Author's Note: Hey, everyone. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, but I've been so busy with my other stories. I know that you guys have been waiting, but it seems that I get more replies for my other stories, so I tend to focus on updating those first. Plus, when you add on the fact that I practically screwed myself in my last update because I'm not sure what I want to go down in this chapter. So, I'm sorry in advance if this chapter sucks, but I'm going to try by best to give you a half descend one. Enjoy.
--OTH--
"Excuse me," Nathan called, clearly annoyed that she was ignoring this question. No one ignored Nathan Scott like that. He narrowed his eyes at her, still trying to figure out where he knew her. He took another few steps forward. "I'm talking to you."
"I feel so privileged," Brooke snapped, wiping around to glare at him. Nathan's eyes widened when he realized that it was Brooke. As much as she hated this situation, the look of pure shock on his face almost made it all worth it. Brooke let a satisfied smiled come to her lips. "Hey, Nate."
"Brooke?" he asked, finally finding his voice. He hadn't seen her since that the Classic, he heard from his mother that she left town around the same time Haley did.
"The one and only," she smirked back. She would have enjoyed staying and talking to him, but she remembered that Haley was making her way over to them. While she may not have a problem bitching Nathan out, she knew that Haley wouldn't want to talk to him.
"What are you doing here?" Before she had a chance to answer she heard her name being called from a few paces behind her.
"Brookie!" Haley called, making her way through the crowd. She could just barely make out Brooke's head by the bar, but couldn't see anything else. It looked like she was talking to someone. "What's taking so long?"
Before Brooke could do anything to keep Haley from seeing Nathan, Haley was by her side, panting from the venture over there. Since she was bent over trying to catch her breath, she didn't notice Nathan standing there yet. Brooke's eyes locked on Nathan's as he stared in shock at the newest addition to their little reunion.
"Haley?" Nathan asked. He couldn't believe that she was standing just two feet in front of him; he never would have thought it. He honestly didn't think that he would ever see her again. The thing that surprised him even more was the fact that she was with Brooke. Back in Tree Hill, they barely ever spoke more than two words to each other and now they ran away together?
"Huh?" she asked, taking one more breath as she stood up straight. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his face. Suddenly, all the air was sucked out of the room and she found it hard to see straight. Finally, she somehow managed to find her voice. "Nathan?"
"So," Julia began, slipping off her bar stool to stand beside Nathan. She held her drink out in her hand, as she looked Haley up and down, sizing her up. She smirked when she noticed she wasn't wearing designer clothes. "This is the infamous Haley I keep hearing oh so much about?"
"Yeah," Nathan answered, tearing his eyes away from Haley. He looked down at Julia and smirked, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "I told you she was nothing compared to you." Brooke's mouth fell open when she heard what he just said.
"What did you just say?" she snapped, taking a step forward. Knowing how protective Brooke could get of her, Haley moved quickly and grabbed Brook's arm, keeping her in place. Nathan's smirk widened as he watched her squirming in Haley's grip.
"I said that Julia here has nothing to worry about," he answered. God, there wasn't anything he enjoyed more in life than pissing people off. Especially when they get as mad as Brooke was. Brooke shrugged Haley's hand off, but remained where she stood.
"And why is that?" She tried to focus on breathing in and out and not on the arm that Nathan had around Julia's waist. She risked a glance at Haley from the corner of her eye and her heart nearly broke at the devastated look on her face. She quickly turned back to face Nathan, not wanting to see the broken look on Haley's face.
"Look at her competition," he remarked, nodding his head in Haley's direction. He gave her what could only be considered a disgusted look. "I guess you can say that my tastes have improved over the last month or so. I don't play with the lower class any more."
"You're just screaming for an ass kicking," Brooke hissed, taking a step forward again. Haley, even though she would love to see Brooke kick Nathan's ass, restrained Brooke the best she could.
"Tigger, calm down," she whispered. She tried to avoid eye contact with Nathan because she didn't want him to see how much she was hurting. She honestly thought that she was over him, she was ready to move on, but seeing him again brought all the pain back.
"Are you kidding me?" she asked, turning around to look at Haley like she had two heads. "You honestly expect me to just let him talkabout you like that?"
"Now's not the time to get into a fight," Haley pointed out. It took all the strength in her to not let Brooke go. Just the mental image of Brooke beating on Nathan was enough to make her smile, but she couldn't let that happen. She needed to be the bigger person.
"No, you know what?" Brooke asked, struggling to get out of Haley's grip. If Haley weren't pregnant, she would have been on the floor by now. When Brooke was pissed off at someone, there was nothing that was going to stand in her way. "I think now is the perfect time."
"Brooke," Haley stated, knowing that Brooke would listen if she used her first name. She only did that when she was dead serious about something. Reluctantly, she sighed and stood still, turning to face Haley.
"Fine," she mumbled, her jaw tightened. Haley flinched a little, glad that Brooke wasn't mad at her. She could tell by the look on her and her posture that Brooke wasn't going to stay put for long.
"Thank you."
"But I swear to God, if he says one more thing then he's dead." Haley nodded slightly, too scared to say no.
"Okay." Brooke smiled sadly at her for a second before pulling her into a desperate hug. She knew that Haley was dying over what Nathan was saying, she was just too proud to show it.
"I'm so proud of you," she whispered into Haley's ear. Haley closed her eyes tight and nodded frantically, trying her best to hold back the tears from slipping over from her words. After a moment, Brooke pulled back to make sure that Haley was okay. Haley may be able to say that she was okay, but her face couldn't lie as easily.
