A/N.

Hey guys I was shocked but delighted to see all your reviews. A lot of you mentioned the similarities to Romeo and Juliet but would you believe that was accidental! Well not totally, when coming up for the concept for this fic I just thought of all the stuff I love in a story and I'm a complete sucker for forbidden love and love/hate relationships so based it around that. Any way your amazing response forced me into writing this chapter, it took me most of the day but hey what else can you do when you have the flu? So enjoy and let me know what you think. K XX

Chapter two- Gossip, Games and Debate.

The hallways of Tree Hill High were buzzing with the news of the reappearance of the town's infamous party girl. If Brooke was hoping for a quite day then she had another thing coming. By lunch time the news of Brookes return was public knowledge, however the story behind her surprise expulsion from the elite boarding school was still a bit of a mystery.

Lucas, Skills, Jake, Haley and Peyton sat at their usual lunch table outside in the quad. Even team Roe couldn't ignore the chance to speculate about Tree Hill's new transfer student.

"I can't believe she's actually back. I never thought I'd see the day Brooke Scott Came back to Tree Hill. It's been like 4 years since I last saw her…" Peyton said as she picked at her questionable looking meatloaf. Peyton was shocked and that was putting in mildly. Well, walking in to your first English class of the year and finding your Ex-best friend sitting in your seat will do that to you.

"I know it's not just me that noticed it, little Brooke Scott got hot! I'm talking capital H, on fire! Back me up here dawg…" Skills exclaimed looking to Jake for some support. Jake opened his mouth to reply but Haley beat him to it,

"Hey! Emphasis on the Scott in her name, she's the enemy dofus" she snapped, throwing a French fry at him across the table.

"Just stating the facts" Skills replied throwing it back.

"Well thank you. Tell me, when did you become a walking talking encyclopedia?" Haley joked.

"I can't believe Dan actually let her come home" Jake added.

"Am I missing something here? She's his daughter why wouldn't he want her home? Complete his perfect family portrait, 2.4 children" Lucas asked, his voice becoming more hostile with the mention of Dan's name.

He had been trying to keep out of the conversation but curiosity had got the better of him. Still fuming over this morning's revelation that his mysterious bar girl wasn't so mysterious after all. After getting over the initial shock, he carefully thought over Saturday night's events. So they hadn't actually exchanged names, technically she didn't lie to him but it was too much of a coincidence for him to believe that she had just turned up at that bar having no idea who he was or that he would be there. As a rule Lucas didn't believe in coincidence- could this be the exception? No. His instincts were telling him there was something else going on; whatever reason she was in the bar that night it wasn't by chance. This stunk of Nathan Scott. This would be the perfect payback for Lucas stealing Peyton all those years ago, getting his own sister to seduce him then show him up when he least expected it, massive public humiliation. But if that was his plan why did Brooke walk away? She knew she had him in the palm of her hand, why didn't she finish the job? Something about this didn't fit, his brain was working over time, but still he could come to no sound conclusion.

"Brookes always been a bit of a handful, she never really fitted the perfect family image Dan tried so hard to create. You weren't here for the two years before she moved were you?" Peyton asked, looking over at him. Lucas shook his head in agreement.

"Oh yeah that's right, you were living with your grandparents in Charleston, no wonder you know nothing about her!" Haley realized.

"Some cousin you are can't even remember my two year absence from your life" Lucas added in faux disappointment.

Haley responded by throwing another fry,

"Are actually gonna eat any of those? It's a complete waste of perfectly good fried food…" Lucas questioned as he raised his hand to block the incoming missile.

Just at that moment Mouth came over to the table,

"You guy's are never going to believe what I just heard!"

Mouth, a more studious member of the group, had been spending his lunch period in the media room, finishing the favor he was doing for Mr. Norris the guidance councilor. Before heading out to the quad, he knocked on the faculty room's door to give in the finished copy of the presentation he had edited. Whilst waiting for the secretary to tell Mr. Norris of his arrival, a voice inside the room had caught his attention. Hearing the Mention of Brooke Scott's name he had, on the off chance, slipped his foot in between the door and the wall, leaving it open a crack. And boy was he pleased with his reflexes,

"Brooke Scott didn't leave her Private school. She was kicked out" Mouth said a huge smile spreading across his face.

