"Peyton, I don't know if I can do this." Lucas said.
Peyton looked up from her drawing, "What?"
"I don't know if I can be in a relationship with you."
Peyton blinked at him, her big eyes filled with hurt, "Lucas…"
"I'm sorry Peyton. I love you, I really do, but…"
"You're not in love with me." Peyton finished for him.
"No, I love…"
"Brooke!" Brooke jumped awake. She looked around sleepily and saw that the class was empty, except for Lucas, who had an amused look on his face. "Good dream?"
"Um, yeah, actually. It was a lot better than what I have to wake up to." She thought for a moment, "Then again, having you to wake up to never really was that bad." She gave him a smile, and they walked out of class together.
"It's good to see you smile, Brooke. How have you been?"
"The past few weeks have been…hard. But I'm ok now." They walked along in silence for a few minutes, then Brooke spoke again, "Thank you, Lucas. For caring about me."
"Brooke, you and I have a history that's not going to go away, whether Peyton likes it or not. I still care about you, and I probably always will."
"How'd you get to be so nice, Lucas Scott?"
Lucas shrugged, "Don't know. How'd you get to be se pretty, Brooke Davis?"
Brooke laughed, it was nice to know that Lucas still thought she was pretty. For a moment, it felt like old times, when Lucas was still her boyfriend, and she could still trust Peyton. Then she saw Peyton walking towards Lucas, and Brooke's bubble of happiness burst, leaving her with the reality that Lucas was not her boyfriend, and Peyton was not her best friend. "I'll see you around, Lucas." Then she turned, and walked away.
"What was that?" Peyton asked, wrapping her arms around Lucas from behind.
"Mmmm? Hey." Lucas turned around so that they were facing each other, and kissed her. "It was nothing. She's been a little down lately, and I cheered her up."
"Talking to you made her happy?"
"Uh, I guess so." Lucas glanced down at his cell phone, checking a text message he had just gotten.
"Lucas, there's something you should know about Brooke…"
"Sorry, Peyton. I forgot that I was supposed to meet Nathan and Mouth twenty minutes ago. Can it wait till later?" Without waiting for an answer, he quickly kissed her on the cheek, and then he was gone.
