Disclaimer: I don't own OTH

Chapter 11

"You can't keep avoiding her, Luke," Haley told her best friend. She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. Lucas sat in front of her at the counter of the café.

"I'm not avoiding her,"

She shot Lucas a disappointing look and sighed, "Just please tell me that this is not about how you feel about her,"

"Hey, I just want to catch up with the guys at the Rivercourt...I haven't seen them all summer,"

"Whatever...Luke, you need to stop pretending it's not there. If you don't deal with this soon you'll really lose what you care about the most,"

Just as Lucas was about to answer, Peyton opened the door to the café and entered.

"Hey!" Haley greeted.

Peyton smiled, happy to see her friends, but it disappeared when she saw Lucas's face. His face was solemn and he didn't seem to acknowledge her before turning his had back to the counter. Not know what was going on, Peyton shrugged it off and figured that he was having a bad day.

The curly blonde took a seat beside Lucas at the counter, "So, I was thinking...since we haven't really hung out in a while, I thought maybe we could take a little road trip to Wilmington...do a little vintage shopping...maybe lunch..."

"Aw, Peyton. I'd love to, but with Dan in the hospital, Deb can't manage the café for more than a few hours at a time. I'm sorry,"

"It's cool," Peyton said understanding. She nudged Lucas, "So I guess that just leaves you and me,"

Lucas casted her a sideway glance, "Sorry. I told the guys I'd meet them at the court today, which by the way, I am late," he quickly stood up, gathered his belongings and was out the door before either girl could say anything else.

"I'm really sorry, Peyton," Haley apologized again, but this time for Lucas's rudeness.

"It's fine, Haley. Really," Peyton replied but her mind wondered about Lucas's behaviour towards her, "Did I do something to Lucas?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. It's just that for the past few days...it's like he's avoiding me or something. Like just now, I walk in and two seconds later, he's running out the door. Do I have b.o or something?"

"No. Lucas...he's just a doofus sometimes," Haley answered while silently cursing Lucas in her head.

"Wow. I can't believe Peyton," Brooke exclaimed, "Why wouldn't she tell me about her mother? I mean, fine, we've been playing phone tag for like a month, but she still could have told me,"

Ever since they had seen each other at the mall, Brooke and Nathan hung out whenever he wasn't in camp, which wasn't that often. As a gossip queen, it was second nature for Brooke to pester Nathan for the latest happenings in Tree Hill.

"Well, it's not exactly something you say on voicemail, Brooke," Nathan tried to calm her down.

"I know, but I'm supposed to be there for her. I'm her best friend," Brooke pouted.

"Come here," Nathan laughed and wrapped an arm around her, offering a shoulder to lean on.

It felt comfortable being near him, but it also felt weird – he was Nathan; her best friends ex, Lucas's brother and Tutor Wife's ex-husband. Brooke quickly shook her feelings and playfully pushed him away, "You know what we need? We need to have some fun,"

All summer long, Lucas and Peyton had been virtually inseparable. Now all of a sudden, without any explanation whatsoever, Lucas was avoiding her like a plague. She knew something was wrong and there was something Lucas and Haley weren't telling her. Maybe she had done something, or maybe he was getting sick of hanging out with her or maybe it was something serious, like his heart - no matter what it was, she was going to find out.

The drive to the Rivercourt was short. As she rounded the bend, she looked out onto the court, expecting to see a game already under way, but there wasn't one going on. Slightly baffled at the sight, Peyton slowed the car down as she passed the empty park.

Nathan sat alone in the sand, watching his new friends run around the beach with Brooke and her friends. He laughed as Jeremy carried a screaming Brooke's cousin into the cool water.

"Come on, Nate!" Brooke yelled.

Nathan waved and shook his head. Brooke pretended to pout before coming over.

"What's wrong, party pooper?"

Silently he hoped that wasn't her nick name for him. "Nothing, I'm ok, Brooke. Really,"

She didn't buy it and joined him on the sand, "It's Haley, isn't it?"

"I don't know what to do. I thought being away from all of it would help..."

"But it's all you can think about,"

"Yeah,"

Nathan seemed surprised that Brooke knew how he felt. He didn't know that Lucas had begged her to stay in Tree Hill and that it was the exact thing that was haunting her all summer long..

Brooke's feelings weren't clear. At first, she was convinced that she wanted a second chance with Lucas, but ever since she found the box filled with happy memories of him and Peyton, Brooke wasn't so sure anymore.

Although he told her that the box was a reminder of the mistake he made, the contents of the box told her otherwise. Everyday, since that day, she remembered the photos. It wasn't that Lucas looked happy in the pictures that bothered her - it was the way he looked at Peyton - it was the same way Brooke wanted him to look at her - but he never did.

Nathan put his thoughts aside when he saw the sadness in her eyes. He looked out into the ocean and saw their new California friends splashing and laughing. It was time to forget Tree Hill and to enjoy the California sun. Without a second thought about it, Nathan quickly got to his feet and picked up Brooke.

"Nathan!" Brooke shrieked with surprise as he flung her over his shoulder.

"Come on, we're going to have some fun," he declared.

"Nathaniel James Scott, you little...you put me down right now,"

Nathan laughed and started to run towards the open water.

"NO! Don't you dare get me wet, Nathan. Put me down right now,"

It was too late. Nathan sank into the cold water, pulling a screaming Brooke with him. When she emerged from the water her hair stuck to her head and face. She shivered at the frigid water, but ignored it as she glared at Nathan who was smiling proudly ear to ear.

"You, are going to pay for this," Brooke playfully threatened. Without warning, she began to chase him in the water - both of them laughing and screaming.

The only light in the Sawyer's house came from her bedroom. The room where she could express herself freely without thinking about what the rest of the world thought. It was the place where she hung up her artwork or painted random words or pictures on her maroon walls. Whatever her mood, whatever her feeling - it was all on display.

Sometimes she would take some pieces down and put up new ones, but there were some, that never left her wall that year.

People Always Leave

Sometimes They Come Back

From her bed, she sat against the headboard and looked around the room. Her eyes rested on a picture of three people taking aim at one heart - the heart that she never forgot. Peyton sighed and walked over to that picture that hung beside her desk. She carefully took the picture down, revealing another piece of her work that hiding. Nobody knew it was there, but she did. It was always there. It was the only one that she was afraid to put on display.

And Now We Can Have It

Her eyes watered as she remembered that night. She had always wondered what if he hadn't said anything more or what if she had stayed that night...things would have been much different, that much she knew.

The sound of the doorbell brought her back to reality. She quickly dried her eyes with her sleeve and went to answer the door.

Normally, he would have just walked into her house and right into her room. But he thought they'd make too much noise coming up the stairs and would ruin his surprise. He carefully shifted the weight in his arms and waited patiently for the door to open.

When she finally opened the door, Peyton was more than surprised. She was thrilled to see his smiling face and especially the little girl he was carrying, "Jake! You found Jenny,"

A/N: Since the beginning I planned on Jake coming back...just not this early. But I think things will work out better this way. I hope you guys liked it...even though it was Jake at her door. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I'm hoping to be done with the story soon...which means I'll be updating every 2-3 days (hopefully) so keep reading and reviewing.