I. AM. SO. SORRY. I know that I've completely left you guys hanging, but lately everything's been so crazy, and I've got so much other stuff going on and… nevermind, no excuses, I'll just get on with the story lol.

At the Heart of It All

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The End of An Era

The music blasted, filling the entire neighborhood with sounds of pounding drums and humming synthesizers and expletive lyrics. It was hardly anything new, a typical night for the teens of Tree Hill. Inside, sweaty bodies would dance together in a large throb stretching the entire clubs, some closer than others. People would drink, people would kiss, people would make mistakes.

Brooke Davis glanced wistfully around Tric, noticing how things had changed so much since Karen had been away. A head of glossy blonde curls glimmered from behind the DJ booth, Peyton Sawyer spinning away. She looked typically bored, well, typical for Peyton anyway. Yet you couldn't help but notice the small smile tugging at her thin lips as she gazed around at the vinyl records surrounding her. Peyton was certainly in her element. Brooke was surprised that she even noticed she was still in a club, surrounded by people. It brought her back a bit. Even when they were nine, P. Sawyer, as she had affectionately called her, had an insatiable love for music. It would take young Brooke moments at a time to try and regain her best friend's attention. A wry smile tugged at her own lips as Brooke realized that she would give anything to be nine years old again.

A sudden jolt shot through her, stiffening her spine as hazel eyes locked on bright green ones. Both girls were surprised to suddenly look up and lock eyes, but neither seemed to be able to look away. Each waited patiently for the scowl or glare that they had come to expect, but both of their pretty faces remained blank. Attempting a small smile, Brooke looked pleadingly at her former friend. Peyton returned the smile before returning back to her turntables, the significant moment caught between the hard rock sounds.

Turning her attention anywhere else seemed too painful to attempt. Watching the disco ball swirling round and round, the neon lights of the "TRIC" sign gloating brightly, Brooke knew that she could make it through the night if she just kept her eyes above everybody else's head level. A stiff cocktail would help too, but those were off-limits now.

"You okay, Tig?" Haley chirped, appearing from nowhere and tossing her arm around her friend's slumped shoulders. Brooke hadn't left this corner all night, and quite frankly, Haley couldn't blame her. Scowling towards the center of the dance floor where Tree Hill High's newest buzz-worthy couple was putting on quite the show, Haley could think of fourteen hundred jokes to say, but knew that none of them would change a thing, so she mercifully stayed silent.

"Yep, I'm just dandy, Hales," Brooke muttered suddenly, swirling the water around in her cup, eyes visibly tracing its endless circuit, a dizzying swirl on green. "Just dandy."

"Look, I'm positive he doesn't like her," Haley stated, forcefully. "Nathan even told me that Luke's trying to get back into the game, or some macho term for he's really hung up on you but won't admit it."

Focusing her still slightly swirling bright eyes on the center of the dance floor, Brooke took in the sight of Lucas and his date, not for the first time that night. She was tall and blonde and pretty and skinny, and Brooke had never wanted more for a bolt of lightning to strike someone down. His ice blue eyes locked with her gaze again, and unlike with Peyton, she couldn't bear to make eye contact with this former best friend. There was always something about Lucas's eyes that made her feel like he could see right down inside of her. He had always loved what he had seen before, but Brooke knew now that what she contained was no good. Not for him. Probably not even for her. Definitely not for 'them.'

"No…" Brooke coughed, a tiny lump rising in her throat where it was most certainly unwelcome. "No, I hope he likes her. He deserves to be happy. And she seems… ehh… really nice…"

"Are you kidding me! Sorry, wrong word choice," Haley blushed, casting her eyes downward shamefully. An instant later, she was back up again. "Rachel. Nice. You must be on crack. Everybody knows Rachel isn't nice. She's a freaking man stealing slut, that's what she is!" she argued passionately. Brooke gave her new best friend a half-hearted smile.

"Well, it's still an upgrade. At least his new slut isn't pregnant," she said in her usual perky manner, but it did nothing to disguise the raw pain in her voice, the agony in her eyes.

"You and Lucas can still make it work!" Haley argued, as if pleading with Brooke, like it was up to the brunette. If it were up to Brooke, none of this would be happening at all. If it were up to Brooke, she and Lucas would be curled up on his living room couch, watching any movie his heart desired, and that would be enough for her. Even being able to be within five feet of him would be enough for her.

"You didn't see him Hales… you didn't see the look in his eyes… I couldn't have hurt him more if I stabbed him on the spot. It was horrible. No, I deserve this," Brooke stammered, the tears welling up.

