Author's Note: Flashbacks are written in italics.
Chapter Ten: A Double Date
Brooke tore her eyes away from the sight of Lucas and Scarlett, and turned angrily to face her boyfriend, searching for answers.
"Why is Lucas sucking face with her?" she questioned, "Please tell me it's some sort of joke."
"Babe… I have no idea what Lucas is doing," Jason said, equally as stunned as the rest of the group.
"This has to be a joke because Lucas would never stoop that low… would he?" Brooke's mind suddenly turned to the time when she discovered he'd slept with that girl he had met at the bar. "This sucks," she proclaimed before grabbing Jason's hand, "I'm going home."
She said a quick goodbye to Nathan and Haley and quickly left the club, her boyfriend in tow.
In the car, she was still silently fuming.
"I don't see what the big deal is, Brooke," Jason said, "So what if he and Scarlett were making out? It doesn't mean anything… and if it does, then it's none of our business."
"I have no problem with him finding somebody but does it have to be her? Of all people, he knows how much she hates me and her reputation with guys." Brooke babbled.
"Look, I understand that you're somewhat jealo-"
"I am not jealous!" Brooke cut him off, pointing a finger at him, "I don't want Lucas getting hurt and I know that any relationship - being just a fling or, God forbid, something more – will just end badly. Very, very badly."
There was an uncomfortable silence that came between the two as they pulled up in front of Brooke's house.
Brooke sighed, "What does he think he's doing, Jason. You understand where I'm coming from, right?" Jason nodded, "What happened? One moment he's hanging out with Nathan, and then he goes AWOL on us and ends up with Scarlett. She's never going to let us forget it."
"We'll talk to him tomorrow, okay? Maybe he was drunk. I'm sure there's some explanation and we will get to the bottom of it. Just get some sleep and we'll deal with it tomorrow." Brooke nodded and Jason kissed her softly, watching her exit his car and enter her own house before driving off.
Inside, Brooke lay down on her bed and took a deep breath, hoping that this wasn't going to have any bad repercussions on anybody.
She glanced at the photo frames that were gathered on her bedside table and her eyes settled on one taken with Lucas a few weeks ago. She really hoped that this incident wouldn't drive them apart.
Lucas tried to ignore the gossip traveling at light speed through the halls. He knew that gossip traveled fast, but in Beaufort, he'd already got several calls Saturday morning asking him if he was with Scarlett.
He couldn't understand the fascination until Shawn clued him in Sunday night.
"Usually nobody cares about who gets with Scarlett. She has a reputation. Guys who nail her come a dime in a dozen."
"Even you?" Lucas had asked.
"Are you kidding me? Rachel keeps me on a tight leash and I don't go for the cheerleading types." Shawn had said, "But a lot of guys do."
"So why is everybody taking an interest in me and her?"
"Because you're the ex-boyfriend of her worst enemy, who just happens to be dating her ex-boyfriend. It's almost incestuous, really." Lucas shot Shawn a look. "Most people just think you're doing it to make Brooke jealous and everyone knows Scarlett's wanted Jason back since they broke up. Brooke got to him first and I think it's all too convenient that Scarlett suddenly hooked up with you."
"So she's using me to get back to Brooke."
"Isn't she? What really happened?"
Lucas came back to reality when he spied Brooke by her locker. He rushed over to her, calling her name but was disheartened when she just looked at him and rolled her eyes. He managed to catch up to her before she left her locker.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly.
"I think we need to talk."
"Hm, ya think? What could there possibly be to talk about?" Brooke said dryly.
"Please?"
"No thank you. I have actual people I want to see." Brooke began to walk away, noticing that people were staring and hoping they could see some drama.
"Brooke… it'll only take a couple of minutes, okay?" Lucas promised. Brooke nodded and Lucas led her to an empty classroom.
"Make it quick," she said as he shut the door.
"Nathan and Haley told me you were pissed at The Sundial on Friday night. I tried calling you all weekend but-"
"I was busy." Brooke told him.
"You were ignoring me, Brooke. I know because Haley called to say goodbye and you obviously weren't busy to have a thirty minute phone conversation with her," Lucas said. "I know you know about me and Scarlett."
Brooke groaned, "Don't even go there, Lucas. I'm just going to chalk it down to temporary insanity and maybe after another week, we can start talking again."
"We're dating." Lucas said suddenly.
"Excuse me?" Brooke asked, "Please tell me you're not seriously talking about Scarlett Whitmore here."
