Brooke didn't want to let Lucas go, she couldn't. She felt like she had to explain to Lucas why she never called him. She had been waiting for this moment since she decided that she would never contact him again. She could only wonder what his thoughts were. Brooke quickly entered the cab, not wanting to leave his side.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Lucas asked her, the cab started to move. "Get out," Lucas demanded.
"No," Brooke said to him. "I'm not leaving until we talk this out," Brooke crossed her arms. Lucas huffed, he would've thought she would leave him alone. Lucas had said all he wanted to say, he wanted to leave Brooke in his past like she wanted to.
"You said you wanted to leave your past behind...so I'm going to do what you want," Lucas informed her.
"But you're back in my life now and I'm not going anywhere," Brooke explained to him.
"I'm not in your life Brooke, I'm just passing by. In a couple of weeks, I won't be here and you can forget about me." Lucas said to her. "It's what you wanted, right?" Lucas finally looked into her eyes. Brooke paused, she couldn't say no because that's what she had told him.
"I never wanted to leave," Brooke assured him.
"But you did," Lucas looked outside the window, remembering what he went through when she left. "Day after day I would wait for your phone call until I realized that you were never going to call. I was never going to see you again," Lucas felt his lips quiver while his eyes burned. "Why couldn't you just say good-bye?" Lucas asked her.
"I did," Brooke answered him.
"No, you didn't. When you boarded the plane, it was a 'see you soon'. It was never supposed to be a goodbye." Lucas said to her. Brooke tensed up, she had to say something but nothing was coming out. She wanted to ask how she could fix this but she felt like there was nothing that she could do. "What we had is gone," Lucas looked into her eyes, because he wanted her to understand that he wanted to forget her.
"Lucas, I am so sorry," Brooke told him.
"If I'd never published the book, would you call me? Would you have kept your promise and came back?" Lucas narrowed his eyebrows. Brooke didn't want to lie to him because he would see right through her. The answer was no, she was never planning on seeing him again.
"Maybe," Brooke raised her shoulders.
"See, maybe isn't enough for me." Lucas looked up at the taxi driver. "Can you pull over here?" Lucas asked him, not knowing where he was but he couldn't stay in the car with Brooke. Brooke took in a deep breath, she wished that Lucas could forgive her.
"Could you forgive me?" Brooke asked him.
"I already have," Lucas said to her. Lucas opened the door and quickly disappeared down the street. Brooke watched as he left, wondering if there was something that she could say that would make him stay. It was going to take time for them to become friends again and Brooke was willing to take that chance. Brooke glanced up, feeling the driver staring down at her.
"What?" Brooke raised her eyebrows. Brooke crossed her arms, looking away. "Any advice?" Brooke asked him.
"Even though you both won't say it, you guys still love each other." The driver said to her. "I read the book," He smiled at her.
"Thanks," Brooke rolled her eyes.
"So...I'm guessing you're the Brooke Davis in the book?" He asked her.
"You guessed right," Brooke answered him.
"Well, he wrote an entire book so the world could know that he would only love one girl for the rest of his life and that's you." He informed her. Brooke narrowed her eyebrows, she didn't read that in Lucas' book.
"How do you know?" She asked him.
"Just read between the lines. He said when you left, he kept wondering where you were. He published the book so that he could find you. He was looking for you, Brooke."
Brooke opened the door to her apartment, recollecting what happened only minutes ago. Lucas wasn't the same person anymore and Brooke only had herself to blame. Brooke honestly thought the conversation would've been a little better but she was wrong about that as well. It was something that she would regret forever. Victoria heard the door open, anxious to know what happened between Brooke and Lucas.
"Brooke?" Victoria peeked from the corner. "Is that you?" Victoria asked her. Brooke dropped her bag onto her counter, not wanting to talk about what happened. "How'd it go?" Victoria asked her, holding her phone tightly. The press were already talking about how Brooke and Lucas finally talked to each other.
"I'm sure you already know." Brooke grabbed a bottle of wine from her cabinets.
"Only a little, people said they saw you two at the bar." Victoria informed Brooke, not wanting to tell her what else she heard. She could tell that her daughter was hurting and she really missed Lucas. Brooke missed that part of her life that she would never get back. She knew deep down that it was mistake to move to New York. "Do you want to talk about it?" Victoria asked her daughter.
"Not really," Brooke grabbed two glasses. "There's nothing...really…" Brooke took in deep breath, trying not to cry. "...nothing to talk about because he hates me," Brooke sobbed. Victoria quickly rushed over to her daughter, wrapping her arms around her. "He hates me, mom." Brooke cried.
"He doesn't hate you," Victoria informed her daughter. "He's just going through a lot right now, just give him some time." Victoria said to her daughter. "He just needs time," Victoria huffed.
Haley was shocked with the news that Lucas was telling her, she was also very tired with the late night call. It was almost midnight and Lucas was telling Haley about his conversation with Brooke. Haley wasn't surprised at all that Lucas and Brooke finally seen each other. She was more surprised at what Brooke wanted.
"New York is big but it's also small, you guys were bond to run in to one another," Haley opened her fridge, trying to find something to chew on while Lucas vented to her.
"I know but I tried my best to stay away from her." Lucas swallowed. "And she came looking for me," Lucas continued to say.
"Really?" Haley paused.
"Yes, she told me that she had been looking everywhere for me." Lucas was shocked as well.
"I guess the book grabbed her attention." Haley raised her eyebrows. "Everyone is talking about it." Haley shrugged her shoulders, reminding Lucas that his book is a big success. His book is what everyone is talking about. "There's even rumours about it becoming a movie," Haley wanted to know if it was true.
"It's just rumours, Haley." Lucas said to her. Haley turned on her television, watching TMZ to see if the conversation between Brooke and Lucas had already hit the news. "She kept saying that she wanted to fix things," Lucas continued to talk about Brooke.
"Maybe she does," Haley flipped through the channels. "Maybe she feels guilty after what happened." Haley continued to say.
"She should." Lucas huffed.
"I say give her a chance," Haley told Lucas.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"Yea, why not? You both changed. Why not try to fix things?" Haley asked him.
"Because...because…" Lucas tried to argue.
"Because she broke your heart. We get it. The entire world gets it but it's time to move on and forgive her." Haley said to him.
"I can't," Lucas huffed, even though there was a part of him that wanted to.
"I think you already have," Haley said to him. "I think you forgave Brooke the moment that she left Tree Hill." Haley confessed.
"And how do you figure?" Lucas shot back.
"Because you loved her," Haley said to him. "And because you wouldn't have published the book if you didn't want her attention." Haley informed him.
"I published the book because it's what I love to do. I love to write and I wanted the entire world to hear my story." Lucas explained.
"Yea and also to get Brooke's attention." Haley informed him.
"No," Lucas said to her.
"Then answer me this Lucas, why did you go searching for a publisher in New York?" Haley raised her eyebrow.
"I didn't search for Lindsay. She contacted me." Lucas told Haley.
"Yea, after you sent her a copy of your book. I've seen it on your laptop." Haley said to him.
"Oh, so you were snoppying through my things?" Lucas asked her.
"Lucas, that is besides the point. Brooke didn't come looking for you, you came look for her. You wanted to run into her." haley informed him.
"No," Lucas said once more.
"I'm sure having your party around the corner from Brooke's apartments was a consequence, right?" Haley asked him. Lucas wanted to speak to Haley about his issues but it seemed like Haley was on Brooke's side. Lucas didn't understand what Haley was trying to do but he didn't want to hear it. Lucas ended the call without saying another word.
