AN: Hey you guys! WOW! Your comments once again have blown me away! I can't thank you enough! And sorry for taking this long to update once again…I know I'm unforgivable, but I hope you're still reading!

A big thanks to Chinthana for all her help with the story so far, she's the best!

I won't bore you more, on with the chapter! Enjoy and please leave a comment!

Chapter 10

Almost Too Real

"So I called Rach again and explained to her our new plans," Brooke said as she plopped on the couch next to Lucas, who was reading one of the sports papers.

He hadn't managed to catch up during breakfast, since other articles talking about their wedding had distracted him. Now that they had pretty much settled everything…yeah right, anyway now he could read his paper in peace, or so he thought.

"How did she take it?" He asked not really raising his head from the paper.

"You know her," Brooke replied with a shrug. "She'll have no problem playing along with this."

"Good," Lucas acknowledged with his eyes still on the paper.

"Mouth on the other hand freaked again," she continued.

Now, Lucas actually turned to look at her. "And?" He asked with a hint of anxiousness.

"Rach said she would take care of him. I think we can trust her."

"I don't even want to know what that means…but I'm sure she can handle him," Lucas said with a slight cringe and of course turned his attention back to his precious paper.

"What are you reading?" Brooke asked curiously.

"Huh? Just something about the Knicks," he answered absentmindedly.

"What does it say?"

"It's just about yesterday's game."

"Really? What about the game?"

"Since when are you interested in the Knicks, Brooke?" He said turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What? I've always been interested. I'm a New Yorker now, right?"

"Of course." He nodded without conviction and turned back to his reading.

"Is it long?" Brooke questioned shifting on the couch and coming closer to him to get a peak at the paper.

"What?" He asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"The article, how long is it?" She asked innocently.

"Not that long…" Lucas replied with a shrug.

"I see, so will you tell me what does it say?"

"Brooke…?" He asked with frustration.

"Okay." Brooke huffed with a pout and leaned back on the couch crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Lucas gave her a side glance and attempted to return to his reading one more time. He tried to read but he just couldn't. Not with her sitting next to him and being so annoying. She wasn't doing anything really, she just sat and pouted. Oh yeah, she was also letting out miserable sounding sighs now and then. He was sure she knew this was going to drive him crazier than her constant questions. So letting out a frustrated sigh of his own, because he was once again going to give in to her, though he had no idea what he was giving in to, he folded the paper and turned to look at her.

"You're done?" She asked with childlike excitement and a wide grin spread on her face.

"Apparently," he muttered trying to look annoyed, but honestly the moment she grinned and her dimples appeared on her face he forgot what it was that he was supposed to be mad about.

"I don't mind, if you want to read, I mean," Brooke insisted smiling innocently.

"Uh-huh."

"It's just that…" She trailed off biting her lip.

"Yes?"

"I'm bored!" She finally exclaimed over-dramatically. "We've been locked up in this room for the whole freaking day and I'm going mad! We've got to do something! I don't think I can take this anymore!"

Lucas chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Okay. So what would you like us to do?"

"I don't know…" Brooke sighed frowning and started playing with her fingers.

"Do you want me to find us a movie to watch?" Lucas suggested.

"We already watched two, while waiting for Sylvia and Ryan."

"Hm… is there any magazine you can read? Do you have any work that needs to get done?"

Brooke shook her head no and then suddenly looked up at him with a glimmer in her eyes. "I've got it!"

"Oh no!" Lucas exclaimed.

"What? I haven't said anything yet!"

"I know that look in your eyes. It means trouble. Last time you had that look… I think we ended up walking all the way from Tric to my house, because you had the brilliant idea to give all our money for that double-cone ice-cream and we didn't have any left for a taxi!"

"At least I didn't get us married!" Brooke bit back with a smirk.

"I hate to remind you, but it takes two to tango, my dear wife," Lucas replied sarcastically.

Brooke scoffed and was about to retort when another brilliant idea hit her.

"That's what we should do!"

"Huh? What tango?" He asked horrified. Honestly, from Brooke he would expect anything, even wanting to tango… and the horrifying thought was that if she really asked, he would do it, for reasons unknown to him he just didn't know how to say no to this girl.

