Brooke stared out of the window, paying interest to the scenery they passed on their way to Jacksonville. Out of boredom, Brooke had taken to counting how many yellow cars they passed. Since leaving her house after school, she and Lucas had barely uttered two words to each other that wasn't about if either of them were hungry or comfortable. She glanced at Lucas, who was busy concentrating on the road ahead and listening to the music that was playing on the CD player. Brooke noticed that he'd barely looked at her since they had left unless absolutely necessary.
Brooke let out a deep sigh and bit her bottom lip both in frustration and despair. She had no idea what to do to rectify the situation. She'd thought that he'd accepted her apology but since Jason came back, Lucas had spent less time around her and didn't phone her every night like he had the week previously. During practices and lunches, he'd be okay up until the point Jason would arrive and Brooke was torn between her boyfriend and her old friend.
Finally, Brooke got the courage to do something about it and turned off the CD Player.
"What was that for?" Lucas asked trying to keep his tone down and from yelling at her.
"Do you realise that we've been on the road for 45 minutes and neither of us has spoken to one another?" she informed him, crossing her arms.
"That's not true, Brooke. I asked you if-"
"Asking me if I waswearing my seatbeltdoesn't count, Lucas." she interrupted, "This is becoming ridiculous. You know, we're friends and now it's like we hardly know one another. I'm sure strangers would talk more than we are."
"Brooke…"
"What's the matter, Lucas? You barely look at me now and it hurts that we can't talk," she told him truthfully, only just realising that it was hurting her feelings.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Brooke, and believe me that it wasn't my intention. I just… it's…" he struggled to find the words he wanted to say.
"It's Jason, isn't it?" Lucas didn't reply and Broke sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him and vice versa, but I guess I just got caught up in making sure you settled in and catching-up. Jason didn't really fit into the picture until he came back."
Lucas nodded and sighed, taking his eyes off the road to look at her properly, "I'm sorry if you got the impression I was mad at you. I'm not," he told her apologetically. He reached over to give her knee a pat before returning his interest in the road.
"Okay," Brooke accepted before shifting in her seat, "But I still have the feeling that you want to say something to me," Lucas glanced at her quickly, "Lucas, you can talk to me about anything, okay?" she reassured.
"I just have a few and I hope you don't think that they're too personal," he told her, concerned about her reaction to the questions he was about to ask.
"Shoot."
"Okay… is Jason your first boyfriend in Beaufort?" he asked. Brooke nodded.
"These questions are about Jason," she muttered now unsure about where this was going, "Yes, he is."
"How long have you been dating?"
"Two months."
"That's almost as long as we were," he said not completely out of Brooke's earshot, "Are you happy?"
"Lucas…" she began before sighing, "Yes." Lucas simply nodded.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Lucas asked the question.
"Why haven't you slept with him yet?"
Brooke shot him a look that told him he'd crossed the line by asking it.
"How did you know that?"
"Jason said-"
"Jason told you or did you ask?" she questioned angrily, "Or am I just locker-room talk now?"
"Geez, Brooke, calm down," he told her, although realised that she was understandably upset, "He… he was just wondering how long you've been holding off for." Brooke looked at her hands in embarrassment.
"I can't believe he asked you that," she said quietly.
"Look, I'm sure he was just concerned and worried it might be him, rather than you. I personally think it's kind of cool."
"But not true, right? Come on, Lucas, you know what I was like. You know what we were like."
"So what made you change your mind?"
"Truthfully? I saw how happy Tutor Girl was with Nathan and how their relationship survived even though they weren't sleeping together. Kind of made me realise that I didn't need to offer guys what they wanted in order to have somebody who loves me."
"I could have told you that," Lucas told her sincerely, "I'm proud of you."
"Thanks. Although it has been hard not to… y'know. He's hot," she grinned. Lucas smiled back. Brooke sighed and ran her hands through her hair.
"Do you think sex ruined us?"
"What?" Lucas asked.
"You know what I mean. Our first date was pretty much getting drunk, getting matching tattoos and getting it on. And the rest of our relationship followed those lines," she said.
"I don't know, Brooke."
"Because I was thinking about it and I know you and Peyton never slept together but you still had that… connection, you know? It seemed like I was giving you all the physical stuff and Peyton gave you all the emotional stuff."
