A/N: Thank you to those that reviewed the last chapter. Would you believe after the whole summer of waiting for the new season of One Tree Hill that watching it would render me useless and unable to write a single word. I'm not even sure what's got me writing now, maybe 4 weeks of shouting at the television. I'm not even going to say why but it has made me consider writing a Baley or Brathan story. Don't worry Breyton fans as I don't see that happening anytime soon as I can't even seem to write the Breyton one shots I had planned or even another chapter of my current stories.

Enough rambling (for now). I leave you with the next update and a reminder of my poll which is evenly poised. Tell me who should be Haley's crush in this story. Bye for now and I hope it I can get out of this funk.

Climbing The Walls

The next two days had gone by in a pretty much uneventful manner. Peyton had helped Brooke with her punishment and handed it in on time. They had spent two of the past three nights together at Peyton's. Thursday had come along and the main aim of the day was to sort out everything for the party. They just needed to get through school first.

The lunch bell rang; Nathan was walking Brooke to her locker, goofing about. Melissa exited her classroom and witnessed Brooke give Nathan a hug and a kiss. She stomped over, trying not to show her annoyance with what she saw. "Brooke." She shouted. The brunette turned round and instantly groaned. She knew that no words were needed.

"The essay you wrote wasn't good enough and you got a D. Next time, try harder." Melissa said with authority, standing firm with her arms crossed.

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing. She noticed Melissa looking at Nathan. She then turned to see his reaction and he was looking away uncomfortably. She lightly touched his arm to get his attention. "Come on, we better have lunch." She looked back at Melissa and pulled Nathan with her to the quad where they saw Peyton and Haley sitting. Brooke sat down next to Peyton in a huff.

"Ok, what's got you so pissed?" Peyton enquired.

"That Mcbitch gave me a D on the essay." Brooke threw her bag on the table and her head on arms, which were now on the table.

Peyton herself became pissed off by the grade. "That essay was at least a B not a D. A lot of hard work went into it."

Haley noticed the defensiveness of Peyton's words. "Did you work on it?" She asked.

"You're so whipped." Nathan said before Peyton had the chance to answer.

"I'm not." Peyton shouted. Some of the other students heard her and looked at her. She lowered her head in embarrassment. Brooke saw this and waited for the heads to turn back to what they were doing previously. "She offered." Brooke jumped to the blonde's defence, whispering.

Nathan started laughing. "That's even worse."

"Whatever." Peyton rolled her eyes at Nathan and then faced Brooke. "Has she got something against you coz she's been on your back everyday this week."

"It's no coincidence it started when I began publicly hanging out with you." Brooke joked, smiling to let Peyton know she was just having fun. Something that Nathan had said a few days before filtered back into her mind. 'She thinks I dumped her for you. She's very jealous of you.' She got up quickly and grabbed a confused Nathan. She waited until she was away from any eavesdroppers. "The cougar is being a bitch to me on purpose because of you."

"I'm sure she's just doing her job." He responded, thinking that Brooke was being overdramatic.

"Fix it. She thinks I'm dating you." Brooke couldn't help taking a swipe at his arm. He leaned close to her ear and whispered. "You can always tell her who you are actually dating." He pulled back with a grin on his face.

"If you don't sort it out then I will. In fact, don't worry yourself, I'll deal with her." Brooke stomped back to her sit beside Peyton, while Nathan slowly followed. Walking up to their table was Lucas, hand in hand with Theresa. They briefly looked at each other, wondering if they were dreaming.

"Have I missed something because when did you guys start hanging out with each other, especially Brooke and Peyton?" Lucas said.

"I thought you hated her." Theresa addressed Brooke.

Brooke sighed, "Things change. She's not so bad once you get to know her."

"Peyton, are you ok because you're crossing the dark side sitting next to a cheerleader and a jock. You're words, not mine." Lucas asked, still trying to get his head around the sight in front of him.

"You call us the dark side. This coming from Miss Emo." Brooke laughed.

"I'm not sure what to make of all this." Theresa pointed round the table. "It's like some weird family."

"Hey, some of us are actually family." Lucas said defensively. "You forget. Brother and cousin." He said while pointing at Nathan and Peyton.

"That's not the point." She looked around the table again, pointing for extra emphasise. "Nathan is hanging out with Haley and Peyton. Don't get me started on Brooke and Peyton."

"Its not really something you should be making a big deal out of." Peyton interrupted getting frustrated with the younger cheerleader. Noticing this, Brooke changed the subject. "Anyway, are the two of you coming to the party tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it. Does he have any idea yet?" Lucas asked, happy to go along with the change of subject.

"Not a clue." Brooke answered, confident that her plan was working without a hitch, though she knew that nothing could ever really go that smoothly.

"I can't believe it will be his last day of school too. Tree Hill High will be losing a hottie." Theresa added with a dreamy look in her eye.

"Hey." Lucas sounded a bit jealous of his girlfriend calling another guy a hottie.

"It's not like anyone had a chance with him. He only had eyes for one cheerleader." Theresa directed her comment at Brooke.

Brooke spotted Peyton rolling her eyes. She knew that once this weekend was over, then things wouldn't be so bad and Peyton's jealously wouldn't be so evident. She was hoping that Lucas would take Theresa away. She liked the girl and would normally have no problem with her but today she was annoying. It was like a higher power had heard her prayer as Theresa spoke. "I need to go and grab a book before class."

