OKAY! So I haven't updated in so long, but I have been busy. Then I got the urge to write SOOO I wrote this. This chap is dedicated to Dianehermans, who pretty much forced me to update ;D

THANKYOU! For all the reviews guys your awesome. Hope you like this chap, let me know what you think if you want me to keep updating! =D

8 years, 5 months, 6 days

Chapter 3

"You taught me how to love; you taught me how to live; you taught me how to laugh; you taught me how to cry, but when you left, you forgot to teach me how to forget you."

- Anon

"KAYLA! Get ready, I have to take you to the office with me today!" A raspy voice echoed up the stairs as the brunette slipped on her second earring.

"I thought dad was picking me up?" The little girl upstairs shouted back, causing Brooke to sigh.

"He was sweaty but he can't pick you up till this afternoon now, so we can spend the WHOLE day together before you go to New York."

"Okay I'll get ready!" There was a knock at the door and Brooke narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment before heading towards it, maybe Felix had decided to pick Kayla up early after all?

"Hey Brooke" The fiesty ex-cheerleader only took a moment to register the Blondes precense before slamming the door in his face, breathing heavily. "C'mon Davis, this is childish!" Brooke could hear Lucas calling from the otherside of the door, she hesitated a moment before opening it again.

"Sorry" she said, smoothing her pencil skirt "not really used to seeing your face at my door."

"You thought I was a ghost?" Lucas suggested in amusement.

"Something like that."

"I just came to talk."

"Yeah, cause that went so well last time." The NBA star was happy to see his ex still had her sarcastic, bubbly flare.

"Give me five minutes?"

"I'll give you four." She opened the door wider to let him in.

"I'll take what I can get." He followed her to the couch where she signalled he should sit down, she sat on the opposite side, as far away from him as possible.

"So. Talk." Blue iris's met hazel.

"First, I'm so sorry about last night. That was wrong, here I come bursting back into your life after eight years and expect everything to be the same? Pretty crap wishful thinking." Brooke sighed

"Apology accepted, you done?"

"No. I uh-I just wanted to ask you one more time and I know it does mean anything now but Brooke, do you want to know why I left?"

"No." Her eyes had gone cold, eight years earlier she would have killed to hear his explanation, some sort of reason for his leaving but now, it didn't matter.

"Okay." He paused, recovering from the realisation that their relationship was something he would probably never be able to fix. "That's your choice, I don't want to fight with you, I don't want it to be this way between us. I understand the anger and the hurt but do you think there is anyway we might be able to be friends? I'm going to be in Tree Hill for the next three months, it's not really going to be great if we have this awkward tension all the time."

"I'm not really sure there's anything that will make that go away. The whole friends thing though? Maybe we can give it a try, I mean, don't expect to be my BFF for life but perhaps I can learn to tolerate you." Lucas let his lips break into a smile, in Brooke Davis language that pretty much meant they were on OK terms.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about it last night. I was so hurt and angry and sad and everything else when you left but then it dawned on me, if you hadn't I never would have had Kayla." She took a breath "And without her I don't know what I'd do. So I can't really be too angry at you now I guess."

"I like that reasoning."

"I bet you do." There was a slightly more comfortable air around them now, of course there was still the lingering tension but it was nothing like it had been the night before.

"So, what are you doing today?"

"Meetings at the office, finish a few designs and then wait for Felix to pick up Kay." Lucas nodded, he could barely believe he was actually having a conversation with Brooke Davis, even if it was only small talk. A phone sounded from up stairs before a little girls voice filtered down.

"MUM! Your phones ringing! It says Tu-Tu-Tuoor Mum, can I answer?" Brooke laughed

"Sure kiddo, then come down okay!" Lucas laughed.

"I can't believe your a mother."

"I know, who thought, Me, Brooke Davis, the girl that couldn't keep the tenth grade fish alive for the weekend would be a good mother?"

"I always knew you had it in you." For a second Brooke's defences went back up before she forced herself to calm down and change the subject. She was glad of the distraction when Kayla came bouncing in.

