Author's Note: So I know I shouldn't be starting any new stories, this one brings the total to seven open stories at the moment, but I couldn't get this thought out of my head and two-three stories I'm working on will be finishing up soon so I decided to just bite the bullet and post this story and get your thoughts on whether I should continue it or not.

Summary: AU Story - Set during senior year of college, Lucas and Brooke are best friends (never dated). Lucas always thought the quickest way to get Brooke out of his life would be to sleep with her. When Brooke is selected for a semester in Paris, Lucas's life falls apart while she's gone and he realizes that he's in love with her. Desperate to tell her his true feelings he hatches a plan to take Brooke out on the town when she gets home, only to be thwarted when Brooke returns home and she's not alone. Lucas's world closes in around him when Brooke tells him they're planning an end of the summer wedding before Brooke will relocate to California, where her soon to be husband is stationed. Will Brooke marry a relative stranger or will Lucas finally tell her how he feels about her once and for all?

Author's Note Part Two: So I have a wicked outline for this story… There are two possible endgames; it will either be bruilian or brucas… I'm going to leave it up to you guys to decide. :-) So each chapter is going to have a glimpse into the present (Brooke's wedding weekend) then the rest of the chapter will be the events leading up to it... Hope that all makes sense.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Tree Hill related, if I did the show would have gone a completely different direction.

Take Me to Church

Chapter 1:

*48 Hours Before The Wedding*

"You can't marry him Brooke," Lucas said taking her hands in his, "You love me, you have always loved me." He reached up and cupped her cheek, "Please pretty girl, you can't go through with this, I love you." Lucas choked back a few tears, "I love you, please."

Brooke shook out of his grasp, "I cannot believe you are doing this right now." Brooke adjusted the Bride tiara situated on her head. "You couldn't have told me you loved me six months ago? Six weeks ago? Hell… Six days ago?" Brooke crosses the room and opens the door, "I think you should go…" She motioned, "Now."

Lucas saw the look on her face and nodded, "I'm sorry Brooke I just thought you needed to hear how I felt. I know I would regret not telling you the truth." He stopped in the doorway and shook his head, "You know what, I'm not really sorry, you're making a huge mistake if you go through with this wedding. He doesn't love you as much as I love you, he can't." He leaned in, kissed her cheek and walked away.

*Six Months Ago*

"So where are you going again?" Lucas asked as he cut up a pile of apples and arranged them on the cheese plate in front of him.

Brooke looked up from her sketchbook, "Paris, Parsons has a tandem program with the Paris Fashion Institute. I still cannot believe I got in." Brooke grabbed the bottle of wine and carefully removed the cork. "I get to go to all the spring fashion shows and I'll be able to shows my sketches to some top designers. I'm going to come home with a job offer Luke, an intern offer at the very least. The adviser that put me up for the spot thinks this will be a great springboard for my career as a designer."

He sat the plate down on the table and went to the cupboard and pulled out two wine goblets, "But what am I going to do with myself while you're in Paris eating croissant and sipping espresso under the Eiffel Tower? You know living it up at all the couture shows, wearing berets and shit."

Brooke stood up and poured the Cabernet she had just opened and glared at Lucas's sad puppy face, "Please, so you might have to actually DATE the girls you sleep with." She put her hand on his, "I'm so sad for you."

"Hey, that hurts." Lucas patted his chest, "Right here. I go out with every girl I sleep with."

Brooke smelled the rich aroma of the wine and plopped a cube of cheese in her mouth, "Again, please. Buying them drinks at the bar you pick them up in is hardly a date."

Lucas starred into Brooke's hazel eyes, "I don't want to talk about them anymore, I'm going to miss you. Are you sure you need to go?"

"Yes!" She said in an exaggerated tone, "What if I told you that you couldn't play basketball anymore because the camp they send you to is too far away." She sipped her wine, "I miss you when you're gone too Luke, I manage. It's only for a semester, what is going to change in four months?"

"You're going to miss my final season of basketball with the Violets." Lucas pouted, "What if we do well in the NCAA playoffs this year? What if we play against Nathan and the Blue Devils?"

Brooke cackled and covered her mouth to hide her face, "Please Luke the pussy Violets aren't going anywhere near the Duke Blue Devils. Especially not with Nathan as the captain." She bit into an apple wedge, "No offense."

Lucas put his hands up, "None taken." Lucas took out his phone, "I'm just going to let Haley know you want to bang her husband."

"Yeah, because that's exactly what I said." Brooke rolled her eyes.

Lucas liked when she smiled, the dimple on the left of her chin appeared every time she laughed. "Well if I can't talk you out of going to Paris, and I can't guilt you into staying here because of basketball what else could I possibly say?"

Brooke thought about a good answer for a few minutes, "I've got it," She hopped up onto the table and laid flat, "I suppose you could tell me that you love me," She over batted her eyelashes and continued, "And you're life is empty without me." She sighed and placed her hand on her face, "And tell me that I'm the only one for you."

Lucas took a big gulp of wine, "When did we decide that we were ritzy enough for wine and cheese?" He deliberately ignored her theatrics, "I'm going to order a pizza are you staying for dinner? I have beer."

Brooke sat up and smiled, "I need to go work on my sketches. My final collection is due before I leave at the end of the week." Brooke hugged him and kissed his cheek, "I love you, breakfast tomorrow?"

Lucas nodded, "Sounds good. I'll pick you up in the morning."

Brooke unlocked the door, "Rach?"

"In the kitchen," Rachel called out.

