Chapter Twenty-One: This Could Be Different

Peyton, Haley and Nathan congregated in a corner shortly before school began. In hushed tones, Peyton relayed their plan.

"Okay, remember that you try and distract Brooke, while I shamelessly, but harmlessly, flirt with Lucas. But you have to make sure Brooke can see what's going on and check her reaction," Peyton told them.

"This is going to turn into some crazy episode of 'Friends' isn't it?" Haley commented, uncomfortable with the proposed plans, "I just don't see why we can't ask them or wait until they tell us. All this secret planning makes me feel mean," she added.

"Come on, Haley, it's just a bit of fun. No harm done, I promise," Peyton said.

"You guys better hush up," Nathan said, "They just pulled in," He pointed in the direction of the school parking lot where Lucas' car came into view. Brooke got out first and checked her appearance in the wing mirror before noticing her friends standing in the corner. She gave them a quick wave before turning to Lucas.

The two talked briefly with one another, always separated by the large car and giving no indication that their relationship was more than a friendship.

Even though they both walked in the same direction – towards their group of friends – they didn't hold hands or walk in too close a proximity to one another.

It just looked normal.

"Maybe we were wrong," Haley stated as she looked at their body language. They were a safe distance apart from one another and didn't even seem to be talking as they walked.

"Or maybe they're just really good at keeping it a secret," Nathan replied.

While the three finalized their plans, Brooke and Lucas were stopped by Tim.

"Hey Tim," they greeted, "What's up?" Lucas asked.

"Coach cancelled practice today," Tim said.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for the heads-up," Lucas patted Tim on the shoulder and began walking away, Brooke following behind.

"Are you together?" Tim asked, causing the two to stop dead in the tracks. They slowly turned to face Tim.

"What?" Brooke asked, hoping she'd misheard.

"Nathan and the two girls seem to think you and Lucas are together," Tim explained.

"They do, do they?" Brooke whipped her head around to look at the three.

"Are you?" Tim asked again. Lucas sighed.

"Yeah, we are. But, Tim, you can't tell anyone," he confessed.

"Alright!" My man, Lucas is winin' and dinin' Broo-"

"Just call it 'dating', Tim," Lucas said, "But remember, you can't tell anyone," he repeated.

Tim walked off in high spirits and Brooke shook her head.

"I give it half a day before it's all over school," she commented. Lucas shrugged.

"Let them. It's not like we're ashamed of it," he said.

"I know – I just don't want it to get back to your parents," Brooke said as they continued their journey to their friends.

"They won't," Lucas reassured, "Don't worry," he gave her a quick encouraging smile which faded as soon as they reached their friends.

"Hey guys," Peyton greeted happily, "How ar-"

"We know, you know," Brooke cut her off, crossing her arms.

"Know what?" Nathan tried to feign ignorance but Brooke and Lucas just gave them a look.

"Oh, thank god," Haley breathed a loud sigh of relief.

"Haley!" Peyton hissed.

"Sorry, it was just killing me. I think you both make a great couple," she said to Brooke and Lucas, giving them both a hug.

Nathan was the next to sigh in relief and give up the charade, "Yeah, I agree. Although you didn't have to keep it a secret from us," he said.

"Thanks, but it won't be a secret for long. We told Tim."

"You told Tim before you told us?" Peyton asked.

"Sorry, he kind of blindsided us. We had no choice," Brooke apologized.

"Do you want me to do some damage control?" Nathan offered. Lucas shook his head.

"Nah, I think we're ready to go public," Lucas said putting an arm around Brooke.

"Well, semi-public," Brooke said, "We haven't told Karen or Dan yet."

"I don't blame you," Nathan said, "Although you never know. They seem to love Brooke."

"Yeah, until I tell them I'm 'having my way' with their eldest son," Brooke said, which caused a few raised eyebrows. Thankfully, before anymore questions could be asked, the bell rang throughout the school grounds and the five friends gathered their belongings and prepared to go their separate ways.

"Hey," Lucas said catching Brooke's arm, "I can do this now," he said with a grin as he pressed a tender kiss to her lips. She returned the smile.

"Urgh," Nathan complained, "You guys aren't going to be all cutesy and lovey-dovey now are you?"

