A/N: It's been too long since I posted the last chapter. I won't bore you with excuses but with all that has prevented me from updating, I never forgot about this story. Thanks to those that have reviewed and any new readers that have come across the story. The name of this chapter says it all. Hope you enjoy.

Marching On

The usual stampede of pupils descended upon the cafeteria within seconds of the lunch bell ringing. It was every man for themselves as they tried to get inline or grab a seat. Brooke wasn't one of them; she was taking her time on purpose waiting for Nathan and Haley to arrive.

The huge grin Brooke was sporting was the giveaway for Nathan to instantly know she wanted something. "Hey guys, can you do me a favor please?" Brooke asked as she approached her friends.

"Depends." "Sure." They answered at the same time. Brooke rolled her eyes at Nathan before turning to Haley, "Could you guys not sit with me and Peyton at lunch."

"What's happened with the two of you now? It's only been 24 hours." Haley sighed as she started to wonder what could have happened between the two girls. For the short amount of time she knew about Brooke and Peyton, they had already gone through a lot.

Brooke could see Haley's mind working overtime and quickly extinguished her concern. "It's nothing like that. We're having lunch together, alone."

"How romantic." Nathan chimed in. He loved the moments where he could tease Brooke. What he didn't like was what usually came afterwards and this time was no exception as Brooke shoved him and whispered, "It's just in the courtyard and keep it quiet."

Peyton was already seated in the courtyard when she spotted Brooke, Nathan and Haley huddled together. She watched carefully, trying to make eye contact with Brooke, to no avail. Her curiosity was peaked when Nathan looked over at her, while Brooke was talking. He started to laugh as his attention was brought back to the conversation in hand. She started to become a bit paranoid, as she didn't know whether or not she was the butt of a joke, as once again Nathan looked in her direction while still laughing. Haley was the next to look over at Peyton before turning back to Brooke and nodding. Looking back at Peyton, Haley waved at her as she walked away with Nathan.

Brooke turned fully into Peyton's direction and gave a quick smile, not willing to give the blonde her usual flirty smile in front of the whole school. There were a few things Brooke had to hold back in public; her sway when she walked around Peyton and the way she looked at the blonde. Today was a big step already; she wasn't ready for anything else. Before Brooke reached the table, she had to decide if she was going to sit next to or across from Peyton. The internal debate was starting to annoy her on her short journey. "Stop it." She mumbled to herself. Brooke quickly took a seat next to her girlfriend and smiled, "Hey."

"Hey yourself. Aren't Haley and Nathan joining us?" Peyton asked as she looked to see where Nathan and Haley were heading. Without an explanation Brooke gave a short and simple answer, "No."

Peyton looked back at the brunette, squinting her eyes to try and gage what Brooke was up to. "Are you trying to set them up with each other?"

Brooke was annoyed by the question but she didn't let it show. She had no clue as to why people kept accusing her of playing matchmaker. She hadn't done it in the past and she had no intention of starting. "No. Contrary to popular belief, I don't meddle in people's love life. I'm too occupied with my own."

Completely missing Brooke's flirtatious tone, Peyton continued the conversation about Nathan and Haley. "So why aren't they joining us?"

"I thought you would be happy with us having lunch alone but it you want them here, I'll call them over." Brooke started to get up but Peyton's hand caught her girlfriend's arm to stop her from moving any further. "You don't have to do that." Peyton waited for Brooke to sit back down before continuing. "Why are you doing this?"

Brooke looked at the blonde like she was asking a stupid question. "Because of our talk. It's what you want?"

Peyton smiled at the gesture but she really wanted to do more than that. "I know, I just didn't expect you to do things like this so quickly. This is what you want also, coz I don't wanna feel like I'm rushing you."

Brooke returned the smile as she answered. "You're not. It's what I want too, but it might not be at the pace you want. Baby steps."

Peyton nodded and wanted to change the topic of conversation. "So." Before Peyton could continue, two members of the cheerleading squad interrupted them. "What are you doing hanging with her? We hate her." Brittany questioned. She was in the same year as Brooke and Peyton but wasn't as good as some of the younger cheerleaders, like Theresa. Brittany was one of the cheerleaders Brooke used when tormenting Peyton in the past. Though she had heard talk of Brooke going easy on Peyton, she hadn't seen it with her own eyes until now.

"Yeah Brooke." Bevin added but then turned to Brittany feeling a little confused. "Why do we hate her?"

Brooke rolled her eyes knowing full well that she created the 'monsters' that stood before her. "We don't hate her, we're friends now. Peyton's cool once you get to know her."

"That is never gonna happen." Brittany crossed her arms looking at Peyton in disgust. The blonde equally held her gaze, embarking on a staring competition.

Brooke was tired of this and raised her voice slightly in response. "If you're not gonna give her a chance the least you can do is stop being a bitch towards her."

"Whatever." Brittany said while pulling Bevin away with her. Peyton watched them leave, making sure there were out of earshot before turning to Brooke. "Thank you."

After Brooke had left to sit with Peyton, Nathan and Haley stood with their food, wondering what to do next. It was a pretty regular occurrence that either of them would have lunch with Brooke and Peyton but now they were left to their own devices. It wasn't like they had never had lunch with anybody else but they were unclear about what to do about the other. Would it be rude to just leave and have lunch with their usual crowd of people or be polite and sit with each other? The rules had slightly changed over recent weeks and they were unclear about what should be done in this situation.

They looked at each and both gave nervous smiles. Nathan decided to make the move and do something. "So you're probably thinking the same as me right now so I'm gonna cut to the chase and ask you to join me for lunch."

"You don't have to. Feel free to go and sit with your friends." Nathan's eyes followed to see where Haley's had landed. There were a handful of his teammates goofing about. He started counting which of them he actually considered a friend. Like Brooke, he found it lonely at the top. The both of them had spent so much time trying to be the best, everything else just seemed less important. They had built a cocoon around them that nobody else got close. It was always just the two of them. He considered Tim a friend but not in the same league as Brooke. People often wondered why Nathan was friends with Tim but Nathan genuinely liked him. Despite not being the sharpest person, he was someone who would always have Nathan's back and that kind of loyalty counted for something. Nathan looked back at Haley and responded, "No, you and I are having lunch together."

Before the two of them even had the chance to settle, Tim took a seat between them. "Dude, who's your girlfriend?"

"I'm not his girlfriend and my name is Haley." Haley's quick denial was a rarity for Nathan. Usually girls were jumping at the chance to be called his girlfriend. He didn't have time to respond himself as Tim ignored Haley's comment and continued to address Nathan. "So Nathan, you know that chick I hooked up with. She totally called me out of the blue and we did it again."

"Are you going to tell me who she is?" Nathan queried. "You know I can't even though I really want to." Nathan could sense his friend wanted to say something; he just wasn't sure whether Tim wanted to divulge the girl's name or admit that he had been lying the entire time.

"Well thanks for the lack of information." Nathan said sarcastically. He took a quick glance at Haley to see what she thought about their conversation. "I gotta go." Tim said as he got up. Nathan looked back to where Tim was sitting but he was too late to say goodbye as he had already left.

"What was that all about?" Haley queried, not really following most of the conversation.

"Tim keeps telling me about some girl he's sleeping with but he can't tell me her name. I don't think she even exists." Nathan explained.

"So why do you play along?" Haley couldn't understand why Nathan would question Tim like he believed him when he so obviously didn't.

Nathan smiled, as his answer was pretty simple. "He's my friend."

Brooke left Peyton at the table with five minutes to spare before the end of lunch. It was time for her to put her plan into action. She knocked on the door of her target and entered without waiting for permission. "Miss Davis, you've finally decided to grace us with your presence, what's the special occasion?"

"It is. I came to see my favorite teacher. I missed you." The sarcasm dripped off Brooke's tongue but it was more than just that; there was some bite behind her words.

"You and I both know that isn't true so why are you really here." Melissa responded, letting Brooke know that she wasn't going to play this game.

"It was really strange when I heard that Nathan had failed his last assignment, especially when I was told he could have at least got a C." Brooke walked around the classroom, which started to make the teacher nervous. The brunette stopped in her tracks and faced Melissa straight on. "Everything made sense when I heard you had marked it."

"I'm not sure what you're implying, Miss Davis." Melissa didn't want to give too much away but surely Brooke didn't know anything about what had been going on with Nathan.

Brooke crossed her arms; it was time for her to spell things out. "Don't play innocent with me. It's funny how the first thing you suggested was special tuition from you. Every other teacher would point students in the direction of the tutor center, which is the policy, but not you."

Melissa laughed at her claim, hoping that she was showing she wasn't afraid; secretly she was scared by how much Brooke knew. "This imagination of yours is quite something. If only you would put this much effort into your work."

That was it, Brooke thought. The gloves were off and it was time to cut the games. She moved into Melissa's space, showing her she wasn't backing down. "There's a difference between being a teacher and being a bitch and you don't want to cross that line with me, especially when I have evidence that can have you fired."

The confident smile that Melissa had was quickly wiped off her face. "What are you talking about?"

Brooke knew she had her now; she only needed the final nail on the coffin. "I know what's been going on and you wouldn't want that kind of information to fall into the lap of Principle Turner or even the press."

"I don't believe you."

Brooke smiled as she took her cell out of her purse, quickly finding the video footage. "This isn't the only copy I have. You see, Nathan and I are family so you mess with him and you mess with me."

"What do you want from me?" Melissa could feel the walls closing in on her and she was finding it hard to breathe. Could things really end like this?

Brooke could see the teacher physically retreating, she had this but there was one more thing to seal it. "For you to resign and leave this town but somehow I don't see you doing that but I do wonder what Rachel Gatina would make of all this."

Melissa had her head down until she heard the name of the other pupil mentioned. She quickly shot her head up and queried, "What's Rachel got to do with anything?"

"You know and now so do I." Brooke walked out of the door hoping that she had gotten through to the teacher.