Equal But Opposite Reaction

By: Sari

Disclaimer: No, I don't own OTH. If I did Brooke and Lucas would be back together and Felix would be in a ditch somewhere. Haley wouldn't be going insane and she and Nathan would be back together.

Summary: AU Brucas. Successful bachelor Lucas Scott meets hard to get, feminist Brooke Davis and a rollercoaster ride occurs as both begin to fall in love.

Part 9

"Not that you lied to me but that I no longer believe you - that is what has distressed me." – Friedrich Nietzsche

Brooke sighed loudly and dramatically stealing one of Nancy's french fries as they sat in the Palm Beach County mall. Brooke, Nancy, and Haley were at the mall while Lucas and Nathan visited their high school and for such a rich area the mall was very boring. They had walked around the mall twice peeking into various stores and maxing out credit cards before stopping at the food court for a light lunch.

"So, when am I going to meet your parents Hales?" Brooke asked.

Haley scoffed. "How about never? They're never home. They're only in town a couple months a year and right now isn't one of those times."

"Hey look at the chick come straight for us." Nancy said pointing out the girl who seemed to know one of them. "She doesn't look familiar to me, who is that?"

Haley gasped loudly and stood up running to hug the girl. "Oh my god! Serena it's so good to see you!"

Brooke and Nancy eyes widened and they threw each other a surprised look. The girl Haley had just deemed Serena was a pretty girl. She was tall and a brunette with blonde highlights. Her eyes were a honey brown and she was wearing the latest designer clothes. "Haley James, I thought I would never see you in Palm Beach again!"

Haley brought her over to the table and introduced her to Nancy and Brooke. "Serena, these are my friends Nancy McAllister and Brooke Davis. Guys, this is Serena Mills."

They shook hands and Serena sat down. "Haley, what are you doing in Palm Beach again?"

"Lucas's parents were worried about his health and we decided to come down and visit to ease their minds."

Serena looked confused. "Lucas is here as well?" She asked looking around.

"Well not here at this point in time. Luke and Nathan are over at Palm Beach High visiting their old teachers. So what's been going on with you?"

"Nothing really, I'm working for my dad as his campaign advisor."

"He's running for mayor again this year?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "When is there a year that he doesn't run? That man is determined on running Palm Beach until he's dead and buried." She smiled and turned to Nancy and Brooke who were beginning to look bored. "So, how are you two related to Haley, Luke, and Nathan?"

"Does it matter?" Nancy asked in a bored tone. Brooke kicked her underneath the table and Nancy smiled through the pain. "I'm Nathan's publicist and a close friend of everyone."

"I'm Lucas's girlfriend." Brooke said.

Serena's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really." She drawled. "How long have you two been going out?"

Brooke and Nancy exchanged another look before Brooke answered. "A month and a half."

"Oh so nothing too serious? You know I was Lucas's girlfriend in high school." She informed her. "We went out for over a year."

"That's nice?" Brooke said hesitantly, not really knowing why Serena had brought that up. "High school was a long time ago."

"Lucas has a track record of not being able to keep a girl happy." Serena warned her. "How many girlfriends has he had since college Hales? 15…20?" She said laughing.

"Okay, little miss mayor's daughter. I don't know where your going with this blast from the past crap you're pulling but Brooke is his girlfriend, Haley is his best friend, and I'm one of his closest friends so if your still bitter about a breakup that happened years ago please do us a favor and shut up, we're not interested." Nancy snapped.

Serena's eyes widened. "I'm not bitter, I was stating a fact. Shouldn't all girls know what they're getting into before it goes wrong?"

"Rest assured Lucas and I are not going to break up anytime soon." Brooke said. "So you can stop trying to scare me away."

She held up her hands in a surrender motion. "Alright I'm sorry if I offended any of you. I hope you're not going to mention this little spat to Lucas. I really do want to see him and I'm sure he won't take kindly to me being rude to any of you."

"It's fine." Haley said waving a hand. "Let me just warn you that Luke has changed a lot since high school. He isn't the same rebellious kid he was in high school. That act he had going on was purely to piss off Dan and he has no reason to act like that anymore."

"He couldn't have changed that much." Serena said doubtfully.

