Epilogue
It had been a long two weeks since Brooke had left for New Bern. She'd been in contact with Peyton a few times but the phone calls and emails were becoming a little less frequent.
Peyton had started to hang out more with Haley and Nathan, who had put their marital problems way behind them and were happier than ever.
However, all three of them had had problems with Lucas. Ever since Brooke left, he was becoming more and more distant. Nathan had repeatedly tried to get him to come and play at the Rivercourt with the guys, but he preferred to stay at home. All attempts to bring him out to have fun at Tric proved futile as he was clearly still pining over Brooke.
Even Karen was beginning to worry about her only son, who spent more time in bed than with a basketball.
This particular Saturday morning, Lucas was still in bed at eleven thirty, and just waking from his slumber. Upon hearing a faint voice, he gradually awoke.
"Mom," he said sleepily as he pulled his covers over his head, "Go away! I told you I don't want to get up."
But he heard the voice again and he groaned loudly, "I said 'go away' Mom!"
"I'm not your mom," came the amused reply. Lucas sat up in bed and looked at the person sitting at his desk.
"Brooke?" he said rubbing sleep from his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. She smiled.
"Number 23: Lucas is an ass. Number 24: Felix is an ass," she said reading from a piece of paper, "number 25: I live next door to Felix,"
"What are you doing here? Aren't you in New Bern? And what are you reading from?" Lucas asked a barrage of questions.
"Easy, Broody," she said, "All will be answered," she moved from the desk and sat on the end of his bed.
She thrust the piece of paper in his face, "This," she began, "is a list I made on why I should leave Tree Hill," she told him. Lucas looked at it.
"How came half of these are 'Lucas is an ass'?" he questioned.
"Because you are," she told him matter-of-factly, "But I guess that's why I came back. I was looking at this list a few days ago and I realized that I made a huge mistake. I kind of overreacted when you asked me to stay,"
"I thought you had some good points. I was an ass and I should have supported your decision," Brooke hit him, "ow! That was for?"
"For not telling me that earlier!" she sighed as she slid into bed next to him, forcing him to move up, "A few nights ago, my parents came into my room and asked me why I was unhappy. And I told them that it was because… because I missed Tree Hill. It's not like I hated New Bern, I just missed everything about Tree Hill – even Tim! And they told me that I had to make a choice. Either stay in New Bern or go to Tree Hill. So I packed up my things and here I am," she explained all in one breath.
"For how long?" Lucas asked.
"Until graduation. I called Peyton on the way here and she said I could stay at her house,"
"Peyton knew!" Lucas cried. Brooke nodded.
"I asked her to keep it a secret. I haven't seen her yet, I came here first. Your mom told me about how you've been lately and let me wait in your room. You took a while to wake up,"
"How long did you wait?"
"About a half hour. You snore," she giggled. Lucas groaned in embarrassment, "Lucas, I'm sorry about the way I left," she apologized, "You took me by surprise and I didn't want anyone to make my decision harder. I mean, I was accepting the fact I was leaving but when you came down with that bombshell, you just made it a hundred times harder and I couldn't take it,"
"I'm sorry too, I should have supported you,"
"I'm kind of glad you didn't. I wouldn't be here if not," she said.
"So… what are your plans?"
"Well, first I have to see Peyton and everyone. Then I have to beg to be allowed back to Tree Hill High, try and persuade Peyton to let me to Cheer Captain again and… return all my gifts," she sighed at the last one, "I kind of put myself into a bit of a mess,"
"Don't worry about it. The most important thing is that you're here," Lucas told her.
"Lucas… I came back for a lot of reasons. The most important one was you. And I don't want to regret that decision. If you really care about me, then you have to make sure you don't screw this one up because otherwise I'll be really mad. I've given up a lot to be here," she said to him.
Lucas took her hand and kissed her lightly on the lips, "I promise I won't screw this up," he told her. She gave him a dimpled smile in return. "So," he said, "what do you want to do today?"
She thought for a moment, "Let's just stay in bed for a while. It's still early," she grinned as she wrapped herself in her arms.
Lucas smiled contently as he listened to Brooke tell him about the last two weeks and about New Bern and her parents' house. He didn't want to screw this up now that they were finally happy. They'd been through infidelities, an abusive ex-boyfriend and a brief separation but they'd finally found their way back to one another. He'd seen what life was without her in his life and this time he wasn't going to let her go again.
The End
Author's Note:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person that has reviewed over the last five months. I would name all of you individually but I'd be here for a while.
This began as a speculation fic just before 'The Trick Is To Keep Breathing', and escalated into something that I really am sad to leave. This fic kept me sane when everything around me really wasn't and I have all of you to thank for that. I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed reading this fic and look out for my new one that's coming soon, and check out A Change Of Fortune too.
Thank you once again.
