Here it is. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it, but, eh, what the hell.
Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot belongs to me.
"Ryan Atwood!"
Ryan pushed open the curtain and begun to walk. The blinding light hurt his eyes and the massive crowd made him nervous but he found he was having fun. As he reached the end of the runway, he winked at a girl in the front row, who squealed and held her hand up.
"Ten dollars!" she shrieked.
Brooke looked hurriedly down at her wallet. "Twenty!" she cried.
"Thirty," the other girl countered, giving Brooke a mean look.
"Forty five!" Brooke challenged. The girl looked crestfallen.
"Brooke," Peyton hissed. "What are you doing?"
"What?" Brooke said. "I told you I thought he was cute. I want to spend an evening with him."
"Going once…" Whitey pointed at her. "Going twice…sold to Brooke Davis!"
Ryan smiled at her and she waved happily at him. He walked off stage.
A few players later, Whitey cried out, "Jake Jaglieski!"
Marissa looked up, surprised. And sure enough, there he was, dressed, as was his tradition, in a big gorilla suit. Atleast, that's what she thought it was. Jake was at the end of ramp when he looked at the audience and locked eyes with her. His widened in shock. Marissa smiled at him shyly.
Peyton looked at him and felt a strange familiar fondness for him. They say time heals all wounds, she thought. And maybe it's time to make peace. What the hell?
"Fifty dollars!" she called. Most girls were trying to save money and were waiting to bid for the Scott brothers anyway, and said nothing.
Peyton smiled a little smugly as she waited for Whitey's hammer to come down.
"Going once…going twice…"
"A hundred and ten!" Marissa suddenly called. Stunned, Peyton could not say a word. The audience was dead silent.
"Going once…going twice…sold!"
"Lucas Scott!"
Peyton was still fuming slightly from Marissa's unexpected outburst that she did not even notice. Since when did Marissa and Jake even know each other?
"Peyton," Brooke hissed furiously. "Summer just bid on Lucas. What am I supposed to do?"
Peyton looked up, disoriented, to see Summer holding up six ten dollar bills in her hand.
"Going once…"
"Bid on Lucas."
"What?" Peyton said, snapping out of her reverie.
"I said, bid on Lucas. Better you than Summer!"
"Going twice…"
"But, Brooke – "
"Peyton, just do it!"
"Seventy dollars!" Peyton said, thrusting her hand into the air.
"Going once…twice…sold!" Whitey pointed at her.
Brooke sighed in relief.
After Skills was bought by Bevin, and Tim was bought by Rachel, it was the one they'd all held their breath for.
"And lastly, the captain…Nathan Scott!"
The audience erupted in cheers as Nathan walked out confidently.
"Twenty dollars!" A girl shrieked, before he even had time to reach the end of the ramp.
"Twenty five!"
"Thirty!"
"Forty!"
"Forty five!"
"Fifty five!"
"Seventy!"
"A hundred and ten!"
"A hundred and fifty!"
The audience was silenced by this large sum. Whitey called, "Going once…"
"A hundred and seventy nine dollars and thirty two cents!" Seth suddenly cried. Suddenly, every eye in the house was on him but he didn't care. No way could he let some random slut come in and buy Nathan.
"Going once…twice…SOLD!"
"What?" Brooke said, scandalized. "Was it my imagination or did Seth just buy Nathan?"
"It's definitely not your imagination," Peyton said. "Unless I'm having the same dream as you."
Everyone begun filing out.
Summer sighed. She hadn't got anyone. Her and Marissa turned to leave but with a glance back, she saw someone scurrying across the stage.
Recklessly, she gathered all the money in her purse, grabbed Marissa's leftover money from her hand and cried, "Two hundred for the lights guy!"
"Going…what the hell…SOLD!" Whitey slammed his hammer down for the last time.
Marissa met Jake outside. Overcome with happiness, she threw her arms around his neck.
Jake looked surprised, but hugged her back. Hell, he was ecstatic to see her again.
"I can't believe you bought me," he muttered, into her hair.
She pulled back slightly to smile at him. "I missed you when I left."
"I missed you when you left, too," he said, grinning. Throwing his arm around her shoulders, they made their way to the car.
Peyton watched from a distance, her heart twisting, as she saw her ex boyfriend and her new friend walking away, looking completely comfortable with her. She felt Brooke on her other side, patting her arm reassuringly.
"Peyton?"
She turned around. It was Lucas. She smiled weakly.
"Hi, Brooke," he said shyly.
"Hi," she said stiffly.
