Hey everyone! Sorry its taken me so long to get this story up! LA was a lot more hectic than I thought it would be and I didnt even turn on my laptop the entire time I was there. But now that I'm home I should have a little more free time for now and be able to update really often! I hope you like this story. It takes place right after the finale and will explain itself as it reads! Enjoy!

"'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.' When life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same."

Brooke Davis sat alone in her car re-playing that piece of her speech in her head over and over. She'd spent so much time trying to come up with it, in fact, the whole time Lucas had been gone, it had been her mission to beat him to it. At the time it had made so much since, and made her feel so good. Everything was finally getting back to normal. She had her love for her clothes which kept her busy, she had her best friend Peyton, who she thought she could trust over anyone else, and of course her love for her best boyfriend, Lucas. He was after all why she chosen that quote. Just a week ago everything had seemed so perfect. She and Peyton were still friends, she was busy designing and sewing, she and Lucas were better than ever, and she definitely wasn't late. Ok maybe she had been a little late a week ago, but not this late. The thought of everything made her stomach buckle. Why did this always happen to her? And why did it all have to happen at once? Yesterday she had had a place to live, a ready box of tampons, a best friend who didn't want her boyfriend… and a boyfriend who hadn't kissed her best friend again, at least that she had known of. Now she was sitting there in her car without a place to stay, a pregnancy test, no best friend, and a boyfriend who was god only knew where. Probably making out with her former best friend. Life hadn't been this bad since last year at this time when, well the exact same thing was happening…

Lucas drove towards the bridge where Nathan had said to meet them in silence. He had way too much on his mind to even try to talk to his mom about it. Then again, she didn't seem so chatty herself. So they both just sat there as Lucas drove, listening to the CD Brooke had made Lucas for his trip. Usually Brooke wasn't the CD maker, Peyton was… and the CD really wasn't that great, it had a lot of Brookeish songs on there that he really didn't like that much, at least he hadn't at first. But after spending his entire trip listening to the songs over and over just because it reminded him of her, some of the songs had grown on him. Especially The Fray song "She Is". He listened as the lyrics repeated, "She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted. She is everything I want that I never knew I needed" If there were ever words to describe how he felt about Brooke Davis, these were definitely it. Just a little more than a year and ½ ago he hadn't been anything more in his mind than Peyton's annoying, kinda slutty best friend. And now he wasn't sure how he'd ever gotten on without her. The way she smiled when he kissed her cheek, or lectured him on the importance of things like sex and chocolate… sometimes together. She wasn't like most girls, girls like Peyton and Haley who weren't themselves around their boyfriends. Brooke made every thought that came through her head known to him, and wouldn't let him get away with anything, and that's what made him love her so much.

"Maybe its not Brooke's purse" Karen sighed hoping she was right. Haley and Rachel were both missing their purses too after all, and Brooke didn't seem like the type to carry things like pregnancy tests around with her.

"Maybe"

"I thought we'd talked about this Lucas"

"Mom, please don't" Lucas said running his fingers though his spiky hair. He was nervous and scared enough as it was without Karen lecturing him about sex and pregnancy scares. He and Brooke had been there before…

"You're 17 Lucas, we just did this a year ago! Didn't you learn anything? Didn't Brooke learn anything?"

"Didn't you?"

"Don't turn this around Lucas! I am 36 years old… I was engaged! I loved Keith! You're 17!" Karen said raising her voice louder and louder with every word. Lucas didn't know what to think. It actually pissed him of. Of course she loved Keith, but it wasn't because she was 36. He guessed she would have loved him the same at 17, the way he loved Brooke.

"So because I'm 17 I can't love Brooke! Didn't we just go to a wedding where you were talking about how great it was Nathan and Haley had that? They're 17"

"You can love Brooke until your heart breaks but that isn't going to make raising a baby any easier."

"How do you know she's even pregnant?"

"You're right, I don't… get out" Karen sighed making Lucas stop the car. She wasn't going to argue about things she wasn't even sure about anymore. Lucas was going to get out and talk to Brooke, find out everything for sure.

"What?"

