Chapter Thirty-Three

Peyton looked up from her magazine when she heard her apartment door open and slam shut. She cast an amused glance at Haley who had just walked in. "So, I'm guessing things didn't go well at the station."

Haley laughed bitterly. "That's one way of putting it."

"What happened? I mean, they let Taylor out, didn't they? They didn't make her stay -"

"No, they released her, but she has to go to this – oh, never mind." Haley brushed it aside with a wave of her hand. "That's not the thing."

Peyton eyed her curiously. "Well, what is it?"

Haley slumped down on the couch and sighed. She stared at her lap as she said, "Peyton…Jake isn't who he said he is."

"What, is he, like, an alien? Or maybe he's an axe murderer?" Peyton joked. When Haley didn't appear amused she grew more serious. "Haley, what is it? Okay, you're starting to scare me now, Hales," she added when her friend didn't reply.

"Actually, he's more like someone who would arrest an axe murderer."

"Huh?"

------

Brooke carefully balanced on her new high heels as she walked up the steps leading to the front door of Lucas' house. Lucas had been planning to come over to her house, as he had every night since he learnt of his parent's divorce, but that afternoon Keith had informed him he wanted to have a family dinner, with Lucas, Nathan and Karen together. When Lucas protested, Keith had suggested he invite Brooke to dinner as well, which was why she was teetering up the porch to Lucas' home.

Lucas opened the door, a few seconds after she rang the bell, which led Brooke to believe he had been waiting for her to come. "Hey."

Brooke managed a quick "Hi!" before she pushed past him and ran to sit on the couch in the nearby living room.

"Are you okay?" he wondered.

"My feet are killing me! I forgot the golden rule."

Lucas' brow furrowed as he sat down next to her on the couch. "What rule?"

"Always break in new shoes before wearing them out," Brooke explained while she tried to loosen the strap around her ankle. "Is it okay if I just take them off?"

"Er, you don't need my permission to take your shoes off, Brooke."

"But I'm in your house. Your Dad won't mind?"

Lucas shrugged. "My Mom was the only one who would think about things like that."

"Oh, thank God." Brooke pulled both shoes of her feet, and sighed with relief once she could move her toes.

"Feel better?"

Brooke smiled at him. "Much. Hey," she added, "did I say hello properly to you?"

"I don't think so."

Brooke leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Hi."

Lucas grinned. "Hey."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Brooke spotted a woman she'd never seen coming into the living room

"Lucas, was that Nathan? Oh, hello," she said, when she saw Brooke.

"Oh, Aunt Karen, this is my girlfriend, Brooke. Brooke, this is Nathan's Mom."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you," Brooke said.

Karen nodded. "You too. Lucas, did Nathan say what time he was coming back from – er, the supermarket?" she said suddenly.

Brooke looked at Lucas strangely. "Nathan went to the supermarket?"

"It's okay, Aunt Karen; Brooke knows about the case."

"She does?"

Brooke nodded. "I came over one day and overheard Nathan and Lucas discussing it."

"Oh, right. Well -"

Karen was interrupted, when the door burst open and a sour faced Nathan entered, slamming the door behind him.

Brooke gave Lucas a look. "That doesn't sound good."

"Nathan, is everything okay?" Karen asked, concerned.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." As he was taking off his coat, Keith called Lucas into the kitchen to help him and Karen, venturing a glance back at her son, went with him.

Brooke stood up and ventured over to where Nathan was standing. "Trouble with the case?"

"Sort of."

"I'm sure you and Jake will manage to work it out," Brooke said cheerfully. "Are you coming to the kitchen too?"

"Er, yeah, okay."

Brooke took a step forward to follow the others, but then Nathan stopped her.

"Brooke, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Uh…if you had a sister and you found out that Lucas had slept with her, what would you do?"

Brooke stared at him, puzzled for a moment. "Wh-W…Don't you know? I mean, I thought he told you."

"Told me what?"

Brooke looked over her shoulder and then tip-toed closer to Nathan, before whispering in his ear, "Lucas is a virgin."

Nathan groaned. "I know that! I mean, hypothetically! You don't even have a sister, Brooke!"

"Okay, sorry. Why are you asking?"

"I'm just asking –"

"Whose sister did you sleep with?" Brooke wondered.

Nathan shook his head. "No one's. Just forget it, Br-"

"Oh my god!" Brooke clapped her hands over her mouth. "Miss James!"

"Ssh!"

"Sorry, sorry," she whispered. "You slept with Miss James' sister?"

"Not exactly."

"There's no half way, buddy. Either you did or you didn't."

"I didn't know she was her sister, then."

"That doesn't matter. Oh my God. Does Miss James know? What's she going to think about it, especially since she thinks you're 19?" When Nathan paused at Brooke's comment, realization dawned on her. "Oh my God! She knows you're not 19! You are so screwed."

"I wish people would stop saying that."

-------

"Peyton! Peyton, open the door! Peyton!"

Suddenly, the door whipped open and the person in question stood in front of it, a harsh look on her face. "You're going to wake up my neighbours. How did you get into the building, anyway?"

"One of the clean up staff was leaving," Jake told her.

Peyton folded her arms and made a 'humph' sound. "Well, I'll be sure to complain about the security here."

"Peyton, will you just talk to me?"

"No. I want you to leave."

"Just let me explain!"

"You've had nearly two months to explain, Jake! And I never would have found out if Haley's sister hadn't been stupid enough to drink and drive! You're supposed to be my boyfriend and it turns out that I didn't even know what you did for a living! Do you know what that feels like?"

"No, I don't, and I'm really sorry you had to find out like this, but I was going to tell you –"

"When? Next year?"

"As soon as we solved the case," Jake told her.

"Which could be next year!"

"It was never going to take as long as that –"

"Well, you've been in school for a while now; how long can it take to find a stupid drug dealer!"

"Peyton, I wanted to tell you, but this is my job –"

"I know that, Jake! I've been thinking about it since Haley told me, and I've tried to be understanding about it since it's your job. And if you were just someone who worked with me at school, then when I found out it would still be weird, but it would be okay. But, the moment you and I started dating, things changed! If the only reason you came to Tree Hill was to do your job, then you shouldn't have gone out with me in the first place!"

"Maybe that's true, but I didn't even know if anything was going to come of our relationship. And then, by the time I realized I was in love with you, I didn't know how to tell you."

"You what?" Peyton asked, her voice softer than before.

"I didn't know how to tell you about it!"

"No, before that. You said you were in love with me."

"Oh. That. Well, I am," Jake admitted.

"I…I don't believe you," Peyton said finally.

"You what?" Jake exclaimed.

"Why should I believe you? All you've done is lie to me anyway."

"I may have lied about what I do, but that's it. I -"

"You said you've been teaching for years!" Peyton cut him off. "That's a lie too –"

"I only lied where my work was concerned, never about us or my feelings for you."

Peyton didn't say anything; she avoided looking Jake in the eye by staring at the side of the door as she tried to compose her thoughts.

"You still don't believe me?" Jake asked her.

Peyton sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what to believe, Jake."

She expected him to get angry and start shouting again; or even at least try to defend himself. Instead, he turned on his heel and left, just like she had told him to. As she shakily closed the door behind him, she realized that his silence only made her feel worse.