Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters. Lol.
A/N: Sorry for making It look like I updated, anyways I have a question to ask you guys. Which do you think is better, Brucas staying together or them exposing their parents?
Title: Dinner Turned Engagement
Chapter 2: How Do We Fix This?
Lucas Scott ran towards his car with a smile plastered on his face, while he fumed with anger inside. He once wondered how it felt to be ran after by the press, and right now, he wished he didn't have to experience it. Lucas drove to the Marriott, and one thing he could definitely notice was that he was like being escorted to the place, only, those in motorcycles weren't bodyguards, they're the people out to kill him.
He arrives at the place not even surprised to see it swarming with the same people that ambushed him earlier. If anything, it only brought about an irritated laugh from him. He left his car in front on the lobby while he battled it out with the reporters and paparazzi to get in. When he managed to get past security, he immediately approached a man of what he assumed to be one of the establishment's employees. "Excuse me, but I need to see Brooke Davis" he tells the man, trying his best to keep his cool. The man nods at him and in no time, he is led to Brooke Davis' suite.
Brooke Davis couldn't believe this whole fiasco is happening. In fact, she thinks everything is just some bad dream and she demands to wake up from it, now. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening." She mutters to herself as she rubbed her temples, Michel giving her a look of confusion.
"The reporters are really making a scene outside Ms. Davis." Michel's voice is suddenly formal, something Brooke didn't want right now, because if you ask her, what she needs right now is someone who will assure her this is just one big horrible mistake, and that everything will be just fine.
"And you think I don't know that?! How did this happen!? How!" She blew up at him, and paced around again. Something like that could've lessened the stress right? But it didn't.
"I'm sorry Ms. Davis, but as much as I want to be your friend right now, the security of this place is my responsibility first." Michel explains and Brooke just nods at him, offering him an apologetic look.
"I know, I'm sorry. I just, I need to think first okay? But you can tell them I don't have anything to say right now." Brooke tells him, trying her best to calm herself. Michel just nods at her and prepared to leave. Just then, they both hear a pound on the door. Yes, a pound, not a knock.
Lucas Scott isn't about to hold back his anger anymore. No one sees him, so there's really no reason to. He pounded on the door again. "Open up, dammit!" He cursed to himself as he heard Brooke shouting a 'wait a sec.' towards him. She's still so calm about this? He thought to himself.
When the door swung open, he sees a black bald guy who looks like he's in-charged with the hotel. "Can I talk to Brooke?" He asks him and he answers just by looking at the brunette. "Michel, I can handle this. Thank you." Brooke tells Michel, and with that she lets Lucas in while Michel went out to face the mad reporters he left an hour ago.
As soon as Michel was gone, Lucas Scott didn't bother being gentle and calm about everything anymore. Instead, he blew up his anger on Brooke. "I can't believe you agreed to this! To think I thought you were actually surprised about dinner! So tell me, what's in it for you? Huh?" He tells her harshly, everything obviously coming out of anger. Brooke Davis couldn't believe what she's hearing. Is Lucas Scott actually blaming her for this horrible, horrible thing? She paced around for a bit a tried to calm herself not wanting to stoop down to his level. Obviously, he didn't know about this either, just then he started shouting again.
"Now, you're gonna go down there and tell everyone, that this, everything, is a set up!" Lucas Scott raged in anger. If there was one thing he really enjoyed, it was being single and not needing to answer to anyone, and he's not just about to sit and relax, and just watch it be taken away from him. Brooke Davis tried to keep her cool about it, something she's picked up with dealing with difficult client for the past years, to her surprise Lucas Scott grabbed her by the arm, something she definitely didn't expect.
"And look, you're still wearing that goddamn ring! I'm sure it's not even stuck!" He shouted in her face as he forced to take it off her finger. Brooke winced in pain. She had been trying to take it off the moment she realized what's happening.
"You're hurting me!" She told him and forced herself out of his grasp, not able to keep her calm anymore. "You think I did this? You think I have any idea about this? Well guess what asshole! I am just fucking clueless with this just like you are!" She shouted at him hatefully.
Lucas Scott felt terrified by his own actions. He's never, not once in his entire life grabbed a woman by the arm and hurt her in the process. He was shocked, and ashamed of his actions, suddenly, everything was quiet, that was until his phone started ringing again. Brooke looked at him, surprised what kind of person he really is. If you asked her last night, there's no way she would've thought Lucas Scott could act like a complete jerk. Then again, that might be the effect of a fabricated engagement.
"Luke?! Where are you? I go to your house and you're not here!" Nathan scolded, not even bothering to let his brother say hello.
