Brooke pulled into her driveway to find Lucas sitting on the rocking chair on her front porch. She shifted the gear into park and removed the keys out of the ignition, but hesitated to exit the vehicle. She turned to look out her window and found that he had moved from his position on the rocking chair to lean against the post of the house, watching her from where he stood. She sighed deeply as she recalled the last time they had spoken. It was almost a month ago.

Flashback

They sat there together on the bench of the River court as they watched the first snow fall of the season. The flakes drifted slowly from the sky to land silently against the hard ground. Both were lost in their own thoughts, neither knowing where to begin.

"Brooke…" she started.

"Lucas…" he started.

Both laughed self consciously, neither anticipating that it would be so awkward between them.

"I'm sorry, you go first." Lucas, being the first to break the tension between them.

"Did you ever think it would be this weird between us?" Brooke let her gaze drift in his direction allowing him to see the humor in her eyes. And he could also see her start to shake a little from the cold as he watched her rub her arms up and down with her hands.

"No, I didn't…" He removed his jacket and draped it across her shoulders as he in turn huddled deeper into his sweat shirt. "But then again, with you anything's possible."

Brooke opened her mouth in defense, taking his comment offensively. "Excuse me?"

Lucas gave himself a mental kick in the behind for his choice of words. "No, no, that came out wrong. What a meant to say was that you're unpredictable Brooke. Each time I'm with you, things are never the way I expect them to be." He watched as she raised an eyebrow inquiringly, her cue for him to continue. "One of the things I love about you is your spontaneity. It's never boring when were together. You don't keep things bottled up inside like most people do. You call it like you see it. You're not afraid to call somebody out when they've crossed a line. That's what I meant to say." He watched to see her reaction to his explanation and breathed a sigh of relief when she nodded her head in understanding.

Brooke let his words sink in while she turned her attention back to the falling snow. "You know Lucas, you should really watch what you're going to say before you say it next time. You almost got a thrashing a moment ago. Next time I might not give you the chance to explain." She turned her attention back to him and offered him a smile to show him she was only half serious with her threat.

Lucas chuckled to himself as he shook his head at her. It was so like Brooke to speak her mind the way she just did. And he would be a fool if he didn't take her words into consideration, for he knew she could and probably would make good on her threat. "I guess I owe you a thank you than for not kicking my butt when I put my foot in my mouth a moment ago." He did a mock imitation of someone eternally grateful by placing a hand over his heart and pretending to bow down to her in appreciation.

Brooke slapped him across the leg playfully at his actions as she burst out into laughter. This was one of the things she liked most about him. When he let his guards down and loosened up a bit, he was a totally different person. "Damn straight Scott. You remember that the next time." She admonished.

Silence once again fell over the two. Both were relieved that the awkwardness was now gone, but neither forgetting the seriousness of the meeting.

"Lucas, I was serious when I said I didn't want to be involved in the whole Peyton and you drama. I haven't changed my mind about that. I just wanted you to know." Brooke stuffed her hands into the pockets of Lucas' coat as her hands were beginning to go numb from the cold.

Lucas glanced off into the distance, deep in thought. "I know you are Brooke. And I'm not going to push in the matter. I just wanted you to know that I'm going to wait for you to be ready. I was serious too when I said it was you I saw in my future and not Peyton." He turned his attention back to Brooke and smiled softly as he took in the vision that was in front of him. It was amazing, he thought to himself, that even after all this time the effect she still had on him.

Brooke nudged his shoulder playfully with her own. "Thanks Lucas. That means a lot. Peyton's my best friend and I just can't do that to her, not when she likes you so much. Maybe in time she'll get over those feelings, maybe not. We're just going to have to wait and see."

Lucas placed a friendly arm around her shoulder as he pulled her close to his side, relishing the feel of her body next to his. "We're just going to have to wait and see." He repeated softly.

End Flashback

Brooke pulled herself out of her thoughts and shook her head lightly in an effort to bring herself back to the present. They hadn't really talked since that night at the River court. Just hi's and bye's here and there. Brooke had purposely avoided being alone with him, not because she had wanted to, but to avoid the temptation of him. She knew if they continued to spend time together the way they did, she would forget about her vow to wait and give into him. Slowly, she wrapped her scarf tighter around herself and grabbed her handbag before opening the car door and walking toward the front of her house.

Lucas straightened from his current position against the post and tucked his hands in his pockets nervously as he hunched his shoulders forward. He had been wondering how long she would stay in her car, and now that she was out, he had no idea what to say to her.

"Hey!" He said finally.

"Hey!" Brooke came to a stand still in front of him as she took in his appearance. He looked the same, except for the slight shadow under his eyes, like he hadn't been sleeping very well or something. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Lucas laughed self consciously as he shuffled his feet against the snow. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little tired. I haven't been able to sleep very well lately." He brought his eyes back to her. "I've missed you!" He held his hand up to stop her from saying anything when he saw that she was about to. "Brooke, I know I'm not supposed to say stuff like that to you and I know you've been avoiding me, but I just had to see you."

"Lucas, you see me everyday at school. It's not like we haven't talked either. Just the other day you and I had a conversation in the hall." Brooke attempted to rationalize knowing full well she was feeding him a load of bologna.

"Hi and bye and how are you doesn't constitute as a conversation Brooke." He scoffed and immediately regretted his tone when he saw the hurt flash across her face. "It's just…" he lifted his hands helplessly. "I know we can't be together, but can't we at least hang out like we used to? Minus the whole making out deal? I've missed my friend Brooke."

"It's just hard Lucas. You have no idea how hard it's been for me to stay away from you. I'm just afraid if we do hang out alone again, I may lose all will and give into my needs and wants when it comes to you." Brooke huddled deeper into her coat.

Lucas lifted a hand to cup her chin before raising her face to meet his. "Would that be so bad?"

Brooke looked into his eyes and could feel the heat of his gaze. "No, it wouldn't, but that doesn't make it right either." She pulled her chin out of his hands and watched as his hand dropped lifelessly to his side. "I gotta get inside Lucas, it's freezing out here. You should get home too, you're ears are red and your hand was ice cold. Get home before you get sick."

Without thinking, Brooke leaned on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on his cheek. She wanted to kick herself for doing it, but when she saw the surprised look on his face and the flicker of hope in his eyes, she told herself it was worth it.

"Go home Lucas, you're no good to me if you're sick. We'll work something out so that we could spend time together. I'll ask Hales and Nathan what they're doing this weekend and maybe the four of us could get together. That way we won't be alone, but we can still hang out." With that said, she turned and walked into her house.

She missed the huge smile that appeared on Lucas' face upon hearing her words. Even though they wouldn't be alone, he was happy to get whatever time with her he could. With renewed hope, he started his trudge home, his heart a little lighter than it was before he had gone to see her.

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A/N: Here's another update for you all. Hope you like it. I know Brucas isn't together yet, but I've only got a couple of chapters left to this story, so by the end of course, they'll be together. I've been thinking about doing a sequel, but I want to know from you, the readers, what you think and whether you want a follow up to this story or not. Once again, thanks so much for all the reviews, it's what keeps me writing.