Brooke looked up at Nathan and had a sudden urge to lean up and just kiss him. She had longed to be with him all the time they spent apart, and had so often imagined kissing him again. They way his lips were so gentle, yet forceful on hers, made her weak in the knees.

The way Nathan was looked at her made her shiver inside; it was like he could see right into her. She couldn't handle it and looked away. Nathan cupped her cheek and brought her to face him again, "Don't leave me Brooke, you can't," he whispered.

Brooke felt her eyes tear, and her knees give away. Luckily Nathan was already holding her tight against him. He smiled slightly.

"Nathan," she whispered his breath hot on her neck.

Brooke locked eyes with Nathan, and felt herself leaning forward. Nathan watched her memorized. They both knew they wouldn't be able to pull away even if they wanted to. Brooke glanced down at his lips, anticipating the moment they would touch hers.

She could feel his breath on her. They were so close. She could smell the aftershave on him. There was hardly any space between them. Brooke closed her eyes, leaning in to close the gap.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Brooke pushed away from Nathan to find a shocked and equally angry Karen.

"Shit," Nathan muttered under his breath.

"Um Karen, this isn't what-…"

"So you two weren't just about to kiss?" she asked slowly, her face reflecting her hurt.

"Karen it's not like that," Brooke explained defeated. They both knew the truth, it was exactly like that.

"Nathan, I'm not too surprised with you, you showed us you were truly Dan's son many times." She hissed coldly, before turning to Brooke, "But you? Brooke I cannot believe this. How could you? Lucas loves you so much, and he could've died today and here you are cheating with his half brother,"

Brooke looked away guiltily.

Nathan stepped forward, "Hey wait a minute, where do you go off making Brooke feel bad? Your son is the one who cheated on her not once, but twice with her best friend. So don't make Brooke feel bad about not loving him, how can she?"

Karen's face went red with anger, "I know Lucas has mad many mistakes, but when Brooke forgave him, that meant she forgave him, not an ok, now I'll get at you with your brother." She turned to Brooke again, "Brooke, he could've died, he still can…" she whispered sadly. Her heart break evident on her face, in a way only a mother could display.

Brooke moved forward to Karen, but Nathan grabbed her arm gently. She turned back to him. He shook his head, his eyes pleading with her. She gave him a sad smile, before removing his hand from her arm and taking Karen's hand.

"Can we talk?" Brooke whispered.

Karen nodded, biting her bottom lip, to keep it from trembling, "Privately," she added, leading Brooke away.

Nathan watched after them, hoping Brooke would turn to look at him. He watched her until she was out of sight.

Nathan felt something inside him shatter, and had a horrible feeling that Brooke would change her mind about wanting to be with him, and turning Lucas down.

Brooke followed Karen, feeling awful for what she had to witness.

"Listen Karen, you got to believe me, I feel so horrible for what you saw, and I-…"

"Do you feel bad about the fact that I caught you, or that you did it in the first place,"

"I haven't kissed him since me and Lucas got back together,"

"Because of me, you can still say that sentence; you haven't officially become a cheater,"

Brooke couldn't help but cringe at that word that had so much meaning in her life. "But Karen, even though I didn't kiss him, I've cheated by caring so much for Nathan. I would never do that just to get back at Lucas; I really do care about Nathan,"

"That's worse then you just trying to get back at him. I don't know what to tell you. A part of me wants to say, be with who you truly love. But I'm scared; the mother in me doesn't want to cause any pain for my son, especially at this delicate time. I don't want to loose my son Brooke. I fear that knowing about you and Nathan would be too much for him," Karen muttered with teary eyes.

Brooke took her hand in hers soothingly. "Karen, I don't want to loose Lucas either, I care about him a lot, and wouldn't want to jeopardize his life."

"Would it be horrible of me to ask you to give Lucas another chance? There was a time where you would've done anything for him, before he messed it up. But I know there's a part of you that still loves him. I could see it when you're around him. If you truly took time just to work it out with him, I know you guys can be really happy,"

"But Nathan-…"

"I know you really care about him Brooke, but it hasn't been that long, you and Nathan only started spending a lot of time together recently, please do this for Lucas, and I would never ask something like this from you if it weren't for the circumstance. Also, I know you and Lucas can be really happy, just give him a chance, a true chance. Please Brooke, please?"

Brooke wanted to refuse at first, state that she only loved Nathan, and couldn't be without him. But when she saw Karen's broken face, her broken spirit, the worn out, sad look on her face, the eyes that always shone with beauty, now looked so dim. She realized how it must be for Karen, to see her son so helpless, and so close to death, and such a young age was horrible.

Brooke felt tears sting the inside of her eye lids, "I think I can try," she whispered.

Karen looked up hopefully, "Really? That would mean the world to me; I just want you to try,"

Brooke nodded.

Karen pulled Brooke into a long hug. "You should go talk to him, he was asking for you,"

Brooke nodded emotionless. She walked away from her and entered Lucas's room. He looked up at her and smiled.

Before he could say anything, Brooke walked up to him, and put a finger over his lip.

"Lucas… I want us to be together, but I'm not ready to marry you yet. I think we're too young." When his face fell, she continued quickly, "But I do want you to know, I'm always going to be here for you, always, and that you have to pull through, and start taking your medicine properly, fight this Lucas, fight it for us," she whispered. Her words broke her heart, because she knew she couldn't turn back to Nathan, she had to be here for Lucas, and work on making them work.

When Lucas pulled her into a kiss, Brooke didn't refuse.

A/N … do you guys hate me? lol, sorry guys: Please stick to it, R&R:) Please:)