Writer's block. It's an even bigger bitch than Anna and Peyton combined. (in this story, anyway). I'm going to try and get this chapter out, and hopefully reviews shall be inspirational. Haha…

This chapter will probably be kind of short, because I'm struggling with it like you wouldn't believe. Lol the words just don't want to leave me. But hey, I'm trying. I've got like summer induced ADD...

Hehe, thanks Lacie! I didn't know I had an awesome streak. Janine… thanks for holding back the tomatoes, even though they were looking pretty good. I'm glad that everybody likes the Baley friendship so much, I have so much fun writing them. Foreverbrucas, you might just be on to me… but I'll never tell. Haha!

The song I use at the party is called 'Your Eyes' and it's by Alexz Johnson. Lol, I'm currently absolutely obsessed with the show Instant Star, so that's where that's from. Her voice is incredible, and I love this song. Highly recommend.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the colors, or any picnic tables.

At the Heart of It All

Chapter Twenty Five

Your Eyes

"Okay, so black?"

"Too tragic."

"Red?"

"Too sultry. I feel like I should be moving past that stage of my life," said Brooke pensively, avoiding the soft, questioning brown eyes of her friend.

"Purple?" Haley asked, mercifully not dwelling on the subject.

"Dark or light?"

"Dark, knowing you."

"What are you, rattling off the colors of my lingerie?"

"Yes, actually," Haley smirked. She relented under Brooke's stare. "Kidding! Hey, don't shoot the helper."

"I thought it was 'don't shoot the messenger'."

"Usually it is. But as I don't have a message, or a desire to be shot, I figured I'd change it up a little," Haley shrugged. Brooke's intense gaze never wavered. 'This girl is seriously on edge today,' Haley thought. Then Brooke cracked a smile at Haley's funny expression. Finally, that smile gave way to laughter. And, you know… laughter is contagious.

Twenty minutes later, the girls found themselves surrounded by piles of clothing atop Brooke's large, soft bed, struggling for breath. They tried really hard not to look at each other, because when their eyes met, they began to laugh again. It was always a struggle trying to get ready for a party.

"Green," Brooke said with finality.

"What?"

"I think I'll wear green. It feels right," the perky brunette said with a nod of her head. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard a voice that she had heard so many times before. A voice that could only belong to the boy she cared for more than anybody else.

A young girl sat alone on top of the picnic table, sniffling quietly and rapidly wiping at her eyes. She was a cute little girl, with her dark, rich brown her and her bright green eyes. She was wearing adorable designer clothes. Anyone else would wonder why parents would put their six year old in such expensive things knowing that they would only get dirty, but that had never been how the Davises operated. It was all about appearance. Sure, they had the money to back up that philosophy, but was that really any way for their little girl to go through life?

Casting a hurt, jealous, angry look at Theresa Miller, six year old Brooke Davis sighed and put her head down in her hands. Her mother had always told her that crying was a sign of weakness, and so she really didn't want those other girls to see it. It was during story time when Theresa had discovered that a lot of girls in the class had brown eyes, including herself. This was when she decided that that made them special, and she was going to only hang out with brown-eyed girls. Though she had always had a lot of friends, at recess that day, green-eyed Brooke found herself all alone.

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Shuffle.

Brooke could sense that whatever was making that noise was coming closer and closer to her. The bouncing was approaching. However, she didn't look up. The less people that saw her hurt and alone, the better.

"Hey," was the simple greeting. She thought that if she ignored the person behind it, they would go away. However, she could feel the balance on the bench shift as more weight was applied to it. After ten straight minutes of sitting in silence, she looked up, locking her blood-shot eyes with his calm blue ones.

"Hey," he said again.

"What do you want?" Brooke had demanded.

"I just thought you could use a friend," he offered quietly. She studied him hard, and found nothing but honesty in those eyes. Slowly, a grateful smile broke out across her face, revealing her famous dimples.

"I do," she revealed, offering a piece of her Hershey Chocolate with Almonds to him, which he took with a small smile.

"So what happened? Aren't you friends with the girl with frizzy hair?" he asked, gesturing vaguely over towards Theresa.

Brooke let out a real, hearty laugh at this. "We were. But they don't like me anymore," she sighed sadly.

"Why not? You seem nice to me."

"Because I don't have brown eyed. All the rest of them do. Except for those girls over there, but for some reason, none of them like me either."

"I like your eyes. They're pretty. They look nice when you wear green, too," he said with the blatant honesty that only a six year old could provide.

"Thanks," she grinned, her dimples deepening, while straightening out her forest green tank top.

"And you know... it doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks, as long as you like you. You know?" he asked, stumbling a little on some words. Brooke didn't say anything, but marveled silently at how this boy could be so insightful. She opened her mouth to say something in response, but the teacher blew the whistle, signaling them to go inside. Instead, the brunette slid her tiny hand into his and gave it a small squeeze and couldn't hide her happy grin when he didn't let her hand go.

