Surfaces

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, although I wish I owned Chad. 

Rating: T.

Spoiler: Five years post-5.12 "Hundred".

Summary: It was funny how in her most drunken moment, Brooke chose to think that Lucas's feelings for her had "resurfaced", rather than developed again.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews. You really keep me going. I hope this gives you guys a little bit of background info and helps explain the end of the Lucas/Peyton saga a little more.

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Chapter 4: Under His Skin

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The restaurant was darker and busier than Brooke assumed it would be from the pictures online. However, that should have been expected, considering how unreliable the Internet was these days. She should have trusted her instincts and booked a table somewhere she'd been before or at least somewhere that Lucas recommended, instead of being stubborn and taking it upon herself to try something new tonight.

Lucas would probably hate it. But then again, why was she so concerned with whether Lucas liked the restaurant or not. It's not like they were on a date. Brooke sighed, tapping her red stiletto anxiously. It was stupid Rachel's fault for getting her to think about Lucas nonstop since she saw him. The redhead had the uncanny ability to get Brooke's head turning in the wrong direction, from which she could rarely recover. Speaking of her long lost friend, where the hell was she? And where the hell was Lucas?

It was already ten minutes passed the reservation time and it was usually her responsibility to be late somewhere, not the blond writer's or even Rachel's for that matter.

Taking an umpteenth sip of the ice water on the table, Brooke was very close to calling her two friends and yelling at them for being late, when the familiar sounds of the Sex and the City theme echoed through her clutch.

Eagerly picking up, Brooke bypassed the caller ID and answered with an annoyed, "Hello?"

"Brooke! Oh my god. I finally got a good connection." It was Rachel and Brooke became concerned due to the annoying bustling in the background, which made it difficult to hear her friend.

"Rachel? Is everything okay? You should have been here hours ago and I tried calling." Brooke said, grabbing her purse and stepping outside, to avoid the overwhelming loudness of the restaurant.

"I'm fine. First I couldn't pick up because we were flying and then we had to do an emergency landing, because someone on our flight was having a medical emergency."

"Oh my god. Where are you now?" Brooke asked, glancing at the digital clock on her cell phone.

8:20.

She was going to kill Lucas.

"I'm stuck in St. Louis for the night. The next flight out is at 4:30 tomorrow morning. I should probably be at your house before you wake up." Rachel teased, obviously trying to make the best of her crappy situation.

"Oh, that completely blows." Brooke sighed, hunching her shoulders slightly.

"Yeah, you're telling me. I have to sleep in some shitty hotel with the sound of airplanes flying all night long."

"Well, it can't be so bad. Just do what I always do when I'm alone in a strange city." Brooke began.

"What? Get completely trashed and pick up a random guy for the night?"

"No! God, that is so high school/college. I was going to suggest a hot shower, pay per view movie, and comfort food. But hey, whatever works for you." Brooke chuckled.

"Whoa Brooke, you sure do fulfill your role as a hot fashion designer. When was the last time you even had sex?" Rachel asked.

Brooke opened her mouth, quick to retort but found that no words were coming out. At that moment, she looked up hoping for anything to save her from an embarrassing confession, and as if someone upstairs had heard her, from around the corner she saw a familiar face making his way towards her.

It suddenly didn't register that he was walking way too leisurely for someone who was now, check 25 minutes late to a dinner, or that Rachel kept screaming into the phone, demanding a reply. All that mattered was the smile on Lucas's face and that he had given her an excuse to hang up.

"Rachel, Lucas is here. I have to go."

"Oh, well scratch what I said about the last time you got laid." Rachel smirked, before Brooke wished her a safe trip back home and hung up abruptly.

Upon seeing Lucas approach, Brooke had been elated and relieved, but now that the reality set in she was kind of nervous. She had no idea why, but chose to ignore her inner voice telling her that the sensations she was experiencing seemed to indicate a first date, which was preposterous, considering Lucas and her were just having dinner to catch up.

Brooke decided to put all other thoughts behind her and managed a smile for her approaching friend.

"You know for someone who is almost 30 minutes late to a dinner with a long lost friend, you are unusually slow in your walk."

Lucas studied her face for a moment before realizing that he was indeed extremely late, "Well, I just weighed my options while I was parking, thinking that I might as well enjoy the last of this wonderful evening, before you pounce me for being late." He said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah." The pretty brunette rolled her eyes, making no attempt to enter the eatery behind them, " I'm not exactly anxious to go back in there. It's loud enough to give me a headache and I don't really work in a mellow environment. Why were you late anyway? Hot girl keeping you busy?" Brooke raised her eyebrows suggestively, simultaneously exposing her signature dimples.

"I wish." Lucas exhaled, "I actually kind of fell asleep." He admitted sheepishly, and Brooke frowned. For the first time she noticed his hunched posture and the familiar dark circles around his cerulean eyes. He looked tired, which to Brooke was a kindred feeling, considering she had been running her own business for the last ten years.

"It's okay. Moving across the country must really be taking its toll on you. I totally understand." She reached out and lightly squeezed his shoulder, pleasantly surprised at the heat it emanated even through his un tucked dark blue button down.

Meanwhile Lucas tried to ignore the tingling feeling Brooke's touch inflicted and looked up at the restaurant behind him, "I think we need a change of scenery. How do you feel about a huge paella and unlimited sangria?" He asked.

Brooke smiled again, "I am intrigued. Lead the way."

"Sure thing pretty girl."

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Esperpento was a neighborhood Spanish restaurant in the Mission district and even though it was a weekday, it was still impossible to get a table right away. So Brooke and Lucas sat on the steps of the adjacent building, sipping from glasses of sangria while they waited.

At first they had engaged in meaningless conversation, mostly Lucas talking about his intolerable yet lovable client Emily Brecker and his perpetual fear that she was going to freak out on him and skip town before he could get to New York. Brooke listened intently, sipping the sweet wine more frequently as memories of Lucas in New York City flooded back into her mind.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucas asked, noticing the pensive look on her face.

"Just you know, the last time you and me were in New York together." Brooke smiled, catching a bit fruit in her drink and fishing it out with her tongue.

Lucas watched her childish maneuver and couldn't help but smile affectionately at his one time girlfriend, "Yeah, that was a crazy night." He murmured, trying really hard not to think about the kiss he had initiated in a drunken stupor that evening.

"It was." Brooke laughed.

"What is so funny?" Lucas asked, leaning closer to her as she turned her face to tell him,

"Nothing, I just can't believe that driver thought we were engaged."

Lucas hadn't really known how to respond to that, considering he saw no fault with the possibility of being engaged to Brooke, even when Peyton Sawyer had just rejected him.

But he did what any other slightly tipsy person would, he agreed.

"Yeah. You and I, married? Like that would ever happen." He smirked and Brooke realized that no amount of alcohol could squelch the unsettling feeling that formed in her chest.

She had no idea what Rachel was talking about. Lucas and her were just friends and that's all he saw in her anyway. Apparently she was not the marrying type.

Blissfully unaware of the impact his drunken and also false confession had on his friend, Lucas got up and pulled Brooke up, accidentally drawing her closer to his body then he'd originally planned and they both stumbled back and landed against a parking meter.

"I think that's enough wine for you." Brooke chuckled, unsuccessfully trying to get the glass out of his hand.

"I'll stop if you stop, or we're going to have to take a cab home." Lucas reminded.

Brooke looked at him incredulously and then shook her head in slight disbelief.

"What?" the blonde asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"Nothing, it's just that even when you're having fun you are still so cautious."

"Well someone has got to be." Lucas smiled, admiring his ability to elicit Brooke's infamous dimpled grin. He looked passed her and saw the host approaching them.

"C'mon pretty girl, our table's ready."

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After insisting on splitting the bill, Brooke leaned back in her chair and relished the last remnants of sangria in her glass. Now that she had sobered up considerably, the dinner seemed like a blur, delicious but still a blur.

She couldn't recall exactly what they'd talked about or if she had made a fool of herself, but as she reflected on the evening, she experienced a sense of warmth and comfort that she hadn't in a long time.

