Chapter 20- I Will Always Love You

A/N: Hey Everyone, sorry it has been a while, but now that uni is starting up, I will have more time (and access to the internet) to update more regularly. reviewslove!!

Thanks!!BTW a special thanks to othx3BRUCAS for helping me make Chapter 18 clearer. (BTW I resubmitted it, so if you haven't check it out again) L xoxo

Peyton slowly opened her eyes, the image of Brooke's apartment sharpening into focus. However, the image that greeted her was one she thought she would never see. All three children were seated at the kitchen table, but that was not the unusual part. It was the presence of a vivacious red head and her raven haired boyfriend that made the situation particularly strange for Peyton.

She slowly moved Jake's arm off her and tip toed to the kitchen area.

"What are you doing here Rachel?"

"I got a call from Nathan. He and Haley thought you and Jake might need some respite after last night"

Peyton wearily nodded her head and reached for the coffee Rachel had just placed on the table.

"Plus, Cooper thought it would be a good idea to have a trial run, you know" she said rubbing her swollen stomach.

"Did you see Ella last night?" Peyton said looking at the kids as they at their cereal and chatted between them.

"Yeah, we dropped by, Ella was still in surgery though" Rachel said looking downcast

"Still?" Peyton asked surprised at the longevity of the surgery

"It was about 4 hours in, Mouth said that she was holding in there" Rachel said as she took a bite of toast

"Oh thank god, do you think it is a good sign we haven't heard anything?"

"I think no news is definitely good news"

A shrill filled the previously silent room, stirring a wake Jake in the process.

Peyton grabbed her phone quickly and opened it without looking at the ID.

"Brooke?" she asked frantically

"No its Nathan, Peyton" he said in a monotone

"How is she, Nate?" Peyton asked softly, not wanting to alarm the kids.

"She just got out of surgery, you might want to come by" he said in a sombre tone.

"Jake and I are on our way"

"You'd better hurry"

The urgency in Nathan's voice wasn't one that Peyton never liked to hear. She was used to the "Dad" Nathan, "Cleaning up after Lucas" Nathan, and "Loving Husband" Nathan. But she had not heard this is "life or death" Nathan since Lucas suffered his heart attack in senior year. And that scared Peyton more than she possibly knew.

Peyton and Jake quickly gathered their belongings, said goodbye to Cooper, Rachel and the kids and rushed out the door.

The image of a broken man greeted Peyton and Jake as they rushed down the NICU corridor. Lucas, who had not changed his clothes from the previous day, his hair sticking up in all directions from a sleepless night of fret and worry, sat opposite the nursery, his head in his hands.

"Lucas" Peyton said as ran down the hall

"Peyton" he said as they hugged.

"How is she, man?" Jake asked as they man hugged

"Honestly, not good"

"Where's Brooke?" Peyton said looking up and down the corridor.

Lucas looked sadly into the nursery, and pointed to the humidicrib directly opposite.

"She hasn't moved since Ella came out of surgery"

Brooke sat at the end of the crib; her head resting on a table, watching her daughter's chest rise and fall with every breath she took. She was determined not to close her eyes in case the doctors missed something or Ella deteriorated. Ella laid motionless, in a deep slumber, tubes running to and from her body in a multitude of directions. What scared Brooke the most was the fact that Ella's brain seemed to be exposed to the world. The doctors explained to her that due to the neurosurgery, they needed to wait before the swelling went down to close her skull. A tear rolled down Brooke's cheek as she continued to watch Ella, and wondered if she was to blame.

Brooke felt a gentle shake of her shoulder.

"Brooke, how is she?"

"Peyton, when did you get here?" Brooke asked, surprised to see her blonde haired friend

"Not long ago, Rachel thought we might want to see Ella too" she said softly,

"Rachel is here?" Brooke asked while still watching Ella
"No she is looking after James, Lily and Jen"

"Oh"

Peyton pulled up a chair next to Brooke and looked at her carefully. Peyton had rarely seen Brooke in this worked up state, and Peyton couldn't really blame her either. Brooke's face was stained with tears, her mascara from the day before had run down her face and the black watery marks were a reminder of the tears shed in the last 24 hours. Her clothes were crumpled from spending the night in the waiting room, and Peyton guessed from the pale colour of her face that Brooke had neglected to eat since shopping with Haley the day before.

"Brooke, honey, have you eaten lately?" Peyton asked Brooke carefully

"No, I'm not hungry"

"Are you sure, because I can sit with Ella while you go to the cafeteria" Peyton offered

"No" Brooke replied stubbornly

"Okay..how about we just sit here together then?"

"Ok"

Brooke and Peyton remained in silence for a few moments. Side by side they watched Ella sleep. Brooke suddenly grasped Peyton's hand tightly, holding on for dear life. Peyton knew more than most the extent in which Brooke had loved and lost. Whether it was her parents, the loss of friendship or that of her true love, each event shaped the way in which Brooke lived and breathed. Peyton knew as much as Brooke was pushing away the people that were there for her in her time of need, she felt alone in the world. Brooke didn't need someone to understand, to pity or even comfort her. She needed someone just to be there. And Peyton wanted to be that person.

"So how are you holding up, Luke?" Jake asked, handing Lucas machine made coffee.

"Not sure really" he replied, absent mindedly playing with the handle if the cup

"You're not sure" Jake said slowly

"Yeah, I was just thinking about Ella, how small she is" Luke said, watching the nursery once more.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Luke. Jen was small as well" Jake said, trying to comfort his grieving friend.

"But she wasn't premature was she Jake?" Lucas replied, almost spitefully.

"No"

"See"

"Here Luke, Jen and Lily made this for you and Brooke" Jake handed Lucas a hand drawn picture full of colourful inscriptions.

Lily had drawn three stick figures on the page, while Jenny had written in large cursive writing "Unkie Luke, Auntie B and Baby Ella"

"Lily told me to tell you she drew you smiling because everyone is so sad" Jake said, smiling sadly.

"She's a smart kid" Luke said sadly thumbing the drawing of Ella

"Ella is going to be a smart kid too" Jake said confidently

"I sure hope so" Lucas replied wishfully

"Just have a little faith, Luke"

"Where's Jake?" Brooke murmured

"I think he is outside with Luke"

"Oh"

'Out of interest why hasn't Luke come in here the 2 and a half hours we have been sitting here?" Peyton asked, watching Brooke for her emotions to change

"I dunno" Brooke replied, but Peyton could see that Brooke was lying through her teeth.

"A-huh" Peyton replied, waiting for Brooke to spill the truth

"I guess we are avoiding each other" she admitted

"Why, B.Davis?"

"Something happened" Brooke stated cryptically

"Something happened..." she repeated

"Yeah" Brooke said, as she remained watching the baby.

Brooke's head rested against Lucas' shoulder, a sob escaping her small body. Lucas could feel her heart beat increasing rapidly, her small hands grasping onto his biceps, holding on for dear life. He moved his arm, and began to run circles over her back trying to soothe her now wailing cries. Lucas looked around to find where the others had gone. They seemed to have disappeared. Lucas felt nervous about this. He wasn't sure it was because they hadn't been this close since Ella was conceived, or if he was just nervous that he couldn't handle the outpouring of emotions. What he couldn't handle was the fact that Brooke was able to be vulnerable around him again. Lucas felt like he was transported back to a time where his feelings for Brooke were so intense he wanted to head for the hills, mainly because he felt like he wanted to reciprocate her feelings. Brooke was so open with her feelings and emotions and that scared Lucas. She wasn't afraid to tell him how she felt, whether it was love or otherwise. But sitting next to Brooke years later, facing the possible death of their daughter, Lucas wasn't scared anymore. He didn't want to run, or make some excuse to avoid her. All Lucas knew is that he needed Brooke in his life, and he couldn't live without her. And this feeling wasn't going away, Lucas knew that for sure.

"Brooke"

She continued to sob into his pale blue shirt.

He carefully moved his hand and lifted her chin so she was looking directly into his eyes. Her chocolate brown eyes were full of pain and sorrow, for which Lucas was mostly to blame. He needed to convince her that he wasn't going to walk out of her life again.

"Ella is going to make it through this" he said softly

"How do you know?"

"Because I know" he replied simply

"Tell me something happy, Luke. I need to feel something" she said watching the babies inside the NICU

Lucas thought for a moment before continuing.

"It was 5 years ago Lily was just born"

"Yeah Lily would make Oscar the grouch happy" Brooke said proudly

Lucas ignored the comment and continued

"Mom was still in a coma, and I was checking on Haley, she had just gone into labour"

"Oh yeah…that was a fun day" Brooke replied sarcastically

"I walked into the nursery, and Lily wasn't in her crib" he continued

"Oh" she said realising where the story was going

"I frantically asked the nurses where she was, thinking Dan might have taken her. Finally someone mentioned Lily being taken to see Mom. I ran to the Mom's room and stopped short when I looked through the window. There you were, Lily in your arms, singing Rocker by Baby, that's when I knew you were the love of my life. In that moment I couldn't imagine anyone else I would have a kid with. And even more I couldn't wait to be with you"

"What happened?" she asked quietly

"Peyton happened, Chase happened, Rachel happened"

"Ella happened"

"And I wouldn't change that. I want you to know that I never loved Peyton or Rachel as much as I love you" he said honestly

"You love me?" she squeaked

"I'll always love you, Brooke" Lucas watched Brooke's reaction. Her mouth opened and closed slowly, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Lucas lent towards Brooke, breathing in her lavender scent. He carefully reached up and stroked her cheek, Brooke jumping slightly at the sudden contact. She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply, finally letting go of the past, of all her worries and guilt.

Lucas moved towards Brooke, unbeknownst to her, gently pushed his lips against hers. Brooke's eyes shot open, surprised by the action, but without hesitating, reciprocated. He felt the soft texture of her lips against his, the kiss turning from something sweet and innocent to passionate and hungry.

Lucas suddenly broke the kiss, shocking Brooke in the process

"Marry me" he murmured

"What??"

"Marry me Brooke"

"Why?" She asked still shocked at his outburst.

"I want to marry you, Brooke. I want Ella to grow up with 2 parents in the one house. I don't want her to have the same upbringing as me, Brooke. As much as I want to believe people change, people are still going to whisper about the person who was born out of wedlock, who lives out of a suitcase. I don't want that for Ella. I know how hard it was for my mother raising me by herself. As much as I tried to ignore it, it was hard to ignore names like bastard or illegitimate."

"But you called Ella illegitimate" she said painfully, recalling what Peyton had told her.

"I did, and I am not proud of it. I was just upset, Brooke. I want do this right, Cheery. If things were different we would have gotten married, and then have children"

"But then we wouldn't have Ella"

"I know, I wouldn't change it now. So I want to marry you Brooke, I want to see Ella grow up, see her first laugh, first steps and first everything else"

Brooke still looked stunned as Lucas concluded his speech.

"Brooke?" he asked nervously

"No, I'm not going to marry you" she said as baby Ella was being wheeled past in the humidicrib at that moment.

Brooke shot up of her seat and ran into the NICU.

A/N: So that was chapter 20...i know some of you probably weren't happy that Lucas called Ella illegitimate in a previous chapter, and hopefully I addressed it here.Anyway,please review!!!L