Title: Never Gone

Author: D. Sollers

Summary: FIRST THREE CHAPTERS REWRITTEN- AU. Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott were high school sweethearts with their whole future ahead of them. The news of a baby drives the couple apart and years later they must come to terms with the present, the past and the future. Couple: It's BL in flashbacks, BL in the future but BN in the present. Hopefully you'll be able to follow (slight Naley implications and Jeyton as well)
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with One Tree Hill except for a few overly played DVDs and a poster of Chad Michael Murray, who at the present time I would like to throw darts at. So…another words don't sue me J

CHAPTER SIX- In Another Life

It was morning in tree hill, a particular time that Peyton had always hated. It was worse when she was younger and still in school, when Brooke would race through the house and wake her up to go jogging with her. But on this particular Sunday morning, Peyton woke up to the sound of Jake singing from their bathroom. She laughed at his rendition of RESPECT. "Are you going to be long in there?" Peyton called out to Jake.

"Almost done babe."

Peyton rolled over and stared towards the open bathroom door. "Did you get to see Luke yesterday?" She asked. Jake came towards the door and leaned against the door frame. Taking his toothbrush out of his mouth he shook his head yes.

"He still hasn't seen her, Peyt."

Peyton nodded her head sadly and rolled back over. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to tell her best friend that he was back in town, but if Lucas wouldn't tell her- someone would have to. The thought of Brooke finding out by accident worried her, Peyton didn't want to see Brooke anymore hurt than she had already been years before.

"Brooke called you. Four times last night, you might want to return her phone calls before she starts to suspect something," Jake chided her. Peyton rolled her eyes, knowing that what Jake was telling her was true. Brooke and Peyton were best friends. They had been best friends since they were really little and if Peyton didn't try and talk to Brooke, she was definitely going to know that something was up.

The phone rang and Jake grabbed it. "Hi Brooke," he said sitting down beside Peyton on the bed. Peyton shook her head no, hoping that Jake would make up some excuse as to why Peyton wasn't home at 7:30 in the morning. "I'm sorry Brooke she already left. Yeah she has her cell phone, try her on that. Okay, bye!"

"She's going to track you down sometime babe."

Peyton's cell rang from inside her purse and both her and Jake laughed. If anything, Brooke was the most persistent of the group. A quality that Peyton had always found endearing in her best friend.

"I'm going to see Lucas," Peyton said as she stood up and made her way to the closet. Jake nodded his head in understanding, making his way back to the kitchen to get ready. Sunday's was Jenny's day with Nikki and he had to drop her off early so he could catch the football game with Nathan. With a quick kiss, Peyton made her way out of their two story house in pursuit of Lucas.

……

"Grandma?"

Isabella knocked lightly on the door and Karen answered the door. "Hi sweetheart. What are you doing here?" Karen asked as Isabella waved towards Nathan in his car and looked back at Karen.

"I need to talk to you."

Karen worried slightly about the fact that Lucas was still asleep in his room and he still hadn't managed to tell Brooke he was back in town. But staring down at her ten year old granddaughter, she realized she couldn't turn the girl away. She waved to Nathan to leave and looked back down at her sweet granddaughter.

"Okay. We can sit out on the porch out here just like when your dad was little," Karen said sitting down on the porch swing and patting the seat beside her. Isabella hesitated for a moment and then joined her with a smile. "What did you need?"

"I want to talk about my mom and dad."

Karen nodded her head, and sighed. "Well sweetie, don't you think you need to ask your mom about that?" Isabella shook her head no and wrapped her arms across her chest.

"I can't," Isabella explained. "Whenever I talk about my dad, my mom gets so sad and I just don't want to make her cry anymore."

Karen understood the feeling all too well. She had spent the first year with Brooke, doing her best to console the woman her son had left behind. From what Karen had understood, Brooke hadn't wanted the two's relationship to come to an end but didn't know how to fix their problems. Brooke had been a mess for that period of time, but as Isabella had grown older so did Brooke. And with each passing year, Brooke's sadness had lessened.

"Well, what is it you want to know?"

Isabella hesitated for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. "My mom and uncle Nathan and everyone fill me in on a lot of what happened. But what I don't understand is, if my mom and dad loved each other so much why isn't he here now? Did he not want me?"

Karen's heart broke for her young granddaughter and she shook her head no. "Of course he wanted you. When your mom was pregnant your dad was so thrilled and your mom was so scared," Karen replied.

"So… what happened grandma?"

How did she answer a question she didn't really know the answer to? Karen was unsure of the words she was supposed to use to comfort the troubled girl. "My girl," Karen said as she wrapped her arm over the girl and pulled Isabella to her. "Your dad loved you and your mother very much. They were young and so in love and they had the world to see yet. And they fought everyday."

"Were they mean to each other?"

Karen chuckled quietly. It was a different world then but she remembered like it was yesterday. Lucas would call her on the telephone, wondering what he could do to get Brooke to talk to him again. Their fights were never serious but somewhere between pregnancy and postpartum they had started to escalate. "It was never like that. But they were constantly arguing with each other and your dad was working really long hours and wasn't really around much for your mother."

"Your mother was so good at being a mother," Karen smiled. It had amazed her at the time, how well Brooke had been at taking care of Isabella. She had never really had any parental supervision and could barely recall a time when her mother had even been around but somehow despite that, Brooke had become a great mom. Perhaps even better than herself. "They didn't want to end up hating each other. So your mom and dad decided that breaking up with each other was the best thing to do."

Isabella looked at her grandmother and rolled her eyes. "That's stupid."

Karen laughed and nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah sweetie, it was stupid. But like I said they were young and didn't know a lot about anything." She watched as Isabella played with her shoe laces and she hesitated to continue. What could a ten year old really understand about the world? But as her granddaughter looked up at her, young brown eyes meeting her own, Karen knew. Isabella wasn't like most ten year olds. She had her mother's heart and her fathers soul and Karen knew what that meant. This little girl held more happiness and sadness in her then the other little girls.

"Is that why he left?"

Karen shook her head yes and looked over her shoulder through the window. Lucas had opened his bedroom door and was listening quietly in the doorframe. She brought her finger to her lips, motioning for him to stay quiet and she turned her attention back to Isabella.

"Your dad loved her so much, he wasn't sure that he could stay in Tree hill and see her everyday without being with her," Karen explained. "He wanted to be there for her and for you but the bigger part of him the part that thought you two deserved better kept him away."

Isabella sighed. "I'm ten years old. Shouldn't he have at least visited?"

"Yeah baby, he should have." Karen wasn't sure whether at this point she was talking to her granddaughter or her son, but either way the message was loud and clear. Lucas had hurt his daughter and he needed to make up for it.

……

"Lucas!"

Peyton slammed her car door shut and wrapped her arms across her chest. Jake had been right, Lucas might not have been ready to see Brooke but he wasn't hiding. Wearing sweat pants and a tee shirt, a thirty two year old Lucas Scott was standing on the basketball court just as he had years and years ago. He turned his attention to the blonde behind him and smirked. "Here to slap me again?"

Peyton blushed and lowered her head a bit before shaking her head no. "Look Lucas, I'm sorry I hit you. But what you did… it wasn't right. You two broke up that doesn't justify leaving her to raise your daughter."

"I never said it did."

She stuffed her hands in her jeans and nodded her head. Peyton could see the look on his face and how tired Lucas seemed and she knew that he probably brooded the entire night before. "You need to tell her Lucas."

"I know. I just don't know how."

Peyton knew the feeling. Not telling her best friend was killing her but the thought of seeing Brooke's face when she found out made her feel worse. Brooke was going to be hurt and when the hurt subsided there was going to be furious and Lucas was in for a fury of anger. "I haven't talked to my best friend in two days. She's called my cell phone eight times already. And that's just my cell phone. How am I supposed to keep a secret this big from her?"

"I'm going to tell her. I promise."

Peyton put her hands on her hips."Your promises don't mean anything to me Lucas. You promised us all years ago you were going to take care of her. Look at her now. Now I'm not going to continue blowing her off. You have until Tuesday night. Every Tuesday Haley, Brooke and I go to dinner. It's our 'girls night' type thing. You tell her by then, or I am."

Lucas nodded his head. "Alright. I will."

Peyton nodded her head, satisfied with his answer and turned to leave. When she got to her car she turned back to him and called out for him. "I know I didn't say this before… but I'm going to say it now. Welcome home Luke." He smiled slightly and nodded his head as she got into the car and sped off. As he threw the ball into the basket he smiled to himself.

Welcome home.

……

"I'm home," Isabella called as she shut the front door to her uncles house. She could smell her uncles cooking from the kitchen and followed the smell. Isabella stayed quiet as she watched her uncle and Haley. Haley was cutting up an onion and Nathan was turning the tomato sauce on the sink.

"I can't believe you would eat macaroni and cheese when you were in New York."

Haley rolled her eyes and continued to dice the onion. When she finished, she put the knife in the sink and handed the cutting board to Nathan. "Whatever. I'm telling you, macaroni is the food for kings. I love that stuff. We can't all grow up eating pate and escargot," she teased.

Nathan turned to look at her and laughed. "It's not my fault I was born into a rich family. And I do not eat escargot, pate is another story though." Haley grinned and smacked his shoulder.

"Whatever you say buddy."

Nathan grabbed the stirring spoon that had sauce on it and held it up. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and smirked. "What did you say?" Haley's smile fell from her face and her eyes widened.

"Nate don't. Brooke just bought me this don't ruin it," Haley said with a laugh. He thought for a minute before flinging sauce at her. "I'm telling Brooke!" Nathan laughed and put the spoon back in the pot.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Tell her."

Haley's mouth fell and she glanced around to notice spaghetti noodles in the sink. She grabbed a handful and threw them at him. In less then thirty seconds the kitchen was covered with thrown dinner and Nathan and Haley both stood at opposite ends of the counter. Haley held up her hands in an effort to call for a truce and Nathan chuckled.

"I won."

Haley rolled her eyes and turned to go up the stairs when she saw Isabella standing in the doorway. Isabella was amused by the sight of grown adults having a food fight but couldn't come up with anything to say. Instead she winked at Haley. "Uncle Nate! I need help with my science…what happened?" Isabella asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"We umm…there was ugh…there was some water on the floor and I slipped and the noodles went everywhere and Haley dropped the pot of spaghetti sauce," Nathan lied.

Isabella shrugged her shoulders. "Anyways, can you help me?" She asked and he nodded his head.

"I'll be right up after I clean this up and order a pizza."

Isabella nodded her head and darted up the stairs. When she got to the top steps she called back down to him. "The next time you have a food fight, I want to be in it okay?"

Nathan and Haley both laughed at Isabella and when they heard her bedroom door shut they turned back to the mess they had created. "You wipe down, I'll mop?"

Haley asked as he nodded his head. They reached their hands down for the rag, his hand landing on hers. Haley looked at him and blushed slightly. "Lets clean up."

tbc...