Chapter 3

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Lucas opened his eyes slightly the next morning, and turned his head to the side to see that he was the first to wake up. Him, Brooke, and Jamie had fallen asleep on the couch, and somewhere in the night, Brooke's head found Lucas' chest and layed there for the rest of the night. Also, somewhere in the night, Lucas had his arms wrapped around her and this is the same position they are in at this very moment, with Jamie clinging onto Brooke.

Lucas couldn't help but smile at the position they were in. But for some weird reason, he didn't want to ever get out of the position. He decided that he wanted to be the one there for Brooke, he wanted to save her. And he was going to make sure that he would.

Lucas was brought out of his thoughts as he noticed J-Luke with a grin on his face, staring at him.

Jamie grinned. "Uncle Luke, watcha doin?"

"Well, I was sleeping..." He replied, he forgot that his arms were still holding Brooke.

"I thought you were marrying Peyton." Jamie said innocently.

"I am." Lucas was confused.

"So then, why are you holding Aunt Brooke like daddy holds mommy at night?" Jamie said, still innocent.

"Ok J-Luke what are you getting at?"

"Nothin' just wondering." Jamie said with a shrug, as his grin reappeared.

Lucas was about to reply when he felt Brooke start to stir in his arms, so he decided to just drop the subject. Jamie's words were still in his mind thought, and they sure were making him rethink his decisions lately.

Brooke's eyes fluttered open and she looked back and forth from J-Luke to Lucas.

"Luke, you should get back home to Peyton. She's probably wondering why you didn't show up last night."

"Nah Brooke, it's fine. I called her last night and told her we were staying here. I'm just worried about you."

"I'm fine." She said shortly.

"J-Luke," Lucas said "Why don't you go play upstairs."

"K." Jamie nodded and ran off.

Meanwhile at Naley's house, Peyton barged in.

"Luke stayed at Brooke's last night." Peyton sighed, telling this to both Nathan and Haley, who both stared at each other, not knowing how to reply.

Haley started "Well, we know Jamie stayed at Brooke's but we didn't Luke did too. So.."

"Well he did!" Peyton snapped.

"Peyton, Brooke's going through a lot right now. She probably needs us to be there for her. ALL of us." Nathan said. "Besides, Lucas and Brooke are friends.." He said sarcastically.

"So you're taking her side?" Peyton said, offended.

"What sides?" Nathan said, beginning to get pissed. "I went to see her yesterday, she is not ok at all..hell, we all saw her outburst. Could you stop being so damn selfish?" He was getting pissed at how Peyton was acting like Brooke did something wrong.

Haley tried to calm him down. "Hun.."

"No, Peyton needs to hear this. We all know she's not fine. Even if she claims that she is. I mean I thought her best friend would be able to tell, but clearly I was wrong." He spat.

Peyton's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm sorry." She hurried out.

Lucas turned to Brooke. "Don't pull that 'I'm fine' crap with me. I know you're not. I remember when you told me you didn't like people to see you vulnerable, and I said.."

The brunette cut him off. "You said that's how you always see me."

Lucas nodded. "And I said I think it's beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful." She said coldly and turned away from him.

"Brooke..." He tried to get her to look at him, but she refused to turn her head.

"Brooke you are beautiful." He said gently.

She shook her head repeatedly. "No. He took that from me." She mumbled.

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

Brooke realized she had said too much and began wiping her eyes "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"God Brooke.." Lucas said, becoming frustrated. "Why doesn't anything you say, matter? It does! Now..who did this to you?" He gestures to the bruises covering his brunette friend.

"No one! Just drop it." She sighed, wishing desperately that she could be any other place but the place she was at.

"No, I won't drop it!" He said angrily, frightening her a bit. She had never seen him like this before.

"Luke, please. Forget about it." She begged him.

"I can't, not when you're hurting and trying to hide it like you are...do you think I can't see the pain in your eyes? That I don't care? Because trust me, I do. I just need you to let me in..Pretty girl, please." He begged her, blinking back his own tears.

Brooke felt her heart clench at his words, and the fact that he used his old nickname for her. Then she saw the tears in his eyes and immediately looked to the floor.

"I want to tell you, I really do. It's just hard to talk about..I still feel it, and I remember every detail and..I still feel his hands..." Tears began to stream down her face.

"And I still can't sleep at night, I think last night was the first night I slept since it happened."

Staring at the broken girl in front of him, Lucas made his way over to her, gently taking her into his arms before she could collapse on the floor. "It's okay, I'm here." He whispered.

The teary brunette stared straight up at him, about to thank him, when Lucas pressed his lips against hers, surprising herself, Brooke didn't pull away. She deepened the kiss. This was the feeling she had been missing.

Lucas' hands began to travel into her hair, brushing it, then down to her neck and down to her shoulders. As his hands began to travel down her upper arm, she jumped away from his and yelped. She let out a sob and her eyes were still closed, she was flashing back to the night of the attack.

"Please..no..you're hurting me." She begged and cried as she shrunk into the corner of the wall, pulling her legs to her chest.

It took Lucas a little while to realize what she was talking about, but when he did, he rushed to her side, only making her push herself more into the corner.

"Brooke.." He stared at her sadly, his heart sinking at the sight. "It's just me. Lucas. Nobody's here, and no one will ever hurt you. I promise." He tried. He didn't know exactly what had happened to her, but he knew it had to be horrible with how she was reacting. He shuddered at the thoughts entering his mind about what could've happened to her.

He stared into her eyes. "I promise, no one will hurt you again." He said as he cursed himself for having let her get hurt in the first place.

"Come here." He said gently, holding her head to his chest and rocking her in his arms until her breaths began to even out and her heart stopped beating at the incredibly fast rate it was a moment before.

Lucas rocked her until her tears came to an end and she calmed down. "You okay?" He asked.

"No." She admitted.

Jamie came in from around the corner. "Uncle Luke, can I talk to Aunt Brooke alone?" He asked.

Lucas looked at Brooke to make sure it was okay. "Sure." He went into the kitchen.

"Aunt Brooke, did someone hurt you?"

"Sweetie.."

"I heard you and Uncle Luke talking. Don't lie to me, Aunt Brooke. You promised you would never lie to me. Did someone hurt you?"

Brooke nodded. She couldn't lie to him. "Yeah buddy, someone hurt me really bad."

Jamie nodded sadly. "So when momma told me you fell down the stairs, it wasn't true?"

"No." Brooke said softly. "But everybody thinks it is."

Jamie grabbed her hand. "So what really happened?"

Brooke took a deep breath. It was gonna be hard telling the truth about the attack and having to relive it, but she had to...Or not?

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A/N: Hehe..cliffhanger! Kinda! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and please keep reviewing it!