"What? Like you and Tutor Wife are all the time?" Brooke asked.

"We are not like that all the time," Nathan replied just as his wife licked her thumb and wiped a smudge off his face. Nathan gave her a look.

"What?" Haley asked, "You had lipstick smudges!"

Brooke just grinned and walked away from the group, arm in arm with Peyton and Haley. Lucas watched her go and sighed happily as he turned to his brother.

"What?" he asked. Nathan just shook his head.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, big brother," Nathan said, "Now it's going to be romantic dinners, noticing all her outfits, and listening to her gossip about your love life with Hales and Peyton. Don't forget that you probably can't go to every single party and that even if you look at another girl, she'll rip your head off," Nathan continued.

Lucas shook his head, "So what? It's worth it, right?" Nathan sighed and acquiesced.

"Yeah," he said putting an arm around Lucas' neck, "It's so totally worth it."

The two brothers watched as the women in their lives walked off into the distance.

Brooke entered the Scott household still dressed in her cheerleading uniform. Although practice was cancelled for the basketball team, cheerleading practice had gone on as usual.

Collapsing on the nearby couch, Brooke closed her eyes for a mere few seconds before she was awakened by a weight pressing down on her.

"Ow…" she complained as she reluctantly opened them to find her boyfriend almost lying on top on her. He kissed her nose as she gave him a lazy grin.

"Did cheerleading tire you out?" he asked.

"No…" Brooke said rubbing her eyes, "The constant questioning and the 'Oh my gawd, you're dating Lucas Scott!'s tired me out," she said doing her idle impression of the teenage girl screams that echoed through her mind.

"Well, I hope you're not too tired," Lucas nuzzled her neck, "Mom and Dad are still out," he said with a grin.

"You really cannot be serious," she said suppressing a smile, "I've just come home from practice and I'm still in my uniform," she protested.

"I don't mind," he said, "I like cheerleaders."

"I bet you do," she remarked. "I'm all sweaty."

"We can take a shower," he suggested.

"Is there any part of your brain that isn't in the gutter?" Lucas though for a moment and shook his head.

"Lucas…" she began trying to push him off her so she could sit up. He did get up for a moment but that was only to turn on some loud music before returning to his previous position of lying on top of her while he kissed her.

Although Brooke had been complaining before, she quickly relaxed and the two new lovebirds got caught up in each other.

They were so caught up in one another and the music that was blaring through the stereo, that they didn't hear the front door click open, or the words that followed as Karen Scott walked through the hallway.

"Lucas, how many times have I told you to keep your mus-" Karen stopped as she saw the two teenagers on the couch. They didn't seem to notice her until Brooke spied her Godmother out of the corner of her eye.

Panicking, she pulled herself out of Lucas' grasp and started to sit up. Lucas began to protest and pull her back down, but Brooke gestured towards his mother, who was still in a state of shock.

Once the teens had realized she was there, they jumped apart as if they were on fire and sat on opposite ends of the couch.

"Karen," Brooke said, straightening out her uniform. "You're home."

"Yes, Brooke, I am home. What in the world is going on?" she asked looking between the two.

"Uh, Mom, don't freak out but there is a really good explanation for this."

"Well, there'd better be. How long as this been going on?" she questioned.

"Just a few days," Brooke said. "We're kind of… dating," Brooke cringed wondering what her reaction would be.

"Dating?" Karen repeated looking at Lucas, "But I… I could have sworn you both weren't even on the best of terms and that was last week!"

"Well…" Brooke began, "We kind of put that past us."

"I can see," Karen said sighing as she ran a hand through her hair, "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to see this when I got home."

She hesitated before speaking again.

"Okay, let me go unload these groceries and then we'll talk," she said.

"Uh, do you want us to help?" Brooke asked.

"No, no!" Karen said quickly, "I think it'll be best if you both stay there. Just sit… far apart," she said as she retreated into the safety of her kitchen.

Karen Scott was normally a level headed woman. It took a lot to anger her, but right now, she wasn't sure what to think.

When she'd pulled up to the house, she'd known what was going to happen.

She would greet whoever was in the household, unload the groceries, ask what the kids wanted for dinner, tell them to do their homework first if either of them wanted to go out, call Dan and ask him what time he was due home, cook dinner, serve, do the dishes, relax and then sleep.

