Chapter Ten- Everything's Made to be Broken

Singing Smile

Even though you're heart is breaking

Smile when the walls are shaking

Smile when the world is coming down

-Dalton Grant

Luke,

Go to hell.

-Brooke

Chris-

Everybody's watching you
Breathing in your every move
Look around when the world is empty
Look around if you're guilty

I was halfway through my first beer when I felt a light tapping on my shoulder. Turning to the right, I found myself face to face with a disheveled looking Brooke.

"You think you could give me a ride home?" she asked, glancing quickly up at the stairs. "I'd ask Haley or Rachel but I don't really want to bother them…"

"Oh, and it's alright if you bother Chris Keller?" I asked, smirking slightly. Brooke just rolled her eyes at me and shrugged. "It's no problem." I said, leaning over to grab my jacket.

Brooke flashed me a smile and started towards the door, nodding to a few people as we left. I wondered vaguely why she didn't ask Lucas to take her home but I brushed the thought away as we got into the car. She would tell me if she wanted to. I never really was the kind of person to push for something that someone obviously didn't want to tell me. I mean, if they were really determined to keep their secret they would just lie and then you'd have trust issues with them and all that messy crap. I'd rather just wait.

The ride to the Scott house was mostly silent with the exception of a few songs coming in through the radio. Brooke sat with her head leaning against the window so I couldn't quite see her face. When we finally pulled up to the house I cut the engine but Brooke didn't get out.

"You okay?" I asked curiously, leaning over to get a better look at her.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked, finally turning her head to face me. "You can um…" she glanced into the back of the car. "You can bring your guitar and play me a song."

"Davis…" I hesitated. A strong part of me wanted to go in with her. I wanted to be there for her when she needed me but something was telling me this really wasn't the time.

"Please?" she asked, suddenly looking like a little girl.

My resolve broke and I grabbed my guitar from the back of the car and walked up to the house with her. There was something so vulnerable about her at the moment that it scared me a little.

"What happened?" I asked the moment we got into her room. Screw the waiting. "Did someone hurt you?" Brooke sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at her feet, refusing to look at me. "Davis, you gotta talk to me." I said softly, kneeling down at her feet. "What's wrong?"

"Are you gonna play me a song?" she asked quietly, still not looking at me. I watched her for a moment then sat down on the chair right across from her and pulled my guitar out of its case.

"You look miserable," I observed dryly.

"You think?" Brooke asked, squinting her eyes at her shoes.

"Does this have to do with Lucas?" I asked curiously. "You and the golden boy fighting?"

"Oh no. We've gone beyond fighting." Brooke said, her voice gaining a little edge of anger.

"You wanna tell me about it?" I asked, my fingers flying across the strings in a slow calming song.

"Just as much as I want to jump off a bridge into the Artic Ocean." Brooke retorted scoffing.

"Come on Davis, I don't care how bad it is. Hit me with it."

She seemed to think hard about what she was about to say and right when I gave up on the thought of her answering me at all, her mouth opened and she looked down at her hands. "He cheated on me."

My fingers paused on the guitar strings. "Are you sure?" I asked, starting to strum again although the notes were slightly off.

"Judging by the way Rosy Palmer was practically eating his face, I can safely say yes."

"Did you talk to him?"

Brooke tucked her feet up neatly under her and fiddled with the blanket on the bed. "I thought he was the one, you know? It was just…we had one fight and…" she paused and I kept strumming quietly on my guitar although all my attention was focused on the broken girl in front of me. "I don't know what to do without him," she whispered.

She was very quiet for a moment and then she looked up at me with large frightened eyes full of tears. Like she was a child who had just reached up to grab her mothers hand in a large crowd, only to be slapped away. And then the tears welled over and started pouring down her cheeks.

"Brooke…baby don't do this to yourself…" my voice was low as I set the guitar to my side and kneeled once more in front of her.

