A/N: Hi everyone, I'm glad you're liking this so far! This part is a little rocky for Brucas but from this point on, it definitely gets much better ;) Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 6 - Beautiful Disaster

He drowns in his dreams

An exquisite extreme I know

He's as damned as he seems

And more heaven than a heart could hold

And if I try to save him

My whole world could cave in

To those standing on the outside looking in, nothing was different on Monday morning. But to the choice few who had been out in the woods that night, something had shifted. Nathan's control was no longer as cemented as it had been the week before. Those who followed him weren't as certain as they used to be either and it was all because of his brother Lucas. The only one in the history of their hazing to make it out in under an hour. The only one to make it through the gauntlet unscathed and undetected by those who anxiously waited to laugh and point.

"If I hated that guy before, I'm not sure what emotion could describe how I feel about him now," Peyton said casually as she and Brooke headed towards the school's entrance steps. The scowl that first took its place at the party was still lingering on her face, revealing just how affected she was by her boyfriend's antics.

"Nate's still feeling a little pissed off, huh?" Brooke queried, seemingly more interested in the conversation than she actually was. Not that Peyton noticed as she her scowl turned into a rude glare when she caught sight of Lucas Scott walking across the parking lot. "You know it's only gonna get worse, Pey unless you talk to him. Tell him that you're sick of this stupid vendetta he has against his brother," she advised.

Her expression was guarded and neutral, her words spoken with a hint of disinterest.

Anyone listening wouldn't have suspected a thing and her best friend was no exception.

"It's not my place," Peyton shook her head, momentarily forgetting her ire towards Lucas as she instead focused on Brooke's encouragement. "My home life is just as screwed up in its own way but he doesn't tell me what to do about it. Why shouldn't I extend him the same courtesy?"

"Because there's a difference between a dad who works hard to provide for his daughter, I.E. yours. Or the dad who could easily be mistaken for the devil incarnate, otherwise known as Dan Scott," Brooke declared unremorsefully. "The guy is fucking up his son's life and doesn't care as long as he gets what he wants. So if you care as much about Nathan as you say you do, then why don't say something to him about it."

Shaking her head, Peyton released a tired sigh. "You know Nate better than that, Brooke. He won't listen to me. Not about this."

"Then get used to be ignored because it's what'll happen until Nathan finally outdoes his brother."

-----

Lucas still felt a hint of nausea as he walked into school and headed towards his locker. Along with his upset stomach, the anger he'd felt all weekend refused to dissipate. Unfortunately it only got worse when he reached inside the metal compartment to grab his history textbook and heard his brother's sarcastic voice. "What's the matter… did you have too much to drink the other night, Luke? You look a little hung-over."

The words meant nothing but the implication meant everything.

Turning to face his brother, Lucas' hands clenched involuntarily, unable to get past the thought that Nathan was a complete jerk. Too much like their father for his own good.

Nose to nose, the two boys stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. To give the other a reason to hit back. "Nathan?" called out Peyton as she approached, hoping to diffuse a fight before it happened. But her dark haired boyfriend didn't listen. In fact, he didn't appear to have heard her at all as he continued to match Lucas' stare. "I told you he wouldn't listen to me," she muttered to Brooke, a girl that was unaccustomed to being ignored.

"Then make him," Brooke stated strongly before sauntering up to the pair. "Hey Nate. Morning superstar," she greeted and wiggled herself in between the two boys. "So tell me, gorgeous… how'd you like your first game party?" Her palms flat against his chest, Brooke pushed Lucas back a bit, ensuring that his attention was focused solely on her and not his brother. "Tell me you'll get into the strip poker game next time. It'd be a shame to keep that body of yours hidden away with clothes."

Her words were bait, giving Lucas a bit of an upper hand while the younger Scott quietly seethed.

"Damn it, Brooke. Not now."

