Happy fake birthday!!!!

Chapter Nine

That's How You Play The Game

Brooke twirled her pom poms around as she entered the gym. She scanned the room searching for her boyfriend. She hadn't seen him all day. She knew he was there, but it was as if he'd been avoiding her. That couldn't be it though. When she left him yesterday they'd been in a good place. They hadn't fought at all and that was saying a lot for them. She just couldn't understand how she hadn't seen him at all.

Her eyes landed on him across the floor warming up. There he finally was. She knew there would be no way that she'd miss him here. Brooke steadily walked over to him."Well if it isn't my loser boyfriend. You done avoiding me for no apparent reason?"she smiled.

Nathan turned around and looked at her. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now."Give it a rest Brooke. I'm not in the mood."he turned away from her.

"Yeah, well I wasn't in the mood to be avoided all day, but that didn't stop you now did it?"she was getting a little upset now. He should have known she was only joking before, but not anymore. She definitely didn't like his attitude right now.

"Seriously Brooke, just leave it alone."he said as he began to walk away from her.

"Hey wait a second."said Brooke as she grabbed him by the arm."What the hell is going on Nate?"

Nathan yanked his arm away from her."Brooke don't ever fucking grab me like that again."he said looking around to see if anyone was watching them.

"Nathan."shouted Brooke.

"Leave me alone Brooke. I don't want to do this right now."he turned and left her standing in the middle of the gym.

Brooke looked at him walk away. She wasn't sure what the hell had just happened.

Lucas walked over to Brooke after witnessing what had just occurred."You okay?"he watched her turn to him."I saw what happened and Nathan looked like he was being an ass."

"When isn't he an ass to me?"

"True. Why do you put up with it again?"

"Don't start Lucas."she said as she turned to walk away.

"Brooke wait."said Lucas as he stepped closer to her. He hadn't expected her to listen, but was glad that she did."I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's okay."

"Look, I don't like Nathan at all or anything, but some stuff happened last night and he got the brunt of it."

"What happened?"

Lucas shook his head."Just some stuff with Dan. He and Nathan had it out pretty bad."

"How bad?"

"Really bad. Deb got in it and ended walking away from the table."

"Did Nathan go after her?"

"Yeah. How did you know that?"

"Never mind that. I'm such an idiot. The second I see him I start in on him. I should have just waited for him to come to me."

"Nothing that happened is your fault Brooke. No matter what happened last night it was Nathan that acted like the asshole here. Don't feel guilty."Brooke nodded. Lucas lifted his hands and rubbed her arms up and down."Good. I should get to warming up. I'll see you later Brooke."he turned to walk away, but turned back."Don't forget we're working on our English project tomorrow."

"I know."she smiled and went to stretch with her squad.

"What was all that about?"asked Peyton as Brooke went to sit next to her.

"Nothing."said Brooke as she began to stretch.

"Nothing? Please, that did not look like nothing. I seriously thought you and Nathan were gonna start hitting each other. What's going on?"

"Well you know how I said I thought Nathan was avoiding me?"Peyton nodded."Well it looks like he actually was, well not so much me as everyone. If it weren't a game day I bet he wouldn't have come at all. Lucas said that he and Dan got into it and Deb had to get involved. You know how Nate is about his mom. Anyways I kinda started in on him about not liking to be avoided and of course he got pissed which made me get pissed and when he tried to walk away I grabbed him. He pulled away and yelled at me and that's that. End of story."

"I wonder what happened."

Brooke shrugged."I don't know. Nathan won't talk to me. I feel bad for him, I really do, but at the same time I hate when he gets into these moods. It's never good for anyone."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do? I'm just gonna have to wait and see if he comes to me."

"I guess, just don't take his crap Brooke."

"I don't."

"Brooke."said Peyton flatly."Come on, he puts you through so much crap and you just let him."

Brooke glared at her best friend."Can we not do this here?"

"Fine. I'm just saying."

"Well don't. I don't want to hear it."

"Brooke..."

"I'm serious Peyton. Drop it. Lets just stretch."Brooke turned away from her. She wasn't mad at her exactly, she just hated that Peyton was right. She knew she was, but that didn't mean she needed to be reminded of it.

