Okay guys, sorry for the long wait, I promise it won't happen again. My idiot friends accidentally deleted this chapter so I had to start over. I just wanted to say thank you to all those who reviewed last chapter. Your support really keeps me wanting to write more. As always, I do not own OTH or its characters. I wish I did, but sadly I do not. Anyway, on with the story…

Chapter 10- Downfall

Wonder how you sleep
I wonder what you think of me
If I could go back
Would you have ever been with me
I want you to be unused
I want you to remember
I want you to believe in me
I want you on my side

"So what do you think about Brooke and Haley coming back?" Nathan asked Luke after a few minutes of comfortable silence between the now reunited brothers. They had been catching up for the past hour, but up until now, neither brother had mentioned the return of the women they had both loved so much.

"I'm glad they're back. I mean its weird considering how long they've been gone, but I think it will be okay. What about you?"

"Man, I'm not sure what I think about Haley coming back, I mean there is still so much we've left unresolved. I just…man it's gonna be hard. Besides, do we even know if they plan on staying?"

And that was the million dollar question. Luke thought about it. He just kinda assumed that since they had come back that maybe both of them realized how much everyone really needed them in Tree Hill, but they did have their own lives. He knew that he and Brooke had so much to resolve, and he couldn't imagine doing it with her all the way across the country again. And then there was Haley. He didn't think that his brother could watch her walk away yet again.

"Look Nate, I gotta ask you something. Why did you send Haley the annulment papers?"

Nathan looked down at the ground, trying to find out the right way to tell Luke that he had let Dan get the best of him, and that he immediately regretted sending them in the first place.

"Well…I…"

But he was cut off by what both boys could only assume was Brooke Davis carrying about 30 balloons and a giant stuffed animal. It was either that or a stuffed pink monkey was trying to break into the hospital room.

Luke smiled at the interruption. He knew there was a reason he had named her Cheery, but he had forgotten how much he missed having her around.

"Well hello Broody, and Boytoy," she added with a smirk upon seeing the other Scott in the room. She had heard from Peyton about the little tiff between the brothers, but she could only assume that they had worked things out. Boy, this was going to be interesting seeing as Peyton and Haley were about to walk through the door.

"Brooke, did you rob the gift shop or something?" Nathan laughed as she began pulling even more goodies out of the brown bag she had been carrying.

"Someone has to add a little cheer to this place, hospitals are way too boring," she smiled as she immediately walked over to the bed and sat down next to Lucas who was just chuckling at the antics of Brooke and Nathan.

The lighthearted banter was interrupted when the occupants of the room heard a small gasp from the doorway. There stood Haley James, tears running down her face, legs trembling, and her gaze focused solely on the boy in the hospital bed.

Haley was rooted to her spot in the floor. It had been hard for her the first time he had been in the hospital, but this time it was even worse. She didn't know if he even wanted to see her after everything she had done, and she really didn't think she could handle it if another Scott boy turned away from her. Her fears were soon erased as she heard the familiar greeting.

"Hey buddy, I missed you," smiled Lucas as he watched his best friend have a breakdown in the doorway. God he didn't realize how much he missed her until this very moment.

That greeting was all she needed before flung herself at him, crying and enveloping him in the tightest hug of his life.

"Luke…I'm so sorry… I was so scared I was going to lose you…I…"

"Shh, Haley its okay, you're here now"

"But I should have been here before," she sobbed, just thankful that she still had at least one of the most important men in her life.

Lucas just simply hugged her tighter, and just enjoyed the security of having his best friend back in his arms.

"You know, I heard you while I was in the coma," he whispered in her ear.

She pulled back slightly, not sure if she had really wanted him to hear her, afraid of what he would think of her.

She leaned in closer so that only he could hear and whispered, "And I meant every word of it Luke, I'm not running anymore."

He smiled and pulled her closer to him. "Welcome back, buddy"

Nathan was seriously starting to think that the room was going to close in on him. She had only been in the room about a minute, but all he could do was stare at her wrapped in his brother's arms, and it was enough to make him feel claustrophobic. She hadn't even realized he was in the room yet, but he was desperately trying to find a way to get out of there before she caught his eye. He still wasn't ready to have to face her, and just seeing her made him want to explode. He wasn't quite sure what emotion he was going to explode with, whether it be love or hate, and he didn't think the hospital needed any casualties from the war of he and Haley's hearts.

Before he could find a way to make the floor swallow him whole, another figure stood in the doorway.

Unlike Haley, Peyton did not cry or quake in fear of what lay ahead. Instead she calmly walked over to Luke, hugged him, and whispered that she was sorry into his ear. She and Luke had had so many fights over the summer and like always, one would end it by simply hugging the other and whispering sorry. No other explanations and no grand gestures. That was just how their friendship worked and they were fine with it.

Once Peyton had settled in on the bed next to Brooke, Haley finally snapped out of her trance and noticed that her husband was in the room. Every muscle in her body tensed and she nervously played with the end of the hospital blanket. More than anything she wanted to run into his arms and kiss him senseless, but she knew he wouldn't react kindly to that. She couldn't even meet his eyes for fear of what emotion she might find there.

"Nathan, hi"

"Ummm…Luke, look Whitey wanted to see me about something and I…umm… I gotta go," Nathan stammered out as he desperately tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Bye guys, Haley"

And with that, Nathan Scott was out of that hospital room faster than lightning.

"Boytoy really needs to work on his conversation skills," Brooke nervously laughed, trying to break the awkward silence that descended upon the room after Nathan's hasty exit.

"Seriously Haley, go talk to him, someone has to make the first move, and it looks like its gotta be you."

She nodded and sighed, then wordlessly got up to go after her husband. It was Haley's turn to fight for the one thing she wanted most, and it was a fight that her heart was determined not to lose.

Come on and lay it down
I've always been with you
Here and now
Give all that's within you
Be my savior
And I'll be your downfall

She found him almost an hour later exactly where she knew that he would be- in the gym of Tree Hill High, repetitively shooting a basketball through a hoop. She knew that this was where he went to work out his frustrations, and she silently wondered how many times she had driven him to repeat this routine in her absence.

"What do you want Haley?" He asked, back still turned to her.

She silently wondered how he had known that she was there, she hadn't made a noise, and he certainly hadn't been able to see her.

"I know that its you, believe me, I wish I couldn't still tell exactly the moment you walk into a room," He spat out bitterly, angry at himself for still be able to read her so accurately.

"You, Nathan. All I want is you." She decided that if she was going to make any progress at all with her husband, she was going to have to lay her cards out on the table.

"Well you had me, but you decided that you wanted music more than you wanted me, so now you don't get to have me back."

"Nathan, don't do this, like I've told you before, there wasn't a moment when I was away… that my heart wasn't with you in Tree Hill."

"Yeah well you ripped my heart to pieces, so I don't really have one of those anymore," He sneered as he ripped his arm away from her as she tried desperately to hold on to him.

"Nathan please don't be like this, I still love you, and I want to give our marriage a second chance."

"Well you don't always get what you want." He was trying so hard to be indifferent, but the moment the tears started, all he wanted to do was kiss them away. But then he remembered how much it had hurt when she left and the pain was magnified once again.

"Look, I know how you feel…"

"How I feel, Haley you have no idea how I feel. First off my brother almost dies, and then who do I see in the waiting room, you. You couldn't come home when I needed you, but you were on the first plane back for Luke."

"Nathan," she cried, the tears running down her face, "It's not like that. You told me not to come home…you…"

"Yeah but you did. And you came home for him, not me, and that hurts like hell."

"Okay Nathan, yeah, I did come home because Luke was in the hospital. But you know what I'm not leaving this time. I'm not going anywhere. So, I might have come home for him, but the reason that I'm staying here is because of you. You alone. I know you told me not to, but I quit the tour to come home to you, because you mean more to me than music ever could. I made the biggest mistake when I left, but I meant it when I told you always and forever, because that really is how long I will love you."

Nathan was shocked into silence with her confession. He was running the words over and over in his head, and he barely noticed as she kissed his cheek and ran out of the gym. His heart wanted to follow her, it always did, but his brain wouldn't let him.

He slowly started to smile a rueful smile; she really was going to fight for him this time. It wasn't ideal, and he didn't know if or how long it would take to trust her again. But it was a start, and a damn good one at that.

Haley sunk against the wall of the school and bawled her eyes out, the guilt almost eating her alive. She had done this to him, caused him this much pain, turned him back into that bitter person. As she looked up to the sky, she made a vow to never make him feel like that again for the rest of her life.

She saw him walk out of the gym and straight past her, but her heart literally stopped as he glanced back in her direction for one second, and she could hear him whisper back in the wind. "Always and forever."

She had seen a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and for a moment, she saw the love he always possessed for her in them as well. And that one glimmer was enough to make her feel that the battle was not lost.

Peyton seriously thought she was going to go crazy if she sat in the hospital room one more moment with Brooke and Lucas. For the past half hour they had been stealing glances at each other, but strictly avoiding direct eye contact. She could tell they were both nervous about talking to each other, but she was going to strangle them if they kept this stupid cat and mouse game up any longer.

