Author's Note: I just wanted to say once again I am sorry for the delay. Hopefully the rest of the story won't have as big of gaps as this one had. That said, thanks to everyone who has read the story and keeps sending me reviews. Amanda- (Othretard) sorry for not having it sooner but it's finally here :-) Laurie: My own tutorgirl :-) Glad you're interested in the show and that this story helped you get into it! And oh! Wednesday's episode was great! Everything I could have asked for. Nathan admitting his heart is still with Haley, Brooke admitting she wants to be kissing Lucas, Peyton and Lucas bonding (FRIENDSHIP) and Haley redeeming herself. I knew she had it in her :-) BTW- how cute was "I missed you two pretty girl?" Awe!

BuffyBabe42: thanks so much for your kind review :-) I am glad you are liking the story and hopefully this chapter will not dissapoint you. Let me know what you think

L-A-C-18: A year later! Okay okay I know it hasn't been that long but I am taking waaaaay too long to update this story. And I really need to finish the other three considering the new season has started. I just wanted you to know that I love your reviews still. They are my favorites :-) Hope you like this chapter

KarahBella: Nathan wanted Haley to follow her dreams, just like on the show. Hopefully Haley will be able to explain to Nathan that she can have her dreams and be with him as well.

PayAlf: Glad you liked the last chapter, hopefully you will have enjoyed this one as well. I wanted to include a flashback/dream of the scene with Brooke and Sean so you really do know what happened.

JeytonLover: There are a lot of bumps and trials on the road to happiness. Plus they're in highschool, which was always an emotional rollercoaster for everyone I think. So, there are decisions to be made. Hopefully they will make the right ones :-) And I think Jeyton deserves a little bit of happiness after everything that went on with them last year.

OthRetard: Glad to know some of your questions were answered. I think honestly, Nathan is starting to understand that a marriage in highschool isn't something that normally works. He's scared and really doesn't want Haley to resent him for not following her dreams through thouroughly. And also add in the fact that he can go to any college because of basketball, he's worried about what will happen. I hope this chapter explains a lot about Brooke and Sean's relationship and hopefully you all won't be too mad at the decision Brooke has made.

Yudelka165: glad you're enjoying the story. So glad to have new people reading it :-D

DanceDude09: thanks for the review

Brucas4Ever: thanks for your reviews. :-)

CFL1989: I am sorry you were confused on what is going on between Haley and Nathan. Hopefully this past chapter helped you understand where there feelings are. Glad you're enjoying it and look forward to having you review the upcoming chapters. There is a total of 30 chapters in this story and like I said before I am not sure if I will do a sequal, but I am thinking about it.

Lindsay23: Glad you were able to follow the chapter. Nathan and Haley are fine! I would not let them get divorced.

My support and thoughts go out to Chad and Sophia. Relationships are hard when you're not famous I can only imagine dealing with them in the publics eye. But I have faith in whatever is meant to be, will be :-) The two had found true love and hopefully, roads will lead them back to each other.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Almost Home

"Want to get something to eat?" Sean asked, as he walked over and sat down on the bed beside Brooke. She shook her head no but didn't say anything. "Watch a movie?"

Again Brooke shook her head. He noticed how uncomfortable she looked and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong Brooke?" He asked. She seemed tense and as if something else was on her mind.

"I'm just worried about Karen that's all," Brooke lied. Yes, she was worried about Karen but her mind was on something else. She silently wondered why timing wasn't on her side. Lucas had been able to admit his feelings for her on several different occasions and yet every time that she tried to return them something happened to stop her.

She always believed in signs and couldn't help but think that perhaps that it was one. Perhaps someone, somewhere, was telling her to move on. That Lucas wasn't the one for her. But if that was the case, Brooke couldn't understand why all roads lead back to him.

"Do you want to go see her?"

Brooke shook her head sadly and then turned to face him. With a smile she pointed towards the television. "How about that movie?" She asked. He nodded his head as he switched off the lights and laid down beside her.

An hour or so later, Brooke had fallen asleep beside Sean and he had pulled the blanket up around her. He turned the television off and then laid back down beside her. Sean watched as Brooke moved around in her sleep and noticed how sad she looked. Something was definitely troubling her and he knew whatever it was, wasn't about Karen.

"Lucas," Brooke mumbled in her sleep, causing Sean to sit up in confusion. Brooke had been dreaming about Lucas? He knew deep down that Brooke still had feelings for her ex, but he still had hope that somewhere down the line Brooke would have been able to move past them. She seemed happy with him. It had been Brooke that had approached him in the first place.

Brooke's eyes opened slightly and she looked up at Sean a bit embarrassed. She ran her fingers through her hair and sat up slowly. "How long was I asleep for?" She asked. He shook his head and ignored her question.

