Hello all, I realized after posting the last chapter that it cut off at the beginning part of the conversation between Julian and his mother that is crucial to the storyline of Peyton and Julian. By the time I went back to try to re-upload it, that part had been erased on my computer. It will come up in the story as a flashback now.

As he felt the sunlight hitting his face, Nathan reached over to the other side of the bed, only to feel it empty. Sighing, he sat up and rubbed his hand across his bleary eyes to wake himself up. He lingered on the bed, his eyes roaming across the empty bedroom, taking it in. He never thought he would be here again, waking up in her bed with her comforter and her unique scent enveloping him. Warmth spread across his chest as his eyes caught sight of her gown and his tux placed neatly on atop her dresser, the memory of last night making him smile. He briefly wondered where Brooke was until he heard the sure sounds of someone moving about the kitchen downstairs. Despite his pounding headache, he scrambled over to her dresser where he found several pairs of his sweatpants and t-shirts in the bottom drawer. He took that as a good sign, that she hadn't yet thrown away all the extra clothes he used to keep at her house.

He made his way down the stairs almost hesitantly, unsure of what kind of mood he would find her in. Sure, last night had been amazing, but the way she had ended things with him still pulled at his heartstrings painfully. Though she had assured him last night she wanted this, a part of him was afraid that she would deem it a mistake now.

He was surprised by the sight that awaited him. She was in a short silk purple robe, pouring orange juice into two glasses on a set table. The amazing smell of French toast wafted over to him making his stomach grumble in appreciation. He leaned against the door frame for a second and stared in awe at how completely beautiful and dare he say domestic she looked.

As if feeling his gaze, she looked up and his heart jumped in his chest at the radiant smile she sent his way.

"Good morning sleepy head." She teased, though they were both early risers it was usually him that was up before her even after a night of heavy drinking.

"You cooked?" He smirked, pushing off the door frame and heading towards her.

"Are you kidding me?" She scoffed, "When have you or I ever had to cook a day of our lives? I had Sandy whip up some French toast before I gave her the rest of the day off."

"Good thing too, since neither of us can cook for shit." He teased, coming to stand right in front of her, pleased to see her breath catch. He placed his hands on her hips, leaning over and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Ew, morning breath." She complained, pushing him away playfully.

"You've never complained before." He replied in a low, husky tone, running his hand down her back sensually and pulling her back in. "Don't you start now."

She giggled as he started tickling her and running kisses down the side of her face. Her giggles quickly turned into a soft moan when he kissed her weak spot, right behind her ear. She closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy the feeling for a brief second, but she pushed him back gently taking a deep breath. "Nathan…"

He pulled back, the pleased smile on his lips wiping off his face completely when he caught the look in her eyes. It was almost as if he could feel the shift in her and his heart started thumping in his chest. Here it comes, he thought miserably, dropping his arms from her waist. Here's the moment she tells me she regrets it and it was a huge fucking mistake.

"Hey, look at me." She said softly, cradling his face with trembling hands. "I know what you're thinking Nathan. I don't regret what happened last night and no it wasn't a mistake."

Something deep within his chest broke free as he saw what he never thought he'd see reflected in her eyes again. She was looking at him the way she used to, with hope, love, trust. He had trouble catching his breath as the intense feeling of hope started to blossom in his chest. He was almost afraid to let it in fully, remembering the way she had crushed his heart last time. He wanted her, he needed her, he loved her, but he needed to make sure that she wanted this too.

"Then what's the problem?" He questioned softly, wrapping his arms once more around her waist and leaning down to nuzzle her shoulder inhaling her scent. He pulled back and sighed contentedly, smiling at her in adoration. When she smiled back at him brightly, he began placing bountiful kisses over her cheeks, nose, and finally her lips. Crushing her to him, he prodded her lips open, groaning softly as he explored the warm, sweet crevices of her mouth.

In turn Brooke wound her arms tightly around his neck kissing him back with the same fervor. It wasn't till she felt his hands slide down her waist to the inside of her thigh that she realized where this would lead. As much as she was dying to continue this and drag him back upstairs, she knew she needed to put a pause on this.

"Wait, wait." She pulled back breathless, trying to control the furious pounding of her heart and her growing desire. "We need to eat first." She giggled when he raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Food Nate, come on I know Sandy's French toast is your fave and it will uh...give us a chance to talk."

"Fine, but just remember you started this." He rolled his eyes in mock frustration. "Can't blame a guy for trying when he finds his sexy girlfriend with breakfast ready."

They both froze as they realized what he had just said. Nathan cursed under his breath, how could he be such an idiot? The words had rolled so easily off his tongue, but could you blame him? Brooke had been a part of his life since he was a kid, and he had always considered her his girl.

"Yeah, about that…" Brooke bit her lip looking down at her food as she sat down across him. "Nate last night was amazing, and it made me realize that I want to be with you again. I want us to start over."

"A fresh start…." He sounded that out, it was like music to his ears after all the heartache. "There's nothing I would love more Brooke. I've missed you so much and I don't want to keep missing you. Not when we can be together again and better than ever."

She smiled as she reached across the table to intertwine their fingers together. "But with a fresh start Nate, we have to leave everything out in the open. Hash it all out and I- "she stopped, the words lodging in her chest.

"Brooke, I can never tell you how sorry I am for what I did to you with Rachel." He hurried to say, knowing inevitably that they had to get that out of the way. "We had gotten into that argument after the game, and I was drinking and pissed off at you. I know that's no excuse but it just…happened. She showed up and..." He paused as he felt her hand clench in his. "Biggest mistake of my life because it cost me you. I promised you I would spend the rest of my life making that up to you and I meant that. I still mean it. If you're willing to give this another chance, I will not fuck it up this time. You, this, us means too much to me to ever risk it again. I know now how incredibly stupid and selfish it was to betray you with your worst enemy. Who does that? I knew how much you hate Rachel and the issues you two have and what do I do? I go and fuck around with her." He stopped, realizing she had let go of his hand and instead had buried her face in her hands and his stomach dropped, his heart clenching in his chest. He stood up and went to sit next to her, his breakfast completely forgotten.

"Hey, look at me." He started softly, prying her fingers from her face gently. He cupped her face, and his heart constricted in his chest upon seeing the anguish in her eyes. "I know it hurts to talk about this and if I'm going to be honest, then I'm going to tell you everything okay?"

She nodded fighting back tears and took a deep breath. Yes, it hurt her still deep within that he had cheated on her with Rachel but the remorse in his eyes at having hurt her only made her own guilt burrow even deeper. He was truly sorry at what he had done, she knew that now and she could see it clearly. She only hoped that he would be just as understanding when inevitably she told him about her own transgressions.

He smiled and brushed his lips across hers tenderly. Pulling back, he sighed and brushed a few tears that had managed to slip out. "Remember that fight we had after the Bear Creek game?"

If you touch that bastard you and I will be done with forever.

Brooke froze as the memory of that fight came crashing down on her. He had confronted her after she had left that game with Lucas and a sense of panic began to engulf her as she recalled Nathan's callous words.

"Well, that same night I hooked up with Rachel again." He continued, not noticing her state of anxiety. Looking down, he shook his head as he remembered. Did he regret it? If he was honest with himself not at all. By that night Brooke had made it perfectly clear they were through. Getting drunk and messing around with Rachel had been exactly what he'd needed that night to try to forget how royally he had fucked up his and Brooke's relationship. "That's not all…later that same week uh there was this um thing with Peyton."

"You slept with her, didn't you?" She snapped, pulling back from him and completely forgetting about her own situation. "Damn it Nathan, I know we were broken up but were you just trying to hook up with everyone on my squad and further humiliate me?"

"Brooke, I didn't sleep with her." He denied, looking away from her. "But I did kiss her again."

There it was again, that strange feeling in her chest when she found out he had first kissed Peyton. It had twisted with ugly jealousy, even more so than when she had found out about Rachel. Maybe because of the uncertainty because she hadn't even been aware that the two of them even talked. She didn't take Peyton as the type of girl that went kissing just anyone. Nathan for his part had never taking an interest in her, she had been off his radar up until her joining the cheerleading squad. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look back at her. "That's twice now Nathan and I know I have no right to even get upset about it since we were broken up. But is this a thing between you two now? Be upfront with me, do you like her?"

