Hi lovely reviewers! I can't actually believe it's taken me over a week to update this story, I'm so incredibly sorry! Once again thankyou for all your amazing reveiws and PM's those are the things that make me get chapters up, so if im being slow be sure to PM me to give me a friendly push!
For some reason I kind of hit a block, I've just been really stressed at the moment and haven't been able to write. But the next chapter is finally up! Woohoo! This chapter picks up directly wher the last one left off, so thats after the ball, Lucas has just found out about Keith running for mayor.
As always I love hearing your thoughts on the chapters so please RnR. K X
Oh that reminds me, I missed a couple of my loyal reviewers last chapter, melloncollie00 and justlikebrooke (Lynn), where are you girlies? I miss you!
Enough chattering. Enjoy….
Chapter 7- What's love got to do with it?
"Ya know? I never did ask you how you got so good at pool. And basketball. Actually sports in general. Suddenly I'm feeling a little insecure in my masculinity" Lucas said taking a swig of his beer. She laughed throatily,
"Oh broody that's something you never have to worry about. You proved to me a long time ago, you're all man" she said kinking her eyebrow and laughing at his proud expression.
They were currently sat in a both of their bar, completely over dressed, half drunk but alone, at last.
"Sports have always been a big thing in my family. When we were little my dad entered us into basically every competition in the state! I guess it's just in my genes. Besides Nathan always needed some one to practice with…" she said sipping her drink attempting to hide the sadness in her voice, which Lucas picked up on straight away.
"Was Nathan always the golden boy?" he asked softly. Her eyes shot up surprised at how he was able to detect the meaning behind her words, her exact thoughts, like no other.
"Oh yeah. Nothing I ever did could compare to him. It didn't matter how many Junior Miss pageants I one, it wasn't enough. I guess that's why one day I just stopped trying, I found other ways to get noticed" she said shrugging her shoulders a cheeky grin spread across her face. Lucas smiled despite his feelings of sadness for her.
"Since we're doing this, 'Things I never asked you gig' I have a question for you." she said smiling across at him.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked, enjoying the casual banter that flowed naturally between the two of them.
"Are you really a misogynistic pig?" she asked completely straight faced. Lucas almost choked on his mouthful of beer, but recovered spluttering.
"Excuse me? What gave you that idea?" he asked completely baffled. She laughed uncontrollably at his uncouth reaction.
"Think back a few months to the discussion we had in history class. You said, and I quote 'women are over emotional, easily distracted, fickle, unpredictable, devious, manipulative creatures' that phrase ring any bells?" she said amusement evident on her face.
"You know full well I didn't actually mean any of that" he said shaking his head.
"Then why say it? Give me one good reason?" she said leaning across the table they were sat at, showing a more then generous amount of cleavage. He licked his lips and paused to take in her appearance before answering.
"I wanted to piss you off. You're so hot when you're angry" he said smirking.
"What?! How is any one hot when they're angry?" she asked laughing.
"I don't know how, but believe me cheery you are. You get that look on your face, kinda similar to the one you have right before you co…" he explained unable to contain his laughter as he saw her eyes widen in shock.
"Okay I think that's enough alcohol for you tonight, dirty boy" she interrupted him. She stood up and called over to the bar keep to order them two cabs.
"What ever you say pretty girl. What ever you say"
Lucas opened the front door squinting his eyes trying to make out where he was going in the pitch black room. He dropped his jacket on the floor carelessly, and proceeded to stumble over the pair of shoes that had been left by the door. Reaching out for the couch to steady himself, he took take a deep breath. Maybe that last tequila shot was a bad idea after all. Suddenly a light flicked on in the room and he was shocked to see his father sitting in the arm chair opposite him.
"You came home then" Keith Roe said staring into his scotch glass. He was still in his shirt and dress pants, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up looking a lot scruffier than earlier that night.
"It looks like it doesn't it" Lucas replied grinning obviously inebriated.
"And you're drunk. Nice Lucas. If you carry on like this you'll sabotage my campaign before it's even started." Keith said rubbing his head.
"Interestingly I couldn't give a damn about your campaign, but you'd know that if you had bothered to consult me before telling the whole town" Lucas said collapsing onto the couch.
"Can you blame me Lucas? You're barely home and when you are here you're not exactly approachable…" Keith explained.
"That's a weak excuse and you know it. I'm your son I deserved to know. This doesn't only affect you…" Lucas said shaking his head, trying desperately to summon some energy to move off the couch up to his bed.
"It's business Lucas. You're not involved in business you know that" Lucas got up, and began walking towards the stairs.
"Come on dad, you don't actually expect me to believe that do you? This is about as personal as it gets! You're running against Dan Scott." Lucas said unable to believe his dad though he was that naive.
"So what if it is? Dan knew I wanted this Lucas, he knew I was thinking of running. That's the only reason he's doing this, to get to me. He announced it before me, but I am not going to let him win. I will do everything in my power to win this; Dan Scott needs to watch his back, him and his whole family." Keith said aggressively.
"Maybe you should spend a little less time worrying about his family and little more time concentrating on your own" Lucas said before walking up the stairs.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith asked standing up.
"Forget it. You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Lucas said walking up the last few stairs as fast as he could in his drunken state then slamming his bedroom door.
