Author's Note: Sorry that it's been so long, but I've been really busy with other things. I know that I say that all the time, but it's really the truth, I promise. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait, but I can't promise that considering I have no idea what I'm going to write for this chapter, I just hope that it comes out good and TPTB are on my side today. Please tell me what you think because it really does help get me into gear and update quicker, even if it doesn't always seem like it.

……….FYITM……….

"Do you think we can go out like this?" Brooke asked Haley as they sat on the couch in the living room. It had been quite an interesting experience, showering and going to the bathroom, but the girls had managed to do it without completely embarrassing themselves.

"I don't know," Haley mumbled, completely engrossed in the movie. Brooke watched her for a moment, waiting for her to give her full attention. Finally, after a moment, Haley blinked a few times and looked over at the other brunette. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you thought we could go out like this," Brooke answered, holding up their hands to show that she meant the handcuffs. Haley shrugged and immediately went back to watching the screen. "What is so good about this movie that you can't even pay attention to your bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

"Hot people," Haley answered, making sure that she didn't say guy or girl, considering at the moment, she was kind of attracted to both. That was last thing she wanted Brooke to know. Well, second last, actually. Wanting to move on before Brooke could question her, she looked at Brooke again. "I thought you wanted to see this movie more than anything? Why aren't you so worried about leaving?"

"I um," Brooke stuttered, trying to think of an answer. "I've already seen it. Yeah, we watched it in English class the other day." Even though Haley could clearly tell that she was lying, she shrugged and left it alone. Brooke sighed in relief when Haley didn't call her on it. Truth was, she had been way too busy staring at Haley to pay any attention to the movie. The girl sitting beside her was much more entertaining anyway.

"Then why are we watching it?" Haley asked. She wasn't really that into the movie, at least not as much as she appeared to be. Really, she was just hoping that if she paid such close attention to what was going on in there, she wouldn't have to think about the beautiful cheerleader sitting a few inches away of the kiss she had shared with that same girl only two years ago.

"Cause you wanted to?" Brooke guessed, not knowing the answer either. Haley waited a moment, trying to find an answer herself before reaching forward and grabbing the remote, flicking the movie off. "Okay, so to the mall?"

"You do remember that we're handcuffed together right?" Brooke nodded her head, a silly grin plastered on her face. "Don't you think we might look a little stupid walking around in public attached together?"

"We're both much too hot to look stupid doing anything," Brooke reasoned with her. Haley looked at her doubtfully; she would never believe anyone that told her that she was hot, and Brooke knew that too. "I'm sure they'll be more people there handcuffed together, our whole class had to do it."

"Are you gonna complain until I agree?" Brooke grinned at her, Haley knew her better than anyone did. She nodded her head emphatically. Haley sighed and slumped her shoulders. She didn't want to go, she hated going to the mall, but if Brooke asked her to, there really wasn't a choice. After all, she would pretty much do anything for Brooke.

"Oh, most definitely," Brooke assured her. "Loudly and constantly." Haley rolled her eyes and started to stand up. "You know, Huggie, I love that you know me so well."

"What can I say, it's a gift," Haley mumbled, pulling Brooke off the couch and moving them back to her bedroom so she could grab some money and Brooke could get her car keys. Oh crap. "Bunny?" she asked, stopping in the middle of the hall suddenly, causing Brooke to crash into her. After regaining her composure, Brooke looked at her.

"What?"

"How are you supposed to drive when we're stuck together?"

"Ah, like I normally do," Brooke answered, trying to figure out why Haley was being so overdramatic about everything. "You'll just have to hold out your arm or something."

"That can't be too safe," Haley pointed out, following Brooke into her room. They searched around for the things that they needed. Brooke was looking through her purse for her keys ad Haley searched her dresser for her money. When she spotted the money, she caught sight of the shiny silver piece of metal that she had used no more than day ago. Thanking God that Brooke was too busy to notice her, she quickly shoved it off the dresser, causing it to get lost between the wood and the wall.

"Ready?" Brooke asked, standing up straight, keys dangling in her hands. Haley quickly turned around, wanting to make sure that Brooke hadn't seen what she had just done.

"Yeppers." Brooke noticed that Haley looked weird, almost scared. She stepped forward, bringing herself closer to her best friend.

"You okay, Huggie?" Haley nodded, holding up the money she had found and smiled at Brooke, pushing her dark thoughts to the back of her head. "Okay, let's go then." The two of them made their way through the house and out the front door to Brooke's silver bug that was waiting in the driveway. After much difficulty trying to figure out how they were going to get into it, they finally got inside.

