Chapter Ten: Mistakes We Knew We Were Making
Brooke stumbled into the bathroom still half-asleep. Her head was slightly heavy and she swore that she could hear some strange noises in her head.
She put some toothpaste on her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth before realizing that she could hear water running.
Brooke glanced behind her and sure enough, the shower was running.
'Trust Lucas not to lock the bathroom door' she grumbled to herself, wondering if she could have a little fun with this or exit quietly so as not to embarrass them both.
Realizing that this was probably too good an opportunity to pass up, her lips curled into a devious smile and she put down her toothbrush. Stealthily walking towards the shower, she took Lucas' towel from the rack and ran back to the washbasin, jumping up onto the counter.
She sat with the towel on her lap and waited for Lucas to stop his shower and realize that his towel was missing.
Brooke only had to wait five minutes before the shower stopped and a hand slowly reached out for his towel. Brooke grinned as the figure groaned from inside the shower and opened the shower door fully, releasing a cloud of steam.
"Where the hell is that towel?" came the annoyed voice as he began walking towards Brooke and the steam began to clear.
Brooke's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. And it didn't belong to Lucas Scott.
As the steam cleared fully, the naked figure looked Brooke straight into the eyes in equal shock.
"Brooke!" he cried.
"Nathan!" she exclaimed throwing him his towel.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily, wrapping the towel around his waist.
"Me? This is my bathroom! And I thought you were Lucas!"
"You do this with Lucas?" Nathan asked. Suddenly, Lucas raced into the bathroom and looked between the two. Brooke, in her tank top and shorts, and a dripping wet Nathan with merely a towel around him.
"What the hell?" he questioned.
Brooke put her hand on her head, "This is all eerily familiar," she noted.
"You're telling me, at least there was no frying pan involved this time," Nathan said grumpily.
"What are you doing in the bathroom with Brooke?" Lucas asked Nathan.
"Oh, we weren't doing anything. I thought he was you and so I thought I'd play a practical joke and steal the towel. But it ended up being Nathan, and it kinda backfired." Brooke explained quickly.
"You just love to cause trouble, don't you?" Lucas asked.
"It's not my fault. I didn't know Nathan was in here. Which brings me to the question, why is he here?"
"I crashed with Luke," Nathan explained.
"Ew. Please don't tell me Tutor Wife was here too because that would be a creepy threesome," Brooke grinned. Nathan looked at the bathroom floor.
"Brooke… are you done?" Lucas asked reminding her of where they were.
"Oh, right. Fine, I'll leave, but no hanky panky, okay?"
"Brooke!"
"I'm going," she said as she opened the bathroom door that led to her room, "oh, and Nathan? I can see why Tutor Girl married you," she winked as she left.
Nathan grinned but it fell when he saw the look Lucas was giving him.
"What?"
Peyton, Haley and Brooke cuddled up together on Brooke's bed. Pigging out on popcorn, ice cream and pizza, the three girls had decided that since it was the day after the formal, they'd relax and veg out on all unhealthy foods.
"See, this is why those two weeks of eating healthy crap is so worth it," Peyton said taking another slice of pizza.
"I though we did it to fit into our dresses," Haley said.
"We did, but there's nothing like the night-after-formal-pig-day."
"This is our first one!"
"Well, we should make it tradition, then," Peyton said proudly.
"I'm not going to the next formal," Brooke told them. They both looked at her.
"What? Because of one stupid guy you're giving up on school dances?" Peyton asked.
Brooke shrugged, "I don't see what the big deal is. We have to work to get into über-expensive dresses, which we only wear once by the way, and for what? A guy who lies so he can get into your pants? It's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Brooke complained.
"I didn't realize this whole Felix thing had such an affect on you," Haley said giving Brooke a hug.
"It's not that. Well, not just that," she sighed, "In New York, I had a line of guys after me just because I was a young, rich, beautiful girl who had control of her parent's penthouse. I knew that's all I was. Guys stayed with me until they got what they wanted and moved on after that. I never found a guy who I thought really liked me for me. They just saw the boobs and the money and that's it. When I left NYC, I swore that the next time I'd have sex would be with a guy I was in love with. With Felix, I actually believed that he liked me. I wasn't in love with him, but I was hoping it'd go that way," Brooke confided in her two friends.
Unbeknownst to the girls, Lucas had been walking past Brooke's room and had heard the whole thing.
"Do you know how jealous I am that I don't have somebody like Nathan or Jake? You are both so lucky to have somebody who cares about you. It's so hard to find a guy you can trust."
"What about Lucas?" Haley suggested.
"What about him?" Brooke asked.
"You both seem pretty close, not that I'm insinuating anything is going on between you, but couldn't you at least trust him?"
"I guess. But it's different with Lucas. He's like one of my best friends – albeit slightly annoying and spoiled. And I guess he does take pretty good care of me. He did warn me about Felix," Brooke pondered as she ate a piece of popcorn. "But it's not like I could ever date him, could I? I mean, he doesn't even like me in that way. I think he sees me as more of a sister than anything else. Plus, how weird would that be?"
"I guess. But you'd make a pretty cute couple. You have that whole Broody/Cheery thing going on." Peyton commented.
"Totally. Hey! We could be sister-in-laws!" Haley said excitedly.
"Okay, guys. I think you've had too much sugar. There is nothing going on between us, and even if there was, who knows that we wouldn't kill each other first," Brooke said.
Lucas grinned from his position outside her door after hearing the conversation. Just as he was about to leave as stealthily as he'd come, Nathan spotted him.
"Hey, Lucas, what are you doing outside Brooke's door?" he asked slightly louder than Lucas would have wanted. Lucas made several hand gestures to tell Nathan to shut up.
Suddenly the door opened and the three girls revealed themselves and gave Lucas a look. He laughed nervously.
"Hey, girls. I was just coming to ask you if you needed anything but you look pretty good so… I'm just… you know where the kitchen is – not that girls belong in the kitchen, that's just where the food is," he closed his eyes, realizing that it wasn't going well, "Nathan and I are going to go now and leave you alone. Come on, Nate!" he said as he quickly scurried off outside with his brother in tow.
The girls looked at one another before collapsing in giggles and leaving to gossip further.
Brooke cleared up the empty dishes that she and her friends had left behind. Peyton, Nathan and Haley had all left fifteen minutes previously since Dan and Karen would be coming home from work within the next hour or so.
As Brooke began washing them up, Lucas entered the kitchen after having a shower and smiled at Brooke, grabbing a drink from the fridge.
"Hey," he said, "Need some help?"
"No, I've got it. Have fun with Nathan?" Brooke asked. Lucas nodded.
"Yeah, beat him three times out of five."
"Not bad."
"Listen, um, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't mean to eavesdrop," he apologized. Brooke smiled to herself.
"Don't worry about it," she said. Lucas looked at her before deciding to continue.
"I really am sorry. I had no idea what happened to you in NYC and I just want to make sure you're okay," he told her. Brooke paused from washing the dishes.
"Uh… thanks. But I'm okay, really. It's just my faith in men that's taken a knock. It'll be fine. I'll get over it," she said.
"You just have to say the word and Felix will be six-feet under. I promise," he said. She laughed.
"That won't be necessary, Lucas, but thanks," she finished washing up the dishes and wiped her hands on a nearby towel. "I'm going to go feel sick or something. I think I had far too much chocolate," she said.
As she walked past him, she gave him a small kiss on his cheek, "Again, thank you." She said sincerely before walking back to her room.
As Lucas went past the room five minutes later, he paused as he could hear faint sobs from within the room. Deciding that it probably would be best to leave her alone, Lucas couldn't help but feel his blood rising.
Felix Tarago would have to pay.
Lucas Scott walked like a mad-man on a mission. After the events of the weekend, he couldn't hold it in any longer.
Upon seeing Felix sweet-talking another girl during the lunch break, Lucas went straight for him, and before he could stop himself, hit him square across the cheek.
Within seconds, a crowd had formed chanting "fight! Fight!" over and over again. It did nothing to calm Lucas down and he reveled in the feeling of empowerment.
Felix nursed his cheek and looked up at the man in front of him. Shocked, but angry, he smiled deviously.
"Is that all you got?" he taunted.
"Oh, I'm not even started yet, Tarago. You want to mess with me, that's fine – just leave Brooke alone!"
"Oh, it's her again. Great." Felix rolled his eyes for dramatic effect, "Just because she keeps her legs crossed, you think you have to be her white knight?" Felix laughed.
"Keep going Felix, you're only going to make things worse," Lucas promised. Felix went for Lucas but Lucas managed to dodge it just in time.
"Wow, you must really have a hard-on for her to be defending her like this. Want to know a secret? You and I are exactly the same. Just because there's some girl you like in the picture, doesn't mean you can change your ways."
Lucas had had enough and tackled Felix to the ground, hitting him over and over again. Before long, Lucas and Felix were pulled apart by Nathan, Jake and some of Felix's friends.
They both looked at each other, rage building up inside of them. Felix smiled as he noted the blood coming out from his lip. Unsatisfied, Lucas lurched for Felix again but Nathan and Jake's strong grip prevented him from doing so.
"Scott! Tarago! In my office. Now!" yelled the principal as he came outside to look at the scene in front of him. Both men were escorted past the crowd that had formed and followed their principal inside the building.
As Lucas walked past, he saw a pair of familiar brown eyes looking at him with a guilty and afraid expression.
She'd known what he'd done and why he'd done it, and was afraid of what the consequences would be.
Lucas, however, was ready for any punishment that came to him. He'd got his revenge and that was all that mattered to him.
"Are you some kind of an idiot?" Dan Scott yelled. He'd been yelling for almost ten minutes straight after being called to Tree Hill High by the principal. They'd sent Lucas home, where he'd be for the next three days thanks to a suspension and having to forfeit one basketball game. "I have to close up the dealership to try and get you out of this mess you got yourself into. Just thank your lucky stars I managed to get your basketball ban down to one game!"
Lucas sighed as he glanced at his watch.
"Don't you dare give me that look! That 'I-don't-give-a-crap' look. Do you realize that there was a scout coming? You may have just missed your chance." Dan continued.
"There'll be other scouts," Lucas told his father.
"Yeah, I know there will, but this goes down in your record. What kind of impression does that give?" Dan questioned.
"What I don't understand, honey, is why you did what you did," Karen interrupted, knowing that yelling at her son wouldn't help things.
"Isn't it clear? He hates Felix." Dan said. "Good thing that Felix was on his last chance. He's off to some military school, and you just better hope you don't follow him there!" Dan threatened. "If you throw away your chance for success, there is going to be no end to the punishment you're going to get."
"It was a girl, wasn't it?" Karen correctly surmised. Lucas looked at the floor and Dan scoffed.
"Great, that's perfect. You almost threw away everything over some girl? She better be a looker, son, otherwise you're stupider than I thought."
Lucas refused to say anything.
"I don't want to look at you anymore. Go to your room. You're grounded for a week. Hardcore grounding. That means no PlayStation, no cellphone, no computer access. The only thing you're going to be doing is homework and making up for all the practice you're going to miss. You're hitting the gym every single day until you go back to school. Do you understand me?" Dan asked. Lucas got up and looked his dad in the eyes.
"Got it." He said before going into his room and slamming the door.
Karen looked at her husband who was still fuming.
"He's going to make a mess of his life, just like his brother." Dan commented as he kicked a chair.
"Calm down. Destroying furniture isn't going to do anyone any good, Dan." Karen told him.
"I just hope that whatever girl he's putting his future on the line for is worth it."
Just then, the door opened and Brooke entered. She looked at her god-parents, both of whom forced a smile on their faces.
"Hey, Brooke." Karen said, "How was school?" Brooke shrugged.
"Okay, I guess. Um… I heard about what happened to Lucas," she said. Dan scoffed.
"Do you know what it was about, Brooke?" Karen asked.
"Apparently it was a girl. Who was that girl he took to the dance?" Dan asked.
"Uh, Anna. Felix's sister. But it was nothing to do with her. Believe me," Brooke told them.
"Then who was it about?" Karen asked.
"I wouldn't know." Brooke told them. Dan and Karen nodded, apparently satisfied with her answer.
"Well, Lucas is grounded so I'd appreciate it if you'd make sure he sticks to it. I'm going back to the dealership. Let's hope I haven't lost any valuable customers." Dan said as he grabbed his car keys.
"I think I'm going to go back to the café." Karen said, "I'll be back in the evening."
Brooke waved them both off and when the coast was clear, she went to Lucas' room and gently knocked on the door.
"What?" came the grumpy reply.
"It's me. Can I come in?"
"Okay," Lucas said. Brooke opened the door and shyly stood in the doorway.
"Hey, how are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm fine. It's nothing really." Lucas told her.
"I'm really sorry for getting you into trouble," Brooke told him.
"Brooke, it's not your fault, okay? Felix got what he deserved, and I can deal with whatever I get." He promised her. Brooke nodded.
"So, I'm going to make some food. Do you want some?" she asked.
"I'm not allowed food in my room when I'm grounded." Lucas told her. She smiled.
"I won't tell if you won't." she said. Lucas smiled back.
"Okay, then. Thank you."
"No, Lucas. Thank you."
To Be Continued…