The Way We Were

Disclaimer- Again, not mine.

AN- This is still in the early stages, so please pardon if it's not perfect. This chapter is set in the present time, which is Christmas time of Brooke's senior year and Lucas' freshman year of college. You should be able to figure out their situation by this chapter. Everything is pretty self-explanatory. If you have any questions or comments just say it in a review PLEASE! Also—Flashbacks are in italics.

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Brooke sat in her room, looking at all the presents that she had to wrap. She loved the shopping part of Christmas… not so much the wrapping part. For a little while, her mind had been off the one subject that had been consuming her thoughts for the last 4 months—Lucas. She thought about what he was doing, was he thinking about her, was he dating other girls? That's all she had been thinking about since the last time she saw him. She remembered that day like it was yesterday.

It was the morning that Lucas was leaving for college. He was outside of his house, everyone that he loved was there, his mother, father, brother, best friend, best friend's girlfriend, everyone, but the love of his life and his girlfriend, Brooke. Wait, no, she wasn't his girlfriend anymore. As of last night, they were no longer together, not because they didn't love each, but because Lucas was an ass and had led her to believe that he was going to be attending UNC, which was less than an hour away from Tree Hill. He had found out in the middle of the summer than he had been accepted to his reach school, Stanford, which meant no basketball and no Brooke. Tears entered his eyes as he thought about the look on her face when he told her that he was moving to California. She had quickly stormed out, and he feared, out of his life. Before their fight, she had promised that she was going to be there to send him off, but Lucas sadly assumed that she was not going to show up. It was about 6:50a.m. Lucas wanted to leave by 7 because he was trying to make it to Stanford in just 2 days. Lucas watched as his last minutes in Tree Hill, with his loved ones passed quickly. He looked at his watch again, it was 6:57, 'Three minutes,' he thought to himself, 'If she isn't here in three minutes, then I'm just going to leave, no good-byes, that will teach her to be so stubborn.' 6:58, two more minutes and he would be in the car, gone for 4 months. 6:59, Lucas looked up at his brother and best friend, for a manly hug, he then hugged Peyton, his best friend's girlfriend, who was lucky, because Jake was only going to UNC.

Lucas heard tires screech behind him and looked back. He saw the powder blue bug fly into his driveway and Brooke get out, dressed in one of her patented black Juicy sweat suits, her hair in a messy ponytail. She walked slowly towards the group, greeting everyone with a tired smile. She then looked at Lucas and tears flooded her eyes. She didn't know how to tell him goodbye. 'Do I hug him? Kiss Him? Give him a handshake?' She asked herself. She was so overcome with emotions that she just jumped into his arms and started to bawl hysterically. Once her cries died down, she felt Lucas' chest move quickly up and down, jolting her head up and down. She backed away a little to look at his face, he was crying like a baby. She gave him a small smile and returned to his arms, both crying their hearts out.

After remaining like this for about 5 more minutes, Karen intervened, reminding Lucas that he had a long trip ahead of him. He nodded and wiped his tears, now feeling silly for breaking down, but then realized that it had been over Brooke, his Brooke, his Brooke that he wasn't going to see for 4 months, and it all seemed okay. He hugged everyone one last time, and then returned to Brooke, who was trying to keep her tears in check. He scooped her up in his arms and heard say, "I'll love you forever, Broody." He smiled at the mention of his childhood name.

"I'll love you forever, too, Cheery." He then backed away from her, gave her a small, sweet kiss on the lips and got into his Tahoe, backed out of the driveway of his childhood home and headed off to college. Once he was out of sight, Brooke broke down completely, falling to ground. Her body was shaking with sobs. Peyton, Karen and Jake all bent down to comfort her, but she pushed them all away. They all understood that she didn't want anyone but Lucas. After sitting there with her head in her hands for five minutes, Jake picked her up and put her in his car, letting Peyton drive Brooke's car back to her house.

Brooke was brought back to reality by the ringing of her cell phone, but was too late to answer. She got up off the ground and went into the bathroom, finding that just thinking about Lucas had made her cry hysterically. She washed her face and went back into her room. She picked up her cell phone and saw that she had a new voicemail, from Lucas.

"Hey Cheery," Lucas paused for a moment, before continuing, Brooke could tell that he was nervous, "Uh… well, I just got back into town and wanted to meet up. Maybe we could meet at our spot on the beach around 4ish? So, just call me back when you get this. I lo…uh… Bye." Brooke sighed when she heard the last part.