He didn't respond, instead he lowered his lips to her trying to gather his thoughts in his head. Truth be told, he didn't even know how to answer her or if he was ready to ask himself that very question. Knowing exactly what he was doing, she pushed him back and gave him a look that made him flinch internally.

"I love you, okay? And this time around you won't have to worry about me even looking at another girl. I'll even unfollow all those hot Victoria Secret models you were always bitching to me about."

"That's not an answer Nate." She sighed, hating how he was trying to make a joke about it to avoid talking about what he really felt. "If you're going to be honest with me, then I need to know how you feel about her. You told me once that there was a strange attraction going on between you two. And now I find out that you've kissed her again. If you have real feelings for her, then that changes everything. Maybe we need to just stop now and really think if getting back together is what we want to do. Because even if you promise me that nothing will happen between you two anymore, emotional cheating is almost if not worse than physical cheating. I can't risk my heart again if you're not with me a hundred percent."

"I don't know how I feel about her ok?" He admitted, shaking his head in frustration at her insistence of pushing this. He wasn't ready to delve into that and really was there any point? He wanted to be with Brooke, and he wanted this to work. "Yes, I'm attracted to her and there is this connection between us that culminated in a kiss. But trust me, Peyton has made it perfectly clear she wants nothing to do with me."

"Great Nathan, so glad you are so sure of your feelings. We have one mind blowing night of makeup sex and you want to be with me because she doesn't?"

"No, that's not it!" He took a deep breath, his frustration starting to escalate to anger as he stood up. "Damn it Brooke, now you're just using Peyton as an excuse as to why you want to put a pause on this. If you want to leave it at an amazing night we can. If you want to give this another try, then let's do it because if there is one thing I am certain of is that I love you and I want to be with you. Make up your mind, right here right now because I can't take anymore head games."

"Wait, Nathan I'm sorry." She hurried to say, pulling him back by the arm as she saw he was ready to bolt. She smoothed the angry lines on his forehead and reached out on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly. "I do want to be with you, I love you." She gave him her infamous dimpled smile, running her fingers through his hair, "The food is getting cold, let's just eat okay?"

The heart-stopping grin he gave her in return made her heart twist in guilt, but she pushed it away for the moment being.

Later, she promised herself. I'll come clean and tell him everything.

"Well, aren't you a pretty sight for sore, hungover eyes." Felix grinned as he approached Haley waiting for him by the table by the docks overlooking the river. He placed a steaming cup of vanilla latte and a box of donuts in front of her. "Sorry I'm a little late, the jackass at Starbucks didn't have your favorite green tea latte so I had to wait on his stupid ass to make the next best thing."

Haley pressed her lips together biting back the cutting remark ready on her lips for his tardiness. She took a deep breath and gave him a small smile, "Thank you, but um I'm actually not that hungry."

"Nope, none of that." He waved her off, opening the box of donuts. "And I quote, don't forget the coffee and donuts!" He mimicked in a high-pitched girly voice. "Come on, just look at these glazed donuts, I brought them just for you."

"I do not sound like that." She rebuked, shaking her head at him. She gingerly picked up one of the donuts to take a small bite to appease him.

Grabbing one for himself, he gazed at her as he took in the dark circles underneath her eyes. "Now, Haley don't take this the wrong way, but you look exhausted. Everything okay?"

"I had a hard time falling asleep last night." She admitted quietly, taking a sip of the warm latte and opening her Algebra textbook. "Chapter 4, Lesson 2."

"Algebra again really?" He complained, "Like my hangover isn't bad enough."

"Yeah well, I got your test scores from last week." She replied, irritation from her lack of sleep getting to her. "Maybe you shouldn't have been out drinking last night and wouldn't have this issue."

"Woah, who are you to tell me what to do on a Saturday night? My girlfriend?" He grinned as she scowled at him. "If you must know sweetheart Rachel was my date for the charity ball. The only way I was getting through that shit was getting obnoxiously drunk."

"Fair enough, so um...how was it?"

"Same shit, different year." He shrugged, opening his textbook. "I'm sure Brooke filled you in on how incredibly pretentious and boring the whole thing was."

"No, she didn't actually." She admitted, fiddling with her pen. "I'm sure she was busy, I'll probably hear about it later."

