Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter; I thought it was high time I did some replies so here goes:

Kelsey: Thanks for the review and the awesome point. Last chapter was a bit sex obsessed I guess! I'll try to re-address the balance.
Lac18: Thanks so much for the lovely long review as always, I love reading them and it's great to know exactly which bits you like best.
Queen2821Bee: Glad you enjoyed it, read on to see if you get your wish about who wins… MCDguard05: Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it!
Mrs O-town: Yeah I love Tim too! Glad you liked it, thanks for the review.
Christine: Tim has pretty bad timing, huh? ;) Glad you like it, keep reviewing!
Ashley: Thanks for the review and the suggestions. This story won't be going on long enough to get to Christmas eve, but I'll keep the proposal in mind for later stories. But I totally agree about the other suggestion!
Brucasfan0889: Yeah Tim's timing is pretty crappy…or maybe he just has a thing for Brooke )
Brucas69: Glad you liked them, keep reviewing!
Rocker87: Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it!
Manda: Hey, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoy this one!

Lucas felt himself slip into consciousness. He looked blearily around at the room he was in and blinked as he remembered where he was. He was aware of a warm body next to him and a slow smile spread across his face as he turned to look at the girl at his side.

Brooke was lying with her head on his shoulder, her body curled against his and one hand resting on his chest. He reached over and brushed a few hairs from her face, his eyes tracing her features. He placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before gently moving her and slipping out of the bed, chuckling to himself as she frowned in her sleep, and pulled his pillow to her.

He took a quick shower and got dressed, and was just pulling on his sweater when Brooke woke up.

"You leaving?"

"No!" He smiled and came over to the bed, crouching next to it and giving her a kiss. "I was just getting dressed. I didn't want to wake you."

She nodded and sat up a little, rubbing her arms and shivering slightly.

"Are you cold?" He sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms. She leant her head against his chest and buried her face in his warm sweater.

"Better?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you excited about today?"

"More like nervous."

He lifted her chin with a finger and smiled at her. "You're going to be great."

"Thanks."

They lay there for a few minutes, and then Brooke sighed and lifted her head. "I'd better get dressed, huh?"

Lucas made a sympathetic face. "Probably. Whitey'll be along pretty soon and I'm sure he'd love to catch you out of your room after we all avoided him last night!"

Brooke chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll have something to say about that later." She turned to Lucas. "Okay, I'm gonna go back to my room." She kissed him and leant her forehead against his. "I'll see you later."

"Uh huh." Neither of them moved.

"Okay I'm really gonna go now."

"Okay."

She kissed him once more. "Alright now I'm really going." She got up grabbed a dressing gown, sticking her head round the door and checking up and down the corridor before smiling back at him and leaving the room.

He watched her go and then flopped back on the bed, turning his head to one side into her pillow. His breathed in her scent and smiled, shaking his head. Boy was he head over heels.


They all ate breakfast in the hotel. Whitey was looking round at all the tables, eyeing the students suspiciously for signs of fatigue. As they began to finish eating he came round the tables, stopping finally where Brooke, Lucas, Jake, Peyton, Haley and Nathan were all eating.

"Miss Davis, I have reason to suspect some students were out of their beds after curfew last night."

Brooke looked up at him. "Really? Which students would these be, sir?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"I'm afraid I didn't see anything. I was quite tired after the long drive you see."

"Yes…I'm sure. So you wouldn't have any idea how a number of items of clothing came to be in the hotel swimming pool would you?"

Brooke shrugged, "I can only assume they were left there by a guest at the hotel."

"Well yes…but…"

"Maybe you should drop them of at lost property; someone might be looking for them. I can do that, if you like."

"That won't be necessary Miss Davis."

"Alright, well if you're sure." Brooke went back to her breakfast and Whitey stood there for a second, hesitating. That hadn't gone exactly as he'd planned.

"Right…well. Good." He walked off, looking a little flustered.

When he was out of earshot Peyton broke into a fit of giggles. "Brooke that was classic, you totally ran rings round him!"

