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 25
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russel
"You have no reason to be nervous." Nathan said calmly watching Elizabeth pace in her small apartment.
She looked at him incredulously and practically burst into tears. "I HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" She yelled. "I'm supposed to be meeting your dad and Lucas's parents and deal with Haley all at the same time WHILE ATTENDING LUCAS AND BROOKE'S PRACTICE DINNER!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This could drive a sane person like me to drink!"
He grinned. "Good thing you're not sane, we don't want the both of us to be alcoholics."
She growled and threw her curling iron at him. "This is not funny!"
"Hey!" He exclaimed dropping the hot iron to the floor. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"No." She said looking thoughtful. "But it's a good idea. If I kill you there would be no reason for me to go to this damn dinner!"
"Brooke's your sister Eliza, you'd still have to be there."
"Correct, BUT I wouldn't be scared of being attacked by Haley or disapproved of by your dad."
"Haley's not going to attack anyone and my dad is probably happy that I divorced her." Nathan said placating her. "They never liked each other so maybe he'll like you."
Elizabeth snorted. "From the horror stories Lucas and Brooke tell I'm not too positive about that."
He rolled his eyes. "Lucas has never liked our father and probably never will. He's just a saint so he tolerates him and Brooke passed the 'I'm not a dirty gold digger test' so I figure she's okay in my dad's book."
"The 'dirty gold digger test' oh what fun!" She exclaimed sarcastically.
He shrugged. "My dad's paranoid, ever since Lucas got a restraining order on that one chick he never trusted any of our girlfriends again."
"Great! So he automatically assumes that I'm some crazy stalker bitch that's out to marry you and then kill you for your money. This just keeps getting better and better." She said groaning.
He smiled at her. "Everything is going to be fine."
She nodded. "Of course, positive thinking." She sighed and started to tug on her black dress. "So who's going to be there that I'm actually going to know?"
"There's…Haley, Luke, and Brooke obviously." He started. "Then there will be Nancy and I think you've heard of Nikki and Serena from Brooke and Peyton and Jake."
She raised an eyebrow. "Won't that cause drama?"
"Big bro promises that it won't so let's hope it doesn't."
Elizabeth slid her black pumps on and looked into the mirror. Her newly jet black hair was curled and falling softly on her shoulders and her make up was minimal except for her dramatically done eyes. She completed her classic look with a silver bracelet, necklace, and Chanel earrings.
"Okay I'm ready to go." She said looking at him apprehensively.
"Everything is going to be fine." He reminded her.
She glared. "Trust me, it's not."
"The doubt of an earnest, thoughtful, patient and laborious mind is worthy of respect. In such doubt may be found indeed more faith than in half the creeds." - John Lancaster Spalding
"This is going to be a disaster!" Brooke moaned hopelessly. "Luke what in hell were we thinking when we invited all these people? What the hell is the point of a practice dinner anyway?"
"We're trying out the menu on a select group of close friends." He said while fixing the flower arrangement on the middle of the long table they would be using.
She stared. "Our 'select group of close friends' would like to maim each other."
"Which is why we did the strategically planned seating?" He said grinning. "Hey look on the bright side; at least it won't be boring."
"Of course not, because it'll be CELEBRITY DEATH MATCHES IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS DAMN DINING ROOM!"
He walked over and pulled her into a comforting hug. "B, our friends may hate each other but they love us and they're not going to mess this day up because we'll be pissed and uninvite them to our wedding."
She gave him a small smile. "So it won't be a disaster?"
"No promises, but hopefully if there is a disaster it'll be a relatively small one."
"Okay…so we should probably do a rundown of everyone who is supposed to show and then tell the caterers to start setting the places—everyone will be here soon."
Lucas nodded and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Okay so…Haley, Nathan, Elizabeth, Serena, Nikki, Jake, Peyton, my dad, my mom, Keith, your dad, and your mom."
Brooke leaned her forehead against Lucas's. "I love you, and we're going to survive this dinner."
He grinned cheekily. "There never was a doubt."
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Elizabeth glanced nervously around the decorated dining room. It was beautiful, decorated in dark silver and gold, two of Brooke's favorite colors and the theme for the wedding.
"So where's your dad?" She asked.
"Coming right for us." Nathan said pasting on a fake smile. "Look happy, he smells fear." He joked.