"I'm at the Marriott. I need you to come here. Bring every damned newspaper or whatever tabloid that published about this fiasco." His voice was suddenly full of anger again, before Nathan could reply, Lucas already hang up. Brooke is still silent, and Lucas couldn't help but feel guilty about it. It was his fault anyways. So, he took the initiative and started speaking to her.
"Look, I'm sorry for behaving like I did, but my brother's coming here right now, and we're going to fix this. Okay?" His voice was now gentle, but Brooke could tell he's upset. Hell, she is.
"You don't know how much I needed to hear that." She admits and takes a seat on her couch. She closed her eyes and wished everything just goes away. To her disappointment, things were still the same when she opened them.
"I just…how did this happen? I mean, we were just eating dinner!" Lucas tells her knowingly. There was tiredness in his voice, something Brooke had been starting to feel.
"We're like in a freaking hostage situation." Lucas spoke again as he glanced outside her window. Brooke went to him to go see how bad it is. "Only there aren't any rescues coming." Brooke continued when she saw how the whole street is covered with reporters.
"Everyone down there is out to get us! How are we going to fix this?" Lucas asked in an exasperated tone. Honestly, he had no idea. He sees Brooke dial a number and he is just confused.
"Brooke! Are you ready to tell me the details now?" Rachel answers excitedly, as if she's been waiting for the brunette's call.
"Listen Rach, I need you here at my place, now. Bring Peyton with you, I can't reach her number." Brooke instructed and hang up. She didn't really want to explain everything to Rachel by the phone. Suddenly, both Brooke and Lucas hear something from the TV that just made them more terrified than they already were. Somehow they felt that things are bound to get more complicated.
"The Scott's and The Davis' are here to talk about their kids engagement." Ryan Seacrest from E! said. Brooke and Luke just had shocked expressions on their faces and turned to listen to what their conniving parents had to say.
"So, Mr. Scott, have you known about your son and Brooke Davis seeing each other, because those pictures, I mean, the news of their engagement just took the whole entertainment industry by surprise." Ryan asked enthusiastically, as if the news brought him joy, or whatever.
"The answer to that would be yes Ryan. Actually, Brooke and Lucas had been seeing each other for a long time now. How long has it been Richard?" Dan asked and turned to his friend. Brooke's eyes grew wider with what she's seeing. Is everything actually happening?
"I think they've been together for a year and a half now." Richard Davis answered and Brooke's eyes almost popped out. "A year and a half?! You have got to be kidding me!" Brooke shouted from her seat as if her father could hear her.
"That's what we know okay, but I think they've been together longer than that for them to decide to be engaged already." Victoria Davis added jokingly, Deb laughing with her.
"Did you expect them to be engaged soon? And a year and a half? Wow, they sure have been good at keeping it." Ryan asked again and marveled at the span of time the 'couple' kept their relationship.
"Actually, yeah. My son even asked me a couple of months ago what would be the perfect ring to give Brooke." Deb answered. To this Lucas said a disappointed 'I don't believe this.'
"Yeah, the ring is beautiful." Ryan said as they flashed an image of Brooke with the ring, that could've been taken when she and Luke were about to leave Daniel's.
"It is. My daughter is really happy about it. I mean, she was so surprised last night, I know she wants this, and I'm really happy for them." Victoria added in a very caring tone. Something Brooke didn't even dreamed of hearing. E! then flashed an image of Brooke and Lucas as he was putting on the ring on her. They were both smiling. "How did this happen?" Brooke asked herself again as she began to pace.
"Did they set any particular date already?" Ryan asked and Dan smiled at him. Lucas Scott suddenly felt helpless at that moment. Could they still possibly fix this? He thought to himself.
"Well, we don't really know, but those two are so in love with each other, I don't know, maybe they'll just surprise us again." Dan finished with a smile on his face. One that would make people believe that he only wants his son happy.
"Well thank you Dan, Deb, Richard and Victoria." Ryan finished and reported again. "So that's it ladies and gentlemen. Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis are engaged. To Lucas and Brooke, if you're watching, I just want to say congratula—" Before Ryan finished Brooke hit the power button turning the TV off.
"I can't believe they're doing this!" Brooke said in a tired angry tone, then turned to Lucas who looked like he's giving up on the situation. "Don't give me that look Scott!" She tells him and he just stares at her in confusion.
"What look?" He asks earning an immediate answer. "Like your just gonna let this fabricated engagement happen!" Lucas Scott's jaw dropped. It was like Brooke Davis read his mind. He knows his dad, and as much as he hates to admit it, both him and Brooke are trapped in his little play, and matter of factly, he didn't know what else to do either.
