A/N: Hello everyone! Glad that most of you are still sticking with me here. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and the next so I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much. Especially since this one is all Brucas. But don't worry Brathan and Baley friendship fans, there's more of that to come.

Enjoy!


Chapter 9 - She Will Be Loved

Tap on my window, knock on my door

I want to make you feel beautiful

I know I tend to get so insecure

It doesn't matter anymore

It's not always rainbows and butterflies

It's compromise that moves us along

My heart is full and my door's always open

You can come anytime you want

Shooting baskets at the Rivercourt had always been therapeutic for Lucas. There was something about the silence of night save for the gentle lapping of the water as it drifted by. Lights from the town seemed to fade into the distance as though they were much farther away than they should have been.

It was a home away from home. The place where his love of basketball first began.

So it would have been no surprise to anyone who knew him that he had walked over after the father/son game at the gym.

The night's events consisted of constant berating from both Dan and Nathan. Though Keith had stuck up for him every time, Lucas couldn't deny that it stung and the only balm for the tortuous game had come in the final seconds. With a clean slate, the next basket was set to win the game. Sons had the ball and when Nathan went up for the shot, Dan had body checked him so hard it took several moments for him to make his way up off the floor.

For just a second, Lucas had felt a little sorry for his half-brother.

But all too quickly, he remembered how Nathan had done nearly the same thing to him at the Midnight Madness. Suddenly he couldn't bring himself to feel too sympathetic and when the game had been won by the fathers, Lucas walked into the locker room without a word to either. Afterwards Keith had tried to get him to go back to the café with him and Karen for a late dinner but all Lucas really wanted was to be left alone for a while. Too many thoughts were swirling around in his mind as he contemplated how much different and probably worse things could have been if Karen had ended up with Dan instead of Deb.

They were thoughts he didn't particularly want to dwell on for long so when his cell phone began to ring, it was a welcome distraction.

"Hello?" he answered, not recognizing the number on his ID screen.

"Dude! The whole team's down at the beach. Where are you?"

Holding the phone away, Lucas tried to put some distance between the yelling voice and his ear. "Tim?" he asked uncertainly.

"Who else?" the point guard asked, confused. "Anyways, get down here, man. We got some booze and all the chicks are in their bikinis. You don't want to miss it," he informed but the hint of a slur Lucas heard in Tim's voice led him to believe that his teammate was already halfway to being drunk. It had only been an hour since the end of the game but obviously they hadn't wasted anytime drowning the memory of their loss with kegs of beer and bottles of vodka.

"No thanks. I had enough partying last weekend to last me until the end of the season," Lucas declined and held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he put up a shot from the free throw line.

"Dude…" Tim began to protest when he was abruptly cut off by a rustling on the other end.

"Hey handsome. How about you put the ball down and come on out to the beach?" Brooke's raspy voice greeted. "We were all about to take off our clothes and jump into the water but I wouldn't mind waiting until you showed up," she teased and despite the mood he had been in, Lucas couldn't help but laugh.

"And give Nathan and the others a chance to take my clothes while I'm in the water… no thanks." At least it sounded like something they would do given that they had no qualms about spiking his drink the weekend before. "I'd rather just stay where I am tonight." Haley's words from the previous week flooded his mind when he thought about Nathan's reaction if Lucas showed up. Nathan's gonna blow a gasket. It seemed to ring true in both instances.

"Then how about you just hang out. No booze, no naked swimming… just hanging out with us out here in the sand," Brooke propositioned, clearly not willing to take no for an answer.

"I can't. I'm at the Rivercourt and I've been shooting around for a while so I'm all hot and sweaty," he excused.

"Two very sexy things to be," Brooke teasingly moaned. Lucas could hear the grin in her voice. "I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes." The line went dead before Lucas could protest or get any words in edgewise. Groaning to himself for entirely different reasons than Brooke had, he bounced the ball hard once before shaking his head.

He couldn't just leave if she was on her way over and he doubted she'd be available to talk if he called Tim's phone back. That only left one option, as unappealing as it was given his recent history with the basketball team. Lucas only hoped that the guys wouldn't try to make this party a repeat of the previous one. Not that he had much faith in their character for that matter.

-----

With all talk radio filling the inside of her small car, Brooke drove down the quiet streets from the richest area of town to the Riverside Park. Virtually empty, it was easy for her to spot the court Lucas mentioned and drove up to the edge where the grass met the slab of concrete. "I'm glad you weren't exaggerating about the hot and sweaty part," Brooke greeted with a smile as she got out of her car and leaned against the door.

For the night she had worn a white mini skirt and a thin yellow halter top. It was bright and almost cheerful as it contrasted with his black wind pants and blue t-shirt. "Not that I don't appreciate the effort to come pick me up, but I'm not sure about the whole party thing," Lucas admitted while tossing the ball up and down in the air.

"See, that's not fair," Brooke pouted in response. "Last week I never even got to see what you were like in a party setting."

Lucas would have rather not been in that setting again. But he didn't tell Brooke that and tried not to think about how much had changed from one weekend to the next.

Seven days before he had agreed to show up in the hopes of seeing Peyton. He went outside and drank because Peyton did. Then because of it, he had ended up drunk, apparently wandering around in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of how he got there or what had happened next. Having Haley fill in the blanks was the only reason he knew what had happened at all. "Tell you what," Brooke added when she noticed his reluctance. "I completely suck at basketball but if you pick a spot on the court, I'll stand there and take a shot. If I miss… you don't have to go the party and I'll just drive you home instead. But if I make it, you have to come with me," she propositioned.

Slowly walking towards him, he noted the strappy high heels she wore and the way the wind gently blew her hair in her face.

"Deal?" she asked and kinked her brow in a silent gesture of challenge.

Brooke Davis was persistent, Lucas would give her that. He also didn't think it was possible for her to sink a shot dressed the way she was. The assurance that basketball wasn't at all her sport also helped to sway him in the direction she wanted. "Okay," he agreed and smiled when she grinned widely.

"Then pick a spot, superstar. I have a basket to make."

Looking around, Lucas decided on a simple shot directly in line with the basket. "Free throw line," he said and led Brooke to his spot of choice.

"How do I…" she trailed off, biting her lip gently between her teeth when he handed her the ball.

"Come here," Lucas said and turned her to face the basket. Standing behind her, he positioned Brooke's hands on the ball and lifted her arms a bit to show her the correct way to shoot. "Just bend your legs a little," he quietly added. Gentle fingers gathered her hair and held it back a little when the wind continued to blow it in front of her eyes. "You could always aim for the backboard above the rim and just bank it in," he coached in a voice that sounded like a whisper against her ear.

Brooke couldn't help but shiver while Lucas mistook it as a sign that she was cold.

"Take your shot," he encouraged and walked backwards to the benches behind him where he'd discarded the gray hoodie he brought along.

"Okay." Taking a deep breath, Brooke squared her shoulders and tried to remember Lucas' instructions.

With as much strength as she could muster, she bent a little and then released the ball from her hands. Eyes riveted, she watched it sail through the air towards the basket. Excitement quickly turned to disappointment when it bounced on the rim before falling off to the side. "I missed," she said, half-heartedly. "Looks like no party tonight for you."

Lucas couldn't say he was disappointed by this prospect but he didn't like the sad expression Brooke wore. "Maybe you were just cold," he shrugged and handed her the pullover. "Try this and then take another shot," Lucas offered, watching her glance between his face and the sweater before she finally smiled a small smile.

"Thanks." It was said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her response.

Carefully, Brooke pulled it over her head while the halter top she wore rode up dangerously high. Lucas tried not to stare and coughed to give him an excuse to turn away before Brooke noticed. "Better?" he asked. The gray material was soft and smelled like Lucas' cologne. Blue paint spelled out the logo for his uncle's body shop, the place he sometimes worked at when Keith needed an extra hand.

She had seen him wear it plenty of times before which probably accounted for how comfortable it felt against her skin.

"Better," she agreed and went to retrieve the ball from where it had landed in a patch of grass.

Again, Lucas tried to avert his gaze as she bent over and the skirt hiked up along the back of her thighs. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose to tease or test him though he wouldn't have been surprised by it. From what he knew of her, she enjoyed attention and was genuinely amused by it when it came from him.

Five shots later, with a little more help from Lucas, Brooke finally managed to sink the shot.

"I made it!"

With an excited laugh, she launched herself at Lucas and wound her arms tightly around his neck. She jumped up and down a little but when his arms wrapped around her waist, she settled into the comfortable embrace. "You did it," he acknowledged with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Smiling, Brooke relished the moment before convincing herself to pull back and a little. When she glanced up at him, it was with a teasing look. "So who won then? You are me?" she asked in an effort to keep her mind off other things. Namely the safety she felt with his arms around her. The way Lucas hugged back had been strong but gentle and was an extremely dangerous thing to think about. So was the remembrance of his hard chest pressed against her breasts or the way he leaned down a little to accommodate her much shorter frame.

"I'm pretty sure I did," Lucas said after squinting his eyes in thought.

"Bummer," she pouted. "I was looking forward to getting you naked in the water," Brooke said with mock disappointment.

"Somehow I think you'll survive," Lucas retorted dryly.

"Fine," Brooke sighed dramatically. "I guess a deal is a deal. I'll drop you off at home if you're ready to go now," she offered and hid her genuine disappointment that the night was over. Even more reluctantly, she stepped completely out of his embrace and pushed her hair behind her ears to buy some extra time. "After all, I don't want you missing Conan O'Brien or Letterman or whatever it is you watch late at night," she mocked good naturedly.

"Wrong on both accounts," Lucas declared. Ball in hand, he walked alongside her to the car. Though he rarely ever saw her in blue, besides her bag, Lucas decided that the car and its color suited Brooke's personality perfectly. "I watch the highlights on Sports Center," he informed and surprised Brooke when he reached for her door handle. She was sure she blinked, stunned stupid for a moment before shaking it off.

"Thanks."

Her smile seemed nervous, tentative even. Lucas couldn't understand why but he also didn't know that the boys Brooke had dated in the past weren't nearly as polite as he was. They didn't open doors or move aside so that she could walk by first. Instead their kind gestures were getting up to get her more to drink, hoping that if she had enough alcohol in her system she would agree to sleep with them.

The only other guy that had ever opened her door for her had been Larry Sawyer. He was Peyton's dad and always opened the door for both girls whenever he took them somewhere as children. The best habit for a guy to have, he said, aside from remembering to not leave wet towels on the bedroom floor.

At the time, neither she nor Peyton understood what he meant but they eventually realized that he used to drive her mother crazy by leaving wet items discarded around their bedroom after a shower.

"So I guess you can pick the music," Brooke invited while driving down the little path to the road. "Just nothing too…"

"Depressing or weepy," Lucas finished for her. "I got it," he smiled while going through the stations, searching for the one his mother usually listened to in the café.

"This is cheesy," Brooke couldn't help but say when Adam Levine began to croon through her speakers. "I should have said nothing depressing, weepy or cheesy." Or maybe it wasn't because she thought it was cheesy but because it made her sad. She Will Be Loved seemed like the kind of song that was meant to be sweet but ended up being about unhappiness. At least Brooke thought so.

"Not really," Lucas argued lightly. "The guy and the girl in the song obviously both have issues but he put all his aside to help her through hers. I wouldn't say its cheesy but actually kind of… I don't know… hopeful, maybe."

"Which becomes depressing because things like that don't happen in real life, Lucas." It was one of the few times she had actually called him by name instead of one of many flirtatious endearments. "Guys don't usually care what's going on in a girl's life as long as it doesn't stop him from getting laid. So the broken girl ends up staying broken because she doesn't know how else to be and she doesn't have anyone around to show her either."

The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

"Sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed.

When his house came into view, Brooke couldn't have been more grateful. Lucas hadn't said anything after her outburst and she wondered if he was just as eager to be home as she was to have a few minutes of silence to gather her thoughts. But when he turned towards her it seemed he wasn't nearly as freaked out as she had believed. "So technically, I did win but you also made a shot. So in a way we both kind of won," he said casually. "Why don't you come inside for a while?" Lucas invited. "Kind of like a compromise. We hang out, just not at the party."

"I'm not broken, Lucas," she immediately said in no uncertain terms as she mistook the invitation for pity.

"I didn't say you were." Soft spoken and staring straight into her eyes, it was obvious that he wanted her to trust what he said.

Like thoughts of their hug and the way she enjoyed it, going inside with him was a dangerous idea. Lucas was good, despite Brooke's efforts to believe all guys were scum. Her self defense mechanism had kept plenty of boys at bay in the past but it refused to turn on whenever she was around the blonde haired athlete. And that was reason enough to be scared because she already liked him. She didn't know if she could handle learning to trust him too.

"Sure. Why not," Brooke shrugged like it was no big deal.

Cutting the engine, she reached for her purse and deposited the keys inside. Attempting a smile, she followed him up the steps to the porch and into the room. Brooke tried not to think about the night she spent with him, sitting vigil until the early hours of morning because she wanted to make sure he was okay first. "Nice wallpaper."

His eyes narrowed while Lucas pretended to be offended before a smile eventually won out. "Why don't you sit down and I'll go get us something to drink?"

"Oh, I see. You wanted to have our own little private party here," Brooke flirted as she sat on the bed and crossed her legs slowly. "You should have just said so back at the court. I would have brought you home sooner."

"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of a soda, not that the offer isn't tempting," Lucas admitted and left Brooke glancing at the book titles on his shelves from where she sat.