She turned to him, crying. "Because…because I lost too damn much to you Lucas! Because… if I let you in my heart again—I would only do it again…and I can't go through that again. If I do I will never recover."
"Aw babe…take another chance on me. Please, I'll do it right this time."
She sobbed, shaking her head, "I can't—because I remember once you got Peyton you dropped me like a bad habit--"
"That's not true and you know it! You forced me out of your life!"
"And you listened to me! I didn't know what I wanted! I was hurt and betrayed--I didn't know up from down when all that happened!" She yelled, it was as if she had word vomit. She couldn't have stopped the flow of words no matter how hard she tried to keep them inside.
He looked at her in complete shock, surprised that she would admit that.
"I thought that you needed space. I had no idea you wanted me to stay."
"Of course I wanted you to stay. What woman wouldn't want a man who would fight to be by her side?"
He brushed her tears away then looked into her beautiful hazel green eyes. "You're all I want Cheery…my heart belongs to you. I need to have you in my life—you're everything to me—you're all I need Brooke. I love you and only you. You're my fucking heart! If you hadn't noticed I'm crazily in love with you! I denounced Peyton for you—I—"
That made her do a double take, "Wait…You what? I thought that you guys were done when she cheated on you."
He smiled sadly then replied, "It didn't end then. It ended months before. We weren't happy anymore. She was the catalyst that made me lose you—and as I've told you before I want only you. She thought she could replace you but—No one ever can."
"I'm speechless—you really did that?" she asked, already softening toward him.
Lucas sighed, "Yes. You're the most important person in my life! I wanted her friendship and your love and I was truly baffled why I couldn't have both. But you saw what I couldn't see—that she wanted more. More than I could ever give because everything she had wanted I had already freely gave to you."
"I don't know—maybe—"
He knelt down before her, "Look Pretty Girl—look what you've reduced me to. I'm begging—and I hardly beg. But I'm begging you to allow me another chance and I'll show you there ain't no maybes. I promise this time we'll be together forever. You got me on my fucking knees Brooke."
She smirked down at him, wavering in her will. "Beg more."
"C'mon Brooke! I poured my heart out to you and you got me on my knees already! Give a guy a break—"
"So what you're on your knees—" she then smiled, "That's exactly where you should stay. On your knees."
He looked into her eyes and saw a glimpse of humor and dared to hope. "So you forgive me?"
She nodded the said, "Yes I forgive you."
"Can we get back together? I miss you so much…"
She bit her lip, unsure of how she felt. "I don't know yet."
Lucas groaned, "Brooke!"
She sighed, "I never told you that I'm sorry…and we can't get back together until I do."
To say that Lucas was confused would be a massive understatement. "What the hell are you sorry for?"
She shrugged, "For everything. I'm sorry that I wasn't honest with you about how I felt about you for starters."
Lucas wasn't sure where this was heading but he asked anyway, "How do you feel about me?"
"When I came back home and all the time we spent apart made me realize just how much I love you and that for some twisted reason I had never stopped. I missed everything about you—from your laugh to your dry humor, the way you look at me—the adoration of it—the talks we used to have—our quality time. I really, really, really missed that. And I missed how I was with you. With you I didn't have to force myself to be lighthearted and funny—I just was. With you I didn't have to be perfect all the time. It's so much easier being myself with you. Nobody but you knows how dorky I really am and I wanted that back more than anything—"
He interrupted her with a soft kiss, and then said meaningfully, "I love you so much. And I know it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday."
Nathan walked in just in time to see them kissing passionately, "Ahem—obviously you two are back on—"
Lucas parted from her unwillingly, "Three's a crowd man!"
Brooke laughed then said rather seriously, "Leave before I kick your ass—and if you tell a soul about what I said to Lucas I will murder you."
Nathan chuckled and waved his hands, "OKAY!!! Have a good night."
Lucas smiled then said, "Thanks Nathan…for everything. See ya later bro."
She smiled, "Yeah thanks."
"You're both insane by the way!"
He waved him off then shouted, "Got that!"
Before he went to the double doors he paused then asked, "You got a ride back right?"
"Yeah. My car is out back." He murmured while kissing Brooke's neck.
"Alrighty—then my job is done I'm out! Deuces!" He shouted then left out the building.
He turned back to her then asked with a mischievous smile, "Where were we?"
She smiled then placed him right back in the spot he vacated. "About here." She then moaned as his tongue flicked over a certain spot that had her arching toward his body.
"By the way where are we?" she asked. They were standing in a spacious warehouse filled with goods; really nice light fixtures, leather couches, pool tables, computers, laptops, a really nice music system and all sorts of guy stuff.
"It's one of the properties that Keith had owned and he left it to me. I renovated the space and it's pretty much my huge man cave."
She looked around the beautiful place in such a space. There were vine-like Christmas lights that streamed across the room, and a table set for two with candles all around and flowers strolled all over.
"You did all this?" she asked, unable to keep the wonder from her voice.
He blushed then nodded, "Um, I know you already ate—"
She gave him an arch look then replied, "I won't ask how you know that."
"Anyway like I was saying—I know you already ate but I had something in mind…"
She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow, "Oh really? Like?"
He grabbed her hand and walked over to the table to the table and uncovered a dish revealing a chocolate concoction. "Ta-da!!! Dessert!"
Her eyes widened at the sight of them. "Oh my God, Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches'? Like our first date!!! And you know they're my favorite!"
"Mm-hmm…"
She ate the gooey concoction and moaned aloud. "God I miss this!" she sighed then took another and ate it quickly. "You're still quite the chef."
"Thanks…" he replied, massaging her tensed-up shoulders. He honestly missed doing these things for her, missed seeing her smile.
"God that feels good." She moaned. "In a twisted way…" she licked her fingers of the ice-cream. "This is really the most romantic night of my entire life."
He turned her head toward him then looked into her eyes, "You're my world Brooke—I want to keep you happy."
She smiled softly, "You do. I love you…"
He kissed her on the tip of her nose then replied, "We should do this more often…"
"Do what? Kidnap each other and have an intimate dinner?" she then laughed, "I was thinking that too."
"Oh yeah?" He then laughed with her, "Me too only I made the comment."
"Yeah." She then burst out laughing again. "God I missed this. I missed you. It's been so long since I shared the same thought with someone. I never knew how much I missed it until now."
"I know what you mean. C'mon…" he said holding out his hand.
"What?" she asked with a curious smile but she took his hand regardless.
He pulled her into his arms and whispered, "I just wanna hold you."
She smiled softly, "OK…"
-x-
Ever since Lucas had kidnapped her to make her listen to him, he had stepped up his game and started courting her seriously. So seriously in fact that they had not had sex since their reunion over a month ago. Which dove them both crazy but she needed to be sure that it wasn't just physical for them.
He sent her absolute favorite flowers (aside from lilies) with a sweet note accompanying them which melted her heart. He always called just to tell her that she was on his mind. He took her out on fun as well as romantic dates.
Brooke was even more impressed that they could just sit around and talk for hours on end. Sometimes about their evolving dreams, sometimes about their relationship with their dysfunctional families, sometimes of their own history together. They were really getting to know each other again.
She smiled as she inhaled the sweet perfume of the white roses. They made her think of Lucas and how he would show up to her house with a bouquet of white roses when they were dating back in highschool.
She smiled as she opened the note attached the flowers. It was instructions. 'Get ready to be spoiled rotten. Pack a few bags of things and meet me at the pier at 10:30 P.M. Don't be late... Lucas'