Okay, so let's pretend I rated this R, because... yeah, but I'm stubborn and refuse to classify this as smut...even if that's what it can be. Anyways I'm really glad there are so many people who agree with me. This is coming out pretty easy, way easier than the other stuff I'm supposed to be writing. I think it's because One Tree Hill's more interesting to me than The O.C. right now. And dude, I cried for the first time last Wednesday. So... if you hear from any, angry O.C. fans about how I'm supposed to be updating those stories... mention that I'm on it.

Dear Lucas,

I learned how to surf today. His name was Matt. Blonde hair, blue eyes... and all I could think of was you. How you said you knew how to surf, and how much I wanted you to be the one with your arms around my waist in one of those ridiculous wetsuits.

He kissed me. It wasn't anything, and I wasn't expecting it, or I probably would've stopped him just like all the other ones. Nothing was really going to happen, because he has some girlfriend named Brianna, but he said they were on a break. They were having fun this summer apart. I could tell he still loved her.

What I really need to stop doing is comparing these guys to you. Kevin was so much less intelligent; Brian wasn't nearly as attractive; talking with Sean wasn't even close to as intimate as it used to be with you. Used to be. I don't even know if we're compatible anymore. Hell, were we even compatible then? Maybe the sex was good, but what if that was it? Our connection obviously wasn't strong enough to keep you away from temptation; so how do I know any of it was real at all? Just because one kiss made my knees slip...well it doesn't mean we're soul mates. I don't even know if I believe in soul mates anymore. If I did, then I wouldn't worry so much about you without me all summer. I probably would even sleep with Matt. Because if soul mates are real, there's no way you and I wouldn't end up together.

Yours,

Brooke

Lucas was working his way through the pile of letters he kept in his dresser. Some of them were long; some of them were water splattered that he'd convinced himself were ocean waves; some professed a love he'd gotten mad at Brooke for mentioning to his face. While reading all of them, he could picture Brooke in her array of bikinis, salt in her hair, and sun in her eyes. And a little bit of his heart softened.

But it was never enough to actually pick up the phone. Lucas had ignoring Brooke down to an art form; he was so good at it in fact that no one sensed any difference between him and her. No one even knew she'd given him the eighty two letters he was half way through. Well, Haley might know, but she didn't mention it. Peyton most definitely knew, but she was talking to him less these days. She thought he was being unreasonable, and had told him on multiple occasions. But she didn't know about what happened between Lucas and Brooke the next morning. That, Lucas was sure of.

"Okay. Okay, I love you too. I'll see you at school. Bye." Haley hung up the phone, trying to force the grin away from her mouth before she looked at Brooke.

"Haley, it's okay. I'm happy for you guys." Brooke's voice came over her laptop. Haley spun around, giggling.

"I know. It's just so...I mean it took forever, but it's so worth it. It's like he's more desirable, and more... passionate than I can remember."

Brooke gave her a sickly smile, pushing her computer screen up higher on her knees.

"Brooke, believe me. I know Lucas. He can't hold a grudge forever." Haley walked over, sitting next to her in her bed.

"Right."

"Even Nathan forgave me."

"And it only took a year. Hales... I don't think I have a year left in me."

Haley felt a knot in her chest take note at Brooke's casual nickname. Only Lucas called her Hales.

"He's not like Nathan. And you didn't run away from him. If I'd been around for that year, who knows what would have happened?"

"He doesn't want to talk to me. I may as well not be here."

"But then who'd lead the squad in our first competition?" Haley wrapped her arm around Brooke's and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Rachel."

Brooke closed her laptop and put it on her bedside table. She sunk back into bed with Haley, but Haley pulled her arm up.

"Come on, Brooke. You're going to shower, change, and look so amazing that Lucas won't be able to keep his hands off of you. He'll just end up dragging you into some janitor's closet and do unsightly things to you. Chris or no Chris."

Brooke kept her lips tight together, but followed Haley's orders and left into the bathroom. She turned the shower on hotter than she liked it and sat on the floor next to it, head in her hands.

"Hey, Luke! Catch!" Lucas turned around just as a basketball slammed into his face.

"Yeah, nice job, Captain." Nathan leaned against the locker next to him as Luke blinked the water out of his eyes. "You crying, Captain?"

"No, my eyes just seem to leak when someone breaks my nose."

"You better get used to it if you're not learning how to catch."

"Why you being like this, Nate? Do you want me to quit?"

