AN: Hey, guys! Thank you all for your reviews! They so make my day ! I'm so happy you're finding the story interesting and enjoyable!

So this is another chapter where we'll keep hating Lucas. It's just the end of the conversation with Nathan since I wanted to get some last details and the reasoning behind the plan out before we move on to seeing how it will actually work. You might not find it as interesting maybe, but I thought I needed to clear some things up. The much anticipated arrival of the girls will have to wait until the next chapter.

I would like to give an extra thank you hug to quibbler149for her extra long review! Thank you so much for all your nice words! And I have to agree about Brucas in the show, if their personal life didn't get in the way I very much doubt they would try and break up a couple with so much on screen chemistry.

I also will try and reply personally at your reviews on the next chapter, as now I am in a hurry to post this and finish the sequence with Luke's plan. But some of you asked some questions and I will reply on my next update.

Thank you again everyone, I hope you'll like this chapter as well. Please leave me a note to tell me what you think!


Chapter 11

The Plan

"You can't be implying, what I think you're implying! Are you?" Nathan stuttered as soon as he found his voice because Lucas' words had left him speechless. And here he thought that this night couldn't get any weirder. Lucas was trying to drive him crazy! He was apparently already there, Jake's fiancée had obviously driven him off the deep end, and now he was looking into dragging Nathan with him! Did he really mean what Nathan thought he did? Yes, his brother was officially crazy.

Lucas sighed heavily. "It was the best plan I could come up with," he said showing little remorse.

"What plan?!" Nathan yelled nearly jumping from his chair. "What type of plan includes me sleeping with Jake's fiancée? The 'let's get Nathan killed' plan?" he asked sarcastically.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Stop being so melodramatic."

"Melodramatic? Let me ask you this, bro. What would you do to me if you've ever found me screwing your fiancée?" Nathan asked challengingly.

"I don't have a fiancée," Lucas replied plainly, infuriating Nathan who let out a sound between a groan and a growl. Lucas shook his head, "Just listen to me for a second before you jump down my throat."

"Fine!" Nathan huffed, "is there anything else I've been doing tonight? And still, the more I hear, the less sense you make!"

"Just listen," Lucas insisted calmly. "You've agreed with me that convincing Jake about Brooke's true nature is going to be very difficult, if not impossible."

Nathan grumbled his agreement and Lucas went on encouraged. "Then, you would also agree that if however we had some proof of what Brooke's capable of, it would be much easier to open up his eyes and make him see her for what she really is."

"Right, proof," Nathan muttered and he was about to argue again about the type of 'proof' Lucas was apparently suggesting but Lucas, who was obviously satisfied with the first part of Nathan's answer and didn't care for the rest of his opinion, went on without giving him the chance to continue.

"So, all we need is proof that Brooke is a liar and a cheater. We just need to make sure that Jake finds out that Brooke is cheating on him," he emphasized.

"Cheating on him with me, Lucas!" Nathan yelled. "You're not just suggesting that we catch Brooke cheating and show Jake, you're planning on having Brooke cheat Jake with me! Me! His brother!" he paused for a breath and shook his head incredulously, "are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Well, think about it," Lucas insisted infuriatingly calmly, "you said yourself that it would be weird for Brooke to be cheating on Jake so soon, and you might be right…"

"Then what are you saying?" Nathan asked baffled.

"Will you just let me finish?" Lucas said exasperatedly.

"Do go on… I'm kind of curious to see what this master plan of yours includes…" Nathan mocked.

"If you'd shut up for a moment already you'd have learnt by now! Jeez, you're acting worse than Peyton."

"I didn't see you enlisting her help with this crazy scheme of yours!"

"Because I told you, you're the only one that can do this."

Nathan was just about to object again but Lucas glared at him and he shut up. "Right," Lucas continued, "like I was trying to say, Brooke may not have had the chance to do anything yet, but because I know her, I'd bet my life that sooner rather than later she will. Still, we can't afford to wait for her to screw this up on her own; it might be too late by then. So what we can do is help her."

Nathan seemed to have overcome the first shock and thankfully was listening more carefully to Lucas' plans, though he didn't look any closer to being convinced.

"Even if she's already cheating, or planning to, it would be very difficult for us to discover such a thing, because I told you she's really sneaky and she is an expert in hiding her indiscretions. To make matters worse, since now she knows I'm around, she will be even more careful as she's expecting me to do something to sabotage her wedding to Jake."

"Whoa-just wait a minute," Nathan interrupted again. "What do you mean now that she knows you're around? Didn't Jake tell her you would be coming back any day now? She must have been prepared, you wouldn't stay away indefinitely," he paused for a moment as another question rose in his head; a question that should have come up earlier but Nathan wasn't really all that surprised he hadn't been able to think of it before. Lucas' revelations and ideas had rendered him incapable of any reasonable thought. "And how come Brooke didn't tell Jake that she had met you before? I guess she didn't want to tell him she had been with you, but still how could she have been sure you would want to hide it as well?"

Lucas opened his mouth to give a reply but Nathan suddenly thought to ask of something else, something far more important. "You didn't tell me how you and Brooke left things," he trudged carefully. "You said you still saw her and heard of her, but it's obvious the two of you didn't exactly get along, was this because of the bet or did something else happen?"

"What I told you about her isn't reason enough for me not to wanna get along with her?" Lucas acted like he was actually puzzled by Nathan's question.

But Nathan just looked back in disbelief.

"I told you she's screwed around with the guys in my former team," Lucas explained tersely, "close friends of mine got screwed by her and I was there seeing it happen. I don't need another reason," he finished through clenched teeth.

Nathan nodded, he wouldn't push now but he wouldn't let this go completely. If Lucas wanted to get him involved in this crazy plan of his, the least he could do was be honest with him and it was clear that he still wasn't being completely honest. "And I am to assume that she knows what you think of her? That you've shown her even back then?"

"Oh, yes she does," Lucas confirmed relieved that once again Nathan had let the issue drop. He would have to come up with some more elaborate explanation about his feelings and the relationship he had had with Brooke later, but now the most pressing matter was for Nathan to agree to his plan. Time was running out on them, and if Nathan refused, Lucas had no idea about what he could do from stopping Brooke screwing up his brother's life as well.

"So then she must have been prepared for your objection to the wedding," Nathan argued in confusion.

Lucas shook his head. "Right, I didn't tell you about this, did I? When I went to her hotel, I asked her what the hell she was thinking getting involved with my brother of all people."

"But why wouldn't she get involved with your brother? I mean, the two of you… what Fucked once, six years ago or so! Why is it that strange for her to be with your brother? Or was it because she knew that you didn't like her? I mean I don't see that preventing her from being with Jake as if you say she's so confident she can make him believe you're only lying about her," Nathan concluded suspiciously.

"C'mon, Nate! How would you feel if you knew I've screwed your future wife?"

"Well, I wouldn't like it, of course. But I guess for someone that is really in love with the other person it doesn't seem like such a big deal. Isn't that what she told you?"

"No. She claimed that she had no idea that Jake was my brother, until I've showed up in her room and told her, that is."

"What?! How can that be?"

"When I met Brooke, I didn't know who my father was, and Dan hadn't recognized me as his son yet, so I was still Lucas Roe," he shrugged, "I didn't see Brooke after I've learnt about Dan, as you know I left Santa Barbara and LA rather hurriedly, so I guess it makes sense that she never found out about it."

Nathan looked skeptical. "And you believe her? That she actually didn't know?"

Lucas shrugged; he hadn't been able to decide whether Brooke was lying. She had seemed genuine enough in her shock, but still this was such too much to be just a coincidence. She had to know… but still. As usual, dealing with Brooke left Lucas confused and frustrated, but at least this time it wouldn't leave him broken. There wasn't anything for her left to break after all.

"Honestly?" he replied to Nathan, "I don't know what I think. She seemed really shocked to see me, but she's such a good actress that I can't really tell. You need to remember this as well, never ever trust a word out of her mouth…" he sighed and then decided to change the subject and bring back the conversation to his number one priority, getting Nathan on board with his plan. "Anyway, if we are to believe her and she didn't know that someone that knew her from before knows Jake," he chose his words carefully to hide any significance he in particular had for Brooke, "then she must have been certain she could easily hide her past and deceive Jake. But now things are different, and like I told you she's going to be that much more careful not to make any mistakes."

"Then, how do you expect your plan to work?" Nathan gestured in exasperation.

"I know Brooke might be careful, and may try to avoid anything that might reveal her true colors to Jake. And that is why I need your help."

All Lucas' 'explanations' succeeded in was making Nathan feel even more confused and his bewildered expression didn't hide that fact one bit.

"You are going to push her to make a mistake, Nate. You are going to make her cheat on Jake. You are going to seduce Brooke Davis."

Nathan just laughed out loud in response. He didn't know what was more ridiculous; Lucas' conviction that this was what they had to do to help Jake or how sure he was that Nathan could accomplish the task. Since he had already argued that this plan was ridiculous without much success in convincing Lucas, he decided now to try the other angle. "I'm just going to seduce her! You think it's that simple?"

