Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Just to clear up Lucas re-enlisting. It was two and half years after London that he and Brooke met again at the anniversary party. He re-enlisted six months before that. He re-enlisted because at the time Brooke was dating Julian and he didn't think there was a reason for him to go back home as he felt that after not confessing how he felt for Brooke in London when she confronted him that he had destroyed any hope for them so decided to continue his service with the military.
Also he wasn't back between tours of duty for a few days he was taking two of his 30 days leave per year to come back for Nathan and Haley's party before he went on a tour of duty in a war zone as opposed to other times when he has been on base in Italy.
She sometimes thought she was in completely over her head though she didn't really want to admit that to anyone. The last six months had been the toughest she'd ever faced and she had felt completely isolated. She'd spent years wishing she could communicate with Lucas while he was gone, and this time she was able to. But the trouble was that she wasn't communicating with a soldier at a base and Nathan had warned her that communication was very sporadic when Lucas was on a tour of duty. She felt like she'd been prepared but she had no idea the living hell it was opening her mailbox day after day praying there was a letter in there. She wondered if this was the reason it had taken him so long. She wasn't sure how much time he'd spent on the base and how much time he'd spent in warzones over all the time she'd known him and she was glad. She realised now why he had been so reluctant to give any sign of commitment for her because the past year had been agony for her. Made worse by events six months ago and now she barely glanced at the mail anymore because suddenly Lucas wasn't the person who dominated all her thoughts. These days it was Brandon that consumed almost every second of her time.
She groaned out loud as she wondered where the hell he was and what he was doing. She hated that she didn't know and worse still that he wouldn't tell her. In truth most things about her relationship with Brandon drove her crazy and not for the first time she wondered if letting him live with her had been the best move, though at the time it had felt like the best thing to do – the only thing if she was honest. She glanced across to the clock on the wall and saw it was almost midnight, a whole hour after Brandon was meant to be home. She'd tried calling him but there had been no response. If it wasn't for the fact the cops would probably laugh at her she'd call them just to make sure someone was looking for him. He'd still not allowed her to meet his friends so it wasn't like she could check with them to find out where he was. That was the trouble with Brandon, he didn't really seem to want to let her into his life. She smirked to herself figuring she was destined to be around guys who were determined to make sure she kept her distance. When she met him he was actually older than she thought he was but that definitely didn't mean he was more mature. The soft knock of her door forced her up and she wondered if someone was bringing him home. Brandon didn't do soft knocks. Her jaw dropped as she saw the person on the other side of her door and she wondered if maybe she was imagining things. She reached slowly out and felt her hand connect with his arm and she realised he was actually standing in front of her. Clad in nothing more than a plain white t-shirt and regulation army combats and boots she had never seen anything as wonderful in her life.
"Lucas." She breathed as she launched herself into his arms. Her legs wrapped firmly around his waist and though he swayed at first taken aback by her greeting he regained his balance and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as her arms encircled his neck. "You're safe." He chuckled then.
"Always remember it's when and not if I get home." She breathed in his scent and relished the feel of being so safe in his embrace before slowly disentangling herself from him and standing back to stare at him. There was a scar above his eye that had not been there before but mostly he looked exactly the same as before. She smiled at him before whacking him on the arm.
"You never replied to the last letter." He looked down bashfully before looking back up at her.
"I wanted to be here. The second I got that letter I wanted to come here and just be around if you needed me. There was nothing I could write on paper to make things any better. So I waited, and now here I am twelve days before I need to leave and I want to make things okay for you. Where's Brandon?" She frowned and pushed her hair back with an unsteady hand.
"I think you should come in Lucas." He nodded and grabbed his rucksack following her into the lush New York apartment that had been her home for the last seven years but that he had never once seen. She settled herself back on the couch and he sat at the opposite end. She tucked her feet under her body and looked at him as though still disbelieving that he was here. "I don't know where he is, he's supposed to be here. He was supposed to be an hour ago but he never is. He never comes home when I tell him to, he never listens to any rules I try and set. He's rude and undisciplined and I don't know if I'm cut out for this." She tried to hold her tears in because she hated to look weak.
"Brooke it's been a rough few months but we'll make it okay." She nodded. "Why don't you start at the beginning pretty girl?"
"Six months ago I get a call from this Harry Steinberg who says he is my dad's attorney. Bad news he's dead. Some guy fell asleep at the wheel, unfortunately that wheel just happened to be attached to a haulage truck. Apparently it was instant. He died and his wife died. I got left a twenty percent share in his company and I'm the trustee of his son's assets which include all the property and a fifty five percent share in the company. As an added bonus I get to be CEO of said company. I know it sounds crazy but I was happy about everything he left us. It showed me that even if he was a lousy father he knew enough about me to know I could run his company, to take care of his boy's future. Brandon actually went to live with Melissa's parents after they died. It lasted all of three weeks before I got a call from the lawyer again telling me that they weren't prepared to have him live with them anymore and that unless I took him in he'd be a ward of the state. I guess I was naive thinking he couldn't be that bad. I just thought that because they're retired and stuff they felt like all this teenage stuff was just beyond them and I understood that. But now I realise they kicked him out because he's such a nightmare. They were as much strangers to him as I was. Apparently when their daughter married a guy almost as old as her dad they cut her off. So all of sudden the family that I never knew, the brother whose age I actually got wrong was my responsibility. And it's been torture ever since. Brandon hated having to move here from LA, he hates living in an apartment, he hates being away from his friends, he hates not having a beach close by. He hated his new school and most of all he hates me. If I say the sky is blue he would rather argue for a month about it than concede that I'm right. He will quite happily do the exact opposite of anything I tell him to and that school he hated kicked him out three days ago so now I have to find a school that will take him and in the meantime keep him busy while I do it. I've tried telling him that he'll ruin his life if he doesn't change but he won't listen. He thinks he'll always have the company to fall back on. What he refuses to understand is that my dad wasn't a fool when it comes to business and there are some very strict stipulations that Brandon needs to fill to gain access to his fifty five percent share and the way he's going I don't see that happening. He's been brought home by the cops more than once and is generally doing anything he can think of to destroy both our lives." She sighed deeply knowing that what she said was just the tip of the iceberg of the nightmare her life had become since she'd seen him last.
"Does he always stay out after curfew?"
"Frequently but he's always worse when he knows I've a big meeting the next day and can't really afford the lack of sleep. The logistics of running two companies isn't exactly easy and it sure isn't improved by the fact one is based here and the other is based two and half thousand miles away. There's no way I can continue this until Brandon is of age to take over. Sooner or later I'll either have to install a CEO in one of the companies or the other option is to move the main offices of one of them to nearer the other. My dad's company does have some offices here but not the main ones. Whereas we have stores in LA but no office space. Believe it or not for the first time in my life I'm actually thankful for Victoria demanding such a large role in my company. God knows what I'd have done without her." She felt the strain in every part of her body and she wondered whether that boded well for Lucas being here. Everything between them had always been fun and casual. But she just didn't have the energy for that and wasn't sure what that would mean for whatever it was that was between them. She didn't have much time to ponder that because the sound of the door opening and slamming shut alerted them both to the fact Brandon was home. Brooke grit her teeth and stood walking the short distance to Brandon's room. The door was already closed and she turned the handle and pushed it open finding Brandon sprawled across his bed his iPod buds in his ears. Knowing that even if he noticed her standing there he wouldn't remove them she stepped closer and pulled them from his ears. He sat up with a furious look at his face.
"What the hell, get out of my room!"
"Actually Brandon this is my home and you just live in it so everything is MINE. You cannot drag your butt through the door almost two hours after your curfew."
"What are you planning on doing about it?" He scoffed at her and she knew he had her there. Everything she had tried to discipline him had failed spectacularly in the past.
"I hope you like early mornings." She was surprised to hear Lucas' voice and turned to find him stood leaning against Brandon's doorframe. Brandon frowned.
"Who the hell are you?"
"A friend of your sister's." Another scowl crossed Brandon's features and Brooke realised she hadn't told Lucas that he detested mention of the fact they were related.
"Some sister I don't even know her." Lucas frowned and his expression turned severe.
"Ask me what I do for living Brandon." Brandon shrugged at Lucas' words and reached for his iPod again. "I'm a Corporal in the army. Second in command I help train people while we're on base run drills etc etc. Now ask me what we're going to be doing tomorrow since you apparently decided you don't need to go to school." Brandon looked up then.
"We are not going to be doing anything." Lucas stood up right then and stepped further into the room. Brooke noted the commanding air that he had about him and wondered if this was how he was when he was working.
"We're getting up at 6am and we're going for a run. Then we're going to come back here fix some breakfast, clean the entire apartment while Brooke is working. Then we'll go to the gym for a couple of hours. Then we're going to head down to this soup kitchen I know of and help out over lunch time. We'll grab some food, go to the store get something nice to cook your sister for when she gets home from work. After that we can go shoot some hoops, then we'll come back here have a little down time before we make dinner for your sister – after which you'll be doing this dishes and then you have the evening to do what you want to do. Except for the fact that unless you leave this place with me or with Brooke you don't leave it as clearly you have an issue with sticking to a curfew." Brandon snorted with contempt and laughter.
"I think you have some kind of post traumatic crazy because I am not doing any of that shit you want me to and there's nothing you can say or do that's going to change my mind."
"Actually Brandon while I'm here you'll do exactly what I say because there is no way on this earth I will let you disrespect your sister, her home or her rules. Especially when she is the only thing between you and a children's home." Lucas then took a meaningful glance around Brandon's room. "Think about the fact that all your favourite toys, the phone, the TV, the iPod, the games console, the iPad, the computer can and will be confiscated if you don't stick to the rules." Brooke was dumbstruck by the way Lucas was being with Brandon. She wasn't sure whether letting him march in and take control was a wise move. Even if Brandon listening to him there was nothing stopping him going back to the way he was now once Lucas was gone. After all to Brandon Lucas was no one and he knew right from the start his presence was temporary.
"First off I don't run, I don't go to the gym and I don't play sports. Second Brooke already tried the I'll take your phone thing and guess what I've still got it. So what if I don't have my TV for a day I just go to my new friend's place and what theirs." Lucas nodded.
"I have no doubt Brooke might have temporarily confiscated your stuff. But here's the difference between me and Brooke when it comes down to it she's your sister maybe she doesn't know you and you don't know her but deep down your flesh and blood and Brooke doesn't really want to punish you. She doesn't want to upset you. I bet she's even thinking this might be down to your parents' deaths. Me I don't care about your feelings Brandon I only care about Brooke and I won't let you treat her this way. If I take your stuff Brandon it won't be a day or two I will take it, march out of this apartment and give it all to the first children's charity I see. Then I'll come back here and I will search this room, rip it to pieces and I will your fake ID which I am sure you have and I will destroy it. Now since Brooke controls your money I think you might just want to listen." Brooke watched as the pair seemed to continue their battle in silence their eyes speaking volumes like some staring contest where neither wanted to lose. Eventually Brandon averted his gaze.
"Get out of my room." There was none of the usual hostility that Brooke normally received, instead his tone held a bitter note and Brooke realised it was because he knew he'd lost. He obviously didn't know whether or not Lucas would uphold the threat but clearly he knew enough not to test him just yet. She wasn't naive enough to think it solved all the problems but was she sufficiently impressed that Brandon had cracked.
"I'll see you at six – you might to get some sleep." With the parting shot Lucas turned and left. Brooke backed out Brandon's room watching him closely until the last second as she shut the door. She walked incredulously back to the living area and found Lucas leaning against the large glass windows one arm across his forehead keeping his face just inches from the glass.
"I honestly don't know what to say."
"I'm sorry if you feel I've overstepped the mark but you were so upset in that letter and I just want to fix it if I can and from the things you told me about when you were a kid I imagine he isn't used to rules and structure. I guess if your dad continued to parent him like he did you then he's used to being the one in charge and doing exactly as he pleases. I know what happened to change you to make you realise that actions have consequences and I know you wouldn't want something like that to happen with him before he realises that he needs to grow up and start recognising that he can't always things his way." Lucas turned to her then and she stepped closer to him, she pressed her lips against his.
"Thank you Lucas. It means a lot that you're giving up your time off to come here and try and help me fix things with Brandon. You're probably right he won't be used to rules and will be used to doing everything he likes with no consequences. And until I convince a school to take him then he won't get any structure to his time. My fear is just that he'll play by the rules while you're here and then be the same or worse when you're gone."
"The one thing the army breeds in you is respect for authority. But it's a two way thing, you need to command it from him Brooke and we'll work on that too." Brooke smiled.
"Since when did you become my guardian angel then soldier-boy?"
"In all seriousness Brooke I know it's a little crazy me marching in here and taking over because I want to make your life better when in all the time you've known me all I ever do is make it worse but I want things to be different."
"You don't make my life worse Lucas. You make me smile and laugh and I love the banter we have. I know whatever it is that we are is unconventional but for the most part that has worked for us." When she said for the most part she meant after London. When he had been unable to answer her question in London she had come home and mourned for a relationship that it seemed unlikely they would ever have. Then she started dating Julian who was a great guy, he made her laugh and he had a grin that should have been illegal. But Lucas was always there in the back of her mind and in her heart and that had been when she ended it with Julian. Maybe things wouldn't work out with Lucas and when she was older and possibly alone she'd regret making the choices she did but at the time she just hadn't been able to stay with Julian knowing her heart was still with Lucas. Even know she had no idea just what to term her relationship with Lucas. Some people would be astounded that they'd hooked up twice in two years, had five dates in five years and then over a year after their last date he'd shown up on her doorstep and just decided he was staying for almost two weeks. But it some weird way she was okay with that. She hadn't been the conventional type before she met him so it being unconventional worked in some weird way for her. If she was totally honest she'd gotten to the point now where she did want more from him but Brandon had taken over her thoughts in the last six months and her relationship with Lucas had taken a backseat. Even now the coming days with Brandon were at the forefront of her mind.
"We should get some sleep Brooke, I have an early start and you have a meeting tomorrow."
"You're right."
"Have you got a blanket?" Brooke kinked her eyebrow at him and he gestured to the couch.
"You do know I have a nice comfy bed in my room right."
"I didn't want to assume." She laughed a full throaty laugh then.
"Lucas Scott we have known one another for a total of eight years, we have seen one another a total of six times, only a couple of those times lasted more than a single day and not one time did we not share a bed. Why would now be any different?" He grinned sheepishly at her.
"Guess I was just checking." She grinned.
"Well soldier-boy you've checked now and since we both have to be up in around five and a half hours and there is no way either of us will be getting much sleep when we get into bed with one another for the first time in over a year until you have scre..." He held a finger to her lips halting her words. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed her close to him.
"I think what you're trying to say there Davis is that it's about time we headed into that bedroom and we made love." She felt breathless at his words knowing it was as close as he would get right now to telling her how he felt about her. And for her and then it was good enough.
Coming up: no more huge time jumps in the next few chapters as I'll be doing a chapter for almost every day of Lucas being in New York.