"Okay guys, as fun as this has been, I have to go work on some stuff at Tric, bye, see you later," and she was out the door, before Brooke and Lucas could register that they were alone and that now they had to talk.

Brooke nervously chuckled, "So it looks like our friends all ditched us."

"Why is this so awkward Brooke?" Lucas asked as he pulled her closer to him and entwined their fingers. He figured that if he could bridge the physical distance between them, then maybe they could bridge the emotional distance as well.

"I don't know, I guess we just have a lot of things to figure out," she replied, starting to be put at ease with the whole situation. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she thought.

"Yeah, I guess we do. Look, I just want to apologize for what I told you before you left for the summer. I never should have told you that I had feelings for you with your cab right outside."

"Lucas, its okay, I never should have waited so long to talk to you about it, and I shouldn't have run away like that." He squeezed her hand as she told him this, and she settled even closer to him.

"I also wanted to tell you that I convinced my parents to let me stay in Tree Hill for the rest of the school year. I'm not going back to California."

Lucas's heart soared at the news. She was staying, and maybe they could get to where they needed to be, in a committed relationship. "Why did you fight so hard to come back, was it because of me?"

"Most of all it was for me," she replied. But after seeing the crestfallen look on his face, she felt like she needed to clarify.

"What I mean is, my whole life is here, not in California. Everything I love is here,' She gave his hand a squeeze. "So I figured why stay away any longer, and I missed everyone here way too much, especially you." She knew she didn't give him a direct answer, or come out and tell him that she came back because of him, that she wanted to be with him, but she could tell that he got it form the way he was looking at her.

He pulled her into another slow kiss, and she responded happily. It was still short and sweet, mostly because neither really wanted to get in trouble form the nurses that kept popping in his room, but it was filled with so much passion that neither Brooke nor Lucas could deny what was happening between them.

Breathlessly, they pulled away, realizing that there was still more that needed to be said before they could start over. Lucas was just happy that she was staying, and that she obviously had some sort of feelings for him. Plus, she didn't seem to be as scared of the possibility of a relationship with him this time.

"So where does that leave us?" He asked, hoping that she would tell him that maybe she wanted to be with him too.

She smiled, "Well…"

But she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Figuring that it was one of their friends or Karen she didn't turn around, but what she heard stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Hey Boyfriend"

There in the doorway stood Rachel Getina, holding a stuffed animal, and smirking evilly at the brunette who seemed like she was going to faint any moment.

Deciding that she didn't like the brunette already, Rachel pranced over to Lucas, and attempted to give him a kiss on the lips. Lucas, however, managed to avoid her and she got his cheek instead.

This was bad, thought Lucas. He barely even remembered that Rachel existed at this point, and now here she was ruining everything that he and Brooke were trying to achieve. Brooke. He looked her in the eyes and could see the shock and anger that they held. He also realized that she had dropped his hand, and recoiled from his touch. He had to explain things now, and he had to get Rachel out of there fast.

"Umm Rachel…hi…ummm Brooke and I were kind of in the middle of something important. Could you wait outside for a little while?"

"No, no its okay Lucas, go spend time with you girlfriend. I have to go," Brooke replied curtly, and he realized that things were about to become very complicated.

Rachel, didn't seem phased by Brooke's rudeness, and quickly realized that she was the girl that Lucas had been hung up on. She recognized the girls picture form Lucas's room. 'Game on' Rachel thought. Whatever she had interrupted was perfect, and she was going to see to it that this girl didn't get Lucas.

"Brooke wait, please don't go. It's not what you think," Lucas tried to get her to listen to him, not caring that Rachel was still there. But he also knew how Brooke Davis got when she was mad, and now was one of those times.

Brooke was doing everything in her power not to cry right there in front of him. He had a girlfriend, and a slutty one at that. She couldn't believe it. She was so mad, but a part of her could see that he was being genuine, and that he wasn't excited for the other girl to be in the room. She knew there was more to the story, but right now, she wasn't willing to stick around and hear the explanation. It was all too much, and she had to get out of there before she killed that red-head.

"Lucas, I have to go," She nearly choked out. "Bye," and then she ran out of the room as fast as she could.

Lucas just watched as everything fell apart right in front of his face. He couldn't even look at Rachel, he didn't want to. All he wanted was Brooke, and his stupid actions had once again made her literally run out of his life.

Give all that's within you
Be my savior
And I'll be your downfall

Okay, guys please do not hurl the tomatoes just yet, I know this isn't going to be your favorite chapter, but please have faith. This is and always will be a Brucas, and I intend not to disappoint. The lyrics for this chapter were from Matchbox 20, 'Downfall'. Now, please let me know what you think, I was extremely nervous to post this chapter. And as always, I love you guys for reading.