Okay so this is shorter than I would have liked but I decided to split it into halves. I'm still ironing out tiny kinks for the next update and wanted to gauge maybe what everyone's feedback as I finish. I'm looking at 2 more chapters which are nearly complete now. So, in your reviews don't hesitate to say what you'd like to see in the conclusion of the story. I'm sticking pretty close to the original vision I had for the ending here but there is one section I'm revising now.

So, here's an update to know that I'm alive haha.

I can't believe this is coming to an end. I've really enjoyed writing this story. I've always been in love with writing and this has been such a cool outlet. It's also been crazy to see how after all the time since the show has ended brooke and lucas still have an impact. Their story was really real and genuine and it's a shame that in the end the story didn't do them justice. I still believe to this day that had chad and Sophia not divorced or bryan Greenberg hadn't opted to move on from the show that we would have seen a very different ending. But for now, that's what our imaginations are for :)

Everyone give 'Need the Sun to Break' by James Bay a listen while reading and please review! Gives me the motivation to get an update up!

XXXX

He stuck the spare key he knew she kept hidden underneath a rock outside into the slat of the door. He knew she was at the store today and he just wanted to drop off a letter to her. The letters she had written to him during her summer spent in California had served as a foundation of their relationship. They had given them an honest platform to find each other again that to this day he had been eternally grateful for. He was hoping that maybe this letter could do the same.

A feminine figure is turned facing the opposite direction of him leaning against the kitchen counter. Shit, he didn't think anyone would be here. As she turns around, he is surprised to see who the unexpected guest is.

"Lucas Scott."

"Mrs. Davis." He says through a hoarse throat that had emerged after the past few nights that he had spent restless. "I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would be home."

In all the years of his friendship and romantic relationship with Brooke, he hadn't come across Victoria very often. When they were together junior year, he could count on one hand the times she had even acknowledged him. In the time since then, his meetings with her had become few and far between.

"Are you looking for Brooke? Or Peyton? You never could decide. Isn't that right?"

He swallows harshly as he looks away from her ashamed.

"I guess I deserve that."

"But you think you deserve Brooke?"

"No." He stops speaking exhaling deeply before taking his hand and scratching the back of his neck. "In fact, I know I don't deserve her. She's infinitely out of my league. But somehow, and by some miracle, I believe that while I don't deserve her on my own maybe we deserve each other. We've dreamt together, and we've lived through hell together. We've laughed and we've cried. And we loved each other. So, I'm thinking that after all of that we deserve our shot."

Victoria seems to mull this over as she shifts her position. Her features seem to soften.

"Do you think that coming in here with a few lines worthy of another book is enough to get the approval of her mother?"

"Maybe not with some words. But, I do think I can earn your trust. If you're anything like Brooke, then it won't be easy. I may not earn your approval overnight. But, as long as I believe there's a chance in her heart for us, then I'll keep fighting. You'll see how much I love your daughter. Maybe one day we'll have this conversation again and you'll believe it."

She remains quiet and for a moment they just stand there in the silence of the room with one another.

"I didn't mean to bother you. I just wanted to leave this for, Brooke." He gestures the letter forward that he leaves sitting atop the coffee table in a spot he knows she'll see. "It was good seeing you, Mrs. Davis. Hopefully, I will again soon."

He turns to leave and as he grasps the handle of the front door he's stopped in his place.

"Why now? You had her once; twice actually if memory serves me right. Both times you let her go. What makes this time any different?"

"I'm sure this all seems odd to you. We've only met a few times, and here I am coming in and sharing all of these personal thoughts to you, but… That's just it. Brooke is a very personal thing to me. I made a mistake a long time ago that I wish I could take back every single day. And then one day I saw this light and through it I saw a second chance that I never thought I'd have. I never knew how much I wanted it and needed it until it was right there in front of my face. I'm not wasting this chance this time. It showed me that it's never too late to fight for the people who matter. And I'll spend every day for the rest of my life showing her that I love her if that's what it takes. I love her for her beautiful spirit and her kind heart, her unwavering strength, her infectious personality. When I first met her, I thought that maybe she needed me. And seven years later, I realize that I could not have been more off base. All this time, I was the one who needed her. She woke me up in this life. I don't want to go to sleep again. I'm in love with your daughter."

