The Bitter Taste

Someone To Love Us

xxx

Nathan stood in front of Brooke in a big white chapel. Brooke looked around and saw Lucas standing beside Nathan and Peyton standing behind her. They smiled at each other; Brooke looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing a beautiful, white wedding dress. Nathan was wearing a tux and their hands were linked together.

"You still my girl?" Nathan asked as his eyes sparkled, and his smile shined.

Brooke looked up at him and met his gaze, "Always…"

Brooke opened her eyes and looked around and saw that she was in Lucas's car; he looked over at her and smiled, "Were you dreaming about Nathan?" He asked.

"Yeah," Brooke said with a yawn, "Was I talking or something?"

Lucas shook his head and chuckled, "No, you were smiling…"

Brooke took a drink of her water and sighed, "I'm sorry I fell asleep…I had to somehow get my mind off that funeral."

"I'm glad that I was there," Lucas said.

"Me too," Brooke said as she thought about her mother lying so peacefully in a casket, "I don't think I could've done it alone."

"Brooke," Lucas said, "I am really sorry about your mom…If you ever need anything I'm here for you okay?"

"I know," Brooke smiled, "I just want to get back home…"

xxx

Nathan walked into TRIC and saw Peyton cleaning up behind the bar, "Hey," he said.

"Hey you," Peyton said as she wiped her hands off and looked at him, "Brooke's coming home soon," she said ecstatically.

Nathan smiled, "So is Lucas…"

"What?" Peyton asked.

Nathan sat down and rested his elbows on the bar, "I talked to Brooke…She convinced him to stay in Tree Hill."

"Remind me to kiss her when she gets back," Peyton teased.

Nathan laughed, "Hey! That's my job," he joked and then looked at all the drinks, "You think you can pass me a beer?"

"You know I'm not supposed to just hand out drinks at my bar!" Peyton said with a wink as she got herself and Nathan a beer, "What Karen doesn't know, doesn't hurt her," she said as the two of them clinked glasses.

Nathan took a long sip from his beer and then set it down, "So are you going to try and mend things with Luke?" He asked.

"I don't know," Peyton said as she took a sip of her beer, "Part of me is wondering if it's even worth it, and then the other part of me is telling me to go for it."

"You guys are in love," Nathan pointed out, "I mean, I shouldn't really be talking because I thought I was in love with Haley, but I was wrong about that one!"

Peyton gave Nathan a sympathetic look and sighed, "Haley made a stupid mistake Nate…Everyone knows that."

"But I'm kind of thankful that she chose music and Chris over me," he said, "Because if she wouldn't have, then I wouldn't be with Brooke."

Peyton smiled, "Spoken like a true romantic!"

"I try," Nathan said and then took another drink.

xxx

Brooke and Lucas stopped at a bar; they got out of the car and they heard the rowdy music blaring from inside. Brooke looked at him and smiled, "Can you believe that I actually wanted to work at a place like this?" Brooke asked with a giggle.

"I could see you in some tight pants and a tube top," Lucas teased; Brooke slapped him playfully and the two of them walked into the bar.

They sat down and a big-chested, blonde waitress came up and took their orders; when she left Brooke nudged Lucas and smiled, "You're a perv!"

"What?" Lucas exclaimed.

Brooke laughed, "I saw you looking at that waitress's tits!" She said accusingly, "That's totally perverted of you!" The waitress brought their drinks and Brooke nudged Lucas again; Lucas rolled his eyes and almost chugged his beer, "I've seen you've gotten better at drinking since I've been gone," she pointed out.

"Somebody had to take the role of the drunk at parties," Lucas teased.

Brooke scoffed, "Ha ha," she said sarcastically, "You are a riot."

"I know," Lucas said with a smirk.

After a few drinks later Brooke and Lucas were acting like they did one their first date; Brooke stumbled up and took Lucas's hand, "Dance with me Luke!"

"I can't dance!" Lucas exclaimed, "I am by far the shittiest dancer ever!"

"Come on!" Brooke whined, "We're drunk it doesn't matter if we suck at dancing or not!"

Lucas rolled his eyes, but gave in; the two got onto the dance floor and danced stupidly until Brooke's favorite song came on. Brooke moved her hips along to the base while Lucas stood behind her and put his hands on Brooke's hips. Brooke looked up at him and then turned around so that they were chest to chest; Lucas put his hands on Brooke's lower back and their faces' were inches apart. Lucas leaned in and kissed Brooke passionately; they took the kiss outside and Brooke leaned against the car as the two continued to kiss.

