So this is it, last chapter! There's a long note at the bottom so for now just thank you for all the reviews of last chapter, and here goes…
Lucas was standing in line to get some coffee, rubbing his eyes every now and again to keep himself awake. It was past ten am, but he had been up since six. The early morning training session was over (7.00 – 10.00) and now he had a half hour break before he was due back for the tactics talk.
Becoming an NBA star sure was tiring.
Someone came into the queue behind him and he glanced round, then stopped as he realised it was Drake. He turned and recognised him, hesitating slightly before offering a vague eyebrow raise.
Lucas returned it, and then faced back to the counter, to find he had reached the front. He ordered his coffee and went to wait for it at the end of the bar. Drake joined him there after a minute. "I didn't know you were still in town," he said.
"I've got training."
"Oh yeah, the… Knicks thing. Is Brooke here?"
Lucas eyed him for a second and then shook his head. "She went up to Tree Hill a few days ago."
Drake nodded. There was an awkward silence and Drake looked down. "Listen man," he hesitated and Lucas watched him, surprised by the note of sincerity in his voice.
"We never got on well, you and me," he continued. "And I think that was kind of my fault, because…" he chuckled wryly, "Well I never really liked you."
"That's okay I couldn't say I rated you that highly either."
"Yeah…well I just wanted to say, in the spirit of Christmas or whatever," he rolled his eyes at the decorations festooning the inside of the coffee shop, "Maybe we can put it behind us? And…I'm happy for you and Brooke."
Lucas smiled slightly, then said, "Thanks man."
Drake shrugged. "You gotta turn over a new leaf sometime, right?"
Lucas chuckled. "While we're on that, I'm sorry for punching you that time."
"Oh yeah…me too." He offered Lucas a small smile. "Anyway, I've gotta go, I've got a date this evening."
"Wow, really changing your ways; not just picking some girl up at a party?"
Drake stopped and shrugged. "No, I kinda like this girl."
Lucas watched him leave, smiling to himself with a slightly bemused expression.
The phone rang seven times before she picked up, and Lucas rolled his eyes as he wondered what she was doing.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's Lucas."
"Broody! Hi, sorry I was just in the shower."
"Ooh I didn't think of that one…"
"Put some ice on it, you've got three more days," She said chuckling, "I don't want to find you got horny and slept with some stripper, it would really ruin my Christmas."
Lucas laughed. "What? Where do you get this stuff Cheery? Anyway I was just calling to see how everything's going down there. Done any more shopping?"
"A little. We're all good down here."
"Got my present yet?"
"Maybe. Actually you were really hard this year."
"Does that mean you have something for me now?"
"Depends…have you got something for me?"
"I'm in the process…"
"The process? Luke it's Christmas in four days!"
He chuckled. "I know, I know. Don't worry it'll be there. Anyway it's not your real present it's just…this other little thing."
"Ooh now I'm interested, there's two things?"
"I've said too much! Anyway what are the plans for the actual day; do we have to go to the lunch of death again or have you got us out of it with your fabulous charm?"
"Well actually as it happens I have. We're gonna have lunch at home with your mom and Andy, and then it's into the dragon's cave for presents in the afternoon. But we had to go at some point if only to save Nathan and Haley who are staying there."
"Oh my god, I'm sure Hales is loving that."
"It's cool I've got her on suicide watch."
"Nice to know you're taking care of things in my absence."
"But of course. So yeah that's the plan, and Jake and Peyton are going to come over there too, maybe even bring Papa Sawyer with them."
"Oh great, another of my mom's ex boyfriends under one roof."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that one…oh well, maybe Keith will be so busy glaring at Andy that he won't notice him?"
"You know, that might just work, and then if Jules takes out Deb Dan will have one less person to death stare…or maybe Andy will finally take him out back and beat the crap out of him…"
Brooke laughed. "God and we thought our love lives were complicated."
Lucas chuckled. "Nothing in comparison." He checked his watch and sighed, "I gotta go Cheery, but I'll see you soon."
