A/N: Wow! I was completely floored with all the great reviews!! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter. It's not a really big Brucas one but some important things happen and you'll have more Brucas tomorrow ;) Sorry to those of you who thought that Pathan was sad or that Peyton was a Btch but I'm glad you're enjoying the story anyway.

Again, thanks everyone who read and reviewed. Your comments were amazing!

Chapter 11 - Black Roses Red

Can I ask you a question please

Promise you won't laugh at me

Honestly, I'm standing here

Afraid I'll be betrayed

As twisted as it seems, I only fear love with it's in my dreams

So let the morning light come and let the darkness fade away

"That's game, baby," Skillz laughed after sinking the final shot. "Who's the superstar now?" he taunted good naturedly, causing Lucas to groan.

"Yeah, but look who got the girl," Mouth added, calling attention to the little blue car that was slowly driving up the path. "I guess Luke won after all," he laughed as Brooke Davis pulled to a stop beside the court. With her hair pulled up, dressed in jeans and a plain sweater, she still looked as beautiful as she did when she wore her skirts and fitted tops. A smile adorned her face while she walked towards the group of guys and when she got close enough, she lifted her hand in a polite wave.

"Hey guys," Brooke greeted, almost shyly. An expression Lucas had never before seen her wear.

"Hey," he said quietly and leaned down when she reached up to give him a brief hug. "Guys this is Brooke. Brooke, that's Mouth, Fergie, Junk and Skillz."

"Wow, suddenly my name sounds really boring," Brooke teased and smiled her dimpled smile at the guys.

"So are we on for another game or do you two got something going on?" Skillz asked while twirling the ball around in his hand.

"I'd love to watch, if you guys don't mind," Brooke shrugged easily, looking to each guy for confirmation before she settled on Lucas. He smiled down at her and accepted the ball Skillz passed his way. Together, the four walked back onto the court while Brooke sat at one of the benches with Mouth. "So you don't play?" she asked, glancing between the game and her new friend.

"No, I'm more into announcing," Mouth shook his head.

"Oh my god!" Brooke said suddenly, starling Mouth and the guys on the court. "Sorry," she grinned sheepishly. "Go on back to your game. I'm good," she assured and waited until their stares had returned to the ball before looking back at Mouth. His expression was still startled and she smiled, hoping to lighten him up a bit. "Okay, so we've been wanting to drum up a bigger buzz about the team since it's the best one we've had in like… I don't know, ten years maybe. Or at least that's what all the older people in town say but… I don't know, it doesn't matter. Anyway, so I've been brainstorming with Couch Durham, the Student Council President, Erica Marsh and Principle Turner. And one of our ideas was a live sports cast," she announced and stared at Mouth with an expectant look.

"A live sports cast?" he asked.

"Right," Brooke said excitedly. Her hands gestured wildly as she got further into the explanation, unknowingly scaring and amusing Mouth at once. "People would go to the school's website and there'd be a link or something on the sports page. Then they'd click on it and they could listen to a live play by play of the games. Which you could totally do."

"Me?!"

This time it was Mouth's outburst the garnered the player's attention. That and Brooke's laughter as she caught sight of the deer in headlights expression he wore.

"Well you said you were into announcing, right? And we didn't already have anyone in mind so you can do it and save me the trouble of looking around for someone else," she smiled winningly. "See… win, win. Please?" With laughing hazel eyes and a dimpled smile, it was hard for anyone to say no to Brooke Davis. There was just something about her and denying anything she wanted made a person feel like the lowest form. "It'll be fun… I think."

"I…" he trailed off uncertainly and glanced over at his friends on the court. Lucas had been someone he met after transferring to Tree Hill in the fourth grade. Since then Mouth had sat on the sidelines for years and watched him and others play ball. It was their biggest interest and they were all good at it but Mouth knew it would never be something he did. Broadcasting, on the other hand, was an avenue he'd love to one day pursue and he supposed that everyone needed a stepping stone. The Tree Hill High sports cast would be as good as any other one, he guessed. "I'll do it."

"Really?" Brooke asked, smiling happily.

"Really."

