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 16
"I have seen manners that make a similar impression with personal beauty; that give the like exhilaration, and refine us like that; and, in memorable experiences, they are suddenly better than beauty, and make that superfluous and ugly. But they must be marked by fine perception, the acquaintance with real beauty. They must always show self-control: you shall not be facile, apologetic, or leaky, but king over your word; and every gesture and action shall indicate power at rest. Then they must be inspired by the good heart. There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Brooke grabbed Lucas's hand in hers as she caught sight of her parents stepping out of the terminal at JFK Airport. She was nervous, and understandably so, she hadn't heard from her parents in months and they hadn't been in America in years. She didn't know what to expect from them anymore, not that she ever did in the first place.
Lucas squeezed her hand and flashed a reassuring smile. When all of this was over with she needed to show him how much his support meant to her. She knew that over the past few days she had been acting slightly mental but he had took it all in stride and was patient with her. For that, she was grateful. A fight with him would have made her parents visit a total disaster.
"We should probably call out to them so they don't walk off without us." He reminded her softly. "I don't want to hunt after your parents in this crowd."
"You recognize them?" She asked surprised.
He grinned. "Besides the fact that you're staring right at them you look exactly like your mother."
She blushed. "Would you be surprised if I said I was nervous?"
"Finally!" He exclaimed a hint of teasing in his voice. "You know Brooke, the first step to defeating a problem is admitting it."
She playfully punched him in the shoulder tossing a glare his way that would have killed a lesser man. "Not funny at all Scott. Just be glad I have a vested interest in your survival." Brooke sighed as she looked at her parents who were desperately searching for her and figured she should go approach them. "Go get Eliza and meet me by the luggage pick up." She commanded.
"Of course Herr Brooke." He said a smirk on his face.
She hit him again as he walked off before making her way through the large crowd of people making their way around the airport. She hurriedly approached her parents waving and shouting their names to stop then pasting on a happy smile when they finally heard her and made their way over.
"Brooke! Darling you look wonderful!" Her mom said happily embracing her tightly. "You must remind me to never stay such a long time away from you."
"Hi Mom…" Brooke said softly.
Her dad appraised her for a second and then pulled her into a hug of his own once her mother had released her. "It's good to see you again Brooke."
"Likewise dad." She said giving her father a tiny smile. "So how about we get your bags?" She suggested cheerfully.
They nodded their approval and Brooke led them on a weaving path through the masses towards baggage claim where she saw Lucas and Elizabeth waiting for them to arrive. Her mother squealed loudly upon seeing Elizabeth running up the her other daughter and hugging her tightly. "Elizabeth! How wonderful it is to see you!" She exclaimed.
Brooke could tell Elizabeth was struggling to hold on to a sarcastic retort and mentally thanked her for it. "Hello mother." She responded. "Hello John." She said barely acknowledging her step-father. He smiled politely at her but turned away when Lucas cleared his throat prompting Brooke to introduce him.
"Oh! Dad…mom…this is Lucas Scott, my boyfriend." She introduced him.
Her dad smiled at Lucas and shook his hand while her mother gave him a brief hug. "It's so great that you came with Brooke to meet us!" She squealed. "I was just dying to meet you!"
He looked slightly uncomfortable but smiled back anyway, anything to give the Davis' a good impression of him. "It's nice to meet you as well Mrs. Davis. Brooke and Elizabeth have told me so much about you."
She giggled. "I'm sure most of it was bad. Those two are a terror together." She said proudly. Brooke rolled her eyes at her mother's obvious detachment with real life and noticed behind her mother that her dad was looking rather pointedly at his watch. "Dad do you need to be somewhere?" She asked.
"Actually I do." He said. "I hate to see you and run but I have a meeting to go to."
Lucas immediately went to take his bags from him. "I'll take your bags and call you a cab then." He said amicably. "I know how it is with the last minute business meetings."
Brooke watched the two go outside and she flashed Lucas a grateful smile before turning back to her mother and annoyed looking sister. "So mom, do you want to go rest or go out for lunch?"
"I rested enough on the flight." She said. "How about we go out for lunch. That boyfriend of yours is coming with us right?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Brooke elbowed her. "Yeah, Luke will come with us if I ask him. I'm pretty sure he's free all day today."
Her mother clapped happily. "Wonderful, its fabulous seeing my two girls again, and you both look so happy. It makes me so proud to see you two getting along and having successful lives."
"Right mother, not like you had anything to do with that." Elizabeth snapped. Mrs. Davis looked hurt temporarily before the happy mask was once again plaster on her face.
"Now Eliza, no need to be rude to me. I know I haven't called as much as you would like me too…" Mrs. Davis started.
Elizabeth snorted rudely. "Trust me, I'm not feeling the least bit neglected by you. Matter of fact if you just so happen to disappear for another couple of years I can't say that I'll be sad."
Brooke opened her mouth to chastise Elizabeth but was beaten to it by Lucas. "Mrs. Davis, I know a wonderful French restaurant not too far from here, why don't we all go there and get reacquainted. It's been a tough couple of days I'm sure Elizabeth is just feeling stressed out and taking it out on you." Lucas said smoothly glaring daggers at Elizabeth.
