A/N - Hey, people! I thought I'd update for you, but I'm not so sure this chapter will clear things up...in fact, it won't. Sorry lol. Guess you'll just have to wait until I update again to find out more :p

Thanks: dolcegrazia, brucas3, othfan326, CheerandBrood323, hoeoverbros, reina123, Storyteller247, bd-ls-islove, TeamxxBrucasxx, onetreefan, BRUCAS EQUALS LOVE, erika x3, sheshsopno, tanya2byour21, beachbumyeahh, chebelle, brookenlucas4eva03, Mosie1213, Brooke D., BDavis427, and Team Davis-Scott.

Thanks so, so, so much for the amazing reviews! You guys are awesome!! :)

Enjoy and review, please!!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Searching For What We Lost

Chapter 9 -

--Two Months Earlier--

He stared blankly at the wall in front of him as he carefully held the phone to his ear. Listening to the ringing was getting him nowhere and it seemed like he'd just be leaving another voice mail. He figured eventually her memory on her phone would fill to its capacity and then he'd be left with nothing.

Surprisingly though, the ringing was abruptly cut short, and a raspy voice replaced the sound.

"Lucas." Her voice sounded more hoarse than usual, and he could tell she was definitely exhausted.

"Brooke..." He sounded surprised. "Thank god you picked up, I—."

"—Stop calling me, Lucas." She interjected his talking. If she had said those words in any other way, he would have taken them as an insult of some kind. But her voice, it wasn't rude, it sounded more pleading than anything. "Please." She added and he could hear her start to choke up.

"Just come home. And we can talk everything out. We can try to get through this."

"No." She spoke in a shaky breath, and he assumed that all the way in California she must have been shaking her head no and wiping her teary eyes. "We can't. It's too much to handle; too much to get through."

"Brooke—."

"—I need to go, Lucas."

"Please don't hang up..."

"I have to go. And please don't call again; you're making this too hard. Goodbye."

And then he was met with the dial tone once more.

--Present Time--

He was surprised. Brooke hadn't backed down yet. She was still in the car with him, and they were going to see their son.

He quickly erased that thought in his head, because it sounded pathetic to him. The fact that he had thought she was going to change her mind and not come. That all meant that he had little or no faith in Brooke.

But could you blame him? His wife had run away the last time things had gotten tough. He was supposed to be this hesitant about everything...right?

"Are you okay?" He took his eyes off the road for a split second to meet her eyes.

She nodded before allowing herself to speak. "I think I will be."

"Good."

While Brooke had gone to Nathan and Haley's house after their fight, Lucas had gone to see Alex. And though this would be his second time going to the cemetery that day, he didn't really mind it. Because this time would be different. Much different.

It would actually be different from any other time since Alex had passed away.

This time he and Brooke would be doing it together. They would be facing it together.

And that changed everything.

He parked the car a block away from the cemetery and just sat there for a minute, dazed out.

"Are you okay?" Now it was Brooke's turn to ask the question.

He finally took the keys out of the ignition, however he still didn't move from the seat. "Any time you want to leave, we'll leave. Okay? Just say the word."

"Okay." She nodded, offering him a small, soft smile.

"We're gonna do this together." He laced his fingers with hers. "We're gonna face this together."

Minutes later, they got out of the car and walked the block to the cemetery.

It was getting dark out, and soon enough it would be hard to tell which way you were going in the grave site. But Lucas had visited everyday, so he'd know his way around even if his eyes were closed.

"Can you give me a minute?" She asked him timidly once they reached the headstone.

"Of course." He nodded. "If you need me, I'll be just over there." He pointed a few feet back before walking away. He wanted to give her space. He knew that it would probably be a very emotional moment for her, especially since she was never there before.

"Hi." She started, and then propped herself on her knees against the ground. She felt her breath begin to get shaky and she knew that her tears would be coming soon, too. "God, I miss you so much, Alex. And I'm so sorry I never came here before. But it was just so hard. And I was trying to pretend like nothing happened...but I guess...I guess that just made everything worse, ya know?"

It was the first time she had really admitted that by her denying everything, things only got worse.

She had tried so hard to pretend that nothing ever happened. That it was all just some nightmare, and eventually, she'd wake up from it. But by doing so, she was pushing Lucas away.

"But I'm going to try and make things better now. And you're going to be hearing a lot more from me. I just...I hope you don't blame me for any of this. Because I know that I still blame myself. And I just...I just want you to know that I love you so, so much. And daddy loves you so much...and we're never going to forget about you ever."

"What?" Lucas stared at the doctor for further explanation while he still held Brooke close in his arms.

"It truly is a miracle. He's still under observance and we're running several tests. We'll let you know more information when we find out more ourselves."

It made no sense.

Alex was still alive.

After waiting and waiting and waiting, dreading the worse...he had made it.

"Oh my god." It took a while for Brooke to take it all in and let it sink in. "Can we go see him?" She asked.

"Of course. I'll take you to his room now. But first I must warn you. He isn't looking so well. He's bruised and is hooked up to several monitors."

None of that mattered, though. Their son was still alive; that's all that counted.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A/N - So brucas are making progress. That makes you all happy, right?

However, you're all still confused regarding the flashbacks. Sorry about that! But I have to leave you in suspense! Lol.

Review and you'll find out more soon!

(ALSO, check out chapter 2 of Listen To Your Heart!)

–Melissa