"Hate to break it to you Mouth but that's not exactly the news of the century, I could of guessed

That much" Peyton said going back to her discarded lunch.

"I haven't got to the best part yet! She got kicked out because she was caught screwing the captain of the basketball team. In the Principals office. On his desk." Mouth was now positively grinning.

Sniggering spread throughout the table.

"Hussy" Haley muttered. Peyton's mouth hung open in shock and the guy's couldn't contain their smirks.

"Captain of the basketball team- that's original" Lucas scoffed.

"Football team. Captain of the football team. Basketball players never really did it for me"

Lucas lifted his head to see the very topic of conversation standing behind him. Her eyes flashing with anger.

"If you're gonna gossip about me, might as well get your story straight" Brooke said scowling down at Lucas.

"Brooke…" Peyton started.

"Don't Peyton. Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me." Brooke spat out hatred dripping off her tongue.

Rachel entered the quad and scanned the crowd looking for her usual posse. In the far corner she could see team Scott, huddled around their usual lunch table minus Nathan that was, god knows where he was probably finding some innocent freshmen to hook up with she thought sourly. So officially she and Nathan weren't a couple but it had still been an unpleasant surprise to walk in on him getting overly friendly with Marcy Wilkins the slut from their Spanish class. He screwed around, did his own thing, showed no commitment but eventually he always came running back to her.

Catching sight of her long lost friend, she strutted over, fully aware of the appreciative looks she was receiving from the male population,

"Hey best friend…" looking at the centre of Brooke's attention Rachel's smile fell from her face,

"Brooke I know you've always been kinda slow on the uptake, but you must have had a memory lapse to be talking to this trash, Nathan will go crazy if he catches you here…"

"Just tying up some loose ends" Brooke answered glancing back at Lucas one last time before walking off arm in arm with Rachel.

"I mean it Brooke, I know you're all about marching to the beat of your own drum and all that shit, but there is no way I'm letting you go all Judas on us." Rachel rambled as she checked her appearance in the mirror of her locker.

She had been lecturing Brooke for the past ten minutes. Apparently it was 'strictly against the rules' to even share oxygen with the Roe's- that was unless it couldn't be avoided in social situations like cheerleading, basketball, any shared lessons and of course parties. Which seemed a bit stupid considering those situations were more than 50 of her life anyway.

She then went on to give Brooke the low down on the team Scott code of conduct which baring life and death situations she must abide by, frankly the whole thing bored Brooke stupid. She couldn't care less about what the suitable time to go jogging was to avoid bumping into Lucas, or what periods were best to use the library.

Rules. Restrictions. Restraints. Limits. Confines. What ever way you said it Brooke hated them. She wanted to be free, she had never coped well in routine hence the constant acting out. Just the thought of having to plan her life around someone else made a shiver run down her spine. Brooke slammed her locker causing Rachel to stop applying her 'sensuous strawberry' lip gloss and look up at her friend, her eyebrows raised in question,

"Rachel stop. I get it ok? What do you want me to do? Sign a contract in blood declaring my eternal hatred for the Roes and everyone associated with them?" Brooke asked her eyes glinting at the absurdness of the situation. Rachel closed her locker and threaded her arm through the Brooke's,

"No need Brookie, you have Scott blood running through your veins no piece of paper can compete with that.

So bitch, when am I taking you out to the club? Hell I know you haven't got boring, in fact the whole school knows…"

Brooke bumped her hip, nudging her to show she was annoyed but the grin spread across her face showed her true feelings. It was good to be back here with Rachel and her brother, to be around people that new her inside out, but she couldn't seem to get those words out of her head 'You have Scott blood running through your veins' she sure did, and they were never gonna let her forget it.

