Chapter 7

"All that you can't leave behind"

Brooke turned in bed and glanced at the clock glowing green. God it was four. She slept late. She stretched in bed before grabbing her towel from off the headboard and trudging to the bathroom. Nathan had promised her the limo would be round by four thirty.

She had decided if any of her neighbors happened to see, she was going to convince them that she won the lottery. She showered quickly then embarked on the long sacred process of feminine dress. With the blow dryer in one had and the tooth brush in another, she tried her best to dry her hair and brush her teeth. In another fifteen minutes, her hair rested in wild curls around her shoulders. She applied her makeup and quickly remembered to shove it in her bags. By the time she squeezed into her jeans and light blue tube top and started looking around for her winter coat, there as a rap on her door. She glanced at the time. It was nearly five thirty. It was a good thing Haley probably kept Prince Charming running late. When she opened the door she glowered.

"You're not Nathan"

Lucas smiled, "And since Nathan is supposedly getting married in the next twenty four hours, I'm happy for that."

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"You're not ready," he observed stepping inside her tiny apartment, uninvited. Before she could protest, he sat on her worn out couch. If she wasn't irritated at him, she would have smiled. It was so odd watching him sit there in his designer threats amongst her tattered, second hand belongings.

"I'll go get my bags."

When she finally returned, he was staring at some photographs on her wall.

"Just of you and Haley."

"The only family I've got."

"Is that why you hate me so much?" he asked turning to her, "because I hurt the only family you've got."

Brooke smiled, "I thought we covered this already. I hate you because you are an idiotic, self-consumed jerk."

He grinned at her, "Ouch."

"You didn't even ask her for an explanation before you went over there and told him."

"Explanation?" he mouthed, "the last time I checked prostitution was prostitution."

She glowered at him.

"Look Princess…"

"Brooke"

"Princess" he said defiantly, "as I told her. If I had known what really went on I would have been quiet."

"You would have known if you had asked."

"Granted. But I was just trying to protect Nathan."

"Yes, yes," she said sarcastically, "helpless Nathan."

He looked at her. He wasn't smiling now. No sarcastic looks.

"Did you?"

Brooke pulled her luggage closer to her, "Did I what?"

"Did you sell yourself?"

She was angry. She was really, really angry. You don't invite yourself into people's past, you don't see me asking about this Peyton of yours.

Pain. It flashed in his face quickly before it was gone. Brooke allowed herself to feel triumph. Scott 1: Davis 1.

"When I proposed to her I thought we'd be together forever, that is until I got a visit from the guy she was screwing on the side informing me he didn't think it was wise for me to marry a cheater…and now she's engaged to him…after a month…a month

"I'm sorry" she said reaching out her hand to softly touch his shoulder

"Don't worry about it" he mumbled

He helped her drag her bags towards the elevator. Brooke prayed that the gods weren't preparing for some cosmic Joke and the elevator so affectionately called Sir-Stick-A-Lot didn't see it fit to stop working.

Once they were seated in the limo and moved slowly away from her apartment, she turned to him.

"No," she whispered, "The first time it happened, it was me he wanted."

She turned towards him, looked him straight in the eye, "He was around fifty. He was wrinkled and I swear I could see all his veins. I almost threw up when he grabbed my hand. And he was willing to pay me. And you must understand, we had no where to go. We had no money. We were running from the system, there was no way we'd end up in foster care. He wanted me." She felt the tears come, hot on her face, "And I started going with him. Because we needed the money but Haley stopped me. She told me to wait for her and she went instead."

Brooke turned away from him and looked out the window. She allowed the tears to fall. But when he reached for her hand and held it gently, she found it hard to think of him as an idiotic self-consumed jerk in that moment. Davis 1: Scott 2.

Lucas felt like an ass. He didn't think he'd ever quite grasp the sacrifices they had made for each other. He snapped out of it when the phone rang, it was Bevin.

"I cancelled the reservations to the Carlisle Bay resort as you told me to."

"Thanks Bevin."

"Should I cancel tomorrow's reservations with the other hotel too?"

"Yes," he said, "do that."

Bevin sounded confused, "isn't the wedding going to be there?"

"I'll email you the information Bevin."

He took out his hand held and sent her a short email: No Sweetheart. There will be no wedding there tomorrow. Apologize to them. Tell them the bride had second thoughts.

And with that he slid the phone back into his pocket and continued stroking Brooke's hand.