"Later guys." Lucas said while walking off. Brooke turned to Peyton, "Are you Ok?" Peyton just nodded and continued eating her lunch.

"I thought no one knew that you dated Jake?" Haley asked. Brooke didn't answer but continued watching Peyton.

"Nobody did. He just made it really obvious that he liked Brooke." Nathan answered. The rest of their lunch was mostly quiet except for the occasional comment. Brooke spent most of the time watching a silent Peyton play with her food.

Brooke was sitting in Nathan's car. She turned in her seat to look through the back windshield.

"She's still there." Nathan commented, knowing that Brooke was looking at Peyton, who was following behind with Haley in the car. He had watched his friend, constantly look back during their car ride.

"I know. It's just. Argh, I don't know." Brooke huffed turning back into her seat and faced the road ahead.

Nathan briefly looked over and saw the look of frustration in her face. "Is this because of Jake?"

"Yes. No." Brooke's hand went through her hair. "He hasn't even done anything and yet it's his fault. I don't get why she's being like this. I feel like she's pulling away and I don't know why."

"I really don't know what to say. I guess you're gonna have to talk to her." Nathan responded.

"Hopefully when tomorrow is over then things will be fine." Brooke looked back once more while Nathan pulled outside the beach house. They all got out of their respective cars and headed in.

"I guess we should make this place party ready and pack up anything that can be damaged or broken. We can put them in my parents room and lock it." Brooke told the other three, as usual taking charge of the situation.

"After that, Haley and I can go to the shops to grab supplies." Nathan added.

"Ok. Peyton come with me." Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand, not giving her a chance to answer, and pulled her into the kitchen. She turned to the blonde and pulled her into a kiss. "I've wanted to do that all day." Brooke said pulling away. "Where have you been?"

"At school, the same as you." Peyton answered sarcastically but was confused by the question, as Brooke knew where she was.

"That's not what I meant. I mean up here." Brooke tapped Peyton's head. The question was weighing on Peyton's mind. She knew she had been pulling away. The shear mention of Jake's name just seemed to always touch a nerve. For now, she was going to try and shake that feeling away and instead of answering Brooke's question, she pulled Brooke into another kiss. Brooke was caught in two minds. She could pull away and question Peyton or she could just forget about it for now. She chose the latter and kissed Peyton back. Brooke's hands moved from Peyton's face, to her hair while Peyton's hands moved down to Brooke's butt. Instead of caressing it, she lifted Brooke up onto the counter behind her, standing in between her legs. Hearts were beating fast and tongues were massaging each other's as a simple kiss heated up into something more. Minutes seemed to go by but this was oblivious to the two girls. The only time they broke away from each other was for air but as soon as that happened, they quickly resumed. The swinging of the kitchen door interrupted them.

"Brooke, we're gonna head out now." Haley burst through the door and immediately looked away when she saw the Brooke and Peyton. "Sorry."

"Its ok." Peyton commented through hers and Brooke's laughter.

"It's becoming a habit of yours Tutor girl. I'm not sure what I feel about a threesome."

"Brooke." Peyton and Haley shouted, both sounding slightly shocked by the comment.

"On that note, I'm leaving. See you in a bit." Haley exited the kitchen feeling slightly embarrassed. Brooke rested her forehead on Peyton's shoulder and sighed, while Peyton stroked the brunette's hair. Both girls were waiting for their breaths to even out when Brooke broke the silence. "Sometimes I wish we could just stay like this."

Peyton was rubbing her hand up and down Brooke's thigh. "Me groping you in your kitchen."

"Always the smart ass." Brooke lightly hit Peyton on her arm and then grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. "I meant just the two of us not having to worry about what anybody else thinks. I'm glad Haley and Nathan know because I feel I can start to be myself around you more."

Peyton was slowly moving her hand up until it stopped at Brooke's waist. "I understand what you're saying. Are you going to tell anyone else?"

"I don't know. I never really thought pass telling Nathan, to be honest." Brooke was playing with the blonde curls. She was telling the truth that she really hadn't thought about telling anybody else. She wasn't really close to anyone but Nathan. Its not to say that she didn't have other friends, because she did. Haley and Jake were her friends. Well Haley was Peyton's friend first and Jake was her ex boyfriend but still kind of her friend.

"What about your parents?" Peyton asked but she wasn't stupid, she knew the answer to that; she had witnessed their reaction first hand.

"That would require an actual conversation and we haven't spoken in months." Brooke couldn't help the sarcasm that dripped from her mouth. The truth is that she hadn't spoken to her parents since Peyton left. They didn't want anything to do with her, not that they were jumping to spend time with her before. At least now she knew why. "What about you? Are you gonna tell Karen, your father or even Lucas?"

"Someday." Peyton started to look down where her hand was, feeling nervous about the words she was going to say. She wasn't sure why she was feeling this way but she couldn't help it; sometimes Brooke did it to her. "Do you think the two of us could spend the whole weekend together once this party is done with?"

"I do believe you're nervous. It's so cute." Brooke placed her hand under Peyton's chin to lift her head. Once she looked into to her eyes, she just smiled and moved closer to kiss the blonde. "What did you have in mind?" She asked, pulling away.

"I'm not really sure yet. We could always pay an overdue visit to Wilmington." Peyton's confidence quickly returned and was evident in her smile.

Brooke pulled Peyton closer, with their lips close to touching. "We could totally do that." Brooke muttered before embarking on another lip lock.