Author's note: No throwing tomatoes you guys… LOL. I know I'm a little late on updating this, but I'm doing it now, right? I hope you like this chapter. Title and lyrics is from the song by the same name, performed by a group called Dropline. (thanks for finding me the song Cami) And for all of you that are starting to get frustrated with the lack of BL-baby, just be patient. It wont be long…

--

CHAPTER 34 – Fly Away From Here (Graduation Day)

Sun comes up, then goes away
So does Graduation Day
You did your walk of fame and that was it


It's humid and unusually hot for being this early in the morning and Lucas walks barefoot down the driveway to pick up the morning newspaper. He's been up since six, unable to sleep because he's nervous. He had taken a jog to clear his senses, and then a long cold shower, before sitting down in the kitchen with his mother and little brother. And at eight Brooke had shuffled into the sunlit room, smiling widely. She had happily sat down on his lap and he had kissed her and smiled back because he knew how much she had looked forward to today during the last weeks.

Today; the day of their high school graduation. Their very last day as students of Tree Hill High.

He grabs the paper thrown on the lawn and heads back up to the kitchen-door, and he enters the house just in time to hear his girlfriend's loud and high-pitched sound of frustration. Then there's a slam and as he looks out into the hallway to see the door to their bedroom still rattling on its hinges.

"What's going on?" he asks his mother, feeling more then a bit confused, and Karen just smiles motherly. He drops the paper on the table, strokes the soft peach-fuzz on his baby brother's head, and then heads towards his room to deal with whatever it is that is making Brooke upset.

Because it's obvious that Brooke is NOT a happy camper…

-

It'sso not funny. Not even remotely close to amusing.

And as Brooke yells out in frustration and throws the garment on the floor she even stomps on it a little. She's not sure why, since it's fabric and won't in any way feel pain, but at least it makes her feel better. And then she hears the sound of someone gently clearing his throat.

She looks up and sees Lucas in the doorway.

"I'm not very social right now," she mutters and he nods, seemingly having trouble with keeping a straight face.

"I see that. If I was a graduation-robe I'd be running for my life."

The left side of his mouth twitches upwards to create a flash of that half-smile she adores so much, but even so, she manages to still look grumpy. She's angry and she's going to stay this way. It doesn't matter that her boyfriend is all gorgeous standing there barefoot and tanned.

"Hah! Aren't you the classic comedian?" she sarcastically spits back, but since his smile still lingers, she knows that he's not hurt by her harsh tone, probably more amused.

She picks the blue fabric off of the floor and throws it on the bed instead. However much she hates the thing it still falls under the category of 'clothes', and if there's one thing she handles with respect, then it's pieces of clothing.

"So what did it do to deserve this violent treatment, huh?"

Lucas comes up to her, cups her face and kisses her forehead while chuckling a little, and at first she just glares back, but then she surrenders and leans into him.

"It makes me look like a freaking circus tent, complete with a whole bunch of elephants inside! I'm seriously suing the principal if he tries to make me wear it. I hate it…"

Her voice goes from angry to whiny and she pushes out her lower lip before she finishes with "…and blue is not even my color Luke…"

Lucas laughs now and sucks her lip in between his teeth, and her spontaneous response is to open her mouth and kiss him hungrily. And when he slips her tank top over her head and says; "I bet it's not that bad. Lets just get you out of these PJ's," then she's like putty in his hands.

Damn it. Why can't she ever stay angry when he touches her?

-

Eventually his girlfriend calms down and agrees to wear the robe even though it's blue, at least during the ceremony of getting their diplomas. He's not sure if it's the half hour they spent in bed that does it, or if it's the promise that he made that he'd go with her to the mall afterwards to get a new outfit for tonight's party.

Either way, they're finally able to get ready and then his mother is the one that almost makes them late, first by deciding to feed little Keith at the last second, and then by realizing that she had forgotten her camera. And although they had already gotten half way to school, she demanded that he'd go back. All this whilst Keith slept like a log in his car seat, and Brooke spoke loudly on the phone with Rachel and every two seconds complained about the heat.

