Chapter Nineteen

The Party

Part I

Lucas and Kelly walked into the beach house together.

"Lucas, thanks for the ride and don't worry, I know it was just that, a ride. I don't expect you to stay by my side tonight."said Kelly with a smile. She hoped he wouldn't agree with her and want to be around her tonight.

"Well your welcome for the ride and I wouldn't mind spending time with you tonight, your not so bad."

She laughed."Thanks. I'm going to see if Theresa is here. Can I maybe find you later?"

"Sure. I'll definitely be here."he watched her as she walked off before going in search of Haley. He found her getting a soda to drink."Hey Hales, how's it going?"

She turned and smiled at him."I'm glad you came."

"Me too."

"So it was a good game huh? You and Nathan were great tonight. You two totally showed Whitey he made the right decision when forcing you to work together."she continued to smile at him, knowing he wouldn't like her last comment.

"Great."said Lucas sarcastically."Thant's exactly what I wanted to accomplish."he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, come on. You two work really well together, there's no denying that, so don't even try. Besides it's really good for the team, so it better continue."

"So is Brooke here yet?"asked Lucas totally ignoring her last comment.

"How did I know you'd ask that?"she laughed."I don't think so. I'm sure she would have found me if she was, but Peyton's here."

"Great. Lets hope she doesn't start anything with Brooke tonight."

"Oh, if she does, I'll personally kick her out."she again laughed and then turned when she heard someone come into the kitchen. Lucas followed her gaze and saw Brooke and Jack walk in.

Brooke now felt awkward. She knew he was going to be here. Hell, Kelly told anybody who would listen that he was bringing her. She just didn't think he'd be the first one she saw. She couldn't help looking at him. She was always pulled to him. He caught her eye and she quickly turned to Haley."Hey Tutor Girl. Where's Nate?"

"I don't know, around somewhere. He went off with Tim a while ago."she turned to Jack."Hi, I'm Haley, Brooke's friend."

He held out his hand for her to shake."Hi, I'm Jack. It's nice meeting you. So this is a famous Nathan Scott party huh? I've never been to one."he looked around."I'm very impressed."

"Well don't let Nathan hear that. He lets the littlest compliments go to his head. He'll definitely want to keep you around to boost his ego."cut in Brooke. Everybody laughed except Lucas.

"I'll see you later Hales."Lucas turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Brooke looked at Haley and then Jack."I'm going to go talk to him. I'll be right back."she walked out after Lucas."Lucas."he stopped not expecting to hear her calling him. She walked up to him and gave him an awkward smile."Hi."

"Hey."he said looking down.

"So where are you running off to?"

"I just need to get some air. It was beginning to get a little stuffy in there."

"Oh. Well how've you been?"

"I'm fine Brooke. What are you doing? I thought you said you didn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"I don't."she saw his face fall."I mean, everything I said that day I meant at the time, but we're friends with the same people Luke. I don't want things to be awkward between all of us. I don't want for you to feel like you have to leave the room if I come in."

"Well don't worry. I don't feel like that."

"Yes you do. Look what just happened in there."she said pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Well excuse me if I didn't want to stay in the same room and have a laugh with you and your new boyfriend Brooke."Lucas spit out.

Brooke let out a sigh."He's not my boyfriend Lucas. He just asked me out and I didn't know how to say no."

"So your saying you really don't want to be here with him, you just couldn't say no?"

"No, that's not what I said. I am here because I want to be, just like your here with Kelly because you want to be."

"I'm not here with her okay? I just gave her a ride. That's all."

"I don't care if your with her or not. I just want us to be able to be in the same room together for Haley's sake. Do you think we can do that?"

"Sure, whatever."he said as he walked away from her. It hurt to hear her say she didn't care who he was with. In a way he kinda hoped she would be a little jealous, but she wasn't. She could care less about him.

Peyton stood not to far from the two and watched everything and knew more than ever that what she was going to do, needed to be done. If not those two would be getting back together soon.

Brooke walked back into the kitchen and looked around."Where's Jack?"

"He went to take a look around. He'll be back soon. So how did it go, with Lucas I mean?"

She shook her head."Not too good. He doesn't want to be anywhere near me or my new boyfriend. We weren't even finished talking and he walked away."

"I'm sorry, but you knew this wasn't going to be easy for either of you. Lucas loves you, so seeing you with Jack obviously wasn't going to get a good reaction from him."

"I know. I guess I should have been more considerate. I know how I felt when I heard Kelly going on and on about Lucas bringing her here. It wasn't good."

"You see."

"I should try and talk to him again. I really should apologize for bringing Jack here and I definitely should apologize for everything I said to him the other night. Maybe being friends isn't that bad of and idea. Who knows what could come out of it."

"That's right. Who knows. Go talk to him. I'll be right here when your done."

Brooke walked out of the kitchen once again to find Lucas. He was standing near the back door with Jake. She walked up to the two."Hey Jake."

"Hi Brooke. What's up?"

"Nothing really."she turned to Lucas, who wasn't looking in her direction."Can I steal Lucas for a minute?"

Lucas now turned to her. He was surprised she had come to talk to him a second time.

"Yeah, sure thing Brooke."he turned to Lucas."Hey man I'll talk to you later."he patted him on the back before walking off.

"What's up Brooke? I thought we said everything that needed to be said."said Lucas sounding more annoyed than he actually was.

"What's your problem Lucas? Is my trying to talk to you bothering you? Please let me know if it is. I'll stop."

He lowered his voice."No, it's not that. I'm sorry."

"You should be. You've been acting like a jerk."

"I said I was sorry Brooke."

"I know, look I just wanted to..."she reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked down at their intertwining hands and then back to her. She was about to continue, but was cut off and quickly removed her hand from his.

Kelly ran to Lucas and practically made him fall over. She obviously had too much to drink in the short time she was there."Hey Luke, have you seen Theresa? I can't find her anywhere."she turned to Brooke."Oh, hi Brooke. I didn't see you there."she smiled at her and then turned back to Lucas.

"No, I can't say that I have, but I'm sure that she's around here somewhere."he was trying to be polite, but was really furious that she had interrupted them when things looked like they were about to change.

"Will you help me find her please?"

Lucas looked at Brooke."I can't. I'm sorry. I'm kinda in the middle of something with Brooke."

Brooke waved her hands in front of her."No, it's okay. I'm sure your date wants to spend some time with you."

"Thanks Brooke."said Kelly completely oblivious to the tension all around.

"Brooke."said Lucas questioningly.

"No Lucas, go ahead. I'll see you guys later."

Lucas watched her as she walked away and soon was drug off by Kelly. Fifteen minutes later they found Theresa coming out of a room with a disheveled looking Vegas coming out after her. Lucas kindly unloaded Kelly and walked off to find Brooke. He needed to know what she had to say. It seemed important and she had even held his hand. That to him was a good sign. He saw Haley and stopped her."Hey, Hales have you seen Brooke?"

"Yeah, she's..."she stopped and scanned the room."She's right over there."she pointed to Brooke, who was standing close to Jack.

They were talking. He watched and saw Jack lean into her and whisper something into her ear causing her to laugh. She looked like she was having fun.

"What's going on Lucas?"asked Haley.

"Nothing, never mind."he walked out of the house and onto the beach.

Haley saw Nathan talking near by and pulled him away."What's wrong Haley?"

"What isn't wrong tonight?"

"If you actually want to talk about something, your gonna have to be a little more specific."laughed Nathan.

"Well Brooke and Lucas are both her with other people, when they really just want to be here with each other."

"Is that what they both told you or are you just assuming?"

"No, they haven't actually come out and said it, but Lucas got really upset when he saw Brooke with Jack and Brooke stormed into the kitchen a little earlier ready to kill Kelly for throwing herself at Lucas."

"Look Haley, this is none of our business. You seriously need to stay out of this. Brooke isn't ready to forgive Lucas right now, so if she's having fun with Jack, then let her."

"I am letting her, but she is ready to forgive Lucas. She knows that he really loves her and is willing to start over as friends."

"Well then let them be friends."

"Your okay with that?"asked Haley somewhat shocked. Not too long ago Nathan let it be known that he wanted Lucas to stay as far away from Brooke as possible and was willing to do anything to make that happen.

"I don't want her to, but if that's what she wants, then I can't stop her and if she decides she wants to be with him again, all I can do is help make sure he doesn't hurt her again."

Haley leaned in and kissed him.

"What was that for?"asked Nathan when she pulled away.

"No reason really, your just growing up and I love you."

"I'm growing up?"he asked confused.

"Yes. I told you that Brooke was about to forgive Lucas and instead of blowing up like you have numerous times, your letting her make her own decision."she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him again.

"Well if I would have known that being like this would get that reaction out of you, I would have grown up a long time ago."he laughed and pulled her into another kiss.

Lucas sat on the sand looking out into the water. He didn't know how things had gotten so complicated so fast. All he wanted was to be with Brooke, but he couldn't and it was all his fault. Everything was his fault. Brooke was here with another guy because of him and he couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand seeing her laugh with someone else. He wanted with everything to be the one that made her laugh and smile, but because of his stupidity that would never be. If only he would have realized what he had before it was too late. If he never would have gone with Peyton that day nothing would have happened. If he had just told Brooke the day it happened, then maybe she would have been able to somehow forgive him. He had all of these what ifs floating around in his head, that all led back to him doing the wrong thing that couldn't be taken back and because of that, Brooke would never take him back. He had never loved anybody this much and it killed him that he couldn't do anything about it. He continued to stare out into the water thinking about Brooke.

"Hey you don't look to good. It looks like you could use a friend."

He looked up at her."Yeah, you know I could, but you don't qualify as one anymore, so why don't you just get the hell out of here Peyton. I don't need this tonight."

"What crawled up your ass and died? Anyways, I wasn't talking about me being your friend. I was talking about this."she waved an almost full bottle of Vodka at him. His eyes narrowed."Hey, it's always been a great friend to me and Brooke. Why don't you try it."she held it out to him.

"I don't want it thank you. Now if you don't mind I'd like to be out here alone."he turned back to the water.

"Sure thing Broody."

Lucas' face shot back to her."Don't you ever call me that!"he shouted. Who the hell did she think she was calling him by that?

She raised her hands in defense."Sorry. I didn't know that that name was reserved for only Brooke."

"Well now you do."he said annoyed. He just wanted her to leave. She was the last thing he needed right now.

"Yeah, I guess I do."she bent down near him and sat the Vodka next to him. He looked at her.

"In case you get thirsty later."she shrugged and walked away.

Brooke walked into the kitchen and saw Haley and Nathan kissing."Eww, gross, this place is full of rooms, yet you two pick this one to do that in."she said motioning to the two.

"Sorry Brooke."

"Yeah, I just couldn't control myself."said Nathan as he pulled Haley back into him and kissed her neck.

"Seriously guys that is gross, knock it off."

He continued to kiss her until Haley pushed him away."So have you talked to Lucas yet?"

She shook her head."No, not since Kelly threw herself at him, why?"

"It's just that Lucas was looking for you a little while ago. He seemed pretty eager."

"Did he have his little girlfriend with him?"she rolled her eyes at the thought.

"No Brooke, he was by himself."

"Good, but no I haven't seen him. Do you know where he went?"

"Last I saw he was going outside to the beach. Please tell me your going to go find him."

"Sure why not. You did say outside right?"