"Oh that's great!" she gushed and threw her arms around him. "You'll have so much fun with it," Brooke assured, now sounding more confident while the blush staining his cheeks went unnoticed.

"Looks like Mouth got the girl now," Skillz said from where he stood on the court, looking between Lucas and Brooke.

"Actually, you're looking at Tree Hill High's newest sports announcer," Brooke informed with a pleased grin turning up the corners of her lips. "Well don't just stand there like I've grown a second head… congratulate your friend," she urged teasingly and could only smile when they all began calling out to Mouth.

Later, when Brooke drove Lucas home, he told her that she'd done a good thing. Marvin McFadden was a nice as they came but few people rarely gave him a chance because they couldn't get past his studious exterior. Often times it was the same thing with Haley. Only Haley had learned early on not to care about things like popularity and status. Mouth, on the other hand, obviously wished that he could find a bit of the spotlight for himself.

As a sportscaster, people would finally get the chance to hear just how great he was.

"I wasn't lying when I told him he'd be doing me a favor," Brooke shrugged as she tried to act like the offer hadn't been a big deal. "Besides, he seems really nice and dependable. He'll do a great job," she smiled briefly before returning her eyes to the road.

"Why do you pretend that none of it matters?" Lucas asked suddenly.

He thought about all the hours Brooke put in while she made banners to advertise for the charity game. The way she strong armed twice as many businesses to contribute. Twice as many than any other cheerleader or student council officer. The locker decorating she organized for the players and the fund raisers to get all the little Raven souvenirs that were passed out at Midnight Madness and then again at the Father/Son game later in the week.

But if asked, he doubted Brooke would admit to any of it.

As involved as she was in school activities, she took credit for none of it. Her greatest pride was being captain of the cheer squad and it was the one thing she was willing to admit. Everything else she did was put away in the back of her mind, unmentioned and in a lot of cases, unappreciated by those she helped.

"Well if you're talking about your friend, Mouth… I know that it matters to him. I'm not saying that it doesn't," Brooke denied uncertainly, misinterpreting his words. She had no idea where the quick question came from or how to really respond to it. "I just meant that I didn't do anything special. Like I said, he's the one doing me the favor."

Lucas didn't buy it but sensed that she was obviously uncomfortable with the credit he wanted her to take.

Brooke Davis was a bundle of contradictions. When it came to her looks and sex appeal, she had no problem flaunting it. Whereas the goodness inside her was locked away with no sign of a key. Briefly, Lucas couldn't help but wonder if Nathan ever got to see the Brooke she hid from him. The ease with which they talked led him to believe that she and Nathan had been close for a long time. Though Lucas had no clue how that friendship came about or how it had lasted as long as it had, he knew that it was something independent of the other people in their lives. Especially since he'd seen the two of them talking a few days earlier, even after news had gotten around about his split from Peyton.

Peyton.

A year before Lucas would have jumped at the chance to spend time with her now that she and Nathan were no longer a couple. But when word got around school, Lucas couldn't honestly say that he felt anything one way or the other. Sure he was sorry that she had been cheated on. It was never a good feeling to know that the person you loved was with someone else. But he didn't feel the desire to talk to her and he knew that the reason for his quick about face was the girl sitting beside him.

-----

"I'm in hell," Haley groaned as she barged into Lucas' room and flopped back on his bed. "I'm in tutorgirl hell."

Amused at hearing Haley mutter Brooke's nickname for her, he leaned back in his desk chair and regarded her curiously. "What's the matter, Hales? Is Tim still trying to get you to go out with him?"

"I wish," she muttered before groaning again. "Oh god, how pathetic is that? I'd rather have Tim hitting on me every day if it meant I didn't have to tutor Nathan," Haley stated, instantly wiping the smile off Lucas' mouth.

"Nathan?"

Swearing under her breath, Haley sat up from her place on the mattress and bit her lip, remorsefully. She had belated realized that the information should have been delivered bit more tactfully as opposed to the way she just blurted it out. "Look, before you say anything, let me just tell that I tried to get out of it, Luke. Okay, I tried everything I could think but the only way out is to quit my position and I just… I can't. I'm sorry," she apologized and waited through her friend's silence.