"Yeah, we're all missing you."
"I miss you too, and I love you."
She smiled, it still made her heart flutter when he said that. "Love you too. Bye Broody."
"Bye."
Lucas' cab drew up outside the café, and he smiled as he saw his friends sitting inside, surrounded by Christmas decorations.
Brooke heard a car pull up outside and looked up, momentarily distracted from her task of bringing the others their breakfast. Seeing it was just a cab she set the plates down, but then she did a double take as she caught sight of the figure stepping out onto the sidewalk.
Before Lucas had reached the door of the café it opened from the other side and his girlfriend bounded into his arms. He spun her round, hugging her tightly and smiling as he kissed the side of her head. He set her down on the sidewalk and she leant up to kiss him, her arms still wrapped round his neck.
"We thought you weren't going to come till this evening," she said as they broke apart, "We were going to come and pick you up."
"I thought I'd surprise you."
"But you said your flight wasn't till later."
"Hence the surprise."
She grinned and giggled. "Whatever. I'm so glad you're here."
"Are you coming in or what?"
They looked up to see Karen at the door of the café, and Lucas smiled and pushed Brooke inside, hugging his mother. "Hey mom."
"It's so good to see you Luke."
"It's good to see you too. The café looks great." He looked around, noting the decorations covering the walls, and holly and mistletoe hanging in bunches in the corners.
"Well I had a little help." Karen raised her eyebrows at the girl who Lucas now held by his side once more.
Brooke shrugged. "I got bored."
He kissed the side of her head and she grinned. They made their way to the table where the others were all sitting and there were a few minutes while Lucas hugged them all. They finally sat down and Brooke curled up next to Lucas as Karen brought him a cup of hot chocolate.
"Thanks mom," he said as he accepted it gratefully, "So how are you all?" he asked, looking towards Peyton and Jake who he had not seen since Thanksgiving.
"Really good," Peyton said, smiling happily as she leant back against Jake. "We got a part time nanny in San Francisco…well she's actually just kind of a regular babysitter…anyway she's really good, right Jenny?" Peyton turned to the little girl sitting next to her Dad. "You like Milly, don't you?"
Jenny nodded, smiling. "She paints my nails."
Peyton rolled her eyes. "Yeah she's great apart from that."
"Hey! I do that," Brooke said.
"You also let her try your lipstick, and that's why we don't let you baby-sit much."
Brooke glared at her and Peyton chuckled. "Anyway, it's been great to have some more free-time. And she's a freshman at Berkeley so we can just about manage the pay."
"Especially since - "
"Jake!"
"Oh yeah!" Brooke said excitedly, turning to Lucas, "Peyton sold some art."
"Oh wow, that's great!"
"It wasn't anything huge."
"She was asked to show some of her work at a little gallery in the city, and she sold two paintings," Jake said proudly.
"Peyt that's fantastic."
Peyton smiled, abashed, "Thanks. It's a starting point anyway."
"She's gonna be the next…actually I don't know crap about art, but the next someone big!" Brooke said, grinning.
They continued talking, and Lucas heard a little about the masses of Christmas shopping the girls had done, and about Nathan's new holiday job working for Whitey to pay for it all.
"So what are you doing exactly?" he asked.
"Just some extra coaching, mainly for the JVs but it's pretty fun. You should come man I'm sure Whitey would love to see you."
"Yeah that would be cool."
"Well THH goes back just after New Years, so I'm going to be doing another week before we're back down to Princeton."
"Cool, that'd be awesome."
The conversation continued to flow and Brooke interlaced her fingers with Lucas at her side. He looked at her and leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss.
"Hey, no making out in front of Jenny."
They broke apart as Peyton gave them her best stern look and Brooke groaned. "Oh come on!" She turned to Jenny. "You don't mind right honey? It's just that your uncle Luke has been away for a whole week and he and I only just got back together, so we're still in the PDA-allowed-month, which we gotta take advantage off cause - "
"The what?" Peyton asked laughing.
