The Way We Were

Disclaimer- Not mine.

AN- Thanks for much to darcy101, almondbar, haydenisheaven2000 Brucas4ever and ( ) for the reviews! Please keep them coming. Well, I hope ya'll like this chapter! Again, flashbacks and dreams are in italics.

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Lucas quietly entered the room and sat down on the bed, looking at the girl that lay on it. She was on her stomach, her hair was hanging down her back and on the sides of her head and she was snoring slightly. He smiled. He always used to love watching her sleep, but he knew that he had to wake her from her slumber. He rubbed her back lightly, knowing that it would wake her up. She groaned and flipped over to look at him. She had a frown on her face when she saw who woke her. Lucas' face fell. He knew that it wouldn't be very easy to get her forgiveness, but he was going to try. She looked at him as to question his reason for being in her room. As she sat up some more, Lucas moved down to the ground and got on his knees. He grabbed her hands in his and tugged them towards him. He was shocked when she didn't try to move them away.

"Brooke, God, I'm so sorry." As he continued to speak, his voice started to crack. She nodded her head for him to continue. "I was extremely dumb to yell at you and lie to you about the reason that I wanted to come back, but it wasn't all a lie. Yes, school wasn't all that I thought it was going to be, but also, I missed you like hell and I just need to come home and be with you. Please, please forgive me. I mean I understand if you…" Lucas' speech was cut off by Brooke's lips crashing into his. He knew that he was forgiven and smiled against her lips.

She pulled back and looked at him. "I love you, Lucas."

"I love you, too, Brooke."

And then he was gone.

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"LUCAS!" Brooke screamed as she awoke from her dream. She looked next to her and saw a body, thinking that it was his. She tried to shake him awake and when she did, she found that it was just her brother. She immediately started to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey, Brooke, calm down," Jake said as her rubbed her back.

He saw Brooke reach for the phone and pulled it out of her hand. His action was rewarded with a slap on the back of the head. "What the hell are you trying to do, Jake?"

"No, Brooke, the question is what the hell are you trying to do?" He asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm trying to call Lucas, I need to apologize for what a bitch I was this afternoon."

Jake's heart broke as he saw the twinkle of hope in her hazel eyes. He sighed. "Brookie…"

"Jake, what is it?" She asked fearful of what he was talking about.

"It's… It's Luke." Brooke's face fell. "Brooke, he was in an accident, remember?"

Brooke started to bawl, and Jake tried to wrap a comforting arm around her, but she just pushed him away. He tried again, this time a little more forcefully, and she instantly fell towards him, sobs shaking her body.

Once her tears subsided a little, she asked, "Is he gone?"

Jake shook his head, no.

"Oh, thank god." Brooke started to cry some more, but this time they were tears of relief.

"Brookie, there's something that you need to know though." Brooke nodded, signaling for him to continue. "Lucas, he's… he's paralyzed from the waist down and in a coma."

Brooke's tears of sorrow came back as she melted back into her brother's comforting arms.

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Brooke woke up the next day to the sun shining through her window. She groaned, wishing that she could sleep through the next couple of months. She felt someone rubbing her back and turned around to see Jake, Peyton and her mother. They were all giving her sympathetic smiles, which she returned.

She slowly got up out of bed and headed towards her bathroom. She closed the door and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like crap. She had mascara stains under her eyes, her skin was red and blotchy from all the crying, and her eyes were lifeless and bloodshot. She instantly remembered Lucas, and that he was lying in a hospital room, comatose, paralyzed and thinking that she hated him. She fell to the ground crying. Obviously, her sobs had been loud, because she felt two pairs of arms encircle her body. She looked up and saw Jake and Peyton and gave them a tearful smile. They stayed with her until her tears started to subside.

After she let it all out, she got up, washed her face and got ready to face the day. She put on very little make-up, a little cover-up, some mascara and some lip-gloss, and she was done. She went out to her bedroom, only to find Peyton sitting on her bed. Brooke walked over to her closet and got out her favorite pair of comfy jeans, a T-shirt, and her most comfortable sweater and changed. She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to smile, but instead, she ended up crying. Peyton was at her side immediately.

