Brooke and Peyton had cried themselves to sleep, exhausted emotionally and physically. Lucas and Jake tentatively entered the room to find their girlfriends tangled in each other's limbs. Lucas managed a small smile, elbowing Jake.
"If I didn't know better, I would say we have a problem."
Jake snorted, and the sound stirred the girls.
"Broody," Brooke groaned. "How's Haley?"
"Haley's going to be okay," Lucas assured, crossing to her and kissing her forehead. "And the baby is okay."
"Really?" Peyton gasped.
"Really," Jake said with a smile, kissing her. Both girls laughed in relief, clutching one another. "Now I gotta talk to you, Davis. I hear they're delaying our trade."
Brooke rolled her eyes at his terminology. "Six more weeks."
Lucas's face darkened. "But, Brooke-"
"I know," Brooke said weakly. "They originally said I probably wouldn't even make it that long."
Peyton hissed in a breath and Lucas fell heavily onto the other bed, his head in his hands.
Jake looked between Lucas and Brooke before turning to Peyton. "You two were cleared, let's uh..."
"Yeah," Peyton agreed. Jake helped her up, holding her closely to him as they left the room.
The door shut, leaving the couple in silence. Lucas spoke suddenly.
"Let's get married."
"What?" Brooke snapped. "Lucas, no."
"Why not?" Lucas said, kneeling by her and grabbing her hand. "We love each other. Please, Brooke. Marry me."
"I'm not going to marry you," she insisted, but tears were flooding her eyes. He pressed on.
"Brooke, you know that I have been the most optimistic of everyone," he said, his voice cracking. "But I can't-I can't not marry you. I can't let you die Brooke Davis. If you have to die, you're dying Brooke Scott."
"Lucas, that is ridiculous!"
"Is it really?" he insisted. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to marry me."
"Of course I want to," Brooke said. "But God, Lucas, I'm not even eighteen yet."
"In two weeks, you will be," he insisted, holding her hand to his face and kissing it. "Think about it, pretty girl. Please."
Brooke took a deep breath, nodding. "Can you take me to see Haley?"
"Yeah, okay."
"What time is it?" Brooke yawned.
"It's three a.m.," he said wearily.
Brooke groaned. "Oh, God."
When they reached Haley's room, she was still awake. Nathan was whispering to her, nuzzling her and kissing her. She was smiling at him, obviously tired.
"Hey," Brooke said.
Nathan looked up at her before crossing the room in three steps and nearly crushing her in a hug.
"Nathan, ribs," she gasped out.
"Sorry," he rushed. "Don't ever pull that again, Davis."
"I'm so sorry," Brooke said, tears flowing down her face now. "I never meant to put Haley in danger."
"I meant don't ever get yourself hurt like that again," Nathan said, brushing a few tears away and hugging her more softly. "I already gave Hales that speech."
She smiled at him crookedly and walked to sit beside Haley.
"Hales-"
She couldn't finish. She began desperately sobbing, pressing her head on Haley's legs.
"Tigger!" Haley exclaimed. "Honey, it's okay. It's all fine."
"No, it's not!" Brooke cried. "I almost killed your baby."
"You did not do anything!" Haley insisted, her voice stern. "Psycho Derek pushed me down those stairs, not you."
"You never would have been in that situation if it wasn't for me."
"You didn't call me over there, Brooke," Haley argued. "Peyton and I came on our own free will."
Brooke continued to whimper but seemed calmer. Lucas finally convinced her to leave Haley to rest.
"Can I stay at your house tonight?" Brooke asked him.
"Of course you can," Lucas said. "I was going to make you, anyway."
"Thanks," she whispered. Karen picked them up, her eyes swollen from exhaustion and worry. Brooke began to apologize profusely, only to be cut off and told to rest.
Brooke fell into Lucas's bed in her bloody clothes. Lucas sighed and went to his drawer, pulling out one of his t-shirts.
"Come on," he coaxed. "Up!"
"No," Brooke moaned, burying her face in his pillows.
Lucas smiled affectionately, managing to wrestle her limp body out of her shirt. When he started to undo her pants, she suddenly gasped, her breath quick as she jerked away from him.
"Brooke, I'm so sorry," Lucas apologized.
She shook her head, her eyes shut tight. "No, it's fine. I'm sorry. Just..yeah."
Lucas watched her, nervous. She opened her eyes and offered him a tight smile. "Finish your job, Broody."
He laughed a little, gently sliding her jeans off and pulling his shirt onto her body. He got out of his own clothes and crawled into bed next to her. He kissed her lips softly at first and then hungrily, desperately, despite how tired he felt.
