AN: Good to know that we weren't the only ones ditching in high school! LOL
Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews. They're making us ridiculously happy. And one of these days we'll get personal thank you's up on the LJ. There's so many of you writing us these long wonderful reviews, it's just that right now we're working on getting chapter 25 and 26 post-worthy. Oh, and to cmc21 and all you other NHers; we're sorry for manipulating NH scenes. It sucked when Mark that with the BL scenes and turned them into LP, so we won't do it again. ;)

---x---

Part 2: Something I Can Never Have

---x---

Chapter 24 – Your Love Is A Lie

Junior Year

March 6th

Something's different. He's different. Brooke can't figure out what it is exactly but she can feel it in her gut. Something is wrong. She's worried that's it's something she's done. Or something someone has said. Either way she's been on edge and moody all morning and its pissing Rachel right the hell off.

"Just ask him if it bothers you so damn much," Rachel snaps at lunch that day.

"What?" she scowls over at current best friend slash roommate.

She loves Rachel, she's her best friend—more than she knows actually—and even though she wants to choke her right now, she loves her. Rachel understands her in ways that Peyton never could. She wishes there was a way to tell Rachel how much she means to her without making the poor girl uncomfortable.

But at the moment she's not feeling anything but anger towards the annoying Raggedy-Anne harlot.

"You won't shut up about how you think something is wrong with Lucas, so fucking just ask him." Rachel says this as if it's just that easy. "Besides, if you don't then I will. I can't stand you like this and if you keep me up one more damn night with your tossing and turning—"

"I can always go home and sleep in my own bed if you like," Brooke bats her lashes sarcastically.

Rachel glares at her, "Go talk to your stupid boyfriend Brooke."

She sighs and bangs her head down onto the table, "I can't. What if he breaks up with me? What if he doesn't want to be with me anymore? What if he's finally realized that I'm not good enough?" She confesses to Rachel in horror. "Oh my god I don't think I could take that." She gasps.

"Shut the hell up and talk to him," Rachel rolls her eyes, "and if I ever hear you talk like that again I'm going to get to kick Luke's ass."

Brookes head flies up, "Why Lucas?"

Rachel looks at her pointedly, "Because you never used to talk like this before, not until you started to date Lucas."

She says nothing in return and it doesn't matter because now Lucas is making his way over with his tray of food. "Hey pretty girl," he leans over and kisses her lips gently. "Rachel," he nods.

"Whatever," Rachel grunts and pushes up from the bench, "I'm gonna go sit with Bevin. I've suddenly lost my appetite." She leaves them sitting at the table alone.

"Did I say something?" Lucas scoffs.

Brooke shakes her head.

Rachel has a problem with just about everything he does. It's like pulling teeth to get that girl to like him. He doesn't understand it, everyone likes him. He's a nice guy. He frowns down at his pizza and tries to ignore the little voice of shame teasing him in the back of his mind.

Then he looks at Brooke, she's staring off into space with an expression he's never seen on her face before. It makes him wonder what's on her mind.

"What's wrong?" he asks her as he lifts a slice of pizza up to his mouth. "You look sad," he frowns as he takes a bite.

She doesn't know if she should say something or not. Actually, she doesn't know much about anything right now and it's killing her. He's not doing anything specific to warrant her suspicions but she knows that something is wrong. Call it women's intuition or whatever but she knows that she's not getting the big picture.

"I'm fine," she lies and bites the pizza he holds out for her to eat. She chews and licks her lips and he leans in and kisses her softly.

"You sure?" he asks her with those deep blue eyes of his. The ones that can get her to do just about anything he asks of her.

"Do you still love me?" she blurts out softly, her voice is shaky when she asks and her hands reach out to pull him back to her.

Lucas suddenly chokes on his food from shock.

"Because if you don't," she adds quickly, "I need for you to tell me now. Because I am so in love with you Lucas." Her eyes stare into his intensely.

His lips curve into a smile while his eyes squint down at her as if he both cherishes and pities her. It does nothing to help ease her nerves, or answer her question. He kisses her again and then again until they're engaged in a heated lip lock.

"How could I not?" he says between kisses.

"Let's get out of here," she says knowing he's going to refuse.

But he nods, "Okay," his hands cup her face, "let's go." They stand up and leave their plates and trash forgotten on the lunch table. His hand in hers is hot and so is hers.

Brooke throws Rachel a look that tells the redhead she needs to find an alternate ride home. When they pass Nathan she hides her face in Lucas and avoids his eyes because she knows he'll see right through her. He'll know she's vulnerable, because besides Rachel and Owen, he is the only one who's seen that side of her.

Not even Peyton has seen the full extent of her insecurities, or how hard it is every time she spews out her angry insults when she's in a bad mood. Just because she forgives, doesn't mean she forgets. Maybe she doesn't truly ever forgive at all…

"Lucas, are you sure you want to leave school? You'll miss the last three classes of the day." She stops just shy of the parking lot to see if he hesitates.

He doesn't, "I'm sure," he nods his head, "I love you." He kisses her lips quickly and squeezes her hand tighter. But instead of making her heart swell like it usually does, it makes her stomach drop to the floor full of panic. Something is wrong.

He never skips school.

---x---

The first thing he sees when he steps out of school and into the parking lot is Owens big black Escalade. It's towering in between Rachel's matching Denali and where Brooke's little baby blue Beetle should be, and Owen is leaning on the hood, drinking a Starbucks coffee as if the situation is completely normal.

Nathan guesses that every teenage girl who's walked past has probably stopped to gawk at the quarterback. But the guy looks careless as he casually leans back on one elbow, stunner sunglasses securely in place with a languid smirk. It's as if he's sitting on his own back porch.

The sight is serene and yet it just doesn't make sense.

Nathan looks at his wristwatch. It's just after 4pm and the girls have barely started their cheer practice. Rachel wouldn't be out for at least another hour and a half. On top of that, it's Wednesday and if he's not mistaken, Owen Morello should be at his own practice, more specifically at a muddy football field in Durham. It's not his problem though, he thinks and starts walking towards the car just as Owen looks up.

"Hey, Preppy!"

"Sup, man?" he says back and stops to lean against the SUV. "You're a little early aren't you?"

