Brooke gave Alex's hand a return squeeze and a soft smile, glad at least someone seemed to notice her.  She gave him a slight nod, the two of them being close enough to interpret each other's looks without having to say anything, if it was necessary, and hoped he would still feel like talking later.<br/><br/>Just as Ashley seemed to be closer to Jake, Brooke found she and Alex had always seemed to get along, and a few of his bloody noses had been gotten on account of her, protecting her from the bullies at school when they were younger, even though he was two classes behind her.  She'd always looked up to him for that, and in return she was the one he most often came to if he had something he needed to talk about, and just needed someone to listen, and not try to fix the problem for him.<br/><br/>She smiled to herself as he quickly put in his agreement with Dad, although she wondered if he was doing it for her, to make her feel better, or if he truly felt that way.  Now wasn't the time to find out though, and so she put the complicated jumble of feelings from her mind for the moment, not wanting to let Mike's antics spoil the fun, wanting to have a nice time with the family and get to know Kayla better too, while she was at it.<br/><br/>OOC:  Hope you don't mind the bit of ad lib with how things are between Brooke and Alex, and I can always edit, if needed.  I didn't even know buffoonery was a word, so I guess I learn something new every once in a while!  ^_^