Chapter Twenty Six- "Forever Changed"

"Brooke what are you doing?" Peyton said rushing into Brooke's room. She had heard Brooke was released from the hospital, but she never expected to see Brooke rushing around her room packing up everything. "Whatever is going on, running away from it isn't going to help."

"I'm not running away from anything Peyton," Brooke said as she stopped and turned to face Peyton. "I have done nothing but screw everything up since I got here. I won't make that mistake again. Lucas has moved on and now I need to too. Being here isn't helping."

"Brooke the man spent all night with you," Peyton said to her. "He left his book tour to come be with you. Lucas is in love with you Brooke."

"He wants to be with Lindsay," Brooke said to her. "Nick wants to be with me. I'm going back to New York and he can go back to Lindsay."

"Only he's not going back to Lindsay," Peyton said. "Brooke he walked away from the book tour to be with you. The book tour that put him close to Lindsay for five months. He wouldn't have done that if he wanted to be with her."

"He didn't walk away Peyton," Brooke said to her. "I heard him talking to Lindsay, he's going back to the book tour. I just need to go back to New York and focus on my company."

"Why are you making this so hard Brooke," Peyton said. "That boy is madly in love with you and you are madly in love with him. Go to him and tell him this."

"I can't Peyton," Brooke said to her. "I can't. So just drop it okay."

"Well I can't do that," Peyton said to her. "And I won't do that."

"Then there is nothing left here," Brooke said. She finished packing up her stuff and headed out of the apartment.

"Knock knock," Haley said as she walked into Lucas' bedroom. He was sitting at her desk typing up a letter to send to Lindsay and not making much progress on it. Haley walked over to his bed and sat down. "I thought you were heading back to the book tour?"

"I was," Lucas said. "Then I started thinking maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to leave right now. Nathan's on the road, Deb's only around part time and I don't think Brooke should lose her friends right now."

"Jamie and I did fine the last time you were on a book tour," Haley said to him. "Second you're lying to yourself if you believe that you think Brooke needing her friends is the reason you're staying. You're staying because you care about Brooke and you know you're what she needs most right now."

"I'm worried about her," Lucas said. "She looked so broken Hales."

"But she's okay," Haley said to him. "I know she is far from okay, but she's here and she has you to help her."

"I don't want to risk upsetting her or hurting her more," Lucas said to her. "You're right I didn't want to leave her. I don't want to leave her. I just don't know how to tell Lindsay that."

"You tell her the truth Lucas," Haley said to him. She got up from the bed and walked over next to him. "You tell her that you need to be in Tree Hill because Brooke needs you and that the rest can be figured out later. She'll understand."

"That's what I am afraid of," Lucas said to her. "I don't want her to understand. I want her to get mad at me and yell at me for walking away from something this important."

"So basically you want her to get mad at you so you know if she still wants to fight for you?" Haley said to him. "She's not gonna do that. You need to figure out who you want to fight for and fight for them. Don't let them decide for you. If they do you might lose both of them."

"You're not helping Haley," Lucas said.

"I am," Haley said to him. "You'll see that." She gave him a kiss on the head before leaving his room.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Nick said as he walked into Brooke's office. When he had come in to work today she was the last person he expected to see in the office. One because she lived in Tree Hill and two because of everything that had happened only a few days ago.

"This is my company," Brooke said.

"Yes," Nick said as he walked over to her desk. "But you in trusted me to run the New York Office. You live in Tree Hill now remember?"

"Well I decided to move back to New York," Brooke said. "I realized I was only fooling myself by staying there."

"You called it home Brooke," Nick said to her. "You never called New York home."

"New York is my home now," Brooke said to him. She got up from behind the chair and walked over to Nick. "I was hoping maybe you could help me making it home again."

"Brooke," Nick said to her.

"Last time I was here I wasn't ready, but I am now," Brooke said to him. "If you are still up for it, maybe we can give us a chance?"

"As much as I want to say yes, I can't." Nick said. "I care about you too much Brooke to ever do that to you. You shouldn't be here. You should be in Tree Hill with the people who care about you. You should be with your friends and family."

"No what I need is to focus on my company." Brooke said before walking back over to her desk and sitting down. "That is what I intend on doing."

"Okay," Nick said. "I'm here if you need me."

"I won't," Brooke said. Nick shook her head before walking out of her office and into his. He sat at his desk for a moment debating on weather he should be doing this or not. In the end he knew this was the right move to make. He picked up the phone and called the one person he knew who could be there for Brooke and help her.

"It's Nick," Nick said into the phone. "She here and she not okay. I hating having to call you, but I don't know who else can help her right now."

AN: Any guess who Nick called? Lucas might finally have figured out what he wants. Will Brooke figure it out next? Sorry for the horribly late update, I haven't realized I waited so long to up date. It's this darn arm, it's not getting any better. I'm gonna try my best, but sadly there are some days it's just to much to be on my computer. So again please be patient with me. Hopefully good things coming.