One Tree Hill 1. It Seems Like A Lifetime Ago: Part One

_**Summary: **__When a seven year old girl turns up on NBA star Lucas Scott's doorstep with a striking resemblance to a woman he used to know and announce she is his daughter is life is thrown into chaos as the one woman he's only ever loved comes unexpectedly back into his life._

**Author's Note: **_I'm Your Daughter was a story I wrote between the 6__th__ October 2007 and the 5__th__ January 2008 and it had a lukewarm acceptance. Now that I'm older and my writing style has improved (I hope) I have made the decision to rewrite this story; as well as another story I wrote around this time.  
If you reviewed/alerted/added it to your favourites before – I would love for you to redo that as it is better than the original_

**Disclaimer: **_The only reason I still do these things is so I won't get sued by some power hungry individual. There is no way I own or will ever in the possible future own One Tree Hill and its characters. Why would Leyton/Pucas be on the show if I did?  
The premise of this story comes from The Game Plan; which I also do not own =)_

**Casey xXx**

Even in the street outside a Chicago nightclub late at night, the music could be heard as it vibrated through the floors and into the people that were crowded onto the large dance floor as they continued to gyrate and dance to the music. On the outskirts of the floor several tables were scattered around; most of which were littered with empty beer bottles and glasses, the only evidence lying around that most of the twenty something's out dancing were inebriated. And even though most of the noise was coming from this dance floor, the real action was occurring behind the purple velvet rope that separated the main floor to the VIP floor, near the DJ's station.  
It was here, on the opening night of this club, that Lucas Scott and the rest of the Chicago Bull's were sitting; watching the crowds of people in front of them with mild interest.

Lucas Scott was not hard to find among the basketball team; he was the dirty blonde one that was celebrating his recent three year contract to the club which included a pay packet in the six digits. He was also the one that had a swarm of girls fawning over him; trying to get him to notice them. His teammates watched the spectacle with interest – even though Lucas had these women throwing themselves on him he never seemed to show a large amount of attention. The newest Timbaland song started and unable to sit there any longer Lucas grabbed the arms of the two closest blondes to take with him to the dance floor. Just because they were cute and he was possibly going to take one or both home with him tonight didn't mean that he had to commit to them after tonight.

---

Across the country; in small town Tree Hill, North Carolina Brooke Davis was getting ready to lock up for the night and go to sleep. She had spent the entire day working a double shift at the small café where she had been a waitress for the past seven years and she had come home to clean her small, modest home and cook dinner for her daughter who had watched a basketball game for the entire evening.  
After locking the front door and turning off the main lights Brooke checked on her daughter Lauren before she went to bed. The girl's room which was painted pink – a remnant of her baby days when Brooke had surrounded her in the colour, was also covered in basketball posters and had a basketball hoop standing in the corner. Even though Lauren had lived in North Carolina her entire life she didn't follow the state's basketball team; it was the Chicago Bulls that she passionately supported despite her mother's attempts to change that. Partially closing the door, Brooke proceeded to her room where nearly every wooden surface was covered in photographs; whether of herself and her daughter or her friends from high school. On the nightstand table, one photo stood, it was of back when she was seventeen and she was blissfully happy with her boyfriend Luke.  
Looking at her face now, Brooke couldn't believe that they were the same person, that the photo Brooke believed that nothing could possibly ever change.

---

It was Brooke's turn to open the café the next morning, since the store's owner – Lauren's Grandmother; Brooke's would be mother-in-law had errands to run from the place. The first customer had just come in, carrying the daily tabloid paper and while Brooke waited for the coffee brewer to start up she took quick glances at the headlines.  
Most of them had to do with last night's club opening in Chicago and its star attractions – the Chicago Bulls Basketball team who were celebrating the contract of twenty five year old star Lucas Scott. The picture that accompanied it showed Lucas dancing with two blonde girls who were barely legal; while he was clearly drunk. Brooke sighed as the customer paid for his coffee and left she hoped that when Lauren went to her Aunt and Uncle's place after school that Haley hadn't left the paper lying around somewhere for the little girl to discover it.

The day just seemed to drag on and on and Brooke could pinpoint to one specific reason; when Karen had arrived for the day the large plasma screen telly that was mounted to the wall to the side of the counter had been turned to the ESPN channel. Non-stop basketball.  
"Karen…" Brooke complained as they flashed Luke's profile again, Brooke couldn't contemplate how one lousy contract could generate so much hype. She didn't need to continue any further for Karen knew what the girl she considered to be a daughter was thinking.  
"He is my son." Karen reminded her. "And this is the only way I can see him." Big-shot Lucas Scott never called home anymore. As a recent interview started to roll, Brooke disappeared into the back kitchen to clean dishes so she wouldn't have to hear the voice of her ex-boyfriend, the voice that had told her three little very important words so many times.

"_Luke, a lot of interest has surrounded your personal life, specifically your female friends. Is there something that we should know?" _The nosy reporter asked; Brooke groaned even from the backroom with the door shut she could hear the television.  
"_I don't kiss and tell." _She heard the familiar voice laugh. "_But no, there's no special lady."  
_"_We have noticed that you seem to have a particular attraction towards blondes…" _The reporter just did not give up. "_Is blonde hair something that has featured in past relationships?"  
_"_Brunette; I always look for brunettes." _Brooke didn't have to see his face to know that suddenly he was serious; she could hear it in his voice and unconsciously her wet, soapy hands reached up to touch the ends of her own brunette/raven coloured locks.  
"_Is there something your fans should be aware of…"_ Brooke wanted to throw something at that guy.  
"_There used to be…a long time ago."_

"He'll realise one day." The last customer had left, and Brooke locked the front door to _Karen's Café _before sitting down and accepting the hot cup of coffee Karen had prepared for her. Karen smiled at the other woman. "I could see it when he was on screen earlier, he still does love you; and the Lucas you still love is there."  
Brooke appreciated what Karen was saying but Lucas was never going to come back. Brooke finished the rest of her drink in silence and then picked up her coat kissing Karen on the cheek.  
"Thanks for the talk Karen, I'll see you Monday."

---

When Brooke arrived at her best friend's house she could hear her daughter's laughter emerging from the living room.  
"Hales?" Brooke called out as she opened the front door herself. "Haley, Lauren?" She called out again. Haley James Scott appeared from the living room where her daughter's laughter had been coming from smiling herself.  
"Hey Brooke, I wasn't expecting you just yet." She sounded surprised; Brooke didn't pay too much attention to it.  
"I missed my daughter." Brooke smiled, putting her bag down; she would be here awhile. "Where is Lauren, normally she comes running."  
"Oh, we were going through old photo albums." We obviously meaning Lauren and Haley as well as Haley's husband Nathan and their seven year old son James Lucas 'Jamie'.  
"Eewww…." The simultaneous sound that emerged from Lauren and Jamie caused both adult's eyes to slide towards the closed door.  
"What photos are you looking at?" Brooke whispered, inching towards the door.  
"Uh, High school photo's." Haley had a sneaking suspicious what the photo was and Brooke wasn't going to be impressed.  
"What is mummy doing?" Lauren asked in a large voice. Brooke opened the door to find Nathan looking like a deer stuck in the headlights. Brooke spotted the picture and groaned; Lucas, Haley, Nathan and Brooke had spent the day together at the beach and Haley had snuck up on Brooke and Lucas while they had been making out heavily and snapped a photo.  
"Mummy, is that you and daddy? Do Aunty Haley and Uncle Nathan kiss like this?"  
"Ew, that's disgusting." Jamie spoke up; of course his parents wouldn't do anything as revolting as that. Daddy would probably catch all kind of girlie cooties.  
Brooke could already feel a migraine coming on as she tried to form a half decent explanation for something she thought wouldn't have to be explained for another three years minimum. It was situations like these when she wished that Lucas was here with her and Lauren to explain these situations to her.

**A/N: First chapter completely re-written. This is just a preview, so it might be a little while before the next chapter comes so don't forget to review and tell me what you think of the revisions. I'm also revising the plot line to make it longer so as of right now I am also open to suggestions =)**


	2. A Reminder of What Was

_They were all standing on the River Court, staring at the concrete where they had just scribed their names with spray paint. Knowing that the female half of the group, herself included, were about to burst into tears which would undoubtedly bring down the celebratory mood of the night Brooke spoke up, putting on a big smile as she did so.  
"Okay, we're not gonna do this. We're not gonna get sad, nothing's going to change now. We'll all be friends forever, I know it."  
"Look, in four years we're gonna be right back here. We'll be done with college or wherever we go, Right?" Lucas's words followed hers as he slung his arm around her shoulder._

Staring at the concrete court now; seven and a half years after that night, three and a half years after the night the whole group was supposed to have met, the spray paint though still clearly visible was faded. At the end of one side of the court, her blonde daughter was dribbling her beloved Chicago Bulls basketball and practicing her shooting. Brooke focused on Luke's name on the court next to hers for a long time, for such a long time that the colour began to blur.  
Luke's family wanted Brooke to tell Luke about Lauren, they'd wanted her to tell since she found out about Lauren only weeks after he'd left; and so far every time she had found a reason to refuse, but watching Lauren now, thinking about how her ex-boyfriend covered her room she was beginning to rethink her stubbornness

"Rachel, please just tell me what to do." Even though Brooke was incredibly close to Karen, Haley and Nathan she had to go her second best friend, model Rachel Gatina, who was living in New York City for this advice, she was the only one who could give a honest, unbiased answer.  
"When did you get so whiny?" Brooke imagined Rachel inspecting her nails while she lounged on her couch, probably with some random guy asleep in her bed.  
"Because I've given up, I can't keep fighting the Scott Family."  
"It's been seven years of you taking constant care of my beautiful god daughter. _Maybe _it is time to let Lucas know."  
"Hey, sweetheart?" Brooke ended the phone call with Rachel and moved from the swing on the front porch to the living room where Lauren was watching a television show. The seven year old girl turned and Lucas's eyes stared back at her. "Yeah mum?"  
"How would you like to go on a holiday…to Chicago?" She rushed it out before she rethought what everybody around her was telling her to do.

