The next morning, Lucas arrived at Brooke's house as promised. He put his key into the door only to discover that it was unlocked. He furrowed his brow in concern, pushing the door open slowly.

"Pretty girl?"

He heard no response. He started to ascend the stairs, his blue eyes widening as he saw the broken lamp in the hall. Watery steps were all over the place.

"BROOKE!" he yelled, running into her room. He stared down at the wet footprints on her carpet, and what looked like claw marks indented in the ground. Her clothes lay in the bathroom, the bathtub still full but freezing.

"BROOKE! BROOKE WHERE ARE YOU?" Lucas yelled. He hurried down the stairs, halting as soon as he entered the kitchen.

"No," he breathed. "No, no, no."

He knelt down beside her, gently trying to shake her awake. "Brooke, baby, please, wake up. Come on. Open your eyes, pretty girl. Please."

Brooke let out a small groan, and Lucas felt his heart leap. "Brooke, honey, I'm going to call 911 okay? I'm gonna get you help."

"No," she whimpered. "No cops, no hospitals."

"Brooke-"

"I'm okay," she croaked. "Just a little beat up. I can go see a doctor later if you want but...not now."

Lucas felt helpless. He nodded. "I'm going to call Nathan, okay?"

"Okay."

"Nate, it's Luke. Something really bad happened over here at Brooke's, I think you need to come over. Okay. Yeah. See you soon."

Lucas looked down at Brooke and took a shaking breath. She was covered in bruises. It suddenly dawned on him that she was in only a bra and panties.

"Brooke, where are your clothes?"

She shook her head and tried to sit up. Lucas rushed to her side, scooping her up and carrying her to the couch in the living room. He covered her with a blanket and kissed her forehead. Brooke continued to blankly stare past him.

It was only a few minutes before Nathan and Haley came sweeping into the house. Nathan immediately saw the destruction and rushed to where Brooke lay.

"Bee, what happened?" Nathan asked gently. She bit her swollen bottom lip and sighed. Nathan couldn't see the rest of her body, but her face was a mess. She had a black eye, a cut on her cheek, a busted bottom lip, and bruises along her jaw and neck.

She swallowed and slowly began to tell them. Lucas sat behind her, tucking her between his legs and running his hands through her hair gently. "I was about to get in the bath after Lucas dropped me off. All of a sudden I felt arms around me and someone kissed my neck. I obviously thought it was Lucas until he kissed me again and I realized it wasn't. I turned around and he started grabbing me and I tried to get away, but I fell backward into the bath. He kept choking me and I was drowning, I didn't know what to do. I don't know how but I managed to crawl out of the bath. He caught me again and punched me and I went down. I started to crawl away but he dragged me back and got on top of me. He started kissing me and touching me but I bit him really hard so he got mad and just started beating me. But I wanted to make him mad so he'd hit me instead of...ya know."

"Instead of what?"

"Raping me," Brooke said. Her voice was numb. "Anyway I managed to get up and I hit him in the face with my hall lamp. Then I tried running out of the house but he tackled me downstairs. I ran to the phone and I managed to hit redial but he broke the phone. I threw my chair in front of him to slow him down, then he pinned me to the island and slammed my head on it. I grabbed a knife out of the drawer, turned around, and I stabbed him in the arm. I told him to get out and he ran off. Then I guess I passed out."

"Brooke," Haley gasped in horror. Her eyes were wide with tears, her hand over her mouth.

"Who was it, pretty girl?" Lucas asked. He was concealing his fury for Brooke. As soon as he had a name, all bets were off.

"I don't want to talk about it. Where's Peyton?"

"I texted her, she'll be here soon."

"I don't want to explain all that again," Brooke said softly. She finally managed to relax, leaning back onto Lucas's chest.

"Brooke, do we know who did this?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Brooke whispered. "And that's why I don't want to tell you."

Peyton and Jake burst in the door just then, looking frantic. Peyton gasped and Jake had to support her as she stumbled in shock.

"B. Davis," Peyton gasped.

"Nikki came back," Brooke joked. "She said, where's Peyton? And I said, get out, bitch. And she said that you were the bitch. So I said no, you're the bitch, Bitch. She didn't like that so much."

"Not funny, Brooke," Jake admonished. "Who the hell did this to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Brooke groaned. "Can I just sleep all ready?"

"Brooke, you need to get checked out by a doctor," Peyton insisted. "And you need to report this to the police."

"I'm fine," Brooke argued. "And I'm not involving cops."

All five of her friends began to argue with her. "SHUT UP!" she screamed. She stood, forgetting her lack of clothing. She swayed on her feet a little but put her hands on her hips. "You all baby me, all the fucking time. And I get that it's because you guys care, but right now I just want to be left alone! I am sick of doctors and pills and hospitals. I am sick of attention and being protected and all that shit. I just want to be left ALONE!"

With that, she attempted to stalk out of the room, only to be impeded by her own pain. She grabbed an end table, panting, her legs shaking.

Lucas rushed to her, scooping her up and watching tears roll down her face. Her eyes were shut tightly. "It's okay, baby. I'm just going to put you to bed, okay?"

