Lucas rubbed his eyes and yawned lazily. His laziness didn't last long, however. Today was the day he was going to go help Haley and Nathan paint the room in anticipation of their new baby, whose imminent arrival was discovered not long ago.

It had been 3 months since the whole Lucas-Valerie incident. Upon much begging from Haley and Peyton, Brooke had not filed for divorce but a legal separation, during which her and Lucas were supposed to work things out. And Brooke was going to be at Haley's today, with both of his girls.

Brooke was currently renting a place down the street from Lucas. She claimed she had done that purely so her girls could see their father every day, which Lucas never backed out on. Every day, same time, he would show up at Brooke's door and whisk the girls away for 2 hours, taking them places, playing with them, and sometimes even staying at Brooke's house for a little.

Things between Lucas and Brooke had been on the edge for about a month after the whole incident. After things had cooled down, he had called Brooke with a sincere apology, making both of them cry. Brooke had said she didn't wanna break things off totally, but that they had a long road ahead of them and she didn't wanna rush things. Lucas knew what he had done was wrong. He regretted it with every breath and every step he took. Somehow, Brooke refused to see that.

Emily had been heartbroken when she had figured out what actually had gone on. Mommy and Daddy living in two different houses down the street from each other hadn't gone over well in her little mind and after much explaining and crying on both her and Brooke's part, Brooke had settled her down. Dayna was 9 months old, now starting to walk and babble small words. It broke Lucas's heart to not be witnessing the growth of his daughter every day.

Nathan and Haley were expecting a little girl soon. Haley had been pregnant for about 2 months before she had found out, and now she was 5 months pregnant and very excited for the arrival of her new child.

"DADDY!" Emily yelled, running to Lucas.

"Emmy bear" Lucas laughed, picking Emily up and swinging her around.

"I's hasn't seen yous since last night!"

"I know!" Lucas smiled, tickling her. "I'm glad I get to see my teddy bear so soon again!"

"Hi, Lucas" Brooke said.

"Hey" Lucas smiled at her. Brooke heaved an internal sigh. She couldn't look at his baby blue eyes. They made her weak in the knees and so sad that he had done something like that.

"Hi guys!" Haley giggled, hugging both Brooke and Lucas. She had a little baby bump which made her very happy.

"Hey" Nathan said, meandering into the room with Tristan following closely behind.

"Hey" Brooke greeted both of them, smiling. Lucas looked over at her and felt his heart ache. It had been three months since he had kissed her, since he had held her, laughed with her or played with her. It made him sad and angry at the same time to know that a long road lay ahead of them before he could do any of that comfortably.

"Are we ready to get painting?" Haley asked.

"Hales, I have a small, irrelevant question for you" Brooke asked, absentmindedly handing Dayna to Lucas.

"What?"

"Why didn't you HIRE someone?"

"Because its more PERSONAL, Brooke" Haley shook her head.

"Ugh, personal" Brooke rolled her eyes. "I had a professional do Emmy's room and she loves it, don't you Emmy?"

"I like the room in DADDY'S house" Emily said, clutching to Lucas's leg. Instantly, Brooke's eyes saddened. Emily had had a lot of issues lately with Brooke and Lucas's separation, and it was taking a toll on everyone.

"Hey birdie?" Nathan asked Emily, leaning down and picking her up. "Come help me paint pink crowns for your new baby cousin"

"Yeah…you guys go talk, I'll take Dayna" Haley said, taking Dayna from Lucas and following Nathan upstairs.

Lucas and Brooke went out behind the house and sat on the swinging bench.

"So…" Brooke said, staring over the small lake Nathan and Haley had had installed.

"Emily's having…issues"

"Yeah" Brooke said, her saddened eyes instantly filling up. "Look, Lucas, I miss you. Dayna misses you. God knows Emily misses you. But what you did…"

"I know what I did was WRONG, Brooke, wrong in uncountable amounts of ways…I apologize a thousand, million times over and over…I miss you and the girls, too, Brooke"

"I said it was going to be a long road…"

"I know, but does it have to be?" Lucas said, turning to face Brooke. "Look Brooke- I cant eat. I cant sleep. I cant think. I cant concentrate during basketball. All I can think about is you, about your eyes, your smile, and your laugh, how much I LOVE you, and how much I regret doing that. Yeah, I was drunk. That wasn't, isn't, and never will be an excuse for what I did. But Brooke I am SORRY, so sorry, you wouldn't be able to imagine it. I know I've hurt you before. I know I hurt you again. I know I hurt you now. And I am one goddamn lucky man that you have forgiven me. If you don't ever wanna be with me again, its ok. Its gonna kill me inside and out, but what makes you happy is what I live for. All I want is for you to forgive me"

"Lucas…" Brooke said, tears spilling over. "This is so hard…I don't think I can do it"

A/N: SUPER short chapter, I know…more coming up soon, don't worry!