Hope you like this chapter more...it's longer and has more LP!

Chapter 25

Lucas pulled up to her house and turned the engine off. He looked over at her. Peyton was looking out her window, up at her house. She was staring at her bedroom window. It was also the only room in the house with the light on, which meant that Brooke was already home.

"Well, I guess this mean we don't get a night cap," Lucas joked.

Peyton turned and hit him on the shoulder. She then sighed and slumped back into her seat. "I'm tired of this, you know,"

He reached out and took her hand in his, "I know,"

"You know it's my house…it's my room. I should not be kicked out of my own room and I should have whoever I want over, whenever I want," she continued to rant.

"Does that mean I can come up?"

She thought about it for a moment, "I don't think it'd be a good idea…"

"Peyton, I was kidding…kinda," Lucas pulled Peyton over and wrapped his arms around her. "But do you have to go now?"

"I guess I can spare a few minutes,"

"Then I'll cherish every second,"

She smiled as he placed a kiss on her head, "I talked to Hales, the other day," he said.

"Yeah? How's she enjoying the rock-star life?" Peyton asked.

"She's loving every second of it. She's actually coming home next week for a few days. After their gig in Charlotte, they get a break,"

"Gig? Did you just say gig?" laughed Peyton.

"What's so funny?"

"First of all, it's just funny hearing you say it and secondly, Sheryl Crow does not do gigs...she 'tours',"

Lucas rolled his eyes, clearly uneducated about the proper lingo, "Whatever…anyways you were right,"

"About what?"

"The whole Nathan mess…she's happy. And had she stayed, Haley wouldn't be doing what she wanted the most. I finally get it now. And I know I said it before, but I'm really sorry. You were looking out for Haley. It's just that I thought that they loved each other,"

Peyton lifted her head to look it him, "They do love each other, Luke…they're just not in love with each other anymore,"

Lucas nodded his head in agreement.

Without turning on any hall lights, Peyton walked up the stairs. She was about to walk into her father's room, where she had been staying since Brooke threw her out of her own room, when she heard Brooke crying.

Peyton softly knocked on her bedroom door and peered in, "Brooke, are you ok?"

Brooke quickly wiped her tears and sat up from the bed. She kept her back to Peyton, "I'm fine,"

"Brooke…"

"I said, I'm fine. Now if you can just leave me alone, I'll be even finer,"

"Brooke, come on. I'm trying here. Can we at least just talk about this?"

"I have nothing to say to you, ex-best friend," Brooke emphasized the 'ex'.

"I'm still your best friend, Brooke,"

"Really?" Brooke whipped around, "If you were my best friend, then you wouldn't be out with Lucas all day now would you?"

"Unbelievable…you know what? I've had enough of this. No matter what I do or say, you're still going to blame me and Lucas for this…I'm tired of walking on eggshells around you, especially in my own house…I mean I can't bring whoever I want over and I can't even sleep in my own bed," Peyton's patience for Brooke's snide comments had worn thin. Although Peyton knew it was Brooke's way of protecting herself from getting hurt but a friend could only take so much. "So maybe you're right…maybe its better that we're not friends,"

Peyton's answer wasn't exactly what Brooke expected to hear.

Peyton continued through spilling tears, "But it's not what I want, Brooke," She couldn't give up that easily, "For the first time in a long time, Lucas actually makes me feel safe and he makes me happy but you…you have been there for me since we were kids. You were the one who was there for me when my mother died. You taught me how to put make up on…hell, you were the one who took me to get my first bra…"

The two old friends shared a small smile at the memory. A young Brooke Davis had walked in the lingerie store with such confidence while Peyton followed behind with an embarrassed red face. She tried to stick close to Brooke, who seemed to know exactly where to go.

"Brooke, you're my best friend…and I know you're hurting right now, but if you want me to choose between you and Lucas…then I'm sorry…because I can't…and I won't,"

Brooke crossed her arms across her chest. More then anything she wanted to talk to Peyton. She wanted to tell her what she was thinking. That she didn't want to lose her best friend. That she didn't want to be alone anymore. But nothing came out.

Peyton sighed. Her voice was calm, "I told you before…I will always be there for you Brooke,"

Peyton was half way out the door when she heard Brooke scramble off the bed, "Wait,"

Peyton turned around to see Brooke about to fall to pieces. She stood there alone in the room, unsure of what to do next. All her life, Brooke had never needed to ask Peyton to stay or for help because Peyton was always there for her and never had to be asked.