He sat on the end of his bed a hand rubbing his neck. So maybe running out of the ball with Brooke and getting drunk wasn't the best solution to the ongoing problem that was his family life. But at that moment it was all he could do. He was a kid for god's sake! He wasn't supposed to be worrying about his father's unhealthy obsession with the guy across the street or his mothers less then savoury extra martial activities, but this was his life, he just had to deal with it. Too bad there was only one person that actually understood what he was going through and that one person he couldn't even be seen with. He couldn't sit here any longer he had to do something. He wanted answers. He took his cell from his pocket and dialled Brooke's number.
"Broody, I know I'm irresistible but this is a bit pathetic, I only left you about 20 minutes ago" she joked grinning, the alcohol still flowing thorough her veins. However his delayed response and heavy breathing raised suspicions something was wrong.
"Luke what is it?" she said settling on Rachel's couch. After paying the cab she had opened the front door to Rachel's house cautiously not wanting to wake her friend. She soon realised that Rachel was not there, no doubt spending the night in Brooke's own family home.
"You know how you said you'd help me find out about my mom and Dan? Are you still up for it?" he asked lying back on his bed.
"Of course. Whatever you need" she said cuddling a cushion.
"Well I need you to do some snooping for me. I've looked here but due to my mother's obsession with renovating, most of her old stuff is in storage." He said his voice sounding tired.
"Sure, I can go home tomorrow I know my dad is planning to be out all afternoon. I heard him say to Nathan he was gonna be out rallying voters…what exactly am I looking for?" she asked interested.
"I don't really know. Check the other surveillance tapes; um check his office cupboards, anything that could be linked to my mom. It's a long shot but at the moment it's all I have" he said frustrated with his lack of ideas.
"Hey what brought this on? Earlier you said you'd had enough of their bullshit. I thought you just wanted to leave your parents problems to them?" she asked intrigued. At the bar he had been adamant that he wasn't getting involved in any of it. Something must have happened to make him have this change of heart.
"I just realised I need to know. I can't sit on something like this, it's not who I am. Look if you're not comfortable doing this…" he said a little harshly.
"That's not it. I'm just trying to keep up with you're thought process. You know I want to help. I'll call you tomorrow, let you know what I find" she explained unaffected by his cold tone, it was a sensitive subject for him she understood that.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to jump down your throat. It's just been a long night and this is so messed up…it's just hard you know?" he said feeling a little guilty for snapping at her.
"I know baby. Get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow" she said before hanging up the phone.
For most people Sunday was a day of rest. This had never been true for the Scott's. When Brooke was little she had resented her father's stupid rules but as she let herself in through the back door of her house, she was thankful that everyone was out completing whatever inane task her father had set out for the weekend. The house was still, lacking any warmth you would expect to feel in a family home. It was the first time she had been back since the argument. A little part of her thought the house might look different now she was no longer living there. It didn't. She walked upstairs towards her father's office taking care to be quiet even though no one was home. She opened the door to the perfectly organised room and looked around. Where to start?
She had been looking through her fathers possessions for over half an hour but had found nothing more incriminating than a late credit card bill. Giving up on the room she began walking down the hall towards her bedroom dreading telling Lucas she had found nothing. She passed Nathan's room and turned round the corner towards her own. She stopped short in front of a closed door. When they were little this room had always been called 'the junk room' it never occurred to her to question it. But now that she thought about it, they didn't actually have any junk. In fact her father was pretty OCD about even the odd item left around the house. They didn't even have knick knacks or ornaments so why the hell did they have a junk room? She tried the door; she found it locked no surprises there. Walking across to the pot plant on the windowsill she hunted around the soil searching for a sharp object. Excitement flooded through her veins as she retrieved the spare key.
Once inside she stood in the middle of the room and looked around, it was like a second office, smaller and more compact with basketball trophies on the shelves; not a bit of junk in sight. A desk stood in the centre; she made her way towards it sitting down in the comfy chair, she reached out and opened a draw. The first two draws were full of papers, in an ideal world she would have taken the time to read through them and find out why exactly they were separate from the main office but her growing impatience and desperateness to find something for Lucas got the best of her. When she opened the last draw she found a leather bound case. Untying the string she saw a stack of letters each one addressed to her father in black swirly hand writing. She picked up the top one and slipped the letter out of the envelope and began reading it but the sound of the front door closing jolted her back to reality. She quickly replaced the case back in the desk making sure she put it back the way she found it. Picking up the letter she was in the middle of reading she tucked it down the back of her jeans and under her shirt. She hurried out of the room and locked the door behind her, putting the key back in the plant pot, and turning towards her room she tried desperately to walk at a normal pace, her heart pounding.
"Brooke! You got my message?" Nathan asked spotting her as he turned the corner towards his room. His face lit up seeing his sister back home.
"Ahh yeah that's why I'm here." She lied smiling weakly, hoping that whatever message he was talking about would fit her lie.
"That's great! I'm just a little surprised. I didn't see you much last night, you have fun?" Nathan asked hiding a smile, knowing full well she'd had the date from hell.
"That wouldn't exactly be the word I would use to describe my evening" she said smiling remembering what a pig Felix had been. She met her brother's eyes her smile still strong despite the fact she still hadn't forgiven him. Being back in this house with him felt like old times it almost made her forget why she was mad at him.
