Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill and Supernatural.

Hope you'll like this one. (:

9: The Games That We Play

Brooke twirled in front of the mirror in her bedroom and leaned closer to check her mascara. She grabbed her lipstick from her drawer and gently put some on her lips. She then smoothed her purple bandage dress and then donned the pair of earrings Dean bought for her the previous night.

At first she thought Dean was talking about buying a wedding dress; thank God it was just for their family's charity ball tonight. She would've fainted at the dress shop if Dean handed her a wedding gown.

To her surprise, Dean didn't seem like he was acting when they went out to buy a dress for her last night. She watched an argument between Dean and Sam, and once they were out of the house, Dean seemed to tone down a bit.

"Brooke," Jo greeted as she entered the brunette's room. "Mom's waiting for you downstairs."

Brooke turned to face the blonde teen. "How do I look?"

Jo smiled and took Brooke's hand. "You are stunning. I'm sure everyone will like you."

-----

Dean grumbled something unintelligible as he straightened his coat – that was the main reason why he never liked charity balls; he had to wear a stupid suit. He removed his neck tie and looked around the room to check if anyone was looking at him and then threw the neck tie to the nearest trash bin.

It was just seven in the evening, and their house was already filled with unfamiliar faces. Every year, his father hosts a charity ball and this was probably the first or second time Dean attended the ball.

As Dean walked towards the bar, he stopped when he saw Brooke coming down the stairs. Damn, she looked fine. The color of her dress matched her ivory skin perfectly.

"What are you staring at?" Jo snapped her fingers in front of her stepbrother's face.

Of course, Brooke couldn't help but blush when she saw Dean staring at her. She also noticed how good looking he was in his suit.

Both of them almost forgot that just the day before, they weren't in good terms.

"You…the dress looks good on you." Dean cleared his throat.

Brooke smiled her trademark dimpled smile and gave Dean a slight nod. "You look good too."

"Don't you have a bar to raid?" Jo mocked.

Dean rolled his eyes and was about to turn his back on the girls when a reporter approached them.

"Can I have a short moment with the two of you?" she asked.

Dean looked around and saw his father not too far away from them. His father saw him as well as the reporter and instantly knew why Dean was looking at him. John smiled and nodded; it was the perfect time for Dean to have an interview with a reporter.

With that, Dean turned to look at Brooke. He wrapped an arm around Brooke's waist as the two of them led the reporter to John Winchester's home office; it was the only room that wasn't used for the party. The reporter took out her recorder as she sat down on the chair across the couple.

"How did the two of you meet?"

Dean grinned. "Um…" he tried to remember the alibi his father made for them, but failed.

"Our parents are good friends," Brooke cut in. "I've known Dean since I was twelve."

The reporter nodded and then scribbled something on her pad. "If you've known each other for quite some time now, how come we only saw you together about two months ago?"

Luckily, Dean finally remembered everything his father told him to say in case of a situation like this. "Brooke's a very private person…and we only started dating last two months." Dean said smoothly; he sounded like he had been practicing those lines.

"What can you say about Dean's party boy image?" the reporter asked Brooke.

Brooke smiled nervously and then looked at Dean. "Well, Dean's been through a lot, and everybody has weak moments every now and then. I guess that's just the way he wants to cope with what he'd gone through," Brooke stated honestly.

Dean looked intently at Brooke as she said those words; it was like he was an open book and she was reading him. He somehow felt glad and uncomfortable that she could understand him.

"You're talking about Alice Welsh's death, right?"

Brooke looked at Dean and had the look in her eyes that says 'it's your turn to answer'.

Dean cleared his throat. "The thing with Alice…it's been a long time and I…" Dean paused when he felt Brooke reaching for his hand. He stared at it for a couple of seconds and then turned his gaze back to the reporter. "Brooke was there for me when Alice's accident happened. And I'm really glad at that time to have a friend like her."

The reporter was somewhat surprised to hear those words come out from Dean Winchester's mouth. The notorious Winchester never talked about his dead girlfriend – ever – and now it was like he was giving her a tell-all interview. She felt excited now that she was going to be the first reporter to have an interview with Dean Winchester involving his ex-girlfriend and his new girlfriend.

"What exactly did Ms. Davis do to help you get through the accident?"

"She…she never left. She was just there all the time for me." Dean felt like a total fool; sure, he was a party guy, but he never lied and talked about his ex's accident just for the sake of improving his publicity with his new 'girlfriend'. But somehow, he didn't find it hard to make up a lie because of the way Brooke held his hand.

The reporter smiled; she was getting everything she wanted to get from Dean Winchester. "Do you think you're totally in love with Brooke Davis? If so, when did you realize that you do love her?"

Dean cleared his throat and avoided the reporter's eyes. "I don't exactly remember the moment I realized that I like her. All I know is I love her." He tried to sound sincere and feared that the reporter might catch the hint of inveracity in his voice.

"That is so sweet of you," the reporter said with a grin. "Who knew Dean Winchester has a soft spot?"

Dean laughed along with the reporter. "Do you have any more questions?" He hoped she got the hint that he's already done with this.

To his dismay, the reporter nodded and looked at Brooke. "Brooke, do you think Dean's the one?"

Brooke looked at Dean and then smiled at the reporter. "I hope so."

"Very well then," the reporter finally said. She pressed the stop button on her recorder and closed her pad. "Thank you for your time."

Dean nodded and shook the reporter's hand and led her out of the room. When he was sure enough that no one was near the room, he closed the door behind him and went towards the small refrigerator on his father's office.

"I thought she'd never stop asking questions," Brooke murmured.

Dean scoffed and took out a bottle of champagne and two glasses. "I thought I'd slip and tell her the truth." He handed Brooke the half full glass of wine.

Brooke took a sip and watched Dean carefully. "You know what? For a moment I thought you were telling the truth. It was like you practiced everything you said."

"The games that we play," Dean mumbled as he sat down beside the brunette. "To our fake relationship." He raised his glass and had a toast with Brooke.

-----

John Winchester occasionally glanced at his office door, waiting for the reporter to come out. And when the report finally came out of the room, he approached her and asked her how the interview was.

"I've never heard your son talk like that. It was like I was talking to another side of him," she said honestly.

John nodded and smiled; he'd give Dean and Brooke credit for their wonderful job. Now Dean only has one thing left to do, and it was almost time. He had already planned the evening carefully and strategically chose this night to make the announcement.

-----

At around nine in the evening, all the guests have finished eating and were now chit-chatting with their friends and talking about their businesses and their heirs. It was then when John Winchester started to look for his oldest son and found him talking to his younger brother by the garden fountain.

Of course, John didn't have to say anything. Just one look and Dean already knew why his father was standing in front of him. Dean bit his lower lip and shoved his hand on his left pocket. It was still there – the thing his father gave him last night. He looked deep into his father's eyes as if he was pleading for something.

"It's time Dean, whether you like it or not," John said.

Sam looked from his father to his brother and somehow, he already knew what it was about just by looking at Dean's face.

Dean took a deep breath and mustered all his strength. He dragged himself to the podium unceremoniously and grabbed the microphone from its stand.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" he asked.

Everyone locked their gazes on him the moment he spoke on the microphone. Brooke looked around and saw Sam.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously. A feeling of dread started to form in the pit of her stomach.

Sam looked at her sympathetically. "You'll find out."

"You all know that I don't attend this charity event," Dean started. Thankfully, his hands stopped shaking; nobody would notice how nervous he was. "But now, here I am in front of you…because I want all of you to share this moment with me."

Brooke bit her lower lip as she watched Dean speak. She already knew what was going to happen. She tried to fight back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"I want all of you to meet Brooke Davis, my wonderful girlfriend." He pointed towards Brooke, who was just two feet away from him, and motioned for her to come to him.

Brooke slowly walked towards Dean and felt everyone staring at her. She willingly took Dean's hand as he helped her get up to the podium. She smiled at the crowd in front of her and fought back the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes. Her eyes met his for a second and saw how much this was tearing him apart.

With one swift move, Dean got down on one knee and took out the ring from his pocket. "My father gave this ring to my mother when he asked her hand for marriage," he started.

Every person listened and watched intently. Some present reporters even started to take pictures; it was a moment no one ever expected to happen.

"Dad gave me this ring and told me to give it to the one I love…and…" Dean took a deep breath and pierced his eyes through Brooke's; he tried to ignore the fact that about a hundred people were right there in front of them, watching. "Brooke…I never thought I would give this ring to anyone…but then you came…and everything changed. Will you marry me?"

Brooke couldn't fight her tears anymore, and she couldn't take her eyes off of the ring Dean was holding. It was simple, but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The slender platinum band had a diamond in the center with two tapered baguette diamond in each side.

Brooke looked around and saw the eager look on everyone's faces. She slowly turned to look at Dean and then whispered the word 'yes'. Dean pretended to look happy with her answer as slipped the ring onto her finger and then wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her gently.

The guests cheered for the newly engaged couple and clapped their hands. Cameras flashed as reporters tried to get a picture of the couple kissing. This event will be a big headline for tomorrow's news.

-----

Brooke had been awkwardly silent since Dean proposed to her earlier, and Dean could notice it. He could see through her smiles as almost every guest congratulated them. And now, as he watched Brooke stare at the engagement ring, he couldn't help but blurt it out. "What's the matter?"

Brooke looked up to face Dean. "Nothing."

"You've been staring at that ring for five minutes now." Dean sat up from his lying position to see Brooke's face clearly.

The brunette's face suddenly went from blank to worried or something like that. "This is your mom's ring…we're not even really in love with each other…" she mumbled.

"So?" Dean sounded like it was the least of his problems.

Brooke stood up from the vanity and sat on the bed next to Dean. "I don't think I can do this." She held up her hand to show their engagement ring. "This is not me. I mean, we're not even in love. And I used to dream about having a fairy tale wedding with the man I do love, not an arranged marriage," she babbled. "I don't think I can pull this off. What if I screw up and the media finds out about this? Your father would be totally-"

Dean placed his hand on Brooke's shoulder. "No one's gonna find out about us."

"I can't do this," Brooke muttered. All the negative things were running rapidly in her mind, it could make her crazy.

Dean sighed. "You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay, Brooke."

Brooke eased up and took a deep breath and looked deep into Dean's hazel eyes. "You think so?"

Dean saw the flicker of hesitation in Brooke's eyes, and he knew that all she needed right now was assurance. "Yeah."

With that, Brooke rested her head on Dean's shoulder, and for the first time, Dean didn't mind it at all. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder to console the brunette he started to get comfortable with.

A little sneak peak for the next chapter: the Tree Hill gang will stay at the Winchester house for a weekend.