He had been knocking on her door for the past five minutes. The evening air had grown chilly and his body was starting to shiver from the breeze blowing around him. He hadn't tried to open the door though. He had thought about it….Brooke's car was in the garage, and she always kept the front door open when she was home, but walking into her house uninvited somehow seemed wrong to him. Sure he and Brooke were getting past civility, but they were a far cry from being friends, from being able to just walk into each other's houses unannounced. Even Brooke knocked before coming into his house to see Peyton…granted she didn't always wait for someone to come and open the door, but she still knocked.

He was torn out of his thoughts when he heard glass shatter from inside the house. His hand found the doorknob and quickly turned him, relief and hesitation filling him when the door opened. "Brooke…" he called her name loudly but he was met by silence in return. As he propelled his feet forward, a muffled sob left the kitchen. A few steps later he was in the kitchen's archway, his eyes focused on the brunette sitting in a crumpled mess on the floor, her back against the wooden cabinet and her legs tucked oddly underneath her. Tears were streaking down her splotchy face as she looked up to meet his worried gaze. His eyes flashed to the open bottle of vodka on the island counter, then shifted toward the shards of broken glass around the bottom of the refrigerator, the clear liquid dripping from the door onto the ceramic tiles.

"I can't help her Lucas…" her distressed voice caused his attention to turn back to the disheveled brunette. "I keep trying…I keep telling her that everything is going to be okay…that she's going to get through this." She wiped roughly at her face with the back of her hand.

"She is going to get through this Brooke…" he voices was stern as he moved towards her.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore…what if she just keeps getting worse. She was so pale this afternoon and she looked so exhausted. I keep trying to deny it, but it's not working anymore. She could die Luke." Her hand pressed against her chest and her eyes shut tightly as her stomach knotted.

"She's not going to die. I really wish everyone would stop saying that" He was getting frustrated with everyone's pessimism. He refused to believe that Peyton wouldn't pull through this…she had to.

"But what if she does. She keeps telling me that's she's okay…that she's just tired…but it's not true. She's dying and I can't stop it Luke…I can't make it go away…I can't save. She's my best friend, she's always done everything to help me and I can't protect from this."

"Brooke…" he slid down next to her, instinctively pulling her body into his, her tears quickly soaking through his shirt.

"I can't lose her Luke…she's all I have. I'm not close to anyone in California and when I come back here no one ever notices me or they just don't care. It's like I've become this invisible person…but then Peyton came back and we picked everything back up…we were best friends again. She needed me Luke…for the first time in years someone needed me, someone cared about me, it actually mattered if I was around. I know it sounds really selfish, but I just can't lose her…I don't have anyone else."

He pulled her body close and opened his mouth but pursed his lips back together. He wanted to say that she had him, that she had Haley and Nathan too…but that wasn't exactly true. Brooke had been back in town for months now, and no one spoke to her except Peyton and Alex. He had only spoken to her about Peyton…and even that was only a few words. This was the first real conversation he had had with Brooke Davis since high school.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He was tempted not to answer it, but the thought of it being Nathan or Haley with information was enough to make him unwrap one of his arms and pull her phone out. "Hello…"

"Hey…did you find Brooke"

"Yeah Nate I did…" the brunette hadn't bothered to look up, she just sat with her face buried against Lucas's chest.

"Peyton's asking for her…"

"Did Dr. Collins come back yet?" This caused Brooke to pull away from Lucas and focus her bloodshot eyes on him, her lips parted slightly as she waited for him to get off the phone and tell her what was going on. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea why Lucas had come over here in the first place…something must have happened…it must have been bad if he came to get her.

"No not yet…but she just really wants to see Brooke…"

"We'll be there soon…" he closed the phone and looked down at the tile underneath him, avoiding Brooke's questioning stare.

"What happened" she managed to choke out the words, not sure whether or not she really wanted the answer. Lucas forced himself to meet her tear filled eyes, but he couldn't seem to find the words. Brooke was already falling apart. How was he supposed to tell her that Peyton was back in the hospital…that things weren't looking good…that Peyton had just been given a serious dilemma…and on top of all that…they were waiting to find out if Peyton had cancer?

That's when it hit him for the first time…when he couldn't find a way to avoid that thought anymore…Peyton could die. She might never make it out of the hospital…and there's nothing he can do to prevent it.