Finally he can't help but laugh. Life with Brooke and his mother is often like living in a nuthouse, but that doesn't mean that he isn't loving it.

"Mom, I'm gonna miss you when we leave," he blurts out when they have parked the car in the schoolyard parking lot, and his mother almost gets teary-eyed as she straightens his tie.

Brooke laughs beside him and mockingly fake-coughs "mamas-boy" before turning to his mother herself.

"Don't worry Karen," she sooths. "Luke will be back like three days after we leave, because otherwise he'll starve. I can't cook, remember? And besides, it's still like two months left…"

Strangely enough, the easiness with which Brooke admits to her total lack of cooking-skills, and the fact that she's never once showed any jealousness towards the bond he shares with his mom, makes him love her so immensely that he gets teary-eyed himself.

But Brooke stops him by flinging her arms around his neck and kisses him before whispering;

"If you dare to start crying now, I'll kill you. I'm pregnant and hormonal and my mascara is not waterproof. So you stay dry-eyed, okay boytoy?"

He's about to joke back, to say that he can't promise anything and that it's her fault in the first place. But when his mother leans into the car and unfastens his baby brother, Brooke sees her chance. In a second she has his balls in a tight grip, and squeezing them just a little too hard, she repeats herself.

"OkayBoytoy?"

He nods, laughing, and then squeaks out;

"Anything for you pretty girl."

---

They finally make it into school and they join the rest of their friends in assembly in their old classroom. Their homeroom teacher, Mrs Collins, congratulate them all to having had four wonderful years at the school and Haley cries when the woman tells them that they'll soon be off school for the rest of the summer, which of course earns breakouts of laughter from the rest of them.

Brooke sits in her old seat, the one she's had for almost everyday the last year, and she's rested against Lucas chest. Nervousness has started to build up for real, and for the first time in forever she's actually ecstatic that she's not student body president anymore. No one is pressuring her to hold a speech or come up with wise words about the future.

If they would she's pretty sure she'd come up with nothing. Because right now she's just pleased to have made it this far.

Lucas' warm breath against her neck is reassuring, and when its time to go out onto the schoolyard to go through with the real ceremony, she's holding on to his hand firmly.

There's so much more people there to watch then she's ever imagined and for a second she feels a little sting in her heart that her parents isn't be there with all the others, but then she sees Karen and even Larry Sawyer, and she realizes that she has whatever she needs right here.

They take seats upfront and with tears glistening in her eyes she listens to Haley hold a wonderful valedictorian speech. Feeling proud she watches her friend as she brilliantly sums up the four years, and she's glad that Haley has the guts to mention Jimmy and the school shooting as a major turning-point for them all, even though it has them all crying.

She gives them advice, tells them in her wonderful tutorgirl-way to accomplish great things, and then lastly Haley reminds them that the friends they've all made during these four years can be lifetime friendships.

"Remember…" her friend says and looks directly at her and Lucas and Nathan where they sit right below. "Best friends are not just friends. It's the second family you were allowed to choose…"

--

It's such an amazing, yet totally mind-boggling feeling to stand up there. The principal smiles and hands Brooke the diploma and she beams back at him. In that instant she even forgets how angry she had been when the same man decided to take away her positions as cheer-captain and student body president a couple of months back.

"Thank you principal Turner" she says almost shyly and grasps his hand. He shakes it warmly and answers "For what, miss Davis?"

"For my education. I mean, for not flunking me when you found me in the janitor's closet with Adrian Miller in sophomore year, for letting me graduate although I got pregnant… and for all the other bullshit that I've pulled in the meantime."

He smiles back.

"I would never have kicked you out Brooke. I told you I believed in you, didn't I? The first year you got chosen as the cheer-captain, remember? Well, you proved me right. And I hope that having this baby won't stop you from excelling in college. You have it in you. You just need to believe in your own ability."

Then the principal pats her shoulder and turns towards the audience down on the lawn.

