"Excuse me, Mr. Scott? There's a friend here to see you." Lucas looked up to see a waitress standing there with a notepad. "She told me to tell you she's from Tree Hill."

She had timed it just right to finally make an appearance. "Well, well. Lucas Scott." Brooke's smile shone bright through the crowd of people in that tiny New York City bar.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." She laughed as her eyes wandered around the stranger she once knew so well, trying to figure out if he was the same guy from high school.

Seeing Lucas had opened up a time machine to a much simpler time—and it was surreal more than anything. It was the first time she'd seen him since she left for LA with Peyton after graduation. Not an entirely long time, but it felt like decades.

"God, it is so good to see you, Brooke." He smiled back, wasting no time to reunite them in a warm embrace. And it was warm.

"So, you wanna go somewhere?" Brooke offered, extending her hand. He took it and she led him away.

—

A picture of Jamie Scott lit up Lucas's phone. "Oh my-he's getting so big?" Brooke hadn't seen him in so long, she'd forgotten what he looked like.

Yeah, she would get the occasional picture from Haley, but that would only be once every two months. It wasn't enough for Brooke. She missed her godson and his parents way too much.

"I know." Lucas swiped to another picture of Haley holding him after one of Nathan's college basketball games. "Oh, and his first word was ball."

Like that was a surprise. His father is Nathan Scott, future NBA player.

"Okay, well we can tell whose son he is." She laughed before looking back up to Lucas.

"How are our happily married friends?" Brooke wondered. "No Chris Kellers coming between them?"

Lucas laughed, "No. They are very happy."

Brooke looked down. She loved New York, but she hated missing so much of her friends' lives.

Lucas, noticing her demeanor change, he started again. "Anyway, I was kind of surprised you got my message. The world famous Brooke Davis? I didn't think she had time for small people like me." He joked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Sure, I have great designs, but you are the one who's gonna be a famous bestselling author." She playfully nudged his arm, smirking.

She knew how much he needed the encouragement after Haley told her about the stack of rejection letters from other publishing companies.

"You're going to be a rockstar someday, Luke." She smiled, again. "I just know it."

Lucas played with his drink on the table, seeming flattered by how Brooke still saw him after all these years. Maybe it's because there were still mild feelings there. It's Lucas, her first real love, how could there not be? But even if there weren't, she'd still believe that he was truly one of the greatest writers out there, destined for greatness.

Although, it's not like those feelings would ever change how far they've come from what happened between the three of them. It took her a while to forgive Lucas and Peyton after what they did to her.

But now, she felt that they were all in a pretty great place. The three of them could finally be friends, even if two of those friends were in a relationship together. Brooke wanted to look past it—actually, she needed to look past it.

It's like the words Brooke uttered hadn't resonated in him the way they were meant to. He continued to play with his drink, rubbing the condensation off the sides of the glass. He seemed doubtful. "Lucas Scott, bestselling author? How weird does that sound?" Lucas looked up and finally made contact with Brooke.

"Actually, I've been looking forward to the day that you'd own that title." Brooke assured him with a soft smile. "I'm so incredibly proud of you."

And she truly believed that, hoping it was enough to convince him.

An Unkindness of Ravens. Lucas's novel was one of the only ones Brooke had ever read more than once, willingly. Even though it was about the love story between her ex-boyfriend and best friend, she couldn't deny how great a story it was.

"I'm serious, Lucas. Be proud of yourself." She demanded, and he looked up at her half-smiling. "You should be celebrating! I mean, where's Peyton? She must be so thrilled for you."

Lucas's face changed. She knew something had been going on, she suspected it the second they hugged. When she heard Lucas sigh, "we broke up," she was taken aback. She didn't know what to say other than, "Oh my g-od, I'm so sorry. What happened? Are you okay—do you want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about? I went to LA, I asked her to marry me, and she said no." He replied.

As much as Brooke was shocked, she finally understood. "Okay, I'm sorry if this comes out insensitive, but are you stupid?" She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, Lucas glared at her response. It was obviously insensitive, she knew that.

"We graduated high school a little over a year ago, but you stormed LA and went all Naley on her? Did you even buy a-"

Before she could finish, Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. He opened it and placed it on the table facing Brooke.

Her face lit up, eyes widening, as she leaned forward and picked up the white box. "Wow" was the only thing that escaped her lips. Stunned by the familiar rock, inspecting every last gemstone, Brooke was trying to place it.

Until it hit her—it was Keith's engagement ring. She recognized every detail from when she studied it the same way on Karen's finger.

"It's beautiful." Brooke broke the silence.

"She didn't even see it."

"How do you propose to somebody without them seeing the ring?" Brooke shot him a confused look.

"Well, like this..." He grabbed the box from Brooke and held it up. "I want us to be together forever..." Before he could demonstrate what happened, though, a nosy waitress spotted the event.

"Wow, congratulations! Champagne on the house." The waitress announced, alerting the rest of the restaurant who were now clapping for the "newly engaged couple."

