Hey guys!! Thank you for all the reviews!! A lot of you commented about Richard and Victoria and how it was horrible of them to do what they did. I'm not going to defend Richard because what he did was just wrong, but Victoria really believed that she was doing a good thing. She didn't have anything else to give to her daughter and she wanted to help Brooke. Anyways, here's Chapter 1. You finally meet an older Brooke and Lucas.

And a HUGE thanks to my Beta, Gia, for helping me so much with this chapter! You're amazing:D

Hope you enjoy!!

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"Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you." –Anonymous

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." –Audrey Hepburn

"Your heart just breaks, that's all. But you can't judge, or point fingers. You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you." –Audrey Hepburn

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Chapter 1: The Pretty Girl in Green

California 1850

15 Years Later

It was a terrible day. A terrible, dark, gloomy day. The rain was pouring furiously and it seemed as if the curse of March would never cease. At the second floor of the House of Red sat a tall, drop dead gorgeous young lady with long cascading brown locks and solemn hazel eyes. She was staring out the window, just watching the carriages pass one by one along the downpour and the lines of people hurrying to get away from the heavy rain. It was Sunday. Church day. Family day. The day where business was slower than usual. Men would spend the day frolicking with their wives and children, going to church and then the market and having large meals with nearby friends and relatives. Only a handful would sneak off to have a little extra fun, something that wives knew not of and priests frowned upon, spending the day at the local brothel, the House of Red, where she, Brooklyn Penelope Davis, worked at.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door flew open, revealing a flustered blonde with straight locks and bright aqua eyes.

"Oh gosh! Brooke! Finally, I found you!" The blonde panted, leaning on the cherry wood bedpost for support.

This only earned a laugh from the brunette. "Bevin, what in the world is with the rush?"

Bevin was one of the very few people Brooke befriended from the brothel. From the start, the girls had formed a bond over a slice of peach pie. Brooke had described its taste as "atrocious" and "too sweet," but right when she was about to throw her plate's contents onto the street, Bevin had yelped out that she had wanted it. From then on, the two had become the best of friends, sharing outward desires and inner dreams.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Harrington this afternoon. Can you believe it? Joshua Harrington! And I have nothing to wear!"

Brooke smiled happily at her friend's enthusiasm but couldn't help but snort cynically inside. Joshua Harrington was the town mayor, who preached of "purity" and "family values" everyday in the town square. However, he managed to put aside his "pure family beliefs" once a week when he would come to the House of Red to have his way with any of the girls, most preferably Brooke. He was a frequent customer and only preferred the most expensive prostitutes, Brooke leading the crowd. She brought in the most money for Madame Deborah, the owner of the brothel, and although it seemed as if she enjoyed her job, smiling at all the willing men and wearing long silk gowns, it was far from what she truly dreamed of.

"Bevin! That's amazing!" Brooke squealed anyway dismissing her thoughts, as she hugged her best friend. "Now about dresses…what do you mean you have nothing to wear?"

"I want to wear something eye-catching. Something that will make Mr. Harrington think highly of me. I mean this is my first big client! And my dresses are so not that great…" she sighed dramatically.

Brooke rolled her eyes at her friend's melodramatic gesture. "Well…I do have a dress that I don't think Mr. Preach the Good has seen yet―"

"Brooklyn!" Bevin exclaimed, as Brooke unconsciously flinched slightly at the sound of her formal name. "You can't call him that! You know he's one of Madame's best customers, none the less her greatest friend!"

"Oh please, Bev! He's a hypocrite and a pig like every other man in the world. Now do you want the dress or not? Because I have better things to do in life, than to bicker about the mayor." Brooke's voice changed from sweet and caring to harsh and sarcastic in a record of two seconds. She didn't like people telling her what to do and she certainly didn't want to talk about how she felt about her job. She only did it for the money, so that one day she could raise enough to be extremely rich. She didn't want to end up depending on someone else. She didn't want to turn into her mother.

"Okay! Okay! Calm down. No need to go all mean-Brooke on me. You can save that for Madame later. And about that garment…"

The brunette broke out chuckling. "Come on, Blondie. Let's get you dressed up. We need to make Mr. Harrington faint at your feet tonight."

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It was a marvelous day. A marvelous, prosperous day. The rain was pouring harmoniously down the streets, as if it were bouncing from person to person at every tune. A tall, good looking twenty-one year old man stood poised beside the door of Annie's, waiting for his friend to come out. It was one of his lucky days. It was raining so watering the crops was out of question. Thus, he had time to make his way into town in order to make a little extra cash: gold-mining. Or in his case, gold-searching. There was a cavern up the road that was scattered with specks of gold in its murky waters. Whenever he had extra time, he joined the many dashing hopeful men in finding as much specks as possible. Today he had risen successful with one and a half pouches full, the most he'd ever gotten in that amount of time. Like Lucas Scott said, it was a marvelous day.

The door to Annie's finally opened revealing Lucas' dark-haired pal and shaking the blond from his inner thoughts.

