Chapter 3: Power of Love

A/N: Thanks to all of you for your reviews! I still don't own them, but this is the best I can do…

This chapter is going to take place around a week after chapter 2. Chapters 1 and 2 were kind of, introducing how Brooke, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and a little of Jake and Peyton are now.

Hope you enjoy.

"Mom," Clarissa asked walking towards Brooke.

"Yeah sweetie," Brooke said.

"Why aren't Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan and the kids coming over, today, but Aunt Peyton, Uncle Jake, Jenny and Daddy are?" Clarissa questioned.

"Because it's Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan's 10th wedding anniversary, and we're planning a surprise party," Brooke said as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Clarissa yelled, opening the door to see Lucas standing there.

"Daddy!" Clarissa screamed jumping on Lucas.

"Hey baby," Lucas said, "Hey Brooke," he said giving Brooke a hug.

"Is that Clarissa!" Peyton screamed walking into the house.

"Aunt Peyton!" Clarissa screamed hugging Peyton, "and the baby," she finished rubbing Peyton's stomach.

With that, Jenny and Clarissa ran upstairs to play, as Jake called after, "Hey Liss!"

"Hey Uncle Jake!" Clarissa called back.

"Okay, so I've got a list of people, places, foods, music, dates, and what's going to go on," Brooke said walking over to her friends with 2 binders.

"Let me help you," Peyton said sitting down next to Brooke, "We'll use Tric."

"Perfect P. Sawyer!" Brooke said clapping her hands together.

"Date," Jake started, "Not this Saturday, but next Saturday."

"Music," Lucas started, "Chris Keller," which earned him a glare from each of his friends.

"Joking, joking," Lucas thought, putting his hand to his face, "Mouth."

"Good," Brooke said, "And what's this?" Brooke asked pointing to her nose.

"No, Brooke. Mouth. Mouth, D.J," Lucas said.

"Oh, that sounds perfect!" Brooke and Peyton screeched.

After two hours, the four friends had finished most of the party planning.

"Jenny, come on!" Peyton screamed down the stairs.

"I'm coming, Mom!" Jenny screamed back annoyed, "Can I stay over?" she pleaded.

"No, let's go," Jake said.

"Finee," Jenny whined.

"Bye Aunt Brooke," Jenny said giving Brooke a hug. "Bye Uncle Lucas," she said giving Lucas a big hug. "Bye Clarissa! I'm going to miss you sooo much!" Jenny screamed throwing her arms around her cousin.

"Not gonna work, to the car Jen," Peyton demanded, as she went to give Brooke a hug, but flinched when something scratched her.

"Ow, Brooke—wait, what the hell?" Peyton asked holding up Brooke's hand to an engagement ring.

"You're engaged?" Peyton asked.

"Kind of," Brooke said.

Peyton and Jake both looked towards Lucas, who was just staring at Brooke, and then to Clarissa who's eyes were filling with tears.

"Call me later," Peyton said giving Brooke a kiss on the cheek, nod towards Lucas, and receiving a nod from them both.

"Mom?" Clarissa asked walking in front of Brooke, crossing her arms.

"Sweetie…" Brooke started, "Felix asked me to marry him, and I said yes," she finished.

"So you guys are going to get married," Clarissa stated.

"Are you okay with that?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, mom. Just fine," Clarissa said sarcastically.

"Clarissa…" Lucas started.

"Daddy, that's not fair! You don't go on dates with all those girls because you don't want me to feel uncomfortable, and you can be able to help Mommy without another girl coming between you two!" Clarissa argued.

"Clarissa, that was my decision," Lucas stated.

"And my decision is to marry Felix," Brooke stated.

"Fine. Then my decision is to go live with Daddy." Clarissa spat to Brooke.

"What?" Brooke exclaimed, "You can't just do that!"

"Yes I can. I can be wherever I am happy and as soon as Felix is here, I'm not going to be happy!" Clarissa said.

"Clarissa—" Brooke was about to argue back.

"Daddy, please," Clarissa said crying, hugging her father, "Please let me come live with you. I hate Felix and I hate Mom."

Lucas looked up to find Brooke in tears, then bended down to his daughter's face, "Sweetie, you have to give Felix a chance….How about your Mommy makes a dinner for the two of you, and you get to know him a little better, and then you decide," Lucas said trying to help the situation.

"Will you come?" Clarissa whispered.

"No, sweetie, it's just for the three of you, but if you need me, call my cell, okay?" Lucas asked.

"He's coming now!" Clarissa exclaimed.

"Yeah, we were going to tell you together," Brooke whispered.

"Okay," Clarissa said, and as Brooke went to hug her, she pushed her away, "I'm mad at you."

"Clarissa…" Brooke started.

"Bye Daddy, I love you," Clarissa interrupted, going to give Lucas a hug.

"I love you, too, sweetie," Lucas said hugging his daughter back, then getting up and walking out of the door.

"Bye Luke," Brooke said, and was shocked to see Lucas not even turning around, but waving his hand over his head.

"Guess I'm not the only one mad at you," Clarissa said as she went up the stairs.

Nathan and Haley were in the living room watching some T.V., alone. Michelle went to Peyton and Jake's to spend some time with Jenny, and N.J. and Danny were sleeping.

"What do you think this one is?" Nathan asked Haley rubbing her stomach.

"A girl," Haley said very matter of factly.

"Oh yeah?" Nathan said challenging her.

"Yep." Haley said smiling to her husband.

