Part 15

Outskirts of Roswell, New Mexico - June 2004

"Are we there yet?"

Lucas grinned into the rearview mirror at his best friend, Haley. "You are trying my patience, young lady!"

The pretty blonde reached forward and tugged on Lucas's earlobe. "C'mon, Luke! Admit it. You're sick of being in this car too."

"I sure am. I was tired of this before we even got into the car." This was from Brooke, whose tone was flat. Lucas glanced at his girlfriend, who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat. He sighed slightly at the scowl on her face.

"No one asked you to come, Brooke," Nathan snapped from his seat next to Haley in the back.

"Nathan," Haley said warningly.

"What? I'm sick of her attitude. If she didn't want to come, she didn't have to!" Nathan said, quite obviously irritated.

Lucas didn't blame him. He was pretty tired of Brooke's behavior too. She had been crabby ever since they left Tree Hill early three days before. After all, she was the one who had invited herself along. Nathan and Lucas had been planning to go by themselves. But when Haley decided to accompany them, since she was the only one who knew the real reason they were going - to find their sister -, Brooke had seemed to think that it was her duty to do the same. And, so, here she was, making them all uncomfortable by making it perfectly clear that she wished she was anywhere but where she was.

Lucas sighed heavily, turning his attention fully back to Route 70. But then Brooke had been acting as though she wanted to be anywhere but in his company for months. It wasn't like it was anything new.

He still wasn't even sure why they were still together.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He grimaced slightly, remembering exactly how brutal Peyton had been about it. She hadn't even waited until he was out of the hospital. To think that he had at first felt better when she'd come in to see him.

"Hey," Lucas said softly, reaching out to take Peyton's hand in his when she came up next to the bed.

"Hey," she replied softly, gently disentangling herself.

Lucas frowned slightly, but didn't comment. "How's Brooke?" he asked instead.

"Okay," Peyton replied. She lowered her eyes, not meeting his.

"Peyton?" It was then that he knew, absolutely, that something was wrong, beyond the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed.

"She doesn't remember, Lucas," Peyton whispered. "She doesn't remember what happened."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, afraid. Her voice…she sounded like a wounded animal.

"I can't." She finally looked up, meeting his gaze. Tears glittered in her beautiful eyes. "Lucas, I just can't do it to her. She's my best friend." She raised her hands, waving them around to indicate him, her, them. "I can't do this, Lucas. She's always been there for me. I can't do this to her. I thought I could. But I can't. And now we've been given a second chance to do the right thing. She doesn't remember."

He felt a lump enter his throat. Because she didn't need to say another word. He knew what she was going to say. "Please. Don't," he said harshly. He turned his head away from her. Only for a moment. To collect his thoughts. To convince her to change her mind.

He had to convince her. If he had thought it was hard when she had rejected him in the fall, before Brooke, this was a million times worse. Because, this time, he had actually believed that it was going to happen. That he was going to be with her.

The pain in his heart was worse then the pain he felt from the accident. And that was saying a lot.

It had all been a lie. And it was all his own fault. Because he had been with her best friend, they couldn't be together.

"I love you, Lucas." It came out as a sob. "I'm so sorry."

When he turned back, she was gone.

He had not spoken to her since. Oh, he had tried - at her house, at school, everywhere. But she would just turn away.

And, so, when if finally became too much, when his pride finally got the better of his heart, he stopped trying.

He had stayed with Brooke. They had recuperated from the accident together. It really did seem that she remembered nothing of what had led up to their injuries, and Lucas decided that he wouldn't tell her. That he would respect Peyton's wishes and keep their brief interlude a secret.

Lucas knew he should have broken up with Brooke anyway. That even if he couldn't be with Peyton, it was wrong to be with Brooke when he loved someone else. But, it was just easier to go on as before. He was too tired to do anything else. Even if Brooke seemed almost more ambivalent about it then he was.

Because, the truth was, Brooke had been different since Memphis. Not because she knew about him and Peyton, but because of something else. Lucas had no idea what it was, but she seemed sad, and somehow not herself. It was another reason he didn't want to hurt her. If she was going through something - a depression maybe? - from the accident, he wasn't a big enough jerk to hurt her even more.

And, so, their relationship continued. It didn't advance, it didn't end, it just was. And when Haley said she was coming with them to Roswell to find Liz, Brooke said she was coming too. Which was how they all found themselves in a car, almost there.

The road trip to New Mexico had been in the works for months - in fact, since the day that the mysterious Liz from Roswell had disappeared from the Memphis hospital to which Lucas had been taken after the car accident.

It had been Nathan's idea, of course. He had been determined to track down the girl he claimed was their sister. Lucas wasn't sure he entirely believed Nathan. But he couldn't deny that something very strange had gone down at that basketball tournament, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that he never should have survived the accident in the first place.

It was again Nathan who had told Lucas that Liz had somehow been responsible for that too. He couldn't explain how, but he knew it was true. That she had asked Nathan to create a diversion, and that after he did, Lucas woke up.