"You should have seen how pissed dad was after you know whose announcement, way to steal his limelight" Nathan said. However he immediately realised his mistake in mentioning their father's name seeing Brooke tense up and the smile fall from her face.
"Come on, we should get down there. They'll be starting soon" he said changing the subject quickly.
"What? Who'll be starting?" She asked before she could stop herself, silently cursing herself for being so careless.
"The photographers? The campaign photos? You did get my message right? Dad is gonna flip when he sees you came. We weren't sure whether you would show… but that doesn't matter you're here now" he said walking down stairs unable to contain his excitement at having his sister back.
Family photos; perfect timing Brooke.
Brooke stood in front of the Scott mansion surrounded by a camera crew and half a dozen photographs. This was a shameless cry for publicity. Her father was currently being interviewed for the local TV station his smarmy false smile plastered to his face. She wondered how much longer this would take. She casually rubbed her back checking to see if the letter was still tucked into the waist band of her pants, it was. Out of nowhere her father appeared at her side, he slung his arm around her and posed as the loving father as the flashes of cameras went off around her,
"Show them your beautiful smile Brooke" he said sweetly, turning his head to look at her, his eyes cold.
She took a deep breath and forced the corners of her mouth to rise. Her face was stiff unable to form her genuine smile her dimples still hidden. Her father raised his other arm and put it around Nathan's shoulders. The cameras went crazy seeing a perfect photo opportunity.
Lucas better appreciate this.
Lucas' truck pulled into the drive. He and his cousin got out of the car and made their way to the door only to be greeted by Keith Scott standing on the porch.
"Hey Uncle Keith, what ya doing out here?" Haley asked merrily, Lucas took care to avoid his father's eyes, the tension from last night's argument still present.
"Just keeping an eye on the competition." Keith said nodding his head across the road. Lucas followed his gaze to see an elaborate publicity shoot going on in front of the Scott mansion. That didn't surprise him, tacky self promotion was just Dan Scott's style but he didn't expect to see Brooke standing there in her father's arms looking every part the doting daughter.
"Makes me sick. How anyone can believe the crap he comes out with is beyond me. Look at the happy family. They're all as bad as each other, take the daughter for instance you wouldn't believe half the stuff I've heard about her, not exactly the little angel he makes her out to be…." Keith said not taking his eyes off the photo shoot across the road.
"Oh I think we would Uncle Keith. We know all about Brooke Scott…the whole school does" Haley said smirking. Lucas remained silent, doing his best to ignore his father and cousin's conversation. He couldn't take his eyes off Brooke, she looked so comfortable in those surroundings, so genuine. She was either a really good actress or was actually enjoying being with her father. He couldn't help but feel annoyed. She was supposed to be helping him with his mother's affair not be over their playing happy families with the man that threatened to ruin his own.
"Yes and that's the worst bit. The whole town knows about his daughters…promiscuous ways. And If I know Dan Scott as well as I think I do, he is going to use that to his advantage. He'll present her as a reformed character showing the town how he can create miracles. She's his secret weapon…she's just as devious as him; look at her little smug face. Spoilt brat" Keith said disgusted.
Dan looked away from the camera in front of him to see the three of them standing in the Roe porch. He smiled evilly and waved.
"Bastard. Don't worry soon they won't know what's hit them" Keith said turning around and walking back into the house leaving Lucas to stare across the road his fathers words circling his mind.
Brooke walked towards her car, throwing a bag of her clothes in the trunk. She couldn't wait to get out of this place something about her father's presence seemed to suck her dry of all positive feelings. The only good thing about today had been spending time with Nathan; he was back to his normal self no trace of mini Dan in sight, spending that time with him made her realise how much she had missed him. She walked around to the driver's side opening the door but stopped hearing her father's voice call her name.
"What do you want dad?" she asked looking up at him, she had almost escaped unscathed. Almost.
"Leaving so soon? It was really good to have you here today have you thought any more about coming home..?" he said gently.
"I'm not coming home dad. The only reason I even came here today was for Nathan" Brooke said getting in her convertible unwilling to have this conversation with her father.
"Now now Brooke I've been very reasonable these past two weeks but enough is enough. I didn't want it to come to this but you know what I'll do if you don't come home. Is a silly row really worth risking your future over?" Dan threatened every trace of softness in his voice disappearing. Brooke laughed bitterly at how long it took her father to go from nice guy to scheming asshole.
"How about we make a deal? I pose as the perfect daughter through the whole campaign, I'll attend events, photo shoots whatever you want if and only if you let me stay at Rachel's. If you make me come home I'll do everything in my power to sabotage the whole campaign, I don't care what you do to me, take all my money for all I care" Brooke said her hard outer shell well and truly up. She'd had enough; her dad was no longer controlling her. She wasn't sure how she would manage on her own but if that's what it came down to, she knew she would get through it some how. She'd have to.
"Who knew you could be such a manipulative bitch" Dan said smiling.
"I learnt from the best. Well?" Brooke said already sure of his answer. Nothing was as important as this campaign to him.
"Fine" Dan Scott said defeated.
"Nice doing business with you" Brooke said starting the engine before speeding out of the drive.
Lucas pulled into the school parking lot trying his best to stay focused on whatever it was Haley was rabbiting on about. The ringing of his cell phone interrupted her; he looked at the caller ID and pressed cancel.
