Ah! I don't know how I messed this up, but this chapter is supposed to come before End Of Our Days! I think it'll probably make a little more sense and be better paced if you read this, too, so I'm gonna stick it in. Sorry for the confusion!

You & A Promise

How perfect it could be; you and me

Nathan awoke with a start, the knowledge that he was alone in bed somehow permeating his unconscious state and kick-starting his brain. "Brooke?" he called out, still bleary-eyed, his hand sweeping over the space she'd occupied and coming up empty. "Brooke?"

This was weird. Brooke hadn't strayed far from the bedroom in the week since the miscarriage. Other than the rare appearance in the kitchen to forage for nourishment, she'd kept herself bed-ridden, flipping through magazines and television channels to pass the time. Now, she seemed to be out of earshot, which could only mean that she'd left the apartment.

Not bothering to change out of his boxers and t-shirt ensemble, Nathan hurried onto the beach, scanning the horizon for the missing girl. He was wracking his brain as to where she would've gone – maybe the mall? – when he rounded a curve on the shoreline and saw her.

"Morning, sunshine," he greeted, breathing easier at just the sight of her. "Jesus, you scared me. Leave a note next time you sneak out."

Brooke smiled, just a little, but the sight of the long-absent gesture warmed his heart. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of sneaking out?"

"Smartass," he chided in response. "Why are you even awake right now? It's Saturday and it's nowhere near noontime."

She jerked her chin at the sky. "I wanted to watch the sun come up," she explained. "And I needed the fresh air. I haven't been outside in a while."

"I'd noticed," he replied cautiously, unsure of what she was getting at. Wanting a better view of her face, he sat down in the sand, close enough for their thighs to touch. "You, uh, feeling okay?"

"I feel fine," she answered, her voice firm.

It was the truth. Brooke had had a lot of time to think in the last few days, and she thought she'd finally made her peace with everything that had happened. It still hurt, a kind of dull ache that resided in the pit of her stomach, but she'd stopped wanting to cry all the time.

Nathan, she saw when she moved her eyes from the distant sea to his face, didn't look entirely convinced. Nudging his shoulder gently, her smile widened, this time reaching her eyes. "Hey. I'm serious. I feel good. Like myself again, actually."

He looked relieved. "Good. I never thought I'd say this, but I was starting to miss the Brooke Davis I know and love."

It wasn't how he'd planned on telling her. In fact, in the dozens of ways he'd considered confessing his true feelings to Brooke, none of them had ever included her pale and puffy-eyed, on the tail end of surviving the biggest tragedy of her life. But the 'L' word left his mouth before he could think to censor it, and although his tone had been joking, neither of them laughed.

"Well." Suddenly hyperaware of his leg against hers, Brooke shifted so that the contact was broken. "She's back and ready for action."

Her spirits plummeted again as he simply nodded and tugged his gaze away from hers, turning his attention to the waves crashing ashore. It wasn't really his fault, she tried to tell herself. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to get caught up in the mess she continually made of her life.

This would be for the best. They would remain friends, which was a plus, since Nathan had proved himself to be the most loyal, trustworthy companion she'd ever had. They wouldn't wind up hating each other a few years down the road. And … and … who was Brooke kidding? She would've traded her left arm for Nathan to bring his eyes back to hers and follow through on his Freudian slip.

"Nathan …" she trailed off, scared for the first time since she could remember. Brooke never let anything stand in the way of what she wanted, especially not something as fleeting as fear. Struggling to regain that lost piece of herself, she took a deep breath and powered through, "Nathan, I'm a little terrified here, so you're gonna have to bear with me, okay?"

His eyes flew to her, his concern obvious. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "That's just it. I've always … I've always screwed up every good thing that happened to me. Except you. You've stayed with me through … through a lot. And I appreciate it. But if you're just here out of some weird feeling of obligation or whatever, you don't have to stick around."

