Title: Not Meant To Be

Pairing: Brooke/Chase

The distance in her beautiful hazel eyes tells him that something is wrong; that she isn't happy anymore. Maybe she never really was. Maybe she just settled for him. Maybe she just used him as a way to kill the pain of losing Lucas to Peyton.

"Brooke…" he whispers painfully. He wishes that she would just talk to him; that conversation would come easier and he didn't have to start it all the time.

The brunette looks up from her current sketch and gives him a lopsided smile; her beautiful dimples failing to grace her cheeks. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" Chase asks, scratching the back of his neck nervously. They need to address this topic soon; before their relationship comes to blows.

"Sure," she nods, setting her pencil down and pushing her sketch book to the side. "What's up?"

"Are you happy?" he asks pointblank, crossing his broad arms over his chest.

"Of course I'm happy Chase," she looks at him, confusing twisting across her face. "I have you, my internship with Macy's, and my best friend all in one city? Why wouldn't I be happy? God, how can you even doubt that?"

"Because I… I get the feeling that you're not. I mean, yeah, you have lots of material things in your life to make you happy. But, I feel like you are just so… so distant. And if it's my fault…if I did or said something…I want to know so that I can fix this before it's too late."

"Chase," she looks at him seriously, although he can see the pain breaking in her eyes, clouding the usual vividness that they showcase. "You haven't said or done anything wrong, okay? I am happy, I promise," she assures him, resting her hand on his cheek.

"Well if you're happy, then why can't you tell me that you love me?" he blurts out, instantly regretting the words the minute that they escape his mouth.

She looks at him for a second, sadness gathering in her eyes. "Chase…I…I told you that I'm not ready to tell someone I love them until I am completely sure. I've had my heart broken one too many times and I can't risk it. I like you a lot and I know that I could love you, I'm just not sure I'm there yet."

"Brooke, it's been eight months since we've started dating and almost a year since you and Lucas broke up!" Chase tells her, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I love you Brooke but I'm beginning to think that you'll never love me back, not like I love you. I threw away my dreams to move here with you Brooke so that you could chase your dream. I gave up everything to be with you, and you… you can't even love me."

"Chase…" she whispers in a pain infused voice, her choking sobs enough to break his heart. He hated that he was putting her through this but it was so damn hard when he loved this girl and he knew that she was never going to reciprocate that love. Her heart just wasn't in it. And he's beginning to think that it never really was. This relationship was over before it had even started. "I'm sorry…I just…I'm not ready for that step yet."

"Will you ever be?" he asks, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't know… maybe."

"You know what I think Brooke?" he asks, receiving a small nod in response. "You may not want to hear this but I think it needs to be said. I think that the reason you can't bring yourself to love me is because I'm not Lucas…"

"How dare you?" Brooke accuses, narrowing her eyes into tiny slits of anger. "How dare you accuse me of still loving Lucas? Lucas and I have been over for a long time!" He can see past the lies that fall so easily off of her tongue.

"Look Brooke, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for bringing up a subject that is so hard for you to talk about but I think for the sake of us, and our relationship, we need to talk about this. Please?"

She nods slowly, a single tear escaping her eye. "I need you to be honest with me Brooke."

"I liked you Chase, I really did, but I was still in love with Lucas and I…I thought at first that if I started dating you, I could make Lucas jealous and that maybe he would realize what he let go and start fighting for me," she states, her eyes trained on the floor. He nods slowly. As much as those words stung, he had kind of expected them. "When I realized that it wasn't working and it probably never would, I held on to you because I needed you as a pain killer. I thought that maybe you could make me forget about Lucas and the pain that he put me through."

"It all makes perfect sense to me now," Chase shakes his head in exasperation. "God, how could I have not seen that? Maybe, I just wanted you to love me so badly, that I made myself believe that you were over Lucas and that you weren't using me. It's my fault Brooke; god, I should have never tried to make you love me when clearly I could see that you didn't."

"It's my fault too Chase. I convinced myself that you were going to make me get over Lucas, when clearly you didn't."

"So, I guess this is it huh Brooke?" Chase mumbles sadly. He really wasn't ready to give up fighting for her. But when suddenly you learn that your girlfriend still loves her ex-boyfriend, you have no choice but to give up. "We had a good run at it. It just wasn't meant to be."

"I'm sorry Chase…I never meant to hurt you…I swear…I just…I…god, I was so stupid. I should have just told you," she cries out. He can tell that this is just as hard for her as it is for him. "I wanted to love you Chase, I really did, I just couldn't…"

"It's okay Brooke," he attempts to smile even though his chest feels like it is being pricked at by a sharp knife. "This is how it's meant to be. But hey, this is your apartment; I'll pack my bags and find another place."

"Actually…" Brooke looks around the apartment, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Victoria wants to make Clothes over Bro's into a company. She wants me to move to New York with her. I might go…"

"You should," Chase smiles slightly. "I think it would be good for you."

He stands up, a sad smile planted on his face, a flicker of hurt in his amber eyes. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," he whispers, pulling her in for a hug.

When he lets go, he kisses her cheek. "I love you Brooke Davis. But, if you don't get over Lucas, you'll never be able to be in another relationship."

As he walks towards the door, pulling it open and preparing to leave behind a relationship that he would have fought tooth and nail to keep, he can't help but feel like this is fate's way of telling him that they just weren't meant to be together.

"I'm gonna miss you Brooke Davis," he mumbles as he closes the door shut, a tear falling from his eye.