Author Notes: Well, it has been awhile. Sorry about that. The real world took the weekend off from kicking my ass so I was able to sit down and write something. If it sucks or doesn't make any sense, my bad. I know this isn't close to being worth the wait but I promise the next update won't take so long. Let me know what you think. And to Baley if you are still out there, I was in a bad place when I sent that and I misread some things. I am truly sorry for that and I hope you are well…

You Found Me – Chapter 7 – Secrets…

Haley and Brooke stood there holding each other and in the doorway stood Haley's best friend Lucas Scott. Brooke could feel Haley trying to pull away from her. She knew why Haley was doing it but she didn't like it. She gently released her hands from Haley's waist and sighed. She didn't want to hide the way she felt about Haley just because Lucas finally decided to check on her. She looked at Lucas. Who did he think he was? He wasn't here when Haley needed him. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to resist the urge to go and knock Lucas on his ass for treating Haley like that. Even now, Haley had this huge smile on her face just from him being there. He didn't deserve a friend like her. Brooke felt her hand tighten into a fist when Haley and Lucas embraced.

"Umm, you know Brooke, right?" Haley said as she let Lucas go.

"Brooke." Lucas gave a nod in Brooke's direction.

"Whatever. I'll let you two catch up…" Brooke stomped her way out of the kitchen. She had to get out of there. Being around him was making her furious. She knew that Haley was probably just going to forgive Lucas because it wasn't in her to hold onto things like that. But Brooke could and if she had to hold onto the anger for Haley then she would. Just as she grabbed her coat off of the couch, she felt a familiar touch on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Haley asked.

"Nothing, I just thought you guys needed some time to catch up. So I'll just get out of your way…"Brooke had never lied to Haley and even though this wasn't the biggest lie she had ever told, it still made her feel like shit. Haley slid her hand gently into Brooke's and their fingers quickly interlocked.

"You don't have to leave…" Haley gave her hand a gentle squeeze and Brooke felt a tingle shoot through her body. God, she loved this feeling. Just holding hands with her was more amazing then anything she had felt before. She looked into Haley's eyes and all she wanted to do was take care of her. It was like something inside of her knew that she was supposed to take of this girl. The feeling ran deeper than she cared to admit to herself. But Haley had her heart. And even if Haley James asked her to walk through hell itself, she would do it just because she asked her too. She took a deep breath in and decided to just tell her what was on her mind.

"I can't be here with him and I can't believe you are even talking to him." Brooke said.

"Why not? He just said he needed to talk to me about something. Is there something wrong?" Haley asked.

"Because…because he was so mean to you and you are acting like nothing happened."

"Brooke, Lucas is my best friend…I am sure he has a good reason..." Haley started to say but she was cut off.

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?" Haley asked.

"Seriously how can you defend him? You almost died a few days ago and he was nowhere to be found." Brooke was surprised at how angry she sounded. She felt a pang of regret for bringing up Haley's suicide attempt after they were finally starting to get past it. She could tell that what she said had definitely struck a nerve.

"Because I have known him for my whole life and you can't come in here attack him like that." Haley released Brooke's hand and folded her arms in front of her.

"He's not your friend, Haley. I am just trying to…I am just telling what I think." Brooke reached out to brush the young girl's hair back like she had done so many times before but this time, Haley took a step back and gently pushed her hand away. Suddenly Haley's face hardened and the look actually surprised her. She had only seen that face one time before and it was back in the tutoring center when they first met.

"I don't need you to lecture me on my life or who my friends are." Haley said coldly.

"I think I can if the friend is a guy who you let walk all over you." Brooke said trying to keep her temper under control.

"Like the way you let Peyton and the cheer squad run all over you." Haley answered back.

"That's not the same. Peyton maybe a bitch but she is there when I need her. Unlike Lucas…and your parents…" Brooke could hear a voice in the background telling her to ease up. Why would she even say that? It was like she was falling back in her old ways and she was getting a little too comfortable.

"What did you just say? If you want to talk about parents, I don't ever see yours around. You have been here for a week and nothing. No phone call or anything. Should I keep going?" Haley asked.

"Well, if I tried to kill myself, at least I know that my best friend and my parents would be there for me…where were yours at?" Brooke shot back. As soon as the words left her lips, she knew she had crossed the line. Haley looked like she had gotten punched in the stomach. Hard.

