Chapter Five

Revenge. What a tasteful word – slips off the tongue rather easily, with an almost bitter connotation. Homer once said that, "it is sweeter far than flowing honey." What Brooke was feeling right now in the pit of her stomach, as she eyed Lucas Scott – glancing at Peyton occasionally to render the situation believable – was sweeter than honey, more satisfying than sugar. She was finally feeling content, as though making Lucas Scott feel this way was a dignified and valiant cause.

The tiger had pounced on its prey, taunting it as it glared at the seemingly guilty creature mirroring her. Her smile was as cold as a thick layer of ice on a peaceful lake, silencing the rush of water underneath, choking it, and destroying its rippled surface. She allowed her previous question to settle for a few more moments, imagining the shock Lucas was attempting to overcome. He was speechless – his mouth was slightly opened. The moment he heard Brooke's voice he had jumped about a meter away from the lanky blonde, refusing to appease the idea that they were just seconds before, entangled in a furiously passionate kiss.

"What—is—going—on—here?" She asked, slower this time. Her teeth were grinding together, her words slightly slurred by her anger. She took a menacing step towards Lucas, which made him jump back further.

He barked out a defensive, "Nothing!" in his bold attempt to try and escape the fuming Brooke. "Brooke, we didn't mean for this to happen." Lucas shot a glance at Peyton, who was evidently just as stunned as he was.

Brooke grunted in disbelief, as she glowered at her opponent, "Lucas Scott, you have done it this time! I left the city hoping you would make up your mind – and you!" Brooke turned to Peyton, turning her back on Lucas. She gave the blonde a slight wink, so that it was only visible to her companion, "You promised me something like this wouldn't happen. You promised for God's sake! Does that mean nothing to you?"

Peyton shrugged, "I didn't –"

"You didn't think I'd be in town." Brooke finished for her. "You know what you two can do? Why don't you just go have little skanky babies that will rip out their best friends' hearts and stomp on them and be stupid indecisive little whores who will roam around Tree Hill making out with boys that they promised that they wouldn't but they did anyway because these boys are petty, insignificant little bastards that should go get hit by several cars at a time, and then by an eighteen-wheeler and then have their eyes eaten out by pigeons." Brooke said in one breath, one blur, one very angry blur. Her voice was elevated to the extent that passersby stared inquisitively, wondering what the scene was. This blur was barely comprehensible, but her tone was angry enough to convey her point.

"Brooke, stop, slow down – take it easy." Lucas said, putting his hands on her shoulders. At least this way, she was far from arm's reach, thus far from being able to punch him square in the nose. Her breathing accelerated to an insidious tempo. She almost seemed like a raging bull, and unluckily enough, Lucas was the one clad in ridiculous amounts of red – a red the magnificent shade of blood; the colour that Lucas expected to see coming out of his nose, if he didn't control the little vixen.

"Take it easy?" Brooke demanded, "Take it easy? You want me to just take it easy?" Brooke pressed her lips together, "I don't think you understand what you just did, Lucas Scott. I don't think you are even remotely aware of what you did."

"I kissed her – I know I did, Brooke. I'm sorry!" Lucas confessed quickly – not that there was anything to confess, really. Brooke had witnessed the whole scene, anyway. Brooke's eyes flared, as though she were about to hit him.

"My ass you're sorry, Lucas." Brooke accused vilely, "If you were truly sorry, if wouldn't have dared to even touch her tonight. If you really gave a damn about me, Lucas, you wouldn't have even came out tonight." Her lips were nothing but a thin line, as she glared at Lucas continually. Her gaze was steaming with fury, her body language itching to make vicious contact with the culprit.

"I am sorry! If there were a way to prove it, I'd do it, Brooke!" Lucas said, his throat impeding his usually confident way of speech. Beads of anxious sweat accumulated on his forehead, his palms clammy from the confrontation. "It's not like it seems, okay?"

"Really." Brooke's voice grew considerably more sarcastic and bitter, "Because what it looked like from where I was standing, it kind of looked like you were just about to get it on right on the dance floor. But hey, I might be wrong. Maybe you were just going to make out a little – 'cause you know, that totally doesn't go against any promises certain somebody's made me."

"I didn't promise you anything, Brooke Davis. In fact, you didn't mention anything about doing things with anyone. The fact that you didn't speak out your little rules and regulations is not my fault." Lucas said, thinking that maybe – just maybe – the technicalities would relinquish his dignity.

"No, that's right Lucas. You didn't promise me anything. So I guess your mind is made up? It's Peyton that you're choosing?" Lucas stared at her blankly, wordlessly, "Because if you gave the slighted damn about me, you wouldn't even think about doing something like this – especially behind my back." Brooke hissed, her face as unrevealing as a mime's. She worked around the situation with perfect ease, without betraying the hilarity of the scheme in any nuance of her façade. Her gestures were believable, her tone was believable, her expression was believable.