Owen stares back at him through those damn stunner glasses and even though Nathan can't read minds he bets he can guess what's running through O's at that moment. Needless to say, things around them have become a little tense. He's hardly talked to Owen in the past month. For some reason the guy has been 'busy'. And the few times that he did see him – when Nathan went up to the house to hang out with Tyler – then Owen had seemed somewhat distracted and distant.

Actually during the last week, since he ran into Elle at the frat-house, he hasn't seen Owen at all.

But today Owen just grins.

"Yeah? How so?"

"Cheer practice ends at 5:30," Nate mutters and rubs the back of his neck. "Rachel's not done."

Owens chuckle tells him that he already knows this. "I'm not here to pick up Raye," he says and throws the now empty paper cup in a perfect arc so that it lands in a nearby trashcan. "I came to hang out with you, bro."

Oh, really?

Nathan doesn't answer the comment because it feels whiny and childish to point out that the quarterback hasn't had time for him in weeks. Instead he leans against the car's front and inspects the new rims.

"Nice work, man. The truck's looking good."

Even though he plays it as if he's nonchalant and disinterested, he's actually missed hanging out with the older guy and maybe he's translucent because Owen straightens up and pulls off his shades.

"Been a while, Prep. How's life? I haven't seen you around in a minute," his eyebrow shoots up in question, "What, you get tired of our frat-parties?"

The parking lot is empty but Nathan still looks around for eavesdroppers out of pure habit. "No need to fake it, O," he mutters back. "You know that it's hard to hang out at the parties when Brooke's there. And you have Rachel. What was I supposed to do? Tag along as the fifth wheel?"

Owen tries to look like he doesn't know what he's talking about but Nathan shrugs it off with an annoyed scowl. "Brooke probably told you about the end of our 'deal' in detail herself, and if she didn't, then Rachel did." He kicks the gravel on the ground before he adds a sarcastic, "You're okay with the switch though, right? I mean, you get to hang out with her boyfriend."

Now Owen is the one looking a little annoyed. "You serious?" he mutters and pushes off the hood of his truck to stand closer directly in front of the Tree Hill senior. "Nate, man, grow up. You know that Rachel forced me to hang out with the guy. Plus, what the hell was I supposed to do? Tell Brooke she couldn't date him? I thought we had already dealt with this?"

Nathan looks both grumpy and regretful and Owen suffers with him.

Okay, so Nathan is acting like a child but it's not like he can't see the guy's point. He gets why Nathan felt betrayed back when he saw the double-date that he and Rachel had with Brooke and Lucas. It was probably enough to have Brooke favor Lucas over him. But according to Rachel, their team (Owen & Rachel), were starting to warm up to the blonde Scott. So then he went and favored Lucas as well. At least that's what Nathan thinks.

"Team Luke or Team Nate? Don't be such a bitch, Nathan. You're better than that."

Owen gets that it must have been a blow to Nathan's ego. And that's probably why the dude kept acting like it all meant nothing to him. Even Brooke.

Nathan squirms under Owens eye and suddenly he starts to feel like an idiot. He's not even sure why he's bringing all this up again. It's like he's deliberately picking a fight with the quarterback. And maybe it's because he knows now that Lucas isn't better than him. Or because it would have been nice to have Owen in his ring-corner right now when shit was going to hit the fan.

But instead of saying any of this, Nathan shrugs and mutters, "Whatever," before hiking his gym bag up higher on his shoulder. "I just don't agree with you, that's all," he adds grumpily and starts to walk off.

"What does that mean?" Owen scoffs and turns again.

"Lucas is not the golden boy you all think he is," Nate spits angrily. "You say that he treats Brooke so good? Yeah, well I say he doesn't."

He's prepared for the sigh and the eye roll, but Owen shrugs and points towards the truck. His free hand rests gently on his stomach and he drags it casually up and down his chest as he stretches.

"You wanna tag along to KFC and eat something?" he says as if he's not at all bothered. "I'll let you trash Lucas all you want."

And it's not until twenty minutes later, when they're seated in the fast-food restaurant and halfway through a huge bucket of hot-wings, that the subject of Brooke's boyfriend is bought back up.

"So what was that you said about Lucas?" Owen asks with his mouth full of coleslaw. "Is his dick too small?"

The question catches Nathan totally off guard and he almost chokes on a chicken wing. Spitting and coughing he grabs his Pepsi and downs half of it in one go before he can get out a surprised, "What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Well," Owen shrugs seemingly unfazed, "you said that he doesn't treat her well enough and that's the only thing I could think of. Let's face it, the guy is a complete momma's boy." The quarterback licks hot sauce from his fingers and waits expectantly. "What else could it be, Prep? The dude practically lives to carry around Brooke's book bag. He throw's 'I love you's around like sprinkles when she's in the room."

Nathan snorts back annoyed and shoves the bucket towards Owen, suddenly he's not all that hungry anymore.

"Of course the idiot isn't satisfying her," he mutters coldly, "but that's not the problem I'm referring to, okay?"

Owen raises an eyebrow. "Then what, man?"

"Just forget it."

The whole idea of telling Owen what Haley spilled suddenly seems ridiculous. But his college friend trains his gaze on him and repeats the question.

"What?"

There's an underlying seriousness in the single word. As if what Owen really wants to say is 'if you know anything that could hurt Brooke, then you better spill before I break your neck' and if he didn't know the quarterback he might even have felt a little threatened.

"Let's just say that Lucas stays true to the family name and that he could burn her pretty bad."

"How so?" Owen probes further.

Sighing Nathan leans back in his chair, contemplating if there's even a way to tell Owen without having it sound as if he's made the whole thing up.

But nothing but the truth comes to mind, "So, I'm getting tutored by this girl," he starts and scratches his neck absentmindedly, "and she's kinda the loser's best friend…"

Owen brings his hands up onto the table and clasps them together as he leans in to listen closely, but he says nothing.

"It's not that I'm using her or anything like that," he continues and even though they both know it's a huge lie neither of them touches that particular topic, "I just wanted to tick off Lucas so I've been flirting around with her a bit."

"And?" Maybe it's in his head but it feels like Owen suddenly looks a little disapproving. "What? You slept with her?"

"No," he shakes his head, still trying to figure out if he really should be telling Owen this.

A week ago he wouldn't have hesitated, but the last few days he's been thinking. How well does he really know Owen? With what he saw the other night, Owen might be cheating on his own girlfriend.

"Never mind," Nathan mumbles and scrapes his fork over his coleslaw, "getting a bit crowded at the Sigma NU house though, don't you think?" he says without looking up.

"What?" the guy across the table asks in confusion. "I thought we were talking about Lucas?"

"Maybe now we're talking about you…" he trails off.

Owen waits patiently for him to continue, slurping his soda loudly like a little kid, but when Nathan goes silent and just seems to abandon the conversation in favor of making patterns in his mashed potato with the gravy, that's when Owen knows that he needs to deal with the elephant in the room.

Usually Nathan relies on his advice and he likes that the younger guy usually comes to him with what's on his mind almost as if he's the big brother. But since the other night, when Nathan bumped into Elle at the Sigma Nu House, he hasn't spoken to the kid and maybe he should have. His life is going to become all kinds of complicated if Nathan breathes about any of this to Rachel or Brooke.

"Listen ," he mutters and leans in a little over the table. "I love Rachel, okay? Having Elle over the other night meant nothing. You do understand that, right?"

Nathan looks back at Owen over the table and contemplates what the hell he should do. Since when does he care if anyone is cheating? Lucas, Owen or whoever? It's not like he's been the saint of faithfulness himself.

But when it comes down to it, he shrugs and keeps playing with his food and instead of telling Owen the whole story about Lucas, like he had planned, he tests the water with the short version.

"Well, Haley might have mentioned something about Lucas hooking up with some other chick… but it could be just a party rumor."

He wants to see how Owen reacts to the information before he drops what he really knows.

Owen frowns and starts to say something but then his phone buzzes with an incoming message and the quarterback reads it and instantly becomes distracted. While texting back he starts to get up from the table. "Hey, Prep," he says absentmindedly, "Only half of the gossip you hear is true, you know?" and then he mutters an excuse about having to be somewhere and leaves.

And Nathan throws his fork in his mashed potatoes and sighs in frustration.

There is seriously something wrong with Owen Morello. With all the stuff he kept throwing around about looking out for Brooke and Rachel, the guy seems awfully nonchalant when push comes to shove.

It doesn't matter either way. Without the Owens help he just needs to take matters into his own hands. And he has a plan.

---x---

March 7th

The day's almost over by the time Haley finally works up the courage to say what's been on her mind for almost two weeks. She'd been over it a thousand times in her head and every outcome is the same. Ugly, messy, and horrible.

She had vented some of it to Nathan. How much, Haley's not sure because she had been drunk. And although it'd been nice to talk to him, she still felt like an ass the next day because she had spilling secrets about Lucas to him and she's not sure if Nathan is going to them against Lucas in their half-brother warfare.

So now she's turning to a better confidant. One that knows Lucas better. A more neutral one.

"Hey Jake," she asks as they both wipe down the tables in Karen's café, "we're friends, right?" she stands waiting for his reply.

Jake hesitates and slowly brings his rag wiping to a stop, "Uhh," his eyes dart around the empty coffee shop, "yeah?" he replies feeling somewhat confused.

"And friends," she pauses, "they talk about stuff, right?"

He sighs and walks over to the front counter, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she says far too quick to be truthful. Her response is more of a defense mechanism than a straight answer.

"Haley," he frowns, "I thought we were friends."

She drops her dish towel and rolls her eyes, "Well if you're going to just mock me then forget it."

"Alright, I'm sorry," he hides a laugh with a smile. "Come on Hales, talk to me. What's wrong?" He pats the counter for her to sit on her stool across from him.

"I need some advice," she sighs. "I have a friend—"

"Haley," Jake groans, "is this one of things where you tell me your friend has a problem and then it ends up really being about you?" he asks.

"No," she shakes her head.

"Oh," he looks down embarrassed, "then continue."

She rolls her eyes and does as he says.

"My friend, he's being an idiot—a big fat idiot," she growls. "I mean, I may not have the highest opinion of his girlfriend but she doesn't deserve to be double betrayed."

Jake gets the sneaking suspicion that this conversation is about to take an ugly turn. He wants to turn around and walk away, tell her that they're not that good of friends. But she blinks those big brown eyes of hers at him all innocent and concerned.

"Jake," she touches his hand, "I'm worried about Luke, he's not himself and he hasn't been since—"

"Brooke?" he gulps.

She shakes her head, "No."

"Rachel?" he whispers almost desperate.

"Peyton," she spits out angry, "Peyton Sawyer."

"Haley, Luke wouldn't—"

"I saw them Jake!" she shrieks. "In the library during school hours. In broad daylight!"

"Stop," he frowns, "you're jumping to conclusions."

"I knew you wouldn't believe me. No one would believe me!" she shouts out in almost a panic.

"Who else knows?" he asks her, "Haley!"

"Why are you yelling at me?" she cries confused. "Jake, I need to know what to do!"

He sighs, "I'm sorry," his face becomes shameful, "I didn't mean to raise my voice." He motions her around the counter, "c'mere."

She comes closer and allows him to pull her in for a hug. She hates what's happening to Luke, she hates that she thinks he's beyond her help. When did they forget they were best friends? When Jake pulls away and sits in one of the stools, she wishes she could read minds.

Because he looks as if he's just been told his dog was run over.

"Jake," she replies gentle, "are you okay?"

He nods, "I'm fine. Disappointed, but fine," he sighs. "I really thought he was better than that. I thought she was better than that," he adds softly.

"What should I do?" she asks him again and sits down beside him.

Then Jake looks at her again but this time she swears she can see torment in his expression as he says, "There's nothing to do, Hales. It's already done and nothing can be done to undo it."

"But, he has to stop. I mean, he has to at least choose someone. Right?" she wonders aloud.

He shrugs, "Isn't it obvious who he's chosen? If he wanted to be with Brooke, then why is he sneaking around with Peyton?"

The anger in his tone makes her pause. Why is he so upset? Was his faith in Lucas that serious? She wonders but not enough to voice her concerns.