_Brooke was standing on Karen Roe's porch watching Lucas's car, the one he'd gotten from his Uncle Keith, pull out of the driveway ready to drive the entire way to Chicago. It had only been two and a half days since the night on the River Court and his entire backseat was full of suitcases and books ready to leave and start his professional life as a basket__ baller._

Brooke had maxed out one of her two credit cards to buy Lauren a ticket on the first plane to Chicago in the morning while the little girl excitedly started packing, deciding on what to take to show her daddy. Once the ticket was confirmed Brooke stretched back in her computer chair and it felt like she was about to burst out into tears; she had never felt guilt ridden. She was finally giving everybody what they wanted, Luke would finally know about his daughter but she still felt like a terrible mother sending her over there alone and unannounced; but after so long she couldn't face him like this.

"Now, are you sure you have everything?" Brooke was kneeling at Lauren's height outside the boarding gate at the airport. "Ticket, snacks…"  
"Yes, mum." Lauren sighed; she had heard this a million times already since they had left the house a couple of hours ago.  
"Have you got Jake's number?" Jake Jagielski, who she hadn't seen since junior of high school, was the only person she knew who was living in Chicago and he'd agreed to drop Lauren off at Luke's address.  
The final boarding call for the Chicago flight was announced and a flight attendant appeared to accompany Lauren to Chicago.  
"Call me if you need _anything._" She kissed Lauren's forehead and then watched her disappear onto the plan. Once the plane had taken off Brooke headed back to her car; what she really wanted right now was one of Karen's famous soothing hot chocolates.

Lucas woke up craving one of his mum's hot chocolates, which was a first for him as he had never craved anything before. Instead of climbing out of bed to satisfy his craving with a substitute, he remained in bed underneath his black silk sheets relaxing in the thought that he had to nothing today.  
The décor of his luxury Chicago penthouse was all white and silver with modern technology prevailing in every room. The only item that stood out was the large collection of books and DVDs on the glass shelves in the living room. The part that he loved most about his place though was the silence that surrounded it; the brooder coming out in him.

He had finally climbed out of bed for breakfast when his silence was shattered by the shrill sound of the doorbell. Grumbling, he changed course; he'd had no plans for the day and had been looking forward to that; he didn't want to entertain visitors. His visitor was not someone he had been expecting at all. She was small; he was guessing six or seven with long golden wavy locks of hair.  
"Hello." He greeted her warily. "Are you lost?" Though he wondered how she would be lost on the top floor of the apartment building which was wholly occupied by his place.  
"No."  
"You're here to see me?" He was surprised and the girl nodded silently; he noticed that there was a small suitcase next to her; he hoped she just wanted to try and sell him something.  
"Who are you?"  
"I'm your daughter."

Lucas was now fully dressed and sitting on an armchair staring back at the child that was apparently his who was relaxing on the couch, her legs not quite reaching the floor. Looking into her eyes though he knew he shouldn't have been surprised, he should have seen it straight away – they were identical to his.  
"Is your mother here?" He asked the question to avoid asking the real question; who was her mother?  
"No, I'm by myself."  
He couldn't come out and ask; it would make him look like a man whore, especially since he had to narrow the list to four possible women he'd been with around the same time – two one night stands after he arrived in Chicago, one ill spent night with an old friend and his ex-girlfriend.  
"How old are you?"  
"I was seven three weeks ago."  
He thought back to where he was seven and a half years ago and then it felt like everything was crumbling around him as it him like a tonne of bricks; he still had the tattoo on his arm as a permanent reminder of their relationship.  
"Brooke…"

**A/N: I **_**should **_**be focusing on**** uni**** and my other two in-progress stories but the response for chapter one was so large I thought I'd start this one too. Also, I'm looking for a beta-reader for this story – I promise you the updaters come more regularly if I have someone helping me, so if you're interested email or PM me. **

Brulian equals forbidden love **awhero **Brucas 10 _Long Live BRUCAS __brucas28forever  
_**princetongirl **randi-jane0th _brookenlucas4eva03 __cRaZyGuRl093_ _**Bella  
**__BDavisLScott23 _ravencheerleader _Brucas 2006 _**bibleboymary4ever**

**Thanks for all the great reviews**


	3. High School Feels So Long Ago

The paper had yellowed with age and as Luke held the parchment in his large hands he found himself terrified that he would rip it and not be able to read the words that Brooke had penned to him so long ago. As he read the words on the page for what felt like the millionth time since Lauren had handed it to him ten minutes ago, he could almost hear the raspy voice that he'd fallen in love with as a junior back in high school.  
_Dear Broody,  
This is it, we finally graduated high school; there is no turning back now. I'm sitting in this bare waiting room while the crackly P.A. system is playing some sort of music that's meant to make everybody cheerful. Haley and Nathan are bonding with Jamie and you've disappeared down to the gift shop.  
I'm really scared Luke, we're meant to go out into the world and be responsible adults and look after ourselves, but Luke there's something else which is really scaring me. I'm pregnant.  
We're going to be parents, and in six months we're going to be just like Nathan and Haley and that I'm terrified about that. Haley had a mother figure, she knows what to do. I have my mother – I can't be like that to my child – to our child. We both have dreams as well – I want to go to New York and design clothes, you want to go to Chicago. How does a baby work into that?  
I don't know, but Luke no matter what, I am keeping this baby; I want to have this baby with you. _

_I love you,  
Brooke_

Luke smiled slightly as he imagined Brooke scribbling it down on a piece of paper because she was too scared to actually tell him in person; he could see that she was having a panic attack when she was writing it, letting all her fears come out in a big wave. The second letter had come later, just after Lauren had been born.

_Dear Lucas__,  
You have a beautiful baby girl; Lauren Haley Davis Scott. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her before but your mum was here with me the entire time, and she's told me that our little girl has your eyes.  
The baby is asleep now, and I'm watching your first ever NBA game. I want to congratulate you Luke; you're going to be huge.  
I guess we both got what we wanted – you get to play professional basketball and I am the mother to your child._

_I will always love you,  
Brooke_

Lucas looked back up at Lauren and waved the papers in her direction.  
"Why did your mum never send these?" He asked; he was upset and angry at Brooke. He was trying to work out how she could never tell him.  
"She didn't want you to stop playing basketball. She said that if you knew you'd come back to Tree Hill even if you didn't want to."  
"Your mum really needs to let me make my own decisions." Luke seethed, trying to control his anger. It wasn't Lauren's fault that her mother had been selfish.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door before a large man let himself in with his key; assuming that his client would still be in bed, passed out.  
"Luke, man; don't tell me you're still pissed." It was his manager Tony and one thing he didn't know was how to be subtle.  
"I'm right here Tony." The man was startled by Luke's voice coming from the couch, but was nothing when he noticed the blonde girl.  
"Hey Luke, I know you like blondes, but this is a child."  
"You're a pervert." Luke shot back. "This…is my daughter Lauren."  
Tony did a double take; surely he couldn't have heard right.  
"You're _daughter?"  
_Lucas could only nod.  
"They're just going to love this." Tony could see just see the media circus that this was going to create.

_Brooke was wearing her cheerleading __uniform spread out across Luke's bed. They'd just come home from a game; where the _Ravens _won again and Brooke was exhausted. She gazed off to the side of the room where the dollhouse from her childhood was sitting now. It was the only reminder in the room that Brooke had stayed in this room while Luke was temporarily living with his father. Climbing onto the bed next to her, Luke draped one arm over his girlfriend's waist and kissed the back of her neck.  
"When I was a little girl…" Brooke was talking quietly. "I would look my dollhouse and tell myself that someday that was what my house would look exactly like that."  
"One day, I promise you pretty girl that I will give you the red door."  
"Do you promise?" Brooke was surprisingly tired; normally she was pumped after a victory and so her question came out as a yawn.  
"I promise."_

Brooke was lying on her couch, an old blanket spread over her to keep her warm and the latest edition of _Cosmopolitan _on her lap. She hadn't opened the magazine yet, but instead she was staring at a photo that sat on the side table. She was eighteen years old, and Lauren had just been born. She had never once spent the night away from her baby girl and she was questioning her sanity; why the hell did she listen to the advice Rachel gave her?  
She was about to pick up the magazine when her phone rang; reaching behind her she picked up the handset.  
"Hello?"  
"How could you never tell me?" The voice was angrier than she remembered and deeper too, but there was no denying that it was her ex-lovers voice. "How could you never tell me that I had a daughter?"  
Luke's phone call caught Brooke out by surprise. "I wanted so many times to tell you." She was meant to be speaking in a firm voice, but it came out a weak whisper; she didn't realise that talking to him again would be this difficult.  
"Why didn't you?"  
"You were making it big Luke. We were eighteen and you were living out what every high school basketball player dreams of. I couldn't just let you walk away from it all."  
"She is _my _daughter; that should have been _my _choice to make."  
Brooke was silent for a minute. "Well, she's there with you at the moment." Then Brooke had to hang up before she had an emotional breakdown over the phone and confessed everything to Luke; about how she missed him and how all she wanted during her pregnancy and Lauren's infancy was him.

Once the phone had been hung up, the magazine was discarded onto the coffee table. Instead she pulled out one of the thick leather bound photo albums that sat underneath her coffee table. The particular album she had picked up was her _Brooke and Lucas _album; it was the one at the bottom of the collection and the only one that was covered in a fine layer of dust. She hadn't opened this album since she had first put it together while hormonal and pregnant.

