A/N: Okay as promised here is the next chapter. This will explain who is in the hospital and why.

Everything in Italics is someone's thoughts. Bold Italics is flashbacks.

Disclaimer: See Prologue

Chapter 1: Back to the beginning

Today was a hard day for him. It had been a week to the day since he had last heard her voice, and seen her smile. He shivered at the thought. The thing he missed the most was the thing that put her here. Her smile. If she hadn't turned around to smile at me she would be okay now. She would've seen the car, she could have gotten out of the way.

It had been a nice day, they had spent the day together doing nothing special but it was perfect. They sat on the porch swing. He read to her while she rested her head in his lap. It was days like these that he loved, just being with her.

"What time is it?" She questioned.

"5" Was his reply.

"I have to go."

"Stay awhile longer." He pouted.

"Can't, but I'm all yours tomorrow." She had promised with a kiss.

"Okay." He finally conceded.

"Want me to walk you?"

"I'll be fine." She had answered.

I should have walked with her, she wouldn't have turned back if I had been with her.

He could see it so vividly. That's what he hated. He would never forget, it was burned into his memory.

She walked down the steps and blew him a kiss goodbye.

"Call you later." She said.

He smiled as she walked away. He watched her begin to cross the street and turn back. She had smiled at him then; he smiled back. He saw the car before she did, she didn't notice until his smile dropped off his face. It was then that she turned her head in the direction of his gaze. By then it was too late. He yelled out to her but there was no time. He saw the car hit her, her heard the sickening thud her body made when it hit the pavement. He could still hear the screech of the tires in his head like they were right there. Everything else was a blur, he wasn't sure how much time passed before he heard the sirens from the ambulance. He didn't remember the ride to the hospital. All he could see was the car hitting her over and over again. He couldn't shake the image from his mind. He remembered their friends showed up sometime later, he didn't acknowledge their presence for a long while. He couldn't take his gaze off his hands. The hands that were covered in her blood, it was all over him but he couldn't bring himself to wash it off.

Tears fell freely now. The memories of what brought him to this moment proving to be too much for him. Sometimes he dreamt that he saved her. That he had seen the car in time and pushed her out of the way; but then he'd see her lying there and realize that he hadn't saved her. He glanced up at the clock, it was getting to be the time when their friends stopped by to "not check up on him". This was the part of the day he hated the most. On his bad days he just wanted to be alone with her, but they didn't understand that, they couldn't understand that. He cringed when he heard the door open. It was time for him to pretend that everything was okay.

The three people entered the room and sat on the opposite side of the bed where their chairs from yesterday still stood.

"I brought you something to eat." Haley announced showing him the brown paper bag. He shrugged in response. It was the same thing everyday. She would bring him food and he would set it aside for later, but later would never come.

"You've got to eat Luke."

"I'll eat when she eats." Was always his answer.

"Brooke wouldn't want you to starve."

"How do you know what she would want?" He lashed out at them. Haley sat back then; no one dared to speak. They all knew that today was one of those days.

"We are just trying to look out for you. Make it better for you." Nathan said

"Well you can stop then because its not working, the only thing that will make it better is having her back!"

"We want her back as bad as you do Luke." Peyton assured him.

"Yeah but none of you are the reason she's here in the first place." He replied.

Haley stood up and walked over to Lucas, she was tired of him blaming himself for Brooke getting hurt. He did it every time he was like this.

"Lucas you know this isn't your fault." She scolded.

"You weren't driving the car that hit her. It was the driver's fault and his alone. You couldn't have done anything. It's not your fault that Brooke is here."

"Haley's right this isn't your fault." Peyton chimed in.

"Yeah man Brooke wouldn't want you to blame yourself." Nathan added.

"Shut Up!" Lucas shouted at them. He had finally had enough.

He screamed and threw the bag of food Haley brought across the room.

"Shut Up!" He yelled again through his tear stained face. He fell back into the chair and put his head in his hands. It was scenes like these that broke Haley's heart. Seeing her best friend like this was hard to take. She touched his shoulder in hopes of comforting him and her heat dropped when he jerked his body away from her grasp.

"Maybe we should just go." Peyton suggested.

"I guess you're right." Haley replied still starring at the back of Lucas' head.

"See ya Luke." Nathan said as he made his way to the door.

"See you tomorrow best friend." Peyton said squeezing Brooke's hand. "Bye Lucas."

Haley was the last person to leave.

"Get better soon Brooke." She said touching her leg. She turned to Lucas and hesitated.

"Just know that we're here for you." She informed him before she too left the hospital room, now it was just the two of them. That's how he liked it, how it should be. He wiped the last few tears from his face and resumed holding her hand.

"It's just us now you can open your eyes." He told her. He wasn't surprised when nothing happened.

"You can open your eyes whenever you're ready. I'll be here when you do. I'm not going anywhere and I never will." He informed her.

He laid his head down on the side of her bed and closed his eyes. He fell asleep still holding her hand in his. That's how the nurse found them every night. She smiled and backed out of the room. Lucas stirred slightly when he heard the door close. He squeezed her hand one last time before letting sleep claim him. This was where he would always be. By her side no matter what.

A/N 2: So as you can see this is in fact a Brucas story, did you have any doubt? This story will mainly focus on Brooke and Lucas, although Haley, Nathan and Peyton are in the story it will focus more on their relationships with Brooke and Lucas than with other people. That's not to say that there will be no Naley in the story, it just won't focus on it. I hope you like it so far. Another chapter will come shortly.