BROOKE:

I got up early that morning, driving down to the beach, taking a seat , allowing the waves to wash upon my feet. I couldn't face Nathan, I knew that I should have stayed and talked but I just needed some from air. I needed to try and allow the water to take away my sins. To somehow make me pure again.

"I knew that I would find you here." A familiar voice said.

I looked up to see Nathan standing with the sun beaming around his head. I smiled, but couldn't get my voice to work. He kicked off his shoes, and took his socks off, placing them in his Nikes. He rolled up his jeans and sat down next to me.

"Brooke,"

"Don't…" I cut him off. "I don't need an apology. It's okay."

He looked down at the water that now enveloped his feet. "I shouldn't have kissed you. I just…"

I looked up at the waves rocking back and forth. "Do you think that it is possible to be in love with someone?" I glance back over at him. "I mean the way Nelson loved Sarah."

He grinned. "You talking about 'Sweet November'."

I nodded. "Yes."

He picked up a piece of gravel that laid by his foot. He tossed it out into the ocean. "Yeah. I believe that a person can love another person that much. I mean if true love isn't real, then what's the point in this whole thing we call live."

I bit my bottom lip, sucking it in a little before letting it pop back out. "I hope that you are right, Nathan Scott. I hope that you are right."

"He hurt you pretty bad, didn't he?"

"Yeah." I wiped quickly at the tears that lingered down my cheek. "I really let myself fall with him. I hate myself everyday for that. I hate myself for believing that my heart was save with some-one other than me."

"I can't apologize for my brother. I can't say that I understand him. But I can say that you are going to be just fine, Brooke Davis. That you are going to find the right guy that won't break your heart, that will put you before him, and that will fight for you till his last breath."

"I am so scared, Nathan. I can't do this."

He reached over and pulled me into his arms. He kissed the top of my head. "You will make a wonderful mom some day, Brooke. Rather you choose to be now, or later in life. I have faith in you. Because I know the real you. And that is the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

Part Six

LUCAS:

I laid awake in my bed. It had been two days since I had seen Brooke and the only thing that I had heard from her was a voice mail that said, 'Lucas, you broke my heart in a way that I will never be able to mend. For that I don't want you to be a part of my life ever again. However, you don't deserve to know anything, but its only right that you know, I am pregnant. I don't want or expect anything from you. So please just leave us alone.'

It was then that I realized just how much I hurt her. How much I would never be a part of her life again. How this child would only be a reminder that I lost the best part of me. I lost my soul the day I broke her heart. The sound of something crashing in the kitchen grabbed my attention. I entered the kitchen to find my mom making some tea.

"Mom?"

She turned to me, "Oh, hey, did I wake you?"

"No."

"Sometimes I can't sleep. Just lie awake and worry." She continued to swirl the tea bag in her favorite, plain, white cup.

"What are you worrying about?"

"I'm a mother, Lucas. I worry about everything." She looked at me with that motherly look. The one that knows how to read me. "What are you doing up?"

I took a deep breath. I knew that the next words out of my mouth was going to hurt her. It was going to rip her to pieces. But I could never keep anything from my mom. Next to Hailey, my mom was my best friend. "I have something I have to tell you." I walked over to the table. Keeping my distance from her. "I think you should sit."

The chair scraped across the out of date tile, as she pulled it out from the table. "Okay." She looked me in the eyes and it was as if she could see my pain. She stood back up. "I think I'll stand."

"This is going to hurt and I am sorry."

"What happened?"

"Brooke's pregnant."

I watched as her eyes lost their sparkle. Her motherly glow faded like a candle in the middle of a wind storm. She slapped me, knocking me off my balance. I wasn't upset with her. I had no reason to be. It was only fair, after all I let her down. I let Brooke down, and Hailey and Peyton and everyone that ever believed in me. That believed that I was better than Dan Scott. I deserved much more than a slap.

"Oh, Lucas I am sorry."

"I guess I deserved that." I cried, making my way back to my bedroom.

"Lucas," She chased after me. "Lucas, look I didn't mean it, Lucas." She grabbed my arm.

"I'm pretty sure that you did." My voice cracked.

"No, I didn't." She pleaded. "It's just that," She paused. "Do you understand? This is exactly what I didn't want for you. Have I been talking to myself the last few years? You have so much left to do in life. So does Brooke." She grabbed me, wrapping her arms around me with all of her strength. "Oh, you both are just too young for this."

"Don't cry, mom."

"It's just that I'm scared for you." She pulled back to look me in the eyes. "I cannot believe that this is happening." She walked over and took a seat on my bed. Tears lingered down her cheeks.

I took a seat next to her. I was trying to hold myself together. "How close was I to not existing?" I heard the confusing in her voice. I turned to look at her. "Dan wanted to have an abortion, mom. Why didn't you listen to him?"

"Where did you hear that?"

I laughed. "He told me. He told me the night that I played my first game. He met me outside and he told me. So why didn't you just end it?"

She wiped her tears. "Because I realized that I wanted you in my future." She inhaled and blew the breath back out. "What about Brooke? What does she want?"

I felt this emptiness fill me to the brim. This longing, this hunger to be there for her. I started to cry. "I don't know."

"She must be so scared."

I couldn't hold back the dam any longer. My body began to tremble.

"Oh, Lucas." She pulled me close.

"What am I going to do?"

Part Seven

NATHAN:

I knew that Brooke was tired, so I left her alone at the apartment. I needed to clear my head from all of these new feelings that were reeling and rocking in my mind. I drove out to the river court and began to play hoops. It was something that I liked to do. Something that I loved to do. It was as if I was the only person in the world when I was out there. Like nothing could touch me or that nothing-else mattered.

I turned when I heard a car come to a stop behind me. Lucas got out of the wrecker and walked out onto the court.

"Nathan, we need to talk."

I shot the ball into the hoop and grabbed the ball dribbling it. "From where I stand there is nothing to talk about." I made another shot.

"Nathan, Brooke is carrying my child. I have a right to talk to her. To know that she is okay."

I turned to him. "You gave up that right, Lucas, the day you hurt her."

"Why you? Of all the people for her to turn to in Tree Hill. Why you?"

I grinned. "Because she knows I am the better of the Dan Scott kids. She knows that I wouldn't hurt her, when she needed me the most."