A/N Oh my god a 100+ reviews, yay!! Lol, thanks to everyone who's reading and especially the ones who take their time to review.

For those of you who have read my other story I apologize for the lack of an update, but I promise you that I'm working on getting that next chapter up. I really hate it when other writers leave their stories up in the air like that and I don't want to do that, and also I'm really excited about continuing that one.

"Do you want to do this some other day?"

Haley looked up startled to find Felix tapping his pen on the Algebra book in front of him, looking slightly annoyed. She blushed, realizing that he'd been trying to get her attention for the last couple of minutes. "No, no it's fine. I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow, "Rough night?"

Rough doesn't even begin to cover it, she thought. "Something like that." she mumbled, taking the sheet of paper from his outstretched hand and studying it.

"Y'know, I didn't think you were going to show." He commented after a moment's pause, letting his gaze fall on her. Her features were marred into a frown of concentration as her pen marked furiously all over the paper. She was wearing a soft pink shirt with a dark blue jean jacket and her hair was pulled back by a matching pink headband. He couldn't help but admire the way her golden tresses seemed to almost gleam in the early morning sunshine.

"Yeah?" she responded distractedly, not looking up. "Why's that?"

"Well, y'know word gets around fast…and well after what happened last night…"

"Gotta love a small town." She muttered, her eyes darkening at the thought of last night's events. The whole Brooke and Nathan mess, the kiss with Lucas and then going home and finding her mom completely wasted and her Dad nowhere in sight in what was becoming extremely typical…

"Wanna talk about it?"

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "No offense, but you're the last person that I'd want to talk to about anything."

"I guess I deserve that." he shook his head and reached across the table to grab her hand lightly. "Listen Haley, I know I've been a jerk and-"

"Talk about understatements." She scoffed, jerking her hand away from him and glaring at him.

He hung his head and smiled, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry. I've realized that everything that I've done-"

She cut him off, giving him an incredulous look. "Felix, cut the crap will you?"

"What crap? Look, I'm being honest here. I really am sorry for everything that I've done to you."

She eyed him suspiciously, not totally buying it. "What are you trying to pull?"

He gave her an innocent look and he smiled in what he hoped came across as sincere. "Haley, I'm not trying to pull anything. Really. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything and thank you for helping me even though I don't deserve it. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that. Is that so bad? Can't you just accept my apology?"

"Okay, fine whatever. Apology accepted." She mumbled, missing the triumphant gleam in his eyes. "Let's just get back to work okay? There's somewhere I've got to be after this."

She sighed, thinking about swinging by Brooke's house again. She'd already done so this morning and was disappointed to not find her there. Disappointed and worried because with Brooke…you just never knew. She wanted to make sure that she was okay, physically at least because she knew her best friend was pretty much crushed emotionally. More than anything, she wanted to find her so that they could talk and she could clear the air between them.

"Sure, I understand. Oh, and Haley? One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that we can keep this tutoring thing between us?"

"Uh, okay." She gave him a puzzled look. "But what's the big deal?"

He shrugged and his usual cocky grin appeared. "I'd just hate everyone to know that the great and bad ass Felix Tagaro is actually really stupid and failing all his classes."

"Of course." She rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation." She paused as she stared at him. "But you're not stupid Felix…" her mouth twitched a little. "Maybe, slightly challenged but..."

"Thanks." He returned sarcastically, shaking his head and giving her a playful grin. "You really know how to boost a guy's ego don't you?"

She laughed lightly and for a second there she returned his smile, before remembering who she was dealing with and the smile fell from her face just as quickly. She cleared her throat and stared at him, her eyes cold and indifferent. "Back to the lesson, shall we?"

He nodded, and he opened up his textbook, feeling frustration creeping up on him as she began to explain polynomials to him. He tuned her out, watching with disinterest as she highlighted certain points on the lesson.

He'd almost had her, well sort of.

But this was only the first day, he assured himself. Plenty of time to crack the cold, unfriendly guard she had around him. He'd already gotten her to agree to tutor him and that in itself was a major step. He just had to have patience for the rest. It would take time, he knew that but still...

