A/N: So for the delay in chapters, I've been busy busy with assignments..group work is the worst! So here is the first of two updates as I promised since Geelong kicked Port's butt on the weekend!!!
Chapter 13-True Love
"Nathan, wait up!" Lucas yelled
Nathan continued to storm towards his hired black sedan.
"Look don't blame Cooper for this, Nathan"
"Who else can I blame, Lucas?" Nathan said as he jumped into the driver seat
"Me for one" he said leaning into the car through the window.
"But Cooper should have known better, Lucas! He's family!" Nathan fumed, starting the car.
"Nathan, I cheated too, you know!" Lucas said jumping into the car before Nathan could take off.
"You don't seem to get this, Lucas. He did this before, remember? And we nearly all died as a result!"
"That all water under the bridge"
"Yeah literally" Nathan said glaring at Lucas
The brothers pulled up to Cooper's single story dwelling.
"Nathan, Rachel and I were never supposed to be together you know that"
"I knew that I didn't think you did, but that doesn't excuse Coopers' behaviour. He should know better" Nathan said as he grabbed the door handle
"Wait" Lucas said as he saw someone emerge from the house.
Rachel walked out of the house, heading towards her car. Cooper followed Rachel out and wrapped his hands around her waist, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Do you think that is a person who would intentionally hurt his family?" Lucas said quietly as they observed Cooper giving Rachel a kiss.
"I guess not" Nathan said, his features softening
"Nate, I know that you are trying to protect me, but Rachel is happy, I'm happy, and it's just with different people"
"Different people?" Nathan asked, eyebrows raised
"Not now, Nate. But do you get my point? For the first time in years, we are all happy, why mess with that?"
"Ok Luke, but sometime you will have to come out of denial land, and deal with Cooper and Rachel situation. You know how it is, when everything seems to be going ok, something always goes to hell" Nathan said bluntly
"True that, now let's go little brother, before they see us"
Just as the car breezed down the suburban street, Cooper glanced up at the departing car
"Nate?" He said as he recognised his nephew's features from within the car
Rachel swivelled around in her car seat
"You know what this means don't you?" she said looking at her beau
"What?"
"They know"
Cooper sighed as he kissed Rachel briefly, before reversing out of the driveway.
"Do you think we should tell Brooke?"
Peyton thought for a moment. She silently cursed Lucas. For what he had done to Brooke, for what he had done to her, for this high school drama. But for once, Peyton thought Lucas needed to come clean with Brooke himself, without everyone else interfering. Lucas will have to step up and be a man.
"I think we should let Lucas tell Brooke himself" Peyton said carefully
"Agreed" Haley said.
As much as she loved her brother in law, Haley was sick to death of him playing games, especially when it came to Brooke. Haley knew better then anyone the strong bond between mother and child, and she refused to jeopardise the life of Brooke's daughter, with the undue stress this recent development might cause Brooke.
Peyton slung her arm over Haley's shoulders.
"Doesn't this feel like high school all over again?"
"You mean Lucas cheating on Brooke, me falling pregnant with Nathan's baby and you being away from Jake and Jenny? Nah, it's nothing like high school" Haley said sarcastically
"Ok sarcasm girl let's find out if the boys have killed each other yet"
"I suppose" Haley said as Peyton pulled Haley up from the plastic chair and grabbed James's stroller before proceeding down the corridor.
"What the hell are you thinking, man?" Nathan asked
"What do you mean?" Lucas said looking confused
"You know exactly talking about, Luke. You're treating Brooke like crap"
Lucas looked guiltily out the window, watching the sights of up state New York flashing past.
"I just don't want to hurt her" he replied quietly
Nathan took his eyes briefly off the road, looking at his brother intently.
