Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or Gilmore Girls

Note: Thanks for the encouragement! Here is the next chpt! Let me know what you think!

Brooke let out a deep breathe, one that she had seemed to be holding for the past thirty minutes.

Jess looked at her when she finished, as if he was trying to gage how much she was holding back. However, Brooke hadn't held back, surprising him.

"Sounds like a good guy." The tone of his voice sounded like it was unfamiliar even to him, Brooke guessed that he wasn't usually into the whole crying on the shoulder thing. Not that she was crying on his shoulder.

"He really was. A great guy actually. No one like him." Brooke let a tear fall down her face, but she quickly wiped it away. For some reason, she felt like she needed to be strong right now.

"So is that why you aren't seeing anyone? You keep comparing every guy you meet to Lucas?" Brooke looked up quickly at the question. She had absolutely no response to that. She didn't know the answer.

When she didn't say anything, Jess continued. "No guy is going to be exactly like him. Plus, you promised."

Suddenly Brooke felt very uncomfortable and she began shifting her position.

"Well- what about you?" Her voice came out louder than she wanted it to.

"Me, yeah, I really don't think I'm like him at all…"

"No, I mean, why are you out here, all alone?"

"I'm not alone."

"You know what I mean." Brooke sighed, it took a lot to get a two-sided conversation out of this one.

"It's a long story." Brooke watched as Jess' eyes flashed with memories. She wondered what he was hiding.

"So was mine. So, if I ask you again, will you tell me?" She smirked, a gesture that had become unfamiliar to her in the past year.

"Brooke! There you are!" Brooke jumped at the sudden third-party entrance. Peyton, unaware of the conversation taking place, smiled as she walked towards Brooke.

"Saved by the bell." Jess copied Brooke's smirk as Peyton took a seat next to Brooke.

"Hi, I'm Peyton." Peyton stuck out her hand to shake Jess' but he just nodded.

"Jess." Peyton stole a quick look at Brooke that said "What's his deal?" Usually Brooke would have been right there with Peyton, but something about Jess made her ignore the abruptness he used.

"Okay," Peyton stood, realizes that she was interrupting something, "I'm going to go inside. When you are ready to leave, just let me know okay?"

"Your friend?" Jess watched Peyton leave then turned back to Brooke.

"Best friend. She's totally opposite from me though. She is a lot like Lucas actually. Artsy, broody, music obsessed." Despite herself, Brooke found herself thinking back to when Lucas had cheated on her with Peyton. She really had forgiven both of them for that and she really knew that Lucas had loved her, but it still hurt.

Jess watched her as she tried to hold back emotions. She had been doing it all night and it intrigued him. When he first made eye contact with her in the club, he didn't even think twice about her. Then, when she came down the stairs, he couldn't help his curiosity. She had looked so trapped, hugging her arms tightly around her body, even though it was pretty warm out and she has a sweatshirt on. He wondered what she was thinking about right now. Lucas? Peyton? Him? Usually Jess could read people easily, but this girl was different. She sort of reminded him of Rory. Shaking his head, he pushed thoughts of her out of his head. For the past few months, her last words to him had been running through his head.

"Only say no if you really don't want to be with me." It had taken a lot for him to put himself in such a vulnerable position, but he had truly believed that she was going to say yes.

"No!" She didn't just say it, she yelled it. There was no going back after that. So he left, leaving his heart with Rory Gilmore.

Jess pulled himself out of the memory, realizing that they had been sitting in silence for quite a while. However, it felt comfortable.

"So, do you live around here?" Once again, Brooke felt like she needed to say something. To her, silence was dangerous. It left her alone to her thoughts, which was torture to her.

"No, just passing through. I went to visit some friends. I live in New York."

"Wow," Brooke nodded in approval, "I almost lived there myself." Jess eyed her, surprised that she hadn't made the move. He remembered once again how trapped she looked earlier that night.

"Chickened out?" Brooke raised her eyebrows. He knew her whole sob story, and yet, unlike everyone else, he didn't tread cautiously around his words.

"Something like that. NYU has sent me a couple letters recently, asking me to come next year, but I don't think I can."

"Wow, NYU, big time. What do you want to do?"

Finally, something he had been waiting for all night, she smiled a real smile. Her eyes lit up and her dimples defined her cheeks. "Fashion."

Usually, if any other girl had said this, this would be the point were Jess mocked them, but something about the way Brooke's face looked as she continued to tell him about her fashion line that went under in about a day kept his mouth shut.

In the middle of her conversation, his cell phone rang. He had never liked them, but his mom had bought him one anyway. It hardly ever rang seeing that only his mom, his uncle, and well, Rory had the number.

"Hello…Oh, hey Luke…Yeah I got the invite...Well, I'm in North Carolina right now…I'm thinking about it…Yeah…Sure…okay…bye."

Brooke looked at her hands, trying her best to pretend like she wasn't listening.

"My uncle is getting married this coming weekend." She looked up.

"Wow, that's really great. Weddings are always exciting. I love weddings, they are always happy. Well, except when someone cheated or gets cold feet."

"Yeah except for that. My uncle has been in love with this woman forever though, so it should be interesting." Brooke watched as Jess smiled. His smile was crooked, but it fit him.

"So you are going to go?" Something in Brooke's voice surprised her, she didn't know exactly what it was.

"Yeah, I guess." Jess shrugged, he knew it would mean a lot to Luke. What he didn't know was what he was about to do next.

"Do you want to come?" His own question shocked him.

"What?" Brooke was shocked, but she also felt excited.

"Do you want to come to the wedding?"

Brooke shook her head in shock. This was crazy. She had met him like two hours ago. He could be a crazy killer. What if something happened and she was stranded? These questions obviously ran through her mind, but they didn't scare her as much as some of the other ones. What if she had a good time? What if she didn't cry for whole week? What if she finally came through on her promise?

Looking at him, scared as hell of 1000 things at once, she stood up. "Yeah, I do."

A/N: Okay, there is something about my writing in this chapter that I don't like, so hopefully the next chapter is better! Let me know what you think!