Brooke and Lucas looked toward the waitress, stunned, then to each other almost laughing. She misread the situation, but instead of denying it Brooke confidently stole the box back from Lucas and slipped the ring on her finger.

"What are you doing?" Lucas whispered.

"Well, if they think we're engaged, why not put on a show and get free champagne?" Brooke whispered back, before showing off the ring to the crowd they now had.

What was the harm in pretending she was engaged to her ex-boyfriend? What was the harm in imagining a life where she was still with him and they were getting married? Probably a whole lot, but Brooke didn't care. It's not like she hadn't imagined this moment hundreds of thousands of times before in high school when they were actually dating.

She remembered when he was hiding Haley's ring for Nathan's re-proposal, and she thought that he was proposing to her. Yeah, she thought it to be "very Naley," but she couldn't help but wonder what she would've said if he had proposed to her. Would she have said yes, or would she have done the same thing Peyton did?

She didn't still have feelings for him, did she?

The waitress popped the champagne bottle, and the restaurant's clapping had died down.

"Are we really pretending to be engaged to get free alcohol?" Lucas laughed.

Brooke took a sip out of the newly filled flute in front of her. "Maybe, but why not?" Brooke smirked, before her eyes widened.

"Oh my god! I just had the best idea." Brooke nudged Lucas in the arm.

—

"Who knew that the ring trick would actually get us free drinks all over midtown?" Brooke retorted in a somewhat bragging manner, hitting Lucas on the shoulder lightly with her purse.

"Ow…I'm pretty sure that was you," Lucas laughed, referring to the moment back at the restaurant.

Walking down a crowded sidewalk after leaving a weird named bar, an old man stopped them.

"Can I give you two a ride?"

Brooke looked around, curiosity stricken, she noticed the carriages lining the sides of the street. But, before she could turn back around to answer, Lucas suggested, "Why not?" He looked toward Brooke, lifting his eyebrows, "It is our engagement night."

Both of them looked unequivocally at the man, Brooke jolted her left hand up exposing the gemstone her ring finger. She smiled the widest smile before the man finally spoke again, "In that case, the ride's free."

Lucas took Brooke's hand and helped her into the carriage.

It was nice to pretend that she wasn't some young fashion mogul and was actually living a life with love and happiness. Not that her fashion line didn't make her happy, she just wished she had someone to share her success with.

For a while, she thought that someone would be Lucas—the only guy she'd ever fallen in love with. But he'd moved on, so she had to move on, too.

They started down the street, taking in the magic of the night. For the first time since she came to New York, Brooke was actually having fun. Since the growth of her company, Victoria had pushed her to focus more and more on the line. It made her mature when she was still very young. And this moment, with Lucas and the carriage ride, was the first night in a long time that she had felt free—like the reckless teenager she still was.

The man turned his head, almost to look back at them, to break the silence. "So, what do you two have planned for your lives together?"

Brooke thought for a second, looking over to Lucas and blurted out, "We're gonna be a power couple. He's gonna be a famous novelist and I'm gonna have a fabulous fashion line."

"Oh, but we're still gonna have time to have a big family." Lucas said.

"Two boys and a girl." Brooke added.

"And I'll coach Little League."

"Ooh, and I'll bake treats for the team...or buy them." Brooke started to imagine.

"Then, we'll spend our summer in our beach house." Lucas added, and Brooke's face lit up.

"And winters in the south of France."

Lucas turned, smiling gently at Brooke, "It won't matter where we are, as long as we're together."

She couldn't help but notice how his eyes sparkled in the streetlights and the way he said that made her feel things she hadn't felt since high school.

"That's the key, success is wonderful, but finding someone to love having them love you back…love is what it's all about." The old man finally spoke up.

They gazed at each other, almost in realization. But before it got too intense, she turned to notice a lit up sign.

"Oh, here's another place we can stop," Brooke pointed out to Lucas. The man, hearing this, pulled over to the side of the street.

"Thank you, very much for the ride." Brooke smiled at the man who had now turned back to look at them.

"You're very welcome." He gave them a warm smile. "And congratulations! You two seem very happy together."

Lucas had already gotten out of the carriage, he reached up and helped Brooke.

—

After a few more stops at numerous bars and clubs, they finally made it back to Lucas's hotel. Brooke was a little buzzed, but she wasn't nearly as drunk as Lucas. She practically carried him into his room.

"Okay, boozy…here we go." Struggling to hold him up any longer, she finally sat him down on the bed. "Now, no more drinking for at least 48 hours, got it?"

"The room is spinning," Lucas commented, almost funnily.

"You're going to be okay. That's normal when you've had as many free drinks as you've had. Now, we're gonna get-"

"Brooke, can I ask you something?" Lucas cut her off. "Why did we ever break up?"

"Well, you were in love with my best friend, and it seemed like I was the only one who knew it." Brooke had gotten a bottle of water out and handed it to Lucas. "Drink this."