"Um, thanks for buying me," he said, turning back to Peyton. "Shall we go?"
Peyton nodded mutely. She gave Brooke a quick hug and walked away with Lucas.
Brooke found Ryan pretty easily. He was standing near the main doors, looking shy. His face lit up when he saw her.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," she replied. "Any ideas on where you wanna go tonight?"
"Your call," Ryan said, smiling. "You do own me after all."
Brooke grinned. "How about my place?"
"SETH!" Nathan yelled, coming at him with a huge smile on his face.
"Nate," Seth said, feeling happier than he had that morning.
Nathan reached him and wrapped his strong arms around Seth's lean body. Seth hugged him back.
Nathan released him. "You bought me!"
"I'm sorry," Seth said. "I suppose you could have been spending the evening with some hot horny girl."
Nathan shoved Seth playfully. "Oh, shut up! I'm really glad you did. And I can't wait to spend the evening with you."
"Really?" Seth said. "So where are we going?"
"We're going to my house," Nathan replied. "C'mon."
"Summer?" A timid voice called out from behind her.
She turned, and her mouth dropped open. It was the guy she had snubbed in class the other day – Mouth. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she wanted to kick herself. Of all the bad luck.
"Oh, it's you," she said, the disappoint apparent in her voice.
"Yes," Mouth said. "Can I ask you something?"
"If you must," Summer said resignedly.
"If you were going to treat me like this, why'd you even buy me?"
"It's not like I meant to," Summer said.
"Well, you know, if you want, we could just go home by ourselves. We don't have to follow the rules. It's not like anyone's going to check."
The sadness and loneliness in his voice suddenly made Summer feel very bad.
"No," she said. "It's okay. So…where do you suppose we go?
Mouth smiled giddily.
Sitting in Jake's car, outside a Burger King, Marissa and Jake couldn't stop laughing. They had each had two cokes and a huge amount of fries, and for some reason, everything was striking them as funny.
Patting her stomach, Marissa leaned back in her seat, feeling unbelievably carefree. "You know, I never did this back in Newport."
"Really?" Jake said, setting down his burger on his lap. "My ex, Nikki and I used to do this almost every night."
"Yeah, well, it was different with us. In Orange County, it's all about debutantes and brunches and things like that." She sighed. "But it gets so boring and repetitive after a while. I feel like I've missed out on a whole other life here."
Jake smiled.
Marissa checked her watch.
"Midnight yet?" Jake asked.
"About half an hour left," Marissa replied.
Jake leaned toward her and held her wrist lightly. "What's say you and I start early?"
Marissa giggled and leaned forward to kiss him.
Standing on the roof of Karen's Café, well past its closing time, Peyton glanced shyly at Lucas. So far, it had been quite awkward. It was impossible to pretend that neither of them had noticed that they hadn't spoken in over two months.
"So how are things with Jake?" Lucas asked, as an attempt to make conversation. "He's back in town, right?"
Peyton nodded. "Well, we kind of broke up."
"I'm sorry," Lucas said. "So why'd you bid for him tonight?"
"Because I love him," Peyton said simply. "And it's not his fault he has to keep moving from place to place. I know he loves me, but its okay that he loves Jenny more."
"Righteous," Lucas said. "That's really quite selfless of you, Peyton."
Peyton raised her eyebrows at him. "Is that why you've been avoiding me like the plague?"
Lucas exhaled. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I love you. You know that. Just not in that way."
"That's okay, Luke," Peyton said. "What I said in the library was stupid and reckless…and not entirely true. You saved me, and I was grateful to you. I've been doing some thinking, and what I said was purely impulse. I never meant to break you and Brooke up."
"I don't blame you," Lucas said. "Besides, it looks like Brooke is never going to speak to me again."
"You don't seem too upset," Peyton commented. "You should've seen Summer. She was a blubbering mess."
"I am upset. And I feel bad that she found us the way she did. It's just that…I don't think we would have survived much longer even if I hadn't slept with Summer." He shrugged. "I'm sorry. It's just the way it is."
Summer and Mouth sat on the bench, side by side, on the River Court.
"So what happened with you and Seth?" Mouth asked tentatively.
Summer looked at him. "You were there at the party when it happened, weren't you?"
Mouth nodded.
"Sorry you had to see me like that," Summer said. "It wasn't exactly my shining moment. And I'm sorry about the way I treated you. It's just…you reminded me of Seth when I first met him. And, well, look how that turned out."
Her eyes were wet, and she sniffed softly.
"Everything's just been so screwed up lately," she said, as a tear escaped and fell down her cheek.
