver coloured purse and headed out of the door, clacking down the stairs in a pair of black strappy stilettos. She hadn't forgotten what had just happened back at Justin's, but she could push it to the back of her mind, at least for tonight while she was out with Lucas.

She shivered as she made her way along the dimly lit street, cringed when she turned the corner and saw a past client, and hurried as she felt his eyes on her. Looking back, she let out a relieved sigh when she found he hadn't followed her.

Lucas continued to pace the small stretch of sidewalk outside of the building, pausing occasionally to rub the back of his neck nervously. Surely she was done running? Surely she'd come. Wouldn't she? After all, she'd told him she would, and he really didn't want their first conversation for five years to be full of lies.

She saw him standing there, checking his watch. After being this late she wasn't sure whether he would have waited for her, but he had, and so far, Tammie wasn't in sight. It wasn't like Broke hated her, because she didn't. Tammie had probably been the first person she had really talked to since moving to New York, and it had been somewhat fun to party with her after feeling as lonely as she had been.

"Betcha thought I'd stood you up" Brooke giggled behind him. Lucas turned around and smiled when he saw her standing there, hair freshly washed and blow-dried, clothes neat and a new-looking handbag.

"Nah" he replied nervously "Just thought you'd be leaving it until the last minute to get ready. You always did."

Brooke forced a smile, and nodded. "You got it."

"So where are we going then?" Lucas asked as they made their way up the street, his arm resting by his side, wanting desperately to touch Brooke's.

"I told you over the phone" she replied shaking her head. "The Loft"

"Sounds….erm…lofty"

Brooke smacked his arm playfully "Lofty? What the hell is that?"

"Well I have no idea what kind of place it is, so I went with the first adjective that came into my head."

"Is lofty even a word?"

"Probably not, but whatever." Lucas laughed. Brooke felt his arm graze against her side as they walked, and she willed him to wrap it around her, but he didn't. He kept it almost ridgedly by his side for the rest of the walk, only moving it to point to various buildings that he liked.

"So what do you do now?" Lucas asked curiously. Brooke felt her face flush, and she looked down, saying the first thing that came to her head.

"Erm…I'm a waitress"

Lucas nodded, frowning a little as to why she seemed almost hesitant with her answer. Still he let it go, and smiled at her.

"What about you?"

"I write."

"I always could see you as an author Luke. That's great"

"Not the basketball star everyone thought I would be huh?" he laughed a little as they walked across the street, nearing a few clubs.

"What happened?"

"During College, after you left actually" he started, but noticed instead of tuning out, like most people did when they asked for the reason he didn't play anymore, not really wanting to hear it, Brooke listened intently, watching his face as he talked.

"the HCM got quite a lot worse. I could only last about fifteen minutes at full pace. Coach started to bring be on only at the end of the games, then I was dropped to the bench, then the reserves, until I hardly played at all."

"I'm sorry Luke."

"It's fine. Besides, I probably wouldn't have followed the same path if I had stuck with basketball. I really enjoy writing."

"Still I bet you miss it?"

"Yeah sometimes. I play now and again, still shoot some hoops with Fergie and Skillz and the guys when I'm at the Rivercourt.

"In here" Brooke touched Lucas' arm as they reached the outside door of a very full-looking club. There they were again. The shivers. Lucas looked at her, but noticed that she turned away, pointing to a table as they walked up some metal stairs.

"Cool place" Lucas said, taking their minds away from what they both had just felt. "You come here often?"

"Really original line Lucas" Brooke teased, making her way to a table which seemed to be a way away from the speakers, deciding that if they were going to catch up on each other's lives, they should at least be able to hear the other speak.

"So how come you moved to New York?" Brooke asked as she sipped on the vodka and coke Lucas had just bought her.

Figuring that maybe it wasn't the best time to tell the whole truth, Lucas replied "I wanted a new focus, for my latest book. I was kinda lacking inspiration ya know?"

Brooke nodded, and took another sip.

"So what about you? How come you chose New York?"

"Simple" she shrugged. "I was young, naïve. I thought I'd be able to get a job in Barneys or Bloomingdales, ya know, doing something that I loved."

