Basically filler! Umm, just for your info. Brooke and Haley went through a rough time when they were younger, It will come up later in the story, but Haley was a prostitute, not for long, but she still did it, Brooke didn't...but yeah…here goes!

Chapter 6

"Crash into you"

Lucas stood under the shower allowing the steady, stream of hot water to hit his body.

He closed his eyes. Willing images and memories from his mind. Yet, he was captive to

them.

"Hey there," he said kissing her on her forehead after she slid into the limo. She was smiling brightly.

"I've got great news."

Lucas smiled, "Is it what I think it is?"

Peyton nodded quickly and she reached forward to hug him. He kissed her while reaching for her hand.

"I found my dress" she giggled

He hugged her again basking in the high that he was on. They were going to spend the rest of their lives together…

Standing in the steamy shower, Lucas washed his face. He needed to stop thinking about Peyton if he wanted to keep his sanity.

Two hours later he was standing outside an uptown apartment complex. In two steady moments he adjusted his blue polo shirt and smoothed his hair. He was always nervous when he had to meet Dan. After twenty three years his father still scared him.

The burgundy uniform clad doorman ushered him in with a smile and Lucas stepped onto marble tiles, making his way to the elevator.

"Mom" he said kissing her on her cheek "You're the most beautiful woman in the world"

Karen laughed "He's such a tease, isn't he Dan?"

She turned to her husband who was sitting on a leather couch in the parlor. He smiled and reached for a cigar, "Always has been."

Lucas sat and gazed around the room while Karen fetched drinks. They were such a stable unit. They had always been his anchor. He looked at the photos that donned the wall of him and Nathan on ski-trips as well as their high school basketball trophies: good memories. He loved his brother, he was his best friend. Because of that, he had to make a decision – though hard, he knew it was the right thing to do.

"So have all the plans been made?" Dan asked receiving a tall glass from Karen and waiting until she left the room

"More or less," Lucas said shifting in the seat, "there are a few more things I'll have to do once we get to Antigua."

Dan nodded, "Are you sure you want to wait so long? What if things don't go according to planned?"

Lucas smiled, "They will."

Dan sighed, "I just don't get what Nathan is up to – she was a prostitute for God's sake."

Lucas played with the glass in his hand "Well he won't listen to that anymore, he has acknowledged it and forgiven her…"

"So he has left us no choice," Dan said eventually.

They sat in silence for a while.

"So does she know what you'ree up to?"

"No… Haley, her friend Brooke, Nate… none of them suspects a thing."

"Good," Dan lightly massaged his scalp through his grey hair, "are you sure things will go according to planned?"

Lucas nodded once again.

They chatted a bit more before he decided it was time to leave, after Dan made the mistake of mentioning Peyton, though casually.

Karen walked him to the door and after kissing him lightly she said, "I hope you find someone to love just as Nathan has"

Lucas smiled, "Yeah. Somehow I don't think that day will come anytime soon."

x-x-x

"Are you sure you shouldn't pack that dress too?" Haley asked Brooke sitting on the bed and holding up a tiny, yellow sundress.

"Maybe," Brooke replied thoughtfully before grabbing it.

"God," she said, "you would have thought that I was leaving for six months and not two weeks."

Haley smiled, "That's the same thing Nate said while I packed this morning."

"What do men understand," Brooke laughed, "nobody ever notices what they're wearing."

Brooke continued inspecting the clothing that she had thrown on her bed, while Haley quietly folded clothes.

"You like him at least a little bit right?"

Brooke stopped what she was doing and sat beside her best friend clasping her hand in hers.

"Hales. He seems amazing. I just don't trust him. But then again I don't really trust people… I've never been like you."

"He makes me happy," Haley smiled. Her eyes sparkled, and her oval face became softer.

"He does these things," she continued, "the way he says my name – or holds me. I swear, even if he didn't have a dime, he would have been the one I'd love."

Brooke sighed, "And I'm happy for you honest. I just don't want you to get hurt Hales… you've been hurt too much already."

Haley became somber, "And so have you. When will you start looking for your happily ever after Tigger?"

"You know I don't …"

Her friend smiled, "Neither did I."

Brooke bit back the comments. There was no need to depress Haley two days before the most important day of her life. So she continued throwing clothes into her suitcases and mused about how they got into this situation to begin with. It was all because of Haley's honesty. While Brooke had gravitated to any job which ensured that she could be near to fashion, Haley's need to be a teacher had left her taking job, after job, saving up to get a loan before she could embark on her studies. The waitress stint lasted the shortest. Apparently she couldn't tolerate snobby, rich people. Brooke smiled at the irony of that, now she was going to marry one. Nathan Scott. He was previously a name they only recognized from when Brooke occasionally watched basketball

"Hot guys in shorts Hales".

When Haley had told her that he had hired her catering company for his parent's anniversary, the only thing Brooke had thought to say was, "Tell me if his house is as expensive as it's made out to be."

But the party wasn't at his house, but some chic upscale Manhattan hotel. And, as Haley had gushed later, he had paid in cash. Overpaid her in cash. And here is where their personalities differed: Brooke maintained that it was his loss, her gain – it was not like he was going to miss four hundred dollars anyway. Haley as usual felt morally responsible. So she tracked him down, explained that he had employed her and handed him over the money. He had smiled, she said. And she fell in love. Brooke didn't take her seriously then, because Haley was always falling in love with pretty things. The squirrel outside her ground floor apartment window – her neighbor's scrumptious six-month-old – and that Jimmy Choo bag she knew she could never afford. Brooke smiled, until now.

When Nathan decided that it was time for him to track down this honest angel and take her out for dinner maybe her warning bells should have gone off then. Or maybe sometime within the year of their heady courtship. But she, as she was sure Lucas did, waited patiently for them to return to earth. Now, they were getting ready to take it to the moon – the honeymoon. And she was scared. Yet, when she looked at Haley – when she saw the excitement in her eyes, the adoration – she couldn't help but get drawn into it.

"So what do you think of Lucas?" Haley asked cuddling one of Brooke's pillows closer.

He looked like an angel. Kissed like the devil. And thought he was God. She thought to herself

"Not my favorite person," she said eventually, willing herself not to return to that kiss.

Why did she even have to keep remembering it anyway? Because it was the best kiss she had ever had, her mind echoed.

"He sort of apologized today about what he did"

"He did? He finally 'fessed up for telling Nate you were a filthy whore, who might have still had something from her streetwalking days."

Haley was silent, "I know what he did was wrong, from our point of view. But you would have done the same to me. I mean if you found information about Nate being a drug dealer, you would have told me."

"He didn't even ask for an explanation."

"He had all the information he thought he needed Tigger… and he wasn't that off."

Brooke turned to face her friend, her auburn hair framed her face and she looked so vulnerable.

"Don't ever think of yourself as filthy Hales. Don't do this to yourself."

Brooke sighed, "Besides, it was only two guys."

"I still sold my body Brooke…"

They never relived those years. It had been a forbidden topic. Never speak about your time on the street. Brooke's eyes welled, "You did that for me, Haley. Remember? You did that for me. You were the one who sacrificed it all."

She wiped away Haley's tears and pulled her into a hug, "That's why you deserve happiness sweetie."

Then as her own tears fell, she silently added, 'And I don't.'