Summary: Unexpected emotions and events transpire at the party.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 3: Crash and Burn

"We have arrived." Brooke burst through the front door of Tim's house. Everyone in the spacious, but crowded living room just started at Peyton and Brooke blankly before turning back to their booze. "What a bunch of lame ass losers." She rolled her eyes at Peyton, "Why are we here again?"

"Sex, drugs, rock and roll." Peyton smirked.

Brooke ignored her statement and looked at her black t-shirt and jeans in horror, "I can't believe I let you wear that here."

"I can't believe I'm here with someone dressed in that," She indicated Brooke's tight black dress and plunging neckline.

"Whatever, mingle, meet some new people, and please don't talk about that wretched music you're always going on about." She flipped her straight hair out as she walked away, on the hunt for Nathan Scott. She opened her purse and pulled out her flask of vodka. She took a swig and spotted tutorgirl and Jake at the door. She made her way over to them with a sly grin on her face, "Why tutorgirl I didn't know you were old enough to go out on a school night."

"Tigger," Haley smirked, "I see you left your dress at home."

"Jake!" Brooke shouted and pulled him into a hug, glaring at Haley over his shoulder, "So good to see you here."

"Yeah you too Brooke." He said stiffly.

She let him go, "Bye, don't do anything I wouldn't do." She flashed her trademark grin and walked away. She took another swig of vodka. She couldn't stand that stuff out of a keg. It was cheap and disgusting. She scanned the room, looking for Nathan. She saw Tim coming towards her and ducked into the bathroom. She peered into the mirror and checked to see if any of her bright red lipstick had made its way onto her teeth. Nope ,shiny and white. Perfect. She never got tired of this life, the moving, the quick pace, the people. It was her escape from home. She took another swig of vodka, letting it settle into her stomach. Calming her nerves. She peeked into the hallway and slid out the door quietly. Avoiding Tim at all costs.

Jake and Haley watched Brooke stalk away, "That was….different." Jake said with a puzzled look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Haley raised her eyebrows and looked at him quizzically.

"Usually Brooke pretends I don't exist." He peered down at her, "She seems to have it out for you."

Haley rolled her eyes, "She has a sick sense of humor." Haley almost told him about the events that had transpired the night before, but she bit her lip. She didn't want him to figure out her reason for coming here with him. She had already started to regret the decision. He had looked so earnest and sweet standing on her doorstep, talking to her parents as he waited for her to finish getting ready. She didn't want to hurt or disappoint him, but she had to know if things could work out with Nathan. If they could overcome the obstacles between them even though she had a feeling they were just too different.

Jake nodded, "Yeah she does. She's like a viper waiting for someone to attack."

Haley laughed, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Jake smiled at the sound of her laughter, relieved that she wasn't going to let Brooke scare her away from the party, it wasn't really his scene, but it could be fun, "Want me to get you a drink?"

She blushed, "I'm not much of a drinker." She paused, "Or at all."

He chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Haley, I'm not either." He didn't want to tell her why he was so careful to avoid alcohol. It wasn't really that he didn't want to tell her, he just didn't know how to tell her. He didn't want to end up getting another girl pregnant, especially not this girl, she had a bright future ahead of her. He was shackled to his responsibilities and all that came with it. Not that he didn't love his daughter, because he did so much it made him ache inside. Sometimes he just wished he could go to a party and not have to worry about tomorrow. The guilt was instant, he was being selfish by being here. Asking his parents to cover up and take care of his responsibilities. He had wanted to do something for himself, something normal with the girl he liked. But there was no backing out now, he had brought her here and was determined to make it worth her time.

Haley scanned the room, trying to find Nathan. She knew she couldn't just leave Jake, but maybe they could find a way to talk to him. And then maybe he'd realize he had made a mistake last night. But maybe this whole thing was a mistake, maybe she should just be here with Jake without ulterior motives. She looked over at him, he smile and opened his mouth to speak when Peyton walked by. "Peyton," Haley shouted over the music in the room and grabbed Peyton's sleeve.

Peyton stared at her blankly and offered a small grin after several seconds, "Hey," She said softly and nodded at Jake in greeting. "What are you two doing here?"

"Same as you," Haley said and frowned, noticing the distance in Peyton's eyes, "You okay?"

Peyton shook her head, "Yeah I'm fine, I need to go find Brooke."

"That was weird," Haley said as Peyton walked away. She turned back to Jake and smiled, forgetting Peyton's strange behavior and her search for Nathan when he smiled at her.

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Peyton had roamed around the room for the last twenty minutes, nodding to people she knew. Talking to anyone that stopped her, but she felt outside of it all. She felt as if everything inside her was crashing. Her emotions were colliding into one another, forming a dark mass of rage and depression inside her fragile chest. Filling the gaping hole where her heart was supposed to be. The darkness tore at her insides, ripping into her brain, consuming her soul. Or what was left of it. She wanted the screaming thoughts to stop; for the pain, regret, guilt, shame, and hatred to just disappear. Everyone around her was laughing and chattering at rapid speeds. The rap music flooding the house made the floor beneath her feet shake. Her head was pounding to the rhythm. She frowned in disgust, she needed to get out of here. She needed something….

