I Will Never Stop Trying

Summary: Through faith, hope, love, and patience, a young man attempts to win the heart of the woman that he loves. (Lucas's journey in season 4 to prove that he is the man for Brooke after she breaks up with him.)

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill.

Chapter Fourth: Family

"Life is so sweet even though it is full of lies and half-truths..."
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Lucas had just finished making Brooke's favorite breakfast, two heart-shaped sunny-side up eggs, a small stack of chocolate chip pancakes, a yogurt parfait, a cup of decaf coffee, and a cinnamon bun. Lucas decorated the tray had a vase with a single rose in it and carried it to where Brooke was still sleeping in his bed.

"Rise and shine," Lucas called, and Brooke groaned, lifting her head off his pillow.

She opened her eyes, looking at him, and she smiled, her face open and happy.

"Morning, boyfriend," she yawned, as Lucas passed her the cup of coffee.

"Morning, pretty girl," Lucas smiled in return, putting the tray in her lap.

Lucas watched her eat and wondered how long it would take for the events of last night to come back to her.

Brooke paused, with a forkful of eggs in her mouth and then looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Wait, how did I get here?" she asked.

"You passed out on my shoulder at Trick, so I brought you here," Lucas explained, and Brooke's face closed.

"Oh," she said simply, putting her fork down, "Well, I better be going."

"Don't you want to finish your breakfast?" Lucas asked, anxiously and Brooke shook her head.

"I've had enough." she put the tray to the side and started to get up.

"Brooke, wait," Lucas placed his hand on her knee and she froze, "We need to talk,"

"Lucas, I told you—"

"Last night, you told me you were pregnant!" Lucas blurted, and Brooke's eyes went wide.

"What?"

"Okay, you said that you can't be pregnant anymore, but still," Lucas explained, and Brooke opened her mouth to say something, but Lucas talked quickly, "I know that you didn't want me to know and I know that you had your reasons, but Brooke, I know that I can do this,"

"Do what?"

"Help you raise our child." Lucas moved his hand up until it was on her stomach, "I promise that I'm going to be the best father I can be. I'll help with everything. I'll go to all your doctor's appointments, I'll buy you prenatal vitamins, I'll be there for all the midnight runs to store when you have cravings. I'll be there holding your hand when you give birth. I'll stay up late and night when the baby cries so that you can get sleep,"

"Luke," Brooke placed her hand over his on her stomach, "Lucas, I'm not—"

"I know it will be hard. I know that we're both still in high school and that now isn't the best time. But Brooke, I want this. I know you'll be a good mother." Lucas cupped Brooke's cheek with his free hand, "You are the kindest, bravest, most loving person that I know. And I love you so much. Please give me a chance."

Brooke closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, not saying anything for a moment. Lucas let himself hope that she was going to say yes.

"Lucas, I—" Brooke opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes filling up with tears, "I wish…I want…"

Brooke closed her eyes, the tears falling down her cheeks, then she stood up, making his hands fall off and the breakfast fall on the floor.

"I'm…not pregnant," she said, not looking at him, her arm wrapped around her stomach, "Please just drop it,"

Brooke slammed the door behind her as she left, and Lucas got up to go after her but felt something squish beneath his foot. He glanced down and saw that he had stepped on the flower. He bent and picked up the crushed rose and felt a wave of despair wash over him.

It all just felt so hopeless.

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Lucas went out of his way to discourage anyone he heard talking about the rumors of Brooke's pregnancy. It had taken a while, but the rumors finally died off. Brooke was not talking to him again. He had not heard from her since she ran out of his bedroom. He knew that she was avoiding him, and he hated that they were back to that.

Lucas had tried sending her texts and slipping letters into her locker. But had yet to get a response. He refused to give up though. Even if Brooke was not pregnant, he still wanted to have a life with her and to start a family in the future.

Lucas was sitting in the waiting room of Tree Hill memorial hospital with his mother. Lucas watched all the pregnant women sitting next to their partners and thought abought how close that had come to a new chapter in his and Brooke's life.