The couple in the all the photographs looked like the belonged together; they were the perfect example of opposites attract and they always knew how to have fun. Sighing, she closed the album shut again before she'd even made it past the first page.  
She hadn't seen Lucas in seven and a half years; it shouldn't be that hard to look at photos of them still.

"_If we had a little girl, we're so calling her Penelope." Luke and Brooke were sitting on top of the picnic table at the Rivercourt, messing around and having fun; they'd just found out that Haley was pregnant. Brooke shot her blond boyfriend and horrified look. "Only if you want your son to be called Eugene."  
Brooke's horrified face was nothing compared to the look of terror on Luke's face and Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "Don'__t worry, I'd never be able to do that to our son; just imagine all the crap he'd get."_

"Did your mum ever talk about me?" Luke had called in for Chinese; and he watched as Lauren scraped up every last bit of her food.  
"No. Never." Lauren replied bluntly. "At least not to me; I know she talked to Grandma and Aunty Rachel and Aunty Haley and Uncle Nate. Grandma and Aunty Haley and Uncle Nate are the ones that told me everything about you."  
"Why doesn't your mum talk about me?" Luke was shamelessly grilling the blonde little girl for information but he didn't care.  
"She told Aunty Haley once that it was too difficult; but mum did give me a picture of you and her once when I asked. I think she cried all night that night."

**AN: Ah, look, an update!! I didn't forget about this story I promise but as I work on an epilogue for **_**The Family Scott **_**I've decided to devote my attention to this story. And because I'm really stupid I'm thinking about starting another story – so go vote in the poll on my profile page, or if you have any ideas for story you can email me; cause I'm sorta stuck at the moment =)  
And as always, don't forget to review**

**~ Casey xXx**


	4. Have I Made The Right Decision?

The sun was only just beginning to rise over the small, sleepy town of Tree Hill, North Carolina and already twenty five year old brunette Brooke Davis was in Karen's Café. Her home was uncharacteristically quiet, something that had been an alien concept to her for the last seven years, and so she was spending as much time as possible out.  
"Do you think I made the right choice?" Brooke sighed as she sipped the latte that her would be mother-in-law had put on the counter in front of her. Since sending Lauren across the country two weeks ago, she had asked the same question everyday.  
"Luke had the right to know; Lauren is fine." And everyday she would receive the same answer.  
"Maybe I should go to Chicago?" Brooke finished off her drink and stood up to go rinse it off before Karen opened up the café for the day.  
"You should give Lauren and Luke some more time by themselves before you go entering his life again." Lucas's mother, Karen Roe, had watched her son fall in love with the feisty brunette back when they were juniors in high school and after he left for Chicago she had watched the same girl crash and burn then rebuild her life, carrying his child, and not chase after him which she sometimes fantasized about.  
"Just give them another week." Karen smiled warmly as she went to open the front door.

So far Lucas Scott, the famous basketball player who was used to being trailed by the paparazzi, had managed to evade the cameras when he spent the days out with Lauren.  
"Come on, Lauren, it's time to go back home. I have to go to practice tonight." Lauren was trying to drag her father to another exhibit at the zoo while Luke was at the same time attempting to lead her to the front door. They looked like the perfect father and daughter couple as they dragged each other in the opposite directions; in Lauren's free hand was a pink balloon that they'd been giving away and in Luke's hand was a rather large bag from the zoo's gift shop where he had put his credit card to good use.  
"But daddy…" Lauren whined giving her father the puppy dog eyes.  
"That's not going to work on me missy." He responded, lifting her up instead since it was obviously the fastest way to get her out of there. He managed to conceal it to his smiling, laughing daughter but the puppy dog eyes hit a spot with him; they reminded him so much of Brooke and to think about her in that way still hurt for him.

Lauren was sitting on Luke's couch, a movie she had brought from home playing on the large wall mounted plasma screen in the living room. Lucas had to go out to practice and instead of dragging his daughter out to a place where there would be media he made the decision to leave her at home with Tony babysitting.  
"Do you need anything?" Tony was sitting in an armchair, a sports magazine in his hands as he looked up to make sure that Lauren hadn't fallen unconscious or had wrecked the place. The little girl that he considered to be incredibly she shook her head politely, her blonde hair flying around her.  
"Are you enjoying it in Chicago?" Lauren's eyes kept reverting back to the screen, but she had seen this movie a million times and her mother and Aunt Haley had always taught her to be polite.  
"It's a lot of fun." She responded quietly. "I'm really happy that I got to spend time with daddy."  
"Do you know how long you'll be staying in Chicago for? I bet your mum misses you."  
Lauren's expression changed instantly, she loved her dad but she missed her mum. She needed to come up with a way to get the both of them together in one place permanently.  
"I don't know." Lauren's response came quietly as she turned back to the television and Tony knew that he had upset the girl in anyway and he went back to his magazine so he wouldn't upset her any further which would just result in Luke yelling at him.

"Did she behave for you?" By the time Luke got home that night Lauren had put herself to bed; the movie tiring her out.  
"Sure she did. Your girl's an angel." Tony responded, just grateful that she hadn't burst into tears when he mentioned her mother.  
Before Luke turned in for the night himself, the late wild nights after practice already a thing of the past he checked in on his daughter. Her small figure swamped by the massive bed frame.  
"Good night baby girl." He whispered quietly, shutting the door partially behind him as he darkened the rest of his house.

"I'm driving to Chicago, Karen. I'm leaving right now and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Brooke showed up at the café to tell Karen that she was disappearing for a couple of days.  
"I told you to give them some time alone." Brooke was many things, but patient was not one of them.  
"That was before I saw this." Brooke slammed the front page of a tabloid newspaper on the counter, revealing a picture of Lucas Scott at two nights ago. "Lauren is not mentioned once, you can't see Lauren in the picture, and he's talking about friend's parties. I need to make sure my daughter is okay."  
Karen took one look into Brooke's emerald eyes which were today panicked and realised she wasn't going to be able to talk the girl out of this.  
"Just be careful." She gave a quick hug to the younger girl before she raced out of the store again and to her car.

It was a twelve hour drive from Tree Hill to Chicago and for Brooke they were the longest twelve hours of her life, she had left at nine in the morning, and so she didn't arrive in Chicago until nine at night. The drive up had been a complete blur for her, the smaller towns than hers scattered along the highway, the vast horizon, and it had all become one very quickly.  
She pulled into the parking lot that was adjacent to the apartment complex where Luke lived, courtesy of the ever intrusive and revealing internet, and looked at her self in the mirror. The drive had also been a time for Brooke's mind to wander and so the stray tears that had found their way down Brooke's cheeks had smudged her eye makeup and stained her cheeks. She sighed, and with the wipes that were in her purse did the best she could to fix herself up. She needed to look good as she faced Luke for the first time, first impressions all over again.

The lax security worried Brooke as she walked breezily past the sleeping door man and into the elevator, pressing the button for the penthouse. She hurriedly tied her hair up as she stared into the reflective glass and decided that she was looking the best she could with the minimal resources she had; then there was a small ring announcing that they had made it to the top floor. This was it; there was no turning back now.

Lucas had decided that he would make his seven year old daughter spaghetti for dinner, which as he looked back on it now decided it was a messy idea. The dishes were in the sink waiting for him to clean them that night and Lauren was sitting on the couch, Luke having just scrubbed her face and hands clean from the messy Italian sauce; there was no way he was going to let it go all over his living room.  
"Are you finding a movie Lauren?" Watching a movie nearly every night, Luke discovered was something that the blonde little miniature him loved to do and it tired her out which he loved after a long day.  
"_Finding Nemo._" Lauren called out, the disc already into the player and the start up menu on the screen.  
The doorbell was loud and it startled Luke slightly, he wasn't expecting any visitors tonight.  
"I'll get the door." He called out to Lauren who had on several occasions bolted for the front door to be scolded by Luke later. Smiling at his daughter as he crossed the large room, he unlocked the door and upon seeing his visitor he promptly collapsed.

**I finally came up with another chapter; I'm sorry that these chapters are coming after long waits but something I've discovered is that uni drains up a lot of my imagination = (  
Thanks to the people who offered to beta as well after my request in Chapter Two but I've decided not to have a beta reader after all because I like to get my chapters out to you as soon as I've finished writing them =)**

**Don't forget to review  
Casey xXx**


	5. You Can't Have Both Worlds

As Brooke stared down at her high school lover's unconscious form lying there at the entrance to his penthouse she didn't know how she should react. She was concerned for his well being, grown men didn't usually just collapse like that but she was also amused, she had made the _great _Lucas Scott collapse.  
"Mum?" Lauren's head full of blonde curls peeked up from the top of the couch; when she saw that the brunette women at the door who _looked _like her mum, was her mum she jumped up excitedly and rushed in for a hug. "Mum what are you doing here?"  
Brooke smiled her cheerful smile and tucked a stray curl behind her daughter's ear. "Well, I missed you and I decided I wanted a holiday as well."  
"That's so cool." Lauren exclaimed in a cheerful voice. "You can come out tomorrow with me and daddy. He promised to take me shopping."  
Brooke's emerald eyes covertly slid across to once again look at Luke's body; he might not want Brooke around after the stunts she had pulled.  
"Well, when your daddy wakes up we'll have to ask him."