Evan walking into the house, the plans had remained the same. Except she'd have to yell at Lucas to turn his music down and maybe get some attitude back; but other than that…

She hadn't felt this confused since her youngest son had arrived home in the early hours on the morning along with a gold band on his finger and Haley James-Scott.

However, she had acted like a mediator between the newlyweds and her own husband, who'd promptly cast Nathan out of the house and soon afterwards, he'd revealed his petition for emancipation and put an end to Dan's preliminary attempts to get the marriage annulled.

But now she was on her own. Dan wasn't in the house and she had two horny teenagers in her living room and who had just been all over each other moments previously.

Karen began slowly unloading her groceries and thinking about what to do about the situation.

Should she wait until Dan came home?

She shook her head as she knew that Dan would probably blow a gasket and she didn't want that.

For God's sakes, she chastised herself, they were only dating. They weren't making plans to get married.

Yet.

She gulped hard.

But then again, maybe it would all work out. Dan liked Brooke enough.

Lucas and Brooke were only a few feet away from each other at night. Who knows what they could be getting up to?

Plus, they shared a bathroom.

Karen frowned.

She'd have to talk to them about that. Lay down some ground rules. If they had any shred of respect for her, they'd abide by them.

As she placed the celery and tomatoes in the salad box, she sighed and patted her hair down. Taking a deep breath, she exited the kitchen and prepared to face the two.

Karen sat opposite Brooke and Lucas, who sat on either end of the couch – leaving as much space as they could between them.

"I have no problem with you both dating," Karen said to the relief of the teenagers.

"That is such a-" Brooke began but Karen stopped her.

"However, there are some ground rules that we're going to have to go over." Karen said.

"Of course."

"Number one; there will be no making-out, spooning, fondling, or getting to ANY bases while no adults are in the house," Karen began.

"Okay."

"Two; your bedroom doors will remain open if you both are in the same bedroom. You will both sleep alone, but in the event that you both are sharing a bed, one of you will be above the covers and fully clothed, with one leg touching the ground."

"Mom…"

"Three; curfews will remain unchanged. 10.30pm on school nights, midnight on weekends. Four; Only one of you in the bathroom at a time. Five; I will not say anything to Dan about your relationship, that is up to you. However, I do not like keeping secrets and so if he does ask me if anything is going on, I will not lie." Karen continued. "Got it?"

They both nodded, grateful she was supportive of their new relationship.

"Okay, well, I think I'm going to go and start the dinner or something. Are either of you hungry?"

"Actually, Karen, I'm tired. I think I'm going to take a nap. It's been a long day," Brooke said as she yawned.

"Okay, Brooke. I'll wake you up for dinner," Karen replied. Brooke got up and began going to her room.

"I think I'm a little tired too," Lucas began, faking a yawn. Karen gave him a look and Lucas sighed, "Actually, you know what? I'm not that tired."

Karen smiled, "Good, then you can help me make the salad," she told him, pulling her eldest son away from his girlfriend and into the kitchen.

"Thanks for being so cool about this, Mom," Lucas said as he chopped the tomatoes. "I know it was a shock to find out like that but I'm glad you're okay about it."

Karen gave him a small smile, "Well, it would have been nice to be told about it instead of seeing… hands in places they shouldn't be."

Lucas chuckled and apologized.

"I don't have to tell you that Brooke is a great girl. She also deserves happiness. Her parents have never been there for her and I don't want her to be treated badly."

"I know, Mom," Lucas said.

"I also know that you're not the dating type so this is both kind of heartening and worrying. I'm glad you're finally getting your act together but, Lucas, I swear to you if you hurt her you will not hear the end of it."

"What makes you think I'll hurt her?" Lucas questioned. "It's nice to see you have a lot of faith in me."

"Lucas, I love you but unfortunately you inherited a lot of your father's traits. You get bored easily and I don't want to have to see Brooke's heart broken." Karen told him truthfully. "I know you like to have freedom."

"Mom, believe me when I tell you that this is different. Brooke isn't like any other girl. She makes me laugh, she's not afraid to be herself. This is different. She's different. She makes me want to be different." Lucas said smiling.

"I hope so, Lucas," Karen said, "I hope so."

To Be Continued…