AN/ I know I only posted the last part yesterday but I'm going to be busy over the next week and as much as I'd love to post something before Xmas I'm not sure it'll happen. So enjoy!

Part 6

Haley looked over at Nathan when there was a knock at the front door.

Nathan sighed "Guess that's Luke." He said standing from the kitchen counter and walking over to let him in.

It hadn't been an easy morning so far, after Peyton had broken down and told Haley about the rape she had went into detail about how badly Brooke had been injured, how close she had come to dying last night.

Haley had no idea that things had been that bad, though it now explained why Peyton had been so distraught since.

They had finally drifted off to sleep after having both cried and talked a little more once Peyton had calmed down enough.

They had both vowed to do everything possible to be there for Brooke once she was out of the hospital. Haley had asked Peyton if telling the others would be a good idea, although she knew she would be sharing the news with Nathan.

Peyton was reluctant to have to repeat the conversation over and over again, feeling it wasn't really her place to give out that much information about Brooke's attack. Haley had suggested only letting a few people know the truth, including Lucas and his mother, to which Peyton had agreed. It would help she assumed if at least the closest people to Brooke were aware of what had actually happened that night.

"Hey." Lucas says taking a seat next to Nathan and dropping a brown paper bag from his mother's café down onto the counter.

"Breakfast as promised." He continued looking around.

Haley grabbed the bag and began to arrange their food as she noted Lucas looking for Peyton.

"She's in the shower."

Lucas turned to his two friends disappointed at having to wait longer to see his girlfriend. He knew she had to be upset over what had happened to Brooke and wanted to be there for her.

"Is she okay?" He asks.

Nathan and Haley look at each other wondering if they should let Lucas know everything Peyton had said. Haley had only told Nathan just as Peyton had headed to get washed up. He had yet to speak to Peyton and was letting Haley take the lead in telling Lucas.

Haley nodded.

"She will be." She said gazing sadly at her best friend.

"But?" Lucas questioned having seen the exchange between Haley and his brother. He knew there was something they were keeping from him.

"I'm not sure it's our place to say anything." Nathan says having watched Haley avoid Lucas' eyes.

"Come on guys, I've got a right to know." He replied looking from one to the other becoming more concerned by the minute. He knew he should have just come over here last night like he had planned to instead of letting Nathan talk him out of it.

"Actually you don't."

They all turned as Peyton walked towards them. Her hair was still wet and she was wearing some clothes borrowed from Haley that didn't quite fit right.

Haley let out a burst of laughter before covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sorry." She apologized even as she smiled at Peyton.

"You just look…"

"Stupid?" Peyton finished for her with a smile of her own as she looked down at herself. Well I guess they're not really my style. She thought looking at the bright red pants and yellow t-shirt.

Peyton shrugged. It wasn't like she had any choice in the matter at the moment, so she'd take what she could.

Walking over to the counter she avoided sitting next to Lucas by taking the empty chair by Haley who handed her a muffin.

"Blueberry right?" Haley asks as she pours some coffee for the blonde watching her nod her thanks.

Lucas followed Peyton's movements thinking about what he should say to her.

"Peyton?" He asked, knowing doing anything other than letting Peyton speak in her own time would probably cause the blonde to walk away without saying anything.

Peyton sighed and spent time taking a bite from her muffin before looking at her boyfriend. She wasn't sure exactly why she was upset at his presence she just wasn't sure she could let him act like her saviour at the moment.

It was what he did after all wasn't it. Play the hero. Rescue her when she needed it, right? Only now she wasn't the one that needed to be rescued, there was no bad guy to save her from.

It was Brooke that had needed someone to save her last night.

But no one had.

No one was there to save her best friend from the nightmare that she would now have to live with.

No one there to protect her.

She had been all alone and Peyton would not allow Brooke to be alone ever again. Peyton would be there from now on and she vowed to do everything she could to help Brooke not only survive but move on from her attack.

Nothing and no one would stop her from being there for Brooke.

That was something she knew Lucas would have to accept because she wouldn't be putting anyone before Brooke for a very long time to come.

"She was raped Lucas." Peyton informed him with little emotion seeing his eyes widen at the news.

"She was beaten, stabbed and raped. In my bedroom. She was left to bleed to death by some sick bastard that will probably never be caught. And she'll always have to live with that Lucas." She continued in the same lifeless tone as Lucas' eyes began to water. She looked at Haley and Nathan seeing them with similar expressions holding hands across the counter.