"I didn't say it was simple. She is very clever, devious I'd say. That's why I think you're the one man that can handle this. She wouldn't fall for just anyone, Nate, but you, I think you're the man for this. If anyone knows how to play Brooke's games it is you."

"I doubt this was supposed to be a compliment," Nathan grumbled

"I didn't know I would have to flatter you to convince you to help protect Jake."

"Bullshit, Luke. You know I want to help him, it's just…C'mon! What you're suggesting if by some lucky chance actually works that is, and I wouldn't hold my breath on that, is not going to help protect Jake! It's going to crush him!" Nathan argued reasonably.

Lucas lowered his head. "I've tried to think of a way out of this that wouldn't mean hurting Jake, but at this point I don't think such an option exists. No matter how he learns the truth about her, it's going to hurt him, he cares too much for her."

"We will tell him the truth, try to convince him, and if you're afraid about what Brooke's going to reveal about your past-"

"I don't care about that! I would not hesitate to tell Jake the truth if I thought that it would be enough to make him dump that whore! But I know that he won't, Nate! I know that she will screw with his head and she will make him believe her instead of us. You need to believe me, bro, I am right about this. I know how convincing she can be, please believe me."

Nathan shook his head in despair. Lucas was not telling him everything but he also seemed absolutely convinced that he was right. The only option Nathan had at this point was to trust him and hope it would not turn out to be a big mistake. Still, he had to try and make him see that his plan was not going to work.

"There has to be another way…" he mumbled, "maybe we wouldn't have to take it all the way," he suggested hopefully.

"I've thought of that, but I think that anything less she might find a way out of it."

"If we had some evidence of her kissing me or something? Yeah, making Jake see her kiss me…"

"I don't know if we can risk it," Lucas said scratching his neck nervously. Honestly? The more he thought of Nathan actually having sex with Brooke the more he hated the idea that seemed so good at first. It was bad enough to know that Jake was sleeping with her, that his own brother had touched the only woman he had ever… the woman that he hated more than anything in this world. Now, to be the one to actually suggest that Nathan touched her in any way as well, it was practically killing him. "She will find some excuse, Nate. Tell him you came on to her and she didn't have the time to push you away… tell him it was just an impulse… no, we need something she can't lie her way out of."

"Damn it!" Nathan cursed. "Maybe we can think of something else, then. Or someone else. Yes! We can find someone else to seduce Brooke!" he exclaimed enthusiastically by this new idea.

Lucas was shaking his head to signal his objection but Nathan insisted. "No, Luke, I'm right! If we find someone else, then Jake will be hurt again of course, but it will be much better than if I am the one that does this. He's going to be devastated, dude! To find his brother, his own brother sleeping with his fiancée!"

"His own brother has already slept with her, Nate," Lucas reminded through gritted teeth. "And you are not listening to me! She's not going to buy it from anyone else! We need you!"

"C'mon! I know I'm good with women but we know other people too! Maybe someone from my friends, or yours for that matter. Matt has his way with them or even Greg…"

"Damn it, Nathan! I told you she's not stupid! Matt may be good, but we need the best! And Brooke is not going to screw around with one our friends because they would be bound to tell us, and she knows that if I find out, I won't hesitate to use it!"

Nathan suddenly felt really stupid. "She's not going to risk it with our friends because she will be afraid we're going to find out, but she will be risking it with me, your own brother? Jake's brother?" he gaped.

Lucas mumbled a silent curse. "It's because you're Jake's brother that she will think she can trust you, Nate." As Nathan remained stock still after that, Lucas started elaborating. "She'd never believe you would risk hurting Jake just to have sex with her, just another woman to you no matter how attractive she is. So if you play your cards right, she will actually believe that you've seriously fallen for her and you're willing to do anything for her. And because she is who she is, she won't resist the temptation of screwing with your head as well. To her, Nate, you will be one of her finest conquests, a player obviously that however for her was willing to betray even his own brother," Lucas sighed and stared at Nathan intently, "And that is what makes me so sure that our plan is going to work."

Nathan was looking back horrified. "You know what, Luke? You actually scare me right now."

Lucas smiled back bitterly, Nathan really had no idea. If he had only known how far he had gone back then, when he was trying to get his revenge on Brooke. If he had any inclining, he would have run away screaming, Lucas thought miserably. Still, he couldn't bring himself to regret any of those things, and he had a sinking feeling this time around he would be forced to stoop even lower. After all, proposing that one of his brothers seduced the future wife of his other brother was certainly a new low. "Unfortunately, to have even the smallest chance of stopping her plans and protecting Jake, we need to think like her."

