I Know What You Did Last Night

Brooke glanced at her watch for the third time since she'd arrived at Chacha's and sighed loudly. Leave it up to Nathan to be unusually rude, cryptic, and late all in the span of forty minutes. She sighed again and surveyed the empty tables around her. Either Chacha's didn't get good business on saturday afternoons or there was another mexican restaurant somewhere in town giving away free food because the place was absolutely dead. Which was surprising considering the restaurants high reviews.Maybe they needed to hire a new cooking staff or maybe... Brooke sighed loudly. She was trying so hard not to think about the previous night that even her thoughts were beginning to sound lame. Maybe if she ordered something else...

She pushed aside the drink she already had and contemplated ordering an appetizer as she picked up a menu and glanced at its contents, but although her eyes were focused intently on its main course items, her mind was quickly moving on to another wavelength entirely.

No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop thinking about Lucas and Haley. Like a tape set on repeat, the turbulent night kept on replaying itself over and over in her head. Like a dramatic scene in a bad movie. Or a good one, depending on how you saw it. Brooke frowned.The thing was, she wasn't sure how she saw it. There were moments when she thought of how easily she'd managed to weave deception into Lucas and Haley's relationship so effortlessly, shattering their fairytale world completely and a deep sense of satisfaction twisted around inside of her.

But then she remembered Haley's tears. And the confused look in Lucas eyes after Nate had stalked out of her room...

And her pride turned into something else. Something very,very similiar to unhappiness.

And shame.

She shook herself from her thoughts and flipped her hair over her shoulders restlessly.What was she thinking! Who cared how Lucas and Haley felt, they got what they deserved! All she'd done was help what they had coming to them, along. They'd kept a huge, heartbreaking secret from everyone they professed to love not even telling those who should've known--those who needed to know--the truth! Brooke frowned. No, she had no reason to feel bad. Lucas and Haley were over but they only had themselves to blame for it. And she hoped they would...over and over and over again. She smiled smugly.She would just sit back and watch.

"What's so funny?"

Brooke jumped as Nathan sat down across from her, his eyes quizzical and waiting.She hadn't seen him walk up and his silence unnerved her.

"Umm...nothing. I was just thinking about...about how funny life can be sometimes. When you least expect it to be, you know?"

Nathan shook his head. "No I don't know." he said tonelessly. "Explain it to me Brooke."

Brooke frowned slightly. There it was again. That tone, the same tone he'd had over the phone. One of barely suppressed anger and derision. She'd dismissed it as displaced anger after their abrupt phone conversation but now she wasn't so sure. The way he was looking at her didn't seem misplaced at all. In fact he seemed very focused.She didn't understand it but it was slightly unsettling. It was almost as if he knew something that she didn't. Talk about role reversal...

She stared at him and relaxed her face, forcing a look of sadness and tired bewilderment to her features.

"I don't really know how." she said softly. "I guess it's the way you think that something or someone is a certain way only to find out that they are completely different than what you thought..." She shook her head. "It can be really mindblowing!"

Nathan nodded slowly. "I know exactly what you mean." he said.

Brooke looked at him. "Yeah, I guess you do." she said sadly. "Probably more than anyone I know."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I mean I once knew this really gorgeous girl who had pretty much everything she wanted. I mean, she had it all! Looks, personality, intelligence...and I guess I thought that made her happy you know? Or at least happier than most people."

Brooke nodded intently and Nathan continued.

"But you see, deep down she wasn't very happy at all. Deep down she was twisted and dark, and nothing--not money, or popularity, or friends that loved her," he paused and looked her in the eye." not even leadership of an entire cheerleading squad or being class president could fill this girl with happiness."

Brooke stopped nodding and stared at him.

"No, only lies and deceit could make this girl smile. Causing pain was the only thing that got her off." He paused. "Oh. Well-- that and destroying her friends lives."

Brooke's frown grew dangerously dark. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you are not talking about me Nathan."

Nathan stared at her. "Um, wrong. Guess again."

Brooke's mouth fell open. "What the hell is your problem! I know that you didn't have a good night last night but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on me!"

Nathan shook his head. "Oh cut the bull Brooke!" he said angrily. He looked her in the eye."I know."