"Brooke… I admit that on Friday night I was drunk and she was just there and maybe that was a mistake. But, well, she called and asked me out and I agreed."
"Why would you do that?" Brooke demanded, "Why on Earth would you want to date her?"
"She's not all bad."
Brooke rolled her eyes in reply.
"Do you know what kind of reputation she has? She sleeps with a different guy every night!"
"And as I recall, that was you not so long ago." Lucas shot back without realizing what he'd said. Brooke looked at him in horror.
"I can't believe you just… you know what, forget it. Enjoy your little life with Little Miss Slut; just don't expect me to be happy for you."
"This may come as a shock to you, but this is my life and I can do what I want. Who are you to tell me who I can or cannot date?" Lucas yelled angrily.
"I'm looking out for you, Lucas. But if you don't want my input, then you won't get it." Brooke said as she walked out of the classroom, bumping into Jason as she did.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he hugged her.
"Lucas is dating Scarlett."
"Yeah, I know. Scarlett told me, hoping to gauge a reaction from me. I told her that I couldn't care less and Lucas was a good guy and the next thing I know, she invited us out for a double date tonight."
"What did you say to that?" Brooke asked. Jason looked guiltily at the floor. "Jason!"
"What could I say? At least with this, we can prove we're not jealous of them and I bet they hardly even like each other. I have a feeling that after one date with Scarlett, Lucas will realize what an ass he was being."
Brooke sighed, "Fine. One double date and that's it." Jason nodded, "But you have to make it up to me. Preferably with chocolates."
Jason grinned, "Of course. I'll make it up to you. But you never know, you might end up enjoying the evening," he suggested, but she silenced him with a look.
"I think you can start making it up to me right now." Brooke told him leading him away to the lunch hall.
"Tell me again why we're doing this," Brooke asked as she and Jason pulled up to the restaurant where they were due to have dinner with Lucas and Scarlett.
"Because we support their relationship," Brooke gave him a look, "Because you love me and I will totally make it worth your while," Jason corrected himself. Brooke nodded.
"Okay, but if I'm not having fun, I'm totally faking a headache and we're getting out of there." She warned him as he helped her out of the car.
Brooke and Jason entered the restaurant and were shown to where Scarlett and Lucas were already seated. Lucas gave them a small smile as they joined the table while Scarlett grinned widely.
"Brooke, you look adorable," she said mock-kissing Brooke on both cheeks before looking at Jason and doing the same, "My, my, you look handsome."
"Uh, why don't you take a seat, guys?" Lucas suggested, beginning to pull out a chair for Brooke, but she declined and pulled it out herself.
"I thought you were going to be nice," Jason whispered as they got settled.
"She started it…" Brooke said through gritted teeth.
"But she was being nice," Jason argued.
"She's never nice, Jase." Brooke reminded him as the waiter handed them the menus.
"Why don't Brooke and I go powder our noses while the boys order for us."
"Um…" Brooke hesitated trying to come up with an excuse, "I'm really picky over food so I think I'll be better off ordering for…ow!" Brooke glared at Jason while rubbing her leg. He gave a silent plea and she sighed, "You know what, I will come with you. Jason, I'll have whatever you're having," she said smiling as she got up.
The two remaining men looked at one another uncomfortably as the girls left.
"You know she thinks you're just trying to make her jealous, don't you?" Jason said finally as he immersed himself in the menu.
"I'm not trying to do that, Jason. I'm happy for you guys – honestly. So what if Scarlett and I happened to… like each other," Lucas defended.
"Well from one boyfriend to another, good luck with it." Jason said, "Honestly. I've been there and…" he let out a low whistle and shook his head.
Meanwhile in the ladies' room, Brooke sighed as she waited for Scarlett to finish her make-up.
"Aren't you done yet?" Brooke questioned, growing more and more impatient. Scarlett looked at her.
"You don't look too pleased to be here," she commented.
"That's because I'm not. Come on, Scarlett, you hate me. I took Jason away from you, blah, blah, blah. You've been giving me crap since I got here and now suddenly you want to be best friends? I'm not buying." Brooke told her matter-of-factly. Scarlett sighed.
"I'm trying to make an effort."
"Please don't act like you like me. I know you don't so can we just drop this stupid charade? You're the one who spread the rumors about me and Lucas to Jason."
"Those weren't rumors, Brooke," Scarlett said, "And anyway, like it hurt anyone. You and Jason are joined to the lip – as always, and Lucas is with me. Everyone's happy."