"Finally, Jake! You managed to take a max record of one hour. What were you doing in there? I thought you just had to talk to Annie about the store," Lucas exclaimed, a thread of annoyance woven through his voice.

Recently, Annie had decided to buy the small food market beside the pub and make it her own. She had proclaimed that Jake was the new manager, much to Jake's contentment. They were the prime sellers of Lucas' crops during the year, especially during the spring season.

"Sorry, Luke! Annie kept on talking and talking, and it ain't like I could tell her to shut up. You know how riled up she got when I said that the first time," Jake shuddered, touching his cheek comfortingly.

Lucas laughed at the memory of Annie's hand colliding with Jake's surprised face.

"Sure, whatever you say, but anyway, come help me with these crates. I have loads of vegetables in the buckboard that need to go into the store, and I don't want them damaged by the rain."

And with that routine, the two men began. Lifting crate after crate into the market. Lucas would continue joking with his companion every now and then, in order to maintain the humorous air. That was until he saw her. She was dressed in a dark emerald dress with a matching hat upon her head. A big, tough man walked along her side, a gun perched against his hip. He kept looking from side to side, in order to target a possible problem. She however just kept on looking straight ahead, not saying a single thing or smiling in the slightest way. A somber look was spread upon her face, her body just repeating a well-known pattern of composure and grace.

Every man along the street, from the miners to the fathers to even Lucas Scott himself, stopped and stared, as if praising the gorgeous brunette for her striking beauty. Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of her. This mystery girl tugged at something deep inside of him, something that had been locked away for a long time now. I need to meet her, Lucas thought. I need to talk to her. There was something about her that made him unable from turning his gaze away…maybe it was her unsmiling face or her elegant look…whatever it was, he was hooked.

She's the one. Lucas blinked rapidly, trying to understand what had just passed through his thoughts. It had been a while since those words had ever crossed his mind.

Yes, he needed to meet her, to unravel the ambiguity behind her cheerless eyes. How was he going to do that though? He didn't know her name or where she was from. She was just some pretty girl walking down the street with a man. A man. Was she married? Was that overbearing chap her husband? This reminded Lucas of one of his mother's old romance novels gone wrong. What was going on within him? Why was he feeling like this? And who in the world was this girl?

Unconsciously, his heart thumped rapidly as she walked past him and then out of sight, her companion in tow, only to remain in his dreams.

"Ahh…guess you've finally met Brooklyn, huh?" Jake questioned, breaking Lucas away from his enchanting thoughts.

"Brooklyn?"

"Yeah, the one you were just gawking at. Ain't she something?"

"The pretty girl in green?" Lucas turned around to look at Jake clearly. How did he know who that lady was?

"Yup. The most gorgeous lady in California. She comes around here every now and then, walking with her goon. All the men just stop and stare. It's not like you can do anything less at the sight of her," Jake explained, cocking his head to the side as if it was self-explanatory. So that's who that man was, Lucas thought. Her goon, not her husband.

"How do you know so much about her, Jake? Does she live around here?"

The brunette just broke out into a toothy grin, shaking his head slightly from side to side. "Luke, you really are clueless, aren't you? She's been living around here for the past fifteen years and counting. She's one of Deb's girls at the House of Red. Her main girl actually."

Lucas felt like the life was sucked out of him. He stared at Jake incredulously, not able to formulate one single word. He must be joking. She worked at the House of Red? His dream girl was none other than a prostitute? Images of past memories swiftly passed through his mind and suddenly the blonde felt suffocated, as if he were drowning in his past. He needed to get away. Fast.

"Jake, I'll be right back. I need to take a walk real quick. Finish unloading the vegetables for me."

"But, Luke―" he protested.

"Just do it," the blond spoke curtly.

He cursed himself silently as his friend obeyed his command. It wasn't Jake's fault that this Brooklyn girl was a prostitute. It was his poor choice of picking. But there was something about her…Lucas couldn't help but be haunted by her grave face and emotionless eyes. It was like she was trained to not exhibit any ounce of happiness or glee or... or love.

"Come on, Lucas. Get a grip on yourself. She's just a girl. Just a girl."

"Talking to yourself much?" A voice came from the other side of the tree Luke was leaning against. She had her wavy auburn hair tied up in a tight bun and was dressed in a simple dress, made of natural cottons and a tiny bit of lace. Lucas broke into a smile at the sight of his other good friend: Annie.

"I was wondering when you'd come to my rescue," he spoke quietly. "Now, what did Jake tell you?"

"Only that you seemed a little off. What's wrong, Luke?" The older woman looked concerned as she set a hand on his shoulder. Annie was like an older sister to him, always prodding and reassuring when he needed it. Or didn't need it. Either way, she was one of his greatest acquaintances.

"Nothing, Annie. It's nothing. Just thinking about the past."

Annie hesitated for a moment, not wanting to dig into personal matters but desiring to know what was truly going on in her friend's head.

"By past do you mean Peyton?"

Lucas' head snapped up at her comment. He himself was trying to avoid that question for the past ten minutes but BAM! Annie had said it in a mere two seconds.

