This is a slightly longer chapter than usual so there is a lot to digest... it also has one of my favourite moments of the story at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen – What is love?

A few days later, Brooke and Rachel were walking through the hospital's corridors when Lucas walked past. He smiled when he saw them both.

"Morning Dr. Gatina, Dr. Davis" he greeted.

"Dr. Scott" Brooke said, returning his greeting and his smile before walking on.

Rachel looked back at Lucas and then at Brooke. "What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?"

"You just smiled at him. You just smiled at Lucas" Rachel recounted, confused as to what was happening.

Brooke shrugged; "He said good morning, I was being polite—"

"The fact that he even said good morning to you in the first place is bold." As far as Rachel was concerned, Lucas didn't have the right to say anything to Brooke, not even hello. She may have been secretly rooting for the guy, but she was also convinced that he had to earn her affection. He had to earn that hello.

"He's trying to recruit me to plastics and earn back my friendship" Brooke explained.

"I know, but I didn't think he would actually succeed..." Rachel commented, a little taken aback by how relaxed Brooke was being about the whole thing. Not a week ago, Brooke would have hidden in closets just to avoid walking past Lucas. Her good nature meant she couldn't walk past him and say nothing, so she just bolted in order to avoid any kind of interaction. But now, now they were on their way to being friends?

"It's my job and if it means I get to change lives then who cares who it's with? We're all adults around here." Brooke reasoned.

"You are a good person Brooke Davis." Rachel said, proud of her friend for putting her past behind her.

"Oh thanks" Brooke mocked with a laugh as they approached Kate who was staring into space.

"Hey, what's up?" Brooke asked, wondering why she was so dazed.

"I called your father and a woman answered his phone." Kate explained as Brooke and Rachel both formed an o shape with their mouths. It appeared that Kate being the bigger person and calling Ted had back fired – big time.

"Oh…" Brooke replied, not really sure what to say. "Are you sure it wasn't my mother? Dad's been visiting Matty quite a lot…"

"No, it wasn't Victoria, I know Victoria's voice, it strikes fear into my soul." Kate recalled with a shiver. Victoria never had been particularly warm with Kate. "She was perky and she sounded happy and tall with a lot of great hair." Kate explained with a groan.

"Ugh. I hate voices like that." Rachel moaned with an eye roll. "What did the chief say?"

"I didn't talk to him, I keep going to voice mail. He's not cheating on me, right?"

"He's not cheating on you." Both Brooke and Rachel quickly affirmed.

"Dad thinks the sun shines out of your ass on most days." Brooke added as Kate scoffed. "Don't sweat about what you don't know. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for it."

"Such as?" Kate asked as Brooke and Rachel looked at each other. She hadn't anticipated Kate actually looking for an explanation from her, it was just something that you say to make someone feel better…

"He probably just lost his phone and some random lady found it." Brooke suggested quickly.

"Stretch." Kate shot down.

"Or it was stolen. Some woman stole it and answered it." Rachel suggested, only half serious.

"… no."

"Stole what?" Peyton asked as she approached and crossed her arms over her chest in concern and looked between the three women.

"Dad's phone, Kate rang and a woman answered so now we're talking her off a ledge." Brooke explained, though she was starting to believe that nothing could save them.

"Oh, I'm good at this!" Peyton exclaimed. "The number of times I have had to talk Lucas of a ledge – the guy can be a real worry wart and I am so good at coming up with options and alternatives to ease the stress of a situation" She boasted as Brooke and Rachel awkwardly nodded their heads.

"What you got Sawyer?" Rachel asked, intrigued to see where she would take this.

"He was in surgery and a nurse picked it up, they pick up our phones all the time. He was in the lab and a research assistant picked it up. He was in the bathroom and a janitor picked it up. He was in an accident and a paramedic picked it up—"

"Woah" Brooke said quickly, not wanting to consider the possibility that her dad was in an accident.

"It's not the best option, but viable..." Peyton said quietly, realising that she'd maybe gotten a little carried away.

"He's done this before." Kate mumbled.

Rachel frowned; "Done what?"

"Moved to a new city, got a new job, ignored his wife's calls, met a girl, fell in love, started over."

"What?" Peyton exclaimed in disbelief.