"Just let it play out, Haley," Jake tells her, "if it continues then maybe you could talk to him. Ask him what he's doing, because right now? I can guarantee you that he has no idea what it is he's doing."

When she looks at him she wonders if Jake says this from experience.

---x---

March 9th

The first time Brooke realized that she wanted something more than just random hookups, she told Peyton when she should have just kept her mouth shut. It was a few weeks after she'd met her first brush with something resembling love, Kellan McCarty. Together inside Peyton's room where they once exchanged countless secrets, cried, laughed and sang together. Perhaps Brooke was trying to recreate what once was.

But then Peyton Sawyer threw her head back and laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes, Brooke retracted her statement almost immediately. Which was fine, because shortly after, Kellan was gone and she was back to random hookups. No strings attached, just plain good fun. That is, until the whole mess with Nathan started.

But then she met Lucas, and everything changed. Like, really changed. Enough to make Brooke resurrect those feeling of wanting something more. But this time those feelings intensified into more than she ever thought possible. And when that happened, Brooke told the girl standing beside her as they watched Lucas bend over the hood of her best friend's black Mercury Comet.

So when Peyton lied to her face moments after, Brooke grinned like an idiot and squealed. She had no idea that Peyton and Lucas would soon mess around behind her back. Just like Peyton had no clue that Brooke and Nathan had screwed behind hers.

The tangled webs that weaved were forming knots.

"Tell me you're kidding," Nathan scoffs one day at school while she's putting her books into her locker before class.

"You're going to have to be more specific Nathan. Because contrary to popular belief, I cannot read minds." She smirks and starts to close her locker shut before turning to glare at him.

But Nathan swings the door open again, pointing at all the photo booth pictures taped to the inside. Rows and rows of tiny pictures of herself and Lucas making out in front of the camera and posing with cheesy kissy-faces.

"You're with him, fine. But don't go around telling people you love the loser," he looks at the photos and then down at her in disbelief. "Peyton won't shut the fuck up about it. Every other sentence is about how fucking in love you two are and how sick it makes her. You would think she's jealous or something."

Brooke's eyes flash to her right where Lucas' locker is and when she doesn't see him she bites her bottom lip. He's always at his locker before 3rd period. They're supposed to walk to class together. They'd been doing it since they started dating. Where the hell was he?

"Hey," Nathan pulls her chin around to look him in the face, "let's get out of here."

She blinks and shakes her head. "I have class." She starts in the direction of her calculus class. She's going to be late.

But he swings her back around and soon her back is pressed up against a wall. His lips are on hers and his hands are grabbing her flesh and squeezing tight. She shoves him off and he pulls her closer.

"Stop it!" she screams at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she hisses and looks around at the empty halls.

He swipes the back of a hand over his lips to wipe her lip gloss from his mouth. "Mr. Howard has free period right now. No one will be in his classroom, come on." He pulls her down the hall.

"I don't want to. Even you said that this thing between us was over. Now let me go!" she struggles to free her wrist from his hold. "Nathan, did you hear me? I said I don't—"

But the words die on her lips. Because when he opens the door, the class is not empty.

"Oh my God," Brooke cries and covers her mouth with a hand.

Her heart constricts and she thinks she's going to pass out.

"You still think you love this loser?" Nathan replies pointedly and looks down at Brooke.

"You knew?" she says incredulously.

"The whole fucking school knew," Nathan scoffs and scowls over at the two people scrambling to compose themselves. "How long would you say Peyt? Two? Three weeks?" He raises a curious brow.

"I can't believe I trusted you," Brooke whispers at them. "I can't believe I said I loved you!" she shouts at Lucas angry and turns to leave.

"Brooke!" Lucas' face falls in shame before he races to chase after her.

Nathan's arm darts out to block him at the door, "Where the hell do you think you're going? Your job is here done." He scoffs and smirks at Peyton. "Both of yours." He shakes his head with a smirk and follows after Brooke.

Checkmate.

---x---

Her heels are the only sound in the halls of the south end of Tree Hill High. Loud clanks followed by a quick gasp. Class is still in session and instead of sitting in AP US Government, Rachel Gatina is stalking down the corridor towards the parking lot.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up B, what are you talking about? Who was kissing?" Rachel can barely wrap her mind around a single thought. Brooke is blubbering out inaudible words at warped speed and sobbing out curses left and right.

"P-Peyton and that fucker Lucas!" Brooke cries out in anger. "That two-faced blonde bitch and his slut Peyton!"

Rachel's lips curve into an amused smile. She's proud of her friends colorful choice of descriptive words for the two culprits. This means Rachel's influence has done her friend well. But soon the smirk falls from her mouth when the news starts to sink in.

"And Nathan was there?" she asks.

"Yes that asshole w-was th-there!" Brooke stutters as she fights to regain her composure. "He's known this whole time! He was j-just w-waiting to show me!" she grinds out through clenched teeth and Rachel can almost see Brooke biting down on her lip to hold back another sob.

Rachel closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She's heard the rumors that had been circulating ever since that Raven's party at Nathan's house a few weeks before. The same night Brooke ditched Lucas to 'talk to' Nathan upstairs in his bedroom. Lucas had drunkenly searched everywhere and Rachel had done her job of keeping him distracted until Brooke was back.

But at the time she's been thrown off balance by her sudden issues with Owen being so nonchalant about their relationship to his mother. When Owen had finally built up the balls to ask her what her problem was, Rachel quickly pawned a very drunk Lucas off on Bevin, who passed him onto Theresa who wasn't listening and somehow he'd ended up in a game of spin the bottle with Peyton. All the while, Rachel and Owen were engaged in one legendary verbal brawl complete with their usual outcome of fucking in the back seat of his SUV. She hated how irresistible he was when she'd been drinking—or just in general.

So now Rachel feels slightly responsible for Brooke's current distress.

"Where are they now?" Rachel sighs and runs her fingers through her long scarlet locks.

"How the fuck should I know?" Brooke snaps. "I left them all in that damn room and now I'm waiting for your fat ass to come and get me the hell out of here! Damn you Rachel, I knew we shouldn't have driven to school together today! I knew I should have taken my own car!"

