Don't tell me you're sorry cuz you're not. Baby when I know you're only sorry you got caught. But you put on quite a show, really had me going. But now it's time to go, curtains finally closing. That was quite a show, very entertaining. But it's over now, Go on and take a bow. And the award for the best liar goes to you. For making me believe you could be faithful.

-Take a Bow- Rihanna

There is always a moment in life, when every breath you take suddenly breaks your heart. It doesn't matter when or where, nothing matters… because in that moment, everything matters. It's funny isn't it, how in those moments, mistakes you made in high school seem to haunt you, all the little things around you rain down until you reach this breaking point. That breaking point though, is a blessing. In that moment, the anguish is over. You can let go of what you have, and find out what you want. But, what if you never give in? What if you live your life running from pain and worry, only to find that you're running from yourself?

Will you end up like Haley? Haley James, beautiful and quiet, with such honest intentions. But Haley knows that intentions account for nothing, when love gets in the way. She wants so badly to be able to look at the person she's with and let him occupy her heart, and she can lie and pretend he does, but she knows that she'll never be able to let anyone in there, until she's able to get someone out. She worries so much that her lies are going to break Nathan, but cannot find the words anymore to make this better. So with her golden smile and her good intentions, she secretly prays that someday she'll wake up, and nothing will exist except warm summer days and the sound of two hearts beating.

But what about Brooke? Beautiful, carefree Brooke. She has gone from living her life under a spot light, to searching for a light to guide her back. Sitting alone every day, she prays to see the world through someone else's eyes, and for everyone to see it through hers. Tired of her reputation and lies, she has tried so hard to prove herself to everyone, and to Peyton. But her best friend seems to come and go, untrusting of the hand Brooke has held out for her. But what if Brooke isn't reaching out to pull someone up, but to be pulled up, but no one cares?

"I'm back." A small voice whispered through the darkness of the dorm room. Brooke looked up from her bed, after being awakened and stared at Peyton through the dim glow of the bedside lamp. Sitting up, she stared at her best friend. She looked different. Maybe it was the darkness of the room or the heavy sleep in Brooke's eyes, but she wasn't the girl that had left a week ago.

"Peyton." Brooke breathed, still lost in her transformation. "Why didn't you call? I was really worried about you." Peyton barely spoke, but gave Brooke a long, hesitant look.

"I was…busy." Peyton answered. She had her arms wrapped around herself, and she sat quietly on the edge of her bed. They way she looked and the way she moved, spelled it all out.

"You went to see Jake." Brooke sighed, wishing she would have realized this early enough to stop her. Brooke had never seen Peyton looking so depressed and almost… ashamed.

Peyton nodded, and shivered. "Peyton, are you okay?" Brooke asked. She started climbing out of the bed, but Peyton jumped up and backed away from her. "Peyton…" Brooke groaned, shocked and offended.

"I'm fine. I'm going to sleep."She whispered. With all of her clothing still on, she climbed into bed.

"Talk to me, Peyt." Brooke begged her. Again, she moved towards her.

"Don't!" Peyton shouted. Brooke was startled at the loud sound amongst the quiet of the dorms. "Just… leave me alone. Please." Brooke gasped, wondering if this is how best friends were in college, or was it just them?

"Why won't you let me help you?" asked Brooke, feeling defeated.

Peyton scoffed silently, but tried to be nice, "It's okay Brooke; I know you mean well but… you do your thing." She looked back and Brooke could tell it was taking a lot for her to act normal.

Confused, Brooke asked, "My thing? What's that?"

"You!" Peyton whispered, climbing into bed with her back to Brooke, "You're Brooke Davis. No worries, no cares in the world. Go party or make out." She muttered, trying to pass it off as a joke, but Brooke sensed the hostility in her voice.

"I don't…" Brooke searched for the words, suddenly feeling like her life had no meaning at all. "I am not that shallow." She sighed, grabbing her sweater and shoes, and leaving the room.

Peyton sat up and stared at her, knowing she had to straighten things out, but being too focused on Jake to even care anymore. It was just Brooke, and she'd get over it, she always did.

The sounds around him were intoxicating; for once in his life everything seemed to be following the right path. Here he was on a Friday night, the smell of Haley's hair still in his nose, on a basketball court, letting his thoughts fade between his dribbles. He knew though, that certain things in his life would never be how he wanted them.

He wished he could see the world through his brother's eyes and Lucas through his. He wished he could find out how Lucas viewed him, and the world they both shared so separately. He was lost in his thoughts as footsteps echoed behind him. He watched as Brooke walked up near him, and sat on the bench. From the moment he met her, he knew her to be so carefree and alive, but tonight she looked different.