"You know this all sounds crazy," Lucas had said to Nathan, when his brother had shown up at his house the day after they had returned to Tree Hill from Memphis.

"Of course I do," Nathan snapped. "But that doesn't mean it isn't true. I can't explain it, Lucas, but I know it's true. That girl is our sister. And we need to find her."

Lucas could not disagree, if only to prove to Nathan that he was completely losing it. Lucas had never seen his brother like this. He was like a man possessed, and had been since he had first met Liz. At first, Lucas had tried suggesting that they get in touch with Liz another way. It didn't seem entirely necessary to make the trip to New Mexico. After all, this was 2004 and they knew people who knew Liz. Lucas tried to get in touch with Kyle Valenti, to ask him to connect them with her, but had no luck. Brooke did have his email address, but Kyle had never responded to Lucas's message.

Lucas had hoped that this would be enough to convince Nathan to let the whole thing go, but he had not. Eventually, Lucas decided to humour him, by agreeing to make the trip, although he did insist that they wait until school let out for the year. It would be easier to explain to their parents, and he had missed enough during the weeks it had taken him to get back on his feet after the accident.

It wasn't like it wasn't entirely possible that Dan Scott could have fathered another child out of wedlock, and then abandoned it, Lucas reflected again now. Their father's track record made Nathan's claims completely believable. Even if Dan had been nicer since the accident, he was still, at heart, a jerk. If Nathan didn't keep insisting on throwing in the whole "she's a psychic stuff," Lucas might be totally on board. As it was, though, he merely hoped that the trip would wrap things up once and for all.

In the end, even if the whole thing turned out to be completely ridiculous, at least it had given him and Nathan something to bond over. They hadn't had a single argument since Memphis, because now they had a topic of conversation in which they were both interested. Liz Parker.

Lucas was snapped out of his thoughts by Brooke's voice. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I know I'm being a total bitch. I'm just tired."

"It's okay," Haley said firmly. Lucas watched in the rearview mirror as she shot Nathan a stern look. He rolled his eyes and looked away. "We're almost there." She leaned forward slightly, changing the subject more fully. "I'm starving! We need to eat first, even before we find a hotel."

"Sure," Lucas said. His own stomach growled at the thought of food. "Brooke?" He spoke to his girlfriend, to make sure that she knew he wasn't mad at her. Although she didn't seem particularly concerned if he was.

"Okay," she said simply, staring out the window at the passing desert.

Lucas sighed again, frowning slightly. The car lapsed into silence until he turned onto the main drag of the small town.

"Oh, we are so eating there!" Haley exclaimed gleefully.

Lucas stared out the windshield at the giant UFO crashing into the side of the building to their right. "How can we resist?" He knew that Roswell had some kind of history surrounding aliens, but he had to admit he didn't know much.

He pulled their car into an empty space in front of the restaurant, then shut off the engine, before looking over his shoulder at Nathan.

"You have half an hour," his brother said. "We're finding her today."

"Have you thought about what you're going to say?" Lucas asked, his heart beating a bit more quickly. Although he still wasn't entirely sure he bought Nathan's story about Liz, he had to admit that he was excited to see her again.

The idea of a sister…it wasn't entirely repulsive. Not since having a brother had turned out to be okay after all.

" 'Hi' seems appropriate," Nathan replied, opening his door and climbing out. He strode purposefully towards the flashing Crashdown sign. Haley ran to catch up with him, sliding her hand into his. Lucas watched his brother glance down at his girlfriend and smile slightly.

He sighed again, feeling a pang of jealousy, before looking over at Brooke, who was staring at him across the hood of the car.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. She looked as though she had seen a ghost. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't looking at him at all, but, rather, past him.

"Um, nothing," Brooke said quickly, her gaze now focused on him. "Listen, Luke, I need to stretch. Do you mind if I just wander down the street? I'll meet you guys in the restaurant in a few minutes."

"Okay," Lucas said, bemused. He shrugged, following Nathan and Haley into the restaurant. And almost ran right into his brother's back. Nathan was still standing in the doorway, not moving.

Lucas glanced around the almost empty restaurant, unsure as to why his brother and best friend weren't yet seated.

"Can't find a table?" he joked.

"We found her," Nathan said. He nodded in the direction of a door at the back of the room, which was swinging back in their direction, a waitress with a heavy tray backing out through it.

Even from the back, Lucas recognized the small form and long dark hair. He hadn't seen a lot of Liz in Memphis, but, thanks to Nathan, he sure hadn't forgotten what he had.

Apparently she hadn't forgotten them either. Because when she turned around, balancing the tray expertly, she took one look at them standing staring at her, and the entire thing tilted, sending its contents spilling on the floor.

Liz barely even noticed. Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at first Nathan, and then at Lucas in disbelief.

And that was when the most amazing thing of all happened. She burst into tears, and rushed across the room, throwing her arms around Nathan.

"I'm so glad you're here!"