He sees a flash of emotion on Victoria's face. A far cry from the stoic demeanor he had always known her to have.

"You know something? I had the best looking, most successful men in New York approach me for a chance to ask Brooke out. These men had fame, money, appeal. Any girl would have bent over backwards for a chance to go out with one of them. Not Brooke. Every time, she seemed less interested than the last. She never gave an answer as to why. My high school daughter who was boy crazed was suddenly interested in no boys. And I knew why. Since she met you, she was only interested in one boy." She tightens her lips folding her hands against her waist casually. It appears that the wheels of her mind are turning debating with what might come from her mouth next. "So, if you love my daughter, be the one boy for her. Keep fighting for her."

He nods his head partly in appreciation for what she's just said and also in shock that she had been the one to give him such words.

"I will. You too, you know? I know you think the world of her or you wouldn't be having this conversation with me. I know that now. And you do too. But, she doesn't. Show her. If you haven't been there for Brooke in the way you'd like, then be there. Don't miss out on a relationship with her because she's so worth it. She is exceptionally worth it."

Most of his knowledge of Victoria Davis had been through the stories Brooke had confided in him. He knew the volatile and distant relationship between the two, and how much Brooke whether she said or not craved a real relationship with her mom. More than anything, he wanted that for her. In all the time he had known of the relationship between Brooke and her mother, he could never quite understand her. Standing just mere feet from each other, he felt like if only for a moment he knew her; not the woman who was distant, but the mother who wanted to be more; the mother who wanted so much more for her daughter than she had; the mother who craved the very same relationship Brooke did.

Maybe he was completely off base. But lately, he was choosing to believe in the good.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Davis."

She gave him a half smile, and to him that a triumph in and of itself. Returning the smile, he leaves.

XXX

She breezed through her front door with her hands full of designs and iced coffee, an essential. Her day was long and her thoughts were raging.

"Hi."

"Jesus, mom." She sat her designs down gasping from the shock of not coming home to an empty house. "You scared me. If you're here for the designs…"

"I'm going back to New York. The designs are excellent. The new line should stabilize the company. There's nothing left for me to do here." 'Here we go,' she thought. And with everything on her mind, the last thing she wanted was a lecture. "There are a few things that I need to leave you with. We need to call our publicist and arrange a series of interviews announcing your launch of the line. You need to speak with the people of Red and organize some sort of charitable contribution." She sighs listening to the never ending to do list her mother is dictating. For once, she just wanted her to be less like her business associate and more like her mother. Guess that was too much to ask for. "And you need to drive to that boy's house and tell him you love him."

Her thoughts came to a halting stop. Did she just hear her correctly?

"What?"

"When I was young, there was a boy who loved me and I loved him back. But, he wasn't from my circle of friends and he was different than my parents expected. So, I let him go. And not a day has gone by that I don't regret it."

"Why haven't you ever told me this?" She remembered being a young girl desperately seeking her mother's attention. She wanted to actually know her mother. Her entire life had been spent never having a true, revelatory conversation. This was the first time her mother had truly open up to her. Involuntarily, she found herself beginning to cry.

"Because I've been a terrible mother. I have a daughter who is strong and bright, kindhearted, so beautiful. And I've nearly broken her with my inability to open my heart. But, I haven't broken her. She's just as strong and beautiful and kindhearted as ever. She simply misnamed her company. Because if this boy Lucas loves you and you love him that's all that matters. That is the most important thing and the clothes can wait. This is for you."

"What is it?"

Her eyes analyze the piece of paper her mother presents her with.

"It's the company. It's all yours… 100%."

