A/N: It's been a while, I know but things seem to be looking up and I haven't even seen yesterday's episode. A big thanks to Realish, idaatje and Sophi20. Hopefully things will start to get back to normal.

Further And Further Away

Brooke was standing in the restaurant bathroom while Jake was sitting at their table. Everybody had been making their way to the beach house. They were all told to bring something with them, in fear that at some point they could run out of drink. Haley had been keeping Brooke informed on everything. Even though it wasn't meant to be a date, everything around them was screaming a date. In fact they probably did go out to this particular restaurant when they were dating. Brooke mentally kicked herself before proceeding back to their table.

Jake looked up and spotted Brooke returning to her seat. "I'm kind of disappointed that you didn't get me any flowers. A guy can get hurt by such a snub."

"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you later." Brooke thought about what she just said and how it could be taken out of context. She hoped Jake wouldn't do that. He was wearing a big grin on his face. "Get your head out the gutter Jag."

"You can't blame a guy for trying. So what is the occasion for dinner?"

"I told you that I just wanted to hang out." Jake didn't believe Brooke but decided to just go along with it and enjoy her company. He was certain that whatever she was up to, would reveal itself in due time.

At the beach house, the party was in full swing. Peyton had taken it upon herself to deal with the music, not that many of the guest list would be into some of her taste. She tried to accommodate the general consensus of music that she believed cheerleaders and jocks would like. She did however throw in some of her own choices, as she knew that they would be too drunk to notice.

Nathan walked up to her, bopping his head with two cups of drink. "Cool, you've got Mix Tape by Jack's Mannequin. I love that song." He handed one of the cups to her and she stood surprised by this. "You like this." She queried.

"Yeah. Every time I went round Brooke's last year, she would be playing this all the time and I grew to love it. Weirdly enough, it was on a mix CD she has." He took a sip of his drink, still enjoying the music in the background.

Peyton couldn't help but laugh. "I made her that CD. I didn't think she would play it, just toss it to one side instead."

"It makes sense now." Peyton looked at him blankly, hoping that he would explain himself. "During the summer I played it once, in the car and she just burst into tears but never told me why. She started playing it again, strangely enough; it coincided with when you came back." Peyton looked away, embarrassed by his words. "She's happy and you seem to have something to do with it." He continued.

Peyton was smiling and couldn't hide the blush that was forming on her face.

"Whatever the thing with Jake is, sort it out and talk to her. Don't let a guy she's no longer interested in come between the two of you. She's like a sister to me and I don't want to see her get hurt." He finished the rest of his drink. "Now that the serious part is over, how about we enjoy this party. What other tunes do you have?"

Haley was coming out of the toilet when she received the text message from Brooke telling her they were on their way. She made her way through the crowd, finding Nathan and Peyton. "They're on the way."

Peyton turned the music down while Nathan grabbed their attention. The crowd started groaning. "Hey the guest of honour is on the way so quiet down and cut the lights."

Jake looked out of the window noticing that something was going on, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "Now I know you're up to something; this isn't the way home."

"So I have a little confession to make. We weren't just hanging out, I was treating you to a birthday dinner. I have a gift for you but I left it at my house so I'm gonna pick it up now." She pulled up accidentally pressing the horn. Those that had driven were told to park elsewhere so there wouldn't be questions. "Come inside for a few minutes."

They both got out the car and headed for the front door. Before they got there, Brooke stopped and held out her hand. "Could you open the door for me while I fix my shoe." Jake didn't question it and took the keys from Brooke. While he was unlocking the door, Brooke was getting excited and started smiling. He opened the door and
reached his hand out to find the light switch. A collective shout of surprise sang through the house when the light switched on. Jake initially jumped and started shaking his head. He turned to Brooke, smiling. "I knew you were up to something."

"Happy birthday Jag." She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him. They were standing in that position for a bit longer than she intended. Jake only broke away when people started patting him on the back. Brooke started scanning the room until she found a pair of green eyes. Both Brooke and Peyton wore goofy smiles as Brooke started to make her way through the crowd. With the music being restarted, people around them were dancing. Brooke did her best to avoid bumping into anyone, especially those that had drinks. Peyton was just about to move when she saw Brooke being stopped by some of her cheerleading squad. Her smile quickly faded as she turned to get herself another drink.

"So tell us, are you and Jake dating because if your not then there's a queue of girls waiting." One of the girls queried.

"Where is this queue? I can't see one." Bevin asked. The rest of the girls laughed.

"We're not dating so he's all yours." Brooke stated. She was trying her best to make out where Peyton was. The other girls kept talking while she nodded, pretending to pay attention. When she spotted Peyton again, she excused herself and quickly walked over to one of the drinks table.