Brooke let out a little sigh, leaning into the kiss and running her nails down his back. He pulled away to look into her eyes, his own intense.
"God, Brooke, I thought I was going to lose you," he breathed. "I can't ever lose you, Brooke."
She touched his face. "You know I'm trying."
" I know," he said, leaning his face into her neck. "It's just hard, Brooke."
"I know," she whispered, holding him to her.
"I got to thinking, about my life without you," Lucas began, his voice choked. "I can't live that life, Brooke."
"Just breath, Broody. It's gonna be okay."
He let out a few more shaky breaths on her shoulder before rolling onto his back. She lay on top of him and rubbed her nose against his.
"I love you, Lucas. And we'll do the best we can."
He nodded, shutting his eyes and dropping a kiss to her forehead.
"Get some sleep, Brooke. You need it."
She snuggled against him and let herself succumb to her exhaustion.
Box Up All The Butterflies
It took a week before the three girls were back at school. Evidently, everyone had heard about their misadventures. Whispers and pointing followed the trio wherever they went.
"God," Peyton said, rolling her eyes. "You'd think they had better things to talk about."
"They will later," Brooke said, smirking.
"Brooke, what?" Haley called after her. She had walked off quickly ahead of them. The brunette ignored her. Haley turned to Peyton with raised eyebrows. "Well, this should be good."
It wasn't until third period that they figured out what was going on. They entered the auditorium for a special assembly and gasped as they saw Brooke and Chance on the stage. The girls joined Lucas, Nathan, and Jake, none of whom seemed to know what was going on.
"My name is Brooke Davis," Brooke said, stepping up to the mic. "I turn eighteen years old in one week. And I'm dying of cancer."
The entire auditorium fell so silent, you could have heard a pin drop. Lucas couldn't help but swell with pride, watching his beautiful, brilliant, brave girlfriend.
"And this is Chance Heatherly. She's five, and we're suffering from the same disease. In five weeks, I'm scheduled for a bone marrow transplant. But I might not make it that far. The two of us are here to fulfill one of her dreams, and to talk to you about what you can do to help people like me. Or even more importantly, people like Chance."
Chance grabbed the microphone from Brooke. "I have a theory," she said, her little voice strong. "Brooke and Lucas call it the Butterfly Theory. When people die, they become butterflies, so that they can be very beautiful and watch over the people they love."
Brooke was grinning down at her. She stepped up to the podium microphone and continued.
"As much as I love butterflies, I'd like to see a few less. So little Chance and I decided to start a little foundation. It's called Take a Chance. For the next two weeks in the quad, you can purchase a butterfly necklace, bracelet, or ring, and all of the proceeds will go toward helping children fighting cancer. You can also sign up to join the donor registry if you're eighteen."
Brooke went on to explain statistics, facts, and figures. The audience listened raptly, slightly distracted as Chance began to dissolve into obvious boredom.
"Brooke," she interuppted in a loud whisper into her own mic. "Can we do the dance now?"
Brooke laughed, as did the rest of the auditorium. "All right. I'll wrap this up with that dream I was talking about. As a little background, I met Chance because I was asked to be her cheer mentor. Now, I'm proud to show off my little student. Give it up for the newest Ravens cheerleader, Chance Heatherly!"
Brooke nodded to Mouth, who hit the song. Sugary sweet pop music flooded the speakers and the students began to cheer wildly. Chance nodded at Brooke with a toothy grin. Brooke nodded back to the beat, counting off.
The two began a cheer and dance, perfectly in sync. Haley laughed as she recognized something.
"It's the Sparkle Classic!" she giggled. "Brooke is finally gonna get to finish her routine!"
"Or not!" Peyton said, bursting out laughing. At exactly the part where she herself had fallen, ruining the routine, Brooke and Chance began to dance wildly around the stage, screaming the lyrics at each other.
"Come on," Lucas said, pulling his friends up. "Let's do it like the Classic!"
The Ravens players and cheerleaders flooded the stage, dancing around like maniacs. Lucas lifted Chance up, twirling her around. He kissed Brooke and the three hopped up and down, giggling.
"Careful," Lucas warned in her ear. "Ribs, babe."
"I know, I know," she laughed.
Lucas beamed as he watched Peyton and Jake twirl around. Nathan and Haley were cautiously dancing, given Haley's fragile pregnancy. The three girls converged, snatching Chance from Lucas and playing air guitars.
Brooke looked at Lucas, her eyes sparkling. When she looked at him like that, it was easy to ignore the fading bruises on her body. His girlfriend was so brave, so strong, and so full of life. He refused to believe there was any chance she would die.