Brooke wasn't going to lie, when she first saw Haley, she thought she was dead. She was in a ball laying in what was left of the sand, water kept coming up over her. Brooke ran faster then she ever had over to Haley, praying to any and all gods that she was alive, "Haley, Haley," Haley heard her name called and emerged from her fetal position, "Thank God I found you, do you know how many people are worried about you?" Nevertheless she said this long before she knew the damage already done. And at the rate that life was going for Haley right now, maybe she never really wanted to be found at all.

Brooke noticed that Haley was shivering, she was shivering and she was sobbing, "C'mon we have got to get you out of here," she said tugging on her arm, Brooke felt her bone, and her arm was limp, "I am going to call 911," it seemed like everyone was calling it today, she pulled out her phone.

"Nooooo," it was the first thing that she said since Brooke had found her.

"Haley, you are sick, you need to get checked out, you need to get better."

"There is nothing wrong."

"Denial maybe," Brooke had to step back and absorb the picture in front of her and then it hit her, the beach was gone, the beach was gone, and on this day Haley vowed to stop believing in love. "Haley, listen to me, listen to me. Beaches do not just wash away. This is a fluke. It takes years, hundreds of years to wash away. Do not let this change your perception of love."

"I told you, I told you. I give up Brooke, I give up on love, this is no fluke. This is a sign, a sign telling me that I had no business ever believing in love," with those words Haley fell into unconsciousness, it just hurt too much to say awake facing reality. Her unhappy ending reality.

Brooke didn't know what to do; she told Haley she wouldn't call 911, well not directly anyways. She picked up her phone and called the one person she knew who would know what to do.

"Brooke, Brooke, did you find Haley?" Karen asked her trying to get a calm answer out of her.

"Yeah, but I don't think she wanted me to."

"What do you mean?"

"She is in bad shape, Karen."

"Let me talk to her, put her on the phone."

"You can't."

"Why? Will she not talk to anyone? Put her on the phone, Brooke, she will talk to me," she knew Haley better then she knew herself sometimes, and right now she was not going to baby anything, she would tell her the truth, and that is what she needed to hear.

"You can't Karen, you really cannot talk to her, she is unconscious."

"Well then I really do not think that she has a say in whether you get her help or not," Karen informed her trying to remain as calm as possible, she could not let her fear slip through, she did not want to scare Brooke anymore then she knew she already was.

"I cannot break my word."

"Brooke, there is a time that you must. Where is Lucas? Let me talk to him."

"I am sorry, Karen, I do not know where your son is. He walked out of the door over an hour ago when his best friend needed him the most. I have no idea where he went, but I can tell you that I do not understand him right now. I am sorry."

"No need to apologize Brooke. I did not understand it either. I saw him though; he showed up here, he needed to see if Peyton was alright."

"Karen, you know I care about Peyton, I really do. But right now she is in a lot better state, even with everything that is going on in her life, then Haley. Haley could really use him right now, and I do not think that I am going to make the cut," at this point Haley was in her arms, Brooke just stared at her, this is when she saw a lost girl, Haley was a girl lost.

"Don't say that, Brooke, you do, and you are and have been Haley's backbone for a while now. We would have lost her a long time ago if it wasn't for you. Yeah these past two months have been rough, rough for everyone, but with these two months Haley has found an amazing friend in you. She knows who you are, the real Brooke, not the one you show to the world, the one you have been trying to hide she already knows and would be able to trace it back for you if you ever forgot. You are the only one there for her right now. You have the power to save her. Get her away from the place she fears, take her somewhere safe."

"I don't think that there are any of those places left."

"You'll find it. I am going to take Peyton home, and then I will give you a call to see how things are going. Be strong Brooke, if you have to, let your tears flow, if you are scared, just remember you are not alone. I know the person you are, you can do this. Haley will not lose to this, she is going to be okay," though she tried so hard to not let a tweak of emotion slip into her voice, they failed her because she feared for Haley's life, she feared that she was not going to be able to come out from this, she feared that she would not be able to save her from it.

"Karen?"

She recomposed herself, "Yes, Brooke?"

"Haley is going to be okay," Brooke told her to reassure, "She is stronger than anyone we know. Don't give up on her." It was now Brooke reassuring Karen, the adult, that Haley was going to make it through this. Brooke knew that Karen was trying to be strong, be strong for Brooke, and be strong for everyone else; she was even trying to be strong for herself. It was hard to see someone who she viewed as almost a daughter going through the pain Haley was experiencing. And there were some days that no one would know the difference if she was or not.

"I am not going to."

"I have got to call Lucas; he will know what to do. I love you, Karen."