"Who's Marsha? One of your one night stands getting a bit clingy?" Haley asked slamming the car door, walking into school.
"Yeah something like that" Lucas muttered. He wasn't really sure why he had been ignoring her calls. After he had seen her looking so delightfully happy with her family yesterday he hadn't been able to shake the image from his head. What if she was really like them. What if she was just using him to get to his family? What if she was her father's secret weapon? He shook his head feeling completely confused. He had to stop thinking about her, but what with English, double history, and basketball practice after school he had the feeling that would be easier said than done.
Brooke walked out of the girl's locker room on a mission. She had spent the past 24 hours trying to get in contact with Lucas. After arriving back at Rachel's yesterday afternoon she had tried to call him to arrange to meet up like they had planned the night before. She couldn't wait to show him the letter, but his phone was going straight to voicemail. She found it a little odd considering how eager he had been to find dirt on his mother's affair last night, but she figured he must have run out of battery or something. However after she had tried to call him around ten times it became clear something was wrong. This had been confirmed in first period English. Although it was always difficult to communicate at school for risk of being exposed they normally managed some kind of eye contact, some recognition of each other, in fact normally she had to tell to stop staring, but today? Nothing. No eye contact, he was acting like she didn't exist. She wanted an explanation.
She had watched everyone else leave the gym, knowing that on Mondays he always stayed late to practice his jump shots. She walked into the gym silently, careful not to disturb him. She put her bag down on the bleachers and sat down next to it. It seemed he was having a little trouble concentrating today after she watched him miss his 3rd basket she spoke.
"Why are you avoiding me?" she asked her voice strong and steady. He whipped round startled to see her there. It took him a few minutes to regain his composure, but soon after he turned around and continued to line up his next shot. He missed again.
"You pretty much suck today, how about you take a break and answer my question" she said not willing to be ignored.
He put the ball under his arm but didn't turn to move towards her. His shoulders sagged his whole frame looked closed off, unapproachable. She waited patiently for him to say something, anything.
"Are you using me?" he asked his voice flat, not turning to look at her but staring straight up at the basketball net.
"What?" she asked shocked. Of all the things she had thought he was going to say that wasn't one of them.
"You heard me" he said turning to face her, his expression hard.
"How can you ask me that? Of course not" she said getting up form her place on the bleachers walking towards him, she reached out for his hand but he took a step back unconsciously.
"Lucas you're scaring me. What's going on?" she asked hurt by his movement away from her.
"I saw you yesterday. With your family. What are you part of the campaign now?" he asked sarcastically.
"That's what this is about? I didn't want to be there…" she tried to explain finding it difficult to believe that her appearance at the photo shoot yesterday was the reason for his offish behaviour.
"Save me the excuses Brooke. Not even you are that good an actress. Was this your plan all along? Gain my trust, get me to reveal my family secrets and then report back to daddy, win the election and have a big a laugh about what an gullible idiot Lucas Roe is?" Lucas spat cruelly.
"Lucas please, that doesn't even make sense! We've been sneaking around for weeks do you really think I would have done that for the sake of some pathetic election. I didn't even know my dad was running until a couple of weeks ago! God, how can you even accuse me of this? Do you not know me at all? I thought you got me, I thought you understood…" she said tears forming in her eyes.
"What were you doing there yesterday then Brooke? You always told me you wanted nothing to do with your father or the election, yet I come home and see you having the perfect family reunion…" he asked his own fathers words ringing out in his head she's his secret weapon.
"What was I doing there?" she said angrily storming back to where her bag sat on the bleachers. She rustled through it pulling out a crumpled pie of paper.
"I was there for you. I was doing what you asked…" she said thrusting the letter she had stolen from her father's secret office into his chest.
"What's this?" he asked taking the letter in his hand. He opened it, his eyes dawning in realisation as he unfolded the piece of paper and recognized the hand writing as his mothers. He sat down on the bleachers taking his time to read the letter carefully.
"There were others, but I got interrupted. I just took what I could…" Brooke trailed off, searching for something to say. Lucas continued to read undisturbed by her voice. Finally he spoke,
"I don't understand. She says it's been going on since she found out she was pregnant with me. How she could she do that? How could she sneak around with him when she was carrying another man's child?" he asked rubbing his eyes, a flood of feelings overwhelming him.
"She loved him" Brooke said, watching Lucas struggle to come to terms with the fact that his mother had been involved in a 14 year long affair.
"What's love got to do with anything? She had a family, a baby, a life! How could she be so heartless?" he asked standing up running a hand through his short hair, anger replacing his feelings of confusion.
"Maybe she was unhappy. Maybe she needed someone?" she suggested.
"She had someone, my father. She's just a selfish bitch, who doesn't care about anyone but herself. Why are you defending her?" Lucas fumed, pacing the gym.
"I just don't think you can judge her when you don't know the whole story. You don't know what it was like for her…" Brooke reasoned.
"Neither do you! How can you possibly sympathise with her?" Lucas shouted finding Brooke's inexplicable need to side with his mom highly annoying.
"Because I know what its like to love someone you shouldn't. To be so in love with them that nothing else matters. Only them. You can't choose who you fall in love with Lucas."
He stopped pacing, looked across at her face watching a tear fall down her cheek.
"I wasn't using you. But the fact that you think I could do that to you, after everything we've been through, it breaks my heart" she said picking up her gym bag and walking out the gym.
Lucas stood there in the centre of the gym, the screwed up letter still in his left hand. Despite the fact he had just discovered that his mother had been involved with another man for his whole childhood only one thing filled his mind and left him paralysed. She loved him. She loved him. And thanks to his own stupidity and doubts, he might just have lost her.
He sunk down onto the bleachers clutching his head in his hands and for the first time he could remember, he broke down. Little did he know he was not alone, in the corner of the gym by boys locker room stood a figure who had watched patiently as the whole event had unfolded before his very eyes.
"Brooke come on! If you don't get your huge ass down here in the next minute I'm leaving without you." Rachel bellowed up stairs.
It was Saturday morning, today was the Ravens first away game of the season. They were planning on driving Rachel's Hummer to school and then travelling up to Bear creak on the team bus. The whole team were staying over night in a nearby hotel as the ancient bus driver wanted to avoid driving back at night. So far there was only one problem.
Brooke had spent the past hour in the bathroom 'getting ready'. That was code for procrastinating. If she wasn't careful she was going to make them late. The truth was she dawdling. After her shock confession the thought of spending a whole weekend away from home in close proximity to Lucas was not that appealing to her. She had been doing a stellar job of avoiding him all week, why did she have to attend this thing anyway. Did it really matter if she missed one game? She knew the answer already. She was head cheerleader, of course it mattered.
She hadn't meant to tell him she loved him. She hadn't even realised she did until the words were pouring out of her mouth leaving her powerless to stop them. But once she'd said it she knew it was true. He couldn't be more shocked than she was herself. For god's sake she'd only known him for three months, how could she have such strong feelings for someone who she hadn't even known existed a few months previously.
Once again fate had stepped in just to complicate her life further. She still couldn't believe he had accused her of constructing their whole relationship with the sole purpose of bringing down his family once and for all. How could he think she was using him? More to the point, how could she have told the man that thought she was capable of faking their whole relationship that she was in fact in love with him? She was such an idiot!
She heard Rachel slam the front door and start the engine of her car. Subtle. She couldn't put this off any longer. She grabbed her cheerleading bag her clothes already in the car and jogged down the stairs. It was just one weekend, she could do this. She would just stick with Rachel and Nathan. Third wheel. Great.
Lucas boarded the bus, plugged his trusty ipod earphones in his ears and sunk into his seat. This week had been brutal. His house had been taken over by a team of bright eyed, ambitious, suit wearing campaign planners. His dad had gone election crazy. Every conversation revolved around how to gain new voters or how to humiliate Dan Scott. His mother was fully involved, collecting Keith Scott buttons, putting up posters, dishing out directions. Lucas was finding it a struggle to even look at her let only pretend everything was normal. He hadn't spoken to Brooke since their argument. Since she said she loved him. She hadn't come near him all week and it wasn't as though he could go over to Rachel's and demand she talk to him, it might raise a few alarm bells with the red head. He sighed checking his watch; he just wanted to get away from it all this weekend. Play some basketball, win the game and relax. What were they waiting for? He looked around seeing all members of the team already there; he shook his head as the cheerleaders made their way onto the bus.
"Chill man. It wouldn't be a real game without our girls there to cheer us on" Jake said over his shoulder seeing Lucas growing agitated.
"Whatever" Lucas muttered staring out the window.
"You look about as excited as me. This seat taken?"
Lucas looked up to see Peyton standing in the middle of the bus a half smile on her face, waiting patiently for a reply. He opened his mouth to answer but the sight of Brooke walking up behind Peyton made him pause. He caught her eye and to his surprise she didn't look away. She chewed her lip nervously and after a few seconds looked down at the floor. Both gestures completely out of character.
"Hey pigeon legs, your blocking the gangway." Rachel's voice cut through the moment, he looked up to see Peyton still waiting on an answer.
"It is now" he said. She smiled widely before settling into the seat next to him leaving Brooke with no choice but to carry on walking to the back of the bus.
The journey up there had been long. The traffic was terrible and however much Brooke tried not to she couldn't help but spend the most part of the journey staring three seats in front at the back of Lucas' head. Him and Peyton had been immersed in conversation the whole way up only stopping when she nodded off with her head on his shoulder. How sickening.
This past week had been miserable for Brooke, not being able to see him, talk to him. It pained her to admit it but she had become dependant on him. But as she watched him getting cosy with Peyton it became clear he really wasn't missing her. The sharp pain that kept ripping through her every time she thought of him reappeared. She thought he was different, she thought he knew the real her. But as he stood in the gym accusing her of playing some kind of twisted game she realised he was just like everyone else. How could she have been so blind?
The girls were back at the hotel no doubt discretely swapping rooms so they could bunk with their other halves without Whitey noticing. Skipping out on this ritual was not well advised, she'd probably end up with Tim. But to be honest she didn't care, as long a he kept his hands to himself and didn't snore she was happy. She had decided to go over to the gym early scope out the area, warm up, and do whatever she could to be as far away from him as possible. Too bad he'd had the same idea. She had been warming up for around twenty minutes, when she felt someone watching her,
"What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" she asked shocked. She felt her heart twinge with hurt remembering their last confrontation in a gym similar to this.
"I didn't know you'd be here. I just wanted to get away from everyone" he said calmly. It was the truth he hadn't followed her, but he hadn't turned around when he saw her there either. Honestly he was pleased he had her alone.