"Brooke, I'm sorry. Everything just kind of slipped, okay? Any rational thinking that I'd like to think I have left me. I'm sorry. Nothing can justify the kiss – nothing can even give an answer for why I did, when I was clearly so objected to it-"

"Objected to it?" Brooke cut in, "If you had any objections Luke, I know you're a strong person, I know you can fight off a little shit of girl like Peyton. Please, are you trying to say that she forced a kiss onto you?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I wanted to kiss her-"

"And you knew it was wrong." Brooke added.

"And I knew it was wrong." Lucas ricocheted, his voice humble. His sorrowful eyes were begging for forgiveness – if he could, he would have gotten on his knees and groveled for this beautiful brunette to just accept what happened, and get on with it. "Brooke, like I said, I can't justify the kiss. I can't validate why you're here, why you had to see it. I can't tell Peyton that that kiss wasn't anything short of amazing without offending you, and I definitely can't tell you that I sincerely enjoyed it."

Brooke's face shattered. The moment her face turned from furious to withering in pain, made Lucas wince. It was like a tiny flower, whose stem was already thin and wounded from a lack of care, that finally gave up and ended this brutal battle for its existence. Except this battle, was the noble battle of love. Brooke appeared to have given up, and even Peyton didn't know if she was serious or whether or not this was just her inconceivable ability to act. She nodded for a few seconds, as though a light bulb had finally appeared above her head, before saying, "So this is it?" Lucas looked at her tear-struck face, taking a step towards her. Brooke, for a mere second, let her guard down, tears starting to fill her eyes, "So this is it, Lucas?" She repeated, "You've made your choice?"

Lucas thought for a moment, after replying, "No – I haven't, Brooke." In the most gentle voice, so as to not disturb the most fragile of souls. He extended a hand to caress her cheek, to wipe away a single tear that was gliding down her cheek – she quickly responded however, slapping him hard on the cheek, before he manipulated her at her most vulnerable moment. Lucas, the sting of the slap just now spreading through his cheek, closed his eyes trying to abort the miserable feeling.

Brooke looked up at him tearfully, obviously apologetic that she'd hit him, "If this isn't your final choice, Lucas Scott, then I've got one thing to say-" She said, her voice quiet yet firm, "if you don't make up your mind soon, you're losing far more than a friendship, and gaining far less than a girlfriend." Brooke turned around swiftly, heading for the exit. Her stilettos rapped against the floor – for a second, that was all Lucas heard. The music seemed to stop dead, and all he could hear was Brooke's depart. Unable to think sensibly, he sprinted after her, whirling her around before pressing his lips hard against hers. He held her in his arms firmly, so that she was unable to move – for a moment, she didn't want to. In the next moment that she pulled away, she couldn't help but feel stunned. This, she wouldn't have ever expected from Lucas Scott.

Everything Brooke had every known about this boy was now being contradicted. He was a levelheaded person – one that wouldn't do anything out-of-the-ordinary even if it were to kill him. Risks weren't his thing. He preferred things to be stable, collective, and steady. Brooke stared at him, her seemingly endless knowledge written down in the Book of Lucas Scott tearing up in a curling flame. "You can't have us both." Was all she said, before she vanished out of Trick via the front door. The slamming door echoed in his heart. He turned around right in time to see Peyton brushing past him smoothly.

Lucas grabbed her arm gently, causing her to stop. "Are you happy now?"

"What?" Peyton asked quickly, glancing back at the door, wondering if she could still catch a ride with Brooke. "What are you talking about, Luke?" She said, forcing him to speak up.

"This was your little scheme, right? Well, are you happy? Looked pretty successful to me." Lucas said, his voice harsh with a tinge of attempted nonchalance. Peyton hadn't ever seen Lucas so down before.

"There was no scheme." Peyton reassured resolutely, "You think I wanted Brooke to see us kissing? What good would it do?"

"For Christ's sake, Peyton, I'm indecisive but I'm not stupid." Lucas said gravely, "Did you plan this, or not, Peyton? I'm not asking again." She couldn't just admit to planning something like this. So instead, she lied, knowing that Brooke wouldn't ever shed light on it either. It was a freak accident, an even freakier coincidence. That's what she told him, and that's exactly what ticked him off. "Peyton, I'm on the verge of losing Brooke, and you're telling me all of this was a coincidence? She just happened to come into Trick? Just happened to see the one and only kiss?"

"How am I supposed to know, Luke? I'm telling you there was no scheming." Peyton growled smoothly, "What would we do it for anyway?

"Well, it would definitely be a clear cut view of how much I was hurting you two." Lucas said thoughtfully, "And then again, it would even force me into making a decision. Otherwise, I have no idea why you'd do it – none whatsoever."

"There was no scheme." Peyton said again, her cheeks flushed with defiance. Why was he so reluctant about this? Why couldn't he just accept what she was telling him? "Why don't you trust me?"

"Because we both know how much you girls want me to make my choice, and you two probably thought that this would somehow, I don't know, accelerate my decision." Lucas assumed daringly, "And I do trust you, Peyton, it's just that I know something is going on. It's in my gut. Brooke would never have just came home, and came to Trick. And even if she went to your house, or my house, there was no one home to direct her this way. Something's fishy, and I will find out." Lucas muttered.

