-Lucas had been laying on his bed thinking for about an hour when he heard a persistent knock at the door, he jumped up and practically ran to the door thinking that it was Peyton, and couldn't help but look disappointed when he realised that it was Haley.
-Seeing her angry expression he assumed that she knew about what had happened and apparently, he was right.
-"What the hell is wrong with you, can't you make up your mind once and for all and figure out what the hell it is you want?" She yelled in his direction as she moved passed him and into his bedroom.
-"You talked to Brooke I assume." Lucas asked her calmly. He really didn't want to do this right now, but looking at Haley he guessed he did not really have a choice in the matter.
-"Yeah, and next time you want to screw with one of my best friend's heart, why don't you give me a heads up so I don't actually feel bad for giving you advices that end up getting people I love hurt." She screamed at him.
-"I'm sorry for not telling you everything when I asked for your help before, but I knew that you wouldn't actually be objective if I told you what it was about." He tried to explain to her.
-"I can't believe you're doing this again Luke, Brooke she trusted you and you broke her heart again." She emphasised the fact that he had once again screwed up and it was pissing him off, he did not need that, not from her.
-"Can we just do this another time, I don't really want to do this right now. Maybe you could yell at me another time." He was getting increasingly irritated, he already had enough on his plate, he didn't need this right now.
-"Oh no we can't. You made a decision and now you have to live with the consequences. Do you have any idea of what you just did to Brooke?" Haley pushed.
-"Yeah I do, and I'm really sorry for hurting her I am, but I wasn't happy Haley. After all that happened lately, I took a decision to try to do everything to be happy again. My uncle's dead Hales, and now I can't even play basketball anymore. The hits keep on coming and I don't know what to do anymore. I don't see the point of living in denial if even that doesn't make me happy. I couldn't do it anymore, I thought you'd understand that." He finished with a sad expression.
-"Lucas", Haley started but he interrupted her.
-"Look, I really can't do this right now. I'm really sorry for hurting Brooke but this is none of your business."
-"Oh yes it is. I'm the one who's held her as she cried this afternoon. I'm the one who told her everything was going to be okay , and I'm the one who feels guilty for encouraging you to do it in the first place. This is my business." Haley told him sternly.
-"What the hell do you want me to tell you? It's done, I can't change it, and you know what? I don't want to. What do you want to hear Hales, because I don't know what to tell you. " He was getting frustrated with her.
-"I don't know. I want to see an indication that you know what you've just done, that you know the pain you caused, that you feel guilty about it, anything." She on the other hand was getting exasperated by Lucas' lack of reaction.
-"I know exactly what I've just done. If I hadn't, it was made perfectly clear to me when I looked up and saw Peyton's expression after I had just told her that I'm in love with her." Lucas admitted looking away from Haley as he once again saw Peyton's dazed expression in his mind.
-"Oh, so you told Peyton?" Haley asked surprised, she didn't think Lucas would have come clean to Peyton that fast. Maybe she had been wrong, maybe Lucas was sure this time, possibly Nathan had it right.
-"Yeah I did" He confirmed looking back at Haley.
-"How did it go?" She asked. She saw his expression turn to a mix of apprehension and sadness.
-"I don't know. She told me she needed time." All the previous frustration he had felt toward Haley before was gone, all he felt was desperation at the thought that the longer it took Peyton to think things through the less likely it was that the outcome would be good for him.
-Seeing Lucas so sad made Haley realised that maybe Brooke wasn't the only one suffering right now. Lucas needed her too.
-"At least she did not reject you. She didn't tell you she didn't feel the same" She tried to reassure him.
-"She didn't tell me that she did either." Lucas admitted sadly. "You should have seen her face Hales, it looked like she had just seen a ghost. I don't think that this is a good sign."
-Seeing the distress in her best friend made her realise that Nathan was right, there was only one person that could get to him like that and that was Peyton. She only hoped that the girl would realize that before it was too late. She didn't think Lucas would handle another deception too well.
-"Give it time Luke. It must have been a pretty big surprise for her, I don't think she had seen it coming. You had to do some soul searching yourself to figure it out, she probably does too." She reassured him, or at least tried to, it did not look like it was working.
-"What if she doesn't feel the same way Hales? What if I just screwed everything for her and she really doesn't love me? I can't lose her Hales." He was getting worked up again.
-Lucas turned his back to her and laid on his bed with his face buried in the pillow, clearly indicating that he was done talking for now.
-"Lucas, I need to go check up on Brooke, but I'll be back alright. In the meantime, have faith okay." With that she walked out of his room and went back home.
-When she got home, Haley was surprised to see that the couch was empty and that she didn't seem to see Brooke anywhere. She found Nathan in the bedroom.