"Well me being here definitely counts as 'some one' so I'll just leave you to it…" she said jumping up from the floor and walked towards the exist that he stood in front of. He hung his head; she wasn't going to make this easy.
"Brooke we need to talk about this…" he said grabbing her arm as she went to walk past him. She didn't respond well to be forced into things, he should know that by now.
"About what? About the fact you think I'm a lying scheming power hungry bitch?" she said smiling, not her real smile but a cold almost broken one.
"Brooke I never meant that…" he said pausing to find the right words, feeling guilt set in.
"Really? Because you sounded pretty clear of what you meant to me" he sighed, obviously his words had affected her more then she was originally willing to let on.
"…I was just really confused. My dad had been filling my head with all this shit about you…your whole family…" he tried to explain realising that whatever he said, he didn't really have an excuse for the way he treated her.
"You can't keep using me as a punch bag Lucas! I get it. Your life is horrible right now and I want to be there for you, but I won't sit there and let you take it out on me. I can't. I respect myself too much to let you do that. I have enough people telling me how much I suck with out you joining the party…" she said turning back towards the exit.
"What are you saying?" Lucas asked her staring at the back of her. God he felt bad. How could he treat the person he needed the most like she was some expendable bimbo.
"This was a bad idea" she said not turning to face him.
"This? What do you mean 'this'?" he asked not sure if he quite understood what she was saying.
"Us" she said firmly, still staring at the exit, not able to summon the courage to face him. Turns out she didn't need to. Next thing she knew he had a hold of her arm and was spinning her around to face him. His crystal blue eyes were wide showing a mixture of anger and sadness,
"Is that a joke? How can you say that after…after… you said you loved me!" he said his voice wavering slightly showing his vulnerability.
"What's love got to do with anything?" she saw his face fall in disappointment as she repeated his own words from their most recent argument.
She turned and walked out of the gym towards the hotel. Once a safe distance away she stopped, leaning up against the wall for support. She felt the tears fall from her eyes as she crumpled down the wall. She told herself she was doing the right thing. They could never really be together, what was the point wasting her time. She told herself that no matter how hard they tried their family would always get in the way. She told her self it was best to cut the ties now before she got too attached. Who was she kidding? It was far too late for that! But in that moment it was the only thing she could do to take her mind off the stabbing pain in her chest. So that's what it's like to feel your heart breaking.
They won the game. Broke had smiled and cheered like she was supposed to. It was over. She could see Nathan's excited face through the crowd.
"What did you think?" he asked bounding over to her.
"You were amazing Nate" she said smiling genuinely. To be honest she couldn't remember whether he was or not she had been pre-occupied the whole game.
"Thanks but I didn't do it alone. I don't know what came over Lucas tonight but he was like a crazy man on a mission" Brooke shrugged her shoulders at her brother. She saw Lucas making his way towards the exit. Unlike his team mates his face was stoic, stern no trace of happiness over their victory. She sighed inwardly knowing she was responsible for that.
"I didn't notice" she lied. Seems that he had channelled all the emotions he had left over from their sudden break up into winning the game.
"The team's going out to celebrate, you wanna come with?" he asked still pumped completely oblivious to his sisters heavy heart.
"Ahh… maybe later. I've got something I need to do" she said watching Lucas walk out of the crowded gym. She smiled at her brother tightly before weaving her way through the crowd in search of him.
She stood in the hallway of the home team's school looking up and down; standing on her tiptoes she caught a glimpse of his blonde hair. He was heading into the school instead of out to the hotel; she thought it a little weird but followed him all the same. She had to talk to him, she wasn't happy with the way they had left things. She turned down the next corridor; it was empty for a moment she thought she'd lost him. But there at the end of the hall stood Lucas. And Peyton. She was talking, telling him something. He smiled warmly and reached out for her cheek. So they were alone in a deserted hallway but they were just talking, doing what friends do, Brooke reasoned with herself. However what happened next was a tad overly friendly. There before her very eyes she saw Peyton lean into kiss him and instead of pushing her away, Lucas kissed her back.
Brooke turned her back to lean against the cold wall. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, turned and ran out of the school.
Lucas had walked out of the gym feeling flat. For once it didn't matter to him whether they had won the game. He just wanted to go back to his hotel room and wallow in his own self pity. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned round expecting to see a familiar brunette, but on this occasion he was mistaken.
"Peyton"
"Hey Luke. You were on fire out there." She said excited.
"Thanks" he smiled.
"Do you wanna take a walk with me?" she asked hopefully. He thought for a minute in all honesty he just wanted to go back to the hotel, but something about the expectant expression on her face made him agree. She grabbed his head and led him through the crowd further into the school.
"Where are we going Peyt?" he asked curiously.
"Somewhere quiet. There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about" she said giving him a sideways glance.
"Okay" he laughed at her cryptic sentence. They stopped at the end of an empty hallway.
"So….what's this all about?" he asked.
"Lucas we've been friends for years now…you know how much I value your friendship, how much you mean to me…" he smiled and rose his hand to cup her cheek.
"You mean a lot to me too. You're a great friend" he said warmly. She smiled back at him but shook her head.
