Disclaimer: I do not, as much as I wish I did, own OTH or any of the songs in this story. All I own is the plot of the story, and I barely own that.

AN: Hey guys, I know it's been… longer than forever! I lost all inspiration for this story a while back, and I really hated that I couldn't even give those of you who were still reading an ending. I've recently started writing again but I still have no inspiration for this so I've decided to write an ending instead. I tried to close up any and all loose ends, but it's possible I may have missed some things. I hope you enjoyed this story before it kind of died. Thanks so much for all your support – and sorry again for taking so long to finish this for you guys.

Love you for reading and reviewing – you guys are the best readers ever!

Kasey

Chapter 23: When you say goodbye, say it like a lie

"It's funny. If you had told me two months ago that this is how my life would have ended up, I'd have called you a liar. It's kind of surreal."

"Not really," Chris smiled and sidled up to the girl, his arm dropping onto her shoulder as they both gazed out the window, "I mean you got the guy, the kid, the amazing and sexy as fuck best friend," Brooke giggled at that, digging her elbow into his side, "it's kind of perfect. And it's definitely what you deserve."

Brooke looked up at him, a quick grin sliding over her face as she lifted up onto her toes to give him a light kiss on the cheek, "You're too sweet sometimes, you know that?"

"Chris Keller is many amazing things," he countered, nudging her and tightening his arm.

"I'm glad you're back, by the way. That month you were gone felt like forever."

"I know," he frowned, "I told Haley I'd help her get a hold of my old music producer and he insisted I write three new songs and have them recorded before I came back."

Silence fell for several minutes, Brooke fingering a hole in his jacket, "Peyton called me this morning from LA. She and Julian are all settled in."

Chris made a face of distaste, never a huge fan of the fashion designer's former beau, "How is he dealing with the fact that he's gonna be a dad?"

"Freaking. Majorly," a laugh escaped her and she shook her head, "Peyt says that they've decided to get a three bedroom apartment together. They're not even sure if they're going to be together, but they know that they want this to go as smoothly as possible for the baby."

The musician looked over hesitantly, "And Lucas?"

"He's better," she admitted, nodding slowly, "I know I haven't talked about him at all, and it's not because I'm still hung up on what happened. Things are just strange with us. He apologized for the kiss and everything else that happened between us, but it still just feels like it's hanging over us. We need some time apart before we can fix our friendship. Besides," she glanced over, brow raised, "Haley told me he ran off to New York in an attempt to win Lindsey back. Something tells me he won't be back for a while."

Chris nodded, "I guess it's kind of like Haley and Nathan, huh?"

"Kind of… how did you pull that off, by the way?"

The boy shrugged, "I just reminded Haley that music was something she loved and that her family could always go with her. Luckily for me, Nathan agreed and didn't fight it since I wouldn't be on tour with her. And the rugrat was super excited."

"I bet Rachel is glad you stayed," she giggled when he shot her a pointed look and she shrugged, "Oh come on, as if she wasn't going to tell me what happened between you two once we were talking again. She seems to think you guys really hit it off."

"I guess we did. Who know Chris Keller would get the girl?"

"As long as it's not my girl," a new voice spoke, Jake stepping in with a happy smile when his eyes met Brooke. "Hey, there."

Brooke smiled back, walking into his arms, "Hey back."

"You two are sickening, I hope you know that," the musician whined, covering his eyes, "what if the children see?"

"Sam took Jenny to my parents for the day," Jake shrugged, giving his friend a grin, "Glad you're back, man. It didn't feel right without you here to finish off our trio."

"You know me," Chris shrugged, a twinkle in his eye, "Chris Keller's work here is never truly done."

The end!

AN: I know this is super short and probably not a worthy ending to this story, but I figure it's better to give you guys some sort of ending than to just forget about it. THANKS AGAIN!