Disclaimer: Yep, no changes here. I own nothing. Least of all One Tree Hill and its characters.

I'm writing this after I wrote the chapter not too long after I updated the last one, it ended up being way longer than I expected. And I'm not so sure about it but it was enjoyable to write. I might have squeezed two years of planned stuff into one chapter and a much smaller time frame.

So I updated at Xmas so if you didn't read that chapter go read it before reading this one. Enjoy! Ooh and I'm totally in a good writing mood (check out my new one shot Flowers for a Ghost) so just saying high chances are if this chapter gets a good response the next chapter won't be too far off. Just saying.

-x-

Chapter Thirty-Six

A week had gone by and it was Friday again, Brooke was looking forward to seeing her son yet dreading facing Lucas. It was why she hadn't gone to dinner at Nathan and Haley's tonight, why she was picking Noah up later and half hoping Lucas would have already left yet half hoping he was still there.

A week of her forcing herself to ignore the ringing phone every night even as she slept with his belt on her bedside table as a constant reminder of the man, and if during the night she sometimes took the object and gave it a quick sniff Brooke insisted to herself it didn't mean she missed Lucas. Yet she did.

Lucas wasn't making it easy, every day he did something, or more, to remind her of him. Sending her food on the nights she was working late, the flowers to her house, photos of Noah, and text messages she never replied to. They were never too pushy, sometimes something simple to make her laugh, sometimes a random observation, or just asking or hoping that she was okay. Three nights ago, when Haley visited Brooke noticed the lightbulb on her porch she'd been meaning to change had been fixed, and knew instantly it had been Lucas.

They weren't the words, Lucas never said them, yet everyday he made sure to show in some way that he loved her and Brooke knew what he was doing, what he was saying.

It was senior year again; it was a new version of his I'm the guy for you speech. And like senior year Brooke was pushing back. As she sat in the car outside her friends' house Brooke thought back to all those years ago, a familiar song played on the radio and Brooke's mind was thrust back to before their break up at Nathan and Haley's wedding.

I need you to trust me and believe me when I tell you that my heart is with you… but a part of me feels like ever since we got back together you've just been waiting… waiting to push me away.

Brooke closed her eyes, dug deep, reminded herself of all the reasons why she should push Lucas damn Scott away. He said she doesn't trust him, and she reminded herself she shouldn't trust Lucas, he and his fickle heart were not trustworthy.

"Cruel to be kind" Brooke whispered. A hand covered hers and Brooke opened her hazel eyes to look at the blue ones sitting next to her.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Clay asked.

The agent had long dropped his cocky façade with Brooke, their relationship had changed drastically, from meeting as strangers in a club and being each other's booty call to a true friendship. Once the sex was gone they discovered that they were much better at talking to each other, and Clay became one of Brooke's best male friends. There was Nathan, who was like a brother and they shared so much history, they shared all the same people, which is probably why she got along so well with Clay, sometimes the three of them would go out together and the two men could easily forget the stunning woman drinking beside them wasn't just one of the guys. Brooke had Mouth, who would forever be her best male friend, not quite a brother yet no sexual history between them, Mouth was the friend who she secretly envied because he had all those things in his life she'd always wanted and he didn't even realise it. There was Brick, who had become a good friend too, not in the inner circle though, and despite how easy it could be for the two of them to try to be more than just friends, both aware there was a faint attraction that could be built on, both aware they would probably be really good together and how easy it would be in those circumstances to fall in love with each other, yet equally aware they weren't going to because they also knew they were both in love with other people. Brick was the equivalent of Brooke's school mom friend, their friendship was centred around their children, their exes and all the school gossip, and they were very comfortable with it being that way.

Clay was something else, Clay wasn't wrapped up with Noah and Lucas, and his growing friendship with Nathan didn't interfere with their own. They both knew things about the other no one else in Tree Hill did because Clay was that friend that wouldn't judge her, and had no loyalty to Lucas or Haley or Peyton. They were a lot alike, both damaged in their own way, both healing their hearts in not so healthy ways. Clay was safe, because they both knew they would never fall in love with each other. Could never.

