LUCAS : Wait, Brooke!
Chris turned around first... Brooke, she took a deep breath first then swallowed before doing the same. Lucas finished his run... Panting, he stopped a few steps away from them but only looked at Brooke. Brooke's heart was beating fast in her ribcage and hot flashes invaded her. She nevertheless maintained his gaze.
LUCAS : Brooke, I really need to talk to you...
Lucas glanced quickly at Chris. He gave her a small, embarrassed smile before adding:
LUCAS : Could you give us a private moment?
Brooke felt Chris's puzzled gaze weighing on her. She pretended that it was just something futile.
BROOKE : Oh yeah, that's right, well I guess we can talk for a while...
Brooke smiled at Chris and saw Peyton in the garden talking to Owen again.
BROOKE : I'm inside, Chris, and I won't be long... We have something to celebrate, after all!
CHRIS : Count on it, my beautiful creative partner! See you soon!
And he walked away... Brooke took a step towards Lucas while looking at his wife who was still far too close to them.
BROOKE : Inside, I suppose?
LUCAS : Indeed, I would prefer. Follow me.
Of course he preferred... Brooke still felt that bitter taste even if she wondered what he had to say to her. Silently, she walked behind Lucas to the stairs that went back up to the great room. But just before entering the foyer, Lucas moved to his left to open a door leading to the hallway.
LUCAS : Let's go this way...
He lets Brooke go first out of gallantry and Brooke's eyes opened wide.
BROOKE : It almost feels like we're in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles!
LUCAS : I was hoping it would look like a living room or something more cozy, but if you like it, that's even better.
BROOKE : I really like the room, yes! What you are about to tell me is probably much less...
And as she started walking to observe the place more closely...
BROOKE : I'm listening...
Lucas seemed a little lost by the fact that she was moving but he didn't dare find fault with it. He decided to follow her. Brooke saw it as the perfect way to hide her emotions and expressions more easily, because her throat was already tightening, her hands were even sweatier and a slight stomach ache was starting to creep up on her.
LUCAS : I wanted to tell you first... I found you dazzling tonight... Not only in this outfit... At the microphone... what aplomb you had and what a just return of things... You deserve it so much.
His words surprised Brooke as much as they destabilized her, she dared a quick glance at him.
BROOKE : I apparently have more aplomb than you even if I didn't know I was capable of it before tonight...
Brooke took on a falsely nonchalant air before adding:
BROOKE : And a just return of things? I suppose it's a lesser evil after having suffered so much. Even if in the end, all this is not really her fault...
Lucas supported her gaze without saying anything, no need for words for him to understand what she meant.
LUCAS : But Peyton is still a bad person... Even if she wasn't the one who behaved the worst.
BROOKE : But that doesn't change the fact that you're married to this person either...
LUCAS : I still am... For now. But I want a divorce, Brooke.
BROOKE : It's funny but I feel like I've already heard that same sentence a few days ago!
LUCAS : Because that was already the case...
Oh no... He wasn't going to try to do it to her again... All that to get her back in his bed!
BROOKE : And that was before or after you fucked me one last time!? Before or after your discussion with Nathan!?
LUCAS : I... I don't understand what you're talking about, Brooke... But if you'll explain...
BROOKE : What are you playing at here, Lucas!?
LUCAS : Nothing, damn it! Tell me what discussion are you talking about!?
BROOKE : It's really handy to have such a short memory when you make promises to your mistress... Or confessions to your brother-in-law, just last night, too!
Lucas's face fell into a frown. He was really trying to concentrate on understanding what she was criticizing him for.
LUCAS : The only conversation I had with Nathan last night was about you... And my decision to leave Peyton.
Brooke's heart stopped to the point of skipping several beats. But her rational mind refused to believe it so quickly...
BROOKE : I heard you, Lucas! You said you loved her and that this would all be easier if you didn't! That it was clear to you now and that you would come and talk to me about it that very night so that I would stop hoping!
LUCAS : No!
BROOKE : You said that our relationship was doomed from the start! I heard you, I heard everything!
Lucas stood in front of Brooke, both completely shocked and strangely unbearably relieved.
LUCAS : That's right, I said all that! But you got it all wrong, Brooke! I think I understand now... Is that why you left!?
