A/N: I know. Two chapters in as many days! It's crazy. But I wanted to do this for you guys. I've received so many beautiful comments on this story and you deserve to read the rest of it. I have one more chapter after this, and epilogue to tie the whole story together. I may not have this up for just a little while longer but I will do my best to get it to you. This part though, you deserve to read. You've waited for it and you've hung in there with me and that means the world to me so I hope that you enjoy!
Belief
Belief makes things real
Makes things feel, feel alright
Belief makes things true
Things like you, you and I
Lucas looked down at his cell phone to see the time. It was pretty late. He wondered if maybe they were already asleep in there. He considered the situation for a moment. He could leave—just for tonight. He could come back in the morning when he knew they would be awake.
But those thoughts lead him to think that Brooke would be inside, laying in bed beside Julian. And he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else looking into those beautiful eyes of hers the way that he wanted to. He was the one. He'd made the shot. He knew it from the beginning. She was the one, and even though he messed up, he couldn't wait another minute to tell her.
Anxiously, he pounded on the door again.
"Come on." He cursed at the closed door, knocking a little louder this time.
When he heard the lock twisting on the door, his throat twisted in a thick knot. This was it. This was finally the right time. He'd tell her everything he wanted to tell her, and hopefully she would feel the same way. Hopefully she would let him take her home, where she belonged.
As the door opened, his hopeful face faltered slightly.
"Julian."
"Lucas?"
Lucas cursed under his breath, but he wasn't going to let the appearance of Julian deter him. Sure it would be easier if it was just he and Brooke talking—but that didn't matter. Not one little bit. He put his hand on the door frame and walked into the living room. He looked around, immediately noticing the few toys that were out on the couch. Grace.
Blinking a few times, Julian shut the door and turned to face a frantic looking Lucas.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I need to talk to Brooke." Lucas told him, making a beeline for the hallway. He didn't care if he was going to end up getting punched by Julian for doing this. Quite frankly, it was the last thing on his mind. He made it to one of the bedrooms and he pushed the door open, hoping that he would find Brooke and Grace playing together the way he'd found them a million times before.
When he found the room empty, he thought about just checking all of the rooms, but he didn't want to waste any more time than he had already, so he spun on his heel and looked at the very confused Julian.
"Where is she?"
"She's not here."
"What do you mean she's not here?" Lucas asked.
He could wait if she'd gone out—though it was late to go out, wasn't it? Logic didn't really fit into his thought process as he stared at Julian. The only good thing about Brooke not being here was that it looked as though Julian had just gotten out of bed. His hair was a mess and he wore a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt.
"What are you doing here?" Julian questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
He'd spent a long time jealous of Lucas Scott. He seemed to have the world on a platter. And as much as he hated it sometimes, he had the love of the two girls in his life that meant everything to him. Part of him really wanted to tell Lucas to get lost, but a much louder part told him that he couldn't do that. He couldn't do it to Brooke, and he couldn't do it to Grace.
How is that any of your business? Lucas wanted to ask. But he wasn't going to do that.
He had problems with Julian. To be honest, he hadn't liked him since the first time they met. First, he had been in a relationship with Peyton, and then he'd moved on to Brooke. Lucas hadn't wanted to admit it back then, but he wasn't sure why Julian's budding relationship with Brooke had bothered him more than his obvious feelings for Peyton. But that was history.
There were plenty of things to hate Julian for. Like the way that he didn't seem to care about anyone else in the world but him. Like the way that he let Brooke raise Grace all by herself. Like the way that he only showed up when he wanted to and thought it was okay. Sure he could get in a fight with him over all of that, but Lucas had more important things on his mind.
He took a breath and put his hands out.
"Listen. You know that I don't like you, but what I'm about to do doesn't have anything to do with you. It has to do with Brooke,"
"And my daughter."
Lucas's jaw clenched slightly. How Julian could even call Grace that anymore was too shocking to him to process. He was barely around. He went off working every chance he could. He didn't even know anything about Grace. But he kept his mouth shut about that.