A small smile graced Nancy's face. "Believe me, Lucas is a lot tamer and a whole hell of a lot better behaved than he was in high school or college."

Serena nodded then switched subjects. "Well Hales, how about Nathan? Are you two still married?"

Haley smiled brightly. "Yes, we're going on five years now. We have our share of problems but things are going good for us right now."

"And how are the jobs?"

"I'm still making my music and Nathan is still MVP of the New York Knicks."

Serena looked genuinely happy for Haley. "I'm so glad that you guys got what you wanted in life. I know you three were never really happy here."

"We weren't happy here that's true, but people like you, Felix, and Anna made it worthwhile." Haley assured her. "Speaking of Felix, did everything ever come out of that relationship you guys had in high school?"

The brunette sighed regretfully. "I was still hung up on Luke when I went out with Felix so all I ever succeeded in doing was breaking his heart and my own." She said softly. "If I could take back everything that both he and I did that year I would."

Haley nodded sympathetically. "I'm sure you would Rena."

Serena grinned. "No one has called me that in a long time."

"I'm sorry to break up the catching up session but we have to go meet Luke and Nathan." Nancy said tapping her Louis Vuitton watch. "It was great meeting you Serena."

"I have an idea!" Serena exclaimed. "I want to see Luke and Nate and I'm pretty much done doing what I came here to do so why don't I follow you guys where ever you're going?" She asked.

"Sure, that wouldn't be a problem! I'm sure the guys will be happy to see you."

Brooke was standing behind Serena and glaring daggers at Haley but Haley just smiled apologetically at Brooke and when Serena wasn't looking mouthed a quick "what'd you expect me to do? Say no?"

To the disappointment of Nancy and Brooke, who really didn't like the girl they all went to get their cars. Once in the car and after they made sure Serena was following them Brooke hit Haley over the head. "Jesus Haley, why were you acting so Mrs. Fields back there?"

"Oh my god! SERENA I LOVE YOU, COME HOME WITH ME!" Nancy mocked her in a high screechy voice. "Between you kissing ass and Serena's damn voice I was about to go nuts."

"I wasn't acting that badly!" Haley said glaring. "Serena is old friends with Nate, Luke, and I it would seem strange if I just told her she couldn't come and see them."

"That girl is still in love with Luke and it's SO obvious!" Brooke growled. "And why'd you guys neglect to tell us that he went out with this chick for a year?"

"It wasn't important!" Haley said.

"Jeez, is that the girl that Luke was like heart broken over freshmen year of college?" Nancy asked amused. "That boy is pathetic."

"NANCE" Haley shouted glaring at her through the mirror. "You guys don't like her, I get it. But you're going to have to deal with her because Nate was good friends with her and Luke went out with her for a year."

Nancy snorted. "Brookie's jealous and she has a reason, little Miss Priss is hung up on her boyfriend, sorry if we don't want her hanging around us."

"Nothing to worry about Brooke, Lucas doesn't cheat okay?" Haley said.

"With anyone else I'd be inclined to agree with you Hales." Brooke said. "But he has history with that girl, what if seeing her renews those feelings?" Brooke asked worriedly.

"Ick, what feelings for the ugly bimbo could he still have?" Nancy asked disgusted.

"NOTHING is going to happen." Haley said firmly. "Get that idea out of you head B, and Nancy keep you smart comments to yourself!"

"Yes mother." Nancy retorted.

Lucas and Nathan were waiting outside the school when the two cars pulled up. They were chatting nonchalantly trying to occupy their time. The girls stepped out the car and Lucas pulled Brooke into a hug kissing her on the forehead then on the mouth.

"Holy shit, Serena Mills?" Nathan asked while his brother was busy.

"Guilty as charged." Serena answered walking over and hugging Nathan tightly. "How have you been Nathan?"

Lucas had broken away from Brooke at the sound of her voice, eyes wide with surprise.

"I've been good, and obviously you have to because you're looking great." Nathan said hugging her back.

"Hey Serena." Lucas said softly. "Long time no see."

Serena turned around and smiled slightly. "Hi Luke."

