Authors note: i decided to put the story-note in the end of the chapter but I just want to say thanks (once again) for all the reviews. They really make my day. And i'm glad you liked the dialog between Brucas in the last chapter.

Plz check out the other story i'm juggeling; Gamble Everyting For Love.

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CHAPTER 8 – You had a bad day…

The kiss seem like it could go on forever. It's so natural to feel Lucas' lips against her own and the softness and the taste of him is just so familiar. So good. His hand is tangled in her hair pulling her closer and she wants so badly to just give in. Her body craves him but little bells of warning keep ringing in the back of her head telling her that this is too dangerous. So finally she pulls back.

"Lucas… we shouldn't do this…it'll only complicate things."

He looks confused. "But why? I love you…"

She sighs. He says he loves her but it's not the first time and she knows that the three little words, however beautiful they sound, really don't have to mean anything. At least not coming from those newly kissed lips of his.

"It's not enough…"

Her voice comes out a little bitter and she resents herself for it but she just feels like she needs some kind of proof. Something solid that she can trust. She doesn't have the time to play games with him anymore. And her heart isn't strong enough. But she sees the devastation in his eyes and she softens her voice.

"…at least not right now Luke. I hear you say that you love me, but it's not so much as what you say, it's what you do… I have so much on my mind and I need to focus. I can't handle making any decisions if I have to worry about trusting you…"

He strokes back the hair that has fallen into her eyes. "But we should make those decisions together. I'm not going anywhere Brooke, okay?"

She stands up and organizes her face back into the girl she believes he wants to see. The confident, cheery Brooke and she smiles at him.

"You know what?" she says. "If you promise to buy me icecream later I will let you take me to the doctors office tomorrow. I have an appointment at two o'clock."

But Lucas isn't buying it. Not the fake smile or the deal she's handing him. Instead he pulls her back down to sit beside him. "Stop joking around. I'm serious. Of course I'm taking you to the doctor but I need you to let me in on this."

And she does see his point. How ever screwed up this situation is, he is the father of the baby she's carrying. And this was exactly what both Mouth and Rachel had been telling her for two weeks; eventually she had to let him take part of this. Because she already knows that she could never deny Lucas to see his son or daughter.

Without looking at him she says;

"We can make the decision on whether or not to keep the baby together, but not as a couple… Because if I have the baby I have to make sure I'm ready for it even if there should never be an 'us' again. Do you understand? And you have your own decisions you need to make, right?"

He nods slowly and he bites his lip as if there's something else he wants to say but then he just puts his arm around her and she relaxes against his shoulder.

"Brooke, are you serious about leaning towards abortion? Is that what this doctor's appointment is about?" His fingers are stroking little circles on her bare upper-arm.

"No, tomorrow's just a pregnancy check-up" she says as she snuggles herself deeper into his t-shirt not wanting the eventual eye contact. "I guess we should probably talk about this before we go there… in case the doctor wants to know if I'm keeping it."

Honestly, she hasn't really decided anything at all. The comment about abortion yesterday had mainly been to hurt him. Abortion really scares her, especially after what Shelly had told her at Tric, but being a single mother at eighteen is scaring her almost as much and she doesn't have a clue what to do. First she needs to know where his head is in all of this. But the clock is ticking.

He untangles from her and when he gets up from the couch she feels cold.

"There's something I need to do" he says seriously. "I'll be back in a couple of hours and then we'll talk, okay?"

She nods and wraps her arms around herself to keep some of his body's warmth with her. Before the kiss he had said that he wasn't letting her out of here before they talked all this out. That she wasn't allowed to run. And now when she finally tried to open up the discussion, then he was the one leaving.

"Okay" she says tiredly. "Just go."

When she woke up this morning she had been sure that this was going to be a bad day and now she is proven to be right.

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"Life is strange…" he thinks heading out the door. "It's like everything keeps going around in circles."