"Chill out," Rachel grimaces, "I'm here." She slaps her phone shut and approaches Brooke with a look of disappointment.

Has she taught Brooke nothing? Never let a guy know he's gotten to you.

"You look like shit," she mutters and presses button on her key ring to unlock the doors on her Denali. "God, you're pathetic," she scowls, "get in before someone sees you." She motions for Brooke to enter through the door she's opened for her.

"Thank you." Is all Brooke manages to whisper as she follows Rachel's orders without a fight. It's because of this that Rachel knows things are worse than she'd first imagined.

Now Rachel feels completely responsible for her friend's passive state—not slightly.

Completely.

---x---

He gets as far as the parking lot before he starts to feel the first wave of guilt. He shouldn't have done things the way he had. He should have sat her down and told her instead of tricking her.

But Nathan has never been one to act according to the feelings of others. All that mattered was how he felt and what the outcome would mean to him. Nathan was selfish. He never told or let anyone else think otherwise. Why lie? It was all about him. All for one and one for Nathan Royal Scott.

"Rachel!" He calls out when he sees her rounding the back of her Denali, keys in hand and blank expression in place.

She knows.

"Rachel, wait. Have you seen Brooke?" he dares to take her wrist and pull her around to face him. "I need to talk to her, its important."

"You have a lot of nerve," she scoffs in disbelief. "Contrary to what your warped mind believes? This is not the way to win her. You handled this situation horribly. I could not have done a shittier job myself." Rachel snatches her wrist free of his hold. "And as for telling you where she is? You can go fuck yourself. You don't deserve to see her."

"Are you mad at me because of how I did this? Or are you mad at the fact that I had the guts to show her the truth? Whereas you're still trying to find excuses on how none of this is your fault?" Nathan sneers. "You are just as responsible for this as I am," he whispers.

Her hand darts out to shove him out of her way before she tells him to go to hell. But Nathan refuses to end the scuffle there. He grabs her arm and pulls her back around to face him once more. Angry at her for allowing this to happen and furious at himself for caring so damn much about any of it.

"Where is she?" he hisses in her face.

"Let go of me," Rachel's eyes blaze with a fire so intense her dark russet irises turn gold like the tip of a flame.

"I mean it Rachel, where is she?" he growls.

"Fu—"

"I'm right here," Brooke's raspy tone makes Rachel's mouth snap shut.

"Brooke, let's go," Rachel shrugs away from Nathan and approaches Brooke to push her back towards the car.

But Brooke's had enough of everyone's damn secrets.

"What is he talking about?" she demands of Rachel.

"Brooke, please. Not here," Rachel shakes her head.

"Why not right here?" Nathan crosses his arms over his chest. "I think here is as good as any," he shrugs.

"Because class is about to be let out in like five minutes you fucking moron and I really don't want them to see what a mess Brooke is!" Rachel points at Brooke and it's then that Nathan realizes how upset she is.

"Brooke," his face falls into a painful frown. He reaches out to touch her face, his thumb rubbing away a streak of mascara. "I'm so sorry baby," he whispers and places his other hand on the other side of her face.

"Don't touch her," Rachel pulls them apart. "You are the reason she's like this!"

"Rachel," Brooke cringes.

"Get in the car Brooke. I mean it." Rachel shoots a look at her best friend. "And you?" she whirls around to Nathan. "I have nothing to say to you because you make me sick."

"Rachel, stop." Brooke whispers but she's unheard by the two arguing teens in front of her. "Rachel…" she tries again.

"She has a right to know! I admit I fucked up when I showed her but you fucked up when you left Lucas with Peyton so you could go fuck Owen!" Nathan roars back.

"You son of a—"

"Rachel!" Brooke screams.

All eyes are on Brooke. Including the ones of the students who have begun to trickle out of class. She wants to demand an explanation right there and then but Rachel is right. Now is not the time. She's too hysterical, she looks like crap and if she looks into Nathan's eyes one more time she's going to lose it.

Rachel takes a step towards Brooke and waits for her to speak again. She doesn't know what to do because she feels as if she's messed up royally. It doesn't help that somehow Nathan knows this and is using it to get back into Brooke's good graces.

"Yeah, B?" she asks wearily as Nathan stands back in wait.

"Take me home," Brooke says and closes herself back up into Rachel's truck.

---x---

As soon as Lucas hears Haley clear her throat behind him in the cafeteria, he knows that its coming. He knows that word has spread about his indiscretions and found the ear of his childhood friend.

And he already knows that she's disappointed–she made that clear days ago when he told her what had happened with Peyton at the party. But when he tiredly turns to face his best friend, he's met with something he's not used to.

Haley looks completely furious.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!" her eyes pierce into his and he cringes. "I cannot believe you!"

Apparently the friend he'd hope on having in her is reduced to an acquaintance at best. Because she looks as if she's disgusted enough by him to reevaluate their friendship entirely.

"I thought you said that it was a mistake when you got with Peyton at the party?" she barks. "And then I see you kissing her in the library and you swore to me that it wouldn't happen again!" People around them turn by the sound of her angry high-pitched tone and he bites his lip in shame but Haley continuous, "Now I hear that you got caught–by Brooke–making out with Peyton in an empty classroom?! Have you completely lost your freaking mind?"

"Hales…" he mumbles, "Keep it down, okay?"

The whole thing is bad enough as it is and he just wants to stay in denial and pretend that it never happened. Pretend that Brooke hadn't walked in on him and Peyton, right in the middle of something totally forbidden. Something that he had been trying to stop–but a heated make-out never the less.

It's just that it's useless to pretend since his entire body is screaming that he's just made the biggest mistake in his life.

For the last three hours he's wanted nothing but to get out of this school-building to go find Brooke and try to explain, but he knows that it's no use. The look in his girlfriend's eyes had been enough to tell him to back off. On top of that, Rachel was probably with her by now, and the redhead would most definitely punch his lights out if he as much as tried to go near Brooke.

You're gonna hurt her. And when you do, I'm going to be the one comforting her and biting my lip so that I don't say I told you so.

"I didn't mean to do it…" he mutters shamefully in a lower voice. "Okay? It was all a huge mistake."

Haley laughs dryly and squints. "So were you drunk today as well, or were you just plain stupid?"