"You wish," Brooke muttered, "Are you done?"
"Almost," Scarlett said applying a coat of lipstick.
"Can I say something?" Brooke asked.
"Am I stopping you?" Brooke ignored the comment.
"If you're serious about Lucas, then tell me now because I don't want to see him hurt. And if you do hurt him, then you'll have to deal with me because he is one of my best friends."
"Relax, Brookie. I have no idea where this is going yet. This is only our first real date. And plus, he keeps making goo-goo eyes at you."
"That isn't true. He's over me and we're just friends," Brooke insisted, irritated with Scarlett's insinuation.
"You use that line more often than those celebrities who tell everyone they're just 'close-friends', but guess what? In the end, they're always together. It's obvious that Jason loves you and you love Jason – but have you really thought about how Lucas feels? The only reason that we ended up together in The Sundial was because he was bummed at seeing you and Jason playing 'Happy Families'. He can tell you over and over again that he's cool with it but you just have to look at him to know he isn't."
Brooke thought for a moment before crossing her arms.
"So, why are you dating him if he's 'so into me'?" Brooke asked, trying to act as if she wasn't buying it.
"Are you kidding? He's the hottest guy aside from Jason. And I think I deserve at least one night being wined and dined by him. His house is huge and he seems like a pretty good screw." Scarlett grinned. Brooke narrowed her eyes.
"You do realize that you're talking about one of my best friends, right? And I will go over there right now and tell him you're only using him to get another notch on your bedpost."
Scarlett shrugged, "Go on. See if I care. The thing is, he probably won't believe you anyway because nobody likes a jealous ex. And even if he does, you really think he cares that I'm using him? He's using me to get to you, or at the very least, forget about you. Relax, hon, you got the good guy."
Scarlett sauntered out of the bathroom, leaving a confused and angry Brooke in her wake.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, Brooke barely ate her food, hardly conversed with anybody and then skipped dessert because of her 'sudden headache'. Jason helped cover half of the bill and walked Brooke to his car.
"Are you okay now?" Jason asked once they began driving away, "You seemed really different after you came back with Scarlett."
"Scarlett's using Lucas, and he's using her." Brooke said quietly. Jason nodded.
"I know."
"You do?" Jason nodded as he looked at Brooke.
"It's pretty obvious really, Brooke. Lucas kept sneaking looks at you, and when I caught him, he tried avoiding us both. It's clear he's still into you no matter what he says," Jason explained.
"What am I supposed to do, Jason?"
"Do you feel the same way?"
"No! Of course not." Brooke said all too quickly, "I mean I'll always feel something for him but I love you."
"Is it possible you love us both? It's not uncommon to. You're just confused."
"Jason!"
"It's true, Brooke. Whenever we're alone, it's all fine and then when he comes along, you seem to cool off. You're more concerned with making sure he's comfortable around us that you almost completely forget about me," Jason told her, "I've tried to just push it aside but, Brooke, it's getting frustrating."
"What are you saying?" Brooke asked. Jason shrugged.
"Maybe we should cool off."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Brooke questioned. Jason shook his head.
"No, I'm just proposing a little break. No dates, no phone calls, no contact. It's for me too; I think it'd make us stronger."
"It could break us apart."
"That's a risk we have to take. I do love you, Brooke. But I can't have a third person in this relationship. Anyway, they say absence makes the heart fonder," Jason added a small laugh to lighten the mood.
"How long?" Brooke wondered.
"A week? I think that should be enough. But I want you to act like you normally would. If during the week you feel like you don't want to be with me anymore, than that is fine because we can make it a clean break. I'd rather you tell me after the week, than somewhere down the line when we're both frustrated with each other and it's killing us to be in this relationship."
"A week, huh?" Brooke sniffed as her eyes filled with tears, "That's going to be long."
"It'll breeze by. I'll pick you up at your house in a week's time and we'll go have dinner and talk, okay?" Brooke nodded reluctantly and hugged Jason tightly.
"I love you." Jason told her. She nodded.
"I love you too," she smiled through her tears and got out of the car, giving him a small wave as he began to drive off.
She stood in her driveway in tears. In one evening, she'd lost one of her best friends and her boyfriend and suddenly she wondered how she'd face the following week.
She sighed before telling herself she was being ridiculous.
If her relationship with Jason could survive Scarlett, old rumors and an old boyfriend, then they were going to get through this.
After all, it was only one week… right?
To Be Continued….