I know it's later than planned but here it is, an early Christmas present. Good or bad you tell me lol. I hopefully will get a bit more writing done over the holidays and am going to try and update my others as I know some of you are waiting and have been so patient with me. And before you start reading I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and thank you all for your lovely reviews. I hope you all get what you wished for.

"This has to be some sort of joke right? I mean this can't be right." Brooke muttered as she flicked through the pages once more.

Rachel shrugged not really sure what to say to the shocked brunette.

"He wouldn't do this to me. He just wouldn't." Brooke uttered whilst shaking her head in complete disbelief. This was just all one big dream and she was going to wake up any second, or so she kept thinking and hoping.

It just couldn't be happening

But it was.

"Look at it this way, you got what you wanted. He wants you, you want him, simple." For someone who claimed to enjoy surprises Brooke was certainly not enjoying this one.

"It's not though, I'm more confused that ever. I don't want us, not like this. This is all wrong."

"Why?" Rachel challenged her. "Why is it so wrong? A guy writing a book declaring his love for a girl sounds pretty romantic to me."

"Why is this wrong? Let's start with the fact that the whole world or at least all the residents of Tree Hill know how he feels about me before I do. Oh and then we have the fact that I have been living in his apartment and he hasn't said a word, not a word Rachel. He could have at least warned me." The brunette ranted, now standing on her feet.

"Maybe he should have but don't use this as an excuse not to tell him how you feel." The redhead urged, knowing the brunette all too well.

"I can't believe you just said that. I'm not using it as an excuse. He lied to me Rachel AGAIN!"

"So what? You and Lucas, that's it, finito, kaput?"

"Rachel. He put me through hell, I let him go and he chose to be with Peyton. He can't do this to me again, he can't just turn around and say that they were just meant to be friends. That means I went through all of that for nothing. At least when I thought they were happy together then I could attempt to deal with that. This is so much worse."

"How is this worse? The guy you love is not in love with your then best friend and wants to be with you. What is there to think about?" Rachel tried simplifying the matter. She didn't know what she had to do to make Brooke see sense.

"You've changed your tune. Didn't you say you were rather shocked that I would give him another chance?" Brooke snapped as she paced up and down the room.

"I didn't say it would be wrong to give him another chance. I just said I was rather shocked. I know you Brooke, this is what you do. You hide your feelings and you run. And you're about to do it again."

"So if you were me you would give him another chance?" Brooke turned and locked eyes with the redhead as she awaited her response

Rachel didn't hesitate in answering. "This isn't about me. Remember, I was the one trying to seduce him when he was obsessed with you, turns out he still is. He turned me down then and if I was single which I'm not he would turn me down again now." Rachel predicted. Lucas's heart belonged to one girl and one girl only, and her name was Brooke Davis, nothing would change that. If only Brooke could see that.

"He didn't turn Peyton down though did he!" Brooke countered, her eyes still on the flamed haired girl.

"Do you remember what you said to me when they got together?" Rachel asked.

Brooke didn't answer. She knew what was coming.

Rachel took the brunette's silence as her cue to continue. "You told me you were happy. You told me now he was free and could finally decide who he wanted to be with. It's you Brooke and it has been all along. I just don't understand why you are finding this so hard." Rachel said now getting rather frustrated with the brunette.

She wanted to see Brooke happy and the more Brooke ran from her feelings the longer she would remain unhappy, but Brooke didn't realise that. It was like the brunette had put up a brick wall that was standing in between her and happiness, and every time she got close to knocking down the wall she ran away, each time further than before.

"Because he lied to me Rachel, and so did Haley, and Nathan, and Peyton and so did you." Brooke exclaimed and pointed at the redhead. "Everyone I cared about lied to me. And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's liars."

"Yeah you're right I did lie. We all did. But we were trying to protectyou." The redhead reasoned. She was not about to apologise for something she wasn't sorry for. If she had told Brooke then chances were, that Brooke would not be back in Tree Hill now, and she wouldn't have gotten so close to telling Lucas how she really felt.

"Didn't you think I had a right to know. I bet you were all having a good laugh behind my back. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have come back here. I thought I was coming up to see my friends, turns out all I came back to was a town full of liars." Brooke said picking up the book and sliding it into the designer bag. She then proceeded to head towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Rachel called after the brunette, immediately getting up and following her.