"Get out, go find her and talk to her, I'll take Nathan and Haley the stuff"

"We're…" Lucas started but Karen cut him off.

"10 blocks from home, now go"

Lucas watched as his mom drove off, leaving him there with nothing but his phone. 10 blocks was a long way to walk. Apparently she had forgotten about his heart condition, and it wasn't like he could call anyone to pick him up. Nathan and Haley were leaving; he definitely wasn't risking talking to Peyton again until he talked to Brooke, and he had no idea where Brooke even was…

Brooke laid back on the picnic table by the rivercourt. Her idea of sleeping out here probably hadn't been the best, but it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. It was so weird being out there without Lucas, and alone. But it wasn't a bad weird, more like a peaceful weird. It gave her peace and quiet to think and clear her find. She'd been so upset after everything that she hadn't had time to stop and think things through. Worst case, She was pregnant, Lucas decided to get with Peyton and she ended up like Karen. Best case, she wasn't pregnant, Lucas came and swept her off her feet and Peyton died in a freak hair dying accident. Perfect. Just as she was starting to giggle a little bit at her cleverness she heard something like footsteps, and then saw someone walking towards her.

"God… Brooke what are you doing here?" Peyton gasped. She had been looking for Lucas, not Brooke.

"I could ask you the same thing"

"I saw Lucas's car"

"Right… so you came out here to whine to him about what a bitch Brooke is?" Brooke asked rolling her eyes at her former best friend. That figured, Brooke hadn't planned on using Lucas's car to torture Peyton, but if it worked…

"Actually yea"

"Whatever, I was leaving anyway"

"Brooke" Peyton yelled stopping Brooke. She wasn't playing nice anymore. If Brooke wanted to fight then Peyton was going to fight.

"What!"

"I tried being nice, I did, but now I'm going to try that honesty thing you seem to like so much. You're a bitch Brooke! Did you ever think that maybe there are other people in this world with problems? Or feelings?"

"Feelings? Problems? Don't you even! I did nothing but be there for the 2 of you with you're problems and feelings. I ignored everything to make sure I was there for you when Ellie died! And when Keith died, I gave Lucas the space he needed. Why? Because I loved you! And I love him!" Brooke yelled fighting off the tears. Why was this so hard for her tonight? Couldn't she get any peace just to think without having to yell at someone right in the middle of it?

"Like I wasn't there Brooke? I was there for him too last time I checked"

"Really? Were you there when he cried in my chest for an hour Peyton? Then yelled at me because I didn't know anything about it? Were you there to hold his hand the first time he went to Keith's grave and collapsed crying? Where you the one he asked why this happened over and over and expected a answer?"

"Brooke" Peyton said slowly gritting her teeth. Of course she hadn't been there, she would have liked too but Brooke had made damn sure that she was the one to take care of Lucas…

"Were you alone when you realized you were late, and hadn't talked to your boyfriend in 5 days! Then had to find out that he had kissed your best friend again? And that she had feelings for him!"

"Brooke"

"No… you weren't so until you can compare with what I have been through the past couple weeks, don't even try with your pathetic stories about how I'm so conceded!" Brooke screamed slamming the car door. She sure as hell wasn't doing this tonight, not again.

Lucas had spent the past hour looking for Brooke in all her usual places, the mall, Nathan and Haley's, downtown, anywhere he thought she might have gone. He thought about calling Peyton to see if she'd seen her, but then decided against it. He didn't want to do anything that might make Brooke worry about more then she already was. He'd just have to keep looking on his own, or else wait at home until she finally called. His house was dark when he finally pulled up, which meant his mom wasn't home yet. That kind of worried him, but then she did have a lot of her mind too. She'd probably gone out with Deb or something to talk. At least he hoped she had. He walked towards his bedroom, not bothering with the lights, he was just going to fall into bed anyway…

"Ow" Lucas heard Brooke groan as he practically fell on top of her. He hadn't expected her to be in his bed and she had scared him to death.

"God, I do have a heart condition you know. I've been looking for you for an hour"

"I've been here"

"Sleep walking?" Lucas asked getting comfortable beside her. She looked so young lying there beside him. He could see what he thought were tearstains on her cheeks from the light coming off the streetlight outside. She looked so pretty as she laid her head on his chest, letting her curls hang in her face, taking his hand into hers.