"I love you too." She put the phone down, and she couldn't hold them back, a tear gate burst. Peyton looked on as the older woman cried before her; it was not something that she saw everyday. Peyton has been pretty apathetic to the world lately, not really caring either way what others thought, or even how she felt. But with Karen breaking down – the strongest woman that she had come across – Peyton felt something that she hasn't felt in a long time – emotion. There has got to be a lot of pain in the world if the strongest woman alive was breaking down. Peyton did not really know what to do, she was still in a hospital bed, and she could not just go comfort her. And that would be so out of character of the new person that she had become. But there has got to be a point where you go the hell with everyone else's perception of you. It doesn't matter if you have changed, everyone changes, some with the new sunrise, but that means you have the ability to do it over and over. Karen had been there for her more then anyone in this world, well at least since her mother died, and no one was ever there for her like that. Peyton was an adult just as much as Karen was; it was an adult situation going on as they spoke. Pain was being spread and heartache was being felt, and there was no one with enough power to stop it all.

"Karen…" she did not know what to really say, I mean she just interrupted the woman's cries, was it her place to do this? Who really has the right to stop someone from letting their emotions flow?

Karen was brought back into reality, she was not alone, someone else was in the room, someone that did not need to see her tears flow, someone that did not need to see her break down. She needed to be strong, strong in the presence of those who felt weak, if she broke down, then she had no right telling anyone else to be strong, when she could not do so during one tragedy. She wiped her tears away, "I am sorry, Peyton."

"Haley is going to be okay."

"I want to say that she is going to, I mean who I am to tell you that she is not going to make it through this, it would mean I have no faith in her. I do, she is strong, and I know she is, because I have seen her at her strongest. But Peyton, I have never seen her like this; I have never seen her at her weakest."

"Yeah, but Karen she has something that a lot of people going through a rough time doesn't have."

"What is that?"

"She has you."

Karen was touched to tears, which meant a lot to her to have some one tell her that she was making a difference in the life of someone else. She did not want to take any credit, which was not her intention; it was just nice to have someone else recognize it. "I hope that it will be enough."

"Karen, Karen, you are basically going through two crisis right now, I mean you have always been there for me, and I pushed you away so I can live a life of crack cocaine. You are the only constant in my life; you care about me too much not to be. And then you have someone that everyone can see that you have love for just when she enters a room in your presence. You care about her so much that you would sacrifice anything for her. Haley is going through something right now, yet you are still there for her."

"Peyton, it is more then something. I still do not think that you realize how severe of a broken heart she has."

"You are right, but that is not my point right now. My point is that you are there for her during her crisis, you are here for me during mine, and you are still an amazing mother to Lucas. You still have two businesses to run; with out my help sometimes, might I add. I mean you have your own family, your own life, and you are still constant in ours. And we never asked for it, you just do it, unconditionally."

"That is what love is, Peyton."

"Well not many people show it like you, which is all that have to say."

"It is all that I know. I want to be able to live knowing that the people that I love know that I do so. If you ever feel like giving up, I want you to know that I am going to be here to pick up all the pieces. I just want to be there when no one else is."

"You are."

"As much as I want to say yes, I am always there, I cannot. Something is not right when the three girls that I care about the most struggle to get up each morning."

"Three?"

"Brooke, remember her? As much as you would not like to admit it, she is not in any better place then you or Haley. She just is not showing it as drastically."

"Brooke Davis has emotions? Are you sure about that? Because the Brooke Davis I know cares about one person…herself."

"You really disappoint me when it comes to other people's emotions, Peyton. I care about you and how you are doing. But where have you been in the last two months for you to have a say about what Haley and Brooke feel. And I know that you are not talking to Brooke right now, but you and she were best friends once, I know that you know more about Brooke then just caring about herself. Everyone has emotions Peyton, everyone has bad days, and everyone has their demons that they fight each day. Not everyone puts it on their sleeve for the world to see though."

"You have got one thing right, Brooke and I used to be best friends, as in the past, as in the past is done."

"Has everyone in this world done something to hurt you? Are you against everyone?"

"When I needed her the most, she was not there for me, which is all that I have to know, what kind of friend is she?"

"One that has her own demons to fight. A friendship is a two way relationship; you are both supposed to help each other through it."

"My world was falling apart and she was in the arms and bed of Felix. I needed her the most and she was with some guy that she barely knew."

"I know Peyton; I know that she was not there for you. But you have got to look deeper sometimes, look a little deeper into her life. Who is there for her? Where are her parents?"

"Hey, my mom is dead and my dad is out to sea, so do not throw the no parent card on me, I am going through the same thing."

"Yeah, but you know what, your parents have shown love to you. You have known Brooke longer then I have, can you honestly say that Brooke's parents let her know that they love her. She is pretty much alone in this world, and she has a need to have someone, anyone in her life, if they are willing to be there. Felix was willing to be there. And I am not trying to say that you didn't need her, because I know that you did, but there is something deeper in Brooke Davis, that a lot of people do not know about."

"She never let on that she was alone, she always seemed happy. I mean she is class president, captain of the cheerleading squad, school slut…I mean she knows everyone, how could she feel alone?"

"Just because she is in the presence of people does not mean that she is able to feel anything, sometimes you need more then just a group of people surrounding you, sometimes you need something that is deeper. And she just has not been feeling it. C'mon, Peyton, you have been best friends with her for years, you are going to try and sit there and tell me that you have only ever seen one side of Brooke. She has always been a happy go lucky kind of girl?"

