Disclaimer: I don't own OTH, the characters, etc.

Chapter Fourteen

If I'm Not Right

A few days later, Brooke was working the cash register at Flirt. Ever since that one night, she couldn't stop thinking about Nathan. It had been so magical. Now they were closer than ever, and she prayed that would never change. She hadn't seen Haley yet, but a part of her wanted to. She wanted to give that witch a piece of her mind. How dare she come back after all these years and think she can just pick things up where she left off. No way in hell would that ever happen, not if Brooke had anything to do with it.

The door opened and Brooke looked up. "Nathan!" She exclaimed happily. "I thought you had a meeting." He walked around and gave her a hug and a light kiss.

"I did, but it got out early. I figured we could still have our lunch date."

"Aw, I would love to. I can close at one and we can go to Karen's. Did your meeting go good?"

"Yeah, it was alright. Since when do you care about my work?"

She giggled. "I don't, just thought I would be a supportive girlfriend."

He grinned. "Well, you are already perfect so just stay the way you are, okay?"

"You are too sweet, you know that?" She put her arms around his neck and gave him another kiss.

"Yeah, I know," he said modestly. She rolled her eyes at him. He was just like her in so many ways it scared her sometimes.

Her back was turned to the front door, so when she heard it open, she said, "Welcome to Flirt, can I help you?" Her voice trailed off when she saw Haley standing in front of her. She dropped her arms from around Nathan's neck. "Haley."

Haley's throat tightened when she saw Nathan with Brooke. She didn't want them to know that, of course. She smiled at the pair, hiding her emotions. "Hey, Brooke. Hello, Nathan." Nathan nodded at her, curious as to why she was there. To prove to Brooke that he was there for her, and to prove to Haley he was committed to Brooke, he put his arms around Brooke's waist. Brooke turned and smiled up at him. Sometimes a little assurance never hurt anyone.

Brooke asked, "What's up?" She pretended to act nonchalant, as though Haley arriving was no big thing. However, inside her stomach was doing flipflops, and her mind was telling her to scream.

Haley's smile faltered. She hadn't expected Nathan to be there. "I was just coming to talk. I didn't realize Nathan would be here..."

Brooke waved the comment off. "Oh, he comes by for lunch a few times a week." Haley's heart sank. He really was committed to her. She didn't let that get to her, though. Nathan was usually committed to the woman he was dating. It was just in his character.

Nathan turned Brooke around. "I'll be at Karen's. Come over when you get the chance." He didn't want to be there anymore. Being in the middle of two girls arguing was not his idea of fun. And since they were arguing about him, he sure the hell was ready to leave. Brooke nodded her head, and he gave her a quick kiss before walking towards the door. "Good to see you, Haley." With that, he disappeared across the street.

Brooke and Haley eyed each other. The two former friends were forming new opinions about each other. Haley was the first to speak. "I wanted to clear things up about the other night."

Brooke almost groaned. She really did not want to remember that night, let alone rehash it. "Okay..."

"I came back to town but didn't know Nathan was already in another relationship. I have to say, I was shocked when he told me."

Brooke's defenses went up. She snapped, "What did you think, he would wait for you forever? He's a guy. You couldn't expect him to fawn over you forever."

Haley sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "No, that's not it. I just didn't think he would have moved on so fast."

Brooke laughed scornfully. "You give yourself way more credit then is deserved. You left, end of story. Its been six years, Haley. Did you honestly think he was going to sit by the window for six damn years and wait on you?"

"No, but..." She tried to get Brooke to understand her side, but it wasn't going over too well.

"Face it, Haley," she interrupted. "You did him a favor. You would have ruined his life if you two had stayed together."

Something inside Haley snapped, and she sneered, "What, so you think you are better for him?"

"Hell yes I do! Nathan needs a strong, independent woman who makes him laugh and who is compatible with him. We have fun when we are together. The most fun you two ever had was getting an A on a math test."

Haley glared at her former friend. "You know nothing about our relationship."

"You're right, I don't. But that's because you two were barely together for what, five months? And you were married for maybe two. Tell me something, Haley. How's Chris?" Brooke knew she struck a chord when Haley's cheeks flamed red and her shoulders stiffened.

"How dare you..." Haley started. "You have no right to bring that up. None." Chris had been the deciding factor in Nathan and Haley's marriage, and unfortunately Haley made the mistake to choose Chris.

"Like hell I don't! You left Nathan to be with Chris. You may not realize it, but you did. Chris was on that tour, and you chose him over your own husband. Talk about being selfish."

"Selfish?" She screeched. "How the hell am I the selfish one? You waltz back into this town, and you instantly want everything to yourself. Including my husband."

"Ex husband," Brooke corrected her. "And for your information, I didn't want Nathan. That wasn't my intention of coming back. I just wanted to start a new life here in Tree Hill. Nathan helped me do that. He befriended me again, and out of that friendship grew a wonderful relationship."

"Save me the Hallmark card crap. So he was friends with you because he felt sorry for you? Wow, what a great friendship."

Brooke was about ready to slap this woman who thought she knew it all. "Look, I'm sorry that you were such a bitch to Nathan, but I was what he needed. You have had him ruined for the past six years. He was mess, but he cleaned himself up. No thanks to you."

"You know, Brooke, you have some nerve telling me how wrong I was. You weren't even here for most of it!"

"I was here when you left. No, I wasn't here the past few years. Who else wasn't here? You, Haley. You weren't here, and neither was I. You are right about that. But when I came back, he fell in love with me. Not you. That's the point of all of this. So why don't you take your selfish ass and go back to the celebrity world, where you matter?"

Haley stared at Brooke, and said, "You are such a bitch, you know that? You care about no one but yourself. I knew I never liked you."

Brooke looked at her nails, disinterested. "Don't worry, hon. It's a mutual feeling. You want to know the real reason you are back?"

"Sure, because apparently you know everything." Haley was already regretting coming there.

"You probably had a fling with Chris after your divorce with Nathan, and it didn't work out. He moved on to some rocker chick, leaving you stranded by yourself, in the 'famous' world. Then, you had another relationship and that didn't work out either. So, you figured you knew at least one guy who would want you. Nathan. Except, shocker, he had already moved on to me. Well, too bad. Now you can run back to Hollywood. It would be doing us all a favor. Oh, and by the way, Nathan told me you said you understood, and wouldn't try anything. Funny how I don't believe you."

Haley snapped, "Shut up. Nathan doesn't deserve to be with a witch like you."

"Oh, so he deserves to be with someone who cheats on him with a loser like Chris Keller? Don't think so. Nathan knows my faults, and I know his. We work because we know each other so well."

Haley laughed. "Yeah, right. You are still the same wild, party going slut you were in high school."

Brooke said, "Ooh, that almost hurt. Not. Come on, keep the insults coming because they aren't intimidating me at all. I am nothing like I was in high school, but you wouldn't know that because you left your friends, family, and most of all Nathan." Brooke was tiring of this banter they had going on. She hadn't prepared herself for that, and she hadn't had an argument to this extent in a long time. She had grown up, and stopped this constant bickering with others. It had been nice, actually. Then again, she was Brooke Davis. Meaning, she would fight for what she wants.

"Nathan would choose me over you any day," Haley replied haughtily. It was a weak, amusing attempt.

This comment made Brooke burst into laughter. "Oh, really? Tell me, where does he work? What happened to him during college that changed his view on life forever? What is his favorite dog's name?"

Haley was stumped. She really knew nothing about Nathan's present life. "I don't know," she admitted.

"That's right, because you weren't here. You left before you could find out what a truly amazing guy he really is. He isn't the same guy anymore. You changed him into this sickeningly sweet, whipped guy. Now, he is just sweet. And romantic. Damn, is he romantic. For my birthday this year, he decorated this gazebo and..."

Haley snapped, "Shut up." She didn't want to hear any of this.

