Brooke threw her suitcase down on the hotel bed. Shuffling back and forth took its toll on a girl. After Brooke's non-date with Lucas she had gone home to David. He had asked how things had gone and Brooke skillfully avoided any mention of Lucas. She didn't know why but she didn't feel comfortable talking about him with David. Rachel had returned to LA merely a day after Brooke claiming that no one in Tree Hill really liked her that much. But Rachel had brought a message for Brooke from Jenny. Rachel quoted, "Tell her I said that I never really expected her to stick around even though she should her being my godmother and all." So to make up for it, Brooke began to fly back and forth from LA to Tree Hill. She could do designing on the plane, spend her days in Tree Hill with her three goddaughters and her best friends, and then fly back to LA to deal with business and her two Davids. The appearance of her husband was rare as he was usually holed up in his office at work or his office at home. Sometimes Brooke swore he loved the job more than he loved her. Though Brooke didn't want to admit it, Tree Hill did have another appeal, Lucas. In an effort to gain his muse back, Lucas had hung around Tree Hill. He and Brooke had continued to build their friendship. They were both godparents to Haley's daughters so they ended up spending a lot of time with each other.

A ringing sounded from Brooke's purse. She reached for it. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Are you back yet?" a slightly whiny voice sounded from the other end.

"Calm down Jenny, I'm here."

"Where's here?"

"My motel room."

"Why don't you stay here with us? Mom says that she offered our guest room to you multiple times."

"Yes but good things can only be tolerated in small doses. So you see if I stayed there you might tire of me."

"Or you might get tired of me." Brooke smiled.

"That's never going to happen baby girl."

"So I listened to this new band today."

"Oh yeah tell me about them." Brooke settled down on her bed as Jenny began to prattle on about the beats and lyrics. Despite her attempts to keep her guard up, that little girl had stolen her heart. Brooke's constant trips back and forth were made worthwhile when she walked into Peyton's house to Jenny rushing at her screaming. That and a certain broody blonde helped make Brooke's constant jet lag completely tolerable if not welcome.

"So little girl what do you say you and I hit the mall tomorrow?" Brooke asked of the rambling girl.

"Brooke you know I don't like shopping."

"You love clothes, just not the bright and happy kind. But I promise you we will look at tons of black and some really cool boots."

"Fine deal. But we listen to my music in the car." Brooke laughed.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow. I love you little girl."

"Love you too," the girl crooned and the two hung up. As Brooke set her phone down on the side table she caught herself smiling. It was amazing how much Jenny could brighten Brooke's day. Brooke stood up and began to put away her clothes. As much as she loved talking to Jenny it did make her a little sad. Jenny was about that age that Brooke's own child would have been had he or she been born. Brooke began to think about what life had been like when there was still a possibility of a future for her child.

"So what do you think this baby's going to be like?" Brooke asked Lucas. The two of them were lying on the couch watching mindless television. Brooke's head rested on Lucas's chest and she could feel the thumping of his heart.

"It'll cry and poop and pee and need feeding." Lucas traced lazy circles onto Brooke's back.

"No I don't mean when it's a baby, I mean when he or she grows up. Or at least becomes less dependent upon us. Do you think it's going to be broody and read all the time like you? Or maybe it'll be completely fashion conscience like me regardless of gender."

"So you want a gay little boy?"

"No I just want him to be fashionable, it'll help him get the girls."

"I don't want to think about our child dating. Especially if it's a girl and she takes after you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooke propped herself up so that she was facing him.

"It means that despite your more beautiful qualities, you used to be a bit…friendly." Brooke's mouth opened.

"I was not."

"You remember the first time we met?" Brooke avoided eye contact. "You were topless in my backseat if I recall correctly."

"Ok so I was friendly. But that all changed. Because I got me a man." He leaned down and kissed her. "Maybe our kid will be nothing like either of us. He or she might be a movie buff or a music guru or an artist." Lucas smiled down at his crazy girlfriend.

"Whatever our child will be, it'll be great because he or she will have a little bit of you in them."

"And a little bit of you." They smiled and kissed before Brooke laid her head back on Lucas's chest. "So what are we watching?"

"I really don't know."

"Oh." But neither of them moved to change the station because it wasn't about watching TV, it was about being with each other.

As Brooke put her jeans in the bottom drawer her phone rang again. "What else does that girl want to talk about?" Brooke spoke to herself. But when she checked the id it wasn't Jenny's name on the screen. Instead it read another name that belonged to a person that could brighten any of her days. "Hey," she answered.

"Well hello there traveler," Lucas joked. "Are you back in Tree Hill?"

"Yes I am. Have you seen those goddaughters of mine? They are just too damn cute to stay away from."

"Yeah they are pretty adorable." Lucas sounded distracted.

"So you just wanted to call to ask if I was in Tree Hill."

"Actually I went out to get food and I ended up ordering far more than I could ever eat so I was trying to come up with someone to help me eat it all. But Haley's got Nathan and the girls and Peyton's got Jake and Jenny so…"

"So you thought of me." Brooke smiled.

