Okay, so, one I wanted to say that although there will be Naley in this story- there's no major drama planned for them. I love Naley. But I love them being happy and in love. And a family. I need Naley- especially Haley- in this story mostly for the support that they are to Brooke and Lucas. So while you'll see them- and I promise that there will be some cute happy scenes- I'm not doing any Naley story arcs. I've tried to write them- I'm just not that good at it.

Two, and this is a very big one. And I'm very sorry if it offends anyone. I write for two reasons. 1) it helps me to release whatever emotions I'm feeling and 2) I feel like Lucas gets a raw deal and his motivations are never made clear and I always intend to fix that in my writing. Always. I know that I ask you to review. I want everyone to review, good or bad. I'm okay with constructive criticism. Although, it would be nice- if you're going to criticize me- for you to just sign in so I can respond back if I choose to. As a matter of fact, I may turn anonymous reviews off because I like the respond option. I just want to state that for the record, I love Lucas. I don't hate him on the show- so I most certainly do not hate him in my writing. And I'd never write Lucas in a way in which I felt portrayed him badly. I'm sorry if some of you think he's being an ass. I'm sorry if some of you feel he's not treating Brooke right. Honestly, what's most important to me is that he's there for Brooke. And he is. That's more important than sleeping with her or being with her any day of the week. IMO, he has to be there before he can be anything else. And IMO, that's where the real writer's of the show go wrong with EVERY couple on the show. I'm also sorry that some of you think he's stringing Peyton along. He's not. If you'll just take the time to read- and I mean really read because Lucas in no way 'dumped Brooke and ran to Peyton'- and understand the flashbacks- you'll understand what's going on. I would say that you'll figure out LP's relationship by chapter seven. I cut two scenes out of this chapter because I liked the line I ended on- or you may have gotten the flashbacks for LP in chapter 6. But meh. Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is if you're so used to hating Lucas that you can't open yourself up to a decent Lucas- that's fine. Either, don't read. Or keep the Lucas hate to a minimum. It really affects my ability to write- if someone hates my Lucas. Believe me. This update should have been up yesterday but I just couldn't get into it.

Moving on, I have a timeline that I'm going to post for you all in the beginning of next chapter. Mainly so you can see the order in which things happened. I just didn't want to do it until you got a few more flashbacks.

I'm going to end this crazy long AN now. I'm sure I'm not saying all that I want to. But I've said a lot. I want to thank the vast majority for the awesome response to this, as well. And also, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sara. Because she made me a BL vid today and it is beautiful. And to Maranda, who made a video for this fic and I'm going to post it for you next chapter. Everyone else- hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I only do this every couple of chapters- but I don't own OTH. If I did, BL would be a weekly occurrence and BG would still be with us.


If it is the rain of every day
that has increased its level
the music has not the same
effect that used to have before

She rushes out of the bathroom and into her bedroom in just a towel, feeling his eyes on her as he dresses their little girl in the room opposite hers. They have a good forty-five minutes to get to the pediatrician's office but Brooke always likes to get there early. It's the one thing that she's not late for ever. Delila's doctor appointments. They're too important to miss.

The little girl is completely oblivious to the fact that her dad barely slept more than a couple of hours last night and her mom didn't even get that. She's running around her room like a little ball of energy and Lucas is laughing at her because he'd rather that than her sick in bed. Anything is better than to watch her suffer.

"Hey," he yells from their daughter's room. "Didn't I tell you everything would be fine?"

She pulls a sweater over her head and shakes out her hair, "You don't get to be smug yet. Let's see the doctor first. Besides, Jamie has been sick since yesterday morning so maybe she had a flu bug and we both know how serious that can get."

Millicent is in running the boutique all by herself this morning, which is something that Brooke hates to do. She likes to attend to her store personally. After all, it's her livelihood and her dream and she likes to see it through every day. She usually is there well before it opens and she's almost always the one to lock up at night, too. There was about a month and a half, when Delila was a little over eighteen months, that she had to close it down. The only reason she was able to keep it at all was because Lucas paid all of the bills. Otherwise, she'd have lost her dream completely.

As she's pinning her bangs back, Lucas comes in behind her and wraps his arms around her shoulders. "Brooke, that doesn't happen everytime. And it wasn't your fault. You're an amazing mother."

She leans into him, allowing herself to be comforted even if it's only for a minute. Then she looks straight into his eyes so that he can't lie to her, "You really think that Luke?"

"Think what? That you're a good mom?" he asks and she nods. "Absolutely, I think that. And coming from me that's a pretty big compliment. I mean, I had a great mom. I know what it looks like."

