Author's Note: Okay so I realize that I kept you guys waiting for this for quite awhile and I do apologize for that. Honestly. I have full intentions on finishing this story. In fact, we're almost there. I have two more chapters after this one followed by a little something extra. I blame work, life and a general disheartening in the Brucas department, especially with everything going on. Sometimes it's hard for me to go into the SWAY world and remember that when I come out, it won't be real. But I do promise that this story will be finished. I'm going to work a little more of the next chapter today and I think there's a chance I'll have it up today as well. I have some exciting things in this upcoming chapter. Thank you to everyone to hanging in there with me and enjoying the life of Brucas that should have been.

Please remember to review and keep an eye open for that next chapter. Love you guys!

I'll Be Waiting

I'm the one who really loves you baby

I can't take it anymore

Julian Baker stands at just an inch shy of six feet tall and tends to blend in with the crowd. However, years of practice has taught him just how to command an entire room. It is needed in his line of work. With frantic actors in front of the camera, script supervisors, PAs, ocassionally his father, all trying to get the soap box, you needed to be able to call attention to the room.

Standing up, he clapped his hands together once and then cupped them around his mouth. "Everyone but Todd and Evelyn are excused. Get off my set!"

It's such a headache to make sure the take isn't spoiled, and with everyone around, he was sure it would be trashed. So he had to act. As people started to groan and shuffle around, he knew it would take a few more minutes before they were all gone. One of the producers walked up to him but he just held a hand up, "Not now, Frank. Go home. We'll talk in the morning." It was such a mess right now. The movie wasn't coming together the way that he had seen it originally.

Todd and Evelyn's characters were supposed to be this couple in love who were just reunited after years of being apart, but their passion wasn't there. Well, to clarify, passion for making out was there, but it was love that they were supposed to be protraying.. not just horny twenty-something's.

Once the footsteps retreat, he pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the headache he had forming. Not a second passed before he felt a little tug on his shirt. Moving his hand, he looks down at the little girl that he'd almost forgotten had been on set with him. "Hey princess." He says as he leans down to scoop her up into his arms. He wraps his arms around her and sets her on his lap. "I'm sorry it got so busy. Are you having fun with Mary?"

Mary Sullivan was the name of Julian's personal assistant. She was relatively new, and very sweet. And, as he was learning, incredibly good with children. At least she was with Grace. He looked up to see where she was sitting on the ground with an open coloring book in front of her. The light catches the blond highlights in her chestnut hair. He smiles and waves at her.

Then he turns his attention back on his daughter as she cuddles into his chest and nods. "She's fun. We colored and played cards and hide and seek."

He smirked, "I'll have to give her a raise for taking such good care of my girl."

Having moved up from the ground, the book closed and crayons put back in their box, Mary walks over to them. "I'll hold you to that," She says with a laugh. "It was my pleasure. You have a really smart daughter, Mr. Baker, you know that?" She reached over and tapped her finger against Grace's nose, causing the little girl to giggle and hide it in Julian's shirt.

He chuckles as he rubs her back. "Yeah, I lucked out with this one." And he really did. Julian knew that. He also knew that he was never around like he should be. Thanks to the past couple of weeks, he spent a lot of time wondering how things would have been different if he never chased after his dream and become a director. Would he still be sitting back in North Carolina, bored out of his mind? Would he and Brooke be on better terms, or had they been destined to have such a hard time trying to fit things together?

The yawn from his little girl made him look down. "You sleepy?" Despite some of his worse moments, he loved Grace and he loved being her father. He just made mistakes when it came to his family. He had to or he would have never gotten to chase his dream. He had to make a choice and his dream wouldn't wait around for him forever. Maybe he was learning that his girls wouldn't either.

Grace nods and looks up at Julian. "Can we go home yet?"

"I have to finish working, sweetheart." He says as he looks up at the set where Todd and Evelyn made themselves at home in the bed on set. He groans but doesn't say anything. It was useless at this point.

"Then can we go home?" Her voice is a little insistant, urgently needing somewhere more familiar.

He lets out a breath and looks up at Mary. "If you ask nicely, maybe Mary will take you back home while daddy finishes up?"

It was an easy nod for Mary. She adored the little time they've spent together. Grace is a sweet little girl and Julian was a good father. She smiles and then crouches down so she's beside Julian's director chair and eye level with the little brunette. "Do you want me to take you home?"