Sighing, Lucas ran a hand through his hair and said, "I'm not mad, Hales." The honesty in his eyes quickly dispelled the brunt her worry. "And it's not like I think the two of you are gonna fall in love and get married just because you're tutoring him a few afternoons a week," he added and took the time to think about how absurd the possibility was. From Haley's snort, she found the idea just as far fetched as he did. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Hales. Okay, you and I both know that he isn't above using you to get to me."

Acknowledging the validity of her friend's warning, Haley couldn't help but feel as though it was something she could handle. "I know that he might try. But there really isn't anything he could hold over me," she shrugged after taking a long hard look at the situation. "In this instance, he needs me, not the other way around. You know… without my help, he's going to fall and there goes basketball which I seriously doubt he's willing to let happen. So he'll behave. He has to or else I'll ruin any chance he has for a future in sports," Haley said simply but the grin on her face told Lucas how amused she was about the prospect. Let it never be said that Haley James wasn't a loyal friend. "So enough about your evil younger brother… where were you at lunch today? I looked for you in the quad."

Now it was Lucas' turn to glance away, fearful of how his best friend would react to his answer. "Actually, I was with… Brooke."

"Brooke as in Brooke Davis? That Brooke?"

"The one and only," Lucas acknowledged, nodding.

"Huh…" she grunted quietly, as though pondering the new development. "Okay, so then what? Are you two dating now or are you just… you know?"

Laughing, Lucas reached for the nearest pillow and whacked Haley in the face with it. "No, we're aren't… you know." But when faced with the question of what was going on between them, Lucas didn't have a definitive answer to give. "And we aren't dating either, we're just hanging out. Is that so bad?"

"No," Haley shook her head, unknowingly filling Lucas with relief that she hadn't immediately jumped to disapproval. "I mean, don't get me wrong. She's decent… more so than I thought she would be," Haley admitted, thinking back to the night of the first party. "But she's Nathan's best friend and that seems like more of a complication than it was with Peyton."

"How do you figure?"

Shrugging, Haley toyed with the thread on his comforter, searching for the right words to explain her theory. "We both know the way Nathan is. Everything is at his disposal and everything is a possession. So with Peyton as his girlfriend, it wasn't like she was his equal, she was probably just another piece of property to him," she said, recalling all the rumors floating around school about the dark haired Scott's indiscretions. "And in a way it seems like that was Peyton's fault just as much as it was Nathan's because she allowed herself to be placed in that role. But Brooke is his best friend… almost like a sister and there's no way she'd ever be considered his property. She is his equal and I can't help but think that he would take it worse if he lost her to you than if he had lost Peyton to you."

Closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair again, Lucas had the strangest urge to laugh out loud.

All his life Nathan had been given things that Lucas could never have.

As a child he had wanted his father but it became an impossible wish that slowly began to fade with time. Nathan had been encouraged to play basketball and lived in a large house with more money than he knew what to do with. There was the popularity, the cars, the admiration and his role as leader on the court. But none of those things mattered to Lucas anymore. He loved the game but he could live without it. He and his mother got by on the money she made from the café and Keith was a better father figure than Dan ever could have been.

Lucas was also beginning to learn that the popularity wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"I'm gonna tell you a secret, Haley." The words came from some unknown place within himself and Lucas couldn't find the strength to hold them in any longer. "If you had asked me what I thought of Brooke Davis last year or even two months ago, I would have told you that she was just like everybody else. Nothing special, nothing that stood out from any of the other people in her group," Lucas admitted and the way Haley winced told him that it was a harsh enough assertion. "But today and yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that… if you were to ask me what I think of Brooke Davis, I would tell you that she's one of the most amazing girls I know. She's smart, even though she doesn't believe it. She's so beautiful and kind and funny and she has the biggest heart."

Haley could hear the alarm bells going off in her head long before Lucas finished his speech. It wasn't at all unexpected but Haley wasn't sure if it was right either. Not when the object of his affection was a girl who was up to her eyes in a world Lucas knew very little about. A world that was dangerous if got too close to it.

"Correct me if I'm wrong here," Haley began tentatively. "But it sounds to me like you're falling for her, Luke."

He smiled because he knew his best friend was right.

"I think I already have."