Author- Emily-Grace Mendes (Brookebynature)

Disclaimer- I don't own the characters, the show One Tree Hill or the quote typed at the bottom. I do however, own this story, so yay for me!

A/N- It was raining and I was bored and on my own, so I thought I'd write this little one shot, seeing as I haven't done one in a while. I am dedicating it to all you Brucas fans out there because we deserve some action from our favourite couple! Hope you enjoy xxx

Rainy Day Lovers

Lucas sighs, a little over-dramatically as he watches the rain pour against the glass of his window, the weather an ideal match for the mood he's in. His fingers are resting on the number one of his cell-the speed dial number for Brooke. Dating Peyton hasn't changed the fact that the head cheerleader is still the first person he has to call, yet since the two become an item, he hasn't ever pressed that number.

Perhaps ironically, he seems to have called everyone that is privileged enough to have themselves a spot on Lucas' speed dial list except the girl who he used to call more than anyone.

He remembers, how, if he was bored and at home, or even grounded, he would press that number one and just listen to Brooke talking to him about anything and everything, or even the jokes (that were never funny) just to make him feel like he was with her.

Sometimes, late at night, she would call him, and tell him exactly what she was wearing (which, more often than not, was some form of brilliantly sexy lingerie) just to tease him. She would tell him how much she wanted him in that bed beside her, and what she might do to him once he was there.

On a few occasions, he would sneak over there, wearing nothing but sweat pants and perhaps a pair of sneakers if it was cold or rainy, just so that she could do these things to him, and afterwards, sneak back home like he'd never been away.

Sometimes he would call in order to hear her voice, just so that he could fall to sleep.

He knows that Brooke Penelope Davis should not be occupying his thoughts as much as she does lately, but he can't help it, and even a text message from his girlfriend to say that she can't visit because of the ridiculous storm doesn't help take her off his mind.

In some sort of a cruel action by Mother Nature, the weather is exactly mirroring that of only a few months ago, back when he was dating Brooke and he proclaimed his love for her under the heavy rain. He wonders what she's doing now, and whether the power in Rachel's house is still working.

Knowing that he could find a hundred reasons not to go over there, he still doesn't bother, choosing instead to grab a jacket from his closet before heading out into the seemingly never ending God-awful rain.

-

She remembers the days when they would have simply stayed indoors watching the rain, perhaps with a mug of hot chocolate (her favourite) wrapped up together in a blanket. Those days though, have long since passed, with her body being replaced by that of her best friend.

It's not them that she has to get away from, but him, because together, she can block them out, acting as though they're not really holding hands under the table or kissing each other as they shop for things for Haley's upcoming baby shower.

It's when she sees him on his own, that he can break her down with one lone stare, one that might go forever if she ever let it. She has to be stronger than that now though, because he's with Peyton, and she can't make him love only her if she tried.

So getting out of that house (even though it's not hers and she doesn't really have any decent memories of him there) is the only thing she can do. Besides, Brooke figures a walk in the rain would be fun.

-

He wants to write her a million letters, each telling her just how sorry he is, how wrong he was to think that he and Peyton would be a better match, and how much he loves her. He wants to tell her that she's beautiful, and she's his pretty girl and his cheery. He wants to play her all the songs that make him miserable, because it's her that he wants now, (he's sure of that) just to let her know that he's trying not to be sucked in. But he can't.

She's not there when he reaches the huge house, deserted by Rachel and her family, who are still holidaying in California. Lucas wonders just how Brooke is these days, because he can't talk to her anymore, not really, not properly. He wants to know whether she's happy, or whether sleeping in that house in her bed all by herself is simply making her feel lonely.

Brooke was, and still usually is, surrounded by friends. But he can see it in her eyes when she's not happy.

He's almost forgotten what those eyes look like now, he hasn't dared himself to look in them for a long time. He's afraid of what might happen if he does.

Trying the door handle anyway, just as a shelter from the rain, (that's what he tells himself) Lucas isn't surprised to discover the house is unlocked. Brooke never usually bothered to lock her doors. Lucas used to wonder whether it was all part of her act, playing fearless. He doesn't want to ask her now, because if she tells him he's right, he might want to stay.

Making his way to what he knows is Brooke's room, (he can't help himself-curiosity has got the better of him, and he tells himself that it doesn't matter if she's not here anyway) Lucas fingers his cell in his pocket, tracing the outline of Peyton's speed dial number. He's knows this isn't right, that it's not fair on her.

He wants to explain how they're too alike, how she was safe and what he thought he'd always wanted. He wants to tell her that Brooke is the opposite of everything he is, and that's what draws him to her. He craves the excitement that she brings, and that dimpled smile on her face that tells him just how glad she is to be in his arms.

Of course, he doesn't, because he's too much of a coward, and guesses that calling Peyton in the place Brooke calls home is too disrespectful. So he settles himself in front of his ex-girlfriend's mirror, hair soaking wet, jacket trailing water on the cream carpet as Lucas tells himself that he will call Peyton as soon as he's done here.

He's not sure when he'll be done though, because he's not even sure what he's doing.

-

It doesn't take long for her to become cold, for her long brunette hair to stick to her neck and face in wet strands, and for her feet to become numb in soggy shoes. Digging her hands deeper into her pockets, Brooke continues walking though, chewing her lip as she tries to tell her mind to stop thinking about Lucas, and their time together during the last storm.

After they finished things, she told herself that she wouldn't dwell, that she'd move on and become her own person, because that's what she needed to do to become okay again. And for a while, it had worked. Her head had been held up high, not under false pretences, but because she was proud of the independent woman she had managed to become.

But then she'd looked at Lucas and Peyton. Together. And she couldn't help but feel that stab of envy, of sadness running through her body at the life she no longer had.

Brooke's glad of the rain. It means she can't tell which droplets on her face are tears.

It's only when she realises where she's heading (Lucas' road, to Lucas' house no doubt) that she turns promptly, running all the way back to the large house she left behind.

-

He's too submerged in the photographs Brooke still has of the two of them together by her mirror to hear the door open and close again. She's too light to ever make much of a noise coming up the stairs, and when she pushes open the white door, they both jump back (him with the fear of realising he's been caught, and her realising that her limbs have all gone weak.)

"Hey, um, I was just…" Lucas begins nervously, not really knowing whether to risk telling Brooke the truth. "Coming to see if you were okay. Wasn't sure if your power was still on."

"It is." She replies bluntly.

"Oh, yeah, I just…wondered if you were okay? Thought I might stay until you got back."

"I'm okay."

"Good." He nods shyly. "Then I might go."

Brooke frowns a little at his reluctance to move, but is silently glad that he hasn't yet bolted out of the front door.

"It's still raining out there." She tells him, shrugging. "You could sit here until it passes."

"Thanks." He mumbles, grateful for something of a chance to tell her why he's really here, and how he feels. Brooke never makes it easy on him though, and he knows he's going to have to fight even harder this time if he is to convince her as much as he needs to.

"You're soaked." Lucas tells Brooke. "Have my jacket."

Removing it from his shoulders, he realises that he too, is soaking, and is stupidly unaware of just where they are.

"Lucas, I have towels in the linen closet." She giggles, those famous dimples emerging as she kinks her eyebrow at him in a sarcastic manner.

"Oh…um yeah I guess you do."

"Are you okay?" She asks, stepping a little more into her room which is dimly lit by the lamp on her dresser, which she figures Lucas must have switched on at some point during his stint in her bedroom.

"I…"He trails off, about to abort everything he came here to do, but taking one more quick look at the girl in front of him, he finds the strength to tell her. "I need to tell you something."

"You're not sick are you?" Brooke cuts in. "Lucas don't lie to me."

"No I'm not sick." He laughs lightly, his eyes a little brighter at the realisation that she must still care, even if it's only a little.

"Then..."

"Brooke if you keep interrupting, then I can't tell you."

"Sorry." She mumbles, shivering a little as she wraps her arms around herself, trying to rid them of the goose bumps that have formed.

"You should get a towel." Lucas tells her. "You're going to catch a cold."

She leaves the room, silently, only a single nod to tell Lucas that he's right, and that she'll be back. When she does return, only seconds later with two large fluffy white towels in her arms, Brooke grants Lucas a small smile, and a glimpse of her hazel eyes, in doing so, allowing Lucas to recall everything he's ever forgotten in an attempt to start a relationship with someone else.

"Here." She holds one of the towels out, dropping her own as Lucas grabs it from her. They bend down at the same time to pick it up, Brooke rolling her eyes at the awkward often-in-movies action that is enabling her to feel Lucas' hot breath against the back of her neck.

She lets him have his moment though, retracting her hand as Lucas picks up the towel, placing it delicately around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She mumbles, just loud enough to hear before he wraps his own towel around himself, turning his attention back to her as he rubs her arms up and down, wiping at the drops of rain still etched on her neck.

"Lucas…" She falters, only too aware of the proximity of their bodies and his hands on her.

"Lucas what did you have to tell me?"

He snaps his arms back to his side, towel hanging limply over his shoulders as he squints his blue eyes into a look of pain. If it hadn't have been pouring with rain, Brooke is sure that she would have told Lucas to go, because she knows that what he's going to say is about to make things more than difficult between them. He wore the same look when he broke up with her the first time, and then again when he came to confess his love for her right before she left for California.

But it is raining, and she's already told him he can stay, so she's forced to hear him out.

