One week has gone by and I still have managed to avoid Rachel. She keeps texting and calling but luckily she hasn't actually tried to approach me in person. But tomorrow is the day. I'm finally off my crutch and my arm is fine so I have to actually be at practice.

Shoot me now.

I roll over so that I'm facing the wall away from Haley's bed. She's been listening to me cry since the breakup but I think she realizes I want space because she hasn't said a word…until today.

"Brooke. Do you want me to beat her up for you?" Haley says as she lies down beside me. She wraps her arm around me as tears continue to drop down my cheeks.

I laugh lightly. "No. That's the pathetic part. I don't…hate her. I just miss her. Badly."

"Oh sweetie." Haley sighs and wraps her arm around me tighter. "I'm here for you if you need me, okay?"

I simply nod.

"Let's go out for lunch or something. Its 2 o clock in the afternoon and it's gorgeous out. Come on, get out a bed."

"No."

"Please?"

"One more day, Hales. Just give me one more day to sulk in my pjs and then I will get up."

"Nope. Tigger, you will get up, and you will get up now. Now move!"

Haley whips the covers off of me and I instantly groan, missing the warmth the blankets provided me with. "Fine." I grumble.

I take a shower and get dressed. Nothing fancy; just jeans and a tank top.

I'm just about finished with straightening my hair when there's a knock on the door. I turn to Haley but she doesn't know who it is. "Uh, come in?" I call out.

When the door opens, I see Rachel standing there with her arms crossed and her eyes darting from me to the floor and back again. "Hi."

"I'm just going to…get out of here." Haley says as she quickly makes her way through the doorway.

An awkward silence fills the room. I sit down on my bed and motion for her to do the same.

She sits down and crosses her legs. "Brooke…I miss you."

"Rachel if that's all you came here to say…" I look away. "It's not enough."

"Do you miss me?" I look back into her eyes and I see how vulnerable she looks.

"Every day." I answer honestly.

"I came here to tell you that I broke up with Nathan."

My eyes instantly light up and I fight back a smile.

"Because I don't love him. Brooke the only reason I stayed with him was because I was afraid. He threatened me-"

"He what?!"

"He never got physical. He just threatened to...He knew about us. He was going to out us."

"Then what changed? Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"

Rachel took my hands into hers. "I didn't tell you before because I was afraid. But then I realized the extent of my love for you. I missed you everyday Brooke. And each time you didn't answer my text or talk to me it just killed me. And if Nathan decides to do something irrational, then who cares? Because as long as I have you, it shouldn't matter."

I cut off her speech and kiss her, hard. After a moment I take off her shirt and she helps take off mine. As soon as it's gone, she pushes me down on to the bed so that she is lying on top of me. Her lips crash into mine and I can feel her tongue slip into my mouth.

I feel her hands fiddle with my jeans until they open and she unzips them. She teases me by playing with the top of my underwear. I can feel the heat growing inside of me.

"Rachel wait."

She leans up but is still on top of me. "What is it, baby?" She starts playing with my hair.

"I need you to promise me that you mean this. Just us. No more sharing, no more jealousy."

"I promise." She answers with no hesitation. "Haley already knows. We can tell Peyton and Lucas tonight if it's what you want…"

I nod and Rachel starts kissing up my neck. "Oh god." I moan as Rachel puts pressure on my center.

BD

"Jesus, what is that?" Rachel groans as she pulls the covers over our heads. Her naked form is still wrapped around me and I roll over and press my head into her neck.

"It's called sunlight. And I think we have school today."

"Screw that."

I giggle as Rachel and I hear a voice from the doorway. "Get up, I slept on the couch to give you too your space. But I need to shower and change and I really don't feel like seeing you guys have sex."

"Yes you do." I call out from under the covers.

"Trust me, hearing it was enough."

BD

5 years later…

"I'm so proud of you." Rachel says as she wraps her arms around me.

"Thanks." We look around the store full of high-fashion items and bustling customers. Its opening night and it's taken so long to get here.

"So, who knew B&R Boutique would be so successful?" Peyton asks us.

"I knew." Rachel says.

"Aw." I kiss her cheek in response.

Peyton's long-time boyfriend comes up to us. "This is great, Brooke. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Jake." I smile appreciatively and leave the small group to talk. I see Haley eyeing a dress in the window. "It's yours, Tutor-Girl."

She hugs me and as she pulls away she says, "I thought it was Rock-Star now?"

I laugh. "Old habits die hard I guess. It's really nice to see you Haley. How's your new tour going?"

"Great. But it's not good enough to keep me from coming here."

I hugged her again and noticed that a customer was flagging me down. "Yuck, so it begins. I have to go, but promise me you'll be at my house tonight for the party?"

"I'll be there."

BD

By twelve I had the store shut down and I drove back to my place where Rachel and I were throwing a party. Rachel had gone ahead to set up and most of our friends were already there.

I walk through the doorway and notice my fiancé sitting near Haley with a drink in hand. "Hey baby." I kiss her quickly and sit down near Haley.

"Haley and I were just comparing our jobs. I'm thinking about quitting my job to become a singer."

"Well, first off, you suck at singing. And secondly, you love being a nurse. You help save lives and all that. We all know you love it."

"Yeah, I guess." She smirks. "Look who just got here."

I follow her gaze and see Lucas standing in the doorway with his wife, Lindsey. I've actually become great friends with her. Peyton's usually off working on her label or with Jake and Haley's out of Tree Hill for half the year. She's really sweet. It's been nice to know that Lucas found someone; he's become my best guy friend.

"Hi, Luke." I gave him a friendly hug and do the same with Lindsey. "So, where's my little buddy?"

"We left Jamie at Grandma Karen's." Lucas laughed.

I pouted. "Aw, no fun!"

"You know, Brooke, I get this feeling you only use us for our son." Lindsey said.

"You'd be correct on that feeling." I smiled and showed them the way to the drinks.

I walked back to Haley and Rachel. "So, Tutor-Girl, how come there's no man in your life?"

"Or woman." Rachel coughed.

Haley gave her a look. "I'm happy to say there's no one in my life, man or woman."

"We will just have to fix that, won't we, Penelope?"

"I'm sure Rachel knows someone from the hospital. Oh! I know! There's that really cute intern, what was his name? Ethan? Or Ian? Whatever it was he was cute."

"Okay, no. I can find myself a date, thank you."

Rachel smirked. "Whatever you say."

BD

"Tonight was amazing." I said with a smile. Rachel was sitting on the porch step above me, with her arms around my neck. I had my hands on her arms, rubbing gently.

"I know. You did great. The store looks great. It was great."

"You really have a way with words."

"I know, right?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

I sighed. I'm perfectly content with where I am.

"We've survived two break-ups, a school shooting, a crazy stalker, and college. And now I have a beautiful house, career, and soon-to-be beautiful wife. How the hell did we get here?"

"Want my honest opinion?"

I nod and turn to look at her.

"I think it was fate."

THE END


AN: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Leave one last final review if you can :)