A/N: I hadn't originally planned on adding another chapter but I got the inspiration last night and decided to write this. I don't think there will be another chapter, but you never know. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one! It's basically how everything happened from Brooke's point of view.
She isn't quite sure how they happened. They just did. They sort of came together one day and became friends and then, after she realized they were never just friends, they developed into something more. It was a very fast process and it still blows her mind how it happened.
It's weird how someone like her could fall so in love with someone like him.
They are so different.
They always will be.
But that's what makes them them and she wouldn't change it for the world.
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She's pretty sure that the first time she noticed Lucas Scott was back in fourth grade during recess when she spotted him on the jungle gym, tossing a basketball into the air before catching it again. He had been all alone.
"Who's that?" she asks Peyton as they walk over to the swings. All the cool kids always congregated there at the beginning of recess.
Peyton just shrugs. "I think his name is Lucas."
"He looks lonely."
"Yeah, I guess so," Peyton says before running off towards the others.
Brooke looks back one last time and notices that he is joined by a small boy with a cute smile. She's glad that he has a friend; she didn't like to see him alone.
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The first time she remembers ever talking to him was in the school hallway, freshman year, when he practically knocked her over.
He's pretty sick—he throws up, sticking his head out through the window in just the nick of time. Normally she'd laugh at this and tell all of her friends about the gross boy who puked in front of her and then her friends would pick on him mercilessly for the rest of his high school life.
But she doesn't want to. Instead she puts a hand on his shoulder and asks if he's okay. He tells her he is.
She recognizes him from around school and she knows that he is Nathan Scott's half-brother. They share the same father, but Dan abandoned Lucas and his mother when they were little and then knocked up another girl, Deb, in college. It was a pretty twisted story. But she thinks that Lucas is better off; she's met Dan plenty of times and, besides the fact that he's a bit of a perv, he treats Nathan like he's his coach instead of his father. She feels bad for Nathan and she hopes Lucas has a better life.
When she mentions Nathan, he gets angry. She backs down, but she doesn't completely understand why he's so bothered.
They exchange a few more words and Brooke decides that he is a very interesting person. She can tell that he is polite by the way he offers to help pick up the pom poms she had dropped when he bumped into her. And she can tell he is respectful by the way he looks her straight in the eye when he talks to her, instead of down lower, where most boys look. He is smart too, if the big books he is carrying in his arms have anything to do with it. And he's handsome. He has short blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes with a cute button nose and sweet smile. Not to mention he's pretty muscular for just a freshman.
He looks like a protector—someone who saves and protects others from danger. She doesn't know why she thinks that, but she does know that she needs someone like this in her life.
And, as she watches him walk away, she realizes that she also needs to know more about him.
She makes it her goal to figure him out.
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She's given the perfect opportunity to get to know Lucas when her English teacher assigns them a project to work on during the remaining few weeks of school. She sees his blonde head in the front of the class and knows that fate has worked its magic.
"You and me, right?" Peyton asks as the teacher tells them to pick their partners.
She ignores her best friend and walks straight to the front of the class. Lucas is just about to turn to one of his friends when she taps his shoulder.
He looks surprised to see her. "Uh…hi, Brooke."
"Wanna be my partner?" she asks cheerfully.
His face is scrunched up in confusion and his friend is looking at them both curiously as she waits for him to answer.
"Um, sure." He turns to look at the boy sitting next to him. "Sorry, Mouth."
The boy called Mouth just shrugs and heads over to another kid.
She's happy with herself. She didn't actually think that, given the fact they were from completely opposite social groups, she would ever find time to interact with him again. But this biography project is the perfect opportunity.
She walks with him to his house after school. It's a nice place, nothing like her house, but it's very homely and unique, something she can't say about her own home.
He warms up to her very quickly and, when they are supposed to be asking questions off of the interview sheet given to them in class, they instead talk about trivial, but more interesting, points of their lives.
She learns that his mother, Karen, owns a café in town. It's called Karen's Café and she thinks she's heard of it before. She's also managed to learn who his first kiss was and it was all too easy to get out of him.
She's very curious about his friend, Haley. Today when she had been observing him during lunch and all of the other classes she and him both shared, she noticed that he and Haley were almost always together, except when they didn't have classes together. He says that they're like brother and sister, but she isn't so sure. She also isn't sure why she feels a bit threatened by Haley, but she doesn't bother to dwell on it because she really has no reason to. He's a new friend, nothing more.