Lucas was sure that he was just having a dream – a wonderful, wonderful dream. One that he had had several times since moving to Chicago; opening his door to find his Pretty Girl, his Tigger, Brooke Davis waiting for him on the other side. Her raven hair, which he used to run his hands through; like she did to his, was still exactly the same as it had been back then, her emerald eyes still sparkled like she knew a joke that she hadn't told anyone else. Her cherry red lips were still completely kissable.  
He groaned as suddenly he felt the cold surface of his tiled floor on his back and slowly it came back to him. Brooke Davis arriving on his doorstep hadn't been a dream, and he had collapsed. He opened one cerulean blue eye groggily to see her standing over the top of his, the smirk that he had perfected years ago gracing her angelic features.  
"Unh." It was the only thing that could come out of his mouth.  
"Hi there Luke." Brooke smiled. "It's good to see you." She reached one arm out so she could help him up and then almost buckled underneath the weight.  
"I wish I could say the same about you Brooke. This is a surprise." He was speaking calmly as to hide any hostility from Lauren but to Brooke the hostility was still there.  
"I missed my daughter. Decided now was a good time for a holiday."  
The sparkling emerald eyes locked with the cool cerulean ones and neither one was quick to drop the glare.  
"Lauren," Luke didn't move his gaze. "Go watch the movie, your mother and I are going to go talk in the kitchen."  
"'Kay." Lauren didn't pick up on the raging hostility and skipped back to the couch as Brooke followed Luke into the kitchen.  
He was leaning up against the marble top counter glaring at her as she stood in the middle of the room, uncomfortable.  
"It's really good to see you Lucas." Brooke smiled again sheepishly knowing what was about to come and ready to stall it for as long as possible.

"She shows up on my doorstep two weeks ago Brooke. One morning I open my door and get told that I have a daughter."  
"I'm sorry Luke."  
"Don't give me any of that bull crap about not wanting to hold me back either, you were just being selfish." He spoke with such venom in his voice that Brooke found herself on the verge of tears.  
"What was I meant to do Lucas? Follow you out to Chicago, that wouldn't have worked. You would have just grown to resent me and Lauren."  
"Like I don't resent you now."  
"I was eighteen Luke, okay? I obviously made some mistakes but I was only eighteen. I was scared."  
Luke didn't reply and they just sat there in silence for a couple of minutes.  
"I need to take her back home." Brooke eventually broke the silence in the kitchen. This was enough to get Luke going again.  
"No. You can't send me this little girl just to rip her from me again when you see fit."  
"She has school Luke. She can't stay here forever."  
"So what am I meant to do?"  
"You can always visit her; there are a couple of people back home who want to see you as well."  
_Would you want to see me?_ The thought raced through Luke's head. Probably not, he thought, she probably had someone else in her life by now.  
"We're leaving tomorrow." She eventually announced. "I can't drive home again right now." Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. So while Luke went to join Lauren to watch the rest of the movie, Brooke went and found the large, warm, inviting bed that Lauren had been sleeping in and crashed.

"Mum?" When Brooke woke up the next morning she found Lauren staring back at her.  
"Yea, baby?"  
"I don't want to leave." Brooke sighed, Luke must have told her last night; great Lucas, make her look like the bad guy.  
"But, we have to go home. You have school starting again soon and you grandma misses you so much. So does your Aunt and Uncle."  
"But if we go then daddy will be by himself."  
"He has been by himself before." Brooke sighed; she didn't want to have this argument with her daughter.  
"I don't want to leave." Lauren repeated. "I like it here with daddy."  
"We're leaving." Brooke rolled out of bed. "Pack your things right now. We're leaving now."  
Lauren's eyes filled with tears as she ran to her daddy's room. Brooke sighed and started packing Lauren's suitcase for her. She hated being the bad guy.

"You have to do what your mum says." Luke was standing by the front door, his chest bare and his pyjama bottoms rumpled. Lauren had roused him from his sleep to tearfully inform him of their departure and while he vehemently objected it, he didn't have a lot of immediate options open to him. "But I'm going to see you again real soon okay?" He kissed Lauren goodbye and let her hang on to him for as long as possible. When she eventually let go he stood up, and when he turned to Brooke he towered over her.  
"I will fight you on this." He warned; nobody was going to take his daughter away from him.  
"I don't want to fight you on this. I don't want to keep her away from you." It was too early in the morning and Brooke was still too tired to fight Lucas on this matter.  
"Come on Lauren, everyone's dying to see you and hear all about your holiday." Brooke smiled at her daughter, extending one hand as she stood by the elevator door. Lauren latched on to Luke one more time.  
"I love you daddy." She whispered before she run off to join Brooke.  
Lucas stood in his knelt position long after the elevator doors had closed and his daughter had disappeared from her sight. There was no way he was going to let her just disappear from his life again.

**A/N: Second update for the day, and the second time Brooke has taken a daughter away from Lucas. I think I turn into a bit of a bitch when I'm sick =)  
As always review and tell me what you think.**

**Casey xXx**


	6. I Need To Return Home

_Lucas stayed in his knelt position in front of his front door long after the steel elevator doors had closed taking his young, precious daughter and her mother out of sight. The blond man hadn't thought about family in a long time since moving out to Chicago, but there was one thing he was certain of now. There was no way he was going to just let Brooke take Lauren out of his life again.  
_After a good five minutes in the one position, Luke had to get up and go back inside; and as he walked through his home he noticed for the first time how unnaturally large it was for just one person. His childhood home, which he had shared with his mother, would have fit comfortably inside. The white and silver interior, which a designer had done for him when he had first moved in, had once seemed sleek, stylish and modern, but now the only word he could think of to describe it was sterile. The books and movies that lined the feature wall of his living room, alongside the number of trophies he'd won since coming to Chicago seven years ago, were once his most treasured possessions; and now they were mere reminders of how much time he spent alone.

Finally stopping at the door to the guest bedroom, to Lauren's bedroom, he noticed that the large bed that sat in the middle was made, and it was obvious Brooke had done it before she left, as the bed had remained _unmade_ the entire time he spent with Lauren. He moved to sit down on the bed; Lauren had only been gone for half an hour, but it was like she was already a distant memory – and he was clinging on to anything he could to remember her.  
"Luke, man; come on, it's time to impress the cameras." Tony had let himself into the apartment like he always had. Before, Lucas never had had a problem with it, after all he had given Tony the key in the first place, but now he realised just how easy it was for someone to just enter his apartment unannounced and take whatever they wanted. "Where's your girl?" It took him ten minutes to find his client alone in the guest bedroom.  
"She's gone." Luke sighed, finally acknowledging it. "Her mother came and took her back."  
Tony looked downbeat for a second, "It's upsetting man," He didn't understand the half of it, "but you can't mope about your empty place all day. Let's get you on the court."

"Don't make me the bad guy in this." Brooke almost pleaded to her daughter as she sped down the highway, just outside the Chicago state line. "It's a long drive home and it's going to go a lot longer if you just sulk the whole time."  
"I wanted to stay." Lauren grumbled. "Why couldn't I stay?"  
"Because, your home is in Tree Hill; you have school starting again soon and because your family misses you." It was useless trying to explain though, Lauren had inherited Brooke's stubbornness.  
"Daddy's my family too."  
The last thing Brooke wanted to do was yell at her daughter; not wanting to repeat the mistakes of her own mother, she had never yelled before and she was not about to break the record now.  
"I don't want to talk about your father." She said through gritted teeth, trying to control the growing anger, and Lauren understood not to push the topic any further; so she decided to stare out the window at the passing scenery and sulk.

"Scott; over here." Practice had just ended and there was a small group of reporters and journalists for various sports publications waiting at the sidelines to get his attention. Draping his towel, which held his team's logo, around his neck, he jogged over and flashed the infamous Scott smirk.  
For a few minutes the conversation gravitated around meaningless sports trivia and the anticipated first game that was fast approaching in a couple of weeks. There was a time, not that long ago, when Luke would have engaged in the conversation properly, enthusiastic about what they were talking about; but now he couldn't get the image of the curly, blonde haired, blue eyed, dimpled girl out of his head.  
"Your teammates are going away before the season officially begins. Do you have any plans?" Another microphone was pushed into his face, and he briefly recognised that it belonged to some national entertainment programme.  
Before today, Lucas had plans to go to Hawaii with the rest of the team; but in that split second he changed his mind.  
"I'm going home to North Carolina."

The twelve hour drive felt a lot longer driving from Chicago back to Tree Hill, and Brooke attributed most of that to the sulking seven year old girl sitting next to her.  
Sunset had long fallen by the time Brooke stopped the car in her driveway, with Lauren stumbling out of the seat drowsily, not uttering a single word to her mother. Brooke followed behind Lauren until Lauren was tucked into bed, her eyelids already drooping.  
"I love you, Lauren baby." Brooke kissed her daughter's forehead. "I did all this to protect you." She referred to the last seven years and when she realised that Lauren was already sound asleep she didn't move, but instead let her emerald eyes absorb the decorations on the walls around her. It wasn't like Lauren had grown up not knowing _who _her father was; Brooke wouldn't have been that cruel, and the rest of the Scott family wouldn't have allowed it anyway. Eventually, she moved; being careful not to jolt Lauren awake when her weight left the bed, needing to separate herself from the returning feeling that was surely to gnaw away at her stomach. Pulling Lauren's suitcase out of the back of the car, she started to unpack it, but didn't get very far because right on the top, surrounded by her clothes, was a brand new silver photo frame with a photo enclosed in the metal, that had been taken by someone of Lauren and Luke on their trip to the zoo.  
Brooke couldn't fight it anymore, she dropped her head onto the kitchen counter and let her raven hair splay out around her, and then she started to cry.  
It had taken her seven years to even believe that she was over Lucas Scott, and seeing the picture in front of her. How happy Lauren and Luke both were, just being with each other, she had trouble remembering why she had believed it a good thing to keep her existence a secret from him.

It hadn't taken much for the national sports star to find a last minute flight to his native Tree Hill, with the flight attendants only too happy to respond to any request he might have. He kept the true nature of the flight a secret though, not wanting to sabotage any last shred of privacy he might be able to hang on to.  
Thanking the cab driver who had driven him to his childhood home without recognising who he was (the driver admitted to following only baseball), Luke stood at the end of the pathway up to the front door. Nothing had changed since he last saw this home, and he feared the reaction of the woman who lived inside.  
He had been so caught up in his memories, that he didn't notice that the door had opened and a small lady walking up the path till it was too late.  
"Lucas?"  
"Ma." He opened his arms out wide for a hug, but received instead a slap across the face.  
"Welcome home baby boy." She said afterwards, while he was rubbing the spot where a red mark was sure to be left, engulfing him in a hug.

