Sorry it's taken so long. Exams loom and I haven't had the time to update. Thanks for all the fantastic reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5: Strength

Nathan watched in amazement as Lucas Scott, the school's (second) best basketball player, was being beaten in a virtual basketball game by none other than cheerleader, Brooke Davis. He shook his head as Brooke made another basket and knew that this was something he'd have to gloat about to the other members of the team. Lucas would never live this down.

"That didn't count!" Lucas protested as he paused the game. Brooke looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And that makes sense how?" she asked, this being the twelfth time Lucas insisted her basket was just a fluke. So far she'd heard that he had had something in his eye, his elbow was itchy, he had forgotten which player he was, and that Nathan was distracting him.

"Because… I have a cramp in my leg and so I can't concentrate."

"You are such a liar!" she hit him on the arm with the back of her hand. Lucas held it and feigned pain, rolling over onto his side and groaning. Brooke glanced at Nathan who found it extremely funny, "God, Lucas, you are such a baby!" she complained pulling him towards her. "No wonder your best friend was Tutor Wife"

"Hey!" came an indignant reply from the younger Scott.

"Face the facts. The Scott brothers may be superstars on the court, but on a video game, you guys suck. And now you're making up excuses because you don't want to admit to being beaten by a girl" Brooke playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Is that so?" Nathan asked. Brooke nodded, "in that case, Davis, how about you and I play a one-on-one game? It's probably just Lucas who sucks."

"Hey!" Lucas said as he relinquished his controller and Nathan replaced him against Brooke.

Less than ten minutes later, Brooke was winning and Nathan was eight points down.

"Damn Brooke, how'd you get so good at this?"

"Well, when I dated Broody, this was the only action I could get" Brooke joked much to Lucas' horror.

"I resent that. We did a lot of… in fact, most of our mornings, afternoons and evenings were full of-"

"Oh, dude, don't go there. I'm really not interested in hearing about your… hey I wasn't looking, that doesn't count!" Nathan complained when Brooke used the opportunity to score again. "I'm not playing with you anymore"

"I thought the Scotts were supposed to be ruthless, go-getters? How the hell did you both get girlfriends and I'm still alone?" Brooke asked.

"Well," Nathan said putting an arm around Brooke, "Haley and I get a little lonely sometimes…" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "or there's always me and Luke here to help you out"

Brooke pushed his arm away and got up off the floor, "This is starting to get too weird for me. You're almost as bad as Tim". She jumped when she heard her cellphone ring from the coffee table. "Thank god," she said as she checked the caller-ID, "Peyton ought to save me from the gutter-minds of adolescent boys" she said as she answered the phone.

"Hey Peyton, what's u- Peyton? What's wrong?" both boys looked over to Brooke when she said those words, "honey, you're going to have to stop crying, I can't… where are you? Peyton? hello? Dammit!" she exclaimed as she tried redialling Peyton's number when she heard a dial tone at the other end.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked as Brooke redialled.

"I don't know, she was in tears and then she started talking about Felix and something about Anna and school… I'm going to try reaching her again," Brooke told him as she pressed the phone to her ear. "Peyton!" she cried as it picked up, "Peyton? Where are you? Hang on; I'm coming to get you. Just… just hang on okay?" Brooke quickly hung up and faced Lucas and Nathan, "ready to help another friend in need?" she asked.

-----

It didn't take long for the three to find Peyton's car in the road. Brooke was the first to jump out of the car and rush to her best friend's aid.

"Oh God, Peyton! Peyton, where are you?" Brooke yelled as she opened the driver's door. She found the blonde sobbing into her hands. Brooke hugged her tightly before looking around to see if she was hurt. "Are you hurt? Peyton?"

Peyton was sobbing so hard that she was almost unable to reply coherently. By now Lucas and Nathan had joined Brooke and were trying to make sense of the situation.

"I don't think she's hurt, but I have no idea what's wrong," Brooke told them, concerned for her friend.

"Let's get her out of the car and take her home. I'll call Keith and tell him to collect Peyton's car" Lucas instructed. Nathan and Brooke nodded and helped Peyton slowly get out of the car.

"Come on, babe, let's get you home" Brooke told her reassuringly as she and Nathan led her to Nathan's car. After calling Keith, Lucas joined them in getting Peyton into the vehicle.

On the journey to Peyton's, Brooke was still trying desperately to get Peyton to talk to her. Peyton, however, wasn't crying so much anymore and rested her head on Brooke's shoulder as she contemplated the night's events. The boys remained silent throughout, unsure of how to proceed with regard to the blonde girl that they both had once loved.

As they pulled up to the house, the trio helped their friend inside and into her room. Peyton lay across her bed, refusing to look at anyone and just staring at her wall.

"Peyton?" Brooke began sitting down beside her, "please talk to me, you're really scaring me" Brooke pleaded, hating to see her friend like this. The last time it had happened was after her mother died.

Brooke glanced at the boys who looked uncomfortable being in the room. They decided to let Brooke and Peyton have some privacy, hoping that it would allow Peyton a chance to open up to Brooke. They made their excuses and went downstairs to wait for Brooke.

