Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or The Holiday

Note: THANK Y'ALL for all the reviews! Amazing! This will not be another update until after the 18th because I am right in the middle of finals. I hope you understand! Oh, but while you are waiting, you should definitely go check out the actual movie "The Holiday" because it is a really cute movie!

XXXX

Brooke stifled her giggles by placing the back of her hand to her mouth as Lucas' cheeks returned to their normal color.

"Well, thanks for that." He grumbled as he pulled on his shirt, trying to be mad at Brooke, but it was a hard task.

"Oh come on!" She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind so she was leaning into his back, "She doesn't even care. Plus," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Would you have been able to resist if she did?"

Lucas couldn't help but grin as he linked his fingers with his, locking her arms in place. "I guess not."

Brooke managed to pull herself out of his grasp, and proceeded to strap on her heels. She knew that she would be making the walk of shame back to Haley's house, considering she was wearing the exact same outfit as the night before. This made her start giggling once again as she imagined the looks on everyone's face. She certainly had brought the fun to Tree Hill.

"Where are you going?" He asked, although he began putting on his own shoes.

"Haley's house? I think I have to work today, and I don't think your mom would appreciate it if I showed up in the exact same clothes as last night."

Lucas nodded, agreeing that his mom would be a little upset. As Brooke picked up her purse, he shrugged his shoulders a little uncomfortably.

"So…I'll…I'll, um, call you later…and" Brooke rolled her eyes and pressed a finger to his lips before Lucas could finish.

"Lucas, this was just a one time thing, a chance to get past all the sexual tension. Okay? So don't worry about me. I'm not in love with you. I'm fine. You are off the hook." She replaced her finger quickly with her lips before Lucas had a chance to process what she had said.

Off the hook? That was every guy's dream. She couldn't be serious, could she? But as she flashed him a smile before skipping out the door, he realized that she was perfectly serious. And as the door closed behind her, he couldn't decide how that made him feel.

XXXX

Brooke stumbled into the café, shivering from the cold. It had started snowing on her way over to the café, and Brooke wasn't properly dressed for the weather.

After finding her way back to Haley's, which was blissfully close to Lucas', she had taken a quick shower, pulled on a black suede skirt and a plum sweater. She paired this outfit with her knee high boots, and realizing that she didn't have time to do her hair, pulled it up into a high ponytail, which allowed her purple hoop earrings to show.

She realized too late that her wet hair and short skirt wouldn't keep her warm on the walk over. In New York, it had been okay to wear whatever because you could always just hop into a cab.

"You must be Brooke!" A woman with short, black hair smiled up at her. "Sorry I didn't get to meet you last night! It's always so busy at TRIC."

"Karen." Brooke smiled knowingly as she shook the woman's hand. "Oh, and it's okay. I met so many people last night, I was a little overwhelmed!"

Karen laughed, and signaled for Brooke to follow her behind the counter. "Well, you are fifteen minutes late, but since it is your first day, I will let it slide." Karen was still smiling, but Brooke knew she was serious.

"We aren't busy right now, but during the peak hours it gets crazy, so I'm going to go ahead and show you how to do everything right now."

Brooke nodded as Karen began showing her where everything was, and Brooke let her thoughts trail off to the night before. Her night with Lucas had been, well, amazing. She had never had someone treat her so carefully, as if she could break or disappear at any moment.

The sound of the coffee maker shook her out of her thoughts and she realized Karen was in the middle of showing her how to work it. "Oh well," she thought to herself, her thoughts drifting off once again. "It can't be that hard."

XXXX

A long five hours later, and Brooke was about to cry. No matter what she did, nothing was right. Her hot chocolate was too cold. Her soup bowls were never filled up enough. She never calculated change correctly. She was always too slow to take everyone's order. And to top it off, Lucas had yet to come in. The worst part was that she could have prevented it all.

The first way she could have prevented it was by actually paying attention when Karen explained to her how to work everything. The second way she could have prevented her agony was by telling Lucas that he could call her.

She didn't know why she had said it, especially since butterflies had formed in her stomach the moment she had kissed his lips again that morning. But she had, and now she was miserable.

"Hey Cinderella." If she had been standing, she would have fallen down out of surprise.

Leaning back on her knees, she put a hand to her heart. "You scared me!"

