Author's Note: You know, I've always thought Lucas was a hard character to write. He's so all over the place, you know? On the show, that is. Anyone that can write him truly in character in well deserves tons of applause, and the ability to write the script for the new season because let's face it, the writers aren't doing too well. Sorry for my little rant, but I was just thinking about it. Heh. A lot of you were either really upset or happy with how the last chapter ended, and let me tell you, you're about to go crazy.

Movie Script Ending

Chapter Twenty-One: Everything Will be Alright

Nathan stared. Brooke blinked.

"I needed a New Years kiss," She shrugged meekly, as if that were the simple answer to what she'd just done. Her lips were still wet from where he'd kissed her, and she could still feel the warmth of his mouth on hers.

"Lucas was kissing Rachel." She grumbled.

"Bitch Rachel?" He was looking up, assumedly for Rachel and Lucas, but all he saw was Lucas coming their way like a bat out of hell. This is it, Nathan thought, Lucas is going to kick my ass.

Instead, Lucas grabbed for Brooke's arm, apologies sputtering from his mouth before he'd even apologized. "Brooke, Rachel - she kissed me. I know you probably saw, but I swear, I swear I didn't kiss back. It was all her."

She was still in a little bit of shock from Nathan's kiss. God, how could she do that? Of all the people to grab and kiss, Lucas' brother? She had to have known Lucas wouldn't kiss the slutty ass bitch back. Oh well. She would simply blame it on all the alcohol.

"I lost sight of you. I mean, I saw you right before she kissed me and then there was a bunch of people jumping. I ran, I mean I literally ran, and it wasn't easy considering all the people--"

"Lucas," She steadied him, holding his shoulders. "It's fine."

"It is?"

"Sure, for a moment, I may have freaked out," She looked at Nathan through the corner of her eye. "But it's okay. I know you would never kiss that ugly bitch. She's just wanted you for years."

He sighed, relieved. "So we're good?"

"We're fine," She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin against the top of her head.

"So did you kiss anyone out of anger?" He joked with a laugh, and Brooke stared at Nathan, eyes wide. What did she do? Did she just tell the truth? Of course not. She knew Lucas. He would always sense that something was going on with her and Nathan, and he would probably never trust them together alone again.

"Please," She rolled her eyes. "I hung out with Nathan and seethed."

Nathan was still for a moment. And then, when she really feared he was about to tell Lucas, he said, "She did. I was actually kind of scared for a second."

"You know," Lucas nodded, "I believe it. You can be really scary."

Brooke yawned and laughed at the same time, leaning back. "Let's go home, guys. We have a long drive ahead of us, and I think if I see that little bitch Rachel again tonight I could get really scary."

"I don't doubt it. Let's get out of here." Lucas tugged at her hand.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I need to be away from Haley right now."

"I saw that little drinking thing she pulled. It was like, 'okay, real mature, Hales.'" Brooke rolled her eyes and smiled at him, a silent thank you for not ratting her out.

He smiled back and she knew they were okay. Still, she felt strange. Earlier that evening, she would never have thought that her midnight kiss would be Nathan. She had been surprised as well at the fact that he'd kissed back. He'd even gone so far as to lean closer.

God, stop thinking about this! She told herself. It was just making things weirder for her.

They said goodbye to Tim and some of their other friends, and by the time they'd approached the car, Brooke was dead tired. "I'll take the back. I feel like laying down." And she did. She needed to rest, and all that champagne was getting to her head.

She laid herself down and kicked her heels off, trying to squeeze her eyes shut and stop replaying the night's events over and over in her head. All she wanted to do was sleep, to doze off..

God, Haley had been in super bitch mode, hadn't she? Drinking when asked if she regretted her marriage to Nathan. That was just uncalled for. He'd done nothing to her except be a good husband and she repaid him by telling him she basically wished it had never happened? How absolutely rude. Speaking of rude, how nice of Rachel was it to kiss Lucas! As she and Peyton had been saying goodbye, Peyton had told her that Rachel had stalked off after being rejected by Lucas, and was now sitting alone in one of the bathrooms. Peyton herself had some lip gloss smeared around her lips, as had her date. Of course she and Dave had looked adorable and sheepish as she had caught them kissing.

Half-asleep, she allowed herself to zone in on Nathan and Lucas' conversation. Lucas was talking about basketball or something of the sorts, and Nathan was sort of just agreeing. He was clearly thinking about something, and she just wanted to throw her head back and groan. Was he thinking about that stupid kiss, too? Look, she told herself, it was just a New Years little kiss that meant nothing. It's fine, get over it.

