Author's note: I have been to New York City tons of times over the years but have no recollection of exactly where anything is so I am winging it. So, if anyone out there reading this is from there and some of it makes no sense, my apologies. Oh yeah, one more thing, obviously there will be tons of drama as Brooke and Nathan head back to Tree Hill, so I figured I had to have one more romantic chapter before I brought in all the drama…so sit back and enjoy.

Chapter 18- Bright Lights Big City

Brooke walked out of Bloomingdales weighed down by all of her bags. She had meant to start her Christmas shopping, but, after buying one gift for someone else, she ended up buying herself a bunch of stuff. Walking down the street she shivered a little, she had been enjoying the Florida weather so much that she forgot that it was actually freezing in other places and she definitely hadn't packed warm enough clothes. She wrapped her scarf around her one more time and headed down the street towards Macy's.

After a much more successful shopping adventure in Macy's Brooke checked her watch. She realized that Nathan would be finishing team warm ups in about half an hour, so that gave her just enough time to drop off her bags at the hotel and then catch a cab to Madison Square Garden to see Nathan before the game started.

ooooOoooo

As the game came to an end Brooke could already feel that her throat was going to hurt tomorrow. She had been yelling as loudly as she could, Nathan had played an amazing game and she wanted him to hear her cheering. Of course, Brooke knew that that was impossible, there was no way he could hear her voice over all the racket, but she knew that it was her effort that mattered.

Nathan finished getting dressed and stuffed all his sweaty uniform and basketball shoes into his bag. As he strapped on his watch he noticed that it was already 5, that was perfect, he and Brooke would get to their dinner reservations right on time.

Walking out of the locker room it was only a matter of seconds before Brooke bounced over to him. "Boyfriend, that was an amazing game. I yelled my lungs off for you."

"Thanks babe, it was a great game. I am flying high right now, I couldn't ask for more, not only did I score the most points of anyone on the team, but I also get to spend the next 24 hours with you. What else could I ask for?"

"Well, if you play your cards right, you might just get lucky." Brooke threw Nathan a wink as they walked out of Madison Square Garden hand in hand. "So, where are we headed for dinner?"

"I was thinking that we do the fancy thing a lot, and I knew that neither of us would be all dressed up after the game, so I figured we could head to this great place I heard about called Jekyll and Hyde. It is a theme restaurant that is rumored to have the most amazing hamburgers."

"A little red meat sounds perfect to me. Is it nearby or should we catch a cab?" Brooke's feet already hurt a little bit from all the shopping she did earlier, she secretly hoped Nathan would suggest the cab.

"It isn't that far, but it is a little cold so why don't we take the cab." Nathan stuck his arm out and watched as cab after cab flew by him.

"Let me try." Brooke stepped in front of him and stuck out her arm, the first cab to drive towards the pulled over. "Hm, must be I have the magic touch."

"Something like that."

ooooOoooo

Later on during dinner the conversation took the anticipated turn, "I talked to Peyton about Thanksgiving." Brooke opened it up.

"Yeah, what did she have to say?"

"She is super excited. She said that you and I can stay at her and Jake's place, they have a guest room and everything. Peyton admitted to being a little nervous about preparing Thanksgiving dinner for all of us, but I told her I would help her out so she agreed to it."

"Of course, we all know what an experienced chef you are." Nathan teased her.

"Hey, I made you that amazing steak dinner last night. I even fired up the grill all by myself."

"Grilling some steaks is a lot different than preparing a turkey and all that other stuff, but I have faith in you. Just to be on the safe side, I will ask my grandmother to make me copies of some recipes, just in case you run into any problems." Nathan was sure that the two girls could handle it on their own, but he also knew that it would taste better if they had a little bit of guidance.

"If you insist. So are we going to drive up to Tree Hill or fly?"

"Well, I had considered driving, but then I figured that we are taking a little vacation here, and a much deserved one at that. And since we both spend so much time driving on the weekends to see each other, we should fly so we really feel like we are taking a vacation. Plus, then we will get there in like under two hours, if we drove it would take close to twelve." Nathan loved Brooke to death, but having been in a car with Brooke for even two hours he knew how antsy she got and that started to get a little annoying. He figured that twelve hours might be a little too much.

"Sounds good to me. I am not such a big fan of super long road trips." Brooke loved Nathan and all but she didn't want to tell him, his driving made her a little crazy. Two hours was one thing, but twelve, he would drive her nuts. "So, what do you have up your sleeve for after dinner?"

"How do you know I have something planned?"

"I don't know, because you always do. So what is it?" Brooke loved that Nathan always came up with super romantic things for the two of them to do.

"It's a surprise, you'll see."

ooooOoooo

Stepping out of the cab Brooke drew in a deep breathe, she was absolutely mystified at the sight before her. Nathan had taken her to some pretty romantic places, but this took the cake. "It is beautiful."

"A friend told me that the one thing I absolutely had to do with you while I was here was taking you ice skating at Rockefellar Center."

"This is so sweet. Let's get skates and hit the ice." Brooke was so excited, not only was it beautiful here, but she hadn't ice skated in years and she used to love it. She knew they would have a great time.

Minutes later, all laced up, they skated onto the rink hand in hand. After a couple of laps around Nathan pulled Brooke into the middle of the rink, "I have kissed you a lot of places, but none of them seem to be as perfect as in the middle of Rockefallar Center."

With that Nathan lowered his mouth to hers, as soon as their lips touched the snow started to fall around them. Brooke pulled away and looked towards the sky, "Ever since I was a little girl I thought that it was so romantic when people kissed with the snow falling all around them, but growing up in North Carolina I never got to experience it first hand. Thank you Nathan, for giving me this perfect moment, just liked I dreamed of for so many years.

And there, in the middle of the ice skating rink at Rockefellar Center, Brooke leaned up towards Nathan, kissing him softly. Right then she knew that this was going to be one holiday season that both of them would remember for years to come.