"Hales? Can I ask you a question?" Brooke said, as calmly as she could, into her cell phone.
"Yeah, anything. What's up?"
"First of all, how long have you and Nathan been dating?"
"Hm… six and a half, seven months, maybe?"
"Ok…" she stated. She covered the mouth piece of the phone for a second and mouthed 'seven' to Lucas, who was sitting on her bed. He nodded nervously. "And what's his aunt's name again?"
"Beverly," Haley stated, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"And his uncle's name is…"
"Richard." Haley's confusion was mounting by the moment, but she continued to comply with Brooke's interrogation.
Brooke looked over at Lucas and mouthed 'Richard and Beverly.' He put his head into his hands and shook his head. Brooke assumed that this meant that it in fact was his brother, but she wanted to be absolutely positive.
"And when's his birthday?"
"June 25! What the hell is this Brooke?! The third degree?! The Spanish Inquisition!?"
Brooke couldn't help but giggle at Haley's outburst. "I don't know what a Spanish Inquisition is, but I'm pretty sure this isn't one, Tutor Girl. I'm just… I'm just trying to figure something out."
"Well, could ya tell me what it is so I can just give you the flat answer?"
Brooke looked over at Lucas, who was now staring out her window, brooding. She had never seen him so deep in thought.
"I'll tell you when Lucas and I figure it out for ourselves."
"You mean you guys are talking!?" Haley said happily, forgetting about Nathan momentarily.
"We're working on it…" she stated, keeping her eyes on a distraught Lucas. "But I'll tell you that later. I'll see you in two days," Brooke said with a sad smile.
"Love you, B."
Brooke clicked the phone line dead and sat next to Lucas.
"When's your birthday?" she whispered, rubbing her hand down his back consolingly.
"June 25."
He looked up at her and they locked eyes. His seemed so fragile, something she had never thought she'd see in him.
"It's him, isn't it?" he asked.
She nodded slowly.
"This is fantastic… I was supposed to forget about him! I wasn't supposed to hear from him or think about him or see him for the rest of my life!" he shouted.
"Lucas, it was bound to happen… He's your brother... Your twin brother, at that."
"Are you good friends with him?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah… I am," she admitted. "He's dating Haley, who's my best friend. And he's the star of the basketball team, and I'm the cheer captain… so we were bound to become friends… it's like, mandatory in the Big Book of High School Rules and Regulations that the cheer captain and basketball captain become buddy-buddy," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Have you ever… done anything more than friendly?"
"Oh, Lucas," she said waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Please, don't do this."
"I just need to know," he shrugged.
"We… we used to date," she confessed. "It was the first month he moved to Tree Hill. We fought a lot though, and it never became anything more than… more than physical," she stated, mumbling the last part intentionally. "But he met Haley through me, so when he and I broke up a month after we started dating, he started hanging out with her more and more…" her voice faded out.
"Okay," he nodded as calmly as he could. "Did you sleep with him?" he questioned.
"Lucas… do you really wanna hear about my sex life eight months prior to you?"
"Not really," he said with furrowed eyebrows. "But I just need to know."
"Luke…"
"Brooke, just answer the question!" he burst suddenly, putting his pent up anger toward Nathan on Brooke.
She frowned at his attitude, trying to reassure herself that he was only being like this because he was upset. She nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "I didn't know you then…"
He smiled at her sadly, and she forced a melancholy smile back.
"So, I guess that makes us kinda even…" he stated, trying to lighten the mood. "I lied to you, and you slept with my brother. Fucked up lives we lead…"
"Hey! Me sleeping with Nathan before I even met you is a good thing! It shows that the Scott… or Roe… or whoever the hell you both are… boys are… hm.. what's the word I'm looking for?" she said, tapping her lip in exaggerated thought.
"Irresistible? Sexy?" Lucas ventured, a smile creeping onto his face.
"No… I think the word I was looking for was easy," she teased.
"Oh, is that the game you wanna play?" he said with a smirk.
And with that, Lucas pushed the day's drama of Nathan and Lindsay to the back of his mind, and enveloped Brooke so that she was pinned down on the bed underneath him while she squirmed, giggling, in an effort to release herself from Lucas's hold.
------------------------------------------
Brooke lay in bed later that night, restless beyond belief. She stared at the ceiling. She tossed. She turned. But something in her gut told her she had to help Lucas and Nathan come back together.
She grabbed her phone from its resting spot on her night table. She dialed the number quickly, completely from memory.
"Nathaniel," she sang as the boy answered the phone.
"Penelope, it's two in the morning here. Are you crazy?" Nathan yawned into the phone.
"You know I hate when you call me that!" she whined, ignoring the second part of his statement.
"And you know I hate when you call me Nathaniel!"
"So, Nathaniel," she said rolling her eyes. "I'm thinking of staying in California for an extra day or two, since we have another week until school starts up. You know what I think? I'll tell ya…"
"Why do I have a feeling this is gonna have something to do with you forcing me to do you a 'favor'?" he said, smiling into the phone.
"Because, Boyfriend of Tutor Girl, it does," she giggled. "How about you, Hales and Rach come here for a few days?"
"What's the catch?" he asked, contemplating the idea in his head.
"Well, you have to tan, swim, surf, shop, and enjoy yourself… Think you can handle it?"
"And who's paying for this fantasy trip?"
"Me, dummy!" she chirped.
"You are way too bubbly for me right now…"
"And that means you're coming, right!?" she gushed.
"Do I really have a choice?"
"Nope, not really," she smirked deviously. "I'm gonna go book your flight now, and I'll text you the information. You'll be here by late tomorrow night."
"You know you're insane right?"
"You know you love me, Nathaniel…"
"Stop calling me that, Penelope!"
"Never. I'll see you tomorrow night!"
------------------------------
Brooke awoke the next morning with all intentions of avoiding Lucas… at least until Nathan, Haley and Rachel arrived. But as she walked downstairs to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes opened, she couldn't help but let her jaw drop as she watched her mother and Lucas laughing as they cooked breakfast together.
She faked a cough to catch their attention. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were being featured on the Food Network," she said sarcastically as she sniffed the sweet smelling air.
The two turned around simultaneously, and Lucas smiled widely.
"I was just showing your mom how to make a mean scrambled egg," he stated before walking over to Brooke and kissing her forehead.
"Yes, yes. I admit. I haven't cooked since… well, ever. We've always had Rosalita!"
"Now I see where I get my natural ability to make burnt cookies," Brooke giggled.
"Look what Lucas brought over with him," Victoria stated as she nodded toward the table. A bouquet of gorgeous flowers sat on it with a small business-sized card attached. Brooke smiled at Lucas, cocking her head to the side adoringly, before going over to read the small note.
'The beginning of me proving myself… -Lucas'
She smiled again and walked over and hugged him tightly.
"You may think you win with your surprises for me, but don't worry… you're not the only one," she stated with a wink.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a chuckle.
"You'll find out tonight," she smirked before sitting at the kitchen table, taking a bite of the eggs that her mother had placed in front of her.