Hi guys! I have to tell you that your reviews totally blew me away this time! Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed (including the lovely Shana- who once again, I couldn't personally thank...)- it truly means everything to me! I really hope that this chapter will be just as enjoyable for all of you! ;-)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the OTH characters.

Chapter 25

As Keith parked the car in the court's parking lot, Lucas sensed Brooke tense up by his side, in the back seat. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly, as if to say that he was there, that he would never dare to leave her. Brooke turned to face him and forced a nervous smile, as if to say that she was alright, but as Lucas noticed that her dimples were missing from her cheeks, he could tell that this was far from the truth.

"I'm right here, Brooke", he reminded her, and Brooke let out a tense sigh, grateful for Lucas' supportive presence, yet unable to shake off her anxiety. Lucas had picked up on that and, unable to help but feel protective of her, pulled Brooke out after him as he exited the car, not wanting to let go of her trembling hand even for a moment.

Lucas pulled Brooke to his side and held her close as they entered the big court. He watched Brooke hesitantly stepping into the huge building and widening her eyes as she took in its size. He, too, was taken aback by how large the building was when he first came into it and could see how small and vulnerable Brooke felt from the look in her eyes. Lucas tightened his grasp on her and gently led her ahead, towards the courtroom in which Dan's trial was held. As they were about to enter the room, Brooke peeked inside and was shocked by how much it resembled the courtroom from her dream. She froze in her place, unable to advance further, and looked ahead with terror in her eyes. She suddenly regretted having come to the trial, as she began reliving her nightmare and felt as though she was about to fall apart just from thinking about the possibility that it would come to life.

"Luke…", Brooke planted her feet in the ground and called out his name in desperation as he tried to guide her forwards into the courtroom. She could no longer pretend that she could keep it together.

"Brooke, are you alright?", Lucas gently asked Brooke, looking down at her pale face with concern.

Brooke simply lifted her eyes and looked at Lucas helplessly, and Lucas' heart broke as he observed how distressed and miserable she seemed.

"Do you want me to take you away from here?", Lucas suggested in a serious tone, keeping his eyes locked on Brooke's and looking intently at her, as if to tell her that there was no reason to be ashamed if she couldn't handle the tension of the trial. In response, Brooke shook her head. She did feel the urge to leave the court, but didn't want to continue running away from her fears. Brooke realized that it was time to face them head on.

"O.K…. Then what can I do to help?", Lucas genuinely asked Brooke, wanting to erase the frightened look from her eyes.

"Please don't leave me alone today", was all Brooke wanted to ask of Lucas. She looked at him with desperation, needing him to promise her that he would remain by her side so she could calm down and convince herself that her nightmare could never become true.

"Never", Lucas looked deeply into Brooke's pleading eyes and answered her with such certainty, that the panic immediately faded from her eyes. "I'll be right by your side the whole time. I promise…", Lucas told Brooke, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb. Brooke sighed in relief, feeling some of her tension ease, and leaned her head against Lucas' chest, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

"Thank you, boyfriend…", Brooke mumbled into his shirt, causing Lucas to smile and kiss her on the top of her head.

"Anything for you, babe", he told her honestly, tightening his grasp on her for a short moment before letting go of her and regaining his grasp on her hand. "Are you ready?", Lucas asked Brooke as he gestured to the courtroom, studying her face carefully to make sure she was indeed strong enough to sit through the hearing. Brooke nodded, forcing another smile, yet this time Lucas could tell she was much more at ease as he spotted a hint of her dimples on her cheeks. He squeezed Brooke's hand one more time and carefully led her into the room, helping her sit down in one of the back rows, where she wouldn't draw any unwanted attention or be too close to Dan's seat in the front.

"I can't believe that this is it…", Brooke whispered to Lucas as she leaned against his strong body and felt him wrap an arm around her shoulders. She suddenly shivered, thinking about everything she had been through, but as Keith and Karen took a seat by her other side, Brooke slightly relaxed. When Haley and Nathan sat down right behind her and each one of them put a hand on her back, for support, Brooke managed to genuinely smile back at them. She was surrounded by all the people she cared most about, who supported her through the tough days she had gone through, and once again they managed to make her feel safe.

As the judge climbed into his seat, Brooke let out a tense sigh. His similarity to the judge she had dreamt about was truly striking, and Brooke began to fear that this was a bad sign about what was up to come.

"Are you holding up alright?", Brooke heard Lucas lean down and whisper into her ear. With her eyes still glued to the judge arranging his papers in his place, she replied.

"I'm just hoping that he won't let Dan get away with everything he's done…", Brooke confessed her deepest fear, causing Lucas to tighten his grasp on her protectively.

"Brooke…", he called her name, causing her eyes to shift over to his hypnotizing blue ones, "It was just a dream…", he said softly, wanting to reassure her that it was going to be alright in reality.

"I know", Brooke replied quietly, closing her eyes as Lucas leaned forwards to kiss her forehead. She did realize that her nightmare wasn't real, but if Lucas wouldn't have been by her side, her fear would have overtaken her, nonetheless. She leaned back into Lucas' arms with a sigh and felt him beginning to run his hands through her silky, brown hair soothingly.

Lucas felt Brooke's body melt into his side, relaxing slightly, and kissed her on top of her head.

"Babe, if you wanna leave at some point, just tell me, O.K.?", Lucas whispered into Brooke's hair before kissing it again, and Brooke simply nodded, glad to have Lucas' support. They sat there quietly, yet Brooke enjoyed simply resting against Lucas in silence, without burdening her head with putting her feelings into words.

Suddenly, everyone could hear voices from the entrance of the courtroom. Before Brooke could turn around and see what was going on, she heard people around her gasp and whisper to one another. As she heard a group of footsteps making their way towards her, she spun around to look at who was coming, and paled at the sight.

"Oh my god…", Brooke mumbled, and then her voice hitched in her throat. She realized that she most certainly wasn't prepared to face Dan Scott again as she watched him march towards her, accompanied by several cops. As Lucas tightened his grasp on her, Brooke's gaze fell on Dan's, who, just like in her dream, sent her a wicked smirk.

"Lucas…", Brooke searched for his hand as her eyes looked at Dan with terror, and Lucas was quick to intertwine his fingers with her trembling ones.

"Don't let him get to you… He won't be smiling for long", Nathan, who saw how his father's entrance affected Brooke, bent towards her and whispered into her ear. Brooke nodded, shrinking into Lucas' arms as Dan walked past her. Nathan squeezed her shoulders supportively and only let go when he felt Brooke relax, as Dan was seated in the front row of the courtroom, as far away from her as possible.

"Are you O.K.?", Nathan asked Brooke quietly, and she turned to face him and nodded, forcing a smile.

"Thanks, Nate", she said to him, truly appreciating his support throughout everything she had been through. Nathan smiled back, and when they heard the judge tap his mallet against his table, let go of each other's gazes and focused on the front of the room.

"Order in the court!", the judge demanded and the room grew so silent that Lucas could distinctly hear Brooke's nervous, uneven breaths. He brought her closer to him and began rubbing the side of her body that wasn't attached to him. As he felt Brooke's fragile figure trembling against him, Lucas worriedly looked down at her. He was about to, yet again, suggest that they leave, but as he saw Brooke's eyes fixated on the judge with a mixture of fear and anticipation, decided to keep quiet. Lucas understood that staying in the courtroom was an inevitable step in Brooke's healing process, from which he couldn't protect her.

"In the case of the state of North Carolina versus Dan Scott, I have reached a verdict", the judge said, shaking everyone out of their thoughts. A tense silence filled the courtroom as the people present in it waited for the judge to reveal what he had decided. Brooke unconsciously squeezed Lucas' hand as she looked at the judge alertly. As she realized that the moment she was waiting for and dreading most at the same time was finally coming, she felt her speeding heartbeats becoming even stronger and faster. As she saw the judge lift his eyes up to the crowd, Brooke let out a tense breath and sat up straight, waiting for him to finally tell her what Dan's fate would be.

"I found Dan Scott guilty of all of the crimes he was accused of committing", the judge said, giving Dan a sinister glare. As Brooke heard his words she couldn't help but smile and tear up at the same time. She kept letting out deep breaths, but no longer tense ones, but relieved ones instead.

"Are you alright?", Lucas noticed Brooke's teary eyes and questioned, rubbing her back up and down gently. Brooke nodded without shifting her eyes away from the judge and brushed away some of her tears as new ones kept forming in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She was so glad that despite the fact that she was crying in the real hearing too, her tears were tears of joy and not of anger and fear, like the ones she cried in her dream. Brooke felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest, causing her to finally be able to breathe better, yet she knew that her relief could only be perfect once she learned what punishment Dan was going to receive for abusing her like he had done. As if on cue, the judge began to speak again, giving her the answers that she had been waiting for.

"I sentence Dan Scott for life in prison for committing the following crimes; attempted murder of Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott, abducting and holding his victim, Brooke Davis, hostage, raping and physically harming his victim, attacking cops on duty and committing financial fraud. There will be no possibility to bail Dan Scott out, and he will immediately begin to serve his sentence", the judge finished his speech by slamming his mallet against his desk and giving Dan a disgusted glare. As the security men that surrounded Dan handcuffed him, the judge climbed out of his seat and left, signaling that he was finished with the case.

Instantly, Lucas, Karen, Keith, Haley and Nathan all circled Brooke and looked at her worriedly. Of course they knew that she had to be glad to hear that she will never see Dan again in her entire life, yet they all realized that hearing everything Dan had done to her in such a harsh way was potentially extremely upsetting.

Brooke did seem to be overwhelmed, but from the moment she heard Dan's verdict, her ears blocked out everything else. As the judge listed Dan's crimes, she simply looked at him with glimmering eyes, unable to believe that the nightmare she had lived through for those past few weeks had finally truly come to an end. Brooke just sat in her place, speechless and pretty shocked, and watched through her tears as Dan was being taken away by the security men.

"Brooke?", she suddenly heard Lucas worriedly call her name and gently place his hand on her shoulder. Still smiling and crying at once, Brooke couldn't bring herself to remove her eyes away from Dan as she watched him being led to prison, where his freedom and ability to harm her would be both taken away from him. Dan's eyes suddenly met Brooke's, and even though his gaze expressed hatred and malice, Brooke suddenly wasn't as scared of him as she was merely moments earlier. She could feel her body refuel itself with the confidence she always had, which she had lacked ever since Dan harmed her, and let out a relieved sigh, feeling as though she was finally picking up the pieces to her shattered life again.

"Honey, are you alright?", Brooke suddenly heard Karen ask her with concern as Dan left the courtroom and vanished from her sight. She lifted her hazel eyes up, and was instantly met with Karen, Keith and Lucas' worried expressions and just then noticed that Haley and Nathan's hands were stroking her back softly. Only then did Brooke realize that she had spaced out and hadn't been responding to any of the attempts to communicate with her.

Brooke quickly wiped her tears and nodded to Karen, not wanting to keep her worried, but as her gaze shifted over to Lucas' loving, compassionate eyes, and saw the sadness that would always taint them when he would see her crying, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Come here…", Lucas immediately enveloped Brooke in a huge hug, kissing her shoulders as she shook against his body. He couldn't tell if Brooke was crying because she was shaken up or because she was happy, but feeling her little hands grabbing him as she sobbed caused Lucas' eyes to become moist, regardless of the reason for Brooke's tears.

"It's finally over, Luke…", Brooke choked out to Lucas in between her sobs, and Lucas realized that Brooke was filled with joy, relief, exhaustion and shock all at once. He observed that Brooke had been bravely holding her emotions inside for the entire day, and understood that she simply needed to let it all out, now that she could afford to do so without the risk of falling apart.

"I know, babe…", Lucas replied to her softly, sniffling and pushing back his tears as Brooke let out heart-wrenching sobs in his arms. Soon, he could no longer control himself either and allowed his own tears to quietly fall down his cheeks. Those past few weeks were so rough on his, between witnessing Dan hurt Brooke, having to face his father in the courtroom after what he had done, and watching Brooke lay in a hospital room, that he truly couldn't believe he would now be able to put everything behind him and prepare to go back to his life soon. It was what Lucas had been wishing for all those weeks, but now that the trial was finally behind him, he was almost as overwhelmed as Brooke was.

Lucas squeezed Brooke's body tightly and whispered to her in a shaky voice, "It's gonna be alright from now on, Brooke, I promise".

"I know Broody, don't cry…", Brooke softly said to him as she drew apart from his hug, after finally managing to restrain her sobs. She gently wiped Lucas' tears away from his cheeks and pushed herself to shine him a reassuring smile, as if to tell him that she was alright now, that everything was alright now. As she suddenly regained awareness of Keith, Karen, Nathan and Haley's presence, Brooke slightly moved away from Lucas to allow Karen access to her son. She watched the two from the side and couldn't help but smile through her still quivering lips as she saw Karen embrace Lucas and rub his back with her soothing, motherly touch.

"Are you O.K., sweetie?", as Brooke sniffled when another wave of mixed emotions hit her, she felt Keith come up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm perfect, uncle Keith…", Brooke sent him a beaming smile as shiny tears kept slipping out of her eyes. She let out a half laugh-half cry as she wiped her eyes and struggled to stop crying, but simply couldn't control herself.

"It's O.K., Brooke. It's an emotional day for all of us…", Keith pulled her in for a hug, trying to comfort her and erase the shameful look he saw in her eyes. Brooke nodded in his arms, gradually managing to relax and calm down.

"It's a good thing I didn't put any makeup on today. I would have been a mess…", Brooke said as she drew apart from Keith, causing all of those present to burst out laughing as they realized that the bubbly Brooke they loved so much was finally coming back.

"Sorry to break it to you, Davis, but you already are…", Nathan jokingly said to Brooke, receiving a playful glare from Haley.

"Don't mess with my girl, Nate…", Lucas pretended to threaten his brother, pointing his finger at him in a fake intimidating gesture, as Brooke slid towards Nathan and tried to smack him jokingly, but lost her balance in the process.

"Are you O.K.?", Nathan was quick to catch Brooke. His playful expression was immediately replaced with a concerned one, as he helped Brooke stand steadily and get rid of her dizziness.

"Yeah… I'm fine…", Brooke blinked several times, slowly regaining her balance. Everyone watched her worriedly until she lifted her eyes and looked at Nathan with her mischievous grin, "But as a punishment for what you said, you have to give me a piggyback ride to the car!", Brooke told Nathan, causing everyone to laugh in relief as they realized that Brooke was alright, despite everything.

"You asked for it…", Nathan shrugged with a grin before he tossed Brooke onto his back, causing her to shriek with surprise. Karen and Keith shook their heads with amused smiles as they watched the young adults before them happily run over to the parking lot, laughing as if they didn't have a care in the world anymore.

"Did you talk to Brooke yet?", Keith finally shifted his gaze over to Karen as the two of them slowly made their way over to their car as well.

"No. She had enough drama for today… I didn't want to add any more stress to that poor girl…", Karen quietly told Keith in response.

"Karen, you can't wait with this forever…", Keith reminded Karen gently, and then suggested, "Would you like me to talk to her instead?".

"No, I'll do it…", Karen shook her head in response, "But at least for today, let them be happy…", Karen said as her son and his friends came back to her view. As the two of them quietly advanced towards the four teens, Keith kept his eyes on Brooke. He felt his heart twitching as he saw her laughing so joyfully and thought about how the news he and Karen bore would probably devastate her.

"You're right…", Keith replied, "Brooke and Lucas definitely deserve to have at least a few happy days…".

AN: Don't hate me for the small cliffhanger... I will almost definitely reveal what Karen and Keith were talking about in the next chapter. I truly hope that the real trial was as good as you expected it to be and that I didn't disappoint you with it. I truly tried to include characters other than Brucas in this chapter, so all of you Naley lovers will be satisfied, so I hope I did O.K... As always- please tell me what you think! ;-)