**A/N: Don't you hate how sometimes one story comes so much easier than another one? Also, if you haven't done so yet; there is a new poll on my profile page regarding **_**The Family Scott, **_**go vote.**

**Before you do that though, don't forget to review.**

**~ Casey xXx**


	7. What You Can't Leave Behind

**I love you all for reviewing, it really makes me happy when I have a crap day to find my email inbox full of reviews =)**

"Come on ma, what was that for?" Luke asked as he pulled out of his mother's tight embrace, and touched the spot where his cheek was still stinging, even though he could already guess the answer.  
"Don't you _ma _me Lucas Eugene Scott." He recoiled at the use of his whole name as her eyes narrowed dangerously; it was an assault to his ears. "Silence for seven years, not one visit or phone call..."  
"I'm here now." He stated the obvious as Karen led the way back to the inside warmth, she turned around and gave him the all knowing glare that all mother's had perfected.  
"And I'm guessing it's not just because you miss your mother." He didn't need to answer that question vocally, they both knew the answer. Stepping through the door, Luke let the wood slam behind him as he looked around his childhood home, it was like he had stepped back into time; nothing had changed since he had moved out. Dumping the bag he had brought with him on the couch, he wandered over to the mantelpiece where Karen had kept photos of him growing up. He took back his observation that nothing had changed since he'd left. His photos were no longer displayed on the mantelpiece, instead were pictures of a tiny blonde girl as a baby and a toddler, often accompanied by the brunette woman that was her mother; they were a beautiful, photogenic pair. His cerulean eyes stopped on a photo of Lauren's second birthday which had been held at Karen's Café. The little girl whose hair was almost platinum blonde had a face smeared with ice cream cake, next to her had been her entire family – minus him.  
"Brooke's been such a good mother." Luke didn't realise that Karen was in the room with him until she spoke, breaking the pensive silence in the room, he turned to glance back.  
"Well I can think of a few ways she went wrong." He truly hadn't meant the words to come out as a snarl.  
"You were both eighteen Luke. She loved you too much to stop you from doing what you always wanted. Lucas, she's never stopped loving you."  
His eyes reverted back to the first of the collection; a young, exhausted Brooke in a hospital bed at Tree Hill Hospital, the pink bundle in her arms a newborn Lauren, and he found himself hoping that his mother was right.  
He feigned exhaustion after that, and retreated to his old room where he could think alone. He came back to Tree Hill because he couldn't just let his daughter disappear from his life; he came back to Tree Hill because he hadn't seen his mother, brother or sister-in-law in seven years. Had he come back to Tree Hill because he wanted some way to get Brooke Davis back as well? The beautiful, feisty girl that had shown up at his doorstep late at night only a couple of nights ago had certainly brought a lot of passionate albeit confusing feelings back to the surface.

Brooke brought out her key to the front door of Karen's Café, to find that it was already unlocked; Karen had beaten her to the store that morning. Lauren was at her Aunt and Uncle's that day while she worked, and she had promised Lauren that she would be back in the afternoon to collect her and they could do whatever she wanted.  
"Karen, are you in here?" Brooke called out as the small bell above the front door loudly announced her arrival.  
"I'm right here." Karen came out of her office, looking slightly guilty. Brooke was about to question her about it when another person followed her out, and she froze. It was an ambush.  
"Brooke." The tall, muscled blond smiled shortly.  
"Lucas." It was a choked whisper. She wasn't ready to see Luke again yet; she was still recovering from their last encounter. "What are you doing here?"  
"What a stupid question. You seriously didn't expect me to just let you take Lauren halfway across the country did you?"  
"Well I had to bring her home. The whole world doesn't revolve around you." They had locked themselves in Karen's office while the older, interfering woman busied herself outside to give them time to sort out their problems.  
The cerulean blue locked in with the emerald green eyes as they stared at each other for several long moments, neither of them daring to back down and look away.  
"What do you plan on doing?" Brooke asked eventually. "You don't want Lauren out of your life, but you're not taking her to Chicago with you again."  
"Who says I can't? I'm her father." The words came out intimidating and harsh, just like they were meant to.  
"You're not her legal guardian." While Luke's words were harsh, Brooke's were like a knife to the gut. "I'm guessing you're not prepared to move back to small little Tree Hill either when you have a million dollar contract deal in Chicago either."  
"I don't want to take you to court Brooke, but if it means seeing my daughter I won't hesitate in doing it." Luke hung his head in frustration at how difficult Brooke could be sometimes, he really didn't want to take the girl he had loved, the woman he thought he still loved, to court to fight her on something that they shouldn't have to fight over.  
"You can see her now." Brooke finally spoke; it was the only way she was going to get out of this office today. "She's at Nathan and Haley's. I know they'd love to see you." Luke who had been sitting on his mother's desk stood up, happy that at least she wasn't blocking all contact.  
"But I want her back tonight, or I'm calling the police and accusing you of kidnap."  
Luke didn't even dignify the threat with an answer.

Brooke was on auto-pilot for the whole day, going through the routine of serving customers and cleaning; so no one would know the panic growing inside of her as she constantly thought about her ex and daughter. She knew that she had been irrational in her departing threat, but that didn't stop the worrying, was her daughter going to come home tonight; or by that point would she back in Chicago?  
"Mum." All of her worst nightmares disappeared though when she heard her daughter's voice cut through the quiet afternoon chatter. She looked up to find the two blonde's.  
"Hey baby girl." Brooke put the tray of dirty dishes down on the counter to clean away later and sat down in an empty chair to pull her daughter in for a hug. "Are you having fun with your daddy?"  
"Yeah, daddy was going to go shoot hoops with me at the River Court, but I want you to go too."  
"Well I'm working right now." Brooke apologised to her daughter. "I can't just leave your grandma by herself."  
"Sure you can." Karen appeared from the kitchen when she heard the chatter from the main restaurant peak following the arrival of the town's prodigy. "I'm giving you the rest of the day off. Spend it with your daughter and Luke."  
Brooke stared at Karen for several long seconds, how could she just send her off on her own with Lucas when her emotions were raging all over the place.  
"Okay." She finally smiled; she couldn't just flat out refuse her daughter's request and stood up, untying her apron as she did. "Let's go to the park." She picked up her handbag from behind the counter and grabbed her daughter's waiting hand. Then the small blonde clasped her free hand with Luke's and raced out of the café.

While Luke and Lauren stood at one end of the small, grey concrete court practicing baskets; Brooke stood in her favourite position in the entire park; the spot next to her the faded names which had been created the night of graduation. They had promised each other four years. It had been seven before this court had seen anyone that wasn't Brooke, Haley or Nathan.  
"I remember that night." Brooke looked up to find Luke standing right next to her, staring at the faded red spray paint as well while Lauren continued her practice. "I wondered if it was still here."  
Brooke stayed silent as she continued to stare at her name and Luke's name side by side, like it had been for so long.  
"I did think about you Brooke. All the time; I kept thinking what would happen if I just got on a plane to Tree Hill. In a couple of hours I would be able to be with you and everything would make sense again." He didn't know why he was saying this now; normally he would need several beers in him before he could speak emotionally like this.  
"Why didn't you?"  
"Because I left you; I left you here alone when I should have taken you to Chicago with me."  
Her emerald eyes, which were normally sparkling, were rapidly filling up with tears; she needed to get out of the park and away from Lucas before they started spilling over again for the second day in a row.  
"I've got to go." She mumbled, "Can you bring Lauren back by sundown please."  
She managed to yell good bye to her daughter before she raced from the park, towards the comfort of her own home and bed.

"Hey, Hey Tigger. What's wrong?" Brooke hadn't expected Haley to show up in her bedroom ten minutes after she arrived back home. "Your neighbour called when she saw you so upset. She was worried that something had happened to Lauren."  
"It's Luke." Brooke choked out after several more heaving sobs. "He said that he still thought about me; about how he should have taken me to Chicago with him. How everything would make sense again if he could be with me." She rolled over so she could stare at her best friend and her daughter's Aunt. "Who says to their ex after seven years?"  
"Brookie, Luke loves you, just like you love him. Did you tell him that you still think about him."  
"I don…" Brooke couldn't even lie about it, Haley had given her that look telling her that she knew the words coming from her lips were all bullshit.  
"You just need to talk to him." Haley rubbed her hand up Brooke's arm comfortingly. Finally Brooke was getting her tears under control. "Sort everything out, because whether you like it or not, he's in your life again for good."

Haley left after Brooke convinced her that she was fine again, leaving Brooke alone to sort out everything that was racing through her mind. Sitting down in her living room she pulled out the _Brooke and Lucas _album that she had attempted, and failed, to look through while Lauren was in Chicago. This time she managed to get past the first, heart wrenching, page and as she looked through the dozens and dozens of photos of the two, she remembered just how much they loved each other, and how much fun the two had had together. By the time the sun had started to set, leaving a magical golden glow over the leafy town, Brooke knew what she needed to do; and by the time the doorbell rang, she had prepared herself for what she needed to do. Opening the door, she smiled widely, her dimples flashing, at Luke as Lauren raced through into the house.  
"We need to talk." Brooke said quietly, allowing him into the house.

