A/N: Happy new year to you all. A big thank you to those that reviewed since the last chapter was posted. I tried to get this up sooner but the festive period stood in my way. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and happy reading.

Closer

Nathan was walking through the school hallway with Tim. He was droning on about some girl that he had hooked up with but Nathan, along with anybody else that Tim had bragged to, knew that he was still a virgin. Nathan didn't question him; he just let him continue. There was no reason for him to burst whatever bubble Tim was living in; despite his most annoying moments, he was his friend.

It was a daily occurrence that whenever Nathan walked through school, people would always say hello; this was mostly by people he didn't know. This wouldn't bother him normally but lately he felt suffocated by the attention he was getting, especially from Melissa and Rachel. He normally wouldn't say no to any attention from the female population, but the two of them seem to be taking things a bit too far. Without them knowing about each other, they were playing a tug of war game for his attention. It didn't help his start to the morning when one of them called him. "Nathan, can I have a quick word please?"

He turned to the voice of the female standing at the door of her classroom. He rolled his eyes as he turned back to Tim. "I'll catch up with you." He walked into the class. "Take a seat." Melissa instructed.

"I thought I was clear on everything before." Nathan said, thinking that once again Melissa was trying to get them to resume their affair. He didn't try to hide his frustration with her; he was tired of her.

"This is about school, Nathan and your grades."

Nathan noticed the seriousness in her voice and he took a seat as he questioned her. "What about them?"

"Your last assignment has dropped your average close to the required grade you need to continue playing basketball." Melissa walked round her desk and sat behind it, as she continued. "If you don't get more than a B on your next one, you won't be eligible to play."

Worry painted itself on Nathan's face. Melissa's words echoed in his head. The reality that his dream could be halted hadn't hit him yet; he was still processing it all in as Melissa continued.

"A few hours of tutoring from me and we can get your average back up."

"Wait a moment, tutoring with you." He questioned, sounding bemused. The last thing he wanted to do was to spend any alone time with the teacher.

"Yes, I've devised a plan of action."

Nathan got up from his seat. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. I need to go." He quickly ran out of the classroom, not caring who he was bumping into through the hallway. He ignored everyone that was calling out to him as he quickly made his way out of school before the first bell rang. Haley had noticed his quick escape but couldn't reach him in time before he sped off in his car.

*****

Brooke was sitting on her bed contemplating whether or not to open the last bottle of alcohol. She had an emergency bottle that was hidden away from the box that Nathan had emptied. She knew that if she started, she would want more and that would mean leaving the house, which she wasn't prepared to do at the present moment. She had tried to go to school, unsuccessfully. This time she couldn't put on her fake face and thought it was best for her to stay at home and wallow in self pity. She felt that she needed at least another day to get herself together before facing the world again. She heard a voice that she didn't think she would hear and even questioned her sanity for a second. "Hey."

Brooke looked up and tried to hide the hope that she felt when she saw who was standing at her door. "Hi." She replied back.

"Maria let me in. I hope that's ok." Peyton said timidly. She had been driving around, thinking things through and she felt it was best for her to finally talk to Brooke.

"Yeah, of course its ok." Brooke put the bottle down and tried to fix herself on the bed.

Peyton slowly walked inside the room but still stood near the door. She wanted to keep her distance but to also be near her escape route, if needed. From the moment she decided to go and see and Brooke, until this moment, she had thought of what words she was going to start with. The words she did say were never part of the plan. "I'm not like you."

Brooke was left baffled by the four words that Peyton had muttered. "What do you mean?"

Peyton put her hand through her blonde curls, as she searched for the words to start her explanation. "You've always had guys around you and been with guys until now, but I'm not like you." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm gay and you're not. Things weren't as simple for me. I guess it's taken me a while to sort it all out in my head. If there's one thing that I owe you, its an apology for my behaviour before this happened."

"Is this why you were acting jealous about Jake?" Brooke questioned, trying to understand what was going through Peyton's head.

Peyton nodded. "I guess I let my insecurities get the better of me."

"Have you just come out to me?" Brooke asked, getting up from her bed. She slowly moved towards the blonde.

"Yes. I'm just wondering when you're experimental faze is going to end. I guess I've just been waiting for you to tell me that we are a mistake and go back to guys. You've pulled me in deep and I don't want to get hurt again." Peyton started feeling nervous and kept looking at her hands.

"What makes you think that it's an experiment for me because it's not and never has been." Brooke said with force, trying to make Peyton understand. She lightly touched Peyton's shoulder but she couldn't take the touch of the brunette and pulled away, stepping towards Brooke's table. "Jake still has feelings for you. I can see it in the way he looks at you."