"MUMMA! Jamie and Uncle Nate are going to the rivercourt can I go PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" Lucas eyes widened in disbelief, this little girl had her mothers tendencies down to a key

"What are you doing today Broody?" Brooke asked walking into the kitchen of her apartment to find her boyfriend making coffee. She walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind as she leaned her head against his back. He smiled, gently grazing his hand against hers as he continued to pour out two cups.

"Ummm, I was thinking of hitting the rivercourt, wanna come?" The Brunette chuckled, nuzzling his back before he turned around in her grasp, handing her a coffee, which she gladly took.

"Thanks. So the rivercourt huh?" Lucas looked down at his girlfriend with narrowed eyes as she sipped her coffee innocently.

"Whats up Brooke?"

"NOTHING Lucas."

"Brooke." The blonde warned, knowing very well she was about to ask him for something.

"Okay fine." She rolled her eyes, putting down her mug. "There's this really awesome uber cool sale down at that high end fashion mall and considering I just got my credit cards back AND the new term starts soon so I'll need a wardrobe, I thought maybe we could go together PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" Lucas laughed.

"AND Why aren't you taking one of your million girlfriends?"

"BECAUSE they went yesterday but I couldn't go and I don't want to drag them back there because one of them will steal some really cute outfit from me AND I don't want to take Haley cause she will just complain that I shouldn't be using up my credit cards on frivolous things."

"So instead you just drag me?" Brooke nodded, enthusiastically.

"PLEASE BROODY!"

"But what if I steal a really cute outfit from you?" He joked, leaning in to place his lips on hers and in that moment she knew she'd won.

"Then you will just have to share." Brooke smiled into the kiss as Lucas groaned.

"Okay, okay I'll come" the brunette threw her hands in the air in triumph "But you know" Lucas continued "One day this whole use-my-love-for-you-against-me thing isn't going to work." Brooke kinked her eyebrow sceptically.

"Are you kidding? It's worked or the last four and a half years, you really think it's going to stop? Face it Broody, your gonna love me forever. Deal with it." Lucas shook his head, chuckling at his girlfriends playful smile.

"Pretty Girl, you know me too damn well."

"Hunny I have a meeting to get to and I wont have time to drop you off, maybe another time okay?"

"BUUUT MUMMA!" The little girl wailed "I wont be able to see Jamie for a whole week!"

"I know but there's nothing I can do, now can you please go finish getting your stuff ready, we have to go soon." The little girl hung her head and turned on the spot, stomping angrily out of the room. Lucas laughed.

"She reminds me so much of you." Brooke rolled her eyes, her natural reaction wanting to punch him playfully but she wasn't sure she was ready to let any sort of guard down with him yet.

"Yeah totally, remember when I was five and my mum wouldn't let me go to the rivercourt to play with Nathan and Jamie?" Lucas laughed again as Brooke joked.

"C'mon seriously, you cannot deny the identical mannerisms"

"Well she is my daughter."

"Exactly my point. Anyway, I didn't want to say it in front of her incase you weren't okay with it but I'm heading to the rivercourt now if you uh-wanted me to take her?" Brooke's defences once against raised as her eyes flashed back to Lucas.

"Uh, not th-thats okay." She knew Lucas was great with kids and she knew that Kayla would be in safe hands but there wasn't something about trusting her daughter with him that made her uneasy. Apparently Lucas had broken her trust in more ways than one.

"Brooke, it's just to the rivercout, she really wants to go." Brooke sighed, her eyes wandering back to the stairs, as much as she didn't want Kayla to get attached to 'Uncle' Lucas, who would undoubtly leave and not come back for another eight or so years, she knew it was inevitable the two would get to know each other.

"Okay." She said hesitantly as Lucas smiled, he was glad that Brooke would trust him with the biggest part of her life. "HEY KAY! Lucas is going to take you to the rivercourt!" A brunette blur came whirling down the stairs and jumped into Lucas's lap.

"YAY! Uncle Lucas! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!" The blonde hugged the little girl.