**I love it, when at one thirty in the morning I can't sleep, and I can write as easily and as fast as I did with this chapter.  
After all, writing for me, has always been a way to release my stress; and after finishing work at nine thirty tonight to find my self in a dark car park while it was cold with a flat battery, I need to release a lot of stress =)**

**Don't forget to review, as always.**

**Casey xXx**


	8. It's Time For A Second Chance

**A/N: **_The response for this story has just been amazing…A big thank you to everyone so far who has reviewed, or added it to their favourites and alerts._

…_Sitting down in her living room she pulled out the _Brooke and Lucas _album that she had attempted, and failed, to look through while Lauren was in Chicago. This time she managed to get past the first, heart wrenching, page and as she looked through the dozens and dozens of photos of the two, she remembered just how much they loved each other, and how much fun the two had had together. By the time the sun had started to set, leaving a magical glow over the leafy town, Brooke knew what she needed to do; and by the time the doorbell rang, she had prepared herself for what she needed to do. Opening the door, she smiled widely, her dimples flashing, at Luke as Lauren raced through into the house.  
"We need to talk." Brooke said quietly, allowing him into the house._

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Brooke had stalled for at least a good ten minutes after Luke entered the living room, busying herself in the kitchen as she made two coffee's; but she knew it would reach a certain point where he would just give up and leave. Now, as she sat besides him; and managed to get a good close look at him, she realised how much he had changed. He had certainly bulked a lot more, and his hairstyle had changed slightly, his hair more blonde than it used to be and she found herself questioning if he coloured his hair.  
"Of course I meant it." Luke responded quietly; Brooke hadn't moved their album off the coffee top table and his cerulean eyes had focused on the black leather cover and their names emblazoned on it. He wanted so much to open the book, but he couldn't get his arms to move. "Brooke, leaving you here was the biggest mistake I ever made."  
Tears sprung to the emerald eyes as she fought back the emotions that seemed to rule her most days.  
"Lucas, I'm willing to give us another chance." Brooke's words were quiet and the brooding basketball star struggled to catch her words, but he did catch them. "If you think that it's possible."  
He didn't need to consider anything. He didn't consider the media uproar that would occur when he returned from his pre-season vacation with an instant family or the hysterical frenzy it would send his female fans when he returned with the love of his life.  
"You're willing to come to Chicago with me?" He didn't want her to change her mind, but he also didn't want her to regret doing something and then be miserable for the rest of her life. "Willing to move Lauren's school and your job?"  
"There are schools in Chicago." Brooke had spent all afternoon considering this. "And I'm a waitress, I'm sure I can find something in the city."

Luke's smiled magnified and he pulled his ex-girlfriend into a tight hug, nuzzling his face into her neck.  
"Slowly." Brooke clarified. "I don't want to jump into anything with Lauren."  
Luke let go of her, and moved to the other end of the couch so he wouldn't be overcome with temptation and let his second brain do the thinking, but his smile wouldn't disappear off her face.  
"You won't regret this decision." He promised her, and then disappeared into Lauren's room to share the great news.

"Are you sure this is something you want to be doing?" Luke's break wasn't for very long and he wanted his family to come back at the same time he did, so the next night Karen came over to help Brooke pack up the important things – some would go with them to Chicago, and the majority would stay in the house, with the exception of a couple of things that Karen would be looking after in her house.  
"Of course it is." Brooke snapped back at the woman who had been with her through everything. Lauren wasn't in the house at the moment, Luke had taken her to visit her Aunt and Uncle's so Brooke could snap like this without worrying about her daughter's reaction. "Even after all this time, we still love each other." Her voice softened, she was overreacting towards the older woman. "And Lauren deserves a life with both her parents. I just need to know if we have a chance." And she hoped that that was enough. "We're taking it slowly." Brooke reassured Karen's fears which she could read like an open book when they were displayed on her face like that. She was not about to dive head first into the water without testing it with her toes first.  
Karen nodded and smiled, but she didn't say anything. If her son and Brooke were ready to make a go at this she wasn't about to stop them, she had waited to bloody long for one of them to make the first move.

"I can't believe you're leaving Tigger." Brooke, Lucas and Lauren were standing in front of the departure gates at Tree Hill Airport waiting for the announcement that the plane to Chicago was boarding. For Brooke it was a sense of déjà vu, she had been here not all the long ago worrying about sending Lauren away…  
Brooke wrapped her best friend up into a tight hug and for a long time didn't let go.  
"It's not like I'm gone for ever. Tree Hill is always going to be home."  
"There's only one Tree Hill." Haley smiled slightly; no matter wherever you went in the world you wouldn't find a place that ever came close to being home like this place did. The two girls had to part eventually, mainly because Brooke was starting to lose her breath from the death grip Haley had her in, and she moved onto Nathan who had been so quiet since they arrived at the airport.  
"I'm gonna miss you Davis." He said wrapping her up in a tight hug that easily rivalled and beat his wife's. "It's going to get a hell of a lot quieter."  
Brooke scowled and Nate laughed, he loved to tease Brooke…he had done it ever since they were little kids. "Behave for your parents Lauren." He gave his niece a hug as well. Karen was with them as well, and the departing trio could only hug her, as tears seemed to prevent her ability to speak coherent sentences.  
"I love you Karen." Brooke whispered. "You've been more of a mother to me than my own. Thank you for everything."  
Karen nodded and Brooke understood what was being said; the loud speaker system crackled through the crowd at that point announcing that the boarding gate to Chicago was open and passengers were free to board, and it was the groups queue to leave.  
"Don't forget to call." Haley called one last time, as they pulled out their ticket on the way to the desk.

Brooke watched Luke carefully as his ticket was processed by the flight attendant at the gate, or more accurately she studied the flight attendant. The woman who was roughly their age, and reminded her of her old high school friend Bevin Mirskey, seemed to be overly flustered by the fact that _Lucas Scott _was on their flight and she appeared to be aiming towards joining the coveted Mile High Club. An emotion she hadn't felt in a long time, jealousy, suddenly overtook her and she found herself snaking her hand into Luke's, their fingers intertwining. The action wasn't missed by the blonde woman and her smile and enthusiasm flattened a little. She quickly processed Brooke's and Lauren's without a single word.  
"Enjoy your flight."  
As the family walked down the terminal, Luke removed his hand from Brookes' and snaked the arm around her svelte waist, effortlessly pulling her close into him. It was an action that felt surreal after all this time and it wasn't going to be something that he took for granted.  
"She was flirting with you." Brooke whispered into his ear as they continued the long walk. Luke looked at her and it was obvious that he was oblivious to what she was talking about.  
"The flight attendant." Brooke clarified. "She was into you."  
He tried to remember back only a couple of minutes, "No she wasn't; was she?"  
"Three words boy. Mile High Club."  
Lauren was racing ahead of them, she loved planes and she was ecstatic that her parents were together; she couldn't hear them, so Brooke didn't feel _as _guilty.  
"Are you up for it?" Luke whispered back, his lips brushed past Brooke's ears as he turned his head in so no one else walking down the terminal could hear their words accidently; he didn't want their private conversation blasted over the national tabloids. "You, me, the impossibly small cubicles; I'm sure if we give Lauren headphones she won't notice we're gone." He _was _teasing, but Brooke could hear the hint of seriousness in his voice and she slapped his arm as she moved slightly away from him. "Lucas Scott you are despicable." She hissed. "Do you know what slowly means?" Her voice had taken the same mix of teasing/seriousness lilt that Luke's had.  
"Of course I do baby." He reassured her, the pet name not going amiss by either party and they finally reached the plane, where Lauren was waiting impatiently by the door for the parents who had the tickets. Luke's hand dropped from Brooke's waist and she casually took a step away from him; the sexual flirting had to go on pause for the next several hours.

Brooke was reading through the fashion magazine that she had brought at the newsagency in the airport terminal, which she had brought while Luke had brought his sports magazine. Lauren was reading a kiddie magazine and all around them people were rearranging their bags in the overhead compartments and settling themselves in for the flight.  
"Excuse me." The voice startled both Brooke and Lucas; Brooke looked up and found herself looking at an older woman who she could only describe as a Cougar, the clothes did not fit her properly and her hair was obviously the product of a bottle.  
"Could you just help me with my bags, I can't seem to reach." Her wide smile which flashed a set of dentally enhanced white teeth flashed at Luke and Brooke brought her magazine up to cover her face which was breaking out into a wide smile as she fought back the laughter that was already beginning to bubble over. Out of her peripheral vision, she watched as her new old boyfriend stood up to help the woman; Brooke suspected the reason the woman couldn't reach the bags was because the seams of her skirt would break if she even attempted to stretch.  
When Luke sat back down, and the woman three seats in front of them, Brooke leant over to whisper into his ear again.  
"I think she _really_ wants to join the Mile High Club with you." Then she turned back to her magazine with an intensified interest to avoid the look she got back from Luke.

Both the fashion and sports magazines had been finished; barely even making it through take off and now they were sitting there, whispering to each other; their fingers entwined as they tried to remain inconspicuous to their fellow passengers.  
"The night of our first Championship Game." Luke whispered as they were revealing to each other their best memories.  
"Because you got a shiny trophy?"  
"Because I got you." They had been juniors at the time and only a couple for six months but after winning the game, head cheerleader Brooke had spent the night at the star player's house spending the whole night celebrating. Luke watched with amusement as that same girl flushed tomato red at the memory that was flashing in front of her eyes; his bed, her cheerleading uniform on the floor, his bedroom door locked, trying with a lot of difficulty to not be discovered by the all-knowing Karen.  
"I remember that." She said eventually when she could open her mouth again. "That was a fun night."  
"That night when there was the storm and the whole city had a blackout." Brooke responded finally as she went through a whole relationship's worth of memories.  
"You were terrified." Luke reminded her gently. "We couldn't find the candles and the torch batteries were dead."  
"That was the night Lauren was conceived."  
"Oh." Luke fell quiet and that was the end of that game.  
The two were silent for the rest of the plane ride, and when they arrived in Chicago several hours later they were warned by a flight attendant at the door that there were a horde of photographers and reporters awaiting Luke's arrival in the main building.  
"Lauren, I want you to stay with mummy." Brooke took a hold of her daughter's hand as Luke started to walk ahead of them; five…ten…fifteen steps. The blonde girl was obviously confused about why her daddy was racing ahead while Brooke was walking slower than normal.  
"I want to go with daddy." Lauren complained, why were they in Chicago if they weren't with daddy?  
"You'll be with daddy in a minute." She promised; they entered into the terminal and she saw the commotion that Luke had caused. The hordes of reporters and photographers had converged on one central point, Luke.  
"Just let daddy deal with all those people first. We'll go get our bags and wait outside for him."