Brooke tried several times to get Peyton to talk to her but each came up with no answer. Finally Brooke decided to go downstairs and join Nathan and Lucas so they could discuss what to do next. As she got up off the bed, Peyton turned around and faced Brooke.

"Brooke?" Brooke immediately turned around and smiled, happy that she'd got a response.

"Yeah?"

"Could you… if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone right now. I know you're just trying to help, but I'm really not in the mood to be around anybody tonight. Thanks for being here but… I just… I can't talk about it yet"

"Okay, Peyton, but I'll be downstairs if you want me, okay? I'll sleep on the couch and-"

Peyton shook her head.

"You don't have to do that for me."

"You're my best friend, of course I do. I don't want to leave you alone," Brooke told her. Peyton still shook her head.

"Go home, Brooke. Or to Lucas', wherever. And tell the guys to do the same. I just really want to be alone" Brooke was hesitant to leave her friend alone in this state but she reluctantly agreed.

"Fine. I won't stay tonight but bright and early tomorrow morning, I'm coming over and I'm going to be here, whether you like it or not. And you better tell me everything or…" Brooke trailed off, realising that threats, no matter how empty they were, weren't going to work, "I'll be here, okay? Just call if you need anything… and I mean anything"

Peyton nodded and turned back around so she faced the wall. Slowly, Brooke turned towards the door and left Peyton alone.

Lucas immediately diverted turned his attention from the TV when he heard Brooke approaching.

"Anything?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Nah, she, um… she wants to be alone tonight so I guess we'd better leave."

"Will she be okay?" Brooke shrugged in reply.

"I don't know but I'll check on her tomorrow before school. Where's Nathan?" Brooke asked when she noticed the younger Scott was not there.

"Oh, Haley called and he had to leave. He wants us to call or something if Peyton needed something" Lucas told Brooke.

"Nathan has the car." Brooke realised, "and I know Peyton doesn't want anybody here. I'd rather abide by her request than have her mad at me for staying."

"We could walk. It's only a few blocks to my house and we could cut through the park."

Brooke nodded and bit her lip. Lucas remembered that this is what she did when she was upset so he immediately wrapped his arms around the brunette, soothingly rubbing his hand up and down her back as she tried to hold back some tears.

"It's okay, Brooke, we'll get to the bottom of this."

"I've never seen her like this, Lucas. Not since her mom anyway. I don't even know what happened to her, all she did was mention something about Anna and Felix and I feel so helpless"

"Let's get you home and then we can talk about it or something," Lucas suggested. Brooke nodded and followed Lucas out of the door, taking one last glance at the stairs.

Peyton heard the door close and she let out a sigh. She'd heard their conversation and secretly wished she hadn't asked them to leave. She hoped that Brooke stood by her promise to drop in on her early next morning, but then again, she just didn't feel up to seeing her either. It'd just bring back the guilt she'd been feeling about having to add her own problems onto the burden Brooke was already carrying.

-----

Lucas and Brooke took a leisurely stroll through the park as they talked about everything. Brooke sighed as she shook her head.

"How did everything get so messed up?" she asked Lucas, "I'm scared of my boyfriend, Peyton won't talk to me, my family is broke and Tutor Wife might be screwing around on Nathan…"

"How'd you know about that?" Lucas asked stopping in mid-step. Brooke stopped and turned to him.

"Thin walls. I heard everything you and Nathan were talking about." She explained, "Sorry," she then apologised, "eavesdropping is kind of in my nature"

"Don't worry about it. I'm also trying to figure out why everything is so…"

"Different? Screwed up? Out of whack?" Brooke suggested. Lucas laughed wryly and nodded while Brooke shrugged.

They began walking again, slower than before and just enjoying each other's company through all that had happened. After a few minutes Brooke piped up, "I blame Felix."

Lucas laughed again, "why? Aside from the obvious."

"Before he came to Tree Hill, I was… I was happy. As happy as I could be, anyway, my parents had lost everything by then but… Peyton and I were happy, Tutor Wife and Nathan were happy and I was happy just being your friend. Now…"

"Now?" Lucas ventured when Brooke trailed off. His curiosity had peaked when he heard the last part of her speech.

Brooke looked up at him; trying to suppress the old feelings that had started to resurface the night Lucas had taken her in. She wondered what he'd say if she told him right now how she felt but then chided herself for being stupid. You're just friends, she thought mentally, you don't need to go down that road again.

"Now everything is ruined since he and his horse-faced excuse for a sister showed up in our town!" she said looking away before she could see the flicker of disappointment across Lucas' face.

Lucas waited a brief moment before rejoining Brooke's side, "I'm not going to argue with you there," he muttered. He took her hand and started to lead her away from the playground she was staring at, "it's getting late, we should go"

Brooke nodded and allowed herself to follow Lucas back to the path they were supposed to be following. She wrapped her arms around her body as she realised how cold it actually was.

Brooke was surprised when Lucas wrapped an arm around her, reassuringly warming her up and letting her know that everything was going to be okay, even if he didn't believe it.