"Do you think that me keeping Peyton away from Dee is a bad thing?" She asks quietly, scared of his answer. "Do you think I'm doing it out of spite because she has you?"

All of a sudden, it clicks inside of him and his arms are stiff around her. "She came over here and told you that you were a bad mother, didn't she?"

Brooke tries to free herself from his arms but they tighten around her, "You listen to me- I am Delila's father. And you are her mother. She was made out of all the love that I have inside of me and I really hope that you feel the same way. But I don't have to hope because I know. I can tell in the way you love her and protect her. She means everything to you and you are the best mom. Don't let anyone tell you any differently. Peyton screwed up and she's trying to make up for it. But I'm on your side when it comes to our daughter, Brooke. And you don't have to let her see Peyton until you're ready to let them see each other. Plus you're the least spiteful person I know and if you were trying to spite anyone over that, wouldn't it be me?"

"Thanks, Luke," she says, sighing into his chest. "Now, if you don't mind- I can't breathe."

She looks up at him, trying to hold in her laugh but fails. They both turn into two idiots, leaning against the bathroom counter, laughing hysterically and all of the tension flows out of their bodies. They really needed that.

"You guys," Delila commands, like a little grown-up, "If you keep playing around in here all day, I'm going to be late to the doctors. Can we please get a move on? I wanna take daddies car; he has a DVD player and I can watch Cinderella."

Brooke follows Lucas and Delila down the stairs, lost in her own thoughts. She isn't trying to be spiteful. At least, she hopes she's not.


I feel like I've lost all forces now
to jump and grab the sun
and no matter how much I try
I can't listen to my own voice.



"Thank you for taking her on such short notice, Peyton," Brooke says, looking around the apartment that Lucas and his girlfriend just recently moved into. "Haley has finals and Lily isn't feeling well and I cannot miss this appointment."

Peyton smiles and puts her arms out for Dee, "No problem, Brooke. Thank you for thinking of me to ask."

Brooke hands over her eleven-month old and nods, "Really, you're doing me a favor."

As she turns to pick up the bags, helping Peyton into the living room, a picture on the bookshelf catches her eye. It's of Lucas and Delila, hours after she was born. "I have that same picture of them in the nursery," she says, pointing it out to her ex-best friend.

"Yeah?," Peyton counters uncomfortably. "It's one of Luke's favorites. I hate it. He looks so tired and she doesn't look anything like that anymore. But he loves it so there it is. Front and center."

Brooke ignores the underlying bitterness in her tone because she needs a babysitter and she needs to learn to deal with Peyton again. "I took it," she informs her. "It's one of my all time favorites. He has that look in his eyes."

"What look?"

"You know," Brooke clarifies. "That crazy in love look."

Peyton laughs, "I've never noticed."

"Well, then," Brooke says, trying her best to smile. "You'll have to pay closer attention."

She reaches over, kisses her baby on the forehead, and coos, "You be good for Peyton and remember, mommy loves you."

The moment she moves to leave, Dee starts fussing and she knows that her daughter will be in a full-on cry by the time she's out the door. She wonders if that would've happened if she'd have just let Peyton spend more time with her. She forces herself out the door, blocking out Peyton comforting her child. She may not like it but it's something she has to teach herself to get over.

It's the first time she's admitting to herself, since Delila's birth, that Peyton is going to be in this baby's life. Lucas will probably even marry her. She can't stop the tears that quickly fill her eyes as that thought enters her mind. She can only hope that Dee will always love her more than Peyton, which is something her father never accomplished.

-x-l-x-l-x-

When Lucas gets home two hours later, Peyton and Delila are both napping in their beds. He shakes Peyton awake, "Hey, did you steal her from her mother?" he whispers.

Peyton looks confused for a minute before she figures out that he's point towards the crib in the spare bedroom. "Oh no!" she responds. "Brooke's babysitter fell through and she had no choice. God, your kid has a set of lungs. I wonder where she gets that from."

Lucas completely ignores the insinuation about Brooke and asks, "She's been crying? Is she okay?"

She nods," Yeah, as soon as Brooke left. She quieted down after awhile though."

"For how long?" Lucas questions again, visibly concerned.

"God, Luke." She says, raising her voice, indignantly. "Don't you trust me? She's not crying now. She wouldn't have cried at all if she knew me. But she doesn't. Brooke makes sure of that and you don't stick up for me. You don't stick up for us!"

He rolls his eyes at the theatrics and plays into it. "And what does that mean? I don't stick up for us?"

