Disclaimer- I own nothing

Author's Note: I figure that since you are all AMAZING I should reward you with an update. I didn't mean to go a month without one so here is another one!! Oh and for fans off A Lingering Kiss, my sister is planning on writing that, obviously with her own twist. She is still working on it but I will let you know when she posts it. Of course you are under no obligation to read it, but since she is young and it will be her first story, I think it would be great for people to support it.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

(Oh and I hope it's not confusing.)

-Lily


"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." –Anonymous


"So are you going to invite me in?" Lucas asked coyly leaning along Brooke's door, holding her hips along his own body.

"I don't know, do you want to come in?" she flirted, playing with a small strand of his hair that rested along the back of his neck.

He smiled, gently kissing her lips until she responded. He tasted like the peppermint he had grabbed from the basket after walking out of the restaurant and Brooke hoped that she tasted the same to him.

"Lily is gone for another couple hours," Lucas informed her as their lips separated.

"You know what that means?" Brooke asked raising her eyebrow, grabbing her key as she went to unlock the door, maneuvering around her boyfriend to do so.

"I know exactly what that means," he grinned, holding onto her hand as the door opened to reveal a messy room filled with magazines and clothes scattered along the floor.

"English homework!" Brooke smiled, feigning elation as Lucas kicked the door close with a chuckle.

"What book?" he asked, moving closer to her as she moved to her bookshelf.

"Great Gatsby," Brooke said.

"Someone dies," Lucas replied without another thought.

"Well now you just ruined it," Brooke frowned, throwing the book at his chest, but after years of athletics, he caught it without a second glance.

"I never said who dies," Lucas placed the book down.

"But now I know a character dies," Brooke pouted her bottom lip.

"There is death in every book, I simply reaffirmed that," he countered.

"But this story could have been different."

"It could have been," he joked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And maybe if you stop talking, I will help you with the book later?" he suggested.

"Oh sorry," she frowned. "I don't mean to talk a lot," she rambled before Lucas chuckled, kissing her before she could continue. Slowly, he moved them backwards to her bed, lying on top of it, with her straddling him.

He could feel her slight hesitation when his hands moved below her shirt, caressing her breast, but he put it off to the fact that she was still getting used to this, to his touch, and his complete obsession with her. Lucas had never wanted a girl so much more than he wanted Brooke. Even though they had previously been together on a physical level, the excitement of being with her again never ceased, actually, it probably only grew.

With other girls he was satisfied with a one-time deal. But with Brooke, one time a day wasn't enough to satisfy him.

"Luke," he felt his name appear on her lips, a breath upon his cheek as she sat up straight, his hands drawing a small circle by her hips.

"You are killing me babe," he chuckled, but still listened.

"Sorry," she cringed, and without another word, fell against his body, moving her arms along his chest, feeling his perfectly sculpted body beneath her touch. He loved the light dabbles of her fingertip, pulling his shirt further up his body until it fell to the wooden floor below.

Then he felt a light slap along his stomach and a tear slip from her eye and had he not looked up so quickly, he would have missed her hand wipe the warm liquid from her face.

"Damn it," she whispered sternly to herself.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, not lovingly and concerned but motionless and still.

"I just can't, I need to go," she said quickly, trying to get up off his body, but like an instinct, he grabbed hold of her wrists.

"No," he said firmly. Gently removing her from his body, he got up and locked the door, placing a chair underneath the handle so nobody could get in. "We are going to figure out what the hell is screwing us over."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"What am I talking about? God damn it Brooke, I'm not an idiot," he yelled banging his fist along the wall, startling her. "You don't want kiss me in the parking lot this morning, fine I can understand your excuse, however bull shit I think it is. And then Rachel comes, and yes I know that she can be a bitch but you learn to deal with her. Honestly, you didn't seem to get pissed by her so hey I figure that you're fine, that what she said had no effect on you. Which it shouldn't. Then we get in the car and we talk about your brother, fine I get it, I accept it. I tell you about UNC and you're sympathetic but I can see the look in your eyes that you're relieved. Well fuck that, Brooke, why the hell would I see that? I put it off to maybe you were thinking about something else because you sure as hell turned it around quickly to whisper a few words of comfort. Lunch? Well that was a blast wasn't it? My favorite part? Well probably a tie between the awkward silences and me attempting to fill them while you scoot some lettuce around on your salad, and you going to the bathroom every 15 minutes to fix your makeup or wash your hands. I am not about to watch our relationship crumble because of something stupid as us not communicating. I don't care if it takes all fucking day but you will tell me what's bugging you," Lucas told her, looking her straight in the eye as anger built inside of him. He knew her too well for her to pawn this off as nothing.

"I just have a lot of stress for school, you know. And Jake, I just haven't talked to him," she replied, running her hands through her hair as he looked anywhere besides him.

"I am going to ask you a question and I want an honest answer, not like the one you just gave me."

"I didn't…" she began.

"Do you want to be with me anymore? Because if not, here is your out. No questions asked and I won't bug you anymore. I love you and even now those words just are not enough, but I don't want to be in a relationship without someone who well they love me, but… I don't want any buts in our relationship. This will work, I put too much effort for it not to and I care about you too much for me to let this slip between my fingers without trying to hold onto something. I don't want have to fight you or continue to fight for you if you don't want me to win," Lucas told her, pleading with her. He loved her but there was something wrong, it began when they got back from Martha's Vineyard, although even then it was just about Jake. But today, there was something changed about her and although he could have put it off to being a bad day, he wasn't going to do that. He was not going to give up all of his dreams unless she wanted him just as much as he, her.

"You think you're the only one fighting in this relationship?" Brooke yelled appalled. "You think that I don't care and I love just waiting for you to come and get me from wherever? I might not be fighting for you, but I sure as hell am fighting who you were. I am tired of meeting girls all the time that have slept with you…" she told him angrily.

"I thought we had talked about this a hundred times. I am different now, that is just my past and they don't matter," Lucas said, hoping that something he would love to forget would not cause the rift between them.

"I know and I convince myself that every single time. But Lucas that is easier when we are alone and I don't have to see them and imagine you two together. Do you know how hard it is to meet girls who expect me to have had sex with you simply because you are Lucas Scott and that my reputation has changed because of who you were. I don't care what people think of me, if they whisper behind my back and say that I am just getting some, that, that's why we are going out. But don't you dare say that I don't want to be with you because I am standing here right now, hoping that you can maybe understand my side. But you never will. You will never stand in a group of strangers and find that the common thread is that I have had slept with them all. But I find myself in that position every day. And today, Rachel? My God she is a fucking lingerie and swimsuit model. I have given up trying to compete with other girls because I know that you love me and for some reason you chose me above all the others. But I will not accept the fact that you don't find them attractive. But still, even if that is all it was, just some attraction, then I could get over it. Yet, it's not. How can I know 100 percent that you won't wind up being the same person you were only months ago. It's your past, it is apart of you," she ended on a soft note.

"You learn from your mistakes, Brooke. I have told you countless times that I was jealous of the fact that you were a virgin, and that I got to be the one to take that away. I hated that I couldn't give you the same thing. But that's how life is, you are who you are, and yes I have a sucky past but I am pretty damn proud of my present. And yes you do have to deal with them but can't you just accept it and realize that my first doesn't matter as much as my last? You, Brooke, you're my last," he replied heartfelt, and rather than picking up on the fact that Lucas was basically telling her that he wasn't planning on having sex with anyone else, she continued on.

"No, I don't think I can accept it," she smiled teary eyed. "I… I… can't do it, Lucas. I don't want to have to be strong."

"Then what?" he pleaded. "What can I do?"

"I don't know," she said defeated as a tear slipped down her face.

"Brooke," he began.

"I think, I think you should go."

"Only if I know that this isn't the end," Lucas said, searching her eyes for answers, but all he found was sadness and defeat.

"No, not the end," she replied and when he saw the truth he kissed her lightly on the lips knowing that he would do anything to show her that his past was over with, that she was the only one he wanted to be with.


Nathan walked over to the basketball court, excited for a fun game of no pressure, just a bunch of the guys enjoying the sport. It didn't happen as much as he wished it would, but he was sure to make it memorable, and win in the process. After all, losing is not fun.

The basketball slammed along the backboard and ricocheted off back to the foul line.

"Don't break anything," Nathan chuckled, grabbing his own ball and joining his cousin on the opposite side of the court.

"Are you here to bug me?" Lucas asked, glancing to the clock that still read the same time as only a moment ago and signifying that there was still another hour before they would shoot for teams.

"Who the hell ticked you off?" he asked, shooting a faultless shot into the net.

"If you," Lucas turned around to face Nathan, "had to deal with all the guys Haley had slept with on a daily basis, how would you react?"

"What?" Nathan yelled. "Who the hell is she sleeping with?"

"It is completely theoretical," Lucas calmed him. "But, what would you do?"

"I don't know," Nathan said, shrugging his shoulders as he dribbled the ball. "I would get pissed off and extremely jealous. I mean that would suck, having to deal with that all the time and have no escape. I mean I guess I would just be playing basketball all the time and like you, throwing a few balls along the backboard," he lightened the subject.

"But would you bring it up, the guys, all the time, even if she had told you before that they mean nothing?"

"Let's talk about you and Brooke and get me and Haley out of it. We are still in the beginning stages and I don't want any of this theory shit to ruin that," Nathan said, placing the ball down.

"I just don't know what to do. I mean I keep telling her that those girls don't mean anything, that the past is the past and I have changed. She knows that I love her and I want only to be with her but then Rachel shows up and this is all thrown in my fucking face."

"Did you yell at her?" Nathan asked.

"What?"

"When you guys talked about this, did you yell?"

"Yeah, but…" he began.

"You, Lucas Scott are an asshole," Nathan replied. "Who wouldn't feel like her? You have slept with basically every girl on campus and then some. Plus with Rachel showing up? God Lucas any girl is going to get insecure when she finds her boyfriend had a thing for a model and that model had a thing for her boyfriend. Cut her some slack, she deserves better than you anyways," Nathan smiled.

"I know that. But damn it Nathan I can't always listen to her being regretful of my past when I deal with that on a daily fucking basis myself."

"I have a solution," Nathan interpolated.

"What?" Lucas asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Brooke needs to get laid," he replied without a note of humor.

"What!" Lucas yelled angrily at the suggestion.

"Think about it, she can go have sex with other guys while you stay like an angel without even looking at any girls. You will find out what it feels like to be her plus she gets to find out what it likes to be you. Let me tell you, you get the sucky part in all this," Nathan grinned.

"Who the hell would ever think of that?"

"A genius," Nathan said after considering for a moment.

"Or a complete dick," Lucas offered.

"Yeah that too," Nathan agreed.

Both of them laughed for a moment and continued to play basketball and for the time being, it was just two guys out on the court. Lucas could run off his problems and Nathan could take delight in the fact that for once he wasn't the one driven by emotional pressure. Although this did cause him to get his ass wiped as Lucas sprinted straight past him and to the hoop.

"Hey, have you ever thought that this might be so much deeper than her and your past?" Nathan asked, holding the ball on his hip.

"What are you talking about?" he asked out of breath.

"Being the genius that I am I just considered a few possibilities. A. She doesn't find you hot anymore, which is completely plausible. B. She met someone else." Nathan began before Lucas interrupted with a scowl.

"As much as I want to listen to you and your choices, I think I am going to ask you to shut the hell up."

"C. She's pregnant," Nathan added and Lucas dropped his chin to stare in disbelief.

"No," he said simply, walking over and grabbing the ball from Nathan.

"I'll list some symptoms."

"When the hell did you become obstetrician?" Lucas asked, quite sure that his girlfriend was in no way pregnant.

"I am a genius, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucas chuckled.

"The obvious, when is the last time she had her period?" Nathan asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Nathan, that's gross," Lucas cringed.

"It's nature," Nathan tried to be serious until Lucas threw the ball at him, both of them laughing.

"Just shut up."

"Just answer the question," Nathan said. He didn't think Brooke was pregnant either but figured that as strange as it seems, Lucas would have an easier time dealing with the fact that Brooke has been emotional because that, then that she still can't get over his past.

"I don't know, not since we've started having sex," Lucas shrugged, thinking back to a time when that was the reason that they couldn't do it. After all, he would know if he couldn't have sex with Brooke for a whole entire week.

"How much would that suck to get pregnant your first time," Nathan laughed. "That's when you know your life sucks ass."

"But since she's not pregnant," Lucas reminded him. "It has been maybe 2-3 weeks, not long enough for either of us to know if she has missed hers and not long enough for us to be debating this."

"You make a valid point, but we have an hour to kill. Next, are her breasts bigger or sore?" Nathan asked until Lucas glared at him.

"This is my girlfriend, we are not discussing her boobs," Lucas said seriously.

"Lucas I swear this is not my attempt to bed Davis."

"Yeah well after your "she should have sex with everyone!" and "lets talk about her breasts" comments, I'm not so sure."

"Ah, jealousy, just imagine that times 10 for Brooke," Nathan pointed out and Lucas frowned. Yes, that would suck. But he was not a jealous guy, this was not jealousy, he just didn't get jealous. Did he?

"I don't…"

"Yeah, you do."

"There was this one time today that I you know, and she kinda hesitated and stopped," Lucas muttered, referring back to Nathan's original question.

"Well so far, we got nothing," Nathan chuckled. "She's not pregnant, she just hates you."

"Gee, thanks friend."

"I don't know, does she seem to have a lack of appetite or go to the bathroom a lot?"

"I thought girls crave food and have morning sickness? Not have lack of an appetite," Lucas pointed out. "And how would we know any of this since well one, she isn't pregnant, and two doesn't it take at least a month for symptoms?"

"No craving comes later on," Nathan pointed out before they were interrupted with a loud bang of the gym doors.

"Hey guys," Lily smiled, skipping over to her two favorite guys. "What are you talking about?"

"Babies," the replied at the same time, nonchalantly.

"Aw are you guys having one? I am definitely the god mother," she jumped in.

"Poor child," Nathan frowned, shaking his head, earning a slap from the blonde girl.

"Yeah it would suck to have two dads, from the same family," Lily smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, straying away from the topic.

"I went to my room, and Brooke was in there. Pissed off. She said something about you and her and every other girl on the planet and then proceeded to tell me that she "just can't do it" and I figured that you were in the same mood which obviously means I would find you here," Lily said with a chuckle. "Now, what the hell did you do to Brooke?"


(FLASHBACK)

"Lucas, I am not going to get pregnant. I can't get pregnant," Brooke informed him and Lucas looked at her curiously and slowly his mouthed formed an 'O.'

"You never had your…" he alluded to, and like Nathan, refused to say the word.

"No, I've had my period," she replied causing him to cringe.

"Then what do you mean, you can't get pregnant?"

"Lucas, I mean that I won't. I'm not even 16 years old and there is no way that I could support a child inside or outside of me. I am still a kid myself and knowing that a life depends on me for its wellbeing and protection, there is no way I could do it. Plus, Jake would kill you, and then me," she added on a lighter not, but firmly got her idea across.

(END FLASHBACK)


"She just can't do it," Lucas whispered to himself. "Damn it Nathan," he yelled, moving quickly to the doors and running out of them, stopping and seeing Brooke just a few steps away, and if looks could kill, he would be dead.

"We need to talk," she said seriously.

"Brooke," he began.

"Are you pregnant?" Lucas asked at the exact time Brooke asked,

"Did you get into UNC?" Raising her hand to show him an envelope contradictory to the one he showed her earlier. This one was of acceptance.


Author's Note- PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not kill me. Haha, I have planned plenty of drama for this story and I just have to task you all to trust me. I have the next bit planned and I think (or hope) I know the characters enough to know how far I can pull them in different directions. Let me just say that you are all in for a rollercoaster ride and I am going to leave it up to you for picking things up and putting some of the pieces together through out the next chapter.

SEQUEL- I am still SO torn, but just to let you all know that it won't be for a while. I am thinking this story will at least hit 50 chapters so I will bring this topic up again a little later :).

Anonymous Review Thanks:

Sara- Ah I have missed your reviews SO much that you have no idea. School has been killing me and there was no way I could even attempt writing but now that it is over I am free to write :). I think that we all know Lucas Scott was a player and was many things, but obviously is not anymore. But still Brooke has to deal with being in a relationship with him and facing the girls of his past. Well that's great that Lucas can tell her that they don't matter, but does he really understand? No, because he hasn't dealt with it. So a lot of this is also going to be a self-realization on his part and also Brooke finding that she cannot hold onto the past and expect to grow. Sure those characters have hit that at random points, but Lucas needs to understand that he is a very jealous person, and he has never really found that out before. After all, there are cases when he gets envious of Brooke and Nathan… two friends, his cousin and his girlfriend. How would he even react with another guy talking to Brooke? There is a reason you haven't seen any interactions between other guys and Brooke… yet. It is because it is all part of a process and Lucas is really going to understand what Brooke has to deal with. And he might react in a strange way :). But over all, I do love these characters and as I have said before to my other reviewers, a relationship is not all happy, but there are struggles and mistakes (again, not cheating mistakes), but people do, do things that might not have been the smartest decision at the time. But you live and you learn and if your love is strong enough, then it will fill the gaps. (Plus I was in a bad mood yesterday and ended up having B&L kinda get on a rough start so I am going to have to deal with that haha). I definitely write what I am feeling so you should be able to tell if I was in a good mood, tired, mad, ect.

Yeah the UNC thing is a low blow… maybe. Because here Brooke is with evidence that maybe not everything is how it appears. But why would Lucas lie! And the two mini cliffhangers… hmm who knows! Haha is Lucas jumping to conclusions OR was Nathan on the right track? Gosh well I just don't know. But I do know that each character will be on a rollercoaster for a while and some new relationships will be introduced… one should be very surprising but I think adorable!! (And none of them will hurt B&L.).

Rachel, yeah, I love her as a character but I cannot say she is here spreading joy to the world. However, she will not be the worst thing and maybe, MAYBE might do more good than harm.

Sequel, I understand your concerns and hey you obviously know me well enough because I thought about each and every single one of those scenarios as the ending. But (and I hope this isn't giving anything away) no matter the ending, an epilogue or if a sequel will follow, B&L will be in a good place. And gosh no, Lucas WILL NOT turn into his old self. That I wouldn't even be able to fix haha. But again who knows!

And thank you again for the review. I feel like I know what you will say about those two cliffhangers, but I think we might be on the same page… I shall see.

-Lily