"Well if you're willing to mention it, maybe you should. It would give you more time to be an ass to Brooke." Nathan shut Lucas's locker and walked up to a grinning Haley.

"Hi," he murmured, giving her a quick kiss.

"Hi yourself." She lowered herself from her tiptoes and looped an arm around his waist.

"Hey, Brooke," Nathan said, smiling towards the extremely put together girl behind his wife.

She smiled and crossed her arms underneath her breasts. "Haley, I don't know about this."

"You can't be home schooled, Brooke, and I'm not going to let you drop out. And chances are you're going to need your locker at some point in time. And you know there's no time like the present." Haley smiled, looking over Nathan's shoulder to Lucas fumbling with his lock.

"Just remember for the record that this was your idea," Brooke sighed and walked past Nathan and Haley to her locker. Together, they watched her skirt swish, the dark brown suede gliding across her tanned legs. Haley saw Nathan's stare and slapped the side of his head, laughing.

"She looks great, doesn't she?"

Nathan nodded enthusiastically, but turned back to her. "But she dreams of looking as great as you."

"Aw, thank you for lying, baby." Haley kissed him again. "Now walk me to homeroom."

Brooke tugged on the hem of her cream sweater, the neckline low enough for Lucas to recognize her leopard bra. He coughed and turned back to his locker as Brooke opened her own. The pink streamers seemed to taunt her, laughing at how she was letting Lucas look without letting him know she was letting him look.

"Hey, Brooke!" Peyton ran up to her, laying a hand on her locker door. "Damn, you must've done badly on that algebra test to have to dress like that."

Brooke shook her head. "I did fine."

"Oh. Okay." Peyton looked over Brooke's head to Lucas's eyes darting back to his bag. "Well, Whitey wanted you to come see him."

Brooke nodded, taking one last look at Lucas's face buried in his locker. "Okay." She closed her locker and smiled at Peyton before walking away. Peyton stepped closer to Lucas as he braved another peek.

"Looking for something, Mr. Scott?" Peyton asked, making Lucas jump. "She left."

"Who?"

"Right." Peyton laughed, patting him on the back. "Maybe if you wait by Whitey's office, then drop your pencil, you can look up her skirt as she comes out."

Peyton sauntered off, laughing one last time at Lucas's blush.

"I don't care what's going on with you and the blonder Mr. Scott, Miss Davis; there is no excuse for you missing opening game." Whitey slammed his hand down on his desk. "And don't give me any of that 'I was sick' crap, because I saw you sneaking around here."

"I'm sorry, sir." Brooke dropped her head to her chest.

"Christ, first Mr. Scott and Mrs. Scott... Just work it out, okay, Miss Davis? And make sure he's in good condition to play tonight, because you know we need all the help we can get."

Brooke nodded, looking back up at his sympathetic face. Whitey leaned in a little closer to her.

"And I'll make them run today. Extra laps for men with too much gel in their hair," he whispered.

Brooke smiled and picked her purse off the floor.

"Now get out of my office, Miss Davis before I give you trouble for that skirt length."

"Okay. Thank you, Whitey."

He nodded curtly and smiled as she walked out. The door shut and Brooke felt a hand touch hers and shove a piece of notebook paper into it. She turned around to see an empty hallway, so uncrumpled the paper.

"Free period after bio. Boys' locker room always empty. Broody."

Brooke considered letting him stay there, checking his watch. She thought about getting Whitey to get him in trouble for being in a room that was supposed to be locked in non gym periods. But she also remembered his tongue against her throat.

Lucas sat on the bench between rows of lockers, his hands threaded through his hair, elbows on his knees. This was wrong.

He stared at a thread in his jeans, glancing at his watch. When he looked back to his thighs, bare, tanned ones were sitting next to him. He looked up to Brooke's parted lips, meeting them with his own as his hand left his hair and went to her thigh. She kissed him back harder, untucking his shirt from his belt.

Lucas pulled back and held her face between his hands. "We don't have that much time. Gym classes come here in twenty minutes. And you're going to have to be quiet."

"Fantastic, Mr. Romance."

He kissed her again, pushing his hand up her leg, under her skirt. Brooke yanked harder on his shirt, pulling back on his lips to unbutton the front. He picked her lightly up, lying her down on the cold floor as he inched on top of her.

"Okay, ew," Brooke muttered, looking at the floor underneath her.

"Do you not want to do this?"