She elbowed him and pasted on her own fake smile as Dan reached them. He patted his son on the back and gave her a once over before speaking. "You must be Elizabeth Davis, I'm Dan Scott Nathan's father."
"Hello Mr. Scott, how do you like New York so far?"
He looked disgusted. "New York is a dirty place and I don't know why Nathan and Lucas want to live here so badly. Florida is better—clean air and open space—not gutters and smog."
Elizabeth chuckled. "New York takes some getting used to."
Dan smiled back and then looked at Nathan. "Son, why don't you get your father a drink. I'm going to need something strong to survive this dinner."
Nathan rolled his eyes not putting up a fight against the obvious dismissal. "I'll be right back."
As soon as Nathan wandered over to a refreshment table Dan turned steely eyes back to her. "What are your intentions toward my son? You must have worked awfully hard to break him and Haley up."
Elizabeth flinched. "I didn't have to ruin their marriage Mr. Scott, they did that all on their own. I'm Nathan's girlfriend if you didn't notice and usually when you have that title your intentions are pretty clear—I want to be with him."
He looked at her snidely. "Bravo, what a cute speech. Look, I never liked Haley and I didn't pretend to but she's carrying my son's child he should have stayed with her and supported her. So don't think I'll approve of this arrangement you two have going on."
She narrowed her eyes and pulled herself up to her full height which barely reached Dan's shoulders. "Mr. Scott do you really think that I give a damn about your approval? Sure it would have been icing on the cake to not have another person in Nathan's family who hates my guts but trust me if I can deal with the paparazzi, disappointment from Luke and Brooke, and Haley's crazy ass I can definitely deal with you. I'm not going to dump Nathan just because you don't like me and I hope you realize that I would never get in the way of his relationship with his son. Contrary to popular belief Mr. Scott, not all people are evil like you."
He smirked. "You're a bit more feisty that your sister. I like that. You take care of my son." He said and then wandered away as Nathan returned with the drinks.
Eliza grimaced. "I think I passed the test."
He handed her the drink meant for Dan and shrugged. "See I told you it wouldn't be that bad."
A Prayer For My Son Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory…Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain." - General Douglas MacArthur
A bell chimed throughout the large dining room and they both turned to the table where Lucas had hopped on to the chair.
"Hey guys, its dinnertime so find your place at the table and let the first course begin."
Brooke sat next to Lucas and surveyed her friends and family who were talking amongst themselves. She let out a relieved sigh and turned to him. "Luke, no one has killed each other yet and it's been a whole hour, I don't think this night can get any better."
He grinned and was about to answer when Dan stood up and hit his fork against his glass to get everyone's attention.
He groaned. "Brooke you jinxed it."
Once everyone had quieted down Dan began to speak. "Well, first off let me say congratulations to both Lucas and Brooke. You two are a wonderful couple and I must say it came as a total surprise that Lucas could actually find a woman that couple put up with him and even more of a surprise that she was as independent and self-sufficient as Brooke is."
Lucas groaned softly and whispered in Brooke's ear: "That means he doesn't think you're a gold digging whore."
"Wonderful." Brooke whispered back sarcastically.
"I almost thought that he would end up with Serena, but it turns out that Lucas always has a trick up his sleeve." Dan continued.
Serena smirked, Brooke looked pissed, and Lucas just sighed heavily.
"I also think congratulations are in order for Nathan who managed to land Lucas's soon-to-be-bride's sister. It's amazing that he ever got rid of that clingy singer. I thought he would never wise up and see the error of his ways."
Haley growled low and Nathan dropped his head into his hands. Meanwhile, Elizabeth just got paler.
"So in closing because I know you are tired of hearing this old man talk."
Haley rolled her eyes and commented loudly. "Wow, not so self-absorbed after all Dan actually saving us all from listening to you!"
Dan kept his cold smile on his face. "Another congrats to Lucas and Brooke and I hope all of you are enjoying your dinner."
Lucas stood up embarrassed after his father's words. "Yeah, okay…so besides what Dan led you to believe this dinner was not created to give you the 411 on Nathan's life. There are the tabloids for that." Everyone laughed softly. "You guys are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the time, Brooke and I just want to thank you for coming and being our guinea pigs. I'm sure in two months if you didn't like the food it'll be definitely better at the reception. Doors close at 10 everybody!"