Lucas slid into his seat in the middle row and sunk down into it. History, great. Probably the slowest lesson of the bunch. He couldn't believe he still had another two hours of this hellish day left to go. For what seemed like the hundredth time today his mind drifted to Brooke Scott. So it turned out the Brooke he met in the bar that night was a darn sight nicer than the Brooke walking the halls that day. If the rumors were to be believed (which they always were) she was definitely a firecracker. Lucas was beginning to understand Jake's question from earlier. As far as he could see Brooke stood for everything that Dan wanted to repress. She was feisty, promiscuous, rebellious and reckless- far from the perfect society daughter.

Brooke was a bitch, her display at lunch time had made that clear, her snide remark about basketball players had not gone unnoticed by him. However no matter how hard he tried he couldn't help but feel betrayed or cheated somehow. It was like that night alone together in the bar she had shown him who she really was, he had felt a connection, but in the harsh light of day she was just like the rest of them-false.

What did he expect? She was a Scott through and through. It was just; he thought he had seen something in her, something different, unique.

Ah well, I guess sometimes your wrong about people.

Modern history began in its usual manner a soul destroying boring introduction and summary of their currant topic followed by debate. God, when was Mrs. Thorpe going to come up with a new lesson plan?

The new topic? Women's rights. And the bad luck didn't stop there. By work of the gods the Scott twins just so happened to be in this class. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"The woman's rights movement marks a pivotal point in our nation's history…'

Mrs. Thorpe's ancient voice droned out across the class room. Lucas looked up at the clock, the second hand ticked pain staking slowly, taunting him. Looking around the class he could see Peyton doing a very poor job of hiding her sketch pad behind her copy of 'Early Modern History Part 1', Skills eyes glazed staring out the window leaving Haley the only one fully immersed in her notes- nerd Lucas thought lovingly.

"Martha Tibald was famously quoted to have said,

'Our chains have been broken our restraints but a memory. Finally we are equal to our male counter parts. Remember today, for it is just the beginning…'

Nathan how would you respond to this?" Mrs. Thorpe asked as she walked past Nathan's desk snatching the NBA live magazine from his tight grasp. Nathan sighed, obviously bored by this topic,

"I'd tell her to stop harping on about it. Great they can vote what's the big deal. They want to be part of the real world? Go out support the family. They were perfectly happy to sit there and let us go out hunting for thousands of years. All this equal rights stuff is a load of B.S"

A few sniggers came from Nathan's cronies and looks of disgust from most of the woman in the room. Brooke balled up a scrap piece of paper that was lying on her desk and threw it at the back of his head. Nathan turned round smirking clearly happy with his controversial reaction. Brooke shook her head at her brother and mouthed 'idiot'. This was typical Nathan always looking for a way to put someone's back up.

"Miss Scott, kindly refrain from throwing things in my class, do you have anything to add to your brothers comments?"

"Just a little. You can't even begin to comprehend what those women went through. The truth is that men have always had it easy, it's a well known fact that even today we live in a patriarchal society. You just choose to ignore this as ultimately it benefits you. Given the chance woman would turn the world around, men know this and are scared. How else can you explain the distinct absence of female presidents of the United States?" Brooke finished triumphantly.

Debate was one of Brooke's strong points. She had an opinion about everything and wasn't afraid to show it. Shock covered the faces of the students; Brooke Scott had a reputation for many things. Being an insightful and intelligent student definitely wasn't one of them.

However Brooke's smugness was short lived as snort interrupted the silence,

"Mr. Roe you would like to respond to Miss Scott's argument?"

Lucas looked up from the book in front of him. The whole class seemed to stop doing whatever minor distraction they were using to get them through this hour, the possibility of a Scott/Roe confrontation was much more interesting.

"Men are natural born leaders. Why do you think history survived this way for so long?" Lucas questioned, changing his point of focus from the teacher in front of him to a very irritated Brooke.

"Because women were repressed. Never allowed to realize or fulfill their potential" Brooke said through gritted teeth.

"Well how about now? No ones repressing you know are they? After a huge feminist movement women are still taking a back seat. They lack the skills required to lead"

"That's a load of sh…."

"Miss Scott language!"