"Well do you have any other plans in mind?" He asks in frustration. "Because if you do, then let's get this whole thing done and over with." Her told her and Brooke grew silent. "It's not like we could just tell them 'Hey, our parents just set us up. This whole thing is a fluke. We're not dating, we're not engaged, and we're sure as hell not getting married!" No matter how hard he tried to restrain his anger, thinking about how Dan royally screwed up with him just makes him lose it.
"Okay." Brooke began calmly. "So telling them this whole thing is a set up is not an option." She continued as she tried to think of something else. When nothing came, she just felt like giving up. "God I hate my parents." She huffed, then stifled a laugh.
"You can still laugh about this?" Lucas asked her, quite amused. "Me? I just feel like crying." He admits with a groan and Brooke laughed again.
"I'm sure as hell not gonna let my parents make me cry about this." Brooke said full of conviction. Yes, Brooke Davis is and has always been a fighter, and a fabricated engagement isn't something that's gonna bring her down. Although, one could safely say that Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis being engaged is hardly a plan to bring each other down.
"So does that mean you actually have something in mind?" Lucas asks suddenly hopeful. Maybe there still is something they could do. "No." Brooke huffs and both of their faces fall. "But breakfast sounds good." She continues as she got up from her seat. Lucas who seemed to be so surprised just looked at her.
"We have this big mess to think about, and you're thinking about food?"He asks her in an 'I can't believe you' tone, because if you ask him, food would be the last thing on his mind. Okay, maybe not, but it sure isn't on the top list.
"Of course!" Brooke answers in a somewhat obvious tone. When she sees Lucas' face she continues. "Let me ask you this, can you play basketball when you're hungry?" She says and sees him with a defeated look on his face. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She said mockingly and grabbed her jacket. "What are you doing?" He asked her again. "I'm going to eat!" She answers quite irritated with his questions. "Where?" He followed up and she shouted at him. "Outside!"
"Outside? You're going to eat outside?" He began. "Are you serious? Do you really think you can eat something out there without a microphone being shoved into your face?" He tells her quite harshly, after all, what he told her is highly possible. "That was a stupid idea." Brooke admits, but she doesn't get a reply from him.
"Dammit! Where's Nathan when you need him!" Lucas says irritatedly as he began to dial a number he knew well. "Nathan! Where are you?!" Lucas shouted as soon as the other picked up.
"The roads are jammed man. It might take us another hour to get there." Nathan explained in an understanding tone. He experienced a fest somewhat like this before (though not as big) when the press found out about Haley being pregnant, and God, he didn't like it.
"You brought Haley with you?" Lucas asks and even though his brother doesn't answer, he knows he did. "Whatever, just call me when you get here." Lucas told him and shut his phone. Just then, they hear a knock on the door.
"That's probably Rachel and Peyton." Brooke informed him as she rushed towards the door to open it.
"Brooke!" Lucas could see the red-head envelop Brooke in a tight embrace. She seemed so excited. He then sees another one behind the excited one. She had two papers bags on both her hands of what he assumed to be food because of the Chinese characters written on it. The blonde didn't seem as enthusiastic as the red head, rather, Lucas picked up a somewhat upset feeling when he looked at her.
"Rach…air." Brooke gasped as she tried to get out of her friend's tight embrace. "Oops. Sorry!" Rachel replied as she let go of Brooke, then her eyes lighting up again when she heard a rustling sound at the back. "Hey P. Sawyer." Brooke greeted sweetly, reminded of her blonde friends reaction earlier that day.
"So, you got hubby in there?" Rachel turned to Brooke and nodded towards the direction of her living room. When she heard no reply, she got overly excited again. "You sneak!" She exclaimed, her voice turning more and more excited.
"Okay, this has got to stop." Brooke began and Lucas thought that was his cue to show himself. "Anyway, guys meet Lucas, Lucas this are my best friends Peyton and Rachel." Before anyone could greet, Rachel exclaimed again.
"So when's the wedding?!" She asked throwing off both Lucas and Brooke. Lucas stifling a nervous laugh. "Everyone has got this all wrong." Brooke began as she walked into her kitchen and the three followed her. Her two friends having questioning look on their faces.
Peyton who still seemed upset placed the bag she's holding on the table and spoke up for the first time they got there. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me."
"Okay, first, Lucas and I aren't engaged. Second of all, is that food? Coz I'm starving." Brooke told them as she grabbed one of the boxes and started digging in. Lucas had an amused look on his face. Never in his entire life that he expected to see a Brooke Davis eating like there's no tomorrow.
"She really eats like that when she's stressed. Gross right?" Rachel said when she sees Lucas' reaction as he continued to stare at Brooke.
"No, I mean, I just never thought I'd see Brooke Davis eat like that." Lucas replied as he pointed to the brunette, letting out an amused laugh.
"Like what?" Brooke asked, her mouth still full. Yeah, you wouldn't definitely see Brooke Davis eating spoon after spoon in public.
"So what is this about you and him not being engaged? Because I don't know what the deal with you two is, but the pictures says otherwise." Peyton says in a serious tone, Rachel nodding in agreement. Obviously, like the red head, she also wanted answers – in detail.
"We are not engaged, but I suggest we eat first and we'll tell you when my brother gets here." Lucas told them and saw Brooke cock an eyebrow at him. "What?!" He asks.
"What are you going to eat? You have no food here. Rach-ho and P. Sawyer bought and brought these for me." Brooke told him as she pulled the bags of food closer to her. Lucas' jaw almost dropped, the next thing he hears are the laughs of all three women.
"You should've seen your face! Precious!" Rachel said in between laughs, then he sees himself laughing with them. Yeah, that definitely put him at ease for a little bit.
"So your brother is coming?" Peyton asked as all of them started to dig in. Lucas just nodded as his mouth was still full. "Good thing my place could contain us all." Brooke added and her two friends just rolled her eyes at her. Lucas gave the three of them an 'I don't know what you're talking about' look. After two and a half boxes of Chinese, Brooke thought she'd never be able to eat as much as that in her entire life again.
"Well, well, you are still most definitely the Chinese monster here." Rachel laughed as she watched her brunette friend ramble about eating too much. "You didn't even give the guy here a chance!" Peyton added as she looked over to the other blonde who seems to be having fun.
"So, let me get this straight. You and slutty Brooke here aren't engaged?" Rachel asked while Lucas just nodded then turned to Brooke as to why would her so called friend call her 'slutty.'
"Don't worry, she always calls me that. Anyway, for the nth time Rachel, Lucas and I are nowhere near engaged. Okay? Nowhere." Brooke answered putting emphasis on the nowhere and Rachel only cocked an eyebrow.
"If so, then why are you still wearing that gorgeous ring?" She asked as she pointed to the delicate embellishment on her friend's finger.
"It's stuck." Brooke answered and Lucas couldn't help but laugh at both Rachel and Peyton's reactions. "What's so funny?" Peyton asked, and Lucas just shrugged.
"It's stuck?!" Rachel said sarcastically. "You couldn't come up with a better excuse so you tell me it's stuck?!" Again, Lucas couldn't help but laugh. Brooke just shrugs and asks Rachel to see for herself.
"It's stuck!" The red head sighs and Brooke and Lucas gives her an 'I told you so.' Look. "Well have you tried soap? Lotion?" Rachel asks again. Just then, they are interrupted by a knock on the door.
"That must be Nathan and Haley." Lucas told them and Brooke immediately got up from her seat and proceeded to open the door. As she did, she saw both Nathan and Haley standing outside. Nathan obviously tried to make a smile on his face, while Haley, looked upset, just like Peyton when she arrived. Lucas wasn't surprised to see Haley there, who obviously had a lot to say to him, considering it was a death glare she first gave him when their eyes met.
"Oh right, uh, This is my brother Nathan and my best friend Haley, Nate, Hales, this is Brooke and those over there are Rachel and Peyton." Lucas introduced as Brooke instructed the two to get in.
"Have you guys eaten?" Brooke asked as she ushered them to the living room. "Because if you haven't, we have Chinese." She told them, then pointing towards the dining room.
"Actually, yeah, we have. But thanks anyway." Haley replied nicely. Lucas didn't really think Haley would be nice, if anything, he thought Haley was going to shout at Brooke at the least, but people do surprise you sometimes, don't they?
"Anyway, here are those newspapers and tabloids that you wanted, and by the way, I would really love to hear about your engagement." Nathan told them with a smile on his face, actually happy about the news. "They're not engaged!" Rachel couldn't help to butt in. Brooke turned to give her a glare which she only waved with a hand.
"Excuse me, what?" Haley tried to confirm if what she heard was right, because truthfully, the news about their engagement was enough to throw her out of her seat, now hearing about them not being engaged after hearing they are in fact engaged is just more confusing.
"Okay, before Haley blows up on me, I know the four of you have questions, a lot of questions, okay. Brooke and I are here to explain. So how about we seat this one out and we'll tell you everything." Lucas told them and with that it began.. After three hours of non- stop talking, all six of them fell into an awkward silence, just because the four seemed to ran out of questions and the other two were too tired answering them. Brooke thought this has got to be the most tiring day of her life, ever. Lucas thinks so too.
"Okay, I think my head hurts." Haley is the first one to speak as she rubbed her temples. Thinking about everything Brooke and Lucas told them was just, unbelievable!
"But the pictures, I mean, take a look at this one, 'Lucas Scott says 'I love you' to his fiancée before he leaves'" Nathan pointed and asked for Brooke and Lucas to take a look.
"Okay, first of all I wasn't saying I love you. I was saying 'you're welcome.'" Lucas explained. "Apparently, they only got the 'you' part." Brooke added.
"Well, how about this one, you looked pretty much in love here." Rachel pointed to the one where Lucas was putting on the ring to Brooke.
"Okay, so we're smiling! I mean, I can't believe I'm getting an expensive ring for God's sake!" Brooke answered exasperatedly. "Yeah, and we didn't know there were cameras there! Hell, we didn't know about each other being there either!" Lucas backed her up and they all fell silent again.
"Okay, so what are you going to do now?" Peyton asked out of nowhere, as she stood beside the window seeing the streets still swarming with reporters. Neither Brooke nor Lucas spoke. "I mean, you must've have something in mind right?" Peyton looks at both of them and they just shrugged.
"To think I finally found the reason why Brooke wasn't dating." Rachel sighed and stared at the others blankly, then Lucas tensed up as he is reminded of the very large detail they forgot to tell the others. "And Lucas too." Haley added.
"So why can't you just tell those hundreds of people out there that this was a set up?" Nathan is the one to ask, and that's when Brooke is reminded why. "Because our parents practically announced on national television that we have been seeing each other for a year and a half." Lucas informed and heard a loud 'what?' in unison.
"Yeah, and apparently, I have been waiting for him to propose and my mother is really happy for us!" Brooke added which almost knocked Rachel off of her seat.
"How? When? Where?" Haley asked. She thought clearing things up would stop her head from spinning, unfortunately, it just made it spin faster.
"On E!, This morning. They set up an interview with Ryan Seacrest." Lucas replied, his voice already about to give up. "And I thought my parents were evil." Rachel remarked, as if pitying the 'engaged' couple.
"So you're just gonna go with it? I mean, you're just gonna pretend you're engaged?" Peyton asked in a rebellious tone. "What are you saying Peyt? Do you think we have any other choice?" Brooke asked, hoping her blonde friend has something up her sleeve.
"Of course you have a choice! It's pretty easy. You just go down there and tell those people your engagement was a fake." She explained and Brooke just felt like crying. "You do know that's easier said than done, right?" Lucas questioned , not believing that the blonde is actually thinking of them doing it.
"Well I don't see any other choice you have, so it's either you do it, or you go along with this twisted plan of your parents." Peyton stated, matter of factly. "But I don't want to be engaged! No offense Lucas." Brooke rambled and Peyton just stared at her not knowing what to say next. "That's the first time you called him by his name." Rachel noticed, the others not really paying attention to what she said.
"I think Peyton's right. You should just come out there and just tell them this was a mistake." Haley tells them and started pacing. "A horrible one at that." Peyton added. If anything, the blonde only wants what's best for her friend, and as she can see it, the way things are isn't what's best for Brooke, or maybe not?
"Can't you see what this will do to both our careers?" Lucas reasoned. "It's not exactly a 'role model' line to tell everyone your parents are conniving liars." He continued. "Seriously? You're 'falsely' engaged and you're thinking about your career?" Peyton accused quite harshly, though not meaning it to come out the way it did.
"He's right Peyt. Just imagine what the press is gonna do. They freaking have a gab fest down there. Imagine when we tell them it's fake. They're going to ruin us!" Brooke pleaded.
"Okay, so don't tell them now. We'll set up a conference tomorrow, then you tell them." Nathan added as he himself run out of ideas. Well, not really ran out since nothing registered in his mind either, other than Peyton's suggestion.
"Yeah, that could work. Right?" Haley asked and Nathan, Peyton and Rachel nodded in agreement. Brooke and Lucas however are still undecided. "Come on you two, that's the only way. I mean, if you're willing to pretend, that is." Rachel hinted but she just got a resounding 'No.' from the two. "So, maybe pretending wouldn't isn't such a good idea." She told them again as the other three (Nathan, Haley and Peyton) managed to smile from Rachel's wild idea. The two however, aren't the least happy about it.
"Okay, fine. Tomorrow we tell them." Brooke answered bravely while she heard Lucas hissed at her. "Brooke! I thought that wasn't an option?" He asked her, quite frustrated. "I hate to break it to you, but we have no other choice. I mean, do you want to stay engaged? Coz I'm sure as hell don't. Again, no offense." Brooke said calmly as she started dialing her phone.
"You got pawned man." Nathan teased. "But she's right. You have no other choice. Just deal with things one step at a time, okay? Think about what will happen after you clear this up." Nathan adviced then patted his brother on the shoulder. "I'm sure as hell not going to let Dan freaking get away with this." Lucas said irritated and defeated at the same time as he too got up from his seat and started dialing his phone too.
"Who knew you guys had crazy parents?" Rachel started when she noticed the dead air the fell onto the four of them.
"You should've seen the two of them in high school. Dan's practically killing them with basketball." Haley shared as they are all now well aware of how evil Dan Scott is.
"Well, Victoria Davis doesn't fall too far behind. That woman is a monster. Richard however, I have to be a little forgiving. He's just the caring father." Peyton shared next and both Nathan and Haley understood.
"Cared too much apparently." Rachel added, just then, Brooke walked back in with them a much relieved expression on her face.
"Okay, so that was Peter. Anyway, he's one of my friends from the press who's been calling me non- stop." She explained and breathe for a while. "So I told him we'll have a press conference tomorrow and we'll clear everything from there."
"Sounds good. Luke's calling his agent, I think." Haley said as she looked at her best friend who's still on the phone.
"God, am I really gonna do this?" Brooke looked up as the four people in front of her gave her sympathetic looks. "Well, you don't know how my phone just went on and on ringing this morning!" Rachel told her and Brooke just gave her a glare. "I mean, what if weren't able to answer their questions? Or what if they're not happy with our answers? I'm done for." Brooke rambled feeling all sense of hope vanish from her. She sat beside Rachel who was nice enough to give her a friendly hug. Peyton sat and hugged her too.
"Okay, that was my—Brooke? What's happening?" Lucas asked worriedly as he returned to the room, phone in hand and saw the two girls hugging the brunette.
"She's okay. She just needs a good hug." Rachel answered and gave him a smile.
"Well, the conference is scheduled around 10:00 am, here." Lucas began. "Frankly, I don't know how I am gonna tell them about it tomorrow." He admits and he sees Haley's eyes light up.
"We're going to coach you. That's it!" She says and the other five just looked at her in confusion. "Care to explain?" Nathan eyed her as he had one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder.
"We're going to ask Brooke and Luke questions, and they're going to answer it. Simple as that." She tells all of them earning agreeing looks. "What can I say, my wife's a genius." Nathan said as he planted a kiss on Haley's forehead.
"The conference is tomorrow! How are we supposed to learn all the answers, because as far as I know, those people down there have a lot of questions." Brooke ranted, starting to get worried. Maybe telling everyone isn't such a good idea.
"We'll just have to learn them now Brooke, not unless you want to stay 'engaged.'" Lucas told her, which he figured was enough to keep Brooke motivated.
"Okay, but first I need to eat, because all this fake engagement is using up all my energy." Haley suggested and eyed the others.
"I agree. Answering all your questions definitely was tiring." Lucas replied. "I second that." Brooke added, knowing exactly the feeling of entertaining her friend's questions earlier.
"Now the next question is, where are we going to get food? Because I'm not about to go down there and be press slaughtered." Rachel asked earning laughs form the others.
"Brooke do you have anything on the fridge?" Haley asked, and when she saw Brooke nod, she eyed Lucas next. "What?" He says. "You're going to cook for us." Haley instructed and the three girls looked at her confusedly.
"Are you sure we'll be able to eat if he cooks?" Brooke asks and Nathan laughs. Surely, Brooke Davis doesn't know anything about Lucas Scott, well, other than he's a basketball player of course.
"Are you suggesting to cook for us, Brooke?" Haley asked her and Rachel suddenly spoke up. "God no. I'd rather go down there and take the risk of having a microphone shoved in my face while eating, rather than eat Brooke's cooking." Rachel told them in horror.
"That bad?" Lucas teased as he got up from his seat not missing the glare Brooke gave him. "Well why don't I go see if you're any better." Brooke challenged as she and Lucas vanished to the kitchen.
"So why don't we start listing the questions while those two cook?" Nathan suggested and the three girls just nodded, but not before Payton makes a joking remark. "You mean as Lucas cooks and Brooke watches him cook?" And the four of them enjoy a good laugh.
"Okay, so let's see what you have." Lucas mumbled as he opened the fridge and saw it fully stocked. "You have your fridge fully stocked but you don't know how to cook. Are you sure these aren't gonna rot in here?" He turned to Brooke as she teased her.
"Well you wouldn't know when a sudden engagement comes up and we need to cook right?" Brooke counters making fun of the situation they're in.
"So you have chicken, pasta, tropical fruits. This could work." He tells her and Brooke doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. "So, you're gonna help me or what?" Lucas asked as he started taking out things form the fridge and asked Brooke to set it out on the counter.
"I'm going to make the chicken, you make the salad, okay?" Lucas told her and Brooke just shrugs. Frankly, she doesn't have any idea what she's supposed to do. "So here, you just peel these fruits and tell me when you're done." Lucas ordered as he gave Brooke a peeler and handed her a bowl of apples, pears and bananas.
"Are you sure you don't cook?" Lucas asked as he familiarized himself with Brooke's kitchen, which is apparently, nicely equipped for someone who doesn't cook. "Nope. I tried to boil eggs once and I still burnt it." She answers and Lucas couldn't believe that was even possible.
"Well at least you have a nice kitchen." He tells her as he began cleaning the chicken breast. "The place is already furnished when I bought it. It looked good so I didn't bother having them take it out." She shared as she was down to her final fruit to peel.
"When you're done with that you should take out the strawberries and grapes you have in there and wash them." Lucas looked towards the fridge and then back to Brooke. Brooke did as she was told and as soon as she was finished, Lucas instructed her to cut the fruits. She was hesitating at first but she did it anyway.
"Ouch!" Brooke slightly screamed then saw blood on her finger. "Shit. Are you okay?" Lucas rushed to her and left the boiling chicken and pasta for a while.
"You don't know how to cut things either?" Lucas asked as he couldn't believe how a woman could be so clueless in the kitchen, then again, she is Brooke Davis. "It's okay, I always cut myself from time to time." She tells him as if it happens all the time. "You mean this happened before?" He asks and she just nods.
"Well do you have a band aid here?" Lucas asked as he took a look at Brooke's finger, then seeing Brooke pointing to one of the drawers. He then puts a band aid in it then instructs Brooke to watch the chicken and pasta for him.
Lucas finished cutting the fruits and was now mixing what Brooke thought to be a sort of dressing. Watching the chicken and pasta boil so she asks Lucas if she could do it instead. "I can do that you know." She started as she looked at how delicately he mixed all the things together.
"Do you want to?" He turns to her and Lucas sees her nod, then handing the bowl to her. "Just make sure you don't mix it too fast, otherwise it won't work." He tells her and he goes back to strain the chicken and the pasta.
"What did you put in here?" Brooke asked as she took in the sumptuous smell of the one she's mixing. "Just vanilla, cinnamon, cream cheese, brown sugar, and yeah, lemon juice. You're fridge is really well stocked." He tells her not taking his eyes away from what he's doing.
That explains it. Brooke thought to herself. "How long do I have to do this?" She asks him as she continued mixing. "Just five more minutes. Then you can put the fruits in then it's done." He explains as he continued what he's doing.
"Oh, okay." After five minutes Brooke transferred the dressing onto a bigger bowl and tossed the fruits in. "You could put it in the fridge first so it'll be cooler later." Lucas instructed and Brooke followed, but not before she had a taste of it for herself. "What are you doing?" Brooke asked as he saw Lucas put the chicken in a large skillet.
"Oh, the chicken needs to be browned." He answers and Brooke doesn't bother to ask why is that anymore, because kitchen talk isn't something she really understands. "Oh, okay." She simply says. "So is this pasta done?" She asks again and Lucas smiles at her telling her yes. "Should I strain it? Or is it really supposed to have water?" When Lucas tells her he'll just do it himself, she insists and grabs the nearest pot holder.
"Brooke, be careful. You might burn yourself." He warned and assisted her in straining the pasta. "Now you're just making me feel useless. Hey, I may not be good in the kitchen, in fact, I have no idea what we're doing here, but I can do this. Okay?" She tells him and he steps aside. "Just do your thing there because I'm really hungry." Brooke tells him and he goes back to browning the chicken.
After another good thirty minutes, lunch is almost prepared and everything has been set on the table when Rachel comes in. "Okay, what's taking you so long?" She asks as she was surprised to see the plates beautifully arranged on the table.
