Wow! I almost fell out of my chair when I came home from work and checked my e-mail today! Thank you to everyone who took the time to tell me what you think about the Brooke/Peyton or Brooke/Faith thing. What made me laugh was the fact that it was a tie between the two. I hate to tell you, but half of you are going to be dissappointed with the ending. : ) Regardless of if you like how it ends, I hope that you all will stick around for the sequel, and then the prequel. Thanks again for everyone's reviews!

3/7

"Ouch." Peyton yelped from her bedroom

Seconds later, Brooke appeared in her doorway.

"Are you ok?" Brooke asked, concerned

Peyton nodded. "I just hurt myself trying to put my sweatshirt on."

"Would you like some help?" Brooke offered

"Yes please."

Brooke walked over to Peyton and helped to pull the sweatshirt over the blonde's head. After the small task was complete, the two were left standing there, looking at each other.

"Brooke, I'm sorry about last night." Peyton said

"Its ok."

"No. It's not." Peyton sat on her bed. "You were right. We've been pretty much avoiding talk about us all week, and the awkwardness is getting unbearable."

"If you're not ready to talk though-"

"I am." Peyton looked at Brooke. "Brooke, I-"

"Peyton? Brooke? You guys here?" Haley called out throughout the house

Brooke and Peyton shared a small, sad smile.

"We're in here Tutor Mom." Brooke called out

"Why do I have a feeling that I am never going to live down the 'Tutor Whatever-it-is-you-come-up-with-next' name?" Haley laughed as she walked into the room

"Because you never will." Brooke smiled

"I'm sorry. You guys look serious. I'm interrupting something, aren't I? I'm sorry, I'll go." Haley said as she turned back around to walk out of the door

"No; stay. What's up Haley?" Peyton said

"I was just going to go to the hospital to see Taylor, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"Totally. Let me get dressed really quick." Brooke said as she jumped up from Peyton's bed

"I'm sorry Peyton. I should have called before I came over." Haley said to Peyton after Brooke had left the room

"It's ok Hales. We've waited this long to talk, what's another day?"

"Hey guys. What are you all up to?" Taylor asked when Peyton, Haley, and Brooke walked through the door to her hospital room

"Just here to keep you occupied." Brooke smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Better when I have my pain meds." Taylor smiled

"Right there with ya." Peyton winked

"So Haley, you tell Mom and Dad about Baby James-Scott yet?" Taylor turned to Haley

"Not yet." Haley said

"And why the hell not?"

"Hmm…lets see. You've been in a coma, we've been at this damn hospital for days waiting for you to wake your ass up, you've been in a coma…have I mentioned the coma part?" Haley laughed andshrugged. "It just hasn't been the right timing."

Taylor nodded. "Gotcha." She turned to Brooke. "How long are you here for?"

Brooke looked at Peyton. "Umm…indefinately?"

"Sweet."

"So you're not going to be able to go back to work for a while. What are you going to do about money." Brooke asked

Taylor blushed. "Actually, I'm not working right now."

"What! When did this happen?" Brooke asked

"Couple weeks ago?"

"What happened?" Brooke wondered

"I, umm…kind of stole one of Dan's cars." Taylor said sheepishly

Brooke's mouth fell open. "You're kidding me right?"

"No." Peyton said

"You were a part of this too?" Brooke asked Peyton

"Karen bailed them out of jail." Haley said, stifling a laugh

Peyton and Taylor shot Haley death glares.

"Damn. What else has happened lately that I don't know about?" Brooke asked

"I'm not sure you even want to know." Peyton said softly

"So Brooke!" Taylor said quickly, trying to clear the uncomfortable air that had fallen. "How's Faith?"

"She's good. She says hi." Brooke said

"Cool. Tell her she should com down here sometime." Taylor said

Brooke cocked an eyebrow at Taylor, and then smiled. "I'll definitely do that."

