Hi everyone!! I hope you're all enjoying my new story. I'm still currently working on my other two stories but then this idea popped into my head and I had to get it down. I have a general idea of where I want the story to go but as always I love hearing from you guys. Let me know what you think, what you like, dislike and any suggestions that you may have! In this story, Lucas isn't the bad guy like he is in my other two. Thought I'd try something different.
I would like to thank everyone for reviewing, adding my story to their alerts/faves. Please keep them coming!
Thank you to dianehermans, ILoveSarahSophia, fggt16, Mony19, bdavisrulz, Love me some Julian, Treenuh, iheartbrookedavis and sobreyra274 for reviewing!!
dianehermans- sorry to hear that you're not feeling the story. Thank you for reviewing and your kind words about my writing, I know not everyone is a huge Brathan fan like me! lol
ILoveSarahSophia- thank you for reviewing the chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the concept for this one! It's a little different than my other stories, but here's chapter 2, I hope you like it!
fggt16- here's the next one! hope you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
Mony19- I also love Brathan fics! I'm hoping to go with the momentum from chapter one, so here's chapter two. Let me know what you think!
bdavisrulz- I'm glad you're intrigued! This one has a different dynamic than the other two stories I'm writing, I hope you enjoy it as well! Hope you like Chapter two!
Love me some Julian- Thanks so much for reviewing! I love hearing your suggestions and feedback! Lucas isn't the bad guy this time! lol, yay! I'm thinking maybe a little bit of a triangle but not sure with who yet...
Treenuh- Thanks for the review! I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! Let me know what you think
iheartbrookedavis- I'm so glad you liked the first chapter! I also love Brathan! Here's the next one, hope you like it!!
sobreyra274- thank you for your review, I love hearing from you. Don't worry, they will get together eventually but of course there will be some drama that comes along with it but I hope you stick with it and enjoy this next chapter!
Leni
Chapter 2:
"So you gonna tell me what happened?" asked Nathan placing a beer in front of Brooke and took the seat across from her at the table.
"What do you wanna know?" asked Brooke putting the cold bottle on her forehead, soothing the sore spot before taking a sip.
Nathan and Brooke had arrived at the beach house a short while ago and had both showered and changed. They were both tired but too restless to sleep when Nathan decided to he needed nachos and beer, lots of beer. They were both feeling a little tipsy after finishing three beers each and working on the fourth.
"Well, I'm assuming something happened with Peyton since you're here with me and not at her house. I mean, I know I'm hot but…" smirked Nathan, trying to lighten the mood a bit before delving into a serious conversation.
"Whatever Scott! You practically begged me to come over remember?" retorted Brooke taking a bite of her nachos. She sighed and took another sip of her beer before her face turned serious. "We're going to need something a little stronger than beer if we're gonna get into this."
"No problem." nodded Nathan as he went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Jag and two shot glasses. He filled the glasses with the dark liquid and slid one of them over to Brooke. "Go."
"Peyton told me she's in love with Lucas today." blurted Brooke before taking the shot. She like the way that the liquor burned on the way down her throat and into her stomach. She reached for her beer to chase the heavy taste of the Jag. Oh yeah, she thought to herself, she's definitely going to be drunk after this.
"She what?" Nathan almost spit out his beer. He stared at Brooke surprised to say the least.
"Yeah…tell me bout it." Brooke rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help smiling at the funny look at Nathan's face. "Go."
"Haley kissed Keller." Nathan revealed downing the shot quickly and making a face right after. "I hate this stuff."
"What? No!" Brooke said shocked, mirroring Nathan's previous expression.
Nathan grimly nodded, refilling the shot glasses and handed one back to Brooke. "Go."
"Lucas kissed Peyton again." Brooke slurred slightly, feeling her cheeks flush as she took another shot. "Go."
"Haley thinks she has feelings for Chris." Nathan chuckled bitterly taking his second shot. He was definitely starting to feel the effects of the beer and Jag at this point.
Brooke and Nathan sat in silence momentarily, allowing the alcohol to take its effect and let what the other revealed to sink in fully. Nathan couldn't believe what Brooke told him, she had been betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend again. It was pretty harsh in his opinion. He couldn't imagine how Brooke was feeling at the moment. Nathan was beyond hurt and bitter at this point after being hurt by the one person he loved the most, he couldn't fathom what it felt like to be hurt by the two people you loved and trusted most. No wonder Brooke felt so alone. He looked up in time to see Brooke attempt to hide her tears from him.
