A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad that you guys liked the chapter. I felt that I needed to incorporate some of the other people's lives than just Brooke and Kyle, as cute as they are. But yeah definitely going to be having some focus on other people, and maybe bringing some significant conflict into their lives just to give Bryle a break, because their problems are yet to come lol.
In the beginning I wasn't sure what i wanted to do with Lucas. It was at the point where i was thinking of just not having him mentioned at all. But then i realized that i kind of have to, seeing as he's an original character and all. There were alot of ideas I had, and im still playing around with them now, but im not sure what im gonna do. Everyone's starting to feel kind of bad for excluding Lucas for a little bit, so we'll see what Lucas has been up to during summer and some other things in store. Enjoy and review!!!
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Chapter Four: Resolve and Demolish
The disruptive knocking on his door just wouldn't stop. No matter how many times he tried to annoy it, it just seemed to get louder and louder until even a pillow couldn't muffle the continuous rapping of knuckles onto his wooden door that had only a year ago, been painted red.
Lucas dragged his body away from his bed and shuffled over to his front door, wanting to do anything to ensure that this would never happen again, especially this morning, when he had spent all night typing away on his computer about the past months.
He swung the door open to see Peyton's surprisingly cheery face on. He looked at her in confusion, trying to remember the last time he had actually seen Peyton. The only time Lucas could think of was when they broke up. Sure they had hung out with the group occasionally, but it hadn't ever been just him and her. And from the way things were, that was a good thing.
"Morning," Peyton greeted, crushing past him and into his room.
He scratched his head, "Uhhmm, hey. No offense, but it's kind of a little early for surprise visits."
She snorted, "I would say it's too late. Check your clock dude," she said, pointing to the bright digital numbers that read 1:32.
"Wow, I guess I really did sleep in," he said in awe, looking around his room.
"Yeah you sure did," Peyton nodded.
"Listen," he began, "I don't mean to be rude, I really don't. But you haven't even had a single full conversation with me in months and then now you show up on my door acting like nothing ever happened. Did I miss something?"
Peyton sighed, "No, you didn't miss a beat. Look, I realized last night that the way I've, well, everybody's been acting towards you is kind of messed up. You were an ass for most of the time you were with Brooke, but that didn't mean you didn't love her. It sucks that you guys weren't meant to be, and it sucks even more when you're isolated from your friends, believe me I know. So I just wanted to visit and see how you've been."
He nodded slowly, "So what you mean to tell me is that you want to see what I've been doing for the past three months, talk for a little bit, and then go back to not talking to each other?"
"Nope, I want to be friends. Kind of like before, but not so much," she said.
"So you mean, being friends and hanging out with everyone else. Just not hanging out by ourselves and me saving you kind of friends?"
Peyton smiled, "Exactly!"
"Well, it's nice that one of you guys are trying to make an effort. Brooke said we would still be friends, but so far, no Brooke," Lucas stated, sitting on his bed.
"Yeah, remind me to kick her ass later," Peyton mumbled. "She's kind of going through some stuff with her and Kyle's relationship. Not exactly an excuse for not following up on what she says, but I'm sure she's been meaning to."
Lucas smirked, "You don't have to try to speak for Brooke. Plus I'm sure visiting me isn't one of the things on her top priority list, and I get that. It just kind of sucks, you know?"
"Completely. But don't worry, I'm sure when Brooke remembers she's going to run over here and think she's doing you a favor by rearranging your room," Peyton said, walking towards the door.
-
"Babe, I'm hungry," Brooke whined as she sat on Kyle's bed, watching him and Nathan going at it on Halo 3.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get hungry too," He answered, his eyes glued to the television. "We'll go after I finish kicking Nathan's ass."
"Whatever man," Nathan said, steering his controller to his right. Brooke rolled her eyes, as if that helped any. Now that she thought about it, she should've just went with Haley to run errands, would've been more fun than sitting here watching basically grown men fondling over a stupid video game. But she had wanted to hang out with Kyle all day. The things she did for love.
"Hah! I so totally blew your ass up!" Kyle exclaimed, throwing his controller on the ground. "Alright Brooke, we can head out now."
"That's because I was losing grip on the controller. I'll get you next game we play," Nathan said, putting his controller down, his arrogant attitude kicking in.
"Whatever you say Nate," Kyle said, grabbing his keys. "So where did you want to go grab a bite?"
Brooke shrugged, "I don't really care actually. I just wanted to eat something. Nothing gets my stomach growling than watching two guys play video games," she said, rolling her eyes.
"I know I know. You came over this morning to be with me. Nathan just got there first," Kyle laughed. "But don't worry; he's got some stuff to do around the house before Haley gets home. Now I am all yours."
"Good," Brooke nodded, "You know, we could go to the Cafe?"
Kyle looked at her, "Like, Karen's Cafe? Lucas's mom?"
"Yeah, I haven't really been around there in a little bit, so why not?" Brooke asked, trying not to make it a big deal.
Kyle shrugged, "Alright, if you say so. But don't whine to me about how awkward it's going to be, got it?"
"Whatever, Lucas knows that it's not like that. Plus, I said we would be friends."
"And have you been hanging out and 'being friends' this summer?" he asked knowingly.
"Well, no," she said. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to. Lucas was once my best friend when Peyton was going through her stuff. Honestly, I feel bad because I told him we would still be able to be friends. I don't even remember the last time I ever talked to him."
"When you put it that way, you're a horrible friend," Kyle laughed. "But seriously, maybe we should go, that way you can talk to Lucas and kind of make up for lost time or whatever. But I'm telling you now, if he even looks at you weird, we're leaving."
"Fine, we'll leave. But I think Lucas knows what you're capable of," Brooke said, referring to the time Kyle held Eric against the lockers with his feet dangling from the floor and his voice hoarse with no breath.
Kyle nodded, remembering that time, "Yeah, and if he needs me to remind him again, then I can do that too."
-
"Haley, one cookie isn't going to hurt him," Lucas assured, watching James stare longingly at the plate of cookies on the counter.
"Lucas, in case you haven't noticed, there's chocolate chips in there. Key word being chocolate, meaning that he's going to be bouncing off the walls before we even leave," Haley explained, arms crossed.
"You're seriously depriving your son with the finer things in life. No kid wants to eat asparagus and spinach. They want sweets and food that isn't green."
"Fine, let's say I let him have a cookie. We leave and you don't have to look after him while he throws toys at my head from the backseat or yells out cuss words that he's heard Nathan say. Where are you going to be huh? Oh yeah, you're going to be here at the Cafe, convincing some other mom to let their kid have a cookie, and then you'll be the most hated man of all the mothers!"
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Whatever Hales. You know I'm going to give him one before you leave, right?"
Haley nodded, "Yeah I know. I just thought arguing would be fun."
He chuckled, "You sound like Brooke."
"So," she began, "speaking of Brooke, have you talked to her lately?"
Lucas shook his head slowly, "Not really. Last time I ever had an actual conversation with her was before summer. I'm not really sure where she's been the past two months, but I'm guessing with you and Kyle maybe."
"Yeah, since Kyle just got back last night, she's kind of ditched me," Haley exaggerated.
"Hales, you don't have to lie. You probably saw Brooke this morning. It's cool, I know Brooke has a lot of stuff going on, and the whole time we were together she didn't really feel the same way, so I don't expect her to be all buddy buddy this time."
"Even if you didn't expect it, she still should have. Brooke said you guys would remain friends, and she has yet to follow up on it. But she'll come around, she's just dealing with this one Kyle problem at the moment, but I think it's working out now, so she'll be coming around here all the time just to sit at this very counter and talk about her whole day, even though you most likely won't give a hoot."
"The worse thing is she knows I don't give a hoot, but she does it anyway," he smirked, just in time for the bell on the front door to jingle and a couple to walk in.
"Well," Haley said. "Looks like that catching up will be a lot sooner."
"You make that sound like a bad thing," Lucas said.
"It's not, but I don't know what Kyle's going to think," Haley said. "But I'm sure he's fine with it. Kyle's not that type of person."
"Yeah I know that. But don't you think that Brooke and I are just one of those things that can't be salvaged?"
"Not at all. Plus, you guys were friends after you broke up the first time, right?" Haley asked.
Lucas nodded, "Yeah, but that was a completely different situation. I cheated on her and didn't come back for a couple of weeks, and still later on after that she started talking to me. It's a big difference."
"Ugh, whatever Luke. Anywho, I better get going. We still have to stop by the grocery store," Haley said, picking up James, who had sneakily been handed a cookie.
"Alright, I'll see you guys later," Lucas said, sighing and turning his back to face Brooke and Kyle.
It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Brooke, he really did. He just didn't know if Brooke wanted to be friends with him. She said that when they broke up, but still, it didn't mean she ever meant it. And if she did mean it, then why hadn't she made an effort. He understood that he was partly to blame, he could've made an effort also, but it wasn't like Lucas was going to throw himself into every hang out that had ever been made that summer. And now that they were all going to college in a couple of weeks, when would he and Brooke ever find a way to be friends?
Grabbing the order pad and a pencil, Lucas slowly made his way towards the booth.
"Hey guys, what can I get you?" Lucas asked politely, eyes still on the notepad.
"Hey Luke, I'll have the grilled chicken salad and a water," Brooke answered, noticing Lucas's uneasiness.
"And I'll have the double bacon cheeseburger with fries and a Coke," Kyle said. Brooke rolled her eyes.
"Got it. Your food will be out shortly."
Brooke sighed, "Well if that doesn't say 'I'm pissed at you' I don't know what does."
"Maybe you should talk to him now," Kyle suggested. "Because if you don't, I have a feeling you never will."
"I hate it when you're right."
Kyle smirked, "No you don't, because otherwise you wouldn't have a chance to make things better if I wasn't right."
"Ugh, whatever. I'll just go now," Brooke said, sliding out of the booth.
As Lucas was stuffing his tip from the previous customer, he heard someone walk up behind him, someone that Lucas was hoping he could avoid the rest of his life.
"Hey Luke," Brooke greeted, sitting on one of the stools in front of him.
He smiled quickly, "Hey, did you need something else?"
"No, I just wanted to talk to you and stuff," she said simply.
"Now you want to talk to me?" Lucas asked.
Brooke sighed, "Yeah I know. I haven't really been the best friend to you, I've been the worst. Saying that I was busy isn't really an excuse, but I want you to know that ignoring you and not talking wasn't my intention. Some weird things have been going on and I just needed some time to deal with them. So, I was wondering, if the offer still stands, if we could be friends?"
Lucas shrugged, "Yeah, that's fine with me. I know you never meant to ignore me, it just kind of sucked to see how we've become, you know? We were once so close and then we didn't even talk anymore. I don't want it to be one of those situations."
"And it won't, I promise. It's kind of going to be hard to do that anyway, seeing as we're all going to Duke."
"Yeah, I guess that's another adventure," Lucas said. Him and Brooke were now on good terms, but could it be kept that way? Kyle was around, and he could tell he loved Brooke very much, but would anyone be able to love her more than he had? Or more than he did?
-
As Kyle sat at the booth waiting for Brooke, he suddenly realized that they were all leaving Tree Hill in less than a month, and they would have to start over in a completely different place and different people, with the exception of the few. He would still have to pack and get everything ready, and then there was the drive there. It would be weird moving everything out of Tree Hill and going to college. So many things had happened here, it seemed like everyone grew up really fast, but going to Duke was whole other experience.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Brooke said, sliding back into the booth.
"So I'm guessing it went well?" He asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, we settled everything and now we can all be cool."
"Yeah, you're right about that."
"Thinking about anything?" She asked, tilting her head at him.
He shrugged, "Nothing really, just that we're leaving in less than a month, and going to college and all that stuff. Looks like I got a lot of crap to do before we leave."
"Wow, when you put it that way it seems way too soon. Like I wasn't really thinking about college because I thought it was still a long time away."
"Same here. I might as well get started on packing everything, or maybe you should," he smirked.
"You know, I would totally hit you for that, but you're probably right," she laughed.
"Then there's the drive up there. It's only a couple of hours, but how are we all going to be driving and stuff?"
"I don't know, but I think we should all call a meeting and figure stuff out. Or else we won't get there until like, well, forever."
"Yeah with Haley and Nathan and the baby, then there's Lucas and Peyton and Jake and Jenny. Then Mouth, Skills, Bevin, oh and did Tim even apply for college?"
Brooke laughed, "Yeah actually he did, I heard from Nathan he got accepted into the clown institution or something. Yep, I always knew Tim would grow up to be a clown."
"When did you come up with that?"
"I think it was in first grade," she smirked.