This was definitely a side of Brooke I had never seen. Just like everyone else in the school I had always seen her as a happy, strong, carefree person who didn't have problems like the rest of us. I grabbed her hands and forced her to look into my eyes, trying my hardest to force some spirit and fight out through my hands and into her. Anything but this.

"Come on Brooke," I urged. "This is the part where you walk around with your head held high and tell everyone that you're better off without him anyway." I reached out and wiped a tear off her face. I tried to smile, but the look on Brooke's face was even more heartbreaking than anything I had ever had to deal with. She looked so alone. So lost and scared and so…un-Brooke. I had honestly, never expected myself to be forced to deal with something like this, and a small part of me suspected that was because I always thought Brooke was some super human who didn't really feel pain. I guess she was just better at hiding it then the rest of us. Not now though. Now she looked like everything inside of her had been ripped to threads and thrown one by one onto the ground to be trampled by every single student who had ever said the word Brucas or told her that the two of them would surely be in love forever. And it was tearing her apart.

"You're better then this. You're stronger then this!" I reminded her forcefully, trying to push some life back into the broken shell of her heart.

She opened her mouth again, as if to say something but all that came out was a strangled sob that caused a gut wrenching feeling in the back of my throat. I moved quickly to sit next to her on the bed, pulling her around to face me. I leaned forward and rested my forehead against her own.

"You are going to be fine." I told her sternly. "You are going to make it through this."

"I can't breathe Chris," she cried, her voice breaking. "I feel like I can't breathe and all the air, it's just gone. It's gone and it's not coming back and I'm dying and there's nothing there. There's nothing there to save me and he's gone. I can't believe he- I can't believe he's just gone."

"Brooke," I pleaded desperately, rubbing my hands up and down her arms, fighting the urge to cry myself at the look in her eyes. "He's not gone. He's still here. And I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you Brooke. I'm not leaving you. I promise okay? I'm not going to leave you."

Everybody's after you
I wait in line to touch you
Look around if you ever miss me
Look around because it kills me

Brooke-

I squinted as I opened my eyes, trying to blink the sunlight away. I sat up in bed and groaned as I pulled my pajama's on over my head. It must have gotten hot during the night.

I stood and stretched, my eyes feeling strangely heavy as I walked over towards the door. Breakfast was sounding really good right about then, and I was about to open the door when there was a knock from the other side. I frowned, wondering who it was and opened it quickly only to reveal a guilty looking Lucas on the other side holding a bouquet of roses. There were red rims around the rims of his eyes as if he hadn't slept at all and his hair was ruffled in a way that I could tell meant he had been constantly running his hands through it. I tilted my head to the side, slightly confused but then Lucas bit his lip and held out the roses and everything clicked.

In that second, all the events of the other night came flooding back to me and my eyes opened in shock.

I felt like he was breaking my heart all over again although all Lucas was doing was standing on my landing silently, holding out the roses and looking for all his worth like a sad little boy who had just lost his favorite toy.

"Brooke, I was really drunk last night. I acted completely irrationally and I didn't know what I was doing. I trust you and I believe everything that you said, or say, or think and…I know that you wouldn't cheat on me, and I want you to know that what I did last night with Palmer, it was a mistake. I didn't know what I was doing and, god," his eyes rolled up so he was staring at the ceiling and he shuffled his feet, looking uncomfortable. "Just say you forgive me, please, forgive me and I promise nothing like this will ever happen again. I need you Brooke, I don't think I can go on without you and if that means I have to beg, or cry, or do whatever it is you want me to do Brooke, I'll do it. Just—tell me what it is Brooke. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. But please forgive me. I need you to forgive me, okay?"

His eyes shifted behind me for a fraction of a second and something in them changed. I glanced behind myself quickly, my eyes going to my bed. Not just my bed. Chris. He sighed in his sleep and rolled over to his side, the sheet draped across his bare chest. I looked back at Lucas.

Shock. Confusion. Betrayal. Anger.

"You slept with Chris?!"

"You kissed Rosy."

