Brooke sat on the edge of her bath tub as she watched Lucas tend to her wounds. Anna had managed to get in a couple of scrapes on her arm and she had some on her legs that she probably got when they hit the concrete sidewalk. She listened as he whispered sweet nothings while he applied the alcohol to the wounds. And she watched as he blew softly on it after the alcohol swabs were applied to take away the sting. She reached out and touched his cheek with her fingertips causing him to pause and glance up at her. She smiled softly at the worry that was etched all over his face.
"Did I hurt you?" He asked, glancing back down to make sure he wasn't putting too much pressure on the wounds.
"No, it doesn't hurt." She smiled at the look of relief that appeared on his face upon hearing her words. "Lucas…" she started hesitantly "you didn't believe anything Anna was saying did you?"
"Brooke, I know you. I've seen you pissed off, I've seen you happy, and I've seen you sad. I know you wouldn't have done any of the things she was accusing you of." He reassured her as he went back to applying bandages to her other wounds. Which, thankfully he thought to himself, weren't many. "I'm just disappointed I guess."
Brooke's forehead scrunched together in confusion. "Disappointed in what? Me?"
Lucas' head turned back to her sharply, shocked that she would even think she was the one he was disappointed in. "No, God no. I could never be disappointed in you Brooke."
"Than if it's not me, what?" She breathed a sigh of relief after the last bandage was put in place.
Lucas got up from his position on the tile floor and started putting away the first aid supply back under the sink. "In myself! I keep thinking, maybe if I had done something different, you know, this wouldn't have happened." He grabbed the sides of the sink and leaned he head against the bathroom mirror, his shoulder drooping in defeat and frustration. "Maybe I shouldn't have told her about you. But when she asked about it, she had sounded so sincere about wanting me to find happiness, even if it was with you. So I told her how I felt about you. Then she reassured me we could be friends, and I believed her. Stupid, stupid!" He banged his head against the mirror, kicking himself for being a fool when he felt a hand on his shoulders. He glanced in the mirror to seen Brooke's reflection now staring back at him.
She smiled softly as she squeezed him gently on the shoulder. "You're not stupid Lucas. Gullible? Maybe, but not stupid. You want to see the best in people, that's why you allow yourself to be so trusting. And besides, she loved you, and sometimes love makes you so stupid things."
Lucas turned around so that he was now facing her. He grabbed her hands in his and was amazed at how tiny they were, and how soft and fragile they seemed. If it weren't for the scrapes along her knuckles, he wouldn't have believed that her small hand could deliver such powerful punches like the ones he witnessed being smashed into Anna's nose. "I'm sorry!" He whispered, as he brought her hands up to his lips, and proceeded to kiss the wounded knuckles. "I'm sorry you were pulled into this mess."
Brooke reached out to cover his hands with hers when she heard her bedroom door smash open. The next thing she knew, Felix was standing in her bathroom doorway, with a ferocious look on his face.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" He glared directly at Lucas, his hands balling into fists, trying to contain his rage.
Brooke yanked her hand out of Lucas' and turned to Felix. "Felix, what are you doing here?" She asked him, trying to get over the shock of having him barge into her room the way he did.
Felix turned his gaze to her, and she realized than just how livid he was. Out of instinct, she took a step back from him, hating herself for her cowardice. "The better question to ask here Brooke, is what you are doing alone with him?" He spat out pointing an accusing finger at Lucas. "Oh, but wait a minute, rumor has it that you've been screwing around with him behind my back you slut."
"What?!" Brooke screamed in outrage. "Who the hell told you that?"
"Never mind where I heard it. You know, I didn't believe it at first, but seeing you here with him, just confirmed everything. So Brooke, how long has this been going on? From the beginning?" Felix took a menacing step towards her, his fists flexing in and out.
Lucas, having heard enough decided it was time to step in. "Look man, it isn't like that. I don't know what you've heard, but it's not true."
"Shut-up, you I'll deal with in a second, but right now I'm talking to my girlfriend." He said the word girlfriend with such disgust and venom.
