"I'm not the most eloquent speaker…so I thought I'd borrow a couple words from Shakespeare…love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, when life get hard, when things change, true love remains the same, I look at Nathan and Haley and somehow I feel safer, I don't know if I can explain that but they give me hope, and I'm afraid to say it out loud because maybe if life finds out it'll try to beat it out of them and that would be a shame… because we all could use a little hope sometimes you know, that feeling that everything's gonna be okay…so...here's to Nathan and Haley, here's to hope, and here's to a love that will not alter.."
Knock, Knock!
Lucas shook the longtime memory from his head and closed his laptop; He wasn't getting anything done anyway
Knock,
Knock, Knock!
"I'm
coming!" he yelled out
He pulled open the door and his mouth dropped open
"Close your mouth…you'll catch flies" Rachel said as she walked past him
"Rachel…wow…how long has it been? What are you doing here?"
"It's been five years…but whose counting"
"How the hell are you Rachel" he asked pulling her into a hug
"I'm fine, I hear Congratulations are in order" she said pulling away
"Oh… yeah, I'm getting married" he said sitting on his bed "Peyton"
"You're getting married to the wrong person Lucas"
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't love Peyton"
"Of course I do" he said "What do you know about who I love Rachel"
"The basket went in Lucas"
"The basket went in? Right… O.K Rachel, you lost me…"
"You're a smart guy Lucas…figure it out…the basket went in…ask yourself if you're doing the right thing" she said closing the door behind her
"The basket went in…what is she talking ab--."
Follow my voice…Brooke's the one…make the shot" As the memory faded he collapsed onto his bed…
"You're the one Brooke…"
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Brooke jumped at the sound of the doorbell "Is Rachel back already?"
"Rachel is that you?"
"No, it's Nathan"
She opened the door quickly "Hey Nate"
"Rachel's here" he asked
"Yeah, she surprised me about an hour ago; she was supposed to come back"
"How are you Brooke?"
"I'm fine…really"
"Yeah, that sounds like something I would say….Look, I know we're all busy with wedding plans and our busy schedules but that doesn't mean that your problems are any less important or that all of us aren't here for you…"
"Like I said…"
"You're fine, it's all good, you can handle it" he said cutting her off "Look I hope that's true and maybe it is, the thing is the two of us have been down very similar roads, we were in the same cliques, we both met the same pressures, same expectations, our parents were like children and we both grew into kinda bad versions of ourselves way too fast, so I think you know….I get it"
"They never really gave us a chance did they…our parents"
"They
didn't know how…look the thing is you made your dream happen and
even though I didn't quite get there, when it was taken away from I
dealt with it alone, and it was stupid, selfish and wrong… so if
your mom tries to take your dream away from you and you feel that
same pain that I did… I sort of been there, O.K, and I'm gonna be
kind of pissed off if you don't come and talk to me about
it…Everything that you're doing for Lucas and Peyton when you
have all this stuff going on with you…It doesn't surprise me that
you're thinking of other people, that's not bad for a girl who
never had a chance….Come here" he said pulling her into his
arms
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Lucas lay staring up at the ceiling
"Hey you" Peyton said climbing into the bed next to him and laying her head on his chest. "You okay?" she asked when he didn't answer
"You're not gonna like me very much when you hear what I have to say"
She sat up and looked at him worriedly "what's wrong Luke?"
"You're not the first person I think about when I wake up in the morning…you're not the last person I think about before I go to sleep…I close my eyes, and I don't see you…"
"What are you saying" Peyton asked cutting him off
"I'm saying I was wrong…We're not meant to be Peyton"
"Yes we are" she said tears welling in her eyes "Don't do this to me Lucas, I love you"
"And I love you Peyton, a part of my heart will always be yours…but I'm not in love with you"
She looked up at him, and her tear streaked face broke his heart "I'm so sorry Peyton" he said pulling her into his arms. She lay her head on his shoulder and mumbled quietly "I thought I was your comet"
"Peyton you deserve someone who's gonna love you like no one else can" she pulled away from him and eased out of the bed
"I'll be out in an hour"
"Peyton, it's late, you can stay the night"
"No…it's fine"
"I don't wanna lose your friendship Peyton"
"And I don't wanna lose you Lucas but we can't always get what we want can we?" she snapped at him throwing clothes into her open suitcase
"Please don't be mad Peyton"
She zipped up her suitcase, and swiped at the tears still falling from her eyes "Goodbye Lucas" she said grabbing her keys from the counter
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"Look, I know it's been difficult for you lately, losing Keith, and your heart condition, and giving up basketball…l I feel like I've been keeping you close to me to try to protect you from those things, like I'm hanging on to the two of us for you …but not for me
Look, I'm sorry I kissed Peyton, I should have told you
It's not about that Luke, its not, I mean I thought that it was but this is not about her, this is about me…I love you Lucas, and I probably always will but we go days without having a meaningful conversation… and I used to miss you so much when that happened but it never seemed like you missed me and I guess because of It I stopped missing you…
Brooke
I'm sorry… I can't do this anymore
There had to be something right, something that no one had ever said in the history of the world, something that could change this
Brooke, I'm sorry
Yeah me too
That wasn't it..
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Knock, Knock, Knock!
The loud knocks pulled Brooke out of her dream, and she tossed back the covers, and eased out of bed, she grabbed the bat leaning next to her bed, and tip toed to the door. She peeked out the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief, she pulled open the door
"Peyton, what are you doing here so la—whoa girlie what's wrong?" she asked as Peyton collapsed into her arms
"Lucas-he-we-he broke up with me" she mumbled from Brooke's shoulder
Let's go sit" Brooke said quietly leading her to the sofa "He broke up with you? Why?"
"He s-s-aid we're not meant to be together, he's n-not in love with me" she stuttered the tears flowing freely
"I'm so sorry P. Sawyer" she said stroking her hair
"I love him Brooke" she said "I love him so much"
"I know honey, I know"
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Lucas grabbed his ringing phone from the desk and sighed when he looked at the I.D
"How is she?" he asked
"She's a mess Lucas" Brooke said "What the hell is wrong with you…What changed?
"Nothing…Everything…Look, I just realized Peyton's not the one for me, I don't think she ever was"
"I wish you would have realized that before you proposed to her Lucas"
"I know, I know" he said quietly
"Look, I gotta go before she wakes up" she said
"Take care of her Brooke"