Stab My Back
Part Four
The phone rings And she screams "Stab my back,
It's better when I bleed for you.
Walk on me,
It never was enough to do"
I can't get past her falling faster
It's true It hasn't done a lot for you
And every time he held you close
Yeah, were you thinking of me?
When I needed you the most
Well I hope that you're happy
--The All-American Rejects
A/N: I realize that it sounds like Brooke and Peyton's lover's spat song, but I'll explain if you're confused. See, the line referring to every time he was holding her close and she was thinking of him is Brooke being held by Lucas and thinking of how it was hurting Peyton. And Peyton stabbed her back because...oh, I can't spoil it! Read and you'll find out. Falling faster is not falling into love it was because Brooke and Peyton are both falling faster into their old high school ways and, obviously, it hasn't done alot for her or Peyton.
Peyton just stared at Brooke-she really could not believe the nerve that girl had. So now that she was done with Lucas Peyton could just scoop him up? She knew it was meant to be a peace offering or something of the like, but all it did was make Peyton's anger kick in her as her heart sped up, obviously reading for the impending outburst that would emit from Peyton's lips at any moment. "Brooke, just because you're done with Lucas doesn't meant that you can give him away. You cheated on him and I could have taken Lucas from you whenever I wanted. I do not need your...your permission." Peyton spat the last word out, now furious. It was amazing how if you spoke about why you were angry it could make the anger even worse inside your heart, making you to irrational things. Standing up, Peyton through a twenty on the table and turned on her heel then walked out of the club, leaving a dumbfounded Brooke behind. She practically broke speeding records to get back to her dorm and once she did she fell onto the couch, seething. Disconnected thoughts flew through her head and soon she was talking to herself. "How the hell could she say that? What is her God damn problem?" She yelled as if there was someone there to actually help her out. Only there was someone there, but probably not someone who could help her out at that specific moment in time. "Um, Brooke?" A male voice sounded through the house and Peyton sat up suddenly. In front of her was Ben, the guy Brooke had been fooling around with behind Lucas' back. The fury coursing through her veins set in to its fullest extent and the out-come was Peyton's very irrational thinking. "No, it's Peyton, her friend." She said, standing up and swaying slightly so she could seem like she was drunk. She knew for a fact that being drunk was what helped Brooke score Ben and Peyton was going to test out this theory. She swayed over to him, pretending to trip so she fell and he caught her, a small smile on his face. "Ben! You saved me." Peyton cooed, stroking his face with that drunken innocence written all over her face. "Yeah, I guess I did." He shrugged as he tried to act casual, though that charmer smile that had probably helped him score with alot of drunk girls was still there. "Well, I'll have to re-pay you, won't I?" Peyton's voice was seductive and she smiled a crooked smile before she leaned him and kissed him deeply. Just as she had expected the kiss was returned, but something she hadn't expected was for Brooke to burst into the room at that very moment rambling on and on about how Peyton had no right to leave after she'd been so nice. Peyton simply pulled away and turned her head, giving Brooke a little wave. Ben looked confused, trying too hard to pretend that he was actually the drunk one in this feigned situation as Brooke's face crumpled in sadness and shock.
"Hey Brooke." Came Peyton's obviously sober voice tinted with some sort of evil revenge attitude. She had won and it felt...it felt good.
------------------
Needless to say Ben had been kicked out of the house by a very angry Brooke who believed that Peyton had really been drunk so there was hardly any justice in the situation. "Brooke, I wasn't drunk. I had three drinks!" Peyton told her, an awkward switch from when she used to beg Brooke to believe that she had been drunk their Freshman year of College when she'd accidentally kissed a boy Brooke had thought was cute for about two seconds. "Peyton, you know you can't hold your alcohol." Brooke said sternly without looking up from her Cosmo as she sat on the couch, flipping through the hair issues. Brooke's mind was buzzing. She wanted to believe Peyton was drunk because they had gone eight years without another feud over boys and she couldn't lose her best friend. Not after she lost Haley. Brooke shut the magazine as she forced the thoughts of her final days with Haley away. Peyton had been her first best friend, but Haley came without the drama. Until, that is, Haley had never forgiven her for the Nathan/Brooke sex tape that had come out that fateful day before Prom. She'd lost her best friend and Chase all in one day. (I know, I know. Haley did forgive Brooke in the show, but I wanted this fic to be more Brooke/Peyton centric since it always seemed like Peyton was the tag-along friend ever since Haley came along. Forgive me.) Brooke looked at her best friend standing there and practically telling her she had intentionally kissed her boyfriend. "Do you want a fight, Peyton?" Brooke asked her with an eyebrow raised. Did she? Peyton didn't know if she wanted a fight. What she wanted was Brooke to realize how much Lucas meant to her and that she wanted to win him back using herself, not Brooke's stupid permission to. "No, I don't." Peyton's voice was surprisingly small as she answered Brooke. Fighting with her seemed like such a horrible thing to do at the moment. Brooke had lost alot over the years since high school. After losing Haley Brooke had gotten really depressed and decided to go to college with Peyton instead of pursuing her dream, which had landed her taking her parents' money seeing at their sudden stock bump got them rich again so Brooke could free-load off of them seeing as they felt guilty for leaving her all alone for her high school years. Guilt was a beautiful thing if you used it the right way and Brooke Davis did. "Then let's not fight." Brooke said simply as she stood up. Peyton nodded and gave a smile as the two embraced, leaving the kiss in the past. "What are you going to do about Ben?" Peyton asked in a muffled voice with her cheek pressed to Brooke's shoulder, still in the hug. "Screw him; I'll find someone way better." Brooke smiled and pulled away, keeping her hands on Peyton's shoulders. "I told you we'd make it." She said and, with that, she bounced off to her room. "P. Sawyer! I'm getting ready to go out and find a new guy and you know what you're going to do?" Brooke's voice floated into the living room and Peyton laughed at how fast Brooke could bounce back. "What?" She called, actually curious. "You're going to find Lucas." Peyton didn't reply to that. Instead, she jumped into the shower to get ready to actually find Lucas. She had to talk to him, but she knew it would be hard.
