Thanks for the awesome reviews! Here's chapter 14


CHPATER 14: Just a Slap in the Face

Lucas fought daily with his mother to go to school with Brooke, and it was a week before she finally saw him fit enough to go. He had to promise her that he would be calm and careful, and that he would call if anything at all went wrong. By the time the couple actually got out of the house and into Nathan's car, they were running fifteen minutes late.

"Please don't tell me that you two were preoccupied?" Nathan questioned hesitantly. Lucas and Brooke both laughed, and shook their heads.

"No…my mother wouldn't let me leave the house without her giving me a whole long talk about how I need to be careful and avoid getting bumped into and all of that good stuff," he explained, getting a giggle out of Haley.

The four made it to school just in time for homeroom to be over, so it didn't seem like they were late. Before he got out of the car, Lucas turned to Brooke. "Remember, we're supposed to hate each other."

Brooke nodded, and climbed out, a disgusted look on her face, and stormed away. Lucas shook his head in amusement…she was quick. He got out of the car as well, and stared at her retreating form. "Bro, you kinda need to stop staring if you want to look like you hate her," Nathan muttered under his breath. Lucas shook himself out of his daze, nodded, and put on his famous broody look.

"Whatever, I don't know what the hell her problem is, I'll catch you guys later, ok?" Lucas mumbled, making his way to his first block class. Haley sent Nathan a glance that said 'oh boy, they're really getting into it,' and jogged after Lucas, as they had first block together.

"Luke! Lucas, wait up! Remember me, your best friend? I get that you're pissed off at Brooke, but that doesn't mean you have to forget about me!" she called, playing along with their little façade. Lucas stopped and turned to her, and she saw him laughing. "What is so funny?"

"I don't know…this is just kinda fun. We're going to have to think up some kind of argument or something so that our stories match. But this could prove interesting." He thought about how hard it would be to ignore the desire to hold her…it was hard enough not to pull her against his chest and just keep her there on a normal day…but when they were acting like they hated each other? It would me so much harder.

Haley shook her head. "Why, again, are you doing this?"

"Because people will start talking about us living together, and Brooke doesn't want my rep to be hurt and I don't want hers to be either, so we're going to do this for a while. Just till something else comes along for people to gossip about."

The bell ringing brought the two friends back to the real world, where they found that they were at their class. Lucas took a deep breath to brace himself, Haley rubbed his back to show that she was there for him, and they entered. Immediately everyone in the classroom came up to them, and started asking him questions. Lucas smiled nervously, but never got the chance to speak with all of the questions.

Haley looked around at all of the people. She was getting uncomfortable herself…and all of the attention was on Lucas. Once glance at her best friend told her that he was even worse off than her, so she spoke up. "Excuse me! Everyone back off! He'll answer the questions you have later. Not today."

When people started to begrudgingly file back to their seats, Lucas shot her a grateful glance, and she guided him to a seat. His face was pale, and he seemed to be in pain. "You okay, Luke?"

He nodded. "Just a little sore, that's all…I have to get used to all of this again."

"Just take it easy today," Haley ordered softly. She kissed his forehead, and sat down behind him, glaring at their classmates, who were whispering and stealing glances at them. This was going to be a long morning.

-

By lunchtime, Lucas was looking worn-out and ready to fall asleep. Nathan and Haley arrived together, sitting at the same table as Lucas. As soon as Luke caught sight of Brooke, he had an idea. Leaning in towards Nathan's ear, he muttered, "I'm going to start to leave…when Brooke comes over, tell her to stop me."

Nathan nodded, and Haley looked up and waved Brooke over. Lucas immediately fell into his 'role' and gave her an incredulous look. He rolled his eyes, scoffed at her, and pushed himself to his feet. A sudden dizziness washed over him, and he had to close his eyes for a moment.

When he opened his eyes again, Nathan and Haley were watching him warily, ready to help him if he needed it. "You okay, bro?"

"Yeah…just a little tired from all of this. I'll talk to you guys later, ok?"

They both nodded, and Lucas turned around…almost walking into Brooke. Without meeting her eyes, he pushed past her, and headed for the door. Within a few seconds, he could hear Brooke's 'angry' voice calling his name. When he turned around and saw her coming towards him, he also noticed everyone else watching them in silence. Felix sat directly behind where Brooke was standing, and was smirking at him.

"Why the hell do you have to be so arrogant? What, is it 'oh, let her think I love her and get her to leave her boyfriend, then just act like she's not even there'? Is that how it is!" Brooke snapped at him, her face inches from his own. He had to resist the urge to kiss her…as well as the urge to laugh. One almost escaped from his lips, but before it could, he made it as sarcastic and humorless as possible.

"Oh, yes, my life is all about breaking Brooke Davis' heart. If you want your boyfriend back so much, why don't you go get him? It's not like I could ever get you to stay around anyway…I was never enough!" With each word, his voice rose. It was hard to say what he was yelling at her, knowing that they could've been true because of something he'd done. He hoped she knew that he didn't mean any of it…

She stared at him, disbelief on her face, before she drew back her hand and slapped him across his cheek. He was surprised by the action. She's really getting into this…and damn, that hurt, he thought to himself. "I loved you! I opened up completely to you, and you just acted like I was nothing!"

Lucas just stared into her eyes, and saw the quick flash of apology in her eyes. He almost smiled, and realized that he hoped he was never really on the receiving end of her wrath…it could be scary…and heartbreaking. Their gazes held, fire in both of their eyes, for a good minute before Lucas turned around and walked out of the school. He heard Nathan and Haley call after him, but he just 'ignored' them. Lucas climbed into Nathan's car and drove away, knowing he'd just have to come back at the end of the day to pick everyone up…even Brooke.

It was going to be hard, acting angry with her all the time…