Then his mom comes home and, since Peyton's dad would be picking her up in an hour, she sticks around to eat dinner with them. She really likes Karen. She's got that caring motherly thing going on, but not in a condescending sort of way like most other parents she knew, including her own.
When Lucas tells Karen that she is a cheerleader, Brooke is interested in hearing that Karen had been one too. They bond over that over dinner and before she knows, Peyton and her father are parked in front of the house, waiting for her. Her parents were once again out of town and she was staying the night at the Sawyers.
He walks her to the front door and she loves how polite he is. So far, she is very impressed by Lucas Scott.
He smiles. "See you tomorrow."
"Yup. I'll keep an eye out for you."
When she steps into the car and Peyton asks what in the hell is going on, she is too lost in her thoughts to explain.
Lucas is the only thing on her mind. She still needs to know more about him.
He's a bit of a mystery and she can't wait to figure him out.
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Her friends are curious about Lucas. But Nathan is not happy.
"Tell me that Tim was lying when he told me you asked him to be your partner for English," Nathan angrily demands the next day. They are standing in the middle of the crowded hallway in between classes.
She cocks an eyebrow; she still isn't sure why Nathan hates Lucas so much.
"It's true," she says airily.
He groans. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Why the hell do you care?" she challenges.
He grits his teeth and speaks in a dangerously low tone. "He's not one of us and you hanging out with him is gonna make him think he is. I swear, Brooke, if you give him any ideas—."
She cuts him off with a snicker. "Get over yourself, Nathan. I'll hang out with him if I want and you have absolutely no say in this it all."
With that she walks away, hearing his angry groan as she turns the corner.
She doesn't care what Nathan, or anyone else for that matter, thinks about her working with Lucas. This is her choice, her business, and, unless Nathan knows Lucas, he has no right to hate him so much.
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The next day when they're working on their project together, she asks him about his uncle, Keith. She notices that he comes around a lot and wonders if there's anything going on with him and Karen.
Lucas laughs. "Not now, but someday."
He tells her all about Keith. She also finds out that Lucas works part-time at Keith's auto-repair shop. This makes her smile; she's always had a thing for mechanics. He also tells her how Keith is like a father to him and it makes her happy to know that Lucas grew up in such a loving home.
"You know, and please don't get angry with me for saying this, but you're so much better off than Nathan." His face grows a little pale at this, but she continues. "He's so unhappy. All his dad cares about are his basketball stats, and his mom works like crazy. I think that might be why he hates you so much—because you have the life that he wishes he had."
Lucas looks uncertain. "I don't think so…"
She doesn't push the topic any further; she doesn't think she has the right to. Instead they move onto the topic of pop music verses alternative and that has him ranting for the rest of the afternoon.
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Peyton is angry at her for ditching her and the others again at lunch today, but Brooke couldn't help it; she just needed to be around Lucas. There's something about him that makes her feel good about herself. She thinks it's because he see the real her instead of the her that people at school gossip about.
"Why are you so obsessed with him, anyway?" Peyton asks as they walk up the stairs and into her best friend's bedroom. "I mean, this past week you've been insistent on being around him and it's getting really annoying."
She sighs. "We're working on a project together, what do you expect?"
Peyton shakes her head. "Why did you even choose him in the first place? You could have chosen me."
"I wanted him," she mutters. She doesn't want to explain this all to Peyton right now—she's not sure her friend would even understand.
She doesn't even fully understand why she is suddenly so obsessed with him.
All she knows is that she likes being around him and she doesn't want to stop any time soon.
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On the tenth day of working on the project they're growing bored. They're almost finished and they still have a few more days to finish it, so Lucas decides to take a break and take her somewhere special to him.
He brings her to the River Court, a place that he tells her he likes to think and do what he loves best: play basketball.
She's honored that he trusts her enough to take her here. It's almost as if it's an oath of friendship; he trusts and likes her enough to bring her to his favorite place.
A lot of his friends from school are here. She's met most of them before and she sat at lunch with a lot of them today.