She smiled at him, her nerves showing, "of course" Brooke glanced at the house and before she could change her mind she got out of the car, Clay quickly followed the move and ran around to join her, she clung to him for support, "how do I look?"

"For the record, that's never a question you have to ask" Clay looked her up and down smirking, "definitely what you were after by the way" and he paused. Doubt on his face. Brooke squeezed his arm and Clay shook his head at her, "once we knock on that door there's no going back, you know"

"That's the idea"

"Just making sure you are sure"

"Hey I need my cowboy right now, where's that sure thing smile all the girls fall for at the bars?" she teased, bumping his shoulder.

Clay didn't smile back, "if it was Sarah on the other side of the door…" he couldn't finish the sentence and Brooke's smile dropped, "what are you doing, Davis?"

"Surviving" she answered not quite meeting his eyes, and Clay wrapped an arm around Brooke, walking by her side as they headed for the door and when her hand shook, he held it with one of his and knocked for her with his other.

It was Haley who answered and the other woman's smile of welcome dropped at the sight of her friend with the agent, surprise disappeared from her eyes quickly and was replaced with a knowing and a disappointment. Brooke could not look at her friend and Haley stepped aside, "hi, Noah's just playing with Jamie and Andre in the games room" she added on dryly, "the guys are-" but she didn't finish as Nathan and Lucas appeared.

One Scott brother exclaimed, "Clay, my man" loudly, a giant grin on his face as he walked over to his newest guest.

The other Scott brother dropped his smile and froze, looking on in horror.

Nathan and Clay gave a quick man hug, but as soon as they pulled apart Clay wrapped his arm back around Brooke pulling a smiling Brooke to his front. If her smile was a little false no one could tell except one brooding blonde who was paying close attention, her dimples were on full show and she kept her eyes determinedly on Nathan as she greeted her old friend.

"Damn, Davis" Nathan whistled, he gave a complimentary look over for she was hard not to notice, then kept his eyes on her pretty hazel green ones, because no matter how dressed up a beautiful Brooke Davis was his attention was always drawn to his wife Haley when she was in the room, and he pulled his not so happy wife to his side kissing her head and soon he'd even forgotten Brooke was dressed befitting a Hollywood club event.

"Early night for you guys?" Nathan asked.

Brooke lifted her head up to Clay who stood behind her, "yeah" and she winked at her friend before looking back to Nathan, "I've missed Noah so I want to spend some time with my little man before I take all Clay's money from-"

"Steal. It's stealing the way she plays poker"

"You need to practice more"

"Maybe I like losing" he wiggled his eyebrows and whispered about playing strip poker loud enough that everyone knew exactly what he was talking about. Brooke rolled her eyes and smacked Clay playfully, she stepped away and kissed Nathan's cheek, who now was staring with confusion between his two friends, before excusing herself to find her son.

That night there was no phone call, and no missed call message in the morning. Brooke woke, unable to lie to herself as disappointment darkened her morning.

Still yawning Brooke walked into the kitchen, surprised to find Noah and Clay playing video games in the family room, she poured herself a fresh coffee as she watched them.

"You're awake!" Clay called out not taking his eyes from the screen where he was winning the game, "you sleep okay?"

"Like a dream" she lied, her voice giving her away, not that Noah noticed still not always good at reading sarcasm.

On the other hand, Clay scoffed, then starting yelling as he was victorious, the game ended and he stood, a candy bar already in his mouth causing Brooke to shake her head. As Clay joined Brooke, she passed him his own drink, "how was your sleep?"

"Really good actually, that mattress is great" he eyed Noah as the boy climbed up onto the stool next to him, "the kid wakes up early though, you're lucky your room is so far away"

"You should have slept in Sam's room not Nan's" Noah deadpanned as he took an apple from the fruit bowl.

With a huff Brooke corrected Noah, "Sam's room is Sam's, the guest room isn't just for your Nan it is for all our guest"

"But Nan is the only one who sleeps there, you never let Grandmother stay here"

"Oh, Grandmother prefers the old place" Brooke smiled, her eyes met Clay's and he grinned knowingly at her mistruth, while Noah frowned. Brooke changed the subject, "anyway, guests can pick what they want for breakfast, what's it to be, Cowboy?"

