Author Notes: Well, after the last the last chapter I felt like Chapter 8 had to be something special. So I felt like I need to give it the time it deserved. So after countless restarts and rewrites, I finally have something that I am proud to share with you guys. I worked really really hard on this and I hope that you guys like it. As far as the next chapter, I have a few ideas but I want to know what you think of the ending. Ok enough of me, any review is welcomed and away we go…

You Found Me – Chapter 8 – You can't always believe what you think…

Brooke had been driving around aimlessly trying to find her bearings. Trying to find something to make the pain that she was holding onto easier to handle and after two hours of driving she was no closer to having any of those answers. She felt like a fuck up. A world class fuck up. The tears were still streaming down her face and the only thing that she could think about was the name that Lucas Scott had said back in the kitchen.

"Rachel…" Brooke pulled her car over and got out of it. It had taken her about an hour to get there from Haley's, mostly because she had to pull over a couple times to pull herself back together again. She wiped her eyes and took another deep breath. The house was exactly the way she remembered it. She hadn't been here in almost two years but she still got that same feeling in her stomach when she got there. Brooke folded her arms and walked up the path towards the house. It was strange being here again. As she got closer to it, she started to remember why liked spending so much time here. The way the wind blew through the trees and carried the smell of the flowers that surrounded the house. She could see the lake behind the house. It was beautiful. Why did she ever give this up? This place had everything that she could ever want and she walked away from it. The better question was why did she walk away from her? Maybe it was because she needed to be free of this. She knocked on the door and no one answered.

Brooke sat down on the steps of the front porch and sighed. She had managed to fuck up the only good thing she had. God, she missed Haley. It felt like her world was coming apart without her. All she wanted was to go back to her and try to tell Haley what happened. Would Haley even listen to her? By now Lucas had probably told her every single detail about what happened between her and Rachel. And how did he find out about her?

"Hello, Brooke."

Brooke didn't even turn around because she knew who it was. Honestly she couldn't face her. The wind blew once more and that familiar smell she had spent hours breathing in filled her senses once more. It was a little softer than she had remembered but still the same. The person took a couple of steps and sat down next to the cheerleader.

"Hi, Rachel." Brooke finally turned her head so she could look at her and her heart skipped a beat.

Rachel Gatina hadn't changed that much in the two years that passed. She was wearing a low cut white t-shirt and a pair of impossibly tight blue jeans. Her red hair had some blonde highlights in it and it was just past her shoulders. She had filled out significantly in some places. Her breasts had gotten a little bigger than Brooke remembered. And her hips and legs had more shape to them, like she had been working out or something. Rachel smiled at her and bumped her shoulder into her.

"Been awhile, you miserable old shrew." Rachel said playfully.

"Yes it has, you dried up old cow. How have you been?" Brooke asked.

"Good. Why did it take you so long to come and see me?" Rachel asked.

"Scared, mostly..." Brooke said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because of what happened…" Brooke said.

"It's been to two years, did you think I would be mad forever?" Rachel asked.

"I would be…" Brooke smiled.

"Well, I'm not…" Rachel touched her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Really?"

"Just tell me…we can still talk to each other." Rachel said.

Brooke started to feel the guilt and regret start to creep up on her. She closed her eyes and it felt like it was freshman year, she was standing there in the locker room of Tree Hill gym all over again….

****

Two years earlier….

"But what if we get caught, Brooke? They are still having the tryouts and somebody could come in here…" Rachel said as Brooke pushed her against the lockers.

"I just wanted to do this…" Brooke said as slid her tongue over her lips.

"Baby…we shouldn't…" Rachel looked around, trying to check to see if anyone was coming into the locker room. Things between them had been moving very quickly. Faster than Rachel could even believe. She had only moved to Tree Hill a few months ago and she wasn't exactly the most popular girl there. In fact her first couple of weeks there had some of the loneliest days of her life. There were a couple of people that she would talk in the hallways but she didn't really have any friends. Then one day completely out of the blue, Brooke Davis spoke to her.

"Kiss me…" Brooke whispered and Rachel pressed her lips against her girlfriend's. Whenever she kissed her, it felt like every molecule in her body was humming. She felt Brooke's soft tongue slide into her mouth. Rachel moaned into the kiss as she felt Brooke's hand sliding up her belly. She fell for Brooke almost instantly. There was something about the way she made her feel. Rachel had been a bit of nerd at her last school. She had friends there but at the end of the day, Rachel was a loner. She didn't really care about how she looked or how she dressed. Then she met Brooke and suddenly everything changed. Brooke had bought her a new wardrobe and paid for her hair to get done. And Rachel loved it. She felt prettier and was more confident about herself. Plus if the richest girl in school wanted to buy her stuff, get her on the cheer squad and kiss her all the time, she didn't really have a problem with that.

"Jesus, Brooke…we really can't do this right now." Rachel said as she broke the kiss. She looked over Brooke's shoulder and saw the rest of the cheerleading squad walking into the locker room. Brooke was always like this. Whenever they were alone, she would practically pounce on her. Not that she minded but over the last few days, everything seemed to be different with her. Brooke smiled sadly pulled away from her.

"I know…it's just…" Brooke took her hand held it tightly.

"What's wrong, baby?" Rachel couldn't help but notice that the squad had began to surround them.

"No matter what happens next, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. From the first time I saw you, I have always loved you. Promise me that you'll remember that…" Brooke said as a tear slid from her eye and down her cheek.

"You love me?" Rachel asked. Brooke had never said that before. Just hearing her say those words well, it was the most amazing thing she had ever heard.

"Promise me!" Brooke grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. Rachel nodded and then she saw that the head cheerleader, Marni, was standing behind Brooke grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, Rachel… You looked good out there. And Brooke nice to see you, baby." Marni was a little taller than Rachel. Her hair was long and blonde and she looked liked she had been carved out of marble. It was easy to see why she was the team captain.

"Thanks." Rachel said. She noticed that all the other girls were staring at her and that Brooke had stepped away from her. She tried to make eye contact with her but Brooke was looking at the floor.

"In fact, you did so good that the squad and I have decided to give you a present. Just think of it as your official welcome to Tree Hill." Marni said.

"Ok, what is it?" Rachel finally caught a glimpse of Brooke and she was crying. She wanted to go and put her arms around her. She had never seen Brooke act like this. It was starting to scare her a little bit. She crossed her arms and looked at Marni.

"Well?"

"Well, you see, every year we find a freshman girl that we think has the potential to be a member of the Tree Hill cheerleading squad. She has to be willing to do whatever it takes to win. And she has to know how to take orders."

"Get to the point, Marni." Rachel didn't care about whatever Marni was babbling about. She had finally caught Brooke's eyes. She tried to mouth the words 'what's wrong' but the head cheerleader stepped in front of Brooke again.

"Well, since you are in a hurry to find out what the point is." Marni stepped back and put her arm around Brooke. She turned the brunette's face towards hers and gave her a long wet kiss.

"What the fuck is going on here, Brooke?" Rachel said.

"Allow me to explain. A few months ago, this sad looking redhead bumped by in the hallway and made me break my brand new IPod." Marni said.

"Really? I said sorry and even offered to buy you a new one…" Rachel stammered.

"Like you could really afford it. So I thought to myself, what in the world could I possibly do to get even with this redhead? It took me awhile but I came up with a plan. And it was a brilliant plan, too." Marni said with an almost gleeful tone.

"As a part of Brooke joining the Ravens, there was one thing she had to do. She had to find that sad, lame, ugly redhead who bumped me and make her fall in love. And since, I'm leaving this crap shack in a few months, I told her if she could make this girl fall madly in love with her…the squad and the school would be hers." Marni had this shit-eating grin on her face and Brooke looked like she wanted to kill herself.

"And she did it. I didn't even have to tell her I was going to afterwards. Not that she cared. She did every single thing that I asked her to. She was like my little puppet. And she did her job so well. This entire time, Brooke pretended to that she liked you." Marni laughed.

"But she bought me clothes, we spent time together…"Rachel mumbled.