"Don't thank me, it was your mothers idea." Kayla jumped from his lap into Brooke's, hugging her.

"Thankyou MUMMA!" Brooke gave Lucas a small smile.

"No problem baby girl, now you better get going, I'll pick you up later and take you to meet your father okay?"

"OKAY!" Kayla had already jumped off her mothers lap and ran towards the door. The two adults stood, following her.

"Look after her." Brooke said, the worry creeping back.

"I will." Lucas gave her the all-to-charming smile that used to melt the hearts of every girl at Tree Hill High but Brooke was immune.

"I mean it Scott, one hair out of place and I'm coming after you."

"I will protect her with my life, I promise. If she falls over I will hurl myself to the ground to save her knee from scarping." Brooke gave a slight chuckle and watched as Lucas held his hand out for Kayla's petite one to join onto, then something caught her eye, her smile fell. Lucas must have noticed as he looked between her and his wrist before realising what had caused the sudden change.

"I've worn it for the last eight and a half years." He said quietly, Brooke almost let her hand go out to touch the small silver band but she stopped herself, staying silent as Lucas's eyes went up to lock on hers. "Can I ask you something?" Brooke gulped, unsure of whether she would actually want to answer his question but she nodded all the same. "The other half, the heart. Do you still have it?" The fashionista hesitated for a second before shaking her head.

"No." She said firmly "I threw it out before I left for California. I might have spent two years waiting for you to come back but the day you left my heart knew we were done for good." Blue iris's dropped in disappointment, he didn't bother saying another word as mother and daughter said goodbye and he ventured out the door with the daughter of the woman who would never love him again.

Brooke only waited a few moments before turning on the spot in the empty house, walking silently up the stairs to her bedroom. She pulled open her wardrobe and dug into the back of it, withdrawing a medium sized, red box. Walking over to the bed she sat down, opening it for the first time in years. She picked up a note reading;

"Beautiful Girl, My Pretty Girl, Cheery, Dimples, Davis. So many labels which describe one thing. My intelligent, loyal, wild, fun, stunning, independent girlfriend. The girl who still refuses to let me truly into her heart.

That night was amazing. Even though you refused to let me treat it like something as special as it was. Somehow you have convinced yourself I will leave like so many others have in the past. You need to understand that it has been three years. I am not going anywhere.

This is something that should not be printed on paper. It should be shouted from the rooftops. Yet alas, you will not let me tell you in any other way. You will not let me in, you will not let me show you the extent of what I feel for you. So this is the only way I can communicate to you after all this time.

We may be young.

I don't care.

We may have the rest of our lives ahead of us.

I don't care.

All I care about is you and that there isn't a second of the day where you don't feel safe, or wanted...Or loved. Because that is the point. Love.

The point of my true inability to worry about anyone else but you, to think about anything else but you. I lost the want or need for anything else a long time ago.

And now I say this knowing in my heart that there is a huge chance you will reject me completely.

I don't care.

You are worth the risk.

Brooke Penelope Davis, I am completely in love with you.

I love you.

It's just that simple.

My heart belongs to you.

It's all I need you to know.

Pretty girl, I don't expect you to say it back. I don't expect anything of you other than you continue to be the perfect person and girlfriend that I love.
Telling you these things were for my own selfish reasons, peace of mind that you are fully aware that no matter what there is someone in the world who will always love you unconditionally.

I feel safe in the idea that you will never feel unloved again and if you ever do, you need only read this letter to remind yourself that the simple idea is completely untrue.

I love you.

Till the end.

Lucas Scott
XXXXXXX

Brooke read the letter a few times, a sad smile forming on her face. She remembered Lucas giving her this note a week after the two had slept together for the first time. It had been the first time for both teens. They had been sixteen yet his writing was that of someone much older. It had brought tears to the eyes of teenage Brooke and put to death any doubt she had of their relationship.

Gently putting down the letter, Brooke picked up a photo.

