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
