Here it is guys! The long awaited update. Sorry for the delay….been struggling with a bit of writer's block, but I think I have broken through it. Enjoy the chapter! Please review!

Chapter 19: Conversations

"I'm all ready to go to daddy's, Mommy!"

Peyton turned at her daughter's voice. Ellie entered the living room, toting her little purple duffel bag.

"Yeah?" Peyton asked, taking her daughter's duffel when she held it up. "Did you remember to pack your underwear this time?"

"Yes, Mom," Ellie said. She sighed, embarrassment evident on her voice.

Peyton smiled and set the duffel bag down on the couch. "Okay, hun. Let's get your shoes on."

Ellie brought her white tennis shoes over as Peyton sat down on the couch. Ellie handed her mother her shoes before sitting down on the floor.

"Mommy," Ellie said as she held her right foot up. "What are you going to do when I'm with daddy?"

"Well," Peyton answered as she slid the shoe onto her daughter's foot and started to tie the laces. "I am actually going to be out of town for a few days."

"What for?"

Peyton finished the right foot, and she started on the left when Ellie held her foot up.

"It's a work trip."

"Oh. Sounds not so much fun."

Peyton smiled again. "No, probably not. At least not as much fun as I'm sure you will be having with your dad."

"We're gonna have so much fun, Mom." Ellie said as Peyton finished her shoe. Ellie stood up. "Daddy is gonna take me, Ava, Lily, and Jamie to the water park!"

"Wow…that does sound fun. You'll have to go down the slide an extra time for me, okay?"

"I will."

Peyton chuckled. "Okay, goofball. Let's go."


Haley entered the foyer of her home just as the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Brooke was standing on the porch step.

"Hey, Brooke," Haley greeted with a smile. She held the glass door between the big black one open. "Come on in."

Brooke smiled as she stepped inside the house.

"How are you?" Haley asked, closing the main door.

Brooke shrugged as she set her purse down on the bench next to the stairs. "Eh…you know. Exhausted. Nauseous. Hungry. Everything to be expected when one is pregnant."

Haley chuckled. "I'm right there with you, sweetie. If it makes you feel any better, I'm carrying twins so I have double of all of that."

Brooke grimaced. "Oh. Yeah…that really does make me feel better."

They both laughed this time.

"Come on," Haley said, gesturing for Brooke to follow her. Haley continued the conversation as they walked through the hallway that led from the foyer to the kitchen. "Thanks for coming over today. Jamie is with Deb today, so it should be easy for us to get stuff done. And I really appreciate your offer to help get the house packed up."

"Oh, it's no problem," Brooke said as she sat down on the wood table in the kitchen. She watched as Haley opened the door to the cupboard above the dishwasher. She stood on her tiptoes to retrieve two glasses before closing the door again.

"I mean I really wish you weren't moving back to Detroit…"

Haley glanced sadly over at Brooke before pulling a pitched or lemonade from the refrigerator.

"But," Brooke continued. "I know how much you and Jamie have missed Nathan since you came back home. And I understand that you are just doing what is best for your family."

Haley had finished pouring lemonade into the two glasses, and she now brought the glasses over with her to the table.

"Thank you," she said as she handed Brooke a full glass before sitting down in a chair next to her at the round glass table.

"Thanks," Brooke muttered when she'd received her lemonade.

"I wish we weren't moving away from Tree Hill again," Haley continued after taking a sip from her own glass. "Tree Hill will always be home to me, but it doesn't feel the same without Nathan here."

Brooke nodded. She understood Haley's feelings. And she felt the same way about Tree Hill as Haley did. She didn't think she could ever leave it, however. Tree Hill was safe. It was what she knew, what she'd known all of her life. And she wanted the same for her daughter too.

"So is Ava with Chase today?" Haley asked, breaking through Brooke's thoughts.

"Yeah, until Sunday, actually. He spent all week flying, and has to fly again all next week, so he wanted to spend the weekend with her."

Haley smiled. "You miss her already, don't you?"

Brooke returned the smile. "Yeah…But she was really excited to get to spend the weekend with him. I'm just happy that he's the one making an effort now…that it's not just me reminding him to spend more time with her."

Haley took another drink of her lemonade. "How are you and Chase getting along, now that you are separated?"

Brooke glanced down into her glass before answering. "I don't know…the same. I think. I mean we don't argue as much because we're not living together anymore. But we don't talk much either. When we do talk, it's mostly about Ava."

"Do you think that's just because of the situation with you and Lucas?"