"I'm bored." Lauren complained as the two girls sat on their suitcases outside, waiting for the star's arrival.  
"I know baby girl." Brooke apologised. "Not much longer." At least she hoped it wasn't much longer, the rate Luke was taking they'd still be here after dark.  
"Let's Go." Luke suddenly appeared with his suitcase, but he was still playing the angle that they were all strangers. "They're busy inside; some celebrity just arrived unexpectedly."  
Brooke tried to crane her head back to see who exactly had arrived but Luke was already pushing her into the cab.  
"Please Brooke." He pleaded as the cab driver packed their suitcases into the trunk. "You'll see it in the papers tomorrow anyway."

Luke got his front door open and as the two stepped through the threshold, Lauren already racing towards the guest room, the more muscled arm wrapped around Brooke's waist again and he kissed her slowly, passionately; able to show his true emotions without reservation now that they were in the privacy of his home. He hated the idea of hiding his relationship like this, but from what he learnt in the past seven years was that you needed to manipulate the media, and that's what he needed to do here…tomorrow.  
"Welcome home Miss Davis." He whispered; for now, he had more important matters to think about.

**There will definitely be more Brucas to come…more drama before the **_**happily ever after**_**  
You all know what you need to do, press that review button and tell me what you think…this chapter should break the one hundred reviews mark.**

**Casey xXx**


	9. Living In A Dream

_Thanks again to all the wonderful reviews for the previous chapter…glad everyone is still enjoying Brucas stories. I passed the 100__th__ review mark in the last chapter – making it my most successful story so far – thanks so much to __**Tess mtiv**__, who was the one hundredth reviewer and who gave a wonderful, long review. Also, _xSimplyAdorable23x _thanks for the review, but your PM feature is disabled…you might want to enable it, so people can talk to you =)_

**Enjoy the chapter…**

She was living in a dream world, and no matter how much she loved it there, she knew that she would have to awake soon and she was okay with that sombre fact because she had had these brief fleeting moments of pure happiness.  
That was how Brooke woke up the next morning, that realisation running through her head and the smell of bacon, toast, eggs and coffee wafting through to her bedroom. Then she realised something; she couldn't be in bed if breakfast was cooking in the kitchen…she must still be dreaming.  
She grumbled to herself as she buried herself deeper and deeper into her mattress and she scrunched her emerald eyes shut as far as she could get them to go. The longer she stayed in this surreal world, the more she was going to regret it later; but as she buried herself into her bed she realised that the sheets and the cover weren't hers, she was in someone else's bed.  
That was the point when the last couple of days came back to her, a wave of memories and emotions which had typically been on high since Lucas made his surprise arrival in Tree Hill, with only a couple of low points which she would rather just forget. This wasn't a dream world, it was her reality…she had actually made the spontaneous move to just move her life to Chicago, not knowing what her future was going to hold for her.  
"Are you awake yet?" Her boyfriend's voice floated through the doorway as he carried a large tray that held two plates of the delicious smelling bacon, eggs and toast as well as two steaming mugs of coffee and a bowl of fresh fruit. Brooke hoisted herself up into a sitting position and crossed her legs underneath the quilt, smiling expectantly at the almost naked man offering her food.  
"You're giving me breakfast in bed?" She couldn't wipe the smile of her face as he climbed back under the quilt next to her. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before popping a strawberry into her mouth. "A girl could get used to this."  
"You should get used to it." Luke kissed her shoulder and then quickly drew himself back; his promise to her to take things slowly had been paused last night, and while they had both loved being together again, he knew that she still needed to do this her way, and he was going to respect that.  
"Do you say that to all the girls?" Brooke asked him, sipping the hot liquid which went smoothly and welcomingly down her throat. Luke's cheery demeanour soured suddenly; apparently Brooke had picked a poor topic of conversation even if she hadn't intentionally meant to do it.  
"Do you think that this something I just do to everyone I bed?" His voice had quickly turned harsh; he had been hurt by the words she had meant nothing by. "Do you think that all last night was for me was another fling?"  
Brooke smiled at him unsurely, she had been joking but obviously he wasn't. "Luke, I was joking." She caressed his hand to show him that she had meant nothing by the words. "It meant nothing."  
Every muscle in Luke's athletic body loosened and he smiled again; his face once again lighting up.  
"Should I be worried though?" His reaction had worried Brooke slightly. "How many _flings _have you had?"  
Luke shook his head, as this time he fed a strawberry into Brooke's mouth, following it with a brief kiss. "I'm not going to talk about that with you."  
Brooke went back to eating her breakfast without another mention of the topic, but she wasn't going to forget it…not when he had reacted so irrationally and harshly.

After separate showers Luke settled down on the couch in the living room with Lauren to watch morning cartoons; taking advantage of this mini "holiday" she had before her parents could find a good school to send her to first grade for, while Brooke went for her daily walk. She grabbed her iPod and kissed both Luke and Lauren's blonde heads before leaving the apartment, enjoying the last of her anonymity before her relationship with Luke was revealed to the world. She smiled to an elderly couple who got on a couple of floors after her, but besides that she encountered no one as she left the building.  
Walking in Tree Hill every day, she had grown accustomed to the sights, passing by places she had known her entire life, nearly all of them holding some significance, after all Tree Hill was a small place. She had known everyone who she encountered on her walks, many of them stopping to chat with her and when Lauren was just a baby in a stroller, to coo over her daughter. Now that she was in a city as large as Chicago, there was an element of excitement and surprise added to all the sights, but no one was stopping to chat as they walked briskly from one place to another, only stopping for the rush of traffic.  
She had been gone for twenty minutes, and she was about to turn back and attempt to find her way back to the luxurious apartment building when she passed a news stand. It must have been the fifth or sixth she had passed that morning, but the headlines of the daily tabloid papers had escaped her attention; she had no reason to look through them anymore…but now she realised she did. Handing the guy on the chair a couple of bills she had snatched the paper off the stack and glared at the paper with fury…which turned to amusement; even letting a giggle emanate from her lips.

**LUCAS SCOTT CAUGHT WITH NEW GIRL AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL**

The reason why Lucas had been so eager to escape the airport yesterday, and the reason why he refused to let her look back to discover who the celebrity had been. The headline had been the cause of her fury, because the accompanying picture had most definitely _not _been her; but upon further inspection of the photo she laughed; she knew exactly who his "new girl" was. She started jogging it back to her new home.

"You were gone a while." Brooke opened the door to find herself face to face with Lucas who looked like he had been waiting for her.  
"I went for a walk." Brooke offered as an explanation. "Don't even think you're keeping me a prisoner in this place." She smiled to show him that she was joking and he wrapped her up into a tight hug taking a deep breath in as he inhaled her shampoo and perfume.  
"I just worry about you." He whispered into her ear. She took a step back and smiled at him, waving the paper in front of him. "You were right; the celebrity was in the paper." She reminded him of his words yesterday. "You didn't tell me that you were caught on camera kissing her though."  
Luke lunged for the paper and Brooke side stepped him early, she could still out smart the star basketball player; and she begun to read aloud as she continued to evade his grasp.  
"_Arriving home from a week break to hometown Tree Hill, North Carolina, Chicago Bulls player Lucas Scott appeared to be relaxed and energized, surprising travellers with an apparent reunion with model Rachel Gatina…"  
_She laughed, as Luke tried to grab her again, and continued to read.  
_"Gatina and Scott who were both raised in Tree Hill appeared happy to see each other with Gatina unable to keep herself away…"  
_She stopped talking since Luke had finally managed to catch her. He snuck up from behind and snatched the paper from her hand. His hands snaked around her waist as he stood behind her and he pulled her close into him.  
"You didn't let me see my friend?" She asked. "Rachel's one of my best friends, I haven't seen her in years and she's in Chicago and you didn't even think of telling me. Do you want to hide me from _everyone_?" She wasn't angry, but she was no longer in such a playful mood. Luke kissed her shoulder before he responded.  
"If you two knew that you were both in the same building, our secret would have been ruined."  
"I don't want to be a secret." Brooke grumbled. "If you're going to hide me, I will be on the next flight to Tree Hill." She didn't want to threaten him and she really didn't want to go back to Tree Hill, even after spending only one night with him, but it still managed to do its job.  
"I'm not keeping you a secret." Luke whispered, as they continued to sway slightly in the foyer. "I could never keep you a secret; you're too beautiful to be kept hidden. Everyone is going to find out about us…today. I just need to do it my way."  
"We go public _today_." She repeated turning around so she could look up into his eyes. He nodded as he leant in to kiss her softly, guiding her backwards to the couch.  
"Lauren." Brooke said suddenly, before Luke could get her on the couch, breaking their embrace.  
"What about Lauren?" Luke sighed, "Lauren's in her room unpacking with a lot of enthusiasm for a seven year old."  
"Last night was fun, but we're taking this slow. While Lauren's awake, we're doing nothing." Then she brushed past her frustrated boyfriend towards their daughter's bedroom; a small smile forming across her cherry lips, she knew that she was frustrating Luke and torturing him, but she wasn't doing it to be nasty. She just wasn't about to ruin this relationship, especially when they had to consider Lauren.

