Author's Note: Oh my gosh, so many reviews since I last updated. Thank you all so much! I love the questions too – like how Brooke and Clay have different surnames but the same father, and what Brooke's past pain might be… I have a plan in mind for all of it and I'm hoping you hang in there for the ride and enjoy this next instalment.

Special shoutout the those who have favourited and followed this story. That blows my mind and has made my year!

- Chrissy

~ My Favourite Game ~

x~X~x

Chapter Four: The Kiss… Almost

Lucas Scott was kissing me.

I could feel the tightness of his chest as it pushed against mine, the hunger in his lips as he dipped his tongue inside my mouth, exploring every space. A soft moan escaped my lips and I half-condemned myself for allowing him to know how he made me feel.

Was this how he made me feel?

"Brooke?"

I could hear my name being called in the distance but in that split second, I believed that ignorance was bliss. And this was annoyingly blissful. Slowly, his hand slid from behind my head to trail down my back and rest on my hip, pulling me into him and against his pelvis as my own hands wandered upwards and into his soft, spiky hair. My god, so very soft.

"Brooke?"

My name became louder but I wanted just a few more seconds of this. His chiselled jaw, the way he took full control. His insistence on exploring every single part of my kiss. Fucking hell, it was hot. I felt like Britney Spears dancing on stage with one song on repeat – Gimme More.

"Brooke?"

His lips broke free of mine and I let out a gasp for air as he made his way down my neck and back up again, trailing kisses against my skin, agonizingly slow and deliberate. A warmth began building within me as he dragged his kiss from my jawline and brought a hand to my cheek, baby blues drilling into my eyes as he looked at me and said my name.

"Brooke?"

Louder now. My gosh, why was my name suddenly being said so loudly. And why that way? Like a question. What did he need to know? I closed my eyes, wanting to rewind and re-experience the last two minutes of sexiness, where I didn't care that he was an asshole and that I hated him and that I never wanted his lips on my-

"Brooke!"

Okay, that wasn't as sexy. That was downright loud.

"Fuck!" His low growl jolted through me then. Dominant. He was angry. But why? "Nate!"

I could feel the confusion creep over me as the coldness seeped through and permeated our private space. I also became acutely aware that I could no longer feel his body against mine. I reached my hands out for warmth, but I couldn't find him and my arms felt like lead. They dropped back down with a thump, and the feeling made me groan in annoyance. But why? I hated this guy. And what the hell did he want his brother for? And why the hell did my head feel so cloudy?

"Oh my god, Brooke. Brooke?"

And then it hit me. Haley's petrified voice, flickers of light and shapes of bodies as they gathered around, whispers and doors opening and closing. The chilled softness beneath me, the darkness around me. No, not softness beneath me. Grass. Grass beneath me. I could feel the soft blades as they danced around my fingertips, and I began to grab onto them as if they would somehow anchor me back to somewhere more recognisable. Somewhere safe.

Then I felt it again. That warm touch against my cheek, a safe haven in all the confusion. I didn't know why my mind was playing tricks on me, or why my body was keeping me pinned down in this land of uncertainty, but I pushed myself towards that warmth. That touch. I felt compelled to go to it. I began to escape the darkness, eyelids fluttering open slowly to find Lucas staring down at me as his brother jogged to his side. His hand stayed on my cheek and he leaned in closer, ensuring I was looking at him as he spoke.

"You with me?"

I swallowed and groaned again, a sob escaping Haley somewhere in the background. I couldn't see her, most of my vision felt blurred at the edges and a huge wave of fatigue crashed over me again, forcing my eyes to close. I wanted to sleep. Oh god, I really needed to fall asleep right now.

"No, no, no, Cheery," Lucas spoke, his hand sliding from my cheek to under my head as another hand slid under my thighs. That kinda tickled and as I thought of it, I half scolded myself and half enjoyed the sensation. As if trying to break me from my internal conflict, I was suddenly airborne and pulled into his chest, Lucas' voice moving around me as I dozed in and out of the blackness. I could feel the softness of him, despite the obvious toned god that lay beneath the t-shirt fabric between us. I could even feel the tenseness of those muscles and the growl that churned within him as he spoke, stern and purposeful.

