So this is for all those people who take the time to read my crap. You guys are so much more than just readers but my salvation. If no one read it I probably would stop posting this but as long as just one person keeps reading I will keep writing this till the end. The end has already been decded so now all that's left is to just start poting when I can. This one is for you!

Chapter 20

Surviving

It was so quiet. That's the first thing Lucas thought of when he came to. When he closed his eyes last he thought that it was it. Then the memory of his Brooke lying on the floor in her own blood rushed back to him and his mind snapped back to reality. His body jerked but when his frame didn't move he felt a sinking feeling.

"Oh good you're awake."

Peyton had been watching him and monitoring him since he went down. She had gotten well versed in taking care of a person with HCM. She was just lucky he hadn't had a real attack otherwise the man would be dead. She had dragged him to the car after he didn't wake up and struggled to get him in but since she was motivated she managed. She had left Brooke upstairs to die and even in her wildest episode she still didn't want to watch Brooke bleed to death. She knew Brooke wasn't dead when they were back at the house but thought if she could get Lucas to leave with her they could start their life together. Now she sat in her living room with Lucas tied to a chair and she watched him as he sat there. It was a little unsettling how she was looking at him all wide eyed and smiling. She still had Brooke's blood on her and the only thing Lucas wanted to do was get the hell out of there and get to Brooke. That was the thought that kept running through his mind; he had to get to Brooke.

"I was so worried."

She rose from her seat on the couch and moved towards him and flipped on the lights, illuminating the room to just how far her obsession had gone. There were dozens of pictures of a bleeding figure on a floor, in a car, on the river court and each one looked like Brooke. Then there were other ones with him by himself and him with a blonde figure. The room was filled with visions of depraved ideas and Lucas wanted nothing more than to scream but Peyton had apparently gagged him. She lovingly stroked his head and he snatched away from her touch as if it were firey hot. She attempted to touch him again but his muffled screams of hatful words stopped her.

"Lucas calm down, it's okay it's me."

He continued to yell obscene words that died down under the cloth that covered his mouth. She moved to release his gag and was met with every foul word on the planet.

"YOU FUCKING CRAZY BITCH! I WILL KILL YOU IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO BROOKE OR MY BA-"

He stopped himself. He feared that if Peyton thought there was one more obstacle between them that she'd go back and finish the job if she hadn't already. The thought of his Brooke and baby in duress cut him like a knife.

"Your what Lucas?"

"Peyton untie me."

"No."

"Peyton untie me right now."

"No."

"PEYTON FUCKING UNTIE ME!"

"NOOO. You're home. You are right where you belong and you aren't going anywhere."

"Peyton. Please I need-"

"You need to just sit back, relax and let me take care of everything. Just like I did with Brooke."

She looked enraged and it was in his best interest to keep her calm. His eyes fell to the floor trying to hold back tears that were building in rage and did his best to keep his voice from giving him away. If this psycho bitch wanted him, fine she would get exactly what she wanted as long as she did something for him.

"Peyton. Sweetheart. I want you to know something."

Her eyes locked into his and waited for his words.

"I love you."

Her face softened and she crossed the floor and sat in his lap. She began stroking his hair and looked into his eyes breathing a sigh of relief.

"I knew it. I just knew it!"

She went to kiss him deeply and he conceded as best he could so as to not alert her. Once her lips left him he decided to try his best.

"I do love you and...and I want to make love to you."

"Oh Lucas I-"

"But there's something you gotta do for me."

"Anything."

"I want you to call an ambulance and send them to my house."

She recoiled from him not understanding what he wanted her to do.

"Lucas-"

"Peyton. I love you and only you. I was just staying with Brooke because I thought it was what I was supposed to do but...I don't want her to die because I was too stupid to admit I was in love with you and not her."

Peyton thought it over. In her mind that was severely altered by her disease she believed him. She smiled now thinking she had the love of the man she wanted most. So she hopped up from his lap and left him. He closed his eyes and thanked god that Peyton had decided to do as he asked. He just hoped he wasn't going to have to make good on his deal.

Haley was a wreck. That was all Nathan could describe her as. They had tried to call Lucas at least a hundred times and no answer. The police were involved now and though he was a suspect. They couldn't blame them. It did look bad but they knew Lucas would never do anything to hurt her again. Haley paced the waiting room and waited for good news, she wouldn't expect anything less. Nathan sat in the chairs watching as his wife went from one side of the room to the next and hated that things had come to this. Today was supposed to be their honeymoon. They were supposed to be making love and enjoying being with each other but instead they sat in the hospital again. He couldn't get the way Brooke looked out of his head. She was pale, her lips were blue and she hadn't moved since they saw her. When they trailed the ambulance the lights and sirens that had been illuminating the way had stopped and he knew that wasn't a good thing. They had been there an hour and still nothing until...

"Is there anyone here for Brooke Davis?"

The doctor looked weary and to Nathan that meant he needed to gather the strength to get out of his chair and go to his wife.

"We are, I'm her f- sister."

"Well I'm doctor Lockhart and I worked on your sister. She suffered from several deep lacerations to her chest, arms and abdomen.."

Haley's hand went to her mouth.

"The lacerations unfortunately caused a sever amount of blood loss and I'm afraid-"

"No. NO! You can't...you...what about the baby?"

"I'm afraid the baby was too badly damaged from the lacerations. The baby was dead before she even got here. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but…your sister didn't make it."

Nathan snapped out of his nightmare and searched the room to understand where he was. He was in the waiting room, Haley was asleep on his lap and there were only a few other people there. He tried to steady his breath before he moved. He lifted Haley's head and rested it on his coat as he made his way to the desk.

"Umm excuse me miss. Has anyone had any word about Brooke Davis?"

"I'll check for you."

The lady looked in her system, typing away at her keys and smiled at him.

"Actually it looks like her surgery is just about done. The doctor should be out shortly."

"Is there...is there anything you could tell me?"

The woman felt sorry for him. He looked like a scared child and even though she had seen this face on many others somehow it seem to break her heart on him even more.

"I'm sorry but we can only release information to family."

"The baby, the baby she's carrying is my niece or nephew, does that count?"

She smiled at him and went to her screen again.

"The surgery was apparently to stop some internal bleeding. The doctor is the best so there's hope. The baby...the baby seems to still be hanging on. They have her set up to meet with an OB afterwards."

Nathan breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Honey I don't want you to get your hopes up though, I've seen better come in here and end up a lot worse."

"Thank you."

"No problem sweetheart."

Nathan walked back over to the chairs and found a very awake Haley wanting to know what he had found out.

"Well..."

"Haley-"

"Tell me...is she-"

"She's still alive, and so is the baby...for now. Haley how long have you known?"

"Since the hospital after the bridge thing. I overheard the doctor say something and well, she couldn't exactly deny it."

"Does Luke know?"

"I'm not sure. She was going to tell him last night. Maybe."

"That's fucking great. Today should be the happiest day for all of us and-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" An office asked as he and another office approached them.

"Yes." Nathan answered circling his arms around his wife.

"I'm Det. Larro and this is my partner Det. Morris. We had a few questions to ask."

"Sure, we're just sitting here waiting to find out if our friend and her baby are going to make it" he said a little annoyed.

"This won't take long. The Det. and I were wanting to just go over a few things. Do you mind if you and I speak in private Mr. Scott?"

"Anything you want to ask you can ask in front of my wife."

"If you say so. Okay so what we've been informed of is that you slept with Ms. Davis previously."

Both Haley and Nathan looked shocked. Did this asshole just go there.

"And your brother knew about this correct?"

Oh no, this didn't sound good.

"Yes but-"

"And your wife knew this as well?"

"Yes I knew but Brooke is my best friend" Haley was struggling to not hop out the seat and beat the shit out of this cop.

"Have either of you seen or heard from Mr. Scott?"

"No." They both replied.

"Do you know of any reason, other than the affair, that Mr. Scott would have to hurt Ms. Davis?"

"Lucas would never hurt her like that!" Haley screamed gaining the attention of everyone in the waiting room. She tried to calm as the Detective looked in his note pad before he came back with the unthinkable.

"So he didn't strangle Ms. Davis in an attempt to murder her before her disappearance."

"Who the hell told you that" Nathan asked.

"We got an anonymous tip that gave us the information along with another piece of information."

"And what was that?"

"That you and Ms. Davis were apparently still sleeping together."

