Lucas was at my house. Lucas was with me. He was caring for me again. He had me cradled in his arms as I snuggled into his warm chest. He was just sitting there on my bed, his arms gently caressing the cut on my wrist. He drew gentle circles out there, trying to ease the pain as the blood dried up and tried to mend the torn skin.
"Luke." I gently called out to him. I was scared, scared to break the silence, afraid that if I said anything it would result into a fight and him leaving me all over again.
"Hmm." He grunted in answer.
"Does this mean that we are together again?" I spoke so softly that I could barely hear myself.
"It means that we are friends and we take things slowly, okay. First we work on fixing you up and getting my Cheery back. I'm the Broody one, remember. You can't go and take my job. I want to first see the Brooke that lights up the room she enters instantly with her signature smile and dimpled cheeks. I want to find the selfless, caring Brooke who will take time to solve everybody else's problems when she is dealing with shit herself. I want to find the confident Brooke who is afraid of absolutely nothing! Okay Pretty Girl?" He let out.
"You know, you are really getting better at this speech thing. You should really work on your writing with basketball. I remember, you always wanted to publish a book. You joked you would write our love story and share it with the world because it was true love which was so pure and innocent." I spoke in deep reverie.
"Yeah... I already sort of wrote it." He said while shutting his eyes tightly. He knew what was coming his way. And I didn't stop myself. I raised my hand and smacked him hard across his chest with my good hand.
He tried to stifle the groan that escaped his mouth when my arm made contact with his body.
"You're an idiot Lucas Scott!" I bellowed. "Why didn't you tell me? Dare you tell me it's already in the markets without my knowledge."
"No, its still on my computer. I wrote in when you were missing." He confessed. "I couldn't sleep at night because I kept thinking about you and after a futile attempt of our search, I used to write."
"I want to read it." I demanded.
"No, it's not for anybody's eyes but mine." He denied my order.
"Luke! It's my story. I deserve to read it. It is my right you see." I tried to make my side of the offer sound better.
"You do know how ridiculous you sound, right?" He remarked. And there it was, a brief hint of the Scott smile that I fell madly in love with.
"Whatever Luke." I pouted. I knew he couldn't resist the pout. It had been working ever since we were four years old, it wouldn't fail me now!
"Brooke! Not the pout! The pout means shopping trips and endless other kinds of trouble." He exclaimed.
"Lukie! Please! Let me read. I always read your creative writing stories before you submitted them." I tried to bargain.
"That was middle school Brooke!" He let out a laugh. "Now you're trying to be cute!" He understood what I was going for. He was getting smarter at this.
"Is it working?" I answered cutely.
"And thats the defeat of men everywhere!" He exaggerated.
"Finally!" I bounced on my knees on the bed. "Gimme!" I demanded like my four year old self would.
"Tomorrow Princess. My laptop is at home. Tonight we rest. You are due for a headache after your wild night." He made me see the light.
"Yeah. I'm sorry about that Luke." I spoke with my head down and me fiddling with my hair. It was a nervous habit that I did when I did something wrong.
"It's fine Princess. It really is." He said while kissing the top of my head. I needed that. The reassurance. I really did and he knew it. He always knew exactly what I needed. It just made me fall for him even more, but he couldn't know that and neither could I. Lucas and I could never be anything better than friends and it was high time for me to smell the flowers and kiss my little fantasy goodbye.
'Just a little bit longer.' My heart pleaded. It foolishly refused to let go. And I easily agreed.
"I like it how you are calling me by my old nicknames again." I smiled as I lay comfortably in my bed.
"You'll always be my Pretty Girl, Brooke." He answered before turning off the lights and pushing me closer to his warm body.