Notes: I know this took forever, but even my Christmas break has been crazy. Go figure! I hope this chapter is worth the wait. I know some of you are a bit uncomfortable with the Brathan, but we'll have to get through it to get to the happy ending. Oh, and if you haven't seen S4 yet, there might be some slight spoilers. Here it is…

Chapter 3

Lucas turned on some music in his apartment and sat down at his laptop on the desk to write. He blinked at the blank screen for a good ten minutes before he cursed, running his fingers through his styled blonde hair.

He had not been able to write anything for days.

He was not sure where the writer's block was coming from, but he thought a lot of it was from nerves. His first and only book was about to be sold for mass consumption and his first reading was in four days. The rest of his life rested on this book and this weekend.

This weekend. He was hoping that he had done the right thing by inviting both Nathan and Haley. He was also hoping that they both weren't dumb enough to bring their current partners. He wasn't sure he was ready to see Nathan and Brooke together, so he doubted Haley would be able to stand it. And he could just see Peyton and Nathan's face when Haley walked in with Jake.

A darkness sank to the bottom of his gut. He had really screwed up this time.

He just wanted them both to be happy again and he knew they never would be without each other.

Standing up, he stretched, his shirt rising over his still thin, flat stomach. He walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing the jug of milk. He drank straight from it and sat it down on the table so he could drink some more in a couple minutes.

He walked around his kitchen, just looking. He sucked in a long breath, relieved at the thought that his uncle Keith would have been happy with what he had become. He skin was jumping at the thought that he was going to see Keith's little daughter, his mom's daughter, in four days. She was five years old now and Sarah Scott had Keith's smile. He delighted in seeing his mother and his sister together. They were happy and he could see it in every breath they took.

Lucas glanced at his laptop again. At that moment, he hated it and contemplated throwing it out the window and letting it fall five stories to the unforgiving sidewalk.

He sighed with relief when he heard the doorbell. Any distraction was a blessing. He made his way to the front door and smiled as he opened it.

"Hey, Mouth. Good thing you're here. You just saved my computer from certain death."

Mouth chuckled as he stepped through the doorway, shifting the weight of his leather messenger bag. "Having writer's block?"

"The size of a freaking elephant," Lucas said, heading back towards the kitchen. "You want anything to drink, man?"

"I could take some coffee. I'll need caffeine for a tutoring session tonight." Mouth sat his bag on a couch and followed his friend to the kitchen.

"A teacher's job is never done, right?" Lucas said, turning back to give Mouth a teasing smile.

"Something like that." Mouth was in his second year of teaching communication at a private school in Raleigh. He loved his job and he was glad to be in the same city of at least one of his old friends. He had changed a lot in the last five years. Having grown about a foot after high school, he was now almost as tall as Lucas. His hair was cut close to his head instead of in spikes and looked soft and natural. He wore thin, wire glasses and a uniform suit for school. He had become a handsome man.

"So, are you excited about Friday?" Mouth asked, blowing on the coffee Luke had just given him.

"Terrified might be a better word. I've never opened myself up like this, Mouth. I've played basketball for hundreds of people, but I never showed my soul like this."

"Sure you have. It was just a different part of your soul." Mouth drank from his coffee, remembering how Lucas used to play. It was like watching poetry.

Lucas looked down into his own coffee. Mouth stopped by often, but he knew that he had a reason this time. "What are you wanting to say, Mouth?"

Mouth paused, his mouth open. His friend was always intuitive. "What are you trying to do, Luke? You're manipulating your friends. Our friends."

Lucas sighed. "I just want them to be happy."

"What if they are happy?"

"They can't be! Haley with Jake? Nate and Brooke?"

Mouth took another drink of his coffee. He had learned from teaching how to pull faces and make people tell him the truth. "Is this about Nathan and Haley, or is it about Brooke?"

Lucas let out a breath incredulously. "Me and Brooke have been done a long time. I'd be ridiculous to try and get her back."

Mouth just stared at him with an understanding look.

Lucas took a deep breath. "I'm ridiculous, huh?"

Mouth laughed softly. "You're not ridiculous. I know how hard it is to get over Brooke Davis. Believe me."

Lucas paced around the kitchen. "I really do want Nate and Hales to be happy."

"I know, Luke. But you have to let them all figure this out on their own. If they're meant to be together, they will be." It was quiet in the room for a second, then Mouth said, "And if you're meant to be with Brooke, you will be, too." Lucas had no idea how painful that was for Mouth to say.

…………………………………………

"Where was your head at today, man? We're playing the Bulls in five days," Nathan's teammate asked as he stripped off his sweaty shirt in the locker-room.

"Sorry, Danny. I'll have game on Sunday. We'll kick their ass." They slapped hands, then Danny headed for the showers.

Nathan shut his locker with a sigh. He didn't tell his friend where his head really was. It was in Tree Hill. It was with Haley.

He was listening to her latest song on his Ipod. No one knew he did that before and after every practice and each time he worked out and ran. Brooke had no idea.

Brooke. She had helped him so much over the last five years. They were so much alike and he was grateful for her, but he knew he did not love her as he did Haley. Nate did not think he could ever love anyone as he loved Haley, as he still loved Haley.

