Disclaimer: I do not, as much as I wish I did, own OTH or any of the songs in this story. All I own is the plot of the story, and I barely own that.

AN: I am sooo sorry that I deleted this chapter before, but I just decided that I didn't like how things went down with Brooke and Peyton, so I needed to write a completely different ending for this chapter. Sorry guys.

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Chapter 4: White Horse

Nearly twenty minutes after speaking to Nathan and Haley about the botched proposal, Brooke found herself back in her store, the place she had come to view as both her sanctuary and her Hell. Brooke's eyes grew huge when she opened the glass door and stepped inside; all the clothes for the movie and all her sketches were back to their rightful places. When she'd visited the store the day before, there were still rose petals littering the floor and the little table Julian had decorated for her still sat in the corner of the room, and she had been unable to stay in the room for very long without breaking down, but as she stared around the room now, it was as if the whole ordeal had never happened. Tears formed behind her eyelids as she thought of that night; she could almost still smell the roses he had scattered throughout the room, and she could almost still taste the wine on his lips when they'd kissed. Brooke opened her eyes and looked around the room one more time before heading over to the counter to get started on her new line, but as soon as she reached the counter, her eyes fell upon the small black box that held the dream ring she had received from her dream guy; sometime during the previous night Julian must have placed the box there, right on top of her sketches, in plain view. She stopped breathing for a second, her heart racing painfully in her chest, as she reached over and picked up the box. Her hands were shaking, and it took her several tries, but she finally managed to get the box open, and there it was – her engagement ring. Brooke smiled as she stared at the two small, yellow stones and the large white diamond that laid in the center; Julian knew her so well.

"I knew you would like it."

Brooke turned toward Julian, tears in her eyes, "You know me better than I know myself sometimes."

Julian didn't smile, but he didn't quite frown either; there was something darker about his eyes as he walked toward that frightened her slightly, "About a week ago I asked Sam if she would be okay with me asking you to be my wife." Brooke looked down at the ring, and he reached his hand toward her, wiping a stray tear off her cheek, "She told me that not only would she be okay with it, but she had been hoping for something like that since we started dating." He laughed slightly, "She said that I had helped fix some of your issues with men, and she also said that she trusted me with your heart."

Brooke laughed through her tears, thinking about how Sam absolutely loved Julian despite the fact that he always called her on her crap; in fact, they had become best friends.

"And I told her," Julian said softly, "that once you were my wife, the three of us would be the perfect, albeit dysfunctional, family." Brooke smiled and leaned her cheek against his open palm. "I understand your fears and your reasons for saying no, but I honestly can't imagine my life without you, Brooke. I don't know how anyone in this world who hasn't had the opportunity to meet you is happy; you are the biggest and most important thing in my world now. I know that you don't want to leave Tree Hill, and you don't want to be the reason that I leave Los Angeles, but shouldn't that be my decision to make? I want to be with you, and if this sleepy little town is where you want to start a family and live out your days, then this sleepy little town is where I want to start a family and live out my days as well. You're the one."

One side of Brooke wanted to laugh joyously because someone loved her enough to be willing to give up everything for her, but, the other side of her, the selfless side, wanted to cry because she couldn't keep him; she couldn't be the girl that stole his dreams from him, "What about your career, Julian? Do you honestly think you're going to be able to be a successful producer while living in this 'sleepy little town' as you called it?"

Julian leaned forward and placed a kiss on Brooke's forehead. She half smiled and he lowered his head, their foreheads faintly touching, "Well, if I'm as good of a producer as I think I am, then I should be able to produce anywhere." Brooke smiled and rolled her eyes at the size of his ego. "And sure, I'd probably still have to take trips to LA for business, but you and I both know that you'll have to take trips to New York once your new line is up and running." Brooke nodded at that and turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand, "So, you and I will just have to schedule our trips around each other; face it, Brooke, we'll be the ultimate power couple."

As soon as the words 'power couple' left his mouth, Brooke's mind went back to that fateful night in New York when she'd finally made the decision to work with Victoria.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Can I give you two a ride?"

Lucas smiled at Brooke, looking as young and innocent as he had the night they'd met, and they both shrugged, "Why not? It is our engagement night."

The carriage owner smiled and looked over at Brooke, "In that case, the ride's free."

Brooke grinned, looking slightly like the Cheshire Cat, at Lucas and whispered loudly, "A diamond ring is gold!"

XxXxXxXxXxX

Later, having ridden in the carriage for several blocks, the carriage owner smiled at Brooke and Lucas, "So, what do you two have planned for your life together?"

Brooke smiled, remembering the many times that she had thought about her future as Mrs. Lucas Scott. Her eyes were wistful, and the words rolled easily off of her tongue, "Um, we're going to be a power couple. He's going to be a famous novelist, and I'm going to have a fabulous fashion line."

Lucas smiled at her, he too remembered the dreams they used to share, "But we're still going to have time to have a big family."

"Two boys and a girl." Brooke smiled.

"And I'll coach little league."

Brooke clapped her hands excitedly, "Ooh and I'll bake treats for the team," Lucas gave her a look of disbelief, "…Or buy them."

Luke laughed, his hand on her knee, "Then we'll spend our summers in our beach house."

"And winters in the south of France."

Lucas smiled at Brooke, "It won't matter where we are as long as we're together."

The carriage owner smiled reflectively, remembering his own first love, "That's the key. Success is wonderful, but finding someone to love and having them love you back…Love is what it's all about."

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Think about it, Brooke. You'll be the famous fashion designer, I'll be the amazingly sexy producer," Brooke laughed at that, "and Sam will be our extremely talented screenwriting daughter."

Brooke's laughter stopped and she stared at Julian, suddenly serious again, "Our daughter?"

Julian nodded and rubbed his nose against hers, "Yes, our daughter. Blood doesn't matter, Brooke, and neither does age. You protect her like she's your own flesh and blood, you are her mother, and someday soon I hope to have earned the role of father."

"Julian…" Brooke smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too, Giggles."

"But…" Brooke began, "I don't know if I'm ready to get married. I want to know everything about you before you become my husband. Everything."

Julian looked hurt for a moment, but he smiled anyway, "Then you will know every dirty detail about me and me about you." He took the box from Brooke's hand and slipped it into his pocket, still smiling.

TBC…

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AN: As I said before, I am really sorry that I deleted this, but I think I know a better way to introduce Peyton and Lucas to the idea of Brulian committing. Thanks, as always! Next update should be in the next few days. 