The Bitter Taste

It's Love, Make It Hurt

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and italics are flashbacks.

Octavio Paz once wrote; Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition… man is the only being who knows he is alone.

xxx

Brooke sat in her room and opened a window; she got out a pack of cigarettes and stared at them. She closed her eyes and thought about Nathan, about how sad he was; and then about Peyton and the disappointment in her eyes. Brooke lit the cigarette and brought it to her lips. She took a deep drag and let it out slowly; again, she was alone.

Brooke heard her door open, and looked over; Peyton walked into the room slowly and stood her ground; Brooke could tell she had been crying, "Pey," Brooke said with a weak voice, "I tried calling you…I left you a couple messages actually."

"I know," Peyton said; uninterested and pissed, "So has Lucas…But I permanently have both of you on block."

Brooke took another drag of her cigarette and looked down at the ground, "You don't know how badly I wish that I could take everything back…I am so sorry."

"I finally understand how you felt back when we were in high school," Peyton said, ignoring Brooke's apology, "You betrayed me," she said, "And I don't know how to act towards you anymore…"

Brooke walked closer towards Peyton, "You cannot do this to me Peyton, I love you…You're my best friend!"

"I expected a lot more from you," Peyton said as her eyes got glossy, "I understand doing this back in high school, but we're 23 years old Brooke."

Brooke backed away and shook her head, "So let's just forget about you and Jake right?" She pointed out, "You are such a hypocrite!"

"Don't try to blame your sluttiness on me!" Peyton yelled, "You knew how I felt about Lucas!"

"I did!" Brooke exclaimed, "God Peyton I was fucking drunk! And maybe we did want to kiss, but we never did when we were sober! I know how much you love him, and I know how much Luke loves you!" Brooke cried, "And you of all people should know how much I love Nathan!"

Peyton looked down at the ground, "Were you even going to tell us when you got back?" She said in almost a whisper.

Brooke looked down at the floor dejectedly, "I don't know…" She said softly. Peyton crossed her arms and shot Brooke a glare; she barged out of the room slamming the door on the way out.

xxx

Nathan sat on the couch in his apartment with his phone lying next to him; he picked it up and dialed Haley's cell phone number.

"Nathan," Haley said softly, "Is something wrong?"

Nathan let out a deep breath, "Brooke and Lucas kissed while they were in New York for her mom's funeral…"

"Brooke's mom died?" Haley asked in shock, "Oh my god, I should call her…" She said to herself, and then sighed, "Are you and Brooke broken up now?"

"She cheated on me Hales!" Nathan exclaimed, "And worse, it was with my brother…God, and she said that she loved me," he said spitefully.

Haley ran her fingers through her hair, "She does love you Nate," she said finally, "Don't you get it? That girl has always loved you…And you should give her the benefit of the doubt…You left her for me," she said with a dry laugh, "And that was a mistake because I don't deserve someone like you."

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Nathan said after a moment, "I'll talk to you later Hales," he said and then hung up the phone.

"What's Haley going to do?" Peyton asked as she stood in the doorway.

Nathan turned around and stood up, "I thought maybe by calling her we would fall in love again, and I'd never have to deal with this whole Brooke thing," he said, "But…When I talked to Haley it just wasn't there anymore."

"Maybe we're not supposed to fall in love," Peyton said softly, "Maybe we're just supposed to be loners all our lives."

xxx

Brooke walked out of Karen's Café and headed down towards the River Court; she heard footsteps behind her and saw Lucas walking. Brooke stopped and turned to face him, "You feel guilty yet?" She asked.

"I've been feeling guilty," Lucas said, "Everything's so fucked up right now Brooke…I don't know what we're going to do!"

Nathan walked past the two of them and glared at them; Brooke gave Lucas one last look and then followed Nathan, "Nathan!" Brooke yelled; trying to get his attention, "Nathan Scott!"

"What?" Nathan said as he turned around.

Brooke sighed, "You cannot do this to me…It was a mistake, a stupid mistake! I don't love Lucas at all! I am in love with you…"

"You have a funny way of showing it," he said smugly.

"Don't even start that shit with me," Brooke exclaimed, "I took you back after everything with Haley! I make one mistake and you're just going to forget about everything we have?"

