She Paints Me Blue

Author's Note: Yeah, so this one took my quite awhile. I'm sorry. But, I've been working hard on my new BL fic called Beautiful Disaster. Check it out. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Once again, a few Friends things in it that were changed a little. I'm trying not to take things exactly from Friends, but this fic is also based on ideas from Friends, so there will always be things from it. Transcripts by Twiz TV.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of One Tree Hill. And sadly, nothing of Friends.

Chapter Six: The Look of Love

"Oh. My. God," Brooke yelled as she stepped into Nathan and Haley's apartment. The happy couple, along with Jake, Peyton, and Lucas looked up to her with questioning faces.

"What? You broke a heel?" Lucas said playfully, knowing how much her shoes meant to her. He gave Brooke a wink as she looked at him, clearly not amused.

"No. I did not break a heel," Brooke said informatively while rolling her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh and threw her purse onto the table roughly. She let out a dramatic groan as she sat down on the chair. "Errrr," Brooke yelled angrily as she rotated hitting her hands on the table.

Quickly, Haley made her way over to the table and carefully took hold of Brooke's hands. "Hey, now I'm sure whatever it is you're upset about is bad, but do we need to take it out on table?" Haley asked seriously.

Brooke let out a sigh and mumbled "sorry." Slowly, she brought up her arms, rested her elbows on the table, and let her head fall into her hands. The rest of the gang made their way over to her, and Brooke finally stood up. "I was fired," she muttered angrily.

"What?!" Peyton exclaimed, as she hurriedly sat down next to Brooke and took her best friend's hands into her own. Haley quickly followed, Jake and Nathan both offered sympathy in their 'I'm sorry' and Lucas rubbed her back in soft circles to comfort her.

"Yeah, I guess something happened with the company and they were laying people off," Brooke continued to explain as she let out another deep sigh. "Can you believe that? They wanted to lay off me! They said it would be a month or two," she further explained. She looked around the room at her five best friends, before taking one of the finger sandwiches off of the platter and stuffing it into her mouth.

"So I quit," she told them matter-of-factly.

Brooke leaned back against her chair, nearly squishing Lucas' hand in the meantime, and folded her arms across her chest. "So, shall we get this poker game on the road?" Brooke asked, pretending as though nothing happened.

"You… quit?" Haley asked her, and received a nod from Brooke.

"I sure did," Brooke told them, with a smile plastered on her face. "I'll start looking for a new job tomorrow, I guess," she continued. The group watched as she carelessly went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. She made her way back over to the table and grabbed her cards.

"Come on, guys, round three. I plan on beating Lucas this time," Brooke said, and winked at the girls.

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Ten minutes later, they were all into the poker game. It had started less than a week back when the three girls found out that the boys played poker weekly, and the girls weren't invited. Since then, the girls decided to show them that they could win.

Lucas came out of the bathroom, ready for another match. So far, Peyton had won two games in the last week, and Haley had won one. Brooke still hadn't won a game.

"Your money's mine Davis," Lucas yelled playfully as he made his way to the table.

"Your fly's open, Scott," Brooke retorted and let out a few giggles. Lucas reached down and zipped his pants and then sat down at the table across from the girls.

"So how's the new boy, Brooke?" Nathan asked, more curious for Lucas' sake than his own. Yes, he'd seen Brooke as a sister for the past few years, and vowed to always protect her like with Peyton, but Lucas was his actual brother and he knew that Lucas had feelings for his roommate.

"What new boy?" Brooke asked, pretending as though she didn't know what they were talking about. "Hah, full house!" Brooke exclaimed as she set her cards down, but Nathan went on to beat her.

"Come on, Brooke, we all know," Haley told her. Brooke still pretended to be clueless. "You've been on, what… five dates now?" Haley asked, a smirk playing on her face. Brooke rolled her eyes at Haley's immaturity, and took the cards that Peyton had dealt her.

"Not five dates. Three. We haven't been on one since I ran out on him due to the certain sink issue two weeks ago," she informed them.

"I don't know, something is missing. It is just not there," Brooke explained. The girls both gave a nod in understanding, as the guys just looked at each other in confusion. Lucas looked down to his cards, and tried to contain the smile that was dying to form on his face. Yes, he wanted Brooke to be happy, but he wanted Brooke to be happy… with him. Not with Nickolas.

The group all took their cards, ready for the next round. "Haley?" Peyton asked.

"I hate this game!" Haley exclaimed as she threw her cards on the table. Nathan chuckled a bit before rubbing his hand on Haley's arm.

"Nathan, your bet," Peyton told him as they continued going around the circle.

"Ahhh, I fold like a cheap hooker who got hit in the stomach by a fat guy with sores on his face," Nathan explained carelessly, and everyone looked at him in confusion. "Oh, I'm out," he deadpanned.

"Lucas?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm in," Lucas replied

"Couldn't be more out," Jake said as it became his turn. Peyton locked her arm with his as she set her cards down, also folding.

"Brooke?" Peyton continued.

"I'm so in," Brooke said cheerfully. "I see your fifty cents," Brooke said as she looked to Lucas. "And I raise you… five dollars," she said, and threw her chips into the pot.

"I thought it was a fifty cent limit?" Lucas asked her.

"Well, I just lost a job, and I'd like to raise the bet five bucks. Does anybody have a problem with that?" Brooke asked, daring them to question her. Everyone, except Lucas, shook their heads and backed away.

"Loser?" Brooke asked him, staring directly into her roommate's eyes.

"I'm in," Lucas replied and threw in his chips. He asked for one card and took it from Brooke. "I bet two dollars," he told her, after being asked what he wanted to bet.

"Okay... see your two... and I raise you twenty," Brooke told him, challenging him with her eyes.

"I see your twenty, raise you twenty-five," Lucas continued on, clearly not giving up. Nathan, Haley, Jake, and Peyton all stared at the two competitors, amazed at the large pot.

"See your twenty-five...and...uh, Haley, get my purse," she demanded.

"Brooke, there's nothing in it," Haley explained quietly, not wanting to upset Brooke. Brooke rolled her eyes and told Haley to get her own purse. Haley took out a few bills, handed it to her, and wished her good luck.

"I saw your twenty-five, and I raise you…seven," Brooke told Lucas. Peyton threw in a ten dollar bill of her own, and raised it to seventeen. Lucas looks back at the two guys standing behind him, and they offer fifteen dollars, plus Lucas' two, to make seventeen.

"Okay, I am calling your seventeen. What have you got?" Lucas asked her. He watched as Brooke smiled, a hopeful look on her face, and laid down her full house. Lucas stared into her eyes, and looked back down to his cards. "You win," he informed her, and laid down his cards face down.

Lucas stood up, and looked at Jake and Nathan disappointedly. "Man, I thought we had them," Nathan sad sadly.

"Well, when you don't have the cards, you don't have the cards," Lucas said, and shrugged carelessly. He looked over at Brooke, who was jumping up and down excitedly at all the money she gained, and he smiled.

"But look how happy she is," Lucas said, a look of adoration playing on his face.

Ten minutes later, as the gang sat around eating and cleaning up, Peyton approached him.

"Wow, what a game," she said, a grin on her face.

"Sure was. I was so close," Lucas told her as she sat down next to him. She gave a nod, looked around to see if anyone was listening, and leaned closer to him.

"I saw your cards Luke," she told him informatively. "You beat her," Peyton continued as she looked at Lucas, who was clearly caught. "It's okay, I won't tell. It was really sweet actually."

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"Hey, what are you doing home so early? What happened to your date?" Brooke asked as she hit pause on the movie she was watching. Lucas had just came home. It was Saturday night, two days after the poker game, and he had returned home much earlier than expected.

"Oh uh, it didn't work out," he told her. Of course it was a lie. However, he wasn't going to say he cut out of the date early because he couldn't stop thinking about her. To tell the truth, it was starting to scare Lucas how much he wanted to be with her.

"Oh. Do you want to watch the rest of the movie with me?" she asked, a hopeful look on her face. The movie really scared her.

"Yeah, of course," Lucas told her and made his way into the living room. He sat on the opposite couch of her.

"What are you doing over there? Come sit here, you have to protect me," she told him, ignoring how childish she was being.

Lucas gave a nod as he cautiously made his way over to Brooke and sat down next to her. He gave her an encouraging smile as she pushed play on the movie.

"Okay, that's him! That's him. That's Cujo!" Brooke exclaimed, clearly afraid.

"It's okay, Brooke," he assured her.

"Oh my God….What's he gonna do now? I can't watch!" Brooke yelled. She grabbed Lucas' shirt and pulled him closer to her. She cowered into his chest as she rested her head on it, breathing into him. She smiled as she felt Lucas wrap his arms around her and she held onto him tighter.

"Seriously, how can you watch this? Aren't you scared?" Brooke asked softly.

He looked down at Brooke, and let out a smile. As he held her close to him, it became clear to him now… he was in love with her.

"Terrified."