"Sorry Mrs. Thorpe but you have to agree. Women have plenty of valuable qualities. They're forward thinking, tactful, sensitive, diplomatic…"

"…over emotional, easily distracted, fickle, unpredictable, devious, manipulative" Lucas interrupted her.

His eyes burning a whole into her skull. Brookes scowl becoming deeper with ever word he said. She wasn't stupid. She realized this had stopped being about the equal rights movement a long time ago. This was personal, each word he spat hit her hard, ripping to shreds what ever bond they had made in the bar the other night.

Mrs. Norris voice broke the thick tension floating through the room,

"Ah I think that's enough for today. Slightly off topic but riveting all the same, nothing like a good debate…" the bell rang, drowning out the teacher's weak voice giving instructions for homework.

Lucas stood by the door waiting for Haley to pack up her things. He opened the door, but paused to see Brooke heading towards him, her head held her, eyes blazing.

"After you princess" Lucas said holding the door open, Brooke didn't turn head or flinch at all but he was sure he heard her mutter,

"Ass" before stalking off down the Hall.

"Brooke wait up!" Brooke turned on her heal to see her brother, jogging down the corridor towards her.

"What the hell was that Brooke?" Nathan asked her when he reached her side.

"What do you mean, 'what the hell was that'? That was just Lucas Roe setting some ground rules, trying to show us whose boss, surely you're used to his games by now Nathan?" Brooke said cattily, her patience wearing thin.

"Whoa, don't get me wrong, Lucas is bastard, but normally a pretty chilled out bastard. He just totally went off on you…"

"I don't know Nathan, maybe he got his period today." Brooke said sarcastically rushing through the halls, so that Nathan struggled to keep up with her.

"What's with you today Brooke? You're acting like a first class bitch" Nathan said grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

Brooke let a breath go she didn't realize she was holding,

"I'm sorry. Its just today's been pretty intense, I didn't mean to take it out on you" Brooke said

her eyes softening when she looked up to meet her brothers.

"We're in this together Brooke." she smiled up at him and carried on walking reaching her final class of the day.

"Oh Mr. Turners algebra class, have fun with that. I'll wait for you by the car?" Nathan teased as he walked off down the hall.

"I have cheerleading tryouts today, I'll just catch a ride with Rachel" Brooke called after him.

"No its okay. I have to talk to coach anyway I'll wait for you" Nathan called before rounding the corner and leaving Brooke's line of sight.

"Well that was fun" Brooke chirped enthusiastically. Sure it had been a hard work out but after the day she had had, Brooke felt like she really needed it.

Rachel glared at her from her position on the bleachers. The gym was empty bar the two of them, Rachel was busy warming down, trying to minimize the aching pains she was certain to feel later that night.

"If that was your idea of fun then we need to have serious words. That, was torture, Kristy Bitton is a glorified slave driver. How she can stand up there acting like gods gift to cheerleading with an ass that big is beyond me" Rachel ranted.

"So I heard about your run in with Luk-Ass. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it. When he's pissing Nathan off I don't hear the end of it. Come on B, dish the dirt and we can start plotting our payback" Rachel said gleefully.

"It was nothing; just a debate in history is all." Brooke dismissed quickly avoiding eye contact with her best friend.

"If it was nothing I wouldn't have heard about it. I hold the most important position on the gossip grapevine, only the good stuff makes its way to me. Come on Brooke you actually expect me to believe he went all Mariah on your ass over history? " Rachel asked not at all convinced as she checked her cell for messages.

"Your sources must have got their wires crossed. No payback needed"

"Oh but its fun" Rachel whined, looking up at Brooke's smiling face. She could be such a kid sometimes.

"You need me to drop you off home? I know you rode with Nathan today" she asked changing the subjedt realizing she was getting nowhere.

"No I'm good, Nathan's waiting for me" Brooke answered as she straightened her red tank top and pulled on her tight black work out pants over her cheerleading shorts.

"Suit yourself, I've gotta go any way. I have a date!" Rachel said picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"You have got to be kidding me! It's the first day of school, how did you manage that?" Brooke asked, Rachel was definitely one of a kind.

