Cooper cursed as he made another left onto Cedar Avenue…only because it was the third time in twenty minutes and even though he was sure that was the correct road, he was not finding the house he was looking for. He was lost as much as he hated to admit it but male pride was the least of his worries at that moment. Something much more important was at stake and he cursed his brother in law. When Dan had offered a loaner vehicle for Cooper to drive in while staying in Tree Hill, why couldn't he have given him one with a navigation system? It had been a hell of a day and with something to one, it was turning out to be a hell of a night and it had all started with one hell of an early morning wake up…

"Good morning."

"Morning, Sis", he nodded with a smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I have a few errands to run and I just remembered that I needed to call a plumber about that leaky faucet in the downstairs bathroom", Deb sighed.

"No need. It's all taken care of."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I fixed it."

She gave him a smile.

"You did? Well, I'm impressed. Idle hands are the devil's work, you know", she joked.

He planted a huge kiss on her cheek.

"Just thought I'd do one more good deed before I take off today."

"Where are you headed?"

"There's a big car show in Greensboro. Thought I'd check it out."

The smile immediately faded from Deb's face.

"Oh", she managed.

"Oh?" he grinned. "Jesus, Deb, you're starting to sound like Mom. What was that for?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing my ass. What's the problem?"

"There is no problem, Cooper. I just thought we had discussed these things."

"What things? What are you talking about? It's a car show, not a Turkish whorehouse."

"That's not funny. A car show this weekend, a race next weekend…when are you ever going to grow up? You're out every night…"

The words started to run together like wompwompwompwompwomp. It was almost comical.

"Okay, Deb."

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I won't go. This is your house, your rules and we've had the responsibility talk and if you feel I'm still partying too much, I'll be more than happy to prove to you I can be a good boy and stay home on a Saturday night."

And that's exactly what he had done and he had ended up paying dearly. He'd never been so bored, even Nathan was out on the town. By 11 p.m. he was still wide awake and a half hour later more disappointed than ever to turn to Saturday Night Live and not recognize half the cast. Hell, they weren't even funny anymore. Cooper needed some excitement in his life and he was half tempted to sneak out his slave driving older sister's house until his cell phone rang…

"Talk to me…"

"Coop?"

He barely recognized the voice.

"Who is this?"

"It…it's me…"

He made a face as he sat up.

"Brooke?"

There was silence before she spoke again.

"I…I, I need some help."

She sounded pleading and just plain out weird. Something just didn't feel right.

"What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I don't know. Charles Street, by…Cesar."

"Cesar? What part of town? I don't know where that is."

"No, I said Cedar."

He thought for a minute. He knew the general area and figured he could find it.

"Are you okay?"

"I, um…I had a whole lot to drink."

"How much is a whole lot?"

"A few beers…"

"Okay."

"A couple of Jello shots."

"Alright."

"A shot of Jager…"

"Damn, girl."

"And three Long Island Iced Teas."

"Do you have a ride?"

"I can't find my keys so I thought I would just walk, you know, enjoy the sunshine."

"Brooke, it's like midnight."

"Oh."

"Where exactly are you?"

"At a house on the end, chilling on the steps."

"Hold tight", he sighed. "I'll be right there."

Famous last words that finally rang true as he found the large house with drunken youth everywhere. He pulled up and sure enough the brunette beauty was hovered over the steps.

"Cooper!"

"Hey, you. You okay?"

"I can't move. The room is spinning."

"We're outside."

"Then it must be my head."

He smiled. He had been there and done that.

"Come on. Let's get you home."

He gave her a gentle hand but even the most tender touch was too much. She gagged and groaned and seconds later his shoes were covered with her dinner. Unfortunately, he had been there too…too many times. So he helped her clean up and climb safely into the SUV.

"This is bad", she finally cried.

"Gonna puke again?"

"That too but I think my buzz is wearing off."

"Too bad but you're probably gonna be hung over as hell tomorrow morning. Don't worry though. Just tell me where to drive and I'll have you home in a few minutes."

She mumbled out directions barely coherently but he managed to find the huge white house with the red door. He parked at the curb, noticing the two Mercedes' in the paved driveway.

"Home sweet home", she mumbled.

"Looks like your parents are here. Are you gonna be okay, Brooke?"

She stared for a minute, never moving inside the truck. Finally she just shook her head.

"No."

"What's wrong? Is there anything I can do? Will…"

"I can't", she whispered.

"Can't what?"

She looked over at him and for the first time he realized she was crying.

"I can't go in there. I can't go home."

"Why? Brooke, what's the matter? Don't cry. Look, if you're afraid of your parents…"

She laughed through tears.

"Yeah right. It's not like they're gonna beat me or anything. Trust me, they don't give a damn. Hell, they're drunks too so it's not that."