Brooke eyed Peyton curiously; "Where did you think my brothers and I came from, Peyton?" she asked.

"… good point." Peyton said with a little laugh

"He left Victoria when their marriage got hard, moved to Raleigh, met me - What if he's doing the same thing now?" Kate asked, completely panicked.

"First of all – from what I understand, you and Ted have a much better marriage than Ted and Victoria had" Rachel said, remembering what Brooke had told her over tthe years. "Plus, the guy can barely keep his eyes off you whenever you're in the same room. So you had a fight – big deal, couples go through rough patches. I really don't think it's enough for him to find someone else."

"Kate, I have lived with you upon occasion and I know what you two are like," Brooke began, trying to find her own pearl of wisdom for this situation; "unfortunately I have heard the sex noises and I have been a part of the drama and the tears and there's just no way that dad is—you and dad made me believe in love again. You proved to me that it exists, that it works, that there is hope. I can't believe I am saying this after everything we have been through but… I can't imagine a better life than the one you two have built for yourselves and for us Davis kids." Brooke said sincerely as Kate was taken aback by her words.

"Wow…" she said, truly touched by Brooke's words. However—they just weren't enough. "There is still some woman in New York. What if she met Ted one night and what if he fell for her? I'm pretty sure her people are rooting for her too. I gotta go…" she said sheepishly as she swiftly walked away.

Over the next few days, Brooke desperately tried to contact both Kate and Ted, but she was having zero luck. Neither of them appeared to be willing to talk to her about what was going on and she was a little fed up about being kept in the dark. She didn't know what more she could do to help them out of this messy situation, but it soon transpired that she didn't have to do anything more. She walked into the lobby of the hospital that Monday morning and stopped when she saw someone she wasn't expecting at the nurse's station.

"Dad?" she called as Ted turned around and smiled widely at her.

"Surprise" he said as he walked towards her and hugged her.

"This is a surprise" she said with a wide smile and she hugged her father tightly. She had really missed him. It was so good seeing him back in his navy blue scrubs and white lab coat.

"I'm back, for good." He explained.

"You're kidding" Brooke said, her smile getting wider.

"Nope. I'll need to travel back and forward from New York for a couple of weeks but after that, I'm here to stay." After a long discussion with Kate yesterday, he realised what was important. He realised that here, with her, is where he needed and wanted to be.

"I'm really glad you're back. This place isn't the same without you here" Brooke told him.

Ted smiled at his daughter; "I'm glad I'm back too. I really missed you honey. I missed seeing that smile everyday" he said with a laugh as Brooke smiled widely too and playfully rolled her eyes. Her dad always told her when she was little that her smile could cure even the saddest of hearts. "In other news, I brought the boys back with me." Ted said, referring to her brothers.

"Really? How come?" Brooke asked.

"Well I have surgery today that I could use Harrison's help on and Matty didn't want to feel left out while we had a good time here." Ted said with a smile.

"Yeah, the pace of New York got a little too much for the old man." Harrison said as he walked over and patted Ted on the back. "Hi Brookie"

"Harry" Brooke said as she quickly hugged him.

"The pace of New York did not get too much for me – I just like the pace here better." Ted said with a proud smile. "Besides, some things are just more important" he replied as Brooke and Harrison nodded knowingly. "I'll catch you guys later." He said as he walked off to get on with his work.

Brooke turned to Harrison with a beaming smile; "looks like we're finally getting the band back together" she joked in a stupid voice as Harrison laughed.

"You are so lame."

As Ted wandered around the hospital for an update on all the departments since he had been gone for a while, Julian quickly caught up with him. He had something he had been dying to ask Ted about and felt now was the time. Things had been moving from strength to strength with Brooke and he knew he had found the one in her and he was keen to take that next step.

"Dr. Davis" he called as they fell into step with one another.

"Dr. Baker, good to see you. Still treating my daughter well?"

"Yes sir." He said with a little laugh. "I was actually hoping to talk to you about Brooke—"

"I was just on my way to speak to Dr. Scott about the plastics department, grab me later and we'll talk!" Ted insisted as he rushed on.

Julian let out a breath. He was incredibly nervous for what he had to say. He had been planning it out in his head for weeks now. He just hoped that he didn't sound like an idiot when the words actually started to form.