"Oh my god, Haley…I didn't mean to…"

"Is that how you really feel?" Haley muttered.

"That's not true…I didn't mean to say that…I was just…" Brooke could feel things slipping away from her. She was so used to saying what was on her mind that the words just flew out of her mouth out on reflex. She didn't mean it or maybe she did. Not of that really matter, it was out there now and nothing she could say could take it back.

"Telling the truth? I bet you think you are better than me. Because you have friends and money and poor little broke ass Haley James has nothing!" Haley shouted at Brooke which brought Lucas to the doorway of the living room.

"Haley, I didn't mean it, ok? I am sorry; I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings…" Brooke could feel Lucas's eyes on her from the moment he came into the room. But that didn't matter to her the only thing that mattered was that her relationship with Haley was practically falling apart because of her stupid choice of words.

"Well you did. Did you mean anything that you said to me before?" Haley said through clenched teeth.

"After all that I have done, you really think I don't care about you?" Brooke asked.

"Maybe you do. Maybe this is all been a sick game for you. You probably bet Peyton that you could fuck the nerdy 'Tutor Girl'…" Haley said.

"I would never do that to you…to anybody…" Brooke said.

"That's not true." Lucas said from the doorway.

"What are you talking about? You don't know anything about me." Brooke said as she glared at the basketball player.

"That might be true but I know someone who knows you. Rachel Gatina." Lucas answered.

Brooke turned as white as ghost from the mention of that name. How did Lucas know about her and who told him?

"You don't know anything about her…" Brooke said.

"Yes I do and I think that since you are hanging around my best friend, she should know too." Lucas said with a certain amount of confidence.

"Lucas. Don't do this. You don't understand, ok? Things are different, I am different now. You have to believe me, please." Brooke felt her stomach flipping inside of her over and over again.

"Who is Rachel Gatina?" Haley asked.

"Should I tell her or are you going to admit to what you did?" Lucas asked.

"Don't do this…please…" Brooke just kept repeating those words over and over again.

"Who the fuck is Rachel Gatina?!" Haley asked again.

Lucas looked at Brooke, trying to give her a chance to answer for herself but she didn't say anything. Lucas took Haley by the hand and sat her down on the couch. As he started to talk, Brooke couldn't hear anything but the words that Peyton had said to her in the hospital a few days ago…

"Oh my god…are you in love with her?" Peyton whispered.

Brooke took a deep breath. Did she love Haley? Maybe but she didn't want to rush into saying something like that.

"I didn't say that…I just know that she is very important to me…" Brooke turned back to face her best friend once again.

"Damn it, Brooke. This is a bad idea…why can't you see that?" Peyton started walking to the door.

"It's my choice, Peyton. Not yours." Brooke turned back around and faced Haley.

"Yeah, well don't call me to pick up the pieces when this falls apart…just like before…" Peyton walked out of the room and went down the hall.

Lucas had finished his story by the time, Brooke focused again. She could tell that Lucas had known the true story because she had never seen Haley look so upset before. Peyton was right. It was always going to follow her. No matter what she did, it was always going to be with her. Haley got up from her seat and stood in front of Brooke once again.

"Haley, let me explain…" She started to say but she was silenced by a hard slap from Haley. Brooke into the tutor's eyes and the only thing she could see was betrayal.

"Get the fuck out of my house. I don't ever want to see you again." Haley said.

"Haley, please I can explain everything…just give me a chance…"

"I kissed you. I let you touch me and this was just another game for you. Just like Rachel was..." Haley said as the tears streamed down her face. Brooke felt so helpless in the moment she didn't know how to fix this. All she wanted was to go back to when this conversation started and instead of arguing about Lucas, she would have just left.

"That's not true…Haley, I…I am sorry, ok? I am so sorry…" Brooke whispered but the damage was done.

"Get the fuck out! Now!" Haley screamed and turned her back on the cheerleader.

Brooke started to walk out of the door of the house and she paused. She turned around and looked at Haley again. She wanted to hold her in her arms again. She wanted to kiss her lips and feel the weight of her body against hers once more. Brooke closed her eyes and said the only thing that felt right.

"I never lied to you. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and I am not proud of them but I would never do that to you. I have changed. I just hope that you can see that."

And then she closed the door.

To Be Continued…

What happened between Brooke and Rachel? Keep an eye out for the next chapter of 'You Found Me'...