"Where's Eric?" Brooked asked as they pulled out of the driveway. She had noticed before that Haley's brother hadn't come home last night and she was starting to wonder if that was a regular thing or not.

"Who knows," Haley answered, looking out the window as they drove away from her house. "With Random Girl Number 12, probably." Brooke glanced at her friend, sensing the bitterness in her voice. She didn't think it was because she was actually missing her brother, they both knew what an ass he was, Brooke assumed it was because she hated being left alone all the time.

"Is he ever home?" Brooke asked, turning the car onto Main Street. They were probably about five minutes away from the mall, which meant they had time to talk about this. Haley shrugged, but didn't say anything. Brooke shook her arm, causing Haley's arm to jerk, successfully getting her to look at her. "Huggie?"

"Not really," she answered in a voice that made her sound like she didn't care, even though both knew that she did. "If he does come home, it's while I'm at school, and that's usually just to change his clothes or grab some money. Of course, he doesn't forget to make some mess and leave some dishes for me to wash."

"That sucks," Brooke admitted, feeling bad that she didn't know how lonely Haley had been lately. "You know that you can always come over to my house and stay over, right? Even if it's two in the morning?" Haley nodded.

"I know, Bunny."

"Have you heard from Taylor lately?" Taylor was the only one of Haley's siblings that they actually liked; she was the only one that was nice to them. She was actually two years younger than Eric, but he was too lazy to go to college so he still lived at home at the age of 22.

"She called the other day, but I didn't get to the phone in time," Haley answered, a small smile coming to face when she thought about her big sister. "She left a message, nothing too important."

"You didn't call her back?" Haley shrugged and shook her head. She had thought about it, but she didn't know what she would have said to her. 'Hey, it's the sister you left with her abusive brother. You know, the one that likes to cut herself?' That probably wouldn't have gone over too well.

"I couldn't remember the number for her dorm," she lied. Brooke was going to call her on that obvious lie, but thought better of it and decided to just keep her mouth shut for a change. The rest of the car ride was made in silence, both girls lost in their own thoughts. Finally, they reached the mall and Brooke pulled into the first spot she could find.

"Let's go out your door this time." Haley nodded and slowly got out, making sure to keep close enough while Brooke moved herself over the arm rests and out the passenger side door. "I'm beginning to think that we probably should have just walked."

"I told you," Haley teased as they walked towards the entrance of the mall. The place was pretty busy for a Saturday afternoon, and they received more than a few strange looks from people passing by. While Haley tried to ignore them, Brooke would smile brightly at the people, letting them know that she didn't care what they thought of her. Haley wished more than anything that she could have that ability. "People are looking at us like we're circus freaks."

"Who cares?" Brooke quickly answered her in an encouraging voice. Haley thought about telling her that she cared, but figured there was no point in that. "That's the spirit, bestest friend. What do you say we head over to the record store first? See if they have anything new?"

"Sure." They searched around there for about twenty minutes. Haley grabbed a new CD and Brooke picked out a couple DVDs for them to watch later that night since they had seen all of the ones that Haley already had. Once they were finished in there, they headed over to Brooke's favorite store in the whole world so she could find a new outfit.

"I won't be long," she told Haley when she saw the pout on her lips. "I promise." And hour and a half, five trips to the changing room, three tank tops, two pairs of jeans and a new thong later, they were ready for lunch.

"What do you want?" Haley asked as they stood in the entrance to the food court, looking at all their different choices. Brooke surveyed the different restaurants, trying to choose. Haley watched her in surprised, finding it strange that Brooke hadn't chosen Subway yet. "Color me shocked."

"What?" Brooke asked, tearing her eyes of the glowing signs to look at her best friend.

"I can't believe you just passed over Subway as if it were nothing," Haley explained, pointing towards the counter they usually went to. "Last time I checked, you were completely infatuated with the server there. And he's working today too."

"I like someone else now, remember?" Brooke reminded her. She had been trying all morning not to think about how adorable Haley looked whenever she did something, but it was starting to prove more difficult than she thought it would be. Haley's face fell for a moment, but she quickly turned it into a smile before Brooke noticed.

"Oh right, the mystery lover," Haley teased, ignoring the slight pain it caused to say those words. She knew that Brooke wasn't exactly the most chaste person in the world, it wasn't like she was saving herself for her, but Haley had to admit that deep down inside, a part of her always thought that they'd end up together. Now, with Brooke actually having feelings for someone, that dream was pretty much shoot to hell. This was the first time that Brooke had ever actually been 'in love' with someone. "So, what will it be?"

