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Chapter Nine

The Tide That Turned

The room was relatively quiet. The only sound that was heard was the one of utensils hitting the plates. It was breakfast time, an unusual one in the Scott household. Dan, Owen and Nathan were quietly eating; occasional comments (mostly by Dan) were thrown here and there.

"Nathan, how's therapy going?" Dan asked breaking the silence.

"Therapy is going great dad. Knee is getting a lot better. Though I had an accident with it a few months ago." he said looking pointedly at Owen. "It backtrack my healing process but I'm alright." He sliced his French toast into pieces and took a bite out of one of them.

"Hmm…think you're going to be back on the courts anytime soon? I have a few contacts you know and that NBA deal could still be in your future."

Nathan dropped the fork he had. He assumed after his accident that his dream was over. "Umm I don't know dad. I guess we'll see."

Not wanting to keep making his son uncomfortable Dan turned his attention to his other son who had been awfully quiet during their conversation. It was weird because usually Owen would have made a snarky remark towards him by now but today he was as silent as a mouse.

"And what about you Owen? How's law school going?" he asked, taking a mouthful of his scrambled eggs. Nathan scoffed, earning himself a brief glare from Owen.

"Fine." he answered, not bothering to look at his father.

"Anything new going on with you?" he tried again.

"Nope."

"And what abou-"

"Just leave it dad." Nathan interrupted. "He's in one of his bitchy moods."

Now normally that kind of comment would have earned some sort of remarked from Owen but this time he opted to remain silent. His relationship with Nathan had changed since that night at the bar. They hadn't spoken since then; only a few comments were thrown by Nathan which Owen promptly ignored.

"And how are my three favorite men doing?" Deb Scott asked coming into the dining room. She kissed both Owen and Nathan on the cheek, gave a light peck on Dan on the lips and sat down on her usual chair next to her husband. The maids quickly came over and started serving her breakfast.

"Sorry I'm late, I overslept a bit."

"No worries honey." Dan said sending a warm smile her way.

"So what were you guys talking about before my arrival" Deb asked as she started eating her fresh plate of fruit brought to her.

"Nothing important mom." Owen responded quickly before going back to his breakfast.

"Anything new going on?"

"Not really."

"Actually I have something to say or more like discuss if you don't mind." Nathan interjected looking briefly at Owen before turning his attention to his parents, namely his dad. "You see I have a friend who has a brother and the thing is that his brother has been working in a bar for a while now." At this Owen's head shot up not believing what his brother was saying.

"Nathan…" Owen said in a warning tone.

"Not done O, hold on." he told him, sending a smirk his way. "Anyways as I was saying he works at a bar one of those sleazy ones without his parents knowing. My friend thinks he's working in a dead end job and doesn't know what to do so he asked for my advice but I am just as clueless as him. What do you guys think about that situation?"

"I think as long as your friend's brother is happy with what he's doing that it's okay." Deb commented casually.

"Well I think he's been wasting his time and should just move on to better things." Dan countered giving his wife a glare as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Now if you'll excuse me my phone is ringing and I need to answer this call." he told them before quickly leaving and heading towards his office.

Owen threw his napkin on the table as he got up from his seat, his expression serious. He couldn't believe his own brother would stoop that low. He knew they weren't on speaking terms right now but still he expected more from Nathan.

"You're an ass." he hissed looking at his brother with a disapproving look. He soon left leaving a smirking Nathan and a very worried Deb behind.

"What was that about?" Deb asked her youngest son feeling completely clueless to what just occurred.

"No idea." Nathan lied easily. "No idea."

"How long will you be staying in New York this time?"

"Just a few more days." Dan answered quickly looking around his office.

"Rachel has been asking for you." Chris stated casually.

"I know, she's been calling but I've been ignoring her calls. I don't want Deb or the boys getting suspicious."

"But of course, we don't want the double life of Dan Scott to come out now do we?" he teased him lightly.

"Shut it Keller." Dan growled into the phone and then without another word he hanged up. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a habit he's always had. Chris Keller always managed to get on his nerves whether he knew it or not. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before heading back to his family.

Brooke was in her room getting ready to go out with Julian. It had been two months since their talk in the park and things were better between them. He was more attentive and more loving towards her and always putting her needs ahead of his. He now always made time for her and made her feel special. He was basically being the perfect boyfriend just like the one he was when they first began dating. Although Brooke was very happy with that part of her life there was still a few pressing matters in her mind. The first was that she still hadn't told Julian about the kiss with Lucas. She didn't know how to bring it up especially after the way he was acting. The second was one that had been bothering for a while now. It was one that she couldn't stop thinking about no matter where she was.

Her relationship with Lucas Scott.

That argument they had really shaken up their friendship. She had of course apologized to him many times since then and he eventually accepted her apology but things had changed between them. There were no more random calls or texts from each other just to see what the other was doing. There were no more visits to her mother's store from Lucas. Everything had changed between them and it wasn't for the better.

She hurt him really badly but she didn't know how else to fix things, how to fix them.

For now though, she was going to put that in the back of her mind and focus on Julian. Today they were going out to check things for their upcoming wedding. She was actually pretty excited for it, after all she had been dreaming about her perfect wedding since she was a little girl. She wanted everything to be perfect; church wedding with a huge reception with all their friends and family.

The doorbell rang and Clay who was watching the television got up to go answer it. He looked at his watch and saw that it was way too early for Lucas to be here. Ever since that day in his office where Clay went to talk to him, some sort of weird friendship had been formed between them. Lucas had found out from Victoria that Clay was working on getting a sports management degree and it had become his mission to help him in any way possible. He let him talk to some of sports agents from RKS who gave him tips about his career and told him what to expect in the future. Clay was thankful for the help because he was that much closer to achieving his dream and so then a friendship was born between the two.

"Julian what are you doing here?" Clay asked firmly once he opened the door and saw who it was. His relationship with Julian (though there was hardly one) changed too. He didn't care for him after the way he acted when he came to his office that one day and just like his mom he thought Brooke was making a mistake in marrying him.

"I'm here to see your sister." Julian answered rolling his eyes at him. He had a feeling Clay was still mad since that day when he refused to see him. He was a busy man after all and he couldn't just see anyone, even if that anyone was her fiancées brother. "We have wedding plans to get to."

"Umm listen dude Luke is coming over so…" he trailed off as he stepped aside to let the brunet man in.

"It's okay Clay, I don't mind." Julian stepped inside and followed Clay to the living room.

"You might not but Lucas will. He hasn't forgotten that it was because of you that Brooke got that stupid idea that he was working with your mother." He motioned for Julian to sit down and he did, Clay following suit.

"I already apologized for that." he told him feeling somewhat guilty about the things he said about Lucas. On one hand he felt bad for how he wrongly accused Lucas but on the other he was glad of doing it because it caused a rift in his and Brooke's friendship. That of course made Julian extremely happy.

"Julian hi." Brooke greeted her fiancé as she was coming down the stairs, her mother following close behind.

Julian stood up smiling at how beautiful she was looking today. "Hey gorgeous." Julian said kissing her lightly on her lips.

"Julian what a surprise." Victoria remarked in a flat tone that didn't go unnoticed by Brooke.

"Victoria, how are you doing today?" he asked simply out of politeness.

"Very good thank you for asking." she responded in that same tone again. "So what are you two up to today?"

"Wedding stuff mom." Brooke reminded her promptly.

"You want to head out now?" Julian asked noticing there was this sort of tension in the air. He wasn't dumb, he knew Brooke's mom didn't particularly care for him anymore. He didn't know when her attitude changed towards him but he guessed it was after he asked Brooke to marry him.

"Yeah sure just let me grab my stuff and we'll head out." Brooke told him as she headed out the living room.

Just as she was about to head back up the stairs, the doorbell rang. She went to answer it and when she did she was surprise to see who was standing there.

"Lucas." she muttered in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. It had been weeks since she last saw him and that was because he happened to have been at the bar talking to Owen when she dropped by to see Haley. Their conversation was short because Lucas all of a sudden remembered he had "things" to do and quickly left but she wasn't stupid. She knew he was doing everything in his power to avoid her as much as he could.

"Hi…umm I'm here for Clay." he said giving her a tight smile not bothering to look at her.

"Oh…" she replied feeling a bit disappointed that he wasn't here for her. For a moment she thought he was here to see her and not her brother.

"Come on in then." she said in a quiet voice.

Lucas stepped inside the Davis' home feeling completely comfortable inside. Over the past two months he had been coming in and out the house mostly to come and talk to Victoria. It was all mostly done when Brooke was nowhere to be seen. Victoria understood his actions for it.

"Hey Luke." Clay greeted him getting up to do their weird manly handshake they had developed over their time together.

"Hey man, ready to go?"

Clay nodded his head. "Yeah let me just grab my keys and wallet." he said before heading towards his room.

Lucas smiled briefly before turning to the rest of the occupants in the room. "Julian." he acknowledge briefly with a nod. "And how is the prettiest woman in this room doing today?" Lucas greeted Victoria, a smile breaking into his face.

"Oh Lucas…always the charmer aren't you." Victoria responded as she hugged and then kissed him on the cheek. Julian watched the exchanged with a hint of jealousy. What Lucas had with Victoria was what he was hoping to have with his future mother-in-law.

"I'm not gone minutes and you're already all over my mom. " Clay jokingly stated when he saw his mom and Lucas hugging. "Seriously dude…not cool." he teasingly said laughing. "Now come on we have loads to do and I'm sure you're needed later in the office. Bye mom," he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "See ya sis." he said giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Lucas nodded his head watching as Clay headed towards the front door. "I'll see you later Momma Davis." he said giving her one last hug. He turned to the other occupants in the room. "Julian…umm Brooke." And without another word he immediately left willing his body to not turn around to see her at least one more time again.

Brooke just stood there like if she was frozen in time. She didn't like this feeling, this feeling like she was slowly losing what she had with Lucas. She knew that she had to find some sort of way to fix their situation but she didn't know how.

"Lukie!" the five year old girl screamed through the phone making her older brother smile with delight.

"Well hello to you too my little Princess." Lucas greeted chuckling a bit at his sister's excitement. After hanging out with Clay the whole morning, he decided to go to his office and put some work in for the day. That of course didn't last long because not ten minutes later did a certain brunette girl that he loved so much called him interrupting his work.

"I miss you soooo much!"

"Miss you too Lily, but hey I heard you're going to Kindergarten in two months."

"I am, I am!" she screamed excitedly. "I'm gonna be a big girl now!"

"I know you are sweetie." Lucas responded sweetly. He turned his chair from the door looking at the sight his window was offering him. It was afternoon already and people as usual were busily walking down the streets of New York.

"But I miss you Lukie…" she repeated. "When are you gonna return?" she innocently asked.

He sighed. He hated being away from his family in especially his little sister but he really had no choice. You had to make sacrifices when working in a big company like he was and especially if that said company was in another city.

"Soon Lily. I'm going to come visit you, ma and Keith."

"Yay!" she screamed again. "But when Lukie when?" she asked all excitedly.

"As soon as I can I promise. But first I have to take care of some things here before I can take a break and come see you guys."

"And then you'll take me out for ice cream? And we'll go play at the park and you'll read me lotsa books?" she wondered.

"I'll do that and more." he promised.

"Will you take me to the River Court with Jenny and uncle Jakey?"

"Well when I get there I'll ask but I'm sure they'll say yes."

"And what about Skills and Fergie?" she listed off happily.

"You know they'll love to come too…still having problems with Junk?" he asked smiling at that thought. His little sister and one of his best friends since childhood had a weird relationship. They loved antagonizing each other but he knew it was all fun and games to them, well at least he hoped it was.

"Junk is a meanie! He teases me Lukie!"

"I know he does but he does it because he loves you." he reminded her. Princess sorry to say this but I have to go now." he said hating how he could practically picture the pout on her face as he said it.

"But I love talking to you." she whined into the phone.

"I know and so do I but I have lots and lots of big boy work to do and plus remember the sooner I finish the sooner I can come see you." he reminded her smiling a bit at that thought.

"Mmhm…okay but promise to call me soon?"

"I promise."

"Love you Lukie."

"Love you more Princess." he said before hanging up. Every time he called his family in Tree Hill he felt good but also bad that he couldn't see them like he wanted to. It hurt him being away from them but he would see them soon enough so for now he wouldn't worry much about that anymore.

He leaned back into his chair closing his eyes. He felt so relaxed right now and just as he decided to take a small nap here in his office chair; a voice cleared its throat. Turning around, he saw the last person he expected to see in his office.

"What are you doing here?" he asked mostly out of curiosity. It was surprising to say the least to see her here especially after what happened between them but there she was. He didn't expect to see her here if today was any indication of where they stood.

"I just…" she stopped and took a deep breath. "Luke please we need to talk."

"Okay…so talk then." he tried saying as calmly as he could despite the fact that his heart was beating so fast. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do considering what happened between them but he didn't have the heart to turn her away.

It was later afternoon when the sound of a man throwing his racket to the floor was heard. Julian was frustrated. After dropping Brooke off her mom's house he had invited his best friend and brother to come play a game of tennis in one of their favorite private clubs.

"Dude what happened today? Alex and I creamed you at tennis!" a brunet man said as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

Julian simply gave him an annoyed look ignoring what he said. He had a lot in his mind and listening to his best friend's comments wasn't helping him. He had known David Fletcher since he was a little kid and since then they had been the best of friends. They were alike and yet so different at the same time that people always wondered how they could get along so well.

"Hey Julian you okay?" his brother Alexander asked worriedly upon seeing his thoughtful expression.

"Not really." he answered back taking a seat in a nearby bench. He took a sip of his water bottle trying to cool his thirst.

"What's up with your ass?" David asked taking a seat next to him.

"It's Brooke man."

"I thought things were going good between you guys. I mean aren't you guys looking into that wedding bullshit?"

Julian scowled. "First of all David, nothing about my wedding is "bullshit" as you put it." At that David rolled his eyebrows. "And to answer your question, yeah we are. Earlier today we actually went to take care of some stuff but she really wasn't into it."

"Really? Brooke Davis, your crazy wedding planning fiancée not into it?" Alexander interjected with a bemused expression on his face.

"She saw Lucas today." he told them, earning an 'oh' from David.

"What's wrong with that bro?" Alexander innocently asked. Julian simply gave him a glare. "They're just friends Juls."

"You just don't understand Lex." Julian said shaking his head. "There's something going on with them and I…God!" he screamed with frustration. "I feel like I might lose her and I don't want that."

"Julian," Alexander started to say, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I've known Brooke for a while now and she would never do anything on purpose to hurt you. She loves you so just trust your girl." He stood up giving his little brother a reassuring look before leaving the court.

"What do you think?" Julian asked turning to his best friend who had been relatively quiet on this topic. He was hoping for some sort of opinion on this matter from him.

"You don't want to know what I think." he said as he started gathering his things around the court.

"Humor me." Julian told him watching as he went around to collect his tennis racket and balls. David returned to where he was a few seconds later.

David stood there looking at his best friend wondering if he should tell him what he was thinking. After seconds of thinking it over he decided that there was no harm in letting him know.

"If I were you, I would take Brooke out of New York and ask her to marry me there and now." he said patting his shoulder a bit. "But that's just what I think." He started walking towards the exit of the court leaving a contemplative Julian behind.

Lucas sat in his chair waiting for the brunette to make a move. So far she just stood in front of him nervously intertwining her fingers together. He could tell she was nervous at whatever she had to say to him so he remained quiet hoping she would gain her confidence soon.

"I've missed you Lucas." Brooke finally said.

"Brooke wh-"

"No please let me finish." she said holding her hand up. "I know I messed up. I know it was all on me and I'm sorry."

"Brooke I already forgave you." he reminded her with a faint smile.

"But you haven't forgotten."

"I-I just…we've already talked about this before." Lucas told her, not wanting to get into this again. They already talked so why couldn't she just let it go?

"I can't let it go." she answered like if she had read his mind.

"What do you want from me?" he tiredly asked taking a deep breath.

"I already told you, I've missed you Luke and I know things will probably never be the same between us but I want to have back what we had. Lucas I want us to be friends again like we use to."

"Brooke…"

"You once told me you could never fully stay mad at me." she reminded him when she saw the hesitation in his face.

Lucas ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He wasn't expecting this conversation at all. He thought that whatever they had was over two months ago. "That's just it Brooke I'm not mad. I'm more…disappointed than anything else."

"Disappointed?" she questioned. She expected hurt, anger, anything along those lines but disappointment? She could handle anything else but him being disappointed in her.

Seeing that look on her face Lucas decided to explain to her what he meant. "Is just that you were slowly becoming a huge important part of my life but that night when all that stuff went down between us…it made me realize something."

"What did you realize?" she hesitantly asked.

"That I was never going to come close to being that for you."

"Luke no I-"

"You believed him Brooke." he interrupted her sternly. "I understand he is your boyfriend and that everything he says goes but you didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. You just assumed the worst of me and blamed me for something I would never ever do."

He was right but she wasn't going to give up that easily. "Lucas all I can say is that I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and things just got out of control before I even realized what I was stupidly accusing you of." she told him with tears threatening to come out. "You're my best friend Luke and I hate myself for ever believing that you were capable of hurting me that way."

Lucas got up from his chair, going around his desk towards her. He stood in front of her leaning against his desk. He hated seeing she was on the verge of crying. He didn't like seeing her shed tears even if a part of him thought she deserved it.

"Brooke…" he managed to say as he made a move to comfort her but then thought otherwise. He couldn't keep doing things like this. It would just make things harder for him.

"Broody please I just want to have you back in my life again." she pleaded with sincerity in her voice.

He knew he shouldn't. That it was better if he just completely cut her out of his life for good. That his life would be so much easier if she wasn't in it but one look at her beautiful hazel eyes and he knew he couldn't do that to her, to them. He had to have her in his life because he just couldn't function right without her anymore. Over the past two months his life just wasn't how it was when Brooke was in it. Whether he liked it or not, Brooke Davis was so intertwined with him that even if he could, he wouldn't be able to live without her at all.

"Come here." he said holding his arms out to her with a smile. Brooke looked a little surprise for a moment before a huge dimple smile broke through her face. Without thinking about it she launched herself into his arms making him bump back into his desk. "Calm down crazy girl!" he exclaimed, the feeling of being completely happy with just holding her once more coming to him.

He really did miss her just like she missed him.

"So we're okay?" she hesitantly asked as she somewhat pulled away from his embrace.

"Yeah but…"

"Please no buts Lucas." she whined, pouting slightly.

Lucas chuckled a bit. "No wait hear me out." he told her gently. "We can't immediately just go back to what we had. That's impossible…it will take some time. But what we can do is you know hang out some and see where that takes us."

"Kinda like starting all over?" she skeptically asked.

"Yeah sort off." he said hoping she would accept that. For now that was all that he could offer. Things were probably never going to be the same between them after what happened but he was hoping they might just get there eventually.

"Well that sounds reasonable." she responded as she shrugged her shoulders a bit. She would agree with anything he said as long as he was right beside her.

"Cool…so there's a little Italian place around the corner that just open recently and I was thinking that maybe we could go some time."

"Sounds good Broody." she said grinning a little. "But if you want to we could go…" her phone ranged interrupting what she was going to say. "Hold that thought…Hello? Oh hey…umm now? Yeah…is it important?…I guess I have time…alright see you then…you too."

"Julian?" he guessed when he saw the sheepish expression she now held.

"Yeah he umm wants to see me for some reason." Brooke said. She was hoping things weren't about to become awkward between them again. They hadn't talked about the kiss they shared (for obvious reasons) but she knew they needed to get everything out in the open if things were going to get back to normal. She hoped that in another time that talk would happen soon.

"Then I guess I'll see you around?"

Brooke nodded her head in agreement and just because she could she hugged him one last time relishing the warmth of his embrace. "I'll text you okay?" she whispered looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"Sounds good." he said and before he knew what happened, she gave him a friendly peck on his cheek close to his mouth.

"Bye Luke" she said and then quickly left. Lucas a bit shock as to what happened touched the place where she kissed him and then smile faintly.

He was beyond screwed but he wouldn't change that kiss or everything that had happened between them for the world.

When Brooke got the call from Julian asking her to meet up with him at his apartment, she really didn't think much of it. She had been there countless of times since their relationship started so she wasn't worried about it just curious. When she finally got there he led her to his living room and told her sit down. Again Brooke wasn't worried but she did notice something was going on with him. She was patiently waiting for him to say something but he just sat there holding her hand tightly.

"Julian, what's going on? You called telling me you needed to tell me something important but so far you haven't said a word."

"I did something." he finally spoke looking at her intently.

"You're scaring me Julian. What did you do?" she nervously asked. She thought she could handle what he had to tell her but what if she couldn't? What if he was about to reveal something horrible? Would she be able to handle that?

"I bought two tickets to Las Vegas."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I don't understand. Why did you buy them?" Was he planning on going to Las Vegas on a business trip and was just telling her now?

"The flight is set to leave for tonight. I bought them because I…because I want you to come with me."

"Julian I-I can't just go to Vegas with you. There's so much going on here and we can't just leave to Vegas of all places."

"Brooke you're not getting it. Going to Vegas won't be just for pleasure." he said shaking his head lightly at her.

"Then for what?" she asked feeling truly confuse at what was going on.

"I want us to get marry there."

To say she was surprise wouldn't be completely accurate. She was more than surprise she was beyond it. She was not expecting this to be happening right now. What about their wedding plans?

Julian had obviously lost it.

"Julian what about our plans?"

"Forget them Brooke! I don't care about all that stuff! All I care is about you and me being together forever."

Oh this could not be happening. Things weren't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to wait until the next year while planning and making all the preparations necessary for their wedding, her dream wedding!

"I-I…Julian why can't we wait?"

He frowned. "You're hesitating, why?" he questioned with hurt clear in his tone. He thought she would be happy to marry him immediately after he said it. Her reluctance though was starting to worry him.

"Is just that…" she stood up from the couch running her hand through her dark chocolate curls. She started pacing around the room. "That's not how I want to do things. I want a real wedding not what you're proposing a-and I-"

"Brooke." He stopped her pacing by placing his hands on her shoulders. "You will get that I promise but for now I just want people to know you're mine so they won't try anything against us."

"People?"

"My mother has been recently up to her old tricks" he informed her with distaste. "She paid me a visit a few days ago and tried to convince me again to leave you. I of course told her no but you know how she is. She's not giving up easily and when she heard we had started our wedding planning she went crazy."

Brooke stood there contemplating what he just said. He made some sense but still this was a big decision for her to make.

"Brooke I love you and you love me right?"

"Of-Of course I do."

"Then I see no problem." he told her smiling because he knew he was close to convincing her. "Baby we go to Las Vegas tonight," At this point he was holding her hands in his. "get marry and if you want to we could stay there for our honeymoon or go wherever you want for it."

"Julian…" she started to say, her eyes closing. She really needed to think things through because this wasn't something that could be taken lightly. If she agreed by this time tomorrow she would be Mrs. Julian Baker and if she didn't then she wasn't too sure Julian was going to stay by her side. Despite her conflicting feelings for Lucas she knew she still loved Julian.

"Brooke...please." he begged. "Please baby, let's leave this city and get marry in Vegas." he pleaded one more time.

"Okay…" she murmured. "let's go to Vegas."

To Be Continued…

Please don't hate me for what happened here guys. This was planned since the beginning but I promise that things won't last like this for too long. You'll see what I mean in chapter eleven so please don't lose hope just yet.

Anyways please tell me what you thought. I know you all are thinking 'why Brooke why!' but just remember she "loves" Julian right now and whatever she was starting to feel for Lucas isn't as strong because she hasn't allowed herself to think much about it. That's just my reasoning and I hope you all understand it.

Please Review!