Chapter 7

Brooke took one last look around the beach house she was renting before she opened the front door. The next five minutes were spent with tons of hugs and getting snacks together before they all settled down in the living room. Brooke was sitting by herself in an easy chair, while Haley and Peyton both sat beside each other on the couch.

"So," Peyton said finally staring at her best friend with a smile. "Looked like you and Lucas had a nice…hello."

Brooke felt her face flush but took a deep breath before she answered. She had been mentally preparing her answer to the question she knew had been coming. So she opened her mouth but was surprised when her nicely rehearsed speech didn't come out. "It felt so great to be in his arms again." She started laughing when both Peyton and Haley screeched like they were teenagers. "I so didn't mean to say that."

"Well then I'm happy you did," Haley said sincerely. "But what exactly does that mean?"

Brooke ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "I don't know, I've been running or more likely hiding for years and I'm not sure I want to change that. I like my life, forget that, I love my life. I have a career that everybody dreams for, friends that still care about me, and well, that's about it. But I'm happy with it."

"So you wouldn't want to scratch the eyes out of Lucas's future wife?" Peyton asked skeptically.

Brooke froze and stared at her best friend in shock. "Lucas is getting married?" she asked in a voice that can only be described as cold as ice.

"No, but I've just proved my point. You may like your life now or love it, whatever," Peyton said rolling her eyes. "But you want Lucas, on some level you want him."

Brooke was quiet for so long that they were sure she wasn't going to answer. "If there's one thing I've learned over these past years is you can't always have what you want."

Haley looked like she was ready to argue but Peyton shook her head. They had tagged team her tonight but maybe it was time to back off a bit. They didn't want to make her run again. Haley had something she wanted to say but Peyton was the relationship guru so she was going to listen, for now. And anyways, she had a question for everybody's favorite bottled blonde.

"So Peyton," Haley said changing the subject. "Now that we know about Brooke's love life, or lack there of. What's going on with you, and should I mention a certain father who seems to have set his sights on you again?"

Peyton glared at Haley. She wasn't ready to talk about Jake. She hadn't even decided if she was going to think about him. "Nothing," she said finally.

"Well, for nothing there seemed to be a ton of sparkage going on? And Jenny, a total cutie," Brooke said happy to jump on the Peyton train. Anything to get them off of her life.

"You saw nothing, nothing, nothing," Peyton said quickly.

"Protesting too much I think," Haley said sharing a grin with Brooke. "But we can take a hint, if you're too scared to talk about it."

Peyton sat up straight. Afraid! She wasn't afraid of anything. "I am not afraid. I just don't see why we have to talk about something that was dead and buried years ago. He left and I moved on. I have a life that I also love very much. I'm happy too dammit."

"Okay," Brooke said slowly drawing out the word. There was a tense silence when all three girls were lost in there thoughts.

Haley decided to break the silence. She had something that had to be said and maybe it would make Peyton a little happier. She was after all, the eternal optimist. "Peyton, I won't argue that your life is great, and I won't argue with the fact he left you and you did move on. But did you ever wonder if he moved on? Jenny said something about your picture in his house, and he's tried to talk to you twice now. Maybe it's not buried on his side."

Peyton closed her eyes. Leave it to Haley to point out the one thing she hadn't let herself even think about. Because there was that small part of her who wanted him to want her still. "Maybe but I'm just not ready to go there yet."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Okay this is way to depressing. We need to get out, lets go somewhere." They were all ready in less than an hour and were out the door and on there way to find some trouble.

Lucas sat in his old room looking around. He still couldn't believe that it looked exactly the same. His mom hadn't changed anything. When he closed his eyes he could go back to high school and have a handful of memories in this exact room. And most of them included Brooke.

"Memories," Karen said smiling at her son.

Lucas opened his eyes and smiled back at his mom. "A ton."

Karen walked farther into the room and sat down beside him. "I still find myself opening your door and just staring at everything. I miss you so much when you are gone Lucas."

Lucas nodded. "Same here mom," he said giving her a hug. He pulled away and looked towards his wall and smiled when he saw a picture of him and Brooke taken when they were going out. He still couldn't believe he had screwed things up with her.

Karen followed his eyes until she saw the picture. "So that was quite a hello between you and Brooke today?"

"And understatement," Lucas said quietly. "When I saw her today mom, I just wanted to grab her and not let go. And then we hugged and it was everything I remembered but more too. But I put my heart out there before and she left. I can't do it again."

"Well, if I remember correctly, the girl in question also put her heart out on the line and was rejected in a much harsher way," Karen pointed out. "Listen, I didn't say that to criticize you, you were young and so was she. But cheating hurts no matter the age. And I'm guessing you have to figure out how to get around that first."

"I never meant to hurt her Mom," Lucas said softly. "I never realized her feelings were so deep for me. I just thought we were having fun. If I could just go back, I'd change everything. I just can't believe how bad I hurt her."

"That's the problems with looking back, you only end up wishing things were different," she said softly. "I won't say I'm glad things didn't work out back then but I think you're both better off because of it. You've grown so much since then and I have a feeling Brooke's grown up a lot too. Maybe now you can make it work."

"What if she walks away again?" Lucas asked. "I don't think I could handle that."

"Well, I know you can," Karen said giving her boy a hug again. "Maybe you should just try being friends first, that something you skipped last time."

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, we sorta jumped head first into a relationship."

Karen stood up. "Nathan called, something about Dan driving him nuts and he wanted to know if you wanted to go get a few drinks."

Lucas smiled. "Thanks mom," he said seriously. He sat in his room for a couple more minutes before he stood up and grabbed the extension in his room. Drinks with his brother were just what he needed.

Next Chapter: Boys and Girls go out, what happens when they all run into each other?