Disclaimer: Don't own One Tree Hill, too bad for me. Also, the song doesn't belong to me either.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sprry for the long delay in my stories. I've recently moved to Vegas and had to get settled in. So after a month of no updates, hopefully you all will still be interested. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reviewing this story. I'm glad that you all took the time to say how you feel about it. Hopefully you will continue to do so. Special thanks to those of you who review almost every chapter (ZoeLuv80, Kelz3192, L-A-C-18, KaraokeDiva419, CrazyAznChik, DanceDude09, Brucas4ever, OTHRetard, Ali213) you guys are great!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Before it's too Late.
'Part of loving someone, is learning to let go.'
The words on the chalk board had Lucas thinking once again about Brooke. He had been sitting in Sean Adams class for about twenty minutes before he had managed to see that quote. Sean had gone around the classroom, asking each of the students what quote on the board related most to him and why.
Lucas looked down at his binder in front of him and sighed. Alexis's words replayed over in his head as he looked at the picture of his friends. It was one of the rare moments of them all together sitting on the steps in front of his mothers café. She had taken the picture to keep for himself, but he had confiscated it. It was the only picture he had of Brooke and him, where they looked happy.
"What about you Lucas?"
Lucas was brought out of his thoughts by Sean asking him which quote meant something to him. Lucas stammered and turned to face Haley. She smiled weakly understanding his dilemma. "Part of loving someone, is learning to let go." he said. His teacher told him to continue and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Why was this guy pushing him? Lucas wondered to himself if Sean knew who he was to Brooke. If she had even mentioned him.
"The real test of loving someone is knowing you would do whatever is best for that person. And if you're not it, then you let go. Let them find someone better." Lucas looked away from Sean and didn't bother to listen to what he had to say back. Lucas was going to let Brooke go, if that's what it took for her to be happy. But he didn't think Sean was the one to make her happy either.
Brooke had always been different. She didn't care what people thought of her and that was one of the many reasons why Lucas had fallen for her in the first place. But dating a teacher was wrong on so many different levels and he couldn't understand why she couldn't see that. He had promised to protect her and whatever that meant he was willing to do.
"Aren't you coming?" Haley asked as the bell rung. Lucas shook his head no and Haley linked her arm with Peyton's. "Okay Luke. See you at lunch." Lucas nodded and watched as the two girls left the classroom. Sean was erasing the chalkboard as Lucas approached his desk.
"I want to talk to you," Lucas said. He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and watched as Sean turned towards him. Lucas knew he was probably over stepping his bounds and that Brooke would probably get mad at him, but he didn't care. Things needed to be addressed and he was the one to do it.
"I know about you and Brooke," Lucas said.
Sean walked over to shut the hall door and then turned to face him. "I danced with her at Tric and took her home. There's nothing else going on between her and I," Sean lied.
Lucas chuckled. "So you didn't invite her to your exes wedding and it wasn't you who kissed her outside of my house?" Lucas was amused by his teachers facial expression. When Sean went to respond, Lucas cut him off. "I'm not going to say anything. As much as I think you're a creep, I can't say anything. I love Brooke and for some reason she wants to be with you. She isn't thinking about the consequences or maybe she is but she doesn't care. But I do know that if you hurt her in anyway," Lucas paused a moment.
"I'll ruin you."
He didn't say anything else as he exited the room. Sean stood against the wall, a bit amused by the boys outburst. He had been so quick to judge Lucas, so sure that Lucas had hurt Brooke intentionally that he hadn't realized Lucas loved Brooke. There was a gentle tap at the door and Brook peaked her head inside.
"You got a minute?" Brooke asked as she came in. He nodded his head and gave her a once over. She was wearing a knee length denim skirt and a white tank top. He smiled as she propped herself against a desk in front of him. "I was thinking about last night," she said. A grin broke out across her face. "And I just wanted to tell you it was nice. It was nice right?"
