A/N: I know there was a lack Brooke in the last chapter but she's back now and is the main focus of this one. Thanks to those that reviewed. I'm hoping to get one more update before next year but if I don't then I wish you a merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a happy new year.

Battle Of One

Nathan was standing in front of the mirror, in the bathroom. He had just been on a run and had a quick shower. He was just standing there looking at himself. If anyone had caught him, they would think he was being a bit vain, standing watching himself for far too long. The thing was that though he was looking, he was pretty vacant at this point. He was going to deal with what was plaguing his mind, before he had to make his way to school. He threw some water onto his face and marched out of the bathroom.

He burst into Brooke's room, heading straight for her bed. There was only one reason for his intrusion and he knew that now was a good as time as any to do it. Brooke was coming out of her bathroom when she noticed him pulling her box out from under her bed. "What are you doing?" She asked, quickly moving towards him.

"I'm not going to sit and watch you drink yourself away." He took the box and walked into her bathroom with her following behind.

"Instead of sitting and watching me drink, you can just leave instead." She shouted, trying to stop him as he was throwing the contents down the sink.

"I care about you too much to see you go down this route and there are others that care too." He looked back at her, trying to show in his face that he was serious.

Brooke laughed. "I don't see a queue of these people you're talking about."

Nathan dropped what was in his hands and turned fully to her, placing both of his hands on her shoulder. "Haley cares or she wouldn't have looked after you at the weekend or kept checking up on you since and you might not believe it but so does Peyton."

"She has a funny way of showing it seeing how she's been ignoring my calls."

"Well then you should go and see her, but you don't want to do that looking in the state that you're currently in." He pointed at her and her hair was messy, her nose and eyes were red and she was dressed in baggy sweats.

Brooke took a look at through the mirror, and then turned back to Nathan. "What makes you think she wants to see me?"

"Haley told me she saw her last night. She spoke to her about you. It's time you get out of here and stop drowning in these bottles." He poured the last bottle and gathered all the empties. He walked past her but stopped at the door. "It's not like you to give up so easily. Throughout our lives, I've watched you fight for things but you've given up on her too easily. If you care about her half as much as you claim to then you would do what Brooke Davis does the best." He walked out of the bathroom and out of her bedroom. His words lingered in her mind for a while before she decided to listen to what he had said and jump into the shower.

*****

Brooke had made sure she looked a lot better than she had over the past couple of days but didn't want to look too put together. She didn't want to completely hide like she did before. She jumped into her car and drove straight to Peyton's, mentally going over how she was going to approach the blonde. Two things that worried her were how she was even going to get her to listen and how she was going to put things, if she got that far.

As she walked up to the front door, she contemplated using the key that she had. She soon shook off that thought, as she didn't want to make the situation any worse. She knocked for a while but there was no answer. She turned back and started walking back to her car. She mentally kicked herself for not noticing that Peyton's comet wasn't parked. She thought that maybe she might drive around, in hope of finding her but she knew she would have to come home eventually so she sat and waited for the blonde.

Peyton had been into town to grab a few groceries. Since she had spent the past few days at home, instead of school, she had already eaten up her weekly supplies. She had to make sure to avoid places that Karen, Haley's parents and even Deb Scott would possibly be. Too many questions would be asked and she wouldn't have any reasonable answers to give.

She reached home and quickly ran in the house, putting everything away. She had planned to go back out to her car and take a drive around to just clear her head. Though she had no real plans to go anywhere, she knew she would be making a stop at her mother's grave. She stood looking at a picture frame that was sitting on the table. She gave a pain filled smile, remembering the day she took the picture with her mother. She wondered what her reaction would be if she was around and knew about her relationship with Brooke. Would she be able to tell her, would she understand and still love her? Those and more questions had been running through her mind recently.

Haley had been so supportive and she was eternally grateful that she didn't judge her. Could she say the same for her father, Karen or Lucas? The burden of over thinking had weighed itself down too much for Peyton right now.

Brooke didn't notice when Peyton had initially parked. She saw the empty car and got out of hers. She spotted the blonde coming out of the house and started running towards her. "Peyton." She was calling but Peyton just ignored her. Peyton jumped in her car and tried to start it, hoping to drive off before Brooke reached her. The car wouldn't start straight away and Brooke was able to jump in too.

"Would you please let me explain?" An out of breath Brooke asked.

"Get out the car Brooke." Peyton was still trying to start the car.

"No. I need you to hear me out." She pleaded, resting her hand on Peyton's closest shoulder. Peyton immediately shrugged it off.

"GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR." Peyton shouted, managing to get the car started.

"I'm not leaving. We're going to sort things out, one way or another."

"Fine." Peyton took off, driving faster than normal. Brooke quickly put her seatbelt on and held on tightly, as Peyton sped down the street.

Brooke was trying to plead with Peyton to slow down or even stop but she ignored her, continuing to speed through town, running red lights. Brooke was surprised that they hadn't been stopped by the cops or been in an accident. "Will you stop the car?"

"Why should I?" Peyton turned her head from the road briefly to meet the worried and petrified eyes of the brunette; this hit a nerve with the blonde.

"You're going to get both of us killed. Please just stop the car or at least keep you're eyes on the road."

Peyton hit the brakes quickly and Brooke was thankful that she had put the seatbelt on. Peyton got out of the car and started walking. She had subconsciously driven close to the river court and made her way to the bleachers. Brooke followed behind. "Please hear me out." She pleaded.

Peyton turned back quickly. "Ok, lets hear what you possibly have to say to what I witnessed at the party."

"It's not what it looked like." Peyton laughed at the cliché line that Brooke said. "Ok, that was lame. Rachel dared Jake to kiss me."

"So you happily obliged." The blonde scoffed.

"He kissed me but I pulled away. I didn't want to. You have to believe me."

"You didn't put up much of a fight. Tell me, why him." Peyton started to go red. She felt like she was outside her body and didn't have a way of stopping herself.

"It was just a dare. It didn't mean anything. I'm sorry that this happened and I let it get this far. I hope you'll be able to give me a chance to make it up to you" Brooke's right hand went through her hair as she watched the blonde. "I know that this isn't just about that night. Tell me why you have such a problem with him."

Peyton let out an exhausted puff of air, frustrated on how this conversation was going. "I just do." She knew as soon as she said those words, she knew how childish she had now become.

"Peyton. I told you we were going to sort this out one way or another and I need you to be honest with me, even if you don't move past this and it's the last conversation we have. I need to understand." The brunette took a step closer but didn't want to evade the space in-between.

Peyton knew she needed to end this conversation, as she didn't want to go any further. She turned away and started walking back to her car.

"Peyton." Brooke shouted but she didn't respond so the brunette called even louder. "PEYTON."

Peyton finally turned around and answered, hiding the tears that had started to fall. "Please just give me some time."