The words came from Nathan but his scowl didn't scare her. "But if I don't do it now, then how else will I convince him to walk me to class?" Brooke smiled her dimpled smile and linked her arm with Lucas'. "Come on," she invited and offered Peyton a wink when she caught sight of the curly haired blonde, watching the two uncertainly.

"Why'd you do that?" Lucas asked, speaking his first words since arriving at school.

"Because I'm probably the only one who could," Brooke answered simply.

Lucas wasn't sure what she meant and didn't know how to feel about it either. On one hand she'd stepped in to stop him and his brother from airing their dirty laundry in front of the entire student body. On the other hand, she had only succeeded in prolonging the inevitable. "You didn't prevent anything, you know. You just stalled it." She knew he was right but a part of her hoped she could somehow manage to change it.

"Don't try to play the game until you know how the games works," Brooke advised because the real explanation was too long and personal to give as they walked towards her math class.

"It's not a game to me," Lucas said, voice pensive and eyes serious. Brooke had never known anyone as serious as he was. Or broody for that matter.

"But it is to him."

"So then what, I'm just supposed to let him get away with it?" Lucas asked when another thought occurred to him. "Wait, are you part of it? This game… are you a part of it?" he clarified when she seemed to not understand the question. "Because you and I have talked only a handful of times, maybe. Not to mention the fact that your best friend is his girl."

"And all us cheer sluts stick together so I must be in on some covert plan to bring you down, right?" Brooke bit back, all the while knowing that he had every right to question her motives. She'd never given him a reason not to. "Just forget I said anything, okay. It doesn't matter. Do whatever the hell you want to do."

She untangled her arm and prepared to walk away when he reached out. His hand was warm and soft despite the calluses she felt on the pads of his fingers as he gently grasped her wrist. "I…" opening and closing his mouth several times, he searched for an apology but couldn't quite find the words she needed to hear.

With a sigh, she slipped her wrist away and quietly said, "You were just going away."

Silently, he watched Brooke step inside a math classroom while students passed him by. Some wore curious expressions as they wondered why he just stood there or what he was waiting for. If asked, Lucas couldn't have answered either question. He just knew that he'd hurt the feelings of a girl who'd rarely spoken to him and for some unexplainable reason, he felt truly bad about it.

-----

Coach Whitey Durham watched his varsity squad practice, searching for some sign that his team had gone against his wishes. A forbiddance to touch the newest Scott and initiate him into the group like many had been before. The same forbiddance he gave each year as new players joined the roster. Yet as far as he knew, the warning had only been heeded once before when a young father named Jake had begun playing.

He had already been through enough and didn't need the embarrassment or humiliation of being caught naked in the middle of nowhere.

For once… his players had listened and left the boy alone.

But Whitey had no illusion that they'd do the same for Lucas. It wasn't a question of if.. his only question was when.

"Brooke has a thing for picking up strays," Nathan said as he shot three pointers alongside Lucas. A smirk formed on his lips when he sunk the first basket, seeing nothing but net as it swished through before bouncing on the hardwood floor. "She might have saved you this morning but she won't do it again. So if I were you, I wouldn't count on her putting herself between the two us next time."

"Why would you care if she did?"

"She won't."

He sounded so sure of himself that Lucas had to laugh. "What's wrong, Nate… afraid of getting bested again?"

For a moment, he had to thank Tim. Despite the fact that he undoubtedly had something to do with the prank, he was also too curious for his own good. And through him, Lucas learned just how angry Nathan was because he'd somehow managed to make his way out of the woods without anyone seeing him.

He'd won and he didn't even remember doing it. But Nathan did.

"That's enough shooting around. Everyone take a knee," Whitey called out, unknowingly saving the two brothers from whatever digs they were about to shell out next. "To accommodate the date of this year's charity game, we've had to make a few changes to the schedule. So Friday's game against Bear Creek has been moved to Wednesday instead."

Groans greeted his announcement and made Whitey chuckle.

For as long as the old coach could remember, no one in Tree Hill liked anyone from Bear Creek. From the athletes to the cheerleaders to the academic clubs… Bear Creek was their biggest rival and it was the one thing the entire student body agreed on. The one thing each organization seemed to have in common.

