Here's an update... not much to say about this one!.. just.. here it is!... lol...

Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of the songs used...

Chapter Seven: A Brucas From The Past

The sound system squeaked as random groups talked among themselves waited for the next person to offer to play at Tric's Open Mic. night. Nathan and Brooke sat over at a table near the back door, talking quietly to one another. While Lucas sat by himself at a table near the stage, occasionally looking down at his watch. Nathan saw him over there, alone, kissed Brooke on the cheek, and made his way to sit next to him.

The lights on the stage flickered with different colors, and Nathan almost had to shield himself from them as he looked across at Lucas. "Hey man." He said hesitantly.

"Hey!" Lucas smiled. Wow, how awkward could it be between two brothers? They both didn't speak for a second, as Nathan chuckled.

"By yourself?" He bit his bottom lip as he waited for Lucas to mention Haley.

"No, not really." Lucas laughed too, then almost felt bad as he watched his brother trying to push his feelings away. "So you and Brooke... you're doing um.. Good." Lucas tried.

"Um yea... she's pretty great." Nathan smiled as he looked over at her and winked.

"Yea..." Lucas sighed. "She sure is." He waited for a second, waited for Nathan's question.

"What about you, and ah, Haley?" He put on a fake smile.

"Good, thanks." Lucas nodded as he twiddled his fingers around his glass. "So Nate, man, what happened between you and Haley? You guys were best friends... now you don't look at each other."

"You mean... she didn't tell you?" Nathan said, raising his eyebrows with surprise. "I kind of thought you guys were one of those perfect couples who told each other everything." Nathan said, wanting to be mean about it, but laughing it off instead.

"No, no she didn't tell me." Lucas sighed, almost wishing they were like that.

"You really want to know? All of it?" Nathan asked, ready to tell Lucas every single thing, even right down to the letters.

"Well... yea." Lucas said, wondering if he actually should hear this.

"Okay..." Nathan started as he sat up and leaned over the table so he could talk softer but still have Lucas hear him.

"This isn't my own song but... it kind of suited a few things in my life... so.. Here I go..." A voice said from the stage. Nathan's head shot up quickly as his eye widened to take in her whole image sitting on the stool in front of him. Lucas's face lit up as he waited for her to continue.

She sat in front of her keyboard where she started to play, at first hesitantly, then eventually as she saw that she had the room's attention, most importantly, Nathan's, more confidently.

" I was sitting on my doorstep,
I hung up the phone and it fell out of my hand,
But I knew I had to do it,
And he wouldn't understand,"

They all looked at her, not sure how this related to her yet... but they kept listening to every word that came from her sweet voice. They all sat there, some still standing, in shock at how lovely she was in that moment. But Lucas, he looked at her smiling, because he knew all along that this was her. The next part of the song, began to hit home.

"So hard to see myself without him,
I felt a piece of my heart break,
But when you're standing at a crossroad,
There's a choice you gotta make."

Nathan glanced over at Lucas, who was still smiling. Nathan almost felt like they had betrayed Lucas, but not letting him now how him and Haley felt about each other, but at the same time, so happy that he was being so oblivious to the whole situation... or so he thought. Once again, Nathan turned his attention to listen to Haley's song.

"I guess it's gonna have to hurt,
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,
And let go of some things I've loved,
To get to the other side,
I guess it's gonna break me down,Like falling when you try to fly,
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,
Starts with goodbye."

But Lucas knew. He knew what Nathan and Haley had, and how they both felt. And at first he worried slightly. But now, he found comfort in the words of her song, that she was ready to move on.

"I know there's a blue horizon,
Somewhere up ahead, just waiting for me,
Getting there means leaving things behind,
Sometimes life's so bitter sweet."

Haley smiled when she sung those words, the hope for the blue horizon reflected in her smile as she winked down at Lucas who was still looking at her. Nathan on the other hand, was staring off coldly, thinking harshly about everything. When he looked up and met he stare, she sang...

"Time, time heals,
The wounds that you feel,
Somehow, right now."