The key was to get her to warm up to him, open up to him. No matter how long it took.

Because the closer he got, the easier it'd be to plot her downfall.

As soon as Brooke opened her eyes the next morning, she really wished she had just kept them shut and gone back to sleep. She groaned as the harsh sunlight assaulted her eyes and she rolled over, curling into a fetal position. Her head was pounding and her body felt like a freight train had run over it.

In the next instance, she sat upright, ignoring the wave of nausea that hit her. Her heart was pounding wildly as she looked around the unfamiliar bedroom, completely disoriented and confused as to just how she'd gotten there. And wondering, just exactly where there was.

She looked down at herself quickly, sighing in relief to see herself fully dressed. She tried to break through the fog that seemed to cloud her memory as she struggled to remember just what had happened the night before that had gotten her there.

A knock on the door startled her and a male voice floated through the wooden door. "Brooke?"

She froze and she clutched the sheets tightly against her body, though she was fully dressed. She cleared her throat, "Y-yeah?" her heart was pounding in her chest, afraid of who might be on the other side and damn it, why couldn't she remember? Who the hell had she gone home with last night?

The knob twisted and Jake peeked through hesitantly. "Hey…"

Her eyes widened and she brushed her hair out of her eyes, "Jake?" surprise was evident in her voice and he smiled, stepping into the room fully, carrying a breakfast tray in his hands.

"How ya feeling?" he asked gently, walking over to the nightstand and setting the tray down.

She stared at him, at a complete loss. "W-what am I doing here? How did I even..what happened last night?"

He squinted at her, "You don't remember?"

"I-I was at the beach house..."she started slowly, frowning down at the floor. "After the game and-" she stopped, feeling her heart drop down to her stomach as the entire night came crashing down on her. "Oh, god. Nathan and Rachel.." She whispered, pressing a hand to her mouth and shutting her eyes tightly.

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and he sat next to her, reaching out to lightly grasp her hand in a comforting manner. "Brooke…"

She shook her head at him, unable to process any words as her eyes filled rapidly with tears. The smell of the food wafted over to her and that along with the painful reminder of last night twisted up her insides and she shot up out of the bed, barely making it to the restroom before her stomach completely bottomed out on her.

A few moments later she opened the door to the restroom and she walked back over to the bed, a little unsteadily. She gave him an apologetic smile, feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." He assured her, picking up the breakfast tray again and setting it in front of her, despite her protests. "Trust me, Brooke. It'll make you feel a little better."

She really doubted that, but she really didn't have the heart to turn him down. She picked up the fork and a smile broke out on her lips as she surveyed the food. She looked up at him, slightly in awe. "You remembered?"

"Of course." he gave her a soft look. "It was always your favorite."

"Yeah.." she smiled, as she remembered how when they were kids she would sneak over to the Jagielski home on Saturday mornings for his mom's infamous banana and coconut pancakes. She remembered Haley and Jake's constant teasing over what they called her 'secret love affair' with the sinfully delicious but oh so fattening breakfast. Secret, because even at a young age, Victoria used to forbid that she eat such things, for fear that she would get fat.

"Jake..that's so sweet." She smiled up at him, sincerely touched. "Thank you."

He shrugged and looked down a little embarrassed, but happy that he was able to put a smile on her face, if even for the simplest thing.

"Your mom's pancakes are the best." she complimented, digging in eagerly. "Does she know I'm here?"

"No, she and my Dad are down in Savannah, visiting family actually." He chuckled, "Now, this may come as a surprise, but I cooked them up for you."

"Seriously?" she nodded in appreciation. "Well, they're delicious, but they still don't beat your mom's." she teased.

"I'll remember that Davis." He laughed, remembering how when he was younger he used watch his mom make them every Saturday morning, in hopes of learning her secret recipe so that he could surprise Brooke one day.

She finished the last bite and wiped her mouth, letting out a sigh of contentment. She pushed the comforter away from her body and was about to take the dirty tray downstairs when Jake stopped her. She protested and he smiled, ushering her towards the dresser on the other side of the room.

