Greatness! You guys just keep the reviews coming and that makes us happy, happy, happy! We don't know how many more chapters there will be in this story, but I don't think we'll go over twenty. No, probably not.

Sorry but not Peyton and Jake in this one. They will be in the next one though. This is also the last chapter with Rachel in it. :d

But, minus the sad stuff, enjoy the chapter! :D

Combustion

"Lucas what are you doing here?" She didn't need this right now. Rachel was supposed to be there any minute and Lucas was already well on his way to ruining her night just by stopping by. She was a bit harsh but she didn't care. He almost knocked her over when he rushed inside. She closed the door and turned to face him.

"I have to talk."

"That's all you ever want to do," she muttered but he had heard. She could tell when the hard look formed on his face that he wasn't a very happy person.

"You weren't complaining about what I was doing yesterday." Brooke opened her mouth in shock. How dare he use that against her! She stepped closer to him so that there bodies were barely brushing.

"Did you come to insult me? If so, please get the hell out of my house."

"Brooke, I didn't-"

"What do you want Lucas?" Brooke nearly yelled, getting fed up with all his talking; it was all he ever did.

"I want you to tell me something."

Brooke gulped. She didn't like where this was going. "What is it?"

"I know what happened." Her eyes widened for a minute before she tried to make herself look calm; she could easily play this one out.

"About what?" Don't let it show. Stay calm.

"I went by your store and saw that it was completely empty."

"I told you that I gave everything to Victoria."

He nodded. "I also talked to her." Brooke was now stunned. How much had happened since she was out? Knowing how her mother worked, she figured Victoria told Lucas everything that Brooke didn't want him to know.

"So?"

"So I know that you didn't get the marks from falling down the stairs," he said calmly. "As if you could get hand prints and teeth marks from it either."

"It's not a hand-"

Lucas marched up to her with such anger that she took a few steps back. She had never seen him so pissed off. He grabbed her arm and lifted it up so that she could see it. The hand print was bright red against her pale skin.

"What is that then?" His voice was darker than usual and she found herself becoming slightly afraid of him. "What the hell does it look like Brooke?"

"It was an accident."

"Dammit Brooke," he yelled. "Stop trying to hide it. I know! You're mother told me about the god damn robbery and that the son of a bitch touched you." So he was mad because the guy touched her? Men. She was beginning to get pissed.

"Well, are you happy you know now? Does it make you feel better?" He sighed and grabbed her hands.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't feel like you had to know."

"Why Brooke? You know that I'm always here for you."

Brooke took a few steps back and shook her head. "No, that's where you're wrong. You didn't need to know because it wasn't your business."

"But you didn't tell anyone," he said loudly.

She looked up at him angrily. "Haley knew and Rachel came right out and told me that she knew." She didn't mean to blurt it out but it just happened.

"Haley knew?" Brooke didn't say anything and Lucas ran a hand through his hair. Haley knew and she didn't tell him? Some friend she was.

"It wasn't Haley's fault. I told her not to tell anyone," she said, sensing that he was getting upset about that. He looked over at her and he felt angry again.

"You still lied."

"You didn't need to know," she retorted, her voice growing louder. "I'm not yours Lucas and your not mine. We don't have to tell each other anything."

"You're still my friend."

"It doesn't matter."

"When I love you, it does matter."

She was shocked when she heard it, just like the time he had told her in the office but she tried to brush it off by laughing quietly. "You can't love me."

Brooke sighed and tried to reason with herself. She was pretty much trapped in between a rock and a hard place. And right now, Lucas was the hard place. He was currently standing in front of her, waiting for her to say something.

"Brooke, just tell me why we can't be together."

Her anger rose. Did he have no sense? "Because, Luke, you're engaged to Peyton!" Louder. "Does her name even ring any bells for you?"

"I made the wrong decision."

"You can't do that Lucas!" Anger, sadness, hurt. "You can't play us like a pack of cards. You can't pick and choose. It's not fair."

"I know that but I choose you."

She looked down. "This isn't high school anymore."

"I realize that," he said coolly. She could tell that he was angry but she didn't let it get to her. It wouldn't.

"You know what Luke? If you wanted me so badly, then why didn't you do things differently in high school?"

His nostrils flared and Brooke looked nervous. "You broke up with me!"

That was the last straw. "Do you know why?!" She was sad and pissed and just too emotional for all of this. "Did you ever wonder why I broke up with you? Did you ever even begin to think that I did want you?" He was silent.

"No," she said. "Because it was always about Peyton. She was always ahead of me in your heart."

"That's not true."

She scoffed. "Is it? Why was it that she always came first? Even if it was me that needed comforting? Why is it that you ran of to Vegas with her?"

"Brooke, it's different this time."

"It's like that every time Lucas," she replied sadly. "I can't do this. I won't be like her. I won't make you cheat on her; it's not fair."

"But I..."

"Please don't."

He was lost; he didn't know what to say to her. "I'm sorry, I..."

"Lucas, why did you pick who you picked in high school? Was it all just a game?" He looked up, shocked by her question.

"You never let me in," he answered honestly.

She stepped back a little when she got her answer. That one took her by surprise. "How? How did I not let you in? I put everything I had into our relationship."

"Maybe you tried too hard. Brooke, relationships are supposed to be happy not uptight and one-sided."

It was as if her body had decided to do whatever it wanted when her hand landed on his cheek. She retracted her hand instantly when he put his hand up to rub his cheek. She stepped back farther.

"Brooke?"

Her lip quivered and she tried to hold the tears back. "How dare you! How dare you say that to me. I put everything and more into our relationship and you did nothing."

He was silent so she continued. "And you want to know why? Because you were always running back to her. You never saved me and you never will." Before he could get another word in, she stepped out of the house and got into her car.

Lucas stood there, baffled by her words. Part of him wanted to go after her while the other half wanted him to stay, knowing that she needed her space. How could he have messed this up so badly?

He sat down and put his head in his hands. He had to fix this.

Brooke went to the one place that she could. She knew, in the back of her mind, that she would have to call Rachel and tell her that she was sorry and that she couldn't make it but right now she just wanted to talk to her friend.

She turned off her car and stepped out into the chilly air. She pulled her jacket tighter to her and went to the door, knocking three times. She tried to stop her tears while she waited but it was useless.

The door opened and Brooke tried to smile before she was pulled into a tight hug. She hugged the familiar person back before they pulled apart.

"Come on in." Brooke nodded and followed Nathan into the house. He led her to the living room, where Haley was sitting on the couch, reading and grading papers. She looked up and dropped her pen when she saw Brooke.

"What happened?"

"I- Lucas...it's complicated." Haley nodded, understanding. "He knows."

"How?"

"My mother," Brooke said with such venom. "He came to talk to me and it exploded into a huge fight about Peyton."

"I'm so sorry. Do you want to stay here for the night?"

She nodded and Haley pulled her into a hug. "We're all here for you Brooke. Lucas too, even though he's being a big jerk."

"I know." Haley smiled and led her to the guest room. She sat Brooke down on the bed and Brooke sat down, wincing when a pain shot through her back.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Sometimes. It's usually just my back now," she answered.

"I'm not talking about just the physical stuff," she posed.

Haley watched as her friend tried to figure things out. "I just...Peyton is going to be crushed."

"Why?"

"I have to tell her that Lucas and I did what we did."

"You don't..."

"I can't go to that wedding unless she knows. If there even will be a wedding after I do." Haley nodded and knew that Brooke was doing it with good intentions. She was still upset that Lucas would do that to the both of them but she knew that he was confused too.

"It'll be alright Brooke."

"I don't know if it is anymore." Haley sighed and hugged her friend before Brooke pulled apart and smiled.

"Thanks Hales. Tell Nate that I said thanks to him too."

"I will." Both of the girls sat there in silence for a moment before Haley stood up and wished Brooke goodnight before she left the room.

"Is she alright?" Nathan asked once Haley stepped back into the living room. She went to sit next to her husband on the couch.

"She will be."

Rachel pulled into Brooke's driveway and noticed that her car was missing. She saw another car and figured that she had two now. She shut the car off and got out before she went to the door. She rang the doorbell but when she got no answer, she stepped inside to find Lucas sitting on the stairs.

"Lucas?"

Lucas looked up, surprised. "Rachel? It's been a while."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Where's Brooke?" He looked hurt when she mentioned Brooke's name but she let it go.

"She left."

"She left you here?"

"We had a fight," he said sadly. She groaned and dropped her purse on the table next to her before she got closer to the blond.

"If you hurt her, I'll have to hurt you."

"No need. I'm sure Nathan will kick my ass tomorrow for it."

"I'll start the beating." She smiled when she remembered Nathan and Haley. She would have to visit them the next time she came down but then another thought popped into her mind. "How would Nathan know?"

"That's probably where she went. It's where she usually goes when she's upset."

"Lucas..." He ignored her and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"To the bar," he said, not really knowing if he meant it. She shrugged and grabbed her purse. They both left the house, Lucas locking it on his way out.

Just as Lucas was about to get into his car, Rachel turned and called his name. He looked over at her and she walked over to his car.

"Lucas, I may not know you all too well but Brooke is a good person with a good heart. I don't want you to break it again because god knows you do it too well."

"I-"

"Don't give me that crap. I'm not here to listen to your problems but I want you to know that if you're going to do this whole 'high school' thing again, you better not hurt her."

"I know." She turned and began to walk back to her car before she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Oh and Lucas?"

"Yes?"

"Don't always assume that things are what they seem on both accounts," she told him and he became confused instantly. What the hell did that mean? Rachel smiled before she got into her car and left. Lucas, who was now confused by her words, followed her actions and got into his car before he started to head for home.

He didn't know what to expect tomorrow. Hell, he didn't know what to expect anymore these days.

Pretty please press the pretty purple button. It's kind of a tongue twister. Ha.

Sooo? How do you like it so far? My, meaning Ashleigh's, favorite line was with Rachel when she told him to not break Brooke's heart again because he did it too well. I love writing her and so does Rose. Rose went over the chapter but she wasn't here to post it with me.

Game: Anyone want to guess what Rachel's statement meant? The one that confused Lucas. "Don't always assume that things are what they seem on both accounts." We didn't know how else to word it but if you can figure it out then you get...something. :D

Anyways...we'll update as soon as we can. Thanks again for all the reviews!