"I'm sure he'll be successful in that. And I'm not even kidding. But seriously, what's Tree Hill going to do without us all here?"
"It'll probably turn into a ghost town without any living creature outside. But in a way I wouldn't mind," she said thoughtfully.
"It doesn't really matter because I can't picture this place being any more screwed up than it has been. So in a way you don't even have to wish on stuff like that, because it will never be like it was when you guys all lived here," Kyle explained.
"Well I don't think there will be any more mob wars in this town as long as your butt's not here."
"And I consider that to be a good thing. No mob wars, nobody gets hurt," he said simply.
"Speaking of mob wars, have you heard from your cousin and uncle lately?" she asked.
He froze in mid motion, "Umm, yeah I talked to them a couple of days ago. They're all doing fine."
"So there are no threats being made or anything?" she asked, chomping down on her salad.
He shook his head. "No, why would there be?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. Well of course you wouldn't want anything bad happening to them, right?"
He nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I'm glad that's all over and done with. It was kind of a good experience, but I can't see myself doing that again."
"I don't think someone would like shooting people as their daily job for the rest of their lives," she said, rolling her eyes.
"But it's the family business, and you can't really help it. If there's someone out there trying to hurt your family, you're going to do whatever it takes to protect them, right?" he asked reasonably.
"Yeah, but do you have to take someone's life in order to save your own. Does it really mean shooting people?"
He shrugged indifferently, "In that type of business, it means everything." It was kind of a hard concept to swallow, but it was true. If killing people meant you were saving and protecting the people you cared about, of course you would gladly take a gun and shoot someone. Kyle would do it if Brooke's life was on the line, but then he would never be stupid enough to be around her if he was in that situation.
"How is that any way to live? I mean, you're killing people to protect your family is reasonable, but do people like that even lose sleep at night knowing that they killed someone?"
"It's not like they were innocent or anything. And how did we get in the subject of this anyhow?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. I guess we never really talked about that time, you know?"
"I didn't think you wanted to talk about it. When I first told you, you ran out of my hospital room and didn't talk to me for days. It's not exactly something I would want to talk to you about if you know what I mean," he said.
"Yeah I know, it's just kind of a sticky situation. Do you agree with what your family does?"
"Well, I wish it wasn't so dangerous, and I wish that it didn't have to be that way. But if they have to do whatever they can to make sure their children and their wives are safe, then, I guess I can't really disagree with that," he shrugged.
"So like, your uncle has killed people before?" she asked bug- eyed.
He sighed, "Brooke it's not like he would shoot someone point blank because he thought they were a threat. Some families might be that way, but mine isn't. Shooting someone should always be a last resort."
She looked at him, "Would you ever kill someone…"
"Brooke!" he exclaimed.
"What? I just want to know if you were in that situation would you ever shoot someone."
"It's not that simple to answer. It all depends on the situation and who I thought was in danger," he stated.
"Alright, so let's say someone threatened to kill me," she shrugged. "What would you do? Would you kill them or just put protection on me?"
If only she knew her life was in danger once. But he could never tell her to the extent.
"Well, if your life was in danger, and there was an incident where you almost for hurt, then I would shoot someone. Other then that I'd probably just try to scare them a little bit. There, are you happy now?"
"Actually it does kind of make me a little discouraged that you would only threaten somebody before shooting," she said jokingly.
He shook his head at her. It was hard to imagine that Brooke could make something seem funny when it was supposed to be a serious and dangerous subject. Kyle was pretty sure Brooke had only witnessed bad stuff like that in movies and on television. But never when you're involved, and Kyle was determined to never let her have to be involved.
"Let's just drop it now that you know that I would shoot somebody for you. Damn, the things I have to do for you," he laughed as he slid out of the booth.
"If it makes you feel any better, it's nice to know you would hurt someone to protect me," she said.
"Haven't I already done that?" he asked, remembering Eric.
"Shut up," she said, hitting him on the arm and waving bye to Lucas.
"Whatever, remember I'm taking your ass home."
"You think I could fit all my stuff into your truck when we take off?" Brooke asked as she closed the car door
He laughed, "Are you kidding me? No offense, but I think we're going to have to hire a U-Haul with all the stuff you have."
She pouted, "Yeah, I was hoping you didn't have to say that. U-Hauls are icky."