When her songs ended, the crowd roared. She sat there blushing, before rushing off the stage happily. It was the first time she ever sang in front of a crowd, and she knew that Nathan was probably the only one who heard her sing before. She walked out from behind stage where she saw Lucas waiting for her with his arms wide open, Nathan and Brooke standing awkwardly behind him, Nathan scratching his heard nervously, turning to not look her in the eye, while Brooke bounced up and down as she held his hand, excited to se Haley. When Haley made her way to Lucas, she flew into her arms as he spun her around.

"You were Amazing!" Lucas laughed as he held her tightly.

"Thank you." Haley smiled sweetly, as she pulled him down into a small quick kiss.

Lucas was surprised at first, she usually thought it was too fast to be doing such things in public. But he definitely didn't pull away, he held her closer and deepened the kiss, almost forgetting who was behind him until he felt Nathan's stare burning into his back. Haley pulled away and blushed.

"I didn't know you had that in you tutor girl!" Brooke laughed as she nudged Lucas away, trying to push away her throbbing heart that had surfaced into her throat from the sight of them together, the same one Nathan had, and was also trying to push away.

Haley just smiled at her as Brooke pulled her in for a hug. "I did." Nathan whispered from behind them. Everyone decided not to respond to his comment, they all just kept their attention on Haley even as the next person got up to sing.

"Im going to get us some drinks!" Lucas said as they all made their way to the table to sit down once more.

"I'll help!" Brooke said, noticing her own enthusiasm, before shrugging it off by kissing Nathan's cheek before she left. Nathan kinked her eyebrow at her, before shrugging it off also.

Nathan and Haley were left sitting at the table alone. Neither of them spoke, they hadn't spoken since that day in class. Nathan was the first to speak. "Im really sorry... about the other day." He whispered.

Haley just nodded, still a little angry at him for causing such a scene. She didn't speak, she kept her eyes on the stage in front of her where an old friend of their's, Jake, was singing his heart out.

"You looked really great up there." Nathan smiled sadly, as he played with a pen that had been laid on the table.

Haley smiled over at him, finally meeting his gaze. They stayed that way for a couple seconds, until she broke the gaze by looking back up at Jake. She noticed Peyton, over in the other corner, completely swooning over him. She laughed pathetically to herself. Flavor of the week? She thought.

"So.. What happened to the Haley James I knew... the one who didn't believe in public displays of affection?" Nathan laughed as he raised his eyebrow at her.

"She found someone worth displaying it with." Haley smiled at her comment with satisfactory. Noting Nathan's silence, she felt no need to go on.

"So.. You and Haley are really hitting it off." Brooke sighed as her and Lucas sat at the bar waiting for their drinks.

"Yea..." Lucas said sharply. If anyone could see them in that moment, they'd be able to put the pieces together, because when Lucas was alone with Brooke, his hostility shown through. Brooke leaned into him, placing her hand on his leg which he had been shaking for sometime now, nervous around her. His knee stopped jittering as he glanced down at her hand upon it.

"Remember that night? When we went to the beach?" Brooke asked. Lucas just nodded and looked away from her gaze. "You told me you loved me." Brooke smiled as she remembered that night. "You said there was no one else you'd rather be with and that you'd rather be alone than be without me. I know I was pretty messed up that night Lucas. But I remember it well. Prom... last year."

"Yes... Brooke... I said all that to you! And what did you do?" Lucas snapped.

"I broke up with you." Brooke nodded, but she also seemed to smile.

"You said you felt the same way... so... I guess I'll never understand why you did that." Lucas said, looking around for the bartender to try and put a rush on their drinks.

"Why? You said you'd rather be alone than be without me. I wanted to see if that was true. Until Haley came along, it was true. But then... it wasn't anymore, because you're obviously not alone are you?" Brooke kinked her eyebrow at him, which made his leg shake again, he loved it when she did that.

"Yea, well... Haley changed a lot of things about me. Im really happy with her, and this time, I'll fight to make it last." Lucas said, as she grabbed the drinks that had been placed in front of them and walked away.

Alritey... hope you liked it.. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE...