Brooke loaded up her car and double checked to make sure she had everything. She had a habit of always forgetting something or another while on vacation.

"I hope I didn't leave anything, Gran."

"Oh well, if you did I'll just mail it back to you."

The two women held hands.

"I had a nice time, Gran, thank you for having me again."

"I missed you, darling", the woman sighed as she hugged her granddaughter. "Promise you'll be back soon."

"I will. Now give Pop another hug and kiss for me."

"Okay. You know I will. Now you drive safe."

"I'll call when I get home to let you know I made it back okay."

"Okay. I love you, sweetie girl."

"Love you too, Gran."

"Alright...Brooke?"

"Yes, Gran."

"I just wanted to let you know, next week, the Charlotte Bobcats will be playing the Magic. It's a home game for Orlando."

"And when did you become such a basketball fan?" Brooke asked with a tiny hint of sarcasm.

"No reason to get all testy, hon", Gran winked. "I was just passing on a bit of possible useful info."

Brooke could only grin to herself. Gran just plain never gave up.

Brooke stared aimlessly at the design in front of her. She had been working on it for days but all she seemed to stare at was a blank piece of paper.

"...Yoo hoo, earth to Brooke."

"Huh?"

Brooke looked up at her friend, Tarah.

"Girl, I've been trying to talk to you for ten minutes now. What's up with you today?"

Brooke removed her Gucci designer reading glasses and ran her fingers through her layered dark hair.

"I'm just thinking about something. It's not important."

"Obviously it is. You've been spacing out all week long. Tell me what's wrong."

Brooke sighed.

"It's nothing really. Actually, it's kind of stupid. I was just thinking about an old boyfriend. He's going to be in town next week."

"Are you thinking about seeing him?"

"I don't know", she shrugged. "It's kind of complicated."

"What do you mean, complicated?"

A small grin crept to Brooke's lips.

"You are never gonna believe me."

"Try me", Tarah laughed.

"Okay. Have you ever watched basketball, you know, as in the NBA?"

"Unfortunately I have to. Well I don't actually pay attention but I really have no choice considering my husband has Sports Center on in every television in our house Why?."

"Okay, so you're familiar with some of the players, right?"

"A few."

"What about the Scott brothers?"

Tarah wrinkled her nose as she thought.

"I think I've heard of them but I can't quite place their faces...oh wait, the two brothers from North Carolina. They were recruited from UNC, right? I remember it was a big deal because they got drafted together and they ended up sharing the Rookie of the Year award and stuff last year. They're little hotties, especially the dark haired one with the pretty blue eyes."

"Yeah, that's Nathan. His older brother is Lucas, the guy with the blonde hair."

"Okay, Brooke, so I know who they are. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, that ex lover I'm referring to is Lucas Scott."

Tarah laughed as she stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Brooke, you have got to be kidding me! Tell me you're joking."

"Of course I'm not joking."

Tarah clasped a hand over her mouth.

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Well..."

"Well what?"

"He is a major hottie, girl! His brother is too, you know, in a weird broody sort of way with the way those two never crack a smile and all."

Brooke laughed.

"Tarah, come on."

"Okay, okay! They are both fine as hell!"

The two women clasped their hands over their mouths and fell back in a fit of laughter.

"Brooke, this totally changes everything", Tarah began once she had regained her composure. "Girl, if you have the chance to see him again, you better take it!"

"What do you mean that changes everything? And you better not be talking about the fact that he's a big star now. I don't care how rich or famous he is, I don't want anything from Lucas."

"Exactly. You don't want or need anything from him. You are a beautiful, educated, intelligent, independent woman and you've done very well for yourself. I'm just saying it might be nice to run into an old friend again. Hell, show him how great your life is now, let him see what he missed out on."

Brooke sheepishly tucked her head and Tarah rolled her eyes.

"Uh oh. What happened?"

"Well..."

"I'm waiting."

"Oh alright. Like I said before, we started dating when we were both 14. It was sort of a summer thing because I lived in Boston and only saw him the summers I spent with my grandparents in Tree Hill. We couldn't wait for the summer time to roll around and all year we'd talk on the phone and send sappy letters back and forth. It was sweet and innocent and God...we were so in love. Or at least we thought. Anyway, my senior year in high school, I couldn't stand being away from him any longer. He was already being recruited by Duke, UNC and every other top college on the East Coast and he sort of had the NBA thing all mapped out. Actually he had the chance to go pro right out of high school but his mom insisted he get a degree first. Naturally I thought we were gonna end up married with a house and a couple of kids. I mean, I knew how important basketball was to him but I had no idea how much time it would take up. It came to a point where that was his entire life, it even came before me. I tried to support him but I admit I got frustrated at. All I wanted was for us to be together and have a normal life but 'normal' is not a part of a professional athlete's vocabulary. It was a million to one shot of he and Nate both making it but they wouldn't give up on their dreams. But that's the thing...see, it was his dream, not mine. After a while, we just grew apart. We were two different people that wanted different things out of life. I wanted real commitment and stability and that didn't mean sitting at home worrying about panty dropping groupies while my man flew all over the country to play ball."

Tarah listened intently.

"What happened from there?"

"After I let him know how I felt, we started arguing a lot. Things got pretty rough between us. Luke's a dreamer and he's a doer. Some people just sit back and wish for stuff but he is the type of guy that goes after it and makes it happen. He put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice into a dream. Even when he got injured and was at rock bottom and there seemed like no chance of he and Nathan making it together, he just refused to give up. He needed love and lots of support and I couldn't handle that. I did the worst thing I could ever do."

"What's that?"

"I stopped believing in his dream...I stopped believing in him", Brooke continued sadly.

"That was a long time ago", Tarah sympathized. "You guys were kids and people can change."

"After graduation, I went back to Boston that summer before college. I had known this guy, Dan Ferguson, for a long time and we ended up hooking up. One day Dan and I along with his sister and her boyfriend took a ferry out to where my uncle was living. Lucas had known I was in Massachusetts so as the four of us are getting off this boat, who do you think is waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers in hand?"

"Oh my God!"

"Yes. Luke had saved all the cash he had earned working in his uncle's auto body shop to catch a bus and come up and surprise me. Man, I will never ever as long as I live forget the look on his face. He was so hurt. The others were just standing there not knowing what to do, Dan was smirking and I was absolutely mortified! Needless to say, things were never quite the same between Lucas and me again and we ended up losing touch."

"Wow."

"Do you see my dilemma now?"

"I do Brooke but in all this, you have to ask yourself an important question."

"What's that?"

"Let's say you do see Lucas again. You see him, you talk to him and whatever happens will happen may it be good or bad. In the end, your mind will have some sort of closure and your heart will know. However hard it could be, you could handle that, right?"

"I guess."

"Fine. Now imagine you don't even bother, you don't even make an attempt to see this man. It's a little more than obvious than you can't get him out of your mind and if you let this opportunity pass, who's to say you'll get another one? Then you'd never know and would you be able to handle that?"

Brooke thought long and hard. She pondered the pros and cons of the situation and her answer to Tarah's question came later that day as she found herself purchasing a ticket for the Magic vs. the Bobcats.