"Why is that?" Nathan asked looking at his wife questionably.

"Because Michelle and I are outnumbered," Haley said as if it were the strangest question in the world.

Nathan laughed as he went and kissed his wife. Nathan and Haley were interrupted by the doorbell. Nathan groaned and Haley giggled and got up to answer the door, and Nathan followed behind her.

"Lucas?" Haley asked opening the door.

"She's getting married," Lucas stated looking towards Haley.

Haley took one look into Lucas's eyes and saw the hurt in them.

"I'm gonna go watch some T.V. upstairs," Nathan said, knowing to leave his wife and brother to talk.

Haley nodded graciously as she directed Lucas into the living room and sat next to him on the couch.

"Who is, Luke?" Haley asked, but already knowing the answer.

"Brooke," he replied still looking straight ahead.

"And that bothers you, because you still love her," Haley said trying to finally get her best friend to admit his true feelings.

"Yeah," he said, "I do," he finished before breaking down and Haley leaning into her best friend and hugging him.

"How long, Luke?" Haley whispered.

"Peyton was a mistake, Hales," Lucas said, "I've always loved Brooke."

Haley closed her eyes and couldn't believe that her best friend was going through this.

"Oh, Lucas." Haley whispered sympathetically.

Lucas sat up straight, "I mean in the beginning, I wanted Peyton, remember?" he asked.

"Of course I remember," Haley said with a small smile.

"Of course you do," Lucas said softly, "You were always there."

Haley nodded, her eyes convincing him to continue, "And then, I got Brooke," he started, "And when Peyton took an interest in me, I wanted that….I mean I'm a guy!"

Haley laughed, "But, you ended up falling for Brooke."

"Yeah." Lucas said.

"And now she's marrying Felix," Haley stated.

"How am I going to deal with it? Clarissa already wants to move in with me!" Lucas said to Haley.

"People who are meant to be together always find their way back in the end," Haley simply stated, as Lucas remembered when Brooke said that once.

"So, Clarissa, what is your favorite subject in school?" Felix said trying to start a conversation with his future step-daughter.

"English, like my dads," Clarissa stated, smiling to herself knowing Felix hated her father.

Felix winced, then quickly recovered, "You know, you look a lot like your mom, Clarissa," he said smiling.

"Yeah, especially my blonde hair, right?" Clarissa said sarcastically.

"Clarissa," Brooke scolded, "Where did you get that sarcasm from?"

"Aunt Haley." She stated, smiling devilishly towards her mother.

"So, is Haley your real aunt?" Felix asked.

"My dad, Lucas…you know him, right?" Clarissa asked smirking her inherited Scott smirk towards the man "ruining" her life as Felix nodded, "Well he and my aunt are best friends, so she's my godmother, and she's married to my Uncle Nathan, who's my dad's brother."

"Oh, and they have kids?" Felix said pretending he didn't know.

"Yeah, 3" Clarissa said knowing very well that he knew this information, "Michelle, she's a few months younger than me, N.J., he's 6 and Daniel, he's 3, and my aunt is pregnant, so.."

"That sounds like you have a nice family," Felix said as he found a spot where he saw Clarissa enjoyed talking about.

"Yeah, big, too. There's my Aunt Peyton, Uncle Jake and Jenny. They're not really related to me, but they are, you know? Then there's my Grandpa Dan, I remember him, he died, though. Then, my Grandma Karen, and Granny Deb. Deb's not my real grandmother, so I call her Granny," Clarissa rambled on and on.

"You know, your lucky, Hales." Lucas said.

"Why?" Haley asked.

"Nathan and you." Lucas stated.

"Yeah, I know…" Haley trailed off thinking.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Could you believe that we were each other's first kiss?" Haley asked laughing.

Flashback: 5th Grade.

"So they were kissing?" Lucas asked Haley.

"Yeah. It was gross," Haley said making a face thinking of her sister and her sister's boyfriend kissing.

"Well, when you get older you have to do that." Lucas stated matter of factly.

"Have you done it?" Haley asked curiously.

"Nope. You?" Lucas asked nervously.

"No." Haley answered quickly.

"Well, you know…we should get it over with, Haley." Lucas said.

"But…that's nasty." Haley said, then thought, "Only this once?"


"Yeah." Lucas said.

"Okay." Haley said back.

End Flashback

That was both Lucas and Haley's first kiss. They then vowed to never do that again.

"Luke, I know you're hurting," Haley started, then quickly finished, "But you need to talk to Brooke. Tell her how you feel."

"Yeah." Lucas whispered.

"It was nice talking to you Clarissa!" Felix called as he was leaving Brooke's.

"You too!" Clarissa called back going up the stairs to her room.

Felix leaned into give Brooke a kiss, and walked out the door.

"That went well," Brooke mumbled to herself.

"Mom?" Clarissa asked.

"Yeah." Brooke answered looking towards her daughter.

"I still want to move in with Daddy," Clarissa said as she ascended up the stairs.

Up Next:

"Congratulations Tutorwife and Boytoy for lasting a whole 10 years!"

"Clarissa, Mommy would be so upset if you come to live with me," Lucas said hugging his daughter.

"But Felix is gonna try and be my father, and he's not!" Clarissa exclaimed.

"If you ever hurt Brooke or my daughter, I swear I'll kick your ass from here to kingdom come." Lucas stated firmly.

"And, as you know, my wife really does the singing…but…Oh the things I do for her," Nathan said as he finished his speech that had the whole crowd in tears.