"Then what is it?" he asked more concerned.

"I just can't, okay? It's me. Just…"

She was starting to get upset all over again.

"It's okay, just don't cry. If you don't want to go home, that's cool. I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

She could only think of one place. It was her final sanctuary. Before she'd had another place to run to when she needed to feel safe and that was Lucas' house. But that was no more. That was now Kelly's safe haven. The Brucas days were long gone.

"Peyton's", she said softly. "It's off of 19th."

He nodded and drove, offering her a crumpled tissue as she dabbed at mascara streaked eyes.

"You okay?" he asked after a few minutes.

"No", she answered honestly.

"What's going on? Brooke, did something happen back at that party?"

"No. It's okay. I hadn't partied like that in a while and I was feeling pretty self destructive and in the midst of my pity party, I decided to go get plastered. I drunk dialed you, which is better than Lucas, I suppose and you actually cared enough to show up and I repaid you by hurling on your shoes and having a teenage meltdown in your car."

"It's okay…"

"I'm sorry", she began to cry again.

"Don't be. There's nothing to feel bad about. Happens to the best of us. Sure, tomorrow will suck but in a few months or weeks, hell, especially years, you'll look back on tonight and laugh…I promise."

"I feel like a fool."

"Don't."

"How can I not? I danced on a table for God's sake."

"Why?" he looked right at her. "You're better than that."

She shrugged.

"Not tonight, I guess. It was stupid and I'm young and drunk or at least that's the excuse I'm sticking to. I still made a complete ass out of myself."

"Oh well. Your fellow partiers looked pretty out of themselves. So what, you got a little loopy, just as long as nothing, you know, happened. Did anybody try to touch you or hurt you?"

Brooke shook her head but winced in pain at the agony.

"No, it was nothing like that. I'm okay. I…I'm just sorry to bother you. That wasn't cool. I'm sure you were out doing whatever and you had to drop everything for my stupid drunk ass."

"No. Actually, you rescued me from a night of pure boredom in the Casa Scott dungeon. I didn't go out tonight. It was a, shall I say, quiet evening."

"Looks like maybe I should have had one of those."

He smiled.

"It's for the birds. Hey, at least you had fun tonight. But don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry I called you."

"Don't be."

"I am."

"Why?"

She shrugged and looked away, embarrassed.

"This is gonna sound so crazy…"

"Try me."

Finally she summoned the courage to look him in the eye.

"I didn't have anybody else to call."

"What?"

"It's true. What was I gonna do? Humiliate myself and call DWI Not I, the very program I started at school? Or was I supposed to call a teacher or God forbid my parents. Wait, I know…Lucas and Kelly. That would have been a good one."

"What about Peyton?"

"What about her? She and Jake are out having fun just like Nathan and Haley and everybody else. Why bother them just because I decided to be stupid?"

"They are your friends and they care about you. I seriously doubt they would think you're stupid. I don't."

"Probably not but I think I am. I didn't want to have to look in their faces and have them see me like this. It's funny, the past few months I've been soul searching on this personal quest trying to find myself or some bullshit like that and in the process it's almost like I alienated myself from everyone else. Sure we laugh and talk and hang out and stuff but it's not the same. The last few weeks the only person I've really interacted and talked with is…well, it's you, Cooper. I'm gonna say this now and blame it on my drunkness later but I really feel like you're my only friend sometimes, the only one who even tries to understand me."

He swallowed hard. Sure she was still feeling the effects of all the alcohol but she was speaking from her heart at that moment. He truly felt for her.

"Brooke…"

"It's okay. You don't have to feel sorry for me."

He pulled up to Peyton's house and stopped.

"I don't. Look, all that stuff I said before? I still mean it. You're still strong and amazing…and you're still beautiful. Tonight? You were just being a kid and that's totally cool because that's what you are. You were just being human."

"So you're not gonna hate me tomorrow?" she asked meekly.

"Never", he winked. "Now come on. Let me help you inside the house."

He stepped out over to the passenger door and opened it. He gave her a hand but instead she threw her whole body into his in a hug.

"Coop!"

"Brooke…"

"Thank you", she whispered.

"For what?"

"Rescuing me", she smiled, wiping away another runaway tear.

"I didn't rescue you. I was just being a friend. No big deal."

She looked right in his eyes.

"It is a big deal. You rescued me tonight and that time at Rachel's and just more than you know. But thank you. It means a lot and I'm glad you're my friend."

He nodded and helped her to the house, making sure she got in safely.

"Good night, Brooke. Uh, why don't you give me a call tomorrow and let me know you're okay?"

"Okay. Thanks."

"And Brooke?" he stopped after taking a few steps.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing, it's just that Lucas…well, he's a damned fool, if you know what I mean."

She nodded and closed the door, watching him pull away. Yes, she did know what he meant.