"Here, take these." He placed a soft lavender bath robe, with a matching towel on her hands.

"Are you trying to tell me something here Jagielski?" a teasing smile tugged on her lips as she regarded him. "It's not nice to tell a girl she stinks y'know."

He smiled back, "No. But a nice hot shower might make you feel better." He digged in the bottom drawer and handed her a pair of his mom's nicest royal blue sweat suit.

"You're such a great friend you know that? What'd I ever do to deserve you?" she sighed, smiling over at him.

"I don't know, but a little appreciation would be nice now and then." He joked, leading her to the master bedroom's shower.

She stopped as she reached the door and she turned to him, a sincere smile gracing her features. She placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning up on her toes, to brush a light kiss on his cheek. "There." She said softly. "You can't say I've never properly thanked you now."

He stood rooted to that same spot, watching as she disappeared behind the other door. His hand shot up to touch the spot she'd kissed moments earlier and he couldn't stop the huge grin from crossing his lips. He sighed, a feeling of almost exhilaration washing over him as he thought of the small gesture.

Much like Brooke, Nathan also woke up somewhat abruptly. His head was pounding and the sharp sunlight filtering into the room wasn't helping at all. Feeling extremely groggy and with a sharp pain in his neck, from the way he'd slept he groaned, having no other option but to get up.

He looked around the unfamiliar room, frowning as he tried to remember just exactly where he was and how he'd gotten there.

Because the last thing he needed to do was have a one night stand shortly after Brooke broke up with him. She'd hate him even more than what she probably already did.

Brooke.

Her face flashed in his mind and he sat back down quickly on the bed, last night's memories crashing down around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and he let out a deep sigh, realizing once again how badly he'd screwed up.

As everything started to clear in his cloudy mind, the distinct sounds of somebody moving around the kitchen broke through and he got up again.

As he neared the door, a framed picture caught his attention on the way out. It was a picture of a laughing curly blonde, riding piggy back on his much hated blonde nemesis, Lucas.

Peyton.

The remaining pieces of last night, came flooding back and he ventured downstairs, intent on finding the curly-haired cheerleader.

It didn't take long to find her, as he walked into the living room he spotted her sitting down on the breakfast table, a huge bowl of what he assumed was cereal in front of her. He paused for a moment, admiring the way her curls seemed to glisten against the sunshine, making them appear even more golden. He walked further towards her, until he was just a couple of steps away from her. "Y'know in some parts of the world, it's considered rude to not have a hot steaming breakfast ready to serve for your guests."

She jumped up startled and glared up at him. "And in some parts of the world, it's also considered rude to sneak up on people like that."

He laughed, "Jumpy much?"

"You would be too, had you not gotten any sleep." She muttered. She paused and looked up, her lips set in two firm lines. "Your keys are right by the door."

He tilted his head and stared at her. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. Didn't he get the hint? "I said your keys are right by the door. In other words, get to going Scott."

He braced his hands on the chair next to her and he shook his head at her, slightly amused."Are you always this peachy in the morning Sawyer?"

"Look." She snapped, pushing her bowl of cereal to the side. "Lucas has been calling me non-stop all morning and I've stalled long enough. He's on his way here now, and the last thing I need is him finding you here okay? I do not need a confrontation between the two of you."

He rolled his eyes and he straightened up. "Afraid I might hurt your little boyfriend?"

"I'm serious! You need to leave. Like now."

He shook his head, "Damn. If this is the way you treat your friends. I'd hate to see the way you-"

"We're not friends!" she cut him off, standing up abruptly and picking up the cereal bowl.

He frowned, staring at her as she walked over to the sink. "Then why'd you let me stay here?"

She dropped the dish into the sink with a clank and turned around to face him. "Well, I didn't really have much choice did I?" she replied cryptically.

"Why are you so mad at me?" he demanded.

"Because, okay! You got me into a situation where I had to lie to my best friend. And if he walked through that door right now and found you here, he would completely hate me!"

"Don't put that on me." he scoffed, "Because you wouldn't be in such a tizzy over Lucas finding me here, had you just dropped me off at the bar like I told you to." He pointed out. "You got yourself into your own mess Sawyer, so don't go blaming me because you were so insistent in bringing me here in the first place."

She clamped her mouth shut, glaring at him. What could she say to that? He was right.

"Besides, you were just helping a friend out. What's so wrong about that?"

"We're not friends!" she repeated sharply. "We can't be."

"Because of Lucas?" he asked, incredulous.

"Because of a lot of things."

"Okay then so what are we?" he pressed on, not understanding why she was so angry. "I mean, we have to be something if you let me stay here right? You have to care about me in some way."

Her head whipped around to face him and she stared at him, her eyes cold. "Last night, I may have felt a momentary insane feeling of sympathy towards you, but you don't deserve it. And I'm sorry if you mistook that for us being friends or even me caring about you. Because I don't. And you want to know why? Because I don't care much for guys like you."

His eyes darkened, and he ignored the sting her words caused him. "You hardly even know me."

"Right." She responded coldly, crossing her arms in front of her. "And I don't want to. Y'know last night, when we talked out by the porch? About your Dad and school and stuff? There was a moment, where I thought, hey maybe you're a decent guy." She let out a dry laugh. "But I couldn't have been more wrong could I?"

"Why? Because I cheated on Brooke, or because of Lucas and Haley? What does that have to do with you?"

"It doesn't. It has to do with you. And the type of person that you are."

He let out a sigh, feeling confused as to where all this was coming from. "Peyton…"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Look, all that talking and hanging out we did this past week? It shouldn't have happened and it's not going to again okay. If you see me at school? Don't talk to me."

He looked over at her, feeling surprised and maybe a little hurt over the harshness of her words. An uncomfortable silence fell over them as they gazed at each other across the room.

He cleared his throat and he was the first to break it. "Whatever, if that's what you want, have it your way Sawyer. I don't even care." he replied in a tight voice, not looking at her as he stalked out of the kitchen and her sight.

Hearing the front door slam, she leaned against the counter, letting out a deep sigh and closing her eyes tiredly.

She'd done the right thing. Of course she had. She had to nip this in the bud and the sooner the better. Whatever had been between her and Nathan these past few weeks was a thing of the past now. Because Nathan Scott was nothing but a jerk and having him around in her life in any way was only bound to bring problems for her and for Lucas.

Brooke, I'm sorry. It meant nothing, you have to believe me.

Alone again and as hard as she tried, the nightmare of last night wouldn't leave her alone. It came back, strongly, suffocating her.

It was a mistake. A momentary, fleeting and extremely stupid mistake.

She choked out a sob, as his handsome face and his words flashed painfully in her mind.

She felt her heart breaking all over again, as she realized that despite it all…she already missed him.

"No." she whispered to herself, letting the hot water wash over her body, letting it soothe her aching muscles, but not her heart. "You have to be strong Brooke. You can't love him anymore. He broke your heart. You have to hate him."

And she would. She had to.

Because as long as she lived, she never wanted to see Nathan Scott's lying cheating ass. She would never forgive him.

Even if it completely killed her.

Well, the biggest mistake I ever made was ever loving you. Believing in you. Trusting you. But you know what? I'll never do it again.

The words came back to haunt Nathan as he lay on his bed, dribbling his favorite basketball in his hands.

You see this? It's broken. Just like we are. Forever.

No. He refused to believe that. He couldn't. He needed Brooke in his life, he loved her more than he loved anybody else. He couldn't live without her. She had to know that.

Feeling the sting of tears in the back of his eyelids, he threw the basketball up in the air, catching it easily.

He looked over at his phone on his nightstand. He'd tried calling Brooke several times, even dropped by her house after leaving Peyton's only to have Sandy, the housemaid tell him that she'd never made it home.

That more than anything had him in such anxiety. Where in the world could she be? Was she okay?

In his desperation, he'd even briefly considered calling Haley, but ultimately decided against it seeing as how angry he was with her still. Besides, she was probably in the dark as much as he was.

Guys like you don't deserve a second chance.

