Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait on this update. I had to plan out some ideas. More on all that at the end. Enjoy this and please review! Thanks!

CHAPTER EIGHT

Brooke woke the next morning feeling happier than she had been in a long time. Her happiness now, she knew, was due in great part to the man sleeping next to her. He, Lucas that is, had been so patient with her. And his patience had already helped her begin to heal. All her secrets were out in the open now; she had nothing left to hide. Now, with her guilt gone and Lucas on her side and supporting her, she could focus completely on her health and getting better.

Brooke's eyes fluttered open and she saw him sleeping peacefully next to her. She smiled, reached up and touched his cheek gently. The back of her hand ran along his recently shaved, smooth chin. Slowly, Lucas began to open his eyes.

He smiled at her. "Hey, pretty girl."

Brooke returned the smile. "Hey, handsome."

They stared at one another in silence for a few minutes. Lucas took her hand and he laced his fingers with hers as they laid face to face in the hotel bed. Brooke smiled and bit her bottom lip as he kissed her fingers.

"Thank you for staying with me last night," Brooke said.

"Thank you for asking me to stay," Lucas returned. "Thank you for letting me in."

Brooke scooted closer to Lucas. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I've wanted to tell you about my heart ever since I found out," Brooke said after she had situated herself in his arms and against his body. "First, I had to come to terms with it. Then, I was sure, I would be able to tell you. But the truth is…I still haven't come to terms with it."

Lucas kissed her head. "It's okay. Like I told you last night, I understand where you are at right now with this. But I'm going to help you through it."

The two of them fell silent again as they enjoyed each other's embrace.

"Brooke?" Lucas spoke again, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" Brooke muttered quietly.

Lucas paused before continuing. "Peyton told us last night that you haven't gone to see a specialist since you found out about your condition. And we know it's mostly because you're afraid, but…you have to go, Brooke. You have to take care of yourself; you have to get better so that you can be here for Logan…and for me."

"I know."

"Promise me that you'll go?" Lucas asked, his chin resting on her head.

"I promise."

Brooke looked up and kissed him. She looked down and played with his fingers as they lay across her middle. She spoke to him softly and casually.

"There's a doctor back in New York who is supposed to be one of the greatest in cardiology, specifically with my condition."

"Okay," Lucas said. "Then, we'll go see him."

Brooke furrowed her brow in curiosity. She rolled back around and looked at him with her curious stare. "We?"

Lucas sat up in the bed, still fully dressed in his clothes from the previous day. Brooke sat up next to him and waited for his explanation.

"I want to go with you," he started. "When you and Logan go back to New York tomorrow night, I want to come with you. I want to move there with you."

"What? Lucas—"

"—I want to come, Brooke. And I am going to come. I want to come not only because I want to make sure you'll be alright, but because I promised you I would help you through this. I want to help with Logan. I want to get to know my son and be a bigger part of his life. And…I want to be with you."

Brooke looked away briefly. She glanced down at her hands and then back at Lucas.

"You know that I love you, Luke. And I love that you want to be with me and with Logan, but…What about your life here?"

Lucas took both of her hands again.

"You are my life, Brooke. You and Logan are my life. You two are what matter most. I cannot imagine my life without either of you. And I am coming with you, whether you want me to or not."

Staring into his blue eyes, Brooke leaned in and kissed him.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Lucas pushed back a strand of Brooke's dark brown hair and smiled. "Anything for you, pretty girl."

Brooke smiled as he leaned in and they kissed again. A knock on the door interrupted them, however.

"It's probably, Peyton." Brooke said when they both looked over at the door. "Come in."

The door opened slowly. Sure enough, Peyton entered the room smiling as she carried Logan in with her.

"Someone here," Peyton said, walking toward her friend as Brooke stood up from the bed wearing her own smile. "Woke up looking for mommy."

Brooke reached for the blond-headed boy in her arms.

"Hey…handsome." She kissed his chubby little cheek. "Good morning. Were you a good boy for Auntie Peyton?"

Peyton crossed her arms over her belly and smiled. "Yes he was. He was a very good boy. He slept all night without a single fuss."

Brooke smiled back at her son.

"Good boy, Logan."

Logan began to wriggle in her arms.

"Down!" He mumbled with the pacifier in his mouth.

Brooke set her son down on the floor. Logan ran immediately for his cars and trucks still on the floor. Lucas moved down to the floor to play with him. Brooke and Peyton both watched with smiles. Peyton looked back at Brooke and noticed the grin she was wearing. It was happy grin, a grin Peyton hadn't seen her make in the longest time.

"So it looks as if you two made up?"

Brooke looked at her friend and smiled.

"Yeah. Thank you, Peyton."

Peyton nodded. "Anytime, B."

The friends hugged. As they pulled away, Peyton spoke again.

"But you know you've still got a few others to explain things to, right?"

Brooke nodded, her smile gone now as she tried to imagine her friends' reactions.

"I know," she said. "I will. What about you? What are you going to do today?"

"I am going to go see my dad. I called him and he's home, so I'm going to spend the day with him before we leave tomorrow night."

"Okay. Well, have fun."

Peyton glanced at Lucas and Logan on the floor. Logan was giggling loudly as Lucas tickled him on the floor.

"You too, Brooke."

Brooke waited until Peyton left before she moved back over to the bed. She sat down on the end of the bed and continued to watch Lucas bond with their son. After a few more minutes of tickling and playing airplane with him, Lucas put Logan back down and joined Brooke on the bed.

"So…" he started. "What do you have planned for you—our—last night in Tree Hill?"

"Well…" Brooke took a deep breath. "First off, I really need to go see Nathan and Haley."

Lucas nodded. "Okay."

"I want to go see your mom too."

"Okay, but um…I already told her about Logan."

Brooke nodded. "I figured. But I still need to see her, to talk to her."

Lucas nodded again. He glanced down at his son on the floor. Logan was making car noises and smashing the cars together in typical little boy fashion.

Lucas looked at Brooke again. "Would you mind if I took care of him while you see Nathan and Haley? Maybe I can take him to meet my mom and Lily?"

Brooke smiled. "Of course you can take care of him, Lucas. He's your son."

Lucas returned the smile. His son…he liked the sound of that.

"But, um…" Brooke glanced at her feet briefly. She looked back up with a smile on her face. "I thought that, maybe, we could all go together…as a family."

Lucas' smile grew. A family…that had an even better ring to it.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Good. Me too."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

So a short chapter, but a chapter nonetheless. This chapter was more like a filler/fluff piece for all you brucas fanatics like me. Plus, I wanted something up for you before my classes start again and I am swamped with homework, work and more work. So anyway…let me know what you think of this and I will try to get another update up just as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone

COMING UP:

Brooke & Lucas go to see Nathan and Haley

While Brooke tries to explain and smooth things over with Haley, Lucas and Nathan take Logan and Jamie to the park

Lucas tells Karen his plan to move to New York to be with Brooke & Logan

How will Karen react to his news, and the news that Brooke is sick?

Stay tuned to find out more!