The next day, Peyton Sawyer had declared that eye color didn't matter. Peyton, being taller, thinner and cooler than Theresa, always had authority. Looking back, high-schooler-Brooke would always ponder the irony that there was already a social ladder, even in kindergarten. Peyton had decided that it didn't matter if your eyes were brown, it mattered if you were pretty. This immediately bumped Brooke back into the 'in-crowd', and had kicked many of the brown-eyed girls out. Brooke had been thankful, and she and the girl with blonde curls had quickly become friends. But even though she had all her old friends back, she didn't forget about her new one. That marked the beginning of the friendship of Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott.

"Yoo hoo? Earth to Tigger! Brooke Davis, are you alive in there?" Haley laughed, waving her hand back and forth in front of her daydreaming friend.

"Wha—oh, sorry Hales. I was just having a flashback," Brooke grinned and Haley rolled her eyes, tossing a pillow at her and getting up off the bed. Haley headed into the adjoining bathroom to start getting ready for the party. Brooke gently moved aside the piles of clothes until she found a silky, deep green halter. Fingering the fabric softly, she could still hear his words echoing inside of her.

'They look nice when you wear green.'

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Sex. Drugs. Alcohol. Brooke grinned slightly when she thought about how stereotypical this was for a high school party. The smile faltered a little bit when she thought of what Karen would say if she knew. Shrugging it off, thinking that she had been in high school once, she knew what it was like; Brooke tried to shake herself of the thought. If that thought failed, there was always 'What she doesn't know won't hurt her.' And as Karen was in New Zealand, chances of her finding out any time soon were pretty slim.

"Davis! Play me at beer pong!" some drunken voice called through the crowded room. Normally, Brooke would've accepted, but thoughts of Karen still swirled in her head, and this time, she couldn't shake was the woman who was like a mother to her would say if she saw Brooke totally wasted. She shook her head graciously, and blended into the crowd. Normally, she was one to stand out, but she just didn't feel like it lately.

Bright eyes scanning the room, they fell upon Haley James. She had grown to love that girl like her sister. It was really amazing to Brooke that until recently, she had thought of her as just another mousy tutor. She had been nothing to Brooke, and now she was almost everything. The pretty girl was leaning against the wall, sullenly swirling her red plastic cup. Brooke's eyes widened. Haley was drinking? But suddenly she picked up a can of Sprite and poured it into the cup. She caught Brooke's eye and smirked.

Gotcha!

But their contact was broken when a certain basketball player stepped into it. Glancing up cautiously, Nathan Scott saw Haley standing near the wall behind the refreshments. He said something to her that caused her to frown slightly, but Hales was never one to back down. She spat something back. They glared intensely at each other for a moment, before Haley said something to make the athlete crack a smile. It looked to Brooke like friendly banter was ensuing, but she wasn't close enough to be sure. She decided not to bother with lip-reading. They were too far away, and she was positive that Haley would relive the entire encounter for her later.

Continuing her mental survey of Tim's party, her eyes landed on Lucas and a smile light up her face. It dwindled when she saw who he was talking to.

Anna.

Focusing her telepathic powers, Brooke stared really hard at Lucas. She was hoping her powers would kick in soon. Sighing, she was coming to terms with the fact that she had no supernatural abilities when her best friend turned his light blue gaze upon her. Score! Maybe she should rethink those superpowers…

Grinning, Lucas excused himself from Anna and made his way over to Brooke. The Latina girl glared with intense hatred at the head cheerleader, but neither noticed. Leaving Anna simmering on the sidelines, they hugged.

"Hey best friend! What's up?" Brooke asked with her usual pep.

"Nothing," he sighed.

"This party is lame," they said at the same time, then laughed. They continued to chat over anything and nothing. An idle conversation, one that can only take place between people who know each other better than anyone else. A moment of silence fell between them as soft notes of music pulsed through the huge speakers. Slowly, couples came together, swaying as one on the floor.

"May I have this dance?" he asked with a small bow, laughter in his voice.

"You may, good sir," she nodded, with a tiny curtsy. Wrapping her arms around his neck, he slid his hands to her waist, and they began to move leisurely. Neither said anything, enjoying the moment and the feel of each other again.

If I was drowning in the sea

Would you dive right in and save me?

If I was falling like a star

Would you be right there to catch me?

If I was dreaming of your kiss

Would you look right through me?

Oh I, on the street I'm raining

Oh I, in my heart it's raining

Your eyes are holding up the sky

Your eyes make me weak, I don't know why

And baby your eyes make me scared to tell the truth

"Cheery?" he whispered.

"Mmh?"

"Open your eyes."

"Why?" she asked with a small smile.

"Because they're still pretty," he said simply, and she beamed. He remembered too. The whole room seemed to fade away as they looked at each other and smiled. Haley's eyes opened widely, and she nudged Nathan, who turned around quickly. Bevin saw this and nudged Theresa, and so on, until almost the whole party was looking. However, neither Brooke nor Lucas noticed this. Almost in slow motion, Lucas leaned down as Brooke leaned up, and their lips met slowly and sweetly as the onlookers burst into a loud round of applause.

I thought my heart was bullet-proof

But now I'm dancing on the roof

And everybody knows

I'm into you

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Humm… what do you guys think? Review and you're my favorite person in the world! Lol I'm dying to know what you all thought of this chapter. So… let me know. 'Kay? Thanks, you guys are the best! Thanks for reading.

Xo Sam