"Turns out my pajamas don't actually accidentally fall off like planned"

"You ok?"

"Just tired… I kinda yelled at Peyton about 10 times today, and arguing with her is exhausting" Brooke let out a long sigh as she played with his nails. She didn't really want to go into details right now, but she had a feeling Lucas was definitely going to have some questions.

"Brooke… if she didn't tell you about the kiss then how'd"

"You love me right?" Brooke whispered sliding up towards him so their noses touched as they talked. As she asked him the question, he gave her a smile that almost broke her heart. It was so genuine and sweet… and true, that she hated to have to ruin it with everything she had to tell him tonight.

"So much it hurts sometimes"

"What if Mouth told you he was in love with me too"

"I'd kick his ass" Lucas laughed, but Brooke could tell there was some seriousness underneath it, which was good. She liked to know that he got jealous just the same as she did.

"But he's you're best friend"

"You're my girl…" Lucas whispered giving her a short sweet kiss, and then he brushed all the hair out of her face. They both just laid there for a minute, as close as they could possibly be without their lips actually touching, with Lucas's arms around her waist and hers around his neck.

"It doesn't matter that he's your best friend?"

"What? Did he say something to you? He told me he liked you once and it took all I had not to kill him then, and that was before I even knew I was in love with you"

"No, Lucas are you not getting this?" Brooke laughed, kind of frustrated that she had to explain this further. She was hoping he would just get it and move on.

"Getting what?"

"Peyton told me last night she has feelings for you"

"Right, I get it now" Lucas sighed, in a much more serious tone. That definitely explained a lot about how they were both acting.

"She just went on and on asking me if I loved you and trying to twist my words around. I don't want to relive last year Lucas"

"Remember what I told you before you left last summer?"

"I talked to myself?" Brooke asked not seeing the point of this at all. He wasn't supposed to be bringing up last summer with the Peyton box and all. He was supposed to be telling her how much he loved her and not Peyton…

"That if I ever got a second chance I'd never let you go again. I meant that"

"Peyton told me she wouldn't make out with you this time too, and she said she meant that"

"In Peyton's defense…" Lucas started, and then regretted his choice of words as Brooke sat up and started to yell.

"Lucas!"

"Just listen, in Peyton's defense. You can't help who you love Brooke, like I can't help that I'm in love with you. Believe me I tired long enough not to be, and it doesn't work like that"

"I know…" Brooke sighed laying back down. She didn't like knowing, but Lucas was right. She hadn't asked to love Lucas like this again. She'd actually spent a good amount of time trying to hate him last year, but now she loved him somehow more than she had in the first place.

"I'm glad that I can't help that I love you"

"Me too"

"Good" Lucas whispered grabbing Brooke's waist and pulling her towards him until their lips met. He needed to kiss her, really kiss her one last time before everything got too complicated. Brooke wrapped her arms around Lucas's neck and made their kiss harder, more passionate. They were so close Lucas felt a tear slide from her cheek to his. He ran his fingers through Brooke's soft curls and finally pulled away. By now Brooke had more than a few tearstains on her cheeks and looked so scared… and young. He'd only ever seen her like this one other time, which made him guess that that probably was her purse.

"I have to tell you something" Brooke finally said after a few minutes of just laying there together. She really didn't want to ruin the moment and tell him this now, but she was guessing that it was too many of these moments that had gotten them into this situation in the first place.

"Brooke"

"I'm late, like really late"

"That was your test?" Lucas asked wiping a tear off her cheek with his thumb.

"What? I haven't bought a test. I didn't want to go without you, why? Did you want me too?"

"No, no I'll go with you. My mom and I just found a test in a purse. Wait, if it wasn't yours then"

"You think I'd carry a pregnancy test around in my purse?" Brooke asked trying to imagine who in their right mind would do something that stupid.

"That leaves Haley, Rachel or Peyton…"

"Its not Peyton, believe me she was definitely PMSing last week"

"I don't think its Haley. Rachel?" Lucas asked having narrowed it down.

