So, I have this problem where I easily lose inspiration for certain stories that I'm writing. I really don't know, but I just do. Which is why it always takes me so long to update my stories and, really, I apologize a hundred times for that! I hate it when authors take a lifetime to update their stories, but I find myself guilty of doing it every single time. I'll try to work on it and be more frequent, but I can't promise anything. So, for the people that are still interested in this story, here's a new chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Please R&R!!

One Year ago.

He had called her, asking to meet her at the River Court about 10 minutes ago. So here she was, sitting on the bench, staring out into the water, waiting for him to show up. She had a feeling that this was the day. The day things would change between them.

They had been going back and forth for a while now, pushing the boundaries between friendship and romance, but never being able to step across the line. They were in limbo, and she was sick of it. She wanted more. No, she needed more. And she was almost certain that he was willing to give her more. He just needed to say it.

And it's not like Lucas was like all those other guys she used to sleep with or hang out with. He was different. He was genuine, and she knew she could trust him. They had been confiding in each other for so long now, that she was pretty certain that she could trust him with her heart, but still she held back, because if she trusted him with her heart completely, there'd be a bigger chance of it getting smashed into a million pieces.

It was then that she heard the sound of his basketball hitting the concrete over and over again. A few seconds later, he was sitting right next to her in that grey hoodie he loved so much, playing with that orange ball he also seemed to love so much. After a few quick hello's, it fell silent. But it wasn't an awkward silence. No, their silences never seemed to be awkward, they were more… comfortable. And it was that comfort that kept her hanging on for so long even though were times she felt like they were going absolutely nowhere.

From the first day they started hanging out, there had been an instant attraction and they both knew it. They both felt it. But she guessed they were both a bit too scared to act on it, so they settled for being good friends. Still, she kept wondering what was going on between them, still confused as to what exactly it was that they were.

Finally, after having had enough of the sound of crickets chirping and cars passing by, she decided to break the silence.

"So… you said you wanted to talk?" there was some kind of uncertainty in her voice. Uncertainty that usually wasn't there. She assumed it was caused by the fact that she was hoping his intentions for being there were the same as hers.

"Yeah. I, uh… I wanted to talk about -- well, I wanted to talk about us."

A small smile formed on her lips. Now she was almost a hundred percent sure they were there for the same thing.

"What about us?"

And that's when her hopes died. He turned to face her, and looked into her eyes, and there was no enthusiasm in his eyes. No hope, no love, just something that looked like instant regret. And that's when also instantly regretted getting her hopes up.

"We've been, um… we've been dancing around each other for a while now, and I think we both know that it's got to end sometime."

She merely nodded, her breath hitched in her throat, terrified of what he was about to say next.

"I really care about you, Brooke, you know that, right?"

Again, she merely nodded. She would not allow herself to get even more hope, even though it did make her feel a bit better when he said that he cared about her.

"That's why I think it would be better if we just stayed friends. Like we are now. You know what I mean?"

Heart shattered, eyes stinging, she nodded. She was crushed. Apparently he didn't want the same things she did. In fact, he wanted the exact opposite. She guessed she should've seen it coming. But that didn't make it any less painful to hear.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." she said in an almost inaudible voice, as she looked down, avoiding his gaze.

She then quickly jumped off of the bench and started making her way towards her car as she felt that she wasn't going to be able to hold back the tears any longer.

"Brooke?" his voice was confused. Almost a bit desperate, even. A frown had formed on his face as he turned around to watch her walk away with her back turned towards him.

"Yeah, I'll call you later, Luke." And with those words, she hopped into her car and sped off into the night, finally allowing her tears to fall freely.

--x--

Present day.

She never called him. In fact, all contact had started to fade away after that one fateful day. He had called her several times, but she always ignored it. Even at school, when he tried to sit with her at lunch, or chased her down the hallway, she would always be one step and one lie ahead of it, making up any excuse she could to spend as little time with him as possible.

When they finally lost all contact, and he had asked her about it once at a basketball game, she chalked it up to them being too different and having different lives. But she knew the real reason was that she could never be just friends with Lucas Scott. And it killed her that he thought she could.

But even after they stopped talking, he was always in her thoughts. Something she also hated. It was like she wasn't allowed to forget him, even though she wished she could.

Thinking back on that day, she wasn't even sure why she was engaging in this whole friends with benefits thing with him. All it really did was give her some pleasure for a little while, and afterwards she'd beat herself over the head for getting involved with Lucas again. It didn't matter if it was supposedly casual, any kind of involvement with Lucas Scott was way too dangerous for her. She was going to have to end this thing with him before she got in way too deep.

--x--

He still remembered that day like it was yesterday. The day he let her walk out of his life. And he still regretted just like he did that day. He never really knew what it was like to really regret something until that day happened. He still doesn't know what got into him. Fear, he guessed. Fear of not being able to give her everything she needed. Everything she deserved. Fear of not being good enough for her, or worthy of her love.

He never knew where that fear came from. Cause if his whole friendship with her had proved anything, it was that she was more than willing to give him her heart. And in many ways, she already had. And he decided to stomp on it and tear it into a million pieces.

"Great job, Luke." he muttered sarcastically under his breath to no one but himself. He then bounced the ball onto the concrete before shooting it into the hoop and scoring.

There he was again. At the "scene of crime" as he liked to call it. Visiting that court had never been the same after that day. Before, it was the one place where he felt safe. The one place where he felt completely understood and in his element. Now, all he felt from that place was guilt and shame.

"Nice shot."

He then turned around to see his curly haired friend walking towards him. He almost wanted her to get back in the car and meet him someplace else. He didn't feel like being there with anyone else but himself.

"Thanks." he said while letting out a small chuckle. 'What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, I called your cell phone several times and when none of my calls got answered, I figured you were here, shooting hoops. As always."

He chuckled a bit, amused by the fact that one didn't even have to know him so well to know that he spent almost all of his time on that river court. He then jogged over to the bench, where his cell phone was lying, hidden in his grey hoodie.

"So what was so important that you had to call me…" it was then that he took his cell phone out and decided to look at the number of times she called him. "Wow, 20 times." he said, his eyebrows lifted in fake shock.

"Shut up! It was 4 times, don't flatter yourself too much." she said as she hit him on the shoulder.

"I'm just messing with you." he chuckled. "No, but seriously, what was so important?"

"This was." she held up two tickets, a big smile forming on her face.

Lucas then frowned a bit, a bit oblivious as to what the tickets were for.

"It's two tickets to the Jimmy Eat World concert, you idiot!"

"Oh!" he then snatched one out of her hand and examined it.

"I told you I'd get us tickets!"

"Oh, right, I forgot about that."

Her mouth then formed an "o" and her eyes bulged a bit as she feigned shock. "You forgot? How could you forget about this concert, I've been going on and on about it for weeks."

"Yeah, maybe that's why I pushed it out of my mind, because I've had to endure talking about it for almost a month now."

He winced as he received another punch to his shoulder. Rubbing the sore spot she just gave him, he turned to look at her. "You know, it does hurt when you do that."

"Aw, you'll get over it." she playfully shrugged and then started walking towards her car. She turned around, walking backwards to her car so she could face him. "So, we're definitely on for Friday?"

"Yeah, sure. You didn't get the tickets for nothing, right?"

"Alright!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "I'll call you later."

And with those words, she got into her car and drove off and Lucas immediately felt a sting in his heart. He still remembered the last time those words were said to him right on this court. He remembered it all too clearly.

--x--

She heard the little bell ring as she walked through the door and made her way over to the counter, where her friend, Haley James, was busy serving up customers. She sat down on one of the stools and smiled as Haley immediately noticed her and walked over towards her.

"Hey, Tigger, what are you doing here?"

"I had this sudden urge for coffee."

Haley cocked an eyebrow, obviously not believing her lie. It was funny how Haley, a girl she hardly even knew a year ago, knew her so well now. She guessed she had Lucas to thank for that. By the time she had started hanging out so much with Lucas, Haley, Lucas' best friend since childhood, had also become a permanent fixture in her life.

For a while she was afraid she would also lose Haley in addition to losing her friendship with Lucas, but Haley had made it very clear that she was there for Brooke no matter what. And for that, Brooke was more than grateful.

It amazed her how Haley had managed to stay friends with both Lucas and Brooke during this whole thing.

"You had a sudden urge for coffee?"

"Mmm-hmm." Brooke nodded, praying that she could be able to convince Haley.

" Yeah, I'm not buying it."

She sighed, rolling her eyes at how she couldn't even get one little lie past her friend.

Haley then leaned against the counter, her curiosity peaking.

"Are you… are you here for Lucas?" she said, realization suddenly dawning on her.

Brooke stayed silent, which was answer enough for Haley.

"Oh, my God! When did you two start talking again? I mean, Luke didn't tell me anything and you've obviously been keeping something from me -- "

"We're not keeping anything from you." Brooke interrupted. "And we're not talking again, either. At least, not really."

"But…?" Haley said, waving her hand in a gesture that made clear to Brooke she was waiting for an answer.

"But, we were both at Shelby Jackson's party last weekend and Rachel ditched me so he gave me a ride home, and I forgot my jacket in his car."

"Hmm." Haley gave her a look as if she was contemplating believing her or not. "So that's what Lucas ditched Peyton for that night."

"What?" she said, happy that Haley believed her lie, but confused about what Haley just said.

"Yeah, Peyton told me Lucas totally ditched her that night, but she didn't know for what. Now I do." Haley smirked a bit while saying this, obviously thinking more had happened between Lucas and Brooke. And she wasn't completely off track.

Now it was Brooke's turn to cock an eyebrow. "Peyton told you? So, what? Now your friends with her?" Brooke made no secret of her dislike of the blonde one.

"Well, not friends-friends." Haley shrugged. "But she's been hanging out here a lot ever since she and Lucas started hanging out, so, she tells me stuff sometimes, you know."

Brooke merely nodded.

Haley then got an amused look on her face. "What? Are you jealous?"

"Oh, don't make me laugh." Brooke faked a chuckle, trying to get another lie past Haley. "I just don't like it when people I don't like hang out with people I do like."

"Oh, you're just jealous. But, no worries, Tigger. She's not my type." Haley said as she threw her cleaning towel over her shoulder and walked away to go do her job again.

"Ew." Brooke laughed a bit at Haley's little joke. "Oh, and will you tell Lucas I stopped by!" she yelled over the counter.

"Will do!" Haley yelled back as she poured some coffee into a customer's cup.

--x--

After leaving the café, she had contemplated just calling Lucas, but ultimately she decided against it. So she just got in her car and started making her way home, when she heard her phone beep, signalling that she had just gotten a text message. Searching for her phone in her purse, which was rested on the passenger seat, while also trying to keep her eyes on the road, Brooke immediately wondered if it was Lucas texting her.

Lucky for her, she was right. As she stopped at the stop sign, she quickly read the message Lucas sent her.

"Come over to my house. I wanna see you."

It was short, to the point, so not what she was used to from Lucas. But lucky for him, the light had just turned green, and she was very close to his home.

--x--

Making her way up the steps and towards his bedroom door, she figured this would be the perfect time to put an end to their little tryst. Haley had probably told him she stopped by at the café looking for him, which is probably why he texted her in the first place.

As she knocked on the door, she took a deep breath, building up all her strength so she could face him.

A few seconds later, he opened the door with this cute boyish grin on his face that just caused her heart to melt. But she quickly dismissed the feeling as she was there for a reason.

"Hey."

"Hi." he was smiling. No, he was grinning. He looked like he was excited for something, but Brooke was a bit blind to it as she focused on her mission.

He opened the door a bit further, allowing her entrance to his room. He then closed the door and turned around to face her.

"So I guess Haley told you --"

All of a sudden she was interrupted by his lips crashing onto hers, which took her completely by surprise. A part of her wanted to pull away but the temptation was too much. She gave into him, kissing him back full force. But then she started to feel his hands on her skin as he started to rub her back and tug at her shirt slightly. She realized she was forgetting what she was there for in the first place.

"Wait, wait, wait, Luke…" she was out of breath. Completely out of breath as she pulled away.

Looking down, she took a deep breath. "Luke, that's not why I'm here."

"Oh." he seemed genuinely confused. "Well, than, why are you here?"

"I thought -- I thought Haley told you." she was stammering. And still avoiding his gaze.

"Haley told me what? What are you talking about, Brooke."

"I, uh… I stopped by the café today, I was, um… I was looking for you."

God, she was nervous. And hot. And all she really wanted was to feel the touch of his hands on her skin again. But, she had to focus.

"Brooke, is something wrong?" concern immediately filled his voice and she had no choice but to look up at him.

"No! No, nothing's wrong, I just…" she bit her lip as she struggled to say the words. God, why did he have to make it so hard for her.

"Did you wanna talk to me about something?"

"No, no, I didn't… I didn't stop by because I wanted to talk." and with those words, she instantly transformed and started toying around with his belt, obviously trying to get it loose. Looking back up at him, she changed her tone of voice so she sounded a bit seductive.

"I was actually hoping you were working, so we could sneak into the back and have some fun."

His lips instantly curled into a sly grin as she inched her way closer to his mouth, making it that their lips almost touched.

"But I guess here will have to do."

It was then that they crashed into one another, their lips meeting and all thoughts of talking and ending things just flew out of the window.

They stumbled over towards his bed and fell down on it, Brooke's giggle echoing in the room.