Back again! Please review to let me know I still have people reading and interested in this story :) Flashbacks with a * are from Chapter 26
"I don't want to talk about it Lucas! As far as you and I are both concerned, this never happened."
"But it did happen Brooke! We can't just ignore it. We have to tell Haley."
"We are doing no such thing! Can't you just let it go? Pretend it's just one huge, fucking nightmare? Because that's what it is. That's what it feels like. A fucking mistake we committed in an alternate, drunken reality that should never, ever be discussed again. Now just leave. I never want to talk about this ever again."
Brooke closed her eyes and fought back a wave of nausea. Ever since the boy toy auction 2 nights ago, she had tried to block out the events but bits and pieces of it and the aftermath kept coming back to her and they were tormenting her to no end. She took a deep breath and looked over at her alarm clock. 4 AM blinked at her angrily, reminding her that in less than 2 hours Valentin, her mom's trusted make up artist would be in to get them both ready for the Charity Ball.
The Charity Ball.
Where her and Nathan were supposed to show up together, like they had so many times before. Together, but this time so far apart. She rolled over to her side and didn't even bother this time to wipe away the tears as they flowed freely from her eyes. The last two days had taken their toll on her frail, fucked up emotions. The day before had been one of the worst days of her life and she couldn't remember ever feeling so sick and guilty and just plain awful.
Never mind the fact that she awoke with the worst hangover she'd ever had in her life, but her mistake had woken up next to her, further twisting the messed up reality her life had become.
*"I think it's a little something called revenge. I mean, you screwed around with my worst enemy. So, I say I can have a little fun screwing around with yours. It's only fair."
It should have been her moment of revenge. Her moment of making sure karma made it's full perfect justice. But it wasn't. Because she had inadvertently hurt her best friend in the world without her even knowing it. She had taken something precious from her, something precious from him that he would no longer be able to give to her best friend. And all for what? A stupid, drunken moment in time? A moment neither of them would be able to ever take back?
And what did that mean for her and Nathan? She had been completely honest with Lucas in one of her few, honest drunken moments that she actually remembered. She was done with being angry with Nathan. She loved him and was ready to forgive him. And it hadn't come so clearly to her how much she loved him as it had last night at the homecoming dance. They'd both won King and Queen, like everyone expected and were expected to do the traditional King and Queen dance. The moment he took her in his arms, she had almost come undone, because she realized in that one moment how much she loved him. How much she needed him. But she had probably screwed it up for ever.
*"I'm just warning you. If you touch that bastard, there won't be any going back. You and me will be done with forever."
It really wasn't fair. Nathan had slept with Rachel, had cheated on her with Rachel. Her and Nathan were no longer together so why was it that she felt like she had betrayed Nathan as well as Haley by doing so? And why couldn't she remember a damn thing about the whole thing?
"Ok! I've got all the 80's Brat Pack classics and a pizza on the way Jagielsky. Good morning by the way, here's your coffee!"
Jake groaned as he opened the door and let in his way too cheerful of a best friend in through the door. Glancing down at his watch, his bleary eyes squinted at the 8:15 AM blinking at him tauntingly. Accepting the warm Starbucks cup as she breezed in, he could only shake his head. "Pizza this early Haley? Are you insane?"
"Hey! You know the tradition already, why are you complaining?" She swiveled around and pointed a finger at him. Ever since they were kids and Brooke and Nathan had a charity ball they had to attend, Haley and Jake had made it tradition to hang out that whole day together.
"Besides, the pizza is not to be eaten till later this afternoon anyways. Right now, I'm looking forward to your Mom's infamous pancakes."
"Then why would you order the..never mind." He took a huge gulp of his warm drink and followed her as she made her way into the kitchen and dropped a handful of DVD's on the counter. Picking one up, he groaned. "Sixteen Candles, really? We've seen this like 20 times already."
"It's a good movie!" She argued, sending him a glare. "Besides, something about the Homecoming Dance last night got me in the mood for cheesy, romantic movies."
"Things around here must be getting real boring then if a dance in a stuffy gym at Tree Hill High has you thinking of romance."
"Shut up, you weren't there." She threw a napkin at him. "But if you must know, our very own crowned King and Queen made it very obvious to everyone that romance is alive and well. Brooke and Nath-" She cut off as she saw him look away. "Oh, sorry."