Sean nodded his head and she reached for his hand. She held it for a moment and smiled gently. "So what now?" Brooke whispered. She was on new territory. All of her relationships she had taken charge of. She had been the one to set the rules and the boundaries. But this time it was different. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do or even how she was supposed to act. They both looked down at their joint hands and neither one of them wanted to say a thing.
Truth was they both knew nothing could ever really happen. She was a student in the high school where he worked. Not only was she younger than him but she wasn't even old enough for him to even date legally. Being together was impossible and yet neither one of them could admit it. The two stood there knowing they could get caught at any moment but not moving away from each other.
Brooke sighed. "I should get going." After a moment longer, still neither had backed away. The door opened and they were caught off guard by students entering the room. Brooke franticly pulled her hand away and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "So you think that essay was good enough for submission?" She asked. He shifted nervously and nodded his head.
"I think it has a lot of potential," Sean said. He turned his back to her and smiled at his class. Brooke walked away from him, ignoring the looks she was receiving from some of the students.
"Brooke! Wait up!"
Brooke turned around to see Bevin walking towards her. She adjusted her backpack and sighed. Bevin had always been so up on gossip, she was probably waiting to sink her teeth into any new tidbits.
"Bevin, I don't have time for this."
Bevin giggled. "So it is true! You and Mr. Adams?"
Brooke rolled her eyes. She knew that if she admitted it to Bevin, then in less than a full school day the entire student body would know. Sean would lose his job and she would probably lose hers as student body president. But Bevin knew her. Brooke had never been a good liar so she shrugged her shoulders and tried to laugh it off.
"What do you think Bevin?" Brooke questioned with a smile. Bevin put her hand over her mouth and shook her head.
"This is new. Even for you. A teacher Brooke, do you know how much trouble you can get into?" Bevin asked. Brooke looked at her and sighed. Bevin seemed genuinely worried about her. Sincerity was never something that any of the cheerleaders had, but at that moment Brooke knew Bevin was trying to help.
"Just don't say anything. Please Bev? Promise me?"
Bevin just nodded her head and Brooke continued to walk down the hall. She prayed that Bevin would be able to resist telling anyone and that her and Sean's secret was safe. As she looked at her watch, she knew that Lucas was in the library and she headed down the halls towards it.
……
Lucas stared at the computer screen in front of him and sighed. His essay was even shorter than he had thought. Mr. Willis had given them a 2,000 word essay on world war 2 and he had only 800. A book flopped beside him and he turned to face Nathan.
"What's up?"
"Nothing. I just can't get over Uncle Keith-it's just not like him," Nathan said.
Lucas nodded and turned his attention back to his assignment. He knew that if he didn't get it done in the next few hours than it wouldn't be getting done. Living at home had become impossible since Brooke had moved back from California. His space was limited, a little closet in the bathroom and the front room sofa had become his bed. And the computer was usually occupied by either his mother or Brooke.
"I agree. I just wish I could convince everyone else that."
Nathan folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. "What if we did?"
Lucas stayed quiet for a minute, debating things. Truth be told, their relationship hadn't always been so good. For most of his life, Nathan Scott had hated him and the feelings were mutual. But last year things had changed. Nathan had married Haley and the two brothers had been brought together. It wasn't easy at first, given their history. But somewhere along the way they had grown to respect each other.
"Okay. Where do we start?"
Lucas wasn't sure if he should get involved or not, but he knew something needed to be done. He couldn't help but think the wrong person was sitting in jail.
"I guess I could dig around the house. And you could talk to Jules," Nathan said. Lucas agreed and looked down at his homework. "I need to go to the tutor center or Haley's gonna kill me."
Lucas laughed. His best friend was about as passionate about school as he was about basketball. "Yeah you better go. I gotta go anyways. Brooke's my ride home," he said pointing towards the door. Nathan followed his gaze and saw Brooke standing. She impatiently tapped her foot and crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Lucas hurry up. I have plans tonight," Brooke said.