"Maybe," he admitted. "A little."

Peyton. Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer. The one girl he truly had loved. She was his everything from her long curly blonde locks to her enthralling green eyes. They had grown up together, best friends at first, then eventually engaged to wed. They had planned on getting married a few years ago. The whole wedding had been planned out, from the guests to the decorations to her mother's homemade red velvet cake. She was the one thing that mattered the most to him, the one thing that was taken away within a span of a second. He had never been able to say his good-byes. She was gone before he reached her house.

"Does this trip down memory lane have to do with a certain brunette?"

Once again Lucas was taken aback at Annie's ability to decipher what was wrong.

"You know me all too well," he started, earning a snort from the lady beside him.

"Don't avoid the question. You know it is okay to think about other girls. Peyton would've wanted you to be happy."

"I'm thinking about a prostitute, Annie! She's not a good natured Christian like Peyt. She's one of Deborah's prostitutes. So no, Peyton wouldn't have wanted me to be happy in that way." Lucas sighed exasperated, a comment Peyton had once made causing a whirlwind in his brain. Why couldn't he just forget about that girl?

"Have you maybe thought that it wasn't Brooke's fault that she's working in the House of Red?" This only earned a questioning look from the blond. "Look, Lucas, I shouldn't be saying more than I need to, but for the record, I've known Brooke or Brooklyn or whatever you want to call her for a long time. Since she came to Deb's place actually. There's more to her than meets the eye. Plus, Peyton always believed in redeeming the lost souls and moving on from our past sins. Keep that in mind the next time the brunette pops in your head."

Annie gave Lucas a short pat on the back and then left him standing by the tree, drowning in his confused thoughts. Why did she always have to complicate things? And why did she have to bring up Peyton? He knew she was right. Peyton always believed in helping the "lost souls" as she had called it. But to Peyton, a prostitute was everything but a lost soul.

Start of Flashback

They had just finished high school and were walking with Lucas' parents to church one Sunday morning when a short, slender blonde walked right past them into a dark "forbidden," as Lucas' mom called it, tavern.

"Where in the world is she going?" Lucas exclaimed, bewildered by the furtive nature of that girl. "Isn't church the other way?"

Karen Scott, a prideful gracious woman, only smirked, while Peyton was the one to finally speak.

"Church? You think she is going to church, Luke?" She had said with a slight laugh. "I think that's the last place she would want to go."

"What are you talking about, Peyt?"

"Sugar, she isn't a Christian. She's a prostitute." This definitely sent Lucas reeling back in surprise. That girl looked a mere age of fifteen, sixteen at most. She was already using her body as a source of money?

"And, Peyton, what makes you think she doesn't need some guidance?" Karen asked. Karen Scott, too, was a believer in helping the needy and spreading the Christian faith around.

"Girls like her…they don't look towards God. You can beg them all day and try to persuade them to go to church and refine, but at the end of the day, a prostitute is a prostitute. That's it. Plus, they give girls like me a bad name and help the human race just submerge in folly even more."

When they had arrived at church that day, their preacher had spoken of redemption and reconciliation with God. Lucas couldn't help but think of that young girl and wonder if maybe she like his mom had said just needed a little guidance.

End of Flashback

Maybe Peyton had been wrong. Maybe prostitutes were in need of some guidance. Lucas had made that mistake once, a long time ago of letting someone in need of help just slip through his fingers. He wasn't going to do it again. The look he had seen in Brooklyn's eyes…that emotionless look now registered as the look of a lost soul. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay to see her one more time. He would help her find a better path in life and then he would leave. Yes, that seemed like the perfect plan.

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Brooke woke up slowly to the weight of an individual beside her and the sound of freshly shed tears. Without a moment's hesitation she wrapped her arms around the younger girl and rocked her back and forth.

"Shh…don't cry."

The blonde girl hiccupped and then slowly spoke through her obvious misery. "He told her that I wasn't good enough and that I was a mere piece of trash. He didn't like me, Brookie. She's going to kick me out. Madame's going to kick me out."

"No, Bevin, she won't," Brooke replied while hugging the girl even tighter. "I won't let her take you away. I'll give up my savings if that is what it'll take."

Bevin instantaneously looked up at this. "Brooke! You can't! You've been saving up that fund forever!"

"Bev, don't you get it? Money means nothing without friends like you. You're all I have here in Madame's that makes life bearable."

"But Brooke, listen to me," Bevin said seriously, looking the brunette straight in the eyes. "This money is your only way out of here. Of all the girls here at the House of Red, you're the only one who can escape this torture."

"But this is our life. This is where we're meant to be," Brooke whispered as she brought the blonde girl into a tight hug.

And there the two laid for the rest of the night, Bevin slowly falling asleep in the sisterly embrace of her friend, and Brooke just staring out the window, watching the stars appear one by one against the dark shadowy sky.

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End of Chapter 1!! Hope you enjoyed it! Next Chapter: Lucas and Brooke meet

Please R&R!!!! Thanks!

Hope you have a great day:)