It had been three years. Three years since he'd last seen her. Three years since he walked away from her. Three years since he asked her to marry him. Three years since he was really, truly happy. Three years, and every day, she was still the first thing he thought of when he woke up.

He never admitted to anyone else, but somewhere in those three years, he had realized that leaving her had been the biggest mistake of his life.

Now here he was, three years later, trying to find inspiration for his next novel. His first book had been a success, but now he was blocked, and searching for something to write about. Anything at all. Any story he could complete. But he was at a loss. There were no words. He had nothing to say. He couldn't do it. He just lived his life, alone, save for family and friends. He coached his team and went home to his empty house.

He missed her, though he'd never admit it to anyone. He'd had a hard enough time admitting it to himself. On some level, he knew that his friends knew, but none of them could find the words to talk to him about it. Haley, Nathan, and Brooke all spoke to her often, but they knew better than to keep him up to date. They knew he was in no position to hear about her.

So many times, he'd picked up the phone, wanting to dial her number and hear her voice on the line. But too much time had passed. There had been too much space and distance between them, and he couldn't change that now.

He imagined what her life was like. Was she still full of life and determination? Was she still as stubborn has she'd always been? Did she still use her art and music to express her feelings? Herself? What kind of clothes did she wear? Did she wear the same perfume? Did her hair still smell like coconut? Did her skin still taste the same?...

All day, every day, his mind was full of Peyton, and being away from her and without her was torture. Lucas woke up every day and rolled to his side, reaching out for someone who wasn't there. She was never there.

This particular day, a Sunday, he drifted back to sleep. His subconscious took him back to that hotel room in L.A.

"You're saying no." He was defeated. His already damaged heart was taking a beating on this one.

"No. I am not saying, no. I'm saying not now. I want to marry you someday." The tears were pooling, making her green eyes sparkle even more than usual. She reached for his arm, but he pulled away out of anger or hurt, or both.

"Hey, don't do that," she pleaded. "Don't pull away from me, okay. I want us to be together. I love you so much."

"Just not enough." He looked down at his hands, terrified of the reality he was facing.

"Okay. Can we take this back? Can we just pretend like you never woke up? Please?" He watched as a tear fell down her cheek.

"I don't think that we can," he said.

"I'm afraid that this conversation is going to end with…"

"Goodbye," he interrupted, finishing her thought.

He left her sleeping, convinced that she didn't believe in them or in him. He was too heartbroken to have to speak to her, so he left. They were supposed to be together, but it was clear that wasn't what she wanted. So he left with nothing more than a kiss to her sleeping temple.

Lucas bolted upright in his bed. The same dream that had haunted him for three years. The day he wished he could take back. He raised his hands to his face, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, and sighed heavily. It was a nightmare, but it had also happened. He wished so badly that he could go back to that hotel room and shake the boy in it. Shake him and tell him to stop letting his ego get in the way of his heart.

She hadn't said no.

--

After Lucas left her in that hotel room, Peyton fell apart. She took time off work and didn't leave her apartment for a week. She didn't take calls from anyone. Not even Brooke and Haley, who'd both called every day after they found out. She knew they'd heard from Lucas what had happened, and she just couldn't talk about it. It's not that she simply didn't want to, she physically couldn't do it. Talking about it would make it real. Other people knowing about it would make it real. All she'd wanted since she was 16 was Lucas, and she didn't want to admit that it was finally over. One of the worst moments in her entire life was waking up to find him gone.

Every day got a little easier. After she realized and admitted to herself that they were finally over, life became a bit simpler. It took her a long time to remember how to exist without him, but between work and the few close friends she'd made in L.A., she managed. Work got busier, too. She was promoted into a marketing position, which she loved and excelled at. She felt a sense of relief- that was what she'd wanted to do since she arrived in the city, and now she was doing it.

She talked to Haley and Brooke often, but never dared to ask how he was. She still wasn't over him, and it would have killed her to hear that he was seeing someone new, although she didn't doubt that he was. He was a published author now. She'd bought his book, but hadn't even opened the cover. The words it held now felt like a lie. He wouldn't love her forever. He didn't.

Walking past a large bookstore one day, she was frozen in her tracks by a photo of him in the window. He was going to be in town for a signing the following week. The photo must have been a recent one - he looked more grown up, more hardened. He wore a suit and tie and his icy blue eyes all but jumped off the page. She made a note of the day, and waited the entire week for him to call. She thought he would invite her - that he would want her there to share this with. She waited. Every day. The morning of the signing, she finally cried over him again. It had been a year since she'd shed a tear over him. It really was over.

She pulled herself together and went out with her friends that night. After one too many drinks, she met a man named Evan. He was tall and handsome, with deep brown eyes and brown hair. He was far from what Lucas was. He wasn't into sports. He was a lawyer in the entertainment industry, representing all sorts of celebrities and athletes. As he put it, he read contracts and wrote up pre-nups day in and day out. He was the opposite of her ex-boyfriend, and that made him perfect to her that evening.

