A/N: Howdy. First off, thanks for the reviews :) You know I love 'em. Sorry it took me so long to UD I just…didn't get around to it. : P The first part is kind of just there to clear the whole heart medication thing up. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about Dan…die or not die? There is a lot of Brooke in this chapter, so if you don't like that, sorry. I just wanted to have Peyton and Brooke "reunite" so to speak and I figured Brooke and Peyton should know she's there. Plus I have longer, more detailed scenes for Lucas/Haley and Nathan/Haley reuniting. OK well here is the third chapter, Read and Review! Oh and I have mind block and can't remember what those things at airports that have your bags spin around are called so that's what I meant by table.

Lucas sat at the Rivercourt, thinking about his life the past year, when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Lucas?" Lucas turned around to find Deb standing there with an apprehensive look on her face. He understood why, they weren't exactly on the best terms.

"Deb, hey. What…uh, are you doing here?' Lucas asked.

Deb looked around. "Could we talk?"

Lucas nodded and gestured to the seat next to him on the picnic table, which Deb gratefully took.

Deb paused a moment before beginning. "Lucas, I'm sorry. I know Dan has screwed up your life pretty severely."

"But Deb that's not your-" Lucas interrupted.

Deb held her hand up. "Lucas please, let me finish," Lucas nodded and Deb continued. "Lucas, I know that he was blackmailing you to live with us. And I know that you tried to take him down, and I can't thank you enough for that. I also know the he trapped you. And finally, I know he was paying for your heart medication and has stopped, and you have gone three months without it," Deb looked at Lucas, who was surprised that Deb knew all this.

"Look, Dan is lying in that hospital bed in a coma, without anyone there," Deb said. Lucas looked at the ground. As much as he hated Dan, he sometimes felt guilty about this. "And Lucas?" Lucas looked up. "He deserves that. You have every reason to not see him, as do I, as does the whole community. Dan brought this on himself,"

Lucas stared at her. "Thanks Deb."

She gave him a small smile, "Also, I'll pay for your heart medication." Lucas started to protest but Deb stopped him, "Do you have anyone else to pay for it? Because I'm supposing you mom doesn't know."

Lucas shook his head, "Again, thanks. It really means a lot to me, and if you didn't tell my mom,"

Deb smiled and grabbed his hand, "I won't…but you should." And with that she got up and left Lucas to return to his thoughts.

Nathan grabbed his bags of the table, and made his way to meet his mom.

She broke out into a smile when she saw him and ran to give him a hug.

"Nathan! I'm so glad your home. It's been lonely around the house without you," Deb said, grabbing one of his bags and leading him to the car.

"Yeah, I missed you too."

"Nathan?" A female voice called out. Nathan turned around to see Brooke coming towards him.

"Brooke, hey," he said giving her a hug.

"Ok well Nate, I'll just go pull the car around," Deb said, sensing her presence wasn't required. Nathan nodded to his mom and turned back to Brooke.

"So how was California?" Nathan inquired. He looked at Brooke. She was tanned and her hair seemed to have gotten some sun.

"Sunny. How was…that camp that you went to?" she asked, laughing.

"It was good. I had fun," he replied as they made their way to the parking lot. "So, uh, have you talked to Haley at all this summer?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"No, I figured she's probably busy with the tour," Brooke replied, earning a funny look from Nathan. Brooke furrowed her brow. "What?"

Nathan looked at his shoes, "Oh, nothing. Never mind," he continued walking but Brooke stopped and grabbed his arm, glaring at him. He shuffled his feet. "Well she came back. At the end of the school year. It was right before I left for High Flyers, she told me she was traveling with her parents for the summer."

Brooke's mouth fell open. "Oh my gosh, I'm going to kill her! How could she not tell me?" Nathan chuckled. Brooke frowned and looked at him, "So what are you going to do?"

Nathan tilted his head to the side, "what do you mean?"

"Well are you going to ignore her? Or do you want to get back together, or stay friends or what?"