"Brooke took that picture," she accuses, pointing to the picture that she had brought into the bedroom with her. "You said you loved it because it reminds you of Haley- because she took it. That's not true! Brooke did. She said so."

"Okay. Brooke took the damn picture," he goes back at her. "I love it because it's the first picture ever of my daughter and me. I'm sorry that I forgot who took it. A lot of people were in and out of that hospital room that day."

Peyton sighs, "Yeah, everyone but me."

"Peyt- if the situation were reversed—"

"No," she stops him. "There is no reversed situation. There'd be no reversed situation. If you were with someone new when I found out I was pregnant, I'd tell you and you love me so you'd come back to me. There's no way to reverse the situation. And I'd never be Brooke and have a baby with no love involved."

Lucas looks at her puzzled, "I have no idea what you're saying right now."

"I'm saying if I were Brooke, that baby wouldn't be here." It's quiet but she says it.

Before he can respond to her, Delila starts crying in the other room and they both move to get her.

"I've got her," Lucas says forcefully.

Peyton looks at him, baffled, "Don't you have a practice to get to?" she asks, as he picks the baby up out of the crib.

"They'll deal without me. Besides Whitey is there. He's head coach. He can handle it." He states, "My daughter needs me here."

"Brooke left her with me." Peyton assures. "Really, we're fine."

"Well I'm her father and I'm releasing you from babysitting duty." He smiles down into Dee's blue eyes, "Daddy's here now."

Delila giggles up at him and reaches for his nose. "What's that, Dee? He coos, "Is that daddy's nose? You've got my nose."

She lets out a high-pitched squeal and all of a sudden, Peyton sees it. The look. The crazy in love look that Brooke was talking about.

"I'm sorry about what I said before, Luke," she apologizes. "I shouldn't have. I know how much you love her."

He just nods, "I do love her. Let's forget about it, okay?" There's no clarification of her but he knows Peyton means Delila. But there's another brunette he loves that makes her comment out of line, too, and she's not even thinking about her.

"So Brooke, Lucas," the doctor says smiling at them, "to what do we owe this visit?"

Lucas takes Brooke's hand and pulls Dee closer to him on his lap. "Well, Delila here had a slight fever last night. It took four hours to break it."

The doctor nods, "Okay, Delila Grace Scott, how about you hop off your dad's lap for me and come over here so I can take a look?"

She looks up at Lucas, who nods and gently sits her on the examining table. "She's such an actress." Brooke says, laughing. "She's never shy."

The doctor looks over Delila and then sends her out into the waiting room with a nurse and sits down with them. "I was told this was an emergency visit. She had what looks like less than twenty-four hours of the flu. And she has no residual effects from it. You guys do this every time there's a cough. Do you want me to schedule an appointment for a chest x-ray, too?"

"No, that won't be—" Lucas begins, but Brooke cuts him off and he sighs and motions for her to continue on.

"Yes, please. I just want to know for sure."

The doctor sighs, "I understand why you worry, Brooke. Really, I do. I have a couple of kids at home too."

"Have you ever watched one of them turn blue because they weren't getting enough air, doctor?" she asks pointedly.

He shakes his head, "No, I haven't. But I would walk through fire for them. I understand a parent's love. You need to understand that she's going to get colds. There's not always something serious behind it and you're wasting money on an x-ray."

"Lucas, do you mind paying for it?" she asks, pleading with her eyes.

He shakes his head, "I don't mind."

"Okay, good then. It's settled. For my piece of mind, please order it and we'll pay for it. Thank you."

The doctor writes on a pad, "Here's the prescription for the x-ray and if you have any questions afterwards, you're free to call me. Either of you."

Brooke nods and walks out the door and Lucas smiles, "You have to understand. She just wants her to be okay."

"I know. She's got to learn to trust that she will be though."

"Thank you, Doctor." He says again, "Thank you for this."

He walks out of the room wondering what it's like to watch your child turn blue. He'll pay for however many x-rays he has to to erase that fear from Brooke's mind.

He just wishes that he was there to help divide her fear, when it happened.


I haven't learned it
And I feel lost like I'm lost
as a needle in the middle of the sea
I submerge
among my loneliness


"Come on, Lucas." Brooke moans into the phone, "You need to pick up."

It's the fourth time she's called him and she refuses to leave him a message. On the fifth time, she hears him pick up and apologize to someone, saying that he must take this call. "What's up, Brooke?" He asks, sounding slightly annoyed, "I told you I'd be in meetings all day. I really hope she said Daddy or something equally important."

"Lucas." It's all Brooke can get out. She sounds broken and Lucas automatically goes into panic mode.

