~And if I could go back to that morning, I'd spend it holding you in my arms, because I never knew climbing from that bed would have been the biggest regret of my life…~

He drug his finger down her flawless cheek as she rested beside him. In the moment he wondered why he never noticed how beautiful she was before. She hadn't changed in looks since they first met, but maybe it was the shallow fact she wasn't in his group of friends to pay attention. He hated to admit it, but he knew if it wasn't the fact she was Clay's cousin he would have probably never spoken to her.

And that small fact made him hate himself.

There were so many things he wanted to confess to her. He wanted to tell her about Greg, about the accident and that not a day didn't pass that he wished things would have been different. He wanted to discuss he understood Alex because he had been in a dark place like that before. He wanted to talk about his dad and how he left him, which in return made him cling onto the people close around him, which in return forced him to do things he wasn't proud of.

He wanted to tell her how afraid he was to be alone. He wanted to tell her how the thought of her knowing the truth scared the hell out of him because he knew he would be alone. He hated more than anything that the first person in years to really get him, he could lose in an instant because he had lied to her way too much.

"Mmm…" she shifted beside him and wiggled closer to the warm body. His hand skimmed up her smooth leg to rest gently on her hip. Brooke curled her small hand into her chest as she rested her forehead to the curve of his neck. "What time is it?"

"Early," he told her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Her hair still slightly damp from the hot tub they had been in just a few hours ago. "I have to meet the team at the school in a couple hours."

"No," she whined, her arms clung around his broad chest and held him tight. "We should sleep more."

"I wish," he chuckled; the small girl pulled back and tilted her chin up to look at him. "I'm exhausted."

"We couldn't have slept but a couple hours."

"If that…"

"I'm sorry. I knew you had to get up early. Shouldn't have kept you up so long," she apologized and blushed a little embarrassed.

"It was well worth it," he smirked and dipped his head down to give her a sweet kiss. "Ugh, it's too early for people to be bothering us," he grumbled when the phone on the night stand started to buzz. His lips still working with hers as she giggled and his hand searched for it. "Let's see whose ass I'm kicking for interrupting us," he joked and she rolled her eyes as he pulled from their kiss and she started to press light kisses along his neck and under his chin.

"What?" she stopped when she saw him tense on top of her and his face flashed with annoyance. "Lucas…"

"It's your phone," he dropped it by her head and rolled off her to stare at the ceiling.

"Oh," she clung the sheet to her chest as she slid it unlocked and looked at the text on her screen. Instantly knowing why he got so annoyed when she saw it was a text from Stephen asking if she wanted to meet for lunch later. "I'm sorry," she apologized and tossed it back on the nightstand.

"You aren't going to text him back?" he asked and she shook her head and gave a 'nope' as she found her shirt and tugged it over her head. "You aren't going to tell him you would meet him? You aren't going?"

"No," she told him and twisted her body to look at him. "Why would I?"

"Because he is your like…whatever," he flipped his hand around not really sure how to describe her and Stephen. He knew it wasn't anything, just a friendship, but it still worried him he might say something to her about Greg and stuff.

"Lucas," she flipped her body to straddle his chest and looked down at him. "He isn't my anything," she made sure he knew. Yes, she cared about Stephen and she loved their talks and how they talked about Alex and to a point she thought of him almost as a big brother, he actually reminded her a lot of Greg, but she wouldn't ever put him before Lucas. "You're my boyfriend, and you made it clear you don't like us as friends. If I ask you to not spend time with Abby, why is it fair for me to spend time with him?" she questioned and he felt a peace wash over him. "I love you, Lucas. You will always come first over people. I wouldn't do anything to upset you or mess this up."

"Come here," he whispered sliding his hand through her hair and bringing her down for a sweet kiss. "You're so perfect, baby," he whispered to her and she bit her lower lip. "You don't have to have my permission, but text him back. Tell him you'll go…."

"Lucas, it's fine. I-"

"Brooke," he spoke cutting her off. "I trust you and I know you two have a friendship that isn't anything more than that. Go, I want you happy. And as much as I hate it, you are right. Stephen isn't like Abby. He isn't conniving and he…he really just wants the best for you."

"Yeah," she leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of his head. "I hope you do well at your games. Hate I have to miss them."