"I don't know and I don't care." Brooke retorted refusing to stop for the persistent redhead as she stormed out the front door.

"I really don't think you should be driving. You're upset and you're angry, why don't I drive you. Wherever you want." Rachel yelled as she ran after the brunette. "Damn heels" Rachel muttered looking down at her footwear as she stumbled down the path. And much to her delight when she looked back up the brunette had stopped in her tracks.

"You want to drive so much? Here!" She yelled throwing the keys at the redhead. Rachel knelt down to pick the keys up which had landed a matter of yards from her. "It's all yours. And when you're done you can give it back to Lucas for me." The brunette turned and walked away once more.

"Brooke come on, don't be like this." Rachel shouted after her friend but to no avail.

"Just leave it Rachel. I need to be on my own." The brunette didn't look back, just continued to walk, her destination unclear. The only thing she knew right now was that she had to get away, away from all the lies and betrayal. She needed to be somewhere where she felt safe.

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"We should probably put James to bed… " Haley stated, her eyes drifting up to the glance at the clock on the wall, as she placed the last remaining plate into its rightful place. Nathan nodded from his seat.

The doorbell rang. But before the words had a chance to leave Haley's mouth, Nathan spoke.

"Why don't I take James and you can get the door." He suggested as he rose to his feet and went in search of his son who was probably all too aware that it was past his bed time.

"Sure, I'll be up in a second" She answered making her way to the door as fast as she could if only to stop the persistent ringing.

Haley quickly opened the door but she soon wished she hadn't "Oh it's you." Haley stated coldly as she began to close the door before the woman had a chance to speak.

"Haley wait" Rachel spoke, desperation clear in her voice. Haley lifted her head rather taken aback by the redhead's pleading tone and as much as she wanted to shut the door and go upstairs to put her son to bed she found herself somewhat intrigued by what the redhead had to say.

"Give me one good reason not to slam this door in your face?" Haley asked.

"It's about Brooke" Rachel answered quickly through fear of the blonde slamming the door on her, although she already had her foot placed ready to prevent that if Haley tried..

"Go on…" Haley urged, not wanting to spend a second longer than she needed to with the redhead. Nathan was probably already reading James a story by now and here she was standing at the door talking to someone she couldn't even bare to share the same oxygen with.

"Look I know you don't like me but you really need to let me in, it'simportant" Rachel stressed. She had always been good at reading people but on this occasion she was going to have to admit defeat. There was no doubt the blonde hated her, not surprisingly after she had gone after the woman's husband but the redhead had one thing in her favour. And that was that she knew how close Haley was to Brooke. The question was, did Haley's love for Brooke outweigh Haley's hate for the redhead. Rachel stood awaiting the answer to that very question.

And after a few seconds had passed she had it.

Haley reluctantly opened the door wider for the redhead to enter. She hadn't seen or spoken to the redhead in a very long time ignoring sightings of her around town. So for the redhead to not only speak to her but to come to her house and expect to come in it had to be something big. And if the redhead was simply wasting her time then she would have no problem in showing her the door and helping her out.

"Brooke is ok isn't she?" Haley asked getting straight to the point.

"I wish I knew" The redhead mumbled as she made herself comfortable.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haley asked beginning to worry.

"Haley she knows" The redhead stated.

"Knows what?"

"Sheknows" Rachel reiterated knowing there was no need for further detail. She turned away preparing herself for the blonde's reaction.

"But how? Did Lucas tell her?" Haley asked her voice getting louder and more panicky. Last time she had seen Lucas he certainly had not been on the verge of telling Brooke about the book, at least not yet anyway.

"It was my fault." Rachel blurted out before Haley could ask her anything more. She wasn't sure why she was admitting this to a girl who could not stand her to begin with, maybe it was due to the guilt she was feeling and the fear of what may happen as a result of her actions.

"Why am I not surprised? Of all the dumb things you have done I think this might actually top the list" Haley tone changing from one of worry to anger in a matter of seconds. She knew the redhead was not to be trusted and Rachel had proven her right once again.