Clothes Over Bros, her creative baby that she had poured her heart and soul into, turned out to only be a front. She loved what she did. There wasn't a single day she took the opportunity it gave her for granted. With that being said, she also knew the camouflage it had become in her life. She used it as a muse to bury herself from what truly occupied her heart and soul.

For her mother, though, this company had been her pride and joy.

"But why?"

"I'd rather have my daughter than a company."

"But you loved this company." She still couldn't wrap her mind around what her mother was telling her.

"Yeah. I did, and I was wrong. I should have loved you more, and the company less. I just didn't know how."

"Mom?" The composure of her voice is wavering and she's having a hard time collecting herself. "I want you to stay on, and run things from New York."

"You're keeping me?"

"You're good at what you do, and besides you're my mother."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she feels the embrace of her mother envelop her. She melts into her arms and then her mother says the words that she has been craving to hear for as long as she can remember.

"My daughter. I love you so much, and I'm so proud of you."

"So, you're going back?"

"I am, but I've already booked a few flights home this month. I'd really like to spend some time with you... real time. Someone stopped by today and told me it's never too late to fight for the people who matter."

"Someone stopped by?"

"He left this for you." A slither of a smile reflects back at her as her hands pick up an envelope. A letter… She takes it in her hands and runs her fingers over the familiar handwriting. "He was right. It's not too late."

Her mother hugs her once again as she picks up her hand bag and begins to slowly walk toward the door.

"Mom…" She's at a loss. How does she find words for anything that's just happened? "Thank you. Thank you. I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm sorry if you ever questioned that."

She disappeared then behind the door. And she was left to her own devices in the quietness of the room with only one thing accompanying her.

She plopped onto her couch suddenly feeling the mounting emotional exhaustion hit her. Tracing her fingers over the edges of the letter, she gives in to the urge to open it. And she begins to read.

Brooke,

I've spent the better part of the past few days replaying our last night spent together. I've tossed and turned. I've been awake until sunrise. In the darkness of each night and all of the what ifs and could have would have should haves, I saw the morning light; that light lit up my heart.

I told you that I can't let you go until you tell me to; that I won't let you go until you tell me to. But the thing is, if I tell you that, then I'm letting you off the hook. If I do just that, then I'm giving you permission to keep moving from us; mostly running from us; never ready for us. So, I don't want to let you off the hook. I don't want to give you notion that it's okay to keep running.

I used to be spiteful of past mistakes. But now? I welcome their place in the past. Without them, we wouldn't be at this exact place in time. So, I'm not letting you off the hook, Brooke Davis. But, I will challenge you. I'll challenge you to give us the chance that we've always deserved, but never had. I challenge you to open your heart to me.

I'm accepting that very same challenge with an eager mind, a joyful heart, and reawakened soul. You've done all of those things for me. I used to wake up dreaming. Now, I'm out chasing the dream that I know is there.

I loved you yesterday. I love you now. And I will love you for the rest of my tomorrows. It took 82 letters to bring us back together. I'm hoping one more might be able to do the same.

Lucas

She sunk into the couch as she scoured over the letter again and again.

It's never too late to fight for the people who matter.

She smiled alone to herself at these words; a true and genuine smile.

XXX

Some of the incorporations from Lucas' letter were borrowed Pacey's speech to Joey from the Dawson's Creek finale. If you haven't seen it, give it a watch, one of my favorite television scenes ever. It could not have been more perfect for brooke and lucas and I wanted to incorporate it into the letter somehow.

Disclaimer: I do not own the dialogue of Dawson's Creek, that right is reserved to the WB and Dawson's Creek Writers.

The dialogue from the brooke and Victoria scene is largely from the brooke/Victoria scene of 6x24. I loved that scene, one of the few scenes I liked of season 6, and felt like it flowed in the context of this story. It is mildly changed to applied to the current storyline.

Disclaimed: I do not own the dialogue of One Tree Hill, that right is reserved to the CW/WB and Mark Schwann and the One Tree Hill writers.