"Mom?" Lucas asked, stopping dead in his tracks. No, that could not be right? He definitely had to be mistaken. However, nothing about the last couple of hours, or the last two days for that matter had been right. Could Brooke with a kid really be that far out of the league?

"Yeah, I have a son," she said casually with a shrug as she bounced the child in her arms.

"Sir, sir, please. I just let her keep him in the back sometimes when she has nobody to babysit. You know, I'm just being a kind and caring gentleman. You get it right?" the Manager tried to laugh it off. He was so afraid of losing his license. He eyed Lucas up and down and his face showed that he believed Lucas to be reasonable, definitely not like the shady lot he was used to seeing frequent his club. However, he also fit the bill to be one of those protestors fighting for childrens' rights.

"Relax Marty, he will not report you," Brooke said, rolling her eyes.

"How do you know that? You know what, Lap dance is free for you Sir! Penelope, return this man the money he paid!" he still tried to appease the man.

"Marty, just can you be quiet. Jaim, what happened baby?" Brooke asked instead, focusing all of her attention on the little boy curled in her arms.

"I had a bad dream, mama," he whined.

Brooke immediately began to soothe him, "Aww baby, was it a really bad dream?" The little boy snuggled in his mom's chest unfazed by his surroundings. He nodded his head sleepily. Lucas guffawed as he watched the girl he claimed to know interact with someone he didn't know at all but he should have known. The whole thing felt completely unreal and totally right simultaneously. Lucas felt like he was losing it. It could not be real, right? Brooke, a mom and that too a stripper-mom? Yet, the way that baby was clinging to her and the way that she was calming him down, it looked so natural if you disregarded the harsh fact that Brooke looked like a baby herself.

"What did you dream about, my little sweet baby?" She cooed gently as she kissed his head and rocked him gently in her arms.

"I dreamt that you had gone away and when I woke up, you really weren't there," he whimpered.

"I'm right here. You knew that I was right outside, right?" she asked him, reminding him and kissing his head.

The little kid nodded his head and then buried it further in his mothers chest, "I'm never going to leave you, little one. I promise." Brooke continued swinging him gently in her arms for a little while, rubbing the little boy's back. Soon enough, his breath evened out and he was sleeping again.

She looked at Lucas with a guilty expression on her face. Lucas couldn't help but stare at her with a baby in her arms. Brooke had always had a motherly charm to her. She had to parent herself because her parents forgot her existence and sometimes, she had had to parent her friends. She was the girl who got stuck with all the jobs and always got them done. She never complained and liked doing them, so everyone considered it to simply be the natural order of things. If you needed to host a banquet, who would plan the whole thing and execute it? Brooke. If you planned a wedding or a reception, who would be in charge of everything from the dresses to the entertainment to the hair flowers and decorations? Brooke. She headed the prom Committee while winning Cheerleading Trophies and being Student Council President and working at Clothes over Bro's without being unhinged. Lucas could see her do all of that without thinking twice. Yet, to imagine Brooke as a mother at 21? That was wild. He had never actually pictured her with a child, despite them having the pregnancy scare at 16. He just couldn't see Brooke as a parent. Yes, she hung out with Jenny but that was so different. Now here she was, live in person with a child she had claimed to be hers and Lucas couldn't help but feel a tsunami of emotions. He felt conflicted and confused and angry that she kept this from him but also hurt that she was in this position of helplessness. He also felt guilt that he hadn't tried hard enough to look for her when she had disappeared.

"What- how- what went wrong - you came here for Clothes Over Bro's!" He couldn't help but scream once his words caught up to this tongue. He was so baffled. How much could change in two days? He had been rejected by the girl he considered his soulmate, then as you say, one door closes another opens, he got the call of his dream and flew to New York to publish his book only to find that his long lost friend was a stripper in a seedy bar with a son!?

Brooke's face crumbled as he said that. She looked towards the girls and the club Manager, they were all giving her these confusing looks like they couldn't quite put two and two together. None of them had moved or said anything as they observed the scene in front of them. The girls here were Brooke's friends. However, she divulged little to no information to them about her life. Brooke was a very private person about her past. She really did not like anyone prying into her life so she never shared anything with them. The girls had asked her about where she came from and about her son's paternity, but Brooke had been absolutely tight lipped about it all and just said that it was a stupid mistake but one that she did not regret because it gave her the love of her life. On days like that day, when Brooke had no choice but to get her son into work with her, the girls helped take care of him. One girl always remained in the back with the boy. They all took turns and Brooke in return paid them a part of her tips as babysitting money. All the girls liked Jamie, he was a fun sweet boy and innocence was so rare to witness in their lifestyles.. Brooke was friendly with all of them, she needed to be for Jamie's sake. She was also aware that the other girls did not like her due to her popularity in the club and that she could get away with charging anything. She made the most money, got the most tips and that too without ever taking her panties off. They kept tight-lipped about it in front of her though. Brooke was not naive, she knew about it and she would gently persuade her clients to go try things with some of the other girls just to keep them happy. Yet, she had to support her family and she would never compromise on that.

Brooke looked towards the girls. "Celeste, I know it's closing, but can you please take him? You can keep the 80 dollars from this dance. They are all yours," she said, gently giving her sleeping son to her.

"Also, thanks for all your help today. Here is the money for taking care of Jamie," she said, handing her some bills.

"Uhh, Penelope, is everything okay though? He seems different. Like he knows you," the ditzy blonde asked her. Maybe she wasn't that ditzy after all.

"No, he is just a confused client who shouldn't have seen me with a baby. The rest of you girls should go change and head out. Celeste, you get ready to leave too. Jamie seems to be out cold. I should be done with this dance by the time you finish changing," she sighed.

"Why does he look so much like your kid? Is he who we think he is?" Solaris asked her, listening in on her conversation.

"Guys, not every guy with blonde hair and blue eyes is Jamie's father. He is trying to forget another girl. We know this story by now, it's every other client. Now I just want to finish with him and head home. Anyway, thanks for all your help tonight," she tried to get the girls off her back. "Okay sir, let's get you that 'lap dance' that you paid for." Saying that she got into the VIP room. Lucas turned around to see the others watching him and Brooke, but Brooke gave them all a death stare and they quietly began moving to the staff only door, pretty sure to change into regular clothes and head home.

Brooke sighed as she sat on the stretch of couches in the VIP area with her head in her hands. Lucas took his seat beside her and offered her his jacket quietly so that she could cover up. She took it gratefully and put it on.

"Lucas, what the hell are you doing here? You shouldn't be here," she whispered to him, mad that he had come there and caught her red handed in the act.

"Me?!" he yelled, so shocked that Brook was blaming him. How was this wrong on his part? "What are you doing here! You shouldn't be here doing what you're doing? What the hell is going on!? Didn't you come here for Clothes over Bro's? Instead, you're - you're stripping! Not to mention, with a child! Your child! Oh God, what the hell? It's too much to wrap my head around."

Brooke's face went visibly sour at the mention of her job and the fact that her baby son had to see it. "Shhh! Can you not keep it down? I don't want the others to hear us," She said, pointing at the curtains and asking him to keep his voice low.

"Brooke, I think I'll faint unless you give me some context and clarity here. How? What happened? This doesn't make any sense! You have a child and you work here? What happened to fashion designing? You're supposed to be making clothes, not taking them off!" he continued to scream.

"Yes, you're right on all those accounts, okay? Good chat but I don't owe you any explanations for my choices because they are my choices and your opinions don't matter. So, I guess your four minutes are up. The door's that way," Brooke responded, pointing at the where the curtains opened up. She was exasperated. She was scared. She was tired. She was hungry. She was ashamed. She was embarrassed. And she was so so guilty.

"Oh no! You need to explain this, Brooke," Lucas said, shaking his head, not giving up. He was familiar with Brooke and her insane stubbornity. He knew just how difficult she was going to make this.

And she did. "No I don't," She argued like a child.

"Brooke," he said simply in a foreboding tone.

"No! I don't. Also what are you doing here? In New York? At a strip club? What happened to perfect saint Lucas who can do no wrong until he is cheating on me with my best friend because apparently she is more tortured than I am! Really? Why are you here? Precious Peyton didn't call you for saving her today?" She asked icily.

"Brooke, what is going on? Who is forcing you to do this? Is it that creepy manager guy? I can punch him clean!" he answered, ignoring the Peyton dig. He did not have the emotional bandwidth to deal with that. It was still such an open and sore wound.

"What! No! I am doing this. Nobody is forcing me," she answered, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I can't believe that. I really can't. This isn't you and if it is, there has to be a reason. I can fairly ascertain it's to do with your… wow, so funny to even say it, but I guess it is for your child, but that still doesn't explain why you are not working in Fashion," he put his thoughts in words. "There is no doubt about your talent in designing."

"I don't have to explain anything to you, Lucas and that's that. Sometimes, you don't get what you want in life and you just have to accept it. Accept not getting answers!" she answered with a shrug.

"Brooke! You are still one of my closest friends. I care about you. Don't I deserve to know what the heck is happening in your life that the place you came to chase your dreams has become your worst nightmare?" he asked, the emotions still as deep as the ocean in his voice. He was losing all his arsenal and Brooke was still bulletproof.

"Who said it is a nightmare? Many people wanna be exotic dancers, Luke," Brooke tried a different tactic. Why couldn't he just go? She did not want to answer him. She could not and was trying really really hard to keep the truth from him. A few more hits and she was so afraid that she would crack. She could not afford that!

"Not you Brooke. I know you. You changed a lot before you left high school," he reminded her.

"Oh you mean the changes I made for you? To be good enough for you because I always felt small in front of you.. Only, I could never be enough, could I?" she asked, choosing meanness to defend herself and try to get Lucas off her back. "The best was literally when Haley made me realise that instead of focusing on you, I should focus on…. You know what, never mind."

"Focus on your work! On Clothes over Bro's! What you came here to do. Anyway, we are talking about you right now in the present out here doing what you're doing. Why are you rehashing our past as a couple? Besides, we ended as friends, good friends!" He yelled, getting more and more frustrated with each passing second. Lucas considered himself to be pretty level headed, but Brooke was deflecting to their past history to clearly avoid the present and Lucas was just not having it. "This, this you right here, is not you Brooke. It's the Brooke you showed people externally but when we dated, you showed me how much more you were and then Senior Year, everybody got to see that Brooke. Why are you going back to your old ways, ways which were honestly never you and we both know that. You know that you are worth so much more! This is so below you!"

"Lucas Scott, don't you dare shame me for what I do! This does not define my worth. Only he does." A sobbed escaped from her as she said was cracking. Yet, she was angry and pissed at him! How dare he come there and say that to her! "I did what I had to do."

"Brooke come on!" he fought. He really needed answers and he was beginning to lose patience. Why was Brooke fighting him so hard? "I am not shaming you. You know that! I mean this in the simplest, most basic manner possible. I am not trying to shame anybody for their choices. Each one to their own. But was this your choice? You chose this? You decided to quit fashion designing and join a strip club? Was this really what you wanted?"

"No, but it was my only option," she confessed. He was finally breaking down her walls. Brooke's voice could barely be considered a whisper. She was that soft in her response. She had her fists closed tight as she fisted the fabric of his jacket as if she was in anger or pain.

"How? Who made you think that?" he asked with a gentle tone this time. His hand involuntarily reached her thigh as he bent his head to try to look into Brooke's eyes and search for the truth. Brooke's head hung low and she was hiding. She was so scared and embarrassed.

So, once again, she tried to hide. It was simple to her, she could not have him know what she was hiding from him, "What! Did you forget my reputation from high school? I was Tree Hill High's slutty cheerleader whose USP was taking boys' virginities. You should know, I took yours." Brooke was so crass in her reply that Lucas was momentarily taken aback.

"Brooke," Lucas said again in a worried tone. His heart was breaking at the sight he saw in front of her. Brooke sounded nothing like herself. She sounded dead and tired. Lucas' heart raged with emotions as he continued to look at her.

"What? Remember everything all of a sudden?" she asked him, half expecting him to remember and jet off after he had been silent for a while. She needed him to remember just how bad they were together and get out of her life.

"No, I remember you growing up and out of it. I remember you stopping to let boys define you. I remember how honest and truthful and loyal you are. I remember you becoming independent with your clothing line and maturing so damn much but still be a child when it came to your parents' absence. I remember Brooke Davis, owner and designer of Clothes Over Bro's. Brooke Davis, Head Cheerleader. Brooke Davis, Student Council President. Brooke Davis, inventor of DW-Not-I. Brooke Davis who threw a killer reception and then a second wedding for Nathan and Haley because she always came through for her friends. Always. Brooke Davis is so talented and she doesn't take shit from anybody. She put me in my place when I took her for granted and I deserved it! So just drop the act, it's me. Tell me what the hell happened that this was your only choice. This is not Brooke Davis, but she is still in there somewhere. Allow my friend to speak because deep down, that friend cares about me too," Lucas tried his final weapon.

"I failed okay," she answered. Her shoulders drooped down and her whole body slumped as she recollected the incident in her head. It could not have been pleasant as it was like she had been transported back there. "Yes, you're right. I came here to New York for Clothes over Bro's but I failed badly enough to be left with nothing and this was my best bet."

"How?" asked Lucas inquisitively. He needed to know more.

Brooke raised her eyes to look up towards the sky as if asking gravity to push her tears back into her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself but began to spill the truth. "So I got investors with the help of my mom and I stupidly signed away my ownership… I sold Clothes over Bro's to the investors and became an employee in the company I created because they told me to. I was only seventeen. When an adult confidently tells you to do something, you do it. They changed the name of the brand as Clothes over Bro's sounded too childish like a highschooler had come up with the name. It goes by Allure now, it's famous. Anyway where was I? Yeah, I got investors, became an employee in the Company and then I learnt that I was pregnant. My mother told me to get it taken care of but I wouldn't. She said that I couldn't build a company from the ground up while I was caring for a baby. We fought, she called me some colourful names and mentioned how I was a disgrace to the family and how I would just open my legs for anybody. She reminded me just how much of a disappointment I was and that maybe she should have taken care of me when she was pregnant with me so that she did not have to witness that day. Then my mother had me fired from the company that I built. After that, she kicked me to the curb so in a split second, I had no shelter, no money, no job and no help whatsoever. I didn't know what to do. I was already four months in when she realised I was pregnant. I had put all my funds trying to get the company up. I had nothing and I was about to have a child, I knew nothing about how to do it. I was all alone in New York. So, anyway, I was homeless for a while considering I lived with my mother. The streets were cold and unforgiving. I lived in a homeless women's shelter because I had nothing to pay for rent. They were kind enough to help a young pregnant clueless orphaned girl in New York. Then, after a few nights, I realised that I had to figure income for myself. The shelter was temporary. They have rules about the number of days you can stay and things. Plus, I had to afford a baby. I took a job as a waitress at a diner and got an apartment. There were some complications while I was giving birth and that left me with a mountain of bills and no way to pay for them on top of paying to raise a baby! So I took this job. I work at the diner during the day and here at night. Jamie goes to school while I work at the restaurant and I have somebody who stays at home during the night. Sometimes, she can't and that's when I have no choice but to get him here with me. I keep him in the back room with girls who care and keep an eye on him," Brooke felt the urge to protect her actions as if Lucas would call CPS on her.

Lucas couldn't help but think about how much the boy looked like him but it wasn't possible, right? She wouldn't do that. She could not be that harsh to keep him away from his child. Lucas had grown fatherless and it was horrible. Brooke knew that. She surely wouldn't put her son through that. She couldn't possibly put Lucas through that. Additionally, the timeline just didn't add up. Brooke was pregnant while she was in New York. They had broken up long before that. He had been with Peyton during Senior Year. Yet, Lucas had a foreboding feeling. "And his father?" he asked in a vain attempt to save his ass.

"Let's just say he doesn't know about him because what we did was a mistake. He has a good life I think. I dont wanna ruin that," she shrugged, never meeting his eyes.

"Brooke, I need the name," Lucas said, to try to get her to confess and tell the truth. She looked like the wind got knocked out of her and it was scaring the life out of Lucas.

Brooke remained mute and still as she stared at the floor biting her lip nervously, clutching his jacket in a death grip.

"How old is he?" Lucas asked apprehensively. The similarities were uncanny. His mental wheels were turning. Could it be possible?

"Lucas, don't ask me what you're thinking, please! I know what you are. Just don't. Forget you saw me and leave," she begged, needing it to end. She needed him to go and forget her and forget everything he saw. She was finally making peace and reconciling with her fate. With Lucas seeing her this way, it was like he was waking her up from the coma of denial she had put herself in and she was too terrified to face the reality if she woke up.

"Brooke, why shouldn't I ask you what we both know I have to?" Lucas interrogated, losing his temper at the girl he once claimed to love.

"Because if you do, I can't lie to you. She cried. "I can't do this anymore." She was an emotional wreck. Brooke weeped like she had never weeped before. Lucas got scared seeing her that way. Brooke was always strong. Yes, she had seen her cry before, memories of their break up wafted to his thoughts but never this way. This was a pain piercing out of her ribs as the bottle of emotions she had sealed blasted like a soda bottle under immense pressure, spilling its sticky contents everywhere.

"Brooke. Is this boy my son?" Lucas asked in a final attempt, taking advantage of her vulnerability. This was his only chance, once Brooke was back to her old steel self, she would most likely disappear into the night again, leaving Lucas with a million what if's.

"Yes," she whispered so softly that if Lucas had not held his breath, he would have missed it. She slumped down, dropping her head on her lap once she said that, exhausted and terrified. He could still see the steady stream of tears wetting her thighs. Lucas, however, felt no sympathy. He was confused.

"But how! I would've known if you were pregnant when we were together. I was with Peyton for the second half senior year," he recalculated. It made no sense. Surely, Brooke got it wrong.

"Do you remember the graduation party? Chase couldn't handle my past. We broke up. It was never gonna last anyway and we knew it. A Clean teen with the high school slut, what were we even thinking? So we broke it off and I was drinking and then, you and Peyton had that fight because you were gonna stay in Tree Hill to be with your mom and sister and coach at Duke and she was leaving for LA. Anyway, she left early to pack. Then you and I met at some point, I was drunk but we began drinking together and then we slept together and made a baby." she recounted.

Lucas put his hands on his head as he tried to remember that day. He remembered the abandoned house, he remembered breaking up with Peyton. A stab of pain immediately made its way up to his heart as he felt that pang of heartache all over again. He tried to jerk his memory further. Yes, he had met up with Brooke after. He saw himself telling her broodily about his split with Peyton and then like a flash, he saw himself kissing Brooke while lying on a bed and pulling her top and bra off. Oh no!

"I vaguely remember that. I thought it was a dream. That I dreamt the whole thing up," he groaned.

"Oh it happened. I have living breathing proof of it," Brooke attempted to joke.

"Anyway, Lucas, I need to go get my son to bed. I'm gonna go," she said all too quickly, pulling the jacket off her and using one hand to shield her modesty and the other to return his clothing.

"No wait! You can't just leave! I just learnt that I'm a father. Brooke stop!" he yelled as Brooke dropped the jacket and ran towards the curtains.

"I'm sorry, but I can't!" she cried and ran towards the back door.

Brooke didn't bother changing. She put on her thick overcoat, thanked Celeste, picked up the sleeping boy on her shoulders and ran out the back door. Lucas tried running after her, but there was a bouncer at the door to the employee's only door who made him leave.

He felt the strangest feelings as he walked out and tried to hunt for Brooke, but he could not find her. So dejectedly, he returned to his hotel room, only to lie awake in shock.

Brooke walked to her apartment and sighed as she went through her routine. She did not have time to think and process her emotions. She could save that for later. She changed her already sleeping son into his pyjamas and tucked him into his bed. She gently kissed his cheek and inhaled his baby scent. She sighed, knowing that however up and down things went, her love for her son would always be constant. She felt her stomach growl and lurch suddenly. She was hungry. So she walked to her fridge and opened it. It was quite bare and she wasn't sure if Jamie had eaten well while she was working. So she chose not to eat to save supplies for her kid. Jamie's third birthday was coming up. He wanted a bicycle. She had been saving for months but was still short. So she was rationing her meals to save grocery money for his present.

Next she walked to her bathroom and used some make up remover to wipe her face clean. Once she had washed her face, she looked at herself in the mirror. Two dead eyes looked back at her. She was nothing more than a walking corpse. She pulled off her jacket that she still had on and pulled off her panties, the only item she had on unfortunately, and stepped into the hot shower. She stood there under the torrid jets and finally let her emotions take over her. Her legs were too weak to hold her weight and so she slumped down and sobbed,sobbed like she hadn't in the last few years. Everything was messed up and bad and wrong. How was she supposed to go to work? Lucas knew. He knew everything. He would find her and take her child away from her.

No! She couldn't live without Jamie. He was all she had. He was her only reason for living. She could not give him up but she could not not work. She needed that job and that money. There was just no right answer.

Eventually, Brooke got out of her shower and put on her sweats and jacket. The heat in the apartment was pretty non-existent. She crawled into the old lumpy couch that she called her bed. She sat, feeling numb. She had no more tears left in her to cry but fear still gripped her like a vice. She lay there, awake and lonely with her thoughts.

How had her plans failed by such epic proportions? After all, he wasn't the kind to ever step into a strip club.