Grace looks between the two of them before she finds a little huff on her face. "No, daddy! I want to go home. I want to see Penny and Uncle Lucas." She hasn't been away from home this long before and the little girl was at the end of her rope. No more. She wants to go home. She wants to sleep in her own bed, play in her own town, see her own family. Despite being young, she knew her mother wants to be back home as well. She wants to see her mom smile again the way she used to.

It's a sigh that escapes from Julian's lips. "Lucas Scott. Again." He shakes his head. He's heard about Lucas for far too long. He wasn't all that great. He broke up with two women, one who Julian himself had been in love with, and then he plays the single father card and gets Brooke to be all over him. Now he has to hear it from his daughter too? Some frustration builds up in his throat and he growls, "What is it about Lucas Scott? He's not your father, Grace. He's nobody."

She jumps a little, but just like her strong willed mother, spoke out like a tiger that had been backed into a corner. "I love him!" She yells at Julian. "I know he's not my dad, but he's always there." She looks up at Mary then and puts her arms up to be picked up.

Mary hesitates for a moment, green eyes turning towards Julian for a moment before he nods. Once she got the okay, she takes Grace up in her arms and watches Julian lean forward like he's just been kicked. "Do you want me to take-"

Julian doesn't let her get all the way through her question before he speaks, "Yeah. Just take her back to the loft. Brooke should be there." He clasps his hands in front of his mouth and considers what Grace had said. She loved Lucas..

He wonders if his little girl is the only one who loves him... or has he been blind all this time?

It's been awhile since Lucas was waiting at an airport. He had the oppurtunity to travel when it came to his novel, An Unkindness of Ravens. It hadn't been exactly the experience he had been hoping for but he was raised to appreciate all the moments in his life. That's why it was so surprising for Lucas not so long ago when Brooke had asked him if he would do things differently and that's exactly what had come to his mind. He hadn't appreciated a lot of thing, including her, sometimes taking her for granted.

Sitting now in the middle of a crowded airport, he realized that he'd done it again.

Lucas always knew that Brooke was there for him. She'd been there for both he and his young daughter, and he wondered how he could have been so blind for so long. It was the image now of her spending the rest of her life in another man's arms that really chilled his bones. Sharing a family with someone else who didn't appreciate her the way he should.

The knot in Lucas's stomach clenched so tightly that he felt a little sick. He hadn't even figured out what he was going to say yet. As a writer, he felt shameful that he couldn't find the right words. But they were out there and he just needed to pluck them from the great speeches tree.

He looks up at the group of women surrounding him and a smile forms on his lips, "She's always been there." He adds to his story. "And I didn't even realize it but now that I have, I want us to start our lives together. I can't wait another second."

"That's so romantic," one of the young girls swoons.

The elderly woman on her left held her hand against her chest. "You sound so much like my Eddie." Her arm goes around the girl's shoulders. "Your grandfather came after me too, you know."

It was a middle aged blonde that seemed to be the jaded one. "How do you know she even wants to be with you? You said she's been dating that other guy, the father of her daughter, right?"

Lucas nods, "Julian."

It was the older woman, holding her young granddaughter, that interjected under her breath, "I never liked that name."

"Yeah," Lucas says, turning to the blonde. "Sure she's been with him but he's never treated her right."

"It doesn't sound like you've treated her right either."

Ah, Lucas thought. The instigator. Every good story had one.

Despite the angry look the blonde got from the grandmother and her granddaughter, Lucas didn't have to feel the same way. "No, I didn't. You're right. I messed up when it came to Brooke. A lot." For a moment, his mind flashed back over the past few years. He thought of what once was a fun seeking teen girl in the back of his car and how she became a mature, responsible woman. He'd been a part of that ride from the beginning.

"I can't live without her." He adds a moment later.

The blonde hadn't finished yet though and pushes, "But how do you know?"