Nathan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know. I've been thinking about it all summer. I love her, but she hurt me. I never want to feel like that again," he spotted his mom waiting in the car, "I should go. It was nice seeing you Brooke," he said hugging her.

"You too, Nate. And don't worry, you'll figure it out. Those who are meant to be together always find their way back right?" Brooke smiled and watched him retreat, then left to find her own car.

Brooke had gone straight from the airport to Peyton's house. She figured the longer she could put of seeing Lucas, the better. She still had no idea what to say to him. Plus, she was dying to see Peyton.

She walked quietly to the doorway of her best friend's room. Peyton was lying on her bed, facing away from Brooke, reading. Brooke quietly snuck behind her and grabbed her shoulders exclaiming, "Boo!"

Peyton screamed and laughed turning around. "Don't do that!" She playfully slapped Brooke before pulling her into a big hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"Of course it is," Brooke said returning the hug. Peyton sat on her bed and rolled her eyes, earning a smile from Brooke. "It's good to see you too."

"So have you heard?" Brooke asked playing with the bedspread.

"Heard what?"

"Haley's back."

"Nuh-uh. Seriously?" Peyton asked. Brooke nodded. "How is it that I'm here all summer, and you're here 20 minutes, and you already know huge gossip?" Peyton asked.

Brooke shrugged, smiling. "I'm just special. So anyways, what do you think this means?"

"I don't know. But I want to find out." Peyton jumped up, grabbing Brooke's arm. "Let's pay Hales a visit." She said exiting out the door, with Brooke on her heels.

Haley and her parents had been home for3 days. Haley was exhausted but shehad trouble sleeping night, she was filled with worries. What's going to happen to me and Nathan? What will everyone say? Will my friends hate me? Were the thoughts that kept running through her mind.

Haley heard the doorbell ring, and since she was right there, went to answer it. She pulled the door open to reveal Peyton and Brooke.

"Hales!"

"Tutor Girl!"

"Hey guys…what are you doing here?" Haley asked hesitantly, giving her friends a hug and allowing them to come in and leading them into her room.

"Well, Nathan told me you were back and you didn't call us so we figured we would stop by," Brooke answered, plopping herself down on Haley's bed.

"Nathan's back?" Haley asked. Brooke nodded.

"He just got back today," Peyton added hastily, making sure Haley didn't think he had been back for a while and she had been kept in the dark

"Oh," Haley said nonchalantly, though she was relieved. There was an awkward silence.

"So, Tutor Girl. Why'd you come back?" Brooke asked bluntly. Peyton looked at her. "What? I wanted to know," Brooke replied. Peyton chuckled and shook her head.

"I just...decided I wanted to be here for senior year. I missed Nathan, Tree Hill, Lucas, and you guys," Haley said shyly. she hoped Peyton and Brooke could forgive her for leaving

"Well of course you did. I mean how long did you really think you could stay away from me?" Brooke asked with a smile. Peyton and Haley laughed.

"So, Brooke, didn't Lucas say your parents moved to California? Where are you staying?" Haley asked. It was really good to be back and she wanted to know what was going on with all of her friends lives.

"Oh, um, Karen is letting stay with her. She has been since the end of last year," Brooke informed.

"Isn't that weird for you? You know, with Lucas and all?"

"Oh, well were, just friends," Brooke answered.

Haley seemed to sense that there was more to the story but Brooke wasn't in a sharing mood so she dropped the subject and turned to Peyton instead.

"Have you talked to Jake? Luke told me he had to leave at the end of the year."

"No. I'm sure he has been really busy," Peyton answered, looking down at the floor.

Haley nodded. She felt bad about bringing up bad subjects for her friends.

Brooke broke the silence once again, "do you guys want to go get some lunch?"

Haley looked at her gratefully and nodded. Peyton did the same and the three headed out.

AN: So what did you think? Review! puppydogface Pretty please? I should have the next chapter up pretty soon.