"She sure was."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, she got into a fight with Rachel, but what's new right?" He grinned, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Also, her and Nathan also looked extremely not broken up by the end of the night if you know what I mean. Not to mention, I passed by her house on the way home and let's just say I saw her and Nathan both go in."

"What?" She shifted in her seat, her brow furrowing and a strange feeling welling up in her chest. It was only adding on to the unsettling feeling that Brooke was pulling away from her. She would've surely told her something as major as that.

"I for one am all for them getting back together. Would serve Rachel right if you ask me. Plus I think Brooke deserves for something to go right for her y'know? She's been down this week and who could blame her? Rachel gives her shit all the time at practice, Nathan keeps fucking up and then there's that argument with Lucas."

Haley froze and a cold chill went down her spine. "W-what argument?"

"Yeah, y'know the day after the boy toy auction?"

"Lucas wasn't even at school that day." She managed to choke out, her heart suddenly starting to pound.

He looked at her strangely. "Yeah, he was, I saw him in the parking lot myself during lunch."

Haley blinked rapidly and she shook her head as she tried to think back to that day. She was sure that he hadn't been at school that day. Her and Peyton had even kind of joked about it. What the hell was Felix talking about?

"No, you're mistaken." She shook her head adamantly. "He was out sick that day."

"Well, I know what I saw." He shrugged, inwardly grinning at the confusion in her face. "And he wasn't sick, but he was certainly pissed. Don't ever let anyone know this came out of me, but I was almost impressed at how he was letting Brooke have it. Brooke looked like she didn't know whether to slap him or kiss him. If I didn't know better, it almost looked like a lover's spat."

Haley's heart fell at his words, surely Felix was just making this up. She just knew that Lucas wasn't at school that day.

"I don't believe you." She managed to let out quietly, even though her head was swimming with the possibilities and the strange feeling in her heart told her something was off. "There is no reason why they would even get into a fight, I mean what would they even be arguing about?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" He shrugged innocently. "I'm not nosy Haley, anyways I'm sure Brooke told you about it. He was probably just hungover or some shit after that auction. I wouldn't even worry about it."

"Ok, let's just get back to the lesson shall we?"

He smiled to himself as he saw her attempt to get her mind of it. This was going to be so easy, plant the seeds in her head that something was going on and he would just sit back and watch it all go down and he would be on the receiving end when she no doubt needed comfort.

Rachel, you're a genius.

I don't understand how you could completely disregard everything your father did to get you into that school Julian. All the strings he had to pull not to mention the huge donation he had to make. And this is how you repay him?"

"Yes, because USC is where Dad went and where he wanted me to go. That wasn't the school of my choice and you both know it!"

"It's close to home Julian and it has one the top film programs in the Country." Sylvia Norris argued on the other line, her tone seeping frustration. "Growing up you always spoke about attending there. Then after that Summer in North Carolina you suddenly change your mind to NYU. It's because of that girl isn't it? I told your father taking you on that production would be a huge mistake because you would find a way to punish us both. Is that it? You're punishing me and want to attend a school as far away from me as possible?"

Julian sighed and he pinched his nose bridge, already feeling the signs of a headache coming on. He still remembered all too clearly the huge argument that ensued upon his parents learning he'd applied to NYU behind their back. "Well, I'm sure father was more than happy to find out I was not accepted."

"Hey, where is your mind at?"

Julian snapped out of his reverie as he felt Peyton poke him on his side. He smiled at her and pulled her in closer, dropping a kiss on her head.

"Sorry, I was just thinking back on something my mother said to me."

"You never did tell me how that went." She pulled away from him and sat up on her bed. "You've been kind of drifting in and out on me since I came back from seeing Lucas this morning."

"I'm sorry." He apologized, reaching over and placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I've just been thinking a lot of something my mother said to me."

"Oh?" She scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek, running her fingers through his hair. "Anything to do with how you came back to this podunk little town to run away with me?"

He froze for a second, before he realized she was teasing him, her emerald eyes twinkling playfully at him. He took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Something like that. Look Peyton, the last couple of weeks have been amazing to finally come back here and be with you. But I'm 18 now, I have to figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, I know." She replied quietly, looking down at the comforter. "I love having you here, but I know it can't be permanent. My Dad will eventually catch on and truth be told I know he won't be pleased to find out we've been playing house."