"And I'm actually on my way to your motel right now."

"A motel, very presumptuous of you Lucas Scott." As the friendship between the two had grown they had become more comfortable with each other. They had gotten to the stage where they could joke about dating and romance between them. But despite the comfort between them Brooke still felt the butterflies that shouldn't be there whenever she heard his voice.

"Well have you seen me? I just can't keep the girls off of me."

"Dinner sounds great. How long till you get here?" Brooke looked around her room.

"Actually, I'm here." Brooke walked to her window and pulled back the curtain. She saw the headlights of Lucas's car and couldn't resist smiling.

"Well you do make good time and I am starving so…"

"I'll be up in a minute."

"I'll open the door for you." Brooke set her phone down and immediately began to run around cleaning things up and putting things away.

"Hey," Lucas greeted as he entered the room with an armload full of food.

"Wow you really did get too much food."

"Did you think I made that up?"

"No...no." But Brooke was lying. She did think that maybe he had made it up just so he could see her. And a part of her wanted him to be lying.

"So where do we…" Lucas looked around the room and Brooke did as well. There seemed to be a lack of seating.

"On the bed?" Brooke suggested.

"Whose being presumptuous now?" Lucas raised an eyebrow and Brooke prayed that she didn't blush as easily as she did when she was around Lucas.

"I'll pick the TV station."

"So why are we watching the Real World again?" Lucas asked of Brooke as he shoved a bit more of the food into his mouth.

"Hey watch where all those crumbs go." She handed a napkin to him. "I have to sleep here. And we're watching the Real World because I enjoy the sexual tension that always exists between two of the roommates."

"You do know that this show is mildly scripted right."

"No!" Brooke acted scandalized. "But that type of sexual tension does exist in real life. It's what keeps our world turning." Two of the roommates on the screen began to talk. Lucas put his food on the floor beside the bed. Brooke set hers on the side table and took a sip of her drink. The roommates began to move closer to one another, the girl telling the boy that she had a fiancée at home. Brooke shifted a bit on the bed. This was hitting too close. She glanced sideways at Lucas and he turned as well. They smiled at each other. The two roommates moved closer to each other on the screen. Lucas reached into the bag of chips at the same time that Brooke did. Their hands brushed and Brooke pulled her hand back quickly.

"Sorry," Lucas apologized. On TV, the two began to make out. "Well they seemed to get past the fiancée quickly," Lucas commented. Brooke turned to Lucas. Their eyes locked. Without breaking eye contact, Lucas moved the chip bag off of the bed. He shifted his body slightly towards her. Inhaling deeply, Brooke moved a bit towards him. They were so close their legs were brushing. Lucas reached out his hand and brushed hers. She didn't pull back. He pushed a piece of her hair away from her face and then leaned in. Brooke's head was screaming to her to stop this but her heart was screaming something else. Before she knew it, Lucas's lips were on hers and she immediately felt her lips reciprocating the kiss. Lucas pushed Brooke so that she was lying flat on her back. Before her mind could grasp what she was actually doing, she reached for Lucas's belt buckle. "Wait." Lucas pulled back, hovering over her as he propped himself up. "Are we really doing this?" Brooke looked into his eyes. This was Lucas. Her Lucas. And if this was so wrong then why did it feel so good? Brooke inhaled deeply and smiled.

"Yeah we're doing this." She moved her torso off of the bed so that her lips crashed onto his. And with that her decision was made.

Brooke opened her eyes. An arm lay across her stomach. The events of the hours before came back to her in a rush. What had she done? Brooke rolled off of the bed, pulling a sheet around her. She fiddled in the dark collecting her clothes. After getting dressed, she found her phone and punched in a few numbers. As quietly as she could, Brooke moved outside to the porch.

"Hey Peyton I know it's late but do you think I could talk to Jenny."

"She's already in bed."

"I know, but it's just this once."

"I'll go get her." Brooke could hear Peyton moving around her house. "Hey Brooke are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk to my goddaughter." Brooke heard the sounds of Peyton waking her daughter and then a sleepy Jenny came onto the line.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jenny. It's Brooke."

"Hey Brooke!" The girl brightened immediately.

"I'm really sorry about this babe, but I've got to cancel on our date tomorrow."

"Can we do something else?"

"Afraid not sweetheart, I'm going home." The next words she spoke pained Brooke. "For good this time. I can't keep going back and forth. But maybe you could come visit me in LA."

"Yeah maybe." Jenny seemed a bit less than excited. "So what happened?" Brooke said nothing. "Something with Lucas right?" Jenny's insight into things still shocked Brooke even after all the time.

"You're smart. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Not often enough. Brooke? It's ok, you going home. I knew this couldn't last forever. But do you think you could still call me occasionally?"

"Try and stop me."

"Ok cool. So I'll talk to you later."

"Sure thing. Love you baby girl."

"I love you too. Go work things out with Lucas." Brooke closed her eyes.

"Absolutely." She hated lying to Jenny. Brooke shut her phone and pinched the bridge of her nose. Being as silent as possible Brooke moved back into the room to pack up her things without waking Lucas.