"Call me when you're parents get home? Let me know how it all goes," he asked and she slowly nodded. "If you need me…"

"I know, Lucas," she spoke softly, knowing if she ever needed anything he would instantly be there. "But I'm sure things will be fine."

"I'm sure, but just in case," he told her; honestly a little nervous about her parents coming home. She had seemed to be in a great place the last few weeks, yes she had her rough days, but mostly things were good. He hated to think they might come home and be in such a bad place it pulled Brooke back into that dark hole. Might be why he to a point wanted Stephen to talk to her, hopefully he could talk about good times and fun times and not pull her into that dark place. "What are you thinking?" he wondered when he saw a look flash over her face.

"Nothing," she blushed a little and dropped her face to bury in his neck.

"It's something," he chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair. "Bet whatever it is, I'll like it," he smirked and she pulled back to look at him and bit her lip.

"Probably," she giggled and felt her skin tingle when his hands trailed to rest on her hips. "Lucas," she flipped her hair to the side as he slide her body across him, her quickly feeling his want for her graze her center. "Don't you have to leave soon? Go home and get your stuff and ready."

"I have at least an hour," he smirked and she bit her lip. "It doesn't take long to get there," he flipped her on her back and loved her giggled.

"Lucas…" she whispered and he paused looking down at her. "I love you," she whispered and his heart tightened. "I know, I might say that too much. I just realized after Alex died, maybe I don't say it enough and I need to say it when I feel it. Right then, no waiting and I just want you to know, I love you Lucas Scott. I love you, so much that is scares the hell out of me, but I do. I just want you to know that."

"I do," he nodded and loved the feeling that tingled over him hearing that. "And no one other than Quinn has ever said that and meant it. And it…it feels pretty damn good to know someone like you feels that and says that. I love you too, Brooke. And I might slack at times saying that, but know it. Know never in my life have I felt half of what I've felt for you."

"I feel you're better at talking about your feelings then you show," she commented and his gaze shifted to watch his finger brush across her cheek. "Like, maybe you feel you have to hide them… I don't know."

"My dad," he spoke slowly and her head twisted looking up at him. He's never spoken of his dad before. "He left when I was young…really young. I couldn't figure out why for a long time and after a while started to think it was because of me."

"Lucas that's not true…"

"I know, I know that now. But I was young and stupid. However, my mom sent me to a therapist and she gave me this journal and told me that I don't have to talk to her, but I should write down what I felt. It would be good for me or something."

"Do you still write in it?"

"Sometimes," he offered a short shrug. "The only people who know about it are my brother and my mom, Quinn….Clay…" he trailed off and her brows creased.

"Clay?" she wondered and he offered a short shrug. "Why would he know?"

"Up until a couple years ago….Clay was one of my closest friends," he admitted and felt his heart race nervous about how far this talk would go. "We've known each other since about the third grade."

"Well…why don't you two get along now? I mean…I always wondered but no one really seemed to talk about it, so I just figured it wasn't a big deal. Just as two friends who grew apart. I didn't know….I mean, I didn't know ya'll were so close."

"It was my fault," his grey eyes went distant as he looked away from her. "We just…we started fighting over bullshit things. Then he started dating Quinn and a lot of shit happened and I was in a bad place and she started focusing on helping me and just….just stuff happened. They drifted and he blamed me for it. Guess after a while we started to blame each other for every bad thing that happened to us."

"Maybe…maybe you two should talk. I'm sure-"

"It's fine, Brooke," he cut her off and she frowned. "He and I can finally stand in a room and not want to punch each other. I'm not going to push it. It's fine."

"He's my family, Lucas. I love him and he is all I have left. I don't want to feel I can't talk to you about him and I don't want to feel I can't talk to him about you and ya'll get angry with me."

"Brooke, can we not talk about this right now?" he asked with a sigh. "I'm going away for the weekend and I'll be honest. Don't want to be lying naked in bed with my girl and be discussing her cousin."

"I get that, but will you at least try, maybe, I don't know, talking with him? Please? For me? Before I moved here I never got to see him much, I missed him a lot. Yet, while here I try not to be all in his business because I don't want to annoy him, you know, like an annoying little sister thing, but I do love him and miss talking to him. So can't you just try to make up?"

"Yeah," he sighed and trailed his fingers up across her cheek. "I'll try, but can we try not to talk about it right now? Please," he repeated and trailed his hand down her stomach feeling her body tingle.

"Yeah," her body shifted up and his hand dropped lower. "Yeah, we can wait on talking about it," she moaned a fraction before hooking her mouth back on his.


"Why are you being weird?" Quinn raised a brow at her boyfriend as they sat in the small diner.

"Because this situation is weird," he mumbled taking a long sip of his coffee. "This whole thing is…weird."

"It's not weird," she rolled her eyes and laced her fingers with his. "It's…nice."

"If you say so, but I didn't think I'd be having a double date with my cousin and…Lucas," Clay growled, lifting his eyes to see the young couple walking down the sidewalk outside. Their hands locked together as Lucas whispered things to her that made her giggle and blush. "So fucking weird…"

"Clay, Brooke wanted to get breakfast before we left for the games. Be nice, please," she pleaded, but knew this was weird. Brooke text her earlier and said how she and Lucas were going to get something to eat before he headed to the school and caught the bus, so she was wondering if Clay and she wanted to come. She instantly said yes, Clay instantly groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

"Hey guys," Brooke bounced over to the table with a big smile.

"Hey, kiddo," Clay gave a tight lipped smile as she dropped down before him. "Luke…"

"Clay," Lucas's voice matched his as he slid down beside his girl. "Hey Quinn," he half grinned as he drummed his fingers on the back of Brooke's chair.

"Well, I'm going to get me some more coffee," Quinn stood and nodded for Brooke to follow.

"Yeah, me too."

"I can get it," Lucas offered but she shook her head no.

"I got it," Brooke waved her hand at him and gave a smile. "I know what you like," she told him and blushed when he smirked. "But…uh," she cleared her throat as he chuckled. "Bubba, you want anything?"

"I'm just going to drink some coffee, kid. Thanks though," Clay flashed her a smile as he watched Lucas pull some cash from his pocket and hand it over to her. Brooke studied it a moment before his brow arched up almost challenging her to not take it.

"We'll be back…" she caved and took Quinn's arm as they walked off.

"Won that one…"

"Won, what?" Clay questioned confused.

"Brooke," Lucas awkwardly shifted in his chair and glanced back at her. "She doesn't like me paying for her stuff. I don't get why."

"Probably because her family is loaded," Clay joked a little and Lucas laughed.

"Yeah, that's probably it."

"She used to fight with me to buy my shit too. I finally told her I was a grown man and didn't want her money," he told him and again Lucas laughed.

"She has a good heart. Just worries about people," he turned his head to watch her standing in line laughing with Quinn.

"She seems happy, which is a good thing."

"Well she is happy," he turned to face him and sunk back in his chair. "She's doing really well, Clay. Laughs more, talks more. She's opening up. She's just in a great place. Last night she went off with Rachel and just had fun."

"Yeah, I can tell," Clay watched her and grinned when she threw her head back with a loud laugh. "Don't screw up, Luke," he told him and Lucas's head snapped back to face him. "I don't hate you because of Greg. It took a long time but I don't. We were all….dumb. And I'm sorry for shit I said and for shit I didn't stop, but don't hurt her. Don't screw up this time. She is the only family I have left."

"I won't…" Lucas told him a little shocked by that little confession. "I'm not going to screw up. She's good, Clay. She makes me want to be a better person."

"Yeah, I can tell," Clay agreed and grinned when he saw the girls heading back. "Ya'll get the whole store," he teased as they slid down in their chairs and placed food before them.

"We are hungry," Quinn growled slugging his chest and the group chuckled. "Be nice or I won't allow you to eat."

"I'll be very nice then," he grinned and she giggled placing a piece of bacon in his mouth.

"So, B, you excited to spend a ravishing weekend away with, like, super, preppy, totally awesome, friends?" Quinn mocked a preppy cheerleader tone and the group laughed. "Because I'm like, totes excited."

"Please never say totes again," Lucas pleaded and she laughed.

"Actually I'm not going," Brooke shrugged and spun her spoon in her coffee.

"Babe, you're going to die of diabetes," Lucas took the sugar from her when she poured a massive amount in.

"Why aren't you going?" Clay asked confused to why she was staying home. "If you don't have a room, you can crash in Quinn's. I'm sure she and Rachel don't mind."

"I know, but mom and dad are coming home tomorrow afternoon and wanted me to be home."

