Author's Note: Well this story is slowly winding down. Once again, I can't thank everybody enough for the reviews and all the support. I hope you all enjoy the final parts of this fic and I've already begun an outline on my next Brucas work. In the meantime, I have a Naley story in process and also a short "Peyton" fic oulined as well. As always, I look forward to any and all comments.

Thanks again, for ALL the reviews but especially to Carys (for her attention to detail) : ) and Yana for some pretty cool advice!!!

Brooke was officially through with Lucas Scott and she sincerely regretted the day they had ever met. She blocked out all the hurt, confusion, hate, anger, along with the love and the good times. She wanted to be totally without emotion and simply forget the man ever existed. She purposely avoiding thinking about him, watching basketball wasn't even an option and Tarah had been forbidden from mentioning his name. Instead she turned to her work, the one constant in her adult life that could busy her through the tough times.

On the other hand, Lucas was experiencing similar emotions. He made amends with Ashley but the fact that she was so forgiving and understanding almost made him feel worse. He threw himself into his game, which had always been a sort of saving grace but the demons from the past still haunted his soul. Lucas knew he still loved Brooke and he could get used to feeling that way again but he knew he had to make things right. He loved her but could love alone be strong enough to repair the damage?

"M&S Architecture, how may I direct your call?"

After weeks of pondering, crying, and fretting, Lucas had finally summoned enough courage to pick up the phone and call Brooke at work. He'd had the conversation in his head a million times over but nothing could prepare him as the moment of truth finally arrived.

"Um, Brooke Davis, please", he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, sir, Miss Davis is out for the morning. Would you like to call back or perhaps I could direct you to her voice mail?"

"Please...", he practically pleaded.

Seconds later he heard the voice that made him melt.

"Thank you for calling M&S Architecture. You have reached the voicemail of Brooke Davis. I am either out of the office or away from my desk, however your call is very important to me. Please leave a name, number and brief message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a great day."

"Hey Brooke...it's me. It's Luke. Um, I just wanted to talk to you. I've been a real dick lately and I owe you an apology. I guess there's a lot of stuff we both need to talk about. You're probably still pretty pissed at me and you have every right to be but I just wanted to tell you that I hate the way we left things...and that I'm sorry. Look, I can't go through all this with you on an answering machine so please call me back when you get this. 910-555-0294...that's my private cell. So please call me whenever you get this...day or night. I guess I'll talk to you later. Bye."

It was funny how on her voice message she had said, "Your call is very important to me." Apparently not important enough. Two weeks had passed and he still hadn't heard from her. Heart broken but not surprised, he did his best to move on. He desperately needed a resolution, he yearned to hear her voice but he'd long given up hope. How could one meek apology left on an answering service erase almost ten years' worth of drama and angst?

Brooke's heart skipped several beats as she listened to the telephone message over and over again. A million times she picked up that phone and only once was she almost able to dial all the numbers. It wasn't worth it, she finally determined. She decided it best to let things be and just move on with life.

Brooke looked at things in a new perspective now. As she hurried home one balmy night, the neighbors a few doors down were giving away free kittens. Never much of a cat lover, Brooke's heart absolutely melted when she spotted the little solid white fur ball curled up in the corner of the basket. She fell in love and took him home. Her new pet was christened "Oscar" and strangely enough a kitten was a big help in easing some of her emotional scarring. She had her health, a dream job, financial security... and her cat. Life couldn't be that bad and she even decided to return a few calls from the billion messages left on her answering machine. Number one on the list was her parents. Brooke didn't particularly feel up to dealing with the drama but procrastinating would only prolong the pain.

"Mom? How's it going?"

"Well, well. It's a pleasant surprise to hear from you, stranger. I was just wondering where my daughter was and why she hasn't called me in ages."

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Sorry but I've been real busy. How's Daddy?"

"Dad is fine but you would know that if you checked in on us more often..."

"Mom..."

"Okay, okay. I called you last week because I wanted you to meet someone."

"Who?"

"Do you remember the Warner family? From our country club."

