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Chapter 2: Lie a Little Better — Sophomore Year
I would be a liar if I said I was fine
But I can't help being honest
And I know now is not the time
'Cause...
The truth is I'm fallin' to pieces
Anytime that you're around
Trouble is the truth keeps slippin' out
Ooh
It happens a few more times throughout her seventh grade year. Each conversation getting slightly longer. Never about anything too serious. Neither would even consider the other a friend, but as always, they were cordial.
Peyton and Haley joked Lucas talked more to Brooke than Peyton, but Brooke just shrugged them off. It didn't mean they were friends or anything. He still would never say hello if he saw her in the hallway.
Next thing they know, Brooke is moving a town over. They no longer go to school together and they no longer see each other on a daily basis. Both all about forget their midnight talks and for a few years, they never see each other.
She walks in the front door just as he leaves through the garage. She goes home right as he arrives. Weekends when she comes over, he has his own friends to hang out with.
Next time he sees her, she is sixteen. He steps into the kitchen just getting home from a concert. Nathan instantly goes up to bed, while Lucas finds himself craving chocolate (probably from the few puffs of a joint that was passed around) so he is on the search for the brownies he knows his mom was going to make earlier that day.
He doesn't expect to see her sitting there, a book open and her glasses perched on her nose. Her hair worn wavy and a much lighter color than it once was. She is chewing on her lip, her sweatshirt branded with an old school Tree Hill logo that was most definitely her dad's if the too large size was anything to go by.
He waits a few moments, not sure if he should interrupt her—she seems very involved in her book. She runs a hand through her hair and huffs at something she has just skimmed passed.
"Hey."
She glances up at him— her glasses had large frames that were purple in color and seemed to have specks of pink (It was slightly hard to tell in the dim lighting and his fuzzy vision). He feels a stirring in his stomach that he blames on the hunger. It was just coincidence that it happened to come about when her hazel eyes landed on him.
"Hey, Luke. Long time, no see." She grins.
He hesitates, thinking maybe he should hug her. Isn't that what you do when you haven't seen someone in a few years? But they weren't friends, were they? Sure they talked occasionally, but he talks to his classmates occasionally. Doesn't mean he would hug them if he saw them.
So he stays where he is. He doesn't notice Brooke deflate at his aloofness.
She felt her heart pound at his footsteps. She prided herself on the fact she didn't think about him that often, but as he steps in to the kitchen with his t shirt and jeans she feels her mouth go dry. In the three years since she has seen him, he had grown a whole foot (if not more), and he had packed on the necessary muscle to make it on to the basketball team. She has to avert her eyes before he notices her blatant staring.
She tells herself countless times to not fawn over Lucas Scott—a boy who would never see her as anything more than his sister's friend. They weren't the type of people who got along. He wasn't magically going to like her one day. She wasn't his type. These are the things she told herself over and over again, but as always seeing him makes it all rational thinking go straight out the door.
Maybe it is the way he carries himself with a confidence no boy should ever have so much of. Or the way he does talk to her more than he talks to any one of Peyton's friends. He actually has conversations with her.
She realizes she is way too deep in thought when she hears him speaking.
"Huh?" She said in the most unladylike way possible. Way to make yourself attractive, Brooke.
He just smiles. Damn, he has a nice smile.
But hasn't he always? Isn't that the first thing that made Brooke feel a stirring of a crush? When she was nine and he smiled when she handed him his basketball that almost knocked her over while she was doing a handstand.
"I heard about your dad. I am happy he is okay."
Brooke's smile widens to a point he didn't think she was able to create, but she did. Lucas isn't fourteen anymore. He is seventeen and he knows what a pretty girl looks like.
Years were good to Brooke Davis.
"Thanks. It is pretty amazing. Cancer free for two whole years." She spreads her arms wide like she is giving the air a big hug— a hug for taking care of her dad. She leans far back on the stool and takes a large breath as her arms continue to spread and a lazy grin settles on her face.
Lucas can't help but smile back at her.
She closes her book, pulling herself off the barstool and rounding to where he is standing. Something about being in her close proximity has the drugs in his system raging at full attention. He can feel his blood pumping through his veins.