Nathan stood on the sideline waiting for Tim to gather the team together, all but Lucas. He wasn't sure if he was going to go through with this, but after watching Lucas talk and touch Brooke the way he had, he'd made up his mind. There was no way he could play this game with Lucas. Lucas did this all to himself. He looked over at Brooke who was talking to Peyton and shook his head. He didn't know why she didn't see Lucas for who he really was. He turned away from her and to Tim who now stood before him with the guys."Okay."he started."Look, I need your help with something."

"Sure thing. Whatever you need. No problem."were a few of the responses he got.

"Well, I'm sure you all know that I can't stand Lucas."he received a few nods."But this isn't what this is about. I just don't feel that it is right that he moves here and within days he's on the team and a starter. There are guys who have worked really hard for years that still haven't started in a game. Those are the ones I want out there playing with me. It isn't fair that because Lucas is Dan's son he gets all this special treatment. I've earned my spot on the team and Dan had nothing to do with it. Lucas should have to do the same, just like all you guys have."there were a lot more nods. They were agreeing with him.

"So what is it you want us to do?"asked Tim.

"We need to show Lucas his true place on the team and it's not out on the court, not yet anyways. We need to keep the ball out of Lucas' hands the entire game. We need to let him know how we feel. He's not ready to play with us."

"Okay sure thing."said Tim."Right guys? We're down with this."that got a lot more agreement from the rest of the team.

"Now I mean it. I don't want Lucas to touch the ball at all tonight. I want him totally froze out. If you're being double teamed and he's the only one open, you fight your way out of it. Do not give him the ball. If we do this then after tonight he'll know how we feel and step down and then maybe Mike over there will be a starter next week."said Nathan pointing to one of the players.

"I'm all for that."said Mike with a grin.

"Okay then, are we all in agreement? We want Mike out here with us?"

"Hell yeah."came from the team.

"Then lets do it."said Nathan as Lucas approached.

"Hey guys, what's going on? Is this some sort of team meeting I didn't know about?"he asked nervously.

Nathan stepped up."Yeah it actually is, but we don't see or want you as part of the team so you weren't invited."he said coldly.

"Well it doesn't really matter what you want. I am part of the team and that's not going to change."he wasn't about to let Nathan come at him this way.

"Did you hear that guys? He doesn't care what we want. Way to show team work Luke."said Nathan with a laugh."Lets go guys."he said and they followed.

Tim ran to catch up with Nathan."That was pretty fun back there. This game is going to be interesting."

"It will if you all keep your words."

"We will, don't worry about that. I'm just curious, is this all just because of the team or are you pissed at him because he wants Brooke?"

Nathan stopped and turned to Tim. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Tim wasn't acting as idiotic as usual."You see it too?"

Tim nodded."Hell yeah, he always checks out her ass. That guy is hard up to tap that fine ass."

And there it was, Tim's obnoxiousness."Just shut up Tim. He isn't going to get anywhere with Brooke. You just stick to our plan."with that he walked off.

"Did you just see that?"asked Peyton after witnessing the incident on the other side of the court.

"Yeah."said Brooke still looking at Nathan and Lucas."What do you think it was all about?"

Peyton shrugged."I don't know, but I have a feeling things are gonna get ugly during the game."

Brooke took her eyes off the guys to look at her friend."What do you mean?"

"Just that Nathan gathered up all the team except Lucas. Why do you think that is? He's planning something."

Brooke shook her head."No, Nathan wouldn't pull something like that, not with an audience."she tried to convince herself.

"I hope you're right."

"Yeah, me too."she whispered.

The first shot of the game went to Nathan. Zack in bounded the ball and passed it to Tim, who in turn passed it to Nathan, who made the shot. The ball went to the other side and Nathan blocked the other team from scoring and passed the ball to Jake. He ran it down the court and made the basket. The team followed the ball to the other side and Tim caught the rebound. He looked for someone to pass to, but only saw Lucas open. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but knew he couldn't pass to Lucas. Nathan would kill him. He did the only thing he could and called time out.

"What the hell was that Tim?"shouted Lucas."We didn't call a time out and I was open."

