A/N: Thank you sooo much to everyone. I love opening my inbox and seeing all the emails from the website. I've been itching all day to get back home so I could update again! I just posted another chapter, and I'll have one more after this one I'm hoping before the night's through. I'll be playing Guitar Hero though :D so it may be late. Hope everyone's having an awesome weekend, and keep the reviews coming! They are helping me intensely!
To whiters, thank you so much for the compliment, I was afraid I'd gone off on too strong a tangent with Naley. And don't worry, all will be revealed, but I wouldn't want to spoil the plot. Let's just say there will be a trip to the hospital. Still haven't decided on who's going yet though :D
B.P.Davis, Lucas does seem to lend himself well to mystery huh? Guess it's that bad guy exterior. Gotta love him!
Brucas333, you got it! Longer chapters it is! I wasn't sure if I was better off with shorter or longer. Longer chapters makes me happy though, I can put more content in. Right on!
Hope y'all enjoy!
They'd been sitting like this for what felt like eternity, but was probably more like twenty minutes, maybe. Neither one was willing to be the first to break the silence. The tension and sexual attraction was so thick, you could have cut the air with a plastic knife. Brooke saw Nathan peak around the corner of the wall and smiled slightly. She knew he was there to keep things from getting nasty. If only she'd had time to find out from Hales what all had gone wrong! Damnit! Lucas always did have horrible timing, didn't he?
Sighing, Brooke turned to place the dishes in the sink and refill her water glass. Alright, enough is enough. They're both grown adults right? It's just a conversation! Not like they were talking about life or death. Were they?
"What are you doing in town Brooke?" Lucas' voice washed over her and she felt those goosebumps again. He had seen the smile, heard the sigh. If only he'd known her thoughts were running along a similar path.
"Honestly? I'm not real sure. I've missed my friends and my home, but I wasn't planning a trip right now. This is all sort of impromptu, and I was hoping to spend some time with Hales catching up. How about you? What brings you to the Scott doorstep?" Brooke settled across from Lucas, and for the first time took a real look at her ex-boyfriend. He still had the same messy blonde hair, cut exactly how she liked it. His eyes were tired, dark circles on top of more dark circles. He looked like death warmed over, despite the fact that he'd obviously kept himself in shape. Wanting so badly to reach out and just hold him and chase all the pain away, she began to silently fume that he'd been allowed to get this bad and no one had thought to tell her.
"What could Hales have to say that you couldn't learn from the rest of us? I'd of thought you'd at least tell me that you were here. I mean, we're still friends, right?" His voice cracked just that tiny bit, and he flushed in embarrassment.
Brooke smiled at him, a real smile, dimples and all, and he stopped breathing. God, she was so gorgeous. Everything he wanted was sitting in front of him, and he wasn't sure what to do next.
"Oh Broody. We'll always be friends! I promise! Just right now, I can't. I can't tell you why I'm here because I don't know. And I can't find out what I need to know from you or anyone else, because I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be looking for. Hales called me a couple days ago and practically begged that I come back. She's the reason I'm here right now, well, sorta, and I owe it to her to wait until she's back before I can draw any conclusions." She sighed and plopped her chin into her raised palm. She looked at the man across the table again, and swore she saw a smile hovering around his sensual lips.
"I've missed you Brooke. Is it alright to admit that?"
"It's perfectly alright. I've missed you too. Come on, lets go sit down on the couch and catch up." Reaching across, she took his hand in hers and led him out of the kitchen. They settled on the sofa, still holding hands, and just sort of, started rambling. Maybe it was the physical connection, but they both loosened up. The warmth of their hands was a comfort they both had sorely missed.
Brooke went first, talking of where she went after graduation, leaving out some rather major details. She wasn't ready to go there yet, and he certainly didn't need to know things that couldn't hurt him any longer. Eventually she ended up at the job she was currently in, a fashion editor for a decent sized magazine in New York. Lucas could tell there were things she was avoiding, but he was so happy to just sit and talk with her, he didn't want to risk ruining the moment.
Lucas, well, he didn't have much to say. He'd worked on, and finally finished his book, but hadn't sent it to his editor yet. He couldn't explain why. After Brooke had moved and Rachel had followed suit not long after, he'd fallen to helping his mom in the diner again, and picked up a job at the school coaching basketball. Even though he couldn't play, he could still teach. He'd been living with this girl for a year or so, and as he quickly changed the subject Brooke began to get a glimpse of what might have gone wrong.
Nathan, who had been playing Playstation and getting his ass beat by a stupid computer, had finally decided an hour or so was long enough to wait, and went to check on them. Creeping around that same wall to the kitchen, he noticed it was empty. Wonder where they went? Wait. Honestly, with their past, do I want to risk that mental image? Shaking his head, he turned around and went in search of what could possibly be the source of nightmares to come for a while. Though, he admitted to himself, if they were making out, then at least it meant Lucas was coming back from that dark place he'd been in, and it'd be worth the lack of sleep.
Lost in his musings, he nearly walked right in on them. Catching himself in time, he slipped behind a large cabinet, and peered into the living room. Sitting there, cozy as you please, Brooke and Lucas were holding hands and talking quietly. Lucas looked more animated than he'd seen in months, and for once, his eyes actually seemed alive. Letting go a huge sigh of relief, he backed up silently and went back to his study.
Picking up the phone, he dialed his wife's number. He guessed it was alright for them to come home. It wasn't fair to throw Brooke to the wolves without some sort of back up. After all, he was pretty sure Hales hadn't had a chance to let Brooke in on what was going on.
"Hello?" Nate grinned at his wife's voice on the line, and once again thanked the powers that be for being so lucky.
"Hey sexy. Brooke and Lucas seem to be doing pretty well, they've migrated from the kitchen to the living room and are talking now. Lucas seems relaxed, this might just work. If you guys are done, y'all should come home. I miss my wife!"
"Aww. Well we miss you too! I'm glad they're talking, and super relieved to hear they haven't broken anything. We'll wrap up our snack and head home. See you in a few. Love you!" Haley couldn't contain her excitement, and Nate could tell she was immensely relieved. They hung up and Nate went back to getting his ass kicked. If this kept up much longer, he was going to seriously consider taking the game back and claiming faulty wiring and get his money back. Who in their right mind would pay money to have their ass handed to them on a silver platter by a computer?!
"So, yeah, uhm, that's what's going on with me." Lucas ran a hand through his hair, a trade mark move that brought up memories for Brooke of running her own hands through that same messy hair. "It sounds like things have been going really well with you though! I couldn't help but notice that you didn't mention a boyfriend or anything. Can it really be true that the hottest chick in New York doesn't have a man on her arm?" Lucas tried valiantly to joke about it, but failed miserably. Instead of sounding like it was no big deal, his voice came out all deep and nervous. Damn. And things had been going so well, he'd been able to hide his true feelings and goings on or so he thought.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I think Rachel would tend to disagree with you on that score. I've had a couple dates here and there, but well, nothing serious since I left Tree Hill. To be honest, I was so broken inside that I didn't need the heartache or had the strength to look at anyone in that way. It's been kind of nice, really, not having that drama." Liar! You've missed Lucas intensely and the reason you're not dating anyone else is cause they can't match up to memories four years old! She mentally scolded herself. Hell, if he was going to skirt the issue, then so was she. Shit. There it goes again. Them lying to each other, trying to cover up something more painful…trying to keep from getting more hurt than they'd already been. Why did things have to always be so complicated!!
Lucas grimaced at the adroit reminder of their past, but trudged on past it. She didn't sound like she was still mad at him, just being open about it. Should he mention Amber? What would Brooke say? What would he say?
Oh hell. Just dive right in. Wait. What? I haven't done or thought anything like that in months! Maybe Nate was right. Maybe being around Brooke is what I needed. Maybe I don't have to take that walk like I was going to. Maybe I can just stay right here. Maybe… Lucas stared at Brooke, searching for something. She wasn't sure what, but she wasn't entirely comfortable with the close scrutiny. She'd secrets she needed to keep hidden, same as he did she was sure. Lucas looked so serious. There was a shadow of something scary in his eyes, like he'd been preparing himself for some difficult task to come, and now he was reconsidering whether or not he still wanted to. What had she walked in on? What had Lucas gotten himself into? And how was she going to help him, when she still couldn't be honest with herself?
"Can I ask you a question? It may be kind of weird, shit, no maybes about it, it is weird. But, well, I haven't opened up like this in longer than I can remember. And I need a woman's opinion. Someone I trust. And I trust you." He looked at her with those intense blue eyes, and she thought she was going to melt. He had this seriousness about him now, like he was about to ask her to marry him or something. Huh? Duh Brooke. Don't go placing your hopes and dreams on his shoulders. It wasn't fair.
"You can ask me anything Lucas, I promise I'll do my best to help." She returned his gaze, straight on, not wavering. She'd decided just because she wasn't healed yet, didn't mean she couldn't help him. She had to help him. Maybe in helping him, she'd find a way to help herself. She just hoped what he needed was within her power to give. And looking at the troubled man before her, she wasn't sure just how much she had to give. But she had to try. She needed to know that she had fought for him. Even if he didn't know it.
The sound of the front door could be heard opening and closing, and Haley called out to see where everyone was. Lucas looked at Brooke, gulped, and realized he wasn't ready.