Disclaimer: I own nothing OTH related

Chapter 7

"So let me get this straight," Rachel said as she and Peyton made their way up to the second floor of the Sawyer's residence, "You finally admitted that you were still in love with him and he heard you?"

"Mmm," Peyton finished taking sip from her iced coffee, "Don't forget that my face turned beet red before my scrawny chicken legs ran straight for the door,"

"And you haven't heard from him since last night?"

Peyton shook her head no as they reached the top of the stairs, "Guess I lost him and Brooke,"

Rachel put her arm around Peyton, offering support, "Guess one good thing did come out of all this," she smirked.

Peyton responded with a smile and bumped Rachel with her hip.

"What?" Rachel exclaimed, "I meant that you get to spend more time with me,"

"Riiight," Peyton said with a laugh.

The two friends were too busy laughing to notice that somebody was already in Peyton's room. Peyton was the first to notice an awkward feeling in the room and immediately stopped laughing when she looked up. Wondering why Peyton's face suddenly turned serious, Rachel looked up to see Brooke standing across the room.

"Wow…I didn't think you could replace a best friend so easily," It was a cold remark but Brooke never meant it that way. She was always a girl who spoke her mind and many times she did so without thinking. It had actually hurt her to see Peyton hanging out with other friends, especially when Brooke never liked them.

"Well, considering the best friend is you…"

"Rach…" Peyton cut the red head off from finishing her sentence. The last thing Peyton wanted was another fight, especially between two people who already hated each other. "Brooke, what are you doing here?"

"I came by to give you your Christmas present,"

"Aww…how sweet," Rachel commented which only garnered a look from Peyton.

Peyton then looked at the foot of her bed where there was a medium sized green gift bag tied with a red bow on top. "Thanks,"

"And I was," Brooke continued softly, "hoping that we could talk…alone,"

Knowing that Peyton wanted to work things out with Brooke, Rachel reluctantly spoke up, "I'll be downstairs if you need me, Peyton,"

The two former best friends were left alone in Peyton's bedroom. The same bedroom where they had sleepovers; make-up sessions; pretend fashion shows; and the same room where they shared countless number of childhood memories together – memories that were impossible to forget.

"Remember we used to sit in your rooms for hours... I'd paint my nails and you'd paint something on your wall...or we'd just lie on your bed listening to the new record you bought at the store...or the times we'd hide in your closet there and tell each other our deepest darkest secrets?"

"Yeah," Peyton nodded sadly, "That was a long time ago,"

"We shared a lot of good times, P. Sawyer. You are my best friend in the whole wide world and I don't want to lose you. I know I haven't actually been there for you lately but you have to understand, this has been hard for me,"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since you and Lucas…when Lucas and I were…" Brooke choked out.

Peyton bit her quivering lip.

"It's funny, you know…but I have to admit that I understand why you couldn't walk away from him…because I actually saw what you saw in Lucas…he was sweet, kind and caring…and I fell for him too," Brooke held on to her tears for as long as she could, "Maybe Lucas and I aren't meant to be…maybe I went after him for all the wrong reasons…but all that doesn't matter because I was with him. Peyton, do you know how much it hurt that you could sneak behind my back…your own best friend,"

"Brooke, you know I'm sorry…"

"I know…I know you are but he was the first guy to treat me right…to respect me…and then you took it all away from me. And maybe that's why I never forgave you," she cried out.

Peyton blinked back her tears and she looked at Brooke in shock. For the first time, Brooke finally let out her feelings. Peyton knew that things between them weren't exactly the same and now she knew exactly why. Her head hung low as she heard Brooke crying. It tore her apart inside as she learned exactly how Brooke was feeling. Although Peyton knew that she had hurt her best friend, she just didn't know that Brooke was still hurting just as much as she was.

"Guess we're both good at keeping things in," Brooke shrugged and wiped her eyes, "I guess I was stupid enough to think that if I pretended none of this happened, things would go back to normal and that I'd be happy with Lucas…but I realized that it can't…not when we're all lying to ourselves and to each other,"

She still didn't know what to say. Brooke was right. They could never be really happy or friends for that matter if all they did was lie about their feelings.

"But you already knew that," Brooke calmed her voice down, "So…I guess it's my turn to tell the truth…"

Without another word, the brunette picked up the gift back and held it out for Peyton. After some hesitation, Peyton reached for the bag and carefully emptied the contents onto her bed. Out fell an empty bottle of paint remover, a used brush, putty knife and a purple stained rag. Peyton cocked an eyebrow as she stared at her strange Christmas gift.

Still in silence, Brooke then walked over to the purple painted double closet doors. After looking back to make sure that Peyton was watching, she opened the door and stepped aside.

The inside part of the doors had been stripped down to it's wood. The purple paint was gone, as was the 'list'. All of the names of the boys on Brooke's list were gone. The door that held Peyton's list showed nothing but the brown pine.

"I know you don't need my permission or anything…it's just that truthfully, I'm holding on to something that I know will never happen. He's not in love with me Peyton,"

"Brooke…"

"No, it's the truth. And it's time that I let things be right for once. I've screwed up, Peyton and I want you to know how sorry I am and that I'd give anything to start over,"

Peyton reached out for her friend and hugged her, "You have nothing to be sorry for,"

"Yeah, I do," Brooke pulled back, "after you ran out yesterday…Lucas had no idea you were talking about him…so I…I told him you were talking about Jake,"

Peyton's eyes grew wide in surprise. Her breath grew short and it quickened as her mind raced. Just when things had just been patched up with Brooke, another obstacle was thrown in their way. But this time it was clear for Peyton. The obstacle was Brooke – and in hindsight, it always was.

"I'm sorry, Peyton," repented Brooke, "it just slipped and…"

"I think you should go," Peyton coldly said. She turned her back on Brooke. It had just been too much for her.

At the doorway, Brooke looked back one last time at her once childhood friends with tears welling in her eyes. The lies between them were finally out in the open and unfortunately it had only made things worse. But Brooke knew that it would only be a matter of time when Peyton would find a way to forgive her because they were best friends – and best friends always found a way to forgive each other. It had taken Brooke a year to finally forgive Peyton. Brooke only hoped that it wouldn't take that long.

A/N: I never really understood how Brooke forgave Peyton so quickly after finding out she and Lucas had a semi-fling...I guess this chapter answers it. Although I don't like the fact that Brooke is never around for Peyton, I can see that maybe because it's because Brooke never really forgave Peyton. But now I'm thinking where was Brooke back when she was dating Nathan or during the anniversary of Anna's death...k, I"m going to stop thinking about it now.

Anyways, hope you guys like this one. And as always, thanks for reading and for reviewing!