Looking For Solid Ground

+++++++++++OTH++++++++++





"So what's the verdict?" Brooke asked as she took a bite out of her burger.



"Delicious," Lucas replied, his mouth full of food.



"Gross," Haley smiled as they joined in laughter.



"I meant Peyton, you dork."



Lucas frowned at her as he took another bite of his burger.



"I can leave tomorrow afternoon," Peyton smiled happily, grabbing some fries from Haley's plate who practically growled at her.



"I wouldn't do that," Lucas warned with a smile.



"Not if you want to keep those fingers, Blondie," Haley added.



Peyton laughed, "Dually noted."



"Any word from your dad, P. Sawyer?" Brooke asked with a smile.



"Yes, he's coming home next week. But keep your hands off, Brooke. You are not fulfilling your DILF fantasies with my dad, that's just gross," Peyton informed her. Lucas and Haley made faces in agreement.



"You guys are no fun," Brooke pouted.





+++++++++++OTH+++++++++++





"I don't see why I can't stay tonight. Brooke got to stay last night," Lucas complained. Peyton's doctor had just walked in and told them visiting hours were over in five minutes. They had been hanging out all afternoon, never noticing how late it had gotten.



"That's because she sweet talked one of the interns to letting her stay," Peyton replied.



"Poor guy," Haley laughed.



"Who said it was a guy? The Brooke charm works both ways you know," Brooke replied with a wink.



"Of course," Lucas laughed. "Did you forget Dan's annual kiss my ass party last year, and the events that ensued after Brooke sweet talked the chick that was bartending into giving her alcohol."



"How could I forget?" Haley replied.



Brooke frowned, "Sorry about that."



Haley laughed, "Please, if you're going to apologize for all the stupid things you did back then, we'll be here forever."



"Hey, what is this? Bash on Brooke day?" she asked.



"Sounds good to me," Peyton smiled.



Brooke stuck her tongue out at her.



"Good comeback," Lucas laughed.



"I just didn't feel like dignifying Peyton's comment with a response," Brooke said, crossing her arms.



"You know, people only say that when they don't actually have a response," Haley pointed out.



"Are you planning on walking home?" Brooke asked with a smile.



"No, ma'am."





+++++++++++OTH+++++++++++



"Good night, Luke," Brooke smiled as they walked out of the hospital. The doctor had allowed them to stay an extra half an hour, but had finally kicked them out.



"Let me walk you guys to your car," Lucas replied.



"You don't have to do that."



"I know, but it would make me feel better," he admitted. After what had happened to Peyton, he didn't want to let them out of his sight.



"Come on," Haley smiled, holding out her hand knowingly. He smiled, taking it as they walked to Brooke's car.



"So you two are good?" Lucas asked once they had reached the car.



"Yep, thanks for looking out for us Luke," Haley smiled.



"Just doing my job," he replied, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.



"Night Brooke."



She winked at him with a smile. Once he had made sure the two girls were safe in the car, he walked to his own car and got in, where he was finally able to completely break down.



++++++++++OTH+++++++++





Brooke sighed as she pulled into a parking spot in front of Haley's apartment. The ride home had been a quite one, and she could tell that something was bothering Haley. She smiled when Haley bit her lip nervously. She always did that when she's trying to get the courage to ask a question.



Brooke began to play with the radio absentmindedly while looking out her window, giving Haley some time to figure out whatever it was she was trying to figure out. That's when she realized the parking lot was lacking a certain black car. She turned to study Haley's face, looking for some sort of clue, and then she saw it--Haley didn't want to be in her and Nathan's apartment alone.



"So Tutor Girl, I was thinking," Brooke began with a smile. Haley looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. But because of the look in her eyes behind the smirk, Brooke chose to ignore the sarcasm.



"I'm not really in the mood to be alone in Rachel's big ass house tonight, so I was thinking that we should have a sleepover," she grinned.



"Well, I mean, if you want, then sure," Haley replied, trying hard to hide her eagerness.



"Then it's a party," Brooke said, turning off her car and getting out.



"Wait party?" Haley questioned, quickly jumping out the car. "I didn't say anything about a party."



"It's just a figment of speech, Haley."



"Figure," Haley corrected.



"What?"



"Figure. It's a figure of speech. You said--oh, never mind. Let's go," she laughed, noticing the lost look on Brooke's face.





++++++++++++OTH++++++++++





Haley nodded with acceptance when she opened her closet door. She had known it from the moment she had entered her apartment. Actually, she had known it since she had left the apartment that afternoon. All of Nathan's clothes were gone, along with most of his other things. So she was married, separated, remarried, with child, without child, and once again alone all at the tender age of 18.