In the beginning of last year he had met this sexy cheerleader who had been way out of his league. She had taken him out on these crazy adventures involving sex, alcohol, really bad pop music and loads of shopping. First she had just mesmerized him because she was so different from everything else he knew, but he had really started to like her, the girl behind the mask, the girl behind the red door. Of course, that was before he had broken her heart when he kissed her best friend.

He ended up regretting it when he realized that the 'liking' of the girl had turned into love. The sexy cheerleader had proven to be the most amazing girl he had ever met. For months he loved her from a distance until earlier this year when she had given him a second chance. With non-exclusive dating. It had been another one of her crazy ideas and when she finally started trusting him enough to be his girlfriend again it had made him the happiest guy ever.

Until he had once again gone off and kissed the blond girl…

He wishes that the kiss in the library had never happened. Because now, one and a half year after it had all started, he seems to be back to the non-exclusive dating scenario. Or if Brooke had it her way maybe not more than friends. He had been so stupid letting it all turn out like this.

And although life seems to loop itself, things keep adding on. This time he's not just mesmerized by a cheerleader named Brooke Davis, and he doesn't just love that girl behind the red door. This time she is also the mother of his unborn child and if she was feeling insecure before, then this time she sure as hell doesn't trust him.

He thinks about that night on the beach at the 'end of summer-party' and he gets a flashback of Brooke being surrounded by lifeguards as he himself is saying;

"One of these nights you're going to realize it. I'm the guy for you Brooke Davis…"

But he'd fucked up once again and now those words are echoing falsely in his head.
Stepping into his car he thinks;

"But I meant it Brooke, and I still am… You'll see."

It's after lunchtime when Lucas steps into the school. If this was an ordinary Thursday he would be on his way to health-class but he's not here for the classes. He's here because the girl he loves doesn't seem to believe him whatever he says and he needs to set the record straight, even if it means hurting someone else.
He thinks of what Brooke said.

"It's not so much what you say, it's what you do…"

Okay, so now he's doing. He roams the corridors and suddenly Peyton walks up beside him. She seems embarrassed and he raises an eyebrow as if to say 'I was just looking for you'. And he was.

"Hey Luke… can we talk?" she says silently.

He nods. She probably needs to be in her calculus-class in exactly three minutes but since she's offering to cut it he'll take her up on it. This talk between him and Peyton has been long time coming. Without saying anything more they walk through the cafeteria and out to the schoolyard. Stray students are still out there, on their way to different home-rooms, but soon enough they're alone and they sit at one of the tables.

Peyton clears her throat. "I'm sorry for springing the 'news' on you like that the other day… Maybe I should have just let her tell you."

"Yeah, maybe you should've… but then again maybe not. At least now I know."

Peyton's eyes wander away from his and over to the library-building.

"So, are you and Brooke okay? I mean have you decided what to do?"

"We've talked… and I guess we're fine. But she doesn't trust me and I don't really blame her. Our relationship has kind of been a train wreck since I accidentally told her about the kiss you and I shared. Or our whatever it is… She doesn't want be with me because of the trust-issues. At least she's not dead set on abortion anymore…"

He seeks her eyes but she still looks away. "Brooke said she was going to have an abortion?"

"Yeah, she says that she doesn't want to bring an unwanted baby to this world. I've told her I love her and that I would really want her to have the baby but as I said… trust… And I kind of need to talk to you about that…"

There's an awkward silence between them while Theresa and Bevin passes them waving "Hi Lucas, hi Peyton…" They wave back and wait until they are completely alone again. Or at least they think so since none of them can see Rachel sitting by a tree a little to their left.

"Look Peyt, remember when you asked me who I wanted standing next to me? You know, at greatest moment in my life…"

She nods silently.

"When I said Brooke I wasn't lying. And this baby-thing doesn't change that. I love Brooke and I know that we all had this weird love-triangle for more than one and a half years, but it's gotta stop now."

For a moment he sees the hurt in her eyes, but then she smiles. "If that's what you want Luke. So, does that mean that you and I aren't going to hang out anymore?"

"If that's what it takes for me to get back into Brooke's heart, then yes. I'm sorry Peyton, but it seems she was more hurt by that kiss and by the time you and I spend together than I first thought."

Peyton looks down into the ground, kicking some gravel with her tennis shoe. The smile is starting to look upside-down and she bites her bottom lip. He feels sorry for her because he's sensing that she too cares about their friendship and that she will probably feel lonely without either him or Brooke at her side. But as he'd just said; If that's what it took…

"Oh Lucas…" she says with a low voice. "I gotta tell you something…"

She suddenly looks like she's going to cry. And he wonders what the hell's been up with his life lately. All the women around him seemed to go off in crying-fits as soon as he got closer than three feet.

"What Peyton?"

"I tried to tell you the night before Brooke's birthday. You know, at the blackout…" She looks up into the clear sky, blinking away tears. "I know why Brooke doesn't want to be with you."

"What?!"

"I told Brooke something just before Nathans and Haleys wedding… After that she broke off our friendship saying that if we never spoke again it would be fine with her… And I'm guessing that's also her biggest trust-issue with you… It's all because of me…"

"Damn it Peyton, just say it! What did you tell her?"

"I told her I loved you…"

He hears her but then again he doesn't. What was she saying? And what did she mean?
"As a friend?" he asks even though he already knows the answer. But she shakes her head.

"No. I told her I was in love with you. That my feelings for you was still there… What I said to you in the library wasn't just me being delirious."

He just looks at her in silence for a long time, and then he slowly gets to his feet. He should probably just feel flattered but instead he's angry and he takes a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Why would you do that to her? She's your best friend…"

This explains so much and suddenly Brooke's whole break-up monolog seems so much clearer. This was why she hadn't wanted him to talk to Peyton at the wedding and why she had been so sad at the reception. Damn, he had been such an asshole! Brooke had been pregnant and vulnerable and had just been stabbed in the back by her best friend, and he had just shrugged his shoulders and called her childish.

Peyton still sits at the table and cries in silence.

"You know what?" he says to her, forcing her to meet his stare. "You had no right. And you have no right to say that now either. Since me and Brooke got together again I haven't said anything to make you think i loved you back. There was a time when I really had feelings for you, so much so that I cheated on my girlfriend. But you had your chance, and you passed on it twice! First time at that basketball fundraiser when you had just broken up with Nathan, and the second time when Brooke and I broke up after we made out in that hotel! But this time you were supposed to be my friend and be happy that I was in a great relationship. You were supposed to be happy for Brooke!!"

"Don't you think I know that" she yells. "But you can't decide who to love, right?"

"No you can't. But you sure as hell can decide to shut up about it and not go ruining other peoples lives!"

He turns and starts to walk away but then he hears her saying; "I just wanted to be honest… and you always save me…" and he swings back.

"Well then go be honest somewhere else. Stay away from me and stay away from Brooke. None of us can deal with you right now. By the way, I saved you enough to last four lifetimes!"

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Over by the tree Rachel picks up her cell phone. And as Lucas disappears and Peyton gets up and walks to her car, Rachel punches Brooke's number on speed-dial. The signals keep ringing but finally Brooke picks up on the other end.

"Hey friend! Were you sleeping?"

Brooke yawns into the receiver. "Yeah…"

"But at least your little slutty ass is awake now, and that's good because I have something really important to tell you… I know you had a bad couple of days lately room-mate but everything is getting better starting now."

"What do you mean? You mysteriously found a way to reverse time?"

"No. Even better. Listen..."

As you could see i decided to not make a "twist" in this chapter. I know I said I was going to but I just didn't feel like more of Peytons stab-in-the-back-intrigues right now. I'm fed up with that concept from Mark Schwan so i re-wrote the chapter and I've decided to take the story in a diffrent direction. But hey, dont worry, this is and will always be a Brucas-story. I'm ALL Team Brooke! Just that for now i'm concentrating on the pregnancy at hand. I hope that's enough for you guys and that i didn't dissapoint you. :) Please Review /Lynn