"I have to go." Peyton nodded, "We didn't plan anything, Luke, just so you don't get any ideas. Okay? Get it straight. We didn't plan anything." Peyton said again, as she walked towards the door as gracefully as a dancer, her hair curly locks bouncing with her every step.

Once Peyton felt the rush of breeze against her face, she started to study the premises for Brooke's car. She found it, just as it was heading out of the parking lot. She darted for the moving vehicle, nearly running out in front of it. Brooke halted, inviting the Blonde in quickly. "You were absolutely incredible in there, Brooke." Peyton said, her voice shocked.

"To be honest, Peyton, I wasn't exactly acting. I've wanted to say those things to him so bad sometimes, and I finally said 'em." Brooke shrugged, rather guiltily, "I'm scared that I've lost him-"

"No, he's scared he's lost you." Peyton corrected, after which Brooke looked up.

"Really?" Peyton nodded, "I don't know. That was definitely intense, though. Do you think he got the point?"

"I hope so." Peyton bit her lip, "Brooke?" Brooke muttered a quick yeah, before Peyton proceeded, "He thinks we're up to something. He asked me if I was happy, and that my little plan worked. He thinks that I was responsible for all of it."

"And what?" Brooke turned to Peyton with hawk eyes, "You didn't fess up did you?"

"No! Of course not!" Peyton replied, "But he swore to me that he'd find out. That's what bothers me."

"Bothers you? Please, Peyton. There's no evidence to find anything out, okay? Hold on, I'll call Bev', or something. We can have a girl's night out. One second." She said, quarrying in her pocket for a few moments before she gave Peyton an utmost terrified expression. "Peyton! My phone." She said, stopping the car. "I must have dropped it somewhere!" Brooke inhaled worriedly, "I have to go back!" She said, hopping out of the car. "Wait here, and don't you move. If you see Lucas or something, duck." These were her final words before she raced back to Trick.

Lucas, enthralled with thought, entertained several ideas in his head a propos the scheme, and all of tonight. He felt a gentle poke on his shoulder, "Hey, I saw you talking to Brooke Davis. You're friends? I think she forgot her phone." A petite girl said, handing over Brooke's slick phone.

"Where'd you find this?" Lucas asked quickly.

"Brooke was hanging by the bathrooms, I guess she dropped it there or something." The girl said with a shrug, "What does it matter, anyway?"

"Which bathrooms? And she was here? Just hanging out? Did you see her hanging out?" Lucas investigated further.

"The nasty, crusty one's that no one goes by. And yeah, she was hanging out. She looked like she was waiting for someone, I guess. But what do I know. Maybe she really had to pee, or something." She smiled, "Anyway, I saw that you were with her. You probably see her more than I do." She said, twirling her died blonde hair around her finger.

"Yeah, thanks." Lucas brushed her off, walking dizzily towards the entrance. This explained it all. Those bathrooms had the best view in Trick, as hideous as they were. Everyone knew that – every schemer, that is. Just as he was about to open the door, it swung open, with Brooke hurrying through the door. "You're back?" Lucas pretended to be shocked.

Brooke looked away for a moment, stammering, "Yeah, uh, I think I left something."

"Like what? Um, a certain a cell phone?" Lucas teased, as he studied her sudden change of expression.

"Yeah, actually." Brooke said, smiling hopefully, "I'll be right back. I'll just go look for it." Brooke nodded.

"No need." Lucas flashed the cell phone in front of her, dangling it like bait. "You know the strangest thing Brooke Davis? I could barely believe that a girl as high-class as yourself would hang around the dirty bathrooms long enough to lose her cell phone."

"It only takes a second to lose something." Brooke muttered quickly, hoping it would be reason enough.

"And it only takes a second to find out that you were hanging out there for quite the while." Lucas jeered gently, "And I couldn't understand why oh why this could be. Luckily, I used my brain a little, and figured those bathroom's have the best view in Trick. Now I wondered, also, why you would need the best view in Trick. I was also a little shocked when I recalled how fast you appeared after that kiss. Could that somehow be laced ensemble?" Lucas questioned, his research obviously very quickly, but very well done.

"Nope." Brooke said, "Thanks for the phone." She said, snatching it, and turning to go. She couldn't face the situation at hand – not after the scenario she put up earlier.

"So I guess that's a yes on the scheme?" Lucas said, causing her to turn around, "Because your face couldn't be any more guilty."

"Guilty shmilty, Lucas Scott. Thanks for the phone, and no thanks on the accusations. I love how you think you're so brilliant. Maybe you forgot one thing. Maybe I wasn't here to see you." She knew she had to say something to salvage the mystery of the scheme.

"Who then, Peyton?"

"Bevin was supposed to come here."

"Why were you hiding from Bevin?"

"I wasn't hiding, I was waiting. We were supposed to meet there."

"So where is she?"

"She probably couldn't make it."

"Bevin would have told you, no?"

"Well, I don't know! I did lose my phone."

"Right."

"Right." Brooke said with a final nod, as she walked passed Lucas.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Nice scheme."