How to Save a Life

Chapter 38 –

Loud music pounds and echoes through the walls of the chic L.A. joint as Lucas leans forward taking another sip of his beer. He'd never envisioned this to be the place where the rest of his future would be forever altered, but he knows that Hollywood does things differently than Tree Hill. It's more fast-paced; livelier.

"How 'bout I get you another drink, Luke?"

A chuckle vibrates through Lucas's chest as he shakes his head. "Tryin' to get me drunk so I can agree to all of this?" he smirks.

Julian laughs and shakes his head. "Hey, I thought it was a done deal," his overconfident, almost smug, attitude is of course ever-present.

"I didn't sign anything yet, Baker," the blonde mocks, gesturing towards the stack of papers sitting before him.

Julian leans back comfortably in his chair, ready to fight like hell to be given the rights to this book. "I'm telling you, Luke. You don't want to pass this up, man. You option the rights over to me and you'll be bringing home a ton of money to your family. I can guarantee it."

The simple mention of his family back home is enough to generate a smile on the blonde author's face. His gorgeous wife; his crazy, energetic son. He's only been gone a day and he misses them like crazy.

"Ah," Julian points his finger. "See, I got you there…so tell me about them…your family. What're they like?"

Folding his arms across his chest and closing his eyes, the faintest smirk takes its place on Lucas's lips. No words said can possibly express just how grateful he is to have such an amazing, supportive family back home. And he knows that as he goes on to describe just how big of a heart Brooke has, or how Colton can at times be just like Brooke – crazy and talkative and outgoing, and at times be just like him – the quiet one who'd rather be reading and writing, he'll sound like the usual proud husband and father bragging about just how "great" his family is. But he doesn't care how generic and unoriginal he may come across because he means every last word.

"You sound like a lucky man, Luke," Julian replies wistfully.

Lucas nods. He knows he is. "What about you, Julian? Have anybody special?" he asks, wondering if he's crossing any of the lines bordering unprofessionalism.

Without missing a single beat, the movie producer shakes his head, that large grin of his spreading across his features once more. "Single and lovin' every second of it. Relationships…they're too complicated for me."

Stifling a laugh, Lucas reaches out to grab his new drink. "Trust me. You meet the right person, and you'll be thinking a hell of a lot differently," he answers matter-of-factly.

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Julian groans, his peaceful slumber coming to an abrupt stop as a result of the too-energetic-for-it-to-be-morning nine-year-old child jumping on the bed. He reaches up to rub his eyes and adjust to the morning light before struggling to tiredly sit up.

Satisfied to have accomplished the hard task of actually getting Julian up in a matter of minutes, Colton plops down on the bed and laughs, "Hey, look. You're up."

Julian feigns annoyance and playfully rolls his eyes at the boy. "Yeah, I wonder why," he mumbles sleepily.

Colton waves his hand disregarding the sarcastic remark before hopping off of the bed, landing firmly on his two feet. "We have to get up, dad! Don't you know what today is?"

Julian laughs. Of course he does, but he figures he'll play around with the kid. "Hmmm," he pretends to be deep in thought, scratching his head. "Well it's not your birthday…and it's not Christmas…so, I don't know. I'm all out of guesses, Colt."

"Oh, come on!" he exclaims, shaking his head in a frustrated manner. "You're marrying mom today!"

"Ohhh, right. That's today. Well thanks for waking me up, bud…I would've slept through the whole thing and then your mom would've probably killed me, huh?"

Amused, Colton shakes his head and urges Julian to get out of the bed.

"Can't be late for the big day, can we, best man?"

"Definitely not! I wonder what mom's doing right now…"

"What's going on in that head of yours, Brooke?" Haley announces her presence as she walks inside the room.

Sat in front of the mirror, Brooke looks up at Haley's reflection. "Nothing," she murmurs with the slightest shake of her head.

"Brooke," Haley tests. She can always read her best friend so well.

"Haley," Brooke counters back with just as much energy as she spins around in the chair to actually face her. "I'm fine," she shrugs. "I'm happy…I am."

"But…?"

"But nothing, Hales," she sighs and tries her best to produce any sort of a smile. "I…I just know things are about to change…that's all."

"You know it's okay to be nervous? It's natural. And I know sometimes it can be hard to let go of the past but…change can be good."

"I know, I know," she nods in full agreement. Today is the day she officially lets go of all the bad. "This is good. And I can't wait to start my new life with Julian," she replies, feeling a large smile creep onto her face and all her anxiousness wash away.

"Hey, mom," Colton greets, walking into the living room and sitting beside Brooke on the couch.

Brooke places down the magazine she had been immersed in and immediately directs her attention to her son. "Hey, handsome. What's up?"

"Well…I, um…I just wanted to ask ya something." He knows with Julian out of the house to pick something up for dinner, now is the perfect time to speak to Brooke.

"Okay…" Brooke says cautiously, noting just how anxious and uncomfortable Colton appears. "You know you can talk to me about anything, babe. What is it?"

"I don't wanna make you upset though…" his voice is low, almost inaudible.

"Colt, baby, what is it?" she urges. She'd been pretty sure they had moved past the whole skirting around certain topics after Lucas's death. She had made it clear that he could come to her anytime, with any problem, and she'd always be willing to talk.

Colton takes a deep breath. "Okay, well you know how I'm gonna be officially adopted soon?" Brooke nods, trying to grasp what it is he could possibly be saying. "I just…wanted to know if maybe I can change my last name…" he pauses for a second. "…to Baker."

Brooke opens her mouth to respond but can't seem to think of anything to say at the moment. It's not really that she's surprised. In a way, she expected that this would happen…she sees the way Colton looks up to Julian in a way he not too long ago looked up to Lucas. She just doesn't know what an appropriate response is.

Colton hesitantly continues before his mom can think of anything to say. "I-I still wanna keep Scott too, mom. I'll never forget dad…but…Julian's my new dad and once you and him get married, you'll be a Baker. And I wanna be one too…that way we'll all be Baker's…we'll be a real family."

Finally, he gets a reaction from Brooke as a warm smile spreads across her face and she gently grabs his hand within her own. Maybe she isn't going to get as upset as he originally thought she would.

"That's really sweet of you, Colton. And I'm sure Julian would love that."

"So you're – you're not mad?" His brow knits together in confusion. "You're not upset?"

A slight laugh escapes her lips. "Of course not, babe. You're right. We're going to be a family. And I can't think of anything greater than that."

Relief washes over Colton's face. He had anticipated this conversation going in a much different direction. He had expected tears, maybe even a fight. "Julian's pretty great, mom."

Brooke nods and leans down to kiss the top of his head. "Well you know what?" He looks up, anticipating her response. "You're pretty great too, Colton Nathaniel Scott Baker."

Colton breaks out into a large smile, beaming. He can certainly get used to that.

They arrive at the church early, as per Colton's request. It's a good hour or so before guests will begin to show up and as the nine-year-old snoops around "exploring" the church and finding his mother, Julian decides to step outside for some fresh air to kill the time.

All his life he'd never pictured himself as the type to settle down. It has been Brooke who has changed his perception completely. Ironically enough, now, he can't seem to think of anything else he wants more than to have a family…this family. And suddenly, it becomes clear that before any of this happens, he needs to go and do something. Something he's truly been meaning to do, but just has not built up enough courage until now.

As he walks down the outside steps, he brushes past someone quickly without realizing who it is…that is, until the individual stops him.

"Julian…" her voice is timid. "Hi."

He whips his head around to be greeted by none other than Peyton. Though they had settled their differences and were slowly trying to get back the friendship they once had, Brooke and Peyton hadn't really hung out that much. As a result, Julian had barely spent any time with her.

"Oh," he tries to play it off cool, offering his friendliest smile. "Hi, Peyton. You're early," he notes.

"Um, yeah," she mumbles, tugging at her dress. "I just, uh, wanted to see Brooke before and maybe talk to her."

Julian nods. "Well I haven't seen her yet, but she's in there somewhere."

"Thanks…so you're not a runaway groom, are you?" she jokes, attempting to break the awkward silence they have fallen into.

Julian chuckles and shakes his head. "Not quite. I just have to get something done before the wedding."

"Well alright. I'll let you be on your way then. I'll see you in a little bit."

"See you, Peyton," he waves as he begins to walk off.

Peyton stands on the steps for a moment, letting the quiet linger, before she calls out to him. "Hey, Julian?"

Abruptly, he turns around and looks up in question at the blonde.

"Thank you," she offers, leaving him slightly confused for a moment before she attempts to clarify. "For making Brooke happy. You're a great guy."

As he walks onto the dirt path, he prays to god that his new dress shoes don't get scuffed or dirty because he just knows he'd never hear the end of it at the wedding from Brooke.

"Hey, Luke," he says, finally reaching the gravesite. "So, it's me…Julian. But I bet you knew that already," he gently sighs, resting a hand against the stone. "I, uh, I don't really know why I'm here. I mean you know I've come here with Brooke and Colton but I've never been here by myself. I just…felt like I needed to today because…today's the wedding. I remember when I met you back in L.A. and you told me about your amazing family back home. Of course back then, I honestly didn't care…they were strangers. And it's just so crazy because that family you spoke so highly of…they changed me. It was like that meeting you and I had changed my life. I never even knew that I wanted a change but…they make me want to be so much better. I promise you that I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to love Brooke the way she deserves to be loved and I'm going to father Colton the way he deserves to be fathered. I've gotta say, you left some pretty big shoes to fill. But I'm up for the challenge. I'm never going to let them down."

Having poured his heart out, finally achieving the calm and clarity he'd been yearning for, he knows that he is ready. Time to become a married man.

A/N – Sorry it took a while for me to get this chapter up…and I'll tell you why. I'm honestly SO STUCK on writing this wedding. I don't like writing weddings. That's why I always deliberately avoid them in my stories. So I was trying to figure out how to write it for this chapter and then, procrastinator I am, finally decided to hold it off until NEXT chapter…but I'm seriously stuck! That being said, I can use suggestions/help. Review, message me, whatever, just HELP! Lol I really don't wanna take forever with the next chapter because the sooner I get the wedding out of the way, the sooner I can get to my new storyline in here which I'm SO EXCITED about!

Thanks guys! :)

-Melissa