"Lucas, you know you don't have to come to every check-up with me," Karen said, drawing him out of his head, and Lucas smiled.

"It's okay, Mom, I want to."

"Lucas," she paused, "Why are you coming to every check-up with me?"

Lucas's shoulders slumped.

"I thought Brooke was pregnant," Lucas admitted, and Karen looked confused.

"You told me that she wasn't,"

"I know. She told me she wasn't. But then rumors started spreading at school and—" Lucas looked away from his mother.

"And?"

"And I thought she lied." Lucas finally met his mother's gaze again, "I made her cry, mom. I tried to be considerate. I promised to be there for her and she cried. She said she wasn't pregnant and I haven't seen her since,"

"Oh, Lucas,"

"Mom, I don't know what to do,"

"Listen, sometimes you just have to—"

"Karen?" A nurse came out, "We're ready for you."

Lucas and Karen stood up and she gave him a hug.

"Go to school, kid," Karen said, as she pulled away to look at him, "And don't stress yourself out. If it's meant to be then it will happen,"

"People who are meant to be always find there way in the end," Lucas said, and Karen nodded.

"Right!" she smiled, "Who told you that?"

"Brooke," Lucas smiled sadly, and Karen gave him another hug before following the nurse into the room for her appointment.

Lucas turned to leave and bumped into a girl, making them both fall.

"Watch where you're going," she snapped, and Lucas rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, I—" Lucas glanced up, "Brooke?"

"L-Lucas?" Brooke was surprised, and Lucas quickly helped her to her feet, "What are you doing here?"

"I was taking my mom to her doctor's appointment." Lucas explained, "What are you doing here?"

Brooke stammered for a moment.

"Brooke Davis?" the nurse came that had taken his mother was back, "You can come on back. The Doctor will be with you in a moment,"

"Okay," Brooke said, and Lucas's stomach dropped.

"You're seeing an OB/YN," Lucas stated, and Brooke wouldn't look at him, "So, you are pregnant? Why do you keep lying to me?"

Brooke started trembling, her arms wrapping around her waist.

"I told you I would be here for you,"

"And how long do you think that will last, huh?" Brooke snapped, and Lucas flinched, "You always think that you can do it. You always make promises that you can't keep!"

"When have I ever broken a promise to you?"

Brooke just shook her head,

"I can't do this right now," Brooke tried to walk around him, but Lucas grabbed her arm.

"Stop walking away from me!" Lucas exclaimed, "We need to talk about this,"

"I don't want to talk about it! Especially not with you!"

"Why? Just let me in, Brooke. I know—"

"Now, you want me to let you in?" Brooke glared at him, "You never let me in!"

"I love you!"

"Stop saying that! It's not going to fix this!"

"Then what will!"

"Why don't you go ask Peyton?"

"What does she have to do with this?"

"God, you really are an idiot!"

"Excuse me," the nurse said, and they turned to look at her, "Is there a problem here?"

The nurse glanced at Lucas's hand on Brooke's wrist and he let her go.

"No, we were just—"

"We were just finished," Brooke said, firmly, then turned to him, "Just forget about this, Lucas. Move on. We both know you want to."

Lucas started to protest, but the nurse took Brooke into the room and gave him a mean look as if he had done something wrong.

"Damnit!" Lucas growled, punching a wall, and making the other expecting mothers in the room jump, "Sorry,"

Lucas wanted to sit in the waiting room for her, so they could continue their discussion, but he knew that he was too angry right now. He gritted his teeth and headed to school, promising himself that they were going to talk later.

He was not going to let Brooke avoid him anymore.

This was too important to be patient.

.

"Did you know?" Lucas growled, and Haley and Nathan turned around to face him, "Did you know?"

"Know what?" Nathan asked, and Lucas continued to glare at Haley.

"Did you know that Brooke was pregnant?" Lucas asked, and Nathan looked at Haley.

"A few weeks," Haley admitted.

"And you weren't going to tell me?"

