CHATPER 9: Just Let Me Explain!

Haley and Nathan stared at Brooke's retreating back for a long moment, in complete shock, and both beginning to regret what they'd done. They hadn't given her a chance to explain herself…the way she had reacted towards Tyler should have sent up some red flags for both of them.

"What've I done?" Haley whispered. Nathan glanced at her, and then ran after Brooke, hoping to catch her before she was gone. Haley turned to Peyton, tears in her eyes. "I just assumed…" She cursed herself for not even thinking before she reacted. For goodness sake, she'd done something much similar, and got angry with Nate for not letting her explain.

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Nathan found the elevator, and saw its doors closing. With a final burst of speed, he lunged forward, and pushed the door back. He saw Brooke on the floor, her knees curled up under chin, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked up at him, and sighed. "It wasn't what you think," she insisted sadly, looking down at the floor again, then closing her eyes tight against more tears. He heard the defeat in her voice, and realized that she'd resigned to the fact that her friends didn't trust her and that she probably wouldn't get to see the man she loved for a long time.

"Then what was it?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and stepping into the elevator. She looked back up at him in shock. "We were quick to judge, we didn't give you a chance to explain. What really happened?" He knelt down to her level while he waited for her explanation.

Brooke smiled half-heartedly, and sighed. "I was actually in the process of telling him off…he was asking me why I liked a guy that was lying in a coma…and just being a jackass. So I snapped at him, and he told me that I was sexy when I'm angry. I couldn't even call him an SOB before he kissed me. I couldn't push him away…I tried but with one arm I wasn't strong enough, but when I heard Haley gasp, I managed to get him away from me. When Haley told me to stay away from Lucas…I didn't…I don't…know what to do. I love Lucas more than anything…I came back here from California to live with him, damn it! I could never even think of being with someone else."

Nathan nodded, and pulled Brooke to him, rubbing her back comfortingly when she started to sob. "I'm so sorry, we shouldn't have assumed like that." He slowly brought her to arm's length. "Come on, let's go back and talk to Hales." He helped her to her feet, and then turned to the button panel.

It only took them a few stops to get to the right floor, and when they did, Haley was waiting for them impatiently. She looked at Nathan first. "It was him," he stated simply. Haley didn't even need to ask her husband what he meant, she just threw her arms around Brookes neck, tears falling from her eyes.

"Brooke, I am so sorry…I can't believe I judged you, especially after what I did before…can you forgive me?" Brooke pulled away and nodded, a smile on her features, and they hugged again for a long time. "Okay, we should get back to the room, the others are waiting to hear what's going on."

The three of them entered the room silently, and Brooke took her seat next to Lucas, and just looked at him for a long time. She couldn't hear Nathan explaining what happened. All she could hear was the faint beep of the heart monitor, and Lucas' slow breathing.

Nathan watched Brooke as he spoke, and decided what he had to do. When he was done talking, he leaned down and whispered something in Haley's ear, then walked out of the room. He went in search for Tyler, and found him quickly looking at a board behind a service desk. "Tyler?"

Tyler turned, and smiled at Nathan. He came around to face Nathan. "Hey, man, she lead me on, I thought she was into me," he insisted smugly.

Nathan growled low in his throat for a second. "That's bull. She gave no sign of being interested in you, you bastard, and you know it." Nathan punched Tyler hard in the jaw so fast that Tyler didn't even see it coming. "You stay the hell away from Brooke, Lucas, and me, or I won't be so nice next time."

Nathan walked away before Tyler could realize everything that had just happened, and called security. He was soon back in the room and standing by Haley, who was watching Lucas silently by the bed. Peyton and Jake were sitting in chairs nearby, tense and waiting. Brooke looked up when Nathan came back in.

"He shouldn't bother you again," he explained. Brooke gave him a half-grin, and shook her head.

"Thanks Nate, glad to know you're there for me."

"Always, Brooke." They both smiled, and Haley grinned as well. Now, the only thing that they needed was for Lucas to wake up, and things would be all right again.

"What did the doctor say when he came in here earlier?" Brooke asked Karen, almost inaudibly. Karen took a deep breath, and Andy squeezed her hand for support.

"He said that this could go either way…it all depends on what Lucas wants. He can decide to stay with us, or he can decide to move on. Right now, he's teetering between both of those. It's all in his hands now."

After that was said, a sense of uncertainty filled the room, and no one said a word for a very long time