Brooke grinned, "Well he has no proof I had anything to do with it."

"Did you guys leave your clothes there?" Haley asked.

"No we took ours," Lucas said, "It must have been some of the others. Good thing none of them were named."

"Yeah, Tim almost left his numbered sweater, now that would have been dumb!" Nathan said, laughing.

After breakfast the guys all headed off to the locker room to get changed for their game. Spectators started filing into the gym and Brooke and the other cheerleaders gathered at a spot on the side.

The team came in and started doing warm ups, Whitey shouting at them the whole time. Lucas managed to escape his notice for a second to receive a quick 'good luck' from Brooke before he was called into a huddle.

The game was fast and furious. The Ravens managed to dominate the other team early on but they fought back strongly in the next half and it took all the players skill to stay on top.

Nathan and Lucas kept everyone going, finding ever more ingenious ways to dodge the defence and get the ball through the hoop.

When the final whistle blew a huge cheer erupted from the Tree Hill supporters. They had won 33 – 29.

Haley raced down the stands to join the cheerleaders as they went over to the guys to congratulate them.

"You were amazing!" Brooke said as flung her arms round Lucas' neck. She kissed him and he smiled back at her. "Thanks Cheery."

"Hey man, nice lay up in the third quarter by the way," Nathan said, turning to Lucas as he wrapped an arm round Haley.

"Thanks, your three pointer in the last minute was pretty good too!"

Nathan chuckled and Haley beamed up at him. Brooke wrapped her arms round Lucas' waist as he chatted with the rest of the team, all of them talking over each other about the best points of the game. The spectators were leaving the gym and Brooke grinned at Haley as they saw the jealous looks being thrown at them by most of the female members of the crowd.

"One of the perks of dating a Scott brother I guess," Haley joked.

"Hey!" Peyton had overheard her.

"Or a Jagelski!" Brooke corrected, laughing.

Jake turned to them, having overheard his name, but Brooke just shook her head and waved it away.

"What time is your competition?" he asked Peyton, after rolling his eyes at Brooke.

"It starts in about an hour. We should probably get some lunch first, although I really do not feel like eating."

"Me neither," said Brooke, "And I don't want to have to change again. Lets just go to our room and have a drink there or something."

"So we'll see you guys later?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, we'll meet you back down here." Brooke gave him a quick kiss. "Really well played guys," she said, before heading off with Peyton.

"Yeah, lets hope you guys can keep up the winning standard," Nathan called after them. Brooke held up her middle finger as they walked away; they did not need any more reasons to be nervous!


The cheering squad were all gathered in the gym, standing to one side and watching the performance mat and judges table get set up. Brooke stood a little apart from them, her arms crossed, watching with a growing feeling of trepidation.

The guys entered, having changed out of their basketball kits, and approached the girls.

"Hey, we came to wish you guys good luck," Nathan said, as Jake wrapped his arms round Peyton from behind.

"Aww thanks you guys!"

Lucas wrapped an arm round Brooke and she leant her head on his shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded but didn't say anything, and Lucas frowned. He took her hand and led her away to the corridor just outside the gym.

"What's up?" he asked gently.

She shrugged. "I don't know…it's just…I want to win this so much, not just for me, but for the squad. It's our last chance for most of us because it's senior year…and I don't know if our routine is good enough, or if we practised enough…" She trailed off looking down.

Lucas lifted her chin with a finger. "Hey…hey, look at me. You are going to be great. We've all seen you guys and you're awesome. You've worked your butts off and you can do this, okay?"

She nodded.

"And whatever happens out there…whatever the judges decide…I think you're amazing. You've done so much for this squad and they know it. And anyway, you said it yourself you're just here to have fun right?" He smiled and she returned it.

"Thanks Broody."

"No problem." He pulled her into his arms and she buried her head in his shoulder, smiling as she felt him kiss the side of her head.

"You really are amazing Brooke," he said as she stepped back, and he looked into her eyes. "And I love you so much."

"I love you too."

He smiled. "Now go show them what you've got."