She saw the keg across the crowded room, like a beacon of hope. The dull silver barrel seemed to glow. She wove herself through the mass of bodies crunched together, shoving everyone out of her way. She rarely drank, but tonight she needed it. Needed the release it would give her. To forget for a few hours how she was feeling. To lose herself in something. Drawing only brought her closer to the event, music only drowned it out for a few hours. But this would last longer. It would erase her memory, numb her heart to all emotions. She grabbed a plastic cup and filled it to the rim, some of the amber liquid swished over the edge as Nathan grabbed her wrist.

"Where the hell did you come from?" She spat.

"Peyton, you don't need to be drinking."

"Look who's talking, you spent most of our weekends together drunk."

"This isn't you."

"What the hell do you know?"

Nathan shifted uncomfortably, he had let her down in the past, but he refused to let her do this. She only drank when she was trying to forget and he didn't want her to. "Peyton, put the cup down."

"Get the fuck away from me." She growled and ripped her arm away from him, spilling half the contents of her cup onto the floor. She stalked away, leaving him alone. Nathan turned around and came face to face with a smiling Brooke. "What do you want Brooke?" He frowned.

"You haven't said a word to me since we got here." She touched his arm lightly and gave him a catlike grin, "Don't you like my new dress." She purred.

His eyes ran over her tight black dress appreciatively. It clung to her skin in all the right places, giving him a peek of what was beneath. He couldn't prevent his body from responding to her, but he was still pissed at her. He leaned down and pressed his mouth against her ear, "Just because every guy in the school has fucked you doesn't mean I'm going to."

She didn't let the shock that she was feeling show, "It's only a matter of time Scott." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

He brushed past her and tossed over his shoulder, "In your dreams Davis."

Haley stared at Nathan and Brooke in shock, the way he was leaning into her and the suggestive tilt of her body and head was obvious to everyone watching them. She turned to Jake, "Did that look like…." She started then stopped.

Jake blushed, "Quite possibly."

"Jake I'm sorry." Haley sputtered, realizing he had just figured out why she had accepted his offer to come here. "You're a really nice guy, I just—"

"It's okay, Haley, I just thought you were different." He shrugged sadly and started to walk away.

"No, Jake, wait." Haley pleaded, grabbing his sleeve. "I want to get to know you better. This Nathan thing….we're just too different. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You weren't." He smiled, "I'm not going to make you stay here if you don't want to."

She smiled and linked her arm with his, "I do."

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Brooke crept down the crowded hallway, pushing past the mass of bodies around her. "Get a room," she muttered under her breath when she brushed past Rachel and Tim making out. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, but then again Rachel had slept with every guy in the school. Like me, she thought with bitterness. She didn't consider herself the same as Rachel, Rachel slept with guys for popularity, she did it because she liked sex. She liked the way it felt, how she could get lost in the sensations it brought her. She just couldn't stick with one guy, she didn't believe human beings were meant to be monogamous. It just wasn't natural.

She stopped at the end of the hallway and opened the door to the room she had been looking for. It was an extra den, a few people were sprawled naked on the floor, but she just stepped over them, searching for the alcohol. The good stuff, not that damn keg sitting in the main room. She opened a bottle of vodka and sighed in pleasure. She was already feeling good, like a cat that had had a saucer of cream. If only Nathan had taken her up on her offer to fuck. But it was better this way, she'd have time to strategize. Figure out how to lure the star basketball player into her bed.

She enjoyed a good chase, figuring out how to break through a guy's defenses. How to get them to melt and shudder for her, playing to her tune in her time. Doing what she wanted when she wanted it. And then when she was done, she was done. She never had regrets and never looked back. She had tried to sleep with a guy more than once, but she had always grown bored of them soon afterwards. After the thrill of the first time was gone, she had no interest in sticking around. She enjoyed the longing and apprehension. And she was feeling it now. Her body ached with need, but the only one that could satisfy her craving was Nathan. And she knew it would be worth it, the things Peyton had told her Nathan did….She shivered in desire at the thought.

She brought the bottle of Vodka to her lips and let the liquid slid down her throat into her stomach. She felt sick and dizzy, heady from the images in her head and the alcohol in her bloodstream. She was probably drunk, she couldn't really tell anymore. She never could until the next day, when her head felt like it would split open if she moved it. She wondered vaguely where Peyton was. She stumbled out of the room, dropping the bottle of vodka onto the hardwood floor, barely aware of the sound of the glass breaking as it hit the floor.

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Peyton couldn't remember how many drinks she had had. Five? Six? Seven? She had lost count a long time ago. Her head was pounding slightly and she felt sick to her stomach, but she could avoid that. Push it down. She hadn't felt this good in a long time, so free. She felt warm and comfortable, like a cat lying in the sun. She tripped over a lawn chair and skinned her palms on the concrete surrounding the pool. She watched the blood pour from the cuts on her palms into the white stone. Staining it. Like I'd do to Luke, she thought with a twist to her mouth. If he let her close to him, let her touch him, she'd end up ruining him. Taking the goodness and purity of his heart and break it. She'd destroy him and he'd never look at her with compassion ever again. He'd learn that she was poison, just like Nathan had. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. She wanted to puke, but she held it back. It burned in her throat.

She had started drinking to forget, but she hadn't stopped thinking about him for a moment. It seemed to be magnified now. She didn't want to look at it, she just wanted it to go away. She felt like screaming and kicking something or someone. "Peyton," Brooke shouted from the back door of the house and stumbled towards her. Peyton glared up at her as she came towards her in slow motion. The lights seemed to be dimming and her head started to throb even more. She stared down at her frozen hands and Brooke fell beside her and hugged her close. "P. Sawyer…" her words were thick and slurred, "I love you."

She leaned in to kiss her, but she knocked her away. "Get the fuck off…" she tried to stand up, but her head was swimming. She could hear Brooke laughing hysterically as she crawled to the edge of the pool and looked into the darkness. The moonlight was shimmering on the water, dancing on the dark waves. She reached out to touch it and fell in. She didn't struggle to break the surface, she just let herself sink. Maybe it would be better this way. If she were just erased. It would be easier for her dad. Her death would quickly fall away as new gossip filled the hallways of school. Would anyone care if she died? She knew Luke would, but she still couldn't figure out why.

She felt her head growing lighter as the oxygen in her lungs disappeared. She closed her eyes, waiting for darkness to envelope her when she felt strong arms wrap around her torso and drag her to the surface. When they hit the air she gasped, her lungs frozen by the cool night air. Her head felt like it were rolling off her shoulders, she squinted up at the face above hers, "Lucas…" she whispered before the world went black.

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Lucas tried to concentrate on the words in front of his eyes, but to no avail. The words seemed to run into each other. He had been thinking about her all night. Peyton was at the party. He wondered if she was drinking, he hoped not. He had seen her drunk before; she was reckless. It was as if a force inside her pushed her to move forward in rage. His cell began to ring and he answered it quickly, "Hello?"

"Luke," Haley was almost in tears.

"Hales, what's wrong?"

"It's Peyton,"

He felt as if his heart were beating through his chest. "Is she…." His voice shook.

"She's really drunk Luke, I'm scared."

"Calm down, Hales, what is she doing?"

"She's stumbling around, cussing everyone out, I've never seen her this angry. I tried to talk to her, but she told me to back off. I don't know what to do."

"Where's Nathan?"

"I don't know, I think he left. Luke please come, she needs you."

He stood up and grabbed his car keys, "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He jumped into his truck and blindly drove to Tim's, ignoring the stop signs and lights along the way. He didn't care if he got a ticket, all that mattered was getting to Peyton. He had a terrible feeling something was going to happen to her. He didn't know what he'd do if it did. He screeched into Tim's driveway and ran to the pool area. He saw Brooke fall on her and Peyton pushed her away. Crawling over to the pool slowly. He stood frozen to the ground and the next thing he knew she was falling. He felt like he couldn't breathe as she hit the water with a crash. He had never moved so fast in his entire life, moving without thought or control, diving into the cold water without realzing what he was doing. He didn't even bother to take anything off, he had to save her. The water pulled at his jeans, sucking him to the bottom of the pool where she was, just sitting there like a rock. He wasn't sure if she was unconscious or if she was too numb to care. He grabbed her and struggled to break the surface. Fighting the tug of the water, gaining a strength his body didn't have. When he heard her choking on the night air he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.

He felt blind and numb, the water sticking to his skin, plastering his hair into his eyes. But he shook the chlorine out of his eyes and focused on her pale face. She looked up at him with red eyes, focusing on his face. She said his name softly, the sound of an angel, before closing her eyes. He pulled the wet hair away from her neck and checked to see if she was still breathing. She was pale and her skin was clammy, but she was breathing. That's all that mattered. Everyone was staring at him and he could hear Brooke puking a few feet away. Nathan rushed to his side, "Is she okay?" He nodded and Nathan stepped away. "If she wakes up, let her know I took Brooke home, okay?"

Lucas nodded, scooped her frail body into his weak arms, and carried her to his truck. He placed her gently in the passenger seat and wrapped the blanket he kept in his truck around her slim body. She shivered slightly, but didn't wake up. She would probably be out of it for a while. He shut the door and leaned against it tiredly.

Haley and Jake rushed up to the truck, "Is she okay?" Haley wrung her hands nervously and Jake shifted awkwardly. He wasn't sure what to do, he didn't know Peyton that well, but he knew how much she meant to Luke and Haley.

"Yeah, she will be. I'm going to take her home." His voice was drained of all emotion; he could barely look them in the eye. "I'll call you later Hales, makes sure she gets home okay." He waited for Jake to nod before sliding into his truck. He stuck his hand out the window and waved to them, letting them know he was okay. But on the inside he felt fragile, as if he had just been broken. His hands were shaking as he started the truck and he backed out of the driveway into the dark night.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing my fic, I appreciate the feedback! I am slowly fleshing out the characters and digging more into their heads, I know I haven't written much about Haley or Nathan, but I will. I'm still working on JH storlyines so their scenes may seem to flow a little less smoothly than the rest. Please let me know how you are liking it so far. :)