"Oh, I know it is. He doesn't believe it was just about one lonely night, Lucas and I. He thinks it's been something that has always been there."

Haley didn't respond right away. She glanced away while she considered Brooke's explanation of Chase's feelings.

"What?" Brooke asked when she noticed Haley's expression change. "What are you thinking, Hales?"

Haley shook her head. "It's not really my business."

"No, I want to know what you think. I am so confused about everything…I'd really like to get a good friend's opinion."

Haley still didn't answer. She wasn't sure Brooke would like her opinion.

Brooke stared at her friend, waiting for her to say something. When Haley didn't respond, Brooke pressed her again.

"You agree with Chase, don't you? Lucas and I…you think there's always been something there?"

Slowly, Haley nodded. "I do. I mean it's kind of obvious; to me, anyway. After everything you and I talked about when you told me about you two, and then recalling all the times he's done things for you, the times you've gone to him for advice…how close you two have gotten over the years…I don't think that you or Lucas have thought about it that way, but to the rest of us watching…it kind of all fits."

Brooke stared at Haley while she'd explained her opinion. As she thought now about everything that Haley had just mentioned, Brooke compared it with the things Chase had said. Both he and Haley agreed that Lucas had done a lot for Brooke over the years. Brooke agreed. Both Chase and Haley said that Brooke did turn to Lucas for advice often. Brooke agreed with that too; she had turned to Lucas a lot over the years, especially throughout the past year. After all, he'd been there when her husband wasn't, and when her other friends had worries of their own amongst their families. Brooke agreed…she and Lucas had grown closer to Lucas over the years. She considered him to be her best friend, next to Peyton—well, best friend, now that Peyton wasn't talking to her.

The longer Brooke thought about it all, she realized that, maybe, she agreed with Chase and Haley too. It all did seem to fit together. And Brooke wondered if that meant that she and Lucas fit together? Like it was meant to be that way?


When they had arrived at Lucas' new apartment, Lucas had been waiting for Peyton and Ellie outside. He'd waved when they'd pulled up. After Peyton had gotten Ellie out of her booster seat, Peyton had passed her daughter's duffel bag off to Lucas, and had been prepared to leave right away. Then, Ellie had begged her to come up and see her new room. Unable to resist her four-year-old's pouty lips, Peyton had caved, and had followed Lucas and Ellie up to the apartment.

Now, Peyton stood with Lucas in the living room that seemed to be overtaken by boxes still from the move over the past week and a half.

"It's a really nice place, Luke," Peyton said as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah. I think so." Lucas sighed. "Cheap too. I'm going to be the Super. In return, I get free rent. That'll save some money."

Peyton nodded her agreement. "Good."

They both glanced down then, silence between them, almost awkwardly as it seemed to be all the time with them since everything had happened.

"Well, I'd better be going," Peyton finally broke the silence. She walked toward the door, and Lucas followed her.

"I'm going to be out of town for work until Sunday," Peyton explained as she reached the door. "I'll pick her up when I get back in. If it's late, I'll wait until Monday, but I will let you know either way. And I'll have my cell on me."

Lucas nodded. "Okay."

"Oh! Um, don't forget, Ellie has—"

"—A ten o'clock appointment tomorrow morning," Lucas finished for her. "At the hospital. I remember."

Peyton nodded. "Okay, good. I'll call around noon tomorrow…see how it went."

Again, Lucas nodded.

"Okay. I guess that's it then. I'll, um…I'll see you in a few days."

"Have a safe trip."


"Here you go, Monkey." Chase smiled at his daughter as he held out a small, chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone.

Ava took the cone from her father and asked, "Ice cream before dinner, Daddy? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why not?" Chase replied as he sat down on a bench with his daughter.

"'Cuz mommy never lets me have ice cream before dinner. She says it spoils me."

Chase chuckled. "I think you mean it spoils your dinner."

Ava shrugged as she started to lick her ice cream.

"So did you have fun at the park today?" Chase asked after they'd both sat in silence for a few minutes.

Ava shrugged again. "I guess so."

Chase looked at her, confused. "You guess so? What does that mean?"

Ava glanced at him. "I don't know. We always go to the park."

"What do you mean always? I haven't taken you to the park since before I left a week ago."

"Oh, well uncle Lucas taked me, Jamie, and Ellie to the park last weekend when you was on a trip."

Chase nodded, frowning now. "Oh…he did, huh?"