Brooke cut her sentence off, leaned in closer to her nemesis. "FYI, he works in sports apparel, he was drunk one night and got into a huge car accident that changed his life, and his favorite dog is my dog, Audrey. He loves her to pieces. Now will you kindly get out of my store?" Brooke was just sick of seeing her, and Haley was finally getting to her. She didn't know how much longer she could hold up her guard without finally falling.

Haley glared at Brooke. "Fine, you might win this battle but you won't win the war. You haven't heard the last of me."

"Bye!" Brooke said with fake cheerfulness as she watched Haley stalk outside. After she was gone, she leaned against the counter. She knew she shouldn't let Haley get to her, but she was after all Nathan's first love. No telling what could happen. First loves are always special, and they always manage to tug at the heart strings. Lucas had managed to real her back in more than once, so there was no telling what Haley would do.

The door opened again and Nathan walked in. "You okay? I just saw Haley storming down the street."

Brooke nodded, rubbing her temples. "I'm fine, we were just arguing."

"Over me?" He went around the counter and allowed her to fall into his arms.

"Who else?" She leaned heavily into his chest, and he put his arms around her, holding her close. "She wants you back, Nate. She isn't going to stop until she has you all to herself."

Nathan was surprised to hear this. "You sure? She told me..."

"Trust me," she said, cutting him off. "We just had like a ten minute argument over this. Her exact words were, 'You haven't seen the last of me.'"

Nathan sighed, "Well, it doesn't matter. She is never going to get me. I'm with you now, and she will just have to accept that."

Tears stung Brooke's eyes. Nathan looked down and saw her crying. He grabbed a Kleenex and handed it to her. Brooke whispered, "You promise?" Inside, Brooke was kicking herself. She rarely let people see her get upset. Nathan knew this, and he treasured the fact that she was able to let him in.

It killed him to see her upset like this, though. "Brooke, I love you and only you. I don't want Haley. Don't let yourself get this upset, especially not over her. Look at me," he directed. She lifted her head and looked into his handsome eyes. "You don't have to worry. I promise everything will work out."

She said tearfully, "I just found you and now she wants to take you away from me. I can't lose you."

"And you won't," he said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere."

She dried her eyes, and scolded herself, "Dammit. I hate breaking down like this."

Nathan comforted her, "You don't have to be big and strong around me, Brooke."

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

He pulled her close again, and tried to assure her everything would be okay. "We'll fight her together, okay? Its not like I want to be with her anymore."

Brooke argued, "Yeah, but you loved her so much."

Nathan pointed out, "Loved. As in, in the past. Now, I love you. With her, there is no future. With you, I can see myself spending the rest of my life with you, and that makes me happy."

She smiled into his shirt, and a small laugh escaped. "I got your shirt all wet."

He shrugged. "That's okay, I've got others." He held her at arms length. "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess I just needed a good cry. Thank you," she said softly. She believed him and fully trusted him. She knew he would never go to be with Haley. He had been far too hurt by her to ever go back.

"Now, how about we go grab some lunch?" She nodded, and was grateful to him for trying to get her mind off her confrontation with Haley.

A week later, it was New Years Day and everyone was at Lucas and Crystal's house. They were having a barbeque, and Lucas was manning the grill. The guys were outside with him, and the three girls were inside gossiping.

It had been awhile since they had seen each other, and they had a bunch to catch up on. Peyton asked Brooke, "So have you seen Haley since that day she tried bitching you out?" Brooke had explained to her friends what had happened with Haley that one day. They were shocked and so proud that Brooke stood up for herself.

"Nope, and I really don't care if I ever do again. She could go to hell and I wouldn't care."

Peyton grinned. "Awesome. Its so weird that we used to be so close with her. I can still remember all those slumber parties, with her and Anna. We would stay up so late talking about nothing, really."

Brooke shrugged. "Things change, and she is just one of those things."

The two girls looked over at Crystal, who was smiling. Peyton said suspiciously, "You've been pretty quiet. What's going on?"

