Lucas knocked for good measure as he turned his key in the lock. Brooke appeared seconds later, still in her silk pajamas.

"Hey", she said.

"Hey", he smiled.

"Um, I know you could never tell based on my appearance this morning but believe it or not, your daughter is dressed and all ready to go…except for one thing."

"What's up?"

"In a startling new development worthy of the six o'clock news, your daughter for the first time ever, might I add, decided to take a mid morning nap as soon as I bathed and dressed her. Just thought I'd give you a little fair warning, you know, in case someone doesn't wake up on their own they just might be a tad cranky."

"Thanks", Lucas smiled as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

It was a rare few days off before a week long road trip and per the couple's revised custody agreement, Lucas would have their daughter overnight and had decided to cap off the day with a morning trip to the zoo.

"You can go up and get her if you want. I just have to put a few more things in her diaper bag…"

"Yeah, that's cool. Um, Brooke could I talk to you for a second?"

"Okay…what's up?" she asked, plopping down beside him on the couch.

"It's just that…well, I never got a chance to apologize to you about that night with the cops and everything that happened thereafter until Anna told us the truth."

"Luke, we don't have to talk about that…"

"No. I just wanted you to know that I felt bad and that I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"Okay? Just like that?"

"Yes. Lucas, I don't want to fight with you anymore. We have put each other through so much lately. I'm just ready to let it all go."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I'm relieved, actually. I feel the same way. I've been doing a lot of thinking. Brooke, I've made a lot of mistakes. As ashamed as I am, I own up to every last one of them. I know that I hurt you and for that I am more sorry than you'll ever know. It was hard living with myself after the cheating thing but I realized I had to deal with it, just like you did, so I learned how to live with it all. Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me and when Harmony was born…it was kind of bittersweet. I mean, I was beyond thrilled to have a beautiful, happy, healthy, little girl and I love her more than life itself but it killed me that the three of us weren't a family like we always planned. I know you were making a real effort and we were friends but it wasn't the same. So many nights I just wanted to lie in bed, our bed, and just hold my wife and daughter…the way it should have been. But despite everything that ever happened, bad or good, I never stopped loving you Brooke. I tried to take comfort in the fact that you never stopped loving me too…"

"Lucas…God, I, I really wish you wouldn't do this", she begged in a soft voice.

"Just hear me out. Please. In the back of mind I always thought you and I would end up back together. Then Felix came along. That really hurt me, Brooke because in a way, I lost you again. Losing you the second time was worse because it all seemed so permanent. It's like you were moving on. Sure I got a bad vibe from the guy but truth be told, most of it was just plain old jealousy. I saw him taking care of you and my daughter and the fact that I could be replaced…well, it just tore me apart inside. And the thought of you having sex with him…man, it makes me sick. It makes sad enough to cry and made enough to want to kill someone when I think about you sleeping with another man. Then my mind takes over my heart for a minute and I stop being a hypocrite and realize that's the same pain I put you through in Sacramento. I guess fair is fair. As much as that sucked, as much as it hurt, I knew I had to let you go. We could never move on, Harmony would never be happy as long as you and I had that hold on each other. So I let it go. And then it happened. I came home to an empty house and a message from the cops on my machine. And I get to the station and everyone is trying to fill me in on what happened and then I basically got accused of hurting you. During that time, only two things registered to me. Two things mattered. One, was that my child was okay. And two, was the sickening, indescribable fear I felt when I thought something bad had happened to you. I had these images, awful picture of you crying and someone hurting you and there wasn't a damned thing I could do or say to stop it. Brooke, I looked for you. God, I don't think there was one area around here that wasn't searched. And I promised myself that if…when we found you that you and I would somehow put the past behind us and find the love we lost. That we would be together as a family and nothing else would matter. Brooke, I…I still feel that way. After all the suffering and the drama and even on the eve of our divorce, I still love you very much. There is something still inside me that believes somehow, someway, we can make this work. Because I love and I want you and more than anything I need for us to be a family again."

Brooke's eyes, which had been cast down at the floor, rose to meet Luke's. The welled up tears were visible but she refused to let them fall. There was something she had to say.

"Chantal told me once that I filed for divorce just to punish you. That I did it to be spiteful and vindictive and basically had no plans of ever letting it go through. When she said that, I could have punched her but you know what? It was true. That was my way of reacting to what you had done and dealing with the pain because, let's face it, your lies almost killed me, Luke. But as much as I tried to hate you and I swore numerous times that I would never forgive you, as time went on…things changed. We changed. I saw you so tender, gentle and loving with our baby and you always there for me and for a while it was the old Luke and Brooke. Broody and Cheery holding hands and skipping alongside the Rivercourt. Just like the good old days. And a piece of me was ready to make a go of any future we might have had together. But you know me, Lucas. Brooke Davis Scott never does anything the easy way. So I still played my little cat and mouse games with you and I used sex and seduction as a way to be close to you but still be in control. It's wrong but I didn't care at the time. I was going through so much and Felix came along at a time when I needed a lot of attention. I was confused and he seemed to really understand me. He said the right things exactly when I needed to hear them. He did the right things at the perfect time. And when I was lost and so out of place, it was like he was the only human being on earth who truly related to me. I needed that more than you can imagine. So it was never about romance or sex or anything like that. I never even slept with the guy. He was just a friend who took care of me and comforted me and understood me when I needed it most."

"Never? You never slept with him? Not even once?"

"No. Never. And it was flying back from Hong Kong when I realized just how I felt about you and everything. It was clarity. I was planning to talk to you about it all. I don't know how the hell we were gonna resolve everything but I figured a heart to heart was a nice beginning. Anyway, I understand how bad it must have looked when I was gone. I know you were upset and frustrated and angry and very confused. It must have been horrible for you. But you Lucas, more than Peyton or Gordon or Haley or Mom, you know me. I am the mother of your child. You know how much I love Harmony. No matter how hot the smoking gun seemed to be, you should have known better. You should have seen right through to the truth. But you didn't. Instead, you took the word of a nanny you'd known less than five months over me, the word you have known and trusted almost your whole life. The look on your face, that look of doubt was the worst thing I have ever experienced. You really hurt me. And you let me sit in a cold jail cell all night and you let them take away my baby. Lucas, you let them take Harmony from me. They took my baby away and you just let them. What am I supposed to do with all that?"

"You're right", he sighed. "I should have known better. If I could go back to that night, then I definitely would have handled it differently. But I can't go back, Brooke. And neither can you. But I want you to know that I wasn't in a rational state then. I wasn't Lucas Scott or the basketball player or your husband or anything like that. I was thinking like a father. And all I wanted to do was protect my little girl. And someone had hurt her and put her safety in danger and that didn't set well with me at all. I do apologize for doubting you and reacting in the wrong way but I'll never apologize for wanting to protect Harmony. If the situation were reversed, yeah I would be pissed at you and even hurt but I know you're a mother first and Brooke I would never fault you for thinking like one."

"If the situation were reversed, you'd never have to think like that because it never would have gone that far, Lucas. No matter what, no matter how bad it looked, I know you. I know you as a man and a father. Somehow I would have seen the truth and I would have protected Harmony but I would have protected you too."

"Brooke…"

"Please. Lucas, do we have to keep doing this to each other? I mean, really. What's the point? Can we just put this behind us and try to move on because I can't keep living like this."

"Just tell me why."

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you tell me about what Dan said at breakfast that morning when he first threatened you? Why didn't you tell me when you saw him with Anna that night at the party?"

"Lucas, when you were 17, you made the game winning shot against Cove City. You remember that night? And everybody went nuts! You saved Whitey's perfect season and you were the hero of the team and Keith and Karen were so proud of you. You had so much to be happy about at that moment and I remember giving you this great big hug and kiss and Nathan and Haley were going to throw a huge party for you at the beach house and I looked up and I saw you looking over at Dan. And he was looking back at you and my heart stopped for a few seconds and I know yours did too because I knew you were waiting for him. After all the applause and the praise and the cheers, the one acknowledgement you needed would never come. He just got up and walked away."

"Brooke…"

"You told me you were ten years old once and your little league team had a father son day. And Keith couldn't make it and you were out there on the mound feeling pretty bad because you were the only boy out there without a father. Then you looked up and you see Karen running towards the field with her mitt on and you were absolutely mortified. She was just trying to help, make it all better but instead she embarrassed you in front of the entire fifth grade. And you ran off crying and mad at her but more than anything mad at him, hating him for not being there."

"Brooke…"

"And how many times from the time you were a little kid on up to high school graduation, did you see him on the street or in the mall or at the grocery store or at games and he didn't even acknowledge your presence."

"Brooke…"

"Your first NBA game against the Lakers and after it was over Dan ran down and he put his arms around you and Nathan and he said, 'I'm proud of you son…both of you'. God, I'll never forget that look on your face, Lucas. Then watching you with him after his heart attack…for the first time in 26 years you were getting the father you wanted and needed and deserved. Honestly, I didn't take Dan and his threats too seriously but even if I had, I still wouldn't have told you. Because you were so happy and that's the one thing that has always been missing from your life and all the money and fame in the world couldn't replace it. I could not stand to take that away from you. You'd already had so much taken away from you, Luke. And as much of a bastard that Dan is, as evil as he is, as much as he has destroyed our lives and as much as I hate him, if I could go back then I still wouldn't tell you. Because you wanted and needed and deserved those few precious moments with him. So to answer your questions, I did it for you Lucas. I did it all because I love you."

"So what happens to us now?"

"There is no 'us', Luke. Not anymore. It's done. It's just over. And it kills me to say that but too much as happened. We have nothing left to fight for. We will always be a part of each other's lives so we just go on and do the best we can and make sure our child and her needs always come first."

"You will always be a part of me, Brooke. I will always love you. I respect how you feel but I can't keep lying to myself about how I feel. You are the most important thing to me and it hurts so bad that you're slipping away."

"I'm already gone", she whispered tearfully.