"What! No! No. She doesn't get to have Hott Uncle Coopers Baby. NO! I have dibs! Of course I have to steal him away from his 2 wives Jordan and Abbey first but, I mean… I love you so much Lucas Scott"

"Jordan and Abbey?"

"Hottless Cheerleading friends you've never met, and never will, they're too hott" Brooke smiled, then realized how off subject they had gotten. Lucas definitely didn't need to hear about her hott cheerleading friends.

"Right. so, my moms pregnant too"

"Must be something in the water, don't look so nervous Luke. I'm probably just stressed ok?"

"Then why do you look so nervous?" Lucas asked seeing the sheer terror on Brooke's face. She couldn't hide it with her jokes about hottless Cheerleaders or Uncle Cooper…

"Maybe we should just go take a test?"

"Yea"

The drugstore was empty as usual. Brooke had that uneasy feeling in her stomach, the same kind she had had last time they had done this. All of this was off the stress charts for her, so much so that when she went to pick up one of the tests she could see her hand quivering. For a split second she thought she was going to start crying again, she guessed Lucas noticed because not long after he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. It had been hard last year, going through this after everything that had happened, and not being with Lucas. But somehow it seemed even harder this time. Last time her mind had been clouded by rage. She had hoped she was pregnant just to ruin Lucas's life, so either way, she had told herself she wouldn't care. But now, she wanted more than anything for that test to be negative. Almost more for Lucas's sake than hers. If she were pregnant it would put them almost the exact same age Karen and Dan had been.

Just as Brooke went to grab another test, figuring she should get two, so they could be doubly sure. She heard a familiar voice and shoved both boxes back to their places. It was Mouth. He was still dressed in his tux and everything carrying enough beef jerky to last him a while.

"Hey, what are you 2 doing here?" Mouth asked giving them both a smile. The same smile he always gave them that almost broke Brooke's heart. He was clearly in love with her, luckily Lucas was completely oblivious to it. One thing was clear, neither Brooke nor Lucas were ready to tell Mouth the real reason why they were there, so as usual Brooke had to be creative.

"Oh…you know, Tree Hill's practically a condom commercial, Lucas I am sorry but we are getting the pleasure kind for women this time, you've had you're fun. 10 pack or should be go for broke with the 50?"

"Um… 50?"

"Naughty, I like it, why don't you go grab some fun condiments?" Brooke smiled her most seductive smile, then gave Lucas a sexy wink. It had to be believable, not that she didn't want to jump Lucas at that moment. He looked so hott standing there, but sex was definitely the last thing either of them needed to have on their minds.

"Sure?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean too…"

"Come on Mouth, when have Lucas and I ever been shy about sex?" Brooke giggled. That was the truth. Again, probably another reason why they were here buying pregnancy tests. The more she thought about it the more this seemed like some sick joke, having to flash the box of condoms around like payback for forgetting them a few times.

"Right, glad to see you and Lucas are ok?"

"We have to fight a little to keep it interesting. Nothing's better than make up sex"

"Ok…" Lucas sighed rejoining them with a bottle of Catsup and Chocolate syrup. He really hadn't been looking for believable, although he had checked for whipped cream before coming back.

"Right, well I'll see you guys later?"

"Sure… bye"

"Catsup and Chocolate syrup?" Brooke giggled shaking her head at Lucas. He was such the typical guy sometimes that she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"They were out of whipped cream, ok he's gone"

"Lets just go get this over with"

Karen still wasn't home by the time Lucas and Brooke got back to the house, but he was kind of glad. She didn't need to be there for this… no one did. Lucas waited on his bed while Brooke went into the bathroom. It seemed like forever before she finally came out and laid down beside him. It seemed like this was going to be the longest couple minutes of both their lives. They just laid there, in complete silence until Lucas's cell phone went off… he debated answering it until he saw it was his mom. The worry that something may have happened to her made him decide to answer it.

"Who is it?"

"My mom…Hello?"

"Can you call her back?"

"Its Rachel, Cooper and Nathan… they've been in an accident"