"How about some good old Mickey D's?" Haley suggested, nodding her head towards the restaurant. "Can't go wrong there, right?"

"You certainly can't." They made their way over there and ordered their food then brought it back over to the only empty table they could find in the crowded place. Once they were both well into their meals, Brooke thought she'd start up a conversation. "So, how do you think this little project is going? Are we getting to know each other better?"

"I think we are," Haley answered, subconsciously, dropping her right arm under the table and out of Brooke's view. "For instance, I didn't know that you liked mustard on your hamburger." Brooke eyed her with a raised eyebrow and Haley broke out into a smile. "Okay, I already knew that."

"Nice," Brooke teased. Haley playfully glared at her.

"Okay, missy," Haley started. "What did you learn?"

"I learned that I have the most adorable best friend on the face of the planet," she answered honestly, not caring what that might sound like. Over the past twenty-four hours she had thought about how adorable Haley looked more times than she had thought it in her entire life.

"Aw, aren't you sweet," was the only thing that Haley's brain would let her say. Anything else that she wanted to say, got lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth.

"I try," Brooke answered as if it were nothing. She was glad that she could give Haley a compliment and not have her question it. That was probably the firs time that has happened in almost forever. For as long as she could remember, every time she tried to say something nice to her, Haley were brush it off like she didn't believe it.

Haley stared at the smile on Brooke's face and she felt terrible that she was lying to her best friend, someone who had always been completely honest with her. More than anything, Haley wanted to be happy with herself, she wanted to get better and stop hurting herself. She knew she couldn't do that if she didn't ask Brooke for help. As much as it might kill her to admit her weakness to her best friend, she knew that if she didn't tell her, it would kill her all the same.

"Bunny," Haley suddenly began, her voice cracking as she said her nickname. Brooke immediately stopped smiling at the tone in her voice and put her burger down, giving Haley her full attention. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Hales?" Haley searched Brooke's eyes, hoping to find some kind of understanding that told her that Brooke would be there for her no matter what. Haley opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from behind her.

"Isn't this cute?" came Nathan's voice. Haley let out a sigh, frustrated that they had been interrupted. That was her chance, and now it was gone. There was no way that she'd be able to find the strength to tell her again.

"Yeah, is this like some kind of charity event, or something?" Tim questioned from his position at Nathan's side. They had been handcuffed together since yesterday and things weren't going as well as it was with the other pair of best friends. "Hey, Nate, it's like adopt a freak or something, right?"

"What the hell do you want, Dim?" Brooke asked in an annoyed tone. Not only was she pissed that they had interrupted their conversation, but now they were making fun of Haley.

"Whoa, calm down," Nathan laughed, pulled Tim along as they started to continue walking passed. "We're just on our way for my shift at Hot & Twisted. Just thought that we'd stop and say hello."

"Isn't that sweet," Brooke shot back sarcastically. "Bye now." Nathan gave her a tight smile while Tim looked at her love struck. She gave him a disgusted look as Nathan finally pulled him away. "Sorry about that. What were you going to say?"

"Huh?" Haley asked, taking her gaze off the retreating backs of two of the biggest dickheads in their school. She realized that Brooke was waiting for her to continue with what she was saying.

"You were about to tell me something," Brooke explained. "I could tell that it was serious. What's up?" Haley stared at her blankly for a moment, silently panicking, not knowing what to do. The moment had passed; there was no way she could do it now, at least not there.

"Nothing," she answered, ignoring the look Brooke was sending her. "It's nothing." She quickly started to stand up, gathering the garbage from her tray to throw out. Brooke watched her, forced to get up when Haley moved too far away.

"Haley…"

"Just drop it, Brooke," Haley instructed her in a stern yet begging tone. Brooke thought about pushing it further, but finally nodded, throwing her own garbage away. "Thank you."

"Come on, Huggie," she began, tugging on her arm. "Let's go home." Haley nodded and they started to walk towards the doors. Brooke keep sending Haley quick glancing, trying to find out what Haley was going to tell her. Something was definitely up with her best friend and whether Haley wanted her to or not, she was sure as hell going to find out what it was.

……….FYITM……….

That's all for now. I know that there wasn't anything good in that chapter and it completely sucked, but that's all I could think of at the moment. Trust me, I'm going to think of something great for this story and I'll come back and update again when I do. Until the, just tell me what you thought about this horrible chapter. Thanks.