"I love her."
"Brooke." Julian supplied.
"And Grace." Lucas let out a sigh. "And I have to tell them. She may just laugh at me or tell me I'm being crazy and I'll deal with that. I can handle anything as long as I tell her. And I know that might screw up what you have going with them but—"
"Lucas," Julian cut him off and shook his head before leaning against the wall. He didn't have to like Lucas to want Brooke and Grace to be happy. "You told me once that I'd be stupid if I didn't try with Brooke."
He could clearly remember that conversation at the Rivercourt. They'd been sitting on the bleachers and he was questioning whether it was worth even trying with Brooke. He wasn't sure if it would work out. Julian really only liked things that were sure. He didn't like the guessing and the hoping. He didn't want to be let down.
He looked at Lucas and let all of the hurt and pain go, and he admitted, "Well, I did try." Then he shrugged, "I just didn't try hard enough."
Then he nodded towards the door, "She left about an hour ago with Grace. They're going home."
Lucas' eyes widened.
He never once expected Julian to say any of those things. He had been prepared for a fight, at the very least. But to admit what he'd just said—Lucas was simply shocked. But the shock was short lived as he focused on the part of Julian's words that sent worry coursing through his body.
"They what?"
"They have a flight at LAX." He let out a breath. "If you hurry, you might catch them."
Lucas was the king of reading between the lines. He didn't make something up if he didn't see it but as he thought about what Julian had said, he realized something quite startling. He was giving Lucas his blessing. He blinked a few times, but didn't let the shock distract him for long. He had to get to the airport.
An unspoken thank you passed between the two before Lucas took off again. He had to the get to the airport.
He had to see her.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X
"You can sleep if you want, Gracie." Brook said as she brushed her hand through Grace's soft brown locks. The little girl had curled up on the seat beside her mother's and laid her head in her lap. For as excited as she was, it was way past her bedtime and that sleepy feeling was catching up with her.
As Grace yawned, she mumbled, "I'm not sleepy."
Brooke laughed.
"You know, the faster you go to sleep, the sooner we'll be home."
It was the same thing Brooke always told her on Christmas Eve. Gracie would be bouncing with excitement over Santa's visit. Brooke would sit on her bed, running her fingers through her hair like she was now, and she'd promise her that Christmas morning would come sooner if she slept.
Grace yawned again but she was forcing her eyes to stay open.
All she could think about was getting back home and seeing her favorite people in the world. She also looked forward to seeing her mother's happy smile again. It had been gone lately and she missed it. Tilting her head back, Grace looked up at her mother's face and grinned. "Are you happy, mama?"
What a strange question, Brooke thought.
She nodded, "Of course I'm happy."
"But are you really happy?" Grace urged.
Brooke leaned down and pressed a kiss to Grace's forehead, then curled her arms around the little girl's body so she could cuddle her close to her heart. "I have you, baby." She remembered growing up with her parents, who were constantly fighting or traveling, or doing anything that meant they didn't spend any time with her. She dreamed of the day she would have a daughter of her own and she swore that she would raise her the way a child should be raised. Being a mother was Brooke's dream come true. She prayed for Grace. "As long as I have you, I'll always be happy."
Grace smiled and turned away, and as she did her eyes started to widen slightly. "Uncle Lucas?"
Brooke hadn't noticed and she let out a sigh. "Uncle Lucas is another story, Grace." She continued, trying to keep herself from thinking of all the times throughout their lives that she had known in her heart that the words she'd uttered that one night so very long ago were true. Lucas was the one for her. The only one. "You know I love your Uncle Lucas, but…"
Hands went into Brooke's leg as Grace pushed herself up, "No, mama!" Then when she had Brooke's attention, she pointed. "Uncle Lucas!"
Blinking, Brooke turned in the direction that Grace was pointing, and she felt like her heart would fly right out of her chest. Confusion, excitement, happiness, then confusion again all passed through her eyes. Lucas Scott.