He deserves that one. Deep inside, he knows that he deserves much worse. Because he had been far from comatose at that party where this shit had all started.

He swallows and feels himself shrink under Haley's angry stare. There's nothing to say, yet he hears himself mumbling "I'm sorry, Hales. I'm a jerk…"

A white flag? Apparently not one that's big enough.

"Really? Because to me it sounds like you're an asshole. All this time you've been telling me to keep away from Nathan because you think he's bad news… and then…" she breathes out and seemingly tries to calm down in order not to yell at him. "You know?" she says in a lower voice. "When you got together with Brooke, I knew that it would end badly. I just never imagined that the one to screw it all up would be you!"

Embarrassed he looks down at his feet. He watches his sneakers in silence as if they are the most interesting thing on the planet, while wishing that there was something legit he could say to his defense. Anything. But there isn't.

"I don't…" he starts. "I mean, I know that I shouldn't have done it." His cheeks turn red because whatever he says, it just sounds wrong. Yet it's the only way he can explain it. "It's just that Peyton needs me… Brooke is always so… uhm… so…"

Haley looks back at him expectantly, foot tapping impatiently as always when she's angry or frustrated with him.

"So what?" she urges him on. "So independent? So cheery? So competent? What, Lucas?"

He sighs. Stares at his shoes even more intently. What can he answer to that?

Haley huffs and rolls her eyes. "Okay," she says, "so Brooke might not have been at the top of my list of favorite people. But if you're trying to say that you cheated on your girlfriend—for the third time, that I know of, I might add—just because she can take care of herself, then that's seriously unfair!"

When his best friend puts it like that, his whole defense sounds even more stupid, and he sighs.

"I wish I could take it all back," he mumbles. "I wish I hadn't listened to Peyton in the first place." Looking up to finally meet Haley's eyes, he adds "I should have trusted Brooke more. It's just that sometimes it felt like she was hiding something from me. It felt like she was…"

He stops. He wants to say that sometimes it felt like she was hiding 'someone' from him, but that would just come off as another lame way to try and justify what he's done. Because if he's being honest with himself he has no proof of Brooke ever having cheated on him. He even has to admit that the flirting with Tyler appeared almost harmless.

Haley however reads him like an open book.

"You know what Lucas? If you were worried that Brooke was seeing someone else behind your back, then I guess that you two are even now. I mean, you have mentally cheated on her since you two first got together."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on! You've been comparing her to Peyton in everything." She rolls her eyes and flicks her hair back in a very Brooke'ish way. "You've been measuring them against each other as if this was a competition from the get go. And don't say that isn't true because I know you Lucas."

Touché.

"And if I regret making the wrong choice?" he mutters silently and looks down the now emptying school cafeteria, unconsciously searching for a dimpled brunette that is probably far away by now.

Haley gives him a long look. And then for the first time since she approached him, she puts her hand on his arm and pats it comfortingly.

"Buddy… then I'd say you're screwed."

---x---

He's just out of the shower and it's not really late. Maybe a quarter past nine in the evening. Yet when he hears the knock on the door, he's a little surprised.

He makes it down the stairs without a hurry and saunters over to the door but before he has time to open it, the knock comes again.

"Hey chill, alright! I'm coming!"

Still rubbing his hair with the towel, he swings the door open and he's met by the sight of Brooke. And if the fact that she's even there isn't weird enough, since she hasn't really talked to him since the night at his party two months ago, then the tears certainly do the trick. Brooke Davis is crying her freaking eyes out and she doesn't seem to care that he sees her do it either.

"Ehum… Davis? What are you doing here?" he mumbles, and it worries him a little that she's not looking angrier. He's expected the silent-treatment for weeks after the drama this afternoon. But instead more tears stream down her face and he feels uncomfortable. Crying girls are not on the top of his favorite-list and with Brooke it's even worse because during all the years he's known her, he's never actually seen her cry. Well other than fake tears to get out of detention.

Slightly vulnerable, yes. Bawling like this? Not even close.

She sobs and wipes her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater.

"You… should have… told me…" she gets out. "You all… went behind…my back… and…"

The end of the sentence gets caught in a new batch of tears and he finally snaps out of his confusion and pulls her into the hallway.

"Hey Brooke, breathe…"

Awkwardly he throws an arm around her shoulder and hugs her towards his chest. "Lucas is an ass… But I honestly didn't know how to tell you, okay?"

Everything turned out wrong today. When he outed Lucas and Peyton this afternoon he had thought that Brooke would be furious. That she'd realize what a moron and an asshole the guy is and dump him on the spot.

He hadn't expected her to run off like she did and he never thought it would make her break down like this. Seeing her now makes him think that Rachel had been right for yelling at him. He should have Brooke down and told her in a much more gentle way. It's just that after Owen's comment about not believing everything you hear, he just figured that 'seeing was believing'.

"Both you and Rachel are cowards!" she spits back before a new wave of tears forces her to breathe deeply. "You knew I loved him…"

Feeling a little helpless he rubs Brooke's back and tries to get her to pull herself together. "Come on B, calm down. I mean, what did you expect? They hang out all the time… I told you a hundred times that my brother was bad news…"

Maybe if she would have listened to him, this wouldn't have happened. But she's hardly talked to him at all lately or even looked at him. Since she hooked up with Lucas, Brooke had been off the market in more ways than one. And that makes holding her feel even more intense when she buries her head into the fabric of his t-shirt, suddenly looking so much more innocent and fragile than she has in years.

"It wasn't fair, Nate… It was… I hate you…"

What the fuck? Hate him? How the hell did this end up being his fault?

Brooke still looks crushed and this is probably the first time he's seen her with her make-up messed up and her clothes out of style. He realizes that right now he's actually more pissed at Peyton than at Lucas. It's crappy the way his brother made Brooke think that he was into her, when it was obviously just a case of teenage horniness. But Peyton probably knew that this would crush Brooke and however much of a hypocrite that makes him, he still can't understand how Peyton could go behind Brooke's back like this.

Of course, the worst thing was that everybody had seen the eyes Lucas had been throwing after Peyton, and since Peyton hadn't given it up... well, Brooke was pretty much the safe bet. Now it seems like his blonde ex-girlfriend might have stopped being such a prude.