The smirk twitches his lips, and the first thing to come to his mind was the same thing he'd said the first time he'd been asked that same question. "The heart has reasons that reason cannot know." Thinking of making the destiny shot that night on the Rivercourt with Rachel reminded him of all the things they had been through since they were young. Both impetuous and prone to mistakes, but their hearts had been in the right place.. at least up until the horrible night he found himself uttering the words that he wasn't the guy for her. How stupid he had been back then. "I feel it. I think I've always felt it but it was easier to hide from it then face the intensity of it full force. Sometimes love hits you like a wave from the ocean and it's so immense that you're afraid of what will come of you once you let it consume you." He pauses for just a moment and looks down in his hand. Resting there is a necklace she had given him. He thought he had lost it once but when he found it in his closet, just like his feelings for her, he had begun to realize had always been there. He just had to find them again. "I'm not afraid anymore. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want her. I want to be a family with her and our daughters."

The smile easily crosses his face as his fingers close around the necklace to hold it tightly in his palm. "She's the one. She always has been."

"Well good for you," The old woman says as she leans over and gives his hand a little squeeze. "If this girl is as smart as you say she is, then I'm sure she'll see how much you love her."

"I hope so." He says in a small breath.

It isn't until now that he could feel how quickly his heart is racing. He knows there's a chance that Brooke will tell him she doesn't feel the same way about him anymore, but knowing there's a tiny chance, no matter how small, that she may return those feelings was worth the risk. "But I'll do whatever it takes. I lost her before because I was young and stupid. I made my mistakes but in the end, it's always been Brooke Davis."

And it absolutely had been. Since high school, it's been her. He'd messed up but he'd be damned that he'd lose her again.

It's then that the blonde perks up once more, "Wait. Did you say Brooke Davis?"

He nods.

"As in clothes designer and fashion guru Brooke Davis?" Her excitement mounts with each passing second.

Lucas nods again.

Finally interested, she leans in, elbows on her knees, and stares at him with excitement in her eyes. "Okay, this just got good." As a fashion fan, she now realizes who the Julian is. "Start again from the beginning."

The sound of heals clicking against the marble floor filled the hallway. Brooke Davis reached up to tug her hair over her shoulders. Her fingertips curled around the tips nervously as she pressed the button for the elevator. Normally she wasn't a fan of them but after spending an afternoon with her mother, her feet were kind of aching and she just wanted to get upstairs and slip out of them. There was nothing that could complete her day then a good night of snuggling with her favorite person in the world.

A short ride later, she was walking into Julian's loft. She thought of the plain door that she pushed open and how she missed the red one she had back home. It wasn't entirely the color of the door she missed, but that was pretty obvious.

Pushing the door open, Brooke stepped inside and immediately walked out of her heals. "Gracie. Sweetheart, mommy's home." She called out, expecting to hear the pitter patter of little foot steps running after her.

i"Gracie, baby! Mommy's home!"

A younger Brooke Davis walked into the familiar house of her best friend and former lover. She looked around to see a few stuffed animals strewn across the hallway. The toy box was left open and looked like it had vomited up toys all over the carpet. She smirked as she crouched down, careful to be ladylike and not let the skirt ride up. Grabbing the three stuffed animals, she walked them over to the toy box and placed them on top. She could straighten up some more later. She had full plans of talking Lucas into cooking them all some dinner in exchange for a house clean.

The sound of sniffling caught her attention and she turned. A few steps led her down the hallway and to the opening of the playroom that used to be Karen's bedroom. She leaned against the door and her eyes rest on the image of Lucas sitting on a child size couch with a sniffling Penny in front of him. Grace sat vigilantly beside her best friend, leaning her head against Penny's shoulder comfortingly.

"They said I was stupid, daddy!" Penny cried, her little face wrinkled up with tears. "And they wouldn't play with me. And they ran away from me when I tried to talk to them." Her sobs were breaking Brooke's heart.

Lucas reached his hand out and touched the side of her face to wipe her tears. "Some kids can just be mean. And if they don't want to play with you, that's their loss. Because they're going to miss out on a really wonderful friend."

"No, they're not." She sobbed. "I'm stupid and ugly-"

His blue eyes when a little dark, hating that his daughter could even think those things. "Don't you talk like that, Penelope Sawyer, do you hear me?" He lowered off the couch to his knees so he could be eye level with her. "You are none of those horrible things. You are beautiful."

It warmed Brooke's heart to see Lucas father. He was so good with his little girl. And she couldn't find it in herself to keep quiet any longer. The words she spoke had been inside of her for a long time, and now seemed the best time to share them. "And brilliant."

