Okay, well here is my next story. I have been thinking about doing a story with Brooke and Nathan.I hope I can do those two justice.lol I am still working on Secrets Kept and will continue to UD that one. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything OTH related.

Rating: PG -13, but may go up. I'll let you know when.

Summary: Set after S2. Brooke has to go to California for the summer. Nathan goes to High Fliers in California for the summer. The two meet on the plane and start a friendship. Will anything more happen with the two? What about Lucas and Haley?

What you need to know: Lucas never knew anything about the annulment papers. He never brought them home. He and Nathan still don't get along though. I think that's it. Everything else will be explained.

Chapter One

Chance Encounter

Brooke boarded the plane and quickly found her seat. It had taken everything in her to stop herself from turning the cab around and going to tell Lucas she wanted to be with him too. She wanted to do that so bad, but still, she told herself she needed time and space. She may have forgiven Lucas for what he did to her, but she hadn't forgotten. She could never forget a pain like that. So while she may want to be with him she decided she wanted her heart intact more. This time she was going to be cautious. No more leaping in without thinking. She was smarter than that now. There was no way she could go through being hurt like that again. If Lucas was sincere and really meant everything he said then he'd wait for her. He'd wait for her until she was able to fully be with him and trust him again. So she pulled herself together in the cab, wiped her eyes, and continued on her way to the airport. This was what she needed to do for herself. Right now she was all that mattered.

Brooke sat on her isle seat and wiped away a single tear that spilled out. There would be no more crying. She was about to spend the summer in freaking California. People would kill for vacations like this. There was no time to be sad.

She said a quick hello to the person sitting next to her before leaning back and closing her eyes. She quickly opened them when she heard someone call out her name.

"Brooke? Is that you?"asked Nathan.

Brooke put on her famous Brooke Davis smile."It sure is handsome. What are you doing on my plane to California?"

"Yes, because this is your plane."he laughed."I'm going to High Fliers this summer. It's held in L.A."

"Well lucky you. You get to continue to be in the same city as me."

Nathan rolled his eyes."Yeah, I guess I am."he was pushed aside by a angry woman who was trying to get to her seat, but he was in her way. He gave the lady an ugly look before turning back to Brooke."I guess I should go find my seat."

Brooke nodded.

"Excuse me young man, what seat do you have?"asked the elderly lady sitting next to Brooke.

Nathan looked at her for a second wondering why she wanted to know, but looked down at his ticket anyways."Uh, 23A. Why?"

"Well this young lady came on here looking rather down, but the second she saw you she perked right up. I could take your seat if you want to sit with your friend."

Nathan looked to Brooke who nodded.

"Yeah, okay. Thank you."

Brooke stood up as the woman grabbed her carry on bag. Nathan helped her to her new seat. When he got back he saw that Brooke had switched for the window seat.

"Hey, that's my seat."

"No, actually your seat is 23A, just like your jersey number. How cool is that? Did you specifically ask for that seat?"

Nathan rolled his eyes."No, I didn't. It was just a coincidence."

"Sure it was."laughed Brooke.

"Whatever. So how weird is it that we are both going to spend the summer in California and we just happen to have gotten the same flight too?"he asked shaking his head.

"Very weird. That or fate."

"What do you mean fate?"

"Well just that god or whoever decides our fate didn't want us to be alone and miserable this summer. They decided to throw us a bone. Now beggars can't be choosers so they stuck us together."

Nathan laughed again. It had been a long time since he laughed this much. Leave it to Brooke Davis to be the one to pull him out of his slump."If you say so Brooke."

The announcement was made to buckle your seat belts and soon they were in the air.

Brooke loved flying, but she hated taking off. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it, which she found to be rather easy this time because the second she closed her eyes her mind involuntarily replayed the scene with Lucas in her head. He kissed her. That was the last thing she expected him to do. He then told her everything she wanted to hear the first time they were together, before he cheated on her with her best friend. She found herself feeling all the same things he was and wanted so bad to tell him, but then she pictured him kissing Peyton and she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to be honest and open up her heart to him again. She got scared. Scared that he would hurt her like that again, she was feeling overwhelmed and needed to get out of there so she did. She left him standing there without an answer.

Once again Brooke wiped a tear away. She didn't want to cry, but this was so hard. Leaving Tree Hill and Lucas, the only guy she could see herself loving, was hard.

Nathan looked over when Brooke continued to stay quiet. It wasn't like her to keep her mouth shut for this long. He saw her close her eyes as they took off. He continued to look at her and saw that she soon began to tear up. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do when she got like this. He'd never been around her like this."Hey Brooke, are you okay?"he nudged her shoulder.

Brooke opened her eyes and wiped away another tear."Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. All the stuff I'm leaving behind."

"You mean Lucas?"

Brooke looked up at him."How did you know I was thinking about him?"

"Well I recognize that look and you and Lucas have been spending a lot of time together lately. I just assumed you two started things up again."

Brooke shook her head."We didn't. We're just friends."Nathan nodded."But right before I left he kissed me and told me he wanted to be with me."said Brooke a little surprised she'd shared that with him.