"Ooh, don't I feel special. Oatmeal and fruit?"

"Sure" and Brooke did her best to keep herself distracted. After breakfast Clay left and Brooke turned to her son, "go get dressed and brush your teeth, I'm going to hop in the shower but remember our deal"

"Yes, I get to do what I want until lunch and then-"

"It's Brooke time!" she sing-songed.

"What are we doing today?"

"I thought we could go out on the boat again"

And Noah smiled letting Brooke know he approved of her plans, "the weather should be good, you might even be able to have a swim" she added.

"Can Dad come?"

Noah's question was met by silence.

Eventually Brooke answered, her eyes staying on the kitchen counter, "I don't think so, buddy, your Dad has lots to do"

The boy didn't argue the point, he just excused himself for his quiet time and let his mother go get ready. Their morning was quiet, Noah choosing to read and do some schoolwork while Brooke worked on some of her designs until lunch time.

She didn't give herself a moment to let her mind wander, though Brooke's thoughts easily began to naturally sway towards her sons' father as they sailed along the river, a pastime her ex often joined them in. Every time it happened Brooke quickly came back to the present, she succeeded in keeping her mind off Lucas and missing him until after dinner when before going to bed Noah uncharacteristically ran back into the library where Brooke was cleaning up, his hand behind his back, "I almost forgot" and he brought out a small package from behind his back, "this is from Dad and I, he said I had to wait until today to give it to you" and he gave his mother a hug before saying goodnight for a second time and running back to his room.

Brooke stared at the wrapped rectangle, hesitant, and then she took a breath and unwrapped it. The frame was upside down and Brooke held her breath as she turned it over to reveal an unfamiliar photo. Brooke wasn't sure who had taken it, the moment in time was not posed, she can tell it was at Christmas, the tree was behind the three of them, lights twinkling, presents still waiting to be opened. Noah stood between his parents his face slightly turned up to look at them, one hand holding Brooke's, while he had his father's hand on one shoulder.

It was their faces that caught Brooke's attention as she looked at the image, no wonder she didn't know who had taken the photo because although most of their faces were visible in the picture, they were clearly looking at each other, she had no memory of what they must have been talking about before the camera had flashed however all three of them were smiling.

It was startling for Brooke to see it captured in still form, she wondered if this was how everyone saw them, if their faces and eyes really gave so much away.

Anyone who saw the photograph would see a family, not just a family, they would see two people in love. Brooke licked her lips and carefully placed the frame on the bookshelf, a second later Brooke instead took the frame to her bedroom and placed it on her bedside instead. The library was a private room, usually only Noah and Brooke spent time in there, still it felt even more personal and Brooke couldn't help but think it fitted right in next to the vase of roses by her bed.

Unable to look away Brooke just stared at it, "what the hell am I doing?"

It took her three seconds to go get her phone.

-x-

The words were slightly slurred, Nathan was worried, he'd never seen his brother like this, sure Lucas sometimes drank but never to this point. It would have been funny if Nathan didn't think his brother's heart was breaking.

"…and she knows wh-w-adge sheeps doing… and I-"

"Love her" Nathan finished the sentence.

"Yeah" Lucas frowned, taking another long swallow.

Nathan placed a steady hand on his brother's shoulder, he didn't know the full story because no one had told him, yet he knew enough, "want my advice?" he didn't wait for an answer, "give her space, I'm not saying give up or walk away, I'm not saying go find another woman to help you forget and move on, yeah that shit didn't work in the past. Brooke's being Brooke, the more you push back the harder she will push you away, the crueller she will be, so right now just step back and don't let her have anything to push against, and when she calms down which she eventually will whether it's tomorrow or next month or next year… you'll be there"

"Howl?"

With a shake of his head and a chuckle Nathan took the bottle from Lucas' hands, "ok, that's enough for you"

"You were such a dick" Lucas said amazingly clear, "but Haley still got with you!"

-x-

The phone was slapped down with a hard bang, Brooke screamed in frustration, "why does no one answer their damn phones!"

When the phone rang Brooke jumped and then scrambled to answer it, "I need you to come here right now!" her voice was frantic.

"Where's the fire?"

"Please, I need someone to watch Noah" Brooke was already collecting her things, "how fast can you get here?"

