Rain splattered against the windshield of the Ford Explorer. Brooke sobbed as she watched the endless stretch of trees surrounding her car pass by as questions circled her mind. Why? Why did this have to happen to her? Why was Lucas such a jerk? Why was she scared to give him a piece of her mind? Why couldn't she have let Ryan come to her rescue and take her away from that awful place? She let the tears fall freely from her eyes, swiping at them every now and again with the back of her hand.

She wasn't really sure exactly where she was going, and she didn't really care either. All she cared about was being away from that room and those people. She would find her way back eventually, but she right now, she just needed to be alone to try to gather her thoughts.

Was Ryan really worth all of the crap she was going through? She would be forced decide between him and the rest of the world. If she chose Ryan, she'd have to live Lucas' anger, and he'd probably never give his approval of their marriage. She'd be forced to attend more awkward family dinners and she'd dread every time they'd see each other. But without him Brooke wouldn't even be able to function properly. He was the light in her life. She couldn't survive a day without him. He was worth it, every bit of it, because no matter how hard things were when she was with him, it didn't even compare to the amount of wonderful times she had when she was with him.

She slowly pulled the car into the crumbling parking lot of a hole-in-the-wall, no-name gas station and maneuvered it into one of the parking spaces near the back of the building. She slowed the vehicle to a stop and unbuckled her seatbelt before pulling down the visor above her head to examine her tear stained cheeks.

"I look awful," Brooke muttered as she reached for her Burberry handbag and searched through it for some foundation. Upon finding it, she dabbed a small amount onto her cheekbones and rubbed it into her skin. Oh, the wonders make-up could do, masking her blotchy skin to look somewhat normal and hiding the fact that she'd been crying moments ago.

Clutching the handles of her purse, Brooke pushed the car door open and climbed out. She traipsed slowly into the small building. She was starved, having eaten nothing of the meal Haley had prepared because of nerves. Throughout the entire dinner she'd felt like she was going to lose anything that had been in her stomach, but now, as she searched through the aisles of the gas station food mart, she could feel the growling sensations inside of her stomach. And now that she was alone, Brooke Davis was going to pig out.

She scoured the aisles grabbing various fatty foods that every girl craved when depressed. A box of old fashioned glazed doughnuts, a pint of double chocolate chunk Ben & Jerry's ice cream, a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and a bottle of Sprite, and Brooke was set. She carried her items over to the checkout and placed them on the counter. The grizzled man behind the counter silently began to ring up her items. He looked from her to the food and back to her.

"Big eatin' for a little lady like you," he said in a heavy southern accent.

Brooke smiled halfheartedly.

"Yeah," she agreed, her voice weak. "I'll pay for it later on."

He finished ringing up Brooke's items and charged her for it before bagging up the food for her

"Have a nice night, ma'am," he nodded pleasantly as Brooke grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"You too," she called over her shoulder.

Reaching the vehicle, Brooke used the keyless entry to unlock the driver's door and climbed back into the spacious SUV. She sighed as she flung the plastic bag of goodies into the passenger seat and another tear fall from her eyes.

Brooke Davis soon-to-be-Campbell, was not a crier. She was supposed to be strong and independent. She never cried. When her various loser boyfriends had cheated on her throughout the years, Brooke hadn't shed a single tear. Only one man had ever made her cry. Lucas Scott. He had made her cry when he had gone behind her back in high school with her best friend Peyton. He had made her cry when he had professed his love for her before she left for California. And he had made her cry just less than an hour earlier after he'd made a scene at the dinner table.

Brooke reached into the sack and pulled out the box of Hostess doughnuts, grabbing a glazed doughnut from the inside of the box. Eating like this wasn't healthy or a great idea, but it relaxed her. As long as she wasn't too depressed too often, she would be fine. And with high tech workout equipment and a personal trainer, she had no fear about ending up on the Biggest Loser because she ate too much when she was feeling down.

Sighing, she pushed the power button on the radio and turned it to her favorite station, noting the song and belting out all of the lyrics. Whenever she was upset, she'd get in her car and crank the speakers as loud as they could possibly go to an upbeat, happy tune. This was just the medication she needed, music and good food.

Ryan sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat of the vehicle as the blonde woman sitting next to him accelerated the vehicle. He wasn't exactly sure where Peyton was headed or how they were going to find Brooke but at least they were trying. He just needed to find her. He needed to kiss her and make it all better. He needed to hold her in his arms and make it go away. But he couldn't. All he could do was sit and hope that Peyton would find Brooke.

"I'm really sorry about Lucas," Peyton tried to make conversation.

"It's not your fault," Ryan answered.

"I know. I just feel so bad. You and Brooke came down here to have a good time and she was going to introduce you to us and it was supposed to be a happy time. Instead it was a disaster."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed.

"And Lucas is a wreck. He is trying his best to be a man or whatever but it really is crap. He hates the idea of you and Brooke together. He was dreading coming because he thinks it is shit. But we didn't think that he would act out at the dinner table."

"Yeah," Ryan's voice lingered. "I guess we can't please everybody, right?"

"I guess not," Peyton said. "But damn, the man is twenty three years old. You would think he could keep his composure for at least a day."

"Well I guess we have established that he can't," Ryan chuckled.

"Yeah."

Ryan sighed as his voice took on a serious tone. "He's still in love with her."

"What?" Peyton was taken aback by what she had just heard.

"I said he's still in love with her."

"I know what you said. But where did that come from?"

"It's obvious," he murmured. "You can tell by the way he looked at her tonight. And why else would he just make a scene out of nowhere unless he still had feelings for her?"

Peyton nodded.

"That's possible. That's not good."

"I know."

"Are you threatened by that at all?"

Ryan sighed.

"I'm not threatened by Lucas. I'm madly in love with Brooke and she loves me back. Lucas may have lingering feelings for her or whatever the hell you want to call them but at the end of the day, love conquers all. And we are going to get married, and we are going to be happy. Lucas is just going to have to live with that."

"Yeah," Peyton agreed. But somehow she knew that it wasn't going to be quite as simple as that. She was praying for the best to come of all of this drama but nothing ever turned out perfect. And Peyton knew that this whole ordeal would be far less than perfect.