She sits on the bench next to Mouth and smiles. She likes Mouth—he reminds her a little bit of Lucas in that he's just as sweet and respectful. He's sitting next to someone she hasn't met yet and Mouth introduces him as Jimmy Edwards. Mouth and Jimmy do a cute little play by play of the guys on the court and she smiles as she listens.
Then she watches Lucas play.
He's incredible. He's better than a lot of the players on varsity at their school.
She can't help but smile as she watches him; he's in his element on that court, doing what he loves, and she's not sure she's seen him this happy before.
It amazes her.
He takes a break after about a half hour of non-stop play and comes to sit next to her. He's sweaty but he's wearing a big smile. She reaches for his hand.
"You look great out there."
He grins and looks at their intertwined hands. "Thanks…I love it."
"They could use a guy like you on the team at school."
She knows that she's said the wrong thing when he pulls his hand from hers and looks away with a frown on his face.
"I like it here," he says after a few seconds. And then he turns back to her confidently. A smile once again graces his face and she's glad that she hasn't ruined his mood completely.
She understands why he doesn't want to join the team, but she still wishes he would consider it. The Ravens need him. But she won't push him; if he wants to join, he will.
She'll support him in whatever he wants to do.
Because that's what friends do.
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School is over and so is their project. She's not finished with Lucas, however. Tonight she's hanging out with him, Haley, and Peyton at Karen's Café. She's happy that they all are going to be together— her best friend and his best friend hanging out with the both of them.
It will be good.
It turns out to be very awkward at first. Haley is looking anywhere but them and Peyton is having trouble hiding the scowl on her face. They both don't want to be there.
Lucas looks a bit uncomfortable. He's sitting next to Haley and her, his arm hanging over the edge of her chair, and is picking at his French fries silently.
Brooke breaks the silence by mentioning one of Lucas' favorite bands that she also knows Peyton loves. The conversation immedietly starts up and continuously flows the rest of the night.
She and Haley talk a little bit about nothing in particular. She doesn't have much in common with her except Lucas, but she is sure that they will eventually click. After all, she and Peyton barely had anything in common and they're best friends.
At the end of the night, everyone seems to be a lot more comfortable with each other. Peyton and Lucas have a lot in common and they become quick friends. She doesn't know for sure how she feels about this, though. There's a bit of jealousy that fills her mind when she thinks about Lucas and Peyton ever hanging out without her and she's not sure why.
She and him are just friends, right? Why should she care if he ever becomes interested in Peyton?
She can't answer that question without lying to herself because she knows by now that she wants Lucas as more than just a friend.
She just doesn't think he feels the same way.
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She's having a bad night.
For once her parents are actually home but they're fighting over, once again, money issues. This is normal but it still bothers her.
She's trying to sleep, but their voices seem to be getting louder and louder.
She's had enough.
Making her way quietly down the stairs, she slips past them without notice and heads out the front door.
Although she hasn't officially decided where she is going, her feet are leading her towards his house. It's a very long walk but she knows it's worth it.
Almost an hour later and she's standing at the door to his bedroom. She's always wondered why Karen let him have this bedroom when he could easily escape without being noticed. She'd kill to have a room like this. But then again, her parents never notice her anyway, so what would be the point?
She knocks lightly on the door, knowing that he likes to keep it locked.
When he opens it his eyes are adjusting to the bright porch light behind her and he looks a little confused.
"Everything okay?" he asks anxiously.
She just shrugs and then he pulls her inside. He lies down on his bed and she lies with him. His arms wrap around her protectively and she's immediately comforted by his touch.
After a few minutes of silence he asks her what's wrong. She twists around in his bed to face him and then she explains everything about her parents and how she couldn't take it anymore and she just needs to be with him. His arms tighten around her and he whispers encouraging words in her ear as she rests her head against his chest.
She wonders how he's always able to make everything better for her. There are very few people in her life that can do that for her and even those few have to try very hard.
But with Lucas it is effortless.
Everything with them is effortless.
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It's a beautifully clear summer day and she, Peyton, and Lucas are at the beach. As she and Peyton bathe in the sun, he is in the water, swimming like a dolphin. She loves watching him, mostly because he looks great without a shirt on.
She really can't lie there.
"Mmm, he sure is sexy."
Her eyes narrow at Peyton's words. She doesn't like the thought of anyone else thinking that but her. It's ridiculous, but she can't help it.
Peyton's face is full of amusement when Brooke turns to look at her. She tries to hide her annoyance but she knows it's not working.
"Relax, Brooke," Peyton finally says after an uncomfortable bout of silence, "it's not a crime to think your man is sexy. Because let's face it, he really is."
"He's not my man, Peyton. And you can say whatever you want about him."
Peyton laughs. "Come on, Brooke, you and I both know that isn't true. I'm surprised you haven't branded him with your own special little mark to let everyone know he's yours."
Brooke rolls her eyes, but lightens up. "What, you mean like a tattoo? Because I've definitely considered it. I'm thinking he can get one similar to the one I got a couple of months ago. But his can be in a more noticeable spot, so everyone knows he's mine."
"So you finally admit that he's yours?"
She just shrugs.
Peyton shakes her head and laughs some more, but Brooke is serious. She likes the idea of sharing something like a tattoo with Lucas.
Because that means they'll be forever connected, no matter what.
And she wants that more than anything.
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It's nearing the end of July and today she is spending her afternoon alone in her air conditioned house. She's incredibly bored. Peyton is hanging out with Nathan and she would have gone along with her but she and Nathan have been on the outs lately and she doesn't feel like dealing with him.
Lucas is working. She wants to hang out with him badly, but she knows he won't be off for another couple of hours.
But decides she doesn't care—she wants to see him.
So she pulls her car out of the garage and, despite the fact that she still has no license, drives over to Keith's auto shop. She's been driving with Karen a lot this summer and has got down the basics. She's a little worried she'll get pulled over, but Karen's a good teacher and she makes it to Keith's shop unscathed.
She spies Lucas in the back in his uniform. He looks good smothered in grease and sweat. She's very turned on.
He looks up from the car he's examining and smiles when he sees her.
"What're you doing here, Cheery?" he asks, walking over to her.
She just stands there, trying very hard to ignore how sexy he looks in that black jumpsuit.
"I just wanted to see you," she finally gets out.
He's oblivious to her reaction to him and for that she's happy—it'll save her a great deal of embarrassment. She asks him if he thinks he can get out early and he shakes his head—he doesn't want to ask that of Keith. But, as his uncle comes out a second later, she asks Keith if Lucas can get off early and Keith, being the great guy he is, lets him go.
She eagerly grabs Lucas' hand and pulls him outside. She can tell he's happy to be getting out early, even though he feels a little bad.
His face changes when he sees her car.
"Brooke, did you drive here?"
She nods happily. "Yup."
His eyes are narrowed as he looks at her incredulously. "Brooke, that's illegal," he says.
She shrugs. "I know, but I had to get here somehow and I definitely wasn't taking the bus."
His face turns from disbelief to amusement. "You're something else, Brooke Davis. You're the craziest person I know."
She just smiles. "Admit it, your life was incredibly boring before I came along wasn't it?"
"Yeah," he says, laughing, "I guess it was."
She puts her hand up to his face and wipes away a smudge of grease. He looks down at her, the smile on his face faltering slightly as they both find themselves lost in each other's eyes. She not even sure what she's doing, but she moves her face closer to his, preparing to meet his lips for the first time.
And then Keith comes out of the shop.
"Hey, Luke, you forgot you check."
Lucas' head moves back so quickly that she's afraid he'll get whiplash. Then he looks away from her and walks over to meet his uncle. He thanks Keith and then he comes back to her, studiously avoiding her eyes.
She's not sure what to think as she drives them both to his house. He's quiet most of the ride and she doesn't say anything either.
When they step inside his house to find Haley waiting for them they start talking again and soon everything is back to normal. It's like everything is forgotten.
And she's not sure that's a good thing.
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There's a big party tonight and Nathan has made it a point that she has to come. She asks if she can bring Lucas and he just laughs in her face. She asks Lucas anyway, but he politely refuses; parties aren't his thing is his excuse.
She has to admit that the party is very good. It's thrown by Morgan Finley and it's a common fact that Morgan always throws the best ones. It's at Morgan's huge beach house and there's a big bon fire on the beach, which Brooke and Peyton are both currently standing around. As she admires the huge fire, she feels an arm wrap around her shoulder.
"Brooke Davis, I've been looking everywhere for you."