"Nobody deserves this, Brooke! He's practically dump-humping some bleach blonde skank, in public, not even a week after you guys break up!"

"Haley. I cheated on him. With my disgusting scum-bag of an ex—"

"You don't even remember that! It's obvious that Felix did something to you, we all know that you wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole—"

"Which oddly enough doesn't explain how I woke up naked with him," Brooke bit back, a single tear sliding down her porcelain cheek. Sighing wearily, Haley glanced back across Tric to notice Lucas's rapt attention on his ex-girlfriend. He visibly shuddered as the noticeable tear on Brooke cheek made its way down towards her tilted chin. Then, as if he could feel Haley's eyes on him, he turned away. 'Now that's maturity,' she thought with a sigh.

"I'm still not convinced. You've been sick for like ever, but notice, you're still as enviably skinny as you've always been, you evil bitch," Haley lay out logically.

"My mom didn't start showing with me until she was nearly five months along," Brooke said stubbornly, crossing her arms protectively over her flat stomach. The strobe lights made her look as if she were a flipbook, and in the back of her mind, she noted how ridiculous it was that were having this conversation in a nightclub downtown.

"I'm not convinced," Haley said, mirroring Brooke's own actions. "I'm not going to be convinced until either a fetus comes shooting out of you during third period, or you go to the clinic."

Both paused for a moment at the visual the babbling brunette just providing. Shaking her head, and the thought away, Brooke persevered. "I told you Haley, I don't need a test. I know."

"But what if you're wrong? People are wrong all the time," Haley said, seriousness radiating from her warm honey brown eyes. Despite the ache of fear ever-present in her still flat stomach, Brooke couldn't help but feel safe now. After all that she had done, Haley was still here. She still loved her. They were like sisters, they really were. Together now, Brooke really felt like she could get through anything. If only she could get past the gut-wrenching loss of Lucas…

"But what if I'm not?" Brooke asked rhetorically, frown lines marring her beautiful face. She could feel Lucas's piercing gaze on her every once in a while, like fire burning it's way through her flesh, burning her very core.

"You might be, though, Brookie. I don't think this is something you can just wait on. You need to know now!"

"Why?" she asked sadly, eyes on the swaying hips and roaming hands of her ex-boyfriend and his new conquest.

"Because it could mean the difference between happiness with the boy you're in love with, or a lifetime of looking at that," Haley said pointedly, her voice betraying her disgust.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" a familiar voice pondered. Feeling movement behind her, Brooke tensed in alarm that someone had overheard them. However, it seemed Peyton had only joined in on the last part of that conversation.

"That girl's such a freaking tramp," Haley stated adamantly. Peyton nodded in agreement. Brooke did nothing, but the fiery look in her eyes said something else completely.

"Hey Pey, remember when we used to be best friends?" Brooke asked, eyes still locked on Lucas. His gaze caught hers, and this time, neither of them looked away. Neither smiled nor frowned, but the connection remained unbroken between them, and Brooke not only found that comforting, but symbolic.

"Of course," Peyton said, her confusion evident.

"And Tutor Girl, you remember how you used to like Jake, but now you're totally vibing on Nathan?"

"I'm not vibing on Nathan!" Haley protested, blushing furiously.

"Whatever. The point is that you don't care about Jake, so you don't have anything against Peyton, because honestly, it's not really her fault that Jake's such a whore. No offense, Blondie," Brooke continued, eyes never leaving Lucas's.

"None taken," Peyton waved it away.

"So now we're all going to be friends again."

"Okay?" Haley and Peyton questioned in unison, before laughing slightly.

"Well, guys still suck, school still sucks, life still sucks, and we still suck at interacting with the three previously named, so I figure that we've all got some common ground."

"Fair enough," Haley said with a slight laugh.

"Alright then. Do you guys want to get out of here? We could, like, I don't know…watch a movie?"

"P.Sawyer, now we're talking! SLEEPOVER!" Brooke grinned slightly. "I'll meet you guys at Peyton's in about an hour."

"Where are you going?"

A tense moment of silence hung between the three, two waiting with baited breath for the third's words, the head cheerleader weighing her words carefully.

"I've got a question that needs to be answered."

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Hey guys. Sorry that this took so long, but like I said, life's been absolutely insane lately. I'll try to keep going with more consistency, but no promises lol. This chapter is for Summer, who e-mailed me a few days ago and prompted me to get my ass back to work lol. I'm sorry if it sucked, but I guess I need to get readjusted to this story lol. Please review and let me know what you thought, even if you hated it lol.

Thanks for reading!

Xo Sam