"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - TS Elliot
"Being a hostess is overrated." Brooke complained to Haley. "I'm glad I never followed my mom's footsteps and became a socialite. I would have cracked under the pressure and ended up in rehab."
Haley laughed. "That's taking it to the extreme. The spotlights not so bad."
"You're a singer! They like pay you to say that!"
Haley let out another snort of laughter just as Nancy came up to them. "This dinner party was awesome Brooke. You and Luke did great. No bar fights, cat fights, and celebrity fights!"
"Nance, I'm always ready for your humor." Brooke commented dryly.
Nancy giggled. "Too bad you didn't invite any of your hot, brooding magazine writers. I need a man…like badly."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "Always a riot Nance, you just keep those jokes coming."
Nancy stretched and flopped down in a chair next to Haley. "You know I should quit my day job and become a comedian."
Brooke mock gasped. "You actually have a job? I didn't know sitting around waiting for Nathan to do something important constituted as a job."
Nancy glared. "You're HILARIOUS Brookie. I think getting Daddy's approval went to your head."
"Oh please…can we not talk about Dan? I dealt with that man for most of my teenage life and 5 years of my married life. I think the only good thing about my divorce from Nathan is that I divorced Dan too." Haley said bitterly.
"Oh here we go…" Nancy muttered watching the blonde that was approaching them.
"Brooke! You look stunning tonight, becoming married is good for you!" Serena exclaimed.
Brooke smiled brightly. "Thank you Serena, you look great as well. How do you like New York?"
"Florida is way better but it isn't too bad. So many things to do that's for sure." She said. "So how does it feel to be engaged to Lucas?"
Brooke stared and Serena stared back while Haley and Nancy tried hard not to burst into hysterical laughter.
"Okay you know what Serena? This whole 'let's be civil and act like we care about each other' vibe we were trying to pull is so not working. So can we skip all the nice talk?"
Serena's face closed off and she fingered her champagne glass. "You won." Serena said dully. "What else is there to say?"
"Nothing." Brooke answered simply. "Enjoy the party."
Serena turned around and stalked back to the bar.
Now the standard cure for one who is sunk is to consider those in actual destitution or physical suffering—this is an all-weather beatitude for gloom in general and fairly salutary day-time advice for everyone. But at three o'clock in the morning, a forgotten package has the same tragic importance as a death sentence, and the cure doesn't work—and in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day. At that hour the tendency is to refuse to face things as long as possible by retiring into an infantile dream - but one is continually startled out of this by various contacts with the world. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Mom! Dad! So…because of the embarrassing speech by Dan you know that I'm dating Lucas's brother. This is Nathan Scott." She said introducing him to her parents. "Nathan…this is my mother Linda and step father John."
"Hello Nathan! You're a basketball player aren't you? The one that was married to that singer?" Linda asked immediately.
Nathan sighed. "Yup that'd be me."
Linda turned to John and smiled. "Honey! Doesn't Eliza look so happy?"
Mr. Davis looked at his wife amused and shook Nathan's hand. "Good to meet you Nathan, I trust you're taking care of Eliza."
"As best as I can sir. " Nathan replied politely.
"Well, this was such a lovely party wasn't it?" Linda chattered filling up the silence.
Eliza rolled her eyes. "New York and Florida's rich and famous collide."
Mrs. Davis clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Oh Eliza, you should be happy for your sister. This…cynical outlook on light just isn't healthy."
"Mom stuff it, you see me two weeks out of the year at most, maybe seeing you just puts me in a bad mood."
Linda gasped glancing at Nathan's slightly embarrassed expression and then turning cold eyes on her daughter. "Eliza, we should talk later okay honey?" She says in a false cheerful tone.
Eliza struggled not to hurt her mom for her amazing avoidance issues. "No mom because we never will but its fine, I'm used to it by now." She tugged on Nathan's sleeve indicating her absolute desire to leave the vicinity of her parents as soon as possible. "Nice seeing you again John."
Mr. Davis shook his head but replied anyway. "Goodbye Eliza."
As they walked away Nathan waited for an explanation. "Don't want to talk about it." She mumbled.
"Well you're going to anyway because it looked like you just went out of your way to piss your mom off."
She shrugged. "That's just how we've always been. It's a bitch growing up with a woman who's got avoiding the issue down to a science."
"What exactly is the issue?"
Elizabeth smiled bitterly at him. "Me. The child they didn't want. The child that reminds them of what almost destroyed their marriage."
