Oh my gosh! I really didn't expect that many people to review! Ok, so it was only 8 reviews, but it was all in just one day. That's just left me, wow. Haha. Anyways, thank you all so much for those reviews. So, here comes the next part. Let's see what's going on with the unlucky couple and the girl stuck in the middle shall we? :] Oh! I also forgot to say that Sam's not in this. At least not for now I think. I really don't like her (Don't ask me why...I don't know ha) and I really don't know how I would fit her into all this so she won't be in it and if she is, it'll be later.

But thank you to PrincessOnyx, paranoidbychoice, Long Live BRUCAS, ashstalker, tanya2byour21, cRiMsOnGoDeSs01, TeamSophia, and mickeiblue. :] Anyways, here we go for real now ha.

168 Hours

It's been a week. Seven days. That was a hell of a long time for no one to come out and talk that is. I hadn't talked to Lucas or Peyton. Probably three days after sure I would have gotten in touch with one of them, but this was just ridiculous. They had to talk. There wasn't anything holding them back. It was inevitable. I let out a breath I had been holding for 2 seconds. I wanted to talk to them, I needed to talk to them. Find some way or something. How in the world was anyone supposed to be at ease when just a week ago Peyton left Lucas at the alter and hasn't been heard from since. Haley had told me she tried calling and texting Lucas too. But unlike me, she actually marched down to his house; he didn't let her in. It's probably saying something when Lucas Scott doesn't let his best friend Haley James-Scott in. Let me emphasize on the word best friend. She had even brought Jamie with her. He still didn't open the door! And if Jamie can't get to anyone, then no one else sure can.

It was still worth a shot wasn't it? Nathan had no luck either. And basically that's all who was left. My hand picked up my phone in the flash of an eye as soon as the familiar sound of vibrating started on the kitchen counter. "Peyton?"

It was my automatic response. I hadn't checked caller ID, but she had been the last person I made a call to. The voice on the other line disappointed me, but not so much as to hang up.

"No. It's me, Haley."

"Oh, Haley. Hi. Have you heard anything from Lucas?" This was how it was. I would ask about Lucas, she would ask about Peyton. It was really hard to deal with trying to talk, or in Peyton's case, find both of them at the same time. But it was coming pretty soon if both of their asses didn't say anything soon. This was worrying me senseless and I don't need wrinkles so young, thank you.

"No." I heard an exasperated sigh. "I tried going over there with Jamie again. He still wouldn't answer. Well, he said 'Leave me alone!' and that was all I heard from him and the door never opened. I would ask about Peyton, but figuring the sound in your voice when you answered, I'm guessing you haven't had much luck either, right?"

She knew me too well. Almost as well as Peyton. Almost. My own lips let out a sigh and I shook my head, knowing Haley couldn't see me over the phone. "No." my voice came out sounding dull, tired, and on the verge of giving up, which I was.

Haley sighed once more. "Brooke, I'm really getting worried here. What if Peyton left town? What if Lucas is doing...Oh I don't even know what he could be doing. He's Lucas for crying out loud! He could be drinking senseless, he could be staring at a picture of Peyton and hurting himself more. And worse, she's pregnant, Brooke. Pregnant! As in expecting. As in carrying a baby; Lucas' baby. As in--"

"Yes, I know what pregnant means, Haley!" I almost snapped. She was just as worried as she was, but still. "I know what pregnant means." I heard myself repeat, this time my voice softer. Haley was freaking out, this was what I was worried about. If Haley snapped and lost control of how worried she was, well, who knew how much time I had left. Sometimes she was the strongest of us, sometimes I was. It depended on the situation and this situation was something that both of us would crack soon.

She sighed on the other end once more and I could already picture her running a hand through her hair and slumping over. "I'm sorry. I'm just-I'm just really worried." She told me and I knew what that felt like.

"I'll tell you what," I spoke into the phone as I grabbed my keys for my car that were beside the place where my phone had been before in use. "I'm gonna go try and talk to Lucas. Apparently this whole thing with Peyton isn't working out with just waiting around waiting for her to call. I doubt she'll be in town, but she might be. How about you go try and find her? TRIC, her studio, any places she could be. It's been too long, Haley. We need to do something and now." I felt my instinct take over. The one where I put everyone in charge of something and try to solve this problem we had. The problem about my two blonde friends.