Both Nathan and Haley's mouth's dropped but the detective wasn't done.

"Am I to think that it is a possibility that this baby belongs to you and your brother found out about it?"

"You are a sick son of a bitch, how dare you come here with these sick accusations. Nathan and Brooke are friends!"

"He seemed a little too concerned about the baby don't you think-"

"That baby is my family. My brother is in love with her and No I am not sleeping with her again. We slept together one time, and it was not an affair!"

"Calm down Mr. Scott. We're only asking questions" the other office said who had been silent up till now.

"No your 'partner' here seems to be satisfied with accusing my husband of cheating and my other best friend of trying to murder his soon to be wife and child!"

"The reports didn't say anything about them being engaged."

"The wouldn't. Last night was my wedding night and he told me he was going to propose, she was telling him about the baby and they were happy!"

"Looks can be decieving Ms. Scott-"

"That's Mrs. Scott now if you two are done I am asking you to leave. Anything else you have to say can go through our attorney's. And by the way, whoever gave you that information should be arrested for holding up your investigation because while you're wasting your time here her attacker is getting away and our brother is missing and no one seems to care about that. Here's a tip. DO YOUR JOBS!" and with that Haley stormed away leaving a fuming Nathan to walk after her slowly. The other office caught up to Nathan.

"Mr. Scott I apologize for my partner he seems to already have his mind made up. Please if there is anything you want to add that will help us, help your brother-"

"Peyton Sawyer. If either of you had bothered to ask us who would do something like this that would be the name I would've given."

"Why Ms. Sawyer?"

"You guys might want to look back at some of the police records that involve her then you can come back here and apologize for not doing your jobs. Peyton did this. I don't have any proof but she's the only one that would want to hurt Brooke."

Nathan turned in search of his wife leaving the detective to search for a clue.

Peyton was oh so pleased with herself. She had done what Lucas had asked and called the police but not only did she tell them about a body at the house but also about the possibility that Lucas may have done it in retaliation for an affair and now she was going to have a little fun. When she arrived back Lucas was still trying to get out of his ropes and stopped when she shut the door.

"You're back."

"I'm back. What were you doing?"

"I was trying to loosen the ropes. They're a little tight."

Peyton rushed to his side.

"Ohhhh honey I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't go anywhere. Is that better" she asked loosening them slightly.

"Yes but how exactly is this going to work when we make love?"

"Well you always were a kinky one."

"I know but-"

"I did what you wanted."

"Really?"

"Yes really but there's something you need to know."

"And what's that."

"The police think you hurt Brooke."

"WHAT!"

"Yeah when I called it in they said they were looking for you."

"Did they say why?"

The lies were about to fly off her tongue without effort. This was her chance to wedge herself into Lucas' good graces for good.

"Lucas...I don't know if you want to hear thi-"

"Just tell me Peyton."

"She was sleeping with Nathan again." She blurted out.

Lucas sat there shell shocked. It wasn't possible. Nathan wouldn't do that to him and Brooke wouldn't do it to him either. For a brief moment the thought flashed in his mind if it were really possible and if the baby was his but then his senses came back and he saw the evil smirk Peyton had. He knew then she was lying.

"Where did you hear that?"

"The police. They said you were a suspect in her attack since Nathan came out and said they were having an affair and must've found out about it. If I had known this is what she was doing I would've killed her sooner. I'm sorry Luke."

"You're lying."

"I love you, I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this."

"Peyton untie me."

"Why?"

"Because I need to hold you right now" he didn't tell her that he wanted to hold his hands around her neck and squeeze but he thought it wise to leave that part out.

"Of course, I know this is hard but it's for the best." Peyton said going to untie him. Once he was released he rubbed his wrists and stood up slowly to not alarm her. She went to hold him as his eyes searched around the room and when he reached for the wooden duck on her side table he was able to grab it and knock her over the back of the head with it. She went down pretty quick. If this were normal circumstances he'd be concerned that he might've killed her but not now, he actually hoped he had. He picked her up and replaced her in the seat he had just occupied and tied her to it as tight as he could. She awoke when he was done and looked around noticing she had a horrible headache and was tied up.

"Lucas...baby what's going on?"

"What's going on is that I'm leaving you here."

"But you said-"

"I said what you wanted to hear Peyton! I don't love you. I love Brooke and you better pray that she is okay. You better pray that my baby made it."

"Baby?"

"Yes, baby. Brooke is pregnant with my baby and it is taking everything in me not to choke you to death right now."

He made a move to the door and Peyton freaked.

"LUCAS DON"T GO, DON'T LEAVE ME!"

He stopped and was about to turn around to say something hurtful but decided to just keep on walking, he didn't have time. He needed to get to Brooke.

"LUCAS COME BACK! BABY I LOVE YOU!"

The slam of the door only urged her to struggle against the ropes and cursed herself for getting the ones that were going to be impossible to escape. Lucas had lied to her. He loved Brooke and he was going to go running back to her. Peyton was beside herself and began to cry uncontrollably. She cried and sobbed and thrashed around till the chair tipped over and fell to the floor. From her place on the ground she was in direct eye line to a photo, the last photo she wanted to see right now. It was the photo of she and Brooke sitting in her mother's lap. The photo had been taken days before her mother died and it was then Peyton had a complete breakdown. She was now all alone.

Lucas had given up trying to find his phone and pretty much sprinted back to his house that was surrounded by police. His first instinct was to run in and see if anyone had any news about Brooke but then Peyton's words filtered in. What if they thought he was a suspect? He couldn't waste time with these people so instead he snuck away and made it to his mother's. When he began banging on the door Karen was a little afraid of what she'd find on her door step. When the door opened she saw her son, bleeding from his head and looking as lost as ever. The tears in his eyes said it all. Something was wrong.

"Oh Lucas honey what happened is it Brooke, is it the baby?"

"Mom I need your help. Peyton she-"

Karen's hand flew to her mouth to help stop the sob. The mention of Peyton along with the blood on his clothes made Karen think the worst.

"What did she do-Lucas where is Brooke!"

"I don't know. I came home after with the food and when I got there Peyton was there with a knife and Brooke was on the floor bleeding and then I passed out and Peyton took me to her place"

"Oh my god honey are you okay, was it your HCM!"

"I don't know but mom she said she killed Brooke for me."

Hearing him say that Peyton had killed Brooke sent a chill down her spine.

"Mom you gotta help me. The police think I did it and I just want to go be with her. I don't know what to do, I don't know if she's alive or-" he said crying. Karen pulled her son into her arms as Lily emerged into the room.

"Mama?"

"Lily honey go back to your room."

"But Luke is here-"

"Lily go to your room" she said a little more forceful, she didn't want her baby girl to see her brother like this. Lily turned with a pout and did as she was told and they heard the door shut. Karen led him into his old room and made him lie down. Lucas had not realized it but when he fell earlier he hit his head on the stairs and had a gash on his head that was bleeding. Peyton hadn't noticed in with her mind being gone and all.

"Lucas I want you to stay here with Lily. Whoever comes by do not let them in. You stay here till I get back and I'll call from Nathan or Haley's phone when I know something okay?"

Lucas nodded not really wanting to speak. Karen practically ran out of there dialing Nathan's number first.

"Hello."

"Thank god Nathan, are you and Haley still here I need you two to -"

"Karen..."

The tone is Nathan's voce scared her.

"I'm so sorry I didn't call you sooner but...Brooke is in the hospital. Peyton-"

"I know what Peyton did. Lucas told me."

"You know where Lucas is?"

"Yes he's at my house. Where are you?"

"Tree Hill Memorial. We're still in the emergency room. I'm scared Karen."

"How is she?"

"They haven't said too much yet- wait here comes the doctor. Please hurry up and get here."

Karen drove like a bat out of hell and got there in record time. When she ran into the emergency room she scanned it quickly till she heard Haley call out to her. Karen ran over to them and was almost tackled by Haley.

"How is she?"

"The doctors said she's okay for now. If we hadn't found her she'd be dead by now."

"And the baby?"

Haley's face that was once bright with tears of happiness fell. Karen knew the news wasn't good.

Ta da! I really am proud of myself. I managed to sit here, proof this thing and get it up all in a matter of 15 min. fastest ever. Well I kind of don't have a choice since I'm at the mercy of internet access but you guys derves some closure on this story. So if you loved it, hated, didn't give two shits leave a REVIEW!