"Wow, what did Peyton have to say for herself?" inquired Nathan, handing Brooke a tissue.
"Thanks, I couldn't believe what she told me, I left before she really had a chance to say anything except that she's sorry and never wanted to hurt me." explained Brooke, drying her eyes. "Then I started thinking about what I should say to Lucas when I got home but before I got a chance to tell him, he told me he had kissed her again. It feels like I'm stuck here in this cycle and I can't change what's going to happen again."
"I'm sorry Brooke." Nathan said sincerely. He felt for the brunette sitting across from him. She looked exhausted and her eyes were vacant. In their entire friendship, not once had he seen Brooke this way and it worried him. "When did he kiss her?"
Aside from shock, Nathan was also confused, for the last few months Lucas had been going on and on about how much he wanted to be with Brooke and how much he loved her. He couldn't believe that Lucas would've gone behind her back and kissed Peyton again. It just didn't make sense.
"It was during the shooting." replied Brooke. "After Peyton was shot, they thought she was dying and apparently she asked him for 'one last kiss'. And Lucas, with his weird Peyton hero complex, obliged."
She shook her head, thinking back to when she found Lucas sitting with Peyton in the hospital, holding her hand to his face. How she was so blind, she'll never know.
"Now I look back at all the times I found them together...it just seems so obvious now. I feel so stupid for believing him when he told me he loved me." Brooke sobbed, looking down as she felt tears once again prick her eyes and run down her cheeks.
"Brooke, I know he loves you. You're all he's been talking for the last few months. He was so happy when you agreed to give him another chance." Nathan said hoping he could comfort her a little bit. "Luke, he's just always screwing up when it comes to you but I know he loves you."
Brooke looked up and met Nathan's eyes briefly.
"Well, that doesn't change that fact that I can't trust him." Brooke said bitterly now, drying her eyes once more. They were really starting to hurt at this point. "As much as I love him and want to believe him, I can't. I can't trust him or Peyton. I refuse to. You don't do that to someone you claim to love."
"I'm with you on that, what happened is completely fucked. And I'd be just as angry about it as you." agreed Nathan. He shook his head at the whole situation. It surprised him, how both Lucas and Haley could do something like that, it definitely wasn't in their nature, most people would expect this sort of thing from Brooke or himself.
"I'll kick his ass for you if you want." Nathan joked. Though he was only half joking. It pissed him off that his half brother had hurt Brooke so much. And they say I'm the asshole, Nathan thought to himself.
Brooke laughed, glad to know she still could. She was tired of being upset and mad, this just wasn't her. She was grateful to Nathan for listening and trying to make her feel better. Brooke had rarely been privy to this side of him before but she appreciated it. It was nice to know someone cared about how she felt.
"Thanks Scott, I might take you up on that offer!" laughed Brooke.
Nathan grinned, glad to hear her laugh. He picked up the empty plate and brought them to the kitchen.
"Do you have any ice cream?" Brooke yelled from the table. She sighed as she thought about the next time she'd see Lucas or Peyton. Thank God it's summer and there's no school tomorrow, she thought to herself. She decided that she would go collect the rest of her things from Lucas' house and find a more permanent place to stay instead. Brooke told herself that she was not going to think about it any longer that night. She was going to try to make the best of the situation. Sure, she knew it wasn't ideal but she didn't want to impose her problems on Nathan any longer, especially since he had his own shit to deal with. No, for now she will drown herself in ice cream…if Nathan had any that was.
"Does Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough work for you?" asked Nathan reappearing from the kitchen with two extremely big bowls of ice cream.
"Ooh, yes it does!" Brooke grinned reaching for the bowl. "So what's your story? Since I've told you all the sordid details of my night."
"Well, I already told you that Haley left to tour with Chris." sighed Nathan. "But I never told you that she thinks that maybe everyone was right and rushed into getting married. She even left her ring. I guess it's really over."
"Shut up!" Brooke said wide eyed. She froze with her spoon still partially in her mouth, her eyes widening in shock. She was surprised to say the least, she never thought Haley had it in her to do anything like that. Brooke watched as Nathan shrugged and took a sip of his beer.
"Eww, beer and ice cream Nate?" criticized Brooke with a disgusted look on her face.
Nathan gave her an unimpressed look and continued drinking his beer.
"Sorry, sorry…ok, focus." Brooke slurred to herself. She thought about what Nathan just told her and thought about her own situation with Lucas and Peyton. Who would've thought that she would be sitting here, having a broken hearted pow wow with Nathan. Brooke felt for him, she knew how much he loved Haley and she was outraged that Haley would pull such an idiotic move but she tried to think rationally so she could give him the best advice possible. She considered her next words to Nathan carefully before saying them.
"Well, Nathan we are young. We're teenagers, but she should've thought about that before she agreed to marry you. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't excuse her from what she did. It was incredibly selfish but there's nothing you can do about it. The question is what are you going to do now? Personally, I think you deserve better, you're great guy." Brooke said pausing to look at Nathan seriously. "But that's not the point, the point is that if her hearts not in it, you're wouldn't have been happy even if she stayed. Take it from someone who knows. That's exactly what happened with me and Lucas, I tried so hard to hang on to him but in the end it just didn't feel right."
Nathan nodded as he let Brooke's words sink in. He knew she was a little drunk but she still made sense.
"And you know that with our history, I'm the last person that would defend Haley, so trust me when I tell you that you wouldn't have been happy." said Brooke. She knew Haley never thought she was good enough for Lucas but now after the stunt she pulled with Nathan, Brooke had no problem taking the tutor down a notch. The truth was neither Haley or Brooke gave each other a chance. To Haley, Brooke was the slutty cheerleader who didn't deserve her best friend and made a sex tape with her husband. To Brooke, Haley was the judgemental goody two shoes who had no idea how to dress herself. Despite all that, they had managed to remain civil, out of respect for Lucas and Nathan.
"Thanks Davis. It's shitty to hear right now, but I know you're right. Who knew you were so insightful?" joked Nathan, giving Brooke a genuine smile. He surprised himself, he was expecting to be angry and upset but when he was talking to Brooke, he didn't feel any of those things. Instead, he felt hopeful that it wasn't the end of his world and she showed him that even though things seem like they're falling apart you still have to persevere through it. He admired how strong she was being through the whole Lucas and Peyton situation. It reassured him knowing that there was someone who understood where he was coming from and the emotions he was feeling, it helped, a lot. Sure their situations were a little different, it was still nice to know there was someone there.
"Don't let the glitter and pom poms fool you, Hot Shot. I'm actually the smartest person you'll ever meet!" winked Brooke. She finished off the last of her ice cream and gave him a satisfied smile. She reached across the table for Nathan's empty bowl and along with hers, brought it to the dishwasher. She heard Nathan get up from the table and follow her into the kitchen. Brooke turned around to see Nathan standing against the wall watching her. "What? Something on my face?"
Nathan chuckled and took two strides into the kitchen to reach her, enveloping her in an unexpected hug.
"Thanks Davis, I needed this tonight." Nathan said quietly into her hair.
"Hey, I should be thanking you, you've done so much for me tonight. I really appreciate it Nathan." Brooke said, caught off guard at first, but she quickly wrapping her arms around his waist before pulling away to look at him. She noted the sadness prevalent in his eyes, though he was trying to hide it with a weak smile.
"Look at us." Nathan sighed. "We're pretty pathetic right now."
"Yeah, we are." agreed Brooke raising both her eyebrows and looking away. Then she looked up at Nathan with a smirk, surprising him.
"But we have got to be the hottest pathetic people around." Brooke said confidently.
"Well, that's a given." smirked Nathan as turned around and wrapped his arm around Brooke's shoulder, directing them out of the kitchen. "Come on Davis, let me walk you to your room."
As soon as Brooke walked into the guest room, she noticed her phone flashing at her indicating she had messages. She let out a deep sigh as she pulled her phone out of her purse and hesitantly lit up the screen. Fifteen missed calls, nine new text messages and six voicemails, all from Lucas and Peyton. Brooke pursed her lips together, debating what she should do. She decided that she couldn't handle nor wanted to hear either Lucas or Peyton's voice or read their apologies over texts. She closed her phone and turned it off.
She sat down on the king sized bed and stared aimlessly around the room, her head spinning a bit from the alcohol. Then suddenly it hit her, tears flooded her eyes and sobs raked her body as she shook uncontrollably. Brooke shakily brought her hand to mouth in attempt to silent herself as her breathing became sharp intakes of air. The last thing she wanted was for Nathan to hear her. It was like the magnitude of all of the evenings events finally hit her. Peyton's words, Lucas' confession about the kiss, the shock from her car accident, and the ridiculous amount of alcohol, it was too overwhelming. Her heart actually hurt and the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach returned as she tried to swallow her sobs. Her tears flowed freely down her face and on to her bare thighs as her mind was bombarded with memories of better times with Lucas and Peyton. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't realized that Nathan was knocking on the door and had let himself in.