She wasn't Brooke, or maybe she was. But this person he sat next to was anything but carefree, and she seemed barely alive. Neither of them spoke at first, they sat there in silence watching the moon on the small lake.

"Having fun?" she finally spoke. She tried to laugh, but it came out in a broken chuckle.

"Yeah, I was." He smiled. He leaned back and looked up at the sky, he wanted to stop himself from smiling, but it felt impossible, everything seemed so right. "What are you doing out around here?" he asked her, he could tell that she wanted to talk about something.

"Peyton is home and she's…" her voice trailed off, "pretty upset, she doesn't want to see anyone."

"Oh?" Nathan responded, the silence was greater and he needed something to say to lighten the tension between them, but Brooke beat him to it.

"How are things with Haley?" she asked. She fell backwards with him, possibly looking at the same stars that he was.

"Good." He breathed, "She's amazing.

Brooke laughed, "Yeah… she's alright." Nathan looked at her and smiled, knowing that it was a big deal for Brooke to be saying such a thing about Haley.

"Glad to see you're coming around." He laughed. Brooke turned on her side and looked at him, and a part of her wished she was Haley. She had never met anyone like Nathan. He was sweet and gorgeous. Sometimes she wondered if she had made her move on him sooner, she'd be the one that he was smiling about.

"So you must like it here, huh?" Brooke asked him, "Getting to spend time with your brother."

Nathan's mood shifted, the thoughts of how things should have been with his brother, was overlapping the way they were. It was like his mind kept flashing these vivid images of the way he wanted things. He could see Lucas out here with him, playing basketball and laughing, but he could also see the way Lucas walked past him like he was a complete stranger, and not his own brother. "I don't spend any time with my brother." Nathan whispered.

"Aww…" Brooke sympathized, "too busy?" she asked.

"Nah…" he plucked at a piece of the long golden grass that had grown up through the picnic table. He noticed how much the color or the grass had changed since he got here. November was folding in on them and he had so much happen already. He had lived so much and died so much.

"The truth is…" he started, not sure why he was opening up to Brooke, "I came here to try and fix things with him. Luke really doesn't like me and I'm trying really hard to change that."

Brooke smiled a little, and noticed a small scar above Nathan's eye. "He likes you, Nathan. All brothers act like they don't like each other but they never really mean it."

"This is different though." Nathan said, he turned and looked at her with his head propped up on his hand. "I was the love child that my father had with my mother, while he was married to Lucas' 

mother." He blurted out. Brooke almost choked on her own breath, beginning to reconsider what she called the drama in her life.

"Oh. Gosh." She barely muttered.

Nathan laughed, used to getting that reaction when he told anyone about his story. "Lucas sort of resents me for it, I guess. He thinks I'm the reason his father wasn't around growing up."

Brooke sighed, "That's terrible. Have you tried to talk to him, tell him that you want a relationship with him?"

Nathan laughed thinking that it sounded so weird to hear anyone ask him about his 'relationship' with another guy. Brooke laughed too, knowing what he was laughing at, and smacked him playfully on the arm. "No." Nathan said underneath his laugh, "he won't give me the chance."

"Everyone thinks I'm a whore." Brooke whispered, lost for words about Nathan's problem. "But they only judge that by what they've seen. They don't know what really goes on, or what I want."

"Not everyone Brooke." Nathan smiled, Brooke wanted to smile back and thank him, but her thoughts were flooded with the words that Peyton threw at her time and time again.

"Peyton does." She whispered.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked with actual interest. Brooke was surprised. He was an athlete, he was good looking and charming, she didn't expect him to be a good listener too, or even a good friend.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"Well…" he tried to keep his tone polite, as not to offend her. "If you don't know what you want you can't expect other people to know."

She nodded, knowing that he was right. "Well I can tell you what I don't want." She drifted into almost complete silence, a comfortable silence that she had barely experienced before. "I don't want to be alone anymore." She looked and he nodded in understanding. Her mind vaguely drifted to Haley, as her eyes met Nathan's. She was apologizing already, for the thoughts that were surrounding her. She may have built a slight relationship with Haley, but that didn't stop her from wanting Nathan. Nathan was looking at her in a way that she had never been looked at before. Brooke wasn't asking for a relationship, but Nathan Scott was like a forbidden fruit that she just needed one taste of.