They began spending a lot of their time together. Almost all their time together. It was refreshing to be with him, and he treated her like a queen. She never doubted that he loved her - not once since the first time he'd said it. He bought her flowers all the time - roses, which weren't her favourite, but she didn't have the heart to tell him. He was sweet and caring, and she was lucky to have him. It was easy and comfortable and they had very few issues or arguments.

After about a year together, she moved into his house at the beach, where she had her own office set up, which, let's face it, was more of a sanctuary than it was an office. Sure, her computer was in there, but it was filled wall to wall with albums and she spent a lot of time in that room, just existing quietly with the music that surrounded her. He never fully understood her need to be alone so much, but he didn't press the issue. He didn't press any issues. He was just happy to have her.

One night after dinner, she and Evan stood on the deck of their home, his arms around her and two glasses of wine on a table nearby, watching the sunset. Somewhere between the pink sky and the waves crashing on the shore, he whispered in her ear.

"Marry me."

He didn't pose it like a question. There was no long, drawn out speech. There was no sentimental throwback to the first time they met.

She turned her head to look at him. "What?"

"Marry me, Peyton," he repeated.

She smiled brightly, and he mimicked the gesture. "OK." She spun herself around so they were locked in an embrace, then he disappeared into the house, returning with a pale blue box in his hand. He opened it and pulled out a beautiful princess cut solitaire diamond in a platinum setting. He slid the ring on her finger and hugged her again.

She was happy, truly, but for some reason, feeling this ring on her hand, she wondered what the other one looked like. The one Lucas had wanted her to have. then her thoughts went to something else. Or rather, someone else...

Lucas.

--

Brooke woke from her sleep and stretched happily. Since returning to Tree Hill, she'd slept better than she had since...well, since she left the town in the first place. There were no sirens, there were no audible arguments floating through her window from the street. There was no light from adjacent high rises trickling into her bedroom. There was a darkness and silence that she'd been searching for for the past four years.

Since her return, she'd fallen back into her friendships as though she'd never left. The old gang was back in Tree Hill. Well, all but one person.

She was making coffee when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she spoke groggily, turning on her coffee machine.

"Brooke, it's Peyton."

"Hey buddy, what's up?" she said, suppressing a yawn.

"I have news," Peyton said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Evan and I got engaged last night!"

Brooke dropped the coffee mug she'd pulled from the cupboard, and it broke on the counter in front of her.

"Brooke? Are you OK?" Peyton asked.

"I'm fine! Oh my God, tell me everything!"

Brooke listened as Peyton gave the details of the simple proposal, and what Brooke was more interested in - the ring.

"We want to get married in Tree Hill," she stated.

"What? Why?" Brooke asked. Suddenly, all she could think of was Lucas and his poor broken heart. There was no way he wouldn't find out.

"Well, Evan's an only child and neither of his parents are alive. We just want something small, and so he suggested we do it in Tree Hill," Peyton explained.

"Wow," Brooke said. "So when is it going to be?"

"We're flying out there next week and staying till the wedding." She paused on the other end of the line. "Which will be in 6 weeks."

"6 weeks!? Jeez Peyton, why so fast?" Brooke was afraid she sounded like she wasn't being supportive, but 6 weeks was really soon.

"Why not? We just want to be married." Peyton had actually asked Evan if they could get married right away. His reaction had been similar to Brooke's, but he wanted to please her, so he agreed.

"What about work?" Brooke asked.

"Technology! I can do my job from Tree Hill," she explained. "Listen, I have to call Haley, but I'll talk to you soon, OK?"

"OK. Congrats, Peyton."

The two hung up, and Brooke couldn't help but feel less than thrilled for her friend. But why? She should be ecstatic that her best friend found someone to spend the rest of her life with. But Brooke couldn't shake the feeling that Peyton had already found that person, and that that person was going to head in a downward spiral when he found out she was marrying someone else...

Brooke was cleaning the shards of glass that had scattered around her kitchen, when her phone rang again.

"Hey Haley," she answered, after seeing 'Naley'' flash across her call display.

"Hi," Haley said worriedly.

"I take it you've talked to Peyton," Brooke said, as she sat on a stool in her kitchen.

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with her." Haley breathed deeply. "I'm worried about..."

"Lucas," Brooke interrupted. "Yeah."

"Yeah," Haley said.

"What does Nathan think?" Brooke asked.

"Nathan thinks that his brother is going to need our help with this one. Nathan also thinks that we maybe should have told Luke that she was dating someone," Haley said.

"OK, but how do you do that? 'Hey, Luke, you know the girl you're still in love with? She's over it'?"

"I know," Haley paused. "So what do we do now?"

"We let Nathan handle it," Brooke joked.

"Brooke!" Haley shouted.

"I don't know, Hales. I really don't."

Haley sat in her kitchen after she got off the phone with Brooke. Nathan could see she was worried, so he walked over and sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I'm thinking that maybe we can talk to Lucas' editor, Lindsey or whatever her name is, and have her tell him she needs him in New York for the next 6 weeks." She looked over at her husband.

"Hales, we have to tell Lucas," he said.

"Tell me what?" Lucas asked, walking into the kitchen nonchalantly.