"Get everyone out, Nate." The anger was thick and forceful. It sent a shudder through me. "Now!"

"On it," came his brother's reply and then we were moving. I could hear muffled voices in the background, and I thought there was a collective groan as Nathan's voice roared for everyone to fuck off, but I couldn't be sure. My mind was so completely muddled, and I realised I wasn't in control. That thought was like a jolt through me. It was as if all my senses switched back on with the flick of an internal switch, like I knew what I wanted to do and say, and how I wanted to shoot my eyes open and force myself to be awake, but I couldn't. I was a prisoner in my own body. The thought terrified me. Not because I wasn't in control, but because it was a feeling I had felt before.

Not again.

A sob escaped my lips and I felt those strong arms around me tighten as they pulled me closer. I clutched desperately at the cotton of Lucas' shirt and buried my face into his toned chest. He felt safe and warm. For now, it was all I had to hold onto. Everything seemed to be happening around me. Chaos, panic, determination. It all melded into a series of actions that I couldn't keep track off. Suddenly I was being lowered into a car seat and strapped in. Footsteps. Car doors. Roaring engine. Then his arms again, carrying me as if I were as light as a feather as my hands gripped onto the cotton once more. Up some stairs, more doors, then the softness of a bed. All of this mixed with moments of blackness.

Not again.

Mumbled words and light sobs. Water running, a wet towel on my forehead. More sobs and tense words. I couldn't hear it. Not completely. It was just flickers. Distorted memories. A hand on mine, a stroke of my hair. An uncurling of fingers as the cotton was taken away. A distance again, a coldness as the warmth disappeared. And so tired, so very tired. I attempted to fight it but the repeated gentle brush of a hand against my forehead as they soothed me to sleep made that impossible. I could still hear the voices, I could still feel the confusion, but I could feel my body responding to the softest touch.

A door opening. A few hushed words. A door closing.

And then the darkness won.

x~X~x

It was after 1pm when I finally came to.

Sunlight filtered through the window, and I could hear the comings and goings of voices throughout the hall. I blinked a few times, noticing I had somehow managed to get into my bed, and that there was water and tablets on my side table. I tried to make sense of it all, but my mind was drawing a blank and a feeling of uneasiness spread over me. The familiarity of it all was like a punch to my gut.

Then came the anger.

I bolted upright in bed and felt the wooziness rush over me, raising my hand to my forehead as I let out an annoyed groan. My head began to throb, and I closed my eyes at the impact of it.

"Brooke?" her voice was soft and it pushed through the pain in my head as I felt a weight beside me. Haley climbed onto the bed next to me and wrapped her arms carefully around my shoulders, reaching out to grab the painkillers on the nightstand. I took them without hesitation and accepted the water as she passed that along. She reached up and touched my forehead, a sigh of relief as she rubbed my shoulder with her hand.

"At least the fever is gone. My god, Brooke. I was so damn worried."

I turned to look at her through tired eyes, searching for an explanation, and I could see the worry that was etched across her face. A wave of guilt washed over me, sorry that she was feeling this way. She could sense the change in my demeaner because my body and eyes had betrayed me. A tear began to form, and I blinked it away. She moved so that our bodies were facing one another and down to take my hands in hers. I couldn't believe that we had met only the day before. She was fast becoming one of my favourite people.

"How do you feel?"

How did I feel? Could I even begin to decipher the emotions, the questions, the feelings that raged within me? I didn't believe I could. I should start with the basics and work my way from there. Methodical, as my mother liked to put it. The more methodical you were, the more in control you could be.

"My head hurts."

"Yeah, he said that could happen," she breathed, urging me to take another sip of my water. I did but I gave her a quizzical look and she sighed, nodding her head.