"I think…" He begins, then shakes his head. "I know that I can't love Peyton."

"Why not?" Brooke demands. "Why are you even telling me this Lucas?"

"Because we're friends."

"We're not friends." She tells him sadly. "Not really. We were never friends, and even when we tried to be, it didn't work."

"Then I have nothing to loose right?"

"What do you mean?" She asks, brushing wet hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I can't love Peyton, because I'm in love with you Brooke."

He's not prepared from the laughter that escapes from her lips, and when she shakes her head, he wonders if she thinks he's merely kidding.

"It's you that I want."

"No you don't Lucas."

"I…"

"Why are you doing this to me now? Why do you keep doing this to me?" She pleads, eyes brimming with tears as yet again, he's found a way to break her.

"I'm sorry, but I thought that you might…"

"You thought wrong."

She storms out of her bedroom, towel in a heap on the floor as she almost runs along the hallway to the bathroom. She's not quick enough to lock the door behind her before Lucas gets there, and suddenly he's watching her rid herself of a wet jacket and sweater.

"If I thought wrong, why are you crying?"

"It's the rain dumbass." She bites back, unbuckling her tan belt as her lips quiver and her hands shake, and she fights the string of words I still love you from escaping her mouth.

"Then you should know, that I'm going to end things with Peyton." He tells her as she reaches into the shower to turn on the water, his voice becoming louder as the splashing fills the room.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to tell her that I can't be with her any more."

"Why?" Brooke asks, instantly wishing she hadn't. "I thought you two wanted this, I thought everything was perfect."

"Remember that episode of The O.C we watched?" Lucas tells her, trying desperately to get the response he wants. "The one where Seth breaks up with Anna because he realises they're too similar?"

Brooke nods, somewhat sadly as she tries (but fails) not to recall the days the two of them spent just lying on the coach watching her dvds. They would have ice cream, often two different flavours because they could never agree on which one to get, and would eat straight from the tub with a spoon each. Brooke would steal some of Lucas' when she would think he wasn't looking, and he would complain, saying that he couldn't steal hers back because he didn't like that flavour. She would give him her best 'I'm sorry' face, and he would kiss her, telling her it didn't matter because he loved her anyway.

"Brooke?" Lucas shouts above the sound of the hot water against pristine marble tiles.

"Lucas that has nothing to do with you and Peyton."

"It has everything to do with us Brooke! We're too similar, Peyton and I. We like the same things and I can predict everything she's going to do."

"That's a good thing." The brunette shrugs. "You won't have arguments."

"I'm ending things with her." Lucas confirms, eyes burning with frustration and anger for only himself, because yet again, when it comes to Brooke Davis, he's screwed up.

"What am I to you?" Brooke asks. "Some sort of part-time lover you can come to when you feel like it or when you're bored? It's humiliating Lucas!"

"You've never been that to me!" He tells her desperately. "I'm not trying to humiliate you Brooke because I love you okay? I love you." He swallows, awaiting some kind of reaction, any kind of reaction. But she stays silent, and he can only keep talking.

"If you don't love me, if you feel nothing for me then I can walk away now knowing that after tomorrow, I have to move on."

Lucas watches as Brooke's shaking fingers try in vain to pull her hair behind her shoulders. She's only wearing a white tank top, which is soaking from the rain, exposing pretty underwear and her diamond belly ring.

"But if you do love me, if you feel anything for me then tell me." He almost begs. "I've spent too long trying to pretend I don't want us. But it's too hard when you're all I can think about."

She doesn't speak. Her lips stay parted, her eyes darting as steam from the hot water continues to fill the room. But she catches Lucas off guard, reaching to her tip toes as she presses trembling lips up against his, his hand tracing the back of her neck beneath wet hair.

Brooke pulls off his jacket, not daring to speak in case she says something she doesn't mean, or she can't tell him exactly how she feels. But she's more than happy as her lips stay sealed against his as her fingers undo his own belt buckle, and his fingers undo the button on her jeans.

They only break to pull Lucas' sweater over his head, quickly followed by Brooke's tank top. Jeans come next in turn, knees clashing only once as both step out of wet material, and all that's left to hide their bodies is cotton underwear.

Brooke keeps her body sandwiched between the shower tiles and Lucas once they step inside, hot water pouring over them which emerges more goose bumps and a smile from Lucas as she curls her fingers around his back.

It's almost like they're rainy day lovers-each with different sides of the story to tell. It probably wasn't supposed to happen this way-not after infidelity and heartbreak, yet it has. She's happy to have finally let herself admit that she still loves him, and he's just happy that she does. He's not sure what he would have done if she didn't.

"Absence diminishes small love and increases great ones, as wind blows out the candle and fans the bonfire."

Please review guys!

Emily-Grace xxx