Author's note: I really want to thank everyone who loyally reads and reviews, I really appreciate it. I just wanted to remind everyone about my new story, a Naley, called Forever Together. This story is really important to me and I just haven't gotten any reviews, so give it a try and check it out, I would really appreciate it. Leave reviews, let me know what you think!

Chapter 21- Letting Go

Brooke hurried towards Karen's Café. She knew that she was running late, but seriously, what else is new? No matter how hard Brooke tried she was almost always late. Lucas knew that. She was anxious about how things would go with Lucas but excited to see Lucas' mom Karen. Brooke had lived with Karen and Lucas for a few months when her parents first moved to California. Brooke and Karen had had a bumpy start, but became quite close.

Brooke had been pretty good about keeping in touch with Karen while she was in college. Every time that she came home she would stop in and catch up with Karen. But, Brooke hadn't seen her since Christmas break of her senior year. It had been almost a year and Brooke knew that Karen would be excited to hear about everything that Brooke had been doing.

As Brooke pulled open the door to the café she heard the familiar sound of the bell over the door ring. When she heard that she instantly felt at home. Brooke had a lot of good memories at the café. Then, she reverted back to reality, and realized that what she was about to do wasn't something that would be comfortable, but it was definitely necessary.

Lucas looked up and saw Brooke approaching his table, "Brooke, hey. I ordered us both some coffee."

"Thanks, that sounds good. Wow, I am starving. Let's see here…" Brooke started looking over the menu. "Wow, Karen has added a lot of stuff on here. French toast, she never had that before. Is it any good?"

"Everything my mom makes is good. Get the french toast, I am sure you will love it." Lucas waved his mother over.

"Brooke! It is so good to see you. God you look absolutely beautiful." Karen pulled Brooke into a big hug.

"Yeah right, I just rolled and of bed and came over here. I am a mess. But look at you, married life seems to agree with you." Karen recently married Keith Scott, Lucas' uncle and Karen's long time friend. Karen and Keith had gone back and forth for years, Keith had made it known that he loved Karen but Karen didn't make it quite as evident how much she loved Keith. Keith had almost married someone else, but it ended up to be huge setup by Dan. It all worked out for the best though, Karen and Keith were meant to be together, everyone in Tree Hill knew it.

"Thanks, it is great. I wish that you had been able to come to the wedding."

"I wish I could have gone too, but it was right in the middle of finals. I knew that if I went I would be jeopardizing my final grade. What kind of terribly mean professor schedules a final for a Saturday? I am so sorry." Brooke had been devastated that she had to miss the weddings. Brooke had always been a sucker for weddings, but Brooke knew that school had to come first. If it had been any other weekend she would have been there.

"No problem. But, while you are in town you should stop by and I can show you the wedding pictures."

"I would love that. I will try and stop by either tomorrow night or Saturday night. I will give you a call." Brooke couldn't wait, she would probably cry at the sight of the pictures. She cried at the drop of a hat when it came to weddings.

"Well, I will take your order and get out of your way. What can I get for you dear?"

"French toast sounds great." Brooke was absolutely starving she hoped she wouldn't have to wait too long for her food.

"Same for me Mom, thanks." Lucas looked up at his mother and she patted him on the head.

"It is good to have you home honey." Karen walked back towards the kitchen to start on their breakfast.

"So, I am tempted to sit here and make small talk but we both know that that won't solve anything. And, since I am the one that screwed up I am here to listen to what you have to say." Lucas knew that he had to leave it up to Brooke to run the show, that was the only way that she would say everything she wanted to say.

"I guess what I really want to say is that I am not mad at you anymore. I am long past that. But what you did to me did affect me, for a long time. I hadn't had a serious boyfriend sine you, well until Nathan that is. I just couldn't trust anyone. I had put all my faith into you, against my better judgment. You hurt me before and I hoped that you wouldn't do it again, then I left and you did. That gave me major trust issues. You don't even know. Every guy that ever pursued me I had so little faith in. I figured that they all just wanted to sleep with me. Then that lead to other issues. It lowered my self esteem. I felt terrible about myself." Brooke figured she might as well just let him have it.

"I feel terrible about that. I really do. I know that what I did was wrong, what I did both times. I can say over and over that it changed me, but I know that you need to see that for yourself." Lucas put his head in his hands, Brooke could tell that he felt really bad.

"Well, lucky for you all of it turned out fine. I felt bad about myself and realized that the only thing I could do to fix that was to like me for me again. Not like me because some guy liked me, but because I liked me. So I changed. I started studying a lot more and working really hard. I started to do really well in school, and knowing that I had done that all on my own really helped my self esteem. And well, now, things are good. I have a great job that I got all on my own. I have my own little house. I have a great boyfriend." Brooke stopped as soon as the words came out, she didn't know how Lucas really felt about Brooke dating Nathan.

"Yeah, about that. I will admit, at first I was a little weirded out, even a little jealous, but then that all went away. Nathan is so happy that it would be wrong for me to not be happy for him because I am jealous. You are an amazing woman Brooke, Nathan is lucky to have you." Lucas looked at Brooke, he could tell that she was trying to fight it, but she was smiling a little.

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that. And I hope that we can get to know each other know. I want to get to know the person you have become."

"I would love that. But that is totally up to you Brooke." Lucas gave Brooke a hopeful glance.

"I would love it too. Like I said, I am not mad anymore or anything like that. I think I just needed to say it to you. To tell you how badly you hurt me, and how it didn't just go away. But like I said, I am a better person for it. Don't get me wrong, I am not thanking you for breaking my heart, twice. But I am willing to let the past stay in the past and keep our eyes set on the future." Brooke looked at Lucas, she could see the relief in his eyes.

"I am glad to hear you say that. So, let's let the past be in the past. Let's enjoy this holiday together, we haven't all been together in a really long time."

"Sounds good. Aw, come here." Brooke stood up and held out her arms. She hugged Lucas and knew that she had finally had the closure she had needed for all of these years. She had finally let all the pain go, now she could focus on the future, no more dwelling on what happened in the past.

ooooOoooo

Nathan was looking through the produce section at the supermarket. Brooke had said she wanted to make her grandmother's famous sweet potatoes and had sent Nathan off with a list of ingredients.

Nathan was so focused on completing the list that he had lost all sense of what was going on around him. It was an all too familiar voice that pulled him out of it, "Nathan?"

Nathan turned around and his jaw dropped, he couldn't believe it. "Haley?"