"Julian!" He heard behind him and his breath caught in his throat. Please be a dream, please be a dream... nope not a dream. He turned around and came face to face with his parents.

"Mom? Dad? What—what are you doing here?" he said as he hugged his mom and shook his dad's hand.

"Well, we went to visit Tripp and we thought it would be completely unfair for us not to visit you even though you won't come see us..." Sylvia Baker said passive aggressively, referring to Julian's younger brother.

"I've been very busy" Julian replied as he gritted his jaw. As much as he loved his parents, he also would have loved a little warning that they were coming.

"Obviously not too busy to find yourself a girl and keep her as long as you have." Sylvia reminded him. "It's been almost 6 months, hasn't it?"

Julian smiled. "Oh, I see, you didn't want to see me you wanted to meet my girlfriend..."

"Hm. Both. So, where is she?" Sylvia asked eagerly as she looked all around her. Julian hadn't told them much about Brooke, just that she worked at the hospital and she was pretty much the best person he'd ever met.

"She is working like I should be, you should have called." Julian told them.

"Don't give us that Julian." His father scolded. "Now who's the head of neurosurgery, I want to know how this place is run..." he said looking around him. He was a pioneer in neuroscience, so naturally he wanted to make sure that the department his son was now working for was up to scratch. Just as Julian was about to tell him, Rachel walked over and held out some scans.

"Julian, could I get a consult later, pregnant woman, 22 years old, showing signs of a brain tumour?" Rachel asked, handing him the scans.

"Yeah no problem" he said as he held onto the scans.

"Great thanks… hi" Rachel said, realising that Julian had been with some people.

"Oh sorry, mom dad this is Dr. Rachel Gatina, Rachel is very good friends with Brooke." Julian introduced as they shook hands and Rachel tried to contain her surprise.

"Sylvia Baker, lovely to meet you"

"Paul Baker."

"I have heard great things about you Dr. Baker, I've read a number of your papers." Rachel politely told him, while on the inside, she was screaming. Julian's parents were here, and Brooke had no idea. She was going to freak.

"Thank you Dr. Gatina. You're working in a great hospital, the Davis are renowned in New York. Ted's work there is greatly missed, I'm sure Raleigh is benefiting immensely from his presence." Paul replied.

"It definitely is. I have to run to surgery, but it was lovely to meet you, I'll hopefully see you again before you leave?" Rachel questioned. She felt like it was her job as Brooke's best friend to make sure she wasn't getting herself into a crazy family.

"Absolutely Dr. Gatina."

"Great, I'll see you later" she said with a smile before rushing away, desperate to tell Nathan about who was here.

"Why don't you guys go see Seattle and we can meet up later?" Julian suggested.

"No, I'm going to find this head of neuro." Paul insisted as he wandered off and Sylvia quickly followed.

"There you are" He heard behind him as Brooke appeared. "Can I get a consult?" Brooke asked as she approached him, but Julian was too busy looking at his parents who had just disappeared around the corner. "Who you looking at?" She asked.

"uh...my parents"

Brooke's eyes widened. "Your parents are here?"

"yeah..."

Brooke groaned. "Great... I look like I haven't slept for a month, they're going to think I'm scum of the earth."

"Just tell them you're a Manhattan prep school kid and talk about the surgical dynasty you're from, you'll be fine" Julian encouraged her.

"Thanks for that, clearly being myself isn't the way forward here." Brooke said rolling her eyes. She didn't exactly want the Davis dynasty to be the thing that defined her, but it clearly meant something to Julian.

"Yeah that too…"

"I'm going to go wash up in case I run into them. We can go meet your parents after work"

"Actually, it will have to wait till tomorrow"

"Why?" Brooke asked curiously.

"I have plans..." he said vaguely.

"What kind of plans?" She pried further.

"Just going out for drinks, aren't you, Haley and Rachel having a girl's night anyway?" Julian reminded her, trying to distract the attention of the drink he was going to have with Ted.

"Yeah but I would have rescheduled... Why are your drinks so important, your parents are going to think I'm not keen to meet them." Brooke told him. She had such a rough time with Karen Scott, so she really wanted this one to go well.

