Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! I am really enjoying this story. I hope you keep reading!

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Chapter 3- What's With the Butterflies?

Friday night came before Brooke knew it. It was already 6 o'clock and she had no idea what to wear. She stood in front of her packed full closet wondering what she had been thinking when she bought half of this stuff. She didn't want to wear anything she had in college, those clothes were a little too scandalous and she wanted Nathan to get to know the girl Brooke Davis has become, not remember the girl Brooke Davis used to be.

Two hours later Brooke was putting on the finishing touches. It might have taken her an hour to figure out what to wear, but it was well worth it. She finally settled on a pair of black capri pants and a purple silk halter top. The outfit was topped off with some devastatingly high stiletto strappy sandals. Usually she couldn't wear those shoes when she went out with guys because they made her so tall, but she knew that they didn't make a shoe that would bring her up to Nathan's height of 6'2".

A few minutes later Brook heard a knock on her front door, she yelled for Nathan to come in and told him to make himself at home, she would be ready in a few minutes. As she put on her lip gloss and gave herself one last look she wondered why she cared so much. This was Nathan, Lucas' brother. He had dated two of her best friends, even married one. Obviously he was only asking her out to dinner as friends, after all they knew no one else in town. But still, she couldn't get past the butterflies in her stomach.

When Brooke walked out into the living room Nathan was actually rendered speechless. Sure, Brooke had always been pretty, but wow, she really knocked his socks off now. She carried herself with a kind of self confidence that she never had before in high school. Nathan he never noticed it before but she had the most gorgeous smile of any woman he had ever laid eyes on. All he could think about was how soft her lips would be to kiss.

Nathan chastised himself in his head for his thoughts. This wasn't a date, it was just dinner with a friend. What was Nathan thinking? Brooke had had her heart broken multiple times by Lucas, why would she consider dating another Scott? "Brooke, you look great."

"Thanks. So where are we going for dinner?"

"Well I know of this great place that is right on the water, I thought that that would be nice, seeing as how it is a gorgeous night."

"That sounds nice, I do love this Florida weather." Brooke was secretly applauding herself for her choice on outfit, the expression on Nathan's face told her that it was definitely the right choice.

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After a glass of wine Brooke was feeling a little bit more relaxed. "So Nathan, I hate to admit it but I really don't know what you have been up to since Haley and you divorced."

"Well, at first it was pretty rough. I couldn't do much besides sit and wallow. My grades dropped and I almost got kicked off the basketball team. Had that happened I would have lost my scholarship altogether." Nathan hated to remember how low he had sunk at that point in his life.

"What changed it? What made you start caring again?" Brooke knew how Nathan had felt, when she caught Lucas and Peyton together the last time she stopped caring about everything too.

"I actually remembered something that my father said. He used to always say that happiness doesn't come cheap. I realized that if I wanted to be happy then I had to go out and find it, it wasn't just going to come to me. So I threw myself into basketball. I was doing extra long workouts, extra runs, anything I could to take my mind of off losing Haley. I even studied more. And at some point, while I was trying to hard not to think about her, I didn't have to try anymore. It just went away. I thought about her less and less everyday. Then there came a day when I barely thought about her at all. It was on that day that I realized that I had fought like hell to get my own happiness back."

"Wow. That takes a lot of strength. I wish I could say that I snapped back from the whole Lucas thing that quickly but I didn't." Brooke could remember all the nights she spent alone crying over losing him. "I tried to blame Peyton about it for a while, and that kind of made me feel better, but the truth of the matter is that Lucas and I just weren't meant to be together. It wasn't anyone's fault, that is just the way it was."

"Do you still talk to Peyton?" Nathan was curious, he hadn't heard from Peyton in years.

"Yeah we are still just as close. She was at NYU for college and moved back to Tree Hill last week, right after she graduated. It got easier for us, friendship wise, once her and Lucas broke up for good."

"He told me about that. I was surprised that it ended that way, Jake coming back and her realizing that she was meant to be with him."

"Yeah well personally it felt good to know that Lucas was getting a taste of his own medicine." Brooke had to admit.

"So Jake and Peyton made it through all her years at NYU? I know that he stayed in Tree Hill and went to community college for 2 years and then onto UNC Greensboro."

"Yeah they worked it out. Peyton came home whenever she could, all of her Dad's frequent flyer miles finally paid off. As much as I know Peyton was glad she stuck it out at NYU I know that she couldn't wait to get back to Tree Hill and be with Jake and Jenny again." Brooke remembered talking to her friend while she was making the long drive from New York to North Carolina, she didn't stop for anything besides gas because she was so excited to be with Jake and Jenny again.

"Well I guess it is just the good life all around for all of us." Nathan was happy that all of his friends were so content with their lives after college.

"I don't know if I should ask, but I really want to know…how is Lucas?" Brooke bit her lip while she waited for Nathan's response.