Ever since she had been traveling for work more than usually, the familiar feeling of loneliness that she thought a child would fix came creeping back little by little until she found herself sleeping less and less and evaluating more and more her current position in life. She would never admit it but she hadn't come to San Francisco, because New York City was giving her a headache, even though it was. She also didn't come to San Francisco for inspiration. She had just returned from touring the top fashion capitals in the world, inspiration was coming out of her ears.

No, Brooke Davis would never admit to herself or anybody else that she had come to San Francisco, hoping to get away. She dreaded coming back to Manhattan and since she had left Tree Hill with no intention of coming back, Brooke fled to the only other city that she loved.

The city by the Bay.

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Lucas felt a bead of sweating descending down his forehead and dissolving on his nose. This annoyance made him run even faster, panting as he went, almost relieved to see that he was nearing the exit of the park. He had woken up exceptionally early this morning to blinding sunshine at 7am and decided to do something he hadn't in a while: run.

With the publishing house slowly taking over his life, Lucas barely had time for himself and thankfully he had his fast metabolism to compensate for his poor eating habits, otherwise he would have been extremely overweight by now. However, this morning with the old workspace packed up and a stressful week awaiting him back in New York, Lucas decided to spend the next couple of days indulging himself in activities that had eluded him for so long, starting with a quick run through Golden Gate Park.

Lucas always loved running, especially when he was in high school and college, because his life was so filled with drama that he needed an outlet for dealing with it, especially when writing had not been enough. There was simply nothing more therapeutic than a cool wind in your face and a burning pain in your calves. Lucas loved pushing himself to the edge physically, and with his heart condition, he could no longer do so all the time, thus it was a nice indulgence to get away from it all, at least for a couple of miles.

It also gave him a chance to face the subject he had put off till this morning: Brooke. Last night had been the first time in at least a year that he truly experienced a connection with a woman. He had dated of course but unlike the pre-Peyton and Lindsay Lucas, this one was more cautious and aware of his date's imperfections, including even the most ridiculous ones, such as a big head or long neck.

Lucas knew he was being stupid, all the women he had gone on dates with were perfectly interesting, smart, nice, and good looking, but he just could not stand letting some one new in only to have them stomp all over his heart, much like Lindsay had.

Of course, he couldn't blame her. Looking back, Lucas knew his almost wife had been right, at that point Lucas really was still in love with Peyton and was holding on so badly to the unsalvageable relationship for dear life.

It became a struggle for them to even maintain a friendship. Lucas did have to admit that although he and Peyton obviously would never work out, they would always have a deep connection and wear their hearts on their sleeves around each other. Because to Lucas it seemed that Peyton knew even before he did that he had fallen out of love with her, she was just waiting for him to realize it himself. And when he did, Peyton made it incredibly easy on him by leaving him a note saying that she knew and she wasn't upset and even though she would always love him, she would probably get an earlier flight out of Tree Hill. Basically, in her own subtle way Peyton told him she did not want to see him again, because she could never forgive him for fucking with her heart so badly and for so long. Lucas wasn't mad, in fact he left her gladly, surprisingly not feeling an ounce of regret for the relationship, but feeling a ton of guilt for stringing one of his oldest friends along for more than four years.

He should have known better. But he didn't, and it seemed like with Peyton, that ship had sailed. There were no more second or third or even fourth chances with her, considering that he hadn't spoken to her in over two years and it seemed like she had no intention of returning his calls or seeing him. He wondered how she had managed to elude every possible celebration in Tree Hill and most importantly elude him. Thoughts of Tree Hill reminded him that another notable figure had been MIA until yesterday morning.

Brooke had the uncanny ability to swoop into his life unannounced and turn it upside down, or so he thought she would this time. Although nothing had happened, there was a familiar feeling of excitement and complete terror that formed in his stomach every time he thought about her. She had seemed so distant by the end of dinner the night before and he couldn't help but be concerned. The last time he had seen her in such a pensive state was the night before she had mysteriously left Tree Hill almost five years ago.

This gave him a feeling of unexplainable dread. Even though he was leaving in a little less than a week, and a whole new, hard earned life was waiting for him in Manhattan, Lucas suddenly wished that he wasn't leaving so soon, because a week wasn't enough for Brooke to get under his skin.

And he hadn't even been aware until that moment, that he so desperately wanted her there…