Brooke's voice caught Lucas off guard and he turned his head to look in the doorway. There she stood, soft and beautiful as ever. His lips parted slightly, about to speak, as she stepped over to him. Her hand touched against his shoulder and she gave him a small smile. Then she squeezed his arm lightly before crouching down to look at Penny and finish her thought. "And brave." She added.

She cupped her hands over Penny's puffy face and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "You're going to change the world someday, and nothing that any of those mean kids say matters. Because you have your daddy, and you have me."

"And me!" Grace chirped, taking a note from her mother and leaned in to peck Penny on the cheek.

Lucas was pleasantly humbled when he saw the smile form on his little girl's face. He stared at Brooke for a hand full of moments until he realized that he too was smiling. "Why don't you two girls play for a little while? Mo-" Did he almost say 'mommy?' "Uh." He cleared his throat and stood up, "Brooke and I will go start dinner, okay?"

"Okay daddy!"

"Okay Uncle Lucas!"

Grace and Penny spoke at the same time, caught a glance at each other and started giggling. Just like that the biggest broken heart in the world had been mended. Brooke stood up a moment later, "Love you girls."

"Love you too," they echoed, again at the same time, sending them into another fit of giggles.

As Brooke stepped out of the room behind Lucas, he turned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nice line you gave her."

Her smile didn't faulter. "I read it in a book somewhere."

Chuckling, Lucas reached over and hung his arm across her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest. He kissed her temple and then led her towards the kitchen. It always seemed like things found a way to fit together when she was with him./i

"She's asleep."

The voice that had Brooke jumping came from a woman that she had met a few times. She was Julian's personal assistant, Mary. Mary was actually a really nice person. She had pretty too, and she had the type of healthy physique that Brooke liked to see on girls. It was, afterall, her mission to show people that zero just wasn't a size. Hmm.. She liked the sound of that. Zero is not a size.

Shaking the thoughts of work from her mind, she gave Mary a warm smile. "Okay. Is Julian with her?"

She shook her head, "He's still on set."

"Oh."

Mary stood up from the couch after putting the remote to the television back down on the coffee table. She grabbed her cell phone, slid it in her purse and hung the bag on her shoulder. Now that Brooke was home, she should probably go. She started to walk past her as Brooke put her keys down on the table but something stopped her.

She turned and held her hands up. "Okay, so it's probably none of my business and I know I should keep to myself but I kind of feel like I should tell you something. And Julian may not want me to tell you so I'd really appreciate it if you kept it quiet so I don't get fired. I have a one bedroom apartment off of the strip and the rent is so expensive and if I get fired-"

She was rambling and Brooke held her hands up. "Whoa. Slow down. What happened?"

Mary took a second to collect her thoughts and think of how she wanted to say this. "I think-And I could be wrong. Sometimes I just say things without really thinking them through. My friend Angie told me that I should really think before I speak or I'll just end up saying something that I don't mean. Like right now, I should probably not even say anything but-"

"But?" Brooke was very patient with Mary. She'd seen her go on her epic rambles before.

"Well, Grace was really upset today. I know she likes being around her dad. She's told me before how much she likes being around him." It hurt her to say this because she knew Julian. She'd spent enough time around him, listening to him, being a shoulder to lean on, that she understood exactly what he felt. "I don't think she wants to be here anymore. She kept asking him when they could go home, and she didn't mean here."

It took a second for Brooke to find the words to say, but when she did, she just nodded lightly. "I think-It may be time for us to go."

"I didn't mean to mess things up if-"

"You didn't." Brooke shrugged and looked towards the hall that led to Grace's room. "I've always known where home is. I just needed to find the courage to go there again."

Now, it was definitely time.

"Welcome to Los Angeles. We hope you had a wonderful flight. As always, thank you for using Eagle Air. We understand you have many choices when you fly, and we're thankful you chose to share the skies with us."

The voice on the overcom was loud and booming and much too disruptive for Lucas to hear the voice on the other end of his cell phone. With the phone to his mouth, he tried to talk over the male voice on the speaker. "I'm heading outside. If you can hear me, hold on."

"Excuse me," he called as he tried to escape through the crowds. The airport was filled to the brim and he chose to stay away from baggage claim for now. It would be a little while before the plane was unloaded, he was sure.

