A/N: Alright, first of all, a big ginormous THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed! Why? Because I love you! Oh and it was YOUR reviews that got me writing this chapter! So yeah, THANK YOU THANK YOU! I really can't even say that enough, I can't even tell you how much I love your reviews, and seeing them in my inbox really makes my day! Okay, so anyways I won't ramble a ton, the song in this chapter is called Be Still and it's by Kelly Clarkson off of her new CD, and if you haven't got it yet, you really should cuz it is AMAZAZING!

Chapter 29- Slow It Down

Far, away from it all

"I tried to call her Ryan, she didn't answer" Lucas complained, walking into the living room where Ryan was watching TV.

"Great" Ryan said in a monotone voice, still staring at the television. "She's probably with Chase" Ryan sighed, not even bothering to look at Lucas.

"Oh god" Lucas groaned.

"I'm kidding man" Ryan laughed, turning over and finally looking at him. "You better get your dumb ass home though before she is in Chase's bed."

"This is the last time I come to you for moral support" Lucas shot out.

"Fine with me. I'll miss you and all but I think I'll live." Ryan chuckled sarcastically. "Maybe you wouldn't have to run off here if you could just keep your woman happy at home." Ryan laughed, throwing a pillow at Lucas.

Lucas gave Ryan a death glare, "I'm going to pack."


Haley was rocking Morgan and trying to fix dinner. She had Tanner sitting up to the table coloring and Brooke was still asleep on the couch. Nathan was going to be home any minute and she wanted something there for him to eat even if it was only macaroni and cheese, and chicken nuggets. Tanner wasn't complaining since those were his two favorite foods.

"Hey honey" Nathan smiled, walking into the kitchen and over to Haley to give her a peck on the lips.

"Hey Nate, I'm glad you are home. You wanna take her so I can finish this up?" Haley asked, handing the sleeping baby over to Nathan.

"Of course, come here princess" Nathan cooed, picking up Morgan and giving her a kiss on the head. "Hey Tan my man!" Nathan said, walking over to Tanner and giving him a high five.

"Daddy! You's home! We's gonna eats din-din and Auntie Bwookie's gonna have a sweep overs!" Tanner said excitedly banging his crayons against his coloring book.

"Yeah, what's up with Brooke crashed out on our couch?" Nathan asked, walking back over to Haley, gently rocking back and forth to keep Morgan asleep.

"Well your ass of a brother took off last night" Haley mumbled, pointing her wooden spoon at Nathan.

"When is he gonna learn. You'd think he'd stop messing up now that he finally got her back" Nathan sighed. "Where did he go?"

"No one knows, he tried to call her but she was asleep so I just silenced it" Haley shrugged, turning back to her macaroni and cheese.

"Crazy. So how was your day?" Nathan asked wrapping an arm around Haley's waist.

"The morning was kinda crazy, until Brooke came over. We just hung out and talked and the kids have been pretty good. They miss daddy though" Haley smiled, leaning into Nathan's shoulder. She was always worried what would happen with their relationship when they had kids, but it was better than ever. They were more in love now than they ever had been, and they had two little miracles to prove it. "How was work?"

"Well its hardly work Hales" Nathan laughed, walking over to sit on a chair besides Tanner, "Coach was pushing us extra hard though, its freaking September and he keeps threatening to send us to basketball camp for a week!"

"He better not, or he'll have the wrath of Haley" Haley glared, "I can't be alone with two kids for a week!"

"Well, if Lucas doesn't shape up you won't be because Brooke will probably be a permanent fixture on our couch!" Nathan laughed.

"Not funny" Haley grumbled, walking over to Nathan and hitting him with a dish towel.

"Hey Nate" Brooke yawned, walking into the room.

"Brooker's, sorry to hear about my ass of a brother" Nathan frowned.

"It's okay" Brooke said, trying to smile but just the thought of it was making her want to cry.

"You can stay here tonight, dinner's almost ready and I've got the guest bedroom all set up" Haley smiled, turning her attention towards Brooke.

"I don't wanna put you guys out, I think I'll just go home" Brooke sighed, pulling up a chair at the table.

"No, you are staying here no buts" Haley said seriously, using her 'mom voice' and pointing the spoon at Brooke this time.