"Brooke Davis, class of 2007. Congratulations!"

-

Rachel goes up on the podium less then five minutes after Brooke, and Lucas watches as the redhead and his girlfriend hugs. Brooke seems close to tears now and he smiles reassuringly at her. Because he knows that even though Brooke has been looking forward to this, graduating is still also one of the things that scare his pretty girl the most. Life beyond the borders of high school frightens her more then it frightens anyone, because here she's been the queen…

…and in college she'll be starting out as a statistic. The cheerleader that got knocked up and became a teenage mom.

He's certain that she'll be just as popular at UNC as she's been at Tree Hill High, but so far he hasn't thoroughly convinced her.

Haley follows shortly after Rachel, still sorted under 'J' due to the double-name 'James-Scott', and Nathan and Deb hold the twins while she receives her diploma and honour-student certificate. Then it's Bevin, who of course trips on the few steps up, Mouth who starts crying, and then the ongoing stream of students between the letters 'M' and 'S' until the podium is almost full.

He and Nathan make themselves ready to go up too and he takes his place behind Peyton in the line. He hasn't really said a word to the curly blonde since he yelled at her at Nathan's and Haley's house after they all found the tape, being all to pre-occupied with sorting things out with Brooke. But now he sees her look at Brooke and Rachel, standing hand in hand, and he notices how sad she seems. It's as if it's finally dawned upon her that she's been replaced.

"Hey Peyt," he says and touches her arm. "Long time no talk to."

Peyton turns and smiles towards him and Nathan, and he even gives her a hug.

"I heard you're moving to Savannah to start that Art-college, right? I talked to Jake on the phone last night and he says you two might give things another try."

"Yeah, thanks to Brooke… I'm not sure I deserve it though." She makes a guilty face. "How's Brooke and the baby by the way?"

She seems very low-key and he wonders if it's the same things scaring her that scares Brooke. The girls had after all been best friends for years, and even though people tended to see only their differences, he knows that in a lot of ways, due to their once so close bond, they were two peas in a pod.

"Brooke is fine. It's just three weeks left now so she's getting a little nervous. You should ask her yourself…"

It's just two more people in front of Peyton now and she looks down into the ground.

"I don't think she wants to talk to me after our little conversation at prom, and especially not after me punching her right in the face over that tape… and well… I don't really blame her…"

She turns forward now, ready to walk up on the podium and he stops her one last time.

"Peyton…"

"Yes?"

She turns to me like we're alone
Inside a secret telephone
Says the words that no one else can hear

He looks at her seriously, but still with the friendly warmth they once had before it all got so complicated.

"Youdo deserve it. Jake and art-college and whatever other stuff you want in life. I believe in you and so does Brooke. I think you know that."

She smiles. Blinks a couple of times as if trying to hold back tears and he smiles back. Graduation seems to make not only himself emotional, but everybody who're present.

"Thanks…" she almost whispers. "You don't know how much that means. And for all that it's worth, I'm really happy for you."

And then she walks up to graduate.

-

Peyton grabs her diploma, and just like the rest of her classmates, she goes to stand on the left side of the podium where there's hardly no room left. She looks back and sees Lucas now with the principal, and the blond boy that she had once thought herself to be so much in love with, actually looks grown.

The blue robe brings out his eyes and his grin stretches from ear to ear when the principal officially congratulates him to the UNC writers-scholarship he's gotten. He then looks past her, locks eyes with Brooke further down the row, and he looks so in love that she almost laughs.

And it's funny… Lucas looks all handsome, but she feels no jealousy. No heartache. Just an immense sense of pride. And she's so happy that they made it, Brooke and Lucas. If somewhere down the road, she and Jake would look at each other like Lucas looks at Brooke right now, then their high school years would probably be rewritten into a teenage tv-series. Haley and Nathan, Brooke and Lucas, Bevin and Skills…

Tree Hill would be the one place heard of where people actually found their big love in high school.

It'd be the One Tree Hill.

