"Okay seriously? Six flags?"

"What?" Brooke scoffed. She thought it was a brilliant idea. Rachel had suggested something that would be physically exhaustive. What better than wandering around a theme park, jazzed up on caffeine and adrenaline highs? Screaming at the top of your lungs?

"We aren't eighteen any more Brooke!"

"Yeah, and we aren't grandmas either! We're twenty-four! Come on!"

Brooke turned pleadingly to Lucas who'd sat quietly in the back seat of the car and watched as they pulled up to the immense parking lot. He'd been on roller coasters sure, but there was something some what intimidating about going to a Six Flags theme park. They were known for their thrill seeking rides. And making bigger men than him cry for their mommies.

"Broody, please, help me out here. Tell me you're in agreement with me here," Brooke begged, turning those big green eyes on for full effect. She nearly crowed at the crumbling so clearly evident in his expression.

"Maybe it wont be that bad Rach. I mean, they've got rides that aren't so back-breaking, we could do this," he said hesitantly. He really wasn't sure about this. But what Brooke Davis wanted, Brooke Davis got. "It might be fun," he tacked on, making sure to emphasize the 'might' in his words. He was most definitely NOT sure about this.

"Yes! See, I told you. Come on, wussbag behind us is willing, are you really going to let a boy one up you?"

"Hey! Man!" Lucas rushed to defend himself, then realized he'd probably chosen the wrong term to dispute. Wussbag? Really?

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, leaning against the hood of the car. Sure, she'd initially been thrilled with the idea of going to Six Flags, but that had been before she'd seen the red giant known as Viper. She was a drinker, not a thriller. Right?

"Oh, fine. But I swear, if I puke all over you, it's so not my fault," Rachel whined, giving in. Brooke was right. They needed this, she'd suggested it, like hell she was going to let Lucas show her up, and it was supposed to be fun. Hundreds of thousands of returning patrons couldn't all be wrong, could they?

"Alright!" Brooke jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. She'd been on all the rides at one point or another, knew which ones to avoid because of the headaches, and knew which ones to go on as many damn times as you could. This was going to be a blast!

-

"Rachel!"

"Aww come on Lukie! You're the one who sided with Brooke and said it could be fun!"

"Fun?! You call going on that damn spinning thing ten times fun!?" Lucas had known Rachel had a sadistic side to her, he'd just never pegged it for quite so ruthless.

Brooke was still throwing up in the trashcan so she wasn't much help to Lucas at the moment. Well, at least not verbally.

"Look at Brooke! She's puking Rach! For the sake of your friend!"

"Oh like that's reeeeally going to help your cause. This whole day was her harebrained idea in the first place," Rachel replied gaily, relishing in the pure glee she was feeling at having beat her two friends at their own game.

"Okay, okay, we give. We'll go home if you want to," Brooke finally added, having rinsed her mouth out and collected herself. She'd never imagined Spin Out being anything other than a blast until Rachel Gattina got her claws into it.

"What? Home? No," Rachel purred sweetly. "I wouldn't dream of ruining our day of excitement!" She grinned evilly. Brooke and Lucas groaned. It was going to be a looooong day.

-

"I believe she said she wasn't interested," Lucas growled, stepping between Brooke and the cesspool escapee.

"Oh what are you? The big bad protector?" The gnat-like man had been following the girls' movement while they'd waited for Lucas to retrieve their photos from the picture booth for Viper. He'd taken an exceptionally long time, a fact which had not gone unnoticed by the stalker they'd managed to acquire.

"I'm apparently the only guy who understands plain English. You've been informed your presence is not required, I suggest you back off." Lucas was pissed.

The women had been immensely relieved when their blonde haired rescuer had popped back up. The short frumpy, sad excuse for a man had been hitting on them non stop for the last five minutes and all threats short of complete and utter dismemberment had gone unheeded.

"I was just talking to these two fine ladies is all," the sewer fugitive supplied, leering disgustingly at Brooke and Rachel. They shuddered in horror.

Lucas stepped just that tiny bit closer to the intruder and came dangerously close to invading his personal space.

"If you don't find another spot to occupy in the next thirty seconds that doesn't put you at least a mile outside of our vicinity, I'll personally make sure you don't ever walk again," Lucas said menacingly.

Whether it was the tone of his voice or the sincerity of his expression, or perhaps the taunting in his eyes that almost begged him to push it so Lucas would have the pleasure of beating him into a bloody pulp, the obnoxious idiot gulped hard, nodded acquiescence, and took off running. Lucas almost sighed…he'd so wanted to hit him.

"Broody! Our hero!" Brooke jumped on his back and planted a kiss on his neck near his ear, delighting in the shiver that ran down his spine. She was genuinely relieved to see him and thankful for what he'd done, but she wasn't about to pass up a shot at teasing him. Or at 'feeling' out his responses to her subtle advances.

"Brooke don't jump the poor man's bones in public! At least have the decency to find a bush before you thank him," Rachel added, snickering at the expression on their would be defender's face. He was torn somewhere between embarrassment at Rachel's words, lustful pleasure at having Brooke so close to him, and satisfaction that he'd chased away the pervert. It was…interesting.

Brooke giggled and slid down Lucas' back, making sure her body stayed pressed as close as possible til the very last second. The slight flush that crept up the back of his neck was her reward, along with a saucy wink from Rachel. She madly grinned back.

-

"Okay seriously, you wouldn't even let me pay for the tickets Brooke. Why can't I pay for dinner?" Lucas was beginning to lose control of his frustration. He understood being an independent woman, but this was borderline insanity.

Brooke huffed and looked at him.

"Rachel, explain to our not so intelligent friend here what the rules are," Brooke snipped back, reaching for another French fry off Lucas' plate.

"Rules?" There were rules? Great. No one had mentioned there were rules.

"Yes, Lucas. I swear, you'd think you'd never done this before-"

"That's cause I haven't Rachel, just in case you forgot."

"Jesus Lucas, I didn't mean going to Brooke's! I meant visiting a friend period!"

"Jesus Rachel," Luke mimicked, "I knew that part. And I haven't! Why do you think I latched onto you so fast in New York?"

"Oh well that's easy, because you finally admitted how much you wanted me and came to your senses. You just realized how good I really was, and how better off you'd be with me in your life," Rachel replied airily.

Brooke and Lucas looked at her as she waved a hand lazily in the air, looked at each other, and busted up laughing. Brooke snorted coke out thru her nose which sent Lucas over the edge and Rachel yelped in disgust. She so didn't need Brooke coke snot all over her green top. Gross.

"Alright, you can stop now." Rachel drummed her fingers on the tabletop, waiting impatiently for her companions to pull themselves together. Somewhere around five minutes later Brooke finally managed to stop laughing and placed a calming hand on Lucas' knee. To which he immediately sobered up and gulped, hard. Brooke smiled giddily inside.

"Okay, sorry Rachel, truly. So just what are these…rules," Lucas asked, relishing in the feel of Brooke's cool hand on his bared skin.

"It's actually pretty simple. When I come here to visit, it's all on Brooke's dime except for my travel to and from New York. Anything we do, she pays for, with the exception of shopping. We tried that one year, it didn't work out so nicely. In six months or so, she'll come up to New York, and the roles will flip. It'll all be on my dime."

"You're dime? Why not mine?"

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be smarter than the average bear, you're sure demonstrating some pretty dunce-like qualities." Brooke giggled at the fancy words and Rachel smirked. Lucas just glared.

"Your point?"

"Lucas, you're my guest. I dragged you along. Her trip to New York will be my responsibility."

"That somehow just doesn't seem fair."

"Oh it will be. I'll have two visits from Brooke before my next one back out here is all."

"You're being straight? This is how you guys do this?"

"Yep. It just made things easier. We quit squabbling over who paid for what, or rather, who didn't pay for what, and just claimed home turf. When I'm the host, it's my treat. All of it. Anything and everything we do. Not like I can't afford it, shit. Same goes for Rachel. When she's the host, she foots the bill for anything we do while I'm there." Brooke shrugged, like it all made perfect sense. And to them, he guessed in a twisted, somewhat sane way, it did.

"Well, then how do I join this particular cycle of visits?"

"That eager to cough up your money Broody?" Brooke was piqued by his insistence. It was cute, but seriously unnecessary.

"I already owed Rachel more than I'd care to keep track of for bailing my ass out in New York, and for bringing me along on this trip. I owe you for welcoming me when you didn't have to, and I've relaxed more and felt more at ease in the last few days than I did all last year in New York. I meant it when I said I'd slept more here than back at home. I want to show my gratitude."

Both women looked at Lucas for a long minute and were slightly awed. Sure, he'd always been the one who was there for others, was more in tune with the sensitivity of things, had a deeper understanding of how people ticked. But this…this was new. This was grown up Lucas taking a stand and facing his responsibilities. They were floored.

"Alright, look. You've got an open invitation to come visit. So next time, you spring for the tickets and drag my ass back out here, and then it'll be your dime the next two times Brooke comes to visit," Rachel supplied matter-of-factly. Her words had their desired affect and Lucas groaned.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"Yep," both women supplied, laughing lightly.

-

"Exhaustion has been achieved Davis," Rachel moaned as she slid bonelessly onto the couch. Lucas flopped down into a recliner and nodded his head in agreement.

"You two are wimps, honestly. You'd think we'd spent the entire day running a marathon!"

"We practically did!" Lucas was certain he'd be sore in places he hadn't known he had. Which is something he'd much rather have earned due to other physical activities. Preferably ones that involved only one woman, and a soft, bouncy mattress.

"Alright, so I admit, the staying up until dawn this morning might not have been the best precursor to your introduction to Six Flags, but come on! You're the ones who wanted to see it!"

"Well forgive us for not having the view you have," Rachel scoffed, rearranging the pillow to get comfy.

"Whatever. You two geezers catch up on your rest, I'm going out for a walk," Brooke waved dismissively and went to change into more appropriate beach walk attire. By all rights she should be just as tired as them, but for some reason, she just couldn't sit still. The day had gone really really well, and maybe she just wasn't ready for it to end yet.

When she stepped back out into the common area Rachel and Lucas were sleeping softly and Brooke couldn't help but smile indulgently. Life was always more fun when she was surrounded by her friends, her family. And having them there with her, filling her house with the sounds of life and laughter and…warmth, she couldn't help but smile. It was perfect.

Brooke wandered down the dark shore, watching the ocean as it crashed against the beach. The full moon shone brightly down on the surface leaving a river of gems in its wake. The night sky was clear tonight, stars twinkling in the blackness. The brunette inhaled deeply, taking in the humid sea air. Most nights Brooke hated the sticky feeling of the really hot summer nights. Tonight though a breeze ruffled her long hair and soothed the stuffy feeling.

Somewhere out there was a pod of dolphins jumping in the air and cavorting under the waves. Somewhere out there was a deep trench with hidden secrets that hundred of years and massive improvements in technology wouldn't uncover them all. The mystery of the sea had always held a strong appeal for Brooke.

Her own life had always seemed so…elusive. When her parents moved and left her in Tree Hill, she'd been so lost. When she'd graduated high school and went on her way to California she'd been scared and curious at the same time. And when she'd been left all on her own there, and had to struggle for each accolade she earned, each sale she made, each design hanging on the rack, she'd finally found a place to belong. It was like her life had come in waves, some leaving bits and pieces of the ocean floor on the beach, some erasing portions of her life when they'd become too hard to handle.

Brooke had never expected to run into Lucas again. Sure, she had known that Rachel was helping Lucas with some of his stuff, they had talked enough and stayed close that it would have been weird had she not known. She'd just never expected to actually watch him cook in her kitchen, or sleep on her furniture, or know that he was a door down from her own bedroom. It was weird, and sparked all sorts of feelings Brooke had thought long buried.

Kissing him had sent all the memories she'd managed to push back slamming to the forefront. The feel of his lips on hers, the way she fit perfectly in his arms, how right it all seemed. These were things she hadn't been prepared to feel, not now, maybe not ever again.

"Someone up there better be having one hell of a chuckle-fest over all this," Brooke mumbled to herself. A lump in the sand attracted her attention and she crouched down, digging her slender fingers into the damn beach. Brooke was rewarded with a smooth rock that glinted with the promise of a hidden geode.

Thumbing the larger of the sides, Brooke sighed again.

"What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to handle him back in my life?"

Brooke was talking to herself, or maybe to the sea; she didn't know anymore. It was all so…fuzzy.

"He's always been a part of me. Shit, he will always be a part of me. I guess I've just got to figure out how large a part I want him to hold," Brooke concluded, letting the sound of the waves drown out the confusion in her heart. It had taken three years to finally close that chapter of her life after they'd all gone their separate ways. She sure as hell wasn't going to figure out how to write the newest chapter in just one night.

