Brooke lay flat on her back sideways across her bed as she stared aimlessly up at the ceiling. The room was eerily quiet, sans the usual hum of the television, stereo or both. But Brooke was lost in her blankness, oddly content to be alone with the many thoughts swirling inside her head. If there was tranquility within the four walls, outside was the polar opposite. Haley James was out of breath! She hadn't run that fast in a long time, in fact…she had never run that fast in her life. Breathing out of control, she banged on the front door over and over again, calling out her friend's name. Inside, Brooke raised her head at the first sign of commotion before plopping back down again with a sigh.

"Alright, I'm coming in!" Haley announced as she tried the doorknob with success. "I'm here! In the house! Coming upstairs!"

Brooke just rolled her eyes and a few seconds later, there was another knock, this time on her bedroom door.

"Come in", Brooke said sweetly.

A disheveled Haley opened up and plopped down in a nearby chair.

"You're here."

"Very good. No wonder you're the school's number one tutor."

"That's not what I meant", Haley tried to get control of her breathing. "I've been outside knocking and yelling for like the last five minutes. Your neighbors must think I'm crazy. Why didn't you answer?"

"I don't know", Brooke shrugged.

"I felt kind of bad just letting myself in. I mean, what if your parents were home?"

"They're not, thank God, and who cares anyway? This is Tree Hill. Nobody ever locks their doors around here."

Haley nodded as she took off her coat.

"You have a point there."

"So what's up?" Brooke raised herself to a sitting position on the bed. "What's so important?"

"Important?" Haley frowned, forgetting for a minute before it all came rushing back to her. "Oh yeah! The news!"

"What news?"

There was always groundbreaking drama in Tree Hill, every fifteen minutes it seemed. Brooke had heard it all and for the time being she was not interested in hearing it again.

"Have you been living under a rock or something? Rachel and Mouth broke up!"

Brooke raised an eyebrow as her heart curiously skipped a beat. The news was inevitable. That evil little witch had already warned her and so it was.

"So Rachel finally dumped him, huh? Can't say I'm surprised and you shouldn't be either. Hell, it's Rachel we're talking about here. I feel bad for the poor guy because I know his heart is broken but trust me, in the end he'll be much better off."

"It's all over school and you know I'm never one to gossip but this…oh my God! It's not so much that they broke up, it's the reason why they broke up…and how poor Mouth found out."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't heard?"

Brooke bit her lip in frustration.

"Of course, I haven't heard, Haley! Geez! Throw me a bone here, please."

"Sorry. It seems like Rachel had been cheating on Mouth."

Brooke tightened her posture. Like she had said before, considering who they were talking about, could anyone be genuinely shocked?

"With who?" she asked coolly.

Haley dramatically threw her hands up.

"You will never guess in a million years. This is so crazy, you're gonna die!"

"Haley!"

"Okay, okay. It was Cooper."

"Cooper?"

Brooke actually felt her heart stop. So it was true…or was it?

"Hell yeah! Cooper. Cooper as in Cooper Lee, you know, Nathan's 30 year old uncle."

"He's 29", Brooke managed to mouth.

"Whatever. He's definitely not 17 or 18 and that's the point."

"Oh my God…"

"Oh my God is right."

"How do you know, you know, that it's true or whatever? Because Rachel is a bitch, a lying bitch at that. She'd say anything. You can't trust a word that comes out of her mouth."

"Because Mouth caught them!"

Brooke gasped and before she knew it, she was off the bed, a stunned heap on the floor as Haley tried to help pull her to her feet.

"What?"

"Are you okay, Brooke?"

"I'm fine but what the hell are you talking about? Mouth caught Rachel and Cooper doing what?"

Haley took a deep breath.

"After the game the other night. Rachel and Cooper were in the parking lot together. I guess they were doing a lot more than talking. Anyway, Mouth apparently saw and heard enough to know some kind of hanky panky was going on. So he confronted them right there and Rachel broke things off. Apparently she is in love with Cooper or something."

Brooke stood to her feet, kicking the pillows around as she paced.

"So it's true?"

"Oh yeah", Haley nodded. "I was there when Nathan asked Coop about it."

"So he admitted it? Rachel was telling the truth…they're a couple now."

"Not exactly", Haley furrowed her brow. "Cooper admitted sleeping with Rachel. It was a one time deal and he really regrets it. He's ashamed that he made a mistake. But they are anything but a couple…only Rachel can't quite seem to comprehend that one little detail."

Brooke walked over to the window, sighing as she stared out of it.

"I can't believe it", she said quietly.

"You, me and everybody else. But it's the talk of the school and pretty soon it'll be the talk of the town. I mean, Cooper and Rachel? That is crazy. Coop is an awesome guy and everybody at one time or another makes bad judgment calls but this? Whoo! The proverbial poop is definitely gonna hit the fan with this one. Can you imagine when Dan and Deb find out?"

Brooke closed her eyes. The situation was bad for so many reasons.

"How is he?" Brooke questioned softly.

"Not good. Holed up in his room, embarrassed as hell, among other things."

"Dammitt…Cooper…"

"I know. It's so unexpected. I feel bad for Mouth, I really thought he and Rachel were the real deal. I guess he thought it too, poor fella. Then the whole sordid love triangle thing. But I guess the biggest issue is the whole age thing. I mean, what the hell was Rachel thinking?"

"I don't know. I guess it's not hard. Someone comes into your life with all the right moves…always knows when to say the right thing. There's a comfort thing and a trust thing. It's like someone understands you and you find yourself becoming emotionally attached. Couple that with he isn't exactly hard to look at and voila…shit happens."

"I guess but that's still dangerous territory. Cooper is a good guy. How could he let this happen?"

Brooke wanted to scream and cry. How could he let this happen? How could he do that to himself? To her?

"Sometimes people disappoint you, Haley. I don't know. We put people on this pedestal because we think so much of them and we care so much and that makes us expect a lot. Who knows? Maybe we're even to blame for expecting so much. But people fall short sometimes and that's human nature. It doesn't make it hurt any less, that's just the way it is."

Her voice grew softer with each word as it eventually trailed off.

"Sort of like with Lucas?" Haley posed, reflecting on her own experiences with someone who had disappointed her.

Brooke nodded, looking away and fighting back tears.

"Sort of."

"Well, I've got to go. I've got a babysitting gig that starts in less than 20 minutes with the Martin's down the street."

"The Martin's? Those kids are monsters."

"I know. They usually make me cry but whatever. 30 bucks is 30 bucks. You were in the neighborhood and I hadn't seen you since all this happened. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Um, thanks", Brooke cleared her throat.

Haley smiled as she made her way to the exit.

"Hey, Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Cooper's really in a bad way. I don't know. You guys were friends at one time, I guess you still are. Maybe you could talk to him."

"I don't know. That probably isn't a good idea."

Haley stopped and shrugged.

"Maybe not. I just wanted to help him."

Brooke gave her a knowing nod. Help was needed and maybe it would come but not from her. That was bigger than Brooke Davis. In fact, she needed some help herself. They all could have used a miracle. Looking up towards the heavens, she did something she often did not do unless it had something to do with getting a new pair of shoes or a passing Calculus grade. Brooke Davis mouthed a simple prayer.

"God help us. Help us all…"