At the Heart of It All

Chapter Twenty-nine

The Truth Will Be Understood…

Her tiny fists pounded angrily against the large front door, and Brooke Davis cursed the family for being so uncreative. Every other house in the neighborhood had an ornate door, originally colored. Her own front door, bright red in its color, had been the most vibrant in town. The next door neighbor's, however, was beyond bland. It was this door that she found herself in front of in the wee hours of the morning, surprisingly sober considering her past but not circumstances.

"Jesus!" Anna swore, swinging the door open in agitation. "What the hell do you think you're--- Brooke!" her dark eyes widened in surprise, all signs of anger disappearing, only to be replaced with curiosity. "What are you doing here at two in the morning?"

Glancing down at the expensive watch on her thin wrist, Brooke cursed herself for not having checked the time before. "Is Felix here?"

"Um, yeah…" Anna said, curiosity leaking through as she ushered Brooke inside the mansion.

Taking the steps two at a time, Brooke quickly found her way to the room she had visited so many times before. She could find her way there with her eyes closed, and she rather felt like she was, the darkness engulfing the second floor. Snapping his bedroom door open, Brooke stormed in, rage gathering as she remembered why she was there. As if he sensed her presence, just like old times, Felix sat up automatically, his smoldering eyes opening sleepily, a small smile on his face. For a second, Brooke thought about what the "old times" were like, to just crawl into bed with him at times like this. But a sudden, sickly sensation struck her thin body, jolting her back to the present, which was very different from any old times they could have.

"What happened that night, Felix?" she asked quietly, an appeal in her large green eyes.

"What are you talking about, Brooke?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fists. Brooke thought vaguely that if what happened is what she thought happened, his fists wouldn't be the only ones in contact with that face.

"That night, a few weeks ago, where I woke up…"

"Naked and in bed with me? I think that's pretty self-explanatory, Brooke," his signature cocky grin slid across his face, but Brooke wasn't charmed by him the way she once was. Actually, she wondered what she ever saw in him.

"I know. I just… did we really have sex?" she sighed hopelessly, combing her dark tresses back with her fingers. Her hope of having this all be one giant misunderstanding was being dashed quickly.

"Yeah. I didn't realize you were that drunk, Brooke…" he shrugged apologetically. She could feel her anger flood quickly into her body, rage filling the balloon that hope had deflated.

"Didn't realize I was that drunk? For me to even consider speaking to you, I'd have to have drunken myself into a stupor!" she spat venomously, eyes shining with hatred.

"Well, you're in my bedroom at two o'clock in the morning, and you don't look too drunk now. Speaking of, why has Tree Hill's party princess reformed? Don't tell me. Saint Lucas?" he sneered.

"Lucas and I broke up," she stated simply, swallowing the large lump in her throat.

"So what, you're here for a rebound?"

"Oh God!" she screamed, disgusted. "That is the farthest thing from my mind, especially not with an asshole like you," she raged, racing out of the room and leaving a stream of slammed doors in her wake.

"I believe that's strike three," a smooth voice snickered from his bathroom doorway.

"Shut up Anna," Felix snarled, turning over in his bed and burrowing his head until the covers.

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Three in the morning, and he still wasn't feeling it. Lucas Scott had come to the club that night in hopes of forgetting about Brooke and their beautiful relationship which had effectively been shot to hell in the matter of hours. Even as the hours wore on, and he still didn't feel like partying, he convinced himself that he just needed to get readjusted. Now it was the wee hours of the morning, and he had a gorgeous girl all over him, and he still just kind of wished he stayed home.

She had been there, of course. Part of him had just known that Brooke would be there, and he wasn't going to lie to himself and say that that wasn't part of the reason why he went. She kept her eyes cast downwards for most of the night, but every once in a while, he would look over and they would make eye contact that neither was able to maintain. He could feel Haley's angry gaze boring into his back, and wished that he could do something to fix all this. He would then have to remind himself that this wasn't his fault, this wasn't his mess to clean up. Not this time.

Something was wrong. It was obvious, just from the knock on his door. More accurately, the fact that she'd knocked at all. In all his years of being best friends (and more...) with Brooke Davis, she had only once knocked on his bedroom door. This had let to some awkward run-ins that made for embarrassing stories later on, but somehow they had persevered. Now that they were dating, Lucas didn't see any reason for Brooke to start knocking now, but nevertheless, the dainty tapping of fists on the glass panes of his doors alerted him to her presence.

She seemed smaller than usual, protectively cradling her midriff. Without the bold air about her, Brooke just seemed to shrink. It was this air that made her seem so much taller, so worthy of respect and admiration from their peers. Stripped of this, Brooke stood in all her vulnerability on his doorstep and he wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and restore it.

"Hey babe. What's wrong?" he asked, pulling her into a hug. She was much stiffer than usual, but held on much longer, as if this was the last awkward hug she would ever receive from him.

"It's… ah… um… let's sit," she sputtered, gesturing towards his bed. He plopped down casually, but she stood awkwardly. Hovering slightly in the air over the bed, she spun on her heel and perched on the computer chair.

"What's going on Cheery?"

There was hesitation in her bright green eyes, darkness clouding over her face. It was never Brooke's style to beat around the bush, but in this situation, she wasn't thinking much about staying true to form. However, the words slid out before she could stop them, weigh them, think about what to say. "I'm pregnant."

A moment of shocked silence hung in the air. It appeared that not even Brooke knew which words were going to come out. Lucas choked, breaking the quiet.

"Wha—oh my God… what are we going to do?" he jumped up from the bed, pacing slightly.

"Lucas…" Brooke sighed, shoulders slumped, preparing herself for her greatest defeat.

"Wha--- oh, Brooke, oh my God," he was babbling, which was totally her territory. Kneeling down, he took her hands in his and placed a light kiss to the back of each. "Don't worry, okay? Everything's going to work out fine. I'll be there for you, you won't have to go through this alone."

Her eyes welled up with tears, but he continued. "What do you want to do? We'll have to keep it, you know how I feel about abortions," he babbled, the pain in his eyes clearly reflecting thoughts of his own childhood, the circumstances of his own birth. "Will you marry me, Brooke?"

"What?" she blurted.

"Well, we're going to be having a baby. We're going to be parents. We love each other, so why not?" his eyes were worried, but patient, and trusting, and loving, and Brooke hated herself.

"No…no, I'm having a baby… I'm going to be a mother… Luke, you aren't going to be a father…" she choked, the tears sliding down her cheeks at rapid speeds. His thumb automatically jumped out to wipe them away, but as the impact of her words hit him, he froze.

"It's… it's not mine?" he asked, and the tears in his voice mirrored the ones in her eyes. Brooke opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. That said enough to him. A perfect tear formed in the corner of his eye, trembling on the lid before dropping in a straight line down his face. Brooke's hand rose to push it away, but he had risen, leaving her hand fumbling in the air. Turning quietly and walking into his bathroom, shutting the door behind him, all Brooke could hear was the tiny click of the lock. Then she heard the noise, the one she had heard so few times before but would recognize it anywhere. As he cried, she let herself out through the backdoor.

Shaking his head and willing away the tear forming behind his eye, Lucas tried to get back into the partying spirit. He was still plagued by emotions, but this time it was guilt. In that instant, he knew what he had to do. He had to see Brooke. He had told her that she wouldn't have to go through this alone, and he'd meant it. If only he could look at her without feeling like his heart was being wrenched out.

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"Miss Davis? The doctor's ready to see you," the kindly matron called from the receptionist desk. Brooke's knuckles were white, hands clenched tightly around the metal armrests of the tiny chair. This was it, this was her last chance. Her last chance to salvage the rest of her life, her relationship with Lucas. This was her last chance for some semblance of the truth to reconstruct her.

"Aren't you a little young for a pregnancy test?" the doctor asked disapprovingly, but faltered under the teen's withering gaze. Brooke fought to stay calm, knowing that the fluorescent lighting and buzzing noises of the doctor's office was her last chance. She was already on strike two, and this was where it counted. If she wasn't really pregnant, this had all been for nothing, but that was a price Brooke Davis was willing to pay.

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Hey guys. Sorry it's been taking me so long to update lately, but I've got a lot on my plate. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too horrible, but please review and let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Xo Sam