Just Because, an one tree hill fanfic

Title: Just Because.

Rated: T

Characters: Lucas Scott, Brooke Davis

Summary: It's spring in 1864, and the American Civil War is raging on. Although, boy meets girl in the middle of a field, and without knowing it, their meeting is just the beginning of a forbidden love. The tough times will bring dangers, fears, and loss, and to Brooke Davis, meeting Lucas Scott will be the beginning of the end for "everything is fine".

Notes: I update slow. Please stay loyal, though! I doubt you'll regret it!

Disclaimer: All characters, locations, and plot themes are the property of their respective owners. One Tree Hill is respectfully copyrighted to The CW and Mark Schwahn, and I am in no way affiliated with either source. Story is copyrighted to me, and will not be used, saved, or reproduced in ANY WAY.

The great bay horse tossed its head, reaching out with its forelegs, stretching long… showing its rider a whole new speed. Although, the one currently perched up upon its back should have been in other places; for, a girl had no right to be doing what young Brooke currently was. Regardless of what was right, Brooke could not deny her father's horse this kind of freedom. He stood for days on end, cooped up in the confinements of his box stall, restless and agitated. Although for the last few years, Brooke Davis had snuck out back to her family's barn and jumped on the beast's broad back before the sun rose. And in the hours just before dawn, they would run together as one.

Brooke collected the reins of the fine stallion's bridle more securely between her fingers, taking a better hold on the bit resting in its mouth. Her bare legs where snug against the soft velvet of the horse's chocolate sides, and her white, lace night gown was nearly exposing her entire thighs, although she did not stop to correct it. She had no doubts that no one was watching them.

The horse's movements were like liquid, his gate so smooth to her body. Brooke couldn't help but grin as she sat upon his back, feeling the wind whip against her face, tossing her long, brunette hair back into the wind. The trail that they where traveling on, Brooke noticed, was thinning. This could only mean one thing: that they were approaching an open meadow. Looking left, to the east, she cold see the warm colors of sunrise painted in the sky. She would have around ten minutes to get home. The sun was not yet above the horizon, so all was still safe.

Her father's stallion galloped out of the trees and into the open meadow. Long, golden blades of grass were tickling the souls of her bare feet as the bay horse shot straight though the seemingly endless field. Although, what the girl did not see hurt her, for the stallion was quickly approaching a fallen log, and Brooke had taken no notice of the intruder of their path until it was too late.

"Whoa, boy!" Her voice bellowed with fear as the horse came rushing up to the deteriorating log, but she had pulled back on the reins too late. The stallion's forelimbs stretched out gracefully, jumping over the log in his path, and at the same time, unseating his rider. Brooke Davis slammed to the ground, rolling a few feet from her impact, but quickly recovering from the fall.

As she stood up, her only worry was retrieving her father's horse, which had continued to run up the field. She could see him slowing, but he quickly disappeared over a hilltop. Brooke forced herself to run faster, calling out the horse's name loudly. Soon, she too came over the hilltop, and the sight in front of her made her freeze in her tracks.

A shaggy-looking boy with blond hair, who looked to be around her age, stood only thirty feet away with the reins of her father's horse held snuggly in his hands.

"Hey, you, that's my horse!" Brooke called out, jogging towards him with a frown.

"I was expecting someone to come along for him," the boy responded with a grin, eyeing her as she came closer. He seemed shocked to see her; although, it may have only been her appearance that shocked him.

Brooke's white night gown was smudged with dirt and grass stains, and her hair was quite a mess.

"Well then, may I have him back?" She asked with a snooty tone, holding her hand out for the reins.

"Sure," the boy handed Brooke the reins and took a step back from the large horse, "but if you don't mind me asking, what was he doing running in my family's field in the first place?"

"Well, obviously I've fallen off of him, haven't I?" Brooke shot a glance at this mysterious boy, at the same time gesturing to her own appearance.

"Well, obviously," he mocked her, smiling.

Brooke rolled her eyes, which made the boy chuckle. "Can you at least make yourself useful and help me back on?" She asked with a heavy sigh.

The boy nodded, and moved closer. Brooke stood at the horse's shoulder, one hand holding both of the reins, and the other clutching a chunk of the stallion's mane. She bent her left knee, and the boy, a bit shocked that a girl would want to get on a horse that way, finally places his hands on her shin. With a quick 'one, two, three' count, she jumped while he pushed, and Brooke was sent up onto the horse's back, lying across him on her stomach. The horses inched forward slowly as she swung her leg over and adjusted her seat.

"Wait a second… aren't you Robert Davis' daughter?" He asked curiously, stepping back and out of the way from the horse's swinging head.

"What's it to you?" Brooke responded harshly, easing up her hold on the stallion's mouth, as to not run this boy over.

"I'm just wondering, you don't have to be so rude."

"I'm not beingrude," Brooke snapped back, but she then paused, hearing herself clearly. Both teens laughed. "I guess I was. Sorry"

The boy smiled, and Brooke returned the gustier. All the while wondering about him. Who was he? What was he doing out in the field so early?

"Your name's Brooke, am I right?" His voice finally cut back into her wondering.

"Yeah, it is." She had lowered her voice a bit, and her fingers pushed a bit of her long hair behind her ear and away from her face.

"What is a girl likeyou doing riding a horse before sunrise on my property?" He asked a bit more sternly, but his tone was still not defensive or mean.

"A girl like me?" She questioned with emphasis, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing bad," the boy quickly clarified with a shrug, "it's just that your family is… extremely wealthy."

"So what?" Brooke said defensively, feeling as the stallion shifted his weight beneath her. "I'm just like you are."

