Brooke walked down the hall taking a long glance at the many photos that adorned the walls. To the average outsider, the perfect pictures of the perfect family were the icing on the cake of the American Dream. The cozy cottage buried in the woods that provided a second home for the hard working, brilliant attorney and his equally ambitious physician wife. And with them smiling almost perfectly in every photo was their gorgeous teenage daughter. It was the image most strived for…but Brooke knew all too well. All that glittered wasn't gold. The grass wasn't always necessarily greener on the other side's perfectly manicured lawn. Yes, the photographs in the Getina home looked much like those in the Davis home. And Brooke could see right through those smiles.

"Can't stop staring at the girl in the picture?"

The voice startled the brunette as she turned around. In the doorway was a smirking Rachel.

"Looks awful familiar", Brooke sighed.

Rachel shrugged.

"Maybe…except I'm way hotter."

Brooke just rolled her eyes. Rachel was impossible sometimes. Brooke had to ask herself again how she had managed to let her friends rope her into a weekend at the Getina's cabin with Rachel and the rest of the gang that included Lucas and Kelly.

"Okay, I can see this weekend is getting off to a, shall I say, fun little start already. How much longer till I'm packing my bags?"

It was Rachel's turn to roll her eyes.

"Relax, Davis and quit being so dramatic. It'll be fun and you know it. All our friends are here and we're gonna party for like 48 hours straight. This is the place to be this weekend and you know it or else you'd be somewhere else. So quit sulking and pretending like it's so awful. Who knows? God forbid, you might actually have a good time. What did you do for kicks last time you were here? Oh yeah. That's right. Rummaged through my stuff, stole it and showed the whole school my fat pictures."

Brooke smiled at the very memory.

"That was pretty fun."

"Whatever. It was lame and mean and totally vindictive but I'm actually glad you did it."

"Oh?" Brooke raised an eyebrow.

"You being a total witch changed my life for the better. It brought Mouth and me so much closer. He didn't fall in love with the hot cheerleader. He fell in love with that sad, lonely, fat girl in that picture. So I guess I owe you one. Maybe I should even say thanks."

"So my plan to publicly humiliate you backfired. Big deal. You ended up getting a boyfriend out of it and a great one at that. Better luck on my next plot to destroy your life."

Rachel couldn't help but grin.

"You know, sometimes I really like you. You've grown on me."

"Yeah, I guess you're not the wretched, skank whore I first thought you were either."

"Good. In that case, care to join me and everybody else back in civilization? I think the game of strip poker is about to start."

"Great", Brooke rolled her eyes sarcastically as she trudged back towards the living room where everyone else was waiting, already laughing, talking and drinking.

"Hey Brooke?" Rachel stopped her just before they stepped in view of the others.

"Yeah?"

The red head nodded knowingly.

"I know what you meant, you know, back there about the pictures. High society parents too busy to spend time with you while you're going through your own crap just trying to find your way, meanwhile, everybody thinks you have this perfect life. It's not so perfect sometime."

Brooke looked right at her as they rejoined the others.

"No", she sighed heavily. "I guess it's not."

But the party was already in full blast. The small house itself was full, filled to capacity with Tree Hill High's most popular elite. Well known first names that needed no last names to accompany them. Everybody knew their beautiful faces and their reputations were legendary. Nathan, Haley, Jake, Peyton, Tim, Teresa, Fergie, Skills, Bevin, Mouth, Brooke, Rachel…and Lucas and Kelly.

"Hey, dude, where you been?" Peyton smiled, looking up. "I was just about to go look for you."

"The Tim took his shirt off and the vibe just keeps reeling the ladies in like moths to a flame", Tim grinned proudly. "Come on, baby. Come on, Brooke. Come get some Tim Time. Everybody has a turn."

Brooke made a sour face.

"I'd rather eat my own vomit, Dim", she scowled.

She took a seat in the middle of the action that included Tim's haphazard poker game, a couple 24 packs of beer and the DVD playing in surround sound on the wide flat screen embedded in the wall behind them.

"You definitely look like you could use one of these, doll", Bevin smiled, tossing Brooke a beer that she accepted with a shrug.

"Might as well get wasted", she popped the can's top and guzzled down a sip.

"Well, you guys go back to your fun and games. I'm going back to the kitchen. Dinner will be ready in a few", Rachel told her friends.

Skills sniffed the aroma in the air dramatically.

"Come to think of it, something sure does smell good."

Rachel tossed her hair back.

"Just a little something I threw together. Lasagna, homemade soup, fresh baked garlic bread, Ceasar salad."

"Sounds great, Rach", Bevin smiled. "Can I help?"

She stood but Skills grabbed her arm before she could take another step.

"It's the thought that counts, baby, but in this case, hell to the no. It smells like something out of Olive Garden up in here. No offense but you might mess it up."

