He rubbed his eyes tiredly and tries to remember a time when everything wasn't so hard. He knows the exact answer to that question, but that doesn't make this situation any easier. So instead, he does the only thing that's keeping him remotely sane, ignoring the situation all together. Tossing a few of his items in an open moving box, he realizes he spoke too soon. Leaning down, he traces the title letters of a certain book.

The Winter of Our Discontent.

Running from her is turning out to be more difficult than he ever could have imagined. All of the sudden Brooke Davis was everywhere to him, or maybe she never really left in the first place. All Lucas knew was that none of the past seemed to matter to him because staring at this book now he knew exactly how he felt. But did it even matter anymore?

"Lucas." Her voice was full of panic, and he dropped his head to his chest. He wasn't sure he had another argument left in him.

"What is this?" The urgency in her voice pulls him out of his reverie. Standing up, he stares at the woman before him. She's changed so much since he had first fell for her. No longer was she enigmatic to him. Her blonde curls were replaced by a straighter look. Her concert tee's now sat in a box collecting dust in the back of their closet. She held Sawyer with a motherly tenderness at her hip. Standing here now, he felt such resentment toward her. Her lies haunted him.

"I'm not gonna argue with you." His voice was tired and it lacked any emotion. This past week had drained him.

"What do you want me to do Luke? Sit back and let my husband walk out without a fight?" Tears were now streaming down her face, and it did break his heart. It killed him to see the state of their relationship now. Oh what a tangled web we weave..

"I wouldn't walk out without a reason." He retorted quietly.

"I made a mistake! A mistake that I can't take back now. Please, don't compromise our family because of my mistake. Don't throw us away, Luke!" She was begging, no fighting, to keep their family together.

Sawyer's cried echoed through the room.

"Peyt, don't do this with Sawyer here." He took a few steps forward and did he best to console his daughter. The last thing he wanted was to ever bring her into this. Regardless of what happened, he knew in his heart that he and Peyton would do everything in their power to make her feel loved.

"Luke, what do you think is going to happen? She loves him you know. And he loves her. One day, they'll be engaged. Then what will you do?"

Looking up from Sawyer, her eyes met his. And for the first time all week, her words actually made him listen. They replayed over and over in his mind.

What would he do if Brooke Davis went on to marry a man that wasn't him?

He still didn't have an answer.

Instead, he was met with a paralyzing ache in his chest. He tightened his grasp on Sawyer's stroller exposing white knuckles. The room seemed to be closing in around him. His sights were focused on the dimpled smile emerging on the brunette's face which was met by Julian's own self pretentious smile. A smile that Lucas was coming to hate with every passing second. He noted how she moved closer to Julian's body nearly molding herself against his chest and how he lovingly held the small of her back. They looked happy…

A lump grew in his throat as he realized how badly he screwed up.

He never saved her…

"Sometimes, I just wish you could rescue me."

"From what?"

"From all of it."

"Okay then, I will."

He let her get away without a fight…

"I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore."

"Brooke. I'm sorry."

"Yea. Me too."

He gave in to feeling with his mind rather than his heart…

"I know I made the right choice."

"That's where they get you, thinking you have a choice. Love finds you, son. You don't find love. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, what's written in the stars."

He stared at her through teary eyes and wondered how he ever convinced himself that Brooke Davis wasn't the love of his life. Why had he always been so curious to pursue any unresolved feelings between him and Peyton? Why did he buy into the gimmick that he and Peyton were epic? Why had he been so complacent to settle?

A hand patted his shoulder and he immediately snapped out of his inner conflict.

"I'm so sorry, man." Nathan whispered and gripped his shoulder tightly.

"I fucked up." He barely choked out quietly and his bottom lip trembled.

"Luke-"

"She looks happy, doesn't she?" Cutting Nathan off, he watched as she beamed while showing off her ring to the group of friends that had surrounded her.

"Just as happy as you did with Peyton." Nathan shot back as he met Lucas' eyes.

Striking a nerve, Lucas closed his eyes.

"We can't keep going in circles. I lost a long time ago. I don't wanna take her down with me anymore." He inhaled sharply looking back over how much pain he's caused her.

"If you two were just honest with yourselves for two damn seconds, then maybe-"

"No more maybe's, Nate. She's engaged now."

Nathan opened his mouth to object, but stopped as Julian made his way over.

"I can hardly keep up with her right now." He laughed as he dug his hands in his pockets. "I don't even wanna know how much this wedding will cost."

"Better start saving now." Nathan smiled as he crossed his arms.

Julian looked over to Lucas whose eyes were focused on another conversation entirely. He followed his eyes and landed on his own fiancée. To most people in this town, Lucas and Brooke were just another high school fling. But Julian wasn't under any illusion that their relationship wasn't more meaningful than anyone might have given them credit for.

"So then the last time that you were in love-" He said raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

She merely stood there pursing her lips together self consciously. He hadn't realized how after all this time this topic still made her so uncomfortable.

"Now I get it."

"Yea. It was a long time ago." Standing before him, was a very vulnerable Brooke Davis. And all the sudden, he realized that he saw this very same face before. Except it wasn't on Brooke's face, but Peyton Sawyer. He stared at her a final moment before turning his back to walk away.

"Where are you going?" She asked so angrily.

"If you have more than one copy of Lucas's book , I'm out of here." Cheap comeback, he thought.

"Look I'm sorry if it's weird for you." Something about this retort bothered him. How could she be so blasé about this? He's been in love twice. And both relationships were haunted by Lucas Scott.

"Do you still love him?" He challenged.

"No." Simple enough right? His girlfriend was denying that she still loved Lucas. If that was enough, then why wasn't he convinced.

Lucas shifted his sights toward the man he was supposed to resent. Truth be told, he had nothing against Julian. He was a genuinely decent guy. He knew that Julian loved her with his whole heart. He knew that he wouldn't take her granted even for one second. And maybe, that's why he did harbor any resentment toward Julian Baker. Because when it was all said and done, he did take Brooke for granted.

Holding his hand out toward Julian, he swallowed past the lump in his throat.

"Congratulations. Don't ever forget how lucky you are to have her." Maybe he was too transparent with his feelings when he spoke to Julian. But, he didn't really care. He needed him to know in some way that he needed to realize that Brooke Davis was the best thing that would ever happen to him. The day he forgot it, well, he would end up like the broken man standing before him.

Reciprocating his handshake, Julian smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Luke."

"I better get going." He motioned toward his sleeping daughter. "I gotta get her to sleep. Would you uh," he struggled to find the words he was searching for, "tell Brooke how happy I am for her. Ya know she looks like she's in her element over there. I don't wanna interrupt."

Julian squinted for a moment. Lucas wasn't really sure what he was mulling over.

"You can't leave without saying goodbye."

And before he realized it, Julian had called Brooke over. And all the sudden, he was frozen in his position. In a matter of seconds, he would have to congratulate the woman he was in love with on her impending marriage to another man.

"Boys, I was just telling everyone how many carats this sucker is. This better be important." She smiled. It amazed him how after all this time her smiled still gave him the chills.

"I don't know about important," he said smiling shyly, "but I just wanted to congratulate you before I leave."

She smiled sentimentally.

Looking at her now, he felt like his voice could be his worst enemy. Because standing before her now, the only thing he really wanted to say was how much he loved her. How she couldn't marry Julian. How people that are meant to be together always find their way in the end. But he couldn't.

"I hope you find your happy ending, Brooke. Two boys and a girl and all." It nearly killed him to wish her the life

they had once spoken about sharing together. But despite it all, all he ever wanted was for her to be happy.

She tilted her head as her eyes became glossy with tears.