"Leave him alone. So he called a time out. Back the hell off Lucas."said Nathan who patted Tim on the back."You did good. Keep it up."

Lucas looked at the two not knowing what the hell was going on.

The game went on with each team scoring baskets and the ball staying out of Lucas' hands and by this time Lucas had caught on to what was going on. He took it into his own hands and went after the ball. He stole it from the other team and then tripped on something and the ball flew out of bounds.

"Great dumb ass.The point of the game is to keep the ball in here and make baskets, not give the other team the ball."said Nathan while bumping into him forcefully as he walked away.

The other team called a time out and Brooke made her way over to Lucas."Are you okay?"she asked.

"Yeah, your boyfriend is a real jerk, but what's new."

Brooke nodded."I see what they're doing to you. I'm sorry. I'll go talk to Nathan for you."

Lucas shook his head adamantly."No, don't do that. We both know if you do Nathan will have a fit and he'll only end up pissed at you for trying to help."

"I guess you're right."Well just hang in there."she smiled as she walked back over to her squad.

"Do you think that was a good idea?"asked Peyton.

"What?"

"You going over there to comfort Lucas."

"I wasn't comforting anyone. I just went to see how he was doing."

"Yeah, my point exactly. Your boyfriend is obviously pissed at him and is showing it here on the court and you go over to him to see if he's okay. Nathan saw and there is no doubt that you just made it worse for Lucas. It's like you're provoking Nathan to do this to Lucas."

Brooke gave her a look. She couldn't believe Peyton was saying this to her."I'm doing no such thing."

"Maybe not intentionally, but you are. You know Nathan doesn't like you talking to him yet you go out of your way to do that."

"He's just a friend and besides weren't you just telling me not to put up with his crap?"

"Yeah, but you obviously are going to continue to so now I'm just trying to help you so Nathan isn't pissed at you."

"Well I don't need your help Peyton."

Peyton shrugged."Okay, I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you. I love you. I just hate seeing you and Nathan fight all the time."

"I know. I hate it too. I just wish he wasn't such a jerk."

"I don't see that changing any time soon."

"Me either."said Brooke shaking her head.

Nathan stood in front of Whitey."What the hell is going on out there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. We're just playing the game and we're winning might I add."

"I don't care that we're wining. This needs to stop. Lucas is a part of the team as well and this ignorant show of sportsmanship is a disgrace. I better see the ball passed equally to all the team. Do you hear me?"

"We hear you coach, right guys?"said Nathan.

"Right."they all agreed.

"Very well, now get your asses back out there."

Nathan and the guys walked back out on the court."Nothing changes."he said to them."I don't care what the old man says. We stick to our game plan. I mean we're winning so nothing changes."

The guys nodded in agreement and went back to their game. Whitey witnessed no change and wanted to call the guys over to give them a piece of his mind, but he couldn't afford to call another meaningless time out. He would talk to them all during halftime.

Tim had the ball and passed it to Nathan, who was double teamed and passed it to Zack, who also was trapped. The only open guy he saw was Lucas, but he was no option. He tried to fight through the guys, but the ball was stolen from him.

Lucas shook his head as he went to the other side of the court. This was really pissing him off.

The buzzer sounded indicating halftime. The girls took their positions on the court and did a flawless routine.

Nathan watched the girls move on the court and he kept his eyes on Brooke. She was right, this looked amazing. She and Peyton had done good. He wanted to go over to her and tell her so, but he knew she was pissed at him and to be honest he was kinda pissed at her as well. So he stayed where he was on the sidelines.

"Nathan coach is pissed at what we're doing."said Tim."Maybe we should stop."

"And give him what he wants? No thank you. Whitey will get over it and Lucas will know we mean business if we don't back down."

"I don't know Nathan."

"Look Tim, don't be a pussy. Stick to what we agreed on and you and I won't have a problem. You got that?"

"Got it."he said."And whitey wants you in the locker room. He said if you're not down there in five minutes then you're out of the game."

Nathan let out a laugh."Yeah, like he'll be dumb and that."there was no way Whitey would bench him, not if he wanted to keep his undefeated season, but either way he went to the locker room with the others.

"So you finally decided to join us."yelled Whitey.

"Sorry coach, but I had to stay out there and watch my girl's cheer. She'd be pissed if I missed it and you know how she gets when she's pissed."he laughed.

"I don't give a rats ass on what goes on in your personal life. When you're here you're on my time and I expect you down here with the rest of the team."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

"One more thing you won't do again Nathan, is keep the ball away from Lucas. It needs to stop. I'm this close to benching your sorry behind."

"Okay. You're right. We need to stop it and we will. I'll talk to the guys and it will stop."said Nathan with a straight face knowing he wasn't going to do anything. He just didn't want to risk getting Whitey more pissed.

"Okay well then lets go back out there."said Whitey shaking his head. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Brooke?"called out Deb.

"Oh, hey Mrs. Scott. How are you?"said Brooke breaking away from the squad and walking over to Deb.

"I'm doing great. How about yourself?"

"Great."

Deb nodded."Okay, I'm here about Nathan."

"I thought so. I'm sorry for how he's behaving. I don't know what's gotten into him."

"I do. He's doing this to upset his father. Dan made a point to both he and Lucas that they were to work together tonight and Nathan is doing everything he can to do the opposite of Dan's request."

"Oh."was all Brooke said.

"Yes, so I was wondering if maybe you could talk to Nathan, tell him to ease up on Lucas. I'm not sure I can contain Dan any longer. He's about to blow at any second."

"I'll try, but I don't think I'll do any good. He's not really talking to me right now."

"Oh, why is that?"

"I just think he's upset about what happened last night."

"Yes, dinner didn't exactly go as planned. I'm sorry to hear he's taking it out on you. I was hoping that you could invite him to stay with you tonight."she watched Brooke give her a confused look."I just don't think Nathan should come home tonight. Dan is really upset and if he and Nathan are together I'm not sure what will happen. Dan needs some time to calm down, that's all."

"Yeah, okay. Um, I'll make sure Nathan doesn't go home. He can stay with me."

"Thank you Brooke."said Deb as she pulled Brooke in for a hug.

"What's going on?"asked Nathan as he waked over to the two embracing.

Brooke pulled away from Deb to look at her boyfriend."Nothing, we're just talking."

"Hey, mom."

"Don't talk to me right now Nathan. I am very disappointed in you."

"What? Why?"

Deb turned to Brooke."Thank you Brooke. We'll talk soon."

"Yeah, see you Mrs. Scott."

"Why is she so mad at me?"

Brooke glared at him."Don't play dumb Nathan. You know why."

"Don't you start with me again Brooke. I can't deal with you right now. I need to get back to the game."he turned away from her.

Brooke rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm."Wait."

"What Brooke? I can't deal with this right now."

"Yeah well I can't deal with you always walking away from me. It's like you want me to look stupid or something."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you yelling at me and leaving me looking after you like some idiot. People see Nathan. People talk."

"So what? Who cares what they say?"

"I care when they talk about me. You think I want people to think I'm stupid for putting up with you?"

Nathan sighed."Everyone knows I love you Brooke so stop acting crazy."he leaned in to give her a quick kiss."We'll talk after the game before I go home and have to faced my dad."

"You can't go home."

"What?"

"Your mom wants you to stay with me tonight. She wants for Dan to have some time to cool down before you go home."

Nathan smiled and leaned in to whisper in Brooke's ear."Sounds good to me."he gave he a kiss on her neck and pulled her to him fully resting his hands on her hips.

Brooke rested her hands on his chest and sighed."Stop."he pulled away from her slightly, but not removing his hands."We're not okay Nathan."

"Yes we are."he said as he went in to kiss her. He wasn't surprised when she didn't kiss him back at first, but he stayed with it and she soon fell into the kiss. He tightened his grip on her and kissed her hard before pulling away."See, I told you we were okay.

Brook scoffed and pulled away from him."I'm serious Nathan. I'm still mad at you for earlier."

Nathan shook his head. Why couldn't she just let it go."Yeah, well I'm still and at you for being all over Lucas before the game."

"You're such an ass Nathan."

"Whatever. I'll talk to you after the game."said as he turned and walked away from her, once again leaving her alone to look stupid.

