A/N: Well I'm glad that despite Lucas' little bout of jerkism, that you all still enjoyed the chapter. You're right about Peyton being a little on the fence and her inner struggle is far from over. There is definitely more friendship and relationship stuff ahead and I hope you all keep enjoying it.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!!

Chapter 7 - Lie in the Sound

Oh the timing is cruel

Oh I need and don't want to need

More than I should

I am falling, say my name

And I'll lie in the sound forever

Tree Hill High had many sports teams and academic clubs but they were most widely known for their basketball program. Each year the school kicked off the new season with a series of week-long events, beginning with a Midnight Madness in the gym. It was a celebration of sorts that the entire town was invited to and featured a fifteen minute scrimmage between the members of the varsity squad. Cheerleaders, band members and students alike usually filled up the bleachers and left little room for the hordes of townspeople who came by to show their support. Others made an appearance simply because it was hosted by Dan Scott and he expected nothing less from those he kept company with.

Deafening would be the only word to describe the noise level once the room had gone dark in that late hour.

But with the beat of the bass drum, the spotlight turned on and encircled Dan Scott with its bright beam. "Is everybody for midnight madness!" he called out amidst the crowd's loud cheers. Air horns echoed in the gym along with the catcalls that only got louder as the school's mascot egged them on. Blue and white banners were waved around along with little souvenir pompoms that the cheer squad had thrown out earlier that night. "That's what I'm talking about," he smirked while eating up all the attention. "The countdown to the start of the season is on. Let me hear you. 5…4…3…2…1…" the crowd counted along. "Let the madness begin!!"

"Now." Brooke gestured towards one of the guys in the AV club, cuing up the music to the dance they'd start the event off with. Smoke that had previously kept them hidden now seemed to part ways as the cheer squad paraded through.

"You all know what sides you're on. Two seven minute quarters and one minute of sudden death," Whitey reminded as the team prepared to run out from behind the locker room's doors. Half of them were clad in white uniforms while the other half wore blue. "And it's gonna be a clean game. No one's getting hurt before Bear Creek in two days." However the final comment was directed towards Nathan and Lucas who were on opposing teams for the night's purposes.

"And the team that going to deliver us our state title… your Tree Hill Ravens!" Dan called out once the girls had finished their routine.

"Game time boys," Whitey directed and stood back as the group of twelve ran through a large banner and into the gym.

"Alright, Ravens… whoo!" the girls cheered and waved their pompoms around.

Blue beamed spotlights danced crazily across the floor while the boys, each toting a ball, came to the center of the court. Almost instantly, the cheerleaders closed in on them while the boys put their hands out, one on top of the other. "Ravens on 3," Nathan called out. "1…2…3… Ravens!" the team chanted.

Turning, Lucas found himself standing in front of one cheerleader as they all began to disperse. "Good luck, superstar," she winked and waved her pompoms in his face before turning to follow the rest of her squad.

Despite their earlier disagreement, Lucas laughed at her teasing and joined the blue team on the away bench.

"I guess you took Bevin's week-long deadline to heart, huh?" Peyton asked once Brooke made it to the baseline in front of the visitor's basket. "So are you just trying to not waste time or has it been going on for a while now and we're all just finding out about it?" she amended, grinning when the inquiry garnered the attention of Theresa and Ashley who were nearby and listening.

Across the court, Brooke spied Lucas laughing at something Jake said while Nathan glared at the two.

With a look of surprise plastered on her face, she turned towards the blonde. "God, P Sawyer… are you PMS'ing or just pissed off about Nathan snubbing you? Because you've been acting like an ubber bitch since last week." It was true, Brooke told herself, but she couldn't help the twinge of guilt it made her feel. Her only consolation was that the girls expected it of her. No one would be surprised to hear Brooke Davis telling off a squad member, they would just a be a little taken aback that it was directed towards her supposed best friend.

"Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle," Peyton said with a glare.

"Whatever, Peyton. Just try and act like a cheerleader for once," Brooke said, shaking her head sadly.

Sitting in the bleachers and mostly hidden from view by the other screaming fans, Karen Roe watched her son walk onto the court with mixed emotions. It almost felt bittersweet considering the last time she set foot inside the gym was to watch Dan play his final game as a Tree Hill Raven seventeen years before. "How're you holding up?" Keith whispered in her ear after watching several expressions flash across her face before she settled on nervousness.

"I'll be fine… I mean, I have to be," Karen said, wearing a sad smile aimed at her long-time friend. "I just hope Lucas isn't setting himself up for a big disappointment."

Despite her son's assurances that she didn't have to make it the madness or the games, Karen knew that it would be selfish of her to take him up on the offer. Especially since he rarely asked her for anything. Almost as if learned at a young age that there were some things he was better off without for her sake. He was amazing in that respect and so unlike his brother Nathan if Keith's stories were anything to go by.

-----

The two quarters passed in a blur of show boating and over the top plays. With Whitey sitting behind the scores table rather than at the coaches bench, it was up to the players to decide which direction they'd take. The point guard called the shots and the other four were expected to follow his lead.