So she did.

The rest of the drive home, she listened to Lucas and Nathan's conversation and even managed to sleep for a little while, too. So it was okay. Everything was going to be just fine.

She saw the familiar lights of her neighborhood and sat up, instantly regretting the movement as her head began to spin.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked her.

"I'm fine. Head rush. Sat up too quickly." She stretched, running a hand through her hair, tangled and thick.

The car came to a stop, and Brooke, Lucas, and Nathan all stepped out, and Brooke yawned.

"Man, you used to be the life of the party. It's not even two and you're already tired," Lucas chuckled.

Brooke frowned. "Oh my God, you're right. Usually I'd pull an all-nighter on New Years. Oh well, there's always next year."

"Unless you die before next year," Nathan, always the optimist, offered.

"Man, way to rain on my parade, Nate." She joked softly and he turned to look at her, not quite smiling.

Using her key, they entered the house and Lucas stretched his arms. "I can still smell Rachel on me. I think I'm going to go take a shower."

"At two in the morning?" Brooke said, incredulous.

"Is there some sort of law against taking showers at two in the morning?" He laughed, and she shrugged.

"Enough said. Don't be surprised if I'm already asleep when you get to bed."

"I really won't be," He kissed the top of her forehead and jogged up the stairs, unbuttoning his shirt as he went.

Nathan was about to follow in the direction of his brother, but she grabbed his arm.

"Wait," She said slowly. "We should probably talk."

"Probably," He agreed, and the two of them walked towards the kitchen.

This was awkward, Brooke realized. She could not remember the last time she had felt awkward around Nathan. He'd seen her in the morning with not a drop of makeup on and she still felt okay about it. Since he'd been living here, she realized, they'd grown closer than they'd ever been.

He took a seat at the counter, pulling at his tie until it was in his hands and no longer around his neck. She went towards one of the cupboards, pulling out a packet of hot chocolate and gesturing towards it to see if he'd like one. He nodded wordlessly, and she pulled two cups from the cupboard, setting them down on the kitchen counter.

"Okay, so here goes," As she set the water to boil, she looked over at him, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I mean, I was jealous so I just grabbed the person nearest to me, and it just happened to be you, and I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," He shrugged. "I probably would have done the same thing."

"Yeah, but look at this. Now we're uncomfortable around each other. And I don't want to ruin our friendship over something so stupid that meant absolutely nothing."

Nathan swallowed. "You're right. It meant nothing so we should be fine. I guess I just feel weird lying to Lucas.."

"I do too, but--"

"Yeah, we can't tell him. He'd be even more pissed now that we lied."

The water was done. She poured it easily into two mugs, emptying the hot chocolate packets into them as well and handing him one.

He nodded in thanks, and continued. "It's fine. I don't feel weird anymore. I think we just needed to talk about it."

"Yeah?" She said unsurely, and he nodded, assuring her.

"Okay, good. Good, I'm glad." She smiled.

"Well, I think I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long night."

She gasped. "God, I completely forgot about that Haley thing. Are you, I mean, are you okay? I know I probably wouldn't be."

"I'm okay. I mean, she never wanted to get married in the first place, and I knew that, so it's not like I should be surprised."

"I'm sure she just did it because she's angry."

"Yeah," Nathan nodded. "But how unlike Haley would that be?"

And he was off to bed. Brooke watched him go, allowing his words to sink in. He was right. Haley didn't do things just to hurt people. At least, the Haley she had known didn't. But who knows now. Everyone had changed so much, the only person she could truly count on to be the person they were in high school was Peyton.

-

Nathan set the glass of hot chocolate on his bedside table, falling backwards onto the bed. He groaned, pressing his hands to his head.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He had been so upset earlier that night because of what Haley had done, and so he'd stalked off. When he'd seen Brooke looking for him, looking all pretty, he'd felt better. And when she'd kissed him, he hadn't even hesitated before kissing her back. Now, she had an excuse, but he didn't.

And even now, hearing her say it had meant nothing was hurting him a little. It should have meant nothing, shouldn't it have? So why had he felt butterflies in his stomach when her hands had grabbed his face, and why could he still feel the warmth of her mouth on his, and why did he want to feel that again?

This was bad, this was terrible. There was no way he could have feelings for Brooke. She was Brooke! Not to mention she was his brother's wife. God, he needed to get out of this place before he let this slip.

It's okay, he told himself. This is fine. It's just a stupid crush because you're supposed to be on the rebound with Haley. You'll get over it in ten minutes. Don't let this ruin anything.

And he wouldn't. It would all be okay.