"So, do I still have a pair of pajamas here?" Brooke asked, walking into the room, toothbrush in hand.



"Um, yea," Haley replied, coming out of her thoughts. "Check in the bottom drawer, that's where most of your stuff is."



Brooke nodded, putting the toothbrush back in her mouth and brushing as she walked over to the dresser, and opened the bottom drawer. Sure enough, several of her outfits including some pj's were in there.



"Brooke!"



Brooke jumped up quickly, "What? That's the bottom drawer!"



"Yea, and that's my toothbrush!"



"Oh." She smiled, "Sorry?"



"Didn't you find yours?" Haley asked, walking over to the dresser and opening the top drawer to pull out her own pajamas.



"No."



Haley sighed, "Great, now I need a new toothbrush."



"Hey, my mouth is clean," Brooke argued.



"Brooke, it's not your mouth I'm worried about," Haley replied with an innocent smile. "It's the things that go in your mouth that I'm worried about."



Brooke opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to respond. Haley took this as her chance to escape, and she hurried out the room and into the bathroom to change, slapping Brooke's butt as she passed.



Brooke just stood there in shock. She was pretty sure that Haley had just openly insulted her. Yet, Haley had smiled. She had genuinely smiled, for the first time in what seemed like forever, and nothing could bring her down from the happiness she felt from that.





+++++++++++OTH++++++++++





Haley walked into the living room, balancing two mugs of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn. Brooke looked up at her from the sofa with a death glare. Haley stuck out her bottom lip, giving Brooke a pair of puppy dog eyes.



Brooke sighed, "Damn you and that adorable face." She scooted over, allowing Haley room.



"Hot chocolate?" Brooke asked as Haley placed everything down on the coffee table in front of them. "Haley, it's nearly summer outside."



"I know, but it always makes me feel warm and cozy," she shrugged. Brooke laughed as she picked up the remote, turning on the television.



"There's nothing on TV," Brooke pouted, after flipping through the channels for several minutes.



"Well go pick a movie," Haley replied.



"I get to pick?"



"Sure, why not?"



Brooke smiled happily, walking to the entertainment center.



"Let's see, we have: A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, The Lake House--"



"I know I said you could pick, but can we watch a comedy? I'm not really in the mood for a romance," Haley admitted.



"Aw, Tutor Girl, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Um, how about...Night at the Museum?"



Haley nodded from the couch. Brooke put in the DVD and returned to the sofa. Haley laid down, resting her head on Brooke's lap. Brooke gently ran her fingers through Haley's hair.



"Do you want to talk about it?"



"No."



Brooke frowned but nodded as she pressed play on the remote.





+++++++++++++OTH++++++++++++





Brooke laughed to herself. Not half-way through the movie, and Haley had fallen asleep. Once the movie had ended, Brooke turned off the TV and sighed. She carefully lifted Haley's head and stood up, placing her back down on the sofa. She picked up the empty mugs and popcorn bowl, bringing them to the kitchen.



She set them in the sink, running the water, waiting for it to get hot. She began to look through the cabinets for the soap.



"Wow, Brooke Davis doing the dishes," Haley teased, walking into the kitchen tiredly.



"Did I wake you?"



"No, it's ok," Haley smiled. She walked over to the sink and opened the cabinet beneath it, taking out the soap and handing it to Brooke. "It's in the exact same place as when you lived here."



"When did I do the dishes when I lived here?" Brooke asked.



Haley laughed, “True.”



"Wait, whoa, is that a laugh?" Brooke teased. "Is that a genuine Haley James laugh? Wow. I didn't think I'd ever see one of those again."



"Ha, you're funny," she replied sarcastically.



"I know. When my clothing line falls through, I can always fall back on comedy."



Haley rolled her eyes, "How is it going anyway? The whole Victoria's Secret thing seems pretty amazing."



"Yea, it's pretty cool."



"And how's everything else?"



Brooke looked up from the sink and gave her a questioning look.



"Well, we've done nothing but talk about me and my problems. How's everything in your life?"



"Perfect."



"Liar."



"Haley, you don't need to be worrying about my problems," Brooke replied, drying the mugs with a dishtowel.



"Brooke, I'm you're friend. You get to bother me with your problems; it's part of the package," Haley said, quoting Brooke with a smirk.



"Cute."



"Hey, I'm serious. Besides, maybe it'll help me get my mind off everything."



"Alright," Brooke sighed, tossing the towel. She turned to face Haley, leaning against the counter. "You asked for it."



Haley nodded with a smile.



"So, my first true love is in love with my best friend, and I have to pretend to be happy for them. It's not like I want him back, it's just--he's my first love, and that'll always mean something, you know?"



Haley nodded.



"And then of course, nearly our entire class saw my own little version of One Night in Paris. Chase dumped me because, well, he pretty much thinks I'm a whore. Peyton nearly got killed by some psycho, and all I could think about was me and my guilty conscience for holding a hypocritical grudge. And then Rachel got expelled and had to move for something that she didn't even do, so when her parents return I'm going to be homeless, for like the third or fourth time in two years. It's like, how are these the best years of my life again?" Brooke asked.



Haley's face fell, "What?"



Brooke's eyes widened in realization of what she had just said, "Nothing."



"No, what do you mean Rachel got expelled for something that she didn't do?"



"Hales I can't--" Brooke said, shaking her head.



"Brooke, tell me," Haley all but demanded.



"It was me."



"What was you?" Haley asked, dreading the answer, hoping beyond all hope that she was wrong.



"I stole the test. I was the one failing calculus, not Rachel. She just took the wrap for me--"



But Haley put up her hands to stop her and slowly backed out the kitchen, shaking her head.



"Haley, you have to understand. I needed that A to graduate and in order to keep my clothing contract," Brooke tried to explain.



"And I needed that job to pay for hospital bills, and for a wedding, and a honeymoon that I didn't even get to go on," Haley replied. Her voice was soft, which scared Brooke more than anything else.



"I know and--"



"No!" Haley exclaimed, taking a step towards Brooke, her anger finally getting the better of her. "I needed that job to keep my marriage, Brooke! Damn it, I trusted you!"



"I know, and you have no idea how sorry I am," Brooke replied, taking a step back.



"Sorry? Sorry? In order to be sorry, you have to care Brooke," she replied. Her eyes were burning with such a fire that Brooke couldn't look away, despite the fact that she felt her heart break at the words.



"I do care Haley. You mean the world to me," she countered.



"Then why didn't you come to me for help? I would have tutored you Brooke, you know that."



"I couldn't Haley."



"Yes you could have. I would have done anything for you because that's what friends do Brooke. They help each other out, remember?" Haley was practically shaking with rage.



"I didn't want you to think I was dumb or anything," Brooke replied lamely.



Haley nodded with a smirk, "Of course! I should have known. Brooke Davis's pride and reputation always come before anything else." She was now inches away from her, her eyes blazing into Brooke's.



"But tell me Brooke, was it really that you didn't want me to think you were dumb? Or was it that, you just didn't want the school to know that I was tutoring you?"



Brooke took a step forward, this time causing Haley to step back against the island. She was growing tired of this bashing. She had screwed up, and she knew it, but this was getting ridiculous.



"That's bull shit and you know it," Brooke replied fiercely. "We were roommates for 3 freaking months Haley. Why would I be ashamed of you tutoring me?"



"Roommates, but not friends. A friend would never do this to someone they cared about," Haley said, not backing down all though she was cornered. Her heart was racing, and she felt as if her veins were on fire.



"Enough!" Brooke replied. "What do you want me to do? I’ve told you the truth. I've apologized. I've done everything. What do you want me to do?" There was something about the way Haley was looking at her that she couldn't help but smile. The spark was back inside of the smaller girl, and Brooke had been the one to put it there.



"What the hell is so funny?!" Haley asked only growing more enraged. She fought to keep her eyes off of Brooke's smile, knowing that if she saw those dimples, she would lose the courage to say what she needed to say.



"Seriously Hales, if you stop yelling at me for like two seconds, then you can see how retarded all of this is!" Brooke replied, waving her arms to try and get her point across.



"Retarded? Brooke, that job meant everything to me. If you really knew me, you'd know that--" Haley began on another rampage, but her words fell on deaf ears.



Brooke wasn't sure what came over her. She just wanted Haley to shut up so she could apologize, and the way Haley's chest was rising and falling due to her heavy breathing, and the way her eyes were full of life and love and hate, and the way her lips seemed so inviting only made what she did next, make more since to her.



Brooke took a quick step forward, taking Haley's face in her hands, and pressed her lips firmly against the smaller girl's, shutting her up in mid-sentence.



Haley froze. She had no clue what was going on. One minute, they were standing there, and the next, Brooke's lips were on hers. It was a firm, almost lip bruising kiss, yet the softness of Brooke's lips was undeniable. Haley closed her eyes as she felt her heart race even faster than it was already. She felt as if her skin was on fire and she didn't want it to stop. She thanked God that she was against the counter because if she weren’t, she was sure she would have melted to the floor.



Brooke pulled away just as quickly as she had stepped forward. She continued to hold Haley's face in her hands and looked down at her, smiling at the look on the girl's face and the fact that her eyes were still closed.



"Are you finished now?"



Haley didn't trust her voice just yet, so she merely nodded.