Chessfreak31- I appreciate the comment and I understand you have not see any action yet. However, I have decided that I am using the first 3 chapters to open up the story for the three characters. The second chapter will be about Lucas and his present state of mind, and the third will be about Nathan…..Please be patient, but action will probably start to take place in chapter 4, and I do plan on updating regularly..

Gerky , Easilyobssessed, and The O.C. Addict: Thank you for your wonderful reviews. I still haven't decided who Brooke should ultimately end up with, but that is the fun part about writing, you decide as you go along.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I always look forward to them. Keep on reviewing and I will keep on writing…..

Chapter 2

The sun peeped through the window shades into Lucas Scott's room. A matt of

blonde hair lay on his pillow as he stared at the peeled ceiling and rolled over to notice

the digital clock sitting by his bed. The clock displayed 6:30 a.m., but Lucas' mind read

midnight. Lucas groaned as he realized that he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.

After taking Peyton home the night before, Lucas fell into bed with an extreme

emotional exhaustion and with a strong intent to forget about the day's occurrences.

Funny, how he couldn't get any of the day's happenings out of his mind.

Lucas rolled over on his back and sighed as he stared at the white dollhouse

perched upon the dresser near the foot of his bed; the house with the red door. Brooke

Davis, the girl behind the red door. Yesterday came rushing back to Lucas as he thought

of her. She had tearfully left him standing helplessly in the very room that she had stayed

in for those few precious months. Originally, she was going to leave Tree Hill before the

school year had officially ended. However, Lucas had managed to convince his mother

to convince her parents to allow her to stay in Tree Hill, provided that Brooke lived with

a responsible adult, his mother.

Lucas shuddered with excitement as he realized he was sleeping in the exact same

bed where Brooke had slept the night before. He could still smell the remnants of

Brooke's vanilla-scented perfume linger in the air and the smell of Brooke's fresh

shampoo on his pillows. Yes, she had left Tree Hill to be with her money-grubbing

parents for a summer in the O.C. Lucas recalled the events that had occurred the prior day

surrounding Brooke's departure. He had discovered his father, Dan, was scheming his

customers at the car dealership by charging them more than the asking price and in the

process, he was pocketing the rest. Lucas then gave Dan's wife, Deb, a ledger that

revealed Dan's machinations and would provide her fuel to put out the fire that was Dan

Scott and put him away for good.

After confronting Dan about the money he had found in the ceiling in Dan's

office at Scott Motors, Dan claimed the whole scheme was a ploy to test Lucas' loyalties

towards him. He even demonstrated his confession by showing Lucas that the bills found

in the ceiling were in fact counterfeit. Lucas thought he had accomplished what he

intended to do: bring down his bastard of a father. Yet, there was one person that

prevented Lucas from feeling such victory, his brother, Nathan.

Nathan. Lucas groaned at the thought of Nathan. After Lucas' best friend, Haley,

left his brother, Nathan decided to cut his losses and move back in with Dan. Nathan

made Lucas promise to no longer pursue the destruction of Dan. But Lucas could not

keep his promise and instead incriminated Dan for all of the pain that he had caused his

loved ones. When Nathan discovered the truth about Lucas and his vendetta, he was too

late. Nathan had severed all ties with him, and Lucas was left in the dark.

To make matters worse, Lucas had to say goodbye Brooke. Brooke Davis; the

girl that he shared such an agonizing history with. She was the same girl that he had

come to love. He didn't know how it happened, but it did. He had once had her, but then

lost her after she exposed his infatuation with her best friend, Peyton. He had made the

mistake of cheating on Brooke with her best friend; a lapse in judgment, if you will. This

very same mistake would be the biggest regret of his life. And he had made a lot of

mistakes, but nothing impaired him as to the extent of his betrayal to Brooke. Despite of

Lucas' and Peyton's disloyalty, Brooke had enough heart to forgive them both, and they

had all remained friends.

Shortly thereafter, Lucas began to notice slight changes in Brooke. He had

always been aware of Brooke's large capacity to care for others, but she began to show

everyone a side to her that no one had ever seen. She was becoming an even greater

person than he could ever be. She was courageous. In spite of all of the naysayers, she

ran for school president and actually won. She exemplified loyalty when she stuck by

him during and after Nathan's hospital stint from the car accident. Suddenly, Lucas

began to see her in a different light. Lucas was falling in love with all of Brooke's

qualities. She was stunningly beautiful with her long, brunette locks, almond, brown,

eyes, and a smile that would make any man go weak in the knees. Though he was always

aware of her physical beauty, he began to fall in love with her inner-beauty.

Lucas had tried on several occasions to suppress his growing feelings for Brooke.

He began to date a new student named Anna. At that time, Brooke had been dating

Anna's conceited brother, Felix. Ironically, Nathan of all people had recognized Lucas'

feelings and instructed his brother to tell Brooke how he felt. Lucas quickly informed

Anna of his feelings for another girl, officially cementing his reputation as a jackass, and

the two soon parted ways.

That very night, with an overwhelming sense of his feelings for Brooke, he went

to her house with every intention of telling her how he felt about her. Little did he know,

Brooke would be with none other than Felix. Lucas had spied Brooke and Felix kissing

when he approached her doorway to her bedroom. It had been raining that night, but

Lucas hardly noticed. His clothes were drenched and he just walked away from the scene

of the crime, completely unaware of his surroundings. As he stumbled through the wet

streets, Lucas felt hot tears sting his eyes and, he was overcome with emotion. That

should've been him kissing Brooke, he thought to himself. Well, too late now. That

incident would definitely go down as the single most painful night of his life. Until now,

that is.

Luckily, Brooke broke things off with Felix after she realized his true motives.

But Lucas never had the courage to tell Brooke of his feelings. He was denied again and

again. He began to feel Brooke slip away from him when she discovered a box of

Peyton's stuff he kept in his closet; stuff she was never meant to find. Then the day came

for Brooke to leave for California, and he was there to see her off. Minutes before she

left, he had astounded Brooke and even himself when he kissed her. It was an earth-

shattering kiss that revealed all the feelings that he had long withheld. Lucas told her that

he wanted to be with her and explained that he had kept the box of memorabilia to

remind himself of the anguish he had caused Brooke. He had hoped by telling her this

that it would erase Brooke's suspicions of him still being interested in Peyton. He knew

he didn't want Peyton. He wanted Brooke. He knew that. It was that inexplicit feeling

in his gut that grew stronger day by day. Awakening or sleeping, Lucas' thoughts were

always on Brooke. He told a stunned Brooke of his feelings for her despite her only

wanting a friendship. Brooke was speechless, and Lucas felt the tension in the room

when the taxi cab outside was honking, signaling Brooke's departure. Before Brooke

left, he had become desperate to know if they would ever have a chance again; if she

could give him another chance. Lucas believed with all his heart that he would never

hurt Brooke again, but Brooke had to leave and never answered his wishes. Damn, that

taxi cab and his own bad timing.

Lucas sighed and glanced at the clock that read 6:45 a.m. He shut his eyes

surrounding himself in darkness and dreams of Brooke's return. This was going to be a

long day in the life of Lucas Scott.