Chapter 16- Mean Girls

Oh cuz I don't know
I don't know what he's after
But he's so beautiful
Such a beautiful disaster

Lucas rolled over and reached out to wrap his arms around Brooke, but she wasn't there next to him. Opening his eyes, he groaned at the sight of her empty side of the bed.

Lucas pulled himself out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He turned, facing the toilet, and was surprised to see a note with his name on it taped to the wall in front of him.

Broody,

Good morning! I figured that if I wanted to leave you a note, the one place you'd definitely see it was right in front of the toilet, well either that or the fridge, but I thought the toilet was funnier.

Anyways, sorry I had to run out but I forgot I had a meeting with my advisor this morning. I should be back by noon. Don't leave before I go, okay? I'll see you later.

Kisses,

B

Smiling to himself he couldn't believe she'd taped it to the wall in front of the toilet. That was so Brooke.

They'd enjoyed the past few days of Lucas' visit, but now it was time for it to end. It was Thursday and Lucas had to return to Tree Hill to get ready for another weekend at TRIC. He was looking forward to getting back to work, he hated being away this long, but he was not looking forward to leaving Brooke again.

Lucas had visited with the intention of trying to figure out if he could see himself living in Raleigh with Brooke. But, as the week progressed, Lucas had done little in the way of job hunting or apartment hunting. Instead he'd come to the realization that moving away from Tree Hill, from the only place he'd ever lived, scared him a little bit.

Shrugging it off he headed back into Brooke's bedroom to finish packing up his stuff. He figured that he didn't need to decide right away if he was going to move to be with Brooke. But, deep down though he knew that it wouldn't be long before he missed her so much it would hurt and he'd be right back to where he was now, wishing he'd have the guts to pick up and move away from the only home he'd ever known.

After finishing packing and taking a quick shower, Lucas headed out into the living room to watch some tv until Brooke returned.

It wasn't long before he heard her keys jingling in the door.

"Boyfriend, I'm back."

Brooke smiled as she walked into the room, seeing Lucas sitting there waiting for her.

"How was your meeting?"

"It went well, thanks. I suppose you're all packed and ready to hit the road?"

Brooke asked, trying to hide her disappointment that his visit had to come to an end.

Lucas nodded, "Yep, all ready to go."

"Well then, I'll walk you out." Brooke nodded towards the door.

Normally she'd pout and try to convince Lucas not to go, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. He had to get back to work, she knew that. She was lucky to have had a whole week with him.

Lucas flipped off the tv, grabbed his bag, and followed her out the door.

After tossing his bag into the back of his Jeep, he turned and pulled her into his arms.

"I had such a great time Brooke. I'll see you again soon."

Brooke looked up at him nodding, biting her lip, trying to fend off tears. This didn't go unnoticed by Lucas.

It broke Lucas' heart to see her to sad, so, against his better judgment, he spoke.

"Well I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to get your hopes up or anything, but I've been considering moving here to Raleigh, to be with you."

Brooke's sad face quickly turned to one filled with anger.

"I didn't ask you to do that."

Lucas backed up, taking offense to her mood swing.

"Woah now, I didn't say you did. I just said I'd been considering it."

"Well don't." Brooke snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, well, it's been fun." Lucas looked at her with a look of confusion. "I'd better hit the road. I'll, um, talk to you later."

Lucas hopped quickly into his Jeep and tore out of the parking lot. He wasn't sure what her little outburst was about but he certainly didn't have all day to stand there arguing with her about it. He figured he'd talk to her later, hopefully after she'd calmed down.

Brooke watched him drive away and then headed back into her apartment. She couldn't believe him, telling her he was considering moving there to be with her. They'd only been together for a little while. They'd spent years apart. Why would he even consider picking up his life for something neither of them was sure would even work out?

Shaking it off Brooke went into her room, changed into some gym clothes, grabbed her IPod and headed out the door for a run. Hopefully that would clear her head.

The whole drive home Lucas couldn't stop thinking about Brooke's reaction. All he'd said was that he'd been considering it and she lost it. He was shocked. He'd expected some jumping or clapping, at least a 'that's nice.' But no, instead Crazy Brooke reared her ugly head and he was once again lost on what she was thinking. She'd gone on the defensive rather than just letting him know what she was thinking.

An hour later Lucas pulled into the parking lot at TRIC.

"Welcome back Luke."

Mouth called out as Lucas walked into the club.

"Mouth, hey. How'd everything go?"

"Great. We made a ton last weekend. We almost broke the attendance record. And the fire code for that matter. We actually had people waiting to be let in. We got so full we couldn't let anyone in until people left, it was nuts."

