Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill, any of the characters, storylines, or actors. I would love to keep Sophia for myself though. Lol. I also do not own the song Right Here by Staind which inspired this story title.

A/N: This is my first fiction so go easy on me, but I would like to know your honest opinion and tell me if I should keep writing. This of course will be a Brooke/Lucas & Nathan/Haleystory with rest of the characters as well. I promise a little Jake somewhere down the line. First few chapters are alternating Lucas and Nathan's POVs. Next up will be the girls.

Thanks to: Dayz, Brucas4ever, kenjigirl1, naleyforlife, photoboothromance, deli41321, lucasscottlover1, Laurie, Jackie, and April for reviewing!

April- You can pretty much count on me putting the NH proposal in this fic. It will be by early next week or it will suck compared to the new one. LOL.

Jen- Thanks for giving such an indepth analysis. It inspired my BL chapter. Hope you enjoy your reward for sticking out the Nathan chapters. LOL.

photobookromance- Brooke is by Lucas's side in this one and I hope you enjoy. And don't worry I will always bring the good BL love.

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Title: Right Here

Author: Calla

Chapter 4: Where I Belong

I knew by the look on Nathan's face that he was both angry and afraid for me. Not only did he want me to be okay, but it killed him to lie to Haley. I wonder what he'll feel once he finds out Haley already knows. I wonder what he'll feel when he finds out its HCM. I wonder what Haley will feel when she discovers it's worse than she thought. Maybe it's even worse than I think. I can only hope that Nathan keeps this to himself right now. But then again he never did promise. He only said fine. And that was never a good sign. As I walked away from the Rivercourt, I could feel Nathan's eyes burning into the back of my skull. I feel really horrible about having to lie to him. About lying to everyone. I know he just wants to help. Just like Haley wants to help. But they can't. No one can. I'm in this alone. Maybe it's better that way. There's got to be one thing in this life I can control. I couldn't control Dan and the pain he's inflicted on my family, I couldn't control my health, and I couldn't control Keith dying. But how I was going to live and spend my time was my choice and no one was going to take that away from me.

I feel like everything else has been torn apart and if I didn't have basketball then I don't know what I would do. I need that release now more than ever. Loosing Keith has pretty much ended any happiness I had left. Of course I still have the rest of my family. Mom, Haley, and Nathan make me feel like maybe there is a reason to still go on. And of course there is Brooke who means the world to me. I can never forget Brooke. She has been there next to me every step of the way. She has done so much for my family. I look over at her with one hand in mine and the other around Peyton. We are the two most important people in her world. She trusts us more than anything. And it has to stay that way. She always tells us every little thought on her mind no matter how trivial. Yesterday was even more terrible just because I couldn't confide in her and let her know what was going on…

Flashback

As I near the house I can see her light blue Beetle in the driveway. What is she doing here? I told her to go do something for herself. I can't see her right now. I need her more than ever, more than anyone, but she couldn't see me like this. She knows me like the back of her hand and can read me like a book. No wait she can read me like a Vogue magazine. That's what she said to me once. She had to be the cutest creature ever. No, I can't let her pure perfection distract me. She'll know something more is wrong and try to get it out of me. And I know she will succeed.

Brooke has her way of calming and stimulating you all at once. She makes you just want open up and expose your soul. She makes you want to reveal your darkest secret no matter how hard you try to resist. You just can't because she makes it seem like some how it will all be okay. That maybe whatever is bothering you is not so bad. But this isn't one of those times. I have a lot of secrets lately and they are really bad. She can't make them go away with a warm touch and a flash of her dimpled smile. But I know the minute I look into those hazel eyes that I'm a goner.

All of a sudden I noticed Brooke's face in the kitchen window and I know she's seen me. There was no turning back now. I take a few breaths and run my hand through my hair before heading inside. When I walk through the door I see my mom asleep on the couch with tissues all around her. I lean down to pick some up off the floor and in walks Brooke holding a pot of tea.

"Don't worry I'll do that."

"Brooke you're not the maid. I can pick up after my own mother. I'm not completely useless." My voice came out a lot harsher than I intended. She put her head down a little.

"I know that. I just wanted to help as much as possible."

I feel really guilty now. As if I needed more guilt. Here she was for me and my mom and I was taking my anger out on her. I walked over to her and lifted her chin.

"Hey I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I love you so much for helping. I just don't want you to feel like I am taking advantage of the situation and just letting you do everything."

"Of course I don't feel that way. And I don't mind. I like taking care of you. That's all I ever want to do." She walked over and put the tea down on the coffee table before grabbing my hand and taking me into the kitchen. I give her a puzzled look and she notices.

"I don't want to wake your mom up. She just fell asleep. Well more like cried herself into a coma as you can see."

"Well she hasn't slept at all the past couple of days. And with all the crying it was about time."

"I know. That's why this last pot of tea was heavy on the rum. It knocked her right out."

"You always know just what to do."

"That's because your girlfriend is a genius."

"Well, that could be it or the fact that you know a lot about alcohol."

Brooke smiled that irresistible smile. "Same difference."

"Yeah well no debate there. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to go get some rest."

"Rest is overrated. I am needed here. And besides you're the one who looks like he can use some rest. You want some of my special blend? It does wonders."

"No I don't want to fall asleep. I just want to be awake with you and stare at your face."

This time her smile was so soft it almost looked like a frown. She pushed me down into a chair and sat down on my lap before touching my forehead.

"Seriously Luke you don't look so good. And you're all clammy. Are you feeling sick?"

"Nah. I just worked up a sweat shooting a few hoops with Nathan."

"Hoops? I thought you were at the hospital with Peyton."

All of a sudden I felt awful for her catching me in a lie."Oh you know about that?"

"Yeah I called there to see if she wanted me to come back. She said you just left and was pretty tired. She just wanted to relax. I think she's sick of me."

"That's not possible."

"You got that right. And don't you forget it boyfriend. So you had time to go shoot some hoops and go visit Peyton all in an hour. You're my superman."

"Well I stopped by for just a few minutes to see how she was. Then I met Nate to cool down. Or in my case burn up." I tried to make a joke hoping she would forget all about the inconsistencies in my story. But Brooke was too smart for that.

"That's interesting. Peyton told me you were there for almost an hour and left 15 minutes ago. Quite a quick game if I say so myself."

"Was it really that long? I guess I lost track of time. She had a lot to get off her mind. She just went on and on."

She raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Oh really? She had a lot on HER mind? So you didn't talk about you at all?"

"Maybe a little."

"Well it looks like you talked yourself into a sweat. Must of gotten pretty interesting."

"Not really. I just knew she would understand." I saw her face fall for a minute and I couldn't let her go on thinking that I couldn't talk to her. "I'm not saying that you wouldn't or anything. She just has been in the same place."

"No, I get that. I think it's nice you two have each other."

"You do?" I never thought in a million years that I would hear Brooke say that.

"Yeah well with what has happened and with her being alone she needs all the people around she can get. Plus it's nice to see you still care for others and are not shutting them out. Well, at least not everyone."

"Brooke..."

"No it's really fine. You need someone to talk to right now. I know I'm not that person and that's okay."

"Brooke, it's not like that."

"Don't worry about it Lucas. When you're ready to talk to me I'll be right here waiting. I'll always be here. It's where I belong. Just remember that."

I placed a soft kiss on her lips and pulled her tighter. She was not going anywhere. Not now and not ever.

"Okay so back to the point. You feel okay?"

"Yeah babe I'm fine. Especially now that I have you in my arms."

I was relieved that she seemed to forget my little lie about playing basketball and all she was worried about was me. Damn this girl was amazing. How did I not see this before? I was so wrong to think she was just a fling. The truth was that she was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I would be lost without her. Who knows what kind of man I would have become. Last year at this point I hated myself for what I did to her. And if she hadn't given me another chance, I could still be that same person.

"So are you hungry? When was the last time you ate?"

"Um I don't know?... This morning I had a bagel."

"That's it? No, that's just not going to work. It's almost dinner time. I'm gonna make you something. What do you want?"

"You're gonna cook?"

"Well contrary to popular belief I am not completely useless either."

"I know. I just think food poisoning is the last thing we need right now."

She punched me playfully on the arm. "Lucas Scott what a horrible thing to say. I would like to inform you that my food hasn't harmed anyone in over a year."

"Oh really?"

"On second thought let's just order something. You want pizza or Chinese?"

As she walked off to go get the take out menus I realized Peyton had been right. Brooke made you forget all about your pain. If even for just a moment.

End of flashback

So as I now look into Brooke's tear filled eyes and see her small smile, I know for sure that I can tell her anything. That she would understand. She should have been the first person I went to. She knows about loosing someone too. Her parents had left her and she had almost lost me. But she didn't have to worry about that ever again. Because just like she belongs with me, I belong with her. I touched Brooke's cheek, wiped away a single tear she let fall, and squeezed her hand. I would confide in her tonight and never hide anything from her again. We promised to trust each other this time. And I trust her with everything I have. That means I have to tell her about Peyton and our kiss as well. She deserves to know. She deserves everything.

I looked over on the other side of Brooke to see Peyton. She had her leg in a cast and crutches to the side of her. I have to ask Peyton what the kiss meant to her before talking to Brooke. There is no reason to upset her if it didn't mean anything. But what would I do if it did mean something? I didn't want to upset her then either. She had to know I have no feelings toward Peyton either way. That kiss just proved even more that whatever passion I had for Peyton was gone. All I felt was sorry for what she was going through. If Peyton was truly in love with me, she would have to get over it. As harsh as that sounds I am in love with Brooke. End of story. Peyton turned her head and smiled at me before squeezing Brooke's hand even harder. That gave me a good feeling. Last time Peyton felt anything for me she was avoiding Brooke at all costs. And if anything this has made them even closer. Hopefully Peyton did just kiss me because she thought she was going to die. And I had been her knight in shinning armor. It was an intense situation and for all we know she could have been delusional. That's what I am hoping.

I changed my gaze to Brooke and try to see whether she noticed this little exchange. But if she did there was no sign of it. She just continued looking at me with a warm smile and held me with an even warmer hand. I looked over at my mother on my other side. There was Haley trying to calm her down and Nathan with his arm around her. I know now that as long as I have these 5 people around we will all make it through this tragedy. And as long as I have the two women on each side of me, I would make through anything.

TBC