Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters...I own nothing but the plot of this story!!!

Chapter 36: Remember Home Sweet Home

The next morning Brooke woke up snuggled up against something pretty warm. Then she remembered what it was, so she snuggled in deeper, not wanting to miss a moment.

She closed her eyes tightly and took in his scent. Then she popped them open making sure this wasn't some awful joke of a dream and her other senses had just been betraying her.

And there he was, right before her hazel eyes. He was still asleep, or was doing a good job at pretending to do so. One arm was stretched above his head, making the muscles in his chest tight.

She tried to smile at the sight of him, and realized she already was doing so. She didn't know what she had done to finally be this happy. She couldn't remember the last time she had been unable to stop smiling. All she knew was it was a feeling she didn't soon want to forget.

She took one of her fingers and began lightly tracing the muscles of his chest and stomach, it was in attempt to wake him, but she didn't mind the electric sensation she got just by stroking his body like that.

Lucas began to jump a little under her touch when her fingers reached the sides of his stomach, one of his most ticklish spots.

"Oh good, you're awake," Brooke crooned, draping her arm over his chest as she rolled over on her belly to look him in the face.

Lucas took a few moments to blink his eyes open and when they finally decided to stay that way he focused in on the girl who was lying with him. Was there any way this experience was even real? All the events of the night before seemed so clouded that he knew they had to be the product of some crazy dream he had.

"You are awake, aren't you?" Brooke asked again, raising her left eyebrow at him skeptically. "I mean, you didn't stroke out or something last night, did you?" She continued to question.

Lucas shook his head from side to side as a wide smile appeared across his gorgeous face. "No, I'm still here," he assured her. And he took one of his hands and gently stroked her cheek.

Brooke leaned into his hand and instantly missed his touch once it was gone. "Well I'm glad to hear that you are still with me," she giggled. "That way you can figure out what to feed me for breakfast because I am seriously starving." And as if right on cue her stomach let out a loud rumble.

Lucas and Brooke both laughed and the strange sound.

"Yeah, it sounds like you definitely need to get some food in that stomach," he agreed with her. "How about we get dressed and go down to the hotel's restaurant. From the looks of the menu laying on the nightstand it looks like they have some pretty good stuff."

Brooke nodded her head. "Sounds like a good idea. And whether it is actually good or not, at this point I don't really care," she told him plainly. Then she rolled over and climbed out of the bed, grabbing some fresh clothes and heading to the bathroom. "Just let me wash my face and put on some fresh clothes and I'll be ready to go down."

"Take your time," Lucas called after her as she closed the door.

She quickly popped it back open. "That's easy for you to say," she called to him. "You aren't the one whose stomach decided it wanted to eat itself!"

Lucas just laughed at Brooke's crazy ways as he went to his own suitcase and found something to wear downstairs.

When Brooke and Lucas entered the hotel's restaurant, they spotted Nathan and Haley doing the same thing.

"And what is the married couple up to this morning?" Brooke asked as she walked up the Nathan and Haley and bumped Haley's hip with her own.

"Nothing exciting," Haley answered, "Just getting some breakfast before we leave to go back home."

Brooke gasped. "I completely forgot that we were leaving today!" She said hurriedly. "What time do we have to be out of here? What time is our flight?" She asked, almost in a panic.

"Brooke, it's fine," Lucas tried to soothe her as he came up beside her and staring rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "We don't have to be out until 12 and it is only 9:30. Then our flight isn't until 4 so we will have some time to kill."

"Okay, good," Brooke said, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "I didn't know what I was going to do if you said we had to leave within the next hour because I have got to eat something but there is no way I am leaving without a shower."

All her friend laughed at her. For such an easygoing girl, she could be pretty high maintenance at times.

"Then Nathan and the team aren't leaving until after dinner tonight," Haley pouted. "I just wish you could fly back with us."

"I know," Nathan agreed. "But this is the only way coach would have it. Fly in on the team plane, fly out on the team plane," he explained to her as if this was the hundredth time they had been over it.

"I know," Haley said with a slump of her shoulders. "Well since we are all here, we might as well eat together," she added, changing the subject.

"That sounds like a great idea," Brooke agreed, glad the topic of conversation had turned back to their meal. "Because the sooner we eat, the sooner I can begin to repack for the flight back."

They had checked out of the hotel by noon and had decided to walk around the city for a little while. Though it was hard because they had to stay away from any store that might detain Brooke for too long and cause them to miss their flight.

Eventually they ended up at the airport. Nathan had ridden in the cab with them and was just going to walk over to the private plane waiting area when he got done, the majority of his teammates already being there.