He stood in the middle of a clearing crowd of passengers all awaiting their flights. He was out of breath from his sprint through the airport, and he almost didn't get the ticket, but he did—and he was here.
And she was here.
Brooke pushed herself up to her feet, stunned. She felt like the room was spinning.
"Lucas?"
As he closed the distance between the two, he shook his head before she could say anything. "Don't. Please. Just—let me go first." He was quiet for a moment to make sure she agreed and when she didn't say anything, he let himself think about what he and Nathan had talked about. He'd already given Brooke speeches. He'd already poured his heart out. But this would be different. This time was going to be new, and it was right.
"You told me once that you wanted me to fight for you." They had been standing in the parking lot outside of school when he'd found Rachel in his backseat, back when they were kids. "I let you down back then, Brooke. But I'm here now. And I know that we're just friends but if you give me one more chance, I'd…" He let out a breath because he hadn't thought about the words he'd use. They would just come from his heart. "Brooke," He took her hands in his, thumbs running across the top of her hands. "I love you. I've never been so deeply in love like this with anyone before. You picked me up when I needed you, a-and you helped me raise my daughter, and you knew just when to give me a kick in the ass." He could hear Grace gasp from his use of a curse words but the smile on Brooke's face wouldn't let him stop. "I watched you grow up from a girl to a woman, and then to a mother. I-I see you with Grace, with your family, and I want to be part of it."
Brooke didn't realize the tears had collected in her eyes until she could feel them rolling down her cheeks. "Lucas—"
He couldn't let her answer yet, not until he was finished. "I told you that I was the one for you but what I should have said is that you're the only one for me. You, Brooke. I want to be with you. And if—if you don't feel that way, I'll understand. I will. You'll always be my best friend, I promise you that. But I just need you to know how I feel. You're beautiful… and wonderful… a-and I want us to be a family, a real family. I want to go to bed with you in my arms after we tuck in our girls, and I want to kiss you every day and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve to be loved."
He let go of her hand and reached up to cup the side of her face. He could feel the crowd that had their eyes on them, and he knew that it would be awkward if Brooke said she just wanted to be friends. He knew he'd have to fly home that night with a group of strangers feeling pity for him but it was worth the risk.
He used his thumb to wipe the tear away. "You're it for me, Brooke Davis. Do you think that you could give me another—"
Chance.
His sentence was cut short as he felt her throw her arms around his neck and her lips crash into his. He was honestly surprised at first. He hadn't expected it but at his brain caught up with his heart, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her against him, kissing her back in all the ways he'd wanted to and missed.
There was a soft roar of applause from around them before a little bump at his knees had them turning from the kiss. Standing beside them was Grace with a wide smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around them.
"Are you two kiiiiiissing?" She asked, giggling as she said it.
Brooke laughed and wiped off her face as Lucas scooped up her little girl, their little girl. She felt like her heart could explode. She watched as Lucas hugged Grace and then held his arm out for Brooke. She stepped into the hug and felt like she was home. Scooting up on her tippy toes, she pressed her lips to his once more.
"You did good," she whispered, much like she did years ago during their terrible rainstorm.
Lucas chuckled as he breathed in the moment, unsure if he was dreaming. Everything felt perfect.
"I love you, Brooke Davis."
"I love you too, Lucas Scott."
X_X_X_X_X_X_X
4 Months Later
The piano started to play an enchanting melody as the guests all turned to face the back of the church. The keys echoed through the quiet halls as Brooke Davis—soon to be Brooke Davis-Scott—crouched down in front of her daughter. Grace's hair had been neatly curled. She held a basket in her hand as tiny fingers played with the rose petals that filled it. She looked up at her mother, and her face was beaming.
"Are you ready?" Brooke asked, trying to hold back the tears that filled her eyes.
Grace nodded and then tilted her head to the side, "Why are you crying, mama?"