"I was drunk! I was drunk and you had just kissed that guy on the couch! It didn't mean anything!" Lucas threw the flowers furiously at my feet and glared at me, everything but anger fading from his eyes. "I can't believe you…" his eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is how you deal with it?! You sleep with Chris!? God you really are a slut! Honestly Brooke, this is how you handle our first real fight?! You go sleep with the first guy who shows an interest in you?! Or is he not the first? I wouldn't be surprised if you'd been cheating on me the entire time we've been together!"

I felt the anger building up in me. I wasn't too clear on what exactly had happened the night before, but bits and fragments were still in my mind.

Lucas. Rosy. I was looking for him. I wanted to apologize. The kiss. Oh god the pain. My heart. Chris. Crying. I wanted it to go away. All the pain. It went away when I kissed Chris so I kept going. I wanted to get rid of the pain but I just ended up becoming the slut Lucas always said I was. Now Lucas.

"Don't you dare blame this on me!" I hissed angrily, stepping towards Lucas. "This is not my fault. You made your choice when you kissed Rosy! Why do you even care?! It's not like we were ever that serious in the first place! I was just stuck with you! You live in my house, you're popular, and so I used you. I didn't ever care about you Lucas; it was all just your delusional dreams!" I wanted to hurt him back. I wanted him to feel the pain that I had felt. My eyes kept going back to the roses lying disregarded at my feet. Like my heart, I thought to myself. I handed Lucas my heart, gave him everything I had and he just threw it back at my feet. After running it through a blender of course. And now he had the nerve to blame it on me?! I could feel the anger coursing through my blood causing words to spill out of my mouth in spite without consulting my brain. "You meant nothing to me."

He looked so hurt for the slightest of seconds that I wished I could take it all back. But I didn't. When he didn't reply, I slammed the door in his face as hard as I could.

It's over
There's nothing you can do
There's nothing you can say
To keep me here
It's over
You say we're just friends
We're playing pretend to keep me here

Lucas-

By the time I finally came out of my room for lunch, the truth had hit me like a thousand tons of bricks head on, and the reality of my situation was overpowering any thoughts I might have had. The only reason I left my haven of a room, was mom's call. I could tell, even from upstairs, she was in no mood to argue with, so I trudged slowly down my steps until I reached the kitchen. With a quick glance around, I took note that neither Brooke nor Chris were in the room and I allowed myself a small sigh of relief. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle it. Actually, I was pretty sure I wouldn't.

"Lucas!" Mom shrieked immediately upon seeing me. "Are you okay? You look like…well…"

"Crap?" I hazard a guess emotionlessly.

"Watch your language," Mom said warningly, but then she put a soft hand against my forehead and asked in a more concerned voice, "Are you okay?" A sudden urge made me want to pour out the entire story to mom, she of all people would know what to do, but then—right when my mouth opened to tell her the whole sordid tale, it snapped shut again and I knew I couldn't do it. I just couldn't seem to find the words to explain the compete torture last night had been, or the excruciating pain I had felt this morning when Brooke had opened that door and looked at me with her beautiful angry emerald eyes. I could almost swear that moment she moved a fraction to the side and I caught my first sight of Chris in her bed I heard something snap in my own chest. It was almost as if my heart was physically breaking and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I'm fine." I was anything but fine. It was about the farthest from the truth that I could possibly get but mom seemed to accept that I wasn't really able to express what it was I wanted to say and she just smiled a sad little smile at me.

"Well, the real reason I asked you down here—don't worry, you get lunch too, but I wanted to talk to you about Brooke."

Oh no, this could not possibly get any worse then it already was. "Mom, there's something I want to tell you about Brooke and I—"

"No, Lucas, I really need to say this to you before you tell me anything because I feel like the two of you sleeping yards away from each other could be potentially dangerous and I want to stress the importance of family to you."

"Mom, I'm not proposing to her!"

"No, Luke," Mom laughed but quickly became serious again. "Brooke is a very nice girl Lucas. She has been through a lot in the past three years and I think that the two of you, after I got over the initial shock of finding out about the two of you, is a really great idea." She smiled at me again but my face, my body, my heart were all frozen. "Lucas, if you want to be with Brooke, I think it's wonderful. You two make a great couple and I know that you can make each other very happy. But we are going to need some rules, okay? There will be no sleeping over in each others rooms. If either one of you is in the others room, both must have one foot on the floor at all times and the door must be open. I don't want to see your PDA in the living room or when we have company over. There will be no drops in your grades or extra curricular activities that are a result of your relationship. If there is a problem or I feel that you aren't exerting yourself to your highest potential at school, there will be repercussions and that goes for Brooke too, am I understood?" She didn't wait for me to answer but even if she had I wouldn't have been able to respond. "I'm really glad I got that all out," Mom smiled, pulling me into a hug. "You two look beautiful together," she whispered. Then she pulled away, handed me a grilled cheese sandwich, ordered me to tell Brooke about the new rules when she got home, and left.

Every night I lay in bed
I think about the things you said
Look around, I'm the one, your only
Look around it still kills me

I felt like I couldn't move. Like my whole world was crashing down on top of my head and I was just frozen in time. Everything around me was going wrong, so wrong, and all I wanted was to go back in time and fix it all. I wanted to get rid of the pain in my heart. But I couldn't. And I couldn't get the image of Brooke and Chris in bed together out of my mind either. It was there, lurking in the back of my mind, engraved on the closed lids of my eyes, the jealousy and hurt and anger was driving me mad. I couldn't stay in this house any longer. The restlessness was going to kill me.

I grabbed a basketball and headed out towards the car. I was on my way to the River court when I saw an oh-so-familiar brunette heading back in the direction to the house. I spun the car around quickly and pulled up next to her. I rolled down the window and shouted out at her.

"Brooke, hey! Brooke!"

She didn't even look at me.

"Brooke Davis, get in the car!" That got her attention. She turned her smoldering angry eyes on me and I glared right back.

"Why would I want to get in the car with you?" her voice was hard, her eyes cold.

"Because I'm telling you too," I said simply, driving along the road slowly as she continued walking.

"Oh shut up Lucas, how stupid is that?"

"Not as stupid as you," I snapped back, leaning over the car and opening the passenger side door. "Now get in the car."

"No."

"Get in the god damn car Brooke. We need to talk."

"Go to hell Lucas."

"That's it." I screeched the car to a halt and leapt out, walking swiftly around to the sidewalk where Brooke was walking quickly away.

"What are you doing?" She glared at me as I walked angrily up to her and frowned when I grabbed her waist. "Let go of me!"

"We need to talk," I grunted, swinging her over my shoulder as she continued to kick and fight back. Her small light body was nothing against my basketball seasoned one and I lifted her easily over to the car where I dumped her unceremoniously into the seat and slammed the door shut. "Don't you dare try and get out," I warned her seriously. She nodded, looking angry, but the moment I got around to my side of the car, she grabbed her door handle and I had to lean down and lock the doors before she could get out. Without stopping to put on my seatbelt, I sat down in the driver's seat and took off with the squealing of the wheels. Her hand still hadn't left the door and I frowned over at her. "Get your hand off the handle."

"Stop ordering me around and let me out of the freaking car."

"No. Tell me why you did it."

"Why I did what?" Brooke crossed her arms across her chest and glared at me. I turned onto a long drive heading out to where I knew there would be no cars or people, and then turned to face her.

"Why did you sleep with Keller?"

"Do I need a reason?" Brooke snarled, her face darkening in anger. My own eyes turned from their usual ice blue to a darker shade.

"Tell me the truth Brooke."

"Look at the road."

"I want to tell me why you slept with Chris Keller!"

Everybody's watching you and counting down your every move
Look around when your heartbeat's empty
Look around if it's guilty

"Because you kissed Rosy! Look at the road Lucas!"

