"Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise." ~Sylvia Plath

Author's Note: This takes place after episode 6.02 "One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning." It is all from Brooke's POV and is a One-Shot. First published attempt. I appreciate any feedback.

Disclaimer: I do not own rights to One Tree Hill, it's actors or it's story lines. All are property of Mark Schwann/The CW.

Remember tonight for it is the beginning of always…

The truth was that I didn't want to remember that night not so long ago, but it was the beginning of the rest of my life. The night that my store was broken into changed my world forever along with my outlook on life and love and trust. I only told one person at first, and that was Deb. I asked her not to tell anyone what truly happened to me and I also asked her to teach me to shoot a gun. She helped me and suddenly I was able to protect myself from the evils of this world, which made me feel a whole lot better.

I went to Lucas for the first time about a few days after the break-in, but I gave him the same story as I told Peyton (I fell down the stairs). He didn't believe me; he said that I might have Peyton fooled, but I couldn't fool him. For a month I avoided him, worried that he might find out the truth about what happened. Then, I showed up on his doorstep in tears, and I broke down and told him what really happened to me. I told him about the robbery, and getting beat up, and being left for dead. I told him what I had been denying for the past three weeks; I was pregnant. He was shocked, and for five and a half minutes he sat and stared at me almost as if he was hallucinating. When he finally registered that I was still there he, surprisingly calm, stated that he would be there for me. I told him that that was not the reason I admitted the pregnancy.

"I'm going back to New York." It didn't even sound like my voice, and then he was staring at me again. He said that I couldn't go; he said that he would be a father to my baby, that he would take responsibility. I knew that I couldn't handle watching him marry Peyton when I was still in love with him. I knew that I couldn't let him take responsibility of a child that was not his.

So I left, hoping beyond hope that we would find our way to each other at some point. He begged me to stay, but I just could not be there.

Three months after I left I called Haley to ask how Jamie was; that was all, just Jamie, or that is what I kept telling myself. Then it came out without any warning, "How's Lucas?" Her answer surprised me.

She said, "He's terrible, Brooke. He broke up with Peyton soon after you left. He said that he had someone who was more important to him and that he had to find her and be there for her and save her. He had to find you, sweetie, and he hasn't stopped looking since." She went on to tell me that he was in New York; he had been there for weeks looking for me, hoping to convince me to go home. Haley begged me to let Luke find me or at least think about letting him find me.

So, after thinking about it for the rest of the day, the entire night, and during the next morning while getting ready I decided that I would chance going into work and maybe running into Lucas there coincidently. It was a daunting task just walking into the office, but I knew that if I didn't do it then I wouldn't ever forgive myself for ignoring the fact that Lucas was finally fighting for me. My new assistant, Lauren, was waiting for me as I walked through the doors.

Just two hours later I heard him and when I heard him sound so distraught my heart broke for him. "Is she here today?" He directed this question at Lauren, and as I watched through the blinds in my office, I saw his face as she responded, "Actually, she is in her office." His reaction was priceless as I saw that smile, that perfect smile that still makes me feel weak in the knees. He looked toward my office and I motioned for him to come in.

He walked toward me, and when he opened the door he had his eyes closed. "Please tell me that you are really here," he said with a hopeful voice.

"I am really here, Lucas." He opened his eyes and I saw the smile once again return and light up his face and my life. He walked over and pulled me into a hug, a tight-losing-my-breath-feeling-relieved-and-over-the-moon hug and I found myself never wanting to let go of him again because he was and still is my heart, and he is my home.

He is the guy for me, and better yet, I am the girl for him. I asked him what he had been doing for the past three months and he responded with a sweet, loving, "I have been missing you, Pretty Girl."