Brooke's breathing stilled for the barest of moments but she widened her eyes in confusion and looked at him without flinching."What do you mean, you know?" she asked. "You know what?"

Nathan shook his head slowly. "Wow." he whispered. "You really have this lying thing down, don't you?"

Brooke felt her heart drop into her Steve Madden pumps. He knew! Somehow Nathan knew what she'd done and to say that he was pissed was an undertstatement. But how! She'd covered all her bases--or at least she thought she had! Had someone figured it out? Did they all know? How did he know!

On the outside Brooke's face didn't register even a tiny bit of what she was thinking. She shook her head in bewilderment.

"Nathan, I have no idea what you're talking about! I haven't lied to you about anything--"

"Brooke, cut the crap! You've been lying to me since this whole thing began!"

Brooke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Nathan glared at her. "What am I talking about? Okay gee, let me see if I can explain this to you." he said leaning forward. "Last night, when everything came out, I was shocked. Really shocked. I mean you could have pushed me over with a feather. And I looked over at you, thinking that you were as stunned as I was, that maybe I might even need to help you out of that room. But when Iooked at you, you know what I saw Brooke?"

Brooke fixed a look of deep confusion on her face. "Yes, you saw me doing a great impression of a girl who was trying not to scream--"

"Actually, no." Nathan said softly. "That's just it Brooke. I didn't see that at all. I saw you smiling. I saw you watch the guy you've been in to for literally years say that he'd been having a secret relationship with one of your best-friends...and I saw you smile."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Sure, I suppose I was smiling. Right after I did a cheer."

Nathan watched her carefully. "So you're denying what I saw with my own eyes?" he asked. "You're calling me a liar?"

Brooke sighed.Keep your cool, Davis,she thought silently. "No Nate, I'm not. I'm saying that it was a very emotional night and we both probably saw and heard alot of things that weren't exactly accurate. The whole night was very intense."

Nathan nodded. "Well...I guess I shouldn't expect you to tell me the truth after all the lies you've already told me."

Brooke frowned. "Nate--"

"But I know what I saw. And this morning I thought about it. I thought about a lot of things, but mostly I wondered how I could've been so wrong about Haley's feelings for me--how I even got wrapped up in this whole mess! You see, I never thought I'd speak to Haley ever again after she left me and yet-- there I was! Standing in the kitchen, making her eggs, feeling like hell but back in love with her!" He looked at her. "And it made me wonder,how did I get here? How did I get to place where I was making breakfast for Haley again?"

Brooke's mouth fell open as she slowly put two and two together. "You were making Haley breakfast ?" she gasped. "You let her spend the night and you made her breakfast after what you found out last night? Are you kidding me!"

Despite herself, Brooke felt her face warm with anger. Even after everything she'd done, Haley had once again landed right back on top! How the hell did that girl manage to always end up with whatever she wanted? She even had Nathan cooking her breakfast not twenty-four hours after she'd revealed less than some people did on Jerry Springer! Brooke swallowed her anger and tried to force it down and keep her expression neutral, but the thought of Haley living it up in Nathan's huge house when she should be crying somewhere alone in shame, was making it even harder to keep her deception hidden.She frowned incredulously.

"Nathan, this girl had chewed you up and spit you out on more than one occasion! She's lied to you and left you for other guys twice now--one of whom was your own brother! She's a liar! How can you even look at her?"

Nathan stared at her. "I can look at you, can't I?"

Brooke's mouth fell open as her cheeks warmed. "I have never lied to you Nathan." She said in a low voice.

"Oh really?" Nathan hissed. "So when you called me all those weeks ago and asked me to keep Haley occupied because she was getting in between you and Lucas--getting in between your attempts to reconnect with him--you weren't lying to me then Brooke?"

Brooke had to work hard to keep her face masked in confusion. "What! Nate I wasn't lying about that! Now we know that I was actually the one getting in the way but at the time I thought that Lucas wanted to be with me."

Nathan shook his head as he thought about that fateful morning weeks ago when he'd decided to give Haley another chance. A chance to be in his life.He remembered that he'd initially balked at the idea because he'd thought that Brooke had been up to something and after her staged dramatics on the phone when he'd called her--he'd known. If only he'd followed his instincts...