"That's just it. Don't you ever get tired of being just friends? I like you Lucas, I mean really like you" she said quickly. Before he could stop her she was leaning in kissing him. The shock of her revelation stopped him from pulling away immediately, after a few seconds he came to senses.
"Peyton I love. Just not like that. We've been there before. Me and you, we just didn't make sense…" he said rubbing his head. he really didn't need this now.
"Maybe we just didn't give it a proper chance… anyway that was years ago! We were young, so much has changed…" she said reaching out to him.
"Peyton stop. There's some one else" he said moving away from her. Her face fell, disappointment plastered over it.
"I'm sorry" he said turning around and walking out of the school.
Could this day possibly get any more screwed up?
Rachel pounded hard on the last door of the floor. Bevin answered clumsily, clearly a little bit worse for wear. After the game they had gone to celebrate at a bar in town, Bevin had never been able to hold her liquor.
"Rachellllll! Come in! You'll never guess what! Me and Theresa broke into the mini bar, wanna get wasted?!" she giggled falling into the room.
"It looks like your well on the way…" Rachel said shaking her head light-heartedly any other time she would have waltzed right in and joined them but tonight she had other things on her mind.
"Bev have you seen Brooke anywhere? She didn't come to the bar and no ones seen her since the game…" Rachel explained looking at the two swaying cheerleaders.
"Nope, sorry. Hey, quit worrying, Brooke's a big girl she can take care of her self!" Theresa said slouching into a chair. Rachel knew she was right, but unsurprisingly the words of a drunken cheerleader did little to settle her nerves.
"Yeah I guess. See you two lightweights tomorrow" Rachel said closing the door behind her, and headed back to her room.
She had been looking for Brooke for over an hour. She had tried her cell, it was switched off, searched the hotel, asked everyone she could think of and to be honest she was getting a little scared. She'd probably just gone out for a walk or something, but for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. Brooke had been acting weird all week, kind of cold, distracted. She was normally excited for away games a chance to check out new guys and show off fresh cheers but this time it almost seemed like she didn't want to go. She checked her watch, 11.30pm, 30 minutes after curfew. She'd give her another half hour.
Rachel stood in front of hotel room 114, unsure whether to knock. She looked at her watch again, 12.15 am, 5 hours since anyone had seen her. Her hand rose to the door and tapped, impulse taking over.
"This better be good, you're interrupting my beauty sleep" the old man grumbled as he opened the door open.
"Sorry coach I know it's late. Its Brooke, she's missing." Rachel said nervously.
"What do you mean missing?" he asked his face screwed up.
"No ones seen her since the game, her cell's off, I haven't got a clue where she could be. I'm really worried coach" Rachel rambled walking into Whitey's room, sitting on the end of his bed.
"Have you told Nathan? He might know where she is" he asked the concerned cheerleader, it wasn't uncommon for kids to sneak out on away games, particularly girls like Brooke, but something about Rachel's scared expression unnerved him.
"I didn't want to worry him. I asked if he knew where she was earlier, he didn't know anywhere she would go." She said shaking her head.
"I know it seems like I'm over reacting I just have a bad feeling about this. Brooke never turns her cell off. What are we going to do?" she asked helplessly.
Whitey looked at the sight in front of him. Rachel Gatinna's usual ballsy fearless demeanour was long gone. She was genuinely frightened.
"I think you should come with me Miss Gattina, I know someone who might be able to help." Whitey said placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a warm smile. Rachel rose from the bed and followed the elderly man out of the room, it was worth a try.
Lucas got up from his bed placing the book he was reading on the bedside cabinet, the pounding on his door getting louder by the minute. He shook his head, and began speaking as he walked towards the door,
"Skills for the last time, I'm not sneaking out with….you" he finished quietly seeing an exhausted Rachel Gattina and an unimpressed Whitey standing in front of him.
"Coach, a bit late for a social call. What can I do for you?" he asked leaning on the door frame, intrigued as to why he was seeing these two highly unlikely visitors at his door well after midnight.
"I think we should come in" Whitey said guiding Rachel into the room not waiting for an invitation.
"Be my guest" Lucas muttered closing the door and turning to face them.
"Coach what are we doing here? We're wasting time! We should be out looking for her…" Rachel whispered desperately glancing back at Lucas, who was still completely unaware why they had turned up on his doorstep in the middle of the night.
"I've got a feeling Lucas here might be able to shed a little light on Miss Scott's disappearance…" Whitey said smiling meeting Lucas eye. Lucas ears pricked, Brooke was missing? Since when?
"Why would he know where she is?!" Rachel cried, raising her arms in frustration.
"Yeah why would I know?" he lied poorly, wishing he could just ask outright what was going on.
"Nice try Roe. But I would appreciate it if you saved the amateur dramatics for another day. Now cut the crap. I saw you two in the gym on Monday. Now this is important, is she here? Have you seen her?" Whitey asked watching Lucas carefully.
Lucas felt his stomach sink; there was no way out of this. Whitey had seen them arguing, heard Brooke tell him she loved him. He knew about them and Brooke could be in trouble he had to answer. Rachel's voice droned through the room,
"Whitey have you gone senile? Why, out of everywhere she could go, would she come here?" She asked thoroughly confused. Lucas sank into the arm chair, hanging his head.
"I haven't seen her, not since earlier. We had a huge argument… we… we broke up. I thought she'd come by tonight but she hasn't" he said raising his eyes to look between Rachel and Whitey.