Brooke's heart pounded as the kiss deepened; Lucas put his hands under Brooke's shirt, and she ran her hands along his chest. They pulled away and breathed heavily; Brooke turned away and ran her fingers through her hair. Lucas backed away with his hands in his back pockets; they looked at each other, their hearts still beating loudly.

"I don't know what that was," Lucas finally said.

Brooke looked down at the ground and fixed her shirt, "We're just drunk Luke…"

"Brooke," Lucas began, "We can't…We can't do this."

"I know," Brooke said as she nodded her head nervously, "I-I know…"

Lucas sighed and put his hands on his head, "We'll get a motel room and then leave tomorrow morning…"

"Okay," Brooke said softly as the two of them walked across the street to the motel.

xxx

Brooke and Lucas sat silently in the car and looked out onto the road; Lucas looked at her and then let out a deep breath, "It was all just a big misunderstanding Brooke," he said, "Alcohol was involved…"

"We're 23 years old," Brooke said, "We should know better than to do that…"

Lucas gripped the steering wheel, "Are you going to tell Nathan?"

"I should," Brooke sighed, "But I'm not going to…It's just too much for him right now, and it's too much for me right now."

Lucas nodded, "I don't want to be in another love triangle again…"

"I don't either," Brooke said, "We just let things get out of control…It didn't mean anything and it never will mean anything."

Lucas nodded, "I'm sorry…"

"You don't need to apologize," Brooke said, "Either one of us could of stopped it if we weren't so piss ass drunk," she said with a small smile as Lucas pulled into the parking lot of Nathan's apartment complex, "We're friends Luke…"

Lucas smiled, "I know," he said, "Mind if I come up with you to see Nathan?"

"It's fine," Brooke said as the two of them got out of the car.

Brooke and Lucas walked into the apartment and saw Nathan and Peyton sitting at the kitchen counter with their heads down and an empty bottle of Vodka between the two of them. They walked further in and saw Alex sitting on the table top smiling.

"What's going on here?" Lucas asked.

Peyton looked up at the two of them and Brooke could tell she had been crying, "I just came by to tell your friends here a little secret about the two of you…"

"What the hell are you doing here Alex?" Brooke said through gritted teeth.

Alex laughed cynically, "Did you guys have fun at the bar last night?" He asked Brooke and Lucas; they looked at each other in disbelief, "Because it sure looked like you did…"

"What the fuck are you talking about, man?" Lucas asked.

Alex jumped off from the counter and smirked, "You can deny it all you want, but the story will always be the same. You guys had a couple drinks, then you made out, and then I watched you two go into the motel across the street…I'll spare the details of the make out session since you two know first hand about what happened," he said.

"Nathan," Brooke said softly, "Peyton…"

Peyton got up and got her coat quickly, Brooke grabbed her arm but Peyton pulled away, "Don't touch me Brooke," Peyton yelled, but then lowered her voice, "Don't touch me…"

Brooke and Lucas exchanged looks and Lucas walked out of the apartment; Brooke glared at Alex, "I cannot believe you…"

"You're everything I knew that you'd turn out to be," Alex said harshly, and then walked out of the apartment leaving Brooke and Nathan.

"Nathan," Brooke said softly, "We didn't have sex…"

Nathan looked up at her with blood shot eyes, "How could you kiss him?" He asked, "After everything we've been through…I mean, I know I hurt you with the Haley thing but that was six years ago…You know that I love you."

"We were both drunk off our ass's Nate!" Brooke exclaimed, "I swear to God!"

Nathan shook his head and slammed the bottle of Vodka down on the floor causing it to smash to pieces, "I believed you when you said that you loved me and that you missed me!"

"It only happened one night!" Brooke said as she walked closer to Nathan, "We were drunk Nathan, and all we did was kiss I swear to you!"

Nathan backed away from Brooke, "I want you to leave Brooke…"

"Nathan," Brooke cried, "I am in love with you…"

Nathan rubbed his eyes and went over towards the front door, "Just go," he said as he opened the door. Brooke nodded and walked sadly out the front door.

Tennessee Williams once wrote…When so many are lonely… as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish…to be lonely alone.

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