A/N: Yay! I'm so happy that everyone's enjoying all the little Brucas moments and the different friendship scenes ;) I think that after this part, your like for some and dislike for others may grow just a little (sorry about this dislike part)
Thank you everyone for all the great reviews! I love hearing what you have to say and... I hope you like this next one!
Chapter 12 - A Moment Like This
A moment like this
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Some people search forever
For that one special kiss
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Two weeks came and went and in that time, Lucas still hadn't worked up the courage to tell Brooke how he felt about her. It wasn't as if he hadn't had plenty of opportunities to say something. The two talked every day and hung out whenever they were both free. Though usually the time was spent watching movies and their topic of conversation usually consisted of basketball and school stuff. The pair had still yet to delve into anything overly personal because it seemed that anytime Lucas got too close to a particular subject, Brooke closed up like a clam. He wasn't sure why and respected her enough not to ask.
But because of the emotional distance, Lucas also began to second guess Brooke's feelings towards him. He wondered if maybe he was reading too much into their relationship. He thought that if she truly wanted something more with him, she wouldn't become so evasive any time he asked a question about her parents or her past.
"You're brooding."
Blinking, Lucas was brought back to the present with the sound of her voice. Yet the funny thing was that she hadn't even looked at him as she said it. Hazel eyes remained glued to the television, obviously enthralled with latest episode of 7th Heaven. How odd it was, he thought. He'd bet money that no one at school would have ever imagined that their cheer captain was a big fan of the hour long family show.
"Yeah, well you're cheery," Lucas shrugged, smiling as he tried to push the nagging doubts to the back of his mind.
"Of course I am. It's a new episode," Brooke stated, smiling quizzically when she turned and found him staring. "What's that look for, Broody? Still bitter that I'm a better card player than you?" she asked with a laugh. Not the small and polite ones that most people used when they were just trying to be nice but one filled with amusement. "Or do you still think it was a fluke?"
"I swear I saw you deal a few times from the bottom of the deck," Lucas defended, arms crossed over his chest as he played along.
"Keep telling yourself that, Luke," she teased and winked playfully before looking back at the TV screen. "By the way, do you…" Brooke trailed off as the lights and television went out, bathing the entire room in darkness. "Okay, this is going to sound really first grade of me but I hate the dark. At least I hate it when it's so dark that you can't see a thing in front of your face," Brooke admitted and grappled around on the comforter for his hand.
Fingers intertwined, Lucas gave her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze.
"I don't think I had even noticed how hard it was coming down out there," he said as Brooke scooted closer until their bodies were side by side. Her denim clad leg pressed against his and without the distance to separate them, she linked her arm through Lucas', holding tightly to the sleeve of his shirt.
"Me neither," Brooke murmured and jumped up in surprise when the ringing telephone interrupted the peaceful silence.
"I should get that." Still clutching his arm, Brooke moved with Lucas as he got up to answer the call. "Hey, mom. Yeah, the power went out here too," he agreed and listened as she told him to stay put. Then Karen reassured her son by letting him know that she was safe at the garage with Keith. "I'll see you later, mom. I love you too. Bye."
Replacing the phone on its cradle, Lucas was about to ask Brooke why she hated the dark so much when her voice halted his question. "Do you want to go outside?" she asked suddenly.
"As in… outside where's it's raining?"
"No, I meant the other outside. The one that's all sunshine and roses." With sarcasm dripping from her words, Lucas couldn't help laughing at both her tone and the insane request.
"You're crazy, you know that right? We'll probably catch pneumonia or something."
"I know," Brooke said in a small voice. "But please?"
As bad of an idea as it was, Lucas seriously considered saying yes. If for no other reason than because Brooke genuinely seemed to want to. Since acknowledging to Haley that he had developed feelings for the feisty brunette, those feelings had begun to grow a little bit more each day. He knew that soon enough he'd be putty in her hands but first he needed to know something important. One thing that would prove he had a chance of eventually getting her to open up to him. That his feelings might someday be returned. "Tell me why you're afraid of the dark."
Sighing, Brooke's grip loosened but she stayed close by his side. Lucas could feel her warmth and hoped she wouldn't clam up again. "Because it reminds me of being alone," she said quietly.
Nodding, though she couldn't see it, he searched for her hand. "Well you aren't alone now, Brooke," Lucas whispered and felt her squeeze his fingers in acknowledgement. "Come on."