But Brooke was great. She had understood his pain and loss. She never pushed him when he was grieving. She was just there for him. Brooke had been the first person he had slept with since Haley. He had waited for years, hoping that Haley would come back, come home but was too afraid to go after her again himself, to fight for her. After that last fight, he was sure she hated him, hated him as much as he had hated himself. His thoughts drifted back to that day, those last moments.

They were eating dinner in silence in their dorm room. Again. They had not spoken in days, not since they got a baby shower gift in the mail from someone who had not heard about the death.

"Would you hand me the salt?" Nathan asked, anxious for her to finally speak to him, but nervous to hear her.

Haley dropped her fork onto her plate with a clang. "Is my cooking not good enough for you now?"

Anger boiled to the surface. He was not going to leave the room this time. Pushing his plate away from him, he slid his chair back. "If you want to fight, just do it, Haley."

She lifted her hand to her chest. "I want to fight? What the hell about you? You don't speak to me. You don't even look at me."

Nathan could feel tears stinging his eyes when he heard her voice break. He wanted to hug her, to tell her everything would be all right. But it wouldn't be. He knew that. "I'm not the only one, Haley. We don't kiss. We can't even make love anymore. Why can't we find light, Haley?" A tear rolled down his cheek. "Why can't we make this better?"

"Because you killed our son!" she shouted. She was holding her stomach so tightly that her fingernails dug into her skin. Strands of hair clung to her wet cheeks as she wept.

He could barely breathe. He had been afraid for those two months that she blamed him as he blamed himself. Tears fell like rain from his eyes. "I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want the baby to get hurt."

"But we did! You sold your soul, Nathan, and our baby paid for it." The doctors had originally thought after the car accident that everything would be all right, but the baby had too much damage that wasn't caught until it was too late.

"If that's how you feel, then why are you staying?" He threw the plate of food at the wall, more out of anger for himself than for Haley. "Why don't you go?"

Haley shrieked as the plate broke. She looked back at him, her eyes cold and resentful. He knew with that look that it was over. "I am going."

He sucked in a breath. He had known it was coming, but the pain of those words was unbearable. Nathan wanted his words to hurt as much as hers had, even though that about killed him, too. "Then run, Haley. It's what your good at."

She stormed into their bedroom, packed some clothes and left for Brooke's.

It was the last time they saw each other.

He could not even describe how it felt when he had turned on the news and heard from a cheery reporter that Jake and Haley were a couple. He and Brooke had only been dating for two months. It was then he decided to actually try with Brooke, more than he had. He had kissed her first looking for support, but with that news, he wanted to kiss her then to start over, to maybe love again.

Looking around the locker-room, he noticed that he had become so wrapped in his owned thoughts that everyone else had left. He put on his shoes, and headed towards the door.

"Hey, baby," Brooke said as she rushed up to him, jumping into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Nathan laughed as he kissed her. She was so energetic that it made him feel like he still had some energy, too. The hall was empty and silent except for them. He twirled them around until her back faced the wall. He pushed her up against it and deepened the kiss. Nudging her with his hips, he simultaneously dipped his head to kiss her neck softly. She tilted her head back to let him kiss her, moaning when his tongue grazed her skin.

She ran her fingers through his hair and down his neck. "Okay, down, boy. Before this becomes public indecency."

"Come on, Brooke," he said, kissing her again before he set her down. "When have you ever been for public decency?"

Chuckling, she twisted the front of his shirt between her fingers. "When I realized how much I love you."

They both looked at each other stupidly. Brooke had not planned on saying it. She had kept that hidden for a few months and was surprised that it slipped out now so naturally.

Nathan certainly had not expected it. They had been so into the moment that he was stunned at the announcement.

"I'm so sorry, Nate," she said. "I didn't mean to say it."

"Did you mean it?" His voice was quiet as he looked down at her. He was still trying to catch his breath.

She felt like crying. She was afraid that she had just lost him. But she had promised herself that she would never lie to him. With watering eyes, she said, "Yes."

He put his head on her shoulder and hugged her tightly. He lifted his head just enough that they could see each other. They were so close that their breath mingled. "Oh, Brooke," he said, stroking her hair. "I care so much about you, but I can't tell you that yet. And I don't want to lie to you."

"I know," she said, panting with relief. "I'll wait for you."

They kissed again, smiling. Then he took her hand in his as they started to move towards the exit.

"Hurry back home as fast as you can this weekend, buddy," she said. "After a kiss like that, I'll be Brooking myself until you get home."

"What are you talking about, Brooke?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling. "You're coming to Raleigh with me. You never miss a game." He tugged her closer to him.

Her hair swayed as she turned her head up to look at him. "I can't go to North Carolina with you. What about Lucas and Haley?"

"What about Luke? It's been five years and he started dating Peyton like a month after you broke up," he said, taking his keys out of his pocket. "And Haley. I don't want to hurt her, Brooke, but I don't think I can go through seeing her without you."

She took a deep breath, then smiled at him. "Well, let's take the car instead of flying."

He kissed the top of her head. She was always there. "Why?"

Brooke bounced in front of him happily. "Because we'll have several hours to fool around in a car, and trust me, I know my way around a car."

He raised his eyebrows as he laughed. "I like the way you think."

TBC