LIVE IT OUT

1 - The Maid Needs A Maid

It had been almost the entire weekend since Haley had heard anything from Brooke since her break-up with Lucas, and the short brunette was beginning to get worried about her friend. She and her husband had spent the majority of Saturday with a despondent Lucas, who seemed completely crushed by the sudden end of his relationship to Brooke, trying to cheer the blonde boy up. Their efforts were more or less fruitless, but at least they'd been there for Lucas in his time of need. This in turn had made Haley feel a little guilty because Brooke was her friend as well, but the brunette knew she couldn't be two places at once. She just hoped that Brooke would understand that when Haley finally arrived at the apartment to check up on her.

"Hope Peyton was able to handle everything," Haley said, thinking out loud. She pulled up to apartment building where she and Nathan used to live before the whole Chris Keller fiasco had taken place, still kicking herself for nearly ruining her marriage because of it. She stepped out of the car, making her way up the stairs as fast as she could. She glanced at her watch, just now wondering if Brooke would even be awake this early on a Sunday.

Haley knocked on the apartment door for almost a minute when a sudden and undeniable need to use the washroom hit her, causing the girl to fish out the spare key from her purse as she warred to control her bladder.

"I knew I shouldn't have drinken all that damned orange juice," Haley muttered, fighting against the lock before finally getting inside, making a beeline for the washroom.

Normally Haley would knock before entering the washroom if the shower was going, but her need was too great for such ettiquette. Taking a seat on the toilet, Haley hoped that whoever (most likely Brooke since she lived pretty much alone) was in the shower would understand the desperation of her current situation.

"Peyton?" Brooke's undeniable raspy voice called from inside the shower. "That you, baby?"

Baby? Haley thought, confused by what Brooke had just said. Since when has Brooke called Peyton that?

"It's about time you got your sexy little ass out of bed," Brooke remarked flirtatiously, making Haley's eyes go wide in shock. "I was beginning to think I wore you out last night. Now get in here so I can ravish you some more."

"Huh?" Haley squeaked, completely dumbfounded by the implications of Brooke's words.

"Tutor Girl?" Brooke asked back, recognizing her friend's voice immediately.

"Yeah?" Haley responded in an unsure tone.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Brooke shrieked from inside the shower stall.

"Um, peeing?" Haley answered with a wince.

"Get out!" Brooke exclaimed.

"But-"

"GET OUT!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!"

Not wanting to further incur the wrath of Brooke Davis on herself, Haley hastily pulled her pants up and exited the washroom as fast as she possibly could. She stood in the hallway a moment later, only to wince when the voice of her other friend rang out from the bedroom.

"Would you guys please shut the hell up!" Peyton shouted through the open door, sounding very cranky at having been woken up by the commotion. "I'm trying to sleep in here!"

"Sorry," a very confused Haley apologized before making her way into the kitchen, still in shock at what Brooke had said earlier about ravishing Peyton in the shower. What the hell is going on here?Haley wondered, completely gobsmacked.

"You two psychos screaming your heads off is not exactly how I wanted to wake up this morning," Peyton grumbled, plopping down on the stool beside her girlfriend.

"Sorry," Brooke apologized, then pointed at the shorter brunette seated across from them. "But apparently giving somebody a spare key makes them think they can just enter all willy-nilly and whatnot."

"I said I was sorry," Haley groaned, her face hidden behind her long hair. "I just really needed to use the washroom when I got here."

"Yeah, well try knocking next time, Tutor Girl," Brooke admonished their friend, who looked to be a mix of embarrassed and guilty.

"Would you lay off of Haley for one minute?" Peyton muttered, feeling extremely bitchy due to caffeine withdrawl. "It's too damned early for a Brooke Davis meltdown."

"Here, you big baby," Brooke said, knowing the exact reason as to why Peyton was so grumpy. She pushed a cup of coffee in front of the blonde, rolling her eyes. "Drink up."

"Thank you," Peyton replied, downing half of it in one gulp. "Much better."

"So you two are together now?" Haley asked halfway through Peyton's second gulp of coffee, causing the blonde to sputter out her coffee all over the counter top.

"Aw, honey, that's gross," Brooke grimaced, patting the blonde on the back. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Peyton rasped.

"Why, yes, you are," Brooke smirked.

"I'll take that as an affirmative," Haley stated.

"Yeah, we're together, Hales," Brooke confirmed, grabbing a nearby roll of paper towel to clean up the mess. She handed it to Haley, who cleaned the mess faster than the blonde thought was possible.

"Brooke?" Peyton asked in a cautious tone, her eyes wide at how quickly her girlfriend had admitted to their relationship.

"What?" Brooke asked back, shaking her head. "I'm not about to lie to one of our closest friends about something this important." Brooke shrugged, quickly adding. "Besides, she heard me ordering you to get in the shower for some wet and wild fun, so lying now would just make me look down right stupid."

"So this is why you broke up with Luke on Friday night?" Haley frowned in disapproval.

"Not exactly," Brooke sighed.

"Enlighten me," she insisted.

"A little help, Peyt?" Brooke pleaded.

"Fine," Peyton relented, rolling her eyes. "Well, when I left the cafe on Friday night to check on Brooke, she accused me of screwing around with Lucas, which wasn't at all tru-"

"Oh, tell her the part where you confessed your undying love to me," Brooke interupted with a squeal, clapping her hands.

"What?" Haley asked in surprise.

"Oh, boy," Peyton sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"She took that way better than I thought she would," Brooke remarked, sitting down beside her beautiful blonde girlfriend.

"Suppose she's going to tell Nathan about us?" Peyton asked, leaning against Brooke to place her head on the brunette's shoulder.

"Only if he askes, I suppose," Brooke reasoned.

"I think she's a little pissed at us," Peyton stated.

"Can you blame her, Peyt?" Brooke asked, grasping her girlfriend's hand into her own. "Luke's her best friend and she finds out that his ex-girlfriends are now dating each other while Broody is all hurt and alone without a clue as to why? Then we go and ask her not to say anything to him? Just the fact that she's even speaking to us is a minor miracle in itself."

"I see your point," Peyton agreed with a sigh. "But still..."

"I know what you mean, Peyton," Brooke sighed, resting her cheek against the crown of the curly haired girl's head. "But I'm not about to apologize for falling in love with you, and if Tutor Wife can't handle that, then to hell with her. And that goes double for everybody else."

"It's you and me against the world then?" Peyton asked, tightening her grip on Brooke's hand.

"If it comes to that, then yes," Brooke assured. "It's you and me against the world, baby."

"I'm oddly okay with that," Peyton stated matter of factly before turning her head to kiss Brooke.

If you've made it this far, feel free to leave a review. Oh, and if this story seems familiar, it's because I posted this fic ages ago but erased it. I thought it was lost but I managed to recover it. Anyway, thanks for dropping in.