"Brooke. We need to talk," Sean said.

Brooke started to laugh. "You're not breaking up with me are you?" She leaned in and placed a small kiss on his lips. Sean pulled away and stood up. He walked towards the table with the television and leaned against it.

"What's going on with you and Lucas?"

He regretted his choice of words immediately, but still waited for her to answer. The smile that had been on her face a moment before was gone and in its place was a look of confusion. "We're friends," Brooke replied simply. The words came out so easily that she almost believed them. They were friends. But under the label of friends, laid so much more than she wanted to admit. To Sean, or to herself.

"Are you sure? Because I want to be with you Brooke," Sean paused a moment. "But not if you're not sure where you want to be."

Brooke pulled herself out of the memory and stared into the mirror in front of her as ran her fingers along the pictures. There were several photos of her alone, at a cheerleading event and some taken on the beach. The smaller photos of her and Peyton were followed with pictures of Haley and her as well. In the center was a picture of Lucas and her, one that had been taken when they were a couple. She touched it gently remembering what it was like to be his girlfriend. How insecure she felt and how vulnerable she was. But also how happy.

Sighing, she picked up the photo that was sitting in front of her and stuck it on the mirror beside the one of her and Lucas. It was of Sean and had been taken on their first date. He was dressed in a suit for his ex wife's wedding and was actually smiling at something she had been explaining to him. Brooke remembered how refreshing it felt to have found someone new, someone that didn't have any past package that she had to deal with.

Lucas knocked gently on the door and stuck his head inside. "Hey Brooke," he said as he peeked inside. "Can I come in?" Brooke nodded and turned around as he made his way in the room. He sat down on the edge of her bed and she noticed an envelope in his hands. She pointed to it and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

Lucas looked down at the letter in his hands and then back up at her. "I've got some news. But before I tell you mine, I was really hoping we could finish that discussion we were having before everything happened."

"Lucas…"

Lucas cut her off. "Brooke I need to know."

Brooke glanced away from Lucas and tried her hardest to pull herself together. She could see the pain on Lucas's face and wanted nothing more than to comfort him.

"Lucas," she stopped for a moment and considered telling him the honest truth. That she did love him and she had wanted to be with him. But her fear stopped her. "Sean asked me to be his girlfriend."

Lucas felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He knew that there was a chance that it had happened but still couldn't bring himself to believe that it would. He nodded his head and waited for her to continue.

"I said yes."

She turned away from him and looked back at the photos on her mirror. Brooke watched as Lucas put his head down, obviously upset by her decision. "It's just that…" Brooke started to explain herself to Lucas but he quickly interrupted her.

"I got accepted to UCLA," Lucas blurted out.

Brooke's smile faded from her lips and she forced herself to sound happy for him. "That's great." Deep down, she meant it. she had known all along that Lucas was going to get accepted into a school from out of state and she knew that UCLA had been one of his top choices. But even as happy as she was for him at the ability to get into a great school, she wasn't thrilled with the fact that she might not ever see him again. "I know it's the one you wanted."

He nodded his head and sighed. "Well I should get going," he said as he headed towards the door. Brooke called out to him and he turned to look at her. "Yeah?" He asked.

"I'm happy for you Lucas."

Lucas smiled sadly and shook his head. "Me too Brooke. Me too."

……

"When are they moving?" Jake asked Peyton as he flopped down on her bed and kicked off his shoes. Jenny was playing quietly on the rug beside the bed with a few of her toys and Peyton looked over her shoulder at him.

She shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the painting. "Brooke said this weekend, so I really have to finish this." Bringing the brush to the paper she smiled in satisfaction. "I think Brooke is going to love it," she said to him. He made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her placing his hands on her stomach.

"It's beautiful," Jake whispered into her ear. "It'll look great in her new room." Peyton leaned her back into him and nodded her head. She stared at the painting and knew that it would touch her friends heart. In the center of the paper was a blazing red heart, with the number three in the middle. On both sides of the heart, were lifelike sketches of her two closest friends. She was amazed at how well she captured Lucas's features and the love in his eyes for Brooke.

"It looks just like her," Jake told his girlfriend as she nodded her head. She had captured her friend with a loving smile and the dimples that made her best friend unique from everyone else. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" He asked, and then smirked. "Even when you have paint on your face."

Peyton raised an eyebrow. "What paint?"

"The yellow paint," he said taking the brush from her hands and stroking her cheek with it. She grabbed the brush from his hand and smacked his shoulder. With her tongue stuck out at him she returned the favor giving him a nice yellow circle on his forehead.

Peyton turned towards Jenny and put her hands on her hips. "Now Jenny, I think we need to have a talk with your daddy. Paints belong on paper, not on people." She said, even as Jake snuck up from behind her. Peyton tried to grab the tube of red paint from his hands before he was able to squeeze it, but had no luck. She looked down at her white tank top and rolled her eyes at the mess on her shirt. "You're going to get it," Peyton said.

Jake grabbed Jenny into his arms and used her as a shield. "I have Jenny," he reminded her with a grin. Peyton rolled her eyes and leaned her back against the dresser.

"You cheat."

With a smirk, he nodded his head in agreement. "But you love me." Even as he said the words, he wasn't waiting for a response. He didn't need one. There was no doubt in his mind, or anyone's mind for that matter that his girlfriend loved him. She had risked everything to keep his secrets time and again and had occasionally helped him break the law. "How about a truce. At least until the little one's sleeping."

Peyton reluctantly agreed and Jake placed his daughter down on the floor. She grabbed the toys she had been playing with prior to being picked up and shook the rattle proudly.

"You're mine," Peyton said as she pounced on Jake. The two fell onto the bed and Peyton tried her best to pin Jake down. Giving up, Peyton fell over and laid beside him. "Can we just lay here?"

Jake nodded his head and turned to stare at her. He brought his fingers to her hair and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. "I would stay like this forever," Jake said as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek. She leaned closer to him and placed her hand over his heart.

"Me too."

Jake kissed her and Peyton pulled herself away from him. "I need to tell you something," Peyton said hesitantly. Jake sat up afraid of what she was about to tell him. "I applied to a college in New York."

"And you got in." He hadn't meant to finish her sentence but had known she was going to have trouble telling him. Peyton smiled at him. "You're going," Jake finished.

She folded her arms against her chest and sighed. "Jake it's not that simple. I mean yeah, I want to go. This is the college I have been dreaming about since I was old enough to remember. But Tree Hill is my home. All my friends are here."

"They're not going to stay in Tree Hill Peyton. Lucas got accepted to UCLA, Nathan and Haley can go pretty much wherever and who knows with Brooke. Do you honestly think they'll all stay in Tree Hill forever?"

Peyton thought about what he was saying and silently agreed with him. She had known that the chances of them all staying were slim to none, but that didn't stop her from wanting to keep her friends close to her. "But you're here. And Jenny."

"Peyton, this is your dream." Jake thought a moment, back to months before when he had first got back from his summer away. "And I told you, I'll be wherever you are."

……

"And this will be your place," Andy said as he walked towards the smaller guest house. "We wanted you to have your own space Brooke. Karen and I know you'll be going off to college soon and we want you to feel like you have a place to come back to."

Brooke stepped inside the smaller home and looked around. The walls were painted lavender and the couches and chairs were white suede. As she stepped down a step into the living room, she saw the tiny kitchen off to the right side and a bedroom door to the left. "It's beautiful- but I can't possibly," Brooke said as she ran her fingers across the banister.

"Yes you can," Andy said, turning to Karen for some help.

Karen wrapped an arm around the young girl and squeezed her gently. "I know you're not with Lucas anymore and perhaps might never be. But I have always thought of you as a daughter."

Brooke held back the tears that were forming in her eyes and brought Karen into a hug. She placed a hand over Karen's stomach and smiled. "This baby is going to have a great mother," she said as she turned around and hugged Andy as well.

"How can I repay you?"

Karen was about to say something, when Andy interrupted her. "Karen's going to need some help around the café since she can't be doing as much as she use to be," Andy said causing Karen to roll her eyes. The thought of not working as hard was still something Karen could not see herself let happen. But the doctor had told her to be extremely careful after her last fall and she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her babies health.

"Got it covered."

There was a knock on the door and Lucas stuck his head inside. "I got the rest of your boxes in the truck," he said as he placed the three boxes down on the floor. He looked around the guest house and smiled at Brooke. "It looks like you," Lucas said as Andy walked towards the door.

"Let me help you."

The two then walked out of the house leaving Karen and Brooke alone. Brooke opened one of the boxes Lucas had brought in and pulled out some picture frames. She sat them down on the kitchen table and turned to Karen.

"Thanks Karen," Brooke said. She didn't go into detail about what she was talking about but as she looked at Karen, she knew the adult understood. Brooke had grown up her entire life without a strong parental influence and the only mother she had ever had was one who would rather give her money then have a decent conversation with her. And in the past year, Karen had done everything in her power to help Brooke.

"I'm going to go but when you're done you should really walk around the garden. Just don't get lost." Brooke nodded her head and watched as Karen walked out of the house.

