A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.

Chapter Fourteen

A Multitude of Casualties

"I can't thank your parents enough for getting me out of having Thanksgiving dinner with my dad and Renee," Brooke told Haley as they gathered their school items that they needed for over the short Thanksgiving break.

Haley gave her friend a wide smile. "You know you're always welcome at my house. But you must be really desperate if you want to hang out at my house with my crazy family during the holidays."

Brooke gave her a look. "You know I would rather take your crazy family than mine any day."

Haley didn't have a chance to respond as the Scott twins came over to them. They greeted each other before Lucas started the conversation. "So will we get a chance to hang out together during the break? Or will we have to wait until school starts up again on Monday?"

"The day after Thanksgiving would probably be best for me," Haley replied. "I'm going to be helping my mom out over the next two days."

"I can bring the pies over for everybody," Brooke suggested, hoping that she wouldn't have to make anything. Haley nodded in agreement. "How many do you think I should buy?"

Haley thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. It will depend on how many people will be there. You should probably bring three of each of the pies, just in case."

"I doubt that there will be any leftovers at our house," Lucas said. "With five people in the family, the food is gone pretty quickly."

"So you're not planning for your aunt or cousins to join you?" Haley asked. "Or a family friend?" she prompted.

Brooke gave her a strange look while Lucas gave her a warning one. He knew what she was trying to get him to say. However, he was going to keep his mouth shut. This wasn't the right time to bring up that subject. "No, it's going to be just the five of us," he assured her. "Right, Nathan?" he asked as he turned to his brother. Nathan nodded in agreement. "Well, we should get going. We have to go and pick up Lily from school. We'll see you two Friday."

They all exchanged good-byes before Lucas and Nathan walked away. Brooke then turned to her best friend. "What the hell was that all about? You know, you and Lucas have both been acting strange since you started doing that English project together."

Haley gave her a look. "If you're thinking that I'm cheating on Nathan with Lucas, you are dead wrong," she replied. "I would never cheat on Nathan. Even if I did, I wouldn't do it with his own brother, who also happens to be my friend."

"Then what are you two up to?" Brooke asked her anxiously. She hated being left out in the dark. And her best friend knew that. "Because I know it's not Christmas secrets. Now what is going on?" she demanded. "Does it have anything to do with Dan and Rachel?"

"No, it doesn't," Haley assured her. She knew it was best to drop the subject. "We should get going too. I promised my mom that I would stop by the store and get some more stuff for Thanksgiving dinner."

Brooke wasn't happy, but she followed her best friend towards the parking lot. After they ran their errands, they headed to Haley's house. Lydia was there to greet them. However, they didn't have time to relax for long. Lydia put them right to work on preparing the feast. Brooke couldn't believe the work that she put into the Thanksgiving dinner for her family. She couldn't imagine anybody working this hard to make a meal perfect.

It was times like this that Brooke wished that she had a family like Haley's or Lucas's. She would have loved her family to sit down and enjoy a meal together. She hated that they were always out and she had to invite her friends over just so she wouldn't have to eat alone.

Brooke snapped that thought out of her mind. She wasn't going to let bad memories ruin her holidays. She was going to have a nice meal with Haley and her family before she would hang out with Lucas and the rest of the gang. She just hoped that wherever Rachel was, she was safe and wasn't going to spend the holidays by herself.

On Thanksgiving, Haley's house was full with relatives. It wasn't easy for Brooke to join in conversations unless it was with Haley or Quinn. She and Haley were both waiting for the right time to go over to the Scott's house. Even though they promised that they were going to meet the next day, Brooke and Haley wanted to surprise them by going there for dessert. Lydia could tell that they were getting restless and gave them permission to leave.

Just as they were about to leave, they heard the doorbell ring. They exchanged excited looks, hoping that Lucas and Nathan had decided to surprise them instead. However, they were disappointed and a little concerned when they saw that there were two police officers standing in front of them.

Haley looked at them nervously. "Can I help you, officers?" she asked as her father joined them in the foyer. She really hoped that they weren't here to arrest Taylor. That was the last thing that she wanted. She didn't want anything to ruin Thanksgiving.

"Are you Haley James?" one of the officers asked. Haley slowly nodded her head. "Is your boyfriend Nathan Scott?" Haley nodded again, getting more and more worried with each word. "I'm afraid something has happened. We need you to come with us to the hospital right away." Haley and Brooke started to ask questions, but the police officers did their best to calm the girls down. "We'll explain everything on the way," he told them.

Haley didn't have a chance to respond as her father spoke up first. "Go," he ordered as his wife nodded in agreement. He knew how important it was to Haley to check on her boyfriend. "Call us as soon as you find out anything."

Haley promised that she would before she followed Brooke and the two officers back to their car. She waited impatiently until they were on the road before speaking. However, Brooke beat her to it. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Nathan Scott and his family were attacked," one of the officers told them. The two girls were speechless. "Luckily, their little girl was able to call 911 before the attackers could do too much damage to the family."

Brooke and Haley let out sighs of relief. However, they were still worried for their friends. It didn't seem like they were attacked randomly. It had to be personal. And there was only one person that either could think of that would have done this. Brooke also started to wonder if this was the very reason why her mother didn't want her at the Scott house.

Brooke snapped out of her daydream as Haley spoke. "How is Lily doing?" she asked them anxiously.

"She is a scared little girl," the second officer replied. "Since she can't see her parents right now, she wants you two."

Haley and Brooke couldn't blame her for being scared. She had gone through a lot over the past few hours. They hoped that they would be able to comfort her. They waited anxiously until they arrived at the hospital.

