Her hair was slightly matted and knotty; having lost the sheen it once held before. Her hair was part of her pride, highlighted and done to perfection; it would shine everywhere she went, no matter the lighting situation. She remembered a time when her husband would just run his hands through her hair to comfort either his self or her; either way both parties loved it. But she had no time to meticulously choose the best shampoo and conditioner for her hair, nor was she able to buy the conditioning cream or any other hair products she normally bought. Time was her biggest enemy.
Nor was she able to buy the beautifully designed clothes she once wore. At one point in her life, there wasn't a day when she didn't look amazing. There wasn't a day that went by when she didn't have on the most expensive clothes. But now...now there were more important things to worry about. One such being the infant resting against her shoulder clad in only a diaper. She needed to keep herself healthy so she could feed her child, because God only knew what she would do if she couldn't feed her baby.
But, "You have to know the past to understand the present." as Dr. Carl Sagan once said, and so, let's take a step back and shed light on this past; before everything went downhill.
We start our story just months beforehand, when the infant we met before was just a twinkle in her parents' eyes. Before things turned sour, and before our hero fell to his knees. At a time when our hero was a hero and our damsel was no longer in distress.
"Luke! We have to go or we're going to be late!" Brooke moved through the bedroom, hastily putting a silver dangling earring through the piercing she had gotten when she was ten. "Luke?" She found her brooding husband in his walk-in closet, fumbling with the vibrant red tie Brooke had picked out for him to match her. "Here baby," She quickly and effortlessly tied the tie around his neck, before turning around so Lucas could zip up her zipper that ran down right above her butt.
He left a small kiss on her shoulder after closing the fabric temporarily, all the while knowing the flawless dress would be discarded by the end of the night, whether in their apartment or not. "Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?" His husky voice slipped easily through her ears, bringing a smile to her face.
"Not recently enough" She smiled, white teeth glowing as she turned around to give her husband a proper kiss. "Now come on, Naley's waiting for us in the car."
Groaning deeply in protest, Lucas let go of his wife's petite frame and followed her out of the closet, grabbing the shawl and clutch she mistakenly left behind. Once they were downstairs, Brooke quickly turned around, remembering her forgotten belongings when Lucas held them up with a smile on his face. "Got 'em, babe." He delicately wrapped the black shawl around her shoulders and handed her the black clutch.
The two left the apartment hand in hand down to the lobby where Lucas's brother and sister in law were awaiting their arrival. "Took you guys long enough; we've only been waiting for an hour. I could've saved a couple bucks on the babysitter if I'd known Luke would be stuck in front of the mirror for so long."
"Yeah, yeah bro whatever. I gotta look good for my wife, you know. You're lucky Haley has an interest in slobs." Lucas's smirk was evidence of his joke, and his younger, yet taller, brother let out a chuckle, softly punching Lucas's shoulder.
"Well, let's get outta here otherwise we'll be late for Mr. Head of Foreign Communications Department's promotion dinner" Brooke gleamed proudly as Nathan spoke those words while they left the lobby. She hooked her arm around Lucas's body and held onto him, using him as a shield against the cold winter air. The brooding blond wrapped an arm around his wife, holding her tight as he rubbed his arm up and down in an attempt to warm her up even though he loved when her face became red from the bitter cold.
They were the couple. Power couple by day, infatuated lovers by night. They'd married after a mere four months of dating, swearing they were in irrevocable love. Nothing could get in between the two of them. When you know, you know. You know? No one questioned their logic, mostly because they were so different, yet so similar. In any case, they married in the most beautiful ceremony in Venice. They shared their 'I do's before a beautiful sunset, and vacationed on the beaches of Greece.
When they came home, they fell into a routine with each other. They were still dazed and in love; Lucas brought home small gifts for his wife every night, and Brooke always had a small candle-lit dinner ready for the two to share and converse about their separate days over. No one could deny the two were in love; not even in the limousine with Lucas's half brother and sister-in-law.
"Baby, can you fix the back of my dress? I think the button's come undone." Brooke turned in Lucas's arms, revealing her milky, smooth skin where, low and behold, the button on her dress had come undone.
"Sure beautiful." His calloused fingers ran over the top of her back and down toward the button on the top of her dress, re fastening what he had put together in the first place. "Good as new." He whispered in her ear after leaning forward and kissing her shoulder.
Brooke smiled as she turned, giving Lucas a small kiss. "Thanks love" The two settled again, Brooke leaning into the side of Lucas's body as he wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her upper arm tenderly.
"Alright, you guys are going to make me throw up." Nathan hit his knees, causing Lucas to smirk, while Brooke blushed. "And I'd rather not do that before we leave this limo. Poor Joe over here would hate to clean that up, wouldn't you Joe?"
The humorous and kind driver of the two brothers for four years now, looked into the rear view mirror and nodded. "Yes Mr. Scott; I'd rather not have to clean up your undigested food because of the other Mr. Scott."
"See? Joe's got my back." Nathan smirked again toward Lucas, raising his eyebrows humorously. "Save the sexual rubbing for the bedroom bro."
"Sorry Nathan" Brooke blushed as her husband smirked, unfazed by his brother's antics. Brooke on the other hand, wasn't as comfortable with her new in-laws. She had only met Nathan and Haley once or twice before the wedding, and she didn't have a strong bond with either of them quite yet.
Lucas looked to his wife, seeing her red cheeks and he laughed softly. "Babe, don't worry about Nathan, his bark is worse than his bite." He turned completely toward Brooke and looked to Nathan."If you really want to see sexual though Nate, that can be arranged…" Without another word, he looked back to Brooke and planted his mouth against hers. Brooke's eyes widened in surprise, but when Lucas nudged his tongue into her mouth, she relaxed into the kiss, massaging her tongue against his as she groaned a little bit.
When it got intense, Lucas pulled away, giving Brooke a kiss on her nose before looking back at his brother with a smug look on his face. "Sexual enough for you little brother?"
Nathan grimaced, shaking his head. But when the hotel the event was being held came into view, another smirk came onto his face. "Have fun being the life of the party with those swollen lips. You have to give a speech, right?"
Lucas's eyes widened a bit as the car slowed. "Fuck." He quickly wiped at his lips, trying to get his lips less red and cause the slight swell to go down. "You're a dick, Nate." Lucas looked up at the approaching building and shook his head at his brother.
Brooke quickly reached into her purse for some fast-acting Tylenol, "Here baby. Take these." She gave him two and he quickly dry swallowed them.
"Thanks beautiful." He kissed Brooke's forehead and stuck his tongue out at Nathan. "Plan foiled, how do you feel?" His brunette counterpart didn't get a chance to answer him, because just a couple seconds after, Joe stopped the car and opened the door of the limo and the two brothers each helped out their wives.
"If you leave me, I just might kill you." Brooke whispered to Lucas through her smile at all the old men in the event hall who were saying 'hello' and 'congratulations' and eyeing her, seeing as none of them really knew her. "These guys creep me out"
Lucas laughed softly to himself, wrapping his arm around Brooke as reassurance that he wouldn't leave her. "Don't worry babe, I won't leave you. Mostly because if I do, I doubt the men I need to schmooze will even glance at me."
"Hah." Brooke's light laugh drew the attention of a particular group of men that walked toward the couple, and took the attention of Lucas away from Brooke and toward international relations with China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.
"Lucas, all I'm saying is I think we should focus on the Middle East most of all. We already have China in the bag with India, Pakistan, and Japan behind us. What we need is more of the Middle Eastern nations so we can have more of a foothold." One man droned on, and after he was done, another talked about how they needed to expand to Africa by putting more company buildings around there and donating money and such. Of course, Brooke had absolutely no interest in any of what they were talking about, but Lucas on the other hand, was listening intensely. He furrowed his eyebrow in concentration. Brooke could tell he was really listening to these men and trying to take what they were saying into consideration.
"Well, Jim, I understand what you're saying about Africa." A small smile of pride flashed across Jim's face, "But, I don't think Africa is quite ready for us yet. I agree with Will on this one. We need to focus on the Middle East and getting a foothold there before we work our way more left. But also, I think we need to get more of our people in Brazil, since we're being so well-received there."
"That's a great idea Lucas. See guys, this is why this is the new head of foreign communications over here." Jim gave Lucas a big pat on the back as the group of men laughed and Lucas smiled toward Jim, nodding at him in thanks.
Soon, the group left the couple alone, but just two seconds later, another group came over and began chatting with Lucas. "Lucas, why don't you come over here and we can let the ladies talk while we talk business?" Brooke's eyes widened slightly, and she looked over to Lucas.
He shot an "I'm sorry" look at her as the burlesque man dragged him away from her. 'Bastard' Brooke thought in her head as she smiled toward the other wives. They were much older than her; and it definitely showed. But Brooke had to admire them, because these women carried themselves well, and were extremely intelligent, which showed from the conversation they had started with the young brunette.
"If I'm not mistaken, you two recently married, yes?" One of the women randomly asked, and by this time, Haley had slinked by Brooke's side. Though the two didn't know each other very well, they were the only two each other knew. Well, and technically they were related, so they might as well stick together.
Brooke smiled as she looked toward the woman who posed the question and nodded her head. "Yes, we married about two months ago tomorrow." The smile on her face told all the women that the young couple was still in their honeymoon phase, trapped in their own little bubble of love.