A few minutes later, Lucas appeared but Andy was no where in sight. "Mom reminded Andy that they had plans tonight," Lucas said as he watched Brooke unpack her things. Brooke didn't say anything but went about moving around the room placing odds and ends on the tables around the room.

"Do you like it?" Lucas asked her.

Brooke nodded her head. "It feels almost like a real home."

She watched as he disappeared for a moment and then came back into the house, her doll house in his hands. He sat it down on the table against the wall and turned back to her. "How about now?" He asked.

Brooke smiled. "Perfect."

……

Haley carried the groceries into the apartment and called for Nathan's help. When he didn't come to help her, she kicked the door shut with her foot and put the groceries on the counter. There were three messages on the answering machine and she pushed the button before walking back into the kitchen to put the groceries away.

"Hales, just calling to remind you about the sleepover at Peyton's tomorrow night. Remember to rent two movies. I'm thinking something Johnny Depp…"

Haley laughed at Brooke's message.

"Hey Nathan, it's your dad. I've been trying to call you since New Years Eve and you haven't returned my calls. Well, we need to talk."

Haley rolled her eyes as she put the milk in the refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda. As she finished putting away the rest of the groceries, she sat down to hear the last message.

"This message is for Haley James Scott… This is Dana Evans. We met at Tric the night Kelly played. We've heard a lot about you and would love for you to come down to the studio for us sometime. Give us a call back and we'll arrange some time for you."

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt as if she was going to scream. She had done it! Perhaps Nathan had been right and she didn't need Chris after all. But she knew deep inside she owed a lot to him and would continue to thank him for the opportunities he had brought into her life. Haley grinned from ear to ear as Nathan appeared beside her. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and he was looking at her sadly.

"Congratulations."

Her smile fell and she leaned up to kiss him on the lips. "This doesn't change anything Nathan."

He nodded his head and sat down beside her, taking a sip of the soda. "I'm happy for you Haley. I always knew you could do it by yourself. That you didn't need him."

"The tour with Michelle and Chris… I needed that Nathan. I needed to see what it would be like," Haley explained. "I needed to see it so I could know that what we have is more important."

Nathan shook his head no and stood back up. "Nothing is more important then following your dreams Haley. Nothing. We both learned that this year."

"You are my dream Nathan. This marriage is my dream."

He wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "There's no saying we can't have both right?" He asked as she shook her head no. "We shouldn't have to choose."

After a minute she looked up at him and sighed. "No we shouldn't." It had become amazing to her that after the last year, she had realized that. She had been so quick to give him up and he had been so quick to give her an ultimatum that neither of them had thought it through.

But as she stared up at her husband, she had faith in knowing that wouldn't happen again.

……

"You could always spend the night here and we could go catch a movie or something tomorrow," Sean said as he handed Brooke the bowl of salad. Brooke took it and sat it down on the table and turned back to him.

She smiled as he handed her the spaghetti. "I would but Peyton is having this girl night thing at her place and I have the beauty arsenal so…"

"Well how about I come down there on Sunday and take you out for breakfast."

Brooke shook her head no again and then leaned against the counter. "I can't. Karen invited me out to brunch with her and Lucas."

Sean rolled his eyes but it went unnoticed. "I guess I could come down after work on Monday," he said grabbing the iced tea from the refrigerator and walking towards the table.

"I can't…" Brooke hesitated. "There's cheerleading after school and then I promised Lucas I would help him unpack his things."

He sat down across from Brooke and looked away from her. "There's always something with Lucas."

"He is my friend Sean," Brooke said defensively.

Sean looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Your ex boyfriend. Can you really tell me that there's nothing between you two anymore?" Sean asked. She hesitated for a moment and then shook her head no.

"I can't tell you that because it's not true. There's always going to be something between Lucas and I. He was my first love," Brooke said. She smiled sadly before continuing. "But that doesn't change the fact that I am here right now. With you, not Lucas."

"You're with me, but Brooke where is your heart?"

Brooke rolled her eyes and stood up, folding her arms across her chest. "We've had this talk already Sean," Brooke said. "Now this weekend is going to be busy but I'm free next weekend. I'm all yours," she grinned. Sean thought for a moment and then nodded his head in satisfaction.

"You know what Tuesday is right?"

Brooke shook her head no as she bit into her salad.

"Valentine's day. I have a class that night but we can celebrate over the weekend I guess."

She nodded her head and smiled.

"As long as there's chocolates and flowers, I'm in."

tbc...

As usual, I love your reviews! Good or bad, I wanna know!

Up next on "Back to You?"

- girls night at Peyton's

- Lucas and Alexis talk about colleges

- the guys crash girls night

- A secret wedding

- Brooke admits to something everyone already knows