A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so glad that you liked that last Brucas chapter. I can honestly say that from this point on, there'll be no talks of a leyton crush! Now, again... some of you might end up hating Nathan or Peyton for their constant behavior but please remember that they have their reasons too and also that I'll try to fix it before the story's over!

Thanks for all the reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy it!!

Chapter 10 - True Colors

You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh, I realize

It's hard to take courage

In world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small

Lucas and Brooke were still laughing when the credits to Weird Science began to roll. Having seen it at least a few dozen times each, they spent the movie parroting the dialogue back to each other, laughing in between lines. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that one," Brooke said once they'd quieted enough to talk.

In addition to the sweater of his she still wore, Brooke had wrapped a blanket around her legs to cover them as she sat Indian style on his bed. At some point she had also wound her hair up in a haphazard bun that allowed a few tendrils of brown hair to escape every time she shook with laughter. "Yeah, I know what you mean," Lucas smiled, thinking that she looked so innocent and carefree as she sat and talked with him. "My mom on the other hand… she hates it now because of all the times I watched it as a kid," he admitted, remembering how she groaned every time she heard the opening music.

Shrugging, Brooke appeared to be amused. "She doesn't know what she's missing."

"That's what I always tell her," Lucas replied, mirroring her shrug with one of his own.

"So did you wanna watch another movie or have I already kept you up past your bedtime," Brooke teased after a quick glance at his bedside clock. The numbers revealed that only a few minutes after midnight had gone by. Normally she'd be out at someone's house, drinking or laughing at someone else who had had just a little bit more drink she did. A game of poker would come up, most times for clothes but sometimes for money, depending on who was playing.

Tim would be belting out the words to some cheesy song like he was in a karaoke bar, all the while stumbling around and bumping into people. Nathan and Peyton would probably be fighting, winding down an argument in preparation of some good old fashioned make-up sex.

It wasn't as glamorous as the uninvited believed it to be. But it was her life and Brooke had learned to accept it.

"Are you sure you're not missing out on something else?" Lucas asked. Almost as if he sensed the direction her thoughts had taken.

"I'm pretty sure the guys on the beach can tap the keg on their own," she joked and waited for Lucas to laugh along with her. But the expression on his face remained serious, unmoved by her obvious humor. "Okay…" she said slowly. "Do I have bits of popcorn stuck between my teeth or something?" Brooke asked uncomfortably.

"Do you really enjoy it?" Lucas suddenly asked.

"I'd say that used to it is probably a better description," she admitted, quietly waiting to see where he was going with the abrupt question.

"So then why do it?"

"Because it's all I know," Brooke stated simply. "I've been going to these parties since I was a freshman. I'm not even really sure what I'd do on a weekend if I wasn't drinking and partying with my friends at the beach or at one of their houses." Two years didn't seem like a lot of time in the grand scheme of things but it was long enough to condition Brooke to a certain standard. Attendance was mandatory, crucial to her image despite the fact that she wasn't too partial to the way other people saw her.

"Tonight wasn't so boring, was it?" Lucas asked while Brooke figured out what he was leading up to.

"Not at all," she shook her head. "But there's a big difference between you and them," Brooke declared.

"Well my ego insists that I take that as a compliment," he smiled, and with that one gesture, he put Brooke completely at ease. She swore that he could see how much she didn't want to delve further into her extracurricular activities and as grateful as she was for his understanding, it also made Brooke a little nervous. She wasn't used to someone being so perceptive about her thoughts. Most people took the things she did and said at face value but Lucas seemed to be the type of person who didn't settle for anything less than everything. "If you're sure you don't have to get home or back to the party, we could probably fit another movie in," he added after watching several thoughts play out across Brooke's face.

"Sounds perfect, baby."

The seriousness which shone through her features was replaced by something entirely more comfortable to Brooke. Flirting.

"Well since you picked Weird Science, I guess that means it's my turn," Lucas decided and began digging through a small collection of movies that had been stored away on a bottom shelf. "Matrix or Braveheart?" he asked, holding up both boxes for her to choose from.

"Seriously?"

Brooke sounded so utterly disinterested that Lucas couldn't help but laugh. "Braveheart it is then," he declared after guessing that Brooke might appreciate the drama of it a little more than she would the sci-fi nature of the Matrix. "But since you seem to enjoy making deals so much, I'll make one with you now. If you don't like it, you can pick the movies next time without a complaint from me."

It was as if he said it without thinking and momentarily surprised the nervous brunette. "Next time?" she asked in a small voice.

"Huh? Oh… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just assumed that…" he lowered his head, sorry that he had jumped the gun and made her feel uncomfortable.

