Hello everyone! This is my new story and I hope you will all love it as much as I do. This is my story so please don't steal the idea and such. Leave a review and let me know what you think please! (:

With Death Comes Love

Chapter One: Funeral Crasher

A shot was fired and she jumped. Another shot was fired a moment after the previous one. Again, she jumped. She took a tissue and dried the corners of her hazel eyes.

Her chest felt tight, hard to breathe. She clutched the flag over her chest.

Another crystal tear rolled down her cheek, but her gaze is still locked on the devastating scene in front of her.

FLASHBACK

Snow covered the ground and created a winter land. Children were building snowmen and sledding down the hills in the park. If you were a young couple in love, this was the perfect scenery for a romantic stroll.

"Think fast!"

The feisty brunette called to her boyfriend. She had hit him right in the chest. He fell dramatically into the snow.

"I'm wounded!" he said weakly.

Brooke chuckled. She joined him on the soft padding of the snow. Her hazel eyes met his electric blues. She loved to just look into his eyes and if he would let her, she'd do it all day.

He kissed her forehead, "I can't believe that you would hit me!"

Nathan picked her up.

"Babe!" she screamed.

Nathan spun her around. The air flew through Brooke's hair. He placed her down on the snow, resuming their old positions. She gently hit him on his arm.

He didn't budge, pulling her close to him, "You are so beautiful…"

Her cheeks turned red, nuzzling her head in the warmth of his chest, "I don't want this day to ever end."

"Me either," he said with a sigh.

They had been together since high school, never spending more than a day apart. How were they supposed to make it through five months apart?

Nathan wiped away one of her tears with his thumb, "Baby, don't cry."

Her emotions got the best of her. Tears were now streaming down her face. It wasn't like he was just going on vacation, no, this was going to war. Nathan was going to serve his country and was assigned to fight in the war on terror.

Once more, he eyes locked with his and she could see the sadness in them, "I just don't want you to leave me."

He sat up in the snow, she copied his movements, "Brooke, I am proud to serve our country. I love you more than I love anything. When I first saw you walking down the halls of—"

"Babe," Brooke interjected as she held his hand.

"school, something changed inside me. I knew that you were the one for me and ever since that day, you've had my heart since that day. No one is ever going to take your place, ever. I don't want to leave you behind, but it's what I have to do. However," he pulled a box out of his pocket, "I don't want to leave a girlfriend behind. I love you, Brooke. Will you marry me?"

She covered her mouth in shock. The cold weather was no match for the warmth that she was now giving off. She let out a soft laugh. All she could do was shake her head.

"Yes!" she finally croaked out.

She clung to him and rested her head in the crook of his neck. He kissed her forehead and held on to her tight.

"Brooke?"

She closed her eyes, trying to stay in that moment. She felt her body shake and her eyes opened. Her friend gave her a small smile.

"It's over, Brooke," Peyton said softly.

Brooke shook her head, "It's not over and it's never going to be over."

She pushed her off and walked slowly towards his casket. She let out an agonizing yell as she touched the casket. The pain was too real and she didn't want to be here if Nathan wasn't.

A man tugged at her to step back as it was being lowered into the ground. She threw him off and collapsed to the floor.

She ran her fingers through her curly brown hair quickly. The image of him telling her that he loved her, kept playing her head. The more that the casket got lower into the ground, the more she felt incomplete. She had never suffered a loss, but this was her whole world in the casket.

"Hey…"

Brooke kept her gaze fixed on the casket. She didn't need to hear anyone if she couldn't hear his voice just one more time.

A guy that she had never seen before sat next to her on the soft grass. She turned to glare at him but didn't have the strength. He had the same somber and confused face as she expressed. His eyes were red from crying but Brooke didn't know him.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "It's gonna be okay."

If she had a dollar for every time that she heard that, she would be a millionaire. Why did people keep trying to give her a false sense of hope? Nathan wasn't going to be ok because he wasn't alive. He was supposed to be her husband and they were going to have a son just like him. There was no chance that her life was going to be okay. Her life was dead in the flag covered casket.

He sighed, running his fingers through his blond hair, "I know that you don't want to believe that—"

"Can you just shut the hell up?" she hissed through the tears.

She was crying so hard that she her whole body was shaking and she felt weak. Whoever he was, he just needed to leave her alone. Isolation from the world was all she wanted, besides Nathan to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Come here," he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close.

He smelt like Calvin Klein. The same one that Nathan used to wear all of the time. Brooke buried her head in his neck. The familiar smell of Nathan was pulling her in. The one person that she could always lean on, was no longer there.

She let out a groan as her neck was sore. The darkness of the night made it almost impossible to see anything. When she sat up, she realized that she had fallen asleep on the mystery blond.

"How long was I asleep?" Brooke asked, embarrassed. She rubbed her shoulder.

He chuckled, "Just a few hours. I didn't want to wake you up. I can imagine that you haven't been sleeping, and I didn't want to leave you alone in case of a zombie attack."

That was nice of him. I know that I have seen him before, but where? Brooke sat there in silence and just tried to remember who he was. It was awfully nice of a stranger to let her sleep on them for a couple hours.

"Who are you?" she asked as she stood on her feet. Brushing off the dirt and grass from her pants, she looked at Nathan's final resting place.

It was calling to her. Ignoring the fact that she was having a conversation, she walked over to the grave. The headstone was cold and sent a chill down her spine.

Walking over to her, "I'm his half brother, Lucas."

She stopped dead in her tracks. She felt like she had been slapped across the face with such force. Turning her head towards him fast enough to give her whiplash, "Why the hell are you here?"

"Look, Brooke—"

"Go fuck yourself!" she hissed.

Brooke didn't want to leave Nathan, but she wanted to get away from Lucas pronto.

Flashback

"Hey, fiancée," Brooke said with a huge grin, "Who all are we inviting to the wedding?"

Nathan wrapped his arms around her chest, resting his head on her shoulder, "Anyone you would like, but you are the only one that I care about!"

Turning to face him, "Well, I have Deb and Dan, what about your half brother?"

He released his grip and walked into the kitchen. She watched as he pulled out a pot and boiled some water. He was trying to distract himself from the question.

Brooke sighed and walked over to him, "Nate?"

He stired the pasta and remained unaffected by the question. Brooke gently pulled his arm away from the pot. She moved his dark brown hair from his face and kissed his forehead. "Tell me…"

"I don't want him anywhere near you, or near my wedding," he said with a hint of warning in his voice.

Nathan returned to the boiling water and added some pasta. Brooke giggled. The water wasn't ready yet, but he was trying to forget this conversation.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Nathan, tell your fiancée what happened?"

"He's a bad seed."

"What exactly does that mean, Nathan?" she sassed as she was growing weary of this conversation.

He turned to face her this time, "Brooke, he is a jackass. He caused so many problems for my father and his mother that I can't even count. He wrecked my grandfather's car and didn't care. He goes through women like you go through panties—"

"I like to be hygienic," Brooke said with a small laugh.

The way Nathan had just looked at her; she knew it was no laughing matter. She sighed and motioned for him to continue with his story.

"When Dan got sick, Lucas didn't give a shit and he claimed that he was too busy with his new job to even come visit him..."

"You never told me this?"

He shook his head, "Why waste your breath on someone that doesn't care about his own family?"

Brooke took his hand in hers and squeezed, "I like the idea of your parents and my parents. I don't want anyone else there. Hell, it could be you and me for all I care!"

"There you go again, staring off into space."

Brooke scoffed, "Just leave me alone."

He walked over to her and wrapped his jacket around her shoulders. She had been too caught up in her thoughts to realize that she was freezing. He didn't move and she was becoming more frustrated.

"What's your angle, Lucas?"

He threw up his hands in defense, "I have no angle. I wanted to be here to pay my respects for Nathan because he is my brother."

She let out a small laugh of disbelief, "Bullshit."

Brooke walked over to the parking lot, he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop, "I'm sure that Nathan told you all these stories about me, but no matter what, we are family. You have no reason to hate me because of something Nathan said."

"Considering that I have known Nathan forever and have known you for all of about five minutes, I am going to respect my fiancée's wishes," She said as she tossed him his jacket.

There was only one car in the parking lot, and it wasn't hers. She saw Lucas walk over to the beaten up red truck. He was supposed to be the richest member of the family, but he drove a crappy car?

"Come on," he called as he waved his hand.

Brooke would rather spend the night in the cemetery than go anywhere with him. She plopped on the cold, wet grass. Crossing her arms, she felt like a kindergartener that refused to share.

"Brooke, just let me take you home," he said softly.

In her heart, she felt like she was betraying Nathan and she felt disgusted with herself. Although, she knew that Nathan would never want her to sit here in the freezing cold all night. She walked over and hopped in the creaking car.

"Fine, but straight home."