I feel really bad for giving you all such a short chapter. I've been swamped with Uni work at the moment and suddenly seem to be sleeping for longer than usual. This is basically one normal sized chapter cut in half because a) It's been ages since I last updated, b) because I felt that I should at least give you all something.

The next chapter will be longer. I promise. Just yell at my lecturers for giving me lots of reading (I despise my textbooks) and essays. Also, many apologies for any spelling and grammar mistakes. It's almost midnight and I'm far too lazy to check for them at the moment.

And mega thanks to Cari for being so awesome in helping me figure bits out. And everyone should go read her fics – especially 'Independent Women' because it has BL, NH as well as oodles of JP, BH, LN, LH and BN.

Chapter Thirty Nine: Running In Circles, Coming Up Tails

Brooke chewed her lip nervously as she stirred the big punch bowl of lemonade. The Scott-James apartment, despite how small it was, was covered with 'Welcome Home' and 'Good Luck' banners.

Both Haley and Brooke had very different ideas of what party to throw for Lucas. Brooke wanted a 'Welcome Home' theme; whereas Haley thought a 'Good Luck' party would be better so that they didn't have to celebrate it later on. Brooke tried to convince everyone that they could have both parties within the remaining week Lucas would be in Tree Hill.

It was Nathan's idea to keep the peace between his wife and brother's ex-girlfriend by combining the two – no matter how contradictory the theme was.

So here she was waiting for Nathan to drive his brother back to the apartment and welcome him with open arms after his two months with Tim.

Two and a half months if you wanted to get technical about it. Tim Smith being his usual dumb self managed to catch some sort of fever and was unable to fly. Lucas and the Smiths had stayed behind until Tim was given the all clear. The last thing any of them needed was to catch it themselves.

So it had been four weeks since Brooke discovered the box in his closet.

That was four weeks since she'd realized that she wanted to be with Lucas more than anything.

Four weeks since all the hurt and pain she'd held inside began to fade as her yearning to forgive Lucas grew.

And four weeks worth of sleepless nights as she contemplated on the best way to tell him.

Finally, he was coming home. While everybody else was anticipating his return and getting ready to celebrate – Brooke was both dreading and excited to see him again.

She hadn't told anyone about her change of mind. Partly because she didn't want anyone to tell her it was a stupid idea – and secondly because she knew deep down she'd chicken out anyway and didn't want them to force her to say it.

The simple truth was that she was terrified of how he'd react.

It wasn't helped by the fact that there were currently fifty people crammed into Nathan and Haley's apartment.

"He's here! He's here!" Haley jumped with glee as she saw her husband's car pull up outside their apartment block. Fifty people suddenly all tried to find a place to hide – after all, it was supposed to be a surprise.

Brooke found herself hidden behind a plant that did nothing but poke its leaf in her eye. She blew it away noisily only to be 'shushed' by Haley and the leaf to return to its original position anyway. They could all hear the faint conversation going on between Lucas and Nathan outside as the key turned in the lock slowly.

"Why don't you come inside, Lucas!" Nathan seemingly yelled as a warning to the others in the house.

'We're already hiding, dumbass.' Brooke thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Lucas strolled in and before Brooke could even begin to admire his tanned body, everyone else jumped up and yelled 'Surprise!' at the top of their lungs.

Lucas jumped slightly and looked at everyone, a laugh erupting from his throat and sending shivers down Brooke's spine. Through everyone else's greetings and hubbub, she could make out his voice – still chuckling – and thanking everyone.

Brooke took a breath and made her way to the front of the crowd. Lucas was just finishing hugging Haley when he looked up and spotted the brunette standing in front of him. She offered a small smile as he straightened up. Once Haley cleared the path, the two looked at one another for a few seconds before Lucas pulled Brooke into a hug.

"Hey," she greeted, "Welcome home." Brooke noticed he hadn't changed his cologne and it was still the same familiar scent that haunted his room. "I missed you, Lucas Scott."

"I missed you too," he told her as he pulled away, "Pretty girl," he added, causing her to blush slightly.

"Good trip?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was." He nodded his head, "But it's still nice to be home."

Brooke opened her mouth to say something but Lucas was mobbed by a few more well-wishers. She backed away slightly and decided that she'll try and catch him again a little later on.

As she weaved her way back through the crowd and into the kitchen, Lucas watched the retreating girl out of the corner of his eye.

Something was different about her.

