Sorry for the massive delay. Exams and Writer's Block sucks. Hope you like this one.

Chapter Four: A Long Time Ago…We Used To Be Friends

Brooke knocked on the door as hard as she could without breaking any nails or causing herself any harm. Failing that, she rang the doorbell repeatedly, knowing that nobody could stand that sound. Especially since she was pressing it as rapidly as she could.

As she expected, the door hastily opened and an aggravated Nathan stood in the doorway, squinting from the sudden burst of sunlight into his apartment.

"What do you want?" he groaned as he saw Brooke standing in front of him. Brooke breezed passed him and walked into the apartment, turning her nose up slightly at the mess still lingering around the living room.

"I just popped by to see how my future half-brother-in-law was doing. I see you're awake," she said giving him a bright smile.

"No thanks to you," he mumbled, "I thought I told you to-"

"Oh, are you talking about how you completely threw back my kind gesture of good will back in my face, even though all I was trying to do was reach out to you and be nice?" Nathan nodded slowly as he tried to make sense of what she had just said, "Well, I decided that I'm going to ignore your rude behavior and spend my time here. I need a place to plan my wedding."

Nathan's eyes widened, "W-w-what?" he asked.

Brooke grinned, "You heard me. I'm planning my wedding and you're going to help me."

"Why would I do that?" Nathan crossed his arms as Brooke sat down in front of the coffee table and began taking out bridal magazines.

"Because you were an ass to me and somebody needs to knock some sense into you," Brooke said not even glancing at him.

"What about Peyton? Or Karen? Or my Mom? Hell, even the freakin' girl who delivers the pizza would be more interested in this wedding than I am." Nathan protested.

Brooke frowned, "Nathan, forgive me for trying to pull you back into society, but new flash! The world hasn't stopped just because Haley James-Scott, whatever, walked out on you. Again." Nathan clenched his jaw, but secretly marveled at how brutally honest Brooke was being. "A month ago you were on your way to moving on with your life, and just because she's back doesn't mean that you have to hide away in this apartment. You're doing more damage by hiding."

Nathan groaned, "So why do you care? I know you're marrying Lucas, but it doesn't mean I'm your responsibility. I don't need babysitting, Brooke."

"I know that," Brooke replied, "And I'm not doing it because of Lucas."

Nathan scoffed, "Why then? Because we're friends? With the exception of when I was with Peyton, or you being with Lucas, we never hung around together. We were never really friends, Brooke."

Brooke's bright attitude dimmed as she cast her eyes to the floor and quietly replied, "We were kinda."

Nathan looked at her.

"Right before you began dating Peyton. Don't you remember? It was at Marissa Evans' party and I got too drunk to drive. So you took my keys, drove me home and made sure I got into bed okay. And when I asked you why you did it, you said-"

"'Because we're friends.'" Nathan finished for her.

"But, seeing as you don't think we were ever friends…" Brooke began as she started to put away all the magazines.

"Brooke, don't go," Nathan said, knowing he'd probably regret it, "I'm sorry. You're right. We were friends… kinda."

Brooke smiled, "Yeah, we are," she emphasized. "Maybe not all that lovey-dovey 'BFF' crap, but we can hang together," Brooke said.

She put all the magazines back onto the coffee table and began sorting through them, but paused when she felt his eyes on her.

"What?" she asked.

Nathan shrugged, "Nothing. I was just…" he sighed and shook his head, "I just remembered that, uh, I only drove you home after the party that night cos I wanted to get into your pants," he chuckled to himself.

"My, my, Mr. Scott. I didn't know you were the type to take advantage of a girl like that," Brooke said jokingly.

"I'm not. That's why I didn't. Plus, I figured I'd get around to it sooner or later," Nathan said, smiling for the first time in a long while.

"Well, you're too late. I'm going to be a married woman soon," she proudly showed off her engagement ring.

"I know," Nathan seemed almost disappointed, "But just so you know, if you and Lucas ever break things off…"

"Yeah, yeah," Brooke said dismissively moments before Nathan began walking away. "Where are you going?" she asked with a frown.

"To change my clothes?" Nathan said. She nodded.

"You might want to grab a shower and run a comb through your hair too. And smile!" she called after him, "This broody thing only works for Lucas."

----

Nathan returned a quarter of an hour later to find Brooke trawling her way through masses of magazines and his living room in a bigger mess than usual. He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Brooke rip out a page and stick it in a book, making various notes around it.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

She barely glanced at him, "Scrapbooking." When Nathan gave her a blank look, she sighed. "I've organized everything into categories; wedding dresses, flowers, caterers, cakes, invitations, etc; then when I see something I like in a magazine, I stick it into whichever category it fits so then I have it all in one place." Brooke said proudly.

"That's very… organized," Nathan said for lack of a better word.

"Oh, what's the name of that band that played at Tim's last party? The Chili something or other…" Brooke tried to think.

"The Red Hot Chili Willies?" Nathan suggested.

"That's the one!" Brooke said making a note in her scrapbook.

"Wait, you want them to play at your wedding?" he asked as he went to make himself breakfast.

"Nope. I'm putting them down on the blacklist, so that they aren't an option. Lucas' taste in music is kind of…" Brooke made a gesture with her hand, "Let's just say Peyton-ish."

Nathan nodded in agreement.

"So, where is my brother?" Nathan asked. Brooke bit her lip and shrugged.

"I don't know. Doing Lucas-type stuff I guess," she said before changing the subject, "What do you think of these center pieces?"

-----

Lucas rang the doorbell of Haley and Taylor's house. After a few moments, it opened and a puffy-eyed, ill-looking, disheveled Haley James-Scott answered the door. He offered her a small smile.

"Hey buddy," he said, "Long time, no see, huh?" holding out his arms to show her that he was still her friend even after a long time.

Haley seemed to almost cry at the gesture and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you too," Lucas said, "Can I come in this time or is Hurricane Taylor home?"

"She went to work," Haley sniffed, "Come in," she said as she let him inside.

"So how have you been?" Lucas asked once they were both inside. Haley gave him a look and he chuckled, "Okay, stupid question. I know."

"Yeah, well…" Haley's voice was a little hoarse, "Not like I wasn't expecting it. I've been gone for two years; I wasn't exactly going to be coming home to open arms and a welcome home party. Do you want a drink?" Haley offered. Lucas shook his head and the two sat down on the couch.

"Are you doing okay?" Lucas asked. Haley shrugged.

"It's rough," she admitted, "God, this feels so weird. I haven't spoken to you in a long time and still just talking to you feel so…"

"Normal?" Lucas chuckled, "I know. But that's good, right?"

Haley nodded, "Yeah. It's been a while since I've been… normal." She tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear. "Have you been talking to Nathan?" she asked.

"A little," Lucas confessed, "But he's my brother so I have to keep him in check. He's been a wreck, Haley."

She nodded, "I know, I know. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Hales. You did what you had to do, I understand that now."

"But does Nathan?" Haley asked meekly. Lucas cleared his throat.

"Why… why did you leave it so long to come back?" he questioned, "I mean, you only left for the tour. You should have been back within months; not two years."

Haley nodded, "I know, Lucas. Everyday I thought 'I'll go home today. I'll go back to Nathan,', but then I got scared that he wouldn't want me and he wouldn't understand – so I kept putting it off day after day. And then suddenly, two years had passed and things had changed. I'd changed. I realized that I was tired of running away and that I really didn't want the whole music thing as much as I wanted to go home. I was sick of living out of a suitcase, eating takeout, riding on the goddamn bus. I loved the music and performing, but if I didn't leave, I would have nothing to go home to. That's why I came back."

Lucas took all of the information in. His best friend hadn't put the music over him and her old life; she'd been too scared to face the consequences.

Lucas reached over and gave Haley another hug, and she began to cry again.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Things have been so weird and I'm pretty emotional all of the time."

"Why don't you just explain that to Nathan?" Lucas asked.

"I tried but he was so angry at me."

"He thinks you left him."

"I never wanted him to think that. But it was too hard to pick up the phone and talk to him without bursting into tears or something," Haley explained. "I knew it was going to be hard when I came home – just not this hard. He barely even looked at me or spoke to me. When Taylor told me she moved into our old house, I knew that I had to go there. Nathan didn't want me at the apartment and I thought giving him some space might do us both some good."

"You gave him two years of space, Hales," Lucas reminded her, "But I guess you're right. He'll need some time."

Haley nodded, "Yeah. You're right," she sniffed. "Anyway, what's new with you?" she questioned. "Last time I heard, you were dating Brooke."

"Yeah, well, we're not dating anymore," Lucas told her. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, Luke. You didn't do that again, did you? After the first time-"

"Whoa, Haley, stop!" he told her. "I didn't cheat on her."

"Then what happened?" Haley asked. Lucas buried his hands in his pockets and gave her a coy grin.

"I proposed yesterday," he announced, "We're engaged."

Haley was speechless and she struggled to find words to say.

"Engaged?" she repeated in a whisper.

"Well, don't get too excited," Lucas said, a little put out by his best friend's lack of enthusiasm.

"No, no! It's great, Lucas. I'm happy for you both, but… are you sure?" she asked, "Marriage isn't an-"

"I know, I know. We've already got lectures from Dan and Nathan chewed Brooke out when she told him. I know you haven't had the best experience, Haley, but Brooke and I can make this work. No offence, but we're… older now."

"Yeah, I forgot. We're all adults now." Haley said quietly before shaking her head, "I'm sorry, Lucas. I really am happy for you."

She reached up to hug him.

"So you'll be coming to the wedding?" he asked. She nodded.

"If you'll have me," she said. "Gosh, Brooke must be going crazy with the planning."

"Oh god, if I hear the word 'sprummer' again, I'm eloping," Lucas groaned as he told Haley everything.

Pretty soon, the two best friends were talking and laughing together like they used to. Almost as if nothing had changed.

To Be Continued…