It was a loaded question with the most simple and crystal answer.
"It's because she's happy, right?" Penny turned around from the lineup. Her own natural curls cascaded over her shoulders as she looked from her best friend to the woman who was about to become to mother. If she was honest, Brooke had always been a mother to her.
Brooke smiled at her and then nodded. "Come here." She wrapped her arms around both of the girls. She held them close to her and breathed in that moment, wanting to remember every second of it, knowing that she would reply this day over in her mind a million times and for the rest of her life.
Standing in a red dress, Haley stepped up to them and put her hand on Brooke's shoulder. "It's time." She said, trying to hold back her own happy tears as Brooke stood up. Grace was beaming as she rounded the corner and looked forward at the church full of people who all aww'd at the image of her in her flower girl dress.
She was nervous to walk in front of them and it took a moment for her to remember what she was supposed to do. She stood, unmoving, until she felt a hand in hers. Her eyes turned to the side and when she saw Penny's smile flashing back at her, the two girls started to walk up the aisle, hand in hand.
Brooke patted her hands against her cheeks as she turned to her best friend. "They look beautiful."
"You look beautiful," Haley told her, finally succumbing to the tears. She stepped in and hugged Brooke as tightly as she could manage. "I love you, tigger." She whispered against her shoulder.
Brooke sniffled as she rubbed her hands along Haley's back. "Don't make me cry." She whispered, though her heart was overjoyed in that moment.
As she pulled back, Haley looked up at Brooke who stood in an elegant, white wedding dress. "You know, if someone would have told me that one day I would be standing in this church to watch you get married, I don't know if I would have believed it. I'm so happy for you, Brooke."
She pressed her lips together as she smiled at Haley and then nodded her head. "You should save that for your maid of honor speech." She replied, making them both laugh. Then she watched as Haley stepped up to the door to face the church. Before she could walk, Brooke sniffled. "I love you too, tutor girl." She winked when Haley turned to face her.
Haley's face was beaming as she started to walk down the aisle.
Brooke watched her for a moment and then turned to face her mother, the woman who had become the mother she always wanted to have over the past few years. Victoria stood tall and stoic, like she always did, but her eyes were rimmed with happy tears that she simply refused to shed.
"Are you ready?" Brooke asked.
Victoria held her elbow out for her daughter to loop her hand through. She switched the flowers she held into her other hand and then reached up to touch the side of Brooke's face. "I am so proud of you." She whispered softly.
"Mom."
"I love you, okay?" Victoria shook her head and then turned away. "Now don't make me cry or I'll have to kill you on your wedding day."
Brooke smiled, laughed to herself, and then nodded.
They rounded to corner together and started to slowly make their way up the aisle. Brooke leaned in and whispered, "I love you too, mom." Her words made Victoria visibly lose the battle against shedding tears.
The room was filled with people they loved; and at the front stood the most important ones. To the right of the priest, Haley, Penny, and Grace stared back at her and she smiled at them. Then to the left, she found Nathan, Skills and Mouth—but the one that Brooke lost herself on was Lucas. She met his gaze and felt the rest of the room fade. Years from now, she wouldn't even remember walking up the aisle, she'd just remember those beautiful blue eyes staring back at her.
As she approached the alter, Victoria gave Brooke away, and Lucas took her hands.
He couldn't think past this moment, this wonderful moment that was the culmination of his entire life. He squeezed her hands gently and stared at her, falling into those eyes that had captivated him from the first moment that he'd looked into them. So many lifetimes swirled between them that he heard nothing until the priest asked for his vows.
With something close to pride in his chest, Lucas began to speak. "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. When life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same." And it was true love that had changed his entire life. It was her who brought him back to Earth, and it was her who floated with him among the stars. He remembered her speaking those words at Nathan and Haley's wedding, and feeling like nothing else could be more real than the two of them.
As he slipped the ring onto her slender finger, he smiled at her and whispered, "I do."
