A/N: Thanks to my beta: Leeese

Chapter Eleven

We Might as Well Be Strangers

Early the next morning, Lucas and Nathan met their friends at the River Court. The conversation started up with the previous night's events. Nobody could get the image of Julian in his costume out of his head. Especially Lucas. He would be happy forever if he could convince Julian to stay in that costume.

Nathan was happy for another reason. "I'm just glad Tim isn't here. I want to kill him for wearing that dumb clown costume."

"I'm more concerned about that guy that crashed Brooke's party," Lucas told his friends. "Did you see the way that he was looking at her? That guy gives me the creeps. I hope that was the only party of hers that he was planning on crashing. Because I don't trust strangers. You never know who they really are."

"Maybe that's why Victoria doesn't want you guys around Brooke," Skills suggested.

Nathan shook his head. "No, Dan is the reason why we're not allowed around Brooke. He spreads lies about us and she believes him without even getting our side of the story. I don't know what I would do if he and his family moved here to Tree Hill."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "What the hell do you have to worry about? You have your girl. I don't. I'm the one who has to prove to Victoria that she can trust me with her daughter."

"Good luck with that," Mouth replied. "I can barely get past Victoria's approval. Even Haley can't please Victoria."

"Do any of Brooke's friends have Victoria's total approval?" Lucas asked him.

Mouth shook his head. "I don't think anybody can please her."

Lucas wasn't happy with that answer. "Well, I'm certainly going to try," he replied before he threw his basketball towards the basket. His brother and their friends watched as the ball soared through the air and went through the hoop. Lucas just smiled proudly before they continued their game.

A couple of hours later, Lucas and Nathan headed home, dripping with sweat. As they came through the back door, they saw that their mother was making pancakes on the stove. Lily, who was still in her pajamas, was already eating hers while Keith was reading the paper. Karen turned to them and gave them a smile. "Good morning, boys. I can see that you got an early morning start again."

"Well, we want to make sure we're prepared when we play our first game," Lucas replied.

Karen gave him a comforting smile. "I'm sure you two will be," she assured him. "Now why don't you two hit the showers? Your breakfast will be waiting for you guys when you come back downstairs."

The twins raced upstairs as their father quickly reminded them to walk. Lucas managed to get to the bathroom first. After a quick shower, he went back downstairs to the kitchen. By then, Lily was done with her breakfast and she was in the den, watching television. However, she returned to the kitchen once she saw her brother.

Lucas gave her a wide smile as she hopped up on his lap. "Lucas, can you take me to Brooke's?" she asked.

Lucas was about to respond when his mother explained the reasoning for Lily's request. "Lily wants to share her Halloween candy with Brooke and Haley," she told him. "And she wants her big brothers to take her there." Lucas was about to protest when Karen continued. "I'm sure Mrs. Davis will be civil enough to let Lily give her candy to Brooke and Haley."

Lucas wasn't convinced. However, he knew that he had no choice. He turned to his sister before he spoke. "Nathan and I will take you if you share some of your candy with us too, ok?" he asked, trying to strike a fair deal with her. Lily nodded in agreement. He gave her a kiss. "You are the best little sister ever."

Lily smiled proudly. "I know."

A couple of hours later, Nathan pulled the car in Brooke's driveway. Lucas then helped Lily out before the three went up to the door. Lily rang the doorbell and they waited patiently for someone to answer the door. To their relief, it was Millie who answered the door. She gave them a warm smile as she let them in.

"You spent the night too?" Lucas asked her. Millie nodded as they noticed that Lily was hiding behind her brothers. He then knew that he had to do some introductions. "Lily, this is Millie, our cousin."

Millie gave her a smile. "I haven't seen you since you were a little baby. You're such a big girl now. You're in first grade this year, right?" Lily nodded as Millie started leading them into the lounge. "Do you like your teacher?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's nice," Lily replied as they reached the lounge. "Where's Brooke?"

"They are still upstairs," Millie told her. "I'll go and tell them that you're here. I'll be right back."

Before Millie could return with Brooke and Haley, Victoria came into the room. Lucas and Nathan immediately apologized for returning to the house when they were asked not to come back. Lucas was a little braver than Nathan when it came to speaking. "It's just that our little sister wanted to see Brooke and Haley for a few moments." He then turned to Lily. "Lily, this is Brooke's mommy Victoria."

"We've already met," Victoria replied. "I stopped by your house last night while you were here at my daughter's Halloween party. Don't try to deny it. Just because I wasn't at the party doesn't mean I don't know what has been going on. I know you two have been hanging around my daughter."

"So you want us banished from your house forever?" Nathan asked.