She didn't stiffen slightly when he'd hugged her, which was something she had done ever since they'd broken up. Instead, she had lingered in the hug a little longer than was necessary and it seemed as if she had something to say.

As he watched her talk to somebody in the kitchen, he noticed her smile was less genuine that usual. He knew her fake smiles from her real ones. It was almost as if she was holding something back.

Something was definitely off.

-----

Almost two hours into the party, Brooke still hadn't got Lucas alone. She'd seen him manage to wrangle his way out of one group of people but instantly find himself in the middle of another group who ever eager to find out what he'd done over the summer.

Finally, she saw him wave to a few people and make his way into the kitchen to fix himself a drink. Seeing her chance, Brooke almost ran from the living room to the area Lucas was in.

But when she saw him, he was already talking to Nathan. She figured that Nathan wouldn't mind if she stole him for a few minutes.

"So, we haven't really had a chance to talk about Isabella," Nathan grinned putting an Italian accent on the name.

Brooke frowned from her position slightly behind them. Neither of the brothers had seen her.

"What's to tell? We met. We went out. We had fun. I had to go." Lucas explained.

"Did you…?" Nathan let the question hang and Lucas merely nodded. "So are Italian girls any better?" Nathan seemed curious. Lucas patted his brother's shoulder and whispered something in his ear, eliciting a laugh from the both of them. "Dude, you spent a whole month with this girl… so, was it just a summer fling?"

Brooke's body tightened and her throat seemed to go dry, as Lucas shrugged.

"We swapped numbers but I guess I wouldn't be too broken up if we never keep in touch. It was just… fun. I liked her a lot and she was great to get back into the dating game. I'm just not looking for anything serious at the moment."

"It's back to the old 'before-Brooke' Lucas Scott?" Nathan asked. Lucas shook his head.

"No, I'm tired of that."

"But you just said you weren't looking for anything serious."

"I'm not. There's nothing wrong with playing the field. A few dates here and there and maybe something might work out for a while, but I'm not going to put too much effort in it. If it happens; it happens. Everything else is just fun on the way."

Brooke couldn't take it anymore. While she was agonizing over her feeling for him; he was hundreds of miles away screwing some Italian girl.

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the apartment, settling herself on the steps outside.

She cursed herself for being so stupid and put her head in her hands in despair.

"There you are," Lucas said as he came outside and saw her. He sat down next to her. "I haven't seen you almost all night. I was afraid you'd already left."

Brooke shook her head, "No, I've just been busy."

"So, how was your summer?" Lucas asked.

"It was good. Went down to the beach, went to the mall, hung out… the usual."

"I see you worked on your tan," Lucas noted lazily moving his fingers down her arm to prove his point. She pulled it away.

"Could say the same about you," she replied.

His eyes narrowed, "Are you okay? You seem distracted."

"I'm fine."

"Something's bothering you."

"Lucas, I'm fine." She insisted. "Now, tell me about this Italian girl." Lucas looked at her.

"How did yo-"

"I overheard you and Nathan talking. It's okay," she tried to show him that she was fine about it. Lucas took the hint.

"I just felt that it was time to move on. Like you have."

"Right, yeah," Brooke mumbled as she scratched her arm, "So… does this mean the women at Duke have to worry about Lucas Scott and his old ways?" Lucas smirked.

"No," he confirmed, "I don't want to be that guy anymore – but there's nothing wrong with the odd hook-up. I'm just playing the field." He paused, "This feels odd talking to you about this."

"A little." Brooke gulped, "Uh, I helped Karen pack away most of your stuff so you're free to spend this week however you want. See Nathan, play at the Rivercourt… you know."

"Thanks. You didn't have to."

"But I did," Brooke said as she got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some stuff to do. I'll see you at home." She excused herself.

"Yeah. Thanks for throwing the party. Nathan said it was half your idea." He grinned, and she smiled back.

"No problem."

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again. Brooke nodded.

"Yeah, Lucas, I'm fine."

"You just seem really distracted." He explained. Brooke looked away and then back at him, her arms folding protectively in front of her body.

"It's nothing. Really." She insisted again before walking away from him.

Lucas watched her go. He knew something was definitely up. He wondered if it was anything to do with Isabella, but she had been acting strange even before she knew about her.

He also knew that 'fine' was not in her vocabulary.

To Be Continued…

Okay, so now review and yell at me for being so miserly with the length of this chapter and being such a sucky writer for ignoring this for so long.