Lucas grinned, and cocked on of his eyebrows, "What are you doing?"

Brooke gave him a look as if to say, "Um, are you blind," and held up the sponge in her hand. "Your mom wanted me to mop."

This sent Lucas into a fit of laughter. 'Brooke!" He said, breathless from laughing. "Why don't you use a mop?"

Brooke's mouth dropped despite herself as Lucas pulled out a mop from behind the counter.

Throwing her head into her hands, Brooke decided that this moment was the most embarrassing of her short life. She was never going to open her eyes again. "Lucas must think that I am an idiot!" She thought to herself.

Brooke was smart; she just never cleaned. Plus, she had never thought to look under the counter for a mop, and the sponge was the only thing she could find.

"Excuse me, can I get a hot chocolate?" Brooke heard a women's voice call out.

"Yeah, I'll get it." Lucas responded before Brooke could even get up off the floor.

Brooke watched thankfully as Lucas made the women her hot chocolate and took care of an elderly man who wanted some soup.

At that moment, Karen walked in with a bag full of Christmas decorations. "Hey Lucas!" She smiled while dropping the bags and giving Lucas a hug. Brooke couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart.

Just by watching them for a few seconds she could tell that they were very close. They actually looked like they had a mother-son relationship. And no matter how many times Brooke told herself that she didn't need a real parent, she knew she did. Her own parents were off somewhere, living in a permanent mid-life crisis, believing that paying for Brooke's school and apartment was more than enough.

"Brooke?" A voice broke through her thoughts and she made her way around the counter to help Karen with her bags.

"How was your first day?" Karen asked as she began unloading the strings of Christmas lights.

Brooke's face turned pink despite her best efforts to stop it and she saw Lucas hold back a laugh. "It was…hard" Brooke finally finished as Lucas handed her a box of ornaments.

"Well, first days are always hard." Karen responded while throwing away the shopping bags. "Okay, well, you are off the clock. I'll just close up myself. You look tired!"

Brooke sighed thankfully and grabbed her purse; she really was tired.

"It's okay mom, I'll close up. You look tired too, and I haven't been doing anything today. Plus, you need some rest before TRIC opens up tonight. I heard there is a big party there."

Karen sighed, "Yeah, I think it's a birthday party. Brooke, if you are interested in some extra money, I might need some help tonight at TRIC. I know you are tired but…"

"Brooke Davis is never too tired for a party!" She responded with ease, all remnants of her sleepiness fading away. When one lives in New York City, one learns how to keep going and going and going…

"Okay, well I will see you both tonight!"

After the door closed, Lucas turned to Brooke and grabbed her hand. He knew it was a risk, after what she had said that morning, but he needed to touch her.

"I think you need some hot chocolate."

Brooke once again felt the butterflies flutter into her stomach at his touch and she was grateful that he didn't let go of her hand as he struggled to make her drink with his free one.

"You make it look so easy." She smiled, as she took a sip from the hot mug he had just handed her.

"It's not that hard…the directions are on the bag." He smirked, leading her over to the couch.

She laughed as she took a seat on his lap, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. "That's not what I mean. I mean, you and your mom. Your relationship."

At this, Lucas looked a little taken aback, but quickly responded. "It's not always easy, but we do get along better than most. I think it's because we are all each other has." As he said this, there was not a trace of anger or sadness in his voice, and Brooke wondered why.

"Where is your dad?" She knew it wasn't exactly a question to ask someone you just met, but when did that ever stop her.

"I don't know. He left Tree Hill before I was born. Honestly, I don't even care. If he is the kind of guy who would do that, I would rather not know him." Again, Lucas' voice wasn't bitter or sad, it was just calm.

"So I take it you aren't close to your parents?" Lucas asked after a moment's silence.

Brooke always avoided talking about her parents. They, to her, were her one, big weakness. But as she turned her head to look at Lucas, she felt herself wanting to tell him. However, before she could, she shook her head and smiled.

"You are so cute." She smirked, before kissing him strongly on the lips. Brooke was a pro at getting guys to forget about talking.

But to her surprise, Lucas pulled back. "Brooke?" He questioned, looking into her dark eyes.

"I…" Brooke was literally speechless. He actually cared.

"Brooke." He stated again, before sliding her off of his lap, but grabbing both of her hands in his own.