"I know that you don't want to hurt Brooke, Luke, but your already are"
Lucas remained silent as Nathan continued to speak his mind
"You haven't been there the last 4 years, Lucas. You weren't there when Brooke's parents died, and when she worked so hard she got glandular fever, and was sick for months. You weren't there when she won the best new fashion designer at New York Fashion Week. Don't you realise that that every occasion over the past 4 years, she has wanted you standing next to her. When all her dreams came true, you just weren't there" Nathan revealed
"That's not fair Nate"
"Not fair? It not fair that you have been playing house with Rachel the past 3 years, Luke, while Brooke has put her whole life on hold waiting for you, sub consciously or not" Nathan said
"How is this you're business?" Lucas asked snidely
"It's my business because Brooke is carrying my niece, and the fact that Brooke still thinks she is the mistress in the whole twisted love triangle is only going to get more complicated if you don't tell Brooke the truth" Nathan snapped back
"But that's just it; Brooke wouldn't let me move in if she knew about Rachel and Cooper"
"Are you high, Lucas?" Nathan asked
"Huh?"
"Have you magically forgotten the last 6 years? Because Brooke hasn't. She may have forgiven you and Peyton but she hasn't forgotten what you did to her. Not to mention when you used Chris as a piece of ammunition when she found out about you kissing Peyton during the school shooting." Nathan said, thinking of the past conversation he had with Brooke about that particular topic.
"I didn't realise you too were so close" Lucas said sadly
"Well you have been away, and I understand that despite how much you love them, people always leave" Nathan said, repeating Peyton's immortal words.
"But Haley came back, Nate" Lucas said gently
"Yeah she did, but it's hard to let someone back in, especially when they're the one who knocked you out of the ring in the first place"
"I had no idea" Lucas said earnestly
"You never do big bro" Nathan sighed
"Hey!"
"I mean it, you always living in the land of books, and your naiveté sometimes drives me insane. You should look after someone besides yourself for once. Grow up, man, you have a family to look after" Nathan exclaimed
"A family…"
"Yes a family. Just tell Brooke the truth, Lucas. Maybe she will be more receptive then you think" Nathan said as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
"Maybe, I just need more time" he stalled
"Ok, Luke. But the sooner you tell her the truth the better; otherwise she will be harder to reach then before"
Nathan got out of the car and headed towards the hospital once again. The older the brothers got, the more Nathan felt like he was the older wiser brother, and the more Lucas acted like the immature, self absorbed prick. Who knew we would switch positions? Nathan thought.
Haley walked out of the hospital, her arms still intertwined with Peyton's. As they saw the raven haired brother approach, they untangled from their current position and stood idly on the pavement
"So, what happened?" Peyton asked impatiently, her arms across her chest
Nathan strode up to Haley; his hands snaked around her expanding waist, and gave her a passionate kiss. Peyton's eyes widened, her eyes quickly moved to the pavement
"What was that for?" Haley panted
"For coming back" he whispered into her ear, as his kisses started trailing down her neck.
"Okk…I'm going to leave you guys to it" Peyton said moving towards her hire car.
"Hey Sawyer?" Nathan called
"Yeah?"
"Could you look after Jamie for the night?" he asked motioning to the sleeping boy in the stroller by Haley's side
"Sure thing, I'd love to" she said moving behind Haley and moving the brakes off with her foot.
"Well you have our mobile number if you need us" Haley said as the two moved towards Nathan's car.
"Ok you too have fun" Peyton called, waving mischievously at the pair
"Peyton?" Lucas said gloomily
"Where the hell did you come from?" she said icily
"I was sitting in Nathan's car until I saw Naley approaching…they looked.." a queasy look appeared on his face
"Horny, yeah" Peyton said
"Can I talk to you?"
"Of course you can" she said motioning the bench near the entrance of the hospital
The former lovers sat down, and lapsed into silence.
"Do you think I am a bad man?" Lucas asked quietly
"No, Lucas, you're just a good person who has made bad choices" Peyton said confidently. She some how knew this conversation would come; it was just a matter of when. Even after all these years, Peyton knew too well, the way he handled situations and his emotions.
"Like you?" he asked looking directly at her
"No, I think if we didn't give "us" a go, we would still be in the never ending loop of love triangles" Peyton said honestly
"Do you regret it?" Lucas said gazing into Peyton's eyes
"No because if we hadn't have got together, I wouldn't have realised that our love was nothing compared to what I had with Jake" Peyton said, twisting the gold band on her left ring finger.