"You wanted me to get back into Haley's life so that we'd either reconnect and I'd take her away or we'd make Lucas jealous and he'd do something stupid like hook up with you. Which he did." He added scornfully as he looked at her. "That's it isn't it Brooke? That's why you wanted me back in Haley's life." He glared at her angrily. "Just admit it!"

Deny,deny,deny! Brooke thought as she shook her head. "That's not true Nathan. I wanted time with Lucas that Haley always seemed to occupy. And I admit that I thought that it would be good for you to start talking to Haley again.But initially, I thought that you two could be friends."

Nathan's glare intensified. "Friends?" he said his voice disturbingly quiet and soft. "Is that why you told me to make a picnic lunch for Haley the day we hung out at the courts? Back then I thought you were giving me some random, friendly advice. But you weren't, were you? Even that was planned."

Brooke allowed tears to fill her eyes. "I gave you that idea so that you'd have something interesting to do Nate." she said stiltedly. " I was trying to be a friend--"

"Wow, with friends like you..." Nathan said leaving the sentiment unfinished.

Brooke felt the anger boil over inside of her. "Yeah with friends like me Nate!" she cried."What other friends do you have? I hope I don't have to tell you that Lucas and Haley are definitely not your friends! And Peyton--Peyton knew about this the whole damn time and she didn't bother to tell either of us about it! But where is she during this blindsighted tirade against me? Not here, no it's blame Brooke time because of course it's somehow all my fault and not either of your precious exes! Heck, Peyton's probably at your house right now too sipping cocoa in your bed!"

Real tears ran down Brooke's face as she gazed across the table at Nathan. "I can't believe that you would treat me this way after all the things I've done for you. All the ways I've helped you--"

"Helped me?" Nathan interrupted. "How exactly have you helped me, Brooke? Do you mean when you helped me by telling me that I should kiss Haley at TRIC--that she told you she wanted me too?"

Brooke balked completely at that one. She'd assumed that Nathan would never tell Haley that she'd told him to kiss her because she knew that Nathan's pride would never allow him to do so. But now...she wasn't sure. Maybe that's how he'd figured it all out. Maybe he and Haley had put two and two together! She decided to feel him out.

"If Haley told you that she didn't say that to me then she's the one who's lying to you Nate, not me!"

"Haley has no idea that you told me anything Brooke. She hasn't been the one lying to me!"

Brooke stared at him. "How can you say that!" she said incredulously. "Haley has done nothing but lie to both of us. About everything! I'm as much a victim in this as you are Nathan!"

Nathan scoffed. "Brooke you're about as much of a victim to Haley as a shark is to a goldfish."

Brooke stared at him stunned as she slowly shook her head. "Wow. Haley must be half-witch as well as half-bitch to have pulled the wool over your eyes so efficiently." she said bitterly. "But I refuse to be treated like this anymore. I never lied to you Nathan and it really hurts that you don't believe me." She squeezed out a few more tears. "All I was trying to do was get you and Haley to rediscover what you guys lost--"

Nathan chuckled loudly. "You are so blatantly lying to me right now that I can't believe I didn't see it all those times before!" he said bitterly."It was never about me and Haley, Brooke. It was about you. It's always been about you! So what happened? Did you get jealous of how close Lucas and Haley were and decide to ruin it only to find out how close they really were? Or did you find out about them and hatch together some plot for revenge no matter how you got it or who you used in the process?" He shook his head in wonder as he gazed at her."Hey you know, maybe I should be thanking you. At least I was first on your list!"

Brooke was shaking her head adamantly, a gesture that only served in infuriating Nathan even more. He leaned towards her, his eyes flashing blue and silver.

"Do you realize what you've done Brooke?" He said sharply. "You wanted to help me? Well guess what? You did! You helped me open up my heart to Haley again!Open it up to all the pain and all the hurt that bit us all in the asses last night. All your lies and deceptions made me believe that maybe it was possible for Haley and me again. It made me believe--" his voice broke but his anger propelled him forward. "It made me believe that Haley and I had a chance."

He paused and looked into her eyes. "You have helped,Brooke."he said softly." You helped to break my heart again."

For a moment his icy stare broke and she caught a glimpse of the deep ache that he was feeling. The look of complete hopelessness. Nathan's heart was broken. Again. And she had helped. Hell, she'd orchestrated some of it!

For a moment, Brooke's mask slipped and her true feelings drifted to the surface as she looked at him. Her regret at having involved him at all, shone clearly in her eyes for a moment and she reached for his hand hesitantly.

"Nathan," she said slowly." I'm sorry for any part that you think I may have played in this whole sordid mess." she said sincerely. "Believe me when I say that you are the last person I would have wanted to see hurt. The last."

Nathan stared at her silently, his eyes travelling across her face. Then he smiled.

"You're good." he said amused. "You are really good! You almost looked like you were telling me the truth that time." He clapped his hands sarcastically. "Bravo. Really, that was Oscar-worthy Brooke!Thanks for the performance. I think I hear Hollywood calling your name." His smile faded away. "Why don't you go there?"

Brooke's sincere gaze faded and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. She couldn't believe that Nathan was being so awful to her but she supposed that she deserved it. Even if he didn't know that for sure. She straightened her back and flipped her hair over her shoulders resolutely as their eyes met in silence.

"Well, I was going to treat you to lunch but I guess that's out of the question." she said glibly, pretending that she was completely fine and that Nathan's words hadn't hurt her at all. She supposed it was only appropriate that she was lying to herself now. "I suppose you prefer not to eat with liars and since you think that's what I am..."

Nathan stared at her unyielding and cold and she swallowed again. "Whatever you believe Nathan, at some point maybe you'll see the truth and maybe then I'll be willing to forgive you for all the things you've said to me today. Or maybe you'll believe this crap that you've pulled out of nowhere and we'll just never be friends again."

"If we ever were." Nathan interjected. "I don't think friends lie to each other Brooke. But, hey...that's just me."

Brooke glared at him. She knew he was hurt but he was going way beyond the highest point on the ass-meter. Still, she couldn't afford to lose anymore friends and despite his harsh words, Nathan was one of the few real ones that she had left.

She let some of the hurt that she was really feeling slip to the surface. "Maybe we'll never be friends again." she repeated as she looked at him."But if you ask my opinion, you really can't afford to lose anymore friends right now. You're kind of running a little low in that department,don't you think?"

Nathan stared at her. "No Brooke, you're right." he admitted."I can't afford to lose any friends. That's why losing you is no great loss."

Brooke stared at him, stunned into silence as he stood up.

"You can keep on lying to me and anyone else that got pulled into your twisted plan."he said looking deeply into her eyes. "But you can't lie to herself Brooke. And when you're all alone wondering where all your friends are, there's only going to be one person to blame." He stared at her. "One guess as to who that's going to be."

Brooke was silent as he reached inside his pocket and tossed Peyton's key on the table in front of her.

"Here you go. Thanks by the way. Considering last night's events, I guess your little plan worked." He tilted his head at her and scoffed, shaking his head as he turned to walk away and Brooke suddenly felt a slow panic begin to rise inside of her. She didn't want to admit anything to him but she had to know.She had to be sure.

"So I guess you're off to spread your paranoia to someone else." she called after him."Should I wait for the angry mob or should I just leave on a jet plane asap?"

Nathan stopped and slowly turned around to face her. His lips were twisted into a smirk but his eyes were clear and knowing.

"Why Brooke, if I didn't know any better I would say that you sound worried. If you haven't done anything, why the sudden fear?"

Brooke glared at him. "There's no fear here Nate." she said confidently. "I haven't done anything." She paused. "Of course...if Lucas and Haley were to think I had, if they thought that I played any role in their break-up, how long do you think it would take for Haley to be back in his arms? To back in his bed? How long do you think Haley would need your shoulder to cry on if she thought this was all just one big mistake?" She stared at Nathan expressionlessly, her words holding more meaning than she was willing to say.Then she smiled coldly. "But hey, do what you have to do. I'm sure it will all work out in the end, right?"

Nathan stared at her wordlessly for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly. "I'm sure it will." he said tonelessly. Then he turned and started to walk away.

"Hope you and Lucas are happy together." He threw over his shoulder as he left. "However long that may last."

Brooke kept her smile intact and stared straight ahead until long after he was gone. She paid for her virgin mango daiquiri and walked to her car, smoothly sliding on her seatbelt and starting the engine simultaneously. She didn't cry. She wouldn't.

No matter how badly she wanted to.