She looks to her side to see a familiar face from school. Mike Walton is a tall, brawny guy with short brown hair and a cocky smile. He's captain of the basketball team and he and Nathan are pretty good friends. A few months ago she'd had a crush on him, but now she thinks he's a bit too arrogant for her liking. Still, he was very nice to look at and he would be a senior next year, so she wasn't ruling him out for anything.
"Hi, Mike," she says, taking a sip of her drink. Peyton looks at her with raised eyebrows and then leaves them alone.
"Having fun?"
"Yup."
He puts a hand on her hip and she cocks an eyebrow. He smiles and lowers his head down to hers. She's a little drunk and so she allows him to kiss her. Just for a second.
He grins cockily as she pulls away. "Are you single, Brooke?" he asks.
For some reason this question baffles her. Is she single? She's pretty sure she is. But she's also pretty sure that this friendship she and Lucas have is not normal to the outside world. He's almost like a best friend now; except she knows that she wants more.
But she's single. That is a fact. She shouldn't feel guilty about that.
"Yes," she answers confidently.
"Good," he says, "cause I've had my eye on you for awhile now."
His lips meet hers again and she doesn't pull away this time. She let's herself get lost in a different world, but, in the very back of her mind, the thought of Lucas still lingers.
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She has no idea what she's doing with Mike. She supposes they're going out, but she doesn't feel any connection to him what so ever. Nathan is floored that she is seeing someone besides Lucas, while Peyton is confused and thinks she's just doing this to distract herself from telling Lucas her real feelings.
She can't deny that.
Mike doesn't like Lucas either and he doesn't like it when she tells him that she is having dinner with him and Karen for the second time that week and he doesn't like how much they hang out. He says it's weird and that she and Lucas couldn't possibly be just friends.
She wishes it was that way.
So she hangs out with Lucas less and less during the next two weeks. And she doesn't even know why she's giving in to Mike, she just knows that she feels horrible about it because she feels like she's abandoning him.
She knows she is hiding from her feelings for him and that because doesn't think he wants her that way. Besides, a girl like her is not good enough for a guy like him. Plain and simple.
So she is settling for Mike. She knows that and she is okay with that.
For now.
But today everything changes.
They're in his car and they're making out. He's pulling off her clothes and she's letting him. She's never gone this far with a guy before and she's feeling a bit confused.
Mike has been frustrated with her ever since they got together; he'd thought he'd have a much easier time getting her into bed.
Everyone labels her as easy and she lets them. She doesn't know why, but she does. And that gives people false impressions of her and obviously higher expectations for the guys. She's also pretty sure that's why Mike is so interested in her.
She's prepared to tell him to stop but for some reason she doesn't. And the whole time she's thinking of Lucas and of how disappointed he would be in her. And then she's wishing that it was him she was with.
And then it's over.
Mike seems satisfied but she's just angry with herself for trying to ignore what she's known all along—Lucas is the only guy she wants. There's no one else for her. And she can't keep it from him any longer; he deserves to know how she feels.
She steps out of the car, pulling her clothes back on and walks away.
"Where're you going?" Mike calls back to her.
She freezes. "I can't do this," she says quietly.
"What? Why?"
"I'm sorry, Mike, but my heart belongs to someone else."
With that she walks away.
She doesn't know where she's going— she just knows that she has to see him.
The first place she checks is where she knows he will be.
And he is.
She stands on the sidewalk and watches silently as he plays basketball with his friends on the River Court. He looks so intense right now, more so than she's ever seen him. She doesn't want to interrupt his game and so she waits patiently for him to finish.
But his friend, Skills, pauses and points over in her direction and then he's looking at her, his gaze penetrating her own. Then he's running over to her, a look of concern written clearly across his face.
"Hey…What's going on?"
She's not even sure how to answer that, but she knows that she needs to talk to him about everything. It's so overwhelming for her. She feels a few more tears make their way down her cheek and then melts as his arms wrap around her.
She could stay in his embrace forever, but she needs to talk to him and she knows it can't be right here, in front of all his friends.
So she takes his hand. "Let's go for a walk."
She decides to take him to the one place she has shared with no one else. Not even Peyton, which is a bit surprising since this place is practically in Peyton's backyard. But she wants to take him there because she knows that it is there that she will find the comfort and the strength to tell him everything.