"Well that sucks…"

"Yeah, it's ok though. I'm glad they are coming home," she told them and took a bite of her food.

"Remember what I said though," Lucas reminded placing his hand on her leg.

"Lucas, I know," her eyes rolled and she shook her head. "I'm fine. They are my parents."

"I know, I just-"

"I know, ok? I know you don't, but I'm good. I'm happy. No more dark places," she told him and he gave a tight lipped smile that the table could tell he wasn't sure off. "Lucas, I don't-"

"Stop," he ordered and her mouth snapped shut. Clay watched the couple as they interacted and wondered how he felt about it. "Just stop," his hand squeezed her leg and she frowned looking down at it. "I'm going to worry. I'm going to be protective, so just accept it and stop, alright?" he ordered leaning forward and she clapped her hand with his.

"Ok," she agreed and he gave her a light kiss. "Alright. I'm sorry, I know. I just hate-"

"I know, but it doesn't matter," he told her and she bit her lip. "Don't ask me to not worry about you, alright?"

"Ok," she sunk back in her seat and took a sip of her drink. Cutting her eyes over at him and released a dry laugh and rolled his eyes.

"This conversation exhausts me sometimes…" Lucas stood and tossed his napkin down on the table. "I'll be right back…" he headed out the front door and out onto the sidewalk and pulled out his phone.

"What was that about?" Clay shared a look with Quinn confused. They seemed fine, the conversation wasn't aggressive or anything. However, with a small flip of the eyes and suddenly both seemed extremely annoyed.

"He just frustrates me. He has this annoying need to protect me from everything. I'm tired of people doing that. I'm tired of people thinking I'm teetering on the edge."

"I get that, B, but you…you can't be irritated when the guy you care about worries about you. I don't think he thinks you are teetering, I think…I think he just…"

"Loves you," Quinn finished for her boyfriend, knowing he didn't want to say that word. He might be trying, but Clay still was having issues with this whole thing.

"I'll be right back," Brooke slid her chair back and moved to follow her boy.

"What?" Quinn looked at Clay as he gave her a weird look.

"He does…doesn't he? Loves her…"

"A hell of a lot," Quinn told him and gave a light shrug. "But only about half as much as I love you."

"Yeah?" his brow arched and she released a giggle.

"Oh yeah," she slid her hands around his neck and played with the shorts hairs on the back of his head. "You don't have to worry about him, Clay. Not when it comes to her," she whispered and he nodded. "They are good…they are good for each other."

"Maybe they are," he leaned forward and caught her mouth on his. "But let's not discuss them right now. I'm going to be on a bus with guys and like, peppy, bubble gum popping cheerleaders. I'd rather enjoy the few moments I have to spare not discussing my cousin."

"I definitely agree with that," she cupped his cheek and leaned forward for another kiss.


"I know you aren't talking to anyone," Brooke slipped off the last step and looked at the boy leaning against the brick wall. "You just play with your phone so you don't have people bother you."

"Think you know me?"

"All too well," her finger drug across the wall as she stopped before him. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just…walked out. I just know that look you gave me. I didn't want an argument to start. Not in front of Clay. Can't really preach us being great together to him if we fight in front of him."

"Couples fight and bicker. He knows that."

"Couples also worry about each other," he pointed out and her gaze dropped to the ground. "Baby," he twisted to face her and dropped his hand to her hip. "I don't think you are in a bad place…trust me, I've been in that bad place and though sometimes you get this distant look…it's never that distant. I just worry about you getting your feelings hurt or something and I hate I'm not there to make you feel better."

"That's actually really sweet," she agreed and he smiled as she pushed up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "I'm going to miss you too. And thank you for coming to breakfast. Even though I've been kinda…grumpy."

"I'd do anything you asked," he brushed her hair back with a light smile. "You know that…"

"Yeah, I know," she sunk back on her heels and looked up at him. "Saw you and Clay laugh together…"

"Yeah, must mean hell has officially frozen over," he slid his arm over her shoulder and steered her back toward the door. "Or we've entered it…"

"Be nice," she tugged the door open, not realizing how accurate that last statement truly was.


So, sorry I haven't updated in a while! Work…blah! But hope you enjoyed…well because I feel after next chapter ya'll won't like me very much anymore!

Well!

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