Nathan shrugged his shoulders and began to get up. He turned towards Lucas and looked down at him. "The fewer people the know the better okay?" Lucas nodded and Nathan took off towards the door. Before leaving the library he reached down and placed a kiss on Brooke's forehead. She smiled and turned towards Lucas.
"Are you done yet?"
……
Tutoring Nathan again was harder than Haley had thought it would be. It was different then before, harder to resist his cheesy advances. Truth was, she'd much rather be at their apartment fooling around instead of being stuck in school teaching him trig.
Haley looked across the table at Nathan who was trying to solve the last problem on the page. She could tell by the look on his face that he was clueless, and she couldn't help but smile. That was Nathan. She wondered briefly how he got past his classes before her. It was hard for her to remember a time when she wasn't there helping him, even before they had gotten together. She was so off in thought that she didn't even notice Haley come in the room.
"Haley can I talk to you?"
Haley nodded her head and Peyton turned to the door. "In private?"
Peyton pulled her friend out into the hallway and shut the door behind them. Haley could tell by the look on Peyton's face that something was wrong, and she wondered what was going on. "What's wrong Peyton? Is it Lucas?"
"It's Brooke."
Haley sighed. "Is she still not talking to you? You just need to give her time. She forgave Lucas didn't she?" Haley felt bad that her friends were on the outs but couldn't help but understand Brooke's feelings. Sure, she hadn't understood her motives when she went with Felix to the burning boat but she knew how it felt when people kept secrets from each other.
"I don't care if she's not talking to me," Peyton said. "Hell- I'm use to it. After last year I could survive anything." Haley couldn't help but smile. Peyton always seemed so strong, as if she could take on the world. It wasn't until Brooke and her had their falling out last year the Haley noticed a different side of Peyton. A fragile one. Brooke had always been Peyton's rock, holding her down and in place. Without Brooke she seemed to struggle. "It's about the guy she's seeing?"
"Felix? Yeah I saw them at burning boat together," Haley sighed. Brooke and Felix together made her stomach hurt. Felix was such a creep and Brooke deserved better. Truth was she deserved Lucas.
"No you don't understand," Peyton trailed off. She could tell by the look on Haley's face that she wasn't following. "The rumors? About Brooke and Mr. Adams… well they're not exactly rumors."
Putting two and two together was always something Haley had been good at, but still couldn't believe what she was hearing. Brooke was dating her teacher? Even for Brooke that was a new low. "Are you sure?" Even as she asked, she knew Peyton was telling the truth. All the signs were there. Brooke wasn't interested in Felix, she was using him.
"I heard them together. I was in the bathroom ditching third period and I heard them come in. I was about to walk out but then they stopped talking. I peeked out and they had their arms around each other. Kissing," Peyton explained.
Haley sighed. "Okay? She was kissing him. We'll just talk to her and explain to her what kind of trouble she could get him into," Haley said. Peyton shook her head and hit the back of her head against the locker.
"It's too late. That's the problem. The whole cheer squad knows, by tomorrow it will be all over the school." The look on Peyton's face proved to Haley that their friend was in trouble. But what were they going to be able to do? Talk to the cheer squad? Yeah right.
"What do we do?"
Peyton stayed silent. She wasn't sure what they could do, or even if they could do anything at all. She turned to face the tutor center and looked through the window at Nathan. Perhaps there was nothing that Haley and her could do, but Nathan could help. He could talk to Brooke.
"Maybe Nathan could talk to her."
Haley shook her head no. "You know Brooke. Tell her not to do something and she does it fifty other ways. We'll just have to talk to Theresa and Bevin and make sure they won't say anything. Maybe they can convince the others." The two friends agreed that they would talk to the other girls first thing in the morning. They just hoped it wouldn't be too late.
tbc...
So I know it was really short but I promise to have more up tonight. At least another chapter. So what did you think? Let me know! I love all of your reviews! They're great!
Up Next on Back to You:
- Lucas confronts Jules
- Sean and Brooke meet at the beach
- Nathan digs around his house and is caught by Deb
- Chris calls Haley about a new tour
- Jenny calls Peyton mommy