Karen would kill him later if he got sick after being out in the storm but Lucas couldn't bring himself to worry about that just then. Instead he led Brooke outside with her hand still firmly encased in his and closed the door behind them. "I love the smell of fresh rain." The fear he heard in her voice a minute before seemed to evaporate as they stepped out onto the equally dark porch. "It makes the grass and the flowers… even the dirt, smell clean." Suddenly her eyes opened and she smiled. A genuine smile that Lucas couldn't help but return.
Brooke Davis was definitely filled with surprises.
"Come on," she encouraged and led him down the steps, straight into the downpour. Arms out, she lifted her face to the sky while fat rain drops cascaded down her skin and stuck to her clothes. Brown hair became black as the water drenched it, not that Brooke cared about what she looked like in that moment. Yet even with her long strands of hair matted to her face and only faint hints of gloss clinging to her lips, Lucas couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful. "Come on, try it," Brooke enthused and looked over at him.
Her hands found their way back into his while she nudged his arms upward, mimicking her earlier stance.
"Do you always do this?" he asked above the thunderous rain shower that echoed throughout the empty street. Moonlight shone down on them, highlighting the features of their faces and providing a soft glow as the light caught the raindrops as they fell.
"Only when I'm with someone special," she said back and slowly met his gaze. A small smiled turned up the corners of her lips. "Never before tonight."
The clapping thunder rivaled the beat of his heart against his chest. For a moment, however brief, she opened her eyes to him and let Lucas see the depth she had been hiding.
"Brooke…" Gentle fingers pushed back the wet tendrils of hair so that he could take a closer look into her beautiful hazel eyes. The pads of his thumbs lingered on her skin, softly stroking the smoothness before he leaned in. Brooke didn't pull away and he closed the distance between them.
Lips tentative and wet, they met in a slow caress.
Brooke felt her breath hitch and her heart began to race. Slow, unhurried. They moved their lips together in a slow dance that only they knew the steps to. His tongue begged for entrance and she granted it, moving hers against his as he explored her mouth thoroughly. Clenched fists grasped onto the wet material of his shirt before traveling upwards to wind her arms around his neck. His fingers caressed the skin beneath her shirt as he wrapped his arms around her body. He held her close to him, convinced it was never close enough while he deepened the kiss.
An explosion of sensations erupted between them as they stood in the falling rain, their mouths moving together like they had all the time in the world.
-----
"Will you stop with the glaring already!" If looks could kill, Nathan would be six feet under after all the angry stares Peyton had been giving him all night. "Yes, I cheated on you. Yes, I'm sorry and yes, I get that you don't forgive me. What more do you want, Peyton? Some blood? Maybe my first born?"
"Right, like I'd really want your little demon spawn," Peyton bit back. "He probably wouldn't understand the concept of being faithful and would run out to get himself a new mommy. Because he'll have been born from cheater sperm!" she yelled, causing the ache in Haley's head to worsen with each passing second.
"Couldn't the two of you please go to your separate corners or something? Say for a few minutes, an hour maybe," she propositioned. "Or at least until the earsplitting pain in my head has replaced itself with a dull ache?"
The faint light provided by a few lit candles revealed Peyton rolling her eyes. "If it's really so unbearable for you, why don't you just go sit in the back room by yourself? None of this concerns you anyway," she shrugged. As she spied the gesture, Haley was reminded of her conversation with Lucas. The way he described the other, definitely bitchier side to Peyton. Haley had to admit that her best friend hit the nail right on the head with his comments about the curly haired blonde.
"Why don't you shut up, Peyton. It's not her fault she's stuck here with us," Nathan defended. His words surprised both Haley and his ex-girlfriend as neither had ever seen him stick up for another girl that wasn't Brooke.
"I'm impressed, Nathan," she said once she'd gotten her wits back. "Only two weeks of working together and already you've gotten inside her pants. Can't say it's a record though considering how long it took for me to let you between my legs," Peyton snarked while Haley could only gasp at the vile assumption. "Just so you know, you aren't special, honey. He'll screw any female with a pulse."
"Shut the hell up!" Nathan instantly lashed back. "You don't even know what you're talking about," he yelled, wondering if she should be angry for the things she said or guilty because he had been the one to make her so bitter. "Our problems are between us so quit being such a self righteous bitch to someone who didn't even do anything to you."