"Brooke made me promise I wouldn't," Haley said, "She said that she would tell you when she was ready."

Lucas wanted to stay angry, but he could feel it fading.

"Brooke is pregnant," Lucas whispered, softly to himself, "I'm going to be a dad,"

"Luke," Haley opened her arms and Lucas hugged her.

"Congratulations," Nathan said, and Lucas let go of Haley to hug him too.

"This is big," Lucas said, looking at the two of them, "I'm going to be a dad….and the mother of my child doesn't want to talk to me."

Nathan and Haley gave him sympathetic looks.

"What do I do?" Lucas asked.

"Just be patient, Luke. She will come around," Haley said, before giving Nathan a kiss, "I got to get to class. Bye,"

Nathan waited until Haley was out of sight before he turned to Lucas.

"Are you ready for this?" Nathan asked, and Lucas nodded.

"I think I am,"

"Then you need to talk to Rachel," Nathan said.

"Rachel?"

"Brooke is living in her house. If anyone can get you access to Brooke, it is Rachel,"

"Thanks, little brother,"

"Don't mention it," Nathan punched him on the shoulder, "Just take care of my little niece or nephew,"

"I will," Lucas promised, before heading off to find Rachel.

.

After talking to Rachel and getting her to agree to help him, Lucas was hiding out in the corner of a bar, waiting for Rachel to give him the signal. He saw her, and Brooke sitting at a table and moved a little closer since Brooke's back was to him. Rachel grabbed two drinks from the bar and came back to sit with Brooke.

"Okay, I know this is a little odd coming from me, but don't you think it's a little early?" Brooke joked, and Rachel smirked, setting the drinks on the table.

"It's never too early." Rachel said, "Besides, you've been so unhappy lately, I thought happy-hour was the way to go."

"Um…I can't drink that." Brooke took a deep breath, "I'm—"

"Pregnant. I know," Rachel rolled her eyes, "It's Fruit Punch. Now drink up, slut,"

Lucas watched them clink their glasses together and drink.

"So, how'd you find this place, anyway?" Brooke asked.

"It's where I met Cooper," Rachel revealed.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," Brooke reached out and placed her hand over Rachel's.

"No, it's okay," Rachel smiled, "I mean, actually, we met online first. I posted some pictures and Cooper replied. A little lie about my age, some great sex, a stolen limo, a bridge and a brief hospital stay later and here we are."

"I couldn't do it, the whole lie-about-my-age-on-the-internet thing. Not to meet a guy." Brooke said, and Rachel glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you already did." Rachel said.

"What? No! No! Rachel!" Brooke protested, "Just because I am single does not mean you can pimp me out on-line. Is a guy coming here?

"No," Rachel said, "He's already here."

"What did you—?" Brooke started, and Lucas tapped her on the shoulder, "You bitch!"

"Okay, this is Lucas," Rachel said, gesturing to him, "He's a student at Tree High. He's 18 years old. He used to be a member of the basket ball team. And he's the father of your child,"

"Hi," Lucas said, taking Rachel's seat.

"Very funny," Brooke grumbled.

"I'll be going." Rachel said, "Have fun."

Rachel waved goodbye leaving Brooke and Lucas alone.

"So, did you set this up?" Brooke asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you." Lucas said, gently.

"Lucas—"

"I'm not going to let you run or lie this time." Lucas said, carefully, "So, we might as well just talk,"

Brooke sighed.

"Come on, do you really not want me to be involved in our child's life?" Lucas asked, and Brooke shook her head.

"I always imagine raising our children together," Brooke said, "I imagined we'd be married and living in a house after we finished college. I imagined we'd be happy."

"We still can be," Lucas assured her, and Brooke stirred the straw in her drink.

"I was going to tell you," Brooke said, "The night we broke up. I was coming to tell you that I was pregnant and ask you to come with me to the hospital to find out for sure, but…"

"But I was with Peyton." Lucas said, slowly, "So, you broke up with me instead,"

"I was going to break up with you either way," Brooke said, and Lucas flinched, "I meant what I said. It is not supposed to be like this, Lucas. Our relationship was stressful. I can't deal with that and be pregnant too."

"Do you miss me?" Lucas asked, and Brooke looked up at him.

"Sometimes," Brooke admitted.

"Okay," Lucas let out a breath of relief.

"I miss having you around to hold me and seeing you smile at me. I miss hearing you call me your 'Pretty Girl' and hearing you laugh. I miss kissing you and holding you hand. I miss lounging around doing nothing together and watching you play basketball at the river court. I miss listening to your stories about Keith and sleeping beside you,"

Lucas smiled.

"But I don't miss that feeling of always coming second in your life. I do not miss waiting for phone calls that never come. I do not miss walking in on you hugging Peyton in the hospital or you in bed with Peyton. I do not miss the recycled letter or fighting with you over my stupid insecurities. I do not like that constant feeling of anxiety I feel. I do not like you using the fact that we promised to trust each other to constantly run off and end up in compromising situations with Peyton,"

"There is nothing going on between me and Peyton."

"I do not miss you lying to me either." Brooke said, sounding tired, "You two kissed in the library and you didn't tell me about it. You both looked me in the face and assured me that nothing was going on between you two."

"Look, I talked to Peyton after what happened in the library—"

"Of course, you talked to Peyton,"

"No, listen, I told that there was this other girl, whose name was Brooke Davis. And I am completely in love with her." Lucas said, and looked at Brooke wanting her to smile.

But she did not.

"What did Peyton say?"

"She was happy to hear it. She said that she was glad that things were not going to be weird between us and we agreed that things would be okay between us. She even encouraged me to let you in and told me not to shut you out," Lucas said, leaning to look at her, "Her exact words were "She gave you her heart, Luke. You should give her yours back,"

Brooke said nothing, still stirring her straw.

"Brooke?"

"I hate this," Brooke said, frustrated, "She always makes herself look like the selfless saint and any time I try to…she just…"

Brooke shook her head.

"Let's just leave Peyton out of this," Brooke said, firmly, "We're not getting back together, so she doesn't matter."

"Wait," Lucas said, and Brooke shook her head.

"You can be involved." Brooke said, "I will alert you to every doctor's appointment, every movement from the baby, every food craving in the middle of the night. We can talk baby names and work out our schedules. You can tell Karen,"

Brooke smiled sadly.

"I hope she's not mad at me," Brooke said, "I could really use her support,"

"She will be there for you," Lucas said, "We can tell her together."

"No, you can tell her," Brooke said, then blurt out, "I think it's a girl,"

"What?"

"I've always wanted a little girl," Brooke said, softly. "She's going to have your eyes and she's going to have my dimples. I hope she has my hair because I don't want any blonde girls as my children."

Brooke made a face, but quickly shook it off.

"I hope she likes dolls and dresses," Brooke glanced at him, "And you can teach her how to play basketball and read books to her. I hope she takes after you when it comes to school."

"I'm going to love her so much," Lucas said, voice shaking with emotion as he pictured their little girl, "I hope she has your smile and your laugh,"

Brooke's expression was extremely vulnerable.

"Please don't make me regret this, Lucas," Brooke begged, "Don't play games with me. I want you to be in our daughter's life. I want her to have better parents than I do. I do not want her to feel neglected or to be used in our arguments. Or ever see us fighting."

"You won't regret this!" Lucas said, quickly, taking her hand, "I want this, Brooke. I want to do this with you…together."

Brooke squeezed his hand.

"Together," Brooke repeated.

The two smiled at each other and Lucas felt certain. He had nine months to convince Brooke that they were meant to be.

He was going to show her how good a father he could be. He was going to show her how good a boyfriend he could be. He was going to marry her someday.

And she didn't even know it yet.

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When we love, we always strive to become better than we are.

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

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Author's Note: Please Review or Pm your thoughts.

Special Thanks to:

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badeistheOTPofOTPS

dianehermans

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Thank you for your reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!