"How could I forget? I'll never forget all those boring parties of theirs you and Daddy used to drag us to, especially around Christmas time."

"Anyway", Mrs. Davis continued, ignoring her child's sarcasm. "I ran into their son, Grahm, not long ago. He was up from Connecticut where he has a very successful medical practice might I add. He has a few conferences coming up down south and a few in Florida. We thought it would be nice if you two could get together."

"What?" Brooke practically yelled. "Mom, tell me you didn't give him my number!"

"Why not? What's the harm?"

"The harm is that I hate the guy and you had no right to do that without asking my permission first."

"Oh Brooke. What is wrong with Graham Warner? He's such a nice fellow."

"Don't even think about playing matchmaker and trying to hook me up with that stiff, boring, arrogant, rude, pompous, sexist, personality of a floor lamp having idiot!"

"My goodness, will you control yourself? I was only trying to help. You need a man in your life."

Brooke tugged at her bottom lip as she fought to gain control. Her mother always had a way of getting under her skin. It never failed but her mischievous side had another idea...

"For your information, Mom, I do have a man in my life."

"You do?" Mrs. Davis asked, not bothering to hide her shock. "What's his name? What's he like?"

"He's a real cutie... piercing blue eyes, very sweet and attentive...his name is Oscar."

"Wow, dear, he sounds like quite the dream boat."

"Oh he is. He's awesome. As a matter of fact, he's here right now. Hold on for a sec, Mom, I'm gonna put him on."

Brooke giggled as she held her kitten up to the phone and he purred. Mrs. Davis was not amused.

"Must you be a smart ass all the time? Really, Brooke. You certainly aren't getting any younger. You should think about settling down and getting married."

"Geez, Mom, I am an independent woman. Men are nice to have but I don't need one to survive. Besides, I've had enough drama in my life as of late."

"What drama might that be?" the older woman huffed.

"You really want to know?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

Brooke, somehow knowing the conversation would come back to bite her in the ass, explained the whole Lucas fiasco to her mother.

"...Why are you still dealing with that Scott boy? Honestly, I thought that ridiculous relationship was over years ago."

"Mom, please. The last thing I need right now is for you to start bad mouthing Luke."

"I'm just trying to talk some sense into that thick skull of yours. Look at him. Trash is trash, no matter how many dollar signs surround it. I've seen him parading around on national television with that brother of his...that' s awful. It's a real disgrace, that little scandal of Dan Scott's. Anyway, those two need to grow up and get real jobs. Prancing around with a ball is no way to make a living."

"Mother..."

"Don't defend him, Brooke. He is a no good, lying, trashy little bastard. Look what he did to you! Just like the snake he is, trying to slither his way into your bed. And you should be ashamed for letting him. He isn't good enough for you."

Brooke felt like her head was going to explode. She had endured this same lecture for years and finally she'd had enough. Regardless of what had happened, her mother had no right to speak that way about him. She didn't know him, not the real Lucas.

"Mom, just stop, okay? Please! I don't want to talk about this with you, not now, not ever. You are the real reason Luke and I aren't together now. Admit the truth. It's not that he isn't good enough for me, it's that he was never good enough for you! It never mattered to you that he's a decent person and that he treated me like a queen and made me happy. You only cared about the fact that he didn't come from a rich family."

"Brooke Elizabeth Davis, do not raise your voice at me! I am still your mother and I'm only trying to protect you. The little 'incident' needs to be best forgotten. It all worked out in the end for you."

"No, Mom, it all worked out for you and that's all you ever cared about anyway. You won because Lucas and I aren't together but I can't forgive you for the things you've done. I hope you're happy because I'm pretty fucking miserable right about now."

"Brooke..."

"Mom, I'm going to hang up now and I think it's best that we don't talk for a while, at least until I calm down about this and get thing resolved. I just can't deal with this right now and I can't deal with you."

Brooke slammed the receiver down without another word. The painful and shame filled secret that she had tried so hard to repress for so many years had finally resurfaced its ugly head. Brooke could no longer run or hide and she knew it. It was time for the truth to be told. She owed it to herself...and more importantly to Lucas.