Crystal grinned. They could tell she was hiding something, and she was more than happy to share with them exactly what she was hiding. "Oh, nothing. Lucas proposed last night, that's all," she said nonchalantly.

Brooke and Peyton screamed and squealed. "Oh my God!" They demanded to see her hand, which held a huge diamond on it.

Brooke said excitedly, "Okay, we need details."

Crystal smiled. "Okay. He took me to this cliff about an hour from here to watch the fireworks. The show was ending when he got down on one knee. He started saying this romantic speech, and I just started bawling. It was the sweetest thing. Anyways, of course I said yes and he slipped the ring on my finger, and it just left me breathless."

Brooke sighed. "This is so awesome. I am so happy for you guys. How long have you been dating now?"

"About three years."

"Damn," Peyton said. "I think that's the ultimate record for him."

Crystal laughed. "Its been awhile, yes."

Brooke leaned in. "So, have you thought about the wedding yet?"

Peyton said, "Brooke, she just got engaged not even twenty four hours ago." Sometimes, Brooke was just too much.

"So? She can still think about it." Brooke turned back to Crystal expectantly.

Crystal shook her head. "I haven't really. But I know I want you two to be my bridesmaids. My little sister is eighteen, and I asked her to be my maid of honor."

Brooke seemed to be in dreamland. "I just love weddings. What about Lucas?"

"I'm sure he is asking Nathan to be his best man, and Jake as a groomsman. And he mentioned Mouth, too."

Brooke clapped her hands. "This is so exciting!"

Peyton laughed. "You made a big mistake in telling Brooke. You should have waited until the last minute, because now this is all she will be talking about." Brooke gave Peyton a look and Peyton shut up.

"Well, I am very happy for you." Brooke stood up. "I'll be right back." She walked out back and saw the three guys standing around the grill. She walked up to Lucas and pulled him into a huge hug. "Congratulations," she said sincerely. "I am so happy for you."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Nathan walked up, and grabbed his girlfriend. He whispered into her ear, "You have to pick out the sexiest dress ever."

"Not going to be a problem," she whispered back. All of this wedding talk almost made her forget about Haley. Almost.

Author's Note: Wow! You guys amazed me at the amount of reviews I got, and I am so grateful for every last one of them. So, this chapter definitely showed the bitchier side of Brooke, and I think we can all agree that we enjoy that side of her every now and then (especially on the show!). These next chapters, I will speed time up due to story purposes, but you won't be disappointed. Stay tuned. Oh, one last thing. Sadly, I will be out of town for the next two weeks, meaning no updates. I'm sorry! But keep the reviews coming while I'm gone, hopefully I will have access to a computer. And when I get back, I promise you a chapter that will change this story A LOT.

animefanatic36: He definitely backed her up, don't worry. And I didn't leave any kind of cliffhanger this time, thought I would be nice!

Agel15: This past season has completely changed my opinion about Haley James Scott. At first, I thought she was nice and all, but now I can't stand her! (could ya tell?) Thanks for the sweet review!

Ababy99: The coming obstaclse will be interesting, and I am bringing Tim back for awhile. LOL. I'm with you, a lot of stories lately have showed Haley as the "bad guy" of the fic, which is fine with me! Thanks for taking the time to review each chapter, I love them!

LivingintheOCsucks: I always look forward to your review! Glad you liked it, I have a feeling you will like this story too.

SoUnoriginal: Thanks! Sad to say it will be awhile until I update again.

Mony19: Thanks, I enjoyed writing it. I love the softer side of both Brooke and Nathan!

mariel: Definitely issues. Brooke is extremely insecure since the whole Lucas/Peyton cheating drama, and she has yet to let herself trust anyone else. Nathan is trying to change that, and this will become more evident in coming chapters. Thanks for the review!

brathan forever07: Thanks! Keep reading!

msCrazy: You can calm down now, he back BROOKE up instead. Thanks for the review.

Read and review, and when I come back Iwill write an awesome chapter for you guys! Thanks!

-Emilie-