-"Where's Brooke?" She asked him.
-"She went back to Peyton's to get some of her things. She should be back soon." He said without going back to the paper he was working on.
-"I don't think so", Haley mumbled under her breath, but Nathan heard her.
-"What do you mean?" He asked intrigued.
-"Peyton knows, I talked to Lucas and he told me that he had told Peyton everything. I'm pretty sure there is no way that the subject is not going to come up." She enlightened him.
-"So he finally told her, how did it go?" He asked then saw Haley purse her lips. "That well hein?"
-"Apparently it was quite a shock, but at least she did not completely shut him down, she told him that she needed time." She confirmed.
-"There is no way she doesn't have feelings for him." Nathan affirmed convinced.
-"We'll find out soon enough I guess." Haley said as she sat down on the bed beside Nathan.
-"So, I guess we're in for a lot more crying when Brooke comes back." Nathan realised.
-"Yup, it's going to be a long night."
-Peyton was still laying on her bed looking at the ceiling, she hadn't moved an inch since Lucas had left her room a couple hours ago, but she was still as lost as she was then on what the hell it was she felt for the boy. She kept hearing him in her head telling her that he loved her, that he'd broke up with Brooke to be with her. For her, even to repeat it over and over again, didn't make the whole thing more believable. She couldn't understand how things could change that fast. Her and Lucas had spend the whole summer together, but not once had he made a move on her or given her any indication that his feelings were more than platonic, and now all of a sudden he was in love with her. She couldn't understand how that had happened.
-She was torn out of her thoughts by the sound of someone going up the stairs, she turned on her side to see who was the intruder, hoping that it wasn't Lucas, she still didn't know what to tell him. Her heart stopped for a second when her eyes met Brooke's teary ones.
-Brooke went up the stairs to Peyton's room. She kept praying that Peyton would be absent or at least that she would be clueless as to why Brooke was so upset. She figured Peyton had no reason to already know and this gave her a little hope that maybe things were going to go better than she thought. Maybe she could just walk in, take her stuff and give Peyton some excuse as to why she wanted to move out of her room, Peyton would believe her and Brooke could walk out and try to avoid all of it for a little longer. She knew she had thought wrong when she walked into her best friend's room and saw the blonde laying on her bed with a surprised look on her face and tear stained eyes. At that moment she knew.
-"You know." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
-Peyton got up and stood awkwardly in front of Brooke. She had no idea how to act around Brooke. She had been thinking about all of this for hours and not once had she thought about what to do about Brooke. All of a sudden, Peyton felt guilt wash over her as she took in the state her best friend was in. Brooke looked as bad as she felt.
-"Yeah", Peyton didn't know what the hell she was suppose to say so she went with the truth.
-"Okay, hum that's awkward. I was just going to take a couple of things, I'm going to stay at Haley and Nathan's for a while." Brooke said as she walked toward the closet and started gathering a few things. She knew they probably needed to talk, but she didn't know if she could do that right now.
-"Brooke I," Peyton stopped, at lost of things to say to her distraught best friend.
-"That's just my luck. I hoped that I could walk in here and you wouldn't know what was going on, and that I could have just packed a few things and walk out, but I guess God really does has a sense of humour." Brooke said sarcastically.
-"Brooke", Peyton tried again.
-"Okay fine, you want to do this, let's do this. I can't be here right now because it hurts too much to be around you knowing that the guy I love, is in love with you. Okay Peyton, I just can't." Brooke said tears once again starting to form in her eyes.
-Peyton was shocked, she didn't know why but she had assumed that Lucas hadn't told Brooke that the reason he was breaking up with her was because he was in love with Peyton. She thought that he would have kept that little detail to himself, but obviously Lucas had chosen that day to follow the honesty is the best policy motto. She had felt guilty looking at Brooke before, but it was nothing compared to the way she felt now. She couldn't even look at Brooke.
-"I'm sorry." Peyton knew it was corny, but she had no idea what to say.
-"Why couldn't you just stay away Peyt? Things were fine with me and Lucas, why couldn't you just let us be?" Brooke screamed to the blonde.
-"What?" Peyton sure as hell hadn't seen that one coming. "How the hell is that my fault?" She knew how bad Brooke must be hurting but there was no way she was just going to stand back and take the blame for everything.
-"You made him fall in love with you, that's how." Brooke screamed back.
-"I didn't do nothing. I've stayed as far away from your relationship as I could, this is not my fault." Peyton shouted at her best friend.
-"Keep telling yourself that." Brooke shot back as she closed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. She walked past Peyton.
-"I wish you guys all the happiness in the world". She said sarcastically before walking out the door.
-Peyton stared at the now vacant doorway incredulous. "How can that be my fault?."