When Lucas first left, they had talked on the phone most days. They had unspoken rules about these phone times. They were always to be upbeat and happy. You were only to talk about new friends of the same sex that you had met. The only friends that were of a different sex that you talked about, had to be friends from home. Lastly, you always had to keep your emotions in check. The first conversation that they had was the only one that had broken these rules, well the first and last ones at least. They had both started crying almost immediately and had said how much they loved and missed each other about a million times. Since, then, the rules had been in place.

As the first semester progressed, they both got busier and busier, and the phone calls were more and more spaced out and lasted shorted each time. Lucas hadn't come home for Thanksgiving, instead, Nathan, Karen and Dan had gone out to visit him. It was the first Thanksgiving that Brooke could remember without the Scott family. She was glad though, that Lucas had called on that day and talked for an extra long time. He understood the emotions that she was going through, even when she said nothing.

Brooke began to dial the familiar number and waited for a moment to push the "TALK" button. Once she did, she heard Lucas' voice after two rings.

"Cheery?" Lucas said happily, after he saw Brooke's name appear on his cell phone screen.

He heard a sniffle, and then heard Brooke speak, "Hey Luke!" Brooke said in her fake-cheery voice. "You wanted to meet?" She asked after a small pause in the conversation.

"Oh… yeah. At 4? Our place?" He asked, praying that she would say yes.

"Yea," Brooke said in a down voice, she then caught herself and continued, "Absolutely, I'll see you then. Bye Broody."

"Bye Cheery." Then they both hung up. Each of them had a genuine smile on their face by the end of the conversation.

Brooke looked at the clock and discovered that it was 3:25 and that she had a very little time to get freshened up.

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Lucas slowly got out of his black Tahoe and looked around for Brooke's small bug; it was no where in sight. 'Yep. Same old Brooke, always fashionably late.' He thought to himself with a smile. He headed down the walkway that led to the beach and walked through the thick sand to a secluded part of the beach that had been dubbed "Their Place". It was the place that they had their first date, it was where Lucas had first told her that he loved her, and it was where they had their last date, the night he told her he was going to Stanford. He sat down and ran his hands over the sand. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts because he was completely surprised when a pair of arms wrapped around his neck. He quickly got up so that she wouldn't have to bend down. He looked at her for a moment. She was perfect, a little thinner than the last time he had seen her, but she was beaming. He closed the space between them by hugging her with all his might and proceeding to pick her up and twirl her around. She held onto his neck tightly and giggled as he did.

He slowly put her down and they settled into the sand, without saying a word. He sat behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. She immediately entwined their fingers as he did then and leaned back into his chest. They sat like this for a moment, before Brooke finally spoke. She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck and whispered, "You have no idea how much I missed this."

"You and me both, Cheery… You and me both," Lucas whispered back.

Brooke turned around in his arms to get a good look at him. He looked different. His hair was buzzed and he had lots of stubble on his face. Something else was different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She put her hands on both of his cheeks and rubbed the stubble playfully. He leaned into her touch and kissed both of her palms, before looking back at her, his blue eyes shining with happiness. They sat there staring at each other for moments before Lucas spoke.

"Can I do something?" He asked shyly, as he slowly pulled her towards him. She nodded slowly, confused as to what he wanted to do, but realized what it was as Lucas' hands rose and began to stroke her cheeks, she closed her eyes and braced herself for what his kiss would feel like. They both felt the electricity, right when Lucas' lips landed on hers. The kiss was slow and loving, yet it had its own hidden passion to it. When they both pulled back, they rested their foreheads against each other. He moved only to kiss the tip of her nose playfully. She giggled at this action. He then said the three words that Brooke had been wishing to hear for 4 months, "I love you."

She sighed slightly and whispered back, "I love you too." She saw his face brightened at her words and giggled once more. She loved how much he looked like a little boy when he got what he wanted, like a little boy that had just convinced his mother to get him a big bowl of ice cream.

"Good," He began after a moment, "Then maybe you can help me with something."

"Of course," She replied.

"Okay," He started slowly, "Well, I've been thinking a lot this year, about us and I realized that being without you was complete hell. So, maybe it would be better if I quit Stanford, took next semester off and started at UNC, with you."

Brooke was shocked and a slight bit angry as well. She slowly started to scoot away from Lucas.

Lucas was equally as shocked by her actions. "Brooke, what is it?"

She sighed, trying to hold everything in and explain herself in a nice manner. "Luke, you can't do that."

He chuckled a little, thinking that she was kidding, "What do you mean I can't do that? I'm already doing it."

"Why?" She asked quietly.

"Why? For us, so that we can be together, like we wanted to be before." He replied, trying to keep a nice tone, as to not upset her further.

"You know that's not true." She whispered and looked up at him, her eyes shone with unshed tears, and she sniffled to keep them from falling.

"How can you say that?" He asked in a quiet, but angry whisper.

"Because that's the truth Lucas. You know it is. Your mom and Nate both told me that Stanford wasn't what you thought it was going to be." She sighed and tried to get back into a nicer voice, "Just admit it, you failed, and now, you're trying to blame it on me, but I won't let you do that, not to me and certainly not to yourself."

This time, it was Lucas' turn to scoot away from her. "How can you say that?"

Brooke realized that although she was telling the truth, she probably shouldn't have voiced it like she did. She tried to reach out for his hand, but he brushed her off. "Lucas, Lucas, please, just look at me." She sighed, silently cursing herself.

He sat with his held towards the ground. "God, Brooke."

She interrupted this as him reaching out for comfort. She started to move towards him and wrap her arms around him. Once she did, he became completely rigid under her touch. She then realized that he was angry, but decided to embrace him anyway. She brought him close to her, hoping that he might melt under her touch. She saw there, holding him and kissing his cheek, head and neck, trying to get him to crack. Brooke knew that she had hit a hard spot. He had never been able to handle his own failure well, mostly because it had happened so few times in his life. The only time before had been with basketball. He knew that he wasn't Nathan; he didn't have the natural talent and passion for the game like he did. That was one reason that he picked Stanford over UNC, there was no pressure to play basketball. Now he was failing with school and Brooke.

Once Brooke had been hugging and kissing him for close to ten minutes, he started to crack, or so she thought. He looked up at her and he saw the tears in his eyes. Tears that she knew he would only shed in front of her. She looked at him and threw herself into his arms, knocking them both over. This little bit of comic relief seemed to put them both at ease. They continued to lie down on the soft sand and Lucas wrapped her in his arms and dropped a kiss on her forehead. He mumbled, "I'm sorry, baby," and they stayed like that for about half an hour.

Once they both decided that it was time to leave, Lucas helped Brooke get up and she looked up at him with a smile.

"I'm really glad that you're going to stay there. I think that in the end, you won't regret it."

Lucas looked at her weirdly. "Who said that I was staying at Stanford?"

"Well… I just thought that we had worked this out and that meant that you were staying."

"No. I'm not staying there," He started to raise his voice as he realized what was happening. "I get it. You want to fix me, don't you? Well you can't. I'm staying here, even if it doesn't have to do with you, and now it seems that it had absolutely nothing to do with you, since we aren't even dating!" He screamed and instantly regretted it as he looked at Brooke's face, which was filled with sadness and tears.

Brooke sniffled the sadness away and it was instantly replaced with anger. "You're right, we aren't dating! Thank god for that. That means that now I don't have to deal with your bullshit. So, I'm leaving Lucas, have a fucking great life!"

Brooke began to walk away and Lucas tried to apologize. "Brooke, I didn't mean it." She continued to walk away and Lucas tried to follow. She started to run and go back to the parking lot, with Lucas on her trail.

Lucas finally caught up to her as she was trying to get her keys out of her purse. She looked at him with her tear-streaked face. "Yes. You did. Don't try lying to me Lucas, I know you too well." She said quietly. She opened her car door and once she was half-way in she said, "Good-bye Lucas." She got in the car and left Lucas to stand in the parking lot by himself.

He sat down on the sideway and put his head in his hands. He had royally screwed up now. He felt something wet against the back of his neck and looked towards the sky, it quickly getting darker as it started to pour. Lucas contemplated staying in the rain, but decided against it. He needed to get go get Brooke back.

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Brooke had driven like a mad woman back to her house and quickly got out and ran into the house, not bothering to say 'hello' to Jake or Peyton. She slammed the door to her room and lay on her bed and cried. She heard a knock at her door, but didn't dare answer. She fell asleep in her wet clothes on top of her bed. In the middle of the night, she heard her door open and woke up. She saw her brother enter her room, holding the phone. She could tell that he was shaken up. She looked at him questioningly and saw tears in his eyes.

"What is it Jake?"

"It… It's Luke." He said as his voice cracked. "Brookie," he said carefully, using his nickname for her, "He's been in an accident."

Brooke looked at him in horror and instantly fell into his arms. The two siblings cried and hugged each other for the rest of the night.

Brooke's world was not so perfect anymore.

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Hope yall liked it. I'll try to write more tomorrow, but if I don't get to it, I won't update until Aug. 13, because I am going out of town, but I am pretty into this story, so I will try to crank out at least one new chapter. If you have any questions or suggestions, PLEASE REVIEW! If you don't PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW anyway!

Xoxo.