Thanks again to all the wonderful reviews for the previous chapter…glad everyone is still enjoying Brucas stories. I passed the 100th review mark in the last chapter – making it my most successful story so far – thanks so much to Tess mtiv, who was the one hundredth reviewer and who gave a wonderful, long review. Also, xSimplyAdorable23x thanks for the review, but your PM feature is disabled…you might want to enable it, so people can talk to you =)

Enjoy the chapter…

She was living in a dream world, and no matter how much she loved it there, she knew that she would have to awake soon and she was okay with that sombre fact because she had had these brief fleeting moments of pure happiness.
That was how Brooke woke up the next morning, that realisation running through her head and the smell of bacon, toast, eggs and coffee wafting through to her bedroom. Then she realised something; she couldn't be in bed if breakfast was cooking in the kitchen…she must still be dreaming.
She grumbled to herself as she buried herself deeper and deeper into her mattress and she scrunched her emerald eyes shut as far as she could get them to go. The longer she stayed in this surreal world, the more she was going to regret it later; but as she buried herself into her bed she realised that the sheets and the cover weren't hers, she was in someone else's bed.
That was the point when the last couple of days came back to her, a wave of memories and emotions which had typically been on high since Lucas made his surprise arrival in Tree Hill, with only a couple of low points which she would rather just forget. This wasn't a dream world, it was her reality…she had actually made the spontaneous move to just move her life to Chicago, not knowing what her future was going to hold for her.
"Are you awake yet?" Her boyfriend's voice floated through the doorway as he carried a large tray that held two plates of the delicious smelling bacon, eggs and toast as well as two steaming mugs of coffee and a bowl of fresh fruit. Brooke hoisted herself up into a sitting position and crossed her legs underneath the quilt, smiling expectantly at the almost naked man offering her food.
"You're giving me breakfast in bed?" She couldn't wipe the smile of her face as he climbed back under the quilt next to her. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before popping a strawberry into her mouth. "A girl could get used to this."
"You should get used to it." Luke kissed her shoulder and then quickly drew himself back; his promise to her to take things slowly had been paused last night, and while they had both loved being together again, he knew that she still needed to do this her way, and he was going to respect that.
"Do you say that to all the girls?" Brooke asked him, sipping the hot liquid which went smoothly and welcomingly down her throat. Luke's cheery demeanour soured suddenly; apparently Brooke had picked a poor topic of conversation even if she hadn't intentionally meant to do it.
"Do you think that this something I just do to everyone I bed?" His voice had quickly turned harsh; he had been hurt by the words she had meant nothing by. "Do you think that all last night was for me was another fling?"
Brooke smiled at him unsurely, she had been joking but obviously he wasn't. "Luke, I was joking." She caressed his hand to show him that she had meant nothing by the words. "It meant nothing."
Every muscle in Luke's athletic body loosened and he smiled again; his face once again lighting up.
"Should I be worried though?" His reaction had worried Brooke slightly. "How many flings have you had?"
Luke shook his head, as this time he fed a strawberry into Brooke's mouth, following it with a brief kiss. "I'm not going to talk about that with you."
Brooke went back to eating her breakfast without another mention of the topic, but she wasn't going to forget it…not when he had reacted so irrationally and harshly.

After separate showers Luke settled down on the couch in the living room with Lauren to watch morning cartoons; taking advantage of this mini "holiday" she had before her parents could find a good school to send her to first grade for, while Brooke went for her daily walk. She grabbed her iPod and kissed both Luke and Lauren's blonde heads before leaving the apartment, enjoying the last of her anonymity before her relationship with Luke was revealed to the world. She smiled to an elderly couple who got on a couple of floors after her, but besides that she encountered no one as she left the building.
Walking in Tree Hill every day, she had grown accustomed to the sights, passing by places she had known her entire life, nearly all of them holding some significance, after all Tree Hill was a small place. She had known everyone who she encountered on her walks, many of them stopping to chat with her and when Lauren was just a baby in a stroller, to coo over her daughter. Now that she was in a city as large as Chicago, there was an element of excitement and surprise added to all the sights, but no one was stopping to chat as they walked briskly from one place to another, only stopping for the rush of traffic.
She had been gone for twenty minutes, and she was about to turn back and attempt to find her way back to the luxurious apartment building when she passed a news stand. It must have been the fifth or sixth she had passed that morning, but the headlines of the daily tabloid papers had escaped her attention; she had no reason to look through them anymore…but now she realised she did. Handing the guy on the chair a couple of bills she had snatched the paper off the stack and glared at the paper with fury…which turned to amusement; even letting a giggle emanate from her lips.

LUCAS SCOTT CAUGHT WITH NEW GIRL AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL

The reason why Lucas had been so eager to escape the airport yesterday, and the reason why he refused to let her look back to discover who the celebrity had been. The headline had been the cause of her fury, because the accompanying picture had most definitely not been her; but upon further inspection of the photo she laughed; she knew exactly who his "new girl" was. She started jogging it back to her new home.

"You were gone a while." Brooke opened the door to find herself face to face with Lucas who looked like he had been waiting for her.
"I went for a walk." Brooke offered as an explanation. "Don't even think you're keeping me a prisoner in this place." She smiled to show him that she was joking and he wrapped her up into a tight hug taking a deep breath in as he inhaled her shampoo and perfume.
"I just worry about you." He whispered into her ear. She took a step back and smiled at him, waving the paper in front of him. "You were right; the celebrity was in the paper." She reminded him of his words yesterday. "You didn't tell me that you were caught on camera kissing her though."
Luke lunged for the paper and Brooke side stepped him early, she could still out smart the star basketball player; and she begun to read aloud as she continued to evade his grasp.
"Arriving home from a week break to hometown Tree Hill, North Carolina, Chicago Bulls player Lucas Scott appeared to be relaxed and energized, surprising travellers with an apparent reunion with model Rachel Gatina…"
She laughed, as Luke tried to grab her again, and continued to read.
"Gatina and Scott who were both raised in Tree Hill appeared happy to see each other with Gatina unable to keep herself away…"
She stopped talking since Luke had finally managed to catch her. He snuck up from behind and snatched the paper from her hand. His hands snaked around her waist as he stood behind her and he pulled her close into him.
"You didn't let me see my friend?" She asked. "Rachel's one of my best friends, I haven't seen her in years and she's in Chicago and you didn't even think of telling me. Do you want to hide me from everyone?" She wasn't angry, but she was no longer in such a playful mood. Luke kissed her shoulder before he responded.
"If you two knew that you were both in the same building, our secret would have been ruined."
"I don't want to be a secret." Brooke grumbled. "If you're going to hide me, I will be on the next flight to Tree Hill." She didn't want to threaten him and she really didn't want to go back to Tree Hill, even after spending only one night with him, but it still managed to do its job.
"I'm not keeping you a secret." Luke whispered, as they continued to sway slightly in the foyer. "I could never keep you a secret; you're too beautiful to be kept hidden. Everyone is going to find out about us…today. I just need to do it my way."
"We go public today." She repeated turning around so she could look up into his eyes. He nodded as he leant in to kiss her softly, guiding her backwards to the couch.
"Lauren." Brooke said suddenly, before Luke could get her on the couch, breaking their embrace.
"What about Lauren?" Luke sighed, "Lauren's in her room unpacking with a lot of enthusiasm for a seven year old."
"Last night was fun, but we're taking this slow. While Lauren's awake, we're doing nothing." Then she brushed past her frustrated boyfriend towards their daughter's bedroom; a small smile forming across her cherry lips, she knew that she was frustrating Luke and torturing him, but she wasn't doing it to be nasty. She just wasn't about to ruin this relationship, especially when they had to consider Lauren.

"Are you ready Brooke?" Lauren was sitting on the top of his couch, with Lauren next to him, as he called out to Brooke while keeping one cerulean eye on his watch. He needed to be at practice in the next thirty minutes before the coach got mad, and he needed Brooke to come with him because he needed to get this relationship public before it drove him to an early grave.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Brooke called back and the bathroom door opened for the first time in twenty minutes. Wearing her favourite pair of jeans, which were Luke's new favourite as well, shaped her legs as though they were a second skin, and the light pink tank top she was wearing underneath a cropped black jacket showed off the rest of her amazing body. Her hair was resting around her shoulders, and even though you couldn't tell in the apartment, Luke knew that when the sun would hit her hair a subtle copper natural tint would show.
"You look beautiful." He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Can we go now please?"
Brooke nodded and took Lauren's hand as Luke locked up the place.
"We get to go watch daddy play basketball." Lauren was excited, you couldn't hide the fact that she was a basketball fanatic and clearly Luke's daughter through and through.
"We are." Brooke agreed, her dimples flashing, as she smiled at Lauren's enthusiasm. "You just have to remember to remain quiet, so daddy can concentrate."
Lauren nodded seriously, horrified at the thought of ruining her daddy's concentration while he played basketball. She knew that Uncle Nate was like that when he played, he always shouted at Aunt Haley and her mum when they interrupted his games.

There were more eyes on Brooke as she walked through the streets for the second time in the one day. One of Luke's muscled arms was wrapped around her waist again, and his free hand was holding Lauren's; Brooke had his gym bag slung over her shoulder and they were a picture of the perfect family.
They had almost reached the stadium when the inevitable paparazzi appeared, the blinding lights coming from every direction as they all tried for the money shot. Only yesterday had the notorious party boy been snapped making out with a nationwide famous model, and now he was seen hand in hand with a girl that no one knew nothing about and a small child; this was going to confuse everyone as they tried to work it out.
"Are you having fun?" Brooke moved her head into face Luke as he was smiling.
"Yeah." He replied, his smile widening as more and more pictures were taken.
"Can we just get inside, please?" She begged him, and he agreed leading his two girls through the doors.

"Scott, Scott." The gossip hungry reporters and photographers that had been present at the practice, hoping to get a scoop on the redheaded Rachel, were now more interested in the brunette and the child waiting on the sidelines. The practice had taken a break, and Scott had been ushered towards the camera lenses and microphones.
"Are you back to your old ways?" Three microphones were thrust into his face at once. "Who's the new girl?"
Luke glanced back at Brooke who was smiling at him, waiting for him to make the freaking announcement which she couldn't see what the big deal was about.
"The new girl is my high school girlfriend Brooke Davis." He announced and another dozen microphones were thrust towards them. "We were in love back then, and she's agreed to give me a second chance."
The rest of his team were beginning to arrive back on the court and he knew that the break was coming to an end, but that didn't stop the questions.
"Who's the child?"
"My daughter, Lauren Haley." He made that announcement brief; Lauren was only a young child and she didn't needed to be dragged through the mud, Brooke didn't deserve to be dragged through the mud either but he was working towards keeping the carnage to a minimum. The thuds of the basketballs hitting the floors interrupted the interview and Luke took that as the cue to end.
"I've got to go now." He announced quickly making his escape from any further questions.
"Slut?" The curse came suddenly and loudly throughout the large gym, causing everyone to stop suddenly in their tracks and look for the source of the feminine, honey voice. The reporters found news gold when they spotted the slender, toned body of fiery red head Rachel Gatina, who was known for causing scenes wherever she went; and here she was with Luke and his new girlfriend in the same room. Brooke smirked, when she heard the name, she recognised the voice instantly. Luke groaned as the gym was lit up with all the cameras taking a continuous stream of photos; this looked like it was going to be the cat fight of the year.
"Man; you're fucked." One of his teammates laughed as they glanced between the two women. Then Rachel surprised everyone in the room, well except those who knew the girl personally.
"Oh my God, Brookie." She squealed, racing across the court where the practice had been temporarily forgotten and wrapping her best friend up in a tight hug.
Luke rubbed at his temple; this was going to cause a lot of trouble.

I've said this before, some stories some nights are just easier than others to write and currently all my inspiration is channelling this story =)
Don't get completely used to an update every two/three days though…even I'm not that negligent on my other stories…they will be eventually updated.

The real drama is coming soon, I promise. So review and an update will come even faster.

Casey xXx