Hey...

So I want to start off first by apologizing for the wait. I've been out of town for a while and haven't had time to update. But I'm here now, with a brand spanking new chapter!
I also want to thank each and every one of you for reading and reviewing. It's such a thrill to read them all! A big thanks to EVERYONE!
So since there's nothing left to say, onto chapter 4! Hopefully you will like it. Maybe enough to review?

Summary: A one-night stand turns into so much more for these would-be destined lovers. Fate brought them together for a night; but love will keep them there forever.

THE REAL THING
CHAPTER 4

Lucas stood in the middle of the loud construction yard; his eyes squinted away from the afternoon sun, his shirt soaked with sweat. He knew that today was going to be horrible; it was only 11am and already everything was going downhill.

To start it off, he had woken up late; he still couldn't figure out if he just forgot to set the alarm or if Brooke had shut it off, but right now that was the least of his problems. So after waking up and realizing he was already twenty minutes late, he had to rush out the door without breakfast, or his morning coffee. To top it off, he had forgotten to take his HCM medicine; and his doctor was very strict about keeping him on a schedule.

He had arrived at work to find that some idiot had screwed up some paperwork, so he had started his morning off by fixing the error; it took him over an hour to find that the guy had only misplaced one number that had thrown all of the calculations off.

Now, he was standing in the hot afternoon sun, his cotton shirt clinging to his body, as he attempted to explain to one of his employees that it did matter if he bought ½ inch plywood compared to ¼ inch plywood.

"No!" Lucas threw his hands up in frustration; he swore if one more moron screwed up today he was going to simply quit. He lifted his hardhat up and ran his hand through his hair harshly, his eyes piercing holes into the guy in front of him. "I don't care! Just order what I told you to order!"

The guy mumbled an apology before quickly walking away. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself; getting worked up wasn't going to help anyone, especially not himself. He glanced at his watch quickly; where was Nathan with his pills?

Sighing in defeat as his phone rang in his pocket, he slowly fished it out; he wasn't getting a break today. He didn't bother to glance at the caller ID before he picked it up. "Scott." He growled impatiently into it.

He let out a callous sigh, his eyes clamping shut as he did so. "No mom, I'm sorry." He apologized softly as his mother berated him for picking up the phone in such a manner. He was definitely not in the mood for another one of his mother's lectures about how he should always treat the customer with respect. "I know I should be more polite, today is just a bad day."

He was half tempted to just hang up and feed her some lame excuse later about how he lost connection or something, but he knew that she would never buy it. "No, mom. I know! Listen, I'm real busy. Do we have to do this now?"

"No, no." Lucas quickly spit into the phone. "Just ignore Nathan, you know how he likes to start trouble."

"Yes ma…" He sighed. He made a mental note to himself to kick Nathan's $$ when he finally arrived. He glanced at his watch again; only Nathan could take over an hour to do a task so small. "There's nothing to worry about. Don't you think I would tell you if I were in trouble?"

He could just imagine the story that Nathan had told her when he talked to her. He could even bet money that Nathan was the one to call her up just so he could rant about how bad Lucas was messing up. He figured there was nothing more exciting to Nathan to know that for once he wasn't the screw up and that Lucas was. "I'm positive mom. I'm not in any danger, no trouble, nothing. Nathan's just being Nathan."

"Excuse me." Lucas heard a voice from over his shoulder. He held up a finger to whoever was there as he continued on.

"Listen, ma…" He interrupted her. "I've got to go. I'll call you later, maybe I'll even stop by. Tell dad I said 'hey'. I love you. Bye." He hung up without giving her a chance to argue.

"What?" Lucas barked out harshly as he turned around to face the man. He noted the questioning glare of the deliveryman but shrugged it off. Sure, it wasn't the guy's fault he was having a terrible morning, but right about now he didn't have much sympathy toward anyone else.

"I've got a package for a, uh…" The man flipped open his clipboard and read the name that was scrawled on the form, "Lucas Scott. Is that you?"

"Yeah." Lucas snatched the pen that the man offered to him and quickly scrawled his name onto the paper. He scanned over the form quickly, making sure to remember the charge for delivery.

"Hey, Lucas!" He heard a voice call him. He slowly looked up from the clipboard just in time to see a fist coming in contact with his face. He stumbled backward, his back hitting the hard ground with a thud. His hand instantly came up to hold his face, the pain already starting to arise.

He squinted up into the sun, his vision blurry as he tried to make out two figures standing above him. He could tell one guy was the deliveryman, who quickly snatched up his clipboard and laid the package down beside him before scurrying off.

Lucas slowly sat up, his hand still cupping his throbbing cheek. He carefully pulled himself from the ground, his back sore from landing on the ground. He finally met the eyes of one very pissed-off Jake. Lucas could only assume that Brooke had told him about them.

"What the hell man?" Lucas groaned angrily. He gently pressed his finger into where he was punched, wincing from the pain; no doubt it was already starting to swell.

"Don't you 'man' me!" Jake snarled heatedly. He quickly pushed Lucas in the chest, smirking in satisfaction as the blonde man stumbled backward uncontrollably but managed to stay on his feet. "You stay the fk away from my sister! You hear me?"

