Title: Can It Be?

Summary: A search through Lucas' materials for his newest book causes Brooke to find out more than she's supposed to know.

Couples: Brooke/Lucas

Rated: K+

You knock on the door to Lucas' house. You're supposed to be reading the first draft of his third book, and you can't help but think that Nicholas' story of true love and loss sounds vaguely familiar. Lucas answers, looking tired. He has purple bags under his eyes.

"Hi, Brooke," he greets, wiping his eyes to see you. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I had to come." You hear yourself say. No, that's not what you were supposed to say. You planned this, Brooke, remember? "I mean, I just finished the book."

"The book?" Lucas asks confusedly. "Oh, the book!" He knocks himself on the head. You giggle quietly.

"Yeah, I just finished it and wanted to talk about it." You reply.

"Oh, sure. Come in." Lucas steps out of your way as the click-click of your heels on the wood fills both of your ears. You slip them off, shrinking two inches in height. Lucas smiles at you. You feel yourself smiling back. "Let's go upstairs." He says. Lucas puts his arm around your back and leads you upstairs. When you two reach his room, he quietly shuts the door as if not to wake someone.

"Is anyone else here?" You blurt. Brooke Davis, we went over this...

"Yes, actually," Your breathing pauses. You will him not to say who you think he's going to say. "I promised my mom I'd watch Lily for the next couple days. She's in New Zealand but didn't want to bring the little one along." You breathe a sigh of relief. "So about the book?"

"It was fantastic." You say enthusiastically. "All of the situations felt so real."

"That's because they are." Lucas says, seeming far away from the real world. You look at him, your left eyebrow raised slightly. Lucas looks at you and chuckles. "You look so cute when you do that." He mutters. You blush. Did Lucas Scott just say you look cute?

"What do you mean, because they are?" You're intrigued.

"They're all taken from real-life events, real people." He answers. Now you want to know more.

"All of us?" You ask, meaning Lucas, yourself, Peyton, Nathan, Haley, Skillz, Mouth, Dan, Deb, and Karen.

"Yes." Lucas answers, knowing what you meant.

"Who is based on whom?" You ask, referring to the computer screen in front of Lucas. The first page is up on the document program. You scan the page for a name, any name. Your hazel doe eyes land on the name of the main character. "Are you Nicholas Setter?"

"That's me." He confirms. You look for another name.

"Hannah Davidson and Tyler Setter?" You ask. Then it clicks in your brain. "Ah, Haley and Nathan." You reply to your own question.

"Right." Lucas grins.

"And then there's Rebecca Taylor and Isabelle Keene." You're still confused as to who those are.

"You and Peyton." Lucas replies. "I thought it would be obvious." Now you just feel stupid.

"Oh, right, of course. Who is who?"

"Just think of the names." Lucas tells you. You focus on Isabelle. Isabelle was a beautiful, misunderstood woman whose dreams had all come true but she was so unhappy. Then again, you think, so was Rebecca. Everyone in the story called Isabelle 'Ellie'. No, you think, that doesn't make a difference. All you know is that Nicholas loves Rebecca with all of his heart and will never give up on her. Your cell phone rings, interrupting your fantasy of you being Rebecca.

"Hello?" You flip it open, giving Lucas an apologetic face. It's Peyton on the other line saying to come home soon. You tell her that you're at Lucas' and of course, she asks you why you are at her ex-boyfriend's house. You sigh and tell her you'll be home within the hour. You hang up before Peyton can say anything else.

"Peyton again?" Lucas asks. You nod with a sigh.

"The break-up was hard on her," you're referring to the moment when Lucas told Peyton that he couldn't be with her anymore. Peyton had asked why, and he replied that he just didn't love her any more. He loved someone else. You don't dare tell anyone, but ever since Peyton told you that, you dream that the someone is you.

You tell Lucas that you should probably go, and that you'll be back tomorrow or maybe later. He suggests discussing the manuscript over dinner tomorrow night. You tell him to call you. As you turn around a smile cracks on your lips.

You go to leave the room and walk downstairs, careful not to wake Lily. On the front table in the pocket of Lucas' writing journal, you see a Post-it that's about to flutter on to the floor. You secure it firmly into the pocket and squirm a bit. If he's letting me read the manuscript, you muse, he'll let me read his writer's notes, right? You tell yourself it's okay and take the yellow note out. In Lucas' messy handwriting, it reads:

Nicholas Setter = Lucas Scott

Jackson Casey = Skills Taylor

Richard Blume = Mouth McFadden

Paul Setter = Dan Scott

Amy Setter = Deb Scott

Diana Rudd = Karen Roe

Hannah Davidson Setter = Haley James Scott

Tyler Setter = Nathan Scott

Isabelle Keene = Peyton Sawyer

Rebecca Taylor = Brooke Davis

You quickly tuck the note back into the journal. You're Rebecca. Rebecca is based on you. Nicholas loves Rebecca. So does that mean...?

No.

It can't be.

Does it?