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X
The white cloth tent had been put up for their reception, and the whole thing looked like something out of a fairy tale. The tables were lit up with tea lights and decorated with beautiful, deep red roses. But Brooke couldn't even think about how amazing it looked. She could barely tear her eyes away from the man she loved.
They swayed together slowly with nothing but the light from the candles and the soft song playing from the speakers. His forehead pressed against hers as he held one of her hands and rest the other against the small of her back.
"I could dance with you all night, pretty girl."
Brooke's smile widened as she leaned up to press her lips against his, the kiss of husband and wife. "This is all I ever dreamed of," she whispered against his lips.
"You're everything I ever dreamed of."
"Do you always have the perfect thing to say, Lucas Scott?"
He chuckled, blue eyes glistening as he looked at her face, her beautiful face, and her stunning smile. With a nod of his head, he cupped the side of her face. "As long as I'm with you, I do." He didn't want to have to let her go, but he had something special planned so he forced himself to step back from her. "It's time for your father daughter dance." He announced.
Brooke's face only slightly fell. "You know my father didn't come."
"I know," Lucas said as he noticed a man walk up behind her.
"Can I have this dance?" Nathan Scott asked as he held his hand out. When Brooke turned to look at him, she felt a feeling better than she had expected. Of course she wished her father could be there but this was so much better.
She smiled back at Lucas, who nodded at her, and then she turned away from him and took Nathan's hand. He led her a few feet away as a new song started to play, and he began to dance with her. "We've come a long way since high school." He said, noticing the look of pure euphoria on Brooke's face.
She snickered, "You're telling me."
"Look. I know your dad couldn't be here but who needs him?" He and Brooke had similar upbringings, with absent and often unkind parents. "We sort of fumbled through growing up on our own, and it wasn't always easy, but I'm so unbelievably proud of you, Brooke."
Her face reddened but he was right. Out of everyone, they had to overcome the most and learn to become the people they wanted to be. They had struggled not to become mirror images of their own parents but they had made it.
With a little help, of course.
She nodded as she smiled up at him. "We both did pretty well, didn't we?"
Nathan grinned and looked over her shoulder at his beautiful wife in red, holding their young son. "Yes, we did."
As the song came to a close, Lucas tapped his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Alright, that's enough hogging my wife."
"Mm, your wife." Brooke said with a smile, "I like the sound of that."
Chuckling, Nathan leaned in and gave Brooke a kiss on the cheek. He wasn't good with words so he didn't have some special way to say how proud he was of Brooke besides just saying it, so that was all he needed. When he turned to his older brother, he gave him a hug and pat his back twice. "You take good care of her, man."
Lucas looked at the beautiful woman in her wedding dress and he knew that he didn't need to be told that. He had been blessed. Brooke Davis had let him love her, and given him the most amazing gift. She gave him a future, and love, and a family. He smiled as he saw Penny and Grace dancing together across the table. "You know I will." Lucas said as he stepped away from Nathan and took his wife's hand. "Come with me?"
Brooke didn't have to know what they were doing, she just nodded and let him lead her out of the tent. They stepped out onto the Rivercourt. That place was special to both of them so when they were planning the wedding, they chose to put up a tent right beside it. It was lit up by Christmas lights in all of the trees, and it was stunning.
Her high heels clicked across the court, following Lucas until he turned to look at her. She knew this spot. It was the very spot that she knew one day she would marry him. Over the years, she worried that day would never come—that they had lost their chance. But they hadn't. They were here, and they were together.
Lucas looked down at the spot and then up at her with a sideways smile on his face. "You really are the biggest part of my life, Brooke Davis-Scott." He told her as the music from inside the tent played like a soundtrack to the moment.
As he leaned in and kissed her lips, Brooke felt it stronger than ever. The Rivercourt was clean, freshly fixed up and repainted. The basketball hoops had been replaced and the stands were washed off. It was a new beginning with the strong, old foundation.
This was it.
This was forever.