Inspiration for this chapter is from 'You'll Think Of Me' by Keith Urban.

Chapter Twenty Nine: Take Your Memories, I Don't Need Them

Karen watched helplessly as Brooke ran in and out of her room, throwing items and clothing into the hallway.

'The Lucas Pile'.

When Karen had woken up that morning after a sleepless night, she'd gone to check on the young girl.

She'd found her ransacking her room for any of Lucas' belongings and throwing out the items in the hall.

When a puffy-eyed and exhausted Lucas opened his bedroom door, he'd been the ideal target for a flying sneaker which barely flew over the top of his head. It had been met with an unsatisfied growl from the girl and she'd slammed her door in his face.

Any attempts Lucas made to talk to her went unheard or meant another item was thrown at him.

Karen was in awe at how mauch of Lucas' stuff had found their way into Brooke's room.

"What's going on?" Dan asked as he joined his wife in spectating Brooke's actions, "Are we having a yard sale?" Dan was a little bleary eyed from going out on an impromptu business meeting with some Japanese clients and had missed the previous night's events.

Karen sighed, "No, not quite." She toyed with the idea of telling her husband but decided it may be best if he didn't know at the present moment.

Lucas bravely ventured out of his room and confidentally tried to talk to Brooke.

"Brooke, can I jus-"

A CD was thrown from Brooke's room and narrowly missed Lucas, who put his basketball skills to use by dodging it. It made a sound as it hit the wooden floor and cracked.

Lucas cringed as his Travis CD case lay smashed on his floor.

"Brooke!"

This time a shirt silenced Lucas as it flew halfway and then gracefully landed on top of Lucas' head. He pulled it off and tossed it to the ground.

Reluctantly giving in, Lucas decided to let her cool down slightly as he walked back into his room and shut the door.

Dan's eyes darted from both rooms and then finally on the pile of Lucas' clothes.

"Did I miss something?" he asked before all the pieces began to fit. "Are they together?" he asked his wife.

"They were," Karen informed him, her eyes welling up with tears again, "But they broke up last night."

Karen began moving towards the kitchen.

"How long as this been going on?" Dan demanded to know, although he had a pretty good idea, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Karen sighed as she stopped in front of the refrigerator, "Dan…"

"Don't you think I should know? There are clear rules in this house! Or did you want them to run off and get married?" He began to grow irritated. Karen pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"Not every teenage couple go off and get married, Dan. It only happened once and you're the one who threw Nath-"

"Don't even say his name!" Dan snapped. His wife seemed a little taken aback by his outburst but soon relaxed as he rested against the kitchen counter. "No wonder Lucas hasn't been giving 110 percent on the court," he muttered. Karen gave him a look as she poured the orange juice in a tall glass.

"Is that all you care about, Dan? Have you not noticed that Lucas has been happy for the last few months? I haven't seen him laugh or smile like that since before… the incident," she said, reminding her husband of how badly Lucas had taken the news Nathan was no longer welcome in the house. "I liked having the house full again. Having Lucas talk to us without scowling or ignoring us and that's down to being with Brooke."

"If it was so good, then why did they break up?" Dan challenged with a small smirk.

"Because," Karen said putting the carton of orange juice in the fridge, "He's your son," she said coolly as she breezed past Dan.

-----

Dan watched his wife slowly make her way towards Brooke's room. She knocked softly and opened the door cautiously to avoid any more flying items.

"I thought I told to fu-" Brooke's tirade came to an abrupt end when she realized it was Karen and not Lucas, "Oh, hey Karen." Brooke said feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"I brought you something to drink," Karen extended her arm towards Brooke. Brooke eyed it before shaking her head.

"No thanks. I don't have much of an appetite today," she said. For the first time, Karen noticed how worn-out Brooke looked. Her hair was messy, her eyes were slightly puffy and she looked as if she'd aged a few years over the course of one night.

"How are you?" Karen began, setting the drink down on a nearby surface. Brooke seemed to hesitate.

"Good," Brooke insisted, "Just clearing out."

"So I see," Karen said. "Did you get any sleep?"

Brooke hesitated again.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

"That's understandable," Karen noted that the pictures that bordered Brooke's dressing table mirror were gone. "What happened to those pictures?"

Brooke gave a shrug, "I decided I didn't like them."

"So you threw them out?" Karen guessed.

"Oh no. I just cut out the people I didn't want in them."

Karen's eyes settled on the pile of Lucas-heads sitting in the bin.

"Oh." Karen rubbed her neck uncomfortably. "So, um, what are your plans for today?" she asked the brunette, "Because I was thinking we could go shopping or something… my treat?" she suggested.

Brooke looked up somewhat interested, but the grin that would have ardorned her face at the mention of 'shopping' with someone else's money was replaced by a small shrug.

"Maybe another time. I just… I just want everything out."

"Do you want help? I could probably help you move this stuff into boxes or something. Or put them in Lucas' room, if you like."

Again, Brooke shook her head.

"I'd rather be alone, thanks," she said.