"Yeah, I wouldn't argue with her B" Nathan laughed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Fiiine" Brooke moaned.

"Yaaay-a, Bwookie can sweeps in my bed!" Tanner clapped, throwing crayons everywhere as all the adults just laughed.


"Okay Ryan, thanks for nothing, I'm outta here" Lucas said, grabbing his bag and walking out of the guest room, making his way towards the front door.

"Thanks for nothing? What about all that awesome advice?" Ryan whined, eyes wide staring at Lucas.

"Yeah, sure" Lucas laughed, "I'll talk to you soon. Thanks for letting me crash though." Lucas said, opening the door and stepping outside.

"Call me and tell me what happens" Ryan said, Lucas just smiled and closed the door behind him, rushing down to where the taxi was waiting to get him to the airport.


Lucas finally made it to the airport and decided to buy some snacks before boarding the plane. He was happy that he was able to catch a flight back to LA, and between the flight and lay overs, he wouldn't get there until sometime the next morning. He was just hoping that by the time he did get there, it wouldn't be too late.

All he could think of in his head was Ryan telling him he better do something drastic. Well obviously he was all about drastic. He gets in a flight with his girlfriend and takes off across the country to New York. He's not even there a full 24 hours before he drastically flies back across the country to Los Angeles. Yeah, he was all about being drastic. Now he just had to do something, anything drastic to make Brooke realize once again that he was the guy for her. The good thing was, he had all night to think of what he was going to do. He also had all night to wonder where Brooke was, what she was doing and who she was with. His mind also got to wander about what she was thinking about, if she still loved him or if she was terribly mad at him. He realized how bad he had screwed up; he just hoped it wasn't too much to forgive. One thing for sure was he couldn't see his life without Brooke Davis in it. He promised himself right there and then that if he made this right, he wouldn't hurt her ever again.


Brooke woke up the next morning to Tanner poking her in the face.

"Nose" Tanner said, poking her nose. Her eyes were still closed, she wasn't budging.

"Eeeyes" Tanner said, touching each closed eye.

"Cheeks" Tanner giggled, pinching at each cheek.

"Hair" he said, patting her hair.

"Ears" He giggled, moving her hair and finding her ears, "Ooo, bling!" He exclaimed, touching the diamond studs.

"Okay, I know you's in here. Where's you tongue?" Tanner said, placing a finger on each lip and attempting to open her mouth in search of her tongue.

"Tanner! What the hell are you doing?" Brooke said, shooting straight up in bed. She was shocked to have two little fingers that tasted like syrup inserted in her mouth. That was not the way she expected to wake up.

"Uht-oh! Bwookie said hell! I's telling Mommy, I's telling Mommy. You's gonna gets a time outs Bwookie!" Tanner giggled, waving his hands and jumping up and down on the bed.

"No no no, Brookie didn't mean to say that" Brooke said, shaking her head, begging the jumping little boy. "Don't tell Mommy."

Tanner jumped off the bed, "Hell, hell, hell, hell" He sang, running out of the room and down the hall.

"Haley is gonna kill me" Brooke mumbled, throwing her hands over her face.

"TANNER ETHAN!" She heard Haley yell from down the hall.

Brooke closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. Yup, Tanner was definitely in trouble now, and once he tattled on her she would be on the receiving end of Haley James-Scott's rage. That was never a good thing. Especially when it came to teaching her little angel a swear word.

Flashback

Brooke was sitting on the carpet in the Scott household babysitting little one and a half year old Tanner. Haley insisted that Brooke did flash cards with him, so she finally decided she better do it because Haley and Nathan would be home soon.

"Okay Tanner, what's this color?" Brooke asked the little boy sitting directly across from her.

"Wellow" Tanner smiled his cute little toothy smile.

"Nooo, Tanner this is BLUE. Can you say blue?" Brooke groaned, this was not her idea of a fun Saturday night. The kid couldn't even talk yet…what was the point?

"Wellow" Tanner said once more. That was the only color he ever said. Obviously Haley's 'Baby Einstein' flashcards weren't helping the poor child too much.

"Okay" Brooke sighed, placing the blue card back into the stack. "This is so dumb, I don't know why mommy thinks you are gonna learn your colors before you even know how to talk."

Tanner giggled, and then stood up walking over to Brooke. He more like wobbled over to her. Once he got in front of her, he smiled then reached his hands out grabbing the expensive flash cards and throwing them all over the room.

"SHIT!" Brooke said frustrated, hurrying to pick up all of the cards before Haley got home and killed her.

"Shit" Tanner replied, clear as day.

"Oh no, no, no" Brooke said, hitting her head. The kid couldn't say blue, but he could copy her and say shit. It even sounded like it, its not like he said it in baby language…nope, with her luck you could understand him.

"Shit" Tanner said again, smiling at Brooke.

"Tanny, no…say yellow. Remember you like that word?" Brooke said, finishing picking up the cards and then standing up and placing Tanner on one hip. She put the cards on the kitchen table and then heard the front door open.

"We're home!" Haley called, cheerily through the house. "Where's my beautiful baby boy?" She asked, as Nathan rolled his eyes.

Brooke met the two in the hallway, purse already slung around her shoulder. She figured she better get out of there as fast as possible before Tanner got her in trouble by saying the 'S' word.

"Alright, hope you had fun guys. Bye gotta run!" Brooke said as fast as she could before handing Haley a very giggly little boy. But just before the door closed, Tanner had to open his little mouth and reveal his new word to his doting parents.

"Shit" he smiled, pinching Haley's cheeks obviously excited to see his mom.

"Oh my god, Brooke!" Haley squealed, she was losing the color in her face and looked like she was about to pass out. Nathan let out a small laugh under his breath and Haley's face turned bright red with anger…

End Flashback

Brooke decided to get up and start to gather her things. Haley was going to be pretty pissed when she figured out that Brooke had taught Tanner a new swear word again and Brooke knew that she would have to make a quick escape. Brooke was glad that she hadn't brought anything other than the clothes she was wearing and her large purse. She picked up her purse and searched for her cell phone to see if Lucas had called. When she had located it, she looked at it and it had died. She sighed and threw it back into her purse, slinging it over her shoulder and making her way into the kitchen.

"Brooke, I know you are having a rough time, and so I'm gonna let this one slide, but please, please stop teaching Tanner swear words" Haley pleaded, then she notice Brooke's purse, "Wait, are you leaving? You don't have to leave. What if Morgan wakes up?" Haley asked, motioning to the bouncer that was sitting on the counter where Morgan was sleeping.

"Um, then I guess you'll deal with it? You are her mom Haley. You'll be fine. I gotta be getting home, I need to shower" Brooke said, raising her eyebrows, "Sorry about the whole swearing thing. I promise I'll try harder to stop, but in my defense he was sticking his fingers in my mouth while I was asleep!"

Haley laughed, "Welcome to my world. But you should stop by later. Oh and don't forget to call me!"

"Okay, will do" Brooke half smiled, "Bye Tanner" Brooke kissed his head, "Bye Morgy" she whispered, waving to the little girl in the bouncer.


Lucas made it back home, and Brooke was no where to be found. He wasn't surprised; he just hoped that she wasn't with Chase. He thought she would be at work, but he called and Amelia said she wasn't there, that she was coming in the afternoon. Lucas knew that probably wasn't a good time so he figured he better cross his fingers and put his plan into action.

Brooke drove home taking the long way. She figured she would be crying, but she was all cried out. She kept turning the radio station, not able to just stop at a song. It drove Lucas crazy when she did this. God, she thought, no more thinking about Lucas. She hit her hand against the radio station and tried to think of something other than Lucas. But trying not to think of him was just making her think of him more and she figured there was no winning in this. The only thing that was certain was the fact that she was going home to an empty house and she wasn't looking forward to it. Maybe she should've just stayed at Haley. Then again it was probably best to get out of there while Haley was still feeling bad for her, seeing as she had just taught Tanner how to swear some more. She shrugged it off and pulled into the driveway. She didn't bother opening the garage and pulling in, she just stopped in the driveway. If only she knew that right inside the garage was Lucas' car, and he was in fact waiting inside for her with the surprise of her life.

Brooke opened the door, and the scent of vanilla instantly rushed into her senses. She loved the smell of vanilla candles, but couldn't remember leaving one burning. Not that she hadn't done that before, because she had. It was a miracle her house was still standing.

She closed the door and when she went to set her purse down on the ground she noticed rose petals at her feet. A smile graced her face as she notice the whole hallway was covered in them. She followed the pathway of roses, every so often there was a candle gracing the way as well. She made her way into the living room where the pathway of roses ended. There were candles covering the room. They were all shapes and sizes. Some small, some tall. Some were square and some were round. It smelled amazing and looked beautiful. She just stood there in awe of the whole scene in front of her; she looked around the room searching for Lucas but didn't find him.

Oh no, she thought, Chase must've broke into the house and set up this whole creepy thing. Just then, someone walked in the room behind her, making her thoughts disappear. She felt two hands snake around her stomach from behind and looking down at them they were definitely in fact Lucas', not Chase's. She let out a breath of relief and placed her hands over his, leaning her head back into his shoulder, breathing in the scent of his cologne.

You and me with no one else around
A brand new start

"Sorry" he whispered into her ear, before placing a kiss on it. She knew she should probably be mad at him, but she just couldn't. She was extremely ecstatic that he was back and she figured she could be mad later. After all he set up this whole rose, candles thing for her. That's when she noticed the whine and two glasses on the coffee table and smiled. Yeah, he could be a jerk sometimes, but he was just so perfect. So romantic and she loved him.

Is all we need, it's all we need to mend these hearts
Back to the beginning

"Lucas" Brooke sighed, closing her eyes. "This is so pretty. Thank you." She smiled, turning around in Lucas' arms and placing her hands on his face. She slowly stood up on her toes, her lips meeting his.

"We should talk" Lucas smiled, pulling away from the kiss. He was happy that she was kissing him instead of throwing things at him and yelling. But he had some major apologizing to do and it was gonna start now, whether he wanted it to or not.

"It's okay Lucas, lets just forget about it for a minute" Brooke groaned, pulling his lips back onto hers. She wasn't ready for serious talking, not yet. He had set up this beautiful thing for her and she just wanted to pretend like everything was ok for a minute.

"Brooke" Lucas said, pulling away from the kiss once more, but keeping his hands firmly placed around her.

"Kiss now, talk later?" Brooke asked, poking out her lip.

Be still
Let it go

"Talk first, kiss later" Lucas smiled, "We should probably sit down." He said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the couch. He sat down and she sat down next to him. Their knees touching and he held onto both of her hands.

Brooke nodded her head, not sure where he was going with this. It was like he was asking her to be mad at him, he wouldn't even make out! How unlike Lucas was that. She figured she might as well be mad now…

"Brooke, I'm so sorry for running out on you like that. You didn't deserve that, and I shouldn't have left. I just want you to know that I am sorry, and I wish I could replay that night over again and that I could act differently." Lucas sighed, taking a deep breath. "I know what Chase said to you wasn't your fault, and I shouldn't have taken my insecurities out on you. I just worry with him, you two are such great friends and he's so damn perfect. He's never hurt you, where I've hurt you countless times. I just get so worried that one of these days you are going to realize that and I don't think I could lose you again-"

"Lucas" Brooke smiled, placing a hand on his cheek, "I love you, not Chase. You don't need to worry about that. You are it for me. But you really need to stop running when it gets hard. We just gotta work things out together; we need to talk to each other Lucas. We are hurting each other when we run from our problems."

Before we lost hope
When we still touched and love wasn't so hard

"I know, that is something I need to work on. I promise I will try to be better at it" Lucas smiled, stroking Brooke's hand with his thumb. "When did things get so hard? Remember when life was easy, when it was just me and you against the world? What changed that?"

Be still
I already know

"I don't know Luke" Brooke said, smiling sadly and shaking her head. "We just grew up, life happened. We aren't sheltered little kids with no problems anymore. But you know what, that's ok with me because with all of the problems and all, we are growing stronger together."

"Why aren't you mad at me? I run off to New York, stay with Ryan and act like a complete ass and here you are sitting and talking to me calmly. You have every right to be mad at me Brooke" Lucas said, he was happy that she wasn't mad, but everything was so screwed up and she was calm about it. She was acting cool and collected about the whole situation when she should be screaming at him.