"Thank you, Luke." Before he could process it, she hugged him. He stiffened to her touch at first. Then he slowly

embraced her. Closing his eyes, he wondered if there would ever come a day when he would be able to hug her and not have his heart break. As they released each other, Julian wrapped his arm around her waist. This only served as a painful reminder that Brooke was no longer his.

Gazing into the eyes he knew so well, she just smiled sadly. The tears that by some miracle hadn't fallen felt as though they would come rushing at any moment. He needed to leave. He needed to stop staring at her…

"Luke, let me help you with this stuff." Nathan offered.

"Yea, yea, thanks."

He smiled tensely at Brooke. Bending down, he unlocked Sawyer's stroller and gathered some of her things. But, he never looked back. He rushed down the main entryway and out the front door. He stopped the stroller abruptly at his car, and finally all the tears he held back freely fell. He put his hands on his hips, and clenched his jaw thinking of how stupid he was. What did he really expect?

Forming his hand into a fist, he slammed the roof of his car. He put his hands on his head as he leaned against his car. He heard his brother hovering from behind. Lucas turned around and was met by sympathetic eyes.

"Dude, I'm so sorry."

Averting his eyes away from Nathan's, he kneeled down and disconnected Sawyer's car seat from her stroller. Nathan shook his head as Lucas ignored him and watched as he hooked the car seat in position.

"You can't ignore this, Lucas."

Softly closing the car door, he rubbed his fingers at his temples.

"I can do whatever I want."

"It's not what you want!" Nathan exasperatedly said slamming his arms against the sides of his thighs.

"You don't know what the hell I want." He hissed at his younger brother.

"You really amaze me, you know that? You've spent months walking around like a zombie because you're in love with this girl. And now what? You're just gonna give up?"

"Give up? Listen to you! Don't you dare tell judge me!" He pointed his finger in the face of his brother. "Yea, I chose Peyton. I fucked up, but you and every other damn person in this town never had enough to say about me and her. Brooke and I never stood a chance!"

Nathan took a step back and opened his mouth to speak but fell silent for a moment.

"You're right. When we were in high school, everyone aspired to having an epic love, you know? And on the outside you and Peyton had that. So maybe, I rooted for you guys. But then, we all grew up. I see now that love isn't a fairy tale. It's hard and you're always going to have challenges. You have to fight like hell some days to keep that love alive. I'm standing here looking at you all these years later and I get it. You and Brooke have been to hell and back. You've watched each other get engaged and married and have a child. Your lives have taken you in different directions. And despite it all, you're still in love with this girl. Man, that's gotta be more epic than two people who have the same interests and saved each other."

Lucas looked to the ground as he felt his bottom jaw quiver.

"Nathan, she loves him." He said softly as his voice cracked. "I broke her heart and I swear I won't do it again."

"She does love him, but she's not in love with him."

"Brooke sat back and watched when I got engaged to Lindsay and Peyton. She was graceful and," He moved his hands trying to convey his emotion, "who would I be to break up her marriage?"

"Just the guy who she's in love with." Nathan smiled crookedly. "Look, if you don't do something, you're always going to regret it. All she ever wanted you to do was fight for her. Show her that it's not over. Show her that she's the one."

Swirling his keys in his hands, Lucas creased his eyebrows at this.

"She's the one."

"Why?"

"She just is. I feel it. Ya know, Pascal says the heart has reasons that reason cannot know."

He loved Brooke Davis. He was in love with Brooke Davis. And it wasn't over.

Lucas extended his hand in the form of a fist to which Nathan reciprocated.

"Go enjoy the rest of your son's birthday, okay?" He smiled.

"I love ya, Luke. You're gonna get this right."

They went their separate ways as Lucas drove slowly away from the house. Nathan waved from the head of the driveway. He shook his head trying to grasp just how broken his brother was. He opened his front door, and as he stepped inside he rubbed his face tiredly.

And now he was in the clear, right?

"Nathan? What was that about?" Brooke said worriedly.

Wrong.