"How long do you think I have to stay around before you and I can sneak off?" Brooke whispered in the blonde's ear.

Peyton smiled feeling the slight bit of contact from the brunette. "I'm not sure about you but I'm ready to leave now." Peyton, who's back, was towards Brooke, turned round, noticing the flash of dimples.

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to host this. I can always leave Nathan and Haley in charge." Brooke picked up a bottle and poured some drink into an empty cup. She was pretty thirsty and downed the drink in one.

"Are you ok? You do know that there wasn't any alcohol in that." Peyton took a sip of her own drink.

"Of course. I'm doing this party sober so I can fully enjoy it and also enjoy your company." She smiled flirtatiously. They both turned round to fully survey the crowd. Before Brooke had the chance to speak again, Lucas walked up to them, throwing his arms around them both.

"Now what do we have here. Arch enemies being civil. What's with the two of you these days?" He was slurring some of his words and Brooke noticed that he smelt of alcohol.

"We're not enemies." Peyton rolled her eyes, sick of people continuingly making an issue of the two them.

"Are you drunk?" Brooke asked with a smile.

He shook his head and Brooke laughed. "Please tell me what it is about Jake?" He randomly asked.

Brooke squinted her in eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What is it about him that makes all the girls go all gooey."

Peyton turned to face the both of them. This made Lucas slightly unbalanced as Peyton had pulled out from under his arm. "Now that's an interesting question. I can't wait for the answer."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "He's a good guy with a kind heart. He looks out for people and he's loyal to the core. For those that don't know him they will just say he's not bad in the looks department."

"I think I should go and find my girlfriend." Lucas stumbled his way from the girls, who were just standing, looking at each other with no words passing their lips. Brooke wanted to break the silence and she dragged Peyton outside so they could talk.

Lucas was quickly distracted from his aim when he bumped into Haley. "I used to know a girl that looked like you. She's my best friend but she's not been around lately. Do you know her?"

"Hello Lucas." Haley laughed. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm not drunk. Why is everyone asking that?" He started to fake pout.

"Ok." She couldn't help laugh at the sight before her. "You look like you're having a good time."

"I am. This party is great. Are you enjoying yourself?" He took a sip out of his beer after asking the question.

"I am actually." She sounded surprised but it was the truth.

"It's good to see you out from under the books." He grinned at her. "You seemed to hanging around Brooke and Nathan a lot."

"Yeah. We've all been planning this party."

"So things will be back to normal then." One of the cheerleaders said, picking up some chips that were on the table next to them.

"What do you mean?" Haley asked feeling slightly confused.

"You won't be hanging around them any longer because they've got what they wanted. The natural order will resume itself." The cheerleader continued.

"What are you on about? They're not like that." Haley was confused and hurt by the suggestion.

"If you say so." The cheerleader walked away with a big smile on her face.

Skills walked up to Lucas and Haley in his usual upbeat manner. Haley walked off leaving Skills bemused, thinking he had done something wrong. She scanned the party on her way out to the back door. She couldn't help but mull over the words she just heard. Could she be right? She found a chair outside and watched everyone enjoying the party. She thought that maybe she was premature in thinking that she was friends with Brooke and Nathan, though in truth she did hang out with Brooke before they started planning the party. Peyton was her only female friend as she had spent far too much time hanging out with Lucas and the Rivercourt crew.

She wasn't part of the popular crowd and Peyton would be busy spending time with Brooke. Different thoughts seem to pass through her head.

"It's good to get away sometimes." Nathan said sitting on a chair next to her. "So Brooke is having a dinner thing next week."

"Does she need help planning it?" Haley interrupted, rudely.

"No. She wants to invite you. She's been looking for you. What was that comment about?"

"Nothing." Haley replied, thinking she was being stupid.

"I'm not sure how but I can tell that you're lying. What's wrong?" He queried, genuinely concerned with what was wrong.

"Someone that will remain nameless said that Brooke was just using me to help with the party and you wouldn't hang out with me anymore." Haley felt like she was being childish by relaying what had upset her but she somehow felt like she could to Nathan.

"That's bullshit. She likes you or she wouldn't have given you a ridiculous nickname like tutor girl, which doesn't say much about me as she has failed to give me one. Come to think of it, that isn't such a bad thing."

Haley couldn't help but laugh. Nathan was happy to see this, as he knew that the shear mention of Brooke's nickname would cheer her up.

"The one thing you should know about Brooke is that when someone upsets her friends, she'll go out of her way to make their life a misery. She'll find out who it was so you might as well tell me."