"No. You were always the one I dreamed of a future with." Lucas blurted out, unconsciously.

His reply caught her off guard. She hadn't actually thought about how they ended things because she was so sure. She never let herself believe he had ever thought of a future with her, just a settlement when Peyton hadn't returned his feelings.

She didn't know what to say back to that, so she just brushed it off, "Lucas, you're drunk and you need to drink something, like water. Now take a sip."

She opened the bottle for him, but instead he took and put it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"But, I'm not." He held her face in his hands, and pulled her closer.

She took his hands off, stopping him, and sat down next to him on the bed.

"I know you just got broken up with and that sucks, but you can't just move on to another girl a day later. Let alone your ex-girlfriend." Brooke tried to reassure him. "Peyton doesn't know it right now, but you two are meant to spend the rest of your lives together."

It hurt for her to say it, and at that moment she didn't even know if it was the truth, but she just wanted her friends to be happy. That was all she had. She didn't want to complicate her life with anything like getting back together with Lucas, let alone have a one night stand with him.

"I don't know about that, Brooke." Lucas said, half-dazed, but staring right into Brooke's eyes. "Maybe I thought we were, too, but you have always been there for me. Yeah, I was always saving her, but you are always saving me."

He paused for a second to move a strand of Brooke's hair behind her ear, he reiterated, "You were always the one I dreamed of a future with."

"Lucas." Brooke looked into his eyes, a puddle of confusion surrounding her. She didn't know what to say, still wondering how truthful he was. They say alcohol can be a kind of truth serum, but even if he was telling the truth, sober Lucas still had no idea what he wanted.

But when he put his hand on her face, for a second she let it consume her. He inched himself closer, abolishing any space there was between them.

"Okay!" Hit with a wave of sanity, she pulled away and jumped up from the bed. "Like I said, you need to drink some water, sober up. I'm gonna get you into some fresh jammies and then I'm going to take a cab home, okay? Okay."

She started unbuttoning his shirt, exposing his bare chest before Lucas started, "Or, you could stay here." He leaned forward to kiss Brooke.

When their lips reunited, Brooke felt a type of electricity she hadn't felt in a long time. She almost missed it. It was like a magic stroke of a paintbrush that felt right. Like, Bob Ross was creating a masterpiece on their lips. She wanted to pull away, but it was like there was a magnetic force keeping them together. She couldn't. The magic of the night consumed her once again, remembering Lucas was the one boy she would have altered her entire life for. Uproot or even ruin her career for. Do anything for—and now, in that moment, he had that same power.

She leaned in closer, deepening the kiss. Lucas stroked her cheek. "Pretty girl," he whispered in her ear. It'd been years since she heard him say those words to her and hearing them now, she felt seventeen again. It made her fall more weak and deeper into the moment.

She didn't want to pull away—she couldn't.

—

Brooke opened her eyes to meet a sleeping Lucas. He looked so peaceful, she didn't want to wake him. She knew he would have a booming headache from the amount of alcohol he'd consumed the previous night. Plus, she wasn't sure if what happened last night was a mistake. Her mother definitely would've thought so.

"Boys don't bring success, your clothes do."

"This clothing line is your future, not some boy."

"Your company is called 'Clothes over Bros' for a reason."

She thought about everything she knew her mother would say when she would eventually return home. But, even the negative ramifications that her mother had continued to implant in her head couldn't distract her from what she was thinking about.

"Pretty girl." A nickname Lucas hadn't spoken in a long time. It had been years, and last night he whispered it in her ear before they had sex? What did it mean?

She tried getting up out of bed without making a sound or moving too much to disturb Lucas's slumber, but she failed. As soon as she lifted herself off the bed, Lucas rolled over.

"My head is pounding—and the room is spinning." Lucas had opened his eyes and let out, lifting himself up. He looked up to see Brooke, and it all came rushing back.

She immediately turned around, noticing. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." She said, finally spotting her yellow dress and pulling it on.

"Oh my god, Brooke, did we-?" He started to ask, motioning the both of them had sex.

"Pretty sure." Brooke nodded, eyes darting around the room looking for her left shoe. "You don't have too bad of a hangover, do you? You were pretty drunk last night."

"I've had worse." Lucas commented, wincing slightly and rubbing his forehead. Then, looking up at Brooke, he shot her a soft smile. Brooke was confused until he opened the sheets and revealed the hidden heel.

Brooke smiled brightly and grabbed it before sitting down on the bed, her back facing Lucas.

"Can you zip me up?" She asked, turning her head slightly toward him. He nodded and grabbed the zipper.

"So, am I still good at it?" He asked jokingly to try and lighten the mood.

After clasping her other shoe on, Brooke turned to face him, lifting her eyebrows, "I don't know…was I?" She reciprocated, leaning closer into him.

She looked deeply into his eyes, "What was last night?" She asked. He sighed, "I don't know."