"Didn't work out like that huh?"

"Not exactly" Brooke told him truthfully.

"But you like your job right?"

"Right" she lied again. "Look I'm just going to use the bathroom k?"

Lucas nodded and watched her walk away, looking at the contents of her glass. Brooke had always been able to drink a large amount of alcohol, but this was exceptionally fast, even for her. He'd only bought the drinks a few minutes ago, and now there was only a drop left in her glass. He shrugged to himself, knowing that after five years of being out of her life, he couldn't just come back into it and tell her what to drink. So he made his way to the bar, pushing past a crowd of men who were talking about a certain 'Cali Rose' as being a good fuck, and ordered another drink for Brooke.

'pull yourself together Brooke' she thought as she sat down on the toilet seat, her heels making a loud clacking sound on the tiled floor as she stretched them out in front of her. She was starting to get really hot, wondering how much longer she could last with the sweater on.

'maybe if we go dance' she thought 'then he won't notice'

Unlocking the door, she ran her fingers through her hair a few times in front of the mirror before exiting the bathroom.

"Hey, you wanna take a break from talking and go dance for a bit?" Brooke asked. Lucas shook his head and laughed. You know I don't dance, and I told you that on the phone.

"So? That's not going to stop me getting you to dance. Besides, we haven't danced together in five years. I have some new moves" she smirked. That was enough to get Lucas off his seat in a few seconds. Brooke smiled to herself and gulped down the new drink, leaving only a drop in the bottom. Lucas looked at her with a worried expression, but Brooke waved it away.

"You don't want those idiots date raping me now do you?"

Lucas simply followed her to the middle of the dance floor where the crowd was packed very tightly together.

"Middle of the floor is always the best" she shouted above the music.

Brooke managed to loosen Lucas up by draping an arm casually around his waist as she moved around him, not noticing the expression on his face. If she had, she would have seen the excitement, pleasure and nervousness all at the same time.

"I think I'm gonna sit this one out" Lucas told Brooke after noticing that they were beginning to dance even closer together than they had been. He didn't want to freak her out, and he surely would if he stayed there a moment longer with her lean body grazing against him and her smudged eyeliner making her eyes look even more enticing and sexy than usual.

"I'll come" she followed him back to their table, ignoring the whistles and cheers coming from a group of guys stood near the bar, as did Lucas, who could feel himself getting angry again. They should have been past the high school stage in…well….high school.

"So where's Tammie?" Brooke asked as they sat down, moving her chair closer to Lucas' so that she could hear him more clearly.

"She couldn't make it. Something to do with her family"

"Everything okay with you too?"

"Sure" Lucas replied with a lack of enthusiasm "Why do you ask?"

Brooke, somewhat disappointed answered him "Just curious." She didn't even know why she was getting her hopes up about a future for her and Lucas together. She'd left him five years ago, at the point where their relationship was the most stable it had been since they'd first met, so it was highly unlikely that he would drop Tammie and date her, no matter how much she wanted or needed him.

"You look like you're thinking" he said after a few minutes of being quiet.

"I was"

"About?"

"About how things use to be" she told him "How's Haley? And Nathan? And everybody back in Tree Hill. Are they all even in Tree Hill?"

Lucas smiled, glad that she hadn't forgotten about their old life, even if she was no longer part of it. "Nate and Haley got remarried and had a son not long after. He's like eight months old now I think."

"What's his name?" Brooke asked, almost in a whisper.

"Daniel"

"What? As in like after Dan?"

Lucas nodded. "hard to believe after everything that happened, Nathan's so close to Dan now. And Haley too."

"Wow. I guessed I missed a lot huh?"

Lucas nodded sadly. "But at least you're getting to hear about it now right?"

"Right." she replied sadly "And what about Jake and Peyton? Tell me they finally sorted everything out."

"Not so much" Lucas laughed a little "But they're happy. Both of them are dating, but they're still such good friends."

"No chance of them getting married and having any little Jeyton babies then?"

Lucas laughed at both her optimism and excitement. And her choice of words. "Jeyton?"