He groaned out in frustration, as this time Peyton's words from the night before rang out in his mind.

We're not friends.

Who the hell did Peyton think she was anyway? Whatever happened between him and Brooke was none of her business so she had no right to reproach him about cheating on her or even on the whole Haley and Lucas thing.

So why the hell was he letting it bother him so much?

A movement to his left caught his eye, and he turned watching his Dad come into the bedroom.

"Geez, no wonder your scoring average is going down son." He shook his head. "Here you are moping around like a sorry loser, instead of downstairs practicing your shot like you should be. Get up. Dinner's almost ready." He was almost out the door again, before he turned back to face him. "Oh, and by the way. Your mother's coming back next week."

Before he even had a chance to respond, his Das was already out the door. Great, he thought As if things weren't bad enough already…

Sighing, he sent the ball flying across the room, watching in strange satisfaction as it slammed against the dresser. Hearing something come crashing down into the floor with the ball, he got up and walked over to see what he'd knocked down.

It was a picture frame, and as he pushed the broken glass to the side, his face fell into a frown as he realized it was a picture of him and Brooke at last year's event at the Country Club.

He smiled, tracing the beautiful brunette's face with his fingertips. God, she was so beautiful and he had screwed it all up. And now all he was left with was this suffocating regret and guilt that burned at his chest and constricted his heart.

She deserves better than that and one day you're going to realize that, but by then, it's going to be too late. Because you never truly know what you have until it's gone right?

He cursed Jagielsky in his mind as his words from that night came back to taunt him.

But it wasn't gone. It couldn't be, because he really did love Brooke. He'd know her forever and he knew that there wasn't a single girl in this entire world, that could ever make him feel the way that she did.

Not a single one.

And he couldn't give that up. He wouldn't. So he would he get her back.

No matter what it took or how long.

Brooke stared at her reflection in the mirror and although she looked a lot better physically, no amount of make-up could disguise the haunting look in her hazel eyes.

Her hand reached out to touch the base of her throat, where the silver pendant used to hang so elegantly. The same one that she'd ripped out and threw at her cheating ex-boyfriend. The same way, he'd ripped out her heart.

A new onslaught of tears came to her eyes and she blinked them back, mentally scolding herself. She wouldn't do that anymore. She wasn't going to continue to cry for someone that had so selfishly broken her. She refused.

Sighing, she digged under the sink counter until she found a decent brush and she ran it through her wet hair, staring at her haggard reflection.

A sudden faint cry broke through her thoughts and it startled her. Dropping the brush on the sink, she stepped out, making her way out of the master bedroom and into the hallway, calling out Jake's name but getting no response.

Following the faint sounds, she came across a room at the far end of the hallway and she peered in, as the cries got louder.

Stepping in gingerly, she walked over to the crib in the middle of the room and she slowly picked up the crying 6-month old.

"Shhh.." she whispered, staring in almost awe at the beautiful blonde little girl in her arms. "It's okay…don't cry."

It did very little to calm the little girl, in fact her cries seemed to increase to almost screams and Brooke looked around, not sure what to do.

Just as she was about to go look for Jake, he appeared in the door, looking at her with the baby in his arms with a look she couldn't quite decipher.

She blushed, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he walked over to her, taking the baby from her arms gently. "I'm sorry. I heard her crying and I figured I could-" she took a deep breath and sent him a small smile. "I didn't mean to upset her even more."

He smiled back, cradling Jenny in his arms as he walked over to a small dresser by the door. "It's okay. She's just hungry." He turned his eyes to his little girl. "Aren't you Jenny?" he cooed, picking up the formula with his free hand. "It's okay, baby. Daddy's here. I've got you."

Brooke stared on in amazement as she watched Jake expertly mix the formula with just one hand, while he comforted her with soothing words at the same time. Within seconds, Jenny stopped crying and he looked up to find Brooke staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing, I just.." she paused as she watched him feed the baby. "I knew you had a baby, but this is the first time I've seen you with her, being a Dad y'know?" she shook her head. "I'm sorry. That probably sounds stupid.."