"What are you trying to say?" Nathan asked, "That I deserved this or something?"

Brooke groaned, "I'm trying to say that I don't deserve this!" She said and then calmed down, "I would never try to ruin anything between us baby…I promise you that." Nathan looked down and walked away; Brooke sighed and walked back towards Karen's house.

Brooke laid down on her bed and curled up in a ball under her covers; she rested her head on a pillow. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Nathan!" Brooke screamed excitedly as Nathan led her somewhere.

Nathan laughed, "You're so impatient," he said, "Just wait one second and I promise I'll let you see the surprise."

"I can't believe I'm actually letting you do this to me," she said with a smile on her face, "You know I hate surprises!"

"You love them!" Nathan exclaimed and then kissed Brooke's cheek, "No peeking…"

Brooke let out a stifled laugh, "How old are we again?" She teased.

"17," Nathan answered and then laughed, "Hold on we're almost here," he said.

Brooke sighed, "I don't even know where 'here' is?"

"Okay," Nathan said and then took his hands away from Brooke's eyes.

Brooke looked out in front of her and saw a big blanket with white roses and lit, white candles laid around the ground. There was a bottle of wine set beside the blanket and there were a few of Brooke's favorite fluffy pillows. She turned around and smiled at Nathan, "I love you," she said and kissed him passionately on the lips.

The two of them laid down on the blanket and looked up at the stars, "I got the stars just right tonight," Nathan said with a coy smile.

"You planned the stars?" Brooke asked with a laugh.

Nathan nodded, "Of course," he said with a wink, "I wanted this night to be perfect."

"Well it is," Brooke said as she looked over at Nathan, "This is the best night of my life," she said.

Nathan put his arms around Brooke's waist and kissed her neck, "Mine too," he whispered.

"I love you so much Nathan Scott," Brooke said softly as she closed her eyes and rested her head on Nathan's chest.

"I love you Brooke Davis," Nathan said with a smile as he rubbed Brooke's back; she looked up at him and kissed him passionately on the lips. The kiss ended and Nathan smiled.

Brooke straddled Nathan and kissed him again, "We've never done it outside before," she whispered seductively in his ear.

"Yeah we have," he said; Brooke looked at him in confusion, "Or maybe that was someone else," he teased.

Brooke scoffed and playfully hit him in the head, "That's not very nice," she said and then went to get off of him.

"Don't go," Nathan said as he gripped Brooke's hips.

Brooke pretended to pout, "You were mean to me…"

"Baby, you know that you're the only girl I want," he said sincerely, "No girl will ever compare to you."

Brooke smiled and kissed Nathan softly "Thanks," she said in almost a whisper, "I never want to lose you…"

"You never will," Nathan promised, "I want to be with you forever," he said and then kissed Brooke passionately.

xxx

Peyton sat in her room as she played around on her computer; Lucas walked into her room and cleared his throat. Peyton glared at him, and then turned back around in her chair, "You're not welcomed here," she said.

"You do realize that you did the same thing to me with Jake right?" Lucas asked as Peyton turned back around, "But the sad thing is…You were sober when you did it, I at least have an excuse."

Peyton rolled her eyes, "You don't have an excuse, Luke," she exclaimed, "I trusted Brooke…And I trusted you."

"We aren't dating anymore Peyton," Lucas pointed out, "We weren't dating when the whole thing happened between me and Brooke so I don't see why you're getting pissed off!"

"I'm going to pretend that you did not just ask me that with a straight face," Peyton said as she got up and slammed down a book.

Lucas looked down at the ground, "You know what Pey? Just stay home and feel sorry for yourself! I've apologized; I don't know what else you want me to do?" He exclaimed.

Peyton walked over to Lucas and kissed him passionately on the lips; they fell onto Peyton's bed together and passionately kissed each other. Peyton took off her shirt as Lucas hands traveled up her body. They stopped and looked at each other as they panted; Lucas got off from on top of Peyton, and Peyton put back on her shirt.

"Why'd you do that?" Lucas asked.

Peyton dug her hands in her pockets and shrugged, "Because I want you to love me," she said sadly, "Can you leave? Please?"

Lucas went to say something but Peyton sat down at her computer and turned up her music louder; Lucas looked at her once more and then left the room.

Read and Review.