"Brooke." Nathan said gently as he sat down beside her on the bed. "It's ok, come here."
He sighed and pulled Brooke into his chest, wrapping his arms around her protectively. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the top of her head as he felt her tears soak through his shirt.
"It's going to be ok Brooke." soothed Nathan, rubbing her back. Shit, he thought to himself, now is not the best time to tell her I spoke to Lucas.
Nathan was plugging his phone in for the night when he saw that Lucas had called him and left messages about not being able to reach Haley either. Nathan shook his bitterly at the thought of her. He felt bad for his brother, he did, because Nathan knew that Lucas really did love Brooke. But after everything Brooke told him tonight, he couldn't side with Lucas. After all his declarations of love for Brooke, he went behind her back and kissed Peyton. Nathan still couldn't believe it, it was such a fucked up situation. He decided he would let Lucas stew in his own misery for the night, until he heard Lucas' second frantic message. Apparently, Lucas had gone to the Rivercourt and found Brooke's car there, empty. Nathan reluctantly called Lucas back and told him what happened in a nut shell.
"Why didn't you call me sooner?" demanded Lucas after Nathan informed him that Brooke was fine.
"She didn't want me to. She was pretty shaken up." replied Nathan into the phone. He sighed and walked over to the bed and sat down, he had a feeling this conversation might take a while.
"How is she? Is she hurt?" Lucas asked frantic at this point. He felt responsible for Brooke's accident and all he wanted to do was hold her and protect her from everything, even though he knew he was the cause of her pain in the first place.
"Well, she refused to let me take her to the hospital but aside from a pretty nasty bump on her forehead and a sore arm, she seems ok, well physically, anyway." said Nathan.
"Where is she now?" Lucas inquired, choosing to ignore Nathan's last comment.
"She's here with me, we're staying at the beach house tonight." answered Nathan reluctantly. He didn't want to tell Lucas that Brooke was staying with him as it would lead to questions about Haley. And he was right.
"So you, Haley and Brooke are at the beach house…" started Lucas, sounding confused.
"Ahh, it's just me and Brooke." said Nathan, holding his breath in anticipation to Lucas' reaction.
"What? Where's Haley? Does she know you're with Brooke?" Lucas fired. He was confused and a little pissed at the fact that Nathan and Brooke were alone in the beach house. He knew that Haley would not like that, since that's where their sex tape was made and because Lucas knew it was still a sore point for Haley.
"Actually, no she doesn't." Nathan revealed shortly. He really didn't want to get into it anymore and was hoping to avoid it.
"Well, don't you think you should tell your wife Nate? She's probably wondering where you are. You're such an ass sometimes, you know how Haley feels about Brooke and the sex tape-" Lucas started to rant when Nathan cut him off.
"She's gone. She left to tour with Keller for the summer and she left me. So to answer your question, no she has no fucking idea that I'm with Brooke. As for you calling me an asshole, I think that title belongs to you tonight, big brother." sneered Nathan venomously into the phone. "You're becoming more and more like Dan everyday."
Nathan knew it was a low blow but he didn't care, why should he? Lucas really didn't have any right to judge him when he had no idea what happened between himself and Haley. And after the way he hurt Brooke, Lucas should be the last person preaching about how to treat your significant other.
"Nathan, you have no idea what you're talking about." Lucas said firmly, trying to remain calm. "I'm coming to get her, she's not staying with you."
"Oh no you're not. You're an idiot if you think that she's going anywhere with you. I'm assuming you called me because you couldn't get hold of her, well that's because she doesn't want to speak to you." said Nathan sternly. "Look, she's really upset right now and hurt. You just need to leave her alone for a while."
Lucas was taken a back. He was surprised to hear that Nathan seemed to care, but then again, he knew that they were friends, somewhat. Lucas also felt a twinge of jealousy that it was his brother that Brooke had turned to in her time of need. Then he mind wandered to their sex tape and quickly became angry at the possibility of Brooke and Nathan sleeping together again.
"Since when did you have Brooke's best interests at heart?" muttered Lucas, his mind still reeling at the thought of Brooke and Nathan. They were both hurt and upset, it could easily happen in Lucas' mind.