"I know that, it's just… nevermind."

Brooke scoffed, her mouth hanging open a bit with disbelief. This boy was labeling her as a lazy, good-for-nothing girl when he didn't even know her. Brooke hated the fact that women weren't allowed to do everything that men were. They couldn't work, own farms, or even think of being successful. Of course, Brooke had never really mentioned her thoughts to anyone before. She had just never liked the fact that all she had coming for her when she was married was to raise children, cook, and clean. Hell, she was forced to sneaking out of the house before sunrise to ride her father's horse, for God's sake!

Although, Brooke disregarded the boy's stereotype, and asked her own question now, "I could ask you the same thing, couldn't I? What are you doing out here so early?"

"I believe that I asked you first."

"Isn't it obvious?" Brooke asked with a shrug and a small smile, "I'm sneaking out to ride."

The boy smiled again, laughing a bit before he spoke again, "I guess I could've figured that out on my own, huh?"

"Yeah, you could've." Brooke smiled herself, having to once more hold the horse back, keeping him still a little while longer.

"Well, I wasn't able to sleep, and then I heard you out here, yelling to this horse of yours," he smirked, patting the large horse on its shoulder, "and I thought that I'd come and see what all the commotion was about."

Brooke looked down, her tongue rolling over the inside of her cheek. "Sorry about that."

"It's no trouble," the boy responded with an honest tone, "like I said, I wasn't getting anywhere trying to sleep, anyway."

Brooke looked east once more, realizing with a jolt of fear that it was much brighter now than it had been a while ago. To her horror, the sun was a few inches above the horizon, which meant that people at her family's ranch would be starting to wake. And soon enough, someone would notice that she, and her father's stallion, were both missing.

"Is something wrong?" The boy's deep voice came back into her head, for he had noticed her change is expression and that she had straightened up upon the horse's back.

"Yes. I've got to get home before someone realizes I'm gone." The horse took a few stressed steps backwards, and Brooke took the time to shift forward a bit more on the horse's comfortable back. "Goodbye." Brooke said, looking down at the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy once more before she dug her heels into the stallion's muscular sides. The horse strode forward, breaking into a quick gallop in the span of only a few steps, heading back towards the woods.

"Goodbye, Brooke Davis." The boy whispered after her, taking a few steps back and watching her leave. Turning away as the girl and her horse were out of sight, he headed back towards his father's small house.

As he walked away, he tried his hardest to get the Davis daughter out of his head. She was strikingly beautiful, even for someone who had just fallen off of her horse and been smudged with dirt. He hoped that she wouldn't be caught and punished for sneaking out, because then the likeliness of a second meeting before sunrise would be slim.

Brooke Davis urged the horse forward, steering through the trees urgently, and the whole time praying that no one had noticed her absence. Five minutes later, the path broke out into her family's property, and, to her relief, the only person that she saw was Rose, one of their family's helpers. She was walking towards the stable with a bucket of water held in her hand.

Once she had slowed down the horse, Brooke steered him close to their large, white house, and towards the barn. Brooke swung from the horse's back as they reached the wide door, and hurriedly lead him into the barn. Rose looked up as Brooke and the stallion entered, a small frown carved into her expression. Brooke shot her a look, leading the stallion into his stall and quickly unbuckling the straps of his bridle. A few seconds later, she returned into the aisle way to hang the leather bridle up outside of Leo's stall.

"Miss, you've got to stop sneaking out like this, you're going to get us both in deep trouble!" Rose kept her voice down, but her tone was urgent. Brooke sighed, spinning around to face her, arms up in defeat.

"I know, Rose. I shouldn't be sneaking out like I have been, but it's the only way that I get to ride, you know that."

Rose sighed, too, her expression softening as she moved closer to Brooke. Rose was only a few months older than Brooke was, but she always seemed so much wiser. Her face was soft, and her heart was good. She had short, black hair, and rich, brown skin. Brooke often thought that she was very pretty, but knew better then to express her feelings. Negros weren't thought of the same was as white people. Brooke thought that matter was about as fair as women being degraded as housewives were.

"Is he at least cooled?" She questioned sternly about the horse's body temperature, placing both of her hands on Brooke's bare arms.

"Yes. No one will find out. No one ever finds out, Rose. Stop worrying so much." Brooke smiled, stepping out of Rose's hold and backing towards the open barn door, were the brilliant rays of sunlight illuminated even the dust in the air. "Everything is fine." Brooke smiled, then turned and leapt out of the barn and into the dirt pathway. She cut across the front yard of her family's house, running towards the door and going inside noiselessly to pretend to be asleep.

Rose heaved a heavy sigh, shaking her head gently. Brooke Davis was always being foolish, and worst yet, she had this notion in her head that no one would ever catch up with her. When her father did finally find out that his eldest, and only, daughter was sneaking out each morning to ride his horse, along with all of the other horrible rule breaking that Brooke did nearly every day, she was in for it. They were both in for it. Mr. Davis was sure to punish her along with his daughter, because everyone knew that she and Brooke were friends, so surely, she would have known what Brooke was doing, and she had kept it from him. That was all true, too, that was the worst part yet.

Rose walked up to Leo's stall, were his head was hanging from his Dutch door, "You're a big part in this too, do you know that. But I doubt that you'll get in trouble. You're just a horse." Rose smiled as he gently nudged her hand with soft muzzle. Animals really did love everyone unconditionally, regardless of what society thought. And this horse, especially, would love anyone who gave him sugar cubes. Rose dug deep for a few cubes in pocket of her dress, handing them to the awaiting horse and waiting to hear them crunch between his powerful teeth.

Please let me know what you thought of the first chapter! [: