Again, thank you all for the reviews! This is for you!

-------------------------

CHAPTER 5: The Best…and Worst…Day of Her Life

Lucas felt an incredible sense of calm taking over him as he continued to shoot the ball at the basket. He knew now that he had no choice but to give up basketball. Now that his mother knew, she would never let him risk his life for a game.

With a jolt of surprise, he felt his chest tighten so much that he could hardly breathe. The basketball slipped out of his grasp, and he fell to one knee, gasping. He told himself to take slow breaths as deep as he could, to calm himself down. After a few moments, the tightness began to ebb, and he could breathe properly again. He knelt where he was for a long time, his head in his hands, willing his heart to stop pounding.

The figure behind the tree gasped when she saw Lucas fall. It took all she had not to run to him, until she realized what was going on. He was having some sort of attack…from the HCM. The instant the thought crossed her mind, she ran to his side. "Lucas! Lucas, can you hear me?" Tears began to fill her eyes as she watched him look up at her, his face as white as a sheet, and see his eyes grow wide in shock.

"Brooke…" he choked, a sob escaping his lips. She stroked his hair tenderly, and guided him down so he was lying with his head in her lap. "W-what are you…doing here?"

Brooke smiled gently, though fear gripped her heart. "Shh, there'll be more time for questions later. For now, you have to relax so you don't pass out on me." Her hands slid to his temples, where she ran her fingertips in light circles, and knowing that her idea was working when his eyes fluttered shut and he took a deep breath.

Once his breathing was regular and his heart stopped pounding, Brooke helped him sit up. "Why didn't you tell me you have HCM? You told us your results were negative!" She watched him expectantly, a demanding look on her face.

Lucas grimaced, then sighed. "I'm sorry…I didn't want anyone to worry…or treat me differently."

"Lucas…we are your friends. Who did you think would treat you differently? How did you think you'd be treated?" Brooke questioned softly, a part of her frustrated because he hadn't told her the truth.

"I know people would treat me like I'm glass. They already had when they found out I might have it…everyone here didn't let me play basketball…Nathan wouldn't let me play…and Haley…and…and-"

"And me?" Brooke finished for him, feeling her heart break at the despair in his eyes. She began to understand why he hid it from everyone.

"Especially you! I realized I was still in love with you when this all started…you were the person I wanted least to treat me differently."

Brooke smiled half-heartedly at him, and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. "Well, I have to treat you differently anyway…because I'm not with Felix anymore. And I came back for you. I'm here for good."

Lucas stared at her in shock, and then slowly let a smile creep onto his face. Brooke couldn't resist him when he smiled…so she did just what her heart was telling her to do: kiss him. He leaned into her embrace, and slid one hand into her hair. The other was supporting their balance. Both of her hands held his waist.

Lucas pulled back after a minute, breathless. Brooke immediately began apologizing, until Lucas silenced her with another quick yet lingering kiss. "You have no idea how happy I am right now. For the past week, I've been waiting to turn around and see you standing behind me, laughing at me for believing you'd leave. But you never did…until now."

Brooke smiled warmly, and stood. He gratefully accepted her hand when she offered it to him, and they began to walk to Lucas' house, even though it was dark. They walked in a comfortable silence, hands linked in a tender display of their affection.

As they neared the house, Lucas stopped walking. Brooke turned to him, part of her afraid that he would be having another attack. "What is it?" she questioned when she saw him staring at her, a curious look on his face.

"Where is your stuff?" he questioned softly. Brooke laughed, realizing that she'd forgotten to tell him that she'd already seen his mother.

"At your house already. I went there first to try and find you, and when I saw Nate and Haley, they told me you'd gone for a walk, so I kinda figured you'd be at the Rivercourt," she explained. She was about to speak again, until a cold drop of water hit her nose. She shook her head in surprise, and looked up. Just as she did, the skies opened up, and poured heavily on the couple.

"Come on, we can run, we're almost home!" Lucas called over the roar of water. Brooke grabbed his hand, and shook her rain-soaked head.

"No…it's a nice night…and I love rain." Se lifted her head to the skies again, and just let the rain wash over her. Lucas watched her for a long moment, before stepping forward and claiming her lips with his own. They stood for a long time, savoring the feeling of the other's lips on theirs.

By the time they reached the house, they were both drenched to the bone. Lucas guided Brooke to her new room, and left her to get changed while he did the same. After he was done, he went to her room and knocked lightly.

"Come in," she called. He hesitantly entered her room, and she gestured for him to join her on her bed. "I was so afraid I'd lost you when I saw you collapse in the Rivercourt. I wish you would've told me the truth. But I understand why you didn't."

Lucas took a deep breath, and laid down behind her, and she instinctively did the same, curling into his chest. "Why did you come back? You seemed so sure that you had to go…what changed your mind?"

Brooke was silent for a while as she thought. "I don't know…thinking about what you'd said…the fact that I do love you still, and realizing that I didn't want to live without you." She looked back at him, and smiled gently.

"I'm so glad you came back," he murmured. She smiled, staring into the depths of his piercing blue eyes, and feeling like he could see into the depths of her soul.

"Luke…I…I know this will be hard…but can we keep this…us…a secret for a little while? The idea of me living with you won't go over well as it is…but us dating?" she sighed. "I'm sorry, but I just think it'd be best if we kept it quiet."

Lucas gave her a confused look. "What about Nate and Hales? They already know, it's obvious for them." He wanted to show the whole world how much he loved her…but why would she want to keep it a secret?

"They're fine…I trust them…but I don't want things to get any worse for you. I love you so much…I would hate to see you get grief because of me."

Lucas understood why she was asking this of him now, and he knew she wouldn't be happy unless he agreed. "Okay…if that's what you want to do…I'll try my best." They smiled at each other, until an idea popped in his head. "Hey, you wanna drive back to the café and get some coffee? We can talk for a while, just you and me."

Brooke smiled, and nodded. "Sure, lets go!"

Hand in hand, they made their way to the car that Andy had let Lucas borrow, and headed for the café. Lucas glanced over at Brooke a couple of times, unable to take his eyes off her for long. One time he looked at her, he saw her eyes grow wide as she stared at the road. Looking in the direction of her gaze, he jumped, but didn't have time for anything else. A truck hit them head on, connecting with Lucas' side of the car. He felt himself moving at the same time he felt the car come to a stop, and felt confused. What was going on? The last thing he heard before everything went dark was Brooke's distant, panicked and pained voice screaming his name.