Chapter 8

Hope, Faith, Running, and Hearts

Disclaimer: I wish I owned One Tree Hill, but don't we all?

AN: Hey everyone! I'm back, and armed with a new chapter. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time, its just that I was busy with another fic, dealing with some issues and school stuff. But now I'm back, so have no fear I'm here! Okay, okay that was a cheesy line, but none-the-less, you got the message. I'll try to make this chapter as long as possible, before my brain runs out of ideas, and my hands give out from the constant typing. Anyways I'd like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter, I truly appreciated it. And now, what you've all been waiting for, the start of the long awaited eighth installment of Just Us.

The smell of the delicious coffee and food, had brought the girls out of hiding. As each one of them made their way down to the kitchen, the boys chatted animatedly, giving there respective wives and girlfriends a kiss as they came towards them. In Lucas and Brooke's case however, they simply exchanged an awkward half-smile, and joined into the heated conversation on the hottest male and female celebrity.

According to Nathan and Haley, the hottest female was none other than the beautiful Beyonce, and the male was Usher. Jake and Peyton agreed to the male, however the choice for the hottest female left them questioning Nathan and Haley's sanity.

"Are you crazy?" Peyton asked Nathan and Haley, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow at them, without waiting for an answer she carried on. "It's obvious that Beyonce is not the hottest woman in the business. Whether or not she is alive or not is the not the question at hand, the fact that she was incredibly talented and beautiful is what you should be looking at. It is obvious to me that Aaliyah is the hottest!"

"I'd have to agree with you there Peyt…" Jake conceded, smiling apologetically at Nathan and Haley. Only to receive steely glares from them. "Aaliyah was so young and talented, she could sing, dance, act, and if you ask me she could've gone places. Rest in peace, we love you."

"Whatever…I personally agree with the hottest guy…He's so cute, his abs are yummy, he sings, and dances…I think I need to lie down, just picturing that perfect body is making me slightly light-headed. The girl however in my books still remains faceless. I agree that both Beyonce and Aaliyah are and were greats though…" Brooke declared, sinking into a near-by chair, pulling a cup of steaming hot coffee towards her.

Everyone laughed at Brooke's comments towards Usher, the laughter however died abruptly at the arrival of Felix in the kitchen.

"What's everyone laughing at?" Felix asked a fake smile plastered on his face.

"Nothing," Brooke said curtly. As far as she was concerned Felix was nothing to her anymore, just a minor speed bump, along the road we call life. And that was all there was to it. As weird as it would be, she planned on sticking to her word, a few one night stands here and there, and maybe a relationship, but nothing to serious, she couldn't take all the pain and confusion that came with each one.

"Okay…" Felix replied calmly, he could feel the tension in the room right now, and he wouldn't have liked anything better than to run. But being who he was, he had no intention of running as uncomfortable as this situation was.

"Well um…when were done eating what do you say we go outside, huh Jake?" Peyton asked trying to ease the tension, while drowning her pancakes in syrup.

"Yeah, sounds great…" Jake said. Quickly finishing his breakfast and making his way upstairs. Peyton followed suit, she hastily ate her breakfast, without choking, then grabbing a cup of coffee she made her way upstairs to get ready to go outside.

"Yeah, Nate let's go outside, it's so beautiful out there." Haley told Nathan, who quickly downed his coffee and followed Haley up the stairs.

"Well isn't that nice?" Brooke said sarcastically. Her friends had just left her with Lucas and Felix who were just adding to the tension Felix had already brought into the room. This was going to be interesting.

Meanwhile, up in Peyton and Jake's room, the two were busy pulling on sweaters, and long-johns underneath their pants. As soon as they were dressed, they walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway, only to be met by Haley and Nathan who were just standing there listening to the yelling that now echoed from the kitchen.

It seemed that Felix had tried to make a pass at Brooke, and both Lucas and Brooke had started yelling at Felix, who seemed to be enjoying it from the sound of his voice.

As quietly as they could, Jake, Peyton, Nathan and Haley made their way through the front door, not wanting to disturb the three teens in the kitchen, because it seemed were about ready to snap of anyone's neck for the smallest thing.

Once they were outside they all exchanged worried glances. The guilt of leaving Brooke to deal with both Lucas and Felix was finally settling in, and their choice to go outside was now being questioned.

"Maybe…we should go back in?" Haley asked timidly, voicing what everyone else was thinking but too afraid to say.

"No Hales, we can't. Brooke, Lucas and Felix have to work past their problems with each other. I'm sure they'll all still be alive by the time we come back." Nathan reassured his worried wife, though he himself was worried about the three, he hoped that by leaving them alone for a while, they'd be able to get over their problems with each other. Though one could only hope and wish for such things to happen.

"Right…so um, let's go" Peyton added.

"Yeah let's go…" Jake and Nathan said slyly, exchanging knowing glances with one another that remained unnoticed by either one of the girls.

Seconds later, Jake and Nathan snatched up some snow with their gloved hands, and quickly formed it into a ball, before pelting it at Haley and Peyton.

"HEY!" Haley and Peyton yelled in unison, as if reading each others mind, they scooped up some snow and fired them at the two now laughing boys.

It was war now, well at least a friendly snow-ball war. Each one of them threw countless amounts of snowballs. It made them remember their childhood; it made them remember how much fun it was to be a kid with no worries.

After what seemed to be an hour, the war finally ended with Peyton and Haley tackling Jake and Nathan. That however ended with each couple locking lips for a few brief but breath-taking moments.

Helping each other up of the ground, they split up, Jake and Peyton going one way while Nathan and Haley going in the opposite direction.

"LUKE!" Brooke screamed at the top of her lungs, when she received no answer, worry overcame her being. Where did Lucas go? One minute they were screaming at each other in the kitchen, the next minute Luke was storming out of the kitchen. She distinctly remembered hearing a door slam shut, but she knew that, well at least she hoped that Lucas hadn't gone out into the now calm snowstorm alone. "LUCAS SCOTT, YOU BETTER BRING YOUR ASS DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Brooke shrieked, her face turning red from all the yelling.

"STOP YELLING ALREADY!" Felix yelled, coming into the living room, where Brooke was currently sitting on a couch. Her feet tucked under her, dressed in sweats, while her hair was pulled into a rather messy bun. But no matter how simple her attire was, she still looked angelic, as though she were made of the most fragile of materials, and the simplest, softest touch could make her shatter into a million unfixable pieces. "Now why are you screaming Lucas's name? He's probably just upstairs reading or crying like the little bitch he is." Felix told Brooke with a smug look set upon his face.

"Oh shut up Felix. You know sometimes, you should just take a minute to listen to yourself talk, and by-god you might actually realize how much of a prick you sound like." Brooke retorted bitterly.

"My, isn't someone touchy today?" Felix said dryly.

"Felix, just for one second could you drop the attitude, and the lame attempts at sarcasm?"

"Now why would I possible do that? That's like asking me to get rid of my sexy exterior and charm, which has the ladies tripping over themselves to get a 'lil bit of this." Felix said with a dazed look in his eyes, while gesturing towards his body.

"Wow, someone really has to deflate the size of your ego, because it's obviously messing with your supposedly functioning brain."

"Ouch, that one hurt right here." Felix whimpered dramatically laying a hand across his heart.

"Oh, well that's too bad." Brooke said getting up off; of the couch and walking up the stairs towards the room she shared with Lucas. She silently prayed that Lucas was in there, and much to her disappointment he wasn't. 'He probably went outside to get a bit of fresh air.' Brooke told herself.

Trying to busy herself, she neatened up the room. Putting the dirty scattered clothes in the room into a bag, while the clean clothes was put back in their respective places. That took up a mere fifteen minutes of her time, and so she grabbed the book Lucas was reading off, of the couch and settled in under the covers reading.

"So what are you thinking about?" Jake asked Peyton, who seemed to be lost in her own world.

"Oh, nothing, how about you, what are you thinking about?" Peyton asked, trying to change the subject. The truth was that she was thinking about her dad. Granted it wasn't something she necessarily needed to feel ashamed about, and she didn't mind you, she was feeling sad. She still hadn't heard a word from him. Yes, she had Jake now, and it really didn't matter if her father had gotten back to her. But the fact remained that he was still her father, and the only family she really had left. It would kill her if she lost her father physically, but it had dawned on her that she might have lost her father mentally already, and that was enough to push anyone over their limits. She wasn't sure what to do, then realization hit her, all she could do was have a little faith in this thing we call life.

"Peyton…Peyton are you okay?" Jake asked concern etched into his features.

"Oh, what, yeah I'm fine, I just kind of zoned out there a bit."

"Okay…So uh…what do you want to do?" Jake asked, trying to mask his concern, by changing the topic.

"Anything really, take a walk maybe. I dunno, it's up to you."

"A walk it is then."

And with that, the two walked around in the blistering cold, making tracks in the fresh, powdery snow, talking about anything that came to mind. Peyton forgot about her dad for a while, it seemed that all of their problems were blown away from them by the wind.

An hour or two later, frozen to the bone, cheeks flushed, they decided to head back to the cabin, and curl up in front of the fire, with steaming mugs of hot coco.

Lucas wandered around outside aimlessly. Felix had really set him off, and he had needed to cool off. Why did he let Felix push his buttons like that? It wasn't like him, well at least it wasn't like the old Lucas, who didn't get into fights with people just because they rubbed him the wrong way. He knew that he had changed a lot since he had started playing basketball, since him and Nathan had started getting along in a brotherly way. Of course they still had the occasional fight, but that had to be expected from brothers. But wasn't that normal? For people to change that is, even if the change wasn't all that great, there was still some of the old Lucas left inside him, right?

The fact that it was freezing outside in just a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a jacket started to sink in and so he decided to head back to the cabin.

She didn't know what had happened. It wasn't like her at all. Okay, maybe it was, but right now it was like she was in a trance. And the more she tried to talk herself out of it, the more she wanted it. Or did she?

One minute she was snuggled in bed reading Lucas's book, then the next minute she was walking down the stairs and into the living room where Felix lay thinking perhaps.

When he'd seen her, he didn't know what was going through her head. The features on her face, from what he could tell were all mixed. It was too hard to figure out what was wrong with her. She seemed to be under a spell of some sort.

She stood in front of him, just starring at him for a few minutes, and then she turned on her heel and walked over to the window looking out at the beautiful, picturesque sight outside was. With her back facing towards him, she had no idea he had come behind her until he had wrapped his arms around her stomach, causing her to nearly jump 50 feet into the air.

He searched her eyes when she turned around to face him, only to find them empty of all emotion. The usually glint of happiness was gone. The usual glow of warmth that radiated off, of her was gone, replaced by an odd coldness. He didn't understand what had happened to her. All he knew was that she was hurting. Looking out of the window, he finally saw how much like a winter wonderland it looked like outside. Then turning his attention back to the changed girl in his arms, he finally saw the pain that she had tried to hide was written all over her attractive features. It was as though it was engraved into her, as though she would never be able to feel cheerful again. All he wanted to do at that very moment was kiss away all of her fears, all of her pain. He just wanted to make it all go away, he wanted to, but wasn't sure whether or not he should, or even if he could. Every sensible part of him was screaming at him telling him not to take this chance, but his heart was telling him to take this chance. That if he ever wanted to let this girl know that he loved her, he had to do something, and otherwise he'd end up regretting it.

Brooke looked up at Felix with her big lifeless eyes and for a second, you could almost see a sliver of the old Brooke, except this old Brooke was miserable. She wanted to kiss him, but something inside of her told her not too. She didn't know what to do. It was like she wasn't really herself right now; she was someone else in her body. Whatever it was, she didn't like it, not one bit.

He knew what he had to do. Looking into her eyes, he leaned down ever so slowly, wrapping his arms around her petite figure, he pulled her towards him. Leaning down their lips finally met. There was nothing, no feeling, no emotion, nothing. Their tongues merely lashed at each other, in what they were fooled to believe was a real kiss. Pulling away from each other, Brooke did the only thing she could do at the moment. Run.

Felix stood there a bit longer, watching as Brooke ran up the stairs. Nothing, he'd felt absolutely nothing from that kiss. He'd expected fireworks from that kiss; he'd thought that he loved Brooke. But from what he knew, when you loved someone when you kissed them, you'd feel it. It would feel like the entire world didn't exist, you'd get lost in each other, like nothing but that special person and you mattered. That's how it was supposed to be, he knew, of course he did, he'd been in love before, and it had hurt him beyond belief. When they'd broken up, he'd felt like there was no point in living anymore. And maybe there wasn't. But then again, one day, maybe he'd fall in love again. But one day very far away, he couldn't take it anymore. His heart couldn't take it anymore.

Lucas had seen it. He'd seen them kiss, and then he'd seen Brooke run up the stairs, probably locking herself in their room. When he'd seen them kiss it was like someone had just knocked the wind out of him, ripped out his heart and run over it with a tractor many, many times.

He couldn't go back in just yet, he just couldn't.

Tears filled his eyes as he sunk down against the cabin wall. He hadn't cried in a long time, and it hurt a lot. Not crying, but the fact that the one girl he loved was in love with someone else.

Or so he thought.

AN: Okay, there you have it chapter eight. I'm not too pleased with this chapter, I honestly thought it could've been a lot better, but then again, I think that about all my pieces. I'm sorry I didn't have more Jeyton and Naley action. I just thought that I'd base this chapter a bit more on the Brooke, Lucas and Felix love triangle. So what did you think of this chapter? I'd love to hear you feedback, whether it's good or back, any criticism is welcomed with open arms. Anyways thank you very much for reading, and please review. Oh by the way, I'm really sorry for leaving you with a slight cliffy, I'm really sorry about that. Anyways I'll try to update as regularly as possible, but I really want to give each of my fic's equal attention. If you're into Gilmore Girls, please check out my other story, based on those quirky Gilmore Girls, and let me know what you thought of it, by leaving a review. But of course, Gilmore Girls may not be everyone's cup of Joe so by all means, do not feel obligated to go check it out. I would however truly appreciate it if you did. Okay I'm rambling now and by-god I think I'm going to stop sometime soon. It's just that sometimes I have no control over my brain, and well yeah, this is the result, never-ending rambling. Okay, honestly I'm going to go now, and leave you to think of ways to shut me up. Okay BYE!