Lucas was laying in bed, Brooke's head against his chest, her eyes closed, a small, happy smile on her lips. Brunette tresses were everywhere as Lucas smiled, snapping the photo, the camera in his extended hand.

Another photo in the box showed a picture of the two at prom, gaining the title of Prom queen and king, both were laughing, pointing at the others ridiculous crowns.

Then there was the photo that had been Brooke's favourite for years, it had been taken at the rivecourt at night, the lights of the city sparkling in the background. The two had their hands intertwined and Lucas was bending down to place a small, intimate kiss on Brooke's lips. It was a perfect moment.

Brooke gulped before reaching back into the box and withdrawing the small heart that lay at the bottom I will love you forever Brooke Davis – LS she read.

Then she couldn't take it anymore, without warning, she burst into tears. Even after all these years, it still hurt, more than she cared to admit. She had missed Lucas Scott so much, or at least, she missed who he used to be.

Kayla and Jamie ran onto the rivercourt to play as Lucas and his raven haired brother sat on the bench near by.

"So Brooke's letting you baby sit Kay now?" Nathan said, having almost not believed his eyes when Lucas turned up with his god daughter.

"It took a little bit of convincing but I guess she just didn't want Kay to be upset before she left for New York."

"Still, the way Brooke feels about you, your lucky she even let you within a hundred feet of her daughter." Lucas looked back at the rivercourt.

"I dunno, maybe she's starting to see I'm not the person she thought I was for all these years. Maybe she can actually believe I'm the same guy I was in highschool." Nathan snorted.

"Dude, do you even know Brooke? Fat chance, you've been gone for eight years, you really think that's gonna change over night? If you'd have seen how she was when you left, you would have-" The brunette Scott stopped, realising he had said too much.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing Luke, all I was saying is that she was in a bad way when you left. Don't expect to forgiven easily, or at all really."

"How was she when I left Nathan?" Nathan sighed, Haley had warned him against death not to say anything but he thought his brother should hear it.

"She was pretty beaten up bro. I mean, when she got back from California she slipped into full on robot mode and she got so thin, she never ate unless Haley forced her to. It was crazy." Lucas let out a huge breath, he hated thinking of Brooke in any sort of pain, let alone pain he had caused yet he knew he had to listen.

"She stopped being Brooke for a long time, I swear you wouldn't recognise her. Haley was so worried, and so was I. There were so many times we considered flying out to drag your ass back-"

"Why didn't you?" Had he known what he had caused, Lucas would have been on the first flight back. No question.

"I guess we didn't know if it would make it worse. I think Hales was scared seeing you would send her off a cliff or something."

"How long was she like that?"

"I dunno, a while. Two years maybe. She was really bad for the first year, she rarely talked to any of her friends and then they all just kind of gave up, except for Me, Rach and Hales of course, and Mouth, but he was across the country so there wasn't much he could do. The second year was slightly better, she started eating again. Occasionally smiling. Then the year after that it was almost like we had the old Brooke back."

"Almost?"

"She never smiled the same, or laughed. I can't claim to be a Brooke expert but it's something you can tell."

"She smiles like she used to when she looks at Kayla." Nathan nodded.

"Yeah, from the day she was born Brooke has been happier than ever."

"I never meant to hurt her like that Nate, I didn't know..." Lucas trailed off, unsure of what exactkly to say.

"We know that Luke but it doesn't mean she didn't hurt. That girl was so in love with you, it almost killed her." Lucas hung his head.

"I can fix it." He said quietly, Nathan's head shot to him.

"Man, it HAS been fixed, she's good now. Let it go. Your my brother but if you fuck around with her again I may just have to leave you with a few less teeth."

"Are you seriously threatening me?" Lucas chuckled.

"Dude, as if you wouldn't do the same if it were Haley."

"Yeah, your right."

"Difference is I would never leave Haley." Again Lucas's heart fell, Nathan didn't understand. No one understood, but explaining it wasn't going to make Brooke take him back so he didn't bother. He turned back to the rivercourt and watched as mini Brooke and his nephew played on the rivercourt that held so much history.