And this time, it wasn't going to be any different. Peyton hurried back into the room and threw her arms around her best friend. Immediately Brooke hung on to Peyton and let out her tears. "I'm sorry," Brooke said through her tears.

"Shhh," Peyton hushed through tears of her own.

After calming down a bit, Peyton and Brooke sat on the bed.

"P. Sawyer, I've been a horrible friend to you. I am totally happy for you and Lucas. This whole thing was never about you or Lucas…ok fine, so I was a little hurt that you never told me about Lucas…and that I had to make an ass out of myself throwing myself at him before I found out,"

"Brooke, it's alright,"

"It's just that I want what you have. When I see you and Lucas together, I see the way you look at each other…you don't even have to be touching or even close to each other and you just know that you guys are together…that's what I want,"

Peyton smiled at the comment. She had no idea that's how people on the outside saw her relationship with Lucas. "You will Brooke. The right guy is out there for you and you know, he may be closer than you think," Peyton shrugged.

The brunette rolled her eyes and scoffed, "No, I think I screwed that up too,"

"Alright, what'd you do this time?"

"You know, Aaron Feday?"

"No, Brooke you didn't? Feday? Aaron Feday?"

She was getting tired of hearing the name "Yes!"

"Why?"

"He was like the only single guy left…"

"Yeah, he's single…FOR A REASON!"

"Well, it's not like I slept with him…we just made out, a little,"

Peyton threw Brooke a look, daring her to tell the truth.

Her eyes rolled again, giving in, "Alright, a lot, but I never slept with him," Brooke leaned her head on Peyton's shoulder, "And Nathan saw us,"

Peyton closed her eyes. Brooke's situation was getting worse and worse.

"And I told Nathan I didn't want to be his second choice…"

"Brooke," Peyton interrupted, "you weren't Nathan's second choice,"

"But he left me and ran home to Haley. And when Haley left…"

"Haley left because Nathan told her he moved on,"

Brooke was silent for a moment, letting it all process. And then finally, "OOOOH," she finally got it. "Peyton, what am I going to do?"

"Well, for starters," Peyton put her arm around Brooke's shoulder, "WE," she emphasized 'we', "are going to get some ice cream to celebrate our friendship and then WE are going to drive you over to Nathan's to talk,"

"Talk? That's it, no scheme. No game plan?"

Peyton pulled Brooke off the bed, "Playing games is over rated…it's fun for a while but trust me, in the end someone always loses,"

"I'm glad I have you back, P. Sawyer,"

"I never left, B. Davis,"

The door finally opened. "You knocked this time," she said in surprise.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if Brooke…"

"She's cool now…we worked things out," Peyton smiled and pulled Lucas in to her home.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh," she shut the door and then faced Lucas.

"Is she…upstairs?"

"Nope," she smiled.

Lucas took a step closer to Peyton, "Is she in the kitchen?"

"Uh-uh…She's at Nathan's trying to work things out, which means," her arms wrapped around Lucas's neck, "we have the whole house to ourselves,"

Lucas held her waist and pulled her closer, "Good, it's about time,"

Their lips met gently in the middle. It started off with slow, soft kisses that soon escalated into passionate and hungry kisses. As her hands ruffled through the back of his hair, she started to walk backwards, pulling him along with her. When her back hit the wall, Peyton shuffled to the side, keeping her attention on his lips, until she found the doorway to the living room where she began walking backwards again.

Lucas, on the other hand, had another idea in mind. His hands that roamed along the small of her back tugged her into the other direction – towards the stairs.

It was a clear night and the stars danced about the night sky as Brooke sat alone on the bench by the basketball hoop on the Scott's property. When Deb had answered the door, she asked Brooke to come inside, but Brooke politely declined and asked to wait outside. She wasn't exactly sure how Nathan would react and didn't exactly want and audience either.

"Hey," Nathan said as he emerged from the front of the house, "My mom said you wanted to talk,"

Brooke looked up, "Yeah…um, you want to sit?"

Nathan hesitated for a second before walked over to the bench. He sat down, making sure that there was enough space between them.

"So?" Nathan waited for Brooke to explain why she was there.

It wasn't exactly easy for Brooke open up. Every thought that came to mind didn't seem like the right thing to say. She silently cursed Peyton in her head for not having a game plan.

