Chapter 10

The Sun
Maroon 5
"...But I cannot forget
Refuse to regret
So glad I met you
Take my breath away
Make everyday
Worth all of the pain that I have
Gone through..."

He was there. Nathan stood at the terminal that Brooke was supposed to be at. No one was there. He looked at his watch 10:47. "Damnit." He said. He looked up and watched the plane pull away.

Shaking his head in disbelief he fell to the ground. She was gone, again. Part of him couldn't believe her, how could she do this to him again? How could she just leave? But the other part couldn't believe himself. He let her go. He knew there was something he could have done to make her stay.

He picked himself off the ground and began to walk away. Before he could get too far a familiar voice called his name, "Nathan?"

He slowly turned around. There she stood. Her eyes were red from crying and her lip was red from blood. She continued to chew on her lip. He tried not to let his mouth drop to the ground. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Her carry on bag was over her shoulder.

The two remained silent. She crossed her arms over her chest, but freed one hand to tug at the bottom of her Juicy Couture hoodie. She looked at the ground and then at him. He walked toward her.

His hands, which she remembered as warm and calloused, were now soft and almost cold. They ran over her cheeks and it gave her chills. His fingers caressed the nape of her neck and he pulled her closer to him.

She put her arms around his waist until her hands met. Their lips met for one, long, intense moment. The pair pulled away. Slowly a smile crawled across Nathan's mouth. This made Brooke's do the same.

The two stood facing each other. Brooke dropped her carry on to her side and reached for Nathan's hands. As it was so many years before, the silence between the two was nearly perfect. They knew there was nothing to be said. They knew what each other were thinking. Brooke was sorry and Nathan was too.

He reached for her bag and began to walk. Brooke followed close behind. Chewing on her lip desperate to talk she reached for his arm. She knew he had something to say.

Her tug stopped him and he turned around. He readjusted the strap on his shoulder and said, "So why didn't you get on the plane?"

"I did." She said, sitting down in the middle of the airport. Nathan remained standing and let the businessmen, mothers, and everyone else under the rainbow pass them.

He looked at her, confused. "You mean that you were on the plane and you got off?"

"I'm here aren't I?"

He nodded, "What made you do it?"

She sighed. "I was looking out the window on the plane and I was thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself doing that." Nathan said, jokingly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He always used to do this. It was almost like he was belittling her. No one realized that sometimes she like to be a little philosophical.

"Nathan I am being serious."

He looked down, "I know, I'm sorry."

She smiled at him. How could she stay mad at a face that looked like that? She continued. "But I was looking out the window and thinking," She looked at Nathan before she continued. He was contently listening. "I was wishing that my life was like a movie. You know what I mean? I was wishing that you could come running onto the plane and kiss me and tell me never to leave you again or at least come running outside the plane waving at each of the windows like a madman searching for me…"

"I almost did that but they wouldn't let me past security."

She glared at him, "You're doing it again."

"Sorry."

"Anyways, then I started to wish this was all a dream."

Now he was listening. What was a dream, he asked himself. He wondered if she had wished she had never come back to Tree Hill and never seen him again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean like if I closed my eyes and then opened them I would be back in high school again. I would be living with my parents," She paused, "We would be together…"

"We still can be."

She was quiet for a moment. "I have to go back eventually you know."

He nodded his head and reached for her hands, pulling her up off the ground. "I was afraid of that."

The two continued walking in silence until finally reaching Nathan's Mercedes. He threw her carry on bag into the backseat and looked at her, "Where are your other bags?"

"Still on the plane I am sure." She paused, thinking hard, "I will call someone and they will get them for me in Charlotte." Brooke played with the waist band on her pants and looked over at Nathan. "Were you waiting for me?"

He looked at her, "When?" Starting the car he watched Brooke stir in her seat. She continued to chew on her bottom lip. She and he both knew she needed to stop that but it was her comfort blanket and no one was going to take that away from her.

"Since I left."

He sighed not exactly anxious to discuss this. He didn't mind talking about the future but chatting about the past was not exactly his idea of a good time and he wasn't afraid to tell her that. "Do we have to talk about this right now?"

Her head dropped and she said, "I don't know why talking about it now would be such an inconvenience to you."

"Its not that it is an inconvenience Brooke, it's just that I don't exactly enjoy talking about the worst part of my life, okay?"

"It's a simple question Nathan." She pulled her legs into the seat and rested her head on her knees, focusing on the road in front of them.

"Okay, fine. Yes. I waited on you and you never came back. I waited and waited and waited. I would sit behind the tree in the park every night. Every night for a year, Brooke, just hoping that one night you would decide to come home and I wanted to be there, waiting for you incase you came looking for me."

"And I never did." She said, feeling tears swell into the corners of her eyes.

"And you never did." He replied. He turned to her and watched the first tear drip down her face. "is that what you wanted to hear?"

She shook her head, "It's not what I wanted to hear." She turned to look at him and said, "But it's what I needed to hear."

He gave her a confused look, "How's that Brooke?"

"The whole time I was in Charlotte I would sit around and wonder if you were thinking about me. I would make myself sick I would worry so much."

"Worry about what?" He asked as he pulled into his driveway. He got out of the car.

Brooke did the same and followed him toward the front door, "That you had found someone who was better than me."

"It that what you thought I was thinking about while you were gone?" He watched her shrug her shoulders. "For the longest time I couldn't even look at other girls."

She rolled her eyes, "You are so just saying that."

"Am not." He said shaking his head.

She crossed her arms, "Let's go somewhere."

"Where?"

"You know where."

Brooke and Nathan got back into his SUV and went back to a familiar place, a place where they had spent their best and worst times, there home away from home, behind that giant oak tree in the park.

Brooke sat cross legged on the grass in the park. Nathan ran his fingers over the carved wood. She motioned for him to sit down. He did just as she asked and she crawled into his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. The top on her head touched his chin and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I didn't want to leave." She turned her head to look at him, "You know that."

He nodded his head and she turned hers around to face the tree in front of them. "I hoped not. I didn't want to be without you."

"It was hard for me too."

"I know."

"I still loved you."

"I know."

She turned her head and glared at him, "Wrong answer."

He smiled, "I still loved you too."

She smiled back, "And I still love you."

"I still love you too."

"Its okay for us to be together you know."

He laughed. "I was the one who was always telling you that."

"I know, I just now got it." She smiled at him. "I guess you could say someday came later than sooner."

He scoffed at her, "Ah yes, the 'maybe someday' line."

She raised her eyebrow at him, "It was good though." She put her hand over her heart,

"Very moving."

He reached for her hand, "You ready?"

"For what?" She asked taking his hand and letting him help her up.

He took he hand and led her to the car, "The rest of our lives."

Author Note:
First of all I would like to thank ever single person who read this story and review it. I definitely appreciate all of the reviews, positive and negative I love them all.
Second of all if people actually like my Nathan Brooke pairing then I will possibly write a sequel to this story. So just tell me if you liked this story enough to read another one.
Thirdly and finally Thanks to everyone who gave Lauren a chance and didn't just single her out and another one of those new character that everyone hates. So thank you for that.
It's been real, It's been fun, It's been real fun.
Em