A/N: I don't watch enough of the show to really know the details, but in my world, Nathan and Haley's apartment is on the beach. Just fyi. Also, if you're reading this, please review – whether you like it or hate it, whatever! I'd love hearing what you think!

Collide

Out of the doubt that fills my mind,

I somehow find you and I collide

"Leave."

Peyton froze in the threshold, hovering uncertainly in the space between Brooke's bedroom and the hallway. She had never had this view before and she suddenly realized how big the room was. On a normal day, Brooke would be bouncing from spot to spot, filling the whole place with her presence, but right now she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, a tiny dot in a very large expanse.

"I just thought we should talk." Peyton hadn't expected to be allowed to even finish that sentence, and she had no idea how to continue. She shrugged uncomfortably, her hands withdrawing into the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "I mean, if you wanted to, we could … we could talk about it."

"About how you stole the only guy I've ever cared about?" Brooke's voice didn't get louder, but the tone had changed. It was low and dangerous, more of a snarl than a statement. "About how you stabbed me in the back?"

"It wasn't like that, Brooke." Desperate, Peyton stepped forward, coming as close as she dared to her best friend. She hated the unfamiliar distance between them. "If you'd just listen to me for one minute –"

Brooke looked up, her gaze pinning Peyton in place before she could get any farther. "Okay."

"O - okay?"

"Okay." She lifted one shoulder, an indication to get the show on the road. "You have the floor. You've got exactly sixty seconds to explain to me why you thought it was okay to put your hands on the boy I told you I loved."

Instantly, Peyton forgot everything she'd planned on saying. In the past few weeks of sneaking around with Lucas, she'd stayed up late a lot of nights, listing reasons as to why it wasn't really cheating. She'd used every excuse under the sun to justify her actions in her own mind: He'd liked her first. He'd fought Nathan for her. He and Brooke didn't make any sense.

What she hadn't let herself think about was how much things had changed. How she'd rejected him. How he'd moved on and begun to really care about her friend. How Brooke had begun, for perhaps the first time in her whole life, to care about him in return. Somehow Peyton had thought that if she just didn't acknowledge it, it wouldn't be real.

But now here it was, all of Brooke's hurt and anger, staring her right in the face. What could she say in her own defense?

"Clock's ticking," Brooke reminded her, tapping a nonexistent watch on her wrist. "Cat got your tongue?"

"I just … I'm sorry, okay?" She raised helpless, pleading eyes to Brooke's steely hazel stare. "God, I'm so sorry, Brooke, really, truly, horribly sorry. For whatever it's worth, I'm just … so … sorry."

"Yeah, well, it's not worth much," Brooke scoffed. After a long moment, she sighed heavily. "If you could go back and do it all over again, change it around … would you?"

She couldn't lie. She'd already sworn to herself that she wouldn't lie anymore – not to Brooke, not to anyone. But she wasn't brave enough to say it out loud, either, so Peyton just shook her head slowly, silently.

"Leave," Brooke said again. This time it was very quiet, almost polite. And this time, Peyton listened.

XXX

"I ran into Brooke yesterday."

Nathan was careful to keep his tone casual, to make sure the basketball didn't stop moving from the ground to his hand to the ground again. The rhythm of his dribbling filled the air between the two brothers as Lucas processed the words.

"Yeah?" he finally replied, and darted like lightning to steal the ball from under Nathan's palm. He took a shot, the ball arcing through the air to the net as if it had been made to take just that path. "How's she doing?"

"She looked okay to me," he lied, jogging lightly to reclaim the ball before it passed out of bounds. "Hey, man, you never told me why she dumped your ass."

Lucas faltered ever so slightly in his advance. "What do you mean? I told you weeks ago."

"Nah." He faked left and went right, neatly sidestepping his brother to take his shot. "You just told me it ended. You didn't say why."

The ball swished through the net, tying their informal game. Lucas squinted, trying to decide what his next move should be. "She kind of … caught me with Peyton," he admitted, and cringed when his shot bounced off the rim.

Nathan caught the rebound and sank the ball, then tucked it under his arm and faced his brother. "What do you mean, caught you with Peyton? As in …"

"No, nothing like that," Lucas denied, before Nathan could even get the words out. "We've gotten close again lately and we were discussing our options and then Brooke overheard us and, well, she got mad. Rightfully, I guess. So she ended things."

"Man." Pretending shock, Nathan bounced the ball once, twice, on the pavement. "That sucks, dude. You tried talking to her yet?"

Again, Lucas knocked the ball away from him to regain the upper hand. "I don't really think she'd listen to anything I had to say," he tossed out as he dribbled around the court, evading Nathan's defensive moves. "Besides, it's probably for the best this way. There's a line of guys waiting to take my place with Brooke. She won't even remember my name by next week.

"And now Peyton and I can be together," he continued, swinging around Nathan to make the winning basket. The ball came back to him and he twirled it on his finger, flashing Nathan a triumphant grin. "That's game point, man. I win."

"Yeah, you win," Nathan echoed, watching the ball spin in Lucas' hands, wondering how he'd never noticed how much his brother resembled their father when he smiled.

XXX

Nathan arrived back at his apartment sweaty and exhausted, looking forward to going home for the first time since Haley had left. He couldn't wait to take a shower, crash on the couch, and let ESPN lull him into sleep.

To say that he was surprised to find Brooke Davis waiting on his doorstep was the understatement of the year. She was sitting with her elbows planted on her knees and her chin resting on her fists, her eyes glued firmly to the ground. "Fancy meeting you here, Davis," he greeted, trying not to let his shock show. "What can I do for you?"

She stood up, glad for the fact that he was a step below her, making them eye-level. She liked to be on even ground with the people around her. "I need a favor," she said flatly, not wasting any time in getting to the point. "I need a place to crash and word on the street is, you're lacking a roommate."

His eyes narrowed at the mention of his situation with Haley. "I think you're forgetting the magic word. And the fact that me and you? We're not that tight."

"Nathan." His name fell from her lips like a plea, stopping him in his attempt to brush past her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. Don't make me beg, okay?"

He didn't think he'd ever heard an apology on Brooke's lips. And he'd definitely never seen her looking as small as she did now, with an entire ocean at her back and a world of trouble in her eyes. "Okay," he said, and held the door open so that she could slip inside. "But there's gonna be some ground rules."

"I don't cook, clean, or do laundry," she informed him, but a smile played at the edges of her lips.

It earned a chuckle from him. "Me, neither, so I guess we'll only have to live with each other for a few weeks before we die of starvation."

"Or the stench in here." Brooke's nose wrinkled as she stepped further into the living room and inhaled. "Ugh. Open a window or something. And maybe start burning your workout clothes if you're not gonna wash them, 'cause this is gross."

Nathan rolled his eyes, but complied. It was a valid complaint; he couldn't remember the last time he'd done laundry and the dirty clothes were starting to pile up. "You're not going to be easy to live with, are you?"

She laughed out loud at that and chose not to answer, instead tossing him the keys to her car. "If you get my bags, I'll order us some Chinese. My treat. And Nathan?" He was already on the way out the door, his stomach growling at the thought of lo mein and crab rangoon. "Thanks for doing this. Really."

"Hey, I should be thanking you," he replied easily, not wanting to make either of them uncomfortable. "I've been living off Doritos for the past month."

He headed to the driveway, leaving Brooke alone to explore her new digs. She spun in a slow circle in the middle of the living room, absorbing everything about her new surroundings, marveling at how she already felt at home.