"No," Brooke quickly interrupted. "It's not a problem, I just… I don't know. I guess I thought that maybe it was just a one time thing to make up for the whole bet and party deal." She didn't like feeling insecure about anything but with Lucas she couldn't help the unfavorable emotion. He was special and not at all like the other guys that had been in and out of her life throughout her previous two years in high school.

Turning away, Lucas put the DVD in the player and didn't utter a single word.

Brooke began to wonder if she had said the wrong thing before he resumed his place beside her on the bed. But he was different this time and he didn't reach for the remote to push play. "Lucas?"

"I underestimated you," he said suddenly.

Not missing a beat, she shrugged at the comment and said, "It's okay. Most people do."

"And I'm sorry for that," Lucas said with sincerity shining from his beautiful blue eyes.

"Don't be," Brooke interrupted before he could say anything else. "I am what I am and I like what I like," she said simply. "That's just me and I can't complain about the impression it leaves. Because I do drink, Lucas. I go out and party and spend time with boys and when people see that, they assume whatever they want to about me," she admitted in a moment of vulnerability. "I can't change it and I can't blame them for it either. Even you."

Nodding, Lucas mulled over her words before surprising her once more. "So then who are you? Away from the assumptions and false impressions, tell me who the real Brooke Davis is."

A coward who hides behind her status. It was what her mind screamed for her to say but her heart couldn't bare the rejection she may feel if she told Lucas about her past. "I don't think I can give you an answer. I think it's just something you have to figure out for yourself… assuming you want to try and do that."

Her perfectly constructed mask stayed firmly in place but there were cracks in the veneer that allowed Lucas to see small traces of her insecurity. He wasn't sure why those traces existed at all but he did know that he didn't want to add to them. "I want to try and do that."

Brooke was stunned speechless.

-----

When Haley asked Lucas what he had done the night before, he simply told her that he had watched a couple movies after the game and then fell asleep. It wasn't a lie. He just didn't mention that Brooke had been with him while all this took place. Not because he was embarrassed, or because he assumed Haley would get the wrong impression. No, Lucas kept it a secret because he had a strange feeling that Brooke had just let him in on a part of herself that very few people, if any, ever got to see. And he wanted to keep that for himself for just a little longer.

But while he was talking and enjoying the weekend with his best friend, Brooke was busy trying to console hers.

"I hated it but I still managed to convince myself that I was okay with Nathan not knowing," Peyton said in a frustration laced voice. She paced the length of her bedroom, unable to sit still with all the angered energy bouncing around inside her body. "So what if he never asked about her, right? But to see him with Theresa! Of all girls and of all days… god, it was like he knew exactly what to do to break my heart into a million pieces," she screamed and grabbed the nearest object to hurl against the wall.

Brooke just barely sidestepped the collision that resulted in several shards of broken glass raining down on the hardwood floor. "I hate him. If I never see either of them again, it'll be too soon." Expletives that would have put a drunken sailor to shame began to flow freely from her mouth, unaware that she had almost just assaulted her best friend with the vase. A large clear one that was now empty after once housing the first flowers Nathan ever gave her.

"Has he tried calling?" Brooke queried, searching for something that would calm her broken friend.

"I don't know," Peyton shrugged. "I took my phone off the hook and turned off my cell after I called you."

The drunken hookup, while despicable all on its own, couldn't have come at a worse time.

On the anniversary of her mother's death, Peyton had been feeling sad and disconnected from everyone, save Brooke. The brunette she had been bitching about and to was the only one who knew what significance the day held. She was the one who stayed home from the charity basketball game to keep Peyton company and then encouraged her to go down to the beach for the latest bash. Only Brooke hadn't stayed at the party for long before disappearing to some unknown location.

Though Peyton wouldn't admit it, in some ways she blamed Brooke for her current state. She believed that if it hadn't been for her friend's insistence, she never would have walked in on Nathan and Theresa going at it in his father's beach house. In other ways, she was grateful to have finally learned the truth. Something that would finally give her a much needed push to end things with Nathan for good.

"And as if walking in on them wasn't bad enough… Ashley said it wasn't the first time either," Peyton said with a humorless laugh. "Apparently Theresa felt the need to brag about it after the two of them hooked up last weekend. He told me to go home and then spent the night with her in one of Tim's guest bedrooms."

"He's an ass," Brooke stated loyally.

She was prepared for more crying, more yelling and more threats of bodily harm but what Brooke hadn't anticipated was Peyton's sudden request. "What was his initiation?"

"What?" she asked and shook her head, thinking that she had misheard her blonde friend.

"Come on, Brooke. Don't play games with me," Peyton said in a much stronger voice. "Everyone knows that the two of you got the worst hazing out of anyone because you were both freshman." Of course everyone knew that Brooke and Nathan's punishment had been different from any one else's but no one except for each other knew exactly what had taken place that night. It was why their hold over the other was much stronger than anyone else's. Each held the key to the other's most difficult memory but it was meant to stay locked away unless the need arose. A need that had everything to do with loyalty and nothing to do with revenge.

"I can't, Peyton." It was the one thing she couldn't do for her friend. Anything else… but not that.

"Yes you can, Brooke. Okay, Nathan needs to be punished for cheating on me with that slut and you have the perfect ammunition to do it," Peyton declared, eyes blazing at the prospect of besting her former boyfriend. "You're my best friend. You have to help me with this."

"Yell at him, Peyton. Scream and insult him," Brooke said in a quiet voice that was filled with remorse. "Call him every dirty name you know and don't take him back when he begs," she instructed. "It's your right to do all of that and more if you want to but I can't tell you what happened to him back then. He has just as much on me and…"

"And Brooke Davis is more concerned about herself and her precious status as queen of the school than she is about her best friend," Peyton concluded icily. "I guess I should have known better than to believe for a single second that you actually cared about my feelings. Because you don't, do you? All you care about is protecting whatever sick secret the two of you share," she spat and hit Brooke harder with her next words than she ever could have with her hands or fists. "You're just like him anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you have been fucking behind my back all this time. Maybe that's why you're so concerned about all this crap with him and his brother."

At the mention of Lucas, Brooke's gaze went from surprised to hard. "Maybe if you weren't such a cold hearted bitch, Nathan wouldn't have to get his kicks from Theresa," Brooke shot back. Yet she didn't believe a single word she said. But because Peyton knew her weaknesses and how to exploit them, Brooke could only do the same.

"Speaking of drunken hookups, who was between your legs last night?"

Recoiling as though she had been slapped, Brooke felt a sadness fill her heart. Because as she stood there, staring into Peyton's green gaze, Brooke knew their friendship was falling apart all around them. "You know what, P Sawyer… I know that you're hurting because of your mom and what you saw last night just made it worse. So I'm trying really hard right now to not take your constant stream of bullshit personally," she stated unremorsefully. "Take a step back. We both will and I'll call you later," Brooke said, hoping that if given enough time, Peyton would let go of her plan to destroy Nathan with the truth of his initiation two years before.

"Tell you what, B Davis… why don't you just crawl back beneath the guy you were with last night and stay the hell away from me," Peyton declared strongly. "I don't need some pathetic little girl who stands head to toe in issues as a best friend. I have enemies who I'd rather spend more time with than I'd care to spend with you. So do us both a favor and go to hell!"

Holding back tears that threatened to fall as she listened to the harsh words, Brooke could only stand quiet until she trusted her voice enough to speak. "I've been there. Too many times in my life to count. Not that you remember anything about what my life is like. Not that you care that the very thing you want to exploit Nathan for… is the very same thing I went through," she whispered, smiling sadly when Peyton remained unmoved. "I can handle the heat and the pain and the penance for my sins. Can you say the same?"

-----

By Monday morning the news of Nathan and Theresa had quickly spread throughout the school. Peyton had been humiliated in the worse way by their cheating but what made it worse was that she had no best friend to stand by her side throughout it all. Brooke Davis had walked away and Peyton had only herself to blame for it.

"Will you just talk to her for me? Tell her I'm sorry or something," Nathan requested after hijacking Brooke from the cheerleaders she walked the halls alongside.

"Okay, first of all you'd actually have to be sorry and second, Peyton and I would have to be on speaking terms," Brooke informed, briefly recalling the fight they had on the morning after the party.

At the time she had been feeling happy, if not a little sleepy. Brooke and Lucas had stayed up late watching Braveheart but halfway through the movie she had fallen asleep against him. Sprawled out on their stomachs, after nodding off Brooke somehow ended up curled around Lucas, preventing him from moving for fear of waking her up. So he stayed still and eventually fell asleep beside her.

The next morning Brooke woke up with the sunrise and took her time extracting her body from his.

Without saying a word, she grabbed her shoes and covered him with the blanket that she had obviously been unwilling to share throughout her slumber. Tiptoeing out, she made it to the porch and gently closed the door behind her. It wasn't until she was halfway back to her own house that she remembered to leave the gray hooded sweater behind.

Three hours later Peyton called and her day slowly went downhill from there.

Sunday had been just as uneventful and Brooke had no illusions that things would magically be alright again when they showed up for school. Too many ugly words had been said. "What happened?" Nathan asked warily.

"It doesn't matter," Brooke lied and glanced down the hall at oncoming students. In the crowd, she spotted a tall head of blonde hair coming towards her and she couldn't help but smile a little. Lucas. "Just stay away from her for now, Nate. She needs time to cool off and since you're obviously not sorry about cheating, talking to her now will only make it worse."

"It was just sex. It's not like it meant anything," Nathan defended.

"Then that's even worse, Nate," Brooke sadly replied. "You just threw away your relationship for nothing."