Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly.

It had hurt a lot letting Lucas go. But she only did it because deep down she knew, the two most important people in her life, the two broody blondes were meant to be together.

It had hurt even more when she found out he was with Lindsey. If she had known that he and Peyton wouldn't work out, she never would have let him go. The only reason she had let him go in the first place was because she knew Peyton needed him so much more than she did. Brooke was used to being alone. And Peyton wasn't. She'd always had someone to lean on and Brooke worried about what might happen to her best friend if one day there was no one. So she gave Lucas up. She had kept loving him, as hard as she tried not to. But it was impossible not to love Lucas Scott.

The first time Brooke had realised that maybe Peyton and Lucas were meant to be was when she had tried combining her and Lucas's names. Brooke Scott. It didn't sound as natural as Peyton Scott did. The next time she had realised it was when she saw Lucas race into the school after Nathan. As hard as she tried to convince herself that he was trying to save Nathan and Haley she knew he was going in there to save Peyton. And then when Peyton had told her that she still had feelings for Lucas she had realised that she could have been selfish and stood in there way. And she had tried to do that. It lasted about a day. She realised that the longer she held onto Lucas and what would never be the more it would hurt in the end.

But then high school ended and Brooke didn't have to carry that enormous weight around with her. She began to forget how much it had hurt to lose Lucas. At least until he showed up in New York and kissed her, albeit drunkenly. You never forgot what it was like to be kissed by Lucas Scott. That kiss had brought all the pain back. And this time it wouldn't fade away. She couldn't bury it; she couldn't hide from it because this time Brooke Davis really might have had a shot with Lucas Scott.

But if she had learned anything in high school it was that Brooke Davis was not a selfish person. She may have been one when high school began but Lucas Scott had changed all that. He had changed Brooke Davis. And looking back, every pivotal moment in Brooke Davis' life had been because of Lucas Scott. Every time she and Peyton had fought it had been because of Lucas, her clothing line had been started because of Lucas, and her heart had been broken because of Lucas.

So finding out that all her sacrifice and heart break had been pointless had hurt Brooke even more than it had the first time around. Because only now she was finding out she could have had something great with Lucas. If she had never given him up, where would they be now? Together or apart? Or would his superhero complex, his desire to save Peyton, have won out in the end? She'd never know. It would always be her biggest regret.

Because every attempt at dating since Lucas had ended… badly. For Brooke at least. She had been left heartbroken, crushed that she couldn't find someone that made her feel the way Lucas did. Gave her butterflies like Lucas did. Loved her like Lucas had.

Brooke Davis had never been the shy best friend, the girl who just blended in with the crowd. She'd been the girl that every guy wanted, that every girl was jealous of. But to Lucas she might as well have been the shy best friend. Because ever since she gave him up that final time in high school he'd never seen her in a romantic light. Except for that one drunken night in New York City.

And Brooke Davis' life was certainly not a movie. So there would never be some midlife crisis, some miraculous turn of events that changed the way Lucas felt about her. Lucas Scott was the only guy for Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer was the girl for him. It was a tragedy worthy of a cheesy romance novel yet it was Brooke's life. And now that she knew that Lucas Scott was the only guy for her she could finally begin to let him go. Because Brooke Davis wasn't a selfish person.

Alright please, please review!!! It makes me really happy and maybe it will give me the inspiration I need to write the new fic I've been slowly planning out in my head. It's probably gonna be a Season 5 AU thing. Naley definitely but I don't know if it will have Brucas or the disaster that was Lucas/Lindsey/Peyton. Any ideas or feed back would be appreciated!!