"What did you say?"he asked. For some reason he found himself curious. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't stand Lucas and wanted him to be alone like he was. Or maybe it was because he didn't think he deserved another chance with Brooke. Cheaters like him and Haley deserved to be alone. It would serve them right for hurting the people that loved them.

"I didn't say anything. I just left him there. I honestly didn't know what else to do. I didn't know what to say to him."

Nathan nodded."Do you want to talk about this? I mean I know we've never really been close or anything, but I'm here for you and besides we do have this long flight to kill."

Brooke shook her head and Nathan turned away, but Brooke quickly began to rant, indicating she indeed wanted to talk about it."Who does he think he is? He tells me he wants to be with me and will never hurt me that way again. He says he would never let me go this time. That stuff is all well and good, but kinda late if you ask me. I mean I wanted to hear all that stuff from him when we were together, but no, he was too busy saying all that stuff to my best friend behind my back. How messed up is that? I mean it's like he just expected me to jump into his arms and say okay because he decided he wanted me again or finally, which ever it is. Like I'm just supposed to forget everything that happened and trust him again. I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Things don't work like that in the real world."she finally stopped and took a breath.

Nathan continued to look at her and nodded in agreement."I understand everything you just said. If I were you I wouldn't give him another chance. He doesn't deserve you Brooke. You're too good for him. If he hurt you before, he could do it again. Although I can't really stand the guy right now, so I might be a little bias.

Brooke laughed."Maybe, but I think you're right. I can't really see myself trusting him enough to be with him, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to."

"I know. I never told anyone this before, but I hated Haley for the longest time after she left, but at the same time all I wanted was for her to come back home. I knew that if she did I wouldn't be able to trust her, but I still wanted her back. Now that we are no longer married, I really just want her to stay away. I know it's over and having her back would be too hard. So maybe being gone this summer is a good thing. The distance from Lucas will be good. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it will get better Brooke."

Brooke stared at him."When did you get so insightful? I mean I can relate to everything you just said."Nathan shrugged. Brooke's mouth dropped."Oh my god, wait...Did you just say you and Haley are no longer married?"he nodded."But how? When?"

"She filed for an annulment a couple of weeks ago. I just got the papers in the mail one day signed and dated by her. I took it as a sure fire sign we were over and she was officially a skank who wanted Chris. Dan knows some people and they rushed the paperwork. As of now I am officially a single man."

"Wait, are you sure Haley signed those papers? That just doesn't sound like her."

"Yeah, it was her signature Brooke. She doesn't want to be with me anymore and I no longer want to be with her."

Brooke sat there in silence. Haley hadn't said anything to her or Lucas when they went to see her, but maybe that was because she didn't see it as any of their business, which it wasn't. Haley sure had changed."I'm sorry Nate."she said as she placed her hand over his.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for you too. It sucks that we both got sucked in by their fake good hearts. Who would have thought that the two of us would be the faithful people in our relationships?"

Brooke nodded."I know didn't think it of you, but me yeah."she laughed.

"Thanks."he said sarcastically.

"You know maybe we are better off by ourselves."she said not really sure if she believed that.

"I know I am."

The rest of the plane trip's conversation was light. They both decided not to talk about the two best friends anymore. Before they knew it they were landing in California.

Brooke began to get nervous about being there. While she was on the plane she was okay. It wasn't real, but now there was no turning back. Nathan wouldn't be there to distract her like he had on the plane. It was all sinking in now. She wasn't in Tree Hill anymore. She was going to be all alone here in California. She had no friends here other than Nathan, but she was sure High Fliers was going to keep him busy and she of course still had no parents. They'd called her earlier and told her they were sorry, but couldn't meet her at the airport because of a very important business meeting that came up in Hong Kong.

Nathan looked at Brook as they waited for their luggage."Hey, are you okay?"

Brooke offered him a fake smile."Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just all real now. I'm in California alone. What am I going to do here?"

"Hey I'm alone here too. At least you have your own house to stay in. You may not know anybody here, but at least you have the comfort of your own home to hide out in. I on the other hand have to share a room with someone I don't even know. I'd definitely say you had it better between the two of us."

"Hey if you want you could stay with me in my house that way we could be equals."she laughed.

"Don't laugh, if my roommate turns out to be an ass I might take you up on that offer."

"It was a joke."

"Well don't joke."he laughed. He pulled his luggage from the terminal and waited for Brooke's to do the same."I should be going. There should be a car waiting for me courtesy of High Fliers."

"Yeah, me too. My car should be here too, courtesy of my parents who don't give a crap that I'm here they left anyways."she smiled.

Nathan knew she didn't really mean it as a joke, that she was serious, but wanted to keep that hidden, so he played along and let out a small laugh."Well since we're both here alone can I call you to hang out sometime?"

Brooke smiled. She was hoping he'd want that. She really didn't want to be alone here."You better Superstar."

Nathan smiled."Okay well, I'll see you around Brooke."

She nodded."Bye."she headed to where her parents said the car would be, the car that would lead her to the the worst summer of her life.

Well there you go, the first chapter. I hope you liked it. I know not much happened, but of course it was all being set up. Let me know what you think. Read and review. Thanks.

Coming Up:

Lucas and Peyton make an appearance.

Nathan calls Brooke.

Nathan makes a new friend.