The Bitter Taste

Sometimes We Fall

Difference between giving up and letting go: Giving up is sacrificing what was rightfully yours. Letting go is forgetting what was never yours…

(1 Month Later)

xxx

"One, two, push!" Lucas said as he pushed Eric in a swing. Eric giggled and Lucas looked over at Peyton who was smiling.

"Thank you so much for coming to the park with me and Eric," Peyton began, "Nathan's been so busy with work lately…"

Lucas nodded in understanding, "He's been working a lot lately."

"Yeah," Peyton said softly, "Ever since the divorce he's kind of made up busy work for himself."

Lucas sighed, "And Brooke has that new boyfriend right?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, "Jack," she said, "More like Jack ass…"

"He's the punk rocker who got wasted at my mom's birthday party a couple weeks ago right?" Lucas asked as he remembered the night, and about the idiot who got completely hammered and stood on a table and started to sing "It's Raining Men" to his mom.

"That's Mr. Charming himself," Peyton began, "It's like ever since the divorce she's been dating these deadbeat guys. Brooke has that job at the café and TRIC, and this Jake guy doesn't even have a job. He's been married once and has two kids with two different women."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Well I think Nate has officially ruled himself out of the dating game…"

"Yeah…I've tried to talk to him about it at home, but he just grabs a beer out of the fridge, gives Eric a kiss on the cheek, and then goes up to his room…He's changed so much from this."

Lucas handed Eric over to Peyton and rubbed his head, "It's sometimes weird to think that you have a son."

"Yeah," Peyton said as she bounced Eric on her hip, "It's kind of surreal in a way…Who ever thought it could happen?"

Lucas smiled and looked down at Eric, "I can't wait till Hales gets pregnant."

"Get married first," Peyton said with a dry laugh, "Trust me, it's easier that way."

"I'm thinking about maybe popping the question this weekend or something," Lucas said as he pulled a small, velvet box out of his pocket, "I've been carrying this around for a good week or two."

He opened the box and a sparkling, diamond ring sparkled, "It's gorgeous Luke," Peyton said in awe, "She'll love it!"

"Thanks," Lucas said and then put the box back in his pocket, "You know I really appreciate that you're letting me into Eric's life."

Peyton smiled as they headed towards the car, "All that stuff I said to you before Lucas…" She began.

"It's okay," Lucas began, "I would've probably been saying the same things if I would've been in your position, but I'm glad that we can be friends like we used to be."

Peyton smiled, "Yeah…Like we used to be," she said softly as she got into the car.

xxx

Nathan sat at his desk and looked through all the paperwork he had. Most of it he had given to himself because the though of not being busy made him ill. He heard a crash outside of his office and looked up to see a guy standing there laughing to himself. Nathan got up and walked over to him, "Is there a problem?" Nathan asked.

The guy picked up the sign he had knocked over and gave Nathan a look over, "Nice monkey suit," he said as he cracked his knuckles, "I just knocked over a sign, buddy. No need to worry," he said as he brushed off Nathan's shoulder.

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't touch me," Nathan said to the guy. Nathan stood a good few inches above the guy, and had a better build then him.

"Jack!" Nathan heard a voice yell. Nathan looked over and saw Brooke walking over towards the guy and grabbing his arm, "What the hell are you doing? I told you the car that we were buying!"

Jack ripped his arm away from Brooke's grip and glared down at her, "Don't yell at me in public," he said through clenched teeth; he looked over at Nathan and smiled, "Besides…I was just chatting with this nice guy over here."

Brooke looked at Nathan and Nathan looked down at the ground, "Jack, we need to go come on…"

Jack grabbed Brooke's arm and shoved her against a car, "Brookie baby," he said cynically.

"Hey!" Nathan said as he pulled Jack off of Brooke. Jack stumbled backwards and watched as Nathan protectively stood in front of Brooke.

Jack laughed to himself, "So this is the ex husband, Brookie? Nathan Scott?"

Nathan looked back at Brooke and Brooke nodded her head, "Yeah…" She said softly, "This is Nathan…Nathan, this is Jack."

"Her boyfriend," Jack spit and then threw his hands up, "Find your own ride home," he said and then walked out of the dealership.

Nathan gave Brooke a sympathetic look, "Come on," he said as they walked into his office. Brooke sat down across from him, as Nathan sat back down at his desk. He looked at his watch which read 1:23, "I'm done at 1:30…You think you can handle a good 7 minutes in here until I can take you home?"

"I can call Peyton or Haley or somebody," Brooke said as she played with the material on her jeans, "You don't have to do this."

Nathan shrugged, "You've ignored me for a good month it's the least I can do," he said sarcastically, "You told me that you didn't want us to hate each other, or completely ignore each other."

"It's hard Nate," Brooke began, "You think this is what I want? I don't want you to see me get yelled at by my boyfriend, or have to protect me…"

Nathan put his jacket on and got up, "Come on a few minutes won't matter…"

Brooke nodded and followed him out to the car, they got in and Nathan revved the engine to his car, "I'm sorry Nate."

"You moved on Brooke. I understand," Nathan said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Brooke sighed, "I'm sorry for making things weird between us," she started, "I mean, I want you to date! I want you to have sex and get drunk!"

Nathan laughed and looked over at her, "You're telling me to have sex?"

"I'm ordering you to have sex," she said with her dimpled smile.