Haley rolled her eyes. "This is Brooke's theory that they're allowed one month where they can make out whenever they want and we're not allowed to stop them."
"And she conveniently thinks of this right after she and Lucas get back together?"
"Hey, 'she' is right here. And no, I let all you guys have one, I just didn't tell you," she said with a shrug, "If you didn't take full advantage of it that's your problem."
Peyton shook her head. "Whatever, but you're still not allowed to make out now."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "Fine."
The morning drifted into afternoon and they had lunch at the café, perfectly happy to be able to enjoy the snow from the comfort of indoors rather than have to venture out into it.
Brooke finished helping clear away the plates with Haley, and turned to her. "I think we're gonna head off now."
"We only just finished lunch," Haley said, "You guys aren't going to stick around for a bit?"
"It's Christmas Eve, and I missed my boyfriend. I wanna go have s - " Brooke stopped as she noticed Haley's expression. "Karen is right behind me isn't she?"
Haley nodded, smirking slightly, and Brooke turned round. Karen raised her eyebrows at her from behind the counter, smiling slightly.
Brooke pressed her lips together and smiled. "Hi. Um, Luke and I are gonna go, because, you know, those…salmon aren't gonna eat themselves," she frowned at her own sentence and then shook her head. "So we'll see you later."
She laid a hand on Lucas' shoulder and he stood up. "What was that about salmon?"
Brooke shook her head. "Nothing."
He gave her a look and took her hand as they headed towards the door.
"You've got an hour till I get home," Karen called after them. Brooke looked back and Karen raised her eyebrows. Brooke grinned, biting her lip and little, and they left.
Karen continued wiping the counter, shaking her head.
Brooke woke up slowly and stretched a little, nestling her head into the pillow, her eyes closing again. She shifted her hand where it lay and smile to herself as she felt the soft cotton of Lucas' T-shirt. The day before came back to her along with the recollection that it was Christmas morning. She opened her eyes, grinning, and stared at the ceiling.
The day before had been wonderful: fabulous sex with Lucas, shower with Lucas, dinner with everyone else at Peyton's, and falling asleep with Lucas. Funny how a pattern emerged…
Smiling at the fact she was once again completely and utterly love-struck, Brooke propped herself up on one elbow, stroking Lucas' hair with her other hand. She watched him quietly for a little while. She was wrong, it wasn't quite the same feeling as last time, or the first time. She wasn't walking on a cloud, she felt…secure. It was like drinking melted chocolate.
She continued to watch him, tracing his features with his eyes. Finally she leant down, brushing his lips with her own.
She smiled as his eyes slowly opened.
"Hey gorgeous."
He smiled too, stretching a little. "Morning beautiful."
She giggled and rested her head on the pillow next to him. He turned to her and kissed her forehead. "Merry Christmas," he whispered.
She grinned and kissed him properly. "Merry Christmas."
After a second he sat up a little, looking over her to the clock which read '9:10'. He turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. "It's past nine O'clock on Christmas morning and you're still in bed! I thought you said you always woke up at like seven, crazy for presents."
She shrugged, still smiling. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you."
"So you woke up on Christmas morning and watched me sleep?"
She nodded. "You should feel special."
He chuckled. "I do."
He watched her for a little while and then asked, "Why do you like Christmas so much?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Aside from the obvious presents and good food and holiday and stuff," he added quickly.
She shrugged, burying herself in his arms. "When I was a kid…Christmas was like the only time…" she trailed off. "My grandma would always come, and she'd bring a ton of presents and she'd buy even more when she arrived. And she used to get me to help her wrap them all; not the ones for me of course, those were always a huge surprise. She had all these beautiful ribbons and paper. And on Christmas day…it was like my parents suddenly remembered I was there. My mom would smile when I gave her her present, and my Dad would watch me open all mine."
She was silent for a minute and Lucas took her hand that was resting on his chest.
"And even after…after my grandma died, and they started going away more, they'd always take me with them at Christmas, and it seemed like they actually like having me there." She looked up at him. "So I guess I always loved Christmas because it was the one time it really felt like they cared about me."
"So why aren't you spending it with them?" Lucas asked quietly.
Brooke turned to him and smiled. "Because, I don't want to spend it with them, I'm past trying to salvage our relationship, it's better to just except that we'll never be that close. I'd rather be with people who I know won't have forgotten about me by boxing day. People who really care about me."
Lucas smiled and kissed her gently. "Well that's okay then. Because my mom definitely cares about you, and Nathan, Haley, Jake and Peyton, they all do too. And I love you, very much."
"Which is why I'm here."
"Your parents love you too you know," Lucas said after a second.
Brooke looked down. "Yeah, I know. But not like you. And I don't love them like I love you."
"I should hope not, cause that would be a little weird - "
"You know what I mean!" She said, giggling. He grinned and nodded, kissing her again and wrapping his arms round her, holding her tightly against him.
Brooke sighed contentedly and ran her hands up his chest, looping them round his neck. "Thank you Lucas," she murmured.
"For what?" He asked.
She looked up at him and gave a little shrug. "Everything you've ever done for me."
He smiled. "Right back at you babe." He held her gaze for a moment, his stunning blue eyes conveying how much he meant it.
Brooke gave him another dazzling smile and then pushed herself up off his chest. "Now come on, I want presents." She started to crawl off the bed but he caught her arm. "We're not having them till this afternoon Cheery."
She turned back to him, crawling slowly into his lap. "Please. Just one tiny, little present. Please please please!" She stuck out her bottom lip and he groaned.
"Fine, one."
She squealed and jumped of the bed, turning round when she reached the door. "Well come on!"
He got out of bed, chuckling, and she took his hand and dragged him to the living room.
As planned they had Christmas lunch at home with Karen and Andy. Brooke had never felt more…at home. They talked about the high school years, and Andy got them all laughing reminding them of the time he and Karen had come home from a short weekend away to find the kitchen looking like a bomb site, and Brooke and Lucas guiltily explaining that they had been trying to make macaroni cheese…
When they had cleared everything away they drove to the Scott's house, where the mood seemed to be slightly lighter than the year before, perhaps because Royal and May had gone on a cruise and so weren't there, or maybe it just seemed better because Brooke and Lucas had each other to keep their minds of things.
The atmosphere got even better when everyone had arrived and the present opening began, and Lucas could have sworn that he even saw Deb and Dan smile at each other as the wrapping paper started to fly…
"Alright, here's your present."
Lucas was sitting in one of the big armchairs at the side of the sofa, a few of the presents he had already opened (including a beautiful ornate fountain pen – the heirloom from his great-grandfather) on the table by his side, and Brooke returned to her position in his lap holding out a wrapped gift.
Lucas smiled and raised an eyebrow, taking it and slowly starting to undo the wrapping.
It was a book, but not just any book.
"Wow, Brooke…"
It was a first edition of 'The Winter of Our Discontent', in beautiful condition.
"How did you get this?"
Brooke smiled. "Haley took me to this book store she said you two used to go to all the time, that had all these old books. And I got talking to the guy there, and mentioned this book, and he said he might just have something I'd like."
"Thank you, this is really amazing."
She grinned. "And I got a little something else for you too." She dipped her head and whispered in his ear, "but it'll have to wait till later."
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Might this be from…Victoria's Secret?"
Brooke shrugged. "Maybe, you'll have to wait and see!"
He grinned and she smirked, glad she had decided to save that green lingerie…
"Okay, last present," Lucas said to Brooke, holding it out to here. "Um, this is actually from your dad. I'm just the messenger."
Brooke tipped her head on one side, looking up at him. "What is it?"
"Open it and see."