Brooke took a careful step in Felix's direction, hoping to talk some sense into him. "Baby, you know I wouldn't do anything like that. How could you believe those rumors?" Brooke asked, her feelings extremely hurt. She reached out her hand to touch him only to pull back in reflex when he jerked away from her touch.
"Well, usually I wouldn't, but when it comes from my own sister's mouth, I tend to find some validation in them. And besides, it's not like this is the first time you've been accused of being a slut is it?" He asked her cruelly and smiled when the words got the reaction he wanted from her. He watched as her eyes watered, good, he thought to himself, hurt the way you've hurt me.
Lucas had, had enough! He positioned himself in between Felix and Brooke in an attempt to block her from further abuse. "What the hell is your problem man? How could you think your girlfriend would do that to you?"
"YOU!" Felix shouted as he lunged at Lucas, grabbing him by his shirt collar and slamming him against the bathroom wall. "I told you if you ever hurt my sister, you would pay."
Lucas saw the fist coming towards his face and managed to duck just in time. He ducked low and rammed Felix in the middle of his stomach with his shoulder knocking both of them to the floor.
"STOP! STOP IT!" Brooke pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears as both boys were now rolling around on her bathroom floor. God, she thought, this could not be happening. Her day was going from bad to a plain nightmare.
"What? My sister wasn't good enough for you? So you felt the need to come after my girlfriend you son of a btch!" Felix managed to get out as he once again was at an advantage and attempted to throw another punch that finally connected with Lucas' jaw.
"I'm not after your girlfriend you dumb a$$! Your sister is lying to you!" Lucas' fist managed to connect with Felix's nose and he was finally able to free himself from under him when Felix fell back and had to cover his now bleeding nose. "And if you call Brooke a slut one more time, I'll break more than your nose." He shouted as he stood over the fallen boy.
"My sister is not a liar." Felix kicked out Lucas leg from under him and watched as he fell hard against the floor.
Brooke heard voices coming toward her door and ran out to see who it was. She smiled gratefully when she saw Nathan and Haley coming through the door.
"Thank God you're here." Brooke ran and grabbed Nathan's hand and pulled him toward her bathroom. "You have to stop them."
"Brooke, what's going on?" Nathan asked before he saw what she was talking about. On the floor he saw Lucas jamming a fist into Felix's stomach and watched as Felix doubled over in pain. "Oh great, first the sister, now the brother? Brooke, one fight wasn't enough for you today?" Nathan turned to look at her, a smile on his face.
"This isn't funny Nate, you have to stop them before it goes too far."
"Too late for that!" And as if to emphasize his point, Lucas was banging Felix against the bathroom mirror when it suddenly broke into pieces. Both boys oblivious to the falling glass.
"Now Nathan!" Haley said as she shoved him into the bathroom.
After a couple minutes of struggling, Nathan managed to get Felix off of Lucas and was holding him by the arms.
"Let go of me!" Felix demanded as he tried to yank his arms free.
"Not until you calm down. I've seen enough blood shed here to last me a lifetime, so unless you cool it, I'm not letting go." Nathan spoke calmly as he glanced at his brother to see how he was doing. "You alright there Luke?" Nathan asked trying hard not to laugh at the look on his brother's face.
"Not funny man." Lucas said as he wiped blood from his nose.
"Oh, I beg to differ, from where I'm standing, this is hilarious." Nathan said as he started laughing when his brother shot him a murderous look.
Haley, who had been standing with Brooke, her arms around her asked "Alright, anybody care to explain what happened here?" She asked looking from Brooke to Lucas and finally landing her gaze on Felix.
"I'll tell you what's happening. That slut…" He said pointing at Brooke "has been cheating on me with that jack a$$" pointing at Lucas. "And this jack a$$..." he went on "broke my sister's heart."
Haley and Nathan looked quizzically at both Lucas and Brooke.
"I told you not to call her that." Lucas bit out as he glared hatefully at Felix.
Brooke walked up to stand in front of Felix. "I told you I wasn't cheating on you pool boy, but you don't want to believe it. Instead, you take the word of your out of the mental asylum sister. I don't even know what I saw in you. Both of you are crazy, so why don't you take your sorry behind out of my house and check back into that institution you and your sister escaped from." She watched as the side of his jaw ticked and as he finally was able to yank his arm out of Nathan's hold.