"I'm okay," she whispered, putting on what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Brooke knew she wasn't really okay, but she nodded anyway. They pulled apart when they heard someone's throat being cleared.
"Gag," Julia commented from her position on Nathan's arm. Brooke dropped her arms and turned around fully to glare at the blonde skank. Who the hell did she think she was?
"I second that," Nathan agreed, grinning ear to ear at the expressions on both Haley and Brooke's faces. He felt like he was in Heaven. "There's no need for so much PDA." Haley dropped her gaze and took a step away from Brooke. She was disappointed with herself for not standing up for herself, but she just couldn't find the strength right now.
"Shut up," was Brooke's clever come back. She promised Haley that there would be no violence from her tonight, but she wasn't exactly sure how much long she was going to be able to keep that promise.
"Oh, how I missed that incredible Brooke Davis wit," he mocked, holding his hand to his heart to show her just how much her comment didn't hurt. In the fashion of 'if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all', Brooke just glared. Julia's eyes lit up when he said her name.
"Brooke Davis," she cheered, happy that she finally realized who she was. "I knew I recognized you. You're legendary back in Tree Hill." Brooke rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was a reminder of how much of a bitch she used to be back home.
"Always nice to meet a fan," she answered through clenched teeth.
"Why are you hanging around this reject?" she asked, pointing towards Haley, giving her the same look Nathan gave her earlier, a disgusted one. Nathan let out a light laugh, finding it amusing that Julia was insulting Haley all on her own.
"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," he agreed. He watched as Brooke balled her fists up. He could tell that she was close to losing it. "Is this for the Brooke Davis Charity Foundation or something? You know, like an adopt a loser kinda thing." Brooke smirked at him before slowly turning around to face Haley.
"Tigger..."
"Hales, I know I promised that I wouldn't hit him," Brooke begin, her voice too calm for Haley's liking. "And I'm not one to break a promise needlessly, but in this case, I'm making an exception."
"Tigger, they'll kick you out."
"Not caring."
"They might call the cops."
"Again, not caring," Brooke repeated. Normally, she would have listened to Haley, the girl was practically begging, but she was too pissed off to control herself. That jerk needed to get what was coming to him. "Peyton got to bitch slap him and Lucas got to beat the crap out of him. It's my turn now."
"Brooke, you're overreacting," Haley tried. Even though the only think that would make her happier than watching Brooke beat Nathan up was beating him up herself, she wasn't going to let Brooke get herself into trouble for it. For what seemed like the hundredth time tonight, Brooke looked at Haley like she had two heads.
"Overreacting?" Brooke repeated, raising her voice a little. "Do you honestly expect me to just stand here and listen to him talk about my best friend like that?" At first Haley was surprised that Brooke considered her a best friend, but when she thought about it, the month that they had spent together had made them closer. She thought of Brooke as her best friend too. "How can you just stand there and take it?"
"I'm not," Haley answered. She shook her head because Brooke didn't get it. She couldn't let herself cry over something that Nathan said to her or about her, that gave him power. And she refused to give him that.
"Huh?"
"I think I'm just gonna head home," Haley explained, pleading with Brooke to just let her go. She knew Brooke well enough to know that Brooke would protest. "I didn't want to come here in the first place." Brooke looked between Haley and Nathan, trying to decided what to do.
"I'll come with you," she decided, turning her back completely to Nathan and his whore. Haley shook her head and held up her hands.
"No, no," she insisted, waving the suggestion off. She softened her features and looked at Brooke seriously. "You stay here and get laid, you need it. I'll just see you at home." Without waiting for a reply she looked up at Nathan and Julia, who were wearing matching evil smiles. They made her sick to her stomach.
"It was nice meeting you," Julia called out. Haley rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway.
"Yeah, a real pleasure," she mumbled before turning around and startingto walk out of the club. Brooke reached out and rubbed her arms as she walked past. After staring after her for a second, Brooke stalked over to stand in front of Nathan and Julia. Without a word, she punched him square in the nose. He let out a groan as he reeled back from the pain.
"You're a dick." She smiled sweetly at Julia as she quickly moved to help Nathan stop the bleeding. "Bye, guys."Without giving either of them the chance to respond, Brooke spun on her heels, a sudden bounce in her step and ran after Haley's retreating form. "Hales, wait up!"
"Brooke?" Haley asked, surprised to hear her voice. She looked over her shoulder to see Brooke running towards her. When Brooke finally reached her, she looped her arm in her's and fell in step with Haley.
"Hey, best friend," she greeted, bumping her hip into Haley's.
"What are you doing here?" Haley asked. All she heard for the past week was how Brooke couldn't wait to go clubbing and hook up with a guy. "I thought you were on a mission to get you some?"
"And leave you high and dry when you're obviously hurting?" Brooke asked as if it were the most insane thing in the entire world. "I don't think so. You see, I've got this motto that I like to live my life by."
"And what's that?"
"Hoes over bros," Brooke answered, holding her fist up. Haley laughed and knocked fists with her. Brooke knew that Haley was just keeping up a brave front while they were in public. There was going to be major water works when they got home.
--OTH--
I know, I know. That officially licked ass, right? I'm sorry. I was writing this and I kept getting side tracked so if this didn't flow, that's why. Please tell me what you think anyway. Don't forget, next chapter is a month later.