"Shit…I'm sorry…"
She looked at him helplessly. "It's okay. After 21 years you get used to not being wanted."
"One should not lose one's temper unless one is certain of getting more and more angry to the end." - William Butler Yeats
Lucas sighed to himself as Jake and Peyton approached him. He didn't want to deal with both of them at the same time. Not today, hell—not ever.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked taking a long sip from his champagne glass. He was going to need it.
"We just wanted to say congratulations." Peyton answered. "I know we've said it to Brooke…I'm her maid of honor and everything, but we've been avoiding you and we shouldn't do that."
He shrugged. "You have no obligation to me. As long as we're not fighting in front of Brooke I don't care."
"Maybe so but Brooke knows the tension is there, and that's just as bad." Peyton said.
He shrugged again. "What do you want me to do about it? I didn't create it."
"That's a load of bullshit." Jake said finally entering the conversation.
Luke stared at him. "Whatever happened to the calm guy in high school who didn't curse?"
"He decided being nice was overrated." Jake bit back angrily. "Luke, what the hell has been going on with you?"
"Nothing at all." Luke answered easily. "I've been following my instincts because…I trust them and believe it or not I trust Nikki."
"You practically handed my daughter over to Nikki with that testimony of yours!" Jake yelled.
Everyone in the party stopped and looked towards Luke and Jake.
Lucas cursed underneath his breath. "Jake I want you to leave." He said as calmly as he possibly could. "I want you to go right now, because you are an idiotic, self-centered, prick with no respect for me or Brooke or our dinner party that you're interrupting with this petty bullshit!"
"You want to blame me for doing absolutely nothing?" Lucas asked angrily. "Go right on doing it, I don't care anymore. I'm sick and tired of feeling guilty for doing something that felt right—that is right. Jenny has a mom, her name is Nicole Green, and Nikki is not a bad person. She made mistakes because god forbid she makes a fucking mistake in the presence of Jake 'I'm a goddamn saint' Jagielski!" He took a deep breath and pointed towards the door. "Didn't Nikki take Jenny last week and bring her back in one piece? Yes she did. Because people change. They change for the better and sometimes they change for the worse. You're not the Jake I knew anymore so we're done."
"Lucas I am so…" Peyton started.
"Get out both of you." Lucas growled. "Peyton, if you plan on coming to my wedding. You better not bring him."
And with that said, Lucas stalked out of the room leaving the rests of the guests in absolute shock.
"The cure for all ills and wrongs, the cares, the sorrows and the crimes of humanity, all lie in the one word 'love.' It is the divine vitality that everywhere produces and restores life." -Lydia Maria Child
"Well holy shit." Brooke said as she finally caught up with him.
"I'm sorry." He murmured softly pulling her into a hug and burying his face in her soft hair. "He pissed me off…bringing it up tonight."
"He was an ass, I get it. You don't have to explain." Brooke said.
"You're not pissed that I uninvited him? It messes up your seating chart." He said smiling slightly.
"I'm not pissed." She said. "So…we almost made it."
"Yeah, we almost did."
"It really wasn't much of a celebrity death match because Jake wasn't a celebrity." Brooke commented a few minutes later.
Lucas burst out laughing finally letting her go. "I love you." He managed to get out.
"Yeah I love you too, so can we go back outside?"
He nodded. "Thank you."
"For?"
"Understanding."
"It's what I do…it's why I'm getting married to you."
"So you can be my personal therapist?"
She smiled. "No, so I can just enjoy being in love with you…and that includes understanding when you finally have a meltdown and scare everyone to death with your mostly nonexistent temper."
He grinned. "We have guests."
"Still? I was hoping now that all the drama was over they'd go home."
"I'm sure some more horrible soap opera filled angst will show up again tonight."
Lucas stopped talking when they heard a loud crash and hysterical yelling.
"Glass was breaking—check, yelling—check, obnoxious crying—check." Brooke said. "Sounds like angst to me."
"Come on, we've got guests to please."
TBC
A/N: I hope that this chapter made up for the long wait because damn I love it. I'm sorry if it seems kind of jumpy though (with the random scene changes and quotes). There are so many things going on at once that I wanted to get into this part because sadly…the story is coming to a close. I'm guessing there are about 3 parts left and then a follow-up (I don't want to call it an epilogue because it really isn't). I worked hard on this part, so pretty please review?