"It'll be fine, maybe you'll run into them in the hospital" He said as he kissed her cheek, took the scans out of her hand and walked on.

"I don't know what they look like!" Brooke said. Julian didn't have many pictures of his family around his apartment. He wasn't really the sentimental type.

"I love you!" he called after her.

"Jerk..." she grumbled as she turned around and sulked away, nervous for what the day might bring.

Rachel rushed around the hospital to find Nathan and tell him what was about to go down. Eventually, she found him working in a side room with Haley and Lucas.

"You will never guess who just showed up at the hospital" she said with a smirk as she perched on the desk beside Lucas.

"Who?"

"Julian's parents."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at Rachel. They were all thinking the same thing. Brooke is going to freak.

"Paul Baker is here?" Nathan said, interested to meet the man, but nervous for his friend.

"Yep… he seems kind of stern, Brooke is going to panic" Rachel said with a grimace.

"Should we warn her?" Haley asked, a little concerned about the whole thing.

"She'll be fine" Lucas commented. "My mother was beyond rude to her and she handled it like a pro. I can't imagine this encounter will be worse than that."

"You know, I overheard Julian tell the chief he wanted to talk to him about something later. Something to do with Brooke, but I have no idea what." Nathan told them with a shrug.

Haley chuckled, "I could probably take a wild guess." Everyone eyed her curiously, waiting for where this was going. "He's going to ask if he can marry Brooke. Not that he needs permission. It's very respectful of him though. I knew I would like him." Haley said, not fully understanding the implications of what she'd just said.

Nathan immediately looked at Rachel with wide eyes while Lucas sunk back in his chair with a gulp. Stop it Lucas, you're with Peyton, you made your choice, Brooke's relationship is none of your concern – he tried to tell himself, but it wasn't much use. He felt deflated.

"No way..." Nathan mumbled in disbelief. Brooke getting married. There was no way she would say yes, right? She liked the guy, hell, she probably even loved the guy a bit, but she'd been very clear that she wasn't about to rush things in any relationship she got into. This sounded like rushing to him. He was also a little pissed that Julian clearly didn't know Brooke well enough to know that that was something she didn't want.

"She doesn't have the best examples of marriage in her life, she probably won't say yes" Rachel commented. She briefly glanced at Lucas and noticed that he was just looking at his work, not really engaging with them. Rachel didn't think Brooke would say yes for more than the examples of marriage she had in her life. She wouldn't say yes because she wasn't over Lucas. That much was clear. She could claim all she wanted that she didn't care about him– it had been almost 8 months after all, but Rachel knew better. She could see right through him.

"Rachel stop being so cynical." Haley scolded, forcing Rachel to turn away from Lucas. "Ted and Kate are good, Victoria and Martin are good and she has a number of good relationships around her to make her believe in love again. She's a real romantic at heart, despite how much she likes to deny it and I know she will say yes." Haley said confidently.

Rachel just nodded her head, figuring this wasn't something to get into an argument over. Brooke and Haley had become fast friends, but Haley just didn't know her like Rachel did. Brooke may have had a lot of love in her heart, but it certainly wasn't for just one person.

"I just want her to be happy and at the end of the day—only she knows what truly makes her happy." Rachel said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. Brooke knew her own mind and she would do what she knew was right for herself.

Brooke stood in the cue at the coffee cart, that afternoon, desperate for her 3pm caffeine fix. It had been a long day of anticipation and she felt like she was constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for Julian to spring his parents on her.

"That's $3.75" the guy at the cart told the lady in front of her.

"Oh, I only have $3..." the customer said. Brooke reached forward and handed the lady at the cart 75 cents.

"Oh, you really don't have to—" the woman said in guilty protest.

"It's fine really, I know if I didn't get my coffee I would crash" Brooke said with a smile.

"Well thank you." Brooke quickly paid for her coffee then walked away with the woman. There was just something so familiar about her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Are you a doctor here?" the lady asked.

"Yeah I'm a surgical resident. I'm Brooke" She introduced as they shook hands.

"Brooke? Brooke Davis?" the woman asked excitedly.

"Uh, yeah, that's—that's me…" Brooke said as she looked at the woman, completely confused by her excitement.

"Oh my goodness it is so nice to finally meet you! I'm Sylvia Baker." She said as she held onto Brooke's hand tightly.