"Why can't I be happy then?" he said gloomily
"Because you are to clueless to realise you were never happier then when you were with Brooke, am I right?" Peyton said bluntly
"You always know what to say Peyton"
"It's a gift" she said, getting up and moving Jamie, who was still in the stroller. She started to walked down the pavement to the car park
Lucas was left alone on the bench, with only his thoughts to keep him company. Peyton stopped in the middle of the care park.
"Just be careful with her, Lucas, she's more fragile then you think" Peyton said before walking away.
Brooke heard a quiet knock on the door
"Come in" she called, putting down her gossip magazine.
"Well you certainly look a bit bigger then when I saw you last"
"Karen!" Brooke said happily, reaching out to hug the older woman
"How are you honey?" Karen asked gently
"Great. Good. Ok." Brooke said, her enthusiasm peeling away as her surrogate mother stared intently at her
"Just ok?" Karen said, sitting down on the bed next to Brooke.
"It's just…I'm scared" Brooke muttered, barely above a whisper
"Scared of what, sweetie?" Karen said clasping her hands around Brooke's
"Of becoming a mother, of turning into mine…of letting Lucas in again"
"First of all, your going to be a great mother, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Secondly, I met your mother once, and you have on thing that she didn't. You have the biggest, warmest heart of anyone I know, and your kid will be lucky to have you as a mother. This child will know love every single day of her life because she has you as a mom. Thirdly, the last thing will come in time, Brooke believe me when I say that"
"Thank you, Karen" Brooke said hugging her daughters' grandmother
"You're always welcome, Brooke"
"How did you find out anyway?" Brooke asked curiously
"Haley called" Karen stated
"Of course she did" Brooke said disappointingly
"What's really up kiddo?" Karen said, noticing Brooke's demeanour change.
"It's just, ever since I got pregnant, I feel like Lucas is acting more like Dan then I ever thought possible"
Brooke saw Karen's eyes sadden also, flickering with pain at the mention of Dan's name.
"I don't mean to upset you Karen" Brooke said hurryingly
"No honey, you're not, go ahead" she said motioning the young woman to continue.
"I just feel like Lucas hasn't changed since we were 16. He is up to the same old tricks. Getting me and Rachel pregnant, Peyton told me about his engagement, then Nathan told him about the baby, and Haley told you about the baby. Why didn't he tell you himself? I just feel that he isn't ready to be a father, if he was, he would be acting more like an adult, and dealing with this himself" Brooke said sadly
"But you didn't tell Lucas at first, Brooke" Karen said gently
"You should have seen the fear in his eyes when he thought he was the father, Karen. I have only seen that look in his eyes once before, when I had that pregnancy scare junior year" she admitted
"Give him time, Brooke. As much as I love my boy, he has his head in the clouds most of the time. You know him, he has to brood something over before he makes a decision" Karen tried to convince Brooke.
"Yeah I know"
"I see the way Lucas looks at you, or even the way he lights up at the mention of you name. Unfortunately Lucas takes after me when it comes to love. It takes him far too long to realise that his true love is standing right in front of him." Karen said smiling slightly
"Speaking of true love how is Uncle Keith?" Brooke asked
"Amazing" Karen said her eyes sparkling
"He's back in Tree Hill with Lily?"
"Yes, we couldn't take her out of school"
"That's fine, I'm glad you here" Brooke said hugging the older woman once more. As much it pained Brooke to admit it, Karen had been more of a mother figure for Brooke the last 6 years, then her own mother had been the first 16 years of her life.
"Me too, sweetie, now tell me about this baby" Karen said excitedly
"Well she is due July 5th, and kicks like mad; I have a few names picked out…"
Lucas stood outside the door, listening intently. He was disappointed that Brooke was willing to share more details about the baby to his mother then him, but he understood, particularly since talking to Nathan and Peyton. Lucas had to show how supportive and responsible he could be, then maybe Brooke could start to trust him again. He walked briskly towards the door, ready to show the world, and most importantly Brooke what a great father he is going to be.