"What do you remember?"

"Studying. Wait, no. Did we study?" My memories so mixed and confusing and there were so many gaps.

"We started to. You fled the room."

"Right," I swallowed, nodding my head and searching my mind to figure it out. Then I became indignant. "Well, I wouldn't call it fleeing. I went to get a drink…"

"You fled," Haley retorted, tilting her head to the side as she looked at me. "But that's beside the point. Do you remember anything else?"

I racked my brain. I pushed and pushed. I could picture following Nathan, the loud kitchen, the drink being placed in my hand… then, nothing. Not a single thing. Just blackness. Empty, lonely, blackness. A lump formed in my throat, fear permeating my eyes as I looked up at Haley.

"It's okay," she breathed, gripping both her hands tightly around mine as my realisation dawned on me. "We got you home. We think your drink was spiked. We're not sure by whom. But you're safe, okay?" She squeezed my hands again, as if to reinforce the notion. "You're safe."

I nodded my head, trying to absorb what she was telling me. The urge to panic was still there burning within me. The black hole that lived within me, itching to get out again. Again. I pushed it down. I couldn't handle that monster, not right now.

"We got you home?" I let the question hang in the air and licked my lips. They were so dry and my throat was hoarse.

"Huh?" Haley paused, looking at me in confusion. My heart was beating so hard. Did I even want to know?

"You said we got you home. Who is we?"

"Oh," she looked down at our hands and went silent, as if she didn't want to say.

"Haley?"

She looked back up again and bit her bottom lip, something I had come to notice she did when she was nervous. But what did she have to be nervous about? An uneasiness began to pool in the pit of my stomach, and I could feel the anxiety rise in me. She must have sensed my change because she immediately looked panicked, and she shook her head as if debating internally what to do.

"Sorry," she breathed, tapping my hands a couple of times as if to centre herself. "It's just, I don't know if you want to know this and he said not to bother telling you, but actually, even though you hate him, I think he was kinda amazing."

I let out a deep breath and sat there.

Even though you hate him. Those were the words she said.

I knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah." She bit her bottom lip again and I sighed, lowering my head so that my chin was directly above my collarbone.

God damn it.

"You should have seen it." Haley's eyes welled up, a look of awe filtering through her gaze as she looked at me. "We were studying, and everything seemed okay. I mean, don't' get me wrong, it was weird. Felix and Lucas wouldn't look at one-another, Peyton was asking lots of questions about the assignment – she's actually really nice by the way – Jake was taking notes and Rachel was basically trying to jump into Lucas' lap the entire time, and I was sat in the middle of it all like 'What the hell am I doing here?' and then Peyton tried to get Lucas to join in with the studying but it was like he wasn't there. He could barely focus, just kept banging his leg up and down like something was annoying him, glancing at the clock in the room – I swear, something had possessed that boy-"

She took a breath because she was talking so fast and bit her lip again. I looked up and raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue.

"Then Nathan came back into the room with his drink and sat down. It was like something shifted in the study then. The atmosphere or something… it just felt colder… and Lucas sat up and looked at his brother with his arms out as if asking a question, and everyone could feel his anger. Like, it made the hairs on my arms stand on end."

She released her hold on my hands and held her arms out, running her hands up and down her arms before bringing them back down onto mine.

"Peyton was all 'What's going on with you?' and Lucas just shot up out of the chair and out the door. Felix said something about chasing after pussy," she cringed as she said the word and shook like she was truly disgusted, "and then I thought about you. Like, it had been at least twenty minutes since you had left the room and Nathan was already back – without you."

She sobbed then and it was my turn to squeeze her hand.