Lucas crossed the sidewalk and crushed her in a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Serena said. "But, you sure didn't act like it." She accused playfully. "This is my first time hearing from you in years!"

He smiled sheepishly. "Palm Beach and its residents weren't a priority when I left."

Nancy cleared her throat loudly. "Lucas can you catch up with her later? Your parents are expecting us back soon."

Serena adopted a puppy dog look and Lucas couldn't say no to it. "Hey, how about you guys go back and I'm going to ride around with Rena so we can get caught up. She'll drop me by the house later."

Brooke looked at him. "Are you sure your parents won't be mad?"

"They'll be fine, they like Rena. I'll see you later okay honey?" He asked kissing her softly.

She kissed him back. "See you later" she echoed.

Lucas got into the car with Serena and they drove off, Lucas couldn't help but be curious about the woman's life. "So Serena what's been up with you?"

"Nothing much Luke. I'm surviving." She said.

"Looks like you're more than surviving. You're looking good Rena."

"So are you, I've heard great things about Lucas Scott the best sports agent out of UM." She responded quoting one of the many magazine articles he had been featured in.

"Well, I worked hard and got where I wanted to be."

"What are you doing back down here?"

"Did you ever hear about what happened to me in college?" He asked. She shook her head no and he continued. "In college they found out that I had a rare heart disease after I collapsed during practice so it basically screwed my chance of ever playing professional basketball again. It's called HCM and it's a pain in the neck to control. A month or so ago I had a relapse, I collapsed at my brother's apartment and I was stuck in the hospital for two days. My parents were worried but I wouldn't let them come up to New York so I gathered up the gang and we came down here."

Serena gasped softly. "I'm so sorry Luke, a lot of crap has happened to you in the last years huh?"

"More than you'll ever know."

"Whose fault is that?" She asked him bitterly.

"Yours Rena, you're the one that used Felix to get back at me and it backfired." He reminded her gently.

"If you hadn't cheated on me…" She said trailing off.

He shut his eyes. "Rena, I don't want to rehash this. We did it enough in high school."

She pulled into a deserted parking spot that was hidden amongst the trees, about ten miles away from his house. "Do you remember this place?" She asked.

"How could I forget?" He said a ghost of a smile appearing on his face. "This is the place we first kissed."

She nodded. "Almost every weekend after we broke up I would come out here and wonder where we went wrong." She confessed. "I would compare myself to Kelly and try to figure out why you would ever choose her over me."

"Don't do this." He warned.

"You never told me why." She said ignoring his comment. "You just used that same old lame excuse every guy uses. 'I was drunk' and instead of trying to work it out with me you cut me off from your life."

"Are you kidding me?" Lucas asked incredulously. "Two weeks later you were out partying with Felix after you had been avoiding me did you expect me to wait forever?"

He groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. "What is the point of this conversation Rena? We both know we did some dumb things in high school. It's been 5 years can't we get over this?"

"You know the saying 'absence makes the heart grow stronger'?" She asked.

"Of course, everyone knows that saying."

"I always thought it was silly. That after a certain amount of time you would just learn to forget that person, but I was wrong. I didn't forget you. I could never forget you." She admitted. "Who would have thought that five years later I would still be in love with you?"

Lucas recoiled at her words, the car suddenly feeling as if it was getting smaller. "Rena don't do this to me."

She kissed him softly at first, but then deepened it reveling in the taste of his mouth. She hadn't tasted him in five years and she was determined to make it worth while. He broke the kiss pulling away from her. "Rena I have a girlfriend."

"I know the one you've been dating for a month and half? Even she said it wasn't serious." She said. "Luke, tell me you don't feel anything for me."

"I can never say that Rena, you were my first love. I was hung up on you all through high school but it's been a long time and I can't go back there again."

Serena searched his compassionate eyes and smiled wickedly before pressing her mouth to his again. He didn't stop her this time, pulling her over the divider of the car and into his lap. He moaned into her mouth and she grinded her small body against his, slipping her warm hands under his shirt and tugging it off. They wrestled each other's clothes off and Lucas whimpered her name in her ear as their making out got serious. Gasping loudly he pushed her off him and opened the car leaning heavily on the car door.

"Lucas?" She asked breathily. "What's wrong?"