She nodded, looking ashamed. Lucas glanced back at his friends before taking her upstairs. He put her in bed and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Brooke. It's all right. Get some sleep, okay?"

Brooke didn't answer him. She simply rolled over, curling into a ball. Lucas sighed and went back downstairs to talk to his friends.

"Did you see her body?" Peyton was hissing at the rest of them. "There's no way we can let her not see a doctor!"

"We've got to respect her," Haley argued. "She doesn't want one. She obviously just went through a lot."

"What happened?" Peyton exclaimed. "I don't understand how this happened."

Nathan launched into the play by play, leaving Peyton crying into Jake's neck.

"What do we do?" Nathan asked, turning to him.

Lucas shrugged. "We clean up the house. And I think we should all crash here for a while. I'll talk to my mom, see if she wants to come too if she's too lonely. We can't leave her here by herself, especially if she's not going to tell us or the police who did this."

Nathan nodded solemnly, Haley agreeing from his side. Jake nodded at him, still trying to calm Peyton.

"We'll take the hallway," Haley said decisively. "Luke, you do the bathroom and Brooke's room. Peyton and Jake, you fix up the kitchen."

With that, they scattered, Lucas entering Brooke's room very tentatively. If she was still awake, she was very convincing at faking sleep. He tip toed into the bathroom and began to drain the tub. He used a towel to mop up the water that was everywhere and threw her track suit into the hamper. When he went back in Brooke's room, he rubbed his hands on the carpet to remove the indents of footprints and claw marks.

Meanwhile, Haley was sweeping up the broken glass in the hallway while Nathan mopped up the water. Peyton and Jake simply moved the chairs back and fixed up the phone. Jake swallowed, nearly throwing up as he saw the blood on the island where Brooke's attacker had rammed her head. He told Peyton to go into the living room and relax while he continued to clean up the mess, not wanting her to get anymore upset.

They all reconvened in the living room in about twenty minutes, seemingly unsure of what to do next. Haley rubbed her hands over her face in exhaustion, leaning against Nathan on the floor.

Suddenly, Jake's phone began to ring. He flipped it open. "Hello? Yes, this is him. Oh, hello, how are you? I'm good, thanks. Are you...are you serious? That's amazing. She's asleep right now, I'll have her call you to schedule when she wakes up. Thanks so much. Okay, thank you. Bye."

Jake turned to his curious friends with an ecstatic grin. "You'll never guess who's a match."

"For what?" Haley asked in confusion.

"For Brooke's bone marrow transplant."

Peyton breathlessly stared at him, beaming, before engaging him in a searing kiss. Lucas pumped a fist in the air silently, spinning around a little. Haley shrieked in joy, pulled into an embrace by her husband.

"At least we'll have some good news for her," Nathan grinned.

Haley sighed happily. "Thank god. I don't know how much more bad news I can take."

All five friends nodded in agreement before Lucas piped up once again.

"So who the hell do you guys think did this?"

"She doesn't want to tell us who," Haley pondered out loud. "Who would she want to protect on some level?"

"I can only think of her wanting to protect us," Nathan chimed in. "So maybe it's someone close to us."

"We know it's a guy."

"Dan? Would Dan be evil enough to do something like this?" Peyton asked.

Nathan shook his head. "He might be, but he would have no incentive to go after Brooke. Plus, not telling us wouldn't be protecting Luke or me. We hate him."

Haley bit her lip, her brow furrowed. "Well, we know it wasn't any of the Rivercourt guys."

"Mouth is on my suspect list," Jake joked. The rest managed to laugh at that.

Haley bit her lip before cautiously suggesting, "What about...Derek?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Peyton snapped.

"I'm just thinking. We hardly know him. And you know that Brooke would never want to tell you. She wouldn't want to break your heart."

Peyton scoffed. "You do not know my brother."

"And neither do you!" Haley argued. "I've seen him look at Brooke in a way that I don't like before. That's all I'm saying."

"I'll prove you wrong!" Peyton hissed. She pulled out her phone, dialing her brother. The phone went to voicemail straight away. "That means nothing."

"I'm going to go look upstairs," Haley said firmly. "I'll be quiet, but I have an idea."

She went upstairs, leaving the remaining teens in uncomfortable silence. Peyton huffed.

"I cannot believe she would ever suggest that."

Nathan glared at her. "Lay off of her, Peyton. She's trying to figure this out for Brooke's sake."

"At my expense!"

"Babe, no one is attacking you," Jake soothed.

Peyton crossed her arms over her chest, scooting away from him. He rolled his eyes and looked at Luke, who smirked a little at Peyton's over dramatic behavior.

Glad I dodged that bullet, Lucas thought to himself.

Haley came downstairs, her face looking ashen.

"I knew you wouldn't find anything," Peyton quipped, smirking at Haley.

Haley shook her head, looking at Peyton sadly. She slowly held up a very familiar cell phone.

"Please tell me this isn't Derek's."

Peyton's face went white, her eyes wide. She stood and bolted from the house. Jake hastily followed her, calling out. Nathan and Lucas looked at one another and seemed to come to a mutual, silent agreement. Haley sunk onto the couch, putting her head in her hands.

"Typical Tree Hill," she mumbled, her voice sad.