Brooke eyes widened, "Oh my god you're Julian's mom. I am so sorry that I didn't recognise you. I was just thinking there was something so familiar about you and now I know what – your eyes are Julian's eyes" she rambled with a little laugh.

"Well since we're talking about eyes, yours are just beautiful!" Sylvia said as she carefully eyed Brooke in wonder. "Julian certainly has done well for himself." She said with a little laugh.

"Oh I am definitely the lucky one." Brooke said. "Is your husband with you?" Brooke asked, she knew he was but he didn't appear to be around.

"Oh he went and found the neurosurgery department, can't say it really interests me so I came looking for coffee" she said as she held up her cup. "But come, let's go back there so we can introduce you two." Sylvia said as she linked her arm through Brooke's and pulled her along.

A few minutes later, Brooke and Sylvia walked into the neurosurgery department laughing away. There was something about each other that made them instantly click.

"You guys having fun there?" Julian asked when they entered the lab he and his father were in.

"Julian, your mom is hilarious!" Brooke complimented as they continued to giggle.

"Paul I was just telling Brooke here about our time in Cabo--" Sylvia started.

Paul's stance stiffened. "Sylvia..." He said in an embarrassed and warning tone.

"Hilarious!" Brooke insisted.

Julian smiled, glad that Brooke and his mother had gotten on so well from the get go. "I'm glad you two finally got to meet. Dad, this is Brooke Davis, Brooke, my dad Paul Baker."

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Baker." Brooke said as she walked forward and shook his hand. Paul didn't crack a smile and Brooke felt a real coldness reflecting off him.

"and you Dr. Davis. What are you hoping to specialise in?" He asked, clearly wanting to keep the conversation as polite and proper as possible.

"I've always had a real passion for neurosurgery, but I'm keeping my options open." Brooke informed him.

"Ah… well that's one thing you and Julian have in common." Paul said awkwardly as Brooke nodded. He was clearly a hard man to impress.

"So how long are you in town for?" Brooke asked, quickly trying to move on.

"Just a few days, we're heading down to visit Julian's brother Tripp in Miami afterwards and then Paul has to be back for some seminars in Harvard on Thursday." Sylvia explained.

"Well, we should go out for dinner tomorrow night. I know the best place just around the corner from the hospital." Brooke suggested.

"That would be lovely!" Sylvia said.

"Great, I'll get Julian to call you with the details" Brooke said as she looked at Julian who gave her a reassuring smile. "I have to get back to work, but it was so great to meet you both, I'll look forward to talking properly tomorrow night."

"It was so lovely to meet you Brooke!" Sylvia said as she quickly hugged her.

Brooke let out a little laugh of endearment, "You too Sylvia." She said before leaving the lab.

Sylvia swiftly turned on her heel as Julian turned to his dad and folded his arms, "What exactly is your problem dad?" he asked as Paul frowned.

"I don't have a problem."

Sylvia scoffed, "Julian is right Paul, you were so cold with her."

"I'm just not sure about her." Paul said bluntly.

"What? She's perfect!" Sylvia protested as Julian clenched his jaw. Clearly his mother could defend Brooke for him, he need not say anything.

"She could become too invested in her work" Paul poorly argued.

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Julian is a neurosurgeon if anything he could be too invested in his work, they're clearly on the same page."

"She's not Poppy" he tried again, bringing up Julian's ex-girlfriend. Paul had loved Poppy. She fit perfectly into their rich world in Boston.

"Oh for goodness sake Paul, Poppy had a heart of stone, Brooke is intelligent, kind and beautiful. She's not a nobody Paul, she went to private school in Manhattan, her parents are world class surgeons, she's a Davis!" Sylvia argued.

"Guys, stop." Julian asked as his parents turned to look at him. "Dad – I really don't care what you think about Brooke, especially because you're making judgements without taking the time to get to know her. The reality is – I'm going to ask her to marry me, so you better get used to having her around." Julian revealed as Sylvia gasped and he left the room, not wanting to hear any more protests from Paul.

Brooke walked through the ER on the hunt for Lucas to get him to sign off on some patient forms. She couldn't find him anywhere and figured Peyton was her best bet in locating him.

"Hey Peyton, have you seen Lucas? I need him to sign off on some forms." Brooke explained.

"Yeah, he's down in the morgue."

"The morgue?" Brooke asked curiously. "Has he taken a sudden interest in pathology?" Brooke poorly joked.

Peyton let out a breathy laugh, "No, two firefighters died today, they were brothers. They had some scars and open wounds and their mother wants to see them for the first time so I asked Lucas to sew them up and make them look ok for her."

Brooke nodded her head in sadness. She couldn't possibly imagine how that woman must be feeling having to bury both of her sons at the same time. She soon made her way down to the morgue and looked through the window, spotting Lucas sitting by the men, delicately sewing their wounds.

Brooke opened the door and quietly walked in; "Hey. Peyton told me you were down here doing this."

"Yeah, these two will look as good as they possibly can before their mother sees them one last time." He said as he continued to sew and Brooke looked over his shoulder. "Though it's taking a little longer than I expected. Did you round off on our post-ops?"

"Yeah, they're all good, I just need you to sign off on them, but no rush." She said as she set the forms on a table near by. They fell into a moment of silence before Brooke heard Lucas sniff; "Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, it's just sad, you know?" Lucas said with a little shrug. "This is totally something Kirk would do."

Brooke smiled; "That is very true." As arrogant and self-centred as Kirk was, he would have done this without a second thought. Maybe he had more morals to teach Lucas than previously thought.

"He really did treat me like a son. Passed everything on, he got such a charge out of it, making us into a dynamic duo. It got a little stupid sometimes…" Lucas said with a little laugh.

"Oh I remember" Brooke said as they both laughed. They really turned into two brothers constantly joking around. While Lucas was fine on his own, he really did miss Kirk when he left to go back to New York.

"But I want to do that. Pass it on to someone the way he did for me." He said as Brooke nodded quietly; "I don't know, I'm probably not making a lot of sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Brooke said with a sincere smile. She now realised why Lucas was so insistent on getting her into plastics. Kirk had such a profound impact on him that he wanted to offer the same to someone else. Brooke wasn't convinced that she was the one Lucas was meant to pass the baton on to, but she could see how much he cared, how much effort he put in to it. They both knew this dynamic duo stuff was goofy, but tonight she had seen the real heart of it. She had seen the real heart of Lucas and—she missed it.

"I uh—I hear you met Julian's parents today." Lucas said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh yeah. It was uh—it was quite the day. I'm not convinced his dad liked me very much."

Lucas chuckled; "That's impossible." He said as Brooke didn't know how to respond. "Who was worse? My mom or Paul Baker?" he asked, remembering that that meeting hadn't gone all that well either.

Brooke chuckled; "That's a tough call. Your mom was stubborn as hell but Paul was just cold—they're on a power with each other."

"You didn't seem as nervous this time." Lucas observed. Any time he had seen her today she seemed pretty calm, she was especially calm right now. He remembered Brooke had been freaking out before she met Karen—and afterwards too.

Brooke shrugged; "I wasn't. I don't know why but—I mean, I was nervous but… I was so desperate to impress your mom and now, it would just be an added bonus if Julian's parents liked me." She confessed.

"I wonder why it felt so different." Lucas pondered quietly.

Brooke paused for a moment. She wondered that too. Why had meeting Karen mattered more to her? "I don't know" she mumbled after a moment, knowing this question would plague her mind for the rest of the night.

Ted made his way round to the attending's lounge where he had agreed to meet Julian before they went home. He wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into the room. He had heard that Brooke's friends had been speculating about a marriage proposal and he didn't know what to think. He did know that no matter what – this was Brooke's choice.

He saw Julian already in the lounge and smiled at him as he sat opposite him.

"Hey, did you survive your parents?" Ted asked.

"Just about. We're having dinner with them tomorrow night, so who knows how that will go." Julian said with an awkward chuckle.

"They seem great" Ted told him, having met them earlier that day.

"My mom's great, my dad is a little more difficult to stomach." Julian said, not sure he would agree with Ted's rounded opinion. "Anyway, the reason I wanted to talk to you earlier…" Julian said, wanting to get this out before he freaked out. "I never came to Raleigh expecting to meet Brooke, and I certainly never expected to fall in love with her, but I did. I love her so much, I love everything about her, all her little quirks, her beauty, her intelligence, her heart—I can't see myself with anybody else but her. I am so madly in love with your daughter and I wanted your blessing to ask her to marry me."