"No silly! Go dancing! We should go to a club! Get out of this hell hole!"

At first she intended for them to hit the casino of the hotel, they were at Vegas after all, known besides its tacky chapels, which they already fully took advantage for, for the gambling! It would be unforgivable if they didn't try their luck at least once. But now, the idea of dancing seemed far more exciting. She wasn't much of a gambler; actually she was, but not the type that got a high from risking money on a ball rolling around a bunch of red and black numbers. After all, she had plenty of money to lose, so the stakes didn't mean that much to her. She used to gamble with her heart, now there she was actually risking something worth mentioning. But she had discovered rather early, the first time actually, that she didn't have much luck with that, so she had stopped doing it. Anyway, clubbing was much more her thing. And they could always make a stop at the casino on their way back. Just to honor the Vegas tradition to the fullest.

"I would hardly call the bridal suite of a five star hotel a hell hole…"

"So not the point! We are going out!"

"Brooke, I really don't think that's such a good idea," he insisted shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? It's a great idea! I'm dying to check out the clubs in Vegas! C'mon, it's such a waste to spend our whole weekend locked up in here!"

"After what we've done yesterday, I hardly feel like going out to celebrate."

"So what do you want us to do? Sit around here and wish this would go away? Because it won't. We dealt with it the best way we could. There's no point in making ourselves more miserable now."

"But do you think it's really okay for us to go out?"

"We will go out eventually, you know? We can't keep hiding in here forever."

"Of course, we will. But don't you think we should talk with Sylvia first and agree on what are we going to say? I mean we have no idea how to respond to questions and it's more than likely that there will be a horde of paparazzi waiting for us downstairs. Not to mention what's going to happen once we appear at some club."

"I don't think there will be anyone waiting for us still. They probably figured we would spend the day in."

"Are you kidding? They were here when Ryan and Sylvia arrived. I am sure they have set camp at the lobby by now!"

"C'mon, Luke!" She pleaded sticking out her bottom lip a little.

"Maybe we should first call Sylvia? Ask her what she thinks about this? Maybe she can tell us how to answer to them?"

"We don't need Sylvia to tell us what to say. We know we have to make them believe we wanted to get married. So we just act and answer accordingly."

"Okay, I know you're used to answering this type of personal questions, but they make me very uncomfortable. And this time it's worse because I have to lie! I don't know if I can go there unprepared!"

"And what am I here for?" Brooke asked kinking her eyebrow mischievously. "I'll prep you! It's simple!"

"Okay…" Lucas agreed reluctantly.

"All you have to say is…" She began and paused thoughtfully, "How insanely in love you are with that gorgeous wife of yours!" She finished with a giggle.

Lucas chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Uh-huh!" Brooke nodded.

"And what about you? What are you going to say?" He asked suspiciously

"Hm…" She replied bringing her finger to her chin and tapping lightly. "I'll tell them that I got so tired of your constant begging, I finally had to say yes!"

"Oh, I'm gonna get you!" Lucas yelled faking anger as he jumped from the couch and chased after a giggling Brooke.

Before he was able to catch her Brooke managed to dash into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Get dressed!" She demanded behind the closed door and shaking his head Lucas just…complied.

She had sneaked out of the bathroom once since then to take the clothes she was going to wear, and ended up dragging almost her whole suitcase in there, and then, she had shut the door to his face again not before kindly asking him to "lose that hideous shirt" he was wearing ASAP, if he wanted her to consider going out with him. Was that what they were actually doing? Going out? As in you know…going out? Grinning like an idiot, he started unbuttoning his shirt looking at it curiously, because it really looked fine to him, when he suddenly remembered and his grin grew even wider. The particular shirt, he noted with amusement was a birthday present from Peyton and Brooke must have known, because there was really nothing wrong with the poor gray shirt. Finally, he settled on a blue button down shirt, which Brooke had purchased for him as a compensation one time she had drag him shopping in New York, with a pair of khakis. And then there was nothing more he could do than wait. And wait some more. And…

"C'mon, Brooke! It's been an hour!" Not really, but they were getting there.

"Five minutes!" Brooke's voice sang from the bathroom.

She heard an undecipherable sound from the other room, something like a painful groan coupled with a muffled curse and she figured he didn't actually buy it. But…uh, what could she do? She wanted to look perfect. There would be tons of paparazzi out there, she was sure; no matter how much she had tried to assure Lucas that there was probably no one left anymore. Anyhow, this would be her first appearance as Mrs. Lucas Scott and she wanted it to be a memorable one. At least this would be her first sober appearance. So she was doing all this for the paparazzi, because there would be photos of her all over the tabloids once again tomorrow, and she didn't want to end up in the fashion don'ts. That's why she had changed five times since she decided they were going out. Was there actually a new look she had to sport now that she was married? Her mother dearest would probably answer yes, so the answer she was looking for was obviously: no! Still, she decided to not look too… slutty was the word, since she would be escorted, by her husband. That thought made her giggle. Okay, so if you actually forgot how serious staying in a fake marriage was, the situation was kind of amusing. Like playing pretend, like playing house. Playing house with Lucas Scott. Yup, it was definitely an amusing thought. She took a last look at her mirror to make sure her make up was right and her hair was in the right place, straightened out her dress and headed out.

Lucas was once again on the couch reading his paper and didn't notice the door opening. So she walked and stood in front of him.

"Ready!" She exclaimed excited.

Lucas raised his head at her voice. "Fin-ally," he managed with a gulp.

She looked at him gaping at her, not that discretely and made a little twirl showing off her tight strapless green dress. "You like?" She asked cheekily when she turned back at him.

"You look amazing," he answered with a soft smile. He somehow managed to gather back his composure.

"You don't look that bad yourself. Now, this is definitely a great shirt." She smirked.

"I had a hunch you'd like it," he chuckled. "So, ready to go?"

"Let me grab my purse," she answered briskly and taking it, after stealing one last look at the mirror of the dresser, she followed Lucas to the door.

Lucas opened the door and made a grand gesture for her to walk through first earning a flash of her dimples and a giggle.

Throughout the elevator's ride Lucas started getting anxious again. By the time they got down, he was practically fidgeting. The doors slowly slid open and he started scanning the people around the lobby anxiously. A couple of bell boys standing in attention waiting for orders, some tacky over-dressed middle aged women that were probably going to spent all their ex-husbands fortunes at the slot machines. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"See? No one is here!" Brooke exclaimed in triumph.

"I guess…" He admitted still looking nervously around him.

"Security probably threw them out," she explained and he seemed to relax a bit finding this explanation plausible. Of course she thought she didn't need to tell him that this just meant they were probably waiting for them outside.

Lucas went to the lobby and asked them to call them a cab, and the receptionist eagerly obliged.

He returned to Brooke and started to head out to wait for their cab that would be arriving momentarily as the concierge assured. Just before walking out through the huge revolving doors, Brooke spotted the paparazzi just a few meters away from the doorway and thinking that letting him be surprised might be a bad idea, she finally decided to warn him. She took his hand making him look at her anxiously and she tilted her head to the side pointing at the reporters with their cameras casually chatting among themselves.

"Shit!" He mumbled.

"Just relax," she said with a reassuring smile giving his hand a squeeze. Looking at him and seeing his obvious wish to get her back to their room she decided she shouldn't give him the opportunity he would gladly take. Taking a step backwards to the door she smiled. "Smile…and remember, you love me!" She whispered playfully before walking through the door and dragging him with her.

Lucas opened his mouth to yell at her to stop and even tried to pull her back a bit, but seeing that the paparazzi had already spotted them and were preparing their cameras, he thought better about causing a suspicious looking scene in front of them.

"I love her," he muttered begrudgingly, admitting defeat and followed after her trying on a weak smile. May God be with him.

The smile vanished the minute he walked out and was blinded by the flashes of the millions of cameras, at least they seemed like a million to him. Brooke on the other hand seemed to take all this in a stride. Plastering a wide confident smile and flashing her dimples, she was turning her head from side to side to oblige to the various photographers calling her name. After the first shock, he took a step closer to her and managed to establish a nervous smile.

The flashes seemed to die down a little and a bunch of microphones and tape recorders was being shoved into their faces right the next instant.

