It's a strange thing when you realize that the place you've been running from is the place you need to return to the most.

Strange, but not uncommon.

It was night now, and Peyton sped through the darkness down the deserted road with a sort of anxious determination. She had calmed down by this time; thought and reason were beginning to work their way back into her head. Lucas was upset over Lindsey. He was always confused over a bad break-up, which was why he hadn't come to back Peyton after he had broken up with Brooke in senior year. Now, he was just using Brooke as a rebound, just like he had way back in junior year when Peyton turned him down at first.

She was confident. Happy, even. With every mile-marker she passed, a new piece of a new plan formed in Peyton's head. She would go to him, give him one of the speeches he had always given her. Lucas had always saved her. Now it was her turn to save him.

Marker 220. She would be home by night tomorrow. Her plan kept forming.

By marker 227, she had it. Simple, but perfect. She would go home, take a shower. Slip into something he would like. Then, the battle charge to his house, and she would confess. Of course, there would probably be a side trip where Brooke's hair got ripped out, but that didn't seem noble enough to be formally placed into her plan. All that mattered was that Lucas would finally receive a famous speech, like the ones he had been giving over the last few years.

Peyton would get him back.

Because sometimes they come back.

The door slammed shut with a resounding bang through the house, and Nathan jumped from his chair in the kitchen. Going into the entryway, he jammed his hands into his pockets with a warm smile.

"Hey, Hales. Um, what did the door do to get in so much trouble?" Haley had just gotten home from C/B with Jamie.

Haley jumped eagerly towards him, but then stepped back aloofly. "Oh I'm not mad, just… ecstatic." She shrugged with a roll of her eyes. Nathan grinned. His wife could certainly keep 'em on the hook.

"Why, what'd you do?"

Haley glanced down to Jamie, who was loitering near her legs. "Hey, Jame, why don't you go get up into bed? I'll be up to say goodnight in a minute."

He nodded, obviously too tired to disagree as he usually did. He wandered up the stairs, rubbing his bleary eyes.

Once Jamie was upstairs, Haley and Nathan walked together into the living room. They sat together on the couch. Nathan slapped a hand on Haley's thigh.

"Now, what's got you so delighted?"

Haley shrugged, looking away with a smile. "Oh, you know, wheels set in motion, things happening. The usual."

"With Brooke and Lucas, huh?" Nathan suggested mildly. Haley broke and turned to him.

"Oh, alright, yes! Lucas is finally starting to do stuff on his own. I really think this could work!" Nathan laughed at the complete collapse of Haley's façade. But his face became somber, quickly.

"But you're still worried," he said. It wasn't a question.

She stopped bubbling and her face became stony. "No I'm not," Haley said quickly.

"You're Haley James-Scott; Worrying is in your nature. It's an instinct!"

"Oh, shut up, Nate." But she conceded the point. "I'm going to go tuck in Jamie." Haley stuck her tongue out at him before jumping off the couch and going upstairs.

When she returned, Nathan was still on the couch. "He asleep?" Nathan asked when Haley plopped down.

Haley snorted. "He was out. Jamie didn't even hear me come in."

"Alright then," Nathan smiled, "What's got you so worried?"

She examined her finger nails. "Just all of this stuff with Brooke and Lucas," she muttered.

"Haley, I thought that was what you wanted to happen!" Nathan said incredulously.

"Yeah, well, not this well! I'm afraid now that Lucas doesn't know what he wants because I threw Brooke into the mix, and that he won't be true to her." Haley dropped the hand she had been scrutinizing and fell into Nathan's arms. They wrapped around her, and his strong arms made everything go away; all the worries and problems and issues that were happening right now would be ok.

"Hales, it'll be fine."

"I just don't want Brooke to have to get her heart broken again is all," she sighed into Nathan's chest. "I don't know if Lucas can be true."

"He can," Nathan said, in the same confident tone he had used a second ago. "I talked to him about it today. I trust him. You should too: he's your best friend since grade school. He'll make the right decision."

"Yeah," Haley agreed in a whispered word.

"But then there's the matter of Brooke. Doesn't she not want any of it?"

"No," Haley said, "it's more that she doesn't want to stand between Lucas and Peyton. I can tell she still loves him, I think everyone can. Even Rachel is trying to help; I saw her dropping Brooke off today and I could see how reserved Brooke was after talking to Rachel. It's now just a matter of convincing her Lucas is sure and that he won't break her heart again. But she's been avoiding him."

"Mm-hmm," Nathan said, deep in thought. "So what we need to do is get them together, like in the same room… And—"

Haley sat up. "And they'll have to face each other!" she finished triumphantly. "Nathan, you're verrry devious," Haley purred, biting her tongue.

"Well, you must be rubbing off on me, Haley James. You know, Jamie is already asleep…"

Haley smiled, winked, and walked upstairs. Nathan waited a minute, then followed.

If Haley was just a slight worrier, Lucas was the master. He tumbled into bed that night, after successfully putting Lily to sleep, tired and exhausted. But of course, the more tired you are the harder it is to go to sleep.

First, he thought about his mom and sister. Would they be ok? Lucas had been spending less and less time around the house as his daily deliberations grew, and he knew that Dan was trying to get at Lily. Lucas was afraid that one day, when he wasn't here, Dan would be.

But, there was Andy. Karen had met up with the New Zealander near the end of her trip, a few days before she heard Lucas was due to get married. Before that, she and Lily had been gone overseas for a year. Lucas knew that since Andy was back, he should not have to be as concerned as he was; Andy would take good care of two of the most important people in Lucas's life.

But his family was not the only thing he cared about. The Ravens were nearing play-off time, and they had a small chance to scrape a seat. In about two weeks, they would play first place Oak Lake, and Lucas feared they weren't ready.

There was Peyton, who still hadn't returned to Tree Hill since Lucas last saw her. He wondered what she would do when (if) she returned and talked to Brooke.

And, on top of everything, there was Brooke. He thought about the book he had left on the steps of C/B today, his dedication to her. Wondered if she trusted him. Questioned if he trusted himself around her. Worried that she would leave him. Worried about what could happen.

The only thing that seemed concrete in his life, his thoughts right now, was that Lucas needed Brooke in his life, and that she was slipping away from him.

Finally, when sleep overcame him and began to push him into unconsciousness, Lucas fell back onto his pillows and looked at the clock on his nightstand. The glowing crimson letters stood out cleanly in the darkness. 4:47.

Just like it had yesterday afternoon, Lucas's phone blared from the nightstand, rousing him.

"Screw it," he grumbled, rolling over and putting his hands over his ears. A quick glance at his alarm clock told him that it was 8:30 a.m. Great. He had gotten less than four hours of sleep.

But the phone continued to ring, and Lucas sadly found that he couldn't fall back into unconsciousness, so he rose and answered.

"Nathan, I'm going to block your number from now on," Lucas muttered.

"Then I'll use Haley's," Nathan answered sharply. "Morning, man. Hey listen, we're having a little dinner tonight, and Haley wanted you to come. What do you think?" Nathan's voice had a certain tone that was always present when he was lying through his teeth, but Lucas's grogginess and irritation at being woken up prevented him from hearing it.

"Uh, yeah, sure, man. What time?"

"About 6:30. See you there, Luke." Nathan hung up the phone and gave a thumbs-up to Haley, who was on the house phone.

"Hey, Tigger," Haley was saying. She nodded to Nathan. "What's up?"

"Nothing, Haley," Brooke replied, "I'm just going to open up the store. You?"

"Oh, nothing, just making breakfast. Hey, listen, we're having a little family get-together tonight, and I wanted to thank you properly for staying with Jamie, so do you want to come over?" Luckily, Haley was much more adept at hiding the truth than Nathan was, because Brooke was wide awake and her usual perky self.

"Sure, tutor girl. What time?"

"Around six, so you have time to close up and stuff. Is that good with you?"

"Of course. It combines my two favorite things: Parties, and you three! I'll see you then, Hales."

And so, the day went on as normal. Brooke tended to the shop and gave Rachel her orientation tour; Lucas went over old things from high school and before; Peyton willed her car to get home faster; and Nathan, Haley, and Jamie all prepared for the party.

It was right before closing at Clothes/Bros that the bell over the door tinkled and Karen Roe walked in. She saw Brooke staring off into space and went over to her.

"Hi, Brooke," Karen said as Brooke rose to hug her.

"Hi, Karen. How are you? How's Lily?" Brooke had not met the little brunette yet, but she had heard Lucas talking about his sister over the past few months.

"Oh, everything's fine. Lily's almost five now, just a few months."

Brooke smiled. "How cute."

That was when Karen bit her lip and turned to Brooke with a smile. She decided to address the reason for Brooke's reverie. "So, Brooke, did Lucas finally tell you?"

Brooke threw her hands into the air, completely exasperated but still good natured. "Does everyone know?" she laughed. Brooke decided to play it off; how could Karen possibly know everything?

"Brooke," Karen said, "I think I knew that Lucas loved you longer than he did. I saw the way that he looked at you while you were dating, even if I didn't understand why you were together. I saw the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of you later. I knew that it was going to happen eventually," she said matter-of-factly.

"No, Karen, it won't happen. I—with Peyton and everything, I want her to be happy, and I know that she's happy with Lucas. And Lucas is happy with her. I'm not going to ruin that."

Karen gave her a contemplative look. "Brooke, are you sure you're not hiding behind the "Peyton's happiness" point because you have no other reason? Because you're afraid of what will happen?"

Silence.

Karen thought for a moment. "But you do love him, right?" Brooke reluctantly nodded. "Good, because I didn't want to have to call you out for lying to me. I'm a mom, Brooke; I know when people are lying," she added when she saw Brooke's surprised face.

"Karen," Brooke said after a moment, "You loved Dan in High School, right?"

Karen nodded, both wary and confused as to where this was going.



"When he left you, at the end of high school, how did you get over it?"

Karen smiled, remembering another lost, confused, broken teenager asking her the same question four years ago. She answered the same way she did back then: "When I do, I'll let you know."

Brooke bit her lip.

"Brooke, let me tell you a story. After you and Lucas split up for the first time, Keith proposed to me. I got scared. I was unsure of what I wanted. I turned him down. I was just like you, Brooke. I knew in my heart what was supposed to happen, but I thought too much with my head. Then he was with someone else for a while, and so was I. But then Keith left after his wedding. When he came back, I realized what I had truly always wanted. We were going to be married, Brooke. But life cut in." Karen's voice broke slightly at this point, but she continued on with renewed vigor. "Had I gone with my heart when he first proposed, we would have been together longer, and perhaps he would even be alive now. But I made the biggest mistake of all and now I regret it daily." She rose slowly from the couch. "You know what's right." She nodded and gave Brooke another hug, and left. Over the years, Karen had learned that the best way to make something sink in was to leave the person alone to mull over what had been said.

It definitely worked: Brooke was left alone with her scattered thoughts. Except now she seemed more… assured?

"Ok, Jamie, party time," Nathan said as he walked into Jamie's room.

"Can I show them my drawings?" Jamie asked, holding up a pile of painted pictures, ones that he had been working on all day. Nathan had to keep reminding him not to tell Brooke anything about Lucas coming over, or of the plan for later tonight.

"Of course you can, but we want it to be a surprise, ok?" Nathan told him in a conspiratorial whisper. Jamie giggled and nodded.

Just then the doorbell rang. Nathan looked back towards Jamie's doorway, then back at his son. "Party time. You ready?" He held out a fist to pound.

"Oh yeah," Jamie said, just like he did on game nights with Q. He hit Nathan's fist and ran downstairs. Nathan laughed and followed.

Brooke walked in just as Haley was walking down the stairs.

"Aunty Brooke, do you want to see my room?" Jamie asked immediately. Haley laughed and waited for Brooke to respond.

