Chapter Eleven: Happily Ever After Now.

Brooke stared at the caterers gathering up the leftover food and the cleaners she'd hired to take down the decorations and sweep up the floor. They buzzed quietly, talking about their own things and she spied one of them sneaking a piece of uneaten bread from the pile on one of the tables.

She smiled sadly as she watched her wedding being packed away like it had just appeared out of a box.

As if months of planning could be erased in a matter of hours.

A pair of arms placed its arms on her shoulders and rested its head on top of hers.

"It's over." He told her. She nodded.

"Yeah, it is."

"You okay?" he questioned, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to warm her up. She was shivering slightly in the late spring breeze. She'd put away her wedding dress hours ago and was now dressed in a casual top and jeans.

"I'm fine. I'm just… I can't believe it's all over like that."

"It was an eventful day, huh?" he chuckled.

"You could say that." She replied softly. He kissed the temple of her head.

"So, are you ready to go? I know I could use a few days to get over everything."

"I kind of don't want to leave." Brooke told him. "It just seems too surreal at the moment."

"We'll be back soon." He reminded her, "Tree Hill isn't going anywhere."

"But it'll be different when we come back." She sighed, "Nothing will be like it was."

"Do you regret it?" he seemed concerned now.

"No," Brooke shook her head and he seemed to be relieved. "No, I'm just… it'll just take a bit of getting used to. I didn't realize it'd be like this." He pulled her away from the area where she was standing.

"Come on, or we'll be late." He urged.

She got into the car, her eyes barely drifting from the workers busy taking away all evidence of her wedding.

"Um… can we make a quick stop first?" she asked as they began driving away.

He looked at her, understanding where she wanted to go and why. After their conversation last night, they had gone over everything. His feelings, her feelings… his brother's feelings. Everything. "Sure. We'll go there first." They drove in silence, though her hand rested contently on his knee to reassure him.

"I think I should go alone." She told him as they pulled up to their stop. She glanced at the apartment and back at the man next to her. "I need to talk to him alone."

He nodded, "Okay." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'll be here."

Brooke sighed and got out of the car, walking the short distance to the front door. She paused before knocking.

When there was no answer, she assumed the occupant knew who it was and didn't want to see her. Understandable given the circumstances and the choice she had made.

Seconds before she was going to give up, however, the door opened and she was face-to-face with his glowering expression.

"Hey," she offered a small smile, "How are you?" she hazarded. He shrugged.

"I've been better." Brooke could clearly sense he had been drinking. His breath spelt of beer and she could almost guarantee there would be at least five cans littered around inside.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way." She apologized, taking the reigns. "I know I hurt you and I didn't mean to but… I had to make a choice."

"You made your choice." The voice sounded bitter.

"I hope you don't hate me… least of all him." He chuckled dryly.

"You don't get it, Brooke. I thought we had something special. Obviously, I was wrong."

"I know you think I'm probably making the wrong choice but I know it's the right one for me, and I'm sorry for hurting you. I didn't want to hurt either of you, it wasn't my intention."

"Whatever." He looked away and spotted the car in the distance. "Is he waiting for you?"

"Yeah. We're on our way-" she began to explain.

"Oh."

"We'll be back in a few days. I think this break is the best thing for all of us."

"You love him?"

"You know I do." She bit her lip awkwardly, "I hope that after all this we could still try to be friends."

"You know as well as I do that can never happen. Not now. Not after everything that happened between the three of us."

"But I want you in my life- in our life. We shouldn't throw away everything just because I-"

"Because you chose him over me?" he asked before sighing. "Look, I just think it's best for me if we stay out of each other's way. College is coming up soon; we'll all leave and do our own things. We never have to see each other again."

"So that's it? We're not even going to try to fix this?" He shook his head.

"We can't fix this." He dropped his head when Brooke's eyes welled up with tears. He cleared his throat. "Listen… let him treat you right. Don't ever let him hurt you." He offered trying his best to be supportive and happy for them, even though his heart was breaking to see it.

"Okay." She nodded at his well-wishes. They paused before Brooke took it as her cue to leave. "Um, I guess I'll go then." She began walking away when he called her.

"Brooke!"

She turned to look at him.

"Are you happy?"

She turned slightly as she thought before a small smile formed on her lips.

"Yes." She replied. The man at the door nodded.

"That's all I ever wanted for you – even though I kind of wish it was me. Good luck, okay?" He told her genuinely although something in his tone told Brooke that this would be their last conversation.

"You too." She replied before giving him a small wave and making her way back into the arms of her chosen guy.

As she climbed back into the car, she was greeted by a kiss. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she grinned as he started the engine. "Hey," she got his attention again, "Do you know how much I love you?" she asked.

He simply gave her another kiss and a smile. "I already know."

The End.

Okay, so you all probably hate me for leaving it so ambiguous but I love both ships and I couldn't make the decision for the life of me. Seriously, I chose one guy but then I kind of wanted the other guy to get the girl too and it'd be a way creepy threesome if I shipped them all together. Feel free to tell me who you think she chose. Maybe you are also torn between them. My own preference changes every twenty minutes or something.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who read this and followed it through to the end. I love reading the reviews and who everyone wants Brooke to be with. Isn't she lucky to have two hot guys after her?

I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope most of you will stick around for my two new fics. One is BL and the other is BL with a non-romantic NB relationship. I'll say no more, except thank you and see you all soon.

Tejal x