She cried for what seemed like hours, before her tears seemed to have dried up. Flopping back on her bed she stared up at the ceiling. For a moment if felt as if she'd never been away and she was still the same girl who'd left. After a while she got up and sat down in front of her vanity table, gently brushing her hair out of her face with her fingers. She wiped her tears away and looked down at the table. Her make-up still lay strewn across it, half empty pots of blush and foundation, untouched. She looked around her room once more, before turning to the door and leaving the room. She didn't know where she was headed and the situation reminded her all too much of when she made the decision that changed her life, so she stopped and sat down on a nearby bench, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"Brooke?" Brooke looked up to find Jake standing in front of her, Jenny in his arms. "It is you!" he exclaimed, smiling. "Do you mind if I…?" He gestured to the empty place next to Brooke.

She nodded and shifted up as Jake took a seat next to her.

"So how have you been?" She asked. "And this little princess?" Brooke reached out her hand to Jenny and the little girl grinned. She now had dark hair down to her shoulders and was the spitting image of her dad.

"We've been good, right?" Jake replied, smiling down at his little girl.

Jenny nodded. "I have been finger-painting!" she said, holding up her red, blue and yellow fingers and wiggling them about.

"That is so cool!" Brooke replied, wiggling her fingers in front of Jenny's, so that they were having a finger fight. Jenny giggled.

"Yup! I'll make you a picture if you want."

Brooke nodded, still smiling. "Sure." She liked Jenny. It was good to be talking to someone who didn't act weird around her… unlike Jake. He shifted in his place and cleared his throat before looking at Brooke. "So… where did you go?" He asked. "Peyton was real worried about you. She used to come over almost every night asking if I'd heard from you. I don't know why she thought I would have heard from you but…" he shrugged to finish his sentence.

Guilt welled up inside Brooke. "She was really that worried?"

"Yeah."

"Wow… I was in Bridgewater." Brooke said, looking down at her hands.

"Oh. How long are you back for?"

"I'm not sure." Brooke replied truthfully. "I guess it just depends on how things go."

Jake nodded. "It's really great to see you Brooke."

Brooke looked up at him, confused. "It is?"

He nodded again. "Of course it is. I mean I know we weren't really friends, but when you weren't around things got weird. It was all different."

The girl scoffed. "You mean there was no sleep around slut to go to all the parties?"

"No… I didn't mean that at all." Replied Jake, seriousness in his voice.

Brooke attempted to smile. "Sorry. Thanks." She looked at Jenny again and then up at Jake. "Do you think she'd let me hold her?" She asked.

Jenny grinned and climbed over to sit in Brooke's lap. She looked up at her with big brown eyes. "Can I call you Auntie Brooke?"

"Only if I can call you Princess Jenny."

"OKAY!" Jenny yelled, over-enthusiastically.

"I guess that makes me King Jake." Jake said, tidying up his shirt and puffing out his chest.

Brooke laughed. "Right Princess Jenny, I think I'm gonna go, ok?"

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Um… I dunno. To find Peyton I guess." She turned to Jake. "Do you know where she is?"

Jake shook her head. "Haven't seen her"

"She must still be at Nathan and Haley's then." She said sensibly. Handing Jenny back over to Jake she got to her feet. "It was nice talking to you, King Jake"

"You too, ummm…. Brooke." He laughed and shrugged his shoulders "Take care."

"I will."

"Bye Auntie Brooke!"

Brooke laughed. "Bye Princess Jenny." She made her way back to Nathan and Haley's apartment, mentally praising herself for remembering where it was, and knocked on the door. This time, Nathan answered. He smiled. "So they weren't lying?"

"Nope, Guess not, 'cause here I am." She said, walking into the apartment and looking around, frowning at the lack of people. "They're here, right?"

"Yeah, kitchen." He replied, and then he paused before saying. "So, I don't get a hug now? He held out his arms and Brooke smiled, walking over to him and hugging him close. She pulled away and made her way to the kitchen.

Lucas and Peyton were sitting next to each other on one side of the table, while Haley was sat on the other side, opposite them. "Hey."

"You're back!" Haley grinned, pointing to a chair next to her. "Sit"

"Have you always been this bossy?" Brooke laughed, sitting next to her.

"Nah, only since I married Nathan. I have to be bossy or he'd never get his butt out of bed in the morning."

"Is that right?" Said Brooke, raising an eyebrow.

Haley slapped her arm playfully. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Sorry." She said, still smiling slightly. She looked over at Lucas and Peyton and smiled. Putting on a brave face she said. "I'm happy for you guys."

They looked back at her, shocked. "What?"

"I said I'm happy for you. I'm glad you worked out. In a weird way, I guess it makes it worthwhile… I mean" Focusing her attention on Lucas she continued. "It's better that you cheated on me with Peyton, now that the relationship worked out. Obviously if I could have my way it wouldn't have happened… or at least I wouldn't have loved you, but it kind of makes it easier in a strange way… so yeah, I'm happy."

Peyton stood up and walked over to her best friend, hugging her tightly. "That means so much to me Brooke. I really love you."

"I love you too, my oh-so glum chum"

Lucas smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it means a lot to me too, B."

Brooke smiled back. She'd only been in Tree Hill one day and things were being resolved. But something in the back of her mind told her that things had to go worse from here. After all, for Brooke Davis, nothing stayed good for long.