He laughed at her. "Serena, I'm standing out here in my boxers after almost having sex with you and you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong?"

"I don't see a problem." She said.

"There is a problem, a really big problem that's in the form a girl with pretty brown eyes and long brown hair and her name happens to be Brooke. Remember her? My girlfriend?" He yelled.

He opened the door and got his clothes hurrying to put them back on. "Put your clothes on and take me home."

She followed his command watching him warily. "Lucas I'm sorry."

"No you're not, but god I am." He said. "I just royally fucked up!" He said hitting the dashboard.

"Are you going to tell her?" She asked.

"It'd be dumb to lie to her, lies always become found out in the end." He said.

"Who's going to tell her Luke? It was just you and me out here." She reasoned.

"I couldn't live with myself if I lied to her."

"You're risking blowing apart your whole relationship because you couldn't live with yourself if you lied?"

"Rena, not everyone's a damn liar like you." He spat.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked coldly.

"Like you really give a damn about me? Everything that happened here tonight was a result of you wanting to get back at me for shit I did years ago. Rena, you never were good at lying to me." He growled.

She smiled. "You always could read people Luke."

They were sitting in front of the Scott house now and Lucas was dreading going inside. He didn't want to lie to Brooke's face and he knew that the vindictiveness in Serena would eventually make her tell.

"Serena, I never want to see you again." He informed her.

"I wasn't planning on making this a daily occurrence." She shot back.

"Go tell your pimp you did a good job." He said as he stepped out the car.

She stuck up her middle finger at him and drove off.

Brooke found him sitting on the back porch. Everyone had heard him and Serena pull up to the house but when he didn't come in figured that he didn't want to be bothered. Brooke had had enough though, she wanted to know what was going on with him. Sitting out in the dark for a half hour meant something was going on.

She sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder only to have him stiffen up and pull away. "Okay, now something is definitely up." She thought to herself.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" She asked him.

"I don't want to but I know I have to." He responded looking down. "Brooke I'm so sorry."

"This has something to do with Serena doesn't it?"

He nodded. "Brooke, you have to believe me when I say I didn't mean for anything to happen. I just wanted to catch up because she was such a huge part of my life for a long time. Then she just started asking these questions and I fell for everything hook, line, and sinker." He muttered bitterly.

"You're rambling Luke, I'm not getting what's going on." She said.

"I almost slept with Serena tonight." He said bluntly.

Brooke laughed. "You ALMOST slept with her? What did you forget what to do?"

"Brooke I'm so sorry." He whispered.

She desperately wiped away her tears that were falling at a rapid pace. "How'd this happen?"

He sighed. "We were parked in a spot that meant a lot to us back in high school and we were talking, more like arguing, about what went down junior year. All of a sudden she switched topics tells me that she never stopped loving me and kisses me. I pulled away and told her I had a girlfriend, she told me so what and then we kissed again and I didn't pull away until half of our clothes was off."

Brooked nodded. "Do you still love her?"

"Brooke I can't…."

"Answer me!" She shouted, and then lowered her voice. "Does that mean yes?"

"No!" He grabbed her and turned her so she was facing him and not the house. "Brooke I loved her, loved as in past tense. Serena will always be in my heart but I'm not in love with her. Tonight was a mistake that I regret with all my heart. Please Brooke, you believe me don't you?"

"All I believe right now is that you're a bastard." Brooke said angrily. "I'm going inside and I don't want you to come near me."

"Brooke you don't mean that." Lucas said.

"Fuck you Scott, don't you EVER tell me what the fuck I mean." Brooke spat. "Why don't you go finish what you started with your high school sweetheart? This conversation is over!"

She stood up and walked into the house, slamming the door behind her.

TBC

A/N: Whoo, that is the end of the highly emotional part 9. I have to say that I loved writing Serena, and she will be making appearances all throughout the next 3 parts or so to stir up trouble with Brooke and Lucas while they try to reconcile. Get ready for an all out cat fight between Serena and Brooke!

To the readers of This Time Around, the sequel is finally getting on its way! I finally have a title: Warring Emotions. I'm going to write out a few chapters before I start posting it, so that this story doesn't start to see a delay in updates.