"I can't wait to see you back in New York," Haley said, giving Nathan a bear hug.

"It won't be that long from now, Hales," He reassured her. "Besides, you can just go hang out with Brooke and Lucas when you get back and I will pick you up from there."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed with him. "That way you won't have to wait at home by yourself."

Haley smiled appreciatively back at her two friends. It was nice to have people who cared about you.

"I hate to break up this semi-farewell," Lucas began. "But we've got to go and head through the security gate or we are going to miss our plane."

Haley and Brooke both nodded their heads in agreement. They knew the broody blonde was right. And the last thing they wanted was to be stuck here or having to wait for a ticket on another flight to open up.

They all said goodbye to Nathan and headed for security. It was a mutual feeling between all four friends, they had loved Los Angeles, but there was really no place like home.

"We're home, we're home," Brooke cheered as she spun into the apartment and flung her purse at the side table.

"Excited much," Lucas mused as he hauled in all of the bags, all except one bag that Haley had insisted on carrying herself.

"Maybe I am a little bit, sue me," Brooke said as she floated over to the couch and flopped down on it. "Man, I don't remember this couch being this comfy," she said.

Haley just laughed at her friend as she followed her into the living area. "Brooke, you act like you have been gone forever. It was only like three days," she said, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"Hmmphf," Brooke groaned and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are such a crab when Nathan isn't around."

Haley just rolled her eyes at her friend's childlike behavior. "Hey Luke, what are you thinking about for dinner. I am really craving Chinese," she called to her best friend.

Lucas nodded his head in agreement. "I was thinking the exact same thing," he told her. "What do you think, Brooke?" He asked he brunette from his spot by the refrigerator.

"Fine with me," she answered. "You know I'm not picky."

Lucas and Haley both looked at each other skeptically. "Whatever you say," Lucas called back to her as he went to the drawer to retrieve some takeout menus.

After he had placed the order he went into the living room to wait with the girls. "They said it would be about twenty minutes," Lucas told them as he picked up Brooke's legs and sat under them on the couch.

"Great, because I'm starved," Haley chimed in, kicking her shoes off her feet and letting them fall to the floor.

Lucas turned on the television and began searching for something to watch.

"What times was Nathan supposed to get back in?" Brooke asked, after a few moments of silence.

"I'm not really sure," Haley told her. "It is supposed to be pretty late so I will probably just head home after we eat. I don't want to be a bother, keeping you two up till all hours of the night."

"You are not a bother," Brooke assured her. "And you are staying here until Nathan gets back. I don't want you over there all by yourself. That would cause me to stay up all night anyway because I would be so worried I couldn't sleep," she explained to her.

"Yeah Hales," Lucas piped in. "There is no way I'm letting you go home alone. There are too many wack jobs in this city. Plus we already told Nathan you were staying here and he'd be pissed if we let you go home."

"Yeah, yeah," Haley grumbled and turned her attention to the television screen. As much as she liked to know her friends cared about her, she hated being a burden. "Hey Brooke, isn't that Matthew?" she asked, pointing at the screen.

Brooke's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and her cheeks flushed. The picture of the guy on the crime show Lucas had stopped on looked exactly like her ex-husband.

"That's definitely him," Lucas agreed, turning up the television so they could hear what the actual story was about. "I'll never forget that face," He growled as he recalled the night he had walked in on him attacking Brooke.

The story was talking about how Matthew was wanted for smuggling with intent to distribute charges in connection with a serious drug ring that had been smuggling in cocaine from other countries. But Brooke didn't want to hear any of it.

"Can we turn that off?" She asked them, rolling over to face the back of the couch. She grabbed a blanket off the back of it and tucked it around herself. Seeing Matthew made her think of what felt like another lifetime ago, and made her remember a girl she wasn't very proud of at times.

"Sure," Lucas sympathetically told her. "We already know what is going on now. Hey are you okay?" He asked her, when he noted how she had curled into a ball.

"Yeah I'm fine," she mumbled dismissively. "I just didn't realize how tired I was."

Lucas looked at Haley once Brooke had closed her eyes and the blonde just shrugged. If Brooke wanted to be left alone, there was nothing you could do to stop her.

So here is the next part...I hope you all liked it! Since it didn't take me 2 months to get the update posted this time, I'm not going to include a recap this time...plus writting one would take a little minute and I might not get this up today. Anyways, if it takes me a long time again, I am going to include one, so thanks for that excellent suggestion that was left in the comments. Also, thanks to all of you for expressing your love for this story. It has given me some new inspiration to keep it going! Hopefully the next part will be up sooner! :)

Audra