"Excuse me? I must have heard wrong. You broke up? That would mean you'd been dating…" Rachel said looking at Lucas disgusted.
"Miss Gattina, try and set aside whatever it is your feeling right now and focus on the issue. Brooke is still missing. Maybe you should try calling her son, she might answer you" Whitey said rubbing his eyes; he could face any more teenage drama tonight.
Lucas nodded, taking his cell from his pocket. He dialled her number, drumming his fingers on the chair, come on pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.
"Straight to voicemail" he said getting worried.
"We have to go look for her" Rachel said getting up from the hotel bed. Lucas got up and followed her to the door.
"Where do you think you're going? She asked turning to him.
"Where do you think? I'm coming with you" Lucas said pushing in front of her.
"No way buddy. I don't what know what's been going on between you two, but I have no doubt that your so called 'break up' is what's got her acting crazy. I think you've done enough!" Rachel said bitchily.
"I don't really give a shit what you think" Lucas said walking towards the hotel elevator.
"Now now children play nice. We all want the same thing, lets go find her, bring he home and maybe then you two can continue your god damn bickering!" Whitey said getting angry.
"Fine" they said petulantly as the elevator doors closed and took the unlikely trio down to the ground floor.
They had been looking for 20 minutes. There was still no sign of her. They had checked every bar, park and restaurant on the main strip. She was no where to found. Lucas was really starting to worry now, what if she'd done something stupid? Just as he was running out of ideas, his cell began vibrating in his pocket.
"Brooke?" he desperately, he could hear her breathing on the other end of the line but she didn't speak. He signalled for Whitey and Rachel to stop what they were doing and come closer.
"Brooke where are you?" he asked urgently.
"Hmm, now that would be telling wouldn't it?" she laughed drunkenly into the phone.
"Quit playing games and tell me where you are" he said getting frustrated.
"Why should I? That's what you've been doing with me. Playing me. I saw you with Peyton tonight, didn't take long to replace me hey?" she slurred.
"Brooke you got it all wrong. Just tell me where you are and we can talk about this…" he pleaded. She was extremely drunk and he feared that if they didn't get to her in time she might do something really stupid.
"That's all we ever do! Well actually arguing is all we ever do. I'm done talking. I really did love you ya know?" Lucas felt his heart ache hearing her say those words even if it was in a drunken state.
"Baby please, don't hang up, don't hang up!" it was too late she was gone. Lucas punched the wall in frustration.
"Whoa steady now boy. Don't do anything stupid" Whitey said pulling him back. He looked over at Rachel; her hair was a mess and her face drained.
"Did she tell you anything? Any clue as to where she is?" she asked her voice cracking. He shook his head.
"We have to find her. She's really drunk, god knows what will happen if we don't get to her soon" he said his voice thick with emotion.
"I should call Nathan…" Rachel muttered.
"I don't think that's a good idea, considering the only person she has made contact with is Lucas. We might have a hard job explaining that to her brother…" Whitey said calmly.
"We have to keep looking" Lucas said starting off down the street. They searched every back alley, every side street they could but Brooke was nowhere to be seen. Then suddenly it came to him.
"I know where she is" he said to himself. He took off running south through the town. He heard Rachel's cries behind him but couldn't stop. The water twinkled in the moon light; it looked beautiful, blissfully unaware of the emotional turmoil he was suffering. He looked across the beach but couldn't see her; reaching for his cell he dialled her number. Her ring tone cut through the sound of the waves crashing. Rachel and Whitey finally caught up and now stood beside him on the pebbles. Hearing the familiar ring tone, Rachel ran towards the direction it was coming from, with Lucas just behind her. She stopped suddenly.
"Oh my god Brooke" Rachel said catching sight of her motionless form under the pier. Only she wasn't alone. There next to her was the figure of a man; he couldn't be much older than them, college student most likely. His ruff hands tugged at her shirt, pushing it up her body, one hand moving down her thigh, gripping it tightly leaving read hand marks on her milky flesh.
Lucas felt his instincts take over. He ran down the beach, Rachel close behind him. The man looked up from his hideous task to see Lucas hurtling towards him. Before he had a chance to react Lucas had hauled him off her. He threw the mans body on to the stones and began laying into him, his arm had a mind of its own as he drew it back and pounded it into his face continually.
"Lucas that's enough" Whitey's voice broke his trance. He looked down at the man's bloody face, nausea taking over. However the sound of Brooke's weak voice took priority.
"Lucas…is that you...?" he looked over to see her lifeless form lying in Rachel's arms, her eyes fluttering open barely conscious. He swallowed, taking in her broken appearance. Kneeling down next to her he brushed her beautiful brown hair off her face,
"…Lucas I need you" she muttered almost inaudibly. He choked up hearing her voice sounding so childlike.
"I'm right here… you're okay baby, you're okay" he said burying his face in her hair.
"We have to get her to the hospital" Whitey said from behind him, but Lucas barely even heard him, barely even saw Rachel dial the ambulance.
All he saw was her; all that mattered was her, only her.
First of all I have to apologise to Kaya, yet again no Naley, I know I'm horrible! I was desperate to get this chapter up and couldn't face trying to incorporate naley into an already very complicated chapter- but believe me I haven't forgot about them! Please carry on reading anyway, I love your reviews.
What did you think?????