Bevin pouted but rebounded in all of five seconds, realizing he was right. Haley offered to help and her experience at home with a large family and also at Karen's Café, garnered no objections as she happily bounced into the kitchen with Rachel. Brooke went back to the beer, not her usual alcoholic beverage of choice as she half listened to Teresa's latest experience at the mall. From the moment she had walked into the room, she had happily noticed with relief that there were no signs of Lucas or Kelly. She had only hoped it would stay that way but no sooner than she finished her thought, she saw him come around the corner. At least he was alone. No gum chewing blonde, teenage bimbo bombshell accompanying him. Maybe Kelly had gotten lost in the woods. Yeah, that was it. Better yet, maybe a bear had eaten her. Just the image made her laugh out loud as Peyton shot her a confused look. The brunette quickly improvved and pointed to her beer for blame…some things were better of left unsaid as a one man or one woman inside joke. It was her one moment to be petty and catty or childish or a combination of all three. It was the least she deserved. But she wasn't prepared for the brush of conversation she overheard, thanks to her ex boyfriend's sorry excuse for a whisper.

"Nate, I need a favor", he said to his brother.

"It's gonna cost you", he quipped.

"I'm serious. It's important."

"What?"

"I need your room."

"Excuse me?"

"Tonight. The room you have here. You and Haley put your stuff down in a bedroom, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So bedrooms are limited and Kelly and me got here late and you know."

"Luke…"

"Come on, little brother. Hook me up. Besides, it's not like you'll be getting some anyway."

"Hey, man!"

"What? And that's a good thing. I swear I'm not trying to be a dick. It's Hales we're talking about here. She's my best friend, like a little sister to me. You're my brother. The thought of you two…"

"Alright, alright. I get it."

Lucas gave a small smile.

"So will you?"

Brooke felt her ears burn. She knew her entire face must be red. Great! Perfect! She had secured the room adjacent to what had once been claimed by Nathan and Haley but that was about to change. Not that she would listen. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift elsewhere, to a happy place like shopping or winning a cheer competition. Anywhere but that damned house and those people. She shuddered to hear Nathan's response to his brother's burning question. The last thing she was going to do was listen to her ex and his teen Barbie doll go at it all night.

When Brooke was sure no one would notice, she quietly stood and slipped off. She felt like running but reduced it to an incognito speed walk. Just wanting to get the hell out of that living room and the hell away from Lucas, she found herself in the kitchen. A few feet away, Haley hummed a chipper tune as she tossed a salad. By the oven Rachel stood, Mouth's arms wrapped snugly around her as she had just fed him a taste of lasagna.

"Mmmm", he groaned. "Perfect, babe."

"Are you sure?" she pouted. "I think I used too much cottage cheese."

He licked his lips before kissing hers.

"Not a chance. It's perfect…just like you're perfect."

Brooke made a beeline for the nearest exit. That interaction only added to her urge to throw up. God, what had she been thinking? Damn that Peyton and almost 12 years of friendship. The blonde could talk her into anything…even the weekend from hell. Searching for the door, Brooke scurried past the others unnoticed. Just a few more feet, hell a few more inches and she'd be free. She'd rather take her chance with the bears, alligators, deer and whatever else wildlife North Carolina had to offer. Reaching her perfectly manicured hand to the knob, it turned on its own surprising her as it pushed and knocked her back with a thud. She landed hard on her butt as everyone turned around. She could feel their eyes and hear Tim's laughter but the worst humiliation came as she looked up to see Kelly, who had just walked down the stairs, looking down at her.

"You okay?" she asked sweetly. "Need some help?"

A red face Brooke prayed the floor would just open up and swallow her as the door opened.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Brooke heard Nathan ask.

"I heard there was a party. I came to party."

That voice, that smirk and those unbelievable eyes! Who else but Cooper Lee? Hot Uncle Cooper!

"You brought booze. Cool!" Tim rubbed his grimy little hands together greedily as he stepped over Brooke to get a look see inside the bag.

It was then that he looked down to see the damsel still distressing on the floor.

"Brooke? You okay? What are you doing down there?"

She opened her mouth searching for the right words, searching to cover her growing embarrassment.

"Just sort of hanging out, I guess", she tried to play it off with a smile.

Great! She had managed to make herself look even more stupid, if that was even possible. But before she could fret, in the blink of an eye, strong arms swooped down and lifted her off the floor as she was gallantly rescued by a knight in shining armor…or in that case, a leather coat.

"You okay?" he asked again.

Brooke was speechless. That was better than the movies.

"Never better", she shrugged, finally finding a voice and a real smile.

Cooper shot her that sexy grin before knocking fists with his nephew.

"Okay then! Time to party on!"