Brooke headed to their small kitchen, when she saw the marinara sauce splattered all over the floor she groaned, "What the hell is all this Rach?"

"I was making dinner and the pan was hot..." Rachel trailed off and motioned her hands in an exploding motion.

Brooke set down her purse and went to grab the mop, "Why are we staring at it exactly?"

"Because I needed to grab a new battery pack for my camera," Peyton called out from the hallway. "Hey B."

"Hey roomie two," Brooke smiled, "When do you think you'll be done taking pictures? This is going to make it impossible for me work on my on my final."

Peyton focused her lens, "I'm almost done," Peyton started snapping away at the marinara splatters, "I'm thinking of calling it suburban wreckage." She looked at Rachel, "I'm ready for you to go change now."

"Thanks Peyt," Rachel took three broad steps and she was out of the kitchen.

It was at that moment that Brooke noticed Rachel's tea length cocktail gown with patterned apron and finger waved hair. "Oh, I get it now, I guess it's lucky you were home to capture Rachel's lousy culinary skills."

"Hey!" Rachel hollered from the room at the end of the hall, "Watch it B or I'll leave these clothes on your bed."

"You better not," Brooke grabbed the mop and turned on the sink.

Peyton put her camera down, "I got it B." She took the mop from Peyton, "So how did it go with Lucas?"

"Oh you know, he whined about me missing some hypothetical showdown between him and Nathan during the NCAA finals." Brooke opened her sketchbook, "He told me he didn't want me to go."

"I called it," Rachel said from the hall, a towel wrapped around her body, "I'm glad you accepted the spot BEFORE you told him. He would have talked you out of it."

Peyton was walking back and forth as she mopped the kitchen, "I second that. You can't keep being Lucas Scott's cerebral girlfriend. He fucks anything that moves and uses you for stimulating conversation."

Brooke shrugged, "I use him too."

Rachel laughed, "He can't have his cake and eat it to." Rachel came out of her room wearing a simple t-shirt and pajama bottoms, "You're the cake B."

Peyton giggled, "No she's the too part. Because Lucas is getting the best of both worlds right now. He has Brooke, his best friend, someone who knows him better than he knows himself. He NEVER wants to ruin that so he keeps her at a safe distance and he has all his random skanks that he uses just for sex. He doesn't let them sleep over, he doesn't take them on dates, they occupy his nights and Brooke occupies his days." Peyton wrung the mop out in the sink, "So see Rach she's the too."

Brooke picked up her sketchbook and headed to her bedroom. "Well while you two debate the machinations of my personal life I'm going to go to bed. I am working on a very tight deadline, I don't have time for you guys right now."

"And you have breakfast plans with Luke," Peyton added, Brooke turned to her and narrowed her eyes, "Don't look at me like that, you two have had an upstanding breakfast date on Wednesday mornings for years." Brooke didn't respond, instead she decide to just stick her tongue out and go to her room.

Brooke jogged down the stairs and walked out onto the street, Lucas and his sun yellow vespa were waiting for her. "Hey there."

Lucas tilted his head and handed her the extra helmet that was frequently hers. "Good morning darlin. Did you get your sketches done?"

"No, close though." Brooke put on her helmet and hopped onto the back of the scooter. "I'll have time to finish them tonight, I have to go buy a set of luggage. Care to join me after breakfast?"

"You didn't finish your sketches," He pulled away from curb and shook his head, "That's it you can't go. I'm sorry, you do not pass go, you do not collect $200." Brooke pinched his side, "Ouch that's going to cost you Davis."

A few minutes later they arrived at the small coffee shop that they went to every Wednesday. Brooke got off the scooter first, "I'm driving back, I hate when you try and weave in and out of traffic like you're driving a motorcycle. It gives me motion sickness."

Lucas threw his arm around her as they headed inside, "No one drives Lucille but me, you know that." He walked towards their regular booth.

Noel, their regular waitress came over to the booth with a carafe of coffee and two mugs. "Hi guys the usual?"

"Yes," Lucas smiled.

Brooke nodded, "Can I get a small orange juice too?"

"Coming right up." Noel headed to the kitchen to put in the order.

Brooke looked at Lucas and noticed he was frowning, "What's the matter Luke?"

"This is our last Wednesday morning until you get back." Lucas started folding his place mat into an origami frog. "What am I going to do? I can't come here alone."

"I'm sure you'll manage." Brooke said, shaking her head, "So do you want to come with me to pick up a set of luggage or not?"

"I guess," Lucas huffed. "Can I take you to dinner Thursday night?"

"Nope, the girls are throwing me a going away dinner. Peyton said Jake was supposed to invite you." Brooke grabbed the creamer and poured it into her coffee mug, she quickly added the sugar, then poured in her coffee. Noel returned with her orange juice, "Thank you Noel."

"I didn't get invited. I swear, Peyton Sawyer still has it out for me after all these years. We went out for like what fifteen minutes when we were sixteen." Lucas rolled his eyes, "I should buy her a copy of the Frozen soundtrack, she really needs to Let It Go."

Brooke laughed, "I'm sure Jake just got busy. We're meeting at 8:00pm at the gastropub on the corner so Jake doesn't have to go very far for work. It's going to be a great turn out, you should come."

"I'll think about it," Lucas sulked. "So is this the last time I get to just spend time with you before I leave?"

Brooke took out her phone and checked her calendar, "Yep. So you better make it good."

So what did you all think? Should I continue it, should I scrap it?

Let me know how you're feeling and show me the love... Review, review, review!

Thanks!

Krystal