Brooke looked up at Peyton. "God. How can I face him?" She tried to continue talking, but she was sobbing so hard that she just stopped for a moment, to regain her composure. "He… he thinks that… that I hate him. What if he … dies thinking that?"

Peyton hugged Brooke tightly before answering. "Brookie, you know that he doesn't think that. He could never think that. He knows that you love him, just go see him today. It'll make you feel better." Brooke nodded and got off the floor. She grabbed her purse and her car keys and left.

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Brooke parked her car in the hospital parking lot and slowly got out and started the walk towards the hospital. Once she got to the huge double doors, she paused for a moment, bracing herself for what was to come. She was about to go up to front desk and find out what room Lucas was in when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and was face to face with Nathan. She saw that his eyes were glossy with unshed tears and instantly flung herself into his comforting arms. She felt his tears as he hid his face into the crook of her neck. She felt a lump in her throat and tried her hardest to be strong for Nathan, but slowly she came unraveled, and the tears in her eyes started to fall.

They finally let go of each other a little and Nathan led her towards the elevator up to Lucas' room. Finally, the elevator landed on the 5th floor. Nathan kept an arm wrapped around Brooke's shoulder as they got off the elevator. She looked over at the waiting room and saw Karen asleep on Dan's shoulder. Dan smiled slightly in Brooke's direction, and then turned his attention back to his sleeping wife. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and she woke up, looking up at him, then at Brooke. She quickly got up and threw her arms around Brooke.

Brooke couldn't help but break down. Karen was like a second mother to her. She could hear Karen whispering words of encouragement in her ear and smiled, backing away from the woman, as to signal that she was going to be alright. Karen nodded her head towards a closed door across the hall and simply said, "Go."

Brooke nodded her head and smiled. She took slow, delicate steps towards the door. She quietly opened it and stepped into the room. She gasped as she saw Lucas in the bed. Two metals bars were holding his neck up. He had cuts and bruises all over his face and body. She could hear a ventilator in the background, helping him breath. She rushed to his side and lightly kissed his forehead. She ran her hand along his jaw line. For some odd reason, it had always been her favorite part about his face. Well, that and his piercing blue eyes, but at this moment, they weren't an option. She played with some of his new-found facial hair and smiled.

"You know, you can talk to him if you want." A voice behind her said.

Brooke turned around and was face to face with a woman that she assumed was Lucas' nurse. She nodded gratefully and said, "Yeah, I know. I just don't know what to say that will make any of this better."

The nurse walked closer to Brooke. "Well, sweetie, nothing you say will make this all too much better, but you talking to him might let him know what you're thinking and it might make you feel better." Brooke nodded and the nurse left.

Brooke took one of Lucas' hands in one of hers and with the other she stroked his face. She sighed before she started to talk to him. "Lucas," Just saying his name made her voice crack. "Please, just wake up. Lucas, I know I was mad when we last talked, but you know I didn't mean it." She paused for a moment. "I love you, but you know that. God, Luke, please, just wake up. I don't want you to go back to Stanford. I just want you to stay here with me, forever." Brooke started to bawl and started to kiss Lucas' palms repeatedly. "Luke, just open your eyes. Please, Lucas. I love you, please, just open your eyes."

Brooke laid her head down against one of Lucas' hands. She didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep until she heard the door open behind her. She jumped at the sound and saw Karen enter the room. Her mouth was wide open and there were tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Brooke was completely confused.

"Karen, what is it?"

"Oh my…"

Karen was interrupted by a third party. "Me, Brooke." Brooke turned around to look at Lucas and was instantly beaming as she saw that Lucas was awake. She ran towards him and hugged him. She looked back towards Karen and felt bad that she hadn't let her see her son first.

"Oh my gosh, Karen, I'm so sorry. I'm just gonna go. You can call me back in when you guys are done."

"No." Brooke turned around, with a perplexed look on her face.

"What?" She asked confused.

"No, you aren't leaving. I'm not going to let you out of my sight ever again." Lucas added with a charming smile, which earned a laugh from Brooke. She decided to remain in his room, but to give mother and son some space. She sat down on a couch near the window and pulled out a book that she had put in her bag earlier that day.