-

Nathan is the last one of the friends entering the podium. With shaking hands he pulls at his robe to straighten it and looks out over the crowd. His mom and Karen are sitting upfront, his mom holding both Josh and Jamie, and Karen holding Lucas' little brother. He smiles and waves at them before realizing that he probably looks rather corny.

Then he walks towards the principal and reaches out his hand to accept his high school diploma. And as he feels the paper in his palm he lets out a sigh of relief.

Two years ago he'd been a guy losing his way. He had hated most of his family, been under the control of his father, on his way to flunk out of eighty percent of his classes and basketball had pretty much ruled his life.

Now, his life is pretty much the complete opposite. And he's happy. Ridiculously happy.

Instead of being controlled by his dad he has become one himself. Instead of having basketball rule his life, he's back to loving the game. And instead of flunking out of high school, he's now on his way to college, thanks to one beautiful Haley James-Scott.

Lucas, the brother he'd thought he would always hate, is now over by Brooke and as Nathan takes the principal's hand and shakes it, he watches Brooke and Lucas kiss.

"Thanks…" he mumbles to Principal Turner and thinks of something Brooke had said their sophomore year.

"I might not be the brightest girl, but I'm hella cute and I'm very flexible… I'll just marry rich and never have kids. That way I'll have time for my biggest talent; shopping."

And as he walks over to stand next to Haley, he thinks that he's not the only one in the bunch that has changed. They all have.

Principal Turner then steps up to the pulpit and clears his throat. It's so quiet that one can hear a needle drop. And then the darker man says:

"Class of 2007. I'm proud to announce that all of you have now graduated!"

She said I paid attention to myself
I found that I was someone else
Once a child and now I've grown within

-

The bonfire is lit and Brooke is curled up against Lucas, satisfied with just watching as the flames lick the wood. He laughs and talks to some of the guys from the team and the sound of his soft chuckles is relaxing.

They've spent the afternoon with just being lazy and letting it all soak in and now, at eight, they have all gone down to the big graduation party at the beach. Rachel is getting them drinks, Nathan and Haley have left the twins for an hour to be able to hang out too, and in some way Brooke feels as even though they'll have all summer to hang out, it still somehow feels like this night is final.

Lucas runs lazy fingers through her hair, wraps her in strong arms and blows hot breaths on her neck right behind her ear. And she shivers. Smiles.

Sitting here, between Lucas' knees rested against his chest, just adds on to the perfection of this day. Of this utterly beautiful, yet completely scary last day of high school.

She sees Peyton sit with Mouth on the other side of the big fire and she thinks that if she hadn't gotten pregnant, or more specifically, if Peyton hadn't gone after Lucas, then this last summer before college would have been spent with Peyton. They had planned it since freshmen year, how they would spend two months travelling in Europe before the seriousness started. Peyton longed to see the art-galleries in Paris and Rome and she herself had just really looked forward to shop and flirt with cute Italian boys, and of course to be with her best friend.

But they hadn't talked about that since a while before Nathan's and Haley's second wedding. Not since that day in Peyton's bedroom when she had told the curly blonde that she didn't care if they ever spoke again.

Now she would be giving birth to Lucas' daughter on same said summer. She would be going through labor and childbirth during the same time that she should have been drunk in Rome, if the original plan had been followed out. And she would be doing it without Peyton.

For the first time in months that thought actually saddens her.

"Best friends forever, right B Davis?"

"Of course P Sawyer. Hoe's over Bros."

"Yeah, buds over studs…"

She sighs and Lucas instantly wraps her tighter in his arms and stops talking to his team-mates.

"What's the matter baby?" he asks and places a kiss on her hair, as if he senses that she is sad and needs comfort.

"Nothing…"

He chuckles softly and she can feel the sound travel through his belly and chest like wonderful ripples of safeness. "You can't fool me Brooke" he whispers. "And if you don't tell me then I'll bug all night and you know it."

She pretends to be annoyed and mutters "I'm sure you will…" but in honesty, this is one of the things she loves so much about him. That he knows her well enough to know when to push and when not to.

"Then spill" he ushers again, this time covering her protruding belly with his hands. "I know you want to."

She sighs again and thinks for a moment. Not sure if she should really voice these thoughts out loud. Because even though they never talk about it anymore, she knows that Lucas carries around a lot of guilt over the fact that Peyton and herself still hasn't mended their friendship.

He waits of course, never the one to stress her, and as the teenage boys around them go back to talking about basketball and weightlifting and the new shorter cheerleader-skirts, he simply trails patterns on her stretched skin with his fingertips.

"I miss Peyton…" she finally says, and for a fracture of second his hand stops its ministrations, telling her that he still gets that pang of guilt.

"And not the way you think," she continues, since now that she's started she might as well finish. "It's just so weird to me that we've glided so far apart. We shared so much. And sometimes when I hear her laugh or see that her eyes look sad, it's like my brain reacts instinctively. I go on autopilot and I want to laugh too or hug her, and then I remember that we're not close anymore, and that I have no clue why she's laughing or why she seems sad."

His hand is moving again. Outlining a baby they both long to see and hold, and she knows he has already started brooding. If she would turn and look at him right now she knows she'd find him squinting, forehead in creases, trying to think of a way to solve this for her. And as if to prove she's right she hears him mutter "I wish I could make it good between you two again…"

She takes one of his hands and lifts it to her lips. Kisses his palm gently.

"It's not your fault Lucas. Peyton and I have grown apart. We probably would have even if you hadn't come between us. It would probably just have taken a little longer… and after the 'tape thing', I mean I'm not sure if she still believes that I did those things behind her back…"

Now he's the one sighing and she guesses that he wants to believe that she's not holding him responsible for the ruined friendship. But instead of asking if she's sure, like she expects him to, he kisses her neck and says;

"Go talk to her Brooke. You'll feel better. She knows she was wrong… Today must be pretty tough on the both of you and I bet she'd love to air this out as well…"

-

Celebration through the night
Circle round this fire light
I guess this pack of wolves will pass for friends
Saying who's that coming up to me?
Hope and opportunity
You better grab it fast, grab it fast, and hope it never ends

Peyton takes a sip of the punch from her red plastic cup and looks out at the dark ocean. The waves crash against the sandy beach-line but the sound is drenched in the music and the laughter of her classmates and friends.

She wishes Jake could be here tonight but he has his own graduation in Savannah and has Jenny to take care of. And she wishes that she could stroll over to Nathan and bask in some old high school memories she's been thinking of ever since she saw him except his diploma earlier. But Nathan sits next to Brooke and Lucas, and the golden couple looks so cozy and perfect that she can't make herself to crowd their space.

It might be silly, it might even be selfish or childish, but as she sits here listening to Mouth and Junk talk, she keeps stealing glances at Brooke and Lucas. And she finds herself wishing that Brooke would be just a little bit sad too, because out of all the things she wishes for while sitting by the bonfire on the night of her high school graduation, to have her old friendship back with Brooke is on top of the list.

She still feels as she did earlier. She's still happy that Brooke and Lucas seem to finally have shed all the issues and insecurities that have tainted their relationship since her own stupid move at that rehearsal dinner. But she misses her best friend.

"Brooke, you might not be my friend, but I'm still yours. And I'm going to prove it to you."

When she said those words after the Classics back in junior year, she had honestly meant them. But after that she had just kept hurting Brooke, over and over again proven the exact opposite of her statement.

She still feels like Brooke is her best friend. She just feels like she out of ways to show it, because after all the stupid stunts she's pulled this last year and a half, there isn't anything that she can think of that will make Brooke see that she is honestly sorry.

And now, with graduation over and done with, time seems to be slipping away and the chance that she'll get to prove her friendship to Brooke diminish more and more for every passing day.

In two months Brooke would be living in Raleigh with Lucas and their baby, and she would be in Savannah, hopefully rebuilding her relationship with Jake. If they'd still been close and shared their old best-friend-bond, then all the miles separating them would have been no problem at all. It'd be just a quick flight or an easy road-trip. But now she knows that the same amount of miles will become an unclimbable wall.

She sighs and puts her cup down in the sand. Alcohol is not what she wants tonight. And she's just about to stand up and head home when she sees Lucas helping Brooke to get on her feet and then, to her surprise, her brown haired other half walks straight towards her.

There's this glow around her, and by the size of Brooke's belly Peyton is once again reminded that it's getting close now. Brooke will soon become a mother.

And Brooke will soon leave her behind.

So I'm packing on these golden years
I let them go without a tear
I let them go and this is what she said
She said to me

-

"Hi P Sawyer…" she says softly and struggles to sit down beside the curly blond on the sand. "Can we talk?"

It's dark but as Peyton nods she almost looks a little worried. Maybe she too had been thinking of past times and seemingly unfixable problems. At least she doesn't look like she's about to whack her in the face like last time they spoke.

"So… graduation, right? I can't believe we're no longer in high school…"

"I know… I keep thinking that it was the other week that we were freshmen. I still remember clearly when you went to school on our first day in that leopard top."

The both laugh and she rubs her belly. The tension is awkward and she's more then aware that they're both engaging in this type of small talk just to avoid the bigger things. Yet she still answers:

"Well, my mom always told me to make a spectacular first impression. I'm pretty sure that's the only useful advice she ever gave me."

Peyton chuckles and makes a face. "Yeah, that and the time she told us that you could never have too many pairs of shoes…"

They fall back into silence and she realizes that Mouth and Junk has left them to join the other guys over by Lucas and Nathan. Knowing Mouth he's done this to allow them some privacy because he too feels as if this whole mess between herself and Peyton has been going on far too long. So finally she takes a breath and says;

"Look Peyton, I'm not here to start another fight or anything… I just…"

Peyton waves her hands in the air. "No, wait Brooke… Can I start? Please?"

The pleading look in the blonde girl's eyes makes her silently nod and then Peyton clears her throat.

"I know I have no right saying this after all the crap I pulled… but… but I really miss you Brooke. And today it all seems so final. I keep thinking that we won't have time to fix this" she says and points between them. "That I won't have the time to explain to you how grateful I am for all that you've done for me and how sorry I am for all my fuck-ups."

"Well we still have two months of summer…"

She says it even though she knows it's not true. They won't have two months, maybe not even two weeks, because she's having a baby soon and all her time and energy will be directed towards that. But just like she told Lucas, talking to Peyton and seeing her all sad just makes her react instinctively, wanting to reassure her former best friend that everything will be fine.

But Peyton sees right through her and her eyes become even sadder.

"You know that's not true Brooke… And believe me, I understand. I just wish things were different…"

She nods as an answer. Thinks that if she's being honest to herself, she wishes that too. But things aren't different, and maybe it's time that they both start realizing that.

"Remember when we were kids?" she says softly. "We used to plan on getting married and have babies at the same time so that our kids could be BFF's too…"

"Yeah. And that's part of what I mean… All of the things that I've planned for so long has you there right beside me. How am I gonna get through college if you're not there, Brooke? It feels like we'll never talk again once I leave for Savannah and you and Lucas go off to UNC."

The blonde looks defeated and Brooke can see her eyes travel over to Rachel who's now sitting next to Lucas. The redhead and her boyfriend are laughing and Peyton sighs.

"Who would have thought that you and Rachel would end up being so close? You two pretty much hated each other…"

"Peyton…" she interrupts. "Rachel is very important to me, and even if you and I would find our way back to how close we used to be, I'd still be this close to her."

She waits until Peyton looks at her before she continues. "Look. Part of why I came over here is because I don't want us to lose contact… I feel incomplete in a way when we're not even talking… But I also feel like it's important to tell you that if we're going to have any chance of rebuilding our friendship, we're going to need to start over completely."

Peyton nods solemnly and it's evident that she feels hurt.

"I know that…"

"I want you to get to know Emma, Peyton. And I don't want the eleven years of friendship that we shared going straight into nothing. But it won't be the same and you need to see that too. I love you Peyt, I do… I just have other friends too now, and they don't have as much to prove as you do."

A silent tear falls down Peyton's cheek and she automatically reaches out and dries it away.

"Hey P Sawyer… don't cry… it'll be okay. We'll both work on it."

She means it. This time she's being honest and she's not just saying it because Peyton's tears make her sad. And when Peyton hesitantly wraps her in a hug, she hugs back.

Rachel and Haley are her best friends, and nothing in this hug is going to change that. But it feels good to throw all the old anger and disappointment out and start over.

When they pull back Peyton dries away more tears and says "Maybe this is too soon to ask but… do you wanna get together and do something tomorrow? Just go to the mall or the beach or something?"

It's been their routine since elementary school, to hang out the first day of summer-break, and she can't believe that she had actually forgotten. She feels bad even before answering but she can't start their 'new beginning' with lying.

"Uhm… actually I've already made plans with Rachel and Haley… we're going to go get a stroller…"

The little glimpse of hope on the blonde girl's face falls.

"Oh…"

And suddenly she feels like 'what the hell?'. New beginnings called for new methods, right?

"Why don't you come along?" she offers and smiles. "We're going for ice-cream afterwards and I'm hooking Rachel up with this clean-teen that works at Ben & Jerry's. It'll be hilarious."

Peyton's smile resurfaces and she nods.

"I'd like that… I mean, if it's alright with Haley and Rachel."

"You bet."

Maybe if they both really tried, then they could find a new friendship. One that fits their new life.

The life after high school.

---

It's late. The sun's gone down hours ago and the sky is sprinkled with stars. The air is still warm though and Lucas sighs contentedly and rests his head towards the back of the hammock on his mom's porch. The night had been a success. A great end to four years of high school that in reality both felt much longer and at the same time like a blink of an eye.

Brooke is leant against his chest and he thinks that this, the way they're sitting right now, is when he's most satisfied. To have her close to him so that he can feel her heartbeat and her calm and steady breathing.

The breeze plays with her hair and he gently runs his fingers through it to keep it out of her face.

"You know what?" he whispers softly, not to disturb the almost sacred feeling of this moment, and she shakes her head.

"I think we should make a pact… The next couple of months, after Emma's birth and with moving and everything… it might be a little stressful. I think we should decide to always try and have time like this before we go to bed…"

His hands are on her belly and again the tiny foot kicks him from the inside.

"I mean, at night after Emma has fallen asleep… We should make a pact to always have some time for just 'us', where we can talk and stuff…"

She doesn't answer at first and he's just about to regret saying something. Maybe she thinks that the whole idea is cheesy or stupid. But then she wiggles out of his grip and turns. Watches him with those electric green eyes of hers.

"Sometimes you're just too good to be true" she whispers and he unconsciously reaches up and cups her face with his palm.

"Sometimes I don't know what I've done to deserve you…"

She leans in and kisses him softly and he relishes the taste of her lips.

"I think it's the other way around Brooke…"

She melts into his arms again and they stay silent and just watch the stars.

Three weeks. Three short weeks and then they would be a family, and he can't wait. It's going to be hard at times, he's sure of that. They're going to have to come up with a way to juggle Emma between them so that Brooke would have time for school too, and it would probably result in fights and tears at times, but if they could just have times like this, he's thinks that they would get through it.

"I love you" she whispers, just as a star falls. And he doesn't 'think' anymore.

He's sure.

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Author's note: All for now folks! LOL
I don't have time to do personal responses this time, but every single one of the reviews received for last chapter is pure love. A special thank you to Ellie who gave me the longest review I think I ever received and of course to Cami and Casey. I'm ecstatically happy to see that this story is still found by new readers. To all of you that has just started reading; Welcome! And to all you faithful ones; You rock!