"Brooke, did you really get married?"

"What does this say?" Brooke asked in turn bringing her hand up and showing off her wedding band. Another raid of flashes aimed at her hand followed immediately.

"How does it feel being married?"

"So far so good, I'll get back to you in a year," Brooke answered jokingly inching closer to Lucas and giving him a nudge. Lucas chuckled, he guessed that was what she wanted him to do and letting go of her hand he slid his own around her waist bringing her into a side hug.

"Wasn't your wedding a bit rushed?"

Brooke threw her head back in laughter. "Rushed? We've known each other for more than eight years! If anything I'd say it took us way too long!"

"How long have the two of you been together?"

"Lucas and I were high school sweethearts; don't pretend like you don't know!" She said teasingly.

"But haven't you broken up?" The same reporter, an annoying skinny blonde insisted.

"Numerous times…" Brooke answered and turned her head up to smile at him. Lucas forced a smile back fighting the urge to run away from there. Luckily the questions were addressed mostly to Brooke, or she was the one answering them, either way that was a huge relief.

"What about John Carter?" Another equally annoying dark-haired guy inquired.

"What about him? John and I are very close friends," Brooke explained her smile never faltering.

"You were supposedly dating."

"I never confirmed that. We just hang out together. John is a great friend," she answered turning more serious.

"C'mon, Brooke! You were more than friends! We have pictures that prove that!"

Brooke's eyes narrowed dangerously to the man firing the last question, but she immediately changed her attitude turning playful once again.

"Do you really think it's appropriate to bring this up in front of my husband?"

Lucas gulped, that was him, yup, he was the husband!

The reporter chuckled but went on nevertheless. "It's not like he didn't know."

"Lucas and I had our ups and downs like any other relationship," Brooke replied with a dismissive shrug, figuring that she had to provide some kind of an answer.

"What do you think about all this Lucas?" The same reporter asked him now.

Lucas? Where did he get off calling him by his first name? No matter that… focus and answer! Lucas thought in panic.

"That's in the past and it doesn't matter anymore," he replied as confidently as he could.

"Recent past though."

Could he get away with punching that guy?

"How come you've kept your relationship and wedding a secret?" Another reporter butted in. Thankfully…maybe.

"No secret. We just didn't want to advertise it," Brooke replied grateful for the change of subject.

"So you want us to believe you had this planned out?" Another one asked in evident disbelief.

"Well, we were planning to do it eventually. But I have to admit we got a bit caught up in the moment," Brooke relented.

"Do you regret it?" Someone from the back asked making Lucas sweat.

"Isn't it a bit soon for you to be asking that?" Brooke asked playfully, but then went on. "If you're asking if I regret getting married to Lucas, the answer is obviously no." She said turning to smile warmly at him and instinctively he brought her even closer to him. "And if you're asking if I regret the way it happened only with the two of us in some chapel in Vegas, the answer is still no. It doesn't matter where or how, all that matters is that it was with him." She finished turning to look at Lucas adoringly.

He didn't even have time to calculate his response; her look just transported him back to when she used to look at him like that and actually mean it and he got lost in her hazel eyes. Another Kodak moment apparently, because the flashes blinded him once again and it was the next question that completely brought him back to reality.

"Rumors have it you were both drunk."

"I thought you would know in your line of business that you shouldn't believe everything you read in the papers," she said turning back to them finding the previous playful demeanor she had lost a few minutes ago.

"So you deny being drunk?"

"Don't you need to be a bit drunk to take this major leap?" She replied with a giggle and the reporters laughed along with her, especially the male ones.

Lucas admired her for her quick wit and rapid change of mood. Shit, she was a pro at this! For a minute back there he would have sworn she was being honest.

"What did your family think about your marriage?"

"Well, they of course wanted to be here, but as long as we're happy they support our decisions," Brooke answered once more.

"Lucas for a writer you sure don't talk that much." The dark haired guy, yeah the one he wanted to punch, turned to him again.

Before Brooke had the opportunity to jump in and save him…another one piped in.

"Yeah, tell us how you feel, Lucas," she asked.

"How would any man feel after marrying a woman like Brooke?" He glanced at Brooke and saw she was smiling almost bashfully. "Like the luckiest man alive." He answered himself with a huge grin tightening his grip around her waist. He actually felt proud of himself apparently he was doing a good job and he wasn't even lying. He did consider the man Brooke would eventually spend her life with a very lucky bastard, too bad he wasn't going to be that man.

"Did she give you a hard time?" One of the more likeable of the sharks he was facing asked with a warm smile.

"You wouldn't believe!" He answered shaking his head and chuckling. "But I always knew she would come around eventually." He said smugly. Okay, perhaps he was getting a bit carried away with his role.

"Hey!" Brooke said slapping him playfully on the chest and the reporters laughed after making sure they had captured the moment.

"I had to give in, he just wouldn't take no for an answer!" She retorted with a shrug.

"How come you didn't give up Lucas?"

"Some things are just worth fighting for," he answered looking intently at Brooke that was looking up at him with a mixture of awe and shock.

"Your cab is here, Mr. Scott." The concierge managed to get out among the constant questions.

Lucas looked at the road and spotted the yellow cab that had apparently pulled over without them noticing. Brooke seemed to get over her momentary shock and turned to the paparazzi.

"Okay, guys, we have to go," she said with a smile and Lucas started to push his way through guiding Brooke with him since the reporters didn't seem to budge.

"Where are you going now?"

"Are you going out to celebrate?"

"How long are you going to stay in Vegas?"

"Are you going for a honeymoon?"

"Will you keep living in New York now that you're married, Brooke, or will you move back to your hometown?"

A multitude of questions was fired simultaneously but neither of them answered as they finally reached the cab, and Lucas opened the door for her among another round of flashes, while Brooke hurriedly got in waving goodbye at the cameras. Lucas followed suit and shutting the door leaned back in his seat releasing a sigh of relief as the cab drove off.

"Well, that went well," he said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"I told you it would be okay. And I have to admit, you really impressed me out there. You acted like a pro," Brooke said with a smile, still trying to get his last answer out of her head.

"Are you kidding? I was dying out there!" Lucas laughed shaking his head. "You on the other hand were absolutely amazing! I have no idea how you do it!"

"Years of practice," she said not seeming very happy with herself. "But really, Luke, you handled them perfectly."

"Thanks, coming from an expert like yourself…" He said with a smile. "And let's not forget who prepared me." He concluded sarcastically.

"I am a great teacher. I could give Tutor-girl a run for her money!" She responded laughing.

"I think Haley's job as a teacher is safe."

"Hey! You doubt my teaching skills?"

"Nope, I've experienced them first hand, and can't say I complain. It's just that I think high-schools don't provide that kind of lessons…at least they didn't when I was a student. Unfortunate though, because with you as their teacher, all students would excel."

"Lucas Scott!" Brooke shrieked feigning shock.

"Hm…on second thought, I take that back."

"Why?" She asked in confusion.

"Because… I enjoyed the private lessons way too much. And you know, I really hate to share."

Brooke broke out in loud laughter. "You're going to make me blush!"

"What? I was talking about PR lessons!" He said with an innocent grin.

"Sure you were! But to get to our previous subject…"

"Why?" He whined, giving his wife a pout, similar to Brooke's earlier that day.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Broody!"

"Spoil sport…I was just starting to remember our first lessons…"

"Well, since you've paid me so many compliments, I have to say you were one of my best students."

"Not the best?!" He yelled in fake outrage.

Brooke just laughed.

"Yeah, let's get back to the previous subject," he muttered, with a small scowl on his face. The fact that she didn't think that he was her best student was getting under his skin for some reason.

"Well, you seemed a bit nervous at the beginning, so I tried to take most of their questions. But then they turned to you, which was inevitable I guess. But really, I was worrying for nothing."

"I just followed your lead," he said with a shrug and then turned a bit thoughtful, "You know, I actually thought it would be harder, but after the first couple of questions, I…it… it almost felt natural," he admitted hesitantly. "You know what I mean?"

"Like you get into the role and then it seems almost too real…" She whispered almost wishfully looking down at her lap where her hands rested, the gold band on her finger shimmering brightly.

"Exactly," Lucas answered in the same tone.