Author Note: Thanks so much to those who replied to the short story. I just was thinking that no one hardly ever puts Nathan and Brooke together so I decided to step out of the box and do it. Please everyone tell me what you think. All reviews are appreciated. Positve. Negative. I don't care, just review. Thanks so much. Hope you enjoy.

Em

Chapter 1

Life was so different now. In the three years since she had seen him everything in her life had changed so drastically. After that night in the park she made the decision that changed her life forever. She had no other choice. She had to leave, and she did.

She purchased a one way ticket to Charlotte, packed her bags and left with out turning back and without saying goodbye. He knew it was best that she left. They loved each other too much for her to stay.

To outsiders they seemed to have the perfect relationship. But those closest to them knew better. They knew their relationship was like hell. Hell that was brought on by their parents and those who thought they had a standard to uphold; they were the Captian of the Basketball Team and The Head Cheerleader weren't they? Nathan knew that if Brooke hadn't left then he still would have been in hell, his own personal, lonely hell.

Finishing school in an unfamiliar place was the last thing on her mind. Her number one worry was having to go back to the place where her heart was. She dreaded seeing him again. He still had her heart and there was no way she could get it back, but she didn't mind because she still had his.

She was a junior in college and still hadn't gone back. That was until she got the phone call that changed her perfectly content life. Dan Scott had died of congested heart failure. That was enough of a shocker. Here came the big one, Nathan had specifically asked that Brooke be at the funeral.

Now here she was, standing in the foyer of the house at which she had been staying. She was a nanny for a very wealthy family in Charlotte. He was the mayor and his wife, the second since Brooke had been there, was the ex-wife of the previous mayor. What a love triangle. She looked at her cell phone. The call from her mother had been disconnected. She folded her arms across her chest and went into the kitchen.

Hannah, the youngest of the three children, sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. She picked out the marshmallows in her Lucky Charms and threw the oat pieces at her brother, who was standing in front of the mini plasma screen TV under the cabinets.

"Hannah, quit it and Hayden move away from the television screen. You are going to go blind." She said, squatting down and picking the pieces of cereal off of the marble floor. Her chocolate brown hair fell into her face. She shoved it behind her shoulders and stood up. Hannah continued to throw the cereal and Hayden had not moved. It was a lost cause. She would never win this battle. She surrendered and went on her way into the TV room.

The oldest of the Wade clan laid on the leather wrap around couch. Harrison had his headphones in his ears, eyes closed, and pajamas still on. Brooke looked at her watch. She wasn't his nanny, but still she had to look out for him. "Harrison," She nudged him on the shoulder. He didn't move. "Harrison, it's 10. You were supposed to clean the pool an hour ago."

He pulled the headphones out of his ears and looked up at her, "Brooke, I am seventeen, I can fend for myself. I have all day to clean the pool, but I don't have all day to sleep." He put the headphones back on and motioned for her to leave, "So if you don't mind."

Brooke leaned over him and pulled the IPOD away from him. "Get up and clean the pool." He looked at her, puzzled. "You go to the best high school in town; I know you understand what I am saying." He just stared at her. "Harrison, are you even listening to me?"

Answering truthfully and being a typical teenage boy, "No." He sat on his knees looking at Brooke, who was still leaning over. "I was looking down your shirt." She quickly stood up and tugged at the V-Cut in her shirt. "That's not going to change anything." She watched him head out the back door. Before he could close it he said, "Nice pink bra. Very sexy."

"Harrison! Pool!" She watched him until he got to the pool, making sure he was doing just what she told him. He took his shirt off to reveal his perfectly cut torso. Golfing must have paid off in some ways, Brooke thought to herself.

She turned around and picked Hannah off of the stool she was sitting on. "Go get some clothes on. We are going to go to the grocery store. But first I have to call your mom, okay?" Hannah nodded and headed up the stairs.

Brooke picked the phone up off the receiver and dialed Mrs. Wade's cell phone number. "Mrs. Wade, its Brooke. I hate to do this because I know how important the Brunch is tomorrow, but I have to go home... I know, I have to though... Yes, thank you for understanding... I have to leave tonight... Yes, six will be fine... Thanks again." She hung up the phone and sat down in the living room.

"Brooke, uh, Harrison is, uh, you might want to come here." Hayden said as he looked out the window at his brother. "What happens if you filled a pool with soap?" She thought he was just being a normal curious eight years old.

"Hayden, what are you talking about?" She said, lethargically getting up off of the couch. She could see Harrison had a hose in his hand and a box of laudary detergent in the other. "What is he doing?" She had not yet reached the kitchen, but when she had she realized what he was doing. "Oh my god."

Brooke ran out the back door, down the steps, and stared at the pool which was beginning to erupt with bubbles. She grabbed the hose away from the shirtless, seventeen year old. She hit him on the back of the head. His hat fell off into the bubble filled pool. "What the hell were you thinking Harrison?"

He raised his eyebrow, deviously. She knew exactly what he was going to say. She knew smart ass better than anyone else. Then he said it, "You told me to clean the pool." "What the hell and I supposed to do now?" She asked him, looking at the eight empty Tide boxes at his side. "Damnit Harrison. I have to leave tonight and now I have to clean up the mess you have made. I am never going to get to leave."

He looked at her, confused, "I thought you didn't want to leave." He picked up the boxes and threw them into the trash.

"I don't, but I have to."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." He said, starting to walk back in Brooke's direction.

"Thank you, wise one." She sat by the pool and put her feet into the bubbly water. "I have to though. I have to go to a funeral."

"Oh," He sat down next to her, "Why don't you want to go back anyways?"

"It's complicated." She shook her head and looked at him, "You don't want to listen to my problems anyway." She said hitting him on the shoulder. "So, how is that Cameron girl you were dating?"

"Okay, she isn't really my type."

Brooke laughed and said, "Oh yeah. What is your type?" She looked up at the backdoor and watched Hannah come down the stairs. Her eyes lit up when she saw the giant bubbly bath.

"Tall, brown hair, brown eyes, tan, and rich, older..." He looked at Brooke. "Know anyone like that?"

She laughed at him, "Harrison," She put her hand on his shoulder and stood up, "You don't want an old woman like me. You want someone young, blonde, rich would be good." She laughed again and said, "But that is just a plus."

Hannah yelled at her, "Brooke can I swim in there?"

Brooke figured she would get fired for this anyway so why not. "Yeah, go put your swimsuit on." She stood up and started to go back into the house. She looked back at Harrison, wondering if this would be the last time she would ever see him. He was looking down, into the suds that he had made, "Hey Harrison." He looked up at her, "Good luck finding a girl like me." She winked at him. "Girls like me are few and far between." A smile crept across his face and she went back into the house.

Hayden was still standing in front of the plasma TV screen in the kitchen. She had given up on him moving away from it, so she let him stay there. Hannah ran down the stairs dressed in her pink iridescent bathing suit with her pink tutu over it. She didn't wear anything without that tutu over it.

"Can I go?" She asked, tugging at the hem of Brooke's blue jean skirt.

"Yeah, go out there. Your brother is out there. I will watch you from up here."

Hannah skipped out the door and once Hayden realized what was going on he went upstairs to put on his bathing suit. He couldn't miss out on this. Before Brooke knew it, the whole neighbor hood was in the "Bubble Bath of the Century".

A ringing was coming from the kitchen. She walked over, trying to find it. It was coming from her cell phone. Restricted Number. She answered.

"Hello?"

"Brooke?"

"Yeah."

"Hey."

"Hi. Who is this?

"It's me, Nathan."