Author's Note: The end has come...finally! Thanks for everyone sticking with this and thank you all for reviews, comments and suggestions. I am thrilled to be done with my first "Brucas" fic and even happier I survived the flaming. To all who enjoyed this, I appreciate you and I hope you continue to read my other stories (present and future) on this site!!

Brooke took a nervous breath as she pushed through the double doors of the Bobcats training center. The building was eerily quiet but in the distance she could hear the familiar sound of a basketball bouncing off the floor.

"Who's you favorite?"

Brooke's train of thought was interrupted as she looked down at an adorable red head little boy all of about ten years old who was tugging at her hand.

"Huh?"

"Your favorite Bobcat player? Nathan Scott is cool but I think I like Jason Hart the best. He's really cool when fans come here after practice sometimes for autographs."

Brooke smiled at the child.

"Actually, sweetie, I think I'm here for Luke Scott."

"He's pretty good with the fade away."

Brooke nodded as voices could be heard emerging from the court. Practice was over and various players were leaving the gym, some swamped by the small crowd of autograph seekers. Her heart sank as there was no sign of either Scott brother but she knew she had come to far to back down now. Sighing, she slipped into the private court area hoping to catch a glance of a familiar face. A few feet away bouncing the ball by the locker room, she finally saw him. Butterflies swam in her stomach as she took the few steps to approach him.

"Well Broody I see you're still the last one off the court. Guess some things never change."

He froze at the sound of her voice, turning slowly and hoping that it wasn't just a figment of his imagination.

"Brooke...", he said softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you."

There was no need for tension and animosity, they had gone through all those motions already. Now it was time to talk things over and handle it like rational adults.

"Excuse me ma'am, you can't be in here", a security guard said as he walked by.

"It's okay, Reggie", Lucas sighed. "She's with me."

The guard nodded as Lucas whispered something to him and Brooke was ushered out to a waiting limo in the back parking lot. A half hour later, the Scott brothers joined her. Nathan hugged her but Lucas was silent on the ride that dropped off Nathan first then whisked them to the large house on the hill that Brooke presumed to be Luke's.

"You'd think I'd get enough of showing up unannounced?" she joked as they took a seat on a plush leather sofa.

"It's okay", he whispered. "I'm kind of glad you came. What's going on? What's on your mind?"

"Everything", she told him truthfully. "There is so much I have to tell you, so much I want to say but don't know how. I don't even know how to begin."

"Begin at the beginning, Brooke."

She took the longest and deepest breath of her life and began.

"We split up a very long time ago Lucas and I figured the best way to get over you was to block out all our memories, both good and bad and pretend the relationship never existed. For years I thought it was the right thing to do, only recently did I realize I was totally kidding myself. I didn't realize just how much I love and missed you until I saw you again. It hurt so bad because it brought back so many old feelings that I thought were dead. All I wanted to do was to make things good between us again. I wanted to hold you and love you and be with you. When you showed up at my door...God, I didn't know what to think. And it wasn't until after you left that it hit me that I can't live without you anymore. I love you and when you said it back, that gave me just the bit of hope I needed. I showed up in Tree Hill hoping we could put it back together again somehow. When I saw your girlfriend...it just destroyed me. The fact that I had been 'the other woman' for one night, the fact that you lied to me. I was angry and I wanted so badly to hate you but my heart just can't do that. I can't take this anymore, Luke. We need a resolution."

Lucas swallowed hard and tried to gather his thoughts.

"Everything you just said...I understand. I know I did a terrible thing to you and especially to Ashley by lying and cheating. I was wrong and I am more sorry for that than you'll ever know. She doesn't deserve the pain I put her through and neither do you but you really hurt me, Brooke. Dammitt, I loved you more than life itself. When we were together, those times were the best of my life and I never wanted it to end. You were my life, like my soul mate. I know things got a little rough for a while but I guess all couples experience that at one time or another. I thought we'd be strong enough to make it but you just left me. You walked out on me, you started seeing another guy and all of a sudden it was over just like that. You left me and it literally killed me. It was like being abandoned all over again...just like when my grandmother died and when Dan ignored me all those years. No matter what has happened and how well I've done and who I'm with, I never forgot you. For years I've lived with this. Brooke, you were my greatest joy and my greatest sorrow all at the same time. Seeing you again has turned my world upside down and now I don't know what to do but I have to know. You have to answer me and tell me why you left me."

Brooke felt like she was going to be sick. The time had come for the truth and there was no way out. She had no choice and Lucas was right, she at least owed him that.

"I was proud of you as a basketball player and I supported you following your dreams. I wanted to marry you no matter what. After graduation I realized just how unsupportive I had been towards you. I knew that as long as we were together, we'd make it and I was planning to tell you that. I was going to move to North Carolina permanently and start our new life together."

Lucas fought back hot, salty tears.

"Why didn't you?"

"For a few weeks I noticed something wasn't quite right with my body. Deep down I knew what was wrong but I was in denial for so damned long. Eventually I took a pregnancy test and sure enough, it turned out positive."

Luke's body jerked involuntarily and he felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him.

"What? Pregnant? Brooke...what are you talking about?"

"I was pregnant, Lucas..."

"No, that's not possible", he said, standing up. "We were always so careful..."

"Not careful enough."

He desperately tried to talk past the huge lump that had formed in his throat.

"Oh my God, I don't believe this. Brooke, why...why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I was...I wanted to", she cried. "I was so scared. I didn't know how! Anyway, I guess I didn't do a good enough job covering up the empty test box in the trashcan because my parents saw it. They fucking flipped! It was nuts, especially my mother. On and on they went about me making the biggest mistake of my life. Mom kept saying I was gonna end up living in a trailer park in Tree Hill pushing a second hand baby carriage. When that didn't work, they took another route and it's just now that I realized how manipulative they were being."

"What?"

"She told me if I really loved you then I wouldn't have the baby. She said a wife and kid might hinder your dreams and that I was going to trap you and you'd only resent me and our child later on. They laid it on pretty thick and I started to believe it. I loved you, God, the last thing I wanted to do was ruin everything for you. I knew how bad you wanted to make it. I just wanted to do what was best for everybody so...so I made the hardest decision of my life...", her voice trailed off sadly.

Luke's head was spinning and he fought to control the nausea brewing deep in his gut.

"So you, you had an abortion?"

"Yes", she answered him through a flood of tears. "I did and it was the worst mistake I ever made. Not a single day goes by that I don't regret it. Oh Luke, it was so awful! I was so scared and alone and the physical pain...God, I thought I was going to die and at times I actually wanted to. My parents were so cold towards me and when it was over, they just tried to pretend it away. They hardly ever referred to it and when they did, Mom called it 'the little incident'."

"Brooke, what were you thinking? You know you could have come to me! I loved you and we had always planned to get married and start a family, it would have just been earlier than planned. You weren't gonna ruin anything."

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed loudly. Seeing her cry tortured Luke's heart. He knew this had been done to her just as much as it had been done by her.

"That's why I left. I couldn't deal with anything anymore. I was too ashamed to even look in your face, Luke. I was afraid you would hate me forever. So that's why I stayed on in Boston and I was so miserable and depressed that nothing in my life seemed to matter. I was seeing Dan but it wasn't real to me. My life was a nightmare and it was as if I was watching a movie of this happening to someone else."

"Brooke..."

She collapsed in sobs and trembling, Lucas wrapped his arms around her. As they touched, it was like the tiny piece of ice that had guarded his heart for years, finally was shattered. They connected and allowed themselves to break down and grieve...together. Lucas held her as she sobbed and he wiped his own tears.

Brooke opened her eyes and it took a while for her to realize where she was. Her surroundings were so unfamiliar, then the memory of hours before came flooding back. The talking...the crying...how eventually they had fallen asleep in each other's arms on Luke's bed. Now she was awake and alone.

It had killed Lucas inside to leave her alone even if only for a couple hours but he had given his word that he would make an appearance at a local charity dinner. He went through the motions of greeting fans and encouraging donations but his mind and heart were far from his body. His whole world had just gone crazy and everything had changed. He watched the clock like a hawk and counted the seconds until he could return to his home. When he did, he found Brooke curled up in a little ball sleeping again on the bed just as he had left her. Softly he placed a kiss on her cheek, which caused her to stir from an already fitful slumber.

"You're back", she whispered. "I thought you left me."

"I'll never leave you again", he promised.

"Lucas, I love you so much and I'm sorry for everything that happened. Can you forgive me?"

He brushed the dark locks from her beautiful face and managed a thoughtful smile.

"I already have. I think now I just need to forgive myself."

"What do you want from me, Luke? Where do we go from here?"

He was thoughtful as he gently stroked the side of her face.

"I don't know...I just know that I don't want to be without you."

"I still love you, Broody."

"And I love you too, Cheery", he said as he lay down next to her and held her close.

The demons that had haunted them, the secrets and lies from their past had finally been revealed and the truth had set the young lovers free. It was as if a ton of bricks had been lifted from their shoulders and that was an empowering feeling. That combined with their love, a love that had never died and that could overcome anything. It wouldn't be an easy road but unspoken feelings revealed that it was something they were willing to try again.