"That's not it!" I shouted, not taking my eyes off her face. "Why did you sleep with him?!"

"I was mad at you! Lucas, let me out of this car!" She was screaming now and I could see the real fear entering her face as she looked horror-struck out the front window. Her hands gripped the armrests tightly and I could see her fingers getting white.

"Do you regret it?"

The fear immediately left her face and she turned to glare at me. "No, no I don't regret it! You are a jackass Lucas Scott, you broke your promise and you didn't listen to me when I tried to talk to you and I don't regret a single thing I did! Now let me out of this car!"

I pressed down on the gas pedal. The car went faster. We were speeding down an empty lane and the alarm returned to Brookes eyes.

"Let me out! I'm not fucking with you Lucas!"

"No, that's exactly what you're doing! I just want to let you know Brooke, if you really don't regret a thing that we did, that you did, then it's over. We are really over. You will be completely gone from my life and you know what? I don't really care. It will be so easy to replace you, chances are I'll forget you just like I have every other girl within say…a week tops. Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?"

"Do you think I'm happy?!" she shrieked. "I'm stuck in a car with a psycho who's trying to get us both killed! Let me out of the fucking car, Lucas!"

"Okay," I said softly now, nodding my head a little. "Okay," I said again, frowning a little and looking back at the road. "It's done."

It's over
You say we're just friends
We're playing pretend to keep me here
It's over
There's nothing you can do
There's nothing you can say
To keep me here
It's over
You say we're just friends

She turned to me now, and for a second, just a second, her expression melted and I saw the old Brooke again, but then her gaze hardened again and she turned away. When I finally slowed the car to a stop she opened the door and jumped out of it as quick as she could.

"Brooke," I said quickly, catching her attention. She looked down at me, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. "I'll never forgive you."

She rolled her eyes and stepped back. "Go tell someone who cares."

And then I zoomed off and left her standing, shivering in her light tank top, in the middle of the road with no way home.

It's almost the end
I'm outta here
It's over
I'm outta here

Brookie Cookie,

Save me a seat.

-Lucas

Hi! Now wasn't that a wonderful chapter? (That was sarcastic—incase you missed it.) Well. You all reviewed so quickly and nicely that I thought you deserved another chapter. Also, I wanted to thank you all because although Rosy Palmer got plenty of death threats, I got none. So thanks. You guys are great. And welcome to all the new reviewers! Woo hoo!

Brucas2006- Well, here's your update! I'm sorry it almost made you cry! Lol. Hope you like the update! Even if it's not in a 'oh I like what happened in this chapter' kind of way. You know what I mean.

Itsxamazing- Of course Brooke could kick her ass! Lol. It's very true about the whole drunk Luke mistaking Brooke for someone else, but I figured I would just confuse myself if it all got too complex so we're just gonna say he knew it was Brooke. Lol.

BRUCAS EQUALS LOVE- So I completely agree with you on all the Rosy Palmer stuff but wouldn't it just be too easy if Brooke and Lucas were just able to work it all out just like that? Hehe. Thank you so much!

Nemo123489- Hehe! I feel a little evil right now. Yes, poor Lucas. It's all just one big misunderstanding. But does Brooke know that? Lol. Hope you liked the new chapter!

Brucas3- Don't worry, you're not supposed to like Rosy. Because I don't either! Keep the faith! Thanks for the review!!!

Jizzy80- Thank you so much! I feel so special! Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like the new update!!!

Brucasforever77- I hate Rosy too!!! Lol. Thank you! Here's your update!!!

Brucas da bomb- Love makes you blind, right? Lol. Evil Rosy. What should we do with her now? Hum….

Flipflopgal- Hehe. Here's your update!!! Thanks for reviewing! I guess this isn't your idea of more good Brucas, but just you wait!

LiZ457- Join the club! Lol. Hope you liked this chapter!