Nathan saw Lucas watching them and walked over to her."Like what you see? It must suck to know the girl you want is never gonna give you the time of day. She wants to be with me. Get over it. It's pathetic how you look at her."

"No, what's pathetic is how you treat her. One day she's gonna get tied of it and you'll only have yourself to blame."he said as he walked away.

"So did Nathan finally get tired of your bitchy ass?"asked Teresa with a laugh.

"What?"asked Brooke as she turned to her.

"Well we couldn't help, but see Nathan leave you standing there for a second time tonight. Is there trouble in paradise?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about so I suggest you stay the hell out of my business."

"You don't seem too heartbroken over it."she smiled ignoring Brooke's last comment."But then again if I had Lucas licking my wounds I wouldn't be hurting either."

"Teresa it's funny how absolutely clueless you are sometimes. I suggest you spend half the time you do worrying about my relationship worrying about how you're gonna get back on my good side because you are ten seconds away from cheering for the soccer team."she said as she was only half interested in the conversation. Yes, she could have went off on her in true Brooke Davis form, but she didn't have it in her, not tonight, not when she was so worried about her and Nathan. Sure they always fought, it was what they did, but lately it was becoming too much and she wasn't sure if she could take it.

Peyton walked over and nudged her shoulder."Hey. What the hell was that? I was waiting for you to rip that hoe to shreds."

"I know, but I just didn't feel like it. She's an idiot and everyone knows it. I mean who waits til the day after a game to throw a party? How dumb is that. We should definitely take her out of the hosting circle."

"So I saw the PDA with you and Nathan. Everything's good?"

Brooke shook her head."No, but he wants it to be. I don't know how I feel yet. We're gonna talk when we get to my house later."

"So he's staying with you?"

"Yeah, Deb thinks it's a good idea to keep Nathan and Dan apart tonight."

"So you got mommy's approval to sleep with him."

Brooke rolled her eyes."You're hopeless you know that?"

"You know it."

"So what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, probably just hang out."she said turning to look at the court.

Brooke followed her line of vision."Who are you looking at? Lucas?"for some reason she hoped Peyton would say no.

"No."

"Then who?"

"Nobody. I'm just seeing if Nathan will continue to act like an ass."she lied.

"You know he is."

"True."laughed Peyton still staring out at the court.

Tim passed the ball Jake who was open and shot a three pointer. Nathan ran after the ball and stole it from the other team and made a shot. The boys continued to play keep away from Lucas, but the second half proved to be a lot harder for them. Pickerington had gotten better, that or keeping the ball away from Lucas was harder than they thought it would be. There was only ten seconds left in the game and they were down by one and the other team had the ball. They were always told to foul, but didn't want to. That way didn't always guarantee a win.

The other team dribbled the ball down the court trying to run out the clock, but from out of nowhere Lucas appeared and stole the ball. He looked up at the clock and only six seconds remained. He dribbled the ball and got ready to shoot it. He had a clear shot. Four seconds left.

Lucas was about to let it go when Nathan jumped up and took the ball out of his hands. Two seconds left. Nathan dribbled it one time before letting it go. The buzzer rang out as the ball went through the net. He made the winning shot.

The team ran out onto the court to congratulate Nathan on making the winning shot.

Brooke turned to Peyton, not sure what to think. She shook her head.

"That was cold Brooke. Nathan sure is a jerk for doing that to Lucas."

Brooke turned back to the court and saw Lucas walking toward Nathan. This was about to get ugly."I'll be back."she said as she dropped her pom poms to walk over to her boyfriend and his brother.

Lucas made his way through the crowd and pushed Nathan hard in the chest."What the fuck was that, you prick? I had the fucking shot."

Nathan let out a laugh."No, I had the shot and I took it. That's how you play the game you dumb ass."

"You don't steal the ball from your own teammates."said Lucas as he pushed Nathan once again. He was furious and Nathan was going to know it.

"If I were you, I'd back off dude. Push me again and I'll kick your ass."

"Oh yeah?"challenged Lucas as he pushed Nathan with all he had.

Nathan flew backward and almost fell to the floor, but the guys caught him and he went after Lucas. He stood in front of him."You asked for it man."he stepped forward, but was stopped as Brooke stood in front of him."Move Brooke. Stay out of this. I'm about to beat this guys ass."

Brooke stood firmly in her place."No. Stop it Nathan. That's enough."

"It's not nearly enough."he said pushing Brooke out of the way.

Brooke caught her balance and grabbed on to his arm."Nathan stop. You promised me we could talk. Lets just go back to my house."she pleaded.

Nathan looked down at her and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arm around her tiny waist."Did you hear that you bastard? I'm going home with her. Something you will never do."he let out a laugh as he pulled Brooke away, leaving an angry Lucas seething.

Once they were out of the gym Brooke pushed Nathan off of her.

"What the hell is wrong now?"he asked."I did what you asked. I left Lucas in one piece."

"Yeah, after throwing me in his face. What the hell were you thinking. I'm not your property Nathan. You can't talk about me like that."

Nathan rolled his eyes."It was just a joke Brooke, lighten up."

"It wasn't a joke Nathan. I didn't like it."

Nathan let out a sigh."Fine, I'm sorry. Is that what you want?"

Brooke scoffed."You're such an ass."she said as she got into the passenger side of her car.

Nathan got in and turned the car on."Look do you still want me to go to your house? I'll just go home."

"Your mom asked me to keep you with me so that's what I'm doing. Lets go."

Nathan thought about just getting out of the car, seeing that her answer had pretty much said she didn't really want him there it was only a favor for his mother, but then he really didn't want to go home. There wasn't anywhere else he could go. Well there was her house. He could always go over there. She would never turn him away, but he wasn't sure that's what he wanted tonight.

"Nathan, I said lets go."said Brooke impatiently.

Nathan turned to look at her. She was really pissed at him, but still she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever been with. He didn't want her angry with him anymore and he definitely didn't want to go see her instead of being with Brooke. He turned the car off.

Brooke looked at him confused."What the hell are you doing Nathan. I want to go home."

Nathan turned in his seat so he was facing her fully. He grabbed her hands in his."I'm sorry."he watched Brooke roll her eyes."I know you don't believe me, but I'm being sincere. I am sorry. I know what I said about being the one to go home with you was out of line. What we do is nobody's business, not even Lucas'. I know you have feelings and I know what I said probably embarrassed you so I'm sorry. I won't say anything like that again."

"Why do you act like such a jerk sometimes? I hate it when you're like that."

Nathan let out a sigh."I don't know Brooke. I guess I act like that because I'm afraid of losing you. I love you Brooke."

"That's crazy Nathan."

He shook his head."It's not. I see the way Lucas looks at you. He wants to be with you."

"No he doesn't. We're just friends."

"Brooke I can't believe you don't see it. He wants you. I'm just afraid that one day you'll see it too and decide you want to be with him."

Brooke leaned in closer to Nathan and placed her hands on his cheeks."Nathan we've been together forever. Do you honestly think I'd just throw that away for your brother? No matter what he wants I want you. I even want you when you're acting like a jerk."she smiled.

"I'm sorry Brooke. I know you wouldn't throw away what we have, but I still get insecure sometimes."

Brooke let out a small laugh."Well I think it's cute."

"Well I don't."

"You don't have anything to worry about Nathan. I'm not going anywhere."she leaned in and placed her lips against his. Now this was the guy she loved more than anything, not then one that was in the gym earlier. If only he was like this all the time. If only he let others see him this way.

Nathan leaned into her more and wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to be as close to her as he could get. He deepened the kiss when she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slipped his tongue into her awaiting mouth and marveled in the moan that escaped her lips.

Lucas slung his bag over his shoulder as he made his way to his car. He slowly approached what looked like Brooke's car. She should have been gone already. As he got closer to the car he looked inside and saw her and his ass of a brother going at it in the front seat. No wonder she was still there. He couldn't believe she was kissing him after the way he'd acted. He pretty much announced to everyone that he was the one going home to sleep with her. She should have been furious at him, but obviously she wasn't. She just let him say what he wanted about her and then made out with him in her car. Maybe Brooke Davis wasn't who he thought she was.