Author's Note: Eh, so I'm guessing no one liked the chapter as the review level was down by like.. More than fifty percent? Hah. Uh, well, I know a lot of you are worried, but hang in there! I've got like, almost thirty more chapters coming your way, so there's a lot of time for things to happen. Either way, enjoy and review! Even if it's bad, I just want to know what everyone's thinking.

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Movie Script Ending

Chapter Twenty-Two: You Want to Test the Waters

Honestly, Lucas couldn't even remember why they were fighting. All he knew was that it wasn't his fault, and that he was going to defend himself because he had no reason not to.

It had been something stupid, he could remember. Like he'd said something in a rude tone that she had taken to mean he was blowing her off, which had pissed her off royally. He figured she was probably on her period or something, but when he'd suggested that, she had simply exploded.

"God," She was pointing a finger at him. "You are so ridiculous! You can't even take responsibilities for your own actions!"

"I don't even know what I did!" He argued back. "Why don't you just calm down so we can discuss this rationally like adults?"

"Oh, give me a break."

"Um. What?" He was staring at her, completely incredulous. Why did she have to overreact over absolutely nothing? This was no big deal, and she was turning it into World War III.

If looks could kill, Lucas would have been dead the second her glaring hazel eyes landed on his confused blue ones, but fortunately for him, all her scowl left him with was more confusion. Fortunately. Yeah, right.

"Look," He tried again. "I don't even know why we're fighting."

"Of course you don't. You know what, I'm going to take a drive. I need to… clear my head." Grabbing her purse off the counter, Brooke was sure to give him one more death glare before stomping out of the kitchen.

"Brooke, come on. I know you're mad, but--"

"It's fine," She brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "When I'm back, dinner better be ready and really good."

With that, the brunette had turned on her heel, slammed the door, and it was mere seconds before he heard the engine of the car running.

Bracing his hands against the door, Lucas shook his head slowly. Women were so confusing. Especially Brooke. She had probably invented the rules of confusion.

Making his way back over to the kitchen, he nodded a hello to Nathan who was sitting at the counter with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Don't ever get married," He advised.

The dark-haired man laughed softly. "Someone should have given me that advice a long time ago."

"I don't even know why we're fighting!" He exclaimed so suddenly that Nathan jumped.

His brother returned his nod, silent for a moment before he said, "You said 'I don't care.'"

"What?"

Nathan sighed. "Brooke asked you what you wanted for dinner, and you said you didn't care. In girl world, that's code for 'I don't care about you or anything to do with you.'"

Lucas looked genuinely baffled, squinting his eyes the way he often did. "And exactly how do you know this?"

"Please," His brother snorted. "I'm divorced, remember? I'm practically a master at pissing Haley off. The whole 'you don't care' argument was pretty popular with us."

"Well, it just doesn't make sense. How could saying you don't care about what's for dinner possibly mean you don't care about her?"

"Dude, I don't make the rules, I just know them."

Lucas looked tired as he sat beside his brother, head in his hands. "I hate fighting with her."

"Yeah," Nathan said, because he wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"We don't do it often. I mean, we never used to fight. Ever. Whenever we do fight, it's weird, so whenever we fight over little things it's just even weirder. Like, she's trying to purposely pick a fight or something. I don't know."

"No, I get what you're saying."

"She doesn't like conflict, and neither do I," Lucas was talking more to himself about Brooke than he was to Nathan. Nathan realized this, but he felt the need to simply keep quiet and listen, as if that was what he was expected to do. "I mean, in high school when we were together, the only thing we ever fought about was Peyton, and even then, that was only when she was nervous that there was more between us than friendship."

"Which was kind of justified," Nathan added, and Lucas shot him a look, but was nodding as well. "Oh, and by the way, don't ever blame the fact that she's mad at you on her period. That's the worst mistake you can make."

"God, what was I thinking? Even I knew that."

"Haley slapped me once for that assumption."

"Really?" Both brothers were laughing now, holding their stomachs and with tears streaming down their faces.

"Girls are so weird," Nathan shook his head.

"Aren't they?!"

The brothers allowed themselves to laugh for a while longer before Lucas finally sobered up, looking serious as he said, "Hey Nate, I really want to thank you," at his brother's confused expression, he continued, "you've really made Brooke happier lately. You've been such a good friend to her, especially while I've been off on business and stuff. You've made it less lonely for her, and I really want to thank you. She's getting so much better because of you."

Nathan's eyes were trained on his lap. "It's really not me.." He began but Lucas interrupted, "It is. You're really helping us out, Nate. Just by being here."

"Well, uh, you're welcome, I guess," He chuckled nervously and Lucas patted his brother's shoulder, before standing.

