"Thanks for coming," Lindsey whispers in the dark.
"Of course," Julian leaned over, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"How are you so calm?" she asked.
"Why wouldn't I be? This is nice," he told her.
"Because of the nightmare today was..I feel like Luke and I lost our spark but I never wanted this to turn ugly. I don't even know if what we have is worth saving," she admitted.
"Forget him," Julian urged.
"What about Brooke, do you miss her?"
"I don't give a damn about her," he said.
Lindsey smiled moving closer to him. "I never wanted to move to Tree Hill in the first place, now I feel trapped here."
"Break up with him."
"It's not that simple," she said.
"You just said, you couldn't think of any reason to stay."
"But the baby."
"Not a reason, even if he is the father," he told her as they cuddled.
"And what if you're the father?" Lindsey asked, running her fingers along his abs.
"I don't like kids," he said.
"That's kind of mean."
"It's the truth."
"Then what if Brooke wanted kids? Were you going to make the sacrifice?"
He laughs, "That's a hard no."
"I think you would look cute chasing a kid around and changing diapers," Lindsey teases as Julian climbs on top of her, nibbling her neck and shoulders.
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The next morning. Luke sat at his desk rubbing his eyes. Lindsey was on a conference call with another client and their publisher in the next room. Last night, Lindsey claimed she was out with friends and needed space away from his holier than thou attitude.
A text comes through from Brooke and he reads it.
Can you meet on the pier at lunch?
Luke knows Lindsey won't like this, but right now he really doesn't care. He's been friends with Brooke a long time. She was one of the few people that supported him when he first joined the basketball team in high school. A lot of people were angry and bitter and thought he had no right to play on the team.
He meets Brooke around noon at an oceanfront bistro and they find an outdoor table overlooking the ocean.
"I found out from Peyton last night, that Jake is going to have to get a paternity test to be officially added to Jenny's birth certificate and enrolled in school."
"That's a relief," he said. He was a little nervous, but he believed there was a high probability she belonged to Jake and this would give them closure.
"Yeah, I think it's a good thing for everyone to have peace of mind," she said. "You look really tired."
"It was a late night last – Lindsey never came home last night. I also saw her car at the bar and she was nowhere to be seen."
"Do you think she was with Julian?" Brooke asked.
"Probably-maybe- I don't know. My mind is going to the worst-case scenario. I thought about our baby, how we just were at the ultrasound two weeks ago and saw the heart beat for the first time. Now I don't know what to think. This morning, I asked Lindsey if we could have a DNA test at our next appointment and she said no way."
"This has to be so hard on you, especially with Nicki bringing Jenny to town."
"I don't even know what kind of home I could provide her. Lindsey's giving me the cold shoulder because I haven't been sensitive to her needs. Did you notice anything weird going on with Julian at all the last few weeks?"
"No, but I guess we see what we want to see, you know? I never expected it from him. I thought he might be the one."
"You deserve a lot better than Julian," Luke said, reaching for her hand. He always felt connected to her.
Brooke sniffed. "It's funny I had all these dreams in high school about being a mom someday and now – I don't know maybe that's not going to happen. My mother had the nerve to ask me why I let another good man walk out of my life."
"Don't listen to her. You would be the best mother," he told her. "There is something else I should tell you..Lindsey doesn't want us to see each other anymore."
"What? We've been friends since high school, how can she just ask you to do that?"
"Well, she thinks we're more than friends," Luke sighed.
"That's ridiculous," she said.
"It's not that ridiculous."
Brooke stared at him frozen. Speechless. "I don't understand, we've been a part of each other's lives so long but we've never been a couple, never hooked up.."
"But she sees this emotional connection between us and I guess if I want to stay married, I have to respect her wishes. She said that it would prove my commitment."
"Well, I better get going. I'm picking up the keys for my new condo and signing my lease agreement," Brooke said as they finished lunch. It felt horrible, Lindsey wanted him to cut her out of his life. She felt like there was nothing else to say.
"Brooke, you know how much you mean to me. I just don't know what to do here. I took vows," he trailed off there was so much more to say, but he couldn't find the words.
"It's fine Luke, it's your marriage," she said, walking away.
Luke dropped his head into his hands, feeling defeated.