"Exactly and I don't want to put you in that position." He agreed, pressing his forehead against hers. "But I really do have to think about what the next steps are here."

"You know you can always go to school close to here." She smiled.

"And money? My Dad pretty much cut me off the minute I got on that plane."

She bit her lip, "It may not be much, but I can always ask Keith to give you a job in the meantime while you figure out the whole school situation."

He smiled in spite of the dreading feeling that he didn't know what he had gotten himself into. "That sounds good."

"Look Julian, I know you're used to living a lavish life. But think about it, you're finally free of all the pressure you always told me you felt with your parents. I know this town may not be much, but I just want you to know that I believe in you. You can make it on your own and make the kind of life you always wanted for yourself. And I'll be here." She promised, brushing her lips against his. "Every step of the way. Ok?"

"I love you Peyton." He replied, holding her close. "As long as we're together, we can get through this. I won't let you down."

Brooke hummed to herself as she went about cleaning up the kitchen. Nathan was upstairs taking a shower, and although he had first insisted she join him, she knew she had to clean the kitchen. Besides, she knew it would give her much needed time to herself to gather her thoughts. She smiled when she remembered the last few hours with Nathan. After eating they had gone back upstairs to watch a movie and taken a nap. When they'd woken up, she had tried to bring up what had happened between her and Lucas, but Nathan shut her down almost immediately.

Brooke! I really don't want to know what you did and who with okay? Because if I ever do find out who it is, I will probably kill him. Everyone in that fuckin school, hell in this fucking town knows better than to mess with you. That's in the past now, whatever you did, I don't care. It's just you and me now again, and I don't want anything or anyone to mess that up.

It's probably for the best she reasoned to herself Knowing Nathan he will most likely follow up on that threat. God knows what he will do to Lucas if he finds out it was him I slept with. He already has enough anger issues as it is. What if he hurts him to the point of sending him to the hospital and possibly catching an assault charge?

Coward! Her thoughts chastised her You know damn well he left you off the hook without realizing it. Nobody ever has to find out now, it will be one secret you will take to your grave. Besides, what good would it possibly do to anyone involved? It was a stupid mistake you never have to think about again.

So lost was she in her thoughts she didn't hear the doorbell ringing. Blinking away her troubled thoughts, she went over to the door thinking it was probably Haley.

The smile died on her face the moment she realized who exactly was standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped, looking at Lucas who was standing in front of her, his hands in his pockets. "You need to leave like right now!"

"I'm not leaving Brooke." He sighed deeply, the last few days clearly have taken a toll on him. "You've refused to really talk about what happened. But I can't take it anymore. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I can't keep going like this, and there's no way around it. We have to tell Haley. I'm sure if she really knew what happened she would understand."

"No she wouldn't! Would you? Some things are better just left alone Lucas. Tell me, do you really want to look her in the eye and break her heart this way? We both know it was a drunken mistake, that will never ever happen again okay? Let's just forget it about it."

"And what? Just go on our lives like we didn't just betray her?" He stared at her aghast. "I'm sorry Brooke, but I can't do that." He took a deep breath. "I'm in love with her okay? She doesn't know it yet and I haven't said to her and it makes me feel awful that out of all people, you're the one that gets to hear it before she does. But now you see why I can't keep this from her.

Brooke's heart clenched in her chest at the absolute agony in his eyes. Deep down, she knew he was right. But the thought of hurting her best friend and seeing the devastation in her eyes when she realized what had happened pushed her forward to just shut this down. Her and Lucas would just have to live with it in silence and maybe one day they could look back and realize that letting out this mishap was not worth hurting the people they loved the most.

"Lucas please!" Brooke hissed, looking furtively over her shoulder. "Just go we can talk about this tomorrow ok?"

Lucas frowned, "What-, why are you acting so strange Brooke? Is Haley here?"

At any other time the panicked wide-eyed look in his eyes would have seemed comical to her. But her heart was beating furiously and anxiety was falling over her, knowing Nathan could come downstairs at any minute.

"No, she's not but I'm telling you, you need to leave, because-"

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Brooke's heart dropped to her stomach and she closed her eyes, cursing below her breath. Lucas's eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth dropped open, looking past her as Nathan came towards them, a terrifying glint of anger in his blue eyes.