Brooke did not know where to go from here. Where could she have possibly gone? At first she thought possibly the tutor center because that is where they first met. Nevertheless it was a Saturday and Tree Hill High was closed. Then it hit her, Brooke knew the only place that she could possibly be.

It was not like her to break down, especially not in front of Brooke Davis, but the tears just fell from her eyes without her consent. Haley had been living with Brooke for a week now, she was in need of a roommate, and Haley was homeless, so despite their differences, they were perfect for roommates. For the entirety of the week, Haley had slept on the couch; she just was not ready to sleep in the bedroom that Haley and Nathan once shared, alone. She hadn't even step a foot in there, she did not have that much things, unlike Brooke, so the things that she did have, she asked Lucas to put in there for her. She had a suitcase still of clothes, and she was basically living out of it. But today everything changed. She had run out of clothes, and this was a sign to her that she needed to settle in, no more living out of her suitcase, this was the most permanent thing going for her right now. Permanency…that is something she sure lacked.

Brooke was in her room when she suddenly heard sobs, sobs like she had never heard before, and they were coming from the living room. Brooke befriended Haley a while back, months before the whole disappearing act, and Brooke really saw a friend in Haley. And since they were friends, Brooke was obligated to make sure that she was okay. She knew that she wasn't, but up until today, she was hiding it pretty well. Other then the fact of living out of a suitcase and sleeping on the couch, Haley emotionally was doing better then most thought in these circumstances. Brooke figured that this was due to that fact that she did not want everyone in her business, always asking her if she was okay. This was something that Brooke knew that Haley wanted to deal with by her self… alone. Nevertheless, heaving sobs is not something that one, no matter who that person is, can handle alone, "Haley what's wrong?" Duh, stupid question. But there was no other question to ask when you are face to face with a sobbing girl.

Though she could not speak, her actions said enough for her. Haley held up a picture, a torn picture. Brooke grabbed it from her, and noticed that it was from Haley and Nathan's wedding day. No one was there, well other the Haley's parents. And Brooke knew that Haley regretted not having her friends present, but she would never regret marrying Nathan on that day. Haley looked gorgeous, the prettiest that Brooke had ever seen her. The innocent, tutor girl look was gone, and Brooke saw a woman, a woman ready to be with the man she loved the most for the rest of her life. Nathan was happy too, and Brooke had known Nathan for years, this was the happiest that she had ever seen him. They looked into each other eyes and they saw forever. But one thing that threw Brooke off was the tear, the tear that strategically spilt down the middle of the photo. Almost signaling the end for the loved ones. Brooke looked from the picture to Haley, and something was not right. Haley could have never had done this, and if she did, then why would she be so upset about it? "What happened?"

Haley regained enough composure to speak a little bit, "I had this picture with me always, no matter what city we ended up in, I had it by my side. I held onto it until I had to go on stage. I slept with it by my nightstand at night. If we were traveling, I made sure that it was always in my suitcase, always in this pocket," Haley showed her which one it was, "I just thought that since we were not together in one place, that whenever I had this picture, it would remind of the day that we vowed to love each other forever. Everyday I woke up and he was not beside me, I looked at this picture, telling me that forever was a long time, and if we were apart for a little bit, then it was okay, because we had forever to spend with each other. As long as this picture was here, it reassured me that we would be. Now look at it," she felt more tears fall down her face, not caring anymore. "I take it out, and it is like a sign telling me that forever is really not that long. And it was a mistake and I was naïve to ever think that it was. The last time I saw this picture it was in one piece, Nathan and I were one. Now look at it, we were never really one. It was a mistake for me to thing that love was forever. I was too young for marriage, I was too stupid. If love really lasted forever, then Nathan and I would be together right now. Not torn apart like this picture. This is a sign telling me, we were never meant to be, and people like Dan Scott, they were right. Nathan really never loved me."

Brooke looked at the picture again, then back at Haley once more, "You are not stupid. Don't you ever say that. You are Tutor Girl, the smartest girl that I know," she tried to lighten the mood.

It didn't work, "Math and History, Physics, Spanish…they mean nothing to me. Because I can read a thousand books for school, but none of them will teach me how to mend a broken heart."