"Look, if you have something to say, then just say it Brooke. I don't have all…"

"I want to be with you Nathan," she blurted out.

They both shared a shocked expression. Brooke couldn't believe how the words slipped out her mouth while Nathan was surprised to hear Brooke say it.

Brooke shrugged and tried to make light of her sudden straightforwardness, "Well, you said you were tired of playing games,"

Nathan let out a small laugh and nodded.

Her nerves began to build and when she was nervous, Brooke Davis rambled, "Look, I may not be Haley or Peyton or know how to deal with relationships but I know that I want the same things that they want….when it all comes down to it, I'm just a girl who wants to find that boy who loves her for just who she is…who is willing to look past her mistakes, cause we all know I make a lot of them, and just forgive her. I want someone who just wants to be with me for no reason at all,"

Nathan's smile disappeared from his face as he listened intently to Brooke. His eyes were fixed on hers as she shifted over closer towards him, "Nathan, I made a mistake with you. I thought you went back to Haley and I felt so hurt…"

"Brooke, I only wanted to tell Haley that it was over because she deserved to know the truth about how I felt…I had to end things before you and I could have a clean slate to build on,"

"I know that now but the thing is…I'm scared too," she admitted, "And that's why it's so hard for me to open up and trust someone with my feelings. Because it's like when I do, I always end up getting hurt," As a tear escaped from her eyes, Brooke looked down and away from him.

Nathan sighed. He reached out for Brooke's hand, "I can't promise you that you won't ever get hurt because with love…there just aren't any guarantees," Nathan leaned closer, trying to make some kind of eye contact with her. When he didn't he lifted her chin with his free hand and wiped away her fallen tears. "But I can promise you that if you take that chance with us, you won't ever regret it. Somewhere over the summer, I fell for you Brooke and I want to be with you. The funny thing is I don't have a reason why I want to be with you…other than I just do,"

His lips were just centimeters away when he looked her right into her eyes and said, "No more games?"

"Are you sure you want that?" Brooke winked.

"Alright, let me rephrase that," His grin grew wide, "No more mind games?"

"No more mind games," she repeated.

Brooke smiled happily as she felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach. It was a feeling that she never wanted to forget either. Nervously, she leaned in and let him kiss her as she let herself fall for the first time.

Their hands intertwined as they lay comfortably side by side. Her head rested tenderly on his shoulder. She felt his free hand gently stroke the side of her waist, under her shirt.

"You don't mind that we didn't go upstairs do you?" Peyton asked nervously. "I mean Brooke's been staying in my room and I've been staying in my dad's room…and well, you and me in my dad's bed…" she cringed.

"No, it's ok," Lucas laughed.

"Kay,"

Lucas thought for a second, "Wait, you don't think I wanted to go up stairs so that we could…"

"Have sex?" she finished for him. Peyton shrugged and sat up.

Lucas sat up and pulled his legs in and crossed them. Peyton leaned back onto the couch and hugged her knees. "What is it, Peyton?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. Just forget it, it was stupid,"

Lucas knew that there was more then what Peyton was letting on, "Hey, you can talk to me you know," he reminded her, trying to open her up, but not wanting to push her. He rested his arm along the back of the couch and let his fingers play with the curls behind her head.

"I don't know if I'm ready yet," Peyton admitted, "I mean I want to but…I just don't want to rush things between us," she eyed him nervously as she continued, "I just feel that every time I rush things, things just fall apart,"

Peyton wasn't just referring to her relationships with Nathan and Jake, but it was more with her relationship with Lucas in the past. They never actually dated or had sex and yet their relationship still managed to falter. And that's what scared her the most. They finally had what she always wanted and she didn't want to lose it.

"Peyt, I…I never expected to have sex tonight but at the same time, I'd be lying if I said I don't want to…but whether we do it tomorrow or months from now, it's going to happen because we're both ready. Peyton, I'm here with you because I want to be. I guess what I'm trying to say is; I'm not in a rush either. I don't mind taking things slow because I love what's happening to me right now,"

She shifted her body to face his and then let her head rest on his arm that was placed along the back of the couch. His answer put her mind at ease, "And exactly what is happening to you right now?" Peyton smiled, curious to hear his answer.

With his other hand, he gently stroked her cheek with the back of his index finger. His eyes never left hers. "I'm falling more and more in love with Peyton Sawyer,"