When Lucas finally made it outside, he put the cell phone to his ear. "Alright. I'm outside. Are you still there?" He wouldn't be surprise if the call had been ended, or lost. He hated the signal he got in airports.

"Yeah, man. I'm here." Nathan's voice came over the other end of the phone. "You do realize that even if you can't hear me, that doesn't mean I can't hear you." He said in referrence to the screaming Lucas had done when they'd first gotten on the phone. He leaned back on the couch and rubbed his hand over the top of his head.

"Right." Lucas said with a chuckle. "I didn't-Sorry." He shook his head. He was all kinds of frazzled lately. First he had been waiting for the plane to take him to Los Angeles. Then he was ON the plane to take him to Los Angeles. Now he was IN Los Angeles, and-Oh! Blue eyes looked over at the watch on his left wrist. "I completely forgot about the time change. I woke you up, didn't I?"

"It's okay." Nathan just shrugged, "I'm used to it." It was only recently that Brian had actually started sleeping through the night. He was very used to waking up at odd hours and making it through the day with very little sleep. "And at least you didn't wake up Haley. You do that and we're both in trouble."

They laughed. Lucas knew full well how Haley could be.

"Have you decided what you're going to say to Brooke yet?" The younger brother asked. He had always been a supporter of Brooke and Lucas being together. Seeing them together was like seeing himself with his wife. He and Haley were made for each other-and while Nathan wouldn't say it outloud at risk of sounding like a girl, he felt like Brooke and Lucas were meant to be together too. There had just been nothing right, according to him, about Lucas and Peyton.. and obviously nothing right for Brooke and Julian.

That question was a hard one because while Lucas was on the plane, he could pretend he still had time. But right now, Lucas was running out of just that. "Nathan. I'm a writer. I've published one book and I'm halfway through a follow up story."

The dark haired brother just smirked, "Got nothing, huh?"

"Nothing at all." Lucas finally admitted. "Don't get me wrong. I've thought of a lot of things I want to say but nothing feels right. I think I stole the last monologue I had from Sixteen Candles."

Nathan lofted a brow. "Sixteen Candles? Really, dude?" He asked in that -questionning your masculinity- way.

"Shut up." Lucas grumbled.

It wasn't often that Nathan was the one who could help with words, but he certainly did have experience begging for forgiveness and making grand proclaimations of love. "Alright, Luke, listen. You need to remember who you're going to be talking to. This is Brooke Davis. You've made speeches to her before."

"Which is why what I need to say now has to be that much more amazing." Lucas added, leaning back against a wall. He watched the people file out of the airport and into the awaiting and eager arms of their loved ones. He sighed, "I told her I was the one for her before, and I blew it."

"Maybe you don't need an epic speech then, Luke. Just be honest with her."

Nathan was right. Lucas knew it, but it didn't make it any easier. He was also worrying about what would happen if Brooke didn't return those feeling, or if she did but couldn't trust him not to leave her again. Going to Peyton, Lucas wouldn't apologize for that. He got a beautiful daughter out of it. He didn't regret it. What he regretted was being young and stupid and not following his heart. "Thanks, Nate."

Nathan nodded, a smirk on his face as he noticed Haley padded slowly into the living room. She pulled her robe closed and looked over at him with a curious look on his face. He waved her over and once she sat beside him, face pressed into his chest, he rubbed his hand against her back tenderly. "Just do us all a favor, Luke. Get Brooke and bring her back."

"And for heaven's sake, tell her you love her before we all explode in anticipation." Haley contributed when she realized who Nathan was talking to.

Lucas laughed, "Tell her I'll do my best."

Smirking, Nathan relayed, "He said he will as long as he doesn't wimp out."

"Don't wimp out, Lucas." She intructed.

Shaking his head, Lucas finished the conversation and stuffed his cell phone in his pocket. Nathan was right. He didn't need any epic speeches. He and Brooke were supposed to be together and all he needed to do was be honest with her about his feelings. He looked back towards the doors and considered going back for his bag-but then decided against it.

Instead, he stepped out to the curb and threw his hand in the air to flag down one of the cabs. He couldn't wait any longer, not even another moment. He needed to go to Julian's, tell Brooke he loved her and hopefully start the rest of his life with her. That kind of future couldn't wait.