Brooke remembered what Lucas had told her, but she never thought that Haley was this broken inside. Quickly back to reality, that was the last time Lucas stepped foot in her apartment. "You were in love Haley. No matter what anyone tells you, you were. Yeah, you were young. But sometimes if you are lucky, you are able to find the person you want to spend your life with at 17. The rest are just jealous. They don't have what you have."

"Had Brooke, had. It is over, look at the picture, we were not meant to be," she grabbed the picture and she ripped it the rest of the way, surprising Brooke.

"Haley, do not give up on love."

"Why Brooke? Why not? Because it has apparently given up on me."

"I haven't."

"That beach, Brooke, that beach, he swore to me if it would ever wash away, he would still be loving me. The beach is still there, and we aren't together. If the beach washes away Brooke, find me on that day, and if Nathan doesn't love me, I am giving up on love, okay? You can be my witness." Haley got up and recomposed herself, "I am going to go for a walk, I promise when I get back, I will clean things up and settle in."

"Okay, but first I just want to let you know that it is going to take a long time for a beach to wash away. Are you willing to wait?"

"I have nothing else to live for Brooke. Why don't I just live to watch love fade away, there is nothing else to do anymore."

"Please, please stop thinking like that, you are worrying me. No one should have those thoughts Haley. I am not telling you that it isn't hard, because it is, harder then anything a 17 year old should have to go through, but you have to live each day for you. Not for the love that you do not think exists anymore."

"I will be back in a little bit," she said not wanting to face Brooke's words.

"I am here for you."

"That is all I need to know," Haley left and Brooke looked down at the torn picture on the side table, Haley and Nathan's hands were still embraced on one half of the picture…was this a sign?

It had been raining practically the whole entire week, especially today, and as much as Brooke did not want to admit, with this amount of rain, a beach could very possibly wash away. There was not that many people on the roads because of the weather, so Brooke took advantage of this and sped as fast as she could to Tree Hill's beach. And as much as she wanted to find Haley and see that she was safe, she really did not want to find her at the beach. Brooke got out of her car, and ran over to the rocks that Haley had once led her to, and it was there that she was brought face to face with pure devastation, something that no one could ever put into words.

She remembered that day; she remembered that day that she broke down in front of Brooke. She remembered every word that they exchanged, so after the worst talk possible, the one with the worst goodbyes, she knew that there was only one place that she could go. Though so told Mr. Scott she was leaving Tree Hill for good, at the current time there was no way that she could physically or mentally do so. Well without doing one thing; see the place that held the spot of Nathan and Haley's becoming one. Though each day was a struggle, she still woke up with a glimmer of hope that it all, or life, rather was just a long nightmare. She was going to wake up and she was going to be in Nathan's arms, and everything was going to be okay. But she went back to reality, and she was walking in the rain, there was nothing on her body that was not wet, she was soaked. But it did not even fathom her, she just keep on walking, walking to the place that held her only ounce of hope.

It took her awhile to walk there, and with each step she began getting colder and colder. She was a thin girl, there was nothing keeping her warm during this storm, especially since she rushed out of the café without her jacket. When she finally got there she saw the sign, she remembered she told her parents to take a picture of it, Tree Hill Beach, "Never ending…" But what was it that was never going to end; she always wondered that, at the point of her wedding day, she truly believed that it was love. Today she was not as sure. She continued to struggle as she walked through the sand, her feet dragging; she thought later that maybe it was a sign, a sign telling her that she did not belong where her feet were taking her. They were rocks that were blocking her destination. She climbed them, slowly, and steady, she peered over them, and…and…and.

Lucas thought that both his mom and Brooke were overreacting. He knew Haley better then anyone, and there was no way that she would be walking around in this rain aimlessly. She was okay; I mean that is what he was pretty sure of. Yeah, she was sad that Nathan did not show his love for her anymore. But his best friend was not completely gone like the two women in his life were trying to make it seem. She was fine…wasn't she? He had to think now, think about his friend in the past two months. She sang her Friday nights at Tric, and she was happy, she was. Wasn't she? He thought about each performance, the look in her eyes, and the words that she sang. As he thought about it more, though she was doing what made her happy, there was pain in her eyes. Pain from the fact that she loved it more then almost everything, almost more then everyone, but the one that she loved the most. The one she was willing to give her passion up for, was not with her, was not loving her. The words, the words were not any better, they were encased with pain, and they were encased with sorrow. Why hadn't he noticed this earlier? Where had he been? He had been to every single one of her shows, but why did it take for her to be missing for him to realize how much pain that she lived in? And why did it take Brooke Davis to tell him the truth, Haley's truth, for him to realize his best friend needed him?

