Chapter Four

Brooke pulled herself up off the floor, and ran out of the office. She was an idiot. Of course he was having sex. No one spends thirteen hours a day selling office supplies. Brooke climbed into the van, slamming the door behind her. She turned the key in the ignition, then turned the engine back off. It was really over. Everything was over. Hot tears began to stream down her face at a rapid speed. Lucas was gone. He was the only man she'd ever loved. He made her who she was. Without Lucas, she was just a slut. But with him, she was everything. She was smart, she was loving, she was anything she wanted to be. But he didn't want that. He wanted Peyton. He didn't want Brooke. He wanted his receptionist. Brooke once again turned the key, this time she put the car in drive, and drove herself home. She greeted Karen with a half-hearted smile, and ran to her bed, collapsing in a pile on the bed that she had once shared with him.

"Mommy!" Aniston cried through tears. Brooke pulled her body up to a sitting position. She must have fallen asleep.

"Mommy!"

"Aniston, what is it baby?" Brooke asked, pulling him into her lap.

"I-I had a dream that you left, and never came back, and then monsters came and you weren't here to save me," Aniston explained through sobs.

"Aniston, it's okay, it was just a dream. Mommy's here, I'll never leave you," Brooke said, gently rocking the terrified five year old in her arms. Ever since Brooke had become pregnant with Elijah, Aniston had begun having nightmares. Each dream worse that the last.

"Sleep with me Mommy?"

"Yeah," Brooke agreed, taking Aniston back to the bedroom he shared with Leighton. She lay down on her little boy's bed, Aniston's head resting on her shoulder.

"Wake up Mommy!" Jenna said, bouncing up and down on Brooke's sleeping body.

"Jenna, Mommy's sleeping. What time is it?"

"One hundred o clock."

Brooke cracked open her eyes, and glanced at Aniston's monkey clock.

"Oh my god, it's seven thirty," Brooke groaned as she pulled herself to a sitting position.

"Oh my gosh, Mom, not oh my god," Leighton said, pulling her shoes on.

"Hey Leight."

"Morning."

Brooke shifted Jenna to her hip and went into the kitchen to pack lunches.

"Hey baby," Lucas said, handing a whiny Elijah over to Brooke, forcing Brooke to put Jenna down.

"Hi."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Sure."

"You okay?"

"Yep. The kids are going to Haley's for a little this morning. We're going to get coffee."

"Sorry babe, I can't, I have a meeting."

"You have two choices, coffee this morning or d-i-v-o-r-c-e papers this morning."

"Ten?"

"Perfect."

"I have to go," Lucas said changing the subject, "Bye kids."

"Daddy! No! Don't go!" Aniston said, clinging to Lucas' leg. Brooke was silently begging the same thing. She knew that when Lucas left that morning, her marriage would go with him.

"I have to go, I love you."

"Bye Daddy."

"What do you want Brooke?" Lucas asked, watching his wife pace the floor of the local Starbucks. Brooke knew that this was not a conversation for Karen's.

"I want a minute! Okay, Lucas? I want a minute to think!"

Lucas backed off and took a sip of his drink. Brooke took her seat, wiping away a stray tear.

"I know Lucas."

"What so you mean you know?" Lucas asked, his heart rate speeding up.

"About you and Peyton. I saw you on top of her last night."

"What the hell Brooke? Why were you at my work last night?"

"So not the point! Why were you having sex with Peyton?" Brooke said, raising her voice, and moving to a standing position.

"You shouldn't have invaded my privacy like that Brooke."

"You shouldn't have been having sex with another woman while I was at home with our five children!"

"I can't believe this."

"Trust me, I can't either," Brooke said, sitting back down, putting her head in her hands.

"Look, Brooke, I'm sorry."

"How long Lucas?"

"A couple of years."

"A couple of years?" Brooke nearly screamed, standing back up.

"I said I was sorry!"

"I'm sorry too! I'm sorry you had sex with my best friend! And I'm sorry that this marriage is over, but it is. It's over Lucas. I can't take this any longer. You can send Karen over for your stuff."

"Fine."

"Yeah."

Brooke picked her cup off the table, ignoring the stares of the others in the Starbucks. She allowed herself to cry as she walked to her car. She let her sobs take over her as she drove to Haley's then as she loaded her sleeping kids in the car, disregarding Haley's inquiries. She drove home and gently placed each of her sleeping children in their beds, then crawling into her own bed. Her marriage was over. She had walked down the isle for nothing. Now she had to feed and house her five kids alone.

"What's wrong Mommy?" Taylor asked, tip-toeing into her parent's room.

"I just miss Daddy."

"It's okay Mommy. I'll play with you until he comes home."

Brooke nodded to please her little girl, but the words of her three year old tore her heart to shreds. Because Lucas would never come home. He was gone.

Taylor climbed into Brooke's lap, gently wiping her mother's tears away with her tiny hands.

"Thank you Taylor; Mommy loves you."

"Taylor loves you too."

"Mom!" Leighton called, coming through the front door, dumping her back-pack by the door. She wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry.

"Jenna, where's Mom?" Leighton asked, walking into the family room where Jenna, Taylor and Aniston were watching television.

"Mommy's sleeping," Taylor answered for her sister.

"Why?"

"She's sad."

"Mom?" she asked, slipping through the cracked door of the master bedroom. Brooke was sitting in bed, with her knees pulled to her chest, silent tears sliding out of her closed eyes. She quickly wiped her tears and tried to compose herself.

"Mom, are you okay?" she asked walking over to the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out to check on you and your brother and sister in a minute," Brooke said, walking over to Elijah's crib, taking her half-asleep baby boy in her arms.

"'Kay."

Leighton slowly turned around and left the bedroom. Brooke held Elijah close, running her hands through his blonde hair. She sat back down on the bed, situating Elijah on her lap. It's been a long day, and she had a lot to hurt about. But she couldn't do that. She had a family to raise. She pulled herself up from the bed, and went to the family room and sat silently on the couch between Jenna and Aniston. She felt her eyes being threatened by tears again, and she quickly wiped the moisture out of her eyes. Leighton noticed the tear, and got up from the couch. She grabbed the phone from the kitchen and tip-toed to her bedroom, as to not be noticed. She quickly dialed the numbers she'd known by heart since she was two.

"Hello?"

"Aunt Haley, it's Leighton. Can you come over? My mom is crying and I don't think she can stop."

"She's still crying? What's wrong?"

"I don't know, she was in her bed crying when I got home from school, and Taylor made it sound like she'd been crying earlier too."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks Aunt Haley, love you."

"I love you too."

"Brooke?" Haley called, opening the front door.

"Haley?" Brooke asked from the kitchen.

"Hey Brookie." Haley said, sitting down beside Brooke, her back resting on the counter.

"Tell me what has your eight year old so worried about you that she called her aunt."

"What?" Brooke asked, wiping away another tear from the stream that she couldn't control.

"Leighton called me and told me you'd been crying all day. And the Brooke Davis-Scott I know, would never cry all day in front of her kids. So, tell me what's up."

"It's Brooke Davis now. No Scott." Brooke answered flatly.

"Brooke, what are you talking about?"

"He slept with her Haley," Brooke said, breaking down into a fit of tears, "He slept with Peyton."

"Brooke sweetie, what are you talking about?"

"Lucas. I went to talk to him at the office last night, and he was on top of her. He admitted it this morning." Brooke said through sobs.

"Oh my gosh. Brooke, I am so sorry." Haley said, wrapping her arms around her sobbing friend.

"I am so sorry."

AN- Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading. Please please please review! I'm having a hard time with this story, and reviews truly do make all the difference. Thanks a bunch!