The girls stayed all day, and later in the afternoon Lucas, Sydney and Nathan came by. The seven friends stayed until visiting hours were over, just talking and laughing and catching up on lost time.

"There are some things that we need to talk about. Things I have to get off my chest before we go any further in establishing any sort of relationship, including our friendship." Peyton said as she walked into Brooke's room that night

"Peyton." Brooke said as she sat up in bed and turned on the lamp next to her on the nightstand. "Come in. Sit."

"I know it's late, and I'm sorry. But I really need to talk to you."

"Ok." Brooke nodded. "I feel the same way."

"You can go first if you want." Peyton offered Brooke the floor

"No, please, you go."

Peyton took a deep breath. "Brooke, I screwed up. Big time. I made a lot of really stupid choices when it came to my life and how I was living it. You would think that losing you would have given me a clue, but for some reason it didn't. Nothing made me realize that I was living recklessly until Rick told me that I was past the point of no return. Weird, I know, but that really hit me.

"I stopped using, and this time I'm serious about it. I'm having no second thoughts about the path that I have chosen to live, which is a life of being happy and being clean."

"Peyton, I'm so proud of you." Brooke said sincerely

"Thanks. I know that I hurt you, and I am so sorry. I wish there was some way I could make it all better between us, but I know I can't." Peyton paused. "I'm going to be honest with you Brooke. I'm going to lay it all out on the table right now, because if I don't, I'll never get to.

"I want to be with you, there is no doubt in my mind about that. But if we decide to give us another chance, there are some things I want you to know."

"Ok?" Brooke asked slowly

"I slept with Taylor and Sydney again." Peyton revealed

Brooke sat there for a moment, expecting more. When Peyton said nothing else, Brooke let out a little laugh.

"What? How is that funny?" Peyton asked

"I don't know. For some reason, after everything you did, no offense, that just seems like nothing. I knew that you guys had slept together in the past, so for some reason it's not that much of a shock to me."

"Oh." Peyton said, dumbfounded

"And it's probably because what I'm about to tell you seems so much worse."

"What's that?"

"When we broke up, I think that a part of me died. Nothing felt right anymore, and I felt completely lost." Brooke ran a hand through her hair. "The night we broke up, I went out and got completely smashed. I ended up having sex with Brett."

Peyton sat quiet for a moment. "Brett? As in 'The Tim of New York' Brett?"

"Yeah."

"Eww." Peyton made a face

"No shit. The major problem about that was the fact that he was dating Faith at the time."

"Faith? And Brett?"

"Peyton! Focus please?" Brooke said exasperated

"Sorry."

"They were dating, and it really hurt her."

"I'm sure it did. Remember the whole Lucas-best friend-love triangle we had?"

"I know."

"Poor Faith. Are you guys ok?"

"We've been sleeping together." Brooke blurted

Peyton's jaw dropped. "What!"

Brooke closed her eyes. "Since we broke up, Faith and I have been sleeping together. I don't even know what we are- were- exactly."

"I see."

"But that's over. I never stopped loving you through that, just to let you know. I was just hurting, and Faith was being a good friend. I used her, and I feel horrible for it."

"You don't have any feelings for her?"

"Of course I do. I'm not heartless enough to have what I had with her without caring. There was this unspoken connection between us. It was something that I never should have let get to the point that it did. I'll always care about her, but not the same way I care about you." Brooke sighed.

The two girls sat silently for a long time.

"Wow." Peyton said

"Yeah."

"I'm glad we talked." Peyton said as she stood up

"You're upset." Brooke said sadly

"No. I don't have any right to be. We both did things, and since it was after we broke up, it's all fair."

"It doesn't make it hurt any less." Brooke said, for the first time showing that she was hurt also

"No, it really doesn't." Peyton walked to the door. "Night Brooke."

"You too."

That night, both girls stayed awake thinking about everything they had talked about. They both came to conclusions about where they now wanted to go, and the hard part was going to be telling the other person.