"Unfortunately Rach-ho, cooking isn't something you can rush." Brooke says as she sees the red head quite amazed by what she saw.
"Like you're the one who cooked, and I'm sure you're not the one who arranged those plates either!" She mocked and exited to call the others. Soon they finished Lucas' cooking as Lucas got a lot of praises from the three girls who were really surprised that Lucas Scott knew something in the kitchen, in fact, he didn't just know how to cook, he makes great food.
"Okay, so we also prepared dessert. This one, I'm sure you're gonna like." Lucas told them as he got up from his seat and took out the bowl Brooke had put in earlier. "Brooke's the one who made this, so enjoy." When Lucas said that Peyton and Rachel stopped for a moment and looked at each other.
"Are you sure we'll still be alive after we eat this?" Rachel asked Lucas just to tease Brooke.
"Okay, Lucas was the one who made the dressing, I just mixed it. That being said, it is safe to eat that." Brooke admitted, so much for getting credit for what you didn't do. All of them laughed and as soon as they finished cleaning up Haley asked them to gather in the living room again.
"Okay, so here's the plan. We've prepared some questions and you're gonna answer them. Okay?" Haley explained and both Brooke and Lucas nodded.
"Okay, here's the first one. Brooke, when are you getting married?" Peyton was the one to ask, but not really in a 'reporter' like tone. "What?" Brooke didn't really know what to say, plus she didn't really expect the question.
"Okay Brooke, tomorrow, when you face the press, you can't look like you're surprised or something, you have to be prepared." Rachel said calmly and awfully supportive. "It looks like word already got
out. There aren't as much reporters compared to this morning." Lucas noticed as he took a peak outside the window.
"Luke! I need you to focus here. Unless you want to royally screw up tomorrow." Haley instructed as Luke took a seat beside Brooke facing their four friends.
"Okay, let's try one again. Luke, why did you choose to hide your relationship with Brooke?" Rachel asked, being more into the role of a reporter. Lucas thought for a moment and tried come up with something. "The truth is, Brooke and I aren't really hiding anything." He answers, the four quite impressed.
"So of course they'll gab again. Moving on, 'not hiding anything? What do you mean?'" Haley followed up. "We mean, were not hiding anything because there's nothing to hide. I mean, there's nothing going on with Lucas and I." Brooke answered and again the four were quite impressed with her.
"Okay, that could work. Next question. 'what do you mean nothing's going on? What about the engagement?'" Haley asked more 'reporter' like than Rachel. "All the pictures, everything, our parents did all of that without our knowledge." Lucas explained and thought for a while if that would be really something he would say.
"Okay, that's good. 'So are you telling us that this whole thing is fabricated?'" Nathan was the one to ask this time. "Yes, but we didn't know anything about it until this morning, shoot, one more time. We didn't know about this until yesterday morning." Brooke answered calmly. So maybe it's not really as hard as it sounds.
"You mean you just wanted publicity so you fabricated a fake engagement?" Peyton asked out of nowhere throwing both Lucas and Brooke completely off guard. "Nice one Peyt. So yeah, you want more publicity and what better way than to use the press!" Rachel followed up and didn't even give the two a chance to answer first, but before Haley could speak, Brooke managed to say something.
"No, our parents did this to us! We didn't know we're being fixed!" She said full of emotion.
"Okay, that's a good one Brooke. 'But your parents had an interview yesterday. Are you telling us your parents are lying?'" Haley spoke again. "Yes. No! Our parents just didn't know we didn't want this. There has been a huge misunderstanding." Lucas answered and truthfully, he thinks it was a pretty good one. Hours passed as they continued the questioning taking breaks in between when they noticed it was already dark outside. In the process both Brooke and Lucas and familiarized themselves with what to say if ever a particular sort of question comes up.
"So I think you'll do just fine tomorrow." Haley assured as she, Nathan, and Lucas prepared to leave. "We have to, right?" Brooke replied as all of them walked towards the door. "I still couldn't believe we're risking so much here." Lucas sighed and Brooke just looked at him understanding what he means.
"Everything will turn out alright. You'll see." Rachel encouraged, and with that the three Scotts left. Brooke, Peyton and Rachel peeked outside the window and watched the reporters swarm at the three when they left. Tomorrow will surely be a day to watch out in the entertainment industry. Brooke just hopes that it won't be remembered as the day people started hating her.
Okayyyyyyy! I enjoyed writing this. I hoped you enjoyed reading it too. Anyway, I would really love to hear what you have to say. A Big, BIG Thank You to all those who reviewed last time. :)