"Well someone has to since you've become preoccupied with Peyton again. You're such a hypocrite." retorted Nathan angrily. "Whatever Luke, she's fine, that's all you need to know."
"And you need to stay away from her. You're right, she's hurt right now so you better not try taking advantage of that." warned Lucas.
"You're a fucking idiot!" Nathan growled into the phone. "Just because you're ok with screwing Brooke over, doesn't mean I am."
Nathan abruptly hung up the phone and turned it off. He couldn't believe that Lucas tried to accuse of taking advantage of Brooke. It was the furthest thing on his mind, though he couldn't really blame Lucas for thinking that way. Nathan sighed as he realized that if this had been a year ago, he and Brooke probably would've been sleeping together that night. But they had both grown and changed a lot since then. They were different people now, Nathan fell in love with Haley and Brooke with Lucas. It was hard to believe that after all this time Lucas still had no clue about Brooke.
"I'm sorry Nathan." Brooke whispered, bringing Nathan out of his thoughts.
"You don't have to apologize. It's been a rough night." Nathan said as he continued to rub her back. "And I might have just made it worse."
"What? Why?" asked Brooke, pulling away and looking inquisitively into Nathan's eyes.
"I spoke to Lucas." said Nathan, searching Brooke's face for a reaction. He saw the hurt flash in her eyes upon the mention of his brother's name.
"What did he want?" asked Brooke softly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.
"He found your car at the Rivercourt and he was freaking out, so I called him back and told him what happened." explained Nathan.
Brooke nodded, now understanding why there were so many calls and messages from Lucas. She felt a twinge of guilt creep up as the thought of Lucas finding her car had never occurred to her. But then her guilt dissipated as she thought about why she was driving by the Rivercourt in the first place. No, this time she was not at fault and she refused to have the blame shifted to her. Maybe it was the booze, but whatever it was, it was giving Brooke the backbone she needed to not succumb to Lucas.
"He's worried about you Brooke." said Nathan. He chose to omit the details of their little tiff about Nathan trying to take advantage of Brooke, Nathan didn't think it was really going to help the situation. "Maybe you should call him just to let him know you're ok."
"No." Brooke slightly slurred, shaking her head adamantly. "You already told him I was fine. I really just need to make a clean break this time. No more calling, sexting, talking, nothing."
"Oh come on Brooke, sexting? Didn't need to hear that about you and my brother." groaned Nathan laying back on the mattress and tossing a pillow at Brooke's head.
"Hey!" laughed Brooke, hitting Nathan in the face with the same pillow. "Ok, sorry, no more talk about sexting Lucas!"
"Anyway, I think you're making the right decision." stated Nathan. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Actually, I do need one more favour." Brooke smiled sweetly at Nathan.
"Jeez, Davis I was just trying to be polite, I wasn't actually serious!" joked Nathan, taking the pillow from his face and placing it under his head.
"Nate…" laughed Brooke, tugging his arm gently. "Please? I know you wanna."
"I guess, what do you need now Davis?" Nathan sighed with a grin to indicate he was joking.
"Do you think you can take me to Lucas' tomorrow so I can get the rest of my things?" asked Brooke, plopping herself down on to the mattress beside Nathan.
"And, I'm gonna need a ride around town cuz I have to look for somewhere to stay." added Brooke giggling as she stole the pillow from underneath Nathan's head and placing it under her own. "And I'll need you to help carry my stuff."
"You sure are high maintenance." teased Nathan, stealing the pillow back from Brooke. "I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter."
Nathan knew that he should go with Brooke, not only as support but also as a physical buffer between her and Lucas if he happened to be there when they showed up. Nathan didn't want to see Brooke hurt more than she already was.
"Nope." laughed Brooke, her head still a little bubby from the alcohol. "Wow, I'm impressed Scott, you learn quick. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Nathan just laughed and shook his head. He reached beside him to grab the other pillow and handed it to Brooke before closing his eyes. The mix of alcohol, and the nights events had left him exhausted. He was just about to doze off when Brooke's voice woke up him fully again.
"Nathan?" called out Brooke.
"Mmm hmm?" responded Nathan, turning over to find Brooke looking at him with bright eyes and a devilish smile on her face.
"I'm drunk." she laughed, her voice raspy. She slid up close to him, entwining her arms around his, leaned her head on his shoulder and draped a leg on his stomach, essentially using him as a human pillow.
"You're crazy Davis." Nathan smiled, but he couldn't help but laugh at the pretty brunette who had herself comfortable on him was now lightly snoring.