Sorry this update took so long!! I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think! This chapters title is Ashes and Wine by A Fine Frenzy.
She couldn't understand what had caused him to leave, but she prayed that he had a hell of an excuse because Peyton was none too happy about his little vacation. And with neither Brooke nor Lucas answering his or her cell phones it left everyone in Tree Hill's imaginations to wander.
"Lucas Eugene Scott, I swear if you don't return my phone call!" Haley had lost track of Lucas more in the last week than she had in their entire friendship. He kept running off and each time it was with a different woman.
"Did he answer?" Nathan asked equally concerned about his brothers well being and Brooke's too, the last thing she needed right now was Lucas to be playing with her heart in Nathan's opinion.
"No, do you think he's with Brooke?" Haley still wasn't positive Lucas and Brooke were actually together. The last time she saw Lucas he was alone and Brooke was with Karen.
"I guess they might not be together, you never know, but both of them ignoring us is pretty odd of they're not together." Nathan had a point, but Haley just couldn't believe Lucas would ask Peyton to marry him and then run off with Brooke without so much as a goodbye.
--
She sat alone in their home blaring her records as loud as her record player would allow her to, Brooke never let her listen to her music this loud so it was a pleasantly surprising way to release all of her frustrations. She hadn't spoken to Lucas in nearly four days, if she hadn't just agreed to marry him she wouldn't have thought twice about going weeks without a word spoken between them, but things were supposed to be different now. For some reason it felt as though nothing had changed, that he did in fact hate her and she had ruined his life, but that couldn't be, he wanted to marry her, right? Peyton had never doubted herself as much as she had in the past few days since Lucas left. She questioned everything, every feeling, each kiss, every embrace, looking for a sign that he was just pretending or that it was truly real. She screamed at the top of her lungs trying to get the thought of Lucas and Brooke together out of her head. Between her yelling and the loud music she hadn't heard Skills enter her bedroom so she was startled to find him standing behind her when she went to switch the record.
"What are you doing here?" Peyton used her same old bitchy sarcastic tone annoyed that Skills had come over.
"I guess that answers my question." Skills had actually only stopped by to see how Peyton was doing, but he immediately regretted his choice when she spoke.
"I'm sorry." Peyton threw herself down on her bed covering her face with both hands.
"Not taking this too well huh?" Skills had always been fairly blunt when it came to Peyton and Lucas' relationship.
"I just don't understand, where the hell is he?" Peyton yelled angry that Lucas didn't have enough common courtesy to even call her and let her know he was fine.
"We're all wondering the same thing Goldie Locks." For the first time Peyton thought of the way the rest of her friends must be feeling and the way her and Lucas must have made them all feel when they left without saying anything.
--
She thought about the way her friends would feel when she left without saying goodbye, but she knew if she told them she was leaving they would want a reason. A reason she couldn't give them, and then they would most likely be able to convince her to stay. And that was just something she couldn't do, not now, maybe someday she would be able to return but now she needed to learn how to stand on her own two feet again. First things first she needed to get Lucas to go back home, before Haley drove her crazy. Karen had gone home this morning and Brooke had hoped Lucas would return with her, but he was a little more stubborn than Brooke had remembered, she couldn't get him on that airplane for the life of her. Making it rather awkward when they returned to her apartment alone, Brooke knew exactly how she felt about Lucas, which caused each interaction with him, however innocent it might have been, to be painful for her.
"Why'd you come here Luke?" Brooke asked, they were sitting on her deck drinking a bottle of wine over looking Central Park.
"To get you to come home with me, and I'm not leaving until you do. So stop asking me to go home." Lucas' answer was powerful, as if there was no changing his mind.
"Luke I'm not going back to Tree Hill, I can't." Brooke's vulnerability was starting to come out again with the more time they spent alone; she hated the affect he had on her.
"Well then, it looks like I'm staying right here." Lucas raised his glass in a toast; Brooke didn't see the humor in his comment. She wanted him to go back to Tree Hill as soon as possible.
"Lucas you can't stay here, you have a life to get back to." Brooke hoped Lucas would come to his senses soon and realize staying here was not an option.
"Not really Brooke, I don't have a coaching job at the moment. I can write from anywhere if I get the urge, and well everything else in Tree Hill can wait." Brooke wasn't pleased with Lucas' answer, but now she knew he wasn't backing down.
"You have a fiancé Lucas, and I'm sure she's wondering where you are by now." Brooke could see the look of shock on Lucas' face, apparently he didn't think she knew.
"Yeah, about that, I think I'm going to postpone my love life for awhile." Lucas was pleased that Brooke was now the one to wear the shocking expression.
"Luke you can't do that to Peyton." Brooke wanted to kick herself for her comment, there she went again cheering on team Peyton.
"I know Brooke, but right now I need to stop worrying about everyone else's feelings and focus on myself. And I guess I didn't realize that until I had already made a grand gesture." Brooke laughed softly to herself, Lucas had always shouted to the world when he found 'the one', it would have meant more if there was only one 'the one' though.
"That's all well and good Luke but how are you going to tell Peyton this?" Deep down Brooke knew Lucas was making the right decision to spend some time alone, but the best friend in her knew it was going to break Peyton's heart, again.
"Well you see I haven't quite figured that out yet." Lucas shied away from Brooke's question wanting nothing more than to change the subject.
"Remember the last time we were along in this city?" Lucas' spur of the moment question stirred up unexpected emotions in both himself and Brooke. Brooke smiled slightly and let out a soft chuckle thinking back to the night they pretended to be engaged.
"Two boys and a girl right?" Surprising enough it was nice to talk about the past with Lucas; Brooke had always thought it would be painful to relive those memories.
"Lets go do that again!" Lucas stood and grabbed Brooke's hand to lead her into the apartment, but when she hesitated he continued.
"Get really good and drunk, we could both use it." Once Lucas had clarified what he meant Brooke stood to join him, maybe it was the wine, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
--
She hadn't really thought about what she was doing until it was too late, sure she knew she was going out on the town with her long time friend, but she hadn't thought about her appearance having any affect over him what so ever.
"You had to wear red huh?" Lucas asked looking Brooke up and down, almost staring, making Brooke feel slightly uncomfortable, it had been a long time since Lucas Scott looked at her that way.
"I'm still the girl behind the red door you know?" Brooke added on as they stepped out of her apartment, it was the first time Lucas had noticed her door was red.
"So where to?" Lucas asked slipping Brooke's arm around his own leading the way towards the elevator.
"We could always go to the same bar we did before and tell them we're celebrating our first anniversary." Brooke laughed at the absurdness of her own comment but quickly stopped when she realized Lucas didn't find it as humorous as she had.
"Sorry Luke." Brooke assumed when Lucas didn't laugh that he was still hurting over his failed relationships and that bar was just a reminder of all three women.
"Actually that's not a bad idea, but we don't have the golden ring." Lucas poked back with a joke of his own.
"That can be arranged Lucas." Brooke smiled her signature dimpled smile for the first time since Lucas had arrived in New York, bringing a smile to his face. She laughed a mischievous laugh and grabbed his hand heading out of her 5th avenue apartment. This was a night they both needed, just to let lose and have fun, no troubles or worries if only for this one night.
--
Walking up to the door she was nervous, she knew Karen had known her and Lucas ran off the Las Vegas without telling anyone, and that they were engaged and hadn't formally told her yet. But Peyton put all her fears aside and knocked on Karen's front door, Peyton needed to talk to someone about the fact that Lucas had just up and left without telling her and Karen was the one person that knew Lucas the best.
"Hi Peyton." The greeting she had received when Karen opened the door to find her standing there pleasantly surprised Peyton.
"Can I come in?" Karen stepped to the side as soon as Peyton asked to enter her home without hesitation, she only prayed Peyton wouldn't notice her suitcase by the front door.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Karen asked as the two women walked towards the kitchen, Peyton shook her head no and took a seat at the kitchen table.
"Are you worried about him Karen?" Peyton finally blurted out catching Karen off guard, the blond hadn't said a word since she entered the house.
"I always worry about him Peyton, I'm his mother." Karen smiled kindly, but the truth was for once she wasn't worried about her son. She knew deep down inside Lucas would find his way sooner or later, and that he needed to mess up occasionally to find out just what he had to lose. Karen knew that lesson all too well and she hoped her son would learn from her mistakes rather than make his own, but she didn't want to interfere with his life, he would find his way in time.
"Has he called you? Do you know where he is? Is he with Brooke?" Peyton had so many unanswered questions, all of which could be answered by Karen but she wouldn't, not because she didn't like Peyton, but because it was Lucas' decision if he wanted everyone to know where he was or not.
"No." Karen didn't completely lie, well not in her own eyes anyways. Lucas hadn't called her, she didn't know exactly where her son was or if he was with Brooke or not.
"But it's not the first time it's happened either Peyton." Karen was trying her best to comfort Peyton without divulging too much information, unsure if Lucas being in New York with Brooke would upset her or not.
"I just don't know what would have made him leave, unless he's with Brooke." Karen couldn't even begin to understand why he was with Brooke and she had been there.
"I should know, sometimes you have to travel the world to realize that your heart has been here all along. Just give him some time Peyton." Karen patted Peyton on the arm, trying to reassure her that everything would work out just the way it was supposed to. If Karen knew anything about life and love, it was in the end people that are meant to be together always find their way to one another.
--
They stumbled through Central Park together, just like déjà vu they had done everything just as they had the previous time they were lonely and together in the Big Apple. Now it was time to take a carriage ride around the park and make dreams they secretly wished would come true. It was a miracle or coincidence that Lucas and Brooke found the exact same driver that they had had years before, Lucas didn't think there was luck like that.
"Lucas look!" Brooke shouted as she spotted the driver they shared a laugh as they approached the aging man.
"Would you kids like a ride?" He was just as happy and energetic as Brooke had remembered him, sure she didn't remember much due to the amount of free alcohol they had received.
"Yes, we're celebrating our first anniversary by doing everything we did the night we got engaged!" Lucas informed the driver as he helped an intoxicated Brooke into the carriage.
"How was your first year of marriage?" The driver asked as they made their way through the park. It was a romantic evening, the city was still for once, and it was the perfect temperature, just about the trees all you could see were stars. It was an amazing site to be seen.
"Everything we ever imagined and more." Lucas started their little game, looking deep into Brooke's eyes, holding her hands tightly within his own.
"Now all we have to do is start our family." Brooke tried to play along, but it was too painful even with her buzz, a tear ran down her cheek that she tried to hide from Lucas.
"That's all the really matters in life, love and the people you share it with." The man thought he was giving Brooke and Lucas good advice, but he was doing more harm then good.
"Stop please?" Brooke asked the driver.
"I'm sorry Lucas this is just too much." Once the carriage came to a stop Brooke quickly climbed out and took off running, leaving an intoxicated Lucas stunned.
--
She didn't know where she was going or why suddenly the world seemed to be falling apart around her, but if pretending to be Lucas' friend for the past five years was too much to handle, acting as though she was his wife was more than enough to push her over the edge. As much as Brooke would like to think she was only fooling herself when her and Lucas joked about their 'future' together, she wasn't kidding around, those were all the things she wanted out of life, and she wanted them with Lucas Scott.
"Karen?" Brooke had been crying and Karen could tell but she didn't mention it.
"Hi Brooke, how are things going in New York?" Karen tried to act as though this was one of their regular phone conversations, even though she knew it wasn't.
"You have to get him to come home." Brooke paused before finally continuing. "Without me."
"He's phone is off Brooke, that's why no one has been bothering the two of you." Brooke hadn't realized Lucas had shut his phone off, why didn't he want anyone to know where he was?
"Did he know you were coming here to see me?" Brooke had suddenly become suspicious of Lucas' motives to come here in the first place.
"I didn't tell him, but I knew he knew exactly where I was going without having to be told." Brooke finally decided to go home, there was a long overdue conversation she needed to have with Lucas Scott.
--
Tears were running down her cheeks as she road the elevator up to her apartment, why was he here, why couldn't he just leave her alone and ride off into the sunset with her best friend. Right now Lucas Scott was the last thing she needed to be waiting for her in her apartment, she needed to be alone, and she needed him to go back to Tree Hill and to forget about him once and for all.
"What's wrong Brooke?" Of course he was here and not out looking for her, just her luck.
"Why did you come here Luke?" Brooke yelled, unable to control her emotions any longer.
"To bring you home." It was as if Lucas had rehearsed his response.
"Lucas be honest with me, you know you shouldn't be here, so why are you? And why do you have your phone turned off so no one can get a hold of you?" Brooke's tears had subsided for the time being.
"Brooke." Lucas took Brooke's hand and looked her deep in her eyes.
"I feel like it's my fault you left, and I don't want you here. I want you in Tree Hill with the rest of us." Tears were beginning to well up in Brooke's eyes, it felt so good and so painful at the same time to hear Lucas say her wanted her in Tree Hill with him.
"Lucas I needed to leave Tree Hill, I just did and it had nothing to do with you." A single tear slipped down Brooke's cheek as she lied to Lucas.
"I know that's not true Brooke." Lucas hadn't planned on telling Brooke he heard everything she said to his mother but he had no other choice.
"Just so you know, I'm not engaged." And there it was, it was as though without words Lucas had given Brooke permission to feel the way she did. He slowly leaned in gently kissing her soft lips, praying she wouldn't pull away. How had he forgotten what it felt like to kiss Brooke Davis? When he came to New York City days before he'd never expected to be kissing her, all he had initially wanted from this trip was to bring her home, and now there he was flipping her world upside down once again.
When I started writing this I had no intentions of the ending happening the way it did, so I truly hope you enjoyed it, please please please let me know what you thought good or bad I want to know. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, I just wanted to prove to all One Tree Hill fans there is way that Lucas can take Peyton to Vegas and still end up with Brooke :)