"Chill out dude!" Lucas blew out irritably.

"No!" Jake took a threatening step toward him. "You leave her alone or so help me¾"

"Jake!" Brooke appeared from nowhere and quickly stepped between the two men. She held her hands out, pushing them apart, glaring at both of them. Lucas spit beside him, the saliva mixed with a tinge of blood. Jake tried to step toward him again but Brooke quickly pushed him away. "Stop it!"

"Brooke, stay out of this." Jake mumbled quietly to her as he attempted to move her behind him. She pushed at his chest again, successfully stopping him from reaching the battered blonde. "He'll regret the day he ever laid eyes on you."

"Leave him alone." Brooke stated fiercely, forgetting about her on-looking husband. She took both of her brother's hands into her's, her thumb lightly tracing circles on the back of them. "Please, Jake. I'm begging you."

"But he¾" Jake pointed weekly at the man behind her, his eyes pleading with Brooke to understand his anger. Nobody touched his little sister; let alone married her. He barely knew the man; couldn't even remember his last name. And she comes home telling him that he wedded his little sister without having the balls to ask her family for permission? He was asking for an $$ kicking.

"No." She stated forcefully, leaving no wiggle room. "I'm a big girl Jake. I chose this; its not like he forced me into it. We're working really, really hard to make this work. And you have no right to come here and try to force him to think otherwise."

Jake slowly nodded, knowing that when his sister put her mind to something that no one, even him, could convince her otherwise. "Now, I want you to get back in your truck and go home."

"I'm sorry." He stated sheepishly as he gently kissed her cheek. She nodded happily as she dropped his hands, allowing him to stand on his own. Jake sent one last glare at Lucas before turning around and leaving.

"So…" Lucas hedged forward timidly, his face already starting to discolor. "Does violence run in your family? Cause I mean, I just wanna know if I should expect your father to visit me anytime soon."

"I think your safe." She smiled playfully at him. She carefully reached up and touched his swollen cheek, pulling back when he flinched. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it feels heavenly." He deadpanned, eliciting a tiny giggle from her. He smiled as she tried to stifle her laughter, grabbing her hand and leading her into his trailer. He mumbled a quick greeting to Amy before shutting his door.

"I'm sorry about Jake." She smiled hesitantly at him. He plopped back into his chair, motioning for her to do the same. She sat in the chair opposite of him, smiling lightly as he chugged half a bottle of water. "He's really usually not like that."

"I'll take your word for it." Lucas joked good-naturedly. He tentatively held the cool bottle to his face, groaning as the bottle pressed against his cheek. "So, I guess I don't have to ask how they took it…"

"Well, Jake was the worse. He always has been the most protective over me." She shrugged lightly. "My mom just kind of sat there dumbly; it don't think it really registered with her. And then my dad, he was pissed; obviously not to the extent Jake was."

"So, should I hire a body guard now or…?" Lucas trailed off.

"You'll be fine." She assured him honestly. "Besides, I'll protect ya." She mocked.

"Oh, that's just dandy." He rolled his eyes lightheartedly. He smirked at her, laughing lightly when she smiled back. "That's why I married ya, you know? For your protection."

"I don't doubt it." She made moves of punching the air, laughing loudly as he pretended to shield himself.

"Mr. Scott." A voice interrupted their playful banter through the speaker on the phone. Lucas looked apologetically at Brooke before pressing the button to reply.

"Yes Any?"

"You're brother is here." She replied a second later.

"Send him in." He watched the door open, smiling wearily as Nathan threw the bottle of pills at him and took a seat next to Brooke.

"Thanks." Lucas nodded appreciatively as he twisted the top off and tapped a pill into the palm of his hand. He took a swig of the water and swallowed it, coughing slightly as it went down.

"Sorry bout the wait." Nathan apologized. "Traffic was killer."

"Ok, not to like, freak out or anything…" Brooke spoke out hesitantly, eyeing the bottle of pills that Lucas set on his desk. "But those aren't some type of crazy people medicine or anything, are they?"

"Actually, they're Prozac." Nathan stated, his face not showing a hint of humor. He watched as Lucas shot him and glare and Brooke shifted uncomfortably in her chair. He could tell that she was straining to read the label by the way she squinted her eyes and was staring at it strongly.

"Oh, I¾"

"Shut up." Lucas threw the bottle of water at his brother, struggling to stifle a laugh. "Don't listen to him, he's just being an $$. I'm not some crazy psycho killer or anything."

"Right, I knew that." She smiled with relief as he tossed her the bottle. She quickly read the label, looking up at him confusedly afterward. "So what are they for?"

"I have HCM." He stated as she handed him back the bottle. "It's a heart defect I inherited from our father." He explained motioning between him and Nathan. "I've been on the pills since I was sixteen; they keep me from dropping dead."

"Inherited?" She questioned warily as her hand subconsciously rubbed her slightly swollen stomach. He nodded slowly, instantly knowing why she was questioning it. "So it could…?"