He looks confused as she leads him through Peyton's backyard and into the big patch of trees behind her house.
They they're there and she sits down in the small, grassy clearing and he sits with her. He wraps his arms around her again and she closes her eyes. She leans her head against his shoulder.
She can't see him, but she knows his gaze is on her and then she feels him cup her cheek.
"What's wrong, Brooke?"
She takes a deep breathe and gets ready to tell him about everything.
And then it all comes out and it's much easier than expected. But she hates the look of disappointment that crosses his face when she tells him about Mike and she equally hates how surprised he seems that she's been a virgin up until today. For once, she wishes no one had started those rumors about her. For once she's actually ashamed.
But she looks past his disappointment and bravely moves on. She tells him how guilty she had felt with Mike and how much she had wished it was him who she was with. She tells him that her heart belongs only to him; there's no way she can give it to anybody else. Then she tells him that she's scared that a romantic relationship could ruin everything they've created. Finally, she asks him how he feels about her and just how serious he is about them and their friendship. Because if they're going to do this, they have to be serious about each other.
His answer makes her heart leap.
"Brooke," he says, "I know that we've only really know each other for two months now, but I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you. Actually, I think I am in love with you."
He goes on to tell her how that he can't ever imagine falling out of love with her and that he can see him spending the rest of his life with her. He wants to be with her. And she is practically floating on air at his words.
"And that's how serious I am about you," he finishes.
She's crying now, but these are happy tears, and then he pulls her close to him and she's can't even believe that she's found a guy like him.
Who'd have thought a girl like her could have found her soulmate at fifteen years old? She's actually pretty sure that two months ago she would have thought this was impossible.
But it's not and both of them have figured that out first hand.
Then she tells him that she's pretty sure she's in love with him because she knows that never in her life has she felt this way before. He's changed her life.
And then they kiss.
Finally.
She's waited for this for awhile now.
He doesn't disappoint, despite the fact that this is only his second time around. She actually is honored that she's his second kiss, although she'd like it even more if she was his first. But then again she'll be his first for a lot of other things.
She's looking forward to that.
Then they're kissing again and they don't break apart for awhile. He stops her when her hands goes under his shirt. He's such a gentleman.
And she loves it.
They stay out there for another half hour. The sun has set and the moon is shining down on them. It's getting cold and, when they decide to leave, he takes her hand and gently helps her up.
They walk through the trees and past Peyton's house and then down the street towards his house.
His hand is still in hers and, even though they've held hands before, this time is different. His thumb is rubbing hers in soft strokes and the feeling is soothing. They walk as close as they possibly can to each other and their arms are practically intertwined.
She can tell they're going to be a major PDA couple.
And she loves that, too.
She loves everything about them.
She loves him most though.
When they make it to his house he pauses outside his bedroom. He takes her other hand in his and pulls her body close to his. She smiles as his hands move to her hip and rest comfortably there. She rests her head against his chest and sighs contently.
"I don't want to go home," she says.
"I don't want you to, either."
She looks up at him. "So what're we gonna do?"
He kisses her forehead. "You're going to come in and spend the night with me."
She likes the idea, but she's not sure how it will work. "I'm not sure you mom will like that."
"She let's Haley sleep over all the time. And most of the time we're in the same bed."
"Yeah, but Haley's just a friend."
He grins. "Yeah and that's what my mom and everyone else thinks we are right now. She doesn't need to know otherwise until morning."
She smiles, impressed at his thinking. "I love the way you think, Lucas Scott."
He kisses her, pressing her against the door. When they pull apart he is looking at her seriously.
"I love you, Brooke," he says, wiping a stray hair from her face.
She knows that he does but to hear him say it out loud makes her unbelievably happy. She pulls his face back to hers, rewarding him with a long, hard kiss.
"I love you, too," she says when she finally pulls away.
The smile on his face is the biggest she's ever seen on him and it makes her happy to know that she can do that to him.
Because he does the same thing for her.
And, as they slip into his room and into his bed and his arms once again make their way around her body, she knows that this is how it will be for the rest of her life. She wants to fall asleep next to him every night and wake up to him every morning.
And if she can just have that, then she'll be fine.
Lucas Scott is all Brooke Davis needs.
He is her everything and she is his.
And that's how it will always be.
