Days later, Lucas watched Brooke worriedly from across the gym. She was barking orders at her cheerleaders, determinedly continuing on with her cheer routine despite Dr. Grant's warnings that she should be spending as much time resting as possible.
"Scott!" Whitey barked. "You can check on your girlfriend later!"
His words felt like a knife to the chest. He couldn't. Brooke hadn't spoken to him since that day in the hospital. From what he'd heard, she hadn't spoken to Peyton, either. And although Jake and Peyton had stopped fighting, they were far from mended. Haley had told him that Brooke wasn't doing as well as she was trying to pretend. Haley and Nathan had woken up every night to calls from a sobbing, terrified Brooke. One call was so upsetting that the couple had driven to her house in the dead of the night to comfort her. She had been profusely apologetic and embarrassed, but the two had started sleeping at her house out of concern for her health, both emotionally and physically.
The worst part for Lucas had been hearing about her falling in the shower the night before. And yet here she was, at school and at cheer practice. According to Haley, her and Nathan were concerned after Brooke had been in the shower for nearly forty five minutes. The two had finally knocked on the door to no avail, and Nathan had impatiently burst in to find Brooke unconscious on the shower floor.
It was driving Lucas insane that he was only hearing this second hand. And he felt bad for Chance, who kept questioning why they only seemed to visit her one at a time instead of together. She wanted to spend time with both of them at the same time, and both teens were lying to her about the state of affairs to prevent her from being upset.
"Brooke!" a sudden voice shouted, pulling him out of his concentration on both basketball and his thoughts.
"What?" the feisty brunette snapped, whipping her head around to stare at Peyton.
"You're going to hurt yourself," Peyton said bravely, crossing her arms. "You need to take a break."
"You can tell me what to do when you stop crawling in bed with my boyfriend," Brooke hissed, causing the cheerleaders around the two to recoil at the obvious tension.
"Guys, come on," Haley said meekly, the only one not to have backed away. "Not here."
Brooke ignored her. "Look, Peyton, I don't need you or anyone else to tell me what to do. I am fine. I know what's best for me. I don't need to be told by some two-faced whore, okay?"
"Brooke," Peyton gasped, obviously wounded. "I know that I hurt you, but don't go back to this. I can't take that again."
"Well, you should have thought about that," Brooke shot back. "Oh wait, I forget. You never think of me when it comes down to Lucas Scott."
Peyton glared, getting angry now. "Lucas explained to you what happened, Brooke. You're determined to believe that we cheated because you're insecure and you're scared."
"That sounds more like what you and Lucas thought about me and Jake," Brooke replied. "Either shut up and do what you're told or get off my team, Peyton."
Brooke turned to the rest of the squad and clapped her hands loudly, causing them all to jump.
"I want the routine from the top ten more times before we leave. And it better be right," she said with a glare at Peyton. She hit the boom box on. "Five, six, seven, eight!"
Lucas watched helplessly from his side of the gym as the brunette launched into a rigorous dance routine despite the sheen of sweat on her skin and the sunken appearance of her eyes. It was obvious to everyone that Brooke's health was deteriorating, but she seemed determined to ignore that fact.
By the fourth repeat of the routine, Brooke was looking worse for wear. Lucas, Nathan, and Jake were all distracted from the game as they took in the train wreck that Brooke Davis was becoming. It seemed as though Haley, who had been watching from the sidelines as promised, had had enough.
"Damn it, Brooke," the pregnant girl growled, yanking her by the arm and pulling her aside. "Keep going, the rest of you!"
"What the hell?" Brooke demanded, snatching her arm back.
"You're running yourself into the ground."
"No I'm not," Brooke insisted, but her words went against her body as her shaking legs finally gave way and she hit the ground. Haley kneeled beside her, feeling her forehead.
"Another fever, Brooke," Haley snapped. "You need to get some rest."
"Oh God," Brooke groaned. "Hales, I'm gonna be sick."
Haley stumbled to her own feet before hurriedly dragging Brooke up and helping the weak girl out of the gym. If there was one thing Brooke hated, it was appearing weak in front of others, particularly her peers. It wasn't until they were in the foyer that Brooke leaned on a trashcan for support and heaved the contents of her stomach into it.
"You were gone when Nathan and I woke up this morning," Haley pointed out when Brooke had sunk to the floor in exhaustion. "Did you eat this morning?"
"No," Brooke mumbled pitifully, curling her knees up to her chest on the ground.
"And all you had for lunch was a few crackers."
"I was too naseous to eat."
"But you still have to!" Haley demanded. "Look, honey, I know that you're trying to prove to the world that you don't need Lucas. But you do."
"I don't."
"You do," Haley insisted. "He always knows what food to give you that won't make you sick, he knows when you need to rest, and he's really the only person you'll listen to."
Just as Haley was finished speaking, the doors from the gym into the foyer swung open, and there stood Lucas.
"Brooke, I know you probably don't want me here," he said nervously, "and I get that, but I just wanted to see if you're okay or if there's anything I can get you."
"I'm fine," Brooke snapped, but softened when she saw how tired and worn out he looked. "Thank you though."
"Of course," Lucas said with a sad, defeated little nod. He went to leave but was stopped by Brooke's voice.
"Could you give me a ride home after practice?"
Lucas froze, shocked. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Great. Okay. See you then."
Brooke laughed a little as he jogged back into the gym, nearly running in to the door.
"Thank you, Brooke," Haley said gratefully. "I can't watch you two dance around this anymore."
"I'm still hurt," Brooke said. "But at this rate, we're not going to make up until I die."
Haley pinned her with a stare. "Not funny, Davis."
"Always funny," Brooke said cheekily. Haley rolled her eyes. "What? My death jokes are hilarious."
"You're something else."
"So I'm told!"
The girls sat side by side in comfortable, companionable silence. Brooke heaved a sudden sigh, drawing Haley's attention.
"I should really apologize to Peyton, shouldn't I?"
Haley considered this. "To be honest, I don't think you have to. I think the two of you are kind of beyond apologies, don't you think?"
"I guess we're even," Brooke shrugged.
"Probably a little less than even," Haley said with a grin.
"True," Brooke smiled back. "Hey, you were there that day. I mean, do you think that it's something I should be worried about?"
Haley took a moment to think before speaking slowly. "I was startled because I didn't expect it. But honestly, I don't think you have to worry about them going behind your back or something. You saw Lucas just now. He hasn't been sleeping, he's constantly harrassing us all about you and how you're doing. He's been a wreck. And not because he's guilty like junior year. He loves you and it's killing both of you to be apart."
"Literally," Brooke mumbled before crawling back to the trashcan and vomiting again. Haley winced, awkwardly scooting to her to hold back her hair. When Brooke leaned back, she seemed sweatier than before and there was red on the corners of her mouth; undeniably, she was once again throwing up blood.
"Brooke," Haley gasped. "Honey, we need to get you home."
Brooke felt relieved that her friends had stopped jumping to hospitals straight away. Dr. Grant had explained to them that taking her in everytime something went wrong wasn't going to help. For the most part, there wasn't much that the hospital could do other than let her rest.
"Brooke?" came a tentative voice. Peyton stood their, looking awkward. She approached cautiously, putting a water bottle at Brooke's feet. "I thought you might need this."
"Thanks, P. Sawyer," Brooke said with a weak, shaky smile. Peyton smiled back and lowered herself to the ground.
"I sent the squad home," Peyton explained. "They finished all ten reps of the routine."
"Good," Brooke said. "How did it look?"
"Really great, Brooke. The choreography is awesome," Peyton smiled. Brooke nodded, leaning her head on Haley's shoulder.
"God, I'm tired."
"Because you've been carrying on like nothing's wrong," Haley scolded gently. "We'll get you home and cleaned up and in bed. I fully expect you to be asleep by nine tonight."
"Yes, mom," Brooke said obediently, causing all three girls to chuckle.
There was a certain degree of tension between Brooke and Peyton as the three girls sat there waiting for the boys to finish practice, but for the most part, Brooke was letting go of it. Every day, she felt weaker and weaker. She was starting to feel like time was running out, and if that was the case, she didn't want to waste the last few weeks of her life being angry or bitter. She wanted to spend them with the people she loved, whether they hurt her or not.
It wasn't much longer until the obviously tired and worried boys came into the foyer, their practice concluded. They all looked surprised to find all three girls sitting together but shook it off gracefully.
"You ready?" Lucas asked Brooke, shuffling from side to side on his feet. She nodded and started to stand, but shook and fell back down. She averted her eyes to the floor, obviously ashamed of her own weakness. Lucas instinctively bent down and lifted her by the waist, keeping his arm around her to support her as they walked back to the parking lot.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Of course," he murmured back. The two fell into an uncomfortable silence, their friends breaking off into their respective pairs and walking off to their own cars.
"Thanks for taking me home, too," she said as they got in his car. He nodded and tried to ignore the ache he felt in his chest now that they were no longer touching.
"I'm sorry, Brooke," he said as they pulled up to her house. His voice was gruff and husky. "I really didn't mean to hurt you. I overreacted and I was completely irrational."
"I know," she said softly. "You never mean to, Luke."
"Get some rest," he said gently, smiling at her a little. She tried to stand but as soon as she stepped on the sidewalk, she was down again. Lucas hastily got out of the car and ran to her side. "Brooke!"
"I'm okay," she mumbled. Her head was spinning as she lay on the concrete. Lucas scooped her up in his arms, carrying her and managing to unlock the front door after some difficulty.
"No you're not," Lucas said as he got her into bed. He sighed, brushing her hair away from her forehead. "I'll grab your pajamas for you, okay? I don't want you to shower right now."
"I'm so gross," she whispered with a wrinkled nose. "Please!" He shook his head and went to her dresser. When he turned around, she was trying to make her way into the bathroom, holding on to anything she could reach and shakily shuffling toward it.
"Crazy girl, what are you doing to my heart?" he yelped, dropping the clothes and grabbing her again. "I'll put you in the tub, okay? Door open, I'll stay in here in case you need me."
"Fine, fine," she said impatiently. He sat her on the sink while he ran on the bath and he turned back to her, running his hand over his hair.
"Where does this leave us?" Lucas asked suddenly. "I don't want to pressure you, but are we even together anymore? I don't know what's going on."
"We're together," Brooke affirmed. "Obviously, me ignoring you isn't accomplishing anything. I need you. I need someone to help take care of me because I can't do it alone. Nathan and Haley have been trying, but it's not the same."
Lucas approached her cautiously, reaching out to pull her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled her face into his neck, causing him to shiver.
"I love you, Brooke. Someday I'm going to get this right."
"You're not doing too bad, Lucas Scott," Brooke whispered, and he couldn't help but smile.