"Twenty minutes"

"Okay, good, good, I will see you then" Brooke sighed in relief and her tone changed, "love you".

Half an hour later Sam unlocked the door, "I was on a date, you know. What's the emergency?"

"I need to find Lucas"

"Right" Sam huffed, "I get the no boys rule but your love life…" she let the sentence trail off.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "you're seventeen you don't need a love life"

Whatever Sam mouthed in a reply Brooke didn't hear it, yet she eyed her former foster daughter and the teenager smiled instead, "sure, Brooke, you go have your booty call and I'll make sure your kid stays alive while you're making out with his dad"

"Oh, if I could ground you!"

"I could just leave-"

"Love you, Sam!" Brooke ran to the garage as fast as she could.

-x-

"Oh no" Nathan steered Lucas away from his vehicle, "you are not driving home, I will take you"

"Nuh" the blonde's face scrunched up, he almost tripped, "I'll walk. It's a beautiful night" his speech had cleared slightly. For a moment Nathan considered fighting his big brother on the idea, then he looked at the clear night, the beautiful breeze, and Nathan nodded, saying goodbye to Lucas.

By the time Lucas was half way home he was also half way to sober, his face marred by sadness. Despite knowing that Brooke's actions were designed to hit him where it hurts, it didn't stop the pain Lucas felt. After so many years Lucas didn't want to waste time, he just wanted the girl. The right girl this time.

He was thinking about Brooke, about how she could look both sad and happy at the same time, tired and yet bursting with energy. She had that way about her. Lucas was so focused on thinking about every curve and angle of Brooke that when he walked up towards his home and saw the petite figure sitting on his porch steps, he didn't think much of it, in his state Lucas thought he was imagining it. Thought he was imagining her.

Brooke looked up, a nervous smile on her face, surprised when Lucas seemed to look right though her. She stood, "Hi"

And Lucas froze, his keys in his hands, and he really looked at the vision in front of him. Brooke was waiting by his porch, her hair in a loose pony that was threatening to completely fall apart, no makeup was on her face, she wore a thin white singlet and grey pyjama pants that were tucked into fluffy slippers Noah had bought her last Mother's Day. Lucas had never seen Brooke dressed so unkept outside the comfort of her own home, though it had been her voice that made him realise that the woman in front of him was more than just his thoughts projected out.

"Oh" Lucas dropped his keys in shock, he didn't bother to pick them up.

Her fingers twitched as she nervously played with her own hands, "I'm sorry"

"For… what… exactly?" he spoke carefully so each word got out.

"For everything, I guess"

"For screwing me and then showing up with your boy toy and rubbing him in my face" a little bit of his spite came through and Brooke flinched.

Still, she smiled, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood, because she was so nervous and wasn't completely in control "not one of my finest moments… about Clay. He's just a friend and…"

"I know what you were doing" Lucas hardened his face, "message received" what am I saying? "You need space, I'll give you space"

Brooke sighed, "you said I don't trust you" she begun and Lucas froze as he went to walk up the porch, "but I think I trust you maybe more than I trust anyone else in the world. I trust you with the most important people in my life, I trust that if I need help you will be there like you always have been, I just need to ask" she took one step down.

"I trust you enough to know that no matter what I do, whatever we are or aren't, if I call you then you will pick up even when I ignore your phone calls. I can rely on Lucas Scott. So, I do trust you"

"You have a strange way of showing it"

Brooke's hands went up to her chest, "it's me I don't trust, it's us together, it's love and…" she huffed.

"You're scared"

Big eyes staring at him Brooke gulped, "terrified"

"So am I"

"This is hard for me" her voice trembled.

"It's not exactly easy for me either. Living on the edge of your life, having to watch you live without me, it hurts me to see you smile at some other guy but it hurts me to not see you smile, so I'm damned either way" he looked helpless, "I just wish I could be the one that makes you smile, but I tell you I love you, we make love and then you're crying" and a few tears fell from his own eyes.