"I didn't say that. This is just gross. I mean, how many people..." He cut her off, pushing his tongue back into her mouth. She relaxed, pushing at the sleeves of his shirt until they fell off. He released her lips, sitting up and pulling off his tee shirt too. Brooke skimmed her hands across his back, kneading at the small of it, grinding his hips against her legs. He pushed up her sweater, exposing her stomach. Leaning down, he licked her belly button, trailing his wet tongue up with her sweater. She sighed softly, helping him get rid of her sweater.

"Okay, ew," she whined as her bare back hit the sticky floor. Lucas stood up and grabbed his jersey out of his gym bag. He tossed it back to her, and she situated herself on top of it. Hungrily, he went back to her, his hand going back up her skirt. Her small fingers started working his belt, tugging roughly to release it from his belt loops. Next she moved onto his pants, sliding them down his legs and making him groan. She bit gently at his bottom lip as he pushed her skirt all the way up to her waist and pulled down her boyshorts. Forcefully, he stuck two fingers inside of her causing her to cry out. He clamped his other hand over her mouth as he continued to rub her.

Her mouth opened wider, so it was just their tongues caressing each other. As she started to shake, he wrapped one strong arm around her, continuing to work her with the other. She released a strangled moan when she started to come back down, and he held her up tighter against his chest.

"Oh my god, Lucas," she whispered into his mouth, bringing her own hand up to rub his side and pull on his waistband. She kissed him softer, while she brought down his boxers. He lifted her and groped at the back of skirt, finally getting it undone and slipping it down her legs. She laid a hand on both his hips and pulled him down harder than he had the last time. They moaned in sync, his one hand going back to the floor to keep himself up.

"Brooke. Brooke, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke," he hissed into her throat as she started to rock the two of them together. Finally, he came at the same time as she started to tremble again.

And after they finished, he kissed her forehead and scrambled to get their clothes.

"Lucas."

He looked up from the button of his jeans to her sad eyes.

"What now? This my fault too?"

"No. This was mine. And that skirt's," he said, yanking his shirt around him.

Brooke nodded, biting back smiles and tears, and left the locker room. He buttoned his shirt and collapsed against the lockers.

"Hey, Brooke, do you know who first signed the Constitution?" Peyton asked, flipping through the pages of her textbook. She looked up when she failed to get an answer. "Brooke? Hello?"

Peyton reached out a hand and shook Brooke's arm. "What?"

"Are you awake?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sorry." Brooke opened her book too.

"You better be; we have practice next period."

"Right. I know. Sorry, the Constitution. Was that... Ben Franklin?"

Peyton raised her eyebrows. "Well, there's an idea, but how about you confirm?"

"Okay."

"What's with you? Since study hall, you've been kind of...woozy."

"I'm fine."

"Did you talk to Lucas?"

Brooke snapped her head up, but looked quickly back down. "No. We didn't talk."

"Are you going to?"

"I tried to talk to him already. He basically told me to go to hell."

"Wait, you talked to him? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Must've forgotten."

Peyton wasn't satisfied with her answer, but turned back to her book. The bell rang, and Brooke walked out first. Haley nearly walked into her.

"Whoa, hey Brooke. Watch where you're going."

Brooke nodded and kept walking. Peyton came out of the room and watched her with Haley.

"She better wake up soon or we're in trouble," Peyton muttered.

"She's been bad since she woke up, but she's gotten even worse. Something has to happen, or Rachel's going to take over."

Peyton shrugged and followed Brooke into the girls' locker room.

Lucas rubbed at his eyes, drying off the cold sink water.

"Hey, Captain, you ready?"

He spun around and caught the ball Nathan tossed him this time.

"Better. Keep those reflexes." Nathan walked out to the gym and quickly eyed the cheerleaders to the left side of the gym.

Brooke was standing in front of them, wiping the remains of water drops off her cheek with a white towel.

"For the new girls, with the exception of Haley... this is going to be the most important routine of your lives. It's going to be people's first look at the Tree Hill Raven cheerleaders, and we are going to be the best. We didn't get it last year or the year before that, but hopefully," Brooke glared at Rachel watching the players come out of the locker room. "Hopefully, you new additions will bring a focus and a drive that'll bring us to the top this year. Or maybe if I was wearing a jersey with muscles coming out of my shirt I could keep your attention, ladies."

Rachel snapped her head back. "Sorry."

"You mess this up for me, honey, and you're going to get more than just a slap. So keep your googly eyes on the prize."

"Don't worry, Captain," Rachel smirked, turning her head as Lucas came out. "I am."