Peyton saw Brooke and Lucas come back into the hall. Lucas went into the stands to join the other guys, and Brooke came over to her, looping an arm round her waist and resting her head on her shoulder. She sighed happily and Peyton chuckled.

"I assume that Lucas said something totally adorable?"

Brooke nodded, "Uh huh."

Peyton rolled her eyes and Brooke smiled to herself.

"You ready to do this?" Peyton asked.

"Absolutely."

The squad waited by the side as cheerleaders from other schools all performed their routines. Eventually an organiser with a clipboard told them they were next, and Brooke stood up and beckoned the others to a corner of the gym while another school finished their routine.

The cheerleaders all stood round in a circle watching Brooke. Some of them looked excited and some of them looked like they wanted to throw up.

"Okay guys. This is it." Brooke smiled encouragingly at them all and continued, "We know we can do this. I know you can do this. We've practised this routine a ton of times; you just have to do it once more! So lets just enjoy it, and do our best. Cause we can't let those basketball players have all the glory," she grinned at them all, "They'll be a nightmare on the coach on the way back if we do. Lets show them what we've got!"

The other girls all grinned with her.

"Hands in." Brooke put her hand in the middle and Peyton placed hers on top. The others all did the same.

"Ravens on three."

They all chanted it and broke.

"Lets do this thang!" Peyton said and Brooke nodded. They all ran out onto the platform and took up their starting positions.

Brooke looked for Lucas in the crowd. She spotted him and he smiled at her, she smiled back, and winked just as the music began.

They performed the routine perfectly. They were all in time, the flips worked out, and the crowd were loving it.

Lucas smiled as he watched Brooke, a sexy little grin on her face as she did the moves confidently.

"See this is why I had a thing for cheerleaders," Nathan said, watching them all.

Haley hit him, "Nate!"

"I had. And no one made a better cheerleader than you," he said, kissing her.

She smiled. "It was fun actually, but…not really my thing. Now Brooke on the other hand…I wouldn't be surprised if she was born with pom poms!"

Lucas laughed. "Yeah, she's got it."

The routine finished and everyone applauded. The Ravens basketball team stood up and cheered, and Brooke blew Lucas a kiss.

When all the squads had performed the five best were announced and called to stand together in the gym. The girls all cheered as the Ravens were announced as one of the five, and assembled with the other in the centre.

Peyton took Brooke's hand and squeezed it, and the girls shared a nervous look.

"Now, to begin the announcements…in third place…from Charlotte, the Camberwell High Cats!"

The captain of the squad came up to collect their trophy, and brought it back to her excited team.

"And in second place…"

Brooke felt Peyton squeeze her hand a little tighter, and Theresa reached out linked pinkys with her by their sides.

"…from Bear Creek…the Bears!"

Brooke laughed in surprise as Claire looked at her team-mates, shocked. She went up to collect her trophy, managing to draw a smile for the judges.

"And now…in first place…"

Brooke looked into the stands and found Lucas looking back at her, he gave her a comforting smile and she took a deep breath.

"…from Tree Hill…"

The rest of the judges sentence was lost in cheers from the crowd and the excited squeals of the squad. Brooke just about heard her say "the Tree Hill Ravens" before Peyton was grabbing her hand and they were making their way to the table, where the judge handed her the enormous trophy.

She brought it back and the whole squad flung their arms round her, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Lastly, the award for best original choreography…"

They looked up, Brooke had almost forgotten this was still to come, and she found that right now she couldn't care less what name they said, the whole squad had won first prize, and that was what was most important.

Although…she kind of hoped it wasn't Claire.

"…Amy Holding from the King Town Tornados!"

Brooke smiled as the girl went up to collect her award, she looked younger than her, and seemed completely shocked to have won it. Her team all congratulated her as she came back to them, hugging her and grinning.

She was shaken out of her daze by a voice in her ear. "I told you you could do it."

She turned, smiling, to its owner, and he smiled back at her.

He held her gaze for a second before she flung her arms round him and kissed him, smiling against his mouth as she heard Haley cheer behind her.