It is just the weed.
She has on sweat pants that ride low and are too baggy for her petite body. Her whole wardrobe in general was too baggy for her. He figured it had to do with the chilling temp outside—it was rather cool for the beginning of October, but he had already pulled out of his winter jackets for the year.
Somehow she made it look appealing.
"I heard you have been a nuisance recently." She moves to the fridge, his cologne invading her nostrils and she has to force herself not to take a deep breath. She really would like to get through tonight without looking like a crazy fangirl.
She is digging through the fridge, moving around orange juice and left over lasagna before pulling out brownies and whipped cream. He wasn't about to ask how she knew that was what he was looking for.
"How so?" He asks watching her place the containers on the counter.
She looks over her shoulder and rolls her eyes at him. "Peyton."
He groans. He didn't want to deal with this at two in the morning. It was quite a surprise for Lucas when he came home earlier this week to find Jake and Peyton making out on their couch. He had gotten mad, told Peyton she wasn't allowed to date Jake and ended up punching Jake in the face.
Peyton hadn't spoken to him in days. Which really wasn't different for them.
"She'll get over it."
"She really likes him, Luke." The nickname flows off her ruby lips and he is really starting to hate his heightened senses. Everything she does at this moment is pulling him in like she is a warm blanket.
"I know Jake. Jake will hurt her."
"Why? Because he is older? Because he is your friend?" She wasn't angry with him or accusing. She honestly wanted to understand why he was so mad. The innocence in her eyes cuts straight through him.
She leans her back against the sink as he portions out a bowl of brownies—her arms crossed defiantly. She nods when he raises an eyebrow at the second bowl and begin to scoop some out for her.
"Because I know Jake has been with a lot of girls. Plus, it is just weird. My best friend dating my sister. It just causes issues."
"Haley and Nathan date." Brooke points out taking the bowl from him and placing it in the microwave. "You don't see Peyton pitching a fit."
"That's different. Nathan and Haley were friends first. I am pretty sure the whole reason Haley even started hanging out with Peyton was so she could be here and it not be weird. Plus, they aren't dating."
Brooke scoffs. "You and I both know any minute now we are going to hear the footsteps into Nathan's room. The only reason they haven't broadcasted it to your parents is because she wouldn't be able to come over anymore."
She pulls her brownies out, poking the center with her fore finger as she berates him and puts a dollop of creamy goodness on her brownie. She clutches the bowl close to her as she takes a large bite and moans at the gooeyness in her mouth.
She stays next to him instead of going back to her spot and Lucas feels his hair stand at attention. If she keeps making noises like that, he isn't sure if he can control himself. Something about her innocent sounds and how sexual they sound. He had never even thought of Brooke in any other way than acquaintance, but something about tonight has him seeing her in a completely new light.
He isn't sure how to handle it.
He is leaning against the counter, his elbows resting against the marble and around the bowl as through Brooke might take it from him. He is taking large bites of his own chocolatey treat.
As though clockwork, they both hear the creak of the door of Peyton's room upstairs and the soft padding down the hall. Brooke gives Lucas a triumphant smirk as she points her spoon towards the ceiling.
"I should start making bets."
Lucas can't help but roll his eyes at her weirdness.
"It is still different."
She groans around the spoon at him and once again Lucas closes his eyes tight and finds himself counting to ten. He will never smoke at a concert ever again.
"Fine. What if you and I decided to date?" She flings the spoon in between them as though she was giving a presentation and pointing out visuals.
It flew from her mouth before really thinking about what she was saying. The air became thick around them as they stared at each other. Neither wanting to think what it meant to date the other.
It wasn't like he liked her like that. He didn't even really like her as a friend, but he is high and Brooke looked a lot older than she did three years ago.
Neither speak, and Brooke curses her no filter brain. Her crush had sizzled after years of not seeing Lucas. She even had dated a few boys in the past years, but throwing out such a ludicrous idea like dating him made her have to mentally count to ten to make sure she didn't say anything else stupid.
Lucas struggles to answer, his brownie long forgotten. He is now standing full attention in front of her, her looking up at him through her long lashes.
He takes a step away from her—away from the apple smell that he couldn't help but find to be the most calming smell he had whiffed in quite some time.
He needed to get away from her before he did something stupid. He had a feeling Brooke had never even kissed someone (he would later found out he was wrong). If he kept standing near her and her girly smells, he might do something as careless as taking away the innocence in her smile— in her eyes.
"Look, you're being a big brother. I get it, but you are choosing the worst time to decide to be a big brother."
"You're saying I have been a shitty brother?"
Brooke hesitates. Her knee jerk reaction is to say yes. Because he had been for the past ten years she had known him. Peyton would always gush over Brooke's big brother saying she wished she had one like that. Her and Nathan were closer than her and Lucas, but still it didn't compare to Brooke and Benji.
"I'm saying you have been a nonexistent brother. Look, you can't decide now to be protective when you have had years to do that. You have to allow her to make her own decisions. Plus, you tell them not to, she will just go behind your back."
"And if it falls apart?"
"Then you pick up the pieces. You'll figure it out, Luke. Just trust your sister."
She pats his arm initiating the first type of physical contact they have ever experienced. She rubs his forearm slightly with her thumb. It is as though they both realize at the same time what she has done, both zoomed in on the skin to skin contact.
Lucas breaks away first. He didn't even realize she had gotten so close to him. He coughs awkwardly trying to find any reason to break away from the awkward tension that surrounds them.
Brooke's easy smile has faded away from her features and she bolts upright and takes a step away from him, turning to wash out her bowl.
"How do you know I have been a 'nonexistent' brother?"
"Peyton always says she wishes she had a big brother like me."
It stings only slightly. The thought that his sister doesn't even count him as a big brother. It isn't like he tries to be bad. They just have nothing in common. They don't have the same views on anything. They are just too close in age. Plus, she gets bad that he occasionally messes around with her friends.
But then he focuses on Brooke's words. Like me. He could have sworn Brooke was an only child.
"Wait, you have a brother? How did I not know this?"
Lucas asks hoping there isn't some tragic story on why Brooke's brother is never around. The irony that he is the nonexistent brother when his room is right next to Peyton's.
"He's ten years older. By the time my family moved back here and I came around your family, he was already in college." She shrugs and now the sweat shirt she is wearing seems to not look as old as he previously thought.
"Oh." He clears his throat. "So y'all are close?"
She nods. "When my dad got sick, Benji dropped out of school for a semester to help out. He and I got even closer during that time."
She watches him a little longer before deciding it is way too late to still be up talking to Lucas. She would never admit to anyone that she sometimes found herself waiting around to see if he would come in late. She enjoyed their kitchen talks. Though she was sure he didn't think twice about them.
"It's getting late. I should probably be getting to bed."
Lucas watches her leave the kitchen and he cant help but think that he shouldn't wait until something terrible to happen before he decides to be a better person and that he definitely shouldn't think dirty thoughts about Brooke Davis.
I just missed my exit
Last night I lost my keys
I'm fumbling over the words
I don't feel a bit like me
These days
I would be a liar if I said I was fine
But I can't help being honest
And I know now is not the time
'Cause...
The truth is I'm fallin' to pieces
Anytime that you're around
Trouble is the truth keeps slippin' out
Ooh
Can't seem to hide what I'm feelin'
Can't believe what I'm sayin' out loud
Truth is there's no turnin' back now
I guess I should've learned how to lie a little better
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Been trying to cover
This heart out on my sleeve
Been set on playing this down
But i think you're catchin' on to me
The truth is I'm fallin' to pieces
Anytime that you're around
Trouble is the truth keeps slippin' out
Oh
Can't seem to hide what I'm feelin'
Can't believe what I'm sayin' out loud
Truth is there's no turnin' back now
Well, I guess I should've learned how to lie a little better
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'm losing this battle
With every word I say
Wish I had a better lesson
Of not givin' myself away
'Cause...
The truth is I'm fallin' to pieces
Anytime that you're around
Trouble is the truth keeps slippin' out
Oh
Can't seem to hide what I'm feelin'
Can't believe what I'm sayin' out loud
Truth is there's no turnin' back now
Well, I guess I should've learned how to lie a little better
Well, I guess I should've learned how to lie a little better
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