Lucas smiled, "That's great. How was the week?"

"Oh, about the usual. Monday and Tuesday were really slow. Happy hour last night picked up a little bit."

"Sounds like I didn't miss much."

Mouth nodded, "Nope, same old. How was Raleigh?"

Lucas shook his head, "It was going great until Brooke went into psycho mode when I left."

"What do you mean?"

"I told her I was considering moving there and she flipped. Told me she hadn't asked me to do that."

Mouth looked thoughtful for a moment, "Now not that I have tons of experience or anything, but maybe she's just scared. I mean here you are, just coming back into her life after all these years, and then you say something about possibly moving, for her. Maybe it just freaked her out a little bit. I mean come on, this is Brooke Davis, queen of non commitment."

"Then why didn't she just say she was scared? Why get all Mean Girls on my ass?"

"Probably because she's also queen of keeping it all inside and not letting you in, in case you've forgotten what happened between the two of you before."

Lucas knew Mouth was right. Brooke wasn't the best at letting him in. He'd thought they were making progress though. He really had.

"Just talk to her man, hopefully she'll open up. But, until then, you can come and help me unload the beer shipment." Mouth patted Lucas on the back encouragingly.

"Where's Junk, that's his job."

"He took the day off, had something to do. Now come on, help me before I get all Mean Girls on your ass."

Lucas laughed and followed Mouth towards the back of the club.

Around 10:30 that night Lucas finally flipped off the screen on his computer. He'd had to catch up on the books for the time he'd been gone. Mouth had been right, they'd done great the previous weekend.

Walking out into the club, Lucas could see that it was filled with the Thursday night regulars. He knew that it wasn't anything his staff couldn't handle so he swung by the bar, where Mouth was talking to a few people, and signaled that he was leaving.

As he walked through the parking lot he reached for his cell phone to call Brooke. He was pretty sure he'd given her more than ample cooling off time.

Just as he went to flip it open, it started to ring. He checked the caller ID and frowned, blocked number, he wondered who it could be.

"Hello?"

"Broody?"

"Brooke? How come your number didn't show on the caller ID?"

"I blocked it just in case you were still mad at me for this afternoon."

Lucas laughed, "No, I'm not mad. Just confused."

Getting into his car, he started the Jeep, waiting for her to continue.

"I know I pulled a Jekyll and Hyde back there. It's just, I don't know. I guess I'm a little freaked out."

"That's okay Brooke. I am too. We came back into each other lives so quickly, it's scary. I understand. I wasn't saying I had the U-Haul packed and a lease signed. I was just letting you know that it was something I've been thinking about."

"I know that. And I love you for it. I just think that…I don't know."

"Uh-huh Brooke." Lucas shook his head. "Don't pull the 'I don't know' on me. You do know, you just don't want to say. You can say it Brooke, whatever it is, you won't hurt my feelings."

"It's just that, I don't want to get all attached and then have you leave again. Trying to get over you was the hardest thing I've ever done, and clearly one of the least successful."

"Then let me in Brooke, don't push me away. I won't leave as long as you don't make me. I know that you said you want to just forget about what happened before, but we can't, not completely. We have to learn from what happened."

Brooke paused for a minute, "Why does this have to be so hard?"

"Brooke, what did you expect? Did you think you'd just show up on my doorstep and then everything else would be fine? It was never going to happen that way. Love is complicated, this will be complicated, but we have to get through it together. Otherwise, we won't get through it at all."

Brooke sighed, "I know. Really, I do. It's just hard to teach an old dog new tricks ya know?"

"I know, but we have to try. Otherwise, this won't go anywhere. We'll end up right back where we left off. So just promise me you'll try?"

"Okay. I promise I'll try. I will."

"Okay, then I promise that I'll stop trying to make this move too fast. We need to both be comfortable."

Brooke smiled, "That sounds good to me."

"Good." Lucas spoke as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. "I'm going to go now, I want to get inside and get settled in. I'll talk to you soon though?"

"Yeah definitely." Brooke paused, "And Lucas?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being scared."

"Don't ever apologize for being scared Brooke. I'm scared too. Just talk to me about it and it'll be okay. I'd rather we be scared together? Okay?"

"Okay. Oh, and Lucas, one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll try not to get all Mean Girls on your ass again." Brooke fought off giggles as she spoke.

Lucas felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, "Uh, what'd you mean?"

"I called TRIC looking for you…"

"…and apparently I need to remind Mouth no to repeat everything I say."

Lucas laughed as he spoke. Typical Mouth, trying to be everybody's friend.

Brooke laughed loudly, "Bye boyfriend."