"It's nothing." She attempted again to drop the subject, but she could tell that Lucas wasn't going to give in that easily.

"They just…I haven't seen them since I left for college, and even in high school I was lucky to catch a glimpse of them on their way out." She hated taking about them because she hated sounding pathetic. Brooke Davis is not pathetic.

"I'm so sorry Brooke." Lucas said as he rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand. "They don't know what they are missing."

At this, Brooke finally met his eyes again, "This is getting complicated." She said simply, before kissing him softly.

"And that's not complicated?" He grinned, letting the serious side of the conversation fade away. He could tell that it had been hard for Brooke to tell him about her parents, and he didn't want to push her.

"I just want this to be fun. I'm going back to New York in two weeks and…"

"I can show you fun Brooke Davis." Lucas grinned like a devil before pulling her up off the couch. He, like Brooke, knew that there was something more than "fun" between them. But for now, he was going to take what he could get.

"Where are we going?" She asked through a smile as Lucas locked the door to the café.

Lucas didn't answer as he pulled her down the frozen sidewalk.

"Lucas it is cold!" She whimpered, but he only pulled of his jacket and handed it to her, not stopping for a second.

Lucas finally stopped at a building called Q-Zar.

"Are you ready for this?" He laughed as Brooke gave him a look.

"That depends. Define "this."" She pleaded as he opened the door for her.

"We are just about to close-" A guy called out as Brooke stepped in the warm lobby. "Oh, hey Lucas!" Brooke watched as Lucas greeted the guy before introducing herself.

"I'm Brooke Davis." She said as she shook his hand.

"I'm Keith Scott, Lucas' uncle. I've heard a lot about you from Haley!" His smile was so warm that Brooke couldn't help but immediately like him.

"Can we have two suits?" Lucas asked his uncle, letting go of Brooke's hand, something the immediately noticed.

"Suits?" She questioned as Lucas pulled out two large, black vests.

"Welcome to Tree Hill's first and only laser-tag." Keith laughed at the expression on Brooke's face as Lucas tried to hand her a vest.

"Excuse my French, but what the hell is laser-tag?" She said, cocking an eyebrow while placing her hands on her hips to avoid taking a vest.

Before Lucas could respond, Keith threw some keys on the counter and patted Lucas on the back. "Lock up when you are done." Not taking his eyes off Brooke, he nodded.

"It's like having a water-gun fight, except we are using lasers. See," he pointed to two doors, "inside there is a maze. We both wear these vests and we each get a laser gun. Once inside there, we run around and try to shoot each other. Your vest will vibrate every time you have been hit, and when you die, it will turn red. Oh, and you can't shoot someone from behind."

Before she could protest, Lucas was strapping the vest on her and leading her towards the double doors.

When they stepped inside, it was pitch black.

Brooke tightened her hold on Lucas' arm, "Where are the lights." As she was speaking the words, the lights went on. Only, they weren't exactly normal lights.

The room was still black, but now Brooke could make out a maze of neon walls. She had to admit, it was pretty cool. She let go of Lucas' arm as he handed her a laser gun.

"So we just-" She turned around to find that Lucas was gone.

"Lucas!" She yelled out, getting scared despite herself.

When he didn't answer, she slowly began wandering through the maze. "This is exactly how horror movies start out." She whispered aloud and she held her laser gun out in front of her, as if it would protect her from a real serial killer.

Then, she saw him, and she was pretty sure that he hadn't seen her yet. She spun around behind the wall so he couldn't see her even if he looked her way. As she calculated the right time to ambush him, she had to hold in a laugh.

She hadn't this much good, pure fun in such a long time. It was refreshing. Lucas was refreshing. If only he lived in New York, then maybe they could have something…"No." Brooke told herself. She couldn't be thinking that way. It was only going to make it harder to leave. She just had to enjoy what they had. Every single second mattered and she decided that she was not going to waste one.

Brooke looked around the corner and spotted Lucas walking closer, still not seeing her. She took that moment to jump out and shoot her gun.

"Ahh!" Lucas yelled, as Brooke broke into a fit of giggles.

She gave him a smug look before turning around and running before he could shoot her. As she ran, something that was made easier since she took off her heels before starting, she heard Lucas yell out, "Game on Brooke Davis!"

Oh, yeah. It was on.

Next up: Everything can change in a New York Minute