"Yep." Ava looked up at her father again, her face a mess already with ice cream even on her nose. "We did lots of fun stuff all week so mommy could rest. Uncle Lucas said she was sick, so he taked me and Jamie over to Aunt Karen's. And then, when it was night time, he taked me home and tucked me in and read the monkey book. You 'member the monkey book, Dad?"

Chase nodded again, and Ava continued to lick her ice cream. Chase watched her in silence as he thought about everything she'd just rambled on about, everything she'd just revealed about her week with Lucas. Chase turned away when he felt the anger rising in him, warming his cheeks even more on this already hot July afternoon.

Though he knew now what had happened between Brooke and Lucas—that is, exactly what he'd feared would happen all these years as he'd watched the two of them grow closer—and though he'd told Brooke he was done fighting for her, Chase couldn't escape the jealousy he felt. It wasn't so much that he was jealous of Lucas spending so much time with Brooke, but more that Lucas had been spending so much time with Ava. Ava was his daughter—not Lucas' daughter! Lucas had his own daughter. And soon he would have another child…with Brooke, whom Lucas had stolen from him. It seemed to Chase now, that Lucas was stealing Ava away now, too.

"I'm all done, Daddy!"

Ava's voice pulled Chase back from his jealous thoughts and anger. He composed himself—forced the angry expression from his face—and looked back at his daughter. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the chocolate and vanilla smeared even more on her face and hands.

"And you're all messy," he said, chuckling. He tossed the rest of his cone into the trash next to the bench where they were sitting, and he stood up from the bench. "C'mon, Squirt. Let's go wash you up."

"Okay!" Ava jumped up from the bench. "I'll race ya to the bathroom!"

Ava started running toward the building in the center of the small park, where the restrooms were located. Chase did not run after her, did not race her as she'd expected him to when she had challenged him. Instead, he followed her slowly, watching her as she ran. Watching her, Chase regretted having not been around for her the past week, and he regretted spending more time working than he had with her, and even with Brooke over the past year.

Ava stopped running when she'd reached the building. She turned around and waved to Chase.

"C'mon, Daddy! You're such a slow poke!"

Chase picked up his pace. As he reached his daughter, he scooped her up into his arms, tickling her as he did, making her giggle. And his thoughts flashed back to jealousy for just an instant, and he thought to himself, there's no way I'm letting him steal her away from me too.


Her conversation with Haley had helped to put things in perspective for Brooke. Of course, she'd already known that she cared very much for Lucas. He was her best friend, next to Peyton. And she'd even suspected that her feelings went further than friendship with Lucas. Of course there were feelings there…she wouldn't have slept with him if there weren't feelings.

What Brooke was wondering about now, was how strong those feelings actually were. How long had it been more than just friendly feelings? At what point had she gone from just caring about Lucas as a friend to…what? Liking him? Was that the word? Loving him? Was that more accurate of her feelings?

Brooke had been thinking about all of this since her conversation with Haley. It had left her mind only briefly while they'd started to work on packing and their conversation had changed to other subjects. But now that she was home, alone with nothing else to do, her mind had wandered back to Lucas—something that seemed to happen quite often as of late. Brooke wondered, was that a sign too?

She sighed as she rested her head against the back of the couch, and she rested her hands on her belly.

"Oh, baby…" she muttered quietly. "Mommy sure has made a mess of things. I hope I can figure things out before you get here. For your sake, as well as mine."


"So Brooke and I got a lot of stuff packed up this weekend," Haley said, sitting down on her bed with her laptop. She watched Nathan on the web-cam as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, that's good," he told her. "But I don't like that my pregnant wife and my pregnant friend are doing all these moving preparations by themselves. You really shouldn't be."

"Oh, relax," Haley said with a smile. "It's not like we were doing a bunch of heavy lifting. We were simply putting some knick-knacks and things in boxes. We will save any lifting for Lucas—who actually did help us out by taking Jamie out with him and Ellie. We did fine."

"Good."

Nathan smiled, and Haley's grin grew when she saw his.

"How's Brooke doing anyway?" Nathan asked after a minute.

Haley sighed. "Oh…I don't know. Thankfully, she's not really depressed like she was for so long after the accident, but she's not really happy yet, either, I don't think. The whole situation with Chase and Lucas…it's all so complicated."

Nathan nodded. "I bet. But that's what happens when you're married and you sleep with someone else. You get complicated. Especially when you get pregnant too."

Haley shook her head. "That's not what makes it so complicated, not for Brooke. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that's a large part of it. But I think that her feelings is the real complicated part for her."