Thankfully the allotted fourteen minutes came and went with little problems and no hard fouls. But when the buzzer sounded and the players returned to their benches in preparation for the sudden death round, Whitey began to wonder if their good sportsmanship would last. Mostly because the two Scott brothers were on opposing teams and there was only a two point difference between them.

"I think you got an admirer," Jake pointed out quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked and followed Jake's line of sight to half court where the cheer squad was performing another dance routine. Blue eyes found hazel as he met Brooke's gaze. "We hardly know each other," he excused and allowed her to hold his attention for a second longer than was necessary. "Maybe she was looking at you," he said and grinned when Jake laughed at the thought.

"I doubt that," he declared confidently. "Besides, you're definitely the one that caught her eye."

"Go Ravens!" they called out once the music had stopped and bounced back to their place at the baseline.

"Game time," Lucas said, effectively ending the debate. Ten boys took the floor again, two meeting in the middle for the tip-off. Nathan would be jumping against Springer but lost the toss to the three inches taller center. "Let's go," Lucas muttered to himself once he had control of the ball. "Blue," he called and held one hand up in the air to signal the play he wanted.

Names were all generic, changed for the night so the opposing side wouldn't immediately know which offense they were running.

With Tim on the white team and the back-up point guard resting on the bench, Lucas directed the blue side before handing the ball off to the forward Nathan guarded. Running across the paint, he swung around to get in position when his brother suddenly abandoned the guy with the ball and instead stepped into his path.

Lucas hadn't expected the immediate switch and didn't see Nathan's assault coming until he'd been knocked onto the floor.

Grimacing at the quick explosion of pain and the air that left his lungs, he stayed on the ground until the stars behind his eyes slowly faded away. "Foul away from the ball. Number 2-3. Blue ball," an assistant coach called out. He shook his head at Nathan as he and the other coach serving as refs went back to their places on the court.

From where he sat, Whitey quietly seethed after witnessing the unnecessary cheap shot.

"You're alright, man," Jake said and held his hand out to help Lucas stand.

The crowd cheered when he was back on his feet. Most of them anyway. Keith was shaking his head and Karen was glaring at Dan because of the amused smirk turning up the corners of his lips. "Yeah… I'm alright," Lucas agreed without taking his eyes off his brother. Nathan seemed entirely too pleased with himself despite the fact that he was now playing with five fouls. All which he managed to get while playing defense on Lucas. "One more and he's out. I'm sure his dad'll love that."

"Come on."

"Yeah, you're right Peyton... you don't need to say anything to Nathan. He's doing just fine," Brooke shook her head while the sarcasm in her words made Peyton glare.

"He isn't your boyfriend, Brooke. Neither of them are," she bit back. "It's none of your business."

"If you won't say anything to him then I will," Brooke retorted after ignoring Peyton's barb.

"You're asking for trouble."

Like a tennis match, the other girls looked back and forth between the two friends. Watching and waiting for whatever insult would come next. "Trouble doesn't scare me, Peyt. You must have me confused with yourself."

"Uh oh," Bevin quietly muttered.

-----

Long after the buzzer had sounded, revealing the white team as the victor, Brooke sat at the bottom of the bleachers waiting. She knew the boys inside the locker room were probably being yelled at by their coach. At least half of them were for the stunts they'd pulled out on the court. Fouls committed that could have actually hurt one another before their big game with Bear Creek.

Once the final score had gone up, Peyton didn't bother to say a single word to Brooke. She didn't even wait for her boyfriend before leaving the gym with a scowl on her face and a proverbial megaphone stuck up her ass.

"See you guys later," she heard and silently stood by the doors to wait. In a matter of moments, a tall dark haired player emerged with his bag slung over one shoulder and a smile on his face. Reacting without thinking, Brooke reached out to get his attention. "Ow! What the hell's your problem, Brooke?" Nathan demanded and rubbed the spot on his arm she had pinched.

"Gee, let me think about it, Nate. Could it be the fact that lately Princess Peyton has been a royal bitch?" Brooke spat and rolled her eyes when he continued to nurse the sore skin. She figured there was no use beating around the bush, not where Nathan was concerned and not when she wanted to get the argument out of the way before the entire team walked out. "Or should I take it a step further and smack you again because you're the reason she's acting that way?"

Quietly, Nathan waited until two of his teammates had passed before giving Brooke his full attention. "Look, I'm sorry if Peyton's being weird with you but I hardly see how it's my fault. I'm not that one who's acting weird. Remember, I'm the one that just got pinched," he felt the need to add before crossing his arms over his chest. Brooke knew him well enough to realize he was daring her to correct him. He was trying to rub it in that she couldn't find a reason to place the blame on his shoulders.

But he was wrong.

"See that's the thing, Nate. This stupid vendetta you have against your brother is driving Peyton insane and because she won't say anything about it to you, she's lashing out at me," Brooke informed before crossing her own arms. "It needs to stop already, okay. You did the initiation and he passed. It's over, Nathan. Just let it go."

"No. You know the rules, Brooke. The game's not over until the captain says it is," Nathan declared roughly. For a moment following, he looked genuinely apologetic before he masked it away with an impassive expression. "And I'm not ready for it to be over," he shrugged.

