DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE TREE HILL, ITS CHARACTERS, OR ANY OF THE SONGS USED IN THIS STORY.

AN: So this is the alternate ending to my one shot story Enough. If you haven't read the story yet I suggest you do just so that you know what is going on. Remember, that this is the ALTERNATE ENDING so there is a twist. Brooke doesn't die. This is about Brooke's recovery. She doesn't trip and shoot herself in the heart. Instead she gets her leg. The rest will pick up from here. Another thing to be aware of is that Haley and Nathan are NOT back together. She came back from the tour and he didn't get back with her instead they got an annulment. I know I should finish the reactions of Lucas and Peyton in Enough first before I start this story BUT I had the day off from school today and got a sudden jolt of inspiration and really wanted to start this story. Enough should be updated soon though.

Lyrics to the song are Hold On By Good Charlotte.

Your days
You say they're way too long
And your nights
You can't sleep at all

Hold on if you feel like letting go
Hold on it gets better than you know

Brooke Davis yawned as she opened her eyes. The only thing she saw staring back at her was blank white walls. She was in the psyche ward at the Tree Hill hospital and had been there for the past 2 weeks. Nathan and Haley came in often and Rachel was there every single day after school. She'd seen Mouth, Bevin, Skills, Karen, and even Deb a few times as well. Peyton had come to see her but she sent her away. She couldn't even look Peyton or Lucas in the eye. It was too embarrassing.

Her own parents hadn't even come after the hospital notified them of Brooke's condition. They said it was probably just a phase and she'd get over it with the help of some therapy so they forced her to spend some time in the fucking psyche ward. Some fucking parents they were. She had to spend 2 weeks at the hospital then she would be discharged and watched very carefully. If her condition worsened or did not change then she would probably either have to go to rehab or be checked in the psyche ward again.

The feeling of numbness that had consumed her body was starting to wash away. She was being replaced with an awful feeling, the feeling of shame and embarrassment. She couldn't look at the people she loved anymore without feeling embarrassed or ashamed by her actions. She knew that they thought differently of her now. Everyone would. She was scared to return to school and have to face everyone. News about Brooke's little suicide "attempt" had spread quicker than a forest fire. In a small town like Tree Hill word had gotten out fast about how Tree Hill's biggest protégé had attempted to take her own life. She couldn't even think about what people probably thought of her now.

Brooke heard a knock at the door and she looked up. It was one of the nurses.

"Brooke, you have a visitor", she whispered softly peeking her head inside the room.

"Who is it?"

"It's that Nathan boy that comes here often", she replied.

Brooke smiled weakly, "let him in".

The nurse nodded and stepped out of the way, allowing Nathan into the room. He closed the door behind himself and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey Brookie, you feeling any better?" he asked concern flashing in his blue eyes.

Brooke shook her head, "not really".

"I just want to get out of this place. It's turning the feeling of nothing into the feeling of shame and anger and rage. I'd much rather feel nothing than ashamed or in pain", she continued, playing with the seams on the comforter that covered her bed.

"It will get better Brooke. I promise you that everything is going to be okay. It just takes some time but you are the strongest person I know Brooke Davis. You can get through anything. I know you can", he smiled, placing a comforting hand on Brooke's knee.

"Thank you Nate", she replied pulling him in for a hug. "You're a good friend, unlike some people".

He chuckled. "You think you'll ever forgive Peyton"?

"I don't know maybe but things will NEVER be the same as they were before. I've simply lost all my trust in her".

"Look, I have to get going. I promised my mother than I would go see her today. She just got out of rehab and I need to see her but I promise you that I will be back later", he told Brooke, giving her one more hug as he got up to leave.

"Nate".

"Yes", he asked turning around.

"Thank you for saving me. If it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't even be here right now".

"Anything for you Brooke", he smiled one last time before exiting the room.

Brooke smiled as she leaned back. She knew that things hadn't been easy for Nathan or Haley after she'd come back from her tour with Chris Keller. Nathan had been so broken during the time she'd left, leaving his brother and all of his friends behind to pick up the pieces. His life had become a mess and Brooke wondered how the hell he'd ever gotten through it. Seeing Haley every day, knowing that she wanted to get back together but he simply couldn't. She had hurt him too much and even though a year had passed since everything happened he still carried the pain with him. He was never going to forget it.

She wished sometimes that she had Nathan's strength. He had turned to the bottle at first when things got hard but he never resulted in things like self infliction, or drugs. People were constantly reminding her of how strong she was but she always felt so weak. She put on the strong façade to hide her true emotions and let her weakness go unexposed. They didn't know her. Nobody knew her except for Nathan Scott.

Nathan could relate to her and she could relate to him. They both lived lonely lives, although they were constantly surrounded by people. They had friends but both struggled to know who their true friends were, they both had parents that lived in misery and pretty much ignored their children. Nathan's father was an arrogant asshole that pushed him to his fullest potential, and his mother was a recovering addict that really did love her son but had too many complicated issues. Brooke's parents were engaged in a relationship full of lies and betrayals. Her father was a top of the line lawyer that traveled so much for work and her mother was always away on vacations because she hated the town of Tree Hill. They temporarily moved to LA but let Brooke stay in their house while they were gone.

Both Brooke and Nathan were popular. He was the captain of the basketball team and she was the captain of the cheer squad. They both felt enormous pressures to succeed. Brooke was supposed to help her mother start up a successful fashion line when she graduated and Nathan was supposed to play for Duke, and then be drafted to the NBA. Their parents both had plans for them but they didn't even think about Brooke or Nathan's dreams. It was about what they wanted.

There is one more major thing that Brooke and Nathan have in common and that is the loss of love in their lives. Nathan lost his wife Haley when she chose to walk out on him to go on tour with stupid Chris Keller. They got an annulment shortly after she returned. Brooke had just lost the love of her life as well. Her steady boyfriend and first love Lucas cheated on her yet again with her best friend and left her for dead. Both of them were still in the process of mending their broken hearts.

As she thought about it Brooke never realized how similar she and Nathan were. They both came from broken families and both had fucked up and complicated love lives. She was so glad she had Nathan to endure this pain with. She wasn't sure she could get through it without him.

Brooke slowly closed her eyes, and laid her head down on the pillow. She needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow she was going home. Tomorrow she was going to change.

AN: Okay, rusty first chapter, I know but it will get better I promise. The purpose of this chapter was to define the Brooke and Nathan friendship and how screwed up both of their lives are at this point. I LOVE Brathan friendship and their relationship intrigues me as well. I will either make this story Brucas or Brathan. I'm open to either but I will let the readers decide that! Let me know which pairing you want. I will be putting a poll up on my page. If you want someone different, let me know in a review or PM and if I get enough suggestions I will consider it. If it ends up Brathan there will a great deal of Brucas friendship and vice versa. Also next chapter will be a flashback of the night Nathan saves Brooke!

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