"That's not because you don't make me happy, sometimes you make me so happy it scares me. But happiness never lasts, life always gets in the way, car accidents, unplanned pregnancies, people dying, curly haired blondes, just another disaster waiting around the corner" she rolls her eyes, "and if that doesn't happen, I inevitably screw things up" she gives a self-depraving laugh, "because I am a complete mess"

"You're not a mess"

"Please" Brooke kinks her brow at him, and Lucas steps forward, it's a little too close so Brooke turns around and walks up the porch she goes to lean against the house and looks back at Lucas.

He shrugs, "okay, you are a mess. Who the hell isn't?" two steps closer, "you are also beautiful, brilliant and brave, which I have already told you. And I happen to love you just the way you are" he steps even closer and Brooke's eyes widen as she starts to notice more about him.

"Are you drunk?"

Lucas ignores Brooke and goes to unlock the door, unable to find his keys, shaking her head Brooke retrieves the fallen object and hands them to Lucas who quickly opens up the house and grabbing Brooke's hand pulls her towards his bedroom, "I wrote you a letter" he tells her and once they're in the middle of the room he lets go of her hand and pulls open a drawer.

Face flushed Lucas hands the pages to Brooke, and she begins to read, her eyes move away from his neat script to meet his eyes, "this is more like a list-"

"It's all reasons why I love you"

"I'm not bossy" she objects but Lucas just smiles.

She keeps reading and wonders why a list that Brooke could almost view as her faults is a list of things Lucas loves about her.

Then she stops on the second page, her eyes pausing on one sentence.

Because you think you're not good enough but you're too good for me and don't even see it.

"You think you're a mess, as if it's a bad thing. I love your mess, all I want is to be wrapped up in it all with you" and Lucas grins, he still felt sadness but his body still had a buzz. Not sure why he bopped Brooke's nose, it was a cute nose, he loved her nose I should have put that on the list.

Brooke laughs, "you are so drunk" it somehow makes it easier, as if it wasn't so serious.

"But you love me anyway?"

There's a second of silence and she looks into his clear blue eyes and nods, "yes, I love you"

"Good" and he kisses her, he tastes like beer and Brooke pushes Lucas away with a hand on his chest, she stays close though, keeps her eyes glued to his, her fist curling into his open lapel.

"I'm not taking advantage of you" she told him.

Lucas smiled, "that's okay, you can take advantage of me" and he smiles a little more as Brooke lowers him to the bed but she doesn't join him, instead Brooke kneels on the floor and holds his hands.

"No. If we are going to do this, we have to do it right, starting with me saying sorry. It's not your fault and I should have never said the things I did…"

"Shhh, it's okay"

"No, no, no, it's not!"

"I know you were just trying to make me mad" he fell back onto the bed, "I hate seeing you cry"

"You said I look beautiful when I'm vulnerable"

"You're always beautiful" he mumbled.

Brooke crawled onto the bed, her hands still holding Lucas', "you realise half of the reasons why you claim you love me should be reasons for you to run in the complete opposite direction?"

"I tried that" he told her seriously not blinking as they lay side by side.

"Not everything about me is so beautiful" she sighed, "there's things… I can't give you"

"Impossible" he couldn't comprehend what Brooke could be talking about.

His eyes were too loving and intense, Brooke looked up at the ceiling "I can't give you the family you want" she finally said it.

And that made the least sense for Lucas, "you already have" Lucas smiled, he lifted his free hand to turn her face back to him, "all you have to do is stay"

Their eyes locked like they had done millions of times over the last decade, and then they smiled, and Brooke silently made a wish, praying that she could trust Lucas and some of the pretty words he'd given her. Trusted that she was enough.

And she kissed him.

-x-

When Lucas woke in the morning they were still on top of the blankets, Brooke's head nestled on his chest, and their hands still holding onto each other.

Though she still wore her pyjamas, her slippers having fallen off, Lucas was still completely dressed with his shoes on. He didn't want to move, even though Lucas was growing uncomfortable, he could handle a little discomfort if it meant holding Brooke a little longer.

It was twenty more minutes before Brooke woke up, a smile on her lips, she lifted her head with her dark hair a dishevelled mess, "morning" Lucas drawled to a sleepy-eyed Brooke.

"Good morning" Brooke smiled back and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "do you remember much of last night?"

"You mean the part you confessed your undying love for me?"

"I don't quite remember it that way" she grinned, "in fact I think you were the one who wrote an essay about how much you love me" and she kissed him again. Lucas pulled her closer, tighter, rolling them around on the bed until he was on top of her.

"Just admit it, woman" he mumbled between kisses.

Brooke returned each kiss, her hands wrapped around his back, she kept kissing him biting on his bottom lip not saying the words, Lucas leant back, lifting up on his elbows to look down at her, "am I dreaming?"

"I love you, Lucas" and the smile he loved so much was there on her face, then it was gone and Brooke wiggled out from under him, sitting up on the bed, "do you remember everything I said?"

"Yes, not word for word, but yes" he sat down next to her, "and I meant everything I said by the way"

"I know" Brooke gulped, "about that morning, the things I said, I didn't mean them"

"A part of you must have"

"No" Brooke shook her head, "I wanted to hurt you enough to push you away. I owe you so many apologies, so many" she lowered her eyes, "you accused me of not letting you all the way in, of waiting to push you away… and you were right, I was, still have been" she looked him in the eyes, "I lied to you, about our son, about why I broke up with you, about you and the way I feel about you" she gripped his hand again, squeezing tight, "So this is my promise to you-" Brooke took a deep breath, "-I'm going to let you all the way in, I'm never going to push you away again, and I will always tell you how I really feel, for the good and the bad"

"Okay"

"Okay?" Brooke kinked her brow, "after all that, how can you just trust me?"

Lucas stroked her face, "because I want to, we're both trying here, and I want to"

"I want to, too" and Brooke started crying, tears running freely again, and Lucas pulled her into his arms. Ready for her just as he had promised.

They both were crying as they kissed again, and soon Lucas was thinking about more than just kisses, his hands running down Brooke's back bunching up her singlet, pulling the material up to get closer to her, "wait!" Brooke suddenly pushed him away, "I can't do this"

"What?" Lucas was shocked, he wondered if he was moving too fast, "I'm sorry-"

"No, it's not that" Brooke gave him a quick kiss, "I want to, I do but if we are doing this then I want to do it right, and I promised you the truth" there was one secret he still didn't know, one that only her doctors and Haley knew, "before we define whatever is going to happen between us, there's something you need to know"

"Brooke, I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, nothing you have to say will change that" he cupped her face, held back from kissing her, because he didn't want to convince her by using their desire against her.

And Brooke had to call upon all the trust she had for the man she loved, "I can't have children".

Lucas' smile stilled, "what does that mean? You have Noah, we have Noah"

"I know, but I won't be able to have any more. Being with me means that's it, we will never have more than Noah"

"Is that what you meant when you said you can't give me a family?" Lucas' smile returned, his heart was breaking for Brooke because suddenly he saw the pain in her eyes, all the fear and self-loathing, all his other questions went away, "don't you get it yet, Brooke, you don't need to give me the world, you're more than enough. You're my world, and you already gave me a son, a wonderful son. We are already a family"

"You're sure?" the fear was still there.

Lucas nodded, "of course, and besides never say never. Look all around us, look at Sam, family isn't always about blood, when or if we're ready to try to make our family bigger there are ways we could try. And if not-" he shrugged, "-I'm okay with what we have"

"Okay" Brooke nodded, "you can kiss me again now" but he never got a chance to because she leapt atop him and kissed him first.

-x-

The sun was just rising, Lucas lay with Brooke in his arms, this time under the covers, as one hand rubbed her naked back and the other lay intwined with her fingers above where his heart was beating. He could feel her breath against his knuckles, and as he ran his other hand up higher on her back her hair tickled his wrist and he began to twirl the strands, "I could get used to this"

"I hope so"

Lucas pursed his lips, "so…" his fingers stopped their movements, still entangled with her, "is it okay if we step up from something like a date to an actual date?"

Brooke was silent, and Lucas began to trace his finger tips from her hair to her shoulder and down the arm wrapped around his waist, "where I can take you out in public, maybe even hold your hand…"

"Tell people" Brooke added. She felt him nod his head against her. In a whisper she agreed, "we could do that".

With a kiss against her hair Lucas smiled, "tell Noah"

"That makes it real"

"Isn't that what this is?" he lifted her fingers up for a gentle kiss, enjoying being able to so freely touch her, "he's a smart kid, he will figure it out especially as I plan to spend a lot of time with you" he rolled her back over, his lips trailing automatically down her exposed neck.

Brooke moaned, turning her face so she could catch Lucas' lips with her own, and it suddenly felt like he had a dozen pairs of hands moving over her body, her legs parted and Lucas fit between them, his body more than ready to spend some more time together, "oh god" Brooke gasped.

His mouth was back to her neck, then her breasts and before Brooke's ability to think was completely gone she managed a breathless, "I… should… I should… stop this… go home… Noah is waiting… be awake soon…"

"I promise I'll be quick" Lucas chuckled, his fingers feeling how ready she was, her body bucking against him, he moved back up her body until they were kissing again, their lengths aligned.

"Okay" she gasped against his mouth, "five minutes…"

An hour later Brooke was on the phone to Sam as she quickly got dressed back in her pyjamas, "okay, thanks, I'll be home soon" she hung up.

Lucas lay stretched out on the bed, his back against the pillows, she quirked her brow at him, "our son thinks I am tucked up in bed having a sleep in"

"Well, you have been in bed"

"Uh huh, so I am going to go home sneak into my own house and you're going to come pick us up for lunch later" she walked towards the bed as she spoke and as she finished, Brooke leant over and gave him one last kiss, "I'll see you later".

-x-

Waiting by the door leading to the garage, Sam stood, her fingers tapping her arm, "well, well, well, look who decided to crawl home"

"Samantha" Brooke growled.

Her serious face turned into a full grin, "nice look"

"I need a shower" Brooke ignored the teenager, eyeing the area, "where's Noah?"

"Upstairs in his room, headphones on watching some dorky documentary so his Mom can catch up on her sleep" Sam rolled her eyes, "because she's been so tired lately" her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Brooke threw her slipper at Sam.

"Ew" Sam screeched, smacking the object away as it came at her, "don't throw your dirty sex shoe at me"

"Sex shoe?" Brooke placed her hand on her hip, "mind out of the gutter, Samantha, did you ever think maybe we just talked"

"Sure" Sam scoffed, "you two 'talked' all night long" she made air quotes and started laughing, "you better have that shower, you smell like… a good conversation"

In shock Brooke just stared at Sam, her former foster daughter stared right back, the older woman's mouth open and closed until finally she narrowed her eyes, "how do you know what… you know what, never mind, I don't want to know"

The girl's laughter followed Brooke all the way to her room, and it made her happiness grow even more. Brooke had hope, she had hope that this time she didn't have to wait for the world to snatch away her happiness.

-x-

BOOM. BL. THIS IS IT! THIS IS THEM NOT BREAKING UP TOGETHER. THEY'RE OFFICAL!

Ok I reread the last chapter again, which the first like bit at Naley's was written like months ago and I had forgotten what I wrote so before posting this I reread the last chapter and I'm like oh right I was gonna do that storyline, but I had already written thin chapter and I reread this one thinking oh I'll change it a bit but then I'm like nuh I like it the way it is I don't wanna add the extra bit. And then I was have a made it too easy, but yeah rereading it I'm like nuh I like it, I don't want to change it and add even more dialogue. I find it really easy to see reviewers go between team Brooke and team lucas, and I always like a little tea, lucas spirit because I feel like yeah when it comes to BL lucas gets a lot of the blame and brooke gets a lot of the love and I hope ive been redeeming lucas, and I hope this chapter redeemed brooke from the last chapter. Obviously they still need to do some more talking about brooke's situation…

Some might be like ok has brooke really told the truth because she didn't mention her second pregnancy, and the way I'm doing it is brooke doesn't really view it as a legitimate pregnancy and miscarriage, this is her coping mechanism because in her mind it wasn't viable, it was not her losing her child, it was her losing her ability to have children so that is where her focus is. And well she wasn;t completely listening to the doctors because common sense says that though her chances of falling pregnant are very very low there's nothing stopping her carrying a healthy child its just the conception that is a challenge. But well its brooke she's doom and gloom lol ecpecting the worse for herself.

Eek so excited to post this and read what you guys think.