"You'll be sorry you said that btch, you're messing with the wrong guy." With that said, he marched past her and stopped beside Lucas. "Enjoy my leftovers, since you seem to want it so bad." He stalked past Haley and stormed out of the house before Lucas could react to his words.
Haley ran over to Brooke's side, who was now crumpled in a heap on the floor, sobbing her eyes out. "Oh Tigger, it's going to be okay!" She said, trying to comfort her friend.
"No Hales, it's not. What did I do to deserve this?" Brooke sobbed as she hugged her knees.
"Oh honey, you didn't do anything. Felix is an a$$hole, he didn't deserve you." Haley looked helplessly at Nathan and Lucas.
Nathan went to the girls side and kneeled down on the other side of Brooke, as he too enveloped her in his arms. "Yeah B, he didn't deserve you." He watched helplessly as she cried into his shoulders, hating Felix and Anna for what they were doing to her.
Lucas watched from his position by the door. His heart breaking at the sight before him. "Guys, could you leave us alone for a minute?" He asked Haley and Nathan. "Please?" He said when he saw they were about to object.
Haley rubbed Brooke's back and whispered in her ear "I'm here if you need me Tigger, always!" before getting up and heading for the door where she waited for Nathan to join her.
Nathan gently pushed Brooke away from his body and looked at her face. He reached up a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, but to no avail, since they continued to fall. "Hey buddy, we'll be right outside, okay?" Satisfied with the watery smile Brooke gave him, he too headed out the door, but not before stopping beside Lucas and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tread lightly Luke, I don't know how much more of this she can take." He warned and got a nod from his brother. He took one last look at the crying girl on the floor before walking out, leaving Lucas and Brooke alone.
Lucas took a deep breath before he walked over toward her. He knelt down beside her, unsure of what to do, knowing all of this was his fault. "Brooke…" he started as he reached a hand to her, only to pull it back when she pulled away from his touch. "I'm sorry Brooke. I never meant for any of this to happen."
Brooke, still curled in a ball, turned to look at him. "I know you didn't Luke, but it did. And now look where we are." She said in defeat. "What has our friendship brought us but pain and violence?"
Lucas, alarmed and scared by what he was hearing, grabbed her hand in his. "That's not true Brooke. Look at us, look how far we've come as friends. You can't let the bad over shadow good that's happened."
Brooke looked down at the hand that was holding hers. "I can't do this anymore Lucas. I can't."
Lucas looked at her, afraid of what she meant by that. "No Brooke, please, you can't mean that." He pleaded with her.
Brooke pulled her hand out of his, and turned her face away from him. Her mind made up. "I think you should leave."
"Brooke…"
"Now Lucas. Please!"
Lucas hung his head in defeat. All he could feel was an overwhelming sense of loss. He couldn't believe she was doing this. He couldn't believe this was happening. He got up slowly and retreated toward the door. He turned to look at her one last time, afraid this would be the last time he would be in this house with her. "I know you're hurt Brooke. I know I'm largely at fault for it too. But I just want you to know that I love you and I'm not going to stop loving you, whether you want it or not." He spoke the words softly and slowly, making sure she knew he meant it. He waited a second to see if she would say anything back to him, and when she didn't, he turned and walked out of the house a broken man.
A/N: Okay guys, I figured it was time to end the relationship with Brooke and Felix, and what better way to do so than with jealousy and a fight. At least that's what I think. Before you get too mad by the ending, bear in mind that the title of the story is "Getting There" so with that said, don't lose hope for Brucas. I just feel that, with everything that is going on in Brooke's life, it wouldn't be realistic for her and Lucas to get back together so quickly. But it will happen. Just give it some time before they get there. Anyway, please tell me what you think. I look forward to hearing your reviews. The more of them I get, the quicker the updates will be. I need to know what you think, before I write, so that I can take your thoughts into consideration while I'm writing the next chapter. Thanks a bunch!