"They like to run a motion offense. They're comfortable with it. So it's your job to take the comfort away and force them to try something new," Whitey continued, glancing at each player to ensure he had their attention. "I want the white team on defense, blue on offense. Set up to run motion and we're going to keep on running it until I'm sure you can defend it."

No one groaned at the promise because they knew better. Their coach wouldn't have tolerated it. So for the first forty five minutes of practice, Nathan and Lucas put aside their differences and ran every drill Whitey instructed them too. "Come on, Tim. Move your feet," he yelled from the sidelines when the young player allowed Jake to run right past him. "Offense sells tickets, defense wins games." An old adage that they recently began to hear their coach preach.

"Does anyone else wonder if he got that from Love & Basketball?" Nathan laughed, garnering a chuckle from a few friends until Lucas added, "Hmm… watch a lot of chick flicks Nate?"

The innocent look on his face was the polar opposite of the scowl etched onto Nathan's as he threw the ball roughly at his brother. It sailed towards the bleachers and just managed to clip the blonde brother's arm along the way. "What the hell is your problem?" Lucas demanded and pushed Nathan backwards.

The barb had been innocent enough and not particularly insulting. But Nathan was his father's son and men like they them didn't admit to weaknesses as small as watching a girl aimed movie.

"What's your problem?" he bit back and shoved Lucas just as hard.

"Knock it off!" Whitey yelled after blowing the whistle, its piercing sound echoing in the hollow sounding gym. "Nathan, you're inside running horses. Sideline to sideline and don't stop until I say you can," he punished, wearing his own scowl as the dark haired Scott brother clenched his fist in obvious frustration. "Lucas, you're outside. I want four laps around the parking lot and if you're both lucky I'll let you play at the Midnight Madness. Now go! Both of you."

"Someday soon," Nathan promised as he bumped Lucas shoulder on the way to the sideline.

"We'll see about that," Lucas muttered and headed outside like he'd been instructed.

A few dark clouds blanketed the sky with hints of darkness as he began his run. The air smelled like rain but Lucas suspected it wouldn't fall for at least another hour so. Plenty of time for him to get the laps completed and his body back inside the gym. "So are you two hooking up now or something?" Bevin asked Brooke as she pointed to the edge of the grass where Lucas was running on the pavement. "Because if you're not…" she trailed off leadingly.

"Yeah, Brooke… you got a thing for the new guy?" Peyton asked persistently as she and the other cheerleaders looked at their captain expectantly.

Sprawled on the grass as they stretched before practice, the girls would rather have listened in on the latest gossip rather than spend that time perfecting their newer cheers. "He is hot," Brooke acknowledged with a grin as she thought back to the night of the party and the amazing body she'd seen out in the woods. "But there's no hookup," she admitted, shrugging. Yet the expressions she was met with told Brooke that more than half the girls didn't believe her claim of innocence. Unfortunately for Brooke, Peyton's face was among those in disbelief.

"Well…" Bevin said after a moment's consideration. "So the two of you are chummy or whatever, then I give you a week. After that… he's fair game."

"Think you can swing a hook up in a week, Brooke?"

The question, slightly sarcastic and more than a little insulting, came from her best friend. Curls pulled up in a loose ponytail and no visible traces of makeup on her face, Peyton looked younger than her sixteen years. And for a moment, Brooke was transported back to a time when things were much easier. Back when their lives were simpler instead of ruled by the restrictions of their demanding lifestyles.

She longed to get that simplicity back but a look from her best friend told her that it was quickly becoming a lost cause.

"Line up in your starting positions for the first chant," she called out instead, ignoring the curious look Peyton and the other girls shot her. It didn't matter, she told herself. They could think whatever they wanted and she wouldn't let it get her down because she knew the truth. The plain ole truth that wasn't nearly as interesting as the web of tales they'd all entangled themselves within.