"Yeah. Good luck."said Haley happily. She had a feeling that after tonight everything would back to normal and she had never wanted anything more.

"Thanks Haley."

"Hey are you sure about this B?"asked Nathan. He couldn't just let her go without making sure she really thought about this.

"I think so."she nodded."No, I know so."

"Okay, then I won't say anything more about it."he smiled at her.

"Thanks Nate."she walked through the back door and immediately saw Lucas with Peyton. There was a bottle of alcohol between them. This was the last thing she thought she'd see when she came out here. She quickly turned around and went back into the kitchen.

"Well that was fast. Did you change your mind or something?"asked Haley.

"No, but he's a little busy right now with Peyton. I didn't think he'd appreciate me interrupting them."

"Oh come on Brooke, I'm sure it was nothing."

"You mean like all the times they made out and swore it was nothing? I don't even care anymore. I need a drink."she went and got herself a beer.

Peyton walked through the kitchen."Hey guys." she smiled and then walked out. She needed to stay close though. If Lucas drank the Vodka and she knew he would, she wanted to be the one who greeted the drunk Lucas. All she needed to do was get drunk Lucas upstairs and everything would be perfect. She just hoped he drank enough.

"You see, I told you it was nothing."said Haley once Peyton left the room."If it was anything, she'd still be out there with him."

"I don't know, maybe your right."said Brooke.

"Hey there you are. I've been looking for you everywhere."said Jack.

"I'm sorry I've been looking for Lucas. I really needed to talk to him. Are you having fun?"

"Yeah kinda. Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure."she turned to Haley."I'll be right back."she walk out with Jack."So what's up?"

"I think it was a mistake that we came here together."

"What?"

"It's okay Brooke, you can admit it. I know you'd rather be here with Lucas."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You've spent more time talking to him and trying to find him then you've spent with me, but it's okay. I should have known that things weren't really over with you two. I just really liked you and thought that that would eventually change, but it won't. I saw you and Lucas talking earlier and I can still see how much you care for him. Maybe you should give him another chance."

"I don't think you know what he did to me."

"I do know about that, hell everybody knows, but I can also see that he still cares about you too. I don't know much about Lucas and Peyton, but I can tell it's not there with them. I haven't even seen him go anywhere around her, but I have seen him try numerous times with you. Maybe you need somebody who isn't close to the both of you to be objective and maybe that's me. Give him a second chance Brooke. I don't think you'll regret it."he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek."I'm going to go ahead and go. Do you think that Nathan can give you a ride home?"she nodded."Okay well then I guess I'll see you at school on Monday. I hope you get what you want. Your a great girl and you deserve the world."he turned and walked away.

"Hey."Jack turned to face her."Thank you. You really are a great guy."he smiled at her and then walked away. She slowly walked back into the kitchen."Hey, where did Nathan go?"

"I don't know. He said he'd be back. Where's Jack?"

"He left."

"What happened?"

"He said he could tell there was still something between me and Lucas and that I should go for it."

"Wow that was really sweet of him, considering he likes you and all."

"I know. He's a really great guy, to bad he isn't Lucas though."

"Speaking of Lucas, are you going to follow Jacks advice and go talk to him?"

She rolled her eyes."Yes I am, but first I'm going to go and have some fun. This whole night has been bleak and I need to change that. I'll see you later Haley."she smiled before walking out.

Lucas sat on the beach feeling more alone then ever. The one person he wanted, wanted nothing to do with him. He looked down at the bottle Peyton left him and picked it up."What the hell, it can't hurt."he opened the bottle and took a drink. It burned as it went down, but it wasn't too bad. He'd get used to it soon.
A/N:Thanks for the reviews. They were great. I hope you liked this chapter. I had to make it into two parts. It was coming out way to long and I really wanted to post something today. Let me know what you think. Please read and review. Thanks.

Coming Up:

Brooke does some dancing.

Peyton continues her plan.

Haley gets a late phone call.