Nathan nodded and smiled, "Whatever you say Brooke…"

He pulled into Lucas and Haley's driveway and looked at Brooke, "You going to TRIC tonight?"

"I might make an appearance," Brooke said with a giggle, "Thanks for the ride."

Nathan smiled, "Bye."

Brooke walked into the house and saw Haley looking out the kitchen window, "Spying much?"

"Was that The Nathan Scott that just drove you home?" Haley asked as she swallowed a spoon full of peanut butter.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Yes and did you just eat a spoonful of peanut butter?"

"Yes," Haley said with a big smile, "And what did you two talk about?"

Brooke shrugged, "I just told him that I don't want things to be awkward, and that he should go out and date and have sex." Haley raised her brow, "What?" Brooke whined.

"Be careful what you wish for," Haley said in a sing-song tone as she continued washing the dishes.

xxx

Brooke sat down with Jack across from Haley and Lucas. They took back shots and laughed together. Jack kissed Brooke on the lips, "I'll be right back," he said.

"Okay," Brooke said as she watched Jack get up from the table and disappear into the crowd of people.

Haley nudged Lucas as they looked over and saw Nathan walk into TRIC with a beautiful blonde linked to his arm. Brooke turned around and saw Nathan and the new girl coming towards them. Brooke would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous; the girl was gorgeous. She looked like the type of girl that came from a family with a lot of money, with parents that loved each other, and the whole white picket fence type deal.

"Hey guys," Nathan said as they sat down, "This is Veronica."

Brooke giggled, "Like the Spice Girl?"

Everyone looked around and Veronica politely laughed, "Well I guess you could say that…I was actually named after my Great-Aunt."

"Oh…That's nice," Brooke said as she took another sip to hide her embarrassment because of her lame joke.

Veronica. Figures she would have a name like a stripper. Brooke watched as her and Haley laughed; the blondes always stuck together. Brooke was caught off guard when Veronica lightly put a hand on her knee.

"Nathan tells me you're a singer," she said with a big, white smile. Brooke could tell that her teeth probably cost her thousands of dollars to be that perfect.

Brooke nodded, "Yeah I am…What do you do?"

"I'm a lawyer," she said without cockiness or anything, "I work for my dad's firm."

Brooke smiled and felt herself sink into her chair. For a moment she felt like a complete idiot; she was a singer, well ex singer and this girl was a lawyer.

Veronica 1, Brooke 0.

"How did you two meet?" Haley then asked.

Veronica smiled at Nathan as he squeezed her hand, "Weirdest thing," she began, "I'm driving and my car gets a flat. So I'm on the side of the road and Nathan pulled up, changed the tire, and then we just started to talk and he invited me tonight."

Haley smiled and then looked over at Brooke almost giving her a look like, 'I told you so!' Brooke stopped herself from giving Haley the big 'fuck off' look.

"I'm going to find Jack," she said to the table and then looked at Veronica, "It was so nice to meet you!"

Veronica stood up and hugged Brooke, "It was nice to meet you too sweetie. Hurry back soon!"

"Oh I will," Brooke said sarcastically once she was ear shot away from the table. She looked back and saw the four of them laughing like they had know Veronica for years. She fit in; they liked her.

Brooke walked around the club eagerly trying to find Jack, but he was no where. She walked outside and saw Jack's turned on and the windows foggy. Brooke ran over and opened the door and saw Jack and a girl that looked like she was 16 fucking in the backseat. She slammed the door and walked away from the car; she clenched her fist and walked back over to the car and opened up the door again. Brooke slapped Jack in the face and then walked away.

"Brooke!" Jack yelled as Brooke kept walking; she turned around and saw him tripping on his pants as he tried to put them on, "Brooke!"

He finally caught up to her and grabbed both of her arms and shook her; Brooke could see the mark on his face where she had slapped him, "What gives you the right to hit me like that?" He screamed in her face. He smelled of booze and cigarettes.

"What gives you the right to fuck some other girl?" Brooke screamed back at him; the girl stood a couple feet back and watched nervously, "For god sake's Jack she's a child!" Brooke yelled and then pushed him away from her.

Jack grabbed Brooke and threw her to the ground, "Do you know how many times we've had sex since we've been together? Twice! A man can't work like that," he said and then slapped Brooke hard across the face.

It stung like hell. Brooke put her hand on her face as she tried to get up, but Jack just pushed her back down, "Fuck you Jack!"

Jack grabbed a handful of Brooke's hair and brought her face to his, "You want to say that again?" Jack screamed as he pushed her face down onto the rocks.

Brooke let out a cry and tried to crawl away, "Fuck…You…JACK!" She screamed once more.

"Bitch," Jack muttered as he grabbed her neck and brought his fist back.

Brooke closed her eyes and prayed to God that he would regain control; she felt his grip loosen and heard him hit the ground. She opened her eyes and saw Nathan punching him in the face. She also saw Lucas kicking him in the stomach. Brooke felt Haley's hands wrap around her and bring her close.

"Are you okay?" Veronica said to Brooke as she knelt down beside her.

Brooke nodded, "Yeah…Sorry you had to see this."

"It's fine," Veronica said, "I've seen hundred of cases like this before.

Veronica 2. Brooke 0.

Brooke forced a small smile and watched as Jack was curled up on the ground spitting up. Nathan knelt down beside her as Lucas and Haley ran to go get the car, "You're always saving me," Brooke said as she looked up at Nathan.

"You need to be saved sometimes Brooke," Nathan said with a laugh as he brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

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