"That would be just lovely!" Mrs. Davis squealed.
Brooke sighed to herself. At least she had Lucas to keep her mother and sister under control because he seemed to be having a hell of a lot more luck than she was.
He knew from first hand experience that when someone's family is dysfunctional it usually is dysfunctional in the most bizarre of ways. Take his family for instance, the reason why his was so bizarre was because he had two dads, two moms, two of which are completely controlling, and two volatile and impulsive grandparents that took their roles as matriarch and patriarch so seriously they would die from nosiness, not heart attacks.
Brooke, her mom, and Elizabeth on the other hand were bizarre because either Brooke or Elizabeth would bring up a subject and if it wasn't to their mother's standards the subject would not be touched and added to what he now affectionately called the "hands-off-if-you-want-to-keep-me-happy" pile. Not that Elizabeth cared if her mother was happy, but Brooke did so the pile was left untouched.
He was briefly pulled out of his reverie by the insistent ringing of his cell phone and he made a mental note to thank whoever called for giving him a reason to leave the table.
"I'm sorry, but I have to take this call." He said apologetically. Brooke nodded waving him off while Mrs. Davis and Elizabeth kept on arguing about some subject he didn't care to broach.
Lucas walked to a secluded corner of the fancy French restaurant he had taken them to Le Soleil and answered the phone. "Lucas Scott speaking."
"Hey Luke its Haley."
"You have great timing Hales, I was about to pound me head into the table." He said sighing.
"What's going?" She asked.
"I'm having lunch with Brooke's mom and sister, and although Elizabeth—her sister—is perfectly fine, her mom is another story that I don't even want to talk about." He said exasperated.
"Is she that bad?"
"She's so much like Deb it's scary."
He knew he would get a reaction from that. Haley hadn't liked Deborah Scott when she was alive any more that he did. "Shit…" Haley drawled. "That must suck."
"It does, but I know you didn't call for that so what's up?" He asked.
"I'm just giving you the heads up that both Nathan and I are back in town as are Jake, Peyton, and Jenny."
He groaned. "How are Jake and Peyton?"
"Still pissed off at you and Brooke for all I know. They weren't all that friendly after you two left." She admitted.
"That's just wonderful." He muttered sarcastically. "You think they'd just accept that we aren't betraying them, just trying to give them some objective advice, but can't ask that of Jake he always was a tad bit irrational."
"Well they weren't too happy that you and Brooke were becoming all chummy with the 'enemy' Luke." Haley said.
He let out a snort of laughter. "The enemy that happens to be the mother of his child." He looked back over to the table and noticed that his girlfriend was getting slightly antsy and was giving him death looks every couple of seconds. "Hales I'd love to discuss the mechanics of Jake's messed up though processes but I have to go."
"Alright, I love you and Nate needs you to talk to him about something."
"I love you too and tell Nate to behave himself; I'm not in the mood to clean up any messes." He growled playfully.
He made his way over to the table smiling charmingly at the three women, two of which were glaring at him with all intentions of burning a hole through his skull. "Did I miss anything important?" He asked innocently.
"No, nothing at all." Elizabeth said just as innocently. "Brooke was just telling mother how you two met. Mr. Scott, you are quite the player, and the persistent one at that."
He smiled at her. "My mother always told me it takes persistence to get what you want in this world. I always take her advice to heart."
Mrs. Davis grinned. "My Brookie has always had a knack for picking up the wrong guys, case in point that awful Tim Smith; you must have met him right? Brooke told us you went with her to his engagement party."
"Yes I attended with her, he did seem like a bit of a snake. I can assure you Mrs. Davis that I'm not anything like him." Lucas said.
"I can see that. You're well-mannered and well-off." She said approvingly. "Two things that Tim may have been, but didn't know how to control like you do."
He gave her a strange look. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"Well!" Brooke interrupted looking as if she would strangle her mother. "I'm full, and I see that you three are done as well so why don't we call it a day? I'm sure you're tired mother, the jet lag has to be finally catching up to you."
"If you want to get rid of me darling all you have to do is say so." Her mother said.
"We want to get rid of you." Elizabeth said bluntly. "Was that good enough for you?"
Mrs. Davis sniffed delicately before pulling out her cell phone and calling for a cab. "I'll be on my way to the penthouse then. Do call me when you girls are done being inconsiderate and actually want to spend some time with your mother."
Lucas watched their mother walk away with an amused look on his face. "Who wants to bet that she wasn't too happy with the both of you?"
Brooke glared at him for what seemed liked the millionth time today. "Shut up Scott, if I had to deal with her for any longer I would have lunged across the table and choked her."
"Right behind you sis." Elizabeth said. "That woman is insufferable."
"I think I would have paid to see that." Lucas commented.
TBC
A/N: Hands down the shortest chapter I've ever written. I barely reached 2,000 words. Can you tell I didn't like it all too much?