BrucasAlways- Thank you! Did you like the drama? I liked the drama. So maybe this isn't your definition of 'Okay' but it could be worse, right? Now how should I kill off Rosy? Lol. Just kidding. No freak accidents I guess. Oh well. Brooke's reaction, was it what you thought it would be? We shall see.

Alina-Brucas- Well I'm very glad that you decided to review! Woo hoo! It's also, awesome that you like it! The Rosy hatred seems to be overflowing in all these reviews! My oh my! Lol. Everything's better if it's…BRUCAS!!!

Apple01- Well you are definitely not alone in your Rosy hatred! Lol. I know, our poor Brucas babies, what are we to do? Lol.

Linkie- Hehe. I guess I'm pretty damn good at making unlikable characters, aren't I? Lol. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or not…but anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter! Okay, so you got your hurt Brooke in this chapter, right? And angry Brooke is still coming. And the conversation in the beginning was actually something I thought up while I was waiting in line for a rollercoaster at an amusement park! I was trying to distract myself from the freaky flipping upside downy fastness of it all (and all the screams from the people on it) so I kind of just started making a conversation for the story in my head! Anyways, glad you liked it!

Amy- Woo! I'm glad you liked the chapter! Lol. I think a cat fight could be just what Brooke needs at this point. If only Rosy weren't such a jealous meanie! Then we could go on 'aww' ing over our dear sweet Brucas for the rest of the story. Oh well. Well, if that chapter frustrated you, I wonder what this one did? Lol. No, I hope you liked it! Don't give up the faith: )

Adorkabelle90210- Ah! I know! Crazy Lucas! Lol. Love makes you do the wacky! And…well…the stupid…anyways, thanks for reviewing!

Mncabad- Eek! I hate her too! I know, some serious groveling was in order! Well, he bought the roses, said the words, and now Brooke is screwed! Or maybe we should just say Brucas is…but that's too sad to think about! Keep the faith!!!!

SmileLikeYooMeanIt- Drama galore! Yay! Did you like it! All the crying and yelling and stuff? I did. Lol. Anyways, give them some time! Glad you liked it!

BrookeandLucas- Well I hate them too. Stupid jelous people. And I love Brucas! But not everything can be rainbows and flowers and super sweet love fests! Hope you liked the update!

Shel- Aw! I wish I could write something to make you feel better! Except you know, I cant just fix Brucas just like that! Where would be the fun in that!? Lol. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? Or is it Out of sight, out of mind? Anyways, thanks a ton! Hope you liked the update!

BAMFx13- Aw, thank you! I'm glad you like the story! I'm also glad you want to keep reading it! I hope that means you want to keep reviewing too!!! Lol. I just hope your flip flops can stay on your feet! No really, thanks! Hope you like the new chapter!!

BrookenRachel- Thanks for the review! Hope you liked the update!!!

Alright everyone! I'm really glad you all liked/kind of liked/liked parts of the last chapter and I hope this one measures up! I know there was less happiness and fluffy bunnies and stuff, but hope you liked it all the same!

Holy cow my hands hurt from all the typing! I should really go now. Should I give you a preview for the next chapter? Okay—actually no. Then it wouldn't be quite as fun when you're reading it for real.

But can I just say, One Tree Hill is driving me crazy. I mean, the whole entire fourth season is basically about Peyton. They completely rewrote everything Brucas has ever gone through and it's making me insane. Every time I watch an episode from that season I have to throw socks at my TV whenever there's a Pucas moment. How can Lucas be so stupid! Isn't that a little comfort for you though? At least the Lucas in season four is stupider then the Lucas in this story, right? Ugh.

Well then. On a lighter note, the diary entry of Lucas' in the next chapter is my favorite of all of them so far. Remember that they don't always match up with the chapter though! And you can't just skip down to the bottom to read it, okay? It won't be the same if you don't read the rest of the chapter first. Okay? Okay.

Thank you all so much! I'll try and get the next chapter out ASAP!

Everything's Better if it's Brucas!!!

Chow.

-Kendra