"As much I would love that, I have realized that banishing you two would only make it worse," Victoria replied. "After talking with your parents last night, I'm going to give you two a second chance. So I will allow you two to hang out with my daughter on a couple of conditions." Lucas and Nathan exchanged looks. They were hesitant to know what the conditions were. "You won't give my friends anymore trouble." Lucas and Nathan knew she meant the other Scott family. "And no dating my daughter," Victoria told them. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea about love and marriage from you two."

Lucas knew that she was really talking to him. "That's funny. I would have thought that you wouldn't want her get any wrong ideas from your failed marriage."

Nathan shot him a look. That comment was too rude. Victoria wasn't happy either. She gave him a warning look. "Do you want to see my daughter or not, Mr. Scott?"

Lucas knew he was out of line. "I'm sorry, Ms. Davis. It won't happen again. And Brooke and I will remain friends."

Victoria nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Enjoy your visit then." She then excused herself as Millie, Brooke and Haley came into the room. Brooke tried not to show her concern as her mother walked past her.

However, she didn't have a chance to ask when Lily ran over to her. She embraced both Haley and Brooke in a tight hug. "What brings you here?" Brooke asked her. Lily pulled out two small bags. "Are these for us?" she asked as Haley looked in the bags.

"Yeah, our little sister decided to be nice and share her Halloween candy with you two," Nathan told her.

Haley gave Lily a smile. "That's sweet of you," she replied. "Thank you." Brooke thanked her as well before they decided to share their candy with their guests. They sat around and talked for awhile. Millie learned more about Lily while Lucas told Brooke what her mother had said. However, he had to tell her part of the truth when it came to the reason of why they couldn't date.

Brooke was suspicious about why her mother would change her mind so quickly, but she didn't have a chance to wonder about it. Lily wanted her to give her a tour of her house. Lucas knew what she really wanted to see: the pool. As Brooke and Haley showed her the pool, Julian and Rachel finally emerged from the guest room. Luckily, Lily didn't see them until after they came downstairs. Lucas and Nathan really didn't want to explain to Lily about their sleepover.

After Lily was introduced to Julian and Rachel, Lucas knew that they had been there long enough. "You could always drop her off at the house and then come back here?" Brooke suggested to Lucas. "Or do you have to work today?"

"I have to work," Lucas replied. "Maybe you could stop by and help us out. We never seem to have enough staff members working on Saturdays. Of course, I don't blame them. Who would want to work on a Saturday?"

Brooke knew he had a point. "You're right. My weekends are for relaxing. So you don't need me." Lucas quickly realized his mistake. Before he could correct himself, Brooke spoke again. "You're lucky that I don't have any other plans today."

Lucas gave her a grateful smile. "I'll see you in a couple of hours then."

The weekend went by quickly. With the help of Lucas and Haley, Brooke managed to survive waitressing for a day. She was even able to collect a couple of tips. However, she was still relieved when Millie invited her to the mall for a shopping trip the next day. She didn't know if she could stand another day of working in the café. Haley also accepted the invitation.

"So is there a reason for the last minute shopping trip?" Brooke asked Millie as the three walked around the mall that afternoon.

Before Millie could answer, Haley spoke up first. "Why do you care? It's shopping. Besides, does Millie really need an excuse to go shopping?"

"I'm just wondering if Mouth had asked her out on a date and she needs a new outfit," Brooke replied.

"No, Marvin hasn't asked me out yet," Millie said, finally speaking up. "Besides, I don't want to be the rebound girl."

"I don't think anybody does," Haley pointed out.

Brooke gave her a look. "What would you know about it?" she challenged. "Nathan is your first boyfriend."

"I've heard tales from my brothers and sisters," Haley replied. "It's no fun being the rebound boyfriend or girlfriend. Trust me."

"Julian seems to be enjoying it," Millie pointed out. "Then again, he never seems to care if he is the rebound guy or not. Sometimes, I wish he would grow up. Actually, I wish everyone in my family would just grow up. I'm tired of all the fighting. I wouldn't be surprised if my parents announced their separation at the end of the year."

Haley knew it was best to change the subject. "So how did it feel seeing Lily again?" she asked her.

Millie gave them a wide smile. "I loved it. I just wish she knew me better. Even though I have seen her before, she was really meeting me for the first time. I hope I'll be able to see her again without the family feud getting in the way. I really hope by my family moving here won't make things worse between our two families." Haley and Brooke hoped so too.

It was soon another Monday. The gang went back to school. Brooke now was looking forward to it since she could hang out with the Scott twins without being secretive. She even didn't mind that she had to see her rival. She could tolerate being around her now.

Mr. Hargrove first gave his class a wide smile. "Good morning, class. I trust you all had a nice Halloween. Now we can get back down to business. As you all know, we've just hit the halfway mark. So that means that final exams are coming up soon. I also decided to give you a final project along with it." There were sounds of moans and groans throughout the classroom. Mr. Hargrove quickly quieted them down. "Since this is a big project, I will allow you to work with a partner." There were many cheers around the room. However, Brooke knew that there had to be a catch.