Brooke has conspicuously left Lucas' new address on the table for Peyton to find when she had left the house before her. With a smile Peyton stuffed the slip of paper into her jacket pocket and walked out of the house after grabbing her keys from the bowl located next to their front door. She drove to his new apartment and walked up to the front door slowly. She knocked quietly and then louder, feeling flustered thought she hadn't even seen Lucas yet. He opened the door and once he saw her his face grew hard. "Peyton, I can't believe you." He said and Peyton's smile disappeared. "...What?" She asked, clearly more confused than anyone. But, then none other than Brooke Davis came up behind Lucas in nothing but one of his t-shirts, the same smug smile Peyton had worn on her face. "Hi, Peyton." She said with a little wave and reached past Lucas to shut the door. The world was falling around her as Peyton walked back to her car. It was falling so fast that she hadn't had time to notice Lucas' surprised face as he turned to see Brooke behind him. Once she was safely enclosed inside it she started crying. She thought that Brooke had forgiven her! What the hell was this? Some meager attempt to get back at her? Brooke knew she was breaking her heart, but maybe it was a sign. If Brooke could always rope Lucas back in then Peyton could never have him fully. He would always be attached to Brooke in some way. She finally turned on the car and drove out into the middle no where, parking by the woods before she crawled into her backseat and laid down, crying. She couldn't go home because that was the place of Brooke. The place of hate and broken dreams, somewhere Peyton never wanted to return to in that lifetime. She knew she was skipping classes, but so was Lucas and Brooke so if they got in trouble at least they would be in it together, though most of her college professors didn't give a shit anyway. Crying into the soft leather of her backseat, Peyton had no idea of the happenings all the way back at Lucas' house and, maybe, if she had known she would have felt better.
------------------
"Brooke! What the hell are you doing?" Lucas shouted at her and Brooke just laughed, taking off his shirt to reveal one of her own and a short skirt. "Just getting back at Peyton." She said and shrugged. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, already fed-up with the situation. So that was why Peyton had reacted to weird when he had planned on pretending to be mad because she hadn't called to check in on him. Too bad she had no idea that was the reason why he'd answered the door with an angry look on his face. He felt like punching himself for being so stupid. "She kissed Ben simply because I told her that she could be with you." Brooke shrugged and dropped his old t-shirt to the floor before walking to the door. "See ya, Luke." She said and gave him a seductive smile and then she walked out of his house to go make up with Ben in her bed back at her dorm is classic Brooke Davis style.
Lucas sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. Peyton was probably somewhere crying and he didn't know what he should do. If she had kissed Ben then she was being as catty as Brooke, but he was sure that Peyton probably had a reason behind it. Girls were hard to understand, but Peyton didn't usually mess with her bets friend without a good reason. Brooke, on the other hand, usually messed with anyone at any moment if she felt threatened. It was a survival technique and he knew it, but it didn't help that now they weren't friends again and Lucas was stuck in the middle with Ben of all people. Ben had cost him his relationship with Brooke, though he had felt slightly relieved. He'd loved Peyton since he saw her so many years ago, but his fascination with Brooke had lead him to make th wrong decision over and over. He wanted Peyton now more than ever. He wanted her and he feared it was too late. Grabbing his coat he ran out of his house quickly and started driving to the one place he knew where she would be. Their sanctuary by the woods where they used to sit and talk before things had gotten complicated. He pulled up to see her car without her in it. He walked up to the window and was happy to see her in the backseat, though he was sad to see the obvious tear stains on her face as her chest rose and fell. She was asleep after crying for a long, long time over Lucas and Brooke and even Ben. Without hesitation, Lucas opened the car door quietly and slipped into the backseat, carefully not to hit her and sit on the very end of the seat, watching her sleep. He wanted to be there when she woke up so that Peyton would know how much she meant to him.
But things we not going to turn out that easy.
A/N: Cliffy! I know you hate me for it, sorry guys. And I'm sure you're probably wondering what could possibly go wrong with this story and I am too actually. I've got to think of something and I know some of you hate drama fluff so I'm steering away from that. Some fluff here and there and some drama mixed in as well. I'm pretty sure that I said that Peyton and Brooke were going to be okay, but some of you gave me the idea that Peyton would be pissed at Brooke so this is the outcome. I hope you liked it and I'm probably going to work on part five today as well. If you're lucky I'll add it today if I finish in time. R&R guys-all of you are amazing!
--Haleigh