The crack of Peyton's palm hitting his cheek echoed in the room before either Haley or Nathan could blink. Both were stunned in silence and watched Peyton push the chair back from the table. "Don't make the same mistake I did. If he tries to make you feel like you're someone special, remember how many pairs of legs he's laid between over the years. I'm sure that'll be incentive enough to go running for the hills without a second thought."
With nothing else to say, the blonde retreated into the back stock room while Nathan and Haley both continued to sit silently. Neither was sure what to say, each a little embarrassed for the assumptions and insults Peyton had shelled out. "Wow," Haley breathed. "Either you're an ass, she's a bitch or you're an ass and she's a bitch."
In spite of everything that had just been said, Nathan released a bellow of laughter.
"You did not just say that."
"Oh, I said it alright," Haley replied, unable to hold in her own giggle of laughter. "And you are an ass, by the way. I just thought you should know that." It was said bluntly and with a hint of seriousness that had Nathan laughing all over again. She had guts, he thought. Obviously a lot more of them than he had given her credit for. Something that he slowly began to learn throughout the two weeks she spent tutoring him after school.
Nathan wouldn't say that he liked her and if asked, he'd never admit it out loud, but there was something about her personality that seemed very attractive to him. Maybe it was the way she was able to pull of blunt without sounding like a total bitch. Or her obvious loyalty to those she cared about. The biggest example being the straight forward guidelines she set in place after agreeing to be his tutor. Namely the great pleasure she would take in dropping him so he could fail if he so much as looked at Lucas in the wrong way.
Not that Nathan listened to the advice that was really more like an ultimatum.
Still… her over protectiveness reminded him of Brooke and that was enough for him to give her a fair shake. If Haley was anything like his best friend, she at least deserved his cooperation.
"Yeah, well I'm sure her royal highness back there would agree with you on that one," Nathan admitted, sighing tiredly.
"You know… I know it's none of my business and if you were to ask me anything even remotely personal I'd have to smack you just like Peyton did, but… was she exaggerating? About all the girls you've been with, I mean?" Even as the words flew from her mouth, Haley was certain that she didn't want the answer. Mostly because she suspected he'd brag about his many conquests and she'd be stuck listening to porno tales.
"There've been plenty," Nathan acknowledged, partly because he felt he owed her for having to bear witness to another of his and Peyton's famous fights. Partly because he was bored and if he didn't talk, he wasn't sure what else he could do to pass the time. "But probably not nearly as many as she assumes. She's just pissed. Not that I really blame her."
"Well then why did you cheat?" Haley couldn't help but ask. To her, it was like a live soap opera with character commentary sitting in the chair right beside hers.
"Because I'm my father's son," Nathan replied simply, once again stunning Haley silent.
-----
"Quit worrying. The storm will break soon enough and until it does, you know that Lucas is safe at home," Keith reminded after watching Karen pace in front of him for what felt like the hundredth time. "Or is there something else on your mind?" he asked, this time garnering enough attention to halt the short brunette. "You're worried about what he's going to say, aren't you?"
"How could I not?" Karen asked, shrugging before she resumed the back and forth across the garage's concrete floor.
The flashlight Keith left standing on the ground emphasized the shadows on her face, revealing the concern she felt towards her son. "I've been around the two of you all his life, okay. He knows me and he knows how much I love him," Keith declared confidently. "I'm not some new guy that's gonna swoop in and take his mother away. He knows that and I think you aren't giving him enough credit if you think he'll be anything but thrilled."
"I know that he'll be happy for us eventually. I'm just worried about what he'll say once the idea is still new in his mind."
"I don't know, Karen but I can guess that he'll be pretty upset if he finds out how long we've been keeping this a secret. I'm sure that'll be what hurts him and not the fact that you and I are dating."
"I know," Karen repeated. "I know and I'll tell him. I will. I just need a little more time, okay? Do you think you can do that for me?"
With purposeful steps, Keith walked forward and took Karen in his arms. The smell of her perfume instantly wafted to his nose, causing him to sigh contentedly. "I love you, Karen and I'll do anything you ask. Even if it means keeping us a secret for a little while longer," Keith agreed and felt her relax against him, grateful for his understanding.