Others also had a feeling that he wasn't telling them everything. Jake raised his hand and Mr. Hargrove called on him. "So will we be able to work with a partner or in a group?" he asked him.

"You'll be working with a partner that I'll assign," Mr. Hargrove replied. Nobody was happy to hear that news. The disappointed looks were clear on their faces as Mr. Hargrove spoke again. "I know you guys were expecting to choose your own partners, but I thought this would help you work with other classmates besides your friends."

Nathan suddenly raised his hand. "But isn't that the point of being able to do partnership in the first place?" he asked. "In real life, you wouldn't want to work with a stranger. You would want to work with someone you trust."

Mr. Hargrove nodded. "Yes, that is true. But you won't always be able to work with people who you like and are comfortable with. So you might as well practice now." Mr. Hargrove then started reading off his list of names.

Brooke really hoped that she didn't get Tim or Felix. She hated to admit it, but Peyton was better than either of them. Both of them would slack off and wouldn't want to concentrate on doing the project. She didn't want to do all of the work.

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard Felix being partnered with someone else. She waited impatiently for her name. Mr. Hargrove paused between each pairing for dramatic effect. She tried not to laugh as she heard Rachel being paired with Bevin. She knew that it wasn't going to be a fun project for Rachel. Bevin wasn't the brightest person on the block.

The pairing continued as there were a few groans. Some of the cheerleaders didn't appreciate being paired up with the geeks like Junk and Fergie. They demanded to switch partners. However, Mr. Hargrove was firm.

Brooke turned to hear whose Peyton's partner was going to be. She wasn't sure how to react when Peyton got paired with Nathan. She was glad that she wasn't going to be with Lucas. Yet, she was still going to be hanging around at the Scott house. She still hoped that she would become Lucas's partner. She was disappointed when she heard Lucas's name before hearing Haley's name. She was surprised to hear that since Lucas and Haley were friends. Then again, they never were partners when it came to doing class projects together.

Brooke then heard her name and was pleased to hear that it was Jake. She knew that they could work well together. She and Jake exchanged faraway smiles as Mr. Hargrove got done with the pairs. He then started passing out pieces of paper that had the instructions on it for the project. "You may use the rest of the hour to talk with your partner and brainstorm ideas about your project."

Brooke quickly moved over to Jake's desk as he started reading over the project requirements. They started discussing their project, but it was hard to hear each other with their classmates talking around them. Some classmates were even at Mr. Hargrove's desk, complaining about their partner and begging him to switch partners. Brooke saw that Rachel was one of them. None of her classmates were having much luck in convincing him to switch partners.

The rest of class passed slowly, but the bell finally rang. A few hours later, it was lunchtime. Jake joined Brooke, Haley and Lucas at their table. Brooke looked over to where Peyton and Nathan were sitting across the quad. "I'm glad Nathan didn't bring her to our table," she told her friends. "But why do they have to discuss their project during lunch?"

"Because Peyton is busy in the afternoon," Lucas replied. "And Nathan has a date with Haley tonight."

Brooke turned to Haley. "Really? How come you didn't mention that earlier?"

Haley shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind." For once, she couldn't help smiling as an angry Rachel joined them at the table. "What's the matter, Rachel? You don't like your partner?" she teased her.

Rachel gave her a look. "You really don't want to go there," she warned her.

"Come on, Rachel. Bevin's not that bad," Brooke told her. "You should give her a chance before judging her."

Rachel let out a heavy sigh before she answered. "I'll do it for this project." Her frown then turned to a smile as she saw her boyfriend across campus. "Would you excuse me?" she asked them before she got up from the table.

Brooke and the others watched the happy reunion between Julian and Rachel. Haley was quiet for a moment before she turned to Lucas. "Do you think there is a chance that your uncle could feel the same way Victoria does?"

Lucas didn't answer for a moment. "No, he won't," he admitted. "And I'm not sure what he is going to do once he finds out that you and Julian aren't really dating." Brooke grew concerned. Lucas then gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry. Nathan and I have your back. We won't let Dan bully you or Haley."

Haley smiled in return. "It's nice to know that we can count on you two to protect us from people like Dan. But I hope we won't need protecting. Dan really should mind his own business."

Lucas sighed. "My dad has been trying to tell him that for years. He never listens. So the best thing is to ignore him when he does start to make nasty comments to you." His friends all gave him the same look. "Ok, don't resort to violence with him. You'll end up getting arrested and sent to jail."

"We'll do our best," Brooke replied before they went back to eating their lunches.