"All of those clothes she bought you were from MY sister's closet. It was all a part of my little game. In fact this whole time, we would just laugh at you. Didn't you ever wonder why someone like Brooke would ever want you? "Marni asked.

"She said I was special. She said I made her feel important…She made me feel important…"Rachel answered.

"I know she did. We read all of those stupid letters you use to send her in front of the squad. How you were the worst sex she ever had? God, you would not believe how many nights I spent fucking the shit out of Brooke. She would beg for me to touch her after she would leave you …but now for the most important question? Do you love Brooke, Rachel? " Marni pulled Brooke into a tight embrace which she didn't resist.

Rachel didn't know what to say. How could Brooke do something like that? And she was fucking Marni this entire time? She felt like her heart had been completely ripped out of her chest. She had her whole world torn apart because a bitch of a cheerleader broke her IPod. She looked at Brooke once again and she didn't even look like herself. Rachel said the only word that felt right.

"Yes…"

Just as the word left her lips, she watched Brooke move in front of her. She smiled softly at her girlfriend. She reached out to brush the brunette's hair back behind her ear. Her fingers gently ran through Brooke's hair and the cheerleader didn't react or say anything to her at all. Instead, Brooke slapped Rachel as hard as she could.

"I could never love you. You are beneath me." Brooke said with tears in her eyes.

"That's not true…I know the real you… "Rachel said as she tried to hide the pain that she was feeling. But as she watched Marni kiss Brooke again and walk off with the rest of the Cheer Squad, the reality of everything sat began to set in. Did Brooke really mean any of the things that they shared? Was she just a joke to get Brooke her place in the squad? Rachel slowly sank down to the floor. She couldn't believe that all of it was an act. Brooke had taken her virginity. Brooke was the first to say that she was pretty. Brooke was the first person to give a damn about her. And she had done all of that just to be the head cheerleader? She betrayed everything they had for something that wasn't…no. It was the truth. She knew that Brooke loved her.

"She has to…" Rachel pulled her legs up to her chest and the tears had finally started to fall. Even if Brooke loved her, she wasn't even to make her stay. It was her fault that Brooke did what she did. If she was a better girlfriend or a better at making love, Brooke Davis would still be hers. It was all her fault…

****

"How can you say that? I betrayed you. I took our entire relationship and threw it away because I wanted to be head cheerleader. What kind of person does that?" Brooke asked.

"You did what you thought you had to do. And besides, I forgave you a long time ago." Rachel said.

"No, you can't forgive me. Rachel, you had to change schools to get away from what I did. You lost everything because of me. How could you ever forgive me? It's too much…" Brooke asked.

"It's not too much…it wasn't your fault…it was mine." Rachel whispered.

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing. Rachel was giving her a free pass. But why? The only reason that she even started speaking to her was because of someone's broken IPod and now she is telling her that she forgives her. And that she is taking the blame for it?

"How was any of this your fault?" Brooke turned so she was looking at her ex-girlfriend.

"Maybe if I had been a better girlfriend…like maybe if I had been better at fucking you and maybe if I wasn't so clingy, you would have loved me more. You would have told Marni to go fuck herself and we could have been together…" Rachel turned and gazed deeply into Brooke's eyes. She reached out and let her fingers gently touch Brooke's cheek.

"That's wrong…you can't honestly believe that…" Brooke said.

"Yes it was…why else would you leave me?"

"Because I am a horrible person…" Brooke said as she felt the butterflies in her stomach started to flap once again. She missed the way Rachel would touch her face. She missed all of it. How could she let Rachel think things were her fault? For all this time she had thought that Rachel was mad at her.

"That's not true, baby. It's not… " Rachel placed her hands on either side of Brooke's face and placed a kiss on Brooke's forehead. And in that moment Brooke let go of her feelings for Haley. She remembered how it felt to be in love with the girl sitting in front of her. How amazing it was to kiss her and beautiful she looked when they made love. She let herself fall back into that place because maybe Rachel was right. Maybe she was supposed to be here with her instead of back with Haley.

"Then why did I let that bitch hurt you…" Brooke whispered.

