Chapter Seventeen: Along The Broken Road

"Look at my shiny trophy," Brooke sang as she and the gang carried their bags to the main lobby of the hotel, "See how it shines!"

Lucas and Peyton exchanged a look as they dumped the bags near the door, "Is she going to be this all the way home?" Peyton asked him. He nodded.

"Unfortunately yes, but look how happy it makes her," he motioned to where Brooke's grin was growing wider and wider as she looked at the trophy and waved it around happily. Peyton raised her eyebrow at Lucas' comment.

"And you care if she's happy or not?" she asked. Lucas frowned.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. Peyton shrugged.

"I don't know. Lately it seems like you're doing everything to put a smile on her face. I know it was rough for a little while after… everything," Peyton said.

"She told you about that, huh?" Lucas looked at the floor, clearly embarrassed.

"She wouldn't be my best friend if she didn't. Why else do you think she camped out at my place for days?" she told him.

Lucas sighed, "I didn't mean for it to get all awkward between us. It just ended up happening."

"Yeah, well, you're friends now, right? And if you're both happy, then it's a good thing," Peyton said. Lucas didn't reply and she cocked her head to the side slightly, "You're not happy, are you?"

"What? No, of course I am." Lucas turned away but Peyton followed him.

"Lucas, I know that we don't know each other very well, but I know a lovelorn look when I see one," she said gently, "And you're probably the type of guy who doesn't get it very often so it's a little obvious. How do you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you sleeping okay? Have you suddenly lost your appetite? Do you dream about a certain someone who is currently fawning over a trophy? I see the way you look at her. Hell, we all see the way you look at her," Peyton pointed out, "You're in love, dude. Everyone knows it – except her."

Lucas chuckled, "You're crazy. Brooke is just a friend. We're just friends. Nothing more," he said. Peyton sighed.

"Deny it all you want but you're going to drive yourself crazy if you don't tell her. You never know when you might lose her," Peyton said.

Lucas gulped hard, "Like I said, you're crazy." He gave her a look and began walking away.

"Geez, Brooke!" Nathan mumbled, "I know you won and all, but couldn't you carry down your own bags?"

Brooke turned to where Nathan was currently struggling to hold up the two suitcases Brooke had brought with her.

"I had to hold my trophy," she told him before grinning, "Look how shiny it is!" Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. So you told us all when you brought it out to dinner with us," Nathan dumped the bags down. "Are we all done?" he asked.

The group nodded and he sighed as Whitey came down with his own bags.

"Alright kids, everybody grabs their stuff and take it out to the coach. Make sure all you're room keys have been given back to reception and someone will be signing you back onto the bus," he instructed before casting a glance at Brooke. "You're taking your own car, right?"

She nodded, "Yup. We'll follow you."

"Alright, but keep directly behind us and no detours. We're only stopping at one service station on the way," he told her. "Congratulations, by the way," he smiled as he looked at the trophy.

"Thanks Coach," she replied.

"Come on, kids! Let's get moving!" he said as he ushered them out of the hotel.

"Lucas!" she called. Lucas turned around, "Can you please grab my bags and put them in my car?" she asked as she smiled sweetly. He pretended to look annoyed but gave her a slight smirk.

"Fine!" he said as he gathered up her bags.

"Well, well," a voice said from behind Brooke, "Getting your boyfriend to do all the dirty work?"

Brooke turned around to face Claire Young holding her own trophy.

"He's not my boyfriend," Brooke said, "And at least I don't need to hire one from the Yellow Pages."

"Nice trophy," Claire said.

"Thanks. I would say the same about yours but I don't like lying," Brooke told Claire.

"Please, yours is a piece of cheap plastic covered in paint," Claire told her. Peyton, Haley, Nathan, Jake and Lucas all looked at Brooke – hoping she wouldn't explode.

"That may be true, but I won it and at least I don't have to share it with anyone. Whereas… yours will look nice in the trophy cabinet at Bear Creek High. Too bad nobody will ever see that you won it. Mine as my name on it!" she held hers up proudly.

"Whatever!" Claire bit back, realising Brooke had a point.

"Yeah, well. I'll beat you next year too. Bye!" Brooke called as she followed her friends out of the hotel.

Brooke sat in her car, waiting for the other's to finish putting her bags in her car.

"Uh, Brooke. Any chance you'll be helping us?" Nathan asked. Brooke shook her head.

"Nope, I'm busy," she said.

"Doing what?"

"Admiring my trophy. Did you see it?" she asked as she turned around and thrust the trophy in his face.

"Yes, Brooke, we all saw it. You practically gave it its own seat at dinner." Nathan grumbled.

"Hey. Leave her alone. She's just pleased she got a trophy," Lucas interrupted, annoyed at Nathan's comments. Nathan gave Lucas a look and then shook his head.

"I'll be in the bus," he said. "Take care, girls!" he began to leave before Haley chased after him.

"Wait, Nathan!" she cried, "Don't leave me with Brooke. I can't take a whole journey with her telling me about her trophy," she pleaded just out of Brooke's earshot.

Peyton came running towards them, "Are you going on the bus?" Haley nodded, "Take me too. I love Brooke but there is only so much I can take," she said.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Brooke asked from the car. They all shook their heads, "Good, then get in the car."

"Uh, actually Brooke, Jake wants me to ride with him in the bus," Peyton excused herself.

"Yeah, and Nathan wants me to do the same," Haley said. Brooke frowned.

"So… I'm driving all by myself?" she asked.

"You have your trophy," Nathan said, getting jabbed in the stomach from both Haley and Peyton.

"I'll come with you, Brooke," Lucas said. "We're more or less going to the same place anyway, and if Dad or Mom is there and they see Hales in your car… it's much safer with just us," he reasoned.

There was a momentary silence from all of them before Brooke agreed.

"Okay, but we have to look after the trophy," she said as she waved the trophy again. Lucas nodded and slid into the driver's seat.

"Behave!" Nathan warned the two as he and his wife, along with Peyton boarded the school bus.

"What are you thinking?" Brooke asked almost thirty minutes into the ride home. They hadn't really been talking, just listening to music and following the bus.

"What?" Lucas asked as he briefly diverted his eyes from the road.

"You have your thinking face on. It's a lot like your brooding face," she commented. Lucas shifted awkwardly as he realized she was now staring at him, "So, what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I'm thinking I should have gotten on that bus," he said, "Do you know you've made four different songs up about your damn trophy?" Brooke grinned.

"My shiny trophy."

"I had no idea something like that could give you so much joy," he said.

"This is the first thing I won in Tree Hill. It means a lot to me," she told him.

"I guess that makes sense," Lucas said, "The first trophy I won was pretty important to me."

Brooke smiled.

"Hey, do me a favor?" Lucas asked, "My sunglasses are in my bag. Can you get them for me? The sun is in my eyes," he told her, pointing down to his bag. Brooke reached for it and started rummaging through his belongings, finally finding his sunglasses.

"Ooh, shiny!" she announced as she cleaned them for him with her sleeve, "Do you know what else is shiny?"

"Do I even want to ask?" Lucas said.

"My trophy!"

"Oh, man, we have got to hide that from you," he chuckled as Brooke put his sunglasses on him, "Dude! That was my eye!"

"Sorry," she said cringing. She managed to get it on and he gave her a big smile.

"Much better, thank you."

"No problem," she said as she slipped back into her seat. "Are we nearly there yet?" she asked. He chuckled.

"Okay, we are not even going to go there."

"No, seriously. Are we nearly there yet?"

"Brooke!"

"Are we?"

"No!"

"How long do we have left?"

"I don't know, a few hours?"

"Oh. But I need to go."

"Go where?"

"Go go."

"Oh. Uh… the service station is about forty-five away."

"I can't wait that long."

"But Whitey told us to keep following the bus."

"He also told us curfew was at 9.30pm but none of us listened."

"Brooke, I have no idea how to get back without the bus."

"Lucas, I need to go!"

"I'll pull over and you can go there."

"Where's there?"

"The bushes."

"Ew, no!"

"Then you're going to have to hold it."

"Lucas! Look there's a service station. Can we please stop?"

"It's not the one Whitey wants to stop at."

"Lucas, I am serious. If you do not stop at this service station I will make the next few hours very uncomfortable for you."

"Do you have a map?"

"Of course I do. That's how I got here in the first place. Can we stop now?"

Lucas sighed and signaled to turn into the service station, watching the bus drive far away. As they parked, Lucas looked at his watch.

"Okay, I'll give you ten minutes. Is that enough time?" Brooke nodded as she got out of the car. "I'll be here!" he yelled to her retreating form.

It was a full twenty minutes later before Brooke returned.

"What took you so long?" Lucas complained as she got back into the car.

"Well I got hungry so I went and got us some food," she offered him a piece of her Danish pastry. "Want some?"

"No, thanks. I'd rather get back on the road. We're behind everyone," Lucas started up the engine, "Where's your map?"

"In the glove compartment," Brooke said. Lucas reached over and opened it up, ruffling through pieces of paper and make-up.

"It's not here."

"It should be."

"But it's not."

"Look harder."

"Brooke, all that is here is make-up, notes from English and a book…" he read the title, "Is this porn?" he asked with a grin. She gave him a look.

"It's erotica, actually. Put it back." Lucas did so.

"The map isn't here."

"Well, maybe it's in the back seat," Brooke said as she turned around and looked in the back. Less than a minute later, she came back empty-handed.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he saw the look on her face. She chuckled nervously.

"Okay, don't get mad. But…"

"But?"

"I think I might have left it back in the hotel."

"Brooke!" Lucas said before groaning and resting his head on the head rest. "You're really something, aren't you?"

"Well, does that mean we're lost?" she asked guiltily.

"I don't know. The service station might have maps. I'm going to call Nathan and tell him what happened," Lucas said. "My wallet is in my suitcase on the bus. Do you have money?" Brooke gave Lucas another guilty look.

"I kind of spent what I had on the food," she said.

"Please don't let this be happening…" Lucas muttered.

"Come on, Lucas. It's not all bad. We can just make our way back on our own."

"Yeah, and how do you propose that?" Brooke shrugged.

"We ask for directions?"

"Brooke, Tree Hill is a pretty small town. Half these people here are tourists. We're stranded," Lucas told her. "Whitey is going to kill us," he said.

"Lucas, this could be the single best thing that's ever happened to us. Where is your sense of adventure?" Brooke said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Brooke, not to burst your bubble, but we are at a service station, with no money, no map and… you ate the last of the food," he said, "Plus, we have school tomorrow. I'd say we're pretty screwed." Lucas said as he punched in Nathan's number.

Brooke sighed as she waited for Lucas to call Nathan.

"Hey Nathan?"

"Dude, where are you, man? You stopped following us ten minutes ago," Nathan said on the other end.

"Twenty, actually. The thing is we're at-" The line went dead. "Nathan? Nate? Hello? Can you hear me?"

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked Lucas as he began beating his cellphone.

"I just ran out of battery," he said, "Can I use yours?"

Brooke gulped hard, "Funny thing, actually. I left it at home. All my friends were going to be here, I figured there was no point!" she told him. "Sorry."

"This," he said to Brooke as he closed his eyes, "Is just fan-fucking-tastic!"

He groaned as he took the keys out of the ignition and ran his hands through his hair. Brooke watched sheepishly as she realized something.

They were stranded miles from home.

To Be Continued…