"Where are you?" He can hear a faraway voice and beeping and assumes she's at the hospital. "What's wrong?"

"I'm- I'm in," she's stuttering and he hears his father in the background asking for the phone.

"Lucas," Dan's voice comes through the line, but he's more focused on Brooke's gut-wrenching sobs that have faded into the background than he is on what anyone is telling him. "Lucas, I know you're busy and this is your dream."

He snaps to attention. "What's wrong?" he repeats. Only this time, he's scared to death to hear the answer.

He's running all kinds of scenarios through his head. Haley lost the baby. Nathan was seriously injured. His mom or sister sick or hurt. His brain refuses to focus on the two people that he, intellectually, knows this is about. It won't let him picture either one of them hurt.

"It's Delila," he hears and, inside, he starts to crumble. "We're at the hospital. She's not breathing on her own." Dan pauses then and he can tell that his father is trying to swallow tears himself. "Luke, you need to get here. Brooke's inconsolable."

Dan talks more, explaining that Delila woke up in the middle of the night with a slightly raised temperature which slowly turned into a one hundred and four point three degree fever. And Brooke couldn't break it- no matter what she tried. Lucas listens intently while booking a flight home immediately on Lindsey's computer. He's got a four hour flight and a half hour drive to the hospital once he gets there. And that's after he gets through security at the airport. Hopefully, he makes his plane.

"I'm leaving now, Dan." Lucas informs him, "Tell Brooke I'll be there as soon as I can."

As soon as he can just isn't soon enough, though, and he feels completely helpless.

His potential editor watches as he runs around- finalizing arrangements and making sure the hotel will send his things, since he doesn't have the time to go back. "Mr. Scott, can we please get back to the contract?"

He shakes his head. "I'm sorry; I have to go."

"What?" she asks, clearly bewildered.

"My daughter is sick. I have to go." He finally has his confirmation printed and he's halfway to the door when he turns and says, one more time, "I'm sorry. Please, send them to my home address and I'll go over them."

With that, he exits the office into the chilly October New York City air and hails a cab. He needs to get home.

x-b-x-l-x-

A little under six hours later, he's finally on his way to the fourth floor of Tree Hill General Hospital. His family are all in the children's wing waiting area and his eyes instantly search for Brooke's.

She's sitting between his mom and Haley and she looks so broken that his heart breaks even more. He walks right over to her and kneels down, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, " she speak softly. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't want to bother you and then she just started turning blue. And, oh my God, I'm such a bad mother."

She breaks off then, losing the ability to speak at all to her sobs. "Shh," he comforts, smoothing her hair back. "You are the best mom." He pulls back and looks her in the eye so that she'll see how sincere he is. "The absolute best, Brooke. I'm sorry that I wasn't here. But I am now. Everything is going to be okay."

She looks skeptical but buries her face in his chest anyway, mumbling. The only two things he can derive from it is that she's glad to see him and that she missed him.

It's an uncomfortable position but they stay that way for a long time. Finally, a doctor appears and calls, "I'm looking for a Mrs. Scott."

Everyone looks at Haley, the only Mrs. Scott in the room, confused and she just shrugs. The doctor continues reading down the chart and says, "Oh wait, I'm sorry. The child's last name is Scott."

Before he can even correct himself, saying Brooke's real name, they are up and in front of him. "We're Delila Scott's parents." Lucas asks, "Do you know what's wrong?"

He looks at them sympathetically, "Has the patient had a nagging cough at all? Or any persistent colds?"

"A couple of weeks ago," Brooke nods. "I gave her some children's Tylenol and cough medicine for a few days. She's been fine since."

Lucas tries to remember how long ago that was. "That was the week that she and I went to the new petting zoo alone because you had to work that Saturday. The first week of October."

The doctor writes that down on the chart and his head bobs up and down. "Okay, well, it seems that maybe that cold was never really fully taken care of. Your daughter has pneumonia in both lungs. One was about half filled and the other was almost completely filled, which was causing her to have problems breathing. We have started a strict regimen of antibiotics. She'll be here for awhile recuperating and then she'll have to have some time at home to recuperate. It's a very slow healing process. We've also drained the fluid already so she's breathing much better now. You may go see her now. She's in room 413. We'll have to discuss more later about proper care."

"Thank you," Lucas says and then follows Brooke down the hall to his baby's room.

He doesn't know what he'd do without her.

I really need you my love
wherever you are now
I need all your love
Cause you are part of me
I need you right here
Cause I can't live without you


Hope you all enjoyed. Please review. And once again- sorry for the rant. :/

-Corey