-

Lucas tossed in his sleep and nearly fell off the chair he'd managed to slouch nearly all the way down in. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes and finally registered the pure black of night still resting over the house.

He shifted his weight and stood up, stretching his back and relishing in the feel of his muscles as they pulled and bunched in all the right places. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rachel sleeping quietly on the other sofa, and smiled at the thoughtfulness of Brooke for the blanket that covered her. It was a relatively warm night, but still. No nap, or sleep of the dead for that matter, was complete without a blanket.

Thoughts of Brooke sent his eyes searching the rooms for sign of the diminutive woman. When there were no other signs coming from the house, he finally checked the time and was startled to realize it was almost two in the morning. Lucas padded silently down to Brooke's room to see if maybe she'd returned from her walk and was slightly panicked to discover an empty bed with no signs of having being slept in recently.

"She must still be gone for her walk," Lucas muttered, stopping by his own room to change into shorts and head out the back door. He was worried.

Half way between the porch and the coastline Lucas spotted her sitting on the sand, one hand drawing a lazy design in the damp shore. The worry and stress dissolved from his athletic frame and he sighed audibly. He was much more relaxed now. He jogged quietly to her spot and sat down when she looked up and smiled at his presence.

"Have you been up this whole time?"

"Yeah, sleep just wasn't in the cards tonight, I guess. It happens." Delicate shoulders shrugged in a way that hinted at just how often it happened. Apparently more frequently than she would have preferred.

"What's on your mind?"

"Have you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?"

"Huh?"

"The ghost ship, Lucas. Come on, stick with me," Brooke teased, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"You mean, like the Pirates movie ghost ship?"

"That's the Hollywood version dummy. I meant the legend."

Lucas laughed and waved his hand. "Well by all means, o great story teller, do tell," he joked.

Brooke glared at him and contemplated tossing some sand in his general direction.

"You're lucky you're hot Luke, otherwise you'd so be rubbing sand out of your eyes," she sassed back.

"Alright, quit stalling. So what exactly is the Flying Dutchman?"

"In the 1600s it's said that a ship captained by a sailor determined to make a particular trek swore his soul to the completion of his goal. I'm not sure what exactly brought about the downfall or why exactly the ship's been set to sail the seas forever, but the concept behind the ship…it's intriguing. I've been doing research on the seas and the legends that surround it, I guess more to wile away the hours than anything else."

She paused for a moment, not real sure just how far she wanted to carry her explanation.

"Cheery?"

Brooke turned slightly and eyed the blonde next to her. They'd both changed much in the past six years, changes she'd not expected or seen coming on either side. She was a big girl now, right? She was…Brooke Davis. She could do this. She could trust him again. God she hoped she could trust him again.

"Right. The Flying Dutchman roamed the seas doomed to never return to port. The only desire of the seamen on deck was to find release from their unceasing travels and to that extent they tried to send messages to other ships they'd come close enough to actually communicate with. Some talk of a ship that had allowed a four man boat to row close enough to toss letters to home onto their deck. They narrowly escaped death. The Flying Dutchman turned into a harbinger of death, a symbol of doom on the next rise."

"Uh…alright. And this has to do with them wanting to go home, how?" Lucas was confused. No, wait, he was beyond confused. He had no clue where she was going with this.

"Do you ever feel like you're lost?"

"Huh?"

Brooke laughed. Poor Lucas.

"It took me a while, but I started to realize I was lost. For the most part I still am. I wander through life, doing the best I can to work with what I've got, but it's like I'm the human real life version of the Dutchman. I want nothing more than to go home, but I'm slated to spend my whole life just…billowing in the wind."

Ahh. Now he's got it. He thinks.

Before Lucas can open his mouth to assuage her fears, she's off and talking again.

"I just wanted to find the place I belonged. I realized tonight though, maybe it's not a place I'm looking for. Maybe it's a person. Maybe it's a bunch of persons. Maybe I've been looking everywhere but what's smack in front of me, and I've been letting my port in stormy seas slip through my fingers."

Brooke turned back toward the sea, not wanting to see the expression in those blue eyes. The sea had turned nearly to black, the depths hiding the secrets of the world. Lucas, his eyes, well they just might hold the secrets of her world, and she wasn't entirely certain she was ready to come face to face with those secrets.