He shrugged, "Whatever. It's a good thing I didn't go right? So what about you? Did you have fun?"
She shrugged and looked down. "If you count going dateless as fun, then yes I had a blast."
"Lucas still grounded huh?"
"More like Lucas is still MIA. I really have no idea what's going on with him, Jake. He wasn't at school all day yesterday and every time I tried to call him, his phone would just go straight to voicemail." She bit her lip. "I tried to ask Brooke about him, y'know because of the boy toy auction and she just kept evading it. Something just feels off."
"Or maybe, you're just over thinking everything as usual Haley. I'm sure he has a good explanation for missing school yesterday."
"Yeah, maybe. Anyways how was your night with little Miss-Slut-And-Easy?"
"Oh, come on she's not that bad." Jake laughed when Haley threw him a look. "Believe it or not, it wasn't half bad."
"Well, I would hope not. Considering she dropped 800 on you. Y'know Brooke was freaking out about it."
Jake frowned, "What do you mean she was freaking out about it?"
"Oh, I don't know. She just happened to think that Rachel had ulterior motives for bidding on you."
"Ulterior motives like what?" Jake grinned unabashed. "Like bidding on the hottest player on the Ravens?"
"You wish!" Haley laughed as he threw her a glare. "No, more like she felt that she only bid on you to mess with her and piss her off."
"And why would that piss off Brooke?"
"Oh, Jakey." Haley sighed dramatically. "You have yet to learn how the mind of the female brain works. Brooke in a way feels that you're hers and Rachel knows it. Hence, why she bid on you. Another opportunity for her to mess with our Brookie dearest."
"Umm, what?" Jake's face suddenly turned an interesting shade of crimson. "Brooke feels that um, she uh.."
"Oh cool it Don Juan." Haley rolled her eyes, "Brooke and Rachel will forever be at odds and this time it has to do with you. Why are you so surprised? Anyways, tell me how awful was that kiss you had to share with the she-devil at the end of the night?"
"Good Morning Karen." Peyton dropped a kiss on her cheek as she walked into Karen's Cafe, Julian in tow.
"Good Morning sweetie. Good morning Julian." Karen returned pleasantly. "Here help yourselves to some waffles before the morning rush comes in."
Julian smiled his thanks politely and took a seat on the counter, Peyton following suit.
Pouring syrup onto her fresh, warm waffles, Peyton looked around and turned to Karen, "Where is Lucas?"
Karen sighed as she poured the two of them fresh coffee, "Lucas was yet to get out of bed when I woke up this morning. I'll tell you, this is not like him."
"What do you mean?" Peyton asked cautiously, swallowing a piece of the delicious breakfast. "It wouldn't be the first time he slept in on a Saturday."
"Maybe, but he just hasn't been himself since he came in past his curfew after that so called auction at the school Thursday night." Karen sighed, swirling her coffee with a straw. "I had no choice but to ground him from going to that dance the next day. He came in drunk of all things. I just don't know what's gotten into him. I knew him joining the basketball team was going to bring nothing but trouble. He came home from school Friday and hasn't left his room since then. This just isn't like him."
"Drunk? Wow, uh hmm..yeah, that doesn't sound like Lucas at all." Peyton agreed staring down at her breakfast thoughtfully. Ignoring Julian's stare, she polished off her breakfast quickly and smiled at Karen. "Speaking of Lucas, I just remembered that I need to borrow his notes from Biology. I better get on that right now. Thanks for the breakfast Karen."
Nathan tugged at his tie and took a long swig of his drink. He was dreading this day already and it hadn't even fully begun yet. Thank God for the supply of champagne and Cognac in the limo. His parents hadn't really thought this one through, but then did they ever? Who let a teenager go off in a limo with a ridiculous amount of alcohol supplied? He wasn't going to really question it, he was just glad they did. Not only was he hungover from last night's Homecoming dance, but he was a little nervous knowing he was picking up his ex-girlfriend as his date for the Charity Ball. He certainly wasn't going to question or damn the alcohol provided at such an early hour.
Taking a deep breath, he took one last swig of the champagne as he realized they had just pulled up to the Davis home. Stepping out, he once again straightened up his tie, and smoothed down his jacket and just waited.
Nothing could prepare him for the mirage that appeared before him and as his heart thundered, he had a hard time catching his breath.
Because before him, an angel appeared dressed in the most luscious piece of red cloth he could ever imagine. If he thought the sight of her last night could get him undone, nothing could have prepared him for the sight before him now.
As she came towards him, an image of utter perfection, her brown curls cascading over that beautiful dress and that uncertain smile sending his heart into over drive all he could think of was...this was going to be an unforgettable night.
Rachel smoothed down the front of her midnight blue dress and smiled politely as her parents' sponsee went about their greetings. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she didn't need to look into a mirror to know she absolutely looked fabulous.
"Congratulations." Someone hissed in her ear, "When you want to be a conniving bitch, you certainly have it down to a science."
Glaring over at Felix, her sudden companion, she shot a perfect watt smile to her parents. "Mom, Daddy. I"ll see you inside."
Her Mom waved her off, not caring in the least and Rachel bit her lip in anger and grasped Felix by his Giorgio Armani suit, dragging him along till they were out of sight.
"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" She hissed angrily, shoving him openly now. He grinned back at her and rubbed his shoulder.
"Just congratulating you Red. What you pulled the night of the boy toy auction was absolutely genius."
"You mean what we pulled. Don't even try to downplay your part in all this Tagaro."
"Whatever, you think it worked?"
"Are you kidding me? Did you not see how Brooke was acting like yesterday?"
"She didn't seem any different to me." Felix shrugged. "How can you be sure that your plan worked?"
Rachel rolled her eyes, "Again, it was our plan..and if you're not sure that it worked then why were you just congratulating me, rudely I might add in front of my parents just now?"
"I wasn't congratulating you on the fact that it worked. I was merely stating the fact that you're a conniving bitch. I can't believe you talked me into this."
"Oh, whatever. Don't tell me you're going to grow a conscious now? That little goodie two shoes is growing on you and you refuse to admit it."
"Fuck you." He growled, glaring as she gave him a condescending grin. "Just tell me how you plan to prove it to them and move on to the next part of the plan."
"Oh, you just leave it up to me." She replied airily, brushing past him. "You just keep your mouth shut, and this will all work out for the both of us."
"So, are you just going to lay there and feel sorry for yourself all day?" Peyton commented, barging into Lucas' room. "Never met anyone who's hangover lasted two days."
Lucas groaned, grabbing his pillow and throwing it over his head, hating the sudden burst of sunlight that penetrated through his muddled thoughts. "Peyt, can you not. Please?"
"No, uh-uh. I refuse to feel sorry for you."
"Why are you even here?"
She plopped down next to him and pulled the pillow away from his face. "Hate to sound like your Mom, but what the hell has gotten into you Luke?"
"What do you mean?" He grumbled, grabbing the pillow back from her and once again hiding his face and his shame behind it. "And by the way, you do sound just like her and it's not cute."
Ignoring his comment, she shoved him and held back a smile as he glared over at her. "Since when do you suddenly start to lie to your Mom dude? She seems to think you've been in this funk or whatever this is since you got home from school yesterday. Now, I have it on pretty good authority that you where not in school yesterday like at all. So, you want to tell me what's going on? You ditched school yesterday? YOU?! And then lied about it? What's going on Luke? And I won't accept nothing but the truth. I'm your best friend. You can't lie to me, nor will I let you. It's one of the few positives of hanging out with you, so what gives?"
Lucas sighed, sitting up and running his hand over his unruly hair. "I can't Peyt."
"You can't what? Tell me the truth?" She asked incredulously, punching his arm. "So help me God Luke. Don't make me get it out of you."
"You'll hate me forever. Hell, I hate me forever."
"I can't hate you more than that time in fourth grade when you let loose my cat only for it to never ever come back so spill."
"I..I can't."
"Luke! You better spill before I pummel you or tell Haley the story about Jim Roberts and you made me promise to never bring that up. So, what's up?" She paused as she saw him flinch. Softening her tone, she rubbed his shoulder. "Lucas, c'mon whatever it is it can't be that bad. So you got drunk at the boy toy auction, so what? I'm actually proud of you. It's about time you let loo-"
"I slept with Brooke!" He blurted out, cutting his blonde best friend off. She stopped mid-sentence and stared at him agape.
"I'm sorry, you what?"
"You heard me. I slept with Brooke." He repeated softly. "Do you see my problem now?"
I know the Brooke/Nathan scene was short but trust me the next chapter has a whole lot more with them at the Charity Ball. Thoughts?