"Well this captain is," she countered, standing just as strongly. "Your grudge is fucking with my squad and you have my best friend tied up in knots and acting like a yoyo. One minute she's hot then the next she's cold and it's causing a big rift between us. I won't put the other girls through it and I won't lose her because of it," Brooke said and offered her once friend a sad smile. "You have to get over this Nate and if you won't… if you're really so determined to play this damn game… then play against me. I'm the opponent to beat, not Lucas. You know I can make it hell for you just as easily as you can do it to me."

The anger on his face was easy to read. He dropped his arms to his sides and clenched his hands into fists of frustration. "Damn it, Brooke. What do you care what happens to him?" Nathan all but demanded. They were the words he'd given Peyton the night of the party. The question he had asked. But whereas her answer was what he wanted to hear, he knew Brooke's wouldn't be.

"We all get what's coming to us. I accepted it and so did you… so did everybody else. But there was a reason why you didn't haze Jake," she reminded, remembering how surprised and proud she had been when they let him slip by without punishment. "And there's a reason why you shouldn't with Lucas either." Neither of them deserved it.

Opening and closing his mouth a few times, Nathan finally release a sigh. It was then that Brooke knew she had lost. "After everything we went through together I'd do just about anything you asked… but I'm sorry. I can't do this," he softly apologized and walked away with his head down.

She had lost the battle but Brooke had no intention of losing the war.

-----

With his ride home absent from the parking lot, Lucas slung his gym bag over his shoulder and began walking across the paved surface. He had taken longer than any of his teammates because Coach Durham had been adamant about getting things squared away before leaving for the night. He wanted to make sure that Lucas wasn't planning anything retaliatory against Nathan. Not that he didn't deserve it, Whitey just knew that it wouldn't help matters at all. If anything it would only make things harder on himself.

But even knowing the logic behind it, Lucas wasn't sure what to do with the advice he'd been given. Especially since Nathan obviously had no qualms about taking cheap shots wherever he could get them. So the question became whether or not he wanted to take the same path.

"Don't you drive?" Brooke asked when the blonde haired athlete passed by her car.

She had been busy trying to stow away a box of extra souvenirs that the squad would continue giving out at the upcoming charity game. The assortment of blue and white pompoms, miniature basketballs and Raven banners would have to go home with her since the cheerleading storage locker was already filled with other props. As captain, the responsibility of making sure they stayed safe fell on Brooke.

"Haley was supposed to give me a ride but I couldn't find her," Lucas answered while Brooke attempted to close the hood of her trunk. "You know you'd probably have better luck if you just put those in your backseat," he suggested.

"Are you offering to help?"

"Are you offering me a ride home?" he countered.

"Count on it," Brooke said with a grin and watched Lucas lift the box off the carpeted floor of her trunk. "You know it took me fifteen minutes to drag it out here," she added when he carried it around her car with ease. "I should have just looked for you."

Lucas began to return her smile when he remember their earlier conversation. Specifically that he never got around to apologizing for it. "Listen, Brooke… I'm sorry about earlier. I realize now that you were just trying help and I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you."

She opened her mouth to say it was no big deal. It's what she would have said to anyone else but with Lucas she couldn't help feeling like his apology did matter. "I know that we aren't exactly friends," she acknowledged with a shrug. "And I've been close to Nathan for a long time now so I can see where you might not want to trust my motives. But I'm not out to get you, Lucas. I know that this thing between the two of you is going to get a lot worse before it ever gets better so…"

"Why?"

"What?" she shook her head, distracted by his interruption.

"Why do you want to help me."

"Because this thing happens to everyone but some get it worse than others. You'll get it worse than anyone else and let's just say that I know what that feels like." It was the closest she'd ever come to admitting the truth about her own initiation two years before. Not even Peyton had gotten the details.

"So what was yours?" Lucas quietly asked. He couldn't deny being curious about this ritual the two squads seemed to have.

The idea of hazing seemed outdated and archaic to him. Lucas had a hard time imagining how they had gotten away with it for so long without someone spilling the truth to a principle or parent. He wondered what had kept everyone quiet and considered what other forms of humiliation the teams had come up with in the past. But he didn't ask that question then. He supposed it wasn't so important at the time. But he did want to know about Brooke's. Lucas wanted to know what had happened to this girl that had her turning on her own to keep him and Nathan from fighting in the hallways.

"Mine?" Brooke quietly repeated.

An entire car separated them but Brooke felt like he was too close. For a moment she had allowed him to glimpse something that a rare few even knew existed and that scared her more than anything else ever had before. So she did the only thing she knew how to do and closed herself off before he could get any closer. "Someday, Lucas… but not today."

The way his blue eyes looked at her, Brooke swore that he understood. For whatever reason, it made her want to protect him even more.

"So do I get to pick the station on the radio?" Lucas asked while reaching for the door handle. Gratefully, Brooke smiled and waited until they were both sitting inside her car before she responded.

"As long as it isn't something depressing or weepy," she agreed and pulled out of the parking lot while Lucas turned the radio dials.

At the time, it didn't occur to either teen that Brooke drove to his house without first asking Lucas where he lived.