"Isn't this cosy?" a voice from behind them said. Brooke froze while Lucas rolled his eyes. This is the last thing we need.

The pair slowly turned around to be face to face with Felix. Lucas kept his arm around Brooke, this time protectively while Brooke sunk into it, still unready to face her ex-boyfriend.

"I heard rumours about you two, didn't really believe them until a few nights ago – and now, of course." He looked between the two.

"Felix, just leave," Lucas warned, stepping in front of Brooke slightly. Felix smirked.

"You know, I heard a lot about you both. Seems to me like you're both legends around Tree Hill. Brooke is the Queen Slut about town and Lucas is the bastard son of Dan Scott." Felix enjoyed seeing the way Lucas tensed as he tried not to lose his temper. He could make out Brooke holding onto Lucas' jacket to try and prevent him from doing anything stupid.

"I also found out about that whole drama last year and quite frankly, it surprises me that she'd go back to you. I mean, I know what Brooke and I had wasn't perfect, but to end up with the one person that broke her heart is… unbelievable, really. After all, Lucas, you did cheat on her with her best friend."

"And you'd prefer she be with a jerk-off like you? She's better than that," Lucas told him firmly, "and we're friends"

"Well we're friends-with-benefits. I guess I win. So, if you don't mind unhanding her-"

"Why so you can carry on beating her?" Lucas snapped. Felix laughed.

"Is that the crap she's been spewing? I never touched her"

"The bruises suggest otherwise" Lucas narrowed his eyes and met Felix's gaze. He could sense Felix was about to boil over and he only hoped he could protect Brooke if anything went down.

As predicted, Felix lunged at Lucas and Lucas met him halfway. The two tumbled to the ground and Brooke only watched helplessly as the two exchanged punches and kicks. She saw Felix manage to elbow Lucas in the cheek and use the opportunity to gain the advantage as he proceeded to kick Lucas repeatedly in the stomach.

Unable to take it any longer, Brooke reached for the first piece of clothing and yanked it up with all her might, not caring whether it was Lucas or Felix, as long as they were separated. She pulled and the owner of the sweater she pulled turned around and looked at her, hitting her across the face. She yelped in pain and let go, realising it had been Felix. Lucas saw the hit and overcome with new rage, he pushed Felix off him, before climbing to his feet.

They two panted and stared at each other. Brooke, nursing a red cheek, came to Lucas' side and stopped him from attacking Felix again.

"Stop it!" she yelled at the two, "just stop!" Lucas nodded, not wanting to fight again.

"Lucas needs to be saved by a girl? That is so lame" Felix said almost gleefully.

Brooke whipped around and faced him.

"Shut up, Felix. I've had it with you being around here all the time, torturing my friends and the people I care about. No wonder you move a lot. Nobody can stand you,"

"Brooke…"

"No, listen to me. I can just about put up with you hitting me, in fact, I did until Lucas saved my sorry ass. But when you start to hit my friends and hurt them, then you're in trouble. What the hell did you do to Peyton?"

"I didn't do anything to Peyton" Felix was silenced by a force that hit him across his cheek. He fell backwards and groaned in pain. Felix looked up to see Brooke standing over him, trying not to let the pain in her hand show. Lucas looked equally as shocked. Neither of them had seen Brooke hit anyone before.

"The truth, Felix, now!" she demanded, her throbbing hand poise for another shot.

"Fine! Anna and I were going to spread some stupid rumours around school. That's all. Happy?"

"No. That punch was for Lucas and Peyton," Brooke said as she hit him again, "this one is for all the crap you put me through," she hit him once again, "and this is for messing up Lucas' house, which, by the way, you will pay for."

Lucas grabbed one of Brooke's arms and gently edged her away. Although enjoying watching Brooke beat the crap out of Felix, he knew that Brooke's hand was hurting and that she'd regret it when she couldn't hold her pom poms in the morning.

"Leave us alone, Felix. Every single one of us, 0r I swear to God you will regret it. I'm sick of you and Anna and the way you breeze through school thinking you own it,"

"Or what? You'll tell everyone how I hit you?"

"No, I'll do something worse. I'll tell them I hit you. I'll have the proof tomorrow morning when I see your ugly face all purple and gross" she finished off.

She let Felix rise to his feet and the two looked at each other before Brooke sighed, "Are you going to get out of my face or do we need to go over this again?" she asked. Felix scowled at the cheerleader and Lucas before slouching off into the distance.

When all was clear, Lucas turned to Brooke, "Are you okay? That was… well, that was impressive."

"I'm fine. Can we go home?"

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late"

"It's not that. My hand really hurts. That was the first time I ever punched someone."

"It was also your second and third," Lucas chuckled. Brooke smiled slightly before narrowing her eyes.

"Your lip is bleeding," she said looking Lucas up and down and seeing how he was slightly bent over, "he hurt you bad"

"I'll get over it. Won't be able to play basketball for a couple of weeks, but it was worth it just to see you beat him."

"Yeah, it was wasn't it?" Brooke grinned for the first time, "come on, let's get you home" she put a supportive arm around Lucas and the two limped slowly home.

To be continued…