Author's Note/Disclaimer: This story is dedicated to the lovely Princess Liz, my darling Tigger. You asked for it and you got it, your very own Brooke/Jake series. You know I love you! Just so everyone knows, this is sort of a prequel to "All I Want For Christmas" and "Champagne Kisses at Midnight" explaining how they got together. ;) Also, none of this stuff is mine. The characters all belong to Mark and the WB.

Ballad for my One True Love

Chapter One: Lover I Don't Have to Love

It had been five years. Five long years since she'd set foot into Tree Hill or anyplace nearby. California had its perks though, and the local college she'd gotten accepted to had opened a whole New World to Brooke Davis. Since then, she'd never turned back or even thought about the life she left behind. Of course, she contacted Peyton and Haley from time to time, talked to them about everything that was happening, but since she'd graduated from college, the contact had been less frequent that it used to be.

The outside world awaited her, the New World and she's spent the first couple months of her time outside of the walls of her college as an intern for Marc Jacobs. It was hard work, but Brooke found herself slowly growing up. Some things would never change, but the new sophisticated Brooke was fashion savvy and hard working. Old Brooke was as far behind her as she could make her be.

One thing that hadn't changed though was her attitude towards men. Lucas Scott had broken her heart not once, but twice and sometimes she still felt bitter towards that. A lot of the time, this small thing prevented her from ever letting someone get close enough to her to do it again. Boys were a casual thing. New Brooke didn't need a boyfriend, not long term at least. All she needed, all she would ever need were casual flings from time to time. This time, she really was going to be independent.

Her long red hair swirled around her in the wind as she headed down the street and towards her apartment. She'd finished the last day of her internship well enough and she hoped to get the call back for a full time, well paying job. Even if she didn't though, she could at least add this to her resume.

The temperature was cooler than usual for the end of May, but Brooke liked it this way. It reminded her of North Carolina at the end of spring, of Tree Hill and of her friendship with Peyton Sawyer. They'd always be down by the beach, readying for the freedom of summer. Peyton with her drawing pad, Brooke with her suntan lotion.

Taking out her cell phone, Brooke had an impulse to call her best friend, but immediately let it pass, slipping the phone back into her purse. Sometimes, it hurt wanting to talk to Peyton because she knew that the two of them were as far apart as they could be. The space that had made its way in-between the two of them had started growing long before Brooke had left Tree Hill, back when Lucas Scott had been the object of both their affection, back when they'd almost lost their friendship.

"Brooke Davis?" a familiar voice sounded from behind her and Brooke whirled around.

A small smirk played on the corners of her lips as she looked over the features of the young man who was talking to her. His dark hair was tousled, his brown eyes looked way older than the rest of him, showing the wear of time and the struggles he had lived through. He wore a dark suit with a white shirt and tie, something that Brooke was definitely not accustomed to seeing him in, but she couldn't help but admit that he looked fine.

"Jake!" She grinned widely at him then, and threw her arms around her old friend, hugging him tightly. The clean smell of after-shave still lingered on him.

"It's good to see you again," he said as they pulled apart, his hands running down her arms as his eyes scanned her up and down.

Feeling Jake's eyes check her out made her stomach flutter and her heart do flips. She was used to this kind of attention; she ravished this attention in men. Knowing that people still found her attractive, knowing that she still had it in her made her feel good. With Jake though, it felt different. He was an old friend, someone she used to know very well. This wasn't just some random guy who she ran into, this was someone who had once upon a time been close to her and it scared her slightly. Remembering the emotional attachment one could have sometimes.

"It's been a long time," she said after a moment, flipping her long hair over her shoulders, "What have you been up to?"

"Working," Jake mentioned, "Opened my own business two years ago after I got my high school diploma. It's going pretty good right now."

"That's great Jake!" She mentioned, "You live here in California then?"

"No, New York," Jake shook his head, "Thinking about opening an office here though."

Brooke couldn't help but feel her heart drop slightly at the news that he didn't, in fact live in the city. At the same time though, she couldn't help but feel relieved for reason she didn't quite understand. She didn't have many friends in California, just the occasional people she liked to go out and have a good time with. No one who really knew her and here was Jake Jaglieski who had known her a long time ago. When she had been Old Brooke, when she hadn't been opposed to opening her heart up to someone.

"So, what about you?" he asked after a slight pause.

"I just finished an internship at Marc Jacobs," she said, her voice was filled with pride as she spoke and there was a twinkle of happiness in her eyes.

"That's great," he smiled, "I always thought you'd make a good fashion designer."

Brooke stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom to her apartment, applying makeup to her already flawless features. Her red hair was loose and falling gently over her shoulders, straightened and shiny. A pretty red dress clung to every curve of her body and as she finished apply the red lipstick, she stepped back and had a look at herself. She looked hot.

It had certainly surprised her when Jake had asked her out for dinner that night, but she planned to make the best of it. She knew that this was a one-time thing, he was leaving in the morning and she didn't know when she would see him again. As hard as she tried not to, she couldn't help but feel anxious about going out with Jake, and it wasn't as if she'd had strong feelings for him back when they had known each other in Tree Hill. She'd already decided that this was all about the fact that she hadn't seen anyone from Tree Hill in years.

There was a knock on the door and Brooke gave herself one last glance over and then took a breath, walking over to the door and throwing it open. Jake stood there, his hair slightly less tousled, but he looked damn good too. Brooke gave him a patented Brooke Davis dimpled grin when she finished looking him up and down, "Well, you clean up nicely, don't you?"

"And you look…" Jake looked her up and down, completely, stunning, "Sexy as always Brooke."

"I know," Brooke gave him a smile and a wink, grabbing her purse as they headed out the door.

Dinner had been enjoyable, and the two of them had talked and flirted without end. Brooke was on top of the clouds right now as they walked the stairs to her apartment. It probably had something to do with the bottle of wine she'd drank to herself, and she was pretty sure Jake was feeling the same way.

Taking the keys out of her pocket, she fumbled to put it into the keyhole, as both twenty-three year olds giggled like children. Finally she got the key into the hold and unlocked the door, throwing it open and turning to look at her date. They stood there for a couple of moments in silent before she grabbed his tie and pulled him closer to her, leaning up and kissing him hard on the lips.

Immediately, Jake reacted by kissing her back. Slowly it intensified and Brooke's heart pounded fiercely against her chest as she leaned back against the doorframe to her apartment. Her mind drifted. Her thoughts were a slur of comments about P. Sawyer definitely knowing how to pick her men, and then Jake pulled away and looked down at her.

"Don't worry about it," she said, reading his mind, "It's a one time thing."

With that, she pulled him into the apartment and shut the door behind her. Her hormones were getting the better of her as Old Brooke and New Brooke became entangled with every second she spend with Jake talking and laughing and flirting. Right now, it didn't matter how she felt or who she was supposed to be, she'd give into all her emotions and wants for just one night and then he would be out of her life once again.

When she woke up the next morning, she wasn't surprised at all to find him gone. A note was left on the side of her bed, saying goodbye and that he was gone back to New York. That he hoped to see her again sometime soon, and she knew he meant in a friendly capacity and not anything more because they'd both been clear that with their careers, with his being a father to Jenny, they didn't want a relationship.

She was fine with that. Until last night, she hadn't realized the thing she'd been missing most in her life and that was friendship. So as she folded up Jake's letter with his phone number written down inside of it, she knew that at least they could be friends.