Chapter One

"Attention"

"This table has taken a turn for the worst. Rock bottom and over the edge, well it's not like it hurts that much anyway. Upside down and inside out. When I leave here I'm going alone. We'll it's not like it hurts much anyway." Peyton sang the lyrics that were all too familiar to her. The Academy is. "Attention Attention! May I have all your eyes and ears to the front of the room, if only, if only for one second, will you hear what I have to say? Oh, Did I mention when I see you it stings like hell?" she looked down at a picture Jake & Jenny she had drawn across her floor. "To the fact that we could have something that'll never happen. Will you hear what I have to?"

The song meant so much to her. She had written the lyrics across her wall such a short time ago. "This balance has weighed out our hearts desire. I'm trying to make it alone. Well it's not like it hurts that much anyway. Upside down and inside out. When I leave here I'm going alone. But I'm dying, I'm dying to touch. And it's not like it hurts much anyway." Her CD player stopped. "What the," she turned around and saw Brooke standing in her doorway. "Brooke!" she smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"My parents let me come back for senior year!" she exclaimed. "I'm here to stay!"

Peyton smiled. "That's great!" the truth was it wasn't great. Peyton and Lucas had grown close over the summer. She enjoyed his company. As their friendship grew she learned more and more about Lucas's new secret. He had confessed his love for Brooke only a summer ago, and within that time he moved on.

Brooke hadn't called him all summer. She wasn't sure how she felt about what Lucas told her. She loved him. She just didn't know how to tell him. "Come here best friend!" Brooke smiled pulling her into a hug. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Brooke." She patted her on the back. "Where are you staying?"

"Lucas'" she told her. "Karen said that I could finish my senior year out there. Only I guess Lucas got his room back, so it's to the couch for my homeless ass."

"You could always stay here you know," Peyton suggested.

"I wish I could P. Sawyer but my parents talked to Karen already. Karen is on strict instruction to watch over me. Apparently I would get in too much trouble living with you. Which I guess is probably true."

Peyton nodded. "Have you seen Lucas yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to say to him." She admit. "I thought about it all summer. I was going to come back and tell him how much I loved him. Then I started to question it. I remember all the things that happened, and I wondered if it could ever work again."

Peyton smiled. That was a great attitude for her. She wanted to tell her the truth about Lucas' girlfriend, but wasn't ready to bring her down like that on her first day back. She would let Lucas tell her. "That's probably the best idea." She turned her CD player back on.

"Any word from fugitive boy?" she asked referring to Jake.

Peyton closed her eyes. "I don't think I can talk about him right now." She said honestly. "I miss him so much Brooke. I haven't heard from him."

"I'm really sorry Peyton. Just know that now I'm here for you!" she hugged her again. "I should get going, off to say hello to Lucas."

"Good luck with that," Peyton called. She fell onto her bed and occupied herself with another drawing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Karen opened the door and helped Brooke load her last bag into the house. "I'm glad your back Brooke." Karen smiled at her.

"I'm glad to be back!" she said happily. "Is Lucas home?"

Karen's smiled faded. Lucas was out with his new girlfriend. She wasn't about to be the one to give the news to Brooke. "No, I'm not sure where he is." She lied.

"Okay." Brooke sad sadly. "How about Andy? Where is Andy? Did you find him? Is he back?" she asked a million questions.

Karen's eyes lit up. "He's here." She smiled. "He's here to stay. He is in the process of buying another house, in Tree Hill." Karen told her. "He wants us to move in with him.

"That's great Karen. I'm really happy for you." Brooke said sincerely. "It's good to see you happy. Have you heard from Keith?"

Karen shook her head. "No word so far. He didn't even show up for Dan's funeral."

"Dan's funeral?" Brooke asked shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"Nobody told you?"

"No!" Brooke cried. "I haven't been able to talk to anyone all summer. My parents were dragging me around to business parties, and random trips. They took my cell phone away, and I didn't have any money to buy calling cards or anything. Oh Karen it was horrible, it was like being in Prison. But I guess that's beside the point, what happened to Dan?"

"Somebody drugged him and burned the dealership while he was inside." Karen told her. "Well, actually not someone. Deb."

"Deb?" Brooke asked. That was too obvious. "Are you sure?"

Karen nodded. "She's in prison."

"Where's Nathan?" she asked surprised. "I can't believe nobody told me about any of this!"

"Haley came back. She quit the tour to be with Nathan. Nathan wouldn't take her back. Their marriage was annulled. Deb left him some money. He got his apartment back, but Haley had no where to go, so she begged to get back on the tour and they accepted." Karen told her.

"Wow." Brooke sighed. She slumped against the couch. "Maybe I should have stayed in California. Nobody here cares enough to tell me about anything."

Karen laughed. "Are you busy today?" she asked. "I could use some help at the café if you want."

Brooke shrugged. "If you don't mind, I'd like to catch up with everyone. Maybe say hello to Lucas, and spend some time with Peyton."

Karen accepted. "Have fun." She smiled. "Just know if you're looking for extra cash, to stop by the café."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Brooke drove into Nathan's apartment complex's driveway. It felt good to drive her car again. It had been parked at Karen's all summer. She knew that if she left it, at least some point she would have to come back and get it if her parents made her stay in California.

She climbed the stairs to his door and knocked slightly. Nathan opened the door with a towel around his waist and a beer in his hand. "Do you always open the door in a towel?" she asked smiling and walking in.

She sat down on the couch. Nathan closed the door and faced her. "Welcome back Brooke."

"Well thank you." She smiled. "I was just wondering if Lucas was here." She looked around. "Wow it looks different in here."

"No Lucas isn't here, and he never will be." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you two still haven't gotten over the whole brothers fighting thing?"

"He's not my brother." He said angrily. "Maybe you should go." He opened the door again.

"Whoa. I'm sorry. Calm down angry."

"Whatever." Nathan muttered. He watched Brooke leave and slammed the door. He just wanted to be left alone.

Brooke climbed in her car and sighed. "Wow. So much for a welcome home party." She said to herself. "What the hell am I going to do now?" she never had trouble before finding things to do in Tree Hill. Now she felt really alone. She really wanted to see Lucas but he was no where to be found.

Finally she decided to drive to the café. If nobody wanted to hang out with her today, she would go work for Karen. At least she would have some extra money to go shopping. When she opened the door she saw a skinny brunette girl sitting at the counter eating and talking to Karen.

Karen looked nervous when she saw Brooke walk in. "Hey Brooke. Did you change your mind?"

Brooke nodded. "I guess everyone else wasn't as excited as I was that I was coming back." She muttered. "I went to Nathan's; he bit my head off for asking where Lucas was. What do you need help with?" she asked sitting down next to the brunette.

"You know Lucas?" the girl turned to ask Brooke. She had sparkling blue eyes. She was gorgeous.

"Um, yeah. I'm sorry do I know you?" Brooke asked holding out her hand. "I'm Brooke."

"Brooke." The girl repeated. "Lucas' ex girlfriend." She shook her hand.

"I guess so," Brooke said hearing her call her Lucas' ex.

"I'm Aubrey." She smiled. "I'm Lucas' girlfriend."

Brooke could feel tears welling in her eyes but fought every urge to cry. She looked at Karen who didn't know what to say to her. "Oh. Well it's nice to meet you." Brooke smiled as sincere as possible. "I just remembered, I told Peyton I would meet her somewhere." She stood up and walked quickly away from the café.

"Well she was nice." Aubrey smiled at Karen.

Karen smiled back. "Yeah."