Brooke was trying to hide her frustration but she wasn't impressed with Peyton mentioning Jake again. "You're missing the point. I don't have feelings like that for him. I only think of him as a friend. He asked me out the other day and I told him I was already seeing someone. I nearly told him about us." Brooke started to feel braver and she took a step towards where Peyton had moved. "I know last year I broke your heart and I also broke mine in the process." She pulled Peyton's hand and placed it on her chest, while she was started to well up with tears. "You hold my heart. It only beats this way for you."

Peyton's other hand wiped some tears from Brooke's face and pulled her closer, kissing her softly on the lips. She pulled away and engulfed her into a hug, kissing the top of her shoulder. Brooke sighed. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I only went out with Jake because I was confused about my feelings. The other guys were meaningless and I thought that was the reason I didn't feel anything for them. I knew that if I couldn't feel anything for a great guy like Jake, then I needed to finally admit to how I felt about you."

"You had feelings for me that long ago." Peyton pulled away surprised.

"Seriously, did you think I hated you just because you bumped into me?" Brooke couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes, there were many reasons why I thought you would never like me like that. For the record you bumped into me, not the other way round." Peyton said, smiling for the first time since she reached Brooke's house.

"Well now that I've finally told you that I've had feelings for you since sophomore year, you have to tell me how long ago it was for you." Brooke poked Peyton in her waist.

Peyton smiled, remembering that day. "The first day of high school. You dropped your pens in class and I picked them up for you. You smiled at me and ever since that day, I had butterflies around you." Peyton started blushing while Brooke smiled. She pulled her in for a kiss.

"Are we ok now?" Brooke asked, not wanting to assume anything.

Peyton rested her forehead on Brooke's. "Sure, but please no more kissing Jake."

"I promise." Brooke sealed her promise with a kiss.

Peyton pulled away and looked at the bottle of alcohol left on Brooke's bed. "I'm also asking you to please cut out the drinking. You're worrying people that care for you, especially me. Promise me that you will."

"Ok." Brooke simply answered, knowing that it was time to get her act together, regarding the drink.

A thought flashed into Peyton's mind that she had considered before Jake's party. "Come away with me for a few days. Just pack up some things."

There was no hesitation in Brooke's answer, as she knew it would be what both girls needed after the roller coaster of emotions they had both been through. "Ok, but where are we going?"

"I'll take care of that. Just make sure you're ready for me to pick you up in two hours." Peyton kissed Brooke before heading back to her place.

*****

Lucas had been driving round during the lunch hour, in hope of trying to find Nathan. Haley had told him about Nathan running out of school and he offered to look. He walked past his brother's car and approached him. "This is where I usually come to think. Never thought I would find you here."

"I can see why, with the river and the basketball court." Nathan was practicing free throws, as Lucas walked up to him. He didn't stop; he would just make the shot, collect the ball and shoot again.

"Haley was asking about you. She said you looked panicked. Is everything ok?" The older Scott asked concerned.

"Everything's fine Luc." Nathan replied while he continued to take shots.

Lucas walked underneath the basket to stop Nathan from collecting it. "You and I both know that isn't the case, so why don't you tell me the truth this time."

Nathan looked at his brother for the first time since they started the conversation. He had no intention of telling anybody about his problem but he felt compelled to spill to his brother. "Lets just say that I'm not doing so well with the grades and if I don't do better, then I'm off the team."

Nathan didn't need to show his disappointment, as Lucas knew how much he would be hurting if basketball was taken away from him. "I guess you're gonna be in some need of tutoring."

"Yeah, Miss McIntyre has offered already." Nathan said letting the words sound as bitter as he was feeling.

Lucas was surprised that the teacher had offered, as it wasn't usual practice for the teachers to do. "I was actually gonna suggest Haley tutor you."

Nathan looked at Lucas, thinking that his suggestion was better than the current offer he had been given. He wanted to avoid any opportunity for Melissa to spend any alone time with him and Haley seemed the perfect solution to help him out of his predicament. "I think I might go with your suggestion."

"Good. Fancy a game of 1 on 1 then." Lucas started to bounce the ball.

"I wouldn't want to embarrass you but if you're sure." Nathan stripped the ball from Lucas when he was bouncing it and turned to smile.

Lucas shook his head and took up a position to block Nathan's next move, as he was looking for a way to take a shot. "Here was me thinking I was going to go easy on you little bro."

Nathan took a shot at the basket and it went in. He grinned at his brother. "Game on Luc."