"I don't know…but I know that you are a different person now…and I really want to kiss you…" Rachel said as she leaned for the kiss.

As soon as her lips pressed against hers, Brooke, it was almost like her body was on auto-pilot. She deepened the kiss with Rachel allowing the redhead's tongue to continue snaking its way into her mouth. She could feel her hands sliding underneath her top and giving her chest a gentle squeeze. And as soon as she felt Rachel's hand on her chest, she closed her eyes and had a flash of what had happened with Haley in the kitchen earlier that day…

"Perfect…" Haley whispered.

"Who? Me?" Brooke said as she hands began rubbing Haley's back with her slender fingers. She was tracing a pattern on her back over and over again.

"Yes…you…I feel like I am in a dream when I am with you…and there is something that I want to do right now…but I am really scared that if I do it…"

"Well what if I told you that you don't have to be scared." Brooke pulled Haley closer to her body. Their faces were so close to each other now.

"I would still be scared…" Haley laughed. Her body felt so strong against hers. She could feel how flat her stomach was and how strong her arms felt around her waist. Brooke gently grabbed Haley's wrist and started to guide Haley's hand down the front of her shirt. Haley held her breath as her hand passed over Brooke's breast.

"Don't be. I'm real, baby." Brooke smiled as she felt Haley's fingers gently squeeze her.

"Damn that feels good, Haley…" Brooke moaned as Rachel broke the kiss. She didn't even know that she had said the name. It just seemed to fall from her lips. She opened her eyes and she saw the look on Rachel's face. She looked like she did that day Brooke slapped her. The tears started to fall and Rachel scooted away from her.

"What did you just say?" Rachel asked.

"Haley…" Brooke answered.

"That doesn't sound like my name at all…" Rachel whispered.

"I didn't…Rachel, I am sorry…" Brooke said as she got up from the steps. Rachel got up as well and walked to her front door.

"Stop it. Just stop it. Just be honest with me for once…why did you do it?" Rachel said sounding a little angry.

"Because I was too weak to stand up for myself…" Brooke said surprising herself with her level of honesty.

"Is that's why you slept with Marni?" Rachel asked.

"No, I slept with her because…I don't know…"

"That's not a reason…"

"What do you want me to say?" Brooke asked.

"Just tell me why…" Rachel asked.

"I wanted to be important. I started going to Tree Hill and I was still a nobody. Then I met Marni and she told me I could be the most popular girl at school. All I had to do was whatever she said. So I did it. I did whatever she asked and now I am the most popular girl in Tree Hill. And now that I have everything I wanted, I still felt like something was missing. And I think that I finally found someone that makes me feel…"

"Is that someone me?" Rachel asked trying not to sound overly anxious.

"No…" Brooke said.

"I see… that's not the answer I was looking for…" Rachel said.

"It's the only answer I have…" Brooke whispered.

"Thanks for telling me the truth." Rachel turned around and looked at Brooke.

"I should have done that a long time ago." Brooke said.

Rachel turned around and smiled at Brooke. She walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Well, you should go…I'll see you around Miss Davis." Rachel went inside and closed the door.

Brooke smiled and walked back her car. She had finally been honest with Rachel and it didn't make her feel any better about what happened between them but she did feel like she had some closure. Now if she could just get Haley to listen to her. Maybe she would take her back, maybe she wouldn't. Either way she had to tell Haley her side of it. She got inside of the car and drove off.

* * * *

Rachel went back inside and sat down on the couch. She couldn't believe that Brooke had shown up at her house like that. She couldn't believe she had to sit there and listen to Brooke whine about how bad she felt about the whole thing.

Actually, Rachel really didn't give a fuck about Brooke Davis anymore.

All she wanted to do was to hurt Brooke in the same way she hurt her. And after two years, she was finally going to get her chance.

Just like her girlfriend had promised her all those years ago. She smiled as she heard her phone play her favorite ringtone. She answered it and spoke.

"Hey, baby…yeah she just left…yup I guess Lucas talked to Haley just like you said he would…yes…well I can't wait to see you…" Rachel said.

"Ok, I love you, too, Peyton."

To be continued…