"Sure, Brooke. I'll do anything to help them. You know that. I'll go over now. Nathan has Jamie to try and take away his mind from the lack of Lucas being around or talking so I'm free."

I nodded. "Good. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sure. I'll talk to you then."

I heard the click of the phone hanging up and hung up myself. I took a deep breath before letting it out. This wasn't going to be easy. Lucas wasn't someone anyone could get to open up. He was usually the one talking to people, usually not the other way around. It took a lot for him to talk and this was something that needed to be talked about and not just left unattended. I clutched my keys and took my phone, placing it in my pocket before walking out my door and out to my car, getting in, starting it up and driving away.

------

The whole way there I tried to think of way I would approach Lucas. There was the demanding way where I would bang and bang on the door until he opened. The motherly way where I would just try and sound soft and comforting standing outside and the way where I just barge in. That last option was a bit of a extreme measure so I would go with my first. Couldn't hurt. I took another deep breath as I arrived and steadied myself. My feet got out of the car, dragging my body that was attached along and my fist came down on the door, knocking three times.

"Lucas." I warned first. My voice wasn't so loud but it would get there. "Lucas, It's me. Brooke. You know, Brooke Davis. You friend and ex girlfriend." That last part was a bit pointless I'll admit. "Lucas you have to open this door right now. Haley's worried sick about you, I'm worried sick about you. Jamie doesn't know what the hell's going on but he knows he's missing his Uncle Lucas."

Still, no reply.

I groaned. "Lucas you need to open this door right now. I'm not kidding." I waited a couple seconds, a minute. No answer still. This was getting annoying. "Lucas Eugene Scott open the door!" I yelled in aggravation. My hair fell into my eyes and I pushed it back forcefully, frustrated. This just wasn't working; He wasn't coming out and I knew it. My head shook and I sighed, turning on my heel and walking back slowly towards my car that waited for me. It looked as if it was mocking me and just sitting there trying to say that he would never open up. God what my imagination made up sometimes.

The turn of the lock turning and the creak of the door opening caught my attention in the fraction of a second and I spun on my heel, almost falling down in the process.

He looked...well there was no way to describe it. His hair was messed up. His face showed signs of not having being shaved in a few days. His clothes were wrinkled up and his eyes, oh God, his eyes. They weren't Lucas' eyes. Not the Lucas I knew. The Lucas Scott I knew would always have the slight twinkle in his eye, no matter what. The only other times I'd seen this look was the time I broke up with him for the last time, and even now it hurt to see him so broken. Taking one look at him, you'd think he was an alcoholic, and I'm pretty sure he had been drinking. but I knew him.

His eyes just showed how he felt. The sparkle and twinkle he always had in those blue orbs were gone. They were dull. They didn't even look blue anymore they were so dull. And just by taking one look into those windows of his soul you could tell just how broken his soul really was. Losing Peyton was a big toll on him. Not to mention, again, the baby that the blonde was carrying, along with probably his heart.

For reasons unknown, I wanted to hate Peyton now. Hate her for what she just did to my former lover. Hate her for leaving him like this. Alone, broken, and taking his child with her although she had no choice. It wasn't fair to him. He shouldn't have to go through this. Not twice at least. God, Peyton, what have you done? The poor guy's already been through this once, taking it almost the same way. Only now it was worse. Worse in the way that everyone thought they were to be together and now he had his dreams crushed, ruined and probably...well, honestly I couldn't tell what would happen now. He was Lucas and she was Peyton. Somehow they'd have to find a way to each other, right? And again, for reasons I don't even know, my heart ached at the thought. The thought that she still would have him in the end. The thought that they would be a happy family no matter what because he and everyone else thought she was 'The One', 'The Comet'. I pushed these thoughts aside. These weren't my thoughts were they? They couldn't be. No, I was far away from the point where I had been in love with Lucas Scott.

"Lucas." I heard my voice. It sounded shock, sympathetic and above all, sad. Sad that I had to find him this way and sad that all this was even happening. During all this time that my thinking had taken place, I had found myself standing 2 feet away from him. I looked at the man before me sadly. "Lucas." I repeated.