She took the present, which was small and wrapped in beautiful paper, and began to open it. Inside was a little dark blue velvet covered box. Brooke looked up at Lucas again and then flipped it open. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
"Oh my god…"
It was a ring.
The body was dark silver, almost bronze, and there was a red stone set in it, with two smaller ones on each side.
"This was my grandmother's," Brooke whispered. "How did…?"
"Your dad found it. He sent it and asked me to give it to you."
"Wow." She lifted it out and slipped it onto her fourth finger, looking at it.
"That's your ring finger," Lucas said after a minute, "For engagement rings."
"Well I don't have one of those yet do I?" She said, looked round at him with a slight raised eyebrow.
He conceded this, unable to stop a smile from creeping onto his lips.
"But you're right," she said after a second. "I suppose I should keep it free."
She switched the ring over to her other hand, where it fit perfectly. Lucas took her left hand in his own, lightly caressing her fourth finger with his thumb. Brooke felt something swell inside her and leant back against him.
"This is beautiful Luke," she said, looking at her other hand. "Thank you."
"Thank your dad."
They all sat surrounded by the carnage of wrapping paper and ribbon strewn around the room. Jenny was giggling happily as she played with her new dolls, sitting in Peyton's lap. The adults had all gone, either back into the kitchen or back to their own homes. Haley lay back on the sofa, resting her head in Nathan's lap, and Brooke smiled as she felt Lucas drop a kiss on her head.
"Okay, I'm going to fall asleep unless we do something," Nathan said, his head jerking forward as he woke himself up.
"We could watch a movie," Lucas suggested, "There might be something on TV."
No one moved and then Jake reached out, his fingers brushing the remote that was lying on a nearby table, and he managed to get it without standing up. "Okay, let's see…"
"I think the girls are all pretty out of it," Nathan said, chuckling a little as he looked down at Haley.
"I'm not," Peyton said, raising a hand. "Me neither," Jenny said, turning round and grinning at Nathan. Peyton smiled at her, "Yup, we're holding up the side Jen."
"I'm awake," Brooke muttered, opening her eyes for a second but not lifting her head from Lucas' shoulder. "I'm just…sleeping."
Lucas chuckled. "It's okay you can sleep babe."
"But it's Christmas, I don't want to waste it," she murmured. He rubbed her back, still chuckling, "Just have a nap, it's a traditional part of Christmas."
"Well I don't want to mess with tradition…"
"Oh I think I found a movie," Jake said, stopping on a channel. "Aw it's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'."
"The original?" Haley asked, lifting her head.
"I thought you were asleep."
"Nope," she smiled.
"Yeah it's the old one."
"Oh," Brooke had raised her head, but now let it fall again disappointedly.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Well it doesn't have Jonny Depp…"
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"He was weird in it anyway," Haley said, "We can watch 'From Hell' tomorrow Tigger."
"Okay. And maybe 'Chocolat'?"
"Sure."
"Cool."
Nathan and Lucas shared a look and Brooke smiled to herself. They all kept watching the movie anyway, despite the lack of Jonny Depp, because it was about chocolate, and as Peyton pointed out, quite rightly, you didn't really need hot stars when there was that much candy on the screen.
"The problem with this movie is it always makes me hungry…" Brooke said after a little while. She looked up at Lucas, sticking out her bottom lip. "Broody?"
Lucas groaned. "They'll make 'whipped' jokes," he said, glancing at Nathan and Jake.
Brooke giggled. "Aw, are you scared of the other boys? Do they pick on you baby?"
Lucas nodded, making his eyes big and scared.
Brooke laughed. "Okay, I'll deal with them later. But only if you get me chocolate."
"Well it would mean getting up," Lucas said, changing tack, "And that would mean you getting up…"
"Oh forget it."
"Yes!"
She started watching the movie again and then turned back, "You know, I think that's the first time you've ever won an argument…wow…"
"That's so not true, I must have."
"Think about it, when was the last time I asked you to do something and you didn't do it? God maybe I'm losing my touch…"
"God I am whipped…"
They both broke into giggles and Peyton gave them a look. "Noisy people at the back, shut up!"
"Sorry," they said in unison, causing more giggling.
"Shut up or get out!" Nathan warned.
"Okay, we'll shut up," Lucas said, his laughter subsiding.
"No it's okay, we're gonna go get some food."
"What?"
"I've won every argument in three years, I'm not about to start losing now," Brooke said, standing up and pulling him up too, "Come on, we're getting some chocolate."
They left, Lucas' voice carrying down the hallway, "You know, technically you're getting the chocolate, so really I still won…"
The final credits of the movie rolled, and Haley let out a sigh as she shifted slightly on the couch. "Turn it off," Peyton muttered, and Jake reached out, just reaching the button. "Thanks Daddy."
"How many movies do you think we've all watched together?" Brooke asked, tipping her head on one side.
Nathan shrugged. "I don't know…used to be about one a week maybe…and then maybe like fifteen since we started college."
"It's gotta be more than that."
"Actually probably less, if you're only counting all of us together," Haley said, sitting up slightly, "Cause someone was away all summer for starters." She gave Lucas a pointed look and he buried his head in Brooke's shoulder. "And we don't get much time all of us together."
Brooke sighed, agreeing. "You know what, when we all have kids, or more kids," she added, nodding to Jake and Peyton, "We should watch all those kiddy movies altogether. You know, Bambi, E.T., Beauty and the Beast."
"Aw yeah, we should," Haley agreed smiling.
"And you know you guys have to be there the first time they see Bring It On," Brooke said, looking at Peyton and Haley.
"Brooke what are you going to do if you have boys?" Nathan asked chuckling.
Brooke shrugged. "I dunno…keep trying till I get a girl?" She laughed, "No boys would be nice. They'd still have to watch Bring It On though."
Nathan laughed, shaking his head. "Good luck man," he said to Lucas, who rolled his eyes, smiling.
"So it's a date," Haley said, grinning, "For five years time or whatever, no matter where we are."
"Better make it ten," Brooke said, "We're not all married and shacked up yet Hales, we need the kids to actually be born for this plan to work."
Haley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just don't wait too long, our kids have to be friends Tigger."
"Of course, cause mine are gonna be the coolest, not to mention prettiest." She patted Lucas knee, and he chuckled.
Nathan groaned, "All this talking about the future makes my head hurt."
"You don't want kids Nate?" Peyton asked taken aback.
"No of course. I just have to worry about clothing them and feeding them…"
Brooke threw a pillow at him. "Come on! We're not that old yet, we can still dream about this stuff without having to worry about the reality yet. That can wait till after college."
"Okay. I won't start the trust fund just yet then."
Haley laughed. "Yeah, I think it's safe to give it a couple more years."
They all sat in contended silence for a minute, dreaming their own little dreams featuring assorted variants on the white picket fence theme.
Two boys for Nathan in a big house with a basketball court in the back yard.
A girl and boy for Haley with a load of pets, including of course a Bunny named Bunny.
Another girl and a boy for Jake, who Jenny would show the ways of the world. A boy for Peyton in their house a little out of the city, she already had her girl.
A girl and a boy for Lucas, or maybe two of each he wasn't sure yet, but all with gorgeous brown hair and those greeny-brown eyes he loved so much.
Two girls for Brooke and a blue-eyed boy of course, in a big house she couldn't quite place yet. But wherever it was it had a basketball hoop over the garage, and maybe that red corvette parked in front if he still had it, that would match the front door.
She heard Lucas sigh contentedly, and then he laid a hand on her knee. "We'd better go Cheery, it's getting late."
She turned her to the side, laying it against his shoulder, and nodded, smiling.
Jake stood up, helping Peyton to her feet with Jenny on one hip. "We'd better be off too. We're meeting up tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah of course." Nathan stood up, Haley at his side. They all made their way to the door, where they stood for a second, and then Nathan patted Brooke on the shoulder. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."
