A/N: So I've recently come into an insane amount of inspiration and came up with the idea for this story. I'm super excited about it. It's pretty AU, with some obvious similarities to the actual show. The first few chapters really focus on Lucas, but we'll get to Brooke soon enough so you've just got to stick with me! I promise, this is a HUGE Brucas story.

Here are the three main things you need to know for this story:

1. Lucas never knew Brooke or Peyton.

2. Brooke and Peyton grew up in New York, but are still best friends.

3. Lucas and Nathan are still half-brothers. Everything that happened on the show, happened in this story, except for the love triangle with Brooke and Peyton. Haley and Nathan got married in high school and had Jamie at the end of senior year. Keith died in the school shooting. Karen had Lily. Dan and Deb divorced, Jake had Jenny (although there was no Nikki mess, she just left and never returned). Jake, Lucas, and Nathan were all best friends throughout the last couple years of high school.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, things on the show would be lot different. The title of the story belongs to Switchfoot.

Awakening

Prologue

Lucas Scott was many things. Successful, handsome, and rich were at the top of the list in the point of views of most people, but there was one thing that he wasn't and that was one of the most important things of all—he wasn't happy.

It didn't matter that he was the author of two best-selling novels or that his name was famous to millions of people all around the world. It didn't matter that he could have any girl he wanted with the snap of a finger and it didn't matter that he had enough money to last a lifetime. Because what was the point of those things when they couldn't make him happy?

He'd left home two years ago a young author, fresh out of college. His first book, a tale of true love that he'd yet to experience, had just been published and he was setting out on his first book tour. It had been purely an adventure at first. The actual tour had only lasted six months, but he wasn't ready to return home quite yet. He'd made it his goal to visit every state and had somehow managed to accomplish that his first year away from home. All the while he'd been writing his second novel, inspired by his travels.

He wasn't sure when it had happened, but at some point during his first year of traveling, he had started searching for something. What that something was, was beyond him. He still didn't know what he was looking for, even to this day. All he knew was that he was searching for the thing that would make him happy—complete. When his first book was published, he thought that it would fill the void in his heart—whatever that void was. And it did, for a few months at least. But he had quickly grown bored and unhappy, yearning for the one thing that could give him the happiness he sought.

After he was finished gallivanting the States, he still wasn't ready to return home. So, after his editor proudly announced that his second novel would be published in six months, he decided to take his travels out of America.

He'd traveled all over the world—from the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean to the exotic jungles in the Amazon. From London to Paris, from the Yukon to Bangkok, from Venice to Tokyo. In six short months, he'd seen it all. And yet he still hadn't found what he was looking for. After thousands and thousands of miles traveled, he was back at square one.

Now, two weeks after his second book tour ended, he found himself in the not so rainy city of Seattle, Washington. It had been his final destination for the tour, but for some reason he wasn't ready to return home and so he had booked an extra week at his hotel and stayed in the city looking for some inspiration. He'd been to so many places over the last two years and he still had so many things to see, but he knew now that if he couldn't find the solution to his happiness in the hundreds and hundreds of places he had visited, he probably wasn't going to find it anywhere. Maybe it was time to stop looking.

He sat under a tall umbrella at one of the fifteen million Starbucks in Seattle (he'd lost count after his second day of being there). It was nearing the end of summer in the Northwest and the air was warm and slightly humid. The sun was hanging high in the midst of a beautiful blue sky. People strolled along the busy streets, enjoying the weather and the relaxation it brought.

Taking a sip of his iced coffee, he looked down at his laptop. Lindsay had given him strict orders to have the outline for his next book in by next month, but he was having trouble finding any sort of inspiration to write. His first two had been easy, but now writing was a daily struggle for him. It just didn't seem worth it any more, not when it didn't bring him the peace that he needed and not when he didn't enjoy it.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out warily. It was probably Lindsay, calling to bother him once again about his writing. But when he looked at the screen, he was surprised to see his brother's name. He hadn't spoken to Nathan or his wife, Haley, for almost two weeks now, something Haley would probably scold him about the next time they did talk.

"Hey, Nate," he said cheerfully as he answered the phone.

"Lucas." Nathan sounded both tired and annoyed. "Where are you?"

"Seattle. Why, what's up?"

A loud sigh resounded on the other line and Lucas immediately knew that he was in some sort of trouble. "Lucas, Jake's getting married on Saturday."

Lucas' eyebrows crumpled in confusion. "Saturday? As in three days from now?"

"Yeah." Another sigh. "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Umm…"

"Come on, man," Nathan said, sounding even more frustrated. "This is big. Jake is one of your best friends and you're in the wedding party. You can't seriously have forgotten about this."

"Things have been crazy for me," Lucas defended. "Lindsay's been bothering me about my new book and the book tour has been really hectic…"

"The tour is over, Luke, so that excuse isn't valid anymore. Why the hell are you still in Seattle, anyway?"

Lucas sighed. "I don't even know."

"Just get your ass back home. Jake's been really patient with you and has insisted on not bothering you because we all knew you were busy, but this means a lot to him, Luke. He's a like a brother to us. You can't miss this, especially now that the tour's over and you have no obligation to be away from home."

"I know, I know."

Lucas really did feel bad about this. He hadn't meant to forget about Jake's wedding, but he'd been caught up in so many things that it had just temporarily slipped his mind. He felt even worse as he realized that he couldn't even remember the name of the girl Jake was marrying. He really had been away for much too long.

"We really miss you, Luke." Nathan's voice was soft and Lucas could tell that he wasn't really frustrated with him anymore. "It's been two years since you've been home. Jamie is missing you like crazy. You won't even believe how big he's gotten. And Haley…well she misses you even more than Jamie, if that's even possible. Your mom is about ready to strangle you for staying away for so long. And you do realize that you have a little sister waiting for you at home, don't you? She misses her big brother, Luke."

He thought of Lily, his feisty six year old sister who hadn't seen in two years, and he knew that it was time to stop searching. Obviously the searching wasn't getting him anywhere. Whatever it was he was looking for would find him eventually. He just needed to go home to his family.

"I'm coming home, Nate," he said seriously. "I'm sorry I've been away so long, but I'll be back, I promise. I'll call Jake today and let him know that I'll be there."

"I can't tell you how good it is to hear you say that," Nathan said. "Just try to make it home by Friday night for the rehearsal dinner."

"I'll do better than that. I'm going to take the first flight out of Seattle and be there by tomorrow morning. How's that sound?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Lucas heard another familiar voice in the background.

"Sounds good, man," Nathan said a second later. "By the way, Haley just told me to tell you that she's going to kick your ass for waiting so long to come home."

Lucas grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Really, though, it'll be good to have you back. Do you think you'll be staying for good?"

He didn't know for sure. All he knew was that he needed to be home right now; it didn't matter for how long.

"I don't know yet. But I definitely won't be leaving right away."

"I guess that's better than nothing. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you soon, Nathan."

He hung up, a small smile on his face. He was surprised that for the first time in a long time he actually felt at peace. Going home, no matter how long it would be for, just felt right. He'd get to see his mother and Lily again, and of course Nathan, Haley, and Jamie. He'd get to be around all his old friends again—Jake, Mouth, Skills, Junk, Fergie… It would be good.

He was starting to think that going home to Tree Hill might have been the best decision he'd made in two years.