Still, Brooke let him approach her without touching her as his eyes questioned her.
BROOKE : I still had a little hope... But everything collapsed at that moment so it was the best thing to do.
LUCAS : Nothing fell apart, Brooke because I wanted to make things right with you! And it was Peyton I had to talk to so as not to let her hope for anything between us! She's the biggest mistake of my entire life, it's our relationship that was doomed to failure from the start...
More and more destabilized, Brooke would like to believe it but she no longer trusted her hearing so easily.
BROOKE : What do you mean!?
Lucas understood that it was time to be honest until the end. He took a deep breath before starting.
LUCAS : I loved her, you know... Really, I was in love with her and I really believed that we would get through all of this...
Brooke's heart sank despite the fact that he was speaking in the past tense. But she listened without interrupting him.
LUCAS : But it was already over for her and me the moment she made the decision to keep our baby, Brooke... A breach was created between us that day and it continued to grow day after day. The resentment and misunderstandings continued to intensify and each of us reacted according to our temperament... I didn't understand why she didn't want to become a mother, why it didn't make her happy. I understood, from the moment Sawyer was born, that she would have done better to never become a mother...
Her voice was filled with bitterness, sadness and a realization as painful as it was sincere.
LUCAS : She, she had conceded to this radical change in our lives, to offer me what I had always hoped for ... I wanted this child so much that I let her move away again and I only had eyes for Sawyer. Unconsciously at first and then quite consciously, I began to cherish and love Sawyer for two. It left us no chance, Brooke ... Absolutely none. But I only recently understood all that... It's true that it's late, maybe even too late...
He stopped after this long speech as if to ask her to confirm or deny what he said
LUCAS : Tell me it's not too late, Brooke...
The way he said her name would almost make her forget all her doubts and accumulated anger.
BROOKE : Too late for what?
LUCAS : For us!
A shiver invaded Brooke from head to toe.
BROOKE : Are you saying that you became aware of all this... Because of me!?
LUCAS : No, not because of you... Thanks to you, Brooke! Thanks to what I live and feel when I'm with you!
This time, Lucas brought his hand closer to hook Brooke's wrist in his palm. It was gentle and respectful. As she did not physically resist, Lucas reduced the distance between them even more... His hand rested on her waist.
LUCAS : I was like anesthetized and you awakened the best in me, what I had to offer to a woman...
Brooke could now feel the caress and the warmth of his breath on her skin. She swallowed as she looked at him. She already felt completely engulfed by the desire that was rekindled inside her... Him and her, it was so obvious...
LUCAS : I need you, Brooke... And I'm so sorry. Things should never have happened like this...
BROOKE : You mean your cowardice and cruelty?
LUCAS : I am a coward, it's true... I thought it would be easier for you to hate and despise me... Because I couldn't find the strength in me to resist you... So I told myself that at least you would stay away from me. But I only thought about that after I had miserably failed in my resistance to you. I'm so sorry, Brooke.
A small part of Brooke resisted his beautiful words as best she could even if she felt herself giving in more and more.
LUCAS : If you give me a second chance, I will prove to you that you are the only one who matters now...
He moved closer until his lips were only a few inches from hers. Feverish, Brooke looked down at his shirt, trying to resist the urge to touch or kiss him.
LUCAS : Look at me, Brooke...
Lucas' fingers first rested under Brooke's chin to gently lift it. His eyes met hers.
LUCAS : And I really hope you will... Because I can't imagine my life without you anymore...
His two palms then came to trap Brooke's cheeks on which his thumbs were soon delicately sweeping.
LUCAS : I only think about you... Day and night. I only want you, again and again. I want to make you happy... All my thoughts and desires are for you, I want to make you laugh and hold you in my arms forever...
His words were like the most beautiful melodies and every square inch of Brooke's skin quivered with happiness. Pressed against him, she now felt that their contact had just as much effect on her... His cock was stiff against her.
LUCAS : I had to clear all this up... Lay myself bare in front of you before you made your decision, Brooke...
And although her whole being wanted to give in to this man she desired so much... To his palms that touched her cheeks, to his eyes that devoured her, to his mouth that invited her with greed... To his smell that reassured her, and to his hard and stiff cock that pressed against her dress... She had one last question.
BROOKE : And Sawyer in all this?