The celebrations continued for a few minutes as everyone hugged everyone else and marvelled at the size of the trophy.

"So how does it feel?" Peyton asked, coming up to Brooke with Jake who had his arms wrapped round her waist.

"You tell me, you won it too!"

Peyton smiled, "Yeah, you're right…feels pretty great, huh?"

Brooke laughed, "Yeah it does!" She caught sight suddenly of the girl who had won the choreography trophy leaving the gym.

"Hey," she called after her, "Well done, you're routine was really great!"

The girl turned to see who had spoken; she saw Brooke and smiled. "Thanks, you guys were amazing!"

Brooke smiled back at her, "Thanks. Good luck next year."

The girl nodded and left, and Brooke smiled to herself.

"You ready to get back to Tree Hill?" Lucas asked.

Brooke turned round in his arms. "Yes."

He looked over at the trophy that Bevin was now holding. "Do you think they'll be room for that thing on the coach?"

Brooke looked over her shoulder at it. "I don't know," she said giggling, "It is pretty huge!"


With their bags packed everyone piled into the lobby to wait for the coach that would take them back to Tree Hill.

Brooke, still on a totally high from their win, was less keen now to ride in her own car, as she wanted to celebrate with her squad.

"Nate, please! Please, please, please! You know this will be your only chance ever to drive my car as I would never let you under normal circumstances."

"Brooke I can drive pretty much any car I want from my dad's dealership."

"Your dad doesn't sell Beetles! Come on you know you want to. For me? Please!"

Nathan sighed. "Fine. But only because you guys won. Hales, we're driving back in Brooke's car."

Haley turned around from where she had been talking to Peyton. "We are? Okay."

"Thank you so much you guys."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "No problem. Luke, take your girlfriend to the coach before she talks me into doing anything else for her."

Lucas chuckled. "Come on Cheery."

They were just leaving when Theresa approached them.

"Hey Brooke, I'm just about to leave because my mom was chaperoning and she's driving me back…but I just wanted to say thanks. You're a really great captain and we would never have won without you."

Brooke smiled shyly, "Thanks Theresa."

Theresa nodded and smiled, and left with her parents. Lucas caught Brooke's eye and raised his eyebrows, and she smiled bashfully and looked down.


The ride back was indeed very fun. Brooke and Peyton persuaded Whitey to let them listen to the radio and, after a brief argument over stations, seeing as their musical tastes are rather different, found one they liked and turned it up loud.

The cheerleaders all sang along, giggling and laughing as they shared some huge bags of candy Brooke had bought them to celebrate their trophy.

Lucas laughed as Brooke and Peyton lip synched to Britney's 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

"I love this song so much. Do you remember our dance routine we made up to it Peyt?"

"Oh my god, yeah! That was like fifth grade!"

"Yeah it was awesome!" They both stood up and started dancing.

"Sit down at the back!" Whitey yelled from the driver's seat.

Brooke giggled and sat down. "Winning stuff is so much fun!"

Peyton grinned at her, "Yeah it is. Losing is not much worse though. Do you remember a couple of year's ago when we spent the whole coach ride back bitching about the other squads, and pacifying ourselves by eating tons of chocolate!"

"Yeah! That was pretty fun actually…"

"Maybe being altogether is the important bit, not the winning," Peyton said.

"Okay Pey, don't go all after school special on me now!"

Peyton giggled and threw an M&M at Brooke.

They stopped at a petrol station a while later to get some gas. Whitey made his way down the aisle of the coach while they were stopped, ordering some players to put their seat belts back on.

Some of the guys and girls had fallen asleep now; tired out by their exploits the night before and their action packed day.

He glanced over them all, and smiled to himself as he saw Brooke Davis, curled up against Lucas Scott, her head on his shoulder and one arm wrapped round him. He chuckled; she was a tricky one when she was awake, but lying there asleep she looked like a little angel.

As always, please review! I'm going away on holiday tomorrow for a week, so I won't be able to update for a while. Sorry! But when I do it'll be the last chapter, so I'll take a little time to get it just right. Hopefully the wait will be worth it!