"Damn, dude… you're making her seem like the devil herself…" Nathan muttered.

"If we don't succeed and Jake does marry her in the end, you'll see for yourself just how much damage our lovely sister-in-law can cause. Don't let her looks deceive you, Nate. Underneath that dimpled smile she's just a cold-hearted bitch. So our plan needs to work, Nate. You need to make it work."

Nathan sighed heavily. "Even if I say yes, I still can't see it working. You said it yourself, she won't believe I would do something like that to Jake."

"I know you can convince her that you have really fallen for her, Nate. If you want to make her believe that you're in love with her, she's going to believe it. I've seen you do it with so many girls before, and even if Brooke is devious, she's still just a girl. And her vanity is again going to work for us and she won't question your intentions too much."

"But won't she suspect that you've said something to me? Or that you've might turned me against her?" Nathan wondered out loud.

"You'll make it seem like you're also hiding your feelings from me," Lucas responded ready for this particular question. "You'll tell her that you told no one about your feeling about her because you're ashamed of them but you can't fight them either. And from your ridiculous behavior today…"

"Hey!" Nathan protested.

"Even that," Lucas insisted relentlessly," is going to work in our favor. She already knows you find her attractive, so you're just going to continue behaving like the little puppy slobbering all over her like you did tonight."

"Screw you, Luke."

"She realized I didn't tell you anything so far, because you wouldn't have been acting this way if I had. So we just let her believe that I still didn't tell you anything. I might even make some fake attempts at making her stop the wedding, so that she believes I'm still trying to stop her and she won't suspect that we have another plan."

"You've thought of everything, haven't you? Except maybe how much Jake is going to be hurt and how much he's going to hate me!"

"He may hate you at the beginning, but he will come to realize that all you did, you did it to protect him. And in the long run, this will be much better for him. Think how much he's going to be hurt if he actually marries her and then realizes what she really is."

Nathan still looked reluctant, and Lucas couldn't argue that what he was asking wasn't the easiest of choices. "Maybe we won't have to actually have him see you with her after all," he tried as another idea formed in his head.

Nathan perked up at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe if we had proof that she cheated on Jake, maybe… maybe we can use it to blackmail her in leaving Jake without actually showing him the evidence," Lucas suggested.

He himself doubted that would be possible. Brooke wouldn't just give up and leave. She would fight them until the last minute. When he had find out the truth about her, instead of her admitting what she had done, she kept denying it and throwing all the fault at him. Not only that, even after everything between them had ended she kept trying to cause him pain and hurt him as much as she could. And he had to admit, she was more than successful. So he'd have to expect the same now, because he really doubted that Brooke had changed at all or that this time she might actually care for Jake, like she hadn't cared about him. No, Brooke didn't love Jake; she was incapable of feeling love for anyone. So she wouldn't care if the truth would destroy Jake. If it came to that, that vindictive bitch would most probably actually try and cause the most pain she could to all of them. But as Nathan didn't seem to be willing to cooperate with Lucas' plan as it was, Lucas discovered with a feeling of self-loathing that he wasn't above lying to him to get him to agree.

"So, maybe we can take some pictures? Or tape it or something, and show her instead of Jake?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"We can try something like this, yes. With such evidence on our hands, she will be forced to leave Jake alone. Even she won't be able to lie her way out of it. Jake may be fooled by her now, but he's not a complete idiot. She won't have a choice but to leave him."

"And Jake will never have to find out…" Nathan mused in relief.

"So, you're with me then?" Lucas insisted hurriedly. Now, that Nathan seemed encouraged by this idea he had to hurry and get his agreement before he had time to think about it and find other reasons to say no.

Nathan looked Lucas intently at the eyes. He could see how this plan could work, though he still thought it was incredibly risky. Still, all the attempts he had made to come up with alternatives, Lucas had shot them down. And Nathan did agree that they had to try and stop this wedding since they knew better and Jake didn't. Even if Lucas wasn't being completely honest with him, Nathan did believe he was being honest about Brooke being the way he had described.

"Fine," he mumbled in resignation and watched as a genuine smile formed on Lucas' face for the first time that night. "Fine, I'm with you, let's try this… and see how it goes. I'm not making any promises but I will try."

"Thank you! And Jake would thank you, Nate! I know how difficult this is for you, but it's the right choice," Lucas slumped back at his chair. His plan was in motion, but beyond relief, he couldn't actually say his was feeling all that happy.