Not knowing what to do, Mouth hesitantly put his arm around her. She leaned into his embrace, turning her face toward him, and crying into his shirt.
Brooke and Ryan were sitting in her room, Ryan on the chair, and her on her bed. Ryan had opened up to her about his life before and with the Cohens and Brooke had gotten the feeling he didn't do that much. She felt important and special.
"So where's…Trey, now, was it?"
Ryan nodded. "He's still in juvie. I don't think he'll be out for awhile."
"What about Theresa?" Brooke asked. "What happened after she lost the baby?"
"I came back here." Ryan shrugged. "Haven't heard from her since."
Brooke smiled sympathetically. "So I heard you and Marissa broke up this morning? How come?"
"Lots of history," Ryan cocked his head to the side. "I'm not boring you, am I?"
"Not in the slightest," Brooke said, settling back more comfortably. "I wanna know as much about you as I can."
Nathan unlocked the door to the pool area. Seth looked at it skeptically.
"This is what we're doing tonight?" He asked. "But I don't have trunks or anything. And anyway, I should warn you, I'm not the best swimmer."
"You don't need trunks," Nathan said. "And don't you worry, I'll save you."
"Nate, I really don't think so," Seth said, turning around. Nathan wasn't there. "Nate? Where are – "
He felt Nathan's arms wrap around his waist and then he was airborne, before they both fell with a loud splash into the water.
Marissa and Jake broke off, as Jake glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "It's midnight," he said.
Marissa giggled and pulled his mouth back to hers.
"I should be getting home," Summer said, pulling away from him. Smiling a watery smile, she rose from the bench.
Mouth did likewise.
Summer turned. "I'm sorry. We didn't really get to talk much. Maybe next time?"
Mouth's face lit up. "Next time?"
Summer laughed. "Definitely. And thanks."
Taking one of his hands in hers, she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the mouth.
"Bye," she said, patting his hand and turning around.
"Wow, it's midnight already?" Ryan looked down at his watch.
"Hmm," Brooke said, jokingly. "I think there was something we were supposed to do at midnight. I just can't remember what it was."
Ryan grinned. "Maybe I can remind you?"
He held out his arms for her. She walked over and sat in his lap. Unable to stop smiling, Ryan kissed her. She responded enthusiastically.
Peyton looked at her watch. "It's twelve, Luke."
Lucas nodded. "We're cool, right?"
Peyton smiled warmly. "Totally."
He kissed her quickly on the lips, and then slung his arm around her and begun to make his way downstairs.
Seth flailed in the water for a few minutes, looking furious.
"Nate – " he sputtered, but Nathan's laughing face made it impossible for him to be angry.
"Sorry?" Nathan offered, not looking the slightly bit sorry.
Seth made a face, and recovering his balanced, playfully pulled Nathan underwater with him. Nathan clung to him, his body convulsed in silent laughter.
They both resurfaced a few minutes later, facing each other in the water. Seth's wet hair stuck to his forehead and he brushed it off, breathing heavily. They both locked eyes.
Then, the glint of laughter still in his eyes, Nathan took a step toward Seth and impulsively pressed his lips to his. Their wet lips slid gently across each other and Seth could feel Nathan's tongue against his mouth. He parted his lips slightly.
I'm sorry, I know it was all VERY brief. I didn't have much time. Besides, the Boy Toy auction's not too important, just some things needed to be established. ANYWAY, hope you didn't hate it. Also, I have some things to say...
drumstiix: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! If you're reading this, I guess I've done my job and you don't hate it.
x-Brucas-Naley-Jeyton-x: Thanks for reviewing. ) I hope my message cleared things up.
estelle.evenstar72: Thanks for reading. I hope you're not still getting lost in the plotline and that it's making more sense now!
kurskis: Thank you! Will definitely take what you think into consideration. Hope you continue reading...:)
kay0340: Thanks so much...yeah, Brooke totally flipped. And with Ryan and Brooke...that's what I thought too. Hope you like the aftermath then! )
LaClem0516: Thanks! Hope you're still reading. 3
Storyteller247: Thanks for reading! Yeah, she does. )
BrookeRoberts: I'm obsessed with them too. :) Thank you so much!!
Colviper8: Thanks a ton. Haven't heard from you for awhile, but hopefully, you're still reading! )
Onetreehillluver317: Thank you for reading! They're mine too. :P
lpalways: I hope you're okay with the pairings so far...and there's a Leyton moment in here for you! Thanks. )
Thank you to all of you once again! You're what keeps the story going.