"You know! Like the beginning of Jake and the end of Peyton. Put them together you get Jeyton." Brooke told him, as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

"You're something else you know that?" he said softly, watching her face as the dimples emerged, making his own smile light up too. They sat there, just looking at each other for a while until Lucas' cell phone vibrating in his pocket broke their moment.

"Sorry, I just gotta…" he pointed to his phone and then the door. Brooke nodded, trying to hide her disappointment.

"hey what's up?" Lucas tried to sound as happy as possible, but couldn't be more annoyed that Tammie had interrupted them, just as they were beginning to fall back into a comfortable friendship.

"I'm out with Brooke. I asked you if you wanted to come" he said into the phone, his tone getting a little more annoyed.

Brooke contemplated going to the bar for a refill, but decided against it, telling herself that she didn't need the alcohol. Maybe things would be different now. Instead, she grabbed Lucas' jacket off the chair, placing it on top of her own sweater that she was carrying and made her way in the same direction Lucas had. Outside.

"Tammie she's an old friend. There's nothing going on, I told you before."

Brooke reached the door and saw Lucas having what seemed to be an argument down the phone.

"I came to New York to find Brooke!"

That was as much as she could handle, Brooke fought her way inside, pushing past a group of guys, one of which had slid his hands up the inside of her short skirt.

"Get the hell away from me" Brooke shouted, twisting so that she could remove the guy's hand. Having to carry two jackets wasn't helping her situation.

"How'd you like to come home with me Cali Rose" he leered at her, licking his lips.

Brooke shut her eyes. This is what she'd always been, almost all the way through high school, and now she was back doing the same things, and getting into the same situations.

"Just get off me" It came out more like a plea, and the guys just laughed.

"Not the dominating slut now are you?" he asked, keeping his hand pressed firmly against her inner thigh.

"She said get off her!" Lucas' strong voice echoing in Brooke's ear was a relief to say the least. He took the jackets out of her hands, placed her own around her shoulders, and then took hold of her hand, leading her down the stairs and out of the club.

"Thank you" she whispered, the tears threatening to fall down her face. Lucas just nodded and pulled her too him, smoothing her silky brown hair.

"C'mon" he said, releasing her from his warm arms "I'll walk you home"

"No" Brooke replied quickly "I mean, it's fine, I can walk myself"

"Like Hell you can" Lucas told her " I want to know you're safe"

That was it. Right there and then her heart melted and she fell all over again for the boy she'd never stopped loving.

"okay, well um…my apartment's just two blocks away" she lied. There was no way in hell he was seeing where she lived. He'd probably make her stay with him, and as much as she wanted to, after five years of no contact and the feelings that she still harboured for him, Brooke knew she couldn't stay under the same roof as Lucas. Not even for a night.

They continued to walk slowly, Lucas' eyes constantly flicking to Brooke's bruised shoulder. She caught him, and followed his gaze. Mentally kicking herself for not putting her sweater on.

"I fell in the shower" she told him, trying to add a realistic-sounding giggle onto the end. He narrowed his eyes, still looking at the bruise as Brooke tensed up even more. But he nodded and moved his eyes away from her shoulder, looking instead at the buildings along the street.

"I really like this place" he told her.

"me too. The buildings are so ornate and pretty."

"Pretty" he laughed, looking at her face. She swallowed uneasily, using all of her will power not attack him right there and then with her lips.

"So this is my building" she said as they stopped outside a large tower, housing modest-looking apartments. "It's not much but it's better than nothing right?" she said, averting her eyes to the stone wall. He just smiled at her and watched as she walked up the steps.

"Thanks for tonight Luke. I really had fun."

Lucas decided not to bring up what had just happened. "me too. We should do it again soon." he added quickly.

"Sure. Well you have my number and I have yours." Brooke replied.

"How about tomorrow? You're not working are you?" He needed to see her again, and soon. He sensed that there was something she wasn't telling him, and even if she was, he wanted to know more about her.

Brooke shook her head. "I'm not working"

"Great. I'll call you tomorrow." he promised, watching her as she turned to face the building.

"night Luke" She disappeared inside the building, incredibly glad that she had managed to open the door without any trouble. Now all she had to do was wait a few minutes until he was out of side so that she could get back to her own apartment.

"night Brooke"

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