"I thought she knew" Rachel said in her defense but knew it was of little use. It didn't change what had happened or what was about to happen and the worst thing was knowing it was all because of her. She had potentially destroyed one of her closest friends chance of true happiness at a time when Brooke was finally coming round to the idea that maybe she had given up on Lucas too soon.

"You thought wrong." Haley bitterly responded.

"Tell me what I can do to fix this?"

"You can't fix it. Don't you get that!" Haley took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. '"They could have been really happy together, got married, kids, they could have had it all. But thanks to you they may never have that. How does that make you feel?

"Awful" Rachel admitted as she slouched further down into the couch.

"Well I'm sure it's not half as bad as Brooke is feeling right now" Haley responded refusing to feel any sympathy for the woman sitting in front of her. After all, it wasn't Rachel that was going to have to pick up the pieces. Brooke was no doubt crushed and as for Lucas, she couldn't even begin to imagine how he would react.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked standing in the door frame. He had just started to read James his story when he had heard the raised voices. He had tried to ignore it but curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had told his son he would finish the story the next night instead.

"Ask her" Haley sighed not sure what to do with the redhead anymore. Part of her just wanted to strangle her but now was not the time for that. Right now she had to focus on Brooke and Lucas, two of her closest friends, one of which was probably already in pieces and the other which was soon to follow in the same direction. "I guess I'll go call Lucas" Haley said making a swift exit and leaving her husband with the redhead.

"You're wife doesn't like me very much does she?"

"No" Nathan answered bluntly.

"You like me though right?"

"Rachel what is this? What are you doing in our house?" Nathan asked not having a clue what was going on but picking up on the obvious tension he had felt between the redhead and his wife.

"I did something today" Rachel began as she fought the urge to lie, run, hide, anything to get away from this mess she had caused.

"And…"

"I told Brooke about the book" She paused briefly before continuing, "And I know I shouldn't have but you have to believe when I say it was an accident" The redhead waited. For something, a look maybe or perhaps the odd word or two, anything would do. But she got something she didn't expect.

Silence

"Aren't you going to say something? Aren't you angry? Aren't you going to tell me how stupid I am?"

"I'm not angry" Nathan stated plainly as he looked up at the redhead. It was as their eyes met that he saw something, something he didn't expect to see.

Fear

She was genuinely concerned about Brooke, and he knew at that moment that the redhead had never meant to hurt anyone, she had never meant to tell Brooke, that much was obvious. The guilt was clearly eating the girl up. How could he possibly feel anger towards her? The only person he was angry at right now was Lucas, he had told his brother countless times it would all end in tears, that he should tell Brooke the truth, let her hear it from him rather than some stranger on the street, but his brother had been a coward. Decided to take the easy way out, and now he was suffering the consequences, and unfortunately so was Brooke.

"You're wife sure was" Rachel muttered.

"Well maybe it was good for the truth to finally come out. No more secrets, no more lies, no more walking on eggshells, scared you might say something you shouldn't." Nathan took a seat opposite the redhead.

"So what? You're happy?" Rachel asked clearly taken aback his reaction.

"Happy? You are joking right?" Nathan asked clearly amused by her question.

"But you said-" Rachel began but was quickly cut off.

"What I said was that I wasn't angry, and that I was glad the truth was finally out. But right now Rachel one of my oldest friends, and your friend too, is probably in pieces, so no Rachel I'm not happy."

"Lucas is on his way over" Haley said as she re-entered the room, clearly unaware of the conversation her husband had just had with the redhead.

"What did you tell him?" Rachel asked her eyes firmly on the blonde.

"You know you are something else. Here we are worried sick about Brooke and all you care about is yourself and what other people think of you" Haley said rolling her eyes at the sheer audacity of the girl sitting on her couch. Did that girl care about no one other than herself? "And to answer your question I didn't tell him anything." Haley added.

"Youdidn't?" Rachel asked rather confused as to why the blonde would protect her. But then she caught Haley's smile and she knew whatever the blonde was about to say, it wouldn't be good.

"No. You can explain to Lucas why the love of his life is currently missing and why his relationship with her may be over but it's even begun. I'm sure he would much rather hear it from you after all" Haley smiled sweetly and made her way over to the cabinet to get a glass and pour herself a drink.

The night had only just begun.

So that's it. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for an update. Please review. And once again have a great Christmas.

x x x