"I've been trying to figure out what I want from this life, from my life. I've got a lot of good things here Luke. A lot. But it just doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like it's enough. Does that sound selfish?"

The brooding blonde took a deep breath and rested his elbows on his bent knees. She'd just opened up a huge window into her soul, her deepest thoughts, and he needed to tread lightly here. One misstep, one bad phrase, and he'd be screwed.

"We all want to find that one place that screams home in all sense of the word. For some, it's the childhood house that holds the height marks and the dent from when you kicked the wall by accident aiming for the ball and the blood stains in the carpet due to jumping off the back of the couch and busting your lip with your tooth when you fell flat on your face. For others, it's the new apartment that becomes invaded by friends and family and finally that significant other that just wont go away." Lucas inhaled again, pulling a tight rein on his thoughts so they wouldn't scatter. He needed to stay focused.

"I can understand you wanting to find home, Cheery. We all want that. It's just not as easy for others as it may seem to some. Home is so…illusive. How do you pinpoint something that has a dozen different meanings?"

"Exactly! Have you found your home?"

Something in the tone of her voice alerted Lucas to just how dangerous the answer to that question would be. If he said yes, she'd be happy and relieved to know the search could come to an eventual end, but fearful that maybe his home didn't include her in his life. If he said no, she'd panic that if he couldn't find home, then how in the world was she supposed to?

"I'm getting there. I'm closer to home now, here, than I have been in years," he ventured, hoping she'd believe the sincerity behind his words, and catch the hidden meaning.

"What happened Lucas? What went so wrong in New York that you welcomed Rachel, that she felt she needed to drag you here?"

"I'm surprised Rachel hasn't said anything to you."

"It's not her story to tell. And it's not fair of me to ask her. Not like that."

Lucas was surprised. He'd have figured the two would have shared every tiny tidbit of the things that had happened.

"Rachel's not what everyone else thinks. She's loyal to a fault. If she's promised to keep your secrets, or thinks its something that's better off coming directly from you, on your own time, then she'll stick to it. I've gotten bits and pieces, stories of drunken calls and of course all the good notes. But anything remotely dark? Yeah, she's been tight lipped. It's your closet, she's not going to open that door."

Lucas shifted his dark gaze out to the white caps gently kissing the shoreline. He'd known there was more to Rachel for a while now. But hearing that she'd kept his secrets for him, done things he'd not expected her to do, he was touched anew.

"She's an amazing woman, isn't she?"

"Yes, yes she is. Any man lucky enough to get past her walls and touch her heart had best beware. I may be small, but I'll stomp the asshole that even dares to hurt her." Brooke's hazel eyes snapped with ferocity. She meant every damn word, heaven help whatever sod was next in line.

Lucas chuckled, he'd been on the receiving end of that famous Davis temper a few times. He'd no desire to do so willingly.

"No worries Cheery, I love her, but she's more like a sister than a potential relationship. You may have first crack at said idiot, but I'm next in line," he said softly, wanting it plain as day just where he stood in his relationship with Rachel. The only woman to touch his heart like that was currently sitting, most likely completely oblivious of the very fact, right next to him.

"Do you think I'll ever find home, Broody?" It was almost too quiet, the words she spoke. If he hadn't been so fine-tuned to her every movement, he'd have lost her words to the sounds of the sea.

Something inside Lucas shattered at the trepidation in her voice. He was supposed to be the one who brooded, who took the worries and cares of the world onto his shoulders. The one bright focus of his life was slowly dimming with the harshness of reality weighing her down.

"I know you will Pretty Girl, I know you will," he replied just as softly, slipping his long fingers through her own and squeezing gently. She had to. His Pretty Girl needed to stay bright and sparkly. She was his lighthouse in the storm he'd been riding in the past two years. She needed to keep shining so he could find his own way home, back to her.

They needed each other. And maybe, just maybe, sitting on a shore in the black of night, they both finally admitted it. Just maybe.

AN: Wow…alright, so yeah. I suck. Sorry? sheepish smile I've been having a hard time getting through the funk that comes from reality intruding on the fantasies in my head, and I lost the track of my writing. But I'm fighting my way back, and I hope y'all are still with me. Thank you soooo much to those who sent me PMs kicking my ass for not posting an update. I swear I'm still alive, I'm going to finish my stories (damnit if it's the last thing I do, I WILL have finished stories. I need something to be finished in my life) and I'm working on updates for the other stories.