"Brooke, that's not true. At the time, it must have felt like that, but honestly, I was confused. I thought I wanted Peyton because… I don't know why. But I also realised I wanted you more. Typically, that realisation came after you found out… but the point is that I had all I wanted from you and then some. I just screwed it up. It wasn't you," Lucas said.
"But you get what I mean, right?" Lucas nodded, "Peyton and Nathan had no relationship besides sex, and you and I seemed to do it all the time… Jake ended up with a baby when he and Nikki slept together. It seems to ruin everything," she told him, "And I guess that's why I decided that I have a new chance to be a better person now that I'm in Beaufort."
"I can see that. But you're already a good person, Brooke. You're smart, you're Student President… I think that maybe you're on the right track. Maybe more people should be like you."
"You want to see more people who lie to their boyfriends?" she asked, only half-joking.
"You don't need to lie to Jason or me. I'm not… okay, I'm a little jealous, but I'm happy for you and respect your decision. And if he can't accept our friendship, then maybe you shouldn't be with him." Brooke smiled slightly.
"I think the problem is that he understands too much. I've never really been with a guy like that – aside from you, of course, and we all know how that turned out," she said.
There was another short silence which was disturbed by a sudden burst of laughter from Lucas.
"What?" Brooke asked, somewhat amused by Lucas' outburst. He glanced at her and began laughing again, "What? Do I have something in my teeth?" she asked slightly paranoid.
"Oh no, it's not that," he reassured, "I was just thinking that if we had known Peyton liked girls back then, then you and I might probably have still been together and we wouldn't have had all that drama," he said. Brooke thought about what he'd said and also burst into laughter.
"It would have been nice to know!" Brooke agreed nodding her head.
Scarlett drummed her nails on the diner table as she pretended to be interested in whatever her friends were saying. When she spied Jason and his friends enter The Diner, she almost jumped up in excitement and motioned them towards her group of friends. Squeezing in to all available spaces, the group ordered food and randomly chatted amongst themselves. Scarlett looked at Jason.
"So, where's Brookie?" she asked sweetly, "She left pretty quickly after school today."
Jason quickly glanced at his ex-girlfriend, annoyed that she was talking to him since she hadn't been the friendliest to him after their break-up last year.
"She's away for the weekend."
"Really? Where did she go?" Scarlett asked, her interest peaked.
"Tree Hill."
"That is strange for her to go. Any particular reason?" Scarlett questioned. Jason shrugged.
"Lucas was going up there and Brooke decided to join him. Actually, I think he invited her to go," Jason said, wording it carefully as he knew that Scarlett enjoyed twisting things around.
"Ah… so Brooke Davis and her 'good friend' Lucas Scott are on a road trip? Visiting Tree Hill, where there are lots of memories for them both?" she grinned widely. Jason sighed.
"I know what you're trying to do, Scarlett, and I'm telling you know to stop it," he warned.
"You know, they were awfully, awfully close while you were away…" she began, "I never got why they were so close, rumour has it that they dated in Tree Hill. That doesn't strike you as odd that they suddenly want to go away together, does it?" Scarlett was enjoying watching Jason squirm.
"Whatever you're going to say, I suggest you forget it. I trust Brooke and unlike some, I know she won't be jumping into bed with the first guy she sees when my back is turned," he shot back, referring to Scarlett's activities, "Lucas is a cool guy and Brooke's already told me what happened between them and that was over a long time ago. They're just friends, why is it so hard for you to understand?" Jason asked irritated with his former girlfriend.
"Because, Jason, it's virtually impossible for a guy and a girl to be 'just friends'. And as for this whole 'virgin' thing she's got going on, I don't buy it, and I don't know why you do either."
"My girlfriend doesn't lie to me, Scarlett," he said, "I'm out of here. I just remembered why I was so happy when we broke up," he told her as he got up and left The Diner with some of his friends.
Scarlett frowned and contemplated on what she could do next. Then, pulling out her cellphone, she dialled a number.
"Hey Gloria, it is Scarlett."
"Hey, how are you?" the girl replied on the other end.
"Listen, do you have that cousin that goes to Tree Hill High?" Scarlett asked.
"Uh, Mary? Yeah, sure. She's in her senior year now, I think. Why?"
"I need you to do me a favour. Can you ask your cousin what she knows about Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott?" Gloria agreed to do what Scarlett asked and hung up the phone.
"What was that all about?" one of Scarlett's friends questioned. Scarlett's grin grew wider.
"You'll see," she said, "Little Miss Perfect is about to take a fall."
To Be Continued…