The silence dragged on, breakfast quickly forgotten as no one really knew what to say.

Finally Nathan locked eyes with Peyton his anger and hatred clear even as a tear fell from his eyes.

"They'll find him Peyton. They'll find him because if I ever get my hands on him I'll kill him. I swear I will." Nathan's voice cracked as he spoke causing Haley to get up and go over to him.

Peyton accepted that as she watched Haley rap her arms around her husband. She knew that if she was able to she would do the exact same thing. She could only hope that he would be found, that her friend wouldn't have to live in the fear of knowing he was always out there somewhere.

That he might come back.

Just as she turned to talk to Lucas Nathan's phone began to ring.

After being released from Haley's hold Nathan wiped his eyes and cleared his throat before picking it up and answering.

"Hello?...Yeah she's here….. okay." He said to the person on the other end before handing the phone to Peyton who looked at him in question.

"It's Mouth, says he needed to talk to you." He answered her as she took the phone from him.

"Hi?" She said as she listened to what Mouth had to say.

Finally she ended the call having said nothing to Mouth not even goodbye.

"Great!" She exclaimed running her hand through her hair and standing. She wanted nothing more than to scream, everything seemed to be happening at the one time and she wasn't sure what to do.

"What?" Haley asked hoping to get some information out of her friend before she began to pace up and down the kitchen floor.

Peyton looked at all three of them before dropping herself back into her seat with a sigh.

"That was Mouth, apparently Rachel has decided to go stay with mommy and daddy seeing as she's been kicked out of school. Anyway it looks like Brooke's going to have to find somewhere else to live because she's leaving Monday." Peyton said gruffly.

Haley looked at Nathan raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind Brooke moving in with us, I can call her now if you want." Lucas said looking at Peyton.

"Actually I don't think that's the best solution Lucas." Haley said before turning to Peyton who she thought looked relieved not to have to take Lucas up on his idea.

"Nathan and I have been talking about moving in with his mother. You know with the baby and everything, it just kind of makes sense."

Peyton beamed at Haley before jumping up out of her chair to hug her friend causing the others to smile and laugh.

"Does that by any chance mean this place is available?" Peyton asks even though she already knew the answer from the smiles on Nathan's and Haley's faces.

"Yeah!" She said in reply to their nods.

"We were kind of going to ask you if you wanted to move in here seeing as you can't go home right now." Nathan added.

"Yeah, I'm not sure when they'll let me back in there either. Not that I could stay in my room anytime soon, but I could do with picking up some of my things." Peyton agreed as she sat back down.

"Well, how about we go pick up Brooke's things from Rachel's and bring them back here. You could call later and see when they'll let you back into your house." Lucas offered.

Peyton looked over to Haley and Nathan silently asking them to go with her.

"Sounds like a plan." Nathan said as they all stood to leave.

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"Are you sure she's in." Lucas asked at the third press of the door bell.

"It's like 10 in the morning on a Saturday, where else would she be?" Peyton asks annoyed as she presses the doorbell again.

Finally the door is flung open to reveal a barely dressed red head that looked like she had enjoyed the previous night a little too well.

"YES! Oh it's you." Rachel said before opening the door wider and letting the four of them into her house.

Peyton walked into the house and then waited before following Rachel up her stairs to the bedroom she had shared with Brooke over the last few months.

"Well most of her stuff is in those." Rachel said pointing to a wardrobe and drawer set at the other side of the room. Watching as Haley and Nathan moved over to them and begin to go through them and removing Brooke's clothes.

"How is she?" The redhead asked quietly looking at Peyton with concern.

"Mouth got a hold of me after he'd left the hospital, he said that she was going to be fine, right?"

Peyton looked at her, this was the person Brooke had turned to after she had ruined their friendship. Someone she'd started off hating only to end up living with.

"She'll be okay, she's pretty beaten up but yeah, she will be fine." Peyton answered not willing to tell her more than that.

Rachel nodded then moved over to help Nathan and Haley packing Brookes things into boxes they had brought with them. She had liked Peyton a lot but she knew they'd never be more than what they were, two people that were on the same squad, liked the same music, but would never become closer than they were at the moment. There were many reasons for that but the main one, and most important one, was Brooke.

Rachel had taken Peyton's place in Brooke's life for a while and nothing would be able to change that.

"Hey, you okay?" Lucas asked rubbing Peyton's arms as she stared after Rachel.

"Yeah, let's just get this done." She sighed looking at her watch. She could go visit Brooke in another three hours.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I think that's the last of it." Lucas says returning to the bedroom where Peyton was sitting on Brooke's bed.

Peyton nodded and stood to join him taking a last look around the room. Brooke always seemed to be moving from one place to another, hopefully at some point she would be able to find somewhere she would truly be able to call home. It made her sad to think that at 18 Brooke had never really had that yet.

"Oh, hey I just remembered something." Rachel says coming into the room and heading over to Brooke's bed.

Peyton and Lucas watched as she pulled a black photo album out from underneath the pillow.

"She probably didn't know I knew where she kept it but here." The redhead continued handing it to Peyton.

The front cover read 'Hoes over bros' and for the life of her Peyton could never remember ever having seen it before.

"Thanks." She replied quietly.

"No problem, though if she asks, you found it yourself. Oh and just in case you wonder about the last few pictures, I got them for her so it's not like she's been stalking you or whatever." Rachel finishes with a laugh.

Peyton just stared at the cover wondering what was held inside.

"She's looked at that thing over and over again for weeks. I was about ready to throw the damn thing out it upset her so much. But I guess she just likes to torture herself huh?" She continued with a shrug. She'd never be able to work out what went on inside Brooke's head but then again no one probably would, except maybe the blonde standing in front of her.

Peyton gave Rachel a weak smile as she turned and began to leave.

"Tell Brooke I hope she gets back on her feet soon okay?" Rachel asks following them out of the house.

"We will." Lucas answers for Peyton who hadn't really heard her.

"Come on." Lucas says guiding Peyton into the back of the car glad that they'd be going back to Nathan's for awhile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peyton had helped the others pile boxes in the corner of Nathan and Haley's living room. It would be a few days before they'd be moving in with his mom. But that was fine, Brooke would still be in the hospital anyway.

"So what is this anyway?" Lucas asks from the couch as he flips through the 'Hoes over bro's' album.

Peyton looks at him and quickly moves over taking the album out of his hands and closing it.

"What do you think your doing?" She demands angrily causing Haley to glance over from where she was making lunch. Nathan had left to take some of their things over to his mother's house so they could move out as soon as possible to give Peyton some space.

"What?" Lucas asks confused by her reaction.

"It's just pictures of the two of you when you were kids. What's the big deal?" He continued as Peyton placed the album inside a box.

"What's the big deal? It's private Lucas, you can't just go through her stuff." She said placing her hand to her forehead.

"It's just pictures Peyt?" Lucas tried again not understanding what her problem was.

"It's not just pictures Luke, it's an album I've never seen before. She kept it under her pillow! You can't just act like its okay to go through it." She says looking to Haley for support.

"She's right Lucas. You wouldn't go through Peyton's sketch pads without asking first now would you?" Haley asked trying to make Lucas understand although she had to chew the inside of her lip to stop herself laughing as she watched Peyton's eyes widen in panic at the thought.

"No I guess not." Lucas finally replied not seeing the relief in Peyton's face.

"But I've never seen some of those pictures of Peyton before." He defended himself.

"Well I'm sure once Brooke is out of the hospital and is feeling better, she probably won't mind show you all the embarrassing pictures of Peyton she has." Haley said with a smirk when it was clear Peyton had yet to find her voice.

"Hey! There will be no looking at any pictures of me until they've been properly vetted first." Peyton squawked having gotten over the idea of Lucas going through her things.

Her pictures told a lot of stories and they weren't always easy to interpret the way she had intended. Mostly they were her private thoughts and feelings about her life at any give moment.

She would never show some of her pictures to people because they exposed her emotions on certain things, they expressed her raw feelings more clearly than any writings in a diary would.

The only person that had ever had free access to them was Brooke and although she had often watched as she looked through her latest drawings she almost never questioned her about them.

Brooke knew her better than anyone else in the world so she had never need explanations the way other people would.

She wouldn't always get her but Brooke accepted Peyton without question, something Peyton was only now beginning to truly appreciate.

AN/ I know, I know - 6 parts and I still haven't covered 24hrs - did I mention this was gonna be a long fic? I'm pretty sure I did ;)

Hope you all stick with it, and thanks to those writing reviews as well as those just reading, you know who you are!