"There's a chance." He stated reluctantly. The disease had never really affected him before, aside from basketball, but he had worked past that regret a long time ago. But thinking about the fact that he could pass it on to his child scared him. "It's slim though."

"Yet another thing that most couples discuss before marriage…" Nathan mumbled loud enough for them to hear. Brooke buried her face in her hands, shaking her head at his jab.

"Screw you." Lucas threw out heatedly as he quickly made his way around the desk. He kicked the edge of the chair, making it scrap backward against the floor, jolting Nathan from his sitting position. "You need to learn when to shut the fk up."

"You need to get out of my face before I make your left eye match the right one." Nathan taunted, a smirk plastered to his features as Lucas' jaw tensed. Nathan laughed shortly, smiling as he saw his brother clenching his fist.

Before he knew it he was stumbling back into the wall, his jaw bursting in pain. He could feel the metallic taste filling his mouth as he cupped his jaw. "Get out." Lucas sneered.

Nathan sent him one last look, knowing it was better just to walk away then to fight with him. He spit into the trashcan on his way out, the saliva a dark red. He slammed the door behind him, nodding tersely to Amy as he left the trailer.

Lucas slowly sat back down, ignoring the confused glance of his wife. He flexed his stiff fingers, grimacing at the cut on his middle knuckle. "Do you think we're crazy?" Brooke questioned softly.

"What?"

"Us. Do you think we're crazy to think this thing can actually work?" She scoffed skeptically. "Cause I mean, nobody else does. Everyone thinks this thing is destined to fail. Nobody thinks we can make it."

"I thought you didn't believe in destiny?" Lucas furrowed his brow quizzically at her.

"Trust me, I don't. I still think it's a load of crap; that ain't changing anytime soon." She assured him briskly. "But I can't help to think that maybe they're right. We know nothing about each other, how is this supposed to work?"

"Like you said." He stated. "Love is just two people working hard to stay together. And we'll do that."

"But I feel like I don't know anything about you." She defended. "I mean, I didn't even know you had some potentially life-threatening disease that may or may not be passed down to our child!"

"It won't be." He promised even though he knew he had no right to. "And so what if we don't know every single sordid detail of each other's lives?"

"So what?" She repeated back. "Most couples do. They know all those little things! I'm sure Haley knows that type of stuff about Nathan. I remember her telling me one day about all of his hopes and dreams. She knew that his dream as a child was to play in the NBA for the Bobcats and that when he was younger he would play on that old court down by the river."

"The River court." He clarified, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "My first memory of basketball was at that court."

"See!" She exclaimed. "I never would have known that."

"Listen." He commanded. "This is going to work. How bout this? Each day, before we even get out of bed, we'll talk. I'll tell you something about me; something nobody else knows. Then, you'll tell me something about you. We'll make it work."

"That actually sounds kinda nice." She admitted quietly. He nodded, smiling reassuringly at her. He leaned back in his chair watching her quietly; admiring the way the sun shone in through the window and lit her face. He hadn't noticed it before, but as she sat there staring back at him, he noted the smallest gold flecks in her deep brown eyes.

"So you finally agree with me?" She questions tauntingly.

"On what?"

"That fate doesn't exist." She states matter-a-factly.

"Whoa!" He leans forward quickly, smiling brightly at her. "I never once said that."

"But you said that we'd make it work." She reminds him of his earlier words. "Does that mean you don't think we were 'destined' or anything lame like that?"

"Oh, no, trust me babe..." He nods, "Me and You were definitely destined to be. We're fate sweetie."

"Whatever." She laughs jokingly at him. "You believe what you want. I guess I can't deny you that." They fall silent, each in there own world, each thinking about their earlier discussion.

"When I was fourteen…" He began out of nowhere, starling his dazed wife. She quickly turned her attention on her, watching as he lightly traced the two-inch long scar right below his hairline. "Nate and I were at the river court and we were playing a pick-up game to eleven…"

He paused, trying to remember exactly what had happened. "He had the ball, and he was driving inside. He went to dunk the ball, but I took his legs out from underneath him. When he finally got back up from the ground, he punched me so hard that I spun around and knocked my head on this rickety old picnic table that sat on the edge."

"That's how you got that scar?" She wondered out loud.

"Yeah." He smiled slightly. "I remember the blood dripping down my face and landing on my lips. And I remember Nathan standing there dumfounded, a big gash on his leg. And then, out of nowhere, he just starts laughing. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, I still don't know why to this day. But, we just stood there, in the middle of the court, both bleeding, laughing. It was crazy."

"Did your parents get mad?"

"Yeah." He laughed lightly. "They grounded us both for a week; no TV, no music, no basketball. I think that was the worst week of my life."

"Obviously neither of you learned your lesson." She states, referring back to the earlier altercation between the two of them.

"I guess not." He agrees humorously.

"Maybe I'll have to punish you." She states huskily. She smiles wickedly as she saunters around to his side of the desk and positions herself on his lap. His hands instantly find her waste, securing her to him.

"Really." He states lowly as he stares up at her. "Whatcha got in mind? Cause I've been a real naughty boy." He wiggles his eye brows playfully, both laughing at the silly gesture.

"I'll figure something out."