Slow, slow it down
Why do we run, we're missing so much babe
Just lay in my arms for a while

"Because Lucas, I love you. I know that you are worried about Chase, and you are here now. Yeah I was mad and upset that you left, but you came back and we can get through this together" she smiled at him, that one smile could make his world all better.

Foolish one with the smile
You don't have to be brave

"Brooke, you are amazing. I don't know how I got so lucky to have you. I just hope that we can always work through our problems. I know that I need to work on communicating more and that's what I plan to do. I'm the guy for you Brooke Davis, I love you and I'm not gonna lose you." Lucas smiled sadly, taking Brooke's hand up to his mouth and kissing it.

I'll gladly climb your walls
If you'll meet me halfway

"Don't worry about that. We'll make it through; we just gotta help each other. I can't do this alone Lucas. You need to be apart of this relationship too." Brooke said, she wanted things to work out with Lucas more than anything, but he couldn't keep acting like this either. "We are a team, we're in this together."

"Okay, you said we are a team right?" Lucas asked, Brooke nodded. He looked into her eyes and she was confused seeing as she had just barely said that. "And we're in this together?"

"Yeah, but I just told you that" Brooke said nodding, still confused.

Lucas got down on one knee, directly in front of Brooke, still holding one of her hands. Her free hand shot straight up to her mouth, covering it in shock as her eyes opened wide, realizing what he was about to do.

"Brooke, I love you. I know I've hurt you a lot in the past, but I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. There is no one else for me, you are it. I want to wake up everyday to you, and go to bed every night with you. I know that we have a lot to work on still, and I won't stop trying. I'm the guy for you Brooke Davis" He smiled, tears rolling down her eyes as he pulled a satin blue box out of his pocket, opening it to reveal the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was silver, with three diamonds in it. The middle one was the largest, with two small ones on either side. There were even a few tiny diamonds on each side. It wasn't too big, but it wasn't little that's for sure. It was perfect.

"My grandmother gave this to me; my grandpa gave it to her. She told me to make sure to give this to someone special, someone she would approve of. I know she would love you Brooke, just as much as I do. Please make me the happiest guy on earth and say you'll marry me?" Lucas asked a shaky smile on his face as he held the ring out to Brooke for her inspection.

"Oh my god Lucas!" she cried, jumping up on her feet, followed by him. She threw her arms around his neck and started kissing him.

"Is that a yes?" He asked, pulling away from her.

Here's my hand and my heart

"Mmhmm" She smiled through the tears, nodding her head. She pushed her lips onto his.

"I love you Brooke" he whispered against her lips.

She pulled away and he placed the ring on her finger. She looked down at it and smiled, jumping up and down.

"We're really gonna do this? Get married?" She asked, looking up into his eyes as he just stared down at her, smiling.

"Yeah," he said, his arms around her tiny waist, "Yeah, we are."

It's yours to take

"I love you" she cried happily, throwing her arms around his neck again and hugging him.

She had thought about this moment her whole life. She figured that when it happened, if it did, then it would be average. Probably to some old rich guy that she didn't even love. She didn't really think she would ever get married when she was growing up, and even when she was in Jr. High. Then in High School when she was dating Lucas, she figured that maybe one day they would get married, just because it was the next step. They would have a good life, probably no kids just because they were a handful. After her and Lucas broke up, marriage wasn't an option. There wasn't a guy that she knew she would be able to stand forever, and divorce was just too messy. She figured she'd be alone all of her life. Guys would just come and go. But now, here with Lucas, there was nothing more that she wanted than to be his forever. She loved him and felt safe in his arms. She knew that after everything they had been through, they could get through anything.


A/N: Okkkk, so cheesy Brucas is back, I hope that's a good thing! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this in forever, and I hope it wasn't too soon. They needed it so that they could move forward in their relationship and it is after all CHAPTER 29! Which is sorta weird, sooo many chapters its hard to believe! Anyways, thanks again to my wonderful reviewers! I'm not sure what's going on with the story from here. I kind of want to see what you guys think should happen. Make sure and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Also I wanna know if you think I should wrap the story up, or if you would like me to continue on with it, and just keep going on with the story...moving it forward! I'm just not sure what everyone wants. I would love to know though! You guys review, and I'll write and post...sound like a good trade? Okay, its a deal then! I can't wait to see what you thought :)