She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, tomorrow," Peyton repeated.
"Bye," Haley said.
"Bye, have a good evening." Jake waved as he and Peyton began to make their way down the steps.
"See you guys," Lucas smiled before he and Brooke followed the others.
Nathan and Haley stood at the door and watched them leave, silhouetted in the evening light.
Brooke leant against Lucas as they made their way to their car, and he wrapped his arm round her.
"Don't you just want to…tell everyone you love them sometimes?" Brooke asked.
Lucas smiled and opened the door for her. "You can tell them tomorrow."
Karen got home from the Scotts house in the evening, after having a nice long talk with Deb and Keith. She found Andy in the kitchen, and he turned and smiled, coming forward to kiss her. She kissed him back and went to make some coffee, smiling to herself as she heard laughter coming from the living room.
"Lucas come on, cut it out!" Brooke giggled as Lucas tickled her.
"Cut what out?"
"Luke! It's Christmas that's against the rules!"
He stopped, chuckling. "You're so funny." He leant back against the end of the couch, pulling her towards him. Brooke settled herself against him sighing. "I miss this town."
"Yeah me too. You know what we should do tomorrow that we haven't done in a while?"
"What?"
"Break into someone's back yard and borrow their hot tub."
She laughed and swatted at his head. "We can't do that in December."
"Sure we can, it's a hot tub. And it's perfect, I'm sure lots of people would be away. We could use the one in your old house."
Brooke tipped her head on one side. "I did always like that one…and it would serve those jerks who bought the place right."
"Do you still hold that grudge?"
"Yes! They bought my house!"
Lucas chuckled, shaking his head.
The door opened and Karen came in, holding the phone. "Brooke, it's your parents."
"Oh, thanks!" She took it, unable to hide a smile, and Lucas got up, kissing the side of her head before he left the room. He heard her voice carry down the hall.
"Hey Daddy…Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too!…"
Lucas was sitting at the table in the kitchen when he felt arms wrap round his neck from behind.
"You are the sweetest person ever."
He looked round and smiled at Brooke. "What did I do?"
"You know very well what you did. You called my dad, and got him to track down this ring." Brooke still couldn't believe how amazing her boyfriend was.
Lucas shrugged. "Well…when we were all talking about heirlooms the other day, I thought it would be nice if you had something of your grandmother's. She obviously meant a lot to you."
"She did. Seriously Luke this is the most amazing thing anyone has ever given me."
He just smiled, not knowing what to say.
"And it's even more special because…you gave it to me," she said, almost shyly.
He grinned and pulled her into his lap. "So you like getting rings from me?"
She nodded.
"Well that bodes well…"
A dazzling smile broke across Brooke's face, and she hugged him tightly. "I love you so much," she whispered.
He kissed the side of her head. "I love you too."
Wow I can't really believe this is over! PLEASE REVIEW, because it's your last chance to and I will be very sad if you don't. Also this is a very long chapter, so you know…just please hit that button! But read this first:
THANK YOU so much to anyone who has ever reviewed this story, and a special thank you to all of you who were regular reviewers. I would do names but I'm scared I'd miss someone, so you know who you are: thank you! You all get a gold star, and I wish you happiness and BL lovin' for season 3.
I was in two minds about ending this, but I really want to start the SEQUEL because it's been bashing around in my head and in random half formed chapters on my laptop for too long! That said it will take a little while to plan it out so I won't be posting it right away. It's gonna be a while in the future but I'm not saying anything else, and it's gonna be awesome I swear!
I just wanted to note here while I have the chance, if anyone is still lost about UNDER YOUR SKIN, oneof my other BL stories, the URL is in my profile, please check it out I think any B/Ler would like it. And comment so I know you followed my top notch advice ; )
Thank you all again,
Ali x
P.S. If you're reading this story a while after it was posted, (hi there, how's the future?) please still review! There's nothing better than hearing someone has read one of your old stories.