"Well she was not too happy when Lucas cheated on her with me," she added a small laugh, how dare she? But then again, Peyton is not going to just change back into the person that she was, the person that she is, is still going strong. She doesn't care about other people and what they are or aren't feeling. Brooke felt pain, oh well; she had felt a lot more in her life.

"Are you really laughing about that? You were her best friend, best friend, and you went behind her back and dated Lucas, the guy that held her heart. You know that she doesn't give that out to just anyone. Honestly, not that many people have actually seen it, but Lucas did, and you took that away from her."

"I cannot change the past, I am sorry."

\"Yeah, well you can change the future; it has yet to be written. Just remember she has feelings too, she feels pain just like you, and right now she is going through a worse time then you could ever imagine."

Peyton thought back for a moment, Brooke and Peyton had been friends since well the day that her mom died. They were both little girls, neither knew how to deal with tragedy or the loss of a parent. All that they knew was that Peyton's mom was not going to walk through that door again, she had gone to a better place, and she would always be looking down over Peyton. Peyton got called to the office, and the teacher told Brooke to go with her. When Peyton got to the office she saw her dad, so she ran to him, but he did not pick her up like he always did. He looked at her, and she looked back at him and she noticed that his eyes were sad. She asked him what he was doing here, that her mommy was supposed to pick her up today. He didn't say anything, Peyton was scared. Brooke watched on as the whole thing was going on, she couldn't move from her place, she had never seen a man so upset, and she had never seen a father love a daughter as much as he did. She could run away for five years and her parents wouldn't know the difference.

Peyton's dad did not know how to tell a seven year old that the person that she loved the most in the world was gone forever. How do you do that? But he found a way, "Honey, I have got to tell you something, but you have got to promise me something, please do this for Daddy," Peyton nodded her head, always obeying what her father told her to do, "Please do not cry when I tell you the next thing, it is good news." Peyton was confused to why she would cry then, but she just nodded her head. "Mommy is going to live with the angels."

The young girl then wondered, what about her, "What about me? Can I live with the angels too?"

That is when this grown man broke down, there was no way that he could handle that response from his precious little daughter knowing that the only way for her to live with the angels was for him to lose her as well. And that was just not something that he could handle right now.

"Daddy, this is a good thing, you told me, no tears for good things."

"You are right, sweetheart. But I am just sad that I never got to say goodbye."

"Daddy, how far away are the angels? Do you think that we can visit her sometimes?"

Each question broke the father's heart, "It is kind of far away."

"Well we will just have to take a plane, which is what we do when we visit Nana and Pop in Washington."

"I think that it might be too far for even a plane."

"I know where she is," Brooke spoke from her place in the corner.

"Where?" Peyton really wanted to know where her mother had gone.

Brooke was matured beyond her years, even at seven, she was forced to grow up a long time ago, when her parents basically decided that she was a mistake to them, "She is in Heaven."

"Heaven is where the angels live?"

"Yup, Peyton your mom is lucky. Don't be sad, she is going to have such a wonderful time, but don't worry she will always think of you. And she really is never that far away, you know why?"

"Why? My daddy said she was."

"Watch this," Brooke put her hand over her heart, "I can feel her."

"Feel who?" Peyton wondered.

"My grandmother is in Heaven, and every time I put my hand over my heart, I can feel her. You try; I bet you can feel your mom."

Peyton did what she said, "I feel her, I feel Mom in my heart. She isn't far Dad, I do not need a plane or even a car, she is always going to be with me."

Larry Sawyer was in bafflement, did another seven year old really made sense of this whole situation for his daughter. She did it better then he could have ever imagined. It was then that he vowed for her to be apart of their lives, he did not know a thing about her, but he was going to keep her around. Larry informed Brooke that over the next couple of weeks Peyton was going to need a friend badly; he asked her if she was willing to be that person. She agreed partly because she liked Peyton, but another reason was so that she was not so lonely. "Do you think that your parents are going to allow it?"

"Of course they are," Brooke was not going to give this man a biography of her short life; no one really knew about of her home life, or rather lack of it. Nevertheless, over the next couple of years, the Sawyers figured it out. Brooke soon had more clothes at Peyton's house then her own. It was nice sometimes to have someone else around. But Brooke never wanted to be a hassle or a hardship to anyone, she made sure that when it was getting to be an extended stay, that she stepped back and lived in her hell for awhile. She never wanted to be a burden, well more then the one that she already knew she was to her own parents. As they got older, more into their pre-teen and teenaged years, Brooke broke a way a little bit and got really involved in boys. She was in fact getting a lot of love and attention from the Sawyers, but she needed an outlet somewhere else.

Brooke informed Peyton that things were working out better with her parents, that was the reason for her reoccurring absences on rituals events. Peyton believed her, because she wanted her best friend to be happy. She played this lie for the next four years. It was not until the day of Brooke's sixteenth birthday that she realized how horrible her home life really was.