Ted paused for a moment to consider what Julian had just asked. He wasn't prepared for the feelings that came rushing through him in that moment. It seemed like only yesterday they were trying to hold onto her as she tried to escape to run through Central Park, and now her boyfriend was in front of him, asking if he could marry her. Ted soon realised that Julian was freaking out and that his pause was perhaps a little too long, so he sat forward in his chair, ready with his reply.

"I—I can't bear to see my little girl hurt. She was in a lot of pain after Aiden, she was hurt by Lucas more than she cares to admit. The way you talk about her—I trust you. I trust the love you have for her and I am happy she is so happy. So yes, you have my blessing, but at the end of the day this is her decision… and I hope she'll choose happiness."

Ted liked Julian. He treated Brooke well and he couldn't ask for much more - but he just wasn't so sure that Brooke loved him as much as he loved her. So, he hoped she would choose whatever made her happiest - and it wasn't Ted's choice to make. He could give anyone his blessing but this was Brooke's life to make her own way in.

Julian smiled; "Thank you Dr. Davis."

"Call me Ted."

A short while later, Ted made his way home and was surprised to see Brooke sitting on the porch of his house, a blanket wrapped around her as she stared up at the stars. He set his brief case down and took his jacket off before sitting beside her on the porch swing.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I like the quiet around here" she told him with a soft smile. Ted and Kate lived in a pretty secluded area and it was a real place of solitude for the Davis'.

"Me too." He said. They sat in a moment of silence while Ted watched her. She looked a little lost. "What's on your mind kiddo?" he asked as she turned in her seat to fully face him.

"I met Julian's parents today. His mom is awesome, his dad a little difficult to please but uh… it could have been worse. I mean, I've experienced much worse in the form of Karen Scott." Brooke told him.

"Why was it worse?" Ted asked.

"I don't know. I tried so hard to impress Karen that I just made such a mess of it. But this time—I didn't feel that same desire or need to impress them… and I don't know why."

Ted could see that this was clearly bothering Brooke and it was frustrating her that she couldn't work out why, so she decided to help her work it out.

"Do you think it has to do with Julian?" he asked.

"In what way?"

"Maybe you don't feel a need to impress them because you can't see yourself being with him forever." Ted said cautiously and he was surprised that Brooke didn't even flinch at that statement.

"He makes me happy. Things are good. They're easy, they're simple. Isn't that how love is supposed to feel?" Brooke asked. She didn't even know how to tell if love was true or not at this stage.

"Personally… I don't think it would be love if it didn't consume every part of you. It wouldn't be love if the thought of it not being there didn't feel like it would destroy you." Ted confessed.

Brooke nodded. "I know how that feels. With Aiden, with—" she said before trailing off. She hated confessing that she loved Lucas. But she did and what he did to her broke her.

"Lucas?" Ted said, finishing her sentence, realising that he had found the root of her problem.

Brooke scoffed; "Whatever I had with Lucas wasn't real—"

"It was real. He just had a lot of unresolved issues with Peyton." Ted said. He knew all too well that it was possible to love more than one person. He knew a part of him still loved Victoria while he was falling in love with Kate. He just knew he and Victoria couldn't do what they were doing anymore.

"Maybe that's why I like this simple thing I have with Julian. I don't feel like I could get hurt because I have been hurt two too many times." Brooke confessed. Just because it was easy to love Julian, didn't necessarily make it right. It didn't necessarily mean that her heart soared every time she saw him.

"There's a difference between guarding your heart and not feeling at all… and not feeling is not a solution." Ted advised her as she nodded her head and looked down.

"I love Julian. I do and I know this probably sounds crazy… but there's a hole in my heart where Lucas used to be." Brooke confessed. Ever since she had met him, there was an instant connection. There was a fire between them that they couldn't seem to put out no matter how hard they tried. She wasn't convinced she would ever connect with someone in the way that she connected with him.

"That doesn't sound crazy at all." Ted assured her, as she remained silent, unsure what to do.

These realisations are going to have repercussions... don't forget to review!