"Uh, not right now, Jame, how about after dinner? I think I'm going to talk to your Mom and Dad right now," Brooke said with a glance at Haley. Haley smiled at her.

Jamie heaved a sigh. "Ok." He went back upstairs, and Haley came over to Brooke.

"Did I really disappoint him that much?" Brooke asked, still looking at the spot Jamie had disappeared.

Haley gave her friend a hug. "Nah, he has everyone wrapped around his little finger. Good for him, bad for everyone else." Brooke laughed.

"He seems really excited about something," Brooke observed as she followed Haley into the family room, where Nathan was watching a basketball game on TV. He greeted Brooke warmly.

"Yeah, Jamie's been like that all day, for some strange reason," Nathan said with a secret glance at Haley as Brooke sat down.

It had only been a half hour, but Jamie had bombarded his godmother with tons of pictures. The two were seated together on the couch, talking and laughing, while Nathan and Haley made dinner in the kitchen behind them.

Brooke put down the latest picture of her and Lucas, and Jamie turned to her.

"Brooke, are you going to marry my Uncle Lucas?"

Brooke laughed at the assumed joke, but Jamie's wide eyes were serious. "Uh—" What was she supposed to say to that?

But Jamie kept talking. "Because I saw you kiss him the other night, before Momma and Daddy came home. You were crying, and he made you feel better."

In the kitchen behind them, Haley suddenly dropped the knife she had been using and looked at Nathan. They hadn't known about this. By unspoken agreement, the two leaned in, busying their hands so that Brooke didn't think that they were listening.

"Um, Jamie—" Brooke was stammering. "When I kissed Lucas…" It was apparent that the words were barely formed in her mind, let alone her mouth. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Brooke leapt up to get it. As she passed Nathan and Haley, they heard her mutter to herself, "Saved by the bell."

As soon as she was out of sight, Haley turned to Nathan and cocked her head with a scandalous expression on her face. Kissed? She mouthed. Nathan shrugged, shaking his head with the same shocked expression.

In the entryway, Brooke bounded to the door, already pushing Jamie's revelation to the back of her mind. She even smiled as she opened up the door.

"Uh, hi, Brooke," Lucas said, "What are you doing here?" He seemed slightly confused, as if it was all some sort of joke.

"I'm here for dinner," Brooke replied, echoing his confusion as the smile melted off her face, "Are you?" Brooke specifically forgot to mention the book. In fact, it would be left out of all her conversations for the rest of the night.

"Yeah. Can I come in?" Brooke stood aside from the doorway, letting him in with a small smile. However, her expression on the outside was nowhere near whar she was thinking.

I swear to God I am going to kill Haley James Scott.

Dinner at the Scott's was quieter than normal. Mostly, it consisted of Brooke shooting daggers at Haley, who was looking extremely pleased with herself. Jamie told the table all about Chester, his friend Andre at school, the new dance that Q was teaching him, and all the pictures he had drawn today.

When Jamie didn't disclose the exact contents of the pictures, Lucas asked. "What were you drawing all day, Jimmy-Jam?"

Brooke snorted into her spaghetti with laughter, then looked up to find that the whole table was staring at her. "S-sorry," she apologized. Lucas turned back to Jamie.

"I'd like to see them tonight, Jame," he said in a friendly tone. Brooke smirked internally; she wondered what Lucas would think of them.

Meanwhile, Peyton had just gotten home. With a relieved sigh, she pulled into the driveway of hers and Brooke's house. Getting out of the car, she gave the hood of her Comet an affectionate rub before hastening inside.

The shower seemed to take forever, the anticipation was so strong. In fact, she had never felt so many emotions at one time: happiness, hope, fear, courage, anxiousness, giddiness, and a strange, bittersweet sadness that she was trying her best to ignore. All of it mixed into a mess that stormed violently inside of her and fueled her preparations.

After what seemed like forever, the shower was done, and Peyton climbed out, hurrying into Brooke's room for something to wear. After her quick thumb through the closet rewarded her with nothing, she made to go into her room, but something on the bedside table caught her eye.

It was a small book, one that had obviously been read several times, even though it looked new. Peyton could tell by the way that the pages were worn on the edges. Brooke reads? She thought with a smirk. She picked it up, as well as the packaging below it. There were no markings on the book, just a black cover. It wasn't a bible — not that I was expecting that: Brooke isn't exactly virtuous, Peyton thought as she read the packaging below the book. Huh. To Brooke. So it was a gift. Somehow, the writing seemed painfully familiar, but Peyton didn't really care. She opened up the book with a bored curiosity. The logic that had been in Peyton all day long was working again. It wasn't Brooke's fault with Lucas. Peyton opened the book to the first page. She could forgive Brooke. She—

To my Comet.

It was Lucas's book. Peyton's stomach dropped. She had to see him now. Peyton threw the book on the floor as she flew out of the room, hurrying to get clothes. Everything felt as if it was on automatic, like she was watching her own actions from the sidelines.

As she ran downstairs, she heard the phone beep— Waiting message from 6:15, the cool female voice said.

Peyton would have ignored it, but something made her freeze. His voice.

"Hey, Brooke, it's me, Lucas. It's about six fifteen, I'm going to head over to Nathan and Haley's for dinner." Sigh. "Please pick up, Brooke. I just want to hear your voice. Ok then, I guess I'll just…talk to you later." Peyton heard him sigh once more before the message clicked off.

Nathan and Haley's.

Peyton needed to get there now, as if getting to him sooner would make Lucas come back. She wrenched open the door and flew outside.

After dinner, Nathan had moved the get-together outside, where drinks were served beside the pool. The five were all relaxing when Nathan suddenly sneezed, loudly.

Jamie jumped up and took off up the steps, into the house, yelling for his mom to catch him. "Oh, Jamie," Haley sighed, exasperatedly getting up to follow him.

Nathan stood up as well. "I guess I'd better go help too. Jamie is way too excited for one person, even Haley. I'll be right back."

And then, Brooke and Lucas were alone.

The pool glowed blue against the dark moonless night, the two contrasting like yin and yang. It cast a silky glow over the couple left out on the pool deck, and seemed to blanket the silence in an artificial shine.

"Brooke," Lucas said, and she looked up, ruefully, reluctantly, warily, from the spot of concrete she had been scrutinizing all night. Her eyes held something he couldn't read. It was the first time they had done more than exchange glances the entire time. But he still saw the reluctance when she didn't entirely meet his eyes, focusing instead on his chin.

"Brooke, I remember the first time we met," he continued.

Brooke held up a hand to stop him. "Lucas, don't." Her eyes flashed, but Lucas didn't see anger in them. Instead, he saw fear. She was…afraid of something.

What Lucas didn't know was that she was scared. Terrified, in fact. Terrified that Lucas would make one of his famous speeches.

Terrified that she was going to fall for him again.

Of course, she tried to ignore the fact that she already had.

Lucas continued on. "Brooke, you said something that night that we met that has stuck with me all these years. You said that this was the night it was all going to change. And you know what? It was. It was the night we met. And that changed everything."

Brooke ran the hand that she had been holding up through her hair, and Lucas watched her shoulders sink. She swallowed, looking regretfully to one side, avoiding his eyes.

"I didn't arrange this, any of it," he said, leaning forward and trying to meet her gaze. "But I'm happy for it. Brooke, talk to me."

"Do you remember New York?" She said suddenly.

"Yeah," he laughed in nervous relief; Lucas thought that she was going tear away from him again. "I remember, we—"

"When you called me, Luke, my mind went in ten different directions. First, I was excited, I was going to see you again. Then I panicked, I couldn't find anything to wear. Then, on the ride there, I felt scared for the first time since high school." Lucas looked up at her at this, and she continued on. "I thought— I was afraid that I was going to fall for you again." Her voice faded to a whisper.

Lucas gave a little smile. "Brooke—"

"I did, Luke. As soon as I saw you in that bar, brooding as usual, I did. I fell for you again," Brooke said despairingly shaking her head with a dry look on her face. She sniffed and closed her eyes, trying to regain composure. "I did. But then I realized that you proposed to Peyton, and I buried it all again."

Lucas didn't even get a chance to reply before Brooke continued on.

"And then you kissed me. For an instant, we were together again, and everything was ok. But you were just heartbroken over Peyton's refusal. I pulled away 

because I wasn't going to get sucked in again, wasn't going to be the used again for the rebound." She finished with shaky finality.

Lucas shook his head, staring at the ground as he tried to find words for the thoughts going through his mind. Finally, he settled on automatic, and the words floated out themselves.

"When Peyton and I were together, it was… novocain. Peyton iced over the pain in my chest in the days after we broke up. Eventually, everyone was pushing me to her, I just gave in, and it became easy to live. No one even blinked when Peyton and I got together, and everyone thought it was meant to be. I guess, I confused that safety with love, and I got scared when that was being taken away from me after high school. I proposed so it wouldn't go away, and she turned me down. That night in New York, I wasn't searching for a rebound, or an easy lay. I was looking for some of that same safety, and I knew it could be found with you. A-a-and a few days ago, you said that I had had my heartbroken when Peyton turned me down. I wasn't heartbroken. It was… It was like crashing after a high, withdraw symptoms. The numbness of life without Peyton, I thought it was heartbreak. But I should've known, the only time I ever was heartbroken was when Brook Davis left me."

In any other situation, the words would have been contrite and over-dramatic. But Lucas said them with such passion and longing that Brooke couldn't help but believe them.

He stood up, searching Brooke's face, her eyes, for any sort of signal, anything that he could read that would tell him what she was thinking after his speech. He found none, just the same melancholy gaze that had pervaded her being for the past few days.

Brooke stayed seated, but looked up into his face, avoiding his eyes even still. "I— I didn't— I never wanted to leave you, but I couldn't have my heart broken again. Everything that was going on with Peyton, I thought it was only a matter of time. And…" Her raspy voice trailed off.

"Brooke?" Lucas prompted.

"I thought that you deserved better than me, Luke. Peyton made you happy. You made Peyton happy. What was I still doing between you two?"

Lucas reached down and clasped his hand around Brooke's wrist, pulling her upwards until she was standing with her eyes at his shoulder-level. "Brooke, when we broke up, I felt that dull, aching pain in my chest. Until then, I had never considered 'heartbreak' to be a physical symptom, but I felt it then, and I felt it all the nights after as I slept, even if I didn't acknowledge it. And I swear to god, I would never put you through that again."

Brooke stayed silent, looking off to the side.

"Just trust me."

Brooke finally looked up at him, and their eyes met truly for the first time tonight.

Lucas continued his speech. "I know I've given you a trillion reasons not to, and that you've put yourself out there twice now. But there's something telling you to trust, Brooke, I know there is, because I have the same thing. That little voice in the back of your head, growing louder all the time. Believe it. Believe me. I'd never do anything to hurt you. I'd do anything for you, Brooke Davis, I love you."

She smiled a little smile. "Lucas, I want you to be the guy for me."

"I will be. I am."

And then they were kissing, and the passion and longing danced in the air. Their bodies fitted perfectly against each other, their hands intertwining below them, their dark forms silhouetted against the sparkling pool background. The moment lasted an instant, and epoch, and the only thing that Brooke and Lucas knew was that they wanted to remain like this forever.

Peyton's car screeched into Nathan and Haley's driveway. It was a miracle that Peyton was even still alive right now, having driven like a bat out of hell across town to get to Nathan and Haley's.

She went up the back walk, hoping to catch someone outside and not make a scene. She rounded the band in the cobblestone path, coming into view of the backyard, and for the second time tonight, her stomach dropped farther than it had in her entire life.



A/N: Tah-dah! Well, I hoped you liked it.

I know it got kinda cheesy towards the end, but hey, BL needs some cheesy love moments, IMHO. D

As always, if anyone has any sort of suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them.

And lastly, leave a review please!

Of course, Thanks for reading!