For anyone who is interested, the URL for the Tangled Web Awards is under this links section of my website 'Faithless Innocence' (found in my user info). Just scroll down a little and you'll find a button with James Lafferty (Nathan) - click on it to be directed. won't let me put the URL here.

12. A Slow And Steady Rush

Almost two weeks had passed since Lucas' grounding and Brooke's cold. The two of them were now sitting around the dinner table with Dan and Karen. Dan still hadn't forgiven Lucas fully for getting suspended but the tension in the air had cleared considerably.

Just as long as Lucas didn't get back on Dan's bad side, all would be good.

Brooke played with the peas on her plate. She hated them but Karen always insisted that everything on the plate should be eaten. She spied Lucas smirking at her as he knew that she wasn't a big fan of peas.

"Um, Karen, can I be excused?" Brooke asked.

"Have you eaten everything on your plate?" Karen questioned.

"No, but I had a very big lunch and-"

"If your plate isn't empty, you can't be excused." Karen reminded her.

"I know that, but-"

"Eat your peas, Brooke," Dan piped up. Brooke sighed and silently began eating them, knowing that Lucas would probably be laughing at her. She caught his gaze and saw him struggling not to laugh loudly. She discreetly stuck her tongue out at him.

"So," Dan interrupted, "Your mother and I are going to be visiting your grandparents this weekend. Do you want to join us?" Dan asked Lucas.

"Royal and May?" Dan nodded, "No, thanks. I think I'll do my homework instead," Lucas said.

"How about you, Brooke? I'm sure they'd love to meet you," Dan said. Brooke looked at Dan and then at Lucas who was slowly shaking his head and mouthing 'no' at her.

"I'd love to, but with the Cheer Classic two weeks away, I was thinking of going over the routine a bit more," she explained.

"That's a good idea, Brooke," Dan announced, "I was thinking of keeping the dealership open this weekend-"

"Dan," Karen interrupted, "We are going to see your parents this weekend whether you like it or not. It's either that or they come here," Karen said. She wasn't looking forward to it but knew that it was something they'd have to face sooner or later. Although she wasn't ready to face all the questions about Nathan and Haley, and she knew Dan wasn't ready either.

"Have fun, Dad," Lucas commented, earning him a glare from his father.

"You both will be okay without us, won't you?" Karen asked, concerned. Lucas was eighteen years old but half the time, he acted like his younger brother. And she was afraid of what might happen while they were away. "You will look after each other, right?"

"Of course," Lucas said brightly, "Brooke and I will be fine. All we need is some beer, a little music, some friends, a fire extinguisher…" he joked. This time both his parents glared at him while Brooke stifled a laugh.

"Make sure he doesn't get into trouble," Karen told Brooke.

"Hey, you're giving Brooke all the responsibility? I'm the older one here!" Lucas said a little put out that he wasn't trusted.

"I wonder why that one is, Mr Likes-to-fight," Brooke told Lucas.

"You know, maybe you should come with us," Karen began feeling unsure about leaving the two unattended.

"No, mom! We'll be fine on our own. Believe me." Lucas told them. Brooke nodded.

"Fine, fine. But I'm leaving a list of emergency numbers and we'll call when we get there and when we're on our way home…" Karen began.

"Seriously, mom. We'll be fine," Lucas said with a small smile. Karen looked between Brooke and Lucas and sighed.

"Okay, fine," she said, "But Brooke, you have to eat your peas."

"Do you know where the emergency money is?"

"Yup."

"Where Keith's number is?"

"Yup."

"Remember to shut the freezer properly otherwise everything will melt."

"I know, Mom."

"Do you know where the spare key is kept?"

"Yes."

"And to water the plants every day?"

"I know!"

"Don't keep the music too loud or neighbors will complain. I don't want police showing up at the door."

"Yes, okay. Got it."

Lucas literally had to push his mother out of the door and into the car.

"I love you," she said giving him a kiss.

"Mom!" he protested, but upon seeing her disappointed face, he sighed, "Love you too."

"Be good!" she said finally as she and Dan drove out into the night.

Lucas sighed and shut the door, pleased for some freedom. He raised his hands in the air.

"They're gone!" he cried happily. "Brooke! They're gone!" he repeated as Brooke appeared from her room, all dressed up and applying lip gloss. "Where are you going?" he questioned.

"Out."

"With?"

"Peyton. We got invited to a party at Duke," she said proudly.

"Duke? The university?"

"Uh huh," she said, "Don't wait up."

Brooke began to walk past Lucas but he grabbed her arm.

"Hey!"

"You're not going."

"What? Why not?"

"Because you're not. I'm the older one and I say you're not going."

"But it's all planned out."

"I'm not letting you go, Brooke. You're in high school and those guys will try anything to get you into bed."

"Well, I'm not going to do anything. I know what is out there, Lucas. I lived in New York City all my life, remember? Plus, Peyton will be there to look out for me…"

"No!" Lucas told her firmly.

"Urgh! You suck!" she said hitting him with her bag and going towards the front door. Lucas caught up with her again.

"Peyton isn't going."

"What?"

"She called and said she couldn't make it tonight."

"You're lying." Brooke said. Lucas showed her the post-it note next to the phone.

"You just wrote that a minute ago. I'm not falling for that, Luke," she told him.

"That's my mom's handwriting. Look, see?" Brooke sighed.

"How come nobody told me?" she questioned. Lucas shrugged.

"Mom was stressed out about visiting my grandparents. She also forgot to tell me my basketball practice was cancelled." Lucas explained.

"Oh," Brooke said looking slightly dejected, "I guess I'll go change then," she said as she began wondering back to her room. Lucas stopped her again.

"Wait," he said, "How about… how about we go out?" he suggested.

"What?"

"Well, you're all dressed up and stuff so… how about the two of us go out?"

"And where are you going to take me?" Brooke asked.

"Around," he said, "I don't know yet, but I'm sure we can have some fun."

Brooke grinned.

"I have to warn you, Lucas, I'm a pretty expensive date."

"It's a good thing you're paying then!" he quipped. She rolled her eyes as he grabbed his coat, "Come on, let's go." He told her as he took her hand and led her outside.

"I wish you'd told me we wouldn't be taking the car," Brooke complained as she struggled to keep up with Lucas. "My feet are killing me."

"Well, you shouldn't have worn those shoes, then," Lucas told her, "They don't look comfortable."

"They're not. But they are cute!" she said.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" he commented as he continued walking.

"Yeah, it is," she said, "It is quiet too."

"Uh huh," he agreed as he turned to her.

"What?" she asked.

Lucas said nothing but stood in the middle of the road.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He shrugged and continued standing there. "Get out of the road, Lucas." She told him.

He refused.

"Lucas!"

"Come on," he told her.

"I am not playing Chicken!" she told him. "Lucas, get out of the road…please!" her tone began getting more and more urgent as she scanned for any cars that were on their way.

"Nope. You come here!"

Brooke sighed and waked towards him, trying to pull him out of the way but he was too strong for her.

"Lucas, come on. It's not funny!" she said seriously as she released his hand.

Lucas lay down on the road.

"Don't you dare!" she warned him.

"Why not? They did it in The Notebook."

"That was a movie and it was 1940! Get up off the floor!" she said again. Getting no reply, Brooke growled and walked away and back onto the pavement. "Fine! See if I care!" she yelled.

She began walking down the road when she heard the sound of an approaching car, she turned back to see a pair of headlights making their way towards Lucas.

"Lucas!" she screamed as the car drove faster towards him and there was no sign of him moving. She raced back to where Lucas was and saw a figure quickly get up and run away, just inches in front of the car.

The car tooted its horn and continued speeding away. Brooke ran up to Lucas, who was out of breath and busying laughing his head off.

"Did you see that?" he asked Brooke, "That was hilarious!"

"What the hell did you do?" Brooke yelled at him. Lucas continued to laugh.

"Relax, it was just a game," he told her. She pushed him backwards and he looked at her, "What was that for?" he asked.

"You could have gotten yourself killed! Don't you realize that? You could have died out there!" she cried in anger.

"Well, I didn't!" He shot back frustrated and stunned by her reaction, "Calm down."

"You don't even care, do you? Lucas, you could have gotten hurt or could have hurt somebody else!" she pushed him again.

"You're crazy," he said as he tried not to retaliate. He began to walk away from her.

"Well, you're stupid, Lucas!" she called after him, "You don't know anything! You're just like Joe!"

Lucas turned around and faced the angry brunette, "Who the hell is Joe?" he questioned.

She caught up with him, "A stupid guy like you, who was playing that stupid game and didn't get out of the stupid way in time!" she pushed him before beginning to pound Lucas' chest as hard as she could. "It was a stupid dare and now he's gone because he didn't hear the stupid car coming!"

She continued to hit his chest until Lucas managed to catch them and prevent her from hitting him further.

"Brooke, calm down. Brooke!" he said over and over again until she subsided into sobs.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I lost one of my best friends because of this idiotic game and I don't want to lose you too!" she screamed through her tears. Lucas looked at her after her emotional revelation and sighed.

"I didn't know…" he said quietly.

"Yeah, well, you do now!" Brooke was borderline hysterical as she tried to get over the events of the last few minutes. It had shaken her up as memories of the past began to catch up with her. "You could have died," she repeated as she hit his chest again.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," Lucas told her.

"Damn right you weren't." she hit him again just for good measure and he caught her hands again.

Lucas looked at her intently, her mascara was running because of her tears, she was bright red from shouting at him, her hair was a mess, and she was still as beautiful as ever.

Without pausing to think, he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. For a moment it felt like she was returning it but within seconds, she pulled away quickly.

She detached herself from his grasp and put her hand to her mouth before running it through her hair awkwardly.

"Brooke…" Lucas began thinking about apologizing but she cut him off.

"Let's just go home," she said indicating that this would not be discussed here and now. He simply nodded and began following her back to the Scott household.

He walked slightly behind her so as not to crowd her and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had no idea why he had done what he'd done, but something had come over him and he couldn't help it. For months his feelings for her had turned from resentment to… hell, he couldn't even describe it. Fondness? Adoration? Love?

He gulped at the last one. Lucas Scott didn't fall in love. But whatever it was, there was something about her that made him want to be good enough for her. He would constantly think to himself if she'd approve of the shirt he was wearing, or the book he was reading, or even the music he listened to.

Lucas scratched the back of his head. This was something new, and he wasn't sure how he was going to get through it.

Brooke walked as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart hadn't stopped beating rapidly since the near-accident. At first she'd been incensed because of his stupidity, then hysterical over her friend's death and now she was nervous and stunned by the kiss.

She wasn't sure what to think. She'd never really honestly thought about being with Lucas. To her, he had been an ass before, but slowly turned into one of her best friends. Maybe in her heart she'd wanted something more but she hadn't thought about it until now.

What the hell were they going to do now?

Brooke entered the house first and didn't bother holding the door open for Lucas. He managed to catch it before it shut on him and by the time he'd entered the house, she was on her way to her room.

"Brooke…can we talk about this?" he asked but the sound of her door closing told him it wasn't open for discussion.

Rejected, he went inside his own room and collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating further on what had happened.

Almost ten minutes later, he was startled by the sound of the door opening. Brooke walked in. Lucas lifted up his head.

"Brooke?" he questioned as he sat up. "What are you-"

She silenced him with a passionate kiss.

When they pulled apart, he looked up at her questioningly.

"Shut the door," she instructed as she slipped out of her dress.

And he did.

To Be Continued…