"Are you sure? I could call Peyton-"

"No, thank you," Brooke said more forcefully. Karen nodded.

"Well, if you need me..."shesaid softly as she left the room.

Brooke sighed as she continued looking through her closet. "Found it!" she exclaimed as she pulled out the dress Lucas had bought her on their first official date.

She had kept it neatly preserved since that night. The dress being some sort of symbolic start to their relationship and holding all the promises of an everlasting love.

What a joke!

Brooke scoffed as she crumpled the fabric in her hands and threw it on the floor. She looked at it for a moment, seemingly unsatisfied with the action, before using her toe to pick the dress up and throw it further away from her.

Once Brooke had cleaned out all of the things Lucas had given her or left behind, she took out the very last items.

The red dress he'd given her the day before and the diamond jewelry that accompanied it.

Brooke had thought she was the luckiest girl in the world to receive such expensive presents from her boyfriend.

But now she knew that they were tainted with lies and bought with guilt.

Which was a shame because both the dress and jewelry looked fabulous on her.

Taking one last glance at the gifts, she placed them along with the others on the 'Lucas pile'.

She shut her bedroom door and sighed heavily, her eyes glancing around the room.

It seemed so empty now.

-----

"I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, you are."

"Nate!"

"What? Do you want me to tell you that you're not when you told the girl you love that you cheated on her… on her birthday?"

Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose. He'd been doing that a lot lately, "I guess you're right. I just… I just want her to talk to me without throwing things at me."

"She does have the right to be angry, Luke. You broke her heart."

"I know," Lucas sighed.

"Haley wants to know what time she should come over. She tried calling Brooke's cell but she never answered," Nathan explained.

"I don't know, Hate. Mom seems to be taking a day off work today and dad said that he's taking the family out tonight for Brooke's birthday."

"But her birt-"

"I know but he seemed pretty adamant. I don't really feel up to it but he had the weird look in his eyes."

"Do you think he knows about you and Brooke?"

"If he does, he hasn't said anything. But it doesn't matter now anyway, I don't think there'll be a 'me and Brooke' by the way things are going."

"Maybe you should let her cool down a bit… or a lot. Once she talks to Hales or Peyton or something, she might come around." Nathan tried to reassure, but he wasn't completely convinced.

Unfortunately, neither was Lucas, "Yeah," he said, "Maybe."

"If you want a break, feel free to come hang out here. Or maybe you and I can go shoot some hoops and talk about it," Nathan suggested.

"We'll see," Lucas told him as someone knocked on his door, "Uh, I gotta go. I'll speak to you soon, okay?"

"Sure."

Lucas hung up the phone and opened his bedroom door, slightly surprised to see Brooke standing in front of him.

"Brooke, what-"

She held up a hand to silence him. It shook slightly.

"Don't talk, Lucas," she said curtly, "Just wanted to tell you that all your stuff is in the hallway and you need to clean it up," she ran a hand awkwardly through her hair.

"Oh, okay," he said. They stood quietly for a moment and when it looked like Lucas was going to start apologizing again, Brooke hastily changed the subject.

"There's some of my stuff in your room," she told him.

"Do you want to-"

Brooke seemed to consider it, but chickened out. It suddenly seemed too much for her to step back into his room or even be around him for too long.

Lucas noticed that she was still shaking.

"I'll grab them later, thanks," she turned on her heel and hid away in her bedroom.

-----

Lucas didn't see Brooke again until later that day when Dan arrived home early from work.

"Where are the kids?" he asked Karen. Karen pointed down to the hallway and Dan knocked on both doors, coaxing both teenagers out of their rooms. They looked at each other briefly before turning their attention on Dan.

"Everybody, get dressed," he announced, "We're going out."

"Uh, Dan, maybe we shouldn't tonight," Karen tried to dissuade him but he shook his head.

"No, I think we should," Dan said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips, "After all, this is for Brooke's birthday."

"You know, I really don't fee-" Brooke held a hand to her forehead, attempting to feign a headache. Dan gave her a look before taking her hands into his.

"Sweetheart," he began putting on a sickly sweet tone, "This is for your birthday. You deserve to celebrate it. It'll only be a little while anyway."

Brooke hesitated before nodding her head. Dan broke into a smile.

"Excellent. Now I need everyone to wear something smart but casual," he instructed. "Meet me in the car in fifteen minutes."

-----

Almost forty five minutes later, the family pulled up to a big building.

"Where are we?" Karen asked her husband.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," he said cryptically as the family got out of the car. Dan led them inside the building where they were met by a man that Dan introduced them to only as 'Steve', before they were taken up a flight of stairs.

Steve opened a door and the four entered the room; three of them shocked, and the other sporting a big grin.

"Dan…" Karen said as she looked at the surroundings, "This is a photo studio."

"Yes, Karen, it is," Dan replied, the smile never faltering.

"What are we doing here?" she hissed.

"Well, I decided that to celebrate Brooke joining our family – and her birthday, of course – we should have a new family portrait taken. What do you think?" he explained.

