Lucas let out a breath as he casually strolled alongside the Market Street Docks. The sun beat down but a light breeze blew across the horizon, temporarily alleviating the summer heat. It was a perfect day, he thought as he stopped at the frozen lemonade stand for a refreshing treat. For a few still moments in the mid morning, everything was okay like it used to be. The memories of growing up in Tree Hill came flooding back. He'd had some good times there, they all had. How many days had he had just like that one? With everything going on and so much on his mind, it felt good to take a walk and just enjoy the peace of it all.

Enjoying his lemonade, he continued his walk, nodding polite greetings at the strangers who passed by. Getting up and out was exactly what he had needed but tranquility was shattered just seconds later when he felt the buzz of his cell phone vibrating against his thigh. He fished it out of his pocket, disappointed at the trance that had been broken. For a few moments he hadn't been a screw up, Peyton wasn't angry with at him, his parents weren't disappointed in him and there was no unhappy, pouting Caylan. He glanced at the Caller ID. Ah…speak of the beautiful devil.

"Hey, sweetie, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"Just out. I felt like getting away for a minutes so I came downtown. Everything okay?"

"No. I woke up and you were gone."

"I'm sorry. You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to wake you."

"So you just left? God, Lucas!"

"Cay…"

"I can't believe you sometimes."

He closed his eyes. What now?

"You're upset. What is it?"

"I just don't like being stuck here. Your parents are gone, which is totally fine, considering they don't like me anyway. I wake up by myself and there is absolutely nothing to do. You didn't even leave me a car."

"I'm sorry."

"Didn't you think I might want to come?"

"Honestly? No. You've made it clear you don't like downtown Tree Hill. All the things there are to do, you just dismiss them."

Caylan sighed dramatically into the phone.

"So I like the city life better. Look, I know we're stuck here because this is what you want. I'm putting up with that for you because I love you, Lucas. I want you to be happy."

"And I want you to be happy too but I know that you aren't. What can I do, Caylan?"

"I just hate being alone. Will you come home?"

He looked around. He couldn't much blame her. Tree Hill was his sanctuary, not hers. She was uncomfortable and although he needed a break, leaving her stranded for the morning probably hadn't been the most considerate idea.

"Yeah. Um, I'm on my way."

He hung up the phone and made the short walk to where he had parked on Princess Street. The dark SUV rental awaited as he unlocked it and climbed inside. He sat there in the driver's seat for who knows how long, a man alone with his thoughts. He was daydreaming again and again interrupted by his phone. He accepted the call but there was no time for him to greet the person on the other end.

"Luke, baby, where are you? I thought you said you were just downtown. If so, you should have been here by now. What is taking so long?"

Caylan.

"Sorry, babe. I, um, I…I got tied up. Anyway, I'm leaving right this instant. I should be there in a few minutes."

"Can you get me some coffee?"

"Sure but there's plenty of coffee in the house. Mom keeps it in a tin on the counter. It's the super secret special brew she uses for the café and everyone knows Karen's Café has the best coffee around."

"It's too strong," Caylan complained. "It tastes funny."

"Okay…"

"Would you mind stopping at that little shop in mid town I like, you know, the one right on Market?"

"No problem."

"And Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"Hurry home. I want to do something fun today."

"Really?" he asked as he cranked up. "Okay. There's this new museum that opened up right outside of town. That should be fun. Or I could call up Nathan and Haley and take a boat out. We could always take a drive along the coast and have a picnic. You know what? Keith was telling me about this awesome hiking trail…"

"I was thinking more about the spa."

He frowned.

"The spa?"

"Yes. I am absolutely dying. A facial, deep tissue massage, mani and pedi would make me feel like a million bucks."

"Oh," he said simply.

He'd had more in mind of doing fun, quality activities together.

"You could totally come. Couples spa day sounds so amazing but if you don't want to, you could always play golf or something."

"Yeah…"

He put the truck in reverse and gave it a little gas. The conversation with Caylan had distracted him and he had grossly misjudged how much room there was between his vehicle and the sleek Infiniti convertible parked behind him. There was a thud and a bounce as Lucas cursed out loud.

"Are you okay, baby?"

He took a deep breath.

"I'm fine, Cay. Look, I just backed into another car. Let me call you back."

"Was it your fault? Did anybody see? Did it do any damage?"

"It was definitely my fault, I have no idea who saw and I'm about to get out now and inspect the damage. I'll leave a note for the other driver with my contact and insurance information on it."

Caylan rolled her eyes.

"You're such a goody goody sometimes," she giggled. "I say screw the note but whatever. I know you won't. Just hurry up with my coffee, besides I missed you this morning. We didn't even make love."

Normally that would be incentive enough to get the ball rolling but Lucas had too much on his mind.

"I'll see you soon," he promised, hanging up.

He got out to inspect the damage but there seemed to be none. Still it was a nice car and he had messed up. It would be only honorable to at least notify the other driver.

"Excuse you. What are you doing to my car?"

Lucas stood.

"I'm sorry. I…"

He stopped mid sentence. He thought the voice sounded familiar.

"Lucas?"

"Brooke…hey."

For a few seconds, the whole world seemed to pause. For Brooke it was a routine morning downtown running errands. Often she had chosen to walk when the weather was nice, as she lived so close, but she'd had immediate plans to go to work early at her studio across town so she had driven. The last thing she expected was an impromptu reunion with Lucas Scott.

"What's going on?" she asked softly.

He stared at her. She was more mature but she was still Brooke. And she was still beautiful. He had seen that face a thousand times over the years in his dreams at night and thoughts during the day. At one time they had been closer than close, happy and in love. The girl had once been his best friend, she used to drive her Bug cheerily onto the River Court to greet him, she had shared her hopes and fears and dreams and secrets with him. They had laughed and cried together in the best and worst of times. They had made love. The romance had turned to a bitter purgatory, which had eventually cooled to friendship. It was only then after he lost what had meant the most that Lucas began to realize that he was in love with Brooke Davis. He had told her so just before she left and he would never forget that look on her face. But she had gone anyway, never to return, shattering his world. They hadn't been together in years and when he wanted to see her, all he had to do was dream. Somehow he had managed to pick up the pieces with her best friend and eventually found happiness but what might have been always lurked in the back of his mind.

"Wow," he mouthed. "You, um…you, Brooke, you look great."

It was their first one on one meeting close up minus the distractions. Those blue eyes were damn near hypnotic but she quickly blinked away, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable in her casual attire.

"Lucas, I asked you a question. What is going on?"

It took him a few minutes to rejoin her on earth.

"Huh? Oh. Oh yeah. Sorry. That's my rental parked in front of you. I kind of backed into your car. Of course I didn't know it was your car at the time. It was an accident. I just wanted to see how bad it was. I was gonna leave a note."

"How noble," she rolled her eyes, looking at both vehicles as well.

"Well, luckily it looks like there was no real damage. I don't see any dents or scratches or anything."

"Yeah. Lucky us."

She turned and walked away, unlocking the driver's door.

"Brooke. Wait."

"What Lucas?" she folded her arms.

He looked around. He was nervous for some reason. Their run in had been pure coincidence but for some reason he couldn't just let her walk away.

"Uh…"

"I'm waiting," she impatiently tapped her foot.

"You look like you're in a hurry…"

"I am."

"I don't want to keep you, it's just that I wanted to say hi."

She made a face.

"Excuse me?"

Lucas had to chuckle at his own awkwardness and stupidity.

"That came out wrong. I, uh, we…you and I haven't seen each other in a really long time. I just wish we had the chance to talk, you know, catch up. I guess that was supposed to happen at Hales' dinner party but…"

"You screwed that one up."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I kind of did."

"Look, Lucas, this is small town. I'm sure we'll see each other again but right now I really don't have time to travel down Memory Lane with you."

"I know. It's just that I always wondered whether or not you were okay. That really bothered me. Now I see that you are and I am so glad. I…"

"You don't have to do this, you know. Really. Some things are just better off if you let them go. Like I told Peyton, you can't keep hanging onto the past."

Lucas looked surprised.

"Wait. You talked to Peyton?"

Brooke uncomfortably shifted her weight.

"No need to alert the media or anything. It was at the Burning Boat Festival."

"How, how did it go?"

She shrugged.

"It went. I hadn't seen her in a while. I'm not gonna lie and say she is my favorite person. Anyway, it's over now. We're adults."

A huge grin spread across his face.

"Oh Brooke, that's wonderful. It's awesome! I know Peyton has been pretty down in the dumps lately. The fact that you two are friends again…"

"Before you throw a parade in our honor, Peyton and I are not friends again…far from it. We just agreed to be civil and let go of the bygones from the past. And yeah she has been down lately mostly because of you and Malibu Skipper."

Lucas cringed. Ouch! He deserved that one.

"Her name is Caylan."

"Who gives a crap? Besides the fact that she is way too stuck up and way too thin and she's like 13 years old, that was a really shady, shitty thing you did to your wife in front of everyone."

He hung his head.

"I know."

"Let me guess…you're really sorry."

"I am. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Brooke laughed in spite of the situation.

"There's the old Luke. Still playing both sides of the fence I see. You can't get a grip on your hormones and your emotions and innocent women get hurt and you think that quiet heroic, broodiness excuses everything. You're Lucas Scott, Tree Hill's resident good boy. You do no wrong. Well, I have a newsflash for you, when you don't think, when you screw up, when it comes to you and girls period, people tend to get hurt."

"I know. Look, I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize to me. Try apologizing to your wife."

"She won't let me. Peyton is still pissed off."

"Do you blame her?"

"No but…"

"Look, I don't want to get involved."

"I know but everything you just said is true. I don't mean to do these things but they still happen and a lot of people have been hurt. Including you."

"Lucas…"

"Just hear me out. It was a long time ago and you have done really well for yourself. That Cameron seems like a great guy. You probably don't care but I am sorry for any and everything I did all those years ago to hurt you. I just hope you can forgive me."

Brooke felt her anger brewing. She was a grown woman. She was living a different life. She was a different person. She was happy. She had a career and accomplishments and a wonderful partner in Cameron. Life was grand and she was enjoying it living it to the fullest. Nothing could touch her, nothing would ever destroy that feeling. She could remember years before feeling her self worth crumble. She could remember the pain of the small town cheer captain loving a Lucas who didn't love her back. She could remember the humiliation, the rejection…the betrayal. He had hurt her and it had taken her literally years to get over it. Finally she had arrived at that place, that safe, happy, comfortable place and now he was back and he'd had the nerve to dredge it all up again covered with one of his trademark, dramatic apologies.

"You've got a lot more important things to worry about other than my forgiveness."

He nodded. That was as good as it was going to get.

"No more hard feelings?"

She couldn't call one truce without the other.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Um, if we missed something on the car, don't hesitate to call me. I'm staying at Mom's…"

"I'm sure the car will be okay. I'll have Cam look at it later."

And just like that, a decade in the making, it was over.

"Take care of yourself, Brooke."

"Yeah," she replied in a whisper. "You too."

He watched her get in, crank up and drive away. He thought for a minute. What if things had been different? What if had told her sooner that he loved her? What if he had realized it sooner? What if she hadn't gotten on that plane? What if she had come back? How would all that have altered his life? Would he still have ended up with Peyton? So many questions without answers that replayed themselves dozens of times in his head and in his heart. But that was nothing more than a dream. And when he heard his cell phone again, Caylan's name blinking on the ID, it was enough to jolt him back into reality.