Chapter 5: Rules To Break

There it was again.

Deep, heart-wrenching sobs followed by loud sniffs.

Lucas turned down his TV as he listened to it. He frowned, wondering where it was coming from.

Lucas got up off his comfortable position on the couch and ventured down the hall to track down the source of whatever was interrupting his precious TV time.

And he found it coming from the room opposite his. He stood outside the door momentarily, wondering if he should disturb her.

If she was upset, she could yell at him to leave her alone or worse yet, want a shoulder to cry on.

Lucas wasn't sure if he wanted to go there quite yet.

When he heard another loud wail, he reluctantly entered the room – without knocking- and looked at the scene in front of him.

Instead of the curled up heap he was expecting to see, she was sitting at the end of her bed and staring at the TV screen. Tears were running freely down her face and she was taking big breaths to try and control her sobs.

The closing music began to play and Lucas decided it was time for him to make his presence known.

"What was all the noise?" he questioned in typical Lucas Scott style. Brooke turned around and ejected the tape from her VCR as she hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized, embarrassed to be seen in the state she was in, "I kinda got carried away." Brooke sniffed.

"What were you watching?" Lucas asked, genuinely interested. Brooke noted his interest and took the opportunity to try and build bridges with him.

"Oh, it's a show about a group of people abandoned on an island after their plane crashes."

Lucas nodded, about to open his mouth until she stopped him.

"And then there's this crazy, giant polar bear chasing them," she added before she realized she'd gone too far.

"Okay…" Lucas shook his head, "So does it always make you burst into tears?"

Brooke let out a small laugh before her eyes filled up with tears again.

"They killed off my favorite character," she said as she began to softly cry again. Lucas raised an eyebrow, letting out a low-whistle. 'Girls' he thought to himself.

"Haley taped last night's episode for me since I had practice. It's really good, you should… check it out sometime," Brooke suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lucas dismissed the suggestion. Brooke moved towards her closet.

"So, are you coming to this party tonight?" Brooke questioned.

"What, and hang around with my brother's friends all night? No thanks," he scoffed.

"Okay, well, I kind of need a favor," she said, hating to ask him. Lucas looked at her, "My car is out of gas and I need a ride to the party."

He smirked, "You want me to give you a ride?" he asked. She nodded, "What about that blonde girl you hang around with? The one with the curls,"

"Peyton? She's getting a ride with Jake. Come on, Lucas! Please?" she pleaded, "I'll never ask for anything again," she promised, hoping that he'd cave.

Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine. But you better get your own ride back because I am not your chauffeur," he said.

"Thank you, you are a lifesaver. I'll be ready in about 25 minutes so just relax and I'll be right out," she said, pleased he'd agreed to drop her off.

Lucas looked at his watch, "25 minutes otherwise my offer is withdrawn, okay?" Brooke nodded in understanding as he left her to get ready.

"So son, what are your plans for this evening?" Dan Scott asked his son as he settled down on the armchair opposite his son. Lucas was flicking through the music channels and merely looked at his out of the corner of his eye.

"Nothing much. Read a book for English and drop Brooke off at the party," Lucas told him, checking the clock on the mantelpiece. She had almost five minutes left.

"What party?" Dan questioned.

"I don't know. Someone in her grade is throwing it and she needs a ride."

"Will Nathan be there?" Dan asked. Lucas hesitated before answering. He knew that his father didn't want Lucas talking to his brother, seeing as the whole household was supposed to have disowned him. But Lucas also liked nothing better than to rile his father up, bitter about his brother being thrown out of the house.

"Yeah, he is. And he's going to be with Haley too. They're such a great couple, don't you think." Lucas smiled inwardly as Dan fumed.

"That better be a joke, son," he said through gritted teeth. Lucas didn't reply and silently rejoiced when Brooke came out of her room, ready for the party.

"Ready to drop me off?" she asked, "Hi, Dan." She said to her god-father.

"Brooke, I hear you're going to a party."

"Uh, yeah. That's right," Brooke said casting a glance at Lucas.

"Well, why don't I drop you off?" Dan suggested.

"You really don't have to do that, Dan," she told him, "Lucas already offered."

Lucas got off the couch, ready to take Brooke to the party.

"Lucas is busy with school work. Not to mention that tomorrow he's got to wake up early for his 4am run." Dan interrupted. Lucas glared at Dan and Brooke felt uncomfortable.

"I wouldn't want to put you out of your way," she said. Dan shook his head.

"Nonsense. I'd be glad to," he said with a big smile. Brooke could do nothing but offer a small smile back and follow Dan out of the door, leaving Lucas alone in the living room, silently cursing his father.

After the drama in the Scott household, Brooke tried to push the thoughts of Lucas out of her head and relax. She was squeezed in between Peyton and Haley on a couch, all of whom had opted to gossip than dance.

"So Dan just undercut Lucas like that?" Peyton questioned, "I knew he was harsh but I didn't know he was that harsh."

"Lucas didn't help. He made some comment about Nathan and Haley which didn't help things," Haley made a worried face but Brooke assured her it wasn't too bad.

"Well at least he offered to drive you here. I guess it means he likes you after all," Haley told Brooke.

"Please!" Brooke disagreed, "The night before, he walked in on me while I was changing then read my diary. And this afternoon, he made jokes about me crying over my favorite character." Brooke shook her head, "Maybe we're making an improvement but for now I just want to forget all that," she sighed.

"Good choice, Tigger," Haley said, "I for one am determined not to let this night get past me. This is the first night Nathan and I have actually spent not doing homework or working," she elaborated.

"Same here. I love Jenny and all but I know I'm glad we managed to find a babysitter," Peyton told her friends, referring to Jake's infant daughter, "Nothing is going to ruin this night for us."

Brooke agreed but less than two hours later, she spied a familiar figure in the corner of the room.

"Is that Lucas?" she questioned before getting up and approaching him, "Lucas?" she asked.

He spun around and looked at her, smirking.

"Hey. What are you doing?" he questioned.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, "I thought Dan wouldn't let you come here, and I thought you didn't want to come here."

Lucas sighed, "Look, there's a few things you've got to learn. I don't care what my dad says. He can go screw himself as far as I'm concerned. And again, this is none of your business so just go join your friends and leave me alone."

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You do know you're going to be in so much trouble if he finds out about this, don't you?" she wondered, making sure he knew the consequences of his actions.

"Then don't let him find out," Lucas said walking away from her. Brooke shook her head in disbelief and rejoined Peyton and Haley.

"Is that Lucas?"

"Yup," Brooke said, "And he's probably going to get in trouble for it too." Brooke sighed.

"Well, Nathan and Jake will probably take care of him, so don't worry about it. It's not your problem," Peyton told her.

Brooke nodded, but in the back of her mind, she knew that it was her problem. After all, she was the one who would have to listen to Dan and Lucas arguments and cope with both of their tempers afterwards.

Although Brooke tried to forget about Lucas, Jake came up to the trio and pulled them away.

"We may have a slight problem." He informed them, "Lucas is… well, he's wasted and we need to get him home before he causes anymore damage."

Jake led them to where Nathan was currently propping Lucas up, "Thank god, you're here. Brooke, you need to take him home," he told her.

"Why me?" she questioned, "It's his problem!" she said.

"Okay, Brooke, I know Lucas probably deserves this but if it was you, he'd do it," Haley told her truthfully, "Just because he acts cocky, doesn't mean he is."

"Well, I didn't drive here. Does he have his keys?" she asked as Nathan fumbled around in Lucas' pockets, finally pulling out a set of keys.

"He's so going to kill be for driving his car," she complained as she took them off Nathan and the five of them made their way to Lucas' car.

They piled him into the backseat and Brooke thanked them all for their assistance.

"Thank Brooke," Nathan said, "I'd do it myself but my dad…" Brooke nodded in understanding, "I promise we'll back you up if Lucas complains, and we'll also buy you a cookie."

"A big cookie." She said.

"Okay, a big cookie."

"Many big cookies." Brooke added before she got into the front seat. "Come on, Broody, let's get you home," she told the half-conscious form as she sped off home.

Lucas awoke with a start and then recoiled in pain as his heavy head began to throb. He looked around his surroundings, feeling uncomfortable and icky.

He realized where he was, the bathroom he shared with Brooke, and currently he was leaning over the toilet bowl. Brooke was leaning against the wall next to him.

"Hey," she said when she realized he was awake.

"Hi... what are we doing here?" he asked.

"You got wasted and I brought you home," she explained giving him a look. Lucas sighed.

"Why are we in the bathroom?" he questioned.

"Because, Lucas, you were puking your guts out until the early hours of this morning." she handed him a glass filled with an unidentifiable substance, "Drink this." She told him.

"What is it?" he asked, eying it cautiously.

"Brooke Davis' world famous hangover cure. It does wonders."

"It looks like puke."

"No, whatever came out of your mouth last night was puke. Anyway, if you want to get rid of that headache of yours, you'll drink it"

"What if you've poisoned it? You hate me."

"Yeah, I do hate you. But if I wanted to really hurt you, I'd tell your parents about it," she pointed out.

"You haven't, have you?" Lucas asked in horror.

"Nope. I just told them you ate some bad food,"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I know that if they did find out what happened, they'd ground you and you wouldn't be able to play in the game tomorrow night. And I know how important your basketball is to you."

"Thanks." Lucas said sincerely.

"It's okay. Just don't expect me to cover for you again. And you can be a little nicer from now on, okay?"

"Oh, and your dad will be wondering why you didn't go on your 4am jog, so just back up my story." Lucas nodded in understanding as he began to drink Brooke's drink. "That was gross,"

"I know, but you'll thank me in about 15 to twenty minutes time," she told him as she got up off the floor, "Go take a shower and freshen up. It's almost half nine and you have practice." She reminded him.

Lucas nodded as she left the bathroom, amazed that after all he'd put her through, she helped him.

Just after ten, Lucas emerged from the bathroom, feeling better than he did that morning. Brooke smiled at him when he entered the kitchen area and Lucas returned the smile.

Dan looked up between them, "I hear you had a stomach bug," he said. Lucas turned around and nodded.

"My poor baby, maybe you shouldn't go to practice," Karen said feeling Lucas' temperature.

"Mom, I'm okay now. I guess it was one of those 12-hours things." Lucas insisted.

"How was the party, Brooke?" Dan asked, "I didn't hear you come in,"

"I made it home pretty late. Peyton and Jake dropped me home," she said. "You must have been asleep,"

"We must have." Dan said, not looking up from his morning paper.

Karen went off to do some errands at the café and Lucas finished off his breakfast.

"I'm going to practice," he declared.

"Make sure you work on your free throws," Dan told him as Lucas placed his dishes in the sink.

"Yeah. Bye dad, bye Brooke!" he called as he began to leave.

"Have fun," Brooke said as she too got up and placed her dishes in the sink, "Want me to wash up?" she asked Dan as Lucas closed the front door.

"Leave them," Dan said to her without looking at her.

"Okay, I'll be in my room if you need me," she said as she prepared to leave.

"Oh Brooke," Dan stopped her, still refusing to look at her.

"Yes, Dan?"

"I appreciate you trying to cover for Lucas, but don't ever lie to me again. Do you understand me?"

Brooke was briefly rendered speechless as she wondered how he knew about what happened the previous night.

"Yes, Dan," she said as she walked back to her room, hoping that there would be no repercussions for her or Lucas.

To Be Continued…