Brooke looked up when she heard the door close, signaling Karen's departure. She returned to Lucas' side instantly. She grabbed his hand and smiled. He laughed at her enthusiasm. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lucas raised his hand to stop her.

"I know, Brooke." He said, smiling at the confused look that graced her face.

She decided to play along with the game. "What exactly do you know Mr. Scott?" She asked, faking an English accent.

Lucas laughed, knowing that this was how their relationship was meant to be, drama-free, comfortable, and mostly, just perfect. "That you're in love with me." He was quick to reply.

She smiled, knowing that he was right. She leaned down to kiss his forehead, which was returned with a frown. "What?" She asked completely innocently. He looked up into her eyes. They were fearful of what he was going to say next.

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked in a small voice.

Brooke looked at Lucas in shock. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "Brooke, I know that kiss. It wasn't a real kiss, it was a pity kiss. If you don't want to be here, just leave."

Brooke felt tears enter her eyes. He was pushing her away, but he did have a point. She was hiding something from him. She knew that she couldn't be the one to tell him that he was paralyzed, as if he didn't already have a little clue, he probably couldn't feel his legs, but maybe he just wasn't paying attention. As she contemplated what to say next, she saw tears spring to Lucas' eyes and saw him turn his head away from her.

"No." She said.

"No? No to what?" He asked without even looking at her.

"I'm not leaving you. You can't push me away, Luke. I won't let you." Her voice cracked as she started to let all of her emotions out. He finally looked at her; it broke his heart to see how much she was hurting. He sat there, staring back at her, waiting for her to continue and she did. "I'm going to be here, and there's absolutely nothing that you can do to stop that." She tried to stare him down, but was interrupted by the door flying open. A doctor that looked like he was about 30 years old walked in. He smiled at Brooke and Lucas, obviously not sensing the tension in the room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Carter. Can I speak to Lucas for a moment alone?" Brooke nodded and left the room. She waited outside for about 10 minutes before Dr. Carter came back out with a frown on his face, but nodded for her to go back inside.

She found Lucas laying on his bed staring into space. As she moved closer, she saw the tears. She ran and hugged him, only to feel him go rigid under her touch. She moved back so that he could look her in the eye. He looked away. Brooke sat down in the chair next to his bed. She held his hand, but he immediately pushed her hand away.

"Lucas, what is it?" She asked with concern.

He paused for a moment, to regain his composure, and then continued. "You… you knew and you didn't say anything. You didn't warn me or anything. That's what the pity was for."

Brooke closed her eyes, trying to hide the tears that were falling. "Lucas, I barely knew. Jake told me last night when I was half-asleep, last night, everything was so screwed up that I barely remembered. Plus, I didn't want you to hear it from me. I couldn't answer any of your questions, I would be useless."

She opened her eyes and he was looking at her with anger in his eyes. "Just leave." He said in a quiet, but angry voice.

Brooke's tears fell again. "Please, Luke, don't do this. I love you."

His face contorted in anger as she spoke. "JUST LEAVE! Brooke, GOD! Don't you get it? I don't need you. I don't love you. I just want you to get the hell away from me."

That was all Brooke needed to hear. She ran out of the room and out of the hospital. Lucas said it. He said that he didn't love her anymore. He'd never done that before. No matter how angry he got, she had always known that he was in love with her, but now, he wasn't.

Lucas stared at the door that had just slammed, thinking that Brooke might reappear in the doorway. He knew she wouldn't, but he silently prayed that he would. He'd just lied and hurt the only woman that he had ever really loved. The truth was, he needed, wanted, and loved Brooke more than he knew, but he was so angry about his paralysis and the fact that she kept it from him. Also, in the back of his head, he thought that he was doing this for her. This way, she could find a guy that would be able to give her everything that he wanted in her life, not one that would only bring trouble.

That night, both Brooke and Lucas cried themselves to sleep, wanting only each other.

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Sorry that these chapters always end kind of depressingly, but I like the drama and it's all part of the plan for the story, so I'm sorry if you hate it, but I hope yall didn't. This is my last chapter until Aug. 13, because I'm going on vacation, so I'm sorry… I hope yall don't lose interest in the story!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!

XOXOX