Love, Lies, and Loss

Disclaimer: I own no rights to One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

A/N: Thank you all for your feedback and I will take it all into consideration. I promise, Brucas is on the way!

The trio walked into the parlor. Lucas was full of sorrow and hate. He looked like he had just returned from hell and hadn't had time to recover yet.

"Mr. Scott, the ceremony will start at noon," The director approached Lucas.

"Yeah, thanks," Lucas ignored his hand and walked away.

"I'm sorry. He's not doing so well," Nathan apologized for his brother's behavior.

"I understand. Death is a hard thing to cope with," the man replied, "I'm going to make sure everything is in order," he shook Nathan's hand and left.

"Brooke, why don't you go talk to him," Nathan asked her.

"That worked out real well last time I tried," Brooke replied.

"You got him out of bed and here didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," she sadly smiled at Nathan and went to the next room.

Brooke sat on the couch next to Lucas. They were at the back of the room. The casket was at the front.

"Why are you way back here? I think you're supposed to be up front," Brooke questioned him.

"Back off," Lucas glared at her.

"No. I'm not going to back off until you forgive me."

"Keep trying then cause so far you aren't doing much good."

"Luke, I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry I left Peyton. It was too hard for me. I might not have seen either of you in five years, but I never stopped loving either one of you."

"You have a funny way of showing someone love."

"Stop, please. Don't you think this is hard enough for me as it is? I've been beating myself up ever since I found out about Peyton. You may have lost you wife, but at least you had time with her. You're right to be mad at me. I did abandon you. I didn't speak to my best friend for five years and now I'll never have that chance again. It is my fault; it's my entire fault that I left. If I could, I would do things differently. I still would have gone, but I would have kept in contact. At least a little, but I can't change that now. I'm hurting enough, I don't need you to add to it," Brooke began to cry.

"If she didn't die, would still feel this way? The only reason you are sorry is because she's gone. You're right, you can't change it, but if she were still here who knows how long, if ever, it would have taken you to get in contact. You were to busy with your new life. Your career, your family, and your fancy house I'm sure."

"I probably wouldn't have thought a thing about it. Right here, right now is where we are at. I can do things different now. This isn't the way I should have come back into your life, but I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Until you go home. That's not here Brooke. You'll go away to your little picture perfect life and forget about everyone again."

"Do you really think my life is picture perfect? Well, its not. I haven't spoken to Brad in two days. We didn't even say goodbye to each other. You want to know what we got into a fight about?"

"Not really."

"Well, I'll tell you anyways. We got into a fight about you. I finally told him about our history and he was mad that I was coming here. He stormed out and I haven't spoken to him since."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because trust is one of the most important things in a marriage. I ruined that as soon as I told him about my past. I kept it from him for five years."

"Good ole Brooke, full of lies and secrets."

"You're right. I am, but I'm telling you this for a reason. My marriage very well might be over because I chose to say goodbye to my friend and help my friends get through it as well. If I am that bad of a friend then I wouldn't have risked my marriage to help others that I care about. Lucas, I would never desert you or Haley or Nathan when you needed me. Yes, I left you, but I'm here now when you need me. You can hate me and you can argue with me, but it doesn't change the fact that I am here for you. I am going to help you through this, whether you like it or not."

"That's great Brooke. It's obvious to me that if your marriage is breaking up over something stupid like that, maybe you should have thought twice about marrying this guy."

"It's not something stupid. I lied like I always do. I kept a pretty big part of my past a secret for a long time. I couldn't do it anymore. He needed to know. If it's something that he can't forgive me for, then it's not meant to be."

"Fine, you're here then. I guess there isn't much I can do about it."

"Daddy!" Annabelle ran through the doors and up to her father.

Lucas hugged his two year old daughter, "Hey honey. I missed you."

"She's been wonder where you were," Karen told her son, "Her mother too."

Tears rolled down Lucas's face. He carried his daughter to the front of the room, ready to face his fears.

"Mommy!" Anna yelled when she saw her mother in the casket.

"Anna, I know you aren't going to understand this," Lucas choked out, "You mommy is in Heaven now. She's not going to be around anymore, but she'll always be with you."

The two year old didn't understand. She looked at her mother, but she was sleeping.

"Mommy?" She pointed at her mother.

Lucas put her down and ran to the hall. Brooke followed.

"Luke," Brooke put her arm on his shoulder.

He pulled away, "Leave me alone."

"No! I told you. I'm here for you and I'm NOT leaving," she grabbed him and pulled him to her.

Lucas began sobbing on Brooke's shoulder, "I don't know what to do. She doesn't understand that her mother is gone. I don't know how to handle her Brooke."

"Love her," Brooke responded.

"I do."

"Then she'll know everything is going to be okay. She might not know what's going on, but she still has you and she needs you. She needs you to remember Peyton so one day you can tell her about her mother."

"I can't remember her. It's too hard."

"Look at me," Lucas picked up his head and looked at Brooke. This time there was pain in his eyes.

"You are going to be okay. Annabelle is going to be okay. You just need to believe that you will get through this."

"I don't know how. I miss her so much."

"I know, but you have to. For Anna you have to be okay. I'll help you Luke. As much as you don't believe it's true. I will not leave you, not until you are ready for me too."

Lucas hugged her. He then grabbed her hand and she escorted him back to the ceremony.

The entrance music was starting. Lucas picked up his daughter and sat her on his lap in the front row. Haley, Nathan, and Zach took their seats next to him. Brooke and Tegan took a seat a few rows back.

"Brooke," Lucas yelled at her, "Sit up here. You were her best friend."

Brooke smiled at him. She couldn't believe it. In just the few hours she had been with Lucas, it seemed as though he had forgiven her already. The ceremony began. It was short, but meaningful. There were tears and laughs at remembering Peyton.

After the ceremony, every gathered at Karen's café for the luncheon. It was actually a pleasant get together for Brooke. She saw a lot of face's that she missed for five years. Everyone seemed at terms with Peyton's death, even Lucas was doing a bit better. He was at least holding his daughter again. He hadn't let her go since the funeral started. Some of the anger was removed from his eyes. He still had a long way to go, but he was making progress.

A/N: I think I'll up the rating for the following chapters. It's time to get down and dirty with this fic!