"What's up?" Lucas asked sitting down on the beach beside her

"I need to ask you something." Brooke told him not looking away from the water

"Okay." He prompted

"Why would your brother come to me and ask that I try to check your head?" The brunette demanded

"I don't know." Luke replied sheepishly

"Please the whole lying to my face is so high school. Try again." She shot

"It's nothing." The broody blonde attempted

"Lucas." The designer warned

"Fine." He conceeded, "I should be happy, but I'm not. I should be on cloud nine but I'm not. I should be consumed with joy, but I'm not."

"Any idea why that is?" Brooke questioned

"Because, I realized that I just want to be me. I'm tired of being told what I need to be. Am I not allowed to make my own decisions?" Lucas said a hint of anger in his voice which finally made Brooke turn his way

"What are you saying Luke?" The brunette requested

"That maybe I shouldn't marry Peyton." He replied

"Isn't it a little late to second guess?" The first half of the book asked

"No, because a wise person once told me that people who are meant to be together always find their way." Lucas recited looking into her eyes

"This isn't fair." The designer muttered

"Life isn't fair. But for the first time in a long time I feel like it is." The writer admitted

"You can't do this to me. Not now, not after everything I have done to move on with my life Lucas." Brooke fought

"And what have you done?" The blonde asked

"Clothes over Bros." She began

"While we were together in high school." He reponded

"Angie." The young mother listed

"Which we did together. Next." Luke smiled at her frustration

"Julian." Brooke said making his smile fade

"But you never said I love you to Julian." Lucas said

"No but I told him that I wasn't in love with you anymore." The designer replied immediently regretting to have ever even said that to Julian

"Was it the truth?" The broody blonde questioned after he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat

"If it was the truth, don't you think I would have moved on by now?" Brooke sighed

"Oh yeah I forgot all about going to New York." B. Davis continued with a victorious smile on her face

"Where we went around pretending to be engaged all night. With the ring that Keith gave my mom." The writer reminded her

"AKA the ring you gave to Peyton." The brunette mumbled

"Do you remember the ring you wore that night?" Luke requested

"Of course I do." She snapped feeling offended by that statement

"Well then you tell me, was the ring you wore that night... this one?" He asked pulling out a box from his pocket

"Can I open it?" The former head cheerleader questioned as Luke nodded his head in agreement

"Oh my God!" Brooke exclaimed pulling it of the box and holding it in between her thumb and middle finger

"Thats the ring that Keith...dad gave my mom. I was supposed to give it to the girl I love. I did that, only she thought it was someone else's. But really it was hers all along." Lucas smiled

"But Peyton's is..." She began

"Almost identical. But thats the real one. Look on the inside." He instructed

"My pretty girl, I could go on all night." The brunette read tears flowing down her face, "This is my ring."

"It always has been. I've just been too stupid to fight for you all these years." The basketball coach admitted

"So now what?" B. Davis asked

"Now I start fighting." The blonde replied