Nathan bit his lip, and his mind fogged up. He wasn't even aware of what he was doing, but for the time being the old Nathan Scott was back, and he was making his move on the girl. Leaning in her kissed her lips slightly, and it stung. He knew he shouldn't be doing it, he knew it… and his whole body was screaming at him but he did it anyways. He let his hands trail to the back of her neck and pull her in until he was satisfied with the way that her arms wrapped around him. They both laughed a little, knowing that this was going nowhere. But they simply didn't stop.

Haley awoke from another strange dream of Lucas. It wasn't real this time, not a memory but more of a nightmare. She had dreamt that he had been walking away from her, with a terrible look of pain on his face. She kissed his lips and held his hand and then without even trying to keep them together, he simply walked away.

Her heart was pounding with guilt. Had she done that to him? She searched her soul for reasoning but all that she could figure out was that she had pushed him away. She still couldn't say that she loved him, but he still meant everything to her. When did everything become so little? She wanted to be able to tell herself that it was Nathan, he had won her heart over, and though she did have strong feelings for him, he wasn't it. The image of him leaving her drilled into her mind, and her body ached for closure. Was it the age, her family? The dream had made her realize that she had simply cut out a piece of her heart for no reason at all.

Was she stupid? She asked herself. Was she really that dumb? Who was she to decide what happened in their lives? This affected him to. Suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe. She needed to see him, just to understand why she made the decision she did. Or even to get one last taste of him to decide whether it was really over.

On his front step she felt the wind breeze through her pajamas. She shook, knowing that he was so close as she knocked on his door frantically. She could feel the small drops of mist on her back as the weather seemed so undecided about what it was about to do. Would it rain? Or would the clouds part? Haley sighed, wondering why things were so undecided in this world.

The door opened, interrupting her thoughts. He stood there, rubbing his eyes, and she noticed that he did look older than her. But it wasn't a bad older but a more… mature, older. He looked safe, but instantly confused. As was she. Was she comfortable with the safety of Lucas's arms? Or did she long more for the adventure of being in Nathan's.

His hand dropped to his side as he stared at her, and she still saw it in his eyes. He still loved her, and she still couldn't give that back. But she prayed that she still had the same want in her eyes, because it was still in her heart.

He sighed and gave her the 'you shouldn't be here look.' She could read him so easily, the way he slightly grinned, pleased, but tried to hide it. She knew that he could read her just as well, as she gave him the longing look, and stepped forward.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered. Without thinking, he reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling her in closer to him.

"I have no idea." She smiled. He leaned in for a moment, wanting to kiss her, but stepped back inside the house, pulling her inside with him. She laughed, thinking they'd finish it inside, but instead he let his body drift from her's and he stood distantly with his arms folded.

"You called this over, Haley." He justified. "You can't expect me to just throw everything else down whenever you feel like dropping by." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. She stepped closer to him, but he seemed to shift away as if he was about to get burned. "Besides…" he continued, "you're dating my brother."

For a second, Haley was angry. How could he block Nathan out all of his life, and now use him as a reason to not be with her? "Your brother? He's your brother now, when you need a reason to not…" her voice trailed off, to not what? What had she come here to do? "You don't even care about him; he can't be your reason."

Lucas shook his head, "I do care about him. But Haley, what is it that you want? A relationship? Because we both know that it won't work right now. A one night stand? Because that's not enough for me." He seemed just as confused as she did, as he moved forward but still seemed so cautious around her.

"Well, if you don't want a relationship, or a one night stand…" she concluded, "then you don't want anything from me?" she bit her lip to stop it from quivering, how could she be so confused about what she wanted? How could he? She turned to leave, when she felt his hand grab her arm. He turned her around quickly, and smiled his beautiful smile.

"I wouldn't say that." He said. "You win." He nodded, and then let his lips fall upon her's. So gently at first, but eventually becoming more sweetly forceful as he poured all of his desire onto her. His arms wrapped behind her knees and lifted her into them, as he carried her into his bedroom.

Why do people make the decisions that they make? Why do the ones who have it all seem to beg someone to take it all away? Why is it that people seem to do things, so out of the character that it makes us angry, wondering why these people have no idea what they want? But the truth is we are in no position to judge. What we consider out of someone's character, may be exactly who they are. We are not to decide what someone else should do, or how confused they should be. Sometimes people are able to make the right decisions, yet other times it takes a lot of wrong decisions to find the right one. Meanwhile, everyone else is supposed to sit there and look pretty, because when we decide that things are moving too fast, others may be deciding that they are the perfect speed. Who cares how confused people are, because all of their bad decisions will clear the path for the right one.