Hey all! So I have good news and bad news. Good news: Look! An update! Bad News: It's the last chapter. I really thought I was going to write this one and one more but when I read over what I had it just seemed to fit. I'm not going to say much in this author's note cause I'll probably be posting a longer one later today. I do however apologize for the length of this chapter. It's not very long but hopefully y'all enjoy!

Haley's forcing him to stop by. Not to say that he doesn't want to, he just doesn't think Brooke would like him to. They'd gotten better around each other, still not great, probably not even good, but still better than what they've been. "She'll appreciate it and so will I," Haley had said. She and Nathan were going out of town to visit Deb and Peyton was off with her dad, leaving him 'in charge' of Brooke, courtesy of Haley and Peyton.

So he shook away all of his anxiety and knocked on the door, tightening his grip on the plastic bags in his free hand. Seconds later Brooke opens the door and he can't stop himself from smiling. She's been looking a lot better lately. She's not as pale and she looks well rested. And no matter how rare it may be, he's seen a smile on her lips since she opened up to Nathan.

"Hey Luke." It falls from her lips naturally, like she's forgotten they weren't technically friends.

"Haley wanted me to stop by. Told me to bring food so," he mumbles, holding up the bags he brought with him. She nods and lets him in, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear in the process. He drops the bags down on the island in the kitchen and begins to take out numerous products. "You still like the pickle flavored chips right?" Her jaws tightens when he asks and she shuts her eyes, hoping he wont continue.

He notices her silence and he silently curses himself for his stupidity. She had talked about wanting some the morning she miscarried. He tries to mutter a decent response and he looks up to see her shaking her head. "It's okay Luke." It's not and he knows it, he can tell by the way her voice nearly cracks. She nods slightly before continuing. "And I do like them."

The silence that envelops them is awkward and they simply move around each other, putting the groceries away. When they're done and have nothing left to busy themselves with, he stares at her. He wants to talk about it, needs to talk about it with her. They can try as they might to work past this individually, but he knows it wont help. Only they have experienced this first hand and only they can truly understand what the other is going through. "I'm sorry," he says simply and she begins to shake her head, her grown out bangs swishing from side to side.

"Please don't Lucas," she pleads with him. She doesn't want to cry anymore. She doesn't want to talk about it with him, because then she wont be able to hold on to the brave facade she's been able to put on the past few weeks. She closes into herself, puts her hands into fists and wraps her arms around herself. She prays that he'll just stop and go so that she can do SOMETHING to take her mind off of him and them and it.

"Brooke," he says softly and she shakes her head again. She closes her eyes tight and he can see tears pool at the edge of her eyes. "We have to talk about it."

"No we don't," she breathes out, backing up until her back hits the counter. She needs to get away from him now. It's hurting a lot more and she's starting to feel worse than when she saw Michelle. She can not talk about it with him because she doesn't know if she'll ever be okay after she does.

"We were going to have a baby," he whispers helplessly as he watches her cover her ears, tears streaming down her face. He needs to comfort her. He's hurting her by bringing this up and seeing her cry is the most heartbreaking thing for him to see. Tears shouldn't be allowed on her face, and he especially shouldn't be the one to put them there. But keeping all of his feelings locked inside has made him cry and just like Brooke, he doesn't want to do that anymore. It's a double-edged sword that he's playing with and he prays it's worth the risk.

"Don't call it that," she tries to scream. The words come out strangled because she's slowly losing control. Tears are coming down her cheeks at rapid rates now, meeting at her chin before dropping down to her shirt.

"I can't pretend it didn't happen Brooke." He walks closer to her now, slowly, cautiously, and watches as she tries to stay as composed as she can.

"I don't want to talk about it," she screams at him, opening her crying eyes to look him straight in the eyes. Her words are clear and crisp, causing him to pause and stay back.

"Why not," he asks her, his voice loud but he's not yelling.

"Because then you'll realize it's my fault!" The words push him back, his eyes wide and it's obvious he's shocked. She's crying harder than ever before and she knows that it'll be a miracle if she stops crying.

"What," he asks her, flabbergasted at the sentence that left her mouth. She stays silent, just stands there and cries and that's when he walks up to her. "What do you mean," he asks her again and she keeps her head down.

"My body wasn't good enough! I wasn't good enough! I'm the reason your life is miserable and the reason we don't have a baby! This whole thing is my fault!" She crumbles in front of him and he grabs on to her arms when her knees begin to buckle. She still slides to the floor despite his support and its nothing but a blurry mess. He still has her arms in his hands and he sits directly in front of her, his legs on either side of hers. Words swirl around in his head but he doubts that they'll make a difference if said. But he needs to say something to make this right.

"It's not your fault Brooke. This is no ones fault." He's crying too now and it's a horrible scene to watch. The two teens losing all control over something they never had control over to begin with. Her shoulders are shaking with each sob and he moves the hair that has been working as a shield for her back. He gets her to move her head up just a little bit but she still wont look at him. Her gaze is on the ground and that's when it all just pours out. "God Brooke. I love you so much. You shouldn't feel this way at all. I'm so sorry."

She looks up at him, meeting his blue eyes that are crying huge tears for what they've lost. She looks at him in a little disbelief because for the first time, she's seeing just how much its hurt him too. How he carries the weight of their grief around with him everyday and that he hasn't moved past it like she had once thought. His words tear into her because it's also just hitting her that he wasn't just with her because of their baby. That when he mentioned their future all those months ago, he didn't simply mean the future of their baby, but their future together.

He hangs his head in front of her, letting out the tears that only Haley has seen on one occasion. She wants to apologize even more because this still seems like one huge mess but there are no words that can make this better. All they need is each other to make everything better. "Lucas," she whispers through her tears, lifting her hands to touch his face. She uses her thumbs to wipe away the tears that don't seem like they'll stop and he wraps his hands around her small wrists.

They lock eyes and it's like an understanding between the two. Nothing's fixed, nothing's better, but it's a start. It's more than the short vague conversations they've exchanged the past month and it's marking the beginning of everything.

He pulls her closer to him, wraps his arms around her, holding and comforting her like he's wanted to ever since it happened. Ever since their baby died. She grabs on to his shirt, crying even more, only this time some of her tears weren't for the pain. They were for him and the fact that he was there, holding her which is what she never thought she wanted.

--


Her back arches and he slowly, gently, drags his fingertips across the bare skin of her stomach. He's scared to touch her again, even though everything inside of him wants to touch all of her. Touching her is what started this; being allowed to have her. His fingers outline her bellybutton and then traces an imaginary trail up her stomach and between her breasts. Her hands never leave his arms, running her nails softly up and down the warm skin. Her eyes never leave his face and his never leave her stomach. It hurts a little, seeing her stomach deflated when the last time he saw it, it was rounded slightly because of their baby.

His hand makes it way back down to her stomach and lets it lie there, his palm flush against her milky skin. He smiles sadly and Brooke gently puts her small hand over his. He looks up at her and sees the same dejected expression on her face. "We're going to be okay," he whispers, her eyes disappearing from his stare. She lets out a deep breath and opens her eyes to meet his blue.

She nods.