"Well, then it was chaos. I heard Lucas yell your name in the distance and then a door slam and I immediately got to my feet, running around the house like a crazy lady with everyone following us. I was screaming your name and Nathan was all 'Where's Lucas' and then we were pointed towards the back door and then there you both were. You were outside somehow, passed out on the back lawn and Lucas was leaning over you yelling your name, but you wouldn't open your eyes." She blinked away tears then, turning away from me as she tried to regain her composure. "I was so scared, watching you just limp on the ground and so out of it. It was obvious what had happened – there was an empty cup on the lawn near your hand. Someone had spiked your drink and Lucas was just so angry."

I could feel the rage boiling within me and it brought tears to my eyes. I pulled my right hand up from our entwined hold to wipe them away as Haley sobbed too. It was hard, being in this moment with her. Not because she was doing anything wrong. It was right that I knew the truth and it was right that it was her telling me. But this was why I stayed away from places like that, and people like him.

They use. They abuse.

And I cursed myself for letting my guard down.

"But Lucas seemed to know exactly what to do," she took a deep breath and continued, even though I couldn't look at her anymore. "He just scooped you up and ordered his brother to make everyone leave. Rachel protested and wanted to stay, but Lucas growled at her to leave and carried you out to his car as I grabbed our things and slid into the back seat. The whole ride home he held you and kept you awake, making sure I repeated to him everything that we had to do to keep you alert, and then he carried you up the stairs and brought you to your bed. I swear, I've never seen anything like it. It was like you weighed nothing at all."

I swallowed but I didn't want her to see my feelings this time. I didn't want my eyes to betray me. To let it be known that I was so furious with him and so appreciative at the same time. This boy really messed with my insides. He was an asshole. He was an arrogant basketball god who thought he owned the place. He was a jock. A JOCK. He was a danger zone, and a prick, and-

"I really don't think he was a prick last night." Haley's word cut through my internal rant and I flinched in surprise.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Damn.

"Look, I know you have this animosity towards him, and I can see that he clearly gets off on getting under your skin, but the facts are this - he brought you home. He told me exactly what to do to make sure you were okay. Hell, he stayed up all night watching you sleep just to make sure you were alright and so I could get some sleep. Does that sound like a prick to you?"

"He did?" That couldn't have been right. He was probably just watching out for the fraternity. For the team. A date rape drug story would do untold damage to their reputation. That had to be it because I hated him, and he was put on this earth purely to annoy me because God worked in annoyingly mysterious ways.

"He only left this morning because he had practice and his phone was going off all morning, so I basically forced him out the door." She stood to her feet then, a quick tap on the top of my head as she made her way over to the mini fridge and pulled out a Gatorade. She tossed it over and I caught it, eyeing me to make sure I drank it. I unscrewed the lid and took a sip. My god, it was like heaven on my tongue and before I knew it, half the bottle was gone. I sent her an appreciative smile and she just shrugged.

"Again, his idea," she pointed to the bottle at my lips, and I brought it down slowly to my lap, screwing the lid back in place. "And I can tell you, that boy will be useless at training today on no sleep."

She reached for her wallet and key set and put on her best maternal look. She was actually quite good at it.

"Now, you rest up whilst I go and get some food. Again, his suggestion. Just sayin'."

When Haley came back twenty minutes later with an assortment of wraps and salads and more Gatorade, I had already showered quickly to wash the previous night off me and crawled back under my covers. We ended up spending the afternoon watching movies and talking about our schedules in between my sporadic naps. Haley also spent time relaying some of the other events from the night before in an attempt to take my mind off of things and I have to admit, my roommate was very astute. Like how Jake and Peyton were obviously together but not in a showy way, and she wondered out loud why they were more 'hands off than hands on'. She also smiled when she noted how concerned the curly-haired blonde had been when she saw me passed out on the back lawn, and how Jake had been the one to run about the house and somehow find all the resources they needed to take care of me that night as Lucas barked orders at him. I made a mental note to thank them both later.

She finally mentioned Rachel and asked if we had gone through some kind of a falling out. When I explained that I'd met her exactly once in my entire life, which also coincided with my meeting the rest of the room, she looked puzzled and kindly let me know that the fiery redhead didn't seem to be my biggest fan. I just shrugged at the news because that was okay by me. I wasn't here for fans anyway.

I was here for as few people knowing of my existence as possible.

After a few hours the sky outside the window began to turn darker and Haley glanced at the clock on the desk, once again pulling that bottom lip of hers into her mouth.

"It's okay if you need to be somewhere, Hales."

My words caught her off guard and she blushed, a look of uncertainty filling her features. She glanced at the clock and then at my face, as if torn by her dilemma.

"No, no," she breathed, shaking her head and reaching for another Gatorade to place gently in my hands. "He told me to stay and keep an eye on you for the day. I can do that."

"Okay," I sighed, pulling myself up onto my elbows and giving her a gentle look. "You have been with me all day Haley and I can see that you have to be somewhere else right now. Honestly, I'm just going to crash anyway. I'm really exhausted."

A slight exaggeration on my part, but it was the least I could do after scaring her half to death. Not exactly the best way to endear yourself to a new friend.

"You're going to sleep?"

"I'm going to sleep."

She hesitated and then I rolled my eyes, a sure sign that I was not going to allow her stay. She smiled then and reached for her bag, shoving a couple of books from the desk into it as she pulled it to her shoulder.

"I'll just be in the library. There are a few things I need to check on before my first class tomorrow. I swear, I won't be long. Call me if you need me, okay?"

I nodded in response and made a deliberate move to slide further under the covers as a final push to get her out the door. She seemed satisfied that I was in fact going to sleep and began moving about the room to organise herself. When she was done, I made sure she noticed me closing my eyes as she made her way to the door, flicked off the light switch and closed the door behind her. I waited until I heard her footsteps disappear before I reached for the side lamp and flicked it on.

My mind began to do what it did best – overthink. I pushed myself to try and piece together the fragments that filtered in my memory, desperate to find some answers. Haley was probably right. I had been drugged and I had been completely out of it. The thought sent a chill down my spine as I felt that familiar vulnerable feeling that I had worked so hard to destroy. I hated feeling weak and exposed. I hated being at the mercy of anyone. I had promised myself it would never happen again. Not after he…

NO!

I pushed the memory from my thoughts and pushed back onto my pillows, slamming my eyes shut in frustration. I sucked in a ragged breath and forced myself to calm down. Without thinking, I reached out for my cell phone which sat on the bedside table and scrolled through the names before my eyes landed on the one I wanted, and I pressed the call button.

I was half whispering for the call to go unanswered as I heard it ring, my stomach in knots.

A second later, he answered. "Hello?"

My words caught in my throat and I swallowed hard, closing my eyes as I stayed silent. I could hear voices in the background and I wondered if I'd make a mistake in calling him.

"Davis?" he barked my surname into the phone and I sniffled, a single tear sliding free from my eyes as I breathed and I brushed it away. I couldn't speak, somehow becoming a mute in the ten seconds between dialling his number and him answering the call.

"Cheery?" His voice was softer then, and I heard footsteps in the background before the closing of a door. It was quieter around him now and I knew he had found somewhere else to take the call. I was thankful for that.

"Hi," the word croaked out and I hated the way it sounded. So vulnerable. So broken. I didn't want him to see me as weak. "I was just calling to thank you, you know, for last night."

"Yeah." One word response. Shit, really? He sounded annoyed and a part of me felt it. His annoyance at my call was like a slap to the face. It also caused my heartrate to increase, and I could feel the anger rising in me. He always got a rise out of me and it was aggravating. I was starting to wish I'd never dialled the number.

"Yeah?" I huffed in response, my left hand balling into a little fist. "What, are you allergic to thank yous or something?"

"What?" he replied, a long sigh escaping his lips. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah," I replayed his response to him exactly the way it had sounded to me. I let it hang in the air and pursed my lips. "I call to thank you for helping me last night, and you say, yeah."

A curse fell from his lips, follow by a slight groan. "Christ, woman. I wasn't saying yeah to you."

"Is there someone else on this call?" I could hear the annoyance in my tone, but I didn't care.

"No," he cursed again, followed by another long sigh. "Jesus, Brooke. You were at my house. You're thanking me for helping you but you were at my house. You were hurt at my house. That shit doesn't sit well with me."

For the first time in my life, I didn't know what to say. He wasn't annoyed at me. He was angry at the situation. He was annoyed at himself. He resented my gratitude because he felt he didn't deserve it.

"Oh."

"Yeah," he said it again, and I came to realise it what was he said when he couldn't find the right words to reply with.

"Again with the yeah. Can you think of another word please?" I tried to sound annoyed, but I knew my voice had softened to a semi-scold.

"No." Again, he shrouded the conversation in silence. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? It was meant to be a quick thank you.

"My god, you are stubborn. Why do you have to be so difficult?"

He barked out a laugh and I felt the familiar annoyance filtering back into my system.

"I think I've met my match in that department." Was he calling me stubborn? Did it bother me? Only slightly. But what bothered me more was that he was blaming himself for what happened last night. For as much as I didn't like the guy, I didn't like incorrect blame even more.

"Well, listen. I'm alright. Really. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah?" A question this time, the anxiety in his tone lessening as I spoke. It seemed to be enough.

"Yep," I declared, trying to sound a little more cheerful. "Haley has been following your orders to the letter. Gatorade, resting, food, movies. The good kind of movies, not the shit kind."

He chuckled then and I enjoyed the hum of him. It felt like the way he was supposed to sound, like somehow he was back to being that overly-confident and self-assured jock that I remembered. The tenseness fell away and the world was put right again.

"What are the shit kind of movies?"

"Rom com. Good lord, I hate those." I wasn't lying; those movies were shit.

"So, you hate romantic comedies. Noted." A moment of silence passed between us. Then, "So what do we deem to be good movies?"

"Action, adventure or horror." I didn't even hesitate. "What else is worth watching?"

"Yeah, I'm partial to some decent action." I could hear the inuendo beneath the words and I groaned, his laughter sounding out through the receiver. So there it was. We were back to the usual banter. He didn't need to know that his cockiness didn't irritate me as much in this moment. I put it down to residual gratitude from the night before.

"I bet you are. I'm sure you've got a long line of girls at the door waiting for you to remerge from your room and shower them in your god-like stench once we're done talking."

"Stench? Settle down, Davis. I smell like heaven." I could imagine the smirk that was plastered across his face, and I sighed loudly at the thought. It only served to evoke the usual Lucas Scott chuckle in retaliation.

"Whatever you say, Scott. I'm immune to it." I closed my eyes, leaning onto my left side as I held the phone to my right ear. I switched off the lamp and we plummeted into darkness.

"Well, I'm working on that." I could hear his breath through the receiver as he said those words. They sent a thrill through me, but I pushed it away. Residual gratitude again, I was sure of it.

"You should focus your attention elsewhere. The odds are not in your favour."

"I never cared for odds. Winners rarely have to." My god, his ego was something else.

I yawned then, my eyelids feeling a little heavy.

"Tired?" His voice dropped a level, bringing with it a tenderness I hadn't heard from him. I breathed in deeply, the kind you did as your body prepared to zone out for the night.

"Mmm-hmm," I mumbled in reply, sliding down further into my bed and finding the warmth I craved. It was suddenly the comfiest place on Earth and it was calling me to the land of nod. "I'm going to hang up now."

"Okay, I'll have my phone with me all night. Call if you need to."

I smiled at his words because they felt nice. He wasn't ever going to know that, though. "I still hate you."

Another chuckle came through the receiver. "Nah, you love me. You're just too scared to admit it."

"Hanging up now."

"Goodnight, Cheery."

"Goodnight, Asshole."

I hung up before his inevitable chuckle could hit me.

x~X~x

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