As soon as they came into the waiting room, Lily ran into Haley's arms in tears. Haley did her best to comfort her while Brooke tried to find out information about the Scott family. However, she wasn't able to get anywhere since nurses were either too busy to answer her or weren't willing to give out information since she wasn't a relative.

"I'm Nathan Scott's girlfriend," Haley told the rude nurse as she handed Lily over to Brooke. She glared at her as she spoke her next words. "I think I have the right to know how my boyfriend and his family are doing."

While Haley managed to get information about Nathan, Brooke turned her attention to Lily. "Are you okay?" she gently asked her. Lily shook her head. She gave the little girl a gentle smile. "Don't worry. The doctors will make everybody better," she promised.

They then heard more footsteps as the other Scott family arrived. Millie and Brooke embraced each other in a hug before Millie did the same thing with Haley. "How are they?" Deb asked them as Millie introduced Lily to her other two cousins.

"We're still trying to find out," Haley replied. "How did you get here so fast? I thought you guys lived in Charlotte?"

"Well, Deb and I had a talk about the whole family feud and decided that it was time to try and reconcile," Dan replied. "We were going to surprise them, but it looks like we were a little too late."

Brooke wasn't falling for his act. However, she knew that she couldn't accuse him without proof. As much as she wanted to confront him now, she had promised Millie that she wouldn't until there was evidence.

An unfamiliar voice interrupted her thoughts. "Is there anyone here for Keith and Karen Scott?" Everyone turned to the doctor. All of them were hoping the same thing: good news. Dan answered him and told him his relation to the victims before the doctor spoke again. "Well, you'll be happy to hear that your brother and wife are both doing well. Despite their injuries, they are going to be just fine." Everyone breathed sighs of relief. "Your nephews are also hanging in there. They got the worst of it. From what I've heard, they tried to fight the intruders off." Neither Haley nor Brooke was surprised to hear that. Lucas and Nathan were the type of guys that weren't going to sit around while intruders hurt their family. "They are all going to be sore for awhile. They also need a lot of rest and relaxation."

"Can we see them?" Haley asked hopefully.

The doctor was about to protest when Haley and Brooke gave him pleading looks. The doctor let out a heavy sigh before he nodded in agreement. "Alright, but it should only be for a few minutes. They need their rest." He then gave them room numbers before Haley and Brooke headed to the appropriate rooms. Millie was right behind them with Lily, who was dying to see her parents.

When Brooke arrived at the room, she couldn't believe how injured Lucas was. He had a black eye, bloodied lip and his hand was wrapped in a cast. However, he managed to give her a smile as she walked over to him. She squeezed his hand as he managed to speak. "Where's Lily? Is she okay?" Lucas asked worriedly.

Brooke nodded her head. Lucas let out a relieved sigh. "What happened?" she asked. "The police told us that you and your family were attacked, but that's all they would say about it." She then leaned closer to him as she spoke her next words. "Do you think Dan is involved in this?"

Lucas nodded his head. "Yeah, I do. That's why I want both you and Haley out of Tree Hill as soon as possible."

"I'm not scared of Dan Scott," Brooke assured him. "I've dealt with men like him, but I promise that Lily will be safe. In fact, I'll let her stay with me tonight. I'll even invite Haley and Millie over so we can have some company."

Lucas gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Brooke. I really appreciate it, but I still want you as far away from Dan as possible."

"I'll be careful," she assured him. She stayed a little while longer before the nurses kicked her out. She then went to find Haley before they went back into the waiting room where Julian and Alex were. To Brooke's relief, Dan was nowhere in sight. "What's going on?" Brooke asked, noticing the tension between them.

"I think my dad is behind this attack," Julian told them before he turned to Alex. "But my sisters are in denial."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Just because he wants you and Brooke together doesn't mean he would go to extreme measures to do it," she said. "You're just mad because he still won't claim you as his child."

Julian gave her a look. "Do you really think it's a coincidence that this just happened to be right after Rachel's disappearance? No, these two events are connected. Trust me." He didn't let anyone respond as he headed towards the exit.

"Julian is really taking Rachel's disappearance hard, isn't he?" Brooke noted as they watched him leave.

Alex nodded. "I hate seeing him all depressed. I wish he would cheer up, but I don't think that is going to happen until Rachel comes back."

Her friends nodded in agreement. Brooke then decided to invite Alex to the sleepover as well. She had a feeling that they all needed some distraction tonight. Alex happily accepted the invitation.

The next morning, Brooke woke up to the smell of coffee. However, she looked around her bedroom and saw that all of her guests were still sleeping in their sleeping bags except for Lily. She had slept in the bed next to Brooke. She had hoped that it would help comfort her, but the nightmares still came.

Brooke quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the room. She closed the door behind her before she went down the stairs to the first floor. She was surprised to find her mother sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. She didn't even look up as her daughter came in the room. "I saw that you had quite the party last night. And here, I thought that you were only going to have one guest over."

"The plans changed once we heard about the attack on Lucas and his family," Brooke said. "I suppose that you have heard about it."

"Are you kidding? It's all over the news and paper this morning," Victoria replied. "Aren't you happy that you listened to me and didn't go over there? I can't imagine what I would have done if I found out that you were caught up in that mess."

"You knew about the attack on Lucas and his family, didn't you?" Brooke demanded. Victoria didn't respond. "That's why you were so determined to make sure I wasn't going over to their house. Why the hell didn't you tell me about it? I could have warned them."

"Would you have believed me?" Victoria pointed out. Brooke hated to admit it, but she knew that she was right. "I didn't think so. Now if you would excuse me, I have to get ready for work." She didn't say another word as she left the room, leaving Brooke with her thoughts.