He shook his head, looking at me with those eyes that weren't his. "Don't, Brooke." He warned me. "Don't go on telling me, 'Lucas, I'm so sorry'. Yea, I know you're sorry. But I don't want to talk about it ok?" he said, before stepping aside to let me in and in the process, he walked back into the house, the door left open for me. So he didn't want to talk; Well he was going to. I was going to make sure of it. I knew first hand not talking, well, it'll just leave you with probably years of rage to build up. My feet followed and I shut the door behind me in the process. What I saw in his house was expected and not at the same time.

The living room floor and kitchen floor were littered with beer bottles and fast food take out bags and cartons on the tables. I shook my head and sighed silently and sadly. Taking all that, the house smelled of alcohol and food. The nasty smelling food. I kicked my foot against one bottle that was a few inches away from me and it went a little ways away from me. My eyes went from the awful floor to Lucas, who had taken a seat on the couch. My gaze narrowed and I shook my head slightly.

"Lucas, this isn't you. Look at this place, it's a mess! How can you stand to live here?" As I said this, my feet carefully made their way around the mess and I stood in front of him, my hands on my hips.

His expression was weary and I almost dropped my argument. Almost. "Brooke, I said I didn't want to talk about it."

"And I'm respecting your wish, Lucas. I'm talking about your house, the condition it's in. The condition you're in. I'm not talking about Peyton."

He winced and recomposed himself in the same second. "I can live this way if I want. It's my house. Not yours."

His words stung me and I flinched a fraction of a millimeter away from him. This was going to be harder than expected. At least he had opened up the door for me, whereas he didn't for Haley. It had me thinking for a second before coming back to the task at hand. "Lucas, you cannot live like this. Peyton or no Peyton. Your house or not your house." He hadn't winced this time. My expression softened. "This isn't healthy, Luke. I'm worried about you. Haley's worried about you. Everyone is." I told him gently. "Please." I almost begged. I couldn't be here like this. His house and him were the same; a mess. I just wanted to throw up from the bottles and empty cartons left over that caused the smell. Not to mention, now that I was standing in front of him, he smelled too.

He sighed and finally his expression looked as though, well, it was indescribable. Like he didn't know what to think. "Brooke," His voice was pained this time. Not full of anger or stubbornness like it had a minute ago. "It hurts, Brooke. It hurts really bad." And this time it was only slightly above a whisper. My expression softened even more until it was saddened and I crossed the few feet that were between us and took a seat next to him. My petite arms wrapped around him and pulled him close for a hug, rocking him gently as a mother would. God knows he needs this.

"I know." I said softly. "I know." I repeated.

I felt the part of my shirt that was close to his face starting to get wet. He was crying. God I hate this. He shouldn't be like this. No. That's all I've been repeating all day I think. Lucas was never much of a crier and if he did, then it's something big or important to cry over. I've only seen him cry maybe once or twice. I kept rocking him gently and kissed his dirty blonde hair once gently.

This was going to be a long day I imagined.

------

After his tears subsided, which weren't as many as I expected, apparently he'd really done some crying while he was alone, I sat him up and looked into his eyes. "Luke," i started out gently. "You really need a shower." I said softly and my lips curved into a small smile, hoping he would smile too.

But he didn't and my smile faded soon after. Nevertheless, he nodded his head. "Yea. You're probably right." He said softly and sat up on his own accord a bit more.

"How about you go take one while I clean up a bit around here and then we go somewhere?" I suggested, hopefully he would agree.

He nodded softly and ran a hand through his hair. "Sure." And I could feel all he was, who he was before, was suddenly fading and fast and I wasn't going to let him do that. Lucas got up and trotted slowly but not at the same time and made his way into the hall. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore and fell back against the couch, running a hand through my own hair. There Had to be something to do to cheer him up. And so, my brain rattled and thought as I sat up, standing up and started cleaning up. Both the house mess and hopefully Lucas' mess himself.

Ok, so i noticed I made a few mistakes on the last chapter. Sorry about that. I just hope you still could understand. :]

Thank you all soo much for those reviews again! Seriously, they made me really happy. :D

anyways, here's a little something i had to say to some of the reviewers.

TeamSophia: I remember you reviewed my last story and this one too. Thanks so much for liking my stories. :] Makes me happy haha.

paranoidbychoice: Haha. Yes, Peyton is still pregnant with Luke's baby (unfortunately haha). And as far as to why she ran off...well, you'll just have to find out, now, won't you? ;] but don't worry, I got it all worked out.

REVIEW! :D