"I'm going to go make a couple calls, but seriously, I mean it, little brother. Thanks."

Nathan swallowed as he watched his brother leave the room. Of course he'd have to thank him on doing something that Nathan felt nothing but guilt for. He'd slowly allowed himself to realize that he liked Brooke, which he knew was wrong. He could simply not control it.

He couldn't understand how he had never liked her in high school. It was weird how compatible they were. They talked with such ease, and she was so funny, and so cute with her little dimpled grin. Since their kiss on New Years, he'd been experiencing feelings he just didn't want to feel.

He'd never felt so guilty for liking someone before, and here Lucas was talking about what a great friend he was to Brooke. All he had wanted to do was shake Lucas' shoulders and say, "Hey! I'm not a good friend! I'm a fraud! I like your wife, and I'm sorry!"

The only consolation he could give himself was that he was on the rebound from Haley, and Brooke was just the only girl he could crush on. Crush on. How high school.

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. If there was one thing he didn't want, it was to be reminded of high school.

-

Brooke bit her lip as she drove through the unfamiliar neighborhood. She felt like such a terrible friend. Years before, she would have known the route to Peyton's house by heart, but since her marriage to Lucas, she'd spent less and less time with Peyton and she'd been to her new house not even a handful of times.

Maybe that would change soon, she blindly hoped.

She pulled into the driveway of the only house that looked familiar to the one she'd visited before, nearly breaking into a run as she stepped out of the car. She needed to talk to a girl about her argument with Lucas. She was tired of being surrounded by only men.

Balling her hands into fists, she pounded at the door feverishly until it was pulled open. Not even bothering to get a good look at her, Brooke threw her arms around her best friend, heaving a relieved sigh.

"Brooke," Peyton said slowly, and Brooke pulled away eyes widening as she took in Peyton's appearance. Her best friend's hair looked almost brushed, and she wore dangling earrings as well as a short black dress and heels. Peyton was clearly on a date of some sorts.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Brooke slammed her hand into her forehead. Why hadn't she thought to call? While this would have been normal behavior in high school, Peyton never would have expected her to just show up nowadays. "I should have told you I was coming. I just - I'm going to go."

"Wait, Brooke. You don't have to go, if…" Peyton trailed off uncertainly, and Brooke could tell that she was definitely not wanted.

"Look, it's fine. I'll just call you later," She was practically sprinting to the car when she realized Peyton was following her. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean, everything's okay, right?"

"Yeah. Lucas and I got into a fight. It's no big deal. Go," She forced herself to smile. "Enjoy your date and give me details later."

Once she was a safe distance away from Peyton's house, Brooke slammed her hand into her forehead one more time. God, how awkward. Dave had probably been standing behind Peyton worrying - more about Peyton's safety than Brooke, considering he now probably thought Brooke was an absolute lunatic. What kind of person just barged into someone's house unexpected like that?

Brooke was reminded of the time when they'd been in high school when Peyton had done something similar, barging into Brooke's house wanting to talk about Jake. She had just mentioned how happy she was that Brooke was no longer seeing her at the time friends-with-benefits boyfriend, when said boyfriend had walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. Brooke now felt her friend's embarrassment and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Okay, I guess it's time to go home." She said to herself, driving the familiar roads to her own neighborhood.

When she reached her house, all the lights were on, and she sighed contently, enjoying how familiar and friendly her house looked, especially with the Christmas lights still up. It was the kind of house you'd see while driving by and think, 'Wow, I wonder who lives there' or perhaps 'God, I'd like to live in there'.

She stepped out of her car, closing the door and locking it. She walked hesitantly, wondering how exactly she would approach Lucas. Still upset? Because she wasn't really. She was just tired of him either always being gone, or being emotionally unavailable. She knew it was stupid that such a little thing such as what they would eat for dinner had set her off, but there was no going back now.

Turning her key in the lock, she stepped inside, gently pulling off her winter coat.

Lucas was in front of her in seconds. "I didn't know what you'd want so I just ordered from that Chinese place I know you love."

"Thanks." She smiled, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm sorry," He said, "for today. I do care about you, I swear."

Brooke couldn't help but chuckle. "I know. I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to freak out. It wasn't even a big deal."

They embraced, and Lucas kissed the top of Brooke's head.

"So, where did you go?" He asked, leading her towards the kitchen.

"Ugh, don't call it karma, but I went to Peyton's and she was on a date and it was so uncomfortable when I just showed up out of the blue."

Lucas winced. "Ouch."

"You're telling me." She laughed.

So everything was okay between them. Even so, later that evening, after they made love, she couldn't help but feel slightly unsettled. Like something was wrong with the situation they were in and how they were handling it, too.