Karen knew that it was a bad idea but she just went along with it. She didn't want to upset her husband twice in one day.

"Kids?" Dan asked. Brooke and Lucas barely glanced at each other but gave yielding nods. Dan clapped his hands together. "Then we can begin."

Their arrangement was left up to Steve who wanted them to begin with the family photograph. Karen sat on the high-standing chair with her son flanking on side, and Dan in the middle, with Brooke on the other side.

After the first few shots, everyone seemed to relax a little.

"This is a very photogenic family," Steve complimented. "Can we have the two parents together, please?"

Brooke and Lucas left the staging area and watched quietly from behind the camera.

After a few of those shots had been taken, Steve asked for a picture of Lucas and Dan, followed by one of Brooke and Karen together.

As Brooke smoothed down her skirt, Dan clapped his hands together once more.

"I have an idea," he said, "How about we have one of the children together?"

There was silence.

"That would be good," Steve agreed. "Let me just load up the camera."

Brooke looked at Karen urgently to stop it from happening, so the older woman took the opportunity to save them.

"I really don't think it's necessary," she said hastily.

"Nonsense," Dan said, "I think it's a wonderful idea. They're the most photogenic teenagers I know," he said, earning him a glare from Karen.

"I'm loaded," Steve said, "Are we going ahead?" Dan gave him a nod and Lucas made his way to the lighted area that was draped with white sheets. The two stood a short distance away from one another, each unsure of how to proceed.

"Can we have you both closer to each other?" Steve asked forcing them to stand closer together.

Lucas inched closer to Brooke.

"Can you put a hand around her waist or something?" Steve suggested, "This is supposed to be a happy occasion," he said taking a few snaps.

"You know," Dan said, "This is all wrong. You both seem a little wooden to me. How about something a little closer and intimate? I mean, you are dating," he gave a grin to the two who stared at him and Karen dumbfounded. Karen gave them an apologetic shrug.

"Dan, what are you playing at?" she whispered as Steve began instructing them on how to pose.

"Relax, honey. It's just a little payback," Dan told her.

"Payback?" Karen almost spat. "Oh, you are one selfish, cruel son-of-a-"

"I hate people keeping secrets from me; you know that. This is what you get for keeping me in the dark."

"Have you any idea how much they're both hurting? How dare you abuse that?" Karen argued.

"Shhh," he urged, "You'll disrupt Steve's… zen or whatever," Dan said not feeling the slightest bit guilty.

Karen could only watch as Lucas was forced to put his arm around Brooke's shoulder and pull her to his chest. Brooke fought the urge to burst into tears.

"How about you tilt your head back a little so you're looking into his eyes," Steve suggested to Brooke who unwillingly did so. She felt sick as she stared up at him. The blue eyes she'd once loved to look into were tired and she could see he hadn't slept either.

It felt like a lifetime had passed by the time Steve told them that he'd finished. Brooke and Lucas stayed in their designated pose for a few moments more before Brooke tore herself away and ran through the studio door and out of the building.

The three stared after her; Lucas feeling guiltier, Karen's heart going out to her, and Dan's sickly smile following her out.

As Lucas made his way to the restroom, Karen pushed past her husband with a glare.

"I hope you're happy," she said angrily as she walked out to follow the girl.

"Oh yes," Dan said, "Very happy."

-----

The next day, Dan had decided he didn't like silent treatment his wife was giving him and so decided to go to work on a Sunday. Karen, too, had chosen to stay at the café and work off her anger, leaving Brooke and Lucas in the house.

However, Lucas couldn't take the tension in the house any longer and spent most of his time at the Rivercourt in an effort to avoid any ugly confrontation with Brooke.

So Brooke was alone in the house, the pain from the last two day's events still fresh and her anger being taken out on her room, which was now devoid of any sort of photographical or material memory of Lucas.

Haley and Peyton took the opportunity to go and show their support for their friend, taking their usual 'crisis kit' and sympathy.

Brooke hadn't taken any of their calls and from what they'd heard about what happened at the photo studio, they knew they had to be there for her more than ever.

They knocked on the door and waited a little while until Brooke opened it. She had bags under her eyes and looked as if she hadn't slept for the past few days.

"Hey, Brooke," Haley said, "How are you doing?"

Brooke looked between the two.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her jaw clenching slightly.

"Uh… well, we thought you might need a friend or two so we got ice cream and your favorite movie," she said waving the bag in front of her.

Brooke nodded, "Yeah, I do need a friend," she said. Haley and Peyton gave her both an encouraging smile. "But I don't see them anywhere, do you?" she asked.

Haley frowned in confusion.

"What?"

Brooke didn't bother replying, but instead took the ice cream they held and slammed the door in their faces.

"Brooke!" Peyton called as she knocked on the door. "We're sorry, let us in!"

Haley and Peyton both tried to apologize as they stood outside Brooke's door. But their cries went unheeded as Brooke buried her head under her pillow, and cut herself off from the world.

To Be Continued…