She stopped, watching Jake and Jenny and the serene way she rested in his arms, the way he'd gotten her to stop crying almost, knowing immediately what she needed. Something about that was comforting to her.

"How do you do it?" she asked, walking over tentaviley to where he was standing. "With Jenny, and school and basketball?

"What can I say? I'm like Superman." He joked, staring lovingly at his almost sleeping daughter.

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, you're something else all-right." She stared at the beautiful baby in his arms. "God, she's so perfect." She whispered, looking up at him. "I can't even imagine how you do it."

"My parents, they're great and they help whenever they can but…she's mine y'know? And sure, sometimes it's hard and it takes up all my time and energy but I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. I wouldn't have it any other way." Setting the almost empty bottle of formula back on the dresser, he walked over to the crib and slowly and gently lay her back down, adjusting the soft pink blanket around her.

Facing Brooke again, he pulled out a bright purple Blackberry and handed it to her. "It's been going off non-stop all-night."

She gripped it in her hands tightly and she looked away, taking a deep breath. She hadn't yet checked her phone. In fact, she was pretty much avoiding doing so, knowing she had about a thousand new messages from both Haley and Nathan. As hurt as she was, and with the events from last night, still so painfully fresh, she wasn't yet prepared to hear them out.

"Y'know eventually you're going to have to talk to them." He pointed out gently, watching the different emotions play across her face.

She bit her lip, fighting back tears and saying nothing. He sighed, walking over to her and placing his hand on her arm, comfortingly. "You're probably going to hate me but…I called Haley."

Her head whipped around and she glared up at him, "You did what?"

"I had to Brooke." He explained. She let out a huff and he continued. "Wait, hear me out. Look, I know Haley. You know Haley. And you know that she wouldn't intentionally hurt you. You're her best friend and you mean everything to her."

"She threw that away." she let out harshly. "The moment she chose to cover up for Nathan."

"I'm sure it's not like that Brooke. You need to talk to her, there is always two sides to every story. Don't write off ten years of friendship over what could possibly be a misunderstanding."

"I-I can't." she whispered, "At least not yet. Please understand that."

"I do, okay? I do. And that's why I made her promise not to stop by here. I made her promise to give you time. But I had to call her and let her know you were okay. Because I've known Haley all my life and she was probably sick with worry all night. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, of course not. I know Haley's your best friend too. And thank you. For making her promise not to stop by. Because I just..I can't deal with that right now. I need time." she let out a long sigh and she looked up at him. "Jake? I really don't want to go home. Do you think that I could…hang out here with you and Jenny for a little while?"

"You don't even have to ask." He assured her, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Stay as long as you need to Brooke."

Early that afternoon, Lucas found Peyton in her room, sketching furiously with Fall Out Boy blasting from her stereo.

Lucas walked over to the stereo and turned it off abruptly. "Seriously? Fall Out Boy?" he smirked. "You feeling okay Peyt?"

Peyton jumped up about a mile in her desk. "Geez!" she shouted, glaring over at her best friend. "Can't you knock? Seriously, what is it with everyone sneaking up on me today?"

"You wouldn't have heard me if I'd knocked." He scoffed, shaking his head. "When you're in one of your sketching moods, the entire Swat team could come marching in here and you wouldn't even blink." He walked over to her and peeked at the sketch on her desk, catching a glimpse of two figures sitting across each other on a table in what looked to be the school's quad with the words We're not friends scrawled angrily across the top. "Watcha got there?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

She picked it up and slammed it facedown. "It's nothing." She muttered, pushing away from the chair and walking over to her bed.

He frowned, noticing her tense stand and knowing she was lying. But he wouldn't push her. He'd known Peyton long enough to know that when she didn't want to talk, she wouldn't. And pressing her on the issue would only anger her even more.

"Okay. I can take a hint." he sighed, flopping down next to her on the bed. "Anyways, you never did tell me. How'd you get home last night?"

She looked away from him, wincing in anticipation of what was going to come next. "Nathan."

He shot up in bed and he stared at her, "Please, tell me I heard you wrong and you didn't just say that my jerk of a half-brother brought you home last night?"

