Lucas Scott was four years old when he first saw Brooke Davis. He was holding his mom's hand as they walked through the park. She was wearing a pink skirt and red t-shirt, and Lucas knew from that moment when she smiled at him, nothing would ever make his little heart jump like it did that day.
"Momma, are angels real?" He asked as they sat down on their regular park bench. Intrigued, Karen straightened up. Silently analyzing her child's face before responding to his unusual question, he was prone to inquiring about in depth material, but for a while nothing had come up.
"If you want them to be."She replied calmly. He nodded but didn't seem satisfied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, Hales told me that angels are beautiful." He replied jumping off the bench. Karen chuckled and stood up.
"Well," his mother said as they continued their walk, "did you see something beautiful?"
He nodded. "Not an angel but, she smiled at me."
They were in the 3rd grade now, and as of that moment, they were learning fractions. Lucas had been trying to get Haley's attention, but she'd been too focused on learning the material. So he opted on leaning back and analyzing his class.
His half-brother Nathan was in his class too, they didn't talk, except on the court when they passed one another the ball. They were a good team, he'd have to admit.
Behind his brother was Tim, the class clown. He was funny, but Haley hated him. She said she wondered how he got to the third grade in the first place.
And behind Tim, was the new girl. Peyton Sawyer, she had curly blond hair and warm brown eyes. She was cute, Haley often joked that they were meant to be, he just rolled his eyes.
And behind Peyton was Brooke. Her best friend and Lucas's long time conundrum, he never understood her, she wouldn't do her homework but would do extremely well on tests. He'd know, Haley helped the teacher mark tests sometimes.
"Choose your partners for this assignment. I want you all to take this sheet, and with the help of your partner match each fraction to the assigned cut out I will hand you later." His teacher's voice broke into his thoughts.
He motioned to Haley, but saw that Mouth had already chosen her as a partner. She mouthed a sorry, but he just smiled in return.
He looked around and saw that Brooke was staring at him. He gave a quick glance at Peyton, seeing as though it was almost compulsory that the girls be partners, but it seemed as if they had a mutual understanding where they both knew, neither of them would do the actual work however instead, they would talk the whole time. He was about to mouth "partners" however, Nathan got to her first, and as she took his hand he glanced at Lucas, shrugging. He gave the faintest of nods. He turned around once more and saw that Peyton Sawyer didn't have a partner; he walked up to her and held her hand in affirmation.
It felt nice, he guessed.
"The bottle landed on you Lucas. You have to go in that closet and wait for the next girl that the bottle points too. Then you've got seven minutes in heaven." Tim winked. The others either rolled their eyes or gulped.
Lucas was neither. It was Tim's 12th birthday and everyone was invited, he said that it was going to be the party of the year. However, they were only in the 6th grade, they had little knowledge of what was yet to come. He went inside the closet, and waited for the next person to come. He couldn't explain why he wasn't nervous, this was his first kiss, but he simply had no expression to back it up.
Suddenly the door opened and entered Brooke Davis. The nerves began like wildfire, he smiled meekly at her and she gave a small one back.
"So, you're my kissing partner, huh?" She said as an ice breaker. He chuckled at her attempt to lighten the situation; they hadn't had much of a moment since the 3rd grade where they almost became partners.
He finally took notice of her, she was nervous too. "Are you scared?"
She shook her head so lightly if he blinked he would've missed her confirmation. "Me too. Is it your first?"
"No. You?"
"No."
"Look, if you don't want too then..." He started but she cut him off by planting her lips on his cheek.
"It's not that, it's just, you like Peyton. And don't let her know but she likes you too. So I can't do that to her. But it is 7 minutes so," she gave him a peck on his lips. A breezy kiss. "No one can ever say Brooke Davis doesn't hold her end of the bargain."
He sat there, absorbing what she said. Half of what she said didn't even register to him, she looked so beautiful and when her lips touched his skin, he felt the most wondrous surge of energy flow through him. But wait, when did he ever like Peyton? Peyton liked him? She'd never given any hints, she was cool to talk too but, nothing flirty was said, ever.
Brooke snapped her fingers and said, "7 minutes are up. You were good , I approve." She giggled. "Just between you and me, smile a bit more. Doesn't hurt." She winked and went out the door.
From that moment on, he agreed.
Peyton was cute for sure. And nice.
Maybe he did like her, he guessed.
"Chug, chug, chug! Yeah! Go Tim!" Half the basketball team cheered. 16 year olds Nathan and Lucas looked back at the scene and chuckled, their friend always did enjoy the limelight.
"So man, you see the game?" Lucas asked, him and Nathan had gotten over their differences with the help of Haley, who was now dating Nathan. Also Peyton, who was now dating Lucas.
"No talking about the game!" Haley piped in; the girls were sitting by their respectable partners and had made them promise no talk of basketball would be made tonight.
"Hales, you've got to check this band out. They're so awesome!" Peyton exclaimed. As their chatter went on, Lucas looked around the room. His eyes caught a fiery brunette who was dominating the dance floor. He knew he should look away but, the way her hips moved. Almost as if they were beckoning him to come join her, the sweat glistening down her neck. The same neck he wanted to mark every night in his dreams.
She was Peyton's best friend, he shouldn't be thinking of her like that, but yet he was.
"Lucas?" Peyton's voice interrupted his thoughts. "You okay?"
"Yeah." He smiled and kissed her temple.
Peyton was a far better dancer, he guessed.
"Dude, you're getting married at 20. I can't believe it!" Nathan chuckled at his brother.
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up. You ready?" The brunette asked. Lucas nodded, it was Nathan and Haley's wedding. Finally.
They stood in their respectable places and waited for Haley's arrival. Peyton arrived first, she was the first bridesmaid. Lucas smiled at his girlfriend of four years, she looked wonderful.
Then arrived Brooke, her and Haley had gotten closer as well, in fact Haley had asked Brooke to be a bridesmaid first. And as the brunette walked down the aisle in that red dress, Lucas couldn't help but think she looked absolutely beautiful.
She stood beside Peyton and the girls shared a knowing grin. Haley arrived soon after, and the ceremony began.
As they were making their vows, Lucas thought of his own wedding. His bride coming down the aisle and standing in front of him, but as he lifted her veil, he saw Brooke's face. And that's when his 20 years of suppression hit him.
He was in love with Brooke.
And he was sure of it.
He waited for her at the airport, his foot tapping nervously. He had called her over an hour ago and she still hadn't arrived.
"Waiting for me?" He heard a voice and turned around, letting out a deep sigh.
"Yeah, what took you so long to come?" He asked.
"Better question is Broody, what took you so long to call? I've waited a good 24 years." She smirked. And that's when he knew, Brooke Davis was in love with him.
He leaned in towards her, his voice only above a whisper in her ear, "Game on Brooke Davis."