"Her feelings for who? For Chase, or for Lucas?"

Haley stared at Nathan silently for a moment. "Baby, you've known Brooke for as long as I have, longer actually. But you've known the Brooke from 'Brooke and Lucas' for as long as I have. Do you really have to ask about her feelings?"

Nathan bobbed his head once. "Right. And they have gotten a lot closer over the past few years, haven't they? Even more so than they were in high school. I could definitely see that when I was home."

Haley nodded without response.

"Well, so what's the complicated, then?" Nathan asked, wondering out loud. "Is she still in love with Chase?"

"No. I think that she has pretty well figured out that she is not in love with Chase anymore. She's admitted to me that she has known that for months, but was afraid to let her marriage go without trying to work on it. The problem is that she hasn't really decided how she feels about Lucas, other than caring for him as she does for the rest of us."

"Do you really think that she doesn't know how she feels about him?"

"No, I don't. Not at all. Brooke says she's confused. But I know Brooke, and I know Lucas. I've watched them both together."

"Yeah, so have I," Nathan agreed with another nod. "The feelings are definitely there between them."

"Right. See, we've all figured out how they feel about each other, even Peyton has. And I think that deep down, Brooke knows how she feels about Lucas. She's just afraid to admit it to herself. She's always been that way."

Nathan nodded his agreement.

"So, Miss Brucas 101 expert," Nathan spoke again, offering Haley a smile. "What about Lucas then? You think he feels the same way about Brooke?"

"I do. But I don't think that he is ready to tell her that."

"No?"

Haley shook her head. She was quiet for a moment, thinking about her best friend and how best to explain what she knew about him and this triangle he was in.

"Lucas has changed a lot since he and Brooke were together in high school. Back then, and even when Ellie was born, Lucas always did things that he considered to be the right things to do. He did things because he was sure he was supposed to, not because it was what he wanted, though it may have been, and may have influenced his decisions. His decision to do something always seemed to be about doing what was expected of him, or rather what he thought was expected of him."

"You mean like asking Peyton to marry him after they had Ellie?"

"Exactly," Haley agreed. "And I'm not saying that he didn't love Peyton. I honestly think he did love Peyton. But I know Lucas, and I have seen how he is with Brooke. And it has always seemed that he's loved Brooke more. But being with Peyton, not marrying her, and going through everything with Ellie's cancer…I think that Lucas realized that it doesn't always have to be about doing what others consider to be the right thing, or even what he might consider to be the right thing necessarily. It's also about it being the right time, and in being ready."

"That's pretty insightful, Hales. Do you really think Lucas thinks that much?"

Haley couldn't help but smile at her husband's joke.

"Anyway…" Haley's smile faded and she was serious again. "The way he was before, Lucas would have wanted to marry Brooke as soon as he'd learned that she was pregnant. Actually, I still think that he probably does want to marry her, not because she's pregnant, but because he loves her. But he knows that Brooke isn't ready for that, nor would it be the right time. I think he knows for certain how he feels about Brooke. But I don't think that he will tell, or be ready to tell, Brooke how he feels until he feels that she's ready."

Nathan followed what Haley was explaining. He nodded to show his understanding.

"And…" Nathan started, still thinking about everything Haley had analyzed out loud for him. "Lucas won't feel that Brooke is ready until Brooke—"

"—admits how she feels," Haley finished. "Yep."

"Huh," Nathan grunted, considering that thought. Brooke could not admit to herself how she truly felt about Lucas because she was afraid. And Lucas…Lucas knew how he felt, but he wouldn't tell Brooke until she told him how she felt.

"Damn," Nathan mumbled. He looked back at Haley. "That is complicated."

Haley nodded slowly and threw up her hands, and she said, "I'm telling you!"


On Sunday evening, Brooke sat on her front porch, waiting for her daughter to return home after a long weekend away. It was 8:30 now, a little later than the time her father usually brought her home. Chase had called that morning to tell Brooke that his parents had asked that he bring Ava over for dinner since they hadn't seen her in awhile. Though she'd missed her daughter terribly all weekend, Brooke had agreed that Chase could bring her home after dinner. Brooke knew how much her daughter enjoyed spending time with her father. And given that Chase would be leaving on another trip tomorrow, Brooke decided that her daughter should have a couple hours longer with her father.

Brooke looked down the driveway when she saw headlights. Chase's SUV pulled into the drive. She watched as he shut off the lights and the engine and climbed out of the driver's seat. Brooke stood up, and her eyes met Chase's. She offered him a smile, but he didn't return it. He turned away and opened the door to the backseat. He had Ava unbuckled and outside of the car in less than a minute.

"Mommy!" Ava was loud with excitement as she ran up to the porch to her mother.

Brooke smiled as she wrapped her arms around her small daughter. She lifted her daughter up when they embraced, grateful that she wasn't far enough long in her pregnancy yet that her belly would prevent her from being able to hold her daughter like this.

"Hi, baby," she greeted. She kissed the side of her daughter's head. "I missed you so much!"

Ava smiled at her. "I missed you too, Mommy!"

Brooke glanced at Chase as he approached the porch steps, carring Ava's pink duffel bag. She looked back at her daughter and smiled again.

"Did you have fun with daddy?" Brooke asked as she lowered Ava back down.

"Yeah, lots of fun. He bought be a new teddy from his trip. You wanna see it?"

"Um…why don't you show me later? After you get ready for bed. How about you go brush your teeth and wash your face, and I'll be inside in a few minutes?"

"Okay." Ava turned to go inside, but stopped when Chase called her back.

"Hey, I think you forgot something," Chase said, holding his arms open.

Ava smiled and ran over to him, now standing at the top of the stairs. Chase squeezed her close to him, and he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Monkey," he whispered to her.

"I love you, too, Daddy." Ava kissed her father's cheek and pulled away.

Brooke touched her daughter's head as she walked past Brooke, heading inside.

"I'll be inside in a few minutes, Princess."

"Okay, Mommy."

Brooke and Chase watched their daughter walk inside. Then, Brooke turned back to Chase, and she folded her arms across her chest.

"So you two had a good weekend?" She asked.

Chase nodded. He glanced down, trying to keep his composure as he felt the jealousy flood through him again.

"Though, apparently," he said. "It wasn't as much fun as it has been with Lucas this past week."

He looked back at Brooke, but she glanced away from him this time.

"Look, Chase," Brooke said when she looked back at him. "Lucas took her out a few times this week when I wasn't feeling well. Mind you, he also had another child with him when they did go. He had Ellie, Jamie, or Lily with him too. It wasn't just Ava. And whatever they did wasn't anything more than what I had planned to do with her if I'd been feeling better."

Chase nodded. He ignored her explanation and decided to change the subject to what he'd actually walked up here to talk about.

"Look," he said. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Oh, um…" Brooke was surprised that he'd let the subject go that easily. But she didn't dwell on it. "Okay. "

She moved over to the porch swing. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Uh, no. That's okay." Chase leaned against the porch railing as he continued. "I've, um…I've been offered a promotion."

"Really? Wow, that's great, Chase." Brooke's words were honest. Though his working so much had been one of the things that had put too much strain on their relationship, Brooke knew how much Chase loved his job; the job he'd wanted since he'd been a young boy, she knew.

Chase nodded. "It is. It's the job I've been working toward for a long time now. Top salary, benefits…everything. The only downside is that I'd be required to change bases. I'd have to move to San Fransisco."

"Oh." The surprise was evident in Brooke's voice. She really hadn't been expecting that. "Wow…that is a downside."

"Yeah. But if I don't take the job, I'll have to start over from the bottom. And I really don't want to have to do that."

Brooke shook her head.

"No," she said. "No, you shouldn't have to do that. I agree, you should take the job. It's just going to be tough on Ava…not seeing you as much; even less than she does now."

Chase nodded. He cleared this throat. "Yeah. I, um…I don't like that either. That's why I was thinking that Ava could come with me."

Brooke stood up quickly, her arms folding as she did. "What?"

Chase stared into her eyes. "I want to take Ava with me to California, Brooke. I want her to live with me."

Whew! That was a long chapter. Felt long anyway…I've been working on it for weeks now. Some parts were easier to write than others, and some I'm not sure were that great, but that's why I have you guys to tell me what you think so I can make it better. Like the conversation between Nathan and Haley…it was kind of filler because I wanted to include some Naley in the chapter, but wasn't sure of what to write. And I also wanted to explain what is going on with Brooke and Lucas…and I was having a hard time doing that, so I thought maybe a conversation between Nathan and Haley about it might help. Anyway, I hope you guys will let me know what you thought of the chapter. I have most of the next chapter written, so all I have to do is edit and type. Hopefully that update will be up soon. I love having actual time to work on this. Thanks guys for sticking with me in my absence!

-Maureen