Whoo! New chapter is up, no LP in this one, sorry! But it is setting up the LP for the next chapter, either way I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to Gem, Kayla, lysser8312, Dee, Monica, Trish and Laur for the reviews, I appreciate it.

Brooke's POV:

It been a month and half since Lucas arrived and it seems that Peyton has gone on a downward spiral since they talked to each other. I don't think I have seen her smile at all, not once. And Lucas has backed off completely, from what Haley told me Lucas has gone from wanting to talk to Peyton every second to just staying the hell away from her.

I walk into Peyton's house and walk straight to her bedroom because she doesn't seem to reside anywhere else. I walk into the bedroom and see her curled up in a small ball on her bed with photo's and drawings around her and tear stains on her cheeks. I watch her for a few minutes as she sleeps soundly and then I sigh.

I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge almost hesitantly as I don't want to wake her just yet. Peyton has always looked so peaceful when she sleeps and it seems that her dreams are the only place where she can be happy. But I know Haley will be upset if Peyton and I don't go out with her today, it's a ritual we have that none of us ever back out of and Haley really wants to go shopping.

I gently grab Peyton's shoulder and shake her softly trying to wake her up in the nicest way possible. She stirs a bit but doesn't wake up. I shake her again and lean down to whisper.

"Come on honey you need to wake up."

She slowly opens her eyes and blinks a few times to adjust to the light in the room. She looks up at me and frowns.

"Brooke what are you doing here?" She asks me softly and I shake my head and sigh in a teasing manner.

"Our ritual remember? Haley. You. Me. Shopping. Does this ring a bell?" Realisation dawns on her face and then she gives me an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry Brooke, I completely forgot about it and I just think that I won't be able to go today . . . I'll just bring you down." She looks down at her hands as she chokes over her words. I bite my lip.

"I'll be right back Peyt, I'm gonna go call Haley." She nods her head weakly and falls back against her pillows. I step outside the room and grab my cell phone quickly dialing Haley's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Haley, its Brooke. I'm going to make this really quick, I'm at Peyton's and she is really upset, do you think we could postpone the shopping and just have a day with her at her house?"

"Yeah that's fine, shopping isn't that important anyway. I'll be there really soon." I hang up the phone and walk back into Peyton's room; I kick off my shoes and climb on the bed next to her wrapping my arms around her small frame in a tight hug. She rests her head on my shoulder and I rub her back softly.

"Its gonna be ok Peyton." I whisper into her ear but she doesn't respond she just whimpers slightly and I fill a few more tears slip out of her eyes and into my shirt causing me to grip her tighter and pull her closer.

Haley came about half an hour after I called her and kicked her shoes off climbing onto the other side of the bed and squishing Peyton. We both lay on either side of her trying to block out anything that could possibly bother her.

We both hate seeing her like this and she hasn't been like this in a long time, not since she broke up with Felix. I think it's that feeling again, that Lucas is right in front of her, he is within her grasp yet she feels she can't do anything to reach out and grab him.

When she was with him she still had strong feelings for Lucas but Felix made her feel good, he worshipped her and he made her forget about her feelings for Lucas and the pain that Lucas caused her. So when they broke up Peyton not only had to deal with the break up but she had to deal with the residing feelings she had for Lucas. In the end I think she just buried them and now that he is back they have all come to the surface and she has to deal with them all over again.

"How about I go out and get some ice cream and you two pick a movie that we can watch when I get back?" I look across at Haley as I say this and she nods her head.

"Alright I will be back in about fifteen minutes."

Haley's POV:

Peyton is sitting on the floor going through all of her movies and trying to decide which one we are going to watch. I stopped trying to make conversation with her when I learned she wasn't actually listening.

I watch her discreetly and notice the drooped shoulders and the hung head. I haven't seen her this sad in a long time and its depressing me and as much as it pains me to say it I think this is all Lucas' fault and he needs to fix it.

I hear the door open and Brooke walks in with the ice cream, she gives us both a smile and then walks to the kitchen and then back out and sits next to me.

"Have we decided on a movie yet?" Brooke asks softly and Peyton finally nods her head.

"Yeah let's watch 'A Walk to Remember'" Peyton states and turns around to put it in her DVD player as Brooke and I share a meaningful look. This is Peyton's movie that she watches when she is really upset. We all have an individual movie, Brooke has 'The Notebook' and I have 'Love Actually'.

Peyton sits in between us and we settle down to watch one of the saddest movies in the history of viewing.

The movie finished and Peyton cried more than she ever has before. It's like all the feelings have come back full force and she can't get them out of her head. I pull her into my arms and she cries into my shirt.

Brooke sinks to the floor so she is kneeling in front of us and she takes Peyton's hands into hers causing Peyton to look up at her.

"Babe I know seeing Lucas again is tough on you and its ripping at your heart but we have never seen you this bad before. Even Nathan said something to me and he also offered to hurt Lucas for you." She lets out a choked laugh at Brooke's Nathan comment but then sobers up quickly.

"We don't want to pressure you and if you don't want to talk about it that's ok but just know that we are here for you, we care about you and we just want you to be ok." I reassure her gently, while secretly I would love to know exactly what is going through her head, I know that if you push her she won't tell you anything at all.

"Its just when Felix and I broke up, I was only upset for a couple of weeks because I decided to just push everything to the back of my mind and Lucas wasn't here to remind me of it but now he's back and I actually have to deal with it and it hurts, it hurts like hell." She admits softly and I rub her arm gently.

"That's understandable Peyton; you haven't sought through your feelings and therefore you can't find it in your heart to forgive him." Brooke states and I nod my head in agreement hoping to comfort Peyton I some way.

"Then why do I feel so guilty?" She asks as she looks up at us, she looks from me to Brooke and then back to Brooke.

"Is that why your so upset babe?"

"Yeah I feel guilty and I think I was too harsh on him, I mean I told him that a little chat wouldn't fix anything and that he made me but he broke me as well and I meant it but . . . ." She trails off and collects herself, "But what if I was too harsh with him, I mean what happens if in a couple of days, weeks or months he dies and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him?"

"Oh Sweetie, you can't think like that! Lucas isn't going to die so don't even worry." I soothe gently and then continue, "Peyton you need to do what you feel is right in here." I point to her heart, "If you feel you need to talk to him and forgive him than you need to do that, if you feel that you don't want to see him then don't."

She looks up at me and smiles gratefully and then squeezes Brooke's hand gently.

"Thanks you two, I really needed that advice."

Let me know what you think!