"You didn't." she responded, shaking her head and knowing she couldn't keep that from him.

"Peyton!"

"Lucas, what?" she wringed her hands nervously as he stared daggers at her. "What did you want me to do? You took off on me and he-he was there and he offered." She bit her lip, knowing she couldn't tell him the rest without him mistaking it for something that it was not. And besides, what good would it really do?

"Peyton, do you like him?"

She whirled around to face him, her mouth dropping open slightly. "No! Lucas, what kind of question is that?"

"A very simple and valid question. Do you like him? Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Because Peyton! You've been different lately okay? C'mon.." he said at the look on her face. "I'm your best friend. I've known you forever, you think I wouldn't notice if something was changing with you?"

"Lucas…nothing is going on between me and Nathan okay? You have to believe me."

"Okay." he nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "That's good to know, because man that'd be completely weird and would just complicate everything."

"Why would it?" She wasn't dumb, she already knew the answer to that, but she couldn't help but want to know his take on it.

"Are you serious?" he gave her a long look. "C'mon, look at the crazy history between the two of us. I mean, you're my best friend and supposed to be on my side. Gosh, that'd be like-"

"You and Haley?"

He paused, frowning at her. "That's different." He mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow. "How so? Haley's known Nathan as long as I've known you, probably even longer. How would you and Haley be any different from me and Nathan?"

"I don't know." he shrugged, "Besides, I guess we'll never know now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's nothing between you and Nathan, we've already established that." he sighed. "And as of yesterday night..same goes for me and Haley."

She turned to him, noticing the hurt look in his eyes. "What happened?"

He fell back on the bed and propped his arms behind his head. "Let's just say, like an idiot I poured my heart out to her, just to be shot straight down."

"What did you do? Tell her you love her or something?" she asked, half-joking, half-serious.

Pain flashed in his baby blues and he turned away from her. "Lucas…" she said softly. "You didn't."

He groaned and covered his face with one of her pillows. "I did." His voice was muffled. "I kissed her and then I practically asked her to marry me. Well, no I'm just kidding, but how could I be such an idiot?"

She pulled the pillow away from his face and smiled. "You kissed her?"

"Yeah…" he couldn't stop the goofy grin from appearing on his lips, as his mind took him back to that moment.

"And?" she urged him on, playfully nudging him. "How was it?"

His smile only grew bigger and his blue eyes took on a dreamy, far-away look. "Perfection." He turned to her. "Sometimes…you kiss someone and you know right then and there that you are exactly where you're supposed to be. That's the person you want to kiss for the rest of your life."

"That's so sweet." She told him, honestly. "What are you going to do?'

"I don't know." he admitted, the pain of her rejection still fresh in his heart. "Just wait..I guess. Wait for her to come to me..I really can't do anything else."

"What if she doesn't?"

"She will." He smiled, feeling confidence and hope surging through his heart for the first time since last night. "I can feel it. She'll come to me."

"How can you be so sure Lucas?" she questioned, not for the purpose of making him doubt his feeling or Haley for that matter. But because she knew Lucas tended to jump in wholly with his heart, sometimes maybe too quickly and she just wanted to spare him that heartache.

"Because Peyton.." he sighed, "Because sometimes there's people that just touch your soul, and hold your heart. You don't know why or even how, but it's there. And no matter how much you try to ignore it or push it away it's just always going to be there. And I feel that, with Haley and I just…I can't give up on that feeling or let it go that quickly."

She nodded, accepting his quiet conviction and she lay down next to him, pondering over his words.

"So anyways.." he asked after several moments of comfortable silence. "What were you drawing?"

"Oh, nothing." She smiled at him, staring up at the ceiling and thinking back to last night, when she'd almost let Nathan kiss her.

Of course it was nothing, she assured herself. It had to be nothing.

Because anything other than that would just complicate everything around her.

To my fellow Brathan lovers, no interaction between them in this chapter either, but I promise that the lack of such between them does not mean that they are over and done with. Far from it in fact J, but they'll come face to face again in the next chapter. Same goes for Lucas and Haley.