He places a soft kiss on her hair and rocks her back and forth while contemplating saying sorry. But Nathan Scott never says sorry and at the last second he goes for something completely different, something that he hopes Brooke will recognize as a white flag of peace.

"You wanna get drunk?" he asks in an unusually gentle voice. It's the only thing he can think of, or let's face it, it's what he would have done it he had been humiliated like she had today. Yet he's clearly surprised when her back straightens and she answers;

"Hell yes."

---x---

The dishes clink in the sink as she scrubs the rough side of a sponge against her mother's porcelain plates. The remains of a broken glass lay in shards at the bottom of the trash and the sink is filled with even more expensive delicates. Crystal champagne flutes, hand painted China, special edition plate ware to match what was once used in the white house…

Her mother had once had a habit of staying up late at night watching infomercials while waiting for her father to come. Which resulted in the house always being fully stocked with useless appliances. Although when Rachel was nine, she did enjoy the sounds of the 70's records set.

When the dishes do nothing to help clear her mind she moves onto wiping the counters. Then she's cleaning out the fridge and moping the floor and dusting the living room picture frames. And she does all of this while Owen patiently sits at the kitchen counter flipping through his statistics textbook. Every now and again he'll frown at its pages and give the impression that the complexity of its contents makes no damn sense.

But none of this means anything to Rachel, because she's pissed off.

Who the hell did Nathan think he was blaming the whole Lucas/Peyton debacle on her? So she left the grown ass boy alone for a second. It wasn't her fault that Peyton would choose that time to pounce. It wasn't her fault that Brooke had been preoccupied with Nathan upstairs doing only God knew what. She doesn't buy Brooke's explanation of arguing over being civil.

"Civil, my ass," she mutters under her breath while scrubbing the counter around Owens study area. "There is no damn way she and Nathan were just arguing," she scowls and lifts Owens arm to wipe the counter top.

"Mmm hmm," he agrees and turns a page in his textbook.

"And I did not leave Lucas with Peyton," she growls, "he is not my responsibility and where he puts his pecker is especially not my responsibility."

"Yep, you're right," Owen nods and scribbles down something in his study guide.

She pauses to rinse out her rag, "I know Brooke asked me to keep an eye on him but seriously, come on! I really didn't think leaving him alone for a few minutes while you and I had sex would be such a fucking disaster!"

"You are so right, babe," Owen nods his head without once looking away from his notes.

"Nathan is such an asshole, he knew about this the whole damn time and yet it's my fault?" she scoffs in disbelief, "I barely found out about a rumor that something may have been going on last week. But I really didn't see the reason in getting B all worked up if it turned out to be crap. You know?"

"Uh, huh," Owen utters.

Rachel drops her cleaning gear into the sink, "Are you even listening to me?!" she screams out at him angrily.

Owen's pen slides free from his fingers and rolls into the middle of his book, then he sighs and looks up at his lovely girlfriend. "Nathan blames you for leaving Lucas in Peyton's care while you and I left the party to have sex. But you say Lucas is grown up enough to take care of himself. You didn't think Peyton would take advantage of him while Brooke was just upstairs arguing with Nathan—an act that you don't believe they were doing. You just recently heard a rumor that Luke and Peyton may have had a thing on the side but you didn't want to worry little B about it until you were sure it was true."

His brow rises as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair, "How was that for listening?" his smirk makes her want to hit him. "And I even got a few sections answered in my study guide," he winks.

"Don't be such a smart ass," she scowls with narrowed eyes.

He chuckles and stands up from his seat to circle the counter and wrap his arms around her from behind. "What happened was not your fault," he kisses her neck, "okay?" his lips move upwards to whisper into her ear.

She wants desperately to believe him. But she can't, Brooke had specifically asked her to watch Lucas and what had she done?

"Stop," Owen growls suddenly and tightens his grip around her, "stop blaming yourself for this. Look, what Nathan did was shitty. He shouldn't have revealed something this big to Brooke in the way he did. He could have talked to you first or God forbid—asked Lucas or Peyton."

Rachel snorts. "Yeah, right."

"Brooke doesn't blame you," he tells her.

"You don't know that," Rachel replies, "she hasn't spoken to me since we got home and she left shortly after that."

"She just needs to clear her head first," his words do nothing to help calm her, "come on, Raye. If Brooke were mad, don't you think she would be yelling and screaming at you right now?"

"Yeah," Rachel rolls her eyes, "you're right. But…" she bites her bottom lip, "I can't help but feel like I let her down somehow."

Owen kisses the side of her face, "Babe, you couldn't let that girl down if you tried. She's your weak spot, Palomita."

"I hate when you call me that," she mumbles.

"Little dove? Why? I think it's cute," he kisses her cheek again, "just like you're acting right now. All concerned for little B," he chuckles in her ear.

"Shut up," she laughs and turns around in his arms.

He leans down and she lifts her chin, "Kiss me," he smirks.

"No, you kiss me," her grin widens.

"Mmm… okay," he gives in and does as she asks.

---x---

They're in the back of his car, drunk and half naked, and his hands are igniting fires everywhere on her skin. She's not crying anymore. She stopped after the third tequila, but the pain still lingers. It hurts so fucking much that Lucas beat her in her own game. Lucas was supposed to be the one to 'save her', to take her away from all the drinking and the parties and the slutty rumors. He was the first guy she had trusted enough to give her heart to, and now she knows firsthand how immensely stupid that move had been.

"I give a rat's ass about you too…"

Yeah right.

She should have known that she's not cut out to be the loved girlfriend. She's just the sexy and slutty cheerleader that all the boys wanted to get with and she shouldn't try to step out of character. Just like Nathan said after the third drink, she should have known that Lucas just wanted to get into her pants. What else?

If nothing else, then she should have learned from her collision course with Nathan. He and Lucas shared the same genes after all.

Her hand finds Nathan's belt-buckle and while his hands get reacquainted with her naked upper body, she pulls the belt out of the loops of his jeans. He mumbles stuff silently against her skin and with one hand working his zipper she grabs his hair with the other hand and moans.

She might be drunk but even in the daze of the alcohol she realizes that her body has missed Nathan's touch. And when he angles them so that his weight rests on top of her and bites down on that sensitive spot on her neck, the images of Peyton and Lucas kissing disappear so far back into her mind that she can breathe again. Clenching her eyes shut to get rid of the last memories, she rakes her nails down his shoulders and grabs his back by sliding her fingers into the valley between his back-muscles.

"More…" she breaths and pulls him closer, "I need… more."

She had given up sex with Nathan for the sake of the stupid blond brooder and it had blown up in her face. In a twisted way it therefore feels right to do this. Let the anger and frustration out by going back to fucking Nathan, because nothing would kill Lucas more.

And that's what she holds onto when she slides his jeans down over his ass. A million tequila-shots hadn't managed to rid her of the humiliation she feels over believing Lucas' lies. But Nathan's hands can.

It's been too long and at least with Nate it's honest. He wants her body and he shows it. He never tried to mask it up with pretty words and lies about love.

"Oh fuck…" he grunts when she presses her pelvis against his hard-on and he breathes heavily in her ear. The sound makes her press even closer to him but she knows that this is bad. That she really shouldn't do this. When she got serious with Lucas, she had made a silent wove to never have sex with Nathan Scott again. It's just that her drunk mind and broken heart needs to erase Lucas. Needs to feel something else…

Something real.

And this, right here, is real. What Nathan is giving her might be jaded and dirty and purely physical but it's not stuffed with false promises.

He curses again, kind of as if he too is trying not to get pulled into this, and then flips them over on the leather seat so that she's on top.

"I wanted to do this when I'm sober, Brooke… this won't last long… just don't –"

He doesn't get further because she grinds into him again and his sentence fades out in a long strained breath.

"Don't talk so much," she whispers. "Just do me."

Somewhere in the back of her blurry mind she wonders why she doesn't miss Lucas' gentle touch and soft lips, but when Nathan grabs her harder and hisses "I fucking adore your ass" then she forgets Lucas completely. This is what she needs tonight. Hardcore sex. Not sweet words and soft caresses that mean nothing when it comes down to it.

It's not until afterwards - when she struggles to regain her breathing and Nathan drapes an arm over her - that she thinks about Lucas again. She fights it but her mind still wanders and for the millionth time she questions what she did wrong. What it was that she didn't have. And maybe Nathan sees her inwardly battle because he repositions himself so that he can look at her and asks, "Hey, what's wrong?"

It's dark in the car and she's thankful because any trace of pity in his eyes and she'd be back to tears. Instead she reaches for her clothes and whispers, "Nothing." But he grabs her wrist and stops her.

"Listen," he mumbles, "I'm really sorry for what happened. I mean, I'm not sorry that you realized what a complete sucker Lucas is, but I am sorry for the way I told you. Okay?"

His arm is still circled around her and his fingers still move somewhat unconsciously over her skin.

"Its fine," she answers with a much calmer voice that what she expected to manage, "You got what you wanted, right? Lucas and I are over."

"It was never like that."

She can hear the frown in his voice and she's sober enough to know that she's being unfair. It wasn't Nathan's fault that she had been silly and naïve enough to get fooled by Lucas, just as little as it had been Rachel's fault for not looking after Lucas at the party.

It's just that right now she's too vulnerable to try and explain this to him.

"How long have you known?" she asks instead and Nathan's fingers stops. He pauses a little too long before answering and she bites her lip in wait.

"There was a rumor going around right after the party," he mumbles. "You know, after the Sherman Oaks game? But I thought that it was just what it was, a rumor."

He shifts on the seat and unconsciously he runs his fingers through her hair. "But then Vegas told me about it a couple of days after and according to him, people had seen Peyton kiss Lucas," he lowers his voice because he doesn't really want her to hear him. It'll only make her sad again. But at the same time he knows that if he lies, then she'll hate him for it. "Vegas said that they'd been seen slipping into a guestroom and –"

He stops and Brooke seems to be frozen in the same spot.

"And?" she whispers.

He swallows silently because he's just realized that Brooke could blame him for this. If he hadn't asked her to come talk to him, then this might not have happened.

"And they were in there for a long time."

He lets that sentence speak for itself and keeps brushing his fingers through her hair. He says nothing about Haley and what she told him. For now this is enough.

And maybe Brooke's even grateful for the way she knows that he's filtering the information. Because right now she has two choices if she wants to escape a new wave of humiliated tears: either let that straying hand of Nathan's keep touching her so that the thoughts of Lucas betrayal stays in the back of her head or go home and down the rest of her father's scotch. And for some reason – she's not sure she could explain it even to herself if she was sober – the first alternative doesn't seem fair to Nathan.

So instead she detangles from his hold and starts getting dressed. He sighs and does the same and minutes later they're both buckled in, in the front seat, and Nathan starts the car to drive her home to Rachel's house. That is, until about halfway there when she decides she wants to go home. He looks at her funny, 'home' is not quite the word he'd call that house but he takes her there nonetheless.

No words are needed. To this boy she doesn't have to explain that although her own house is empty and that she doesn't like to stay there alone, she really doesn't want to face Rachel after what she's done with Nathan. She also doesn't want to see Rachel and Owen interact, because even though seeing them together usually makes her feel comfortable and safe, tonight it would just make her feel sad.

And when Nathan pulls onto the road that will lead her to the house with the infamous red door, she is thankful that she doesn't have to say, 'thanks for the drinks and the sex,' and he doesn't have to lie and tell her that he'll call her tomorrow.

He knows that this night will stay a secret, just like every other hook-up they've had in the past, and he knows that they'll most likely never talk about this again.

But when she slips out of his car and onto the Davis driveway, she does tell him one thing.

"I don't trust you anymore."

She doesn't trust Lucas either of course, but that's beside the point.

As she closes the car door she can hear Nathan mutter, "He's such an idiot…" or at least that's what it sounds like he says.

She figures that he means 'for giving up a great piece of ass' because this has nothing to do with her heart. Lucas couldn't see her heart even though she practically threw it in his face.

And Nathan never wanted it in the first place.

---x---

Q: Would you tell your friend that their boyfriend/girlfriend was cheating on them?

/L & E