He thought again, he pictured her once more. She was involved with a lot of things, I mean she went back to the tutoring, that made her happy right? Then it hit him. She met Nathan at the Tutoring center, how could this possibly be easy for her? It was a constant reminder of what she did not have; it was a constant reminder that he was gone. It must have been awful to have to go there each day, trying to make a difference in the lives of the kids that she was tutoring, when she was the one that needed a tutor. A tutor to tell her how to live each day, how to live it with a forced smile, letting the world know that she was okay, when she really wasn't. She was still doing well in school, her depression was not letting her schoolwork get in the way, but that meant nothing. Haley was a smart girl; her intelligence was not just going to disappear. Then something else hit him, something that Brooke said, that he just brushed off. "Luke, she hasn't been eating, she is losing weight." He had lunch with her everyday, everyday and it did not hit him until now that she was not one of those girls just not to eat. She never gave a damn about what anyone else ever thought of her, there was no way that she was trying to impress someone by losing weight. And what weight? There was no weight for Haley to lose; she was already small enough as it was. But Luke thought about all those lunches that she was just pick at her food, nibble a little bit here and there, and then throw it away. She did this almost everyday, and Lucas just made fun and called her a mouse.

He had to find her, she was not doing well, and he had been doing nothing to help her out. He possibly could have made it worst. How could he leave his best friend stranded in the world alone and go see someone that he knew was safe? Even if it was for a couple of hours, and yes, Peyton needed as many people as possible right now, but like Karen had said, she was safe, she was getting looked after right now. And as much as he hated to admit it, at least he knew where she was. Unlike Haley.

He sped back to Brooke's, not knowing if either would be there, and not knowing what to do if they weren't. He got out of the car and he found two notes attached to the door. One was addressed to Haley, while the other was addressed to him. He grabbed his, and opened it up.

This is what it said: I am disappointed in you Lucas. I really am. The reason I admire you so much is for the fact that you never leave when someone is down, no matter what that person has done to you. I mean you rescued Dan Scott out of a burning building after everything that he has done and the hell he has caused you. You never fail to find the good in people. But you know what? There was no need to search for the good in Haley; you knew as much as I do, the good is all inside of her. And of all the people in your life, Lucas, she has done nothing but love you as a friend and you leave when she is in most need. We are losing her as I write this to you; she could possibly be already gone. And I am not saying you caused this, because we already know the breaker of her heart, but you could have been the mender. If you are reading this, it hopefully means that you have come to the realization that your best friend needs you, and hopefully when you are reading this, there is still time left to save her. You hurt me Lucas; you hurt me when you said those words to me. Haley is my friend, no matter what I have put her through; she is still there for me, no matter when I need her. And I do not care about the duration of our friendship, I know her well enough to know she cannot do this alone any longer. I do not know where she is, but you know what? I am going to find her. It might be nice for the person that has known her for 'like a decade' to be there by her side as well. I don't know Luke. Is it too much to ask? Brooke. P.S. I know that you love her Luke, we all do. We do not want to lose her to this heartbreak. If you find her first let her know that no matter how much the heart breaks, that it can and will be put back together. Unhappiness cannot last forever. Tell her that there are too many people that care about her and want her to be happy. She deserves the best, and for this day forward, I vow to try and help that occur.

Brooke was a good person. Lucas already knew that. He was just disappointed that it has taken him this long to really admire the person that Brooke was, not just frown upon the person that she acted as. He needed to look deep inside and see that person. And today reading that note, he really got a glimpse of her, he just wish that more people were able to see it, and he just wished he let her be that person more often.

He glanced at the other envelope, the one addressed to Haley. And he really wanted to know what she would say to her. So he opened it, and it read: Haley, if you are reading this. Thank God you are safe, please go inside and find a note on your bed. Lucas if you are reading this, have you ever heard of something called privacy, this is addressed to Haley. Stop wasting your time reading a letter addressed to your best friend, when you could be out there searching for her. Go. Lucas had to chuckle briefly, she was a humorous girl. But she was right, he could not be standing there reading Haley's letter when she was missing. He was not coming back until he found her, no matter how long it took. No matter how late it was, or how far he had to travel. Haley meant the world to him, and it would be very lonely with out her in it.