"Congratulations hon," The woman smiled kindly "have you two thought about children yet?"
Brooke almost choked on her own breath when she heard the woman's question. "Oh Lord, no." The brunette let out a nervous chuckle as she felt aging brown eyes bear holes in her body. "We've just gotten married. Children won't be a thought in our mind for at least another year or two."
After a bit more schmoozing with older women that she didn't necessarily care to speak to, Brooke made her way back to her husband, who was still chatting up a storm with the older men who worked for the firm. She slinked her arm around his and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
Lucas smiled and in return, unlinked their arms and pulled her closer to him, resting his hand on her hip. After the men had finished talking, Lucas and Brooke made their way back toward Nathan and Haley. "How are you two enjoying the party?"
Nathan and Haley turned around from the table they were sitting at to face their family members. "We're doing alright. A little bored though Luke. But that's to be expected when there's a party you're attending." The four shared a laugh and sat back down at the table for Lucas's speech which was followed by dinner.
To Brooke and Haley, the night seemed to be never-ending. Mostly, they spoke with each other while their husbands spoke to the men around the room because neither were huge fans of the wives of the rest of the men who worked for the firm. Though they didn't know each other very well before, they became very close as the night went on and by the time the limo had dropped off the younger Scott couple, Brooke and Haley had a date for lunch the next day.
"Look at my girl, life of the party and schmoozing more successfully than I have." Lucas leaned back into the black leather seat and stretched his legs out as Brooke cuddled in closer to his side.
Brooke reached over and laced her fingers into his before resting her head on her husband's chest. "Yeah well, your girl's pooped. And she has lunch with Haley tomorrow afternoon which she is super nervous about."
"Why are you nervous babe? You two seemed to be getting along well at the party." He lazily ran his fingers up and down Brooke's back, having momentary contact with her skin when the fabric of her dress didn't cover her back.
"That's why I'm nervous. You're so close to Nathan, and we see him and Haley a lot. I want her and I to have a really great relationship and I don't want to mess it up." Lucas could tell Brooke was nervous. It didn't really matter how long the two dated before they were engaged; Lucas knew Brooke was the only woman for him, and there was an instant connection between them. One always knew what the other was feeling at any given time.
Lucas laughed a little bit before kissing the top of Brooke's head. "Baby, you'll be fine. You're not going to mess it up, and Haley already loves you so you're golden." The conversation ended there and the two fell into a comfortable silence. Brooke was just about falling asleep on Lucas's chest, and once the driver pulled in front of the apartment building, Lucas had to carry Brooke back into the apartment bridal-style.
Unfortunately, when he put her in the bed, he had to wake her up so she could get dressed and not ruin her dress. Because he knew for a fact that if he let her sleep in the dress and she woke up with wrinkles in it, he would never hear the end of it. He gently kissed Brooke's ear, smiling as she stirred. "Baby you gotta wake up real quick so you can get out of that dress."
"Mm. Just take it off baby. You've got enough practice with that." Lucas laughed at her sleepy response, but willingly obliged. Brooke had turned over onto her stomach so he could unzip her dress, and he slowly slipped it off of her after he had untied the fabric that was tied around the back of her neck. Brooke was left clad in her red lacy lingerie, and Lucas groaned as she covered her beautiful body with the covers.
"You kill me Davis," Lucas loosened his tie, leaving a kiss on Brookes head before he walked into their bathroom to change and get himself ready for bed. Once he was ready, with his sweatpants on and shirt off, he slipped into bed next to his wife, gently pulled her close to him.
Brooke turned over in her sleep and cuddled into the crook of Lucas's neck, breathing in deeply to take in the scent of Attitude by Giorgio Armani which was a gift given to him by Brooke as a congratulatory gift on his promotion. "Mm I love you Luke."
"I love you too beautiful." Lucas smiled back as he closed his eyes, ready to wake up for it to be a new day for him to spend with his wife. One out of an eternity of mornings spent with the love of his life.
AN: The ending is awkward and I'm not too happy with it. But I've been working on this on and off for about 6 months. Inspiration for this came as sporadically as it does with my other stories. I'm not going to promise frequent updates on this story, but I will promise that it WILL be updated. Probably not within the month because I have ACTs in about nine days and no more breaks this month. I wanted to get a BLer out there for all those fans since OTH is literally going to SHIT this season and last. It's gotten so bad that I'm hoping they don't renew it for another season, mostly because I know I will watch (just because I can't imagine being able to stop watching OTH while it's still going on) and I will be disappointed and my blood pressure will rise, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Alls we gots to know is dat another season of OTH = angry and frustrated Rohini.
Hopefully that won't be a problem though, and I will be updating this story. PINKY SWEAR. (Though to many of you that doesn't mean much. Lol.)