"Time waits for no man, after all I'm not gonna be this hot forever right? Have a good night Brooke, I know I will." With a wink of her eye she was out the door.

Brooke threw her cheerleading bag over her shoulder and headed towards Whitey's office. To her surprise it was empty. As was the boys locker room, the quad and the parking lot.

"Come on Nathan, where are you?" Brooke said sighing. She rummaged in her bag for her cell, but was distracted by the familiar noise as she passed the gym- she should have guessed. Using her back to push open the door she continued looking for her cell, as it had just vibrated warning her of a text message.

"Finally, where have you been? I have a list of things I want to do this evening starting with a long hot soak in the tub, wild goose chase was not one of them…" she finished giving up on looking for her cell, her bag was stupidly big making it next to impossible to find anything. Looking up from her bag she was shocked to see not her brother standing in front of her but Lucas Roe.

"Oh super, it's you. Perfect end to the perfect day. I was looking for Nathan, but he's obviously not here…" Brooke muttered turning around to walk out the way she came.

"I don't get you" Lucas said as she started to walk away.

"Excuse me" Brooke said. She stopped walking but didn't turn to face him. Hearing the ball drop into the net she shook her head and carried on her walking, he was just wasting her time, trying to get a reaction out of her.

"What's your game Brooke, I'll be honest with you I've been racking my brains all day and it just doesn't make sense." Lucas said staring at the back of her head. She turned to face him her expression guarded but clearly irritated.

Lucas spun the basket ball in his hands and carried on; pleased he had got her attention,

"You keep showing up. The bar, here. Anyone would think your trying to get me alone, is this just another one of Nathan's screwed up plans to show how the Scott's are so much more superior?" he said throwing the ball towards her. Brooke caught it effortlessly, quick reflexes, it was in her genes.

"Don't flatter yourself. It's called coincidence, nothing more nothing less." Brooke said finding it difficult to believe anyone could be so self involved.

"Don't believe in them" Lucas said.

"Well more fool you. Believe it or not Lucas my life doesn't revolve around you" Brooke answered growing tired of his arrogance.

"Well we both know that's not true. Our life's revolve around each others, its always been this way, whether we want them to or not"

"What do you want from me Lucas? You already humiliated me once today and I'm not about to let you do it again. So tell me what me what do you want?" Brooke asked her patience slowly fading.

"The truth"

"The truth huh?" she thought for a moment before taking a deep breath and answering his question.

"The truth is that it was my stupid mistake to pull up to the bar the other night. My stupid mistake to talk to you. As far as I was concerned you were just a speck on the horizon I would never see again. I guess I should have learnt by now that lady luck is definitely not on my side. The truth is that if my father or brother caught me here with you, making small talk, exchanging insults or whatever the hell it is we're doing I'd be dead to them. How's that for the truth? Whoever said honesty was the best policy obviously didn't know my father."

She took the basket ball she held in her hands, lined it up and made the shot easily.

"Well look at that. I guess pool isn't the only thing I beat you at"

Picking her bag up off the floor she headed towards the exit leaving a speechless Lucas to watch her go.

Brooke sat in the passenger seat of Nathan's custom painted BMW staring out the window.

"You're quiet. Are you pissed at me for being late, because I really am sorry about that, I had to swing by the dealership and pick something up for dad…" Nathan explained taking his eyes of the road to look at his sister.

"I know its fine. I'm just tired, first day back and all" Brooke answered failing to convince her brother. As they pulled into the driveway Nathan questioned her further,

"Are you sure? Because you've got that look you get when you're distracted…" Nathan said as he shut the car door. Brooke looked up and out across the street as a light went on in the Roe household.

"I was just thinking about how much Tree hill has changed, it's gonna be a whole lot different living here as to what I remember" Brooke said turning towards Nathan and heading towards the house, glancing over her shoulder once more,

"It's gonna be the best. You're home at last" Nathan said wrapping his arm around his sister's shoulders and walking through their front door. Home at last.

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P.S I'm thinking of reposting the first chapter 'cos the format is pretty shitty as my word was down at the time, so if you get a new chapter alert, sorry its just chapter 1 again!