"Are you ready Brooke?" Lauren was sitting on the top of his couch, with Lauren next to him, as he called out to Brooke while keeping one cerulean eye on his watch. He needed to be at practice in the next thirty minutes before the coach got mad, and he needed Brooke to come with him because he needed to get this relationship public before it drove him to an early grave.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Brooke called back and the bathroom door opened for the first time in twenty minutes. Wearing her favourite pair of jeans, which were Luke's new favourite as well, shaped her legs as though they were a second skin, and the light pink tank top she was wearing underneath a cropped black jacket showed off the rest of her amazing body. Her hair was resting around her shoulders, and even though you couldn't tell in the apartment, Luke knew that when the sun would hit her hair a subtle copper natural tint would show.  
"You look beautiful." He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Can we go now please?"  
Brooke nodded and took Lauren's hand as Luke locked up the place.  
"We get to go watch daddy play basketball." Lauren was excited, you couldn't hide the fact that she was a basketball fanatic and clearly Luke's daughter through and through.  
"We are." Brooke agreed, her dimples flashing, as she smiled at Lauren's enthusiasm. "You just have to remember to remain quiet, so daddy can concentrate."  
Lauren nodded seriously, horrified at the thought of ruining her daddy's concentration while he played basketball. She knew that Uncle Nate was like that when he played, he always shouted at Aunt Haley and her mum when they interrupted his games.

There were more eyes on Brooke as she walked through the streets for the second time in the one day. One of Luke's muscled arms was wrapped around her waist again, and his free hand was holding Lauren's; Brooke had his gym bag slung over her shoulder and they were a picture of the perfect family.  
They had almost reached the stadium when the inevitable paparazzi appeared, the blinding lights coming from every direction as they all tried for the money shot. Only yesterday had the notorious party boy been snapped making out with a nationwide famous model, and now he was seen hand in hand with a girl that no one knew _nothing _about and a small child; this was going to confuse everyone as they tried to work it out.  
"Are you having fun?" Brooke moved her head into face Luke as he was smiling.  
"Yeah." He replied, his smile widening as more and more pictures were taken.  
"Can we just get inside, please?" She begged him, and he agreed leading his two girls through the doors.

"Scott, Scott." The gossip hungry reporters and photographers that had been present at the practice, hoping to get a scoop on the redheaded Rachel, were now more interested in the brunette and the child waiting on the sidelines. The practice had taken a break, and Scott had been ushered towards the camera lenses and microphones.  
"Are you back to your old ways?" Three microphones were thrust into his face at once. "Who's the new girl?"  
Luke glanced back at Brooke who was smiling at him, waiting for him to make the freaking announcement which she couldn't see what the big deal was about.  
"The _new _girl is my high school girlfriend Brooke Davis." He announced and another dozen microphones were thrust towards them. "We were in love back then, and she's agreed to give me a second chance."  
The rest of his team were beginning to arrive back on the court and he knew that the break was coming to an end, but that didn't stop the questions.  
"Who's the child?"  
"My daughter, Lauren Haley." He made that announcement brief; Lauren was only a young child and she didn't needed to be dragged through the mud, Brooke didn't deserve to be dragged through the mud either but he was working towards keeping the carnage to a minimum. The thuds of the basketballs hitting the floors interrupted the interview and Luke took that as the cue to end.  
"I've got to go now." He announced quickly making his escape from any further questions.  
"Slut?" The curse came suddenly and loudly throughout the large gym, causing everyone to stop suddenly in their tracks and look for the source of the feminine, honey voice. The reporters found news gold when they spotted the slender, toned body of fiery red head Rachel Gatina, who was known for causing scenes wherever she went; and here she was with Luke and his new girlfriend in the same room. Brooke smirked, when she heard the name, she recognised the voice instantly. Luke groaned as the gym was lit up with all the cameras taking a continuous stream of photos; this looked like it was going to be the cat fight of the year.  
"Man; you're fucked." One of his teammates laughed as they glanced between the two women. Then Rachel surprised everyone in the room, well except those who knew the girl personally.  
"Oh my God, Brookie." She squealed, racing across the court where the practice had been temporarily forgotten and wrapping her best friend up in a tight hug.  
Luke rubbed at his temple; this was going to cause a lot of trouble.

**I've said this before, some stories some nights are just easier than others to write and currently all my inspiration is channelling this story =)  
Don't get completely used to an update every two/three days though…even I'm not that negligent on my other stories…they will be eventually updated. **

**The real drama is coming soon, I promise. So review and an update will come even faster.**

**Casey xXx**


	10. First Days and Insecurities

Full grown women were not always the lightest people to carry; but from the time that Brooke had jumped onto Luke's back just outside the practice gym he had carried her for the whole twenty minute walk back to the apartment building.  
"You are going to give yourself wrinkles." Brooke scolded lightly as her blond boyfriend tried to get the key into the lock; she leant forward to kiss his cheek. "You're too young to have wrinkles." She had been in Chicago for less than twenty four hours but she already felt younger, more playful and more flirtatious. She knew that she could credit that solely to being around Lucas again, and she had no problem admitting it.  
"It's your friends." Luke grumbled, at least half joking. "Rachel is just so…" He couldn't come up with a word to describe the red head model and Brooke laughed as she jumped down off his back.  
"I haven't seen Rachel in like a year." Brooke smiled, Lauren had raced ahead of them and was now flipping through the hundreds of television channels that Luke had on his television, by which she was still fascinated; even after all the time she had spent in this place recently. "So excuse me if she was a little excited."  
"A little excited?" Luke exclaimed. "That wasn't a little excited."  
Brooke brushed her lips past his lips, silencing him.  
"They'll get over it." She promised him confidently. By _They _she meant the cameras and reporters that had gone crazy trying to get the money shot of the Model and High School Girlfriend.  
Luke didn't look so confident, but Brooke was determined to take his mind off it.  
"If you're going to worry, there's more fun stuff to worry about."  
They had left Lauren to her own amusement in the living room and had entered the kitchen where Brooke had jumped up onto the kitchen counter, wrapping her legs around Luke's waist, managing to pull him in closer to her.  
"What's that?" He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist so they were a tangle of limbs.  
"We need to find a school for our daughter." She loved having her family underneath one roof but she _needed _to get her daughter out from this apartment before she drove both of her parents crazy.  
"I do like that idea better." He smiled, pearly white teeth flashing slightly. Having Lauren enrolled in a Chicago primary school meant that the two girls who had recently re-entered his life wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"How much longer is this going to take?" They had dragged an unwilling Lauren from the large, mesmerising television screen and had been walking for at least half an hour. Not only was Lauren bored, but Brooke was also starting to lose interest, she had expected this school hunt to be easy; after all how many primary schools could fit into one district?  
"Just one more school." Luke promised. He had bribed both brunette and blonde with ice creams to keep them happy and peaceful while they toured school after school, and as evident with Lauren's whine, she had almost finished hers. Luke wrapped his arm around Brooke's waist as they walked up the path to the final school.  
"If this school isn't any good, she can go to a private school." Brooke grumbled. In Tree Hill finding a school had been easy, there was Tree Hill Primary School which was where Lauren went and St. James Episcopal Church Day School where their nephew Jamie went to school. Here in Chicago, there were just too many choices.  
"I like the look of this school." Brooke smiled as Luke opened the glass doors that took them into the school and hopefully to the administration offices.  
"You've said that about the last two schools."  
The glass doors to the left of them opened without warning startling both adults, but also announcing that they had found the administration. The teacher who had opened the door, looked up distractedly, stressed about some issue that affected her class.  
"Lu…Lucas Scott." She stammered, bringing her files closer to her chest. "What are you doing in this school?"  
"I've come to enrol my daughter." He placed his hands on Lauren's shoulders and pulled her in front of him. The women looked down at the little blonde girl who smiled sweetly, like she'd been instructed to do, back.  
"You're daughter." The women sighed. Of course Lucas Scott had a daughter. "You'll want to speak to the principal then." She opened the administration doors again. "Come on, I'll take you."

Sitting in the office, after a successful tour of the school and two confirmations that this is where they wanted to send Lauren when school started again a week later, Brooke was bored by the enrolment process. The principal was also female and she found herself asking if her boyfriend was really that much of a sex symbol.  
"What grade will she be joining?" The principal, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Winters asked.  
"First." It was Brooke who answered even though the other woman's brown eyes had so much as glanced at her after the initial greetings. She focused on her computer and pulled up a couple of files.  
"And what is Lauren's full name?" She asked fingers over the keyboard ready to type away.  
"Lauren Haley Scott." Luke answered quickly, confidently.  
"Lauren Haley Davis-Scott." Brooke amended, and could feel the glare from Luke as she did so; she didn't turn to look at him. Even though Brooke's correction was what was typed into the system, Brooke knew that at home later that night there would be a discussion, and if she knew Luke it would be a heated one.  
They made it through the rest of the questions, with the only other hiccup being Lauren's birth date and then they were free to leave.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Scott." Mrs. Winters shook his hand warmly. "We're very excited to having Lauren join us next week."  
Brooke was not used to feeling so jealous all the time, and she found herself mimicking the actions she had done back in Tree Hill. Fingers intertwined into each other to remind the other woman just who was with the basketball star.  
"Miss Davis." Brooke just smiled sweetly, not trusting her self-control if she was to actually talk to this woman.

Lauren was in bed early that night, without an argument, exhausted from spending the day walking around the city. That left Brooke and Lucas alone, in the kitchen, to talk about issues that Brooke would rather avoid.  
The brunette girl was sitting on one of the kitchen stools, her elbows resting against the marble counter top while Luke paced the empty kitchen floor.  
"Did you really have to do that?" He was obviously referring to her correction made at the school. "Lauren is a Scott, that's all anyone needs to know."  
"Lauren is a Davis-Scott and I'm not going to let her forget that." Brