Soon Enough

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! They were all lovely to read. Just to clear up confusion, the only part of my fic based on spoilers was the prologue.

A big thanks to Leah (dolcegrazia) because without her, I would be utterly confused as to whether the direction I took in this chapter was a good idea.

Chapter 2

I Thought I Knew You

It isn't until the evening that Brooke's plane gets in that Lucas realizes that this will be the first time in 4 long years that he's had to deal with both of his ex-girlfriends – at once.

He's standing at baggage claim, scanning the crowd for a dimpled brunette. And then he spots her. She's moving at a slow pace, weaving her way through the crowd, a monstrous Louis Vutton duffle on her shoulder.

"Lucas?" Her initial reaction is less enthusiastic than he had expected, and as she stands awkwardly in front of him, clearly not moving to hug him, the flowers he holds in his left hand now feel out of place and unnecessary. "What are you doing here?"

He pauses, wondering if this is a trick question. "I came to pick you up," he responds.

She looks past him, still seeming confused. "Isn't Peyton coming home today? I thought you'd be at home to meet her."

He shrugs. This isn't going at all how he had expected. What is it about him and Brooke and airports? She doesn't seem all together happy to see him. In fact, she looks a little pissed. "I was going to go see her after I picked you up. I thought you might want to come."

This time it's Brooke's turn to shrug. He expects her to respond, but she doesn't. She just looks to her feet. Lucas decides to brush past the issue. He reaches for the bag she's carrying, lifting the weight and depositing it on his own shoulder. He watches as her eyes soften. They seem to change from a sharp grey to a soft green. She offers him a small smile.

That's all he needs.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"So how have you been?" He figures that he should be the one to break the silence, considering they have been driving for a good 10 minutes, and neither of them has spoken. He thought that it would be different. He thought that when she came home things would be fine. That they could be friends. Judging by her fun and flirty emails, he was sure she was over the unmentionable incident.

"Fine. Just busy. I can't believe I finally got away from my mom," she says through a laugh.

"Why'd she let you go?"

"I basically told her that I'm not 16 anymore and if she didn't like the way I was running my company, she could stop 'working for me.'"

"I bet that went over well."

Brooke laughs. "Better than you would think. She laughed it off and basically said it would do me some good to go – that maybe I would stop being such a chauvinistic bitch." Her voice falters a little and Lucas quickly looks at her. But she's staring out the window now, and he can't decipher the expression on her face.

Lucas clears his throat. "So do you want to drop your stuff off first, and then go see Peyton?"

"Sure. I'm staying at The Riverside."

He turns down Baker Street. "You know – you could just stay with me. I mean, I've got my mom's room. She and Lily won't be home from 'traveling the world' for a couple weeks."

There is a long silence before Brooke speaks. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Sorry."

Of course she wouldn't think it was a good idea, Lucas thinks, mentally slapping himself. Why doesn't he just invite Peyton too, and the three of them can live forever under the same roof and live happily ever after. God, he's dumb.

The ride lapses into another uncomfortable silence. They pull up to The Riverside, and Brooke pauses with her hand on the door. She turns to him.

"Maybe you should go meet Peyton alone."

"Why?" He's confused as to why she has such hesitation in seeing her best friend. "Hasn't it been like a year since you've seen her?"

"Yeah. It's not like I'm hiding out from her," she says quickly. "I just smell like plane, and I have to unpack." She pauses. "You should go meet her. Maybe I'll meet up with you guys later or something."

"Okay…" He watches as she gives him a quick smile, and pulls herself out of the car.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

He almost doesn't recognize Peyton as she pulls up to her house, despite the fact that she's still driving her car from high school. Even as she's striding up the lawn, and he stands up from the porch steps, he doesn't really realize it's her. She's wearing skinny jeans, pumps, and a long silver camisole. And her hair is straight. Not cut in that teenage way she had senior year. But it hangs thinly down to her ribs, fringe bangs cutting across her forehead at an angle. She's taller too – almost model-like, and he has to blink, remembering that this is the girl who drew for THUD Magazine and liked NOFX.

"Lucas!" She smiles and pulls him into a hug.

"Hey." He's momentarily stunned by her rapid transformation since he saw her three months ago. "You look…" He's searching for words. "Great."

A wide smile spreads across her face and as she launches into a long jabber about her flight, and he pulls her suitcase into her house, he begins to see things at a different level.

She's fashionable – barely holding onto the edgy punk look she's always had. She no longer looks like goldilocks – her straight hair makes her blue eyes stand out against her pale skin. And all these things, save for the blonde hair, make him look like someone he knows.

She looks like Brooke.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

They're sitting at a picnic table at the Rivercourt when Brooke shows up. She steps out of her rental, swinging her Chanel bag over her shoulder.

Lucas finds Peyton's sudden transformation into a style that matches Brooke's even odder as the brunette approaches. She's dressed in a pair of cut-offs and a long green halter. And though the two best friends look nothing alike, the way Peyton carries herself now reminds him a little too much of Brooke. A template that doesn't necessarily suit her.

"Peyton!" smiles Brooke as she pulls her old friend into a hug.

"Davis!" Peyton responds in a deep voice accompanied by a short laugh, returning the embrace.

Brooke steps back and eyes Peyton's hair. "You look great!"

Peyton eyes Brooke's waves, now tinted with a soft red. "So do you."

"So do you, Luke," adds Brooke, looking over Peyton's smile with a chuckle.

Lucas rolls his eyes at the teasing and stands up. "Thanks for the flattery."

"No problem. I know you're a little self conscious. Especially when you're wearing that shirt."

Lucas looks down. He's wearing a simple striped t-shirt. "What's wrong with it?" he asks defensively.

"Oh, you know," Brooke says through a giggle. "It's a little…"

"Wow thanks."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm just kidding Broody," she says, quickly swatting him in the arm.

Lucas moves his eyes to Peyton, who he realizes is staring at the ground, looking unenthused by the banter between him and Brooke. Brooke also shifts her gaze to the blonde.

There is a short pause. "Well," says Brooke, breaking the silence. "I'm gonna' take off."

"But you just got here," protests Lucas, before he realizes he sounds whiny and clingy.

"I know. But I haven't seen Nathan and Haley in forever. And I don't want to wait until it's like midnight to drop by unannounced." She rests her hand on Lucas' arm for a seconds before pulling Peyton into another hug. "It was great to see you again, goldilocks. Call me tomorrow, kay?"

"Okay," responds Peyton with a small smile.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

When she pulls into the driveway twenty minutes later, Peyton feels emotionally drained. As she enters the house, she flicks on the lights in the kitchen, fumbling with the coffee pot. Her dad doesn't dock until tomorrow, and she's considering crashing in his bed, because it's 10 times more comfortable then hers.

She absentmindedly reaches to play with a curl of hair, before realizing that there aren't any curls left. Her hair lies sleekly down her back, and she hasn't recognized that she misses her locks until now.

She's never really felt a desire to look or dress like her best friend before. Sure, as a teenager, Brooke got more attention from guys, but Peyton wasn't exactly ignored. And it's not like the change was gradual, as people might think, brought on from spending too much time out in LA. She doesn't like to think that she's doing this all to impress a guy. But, in a way, its true. She always thought Brooke would be the most insecure about the triangle that never really ended. But Peyton can pinpoint the day things changed.

She hates herself for being a snoop. But Lucas has gone to make coffee, and his compute is just lying there, email open, just waiting to be read.

She's home again – pretending like nothing has changed. Like they haven't broken up – even though she was the one to initiate it – and that everything's okay. But every time she brings up their relationship, and hints at starting things up again, he changes the subject.

She leans across the bed and clicks into his inbox. She scrolls down for awhile, ignoring boring notes from his editor. And then she spots a name she recognizes.

Brooke Davis.

Clicking on Brooke's name, the computer flashes to a list of the continued correspondence between her and Lucas. There are at least 40 emails on the list. Peyton is dumbfounded. She opens the most recent.

Subject: Twin?

Hey Cheery,

So I saw this girl on the street today who I could have sworn was you. I almost went up to her, before I realized she was pushing a stroller. Logically, I figured you wouldn't have a baby without telling me. I hope.

But she had your curves. She had your shoulders, and your hips. She had your hair, and she had your feet (is it odd that I remember what your feet look like? How your second toe is longer than your first?) But she didn't have dimples. How unfortunate. To me, a girl without dimples is like cake without frosting. Except a cake without frosting analogy is more your style, I think. Remember the time you made me go all the way out to the store because your birthday cake didn't have enough chocolate icing on it? Yeah, good times.

Missing you,

Lucas.

Subject: RE: Twin?

What, didn't I tell you I'm now married with 8 children. How things have changed since we last spoke.

I'm not at all surprised you remember what my toes look like – considering you used to thoroughly enjoy kissing and nibbling them.

Am I not allowed to enjoy my sugar? I wouldn't exactly call myself a cow. Although I'm sure Rachel wouldn't mind calling me one. Anyway, I'm glad you didn't run up to that girl and hug her, because that would be awkward, would it not?

Anyway, I have to go. I'm on the phone with possibly the most boring woman in the world (is it that obvious that I'm talking about my mother?). But, on a final note, I'm surprised you can't handle a girl without dimples. It always seemed to me that you had a hard time handling me.

Just kidding.

xo,

Brooke.