"Brooke. I –"

"I know, I know," she interrupted, hardly believing what she was saying. She had lost almost everything in the past few months and now here she was, telling the one last good thing in her life he was free to hit the road. "You made me a promise. But I'm not gonna hold you to it, okay?"

"No, that's not – that's not what I was going to say. Brooke," he said again, more urgently. He used his fingers to tilt her chin until she was trapped in his gaze once more. "I love you. And I'm not saying that because I think I should. I'm saying it because … I can't not. I've been biting my tongue for weeks and I know it's crazy and stupid and it doesn't make any sense at all, but it is what it is."

Just as he hadn't been expecting to say it, Brooke hadn't been expecting to hear it. Her lips moved soundlessly, her brain having suddenly been wiped clear of any coherent thought.

"Brooke Davis, speechless?" Nervous at the reception his confession was getting, Nathan worked up a chuckle. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Shut up," she ordered faintly, her senses slowly returning. "Give me a minute to catch up, here. I thought … I was ending it."

"Yeah, about that." Nathan offered up a small, crooked smile. "I'm a little offended you were trying to dump me when we weren't even officially together. I mean, that's not usually how it works."

"I didn't want you to feel obligated towards me after … everything." Brooke swallowed hard. There was a lump in her throat but, for the first time in weeks, it wasn't due to oncoming tears. "I was trying to give you a break."

"I don't want one," he said simply, taking her hand in his.

Brooke stared at the entwined fingers, felt the weight of his palm warming her fingers, her heart. "Are you sure?"

He rolled his eyes in mock annoyance, but they were gleaming playfully as he countered, "Are you going to say it back?"

In all of Brooke's experience, actions spoke louder than words. Launching herself at Nathan, flinging her arms around his neck like he was a lifeline, and kissing him senseless would have been the perfect, over-the-top, classically Brooke maneuver. They both waited to see what she would do.

Finally, after a minute that seemed like a lifetime, a smile spread across her lips. "I love you, too," she said simply, as her dimples appeared and the clouds in her eyes evaporated.

It didn't need a huge declaration, she'd decided. She didn't have to spend so much energy making sure everyone in a ten-mile radius knew how she felt. There didn't need to be bells and whistles attached to her heart so that people knew where it lay. She could just … be there, in the moment, soaking it in.

Nathan, seeming to understand her wordless epiphany, reached out and touched her chin again, bringing their lips to an inch apart. He stopped there and waited, lips hovering over hers, for her to bridge the gap. She melted into him with a sigh, the kind that escaped her lips when she was crawling into bed at the end of a long day, a sound that signaled how absolutely at peace she was.

It probably should have felt strange. They were old friends, semi-enemies, roommates. He was the brother of the only boy to ever break her heart. He was still married. She was still mourning the loss of her unborn child. But kissing Nathan seemed to wipe the slate clean, make her forget that any world existed outside of theirs.

The sun was shining brightly by the time they finally pulled apart, and Brooke briefly imagined that it had risen specifically to spotlight this moment. Nathan got to his feet, pulling her up behind him, and dusted the sand off both their bodies. "Come on, we should get home."

"Why?" she challenged, falling into step with him anyway. "Is there a game on soon?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," he retorted, slipping his arm around her shoulders easily and inclining his head to inhale the scent of her shampoo. It was weird, how everything about her was so familiar and new at the same time. "But I could probably be persuaded to TiVo it."

"You're such a romantic," she giggled, beaming, and hooked a finger into the collar of his shirt to tug him down for a kiss. "Really, it's … oh, my God."

Brooke stopped short in the doorway to the living room, causing Nathan to stumble slightly into the wall. "Ow," he complained, giving her a small nudge farther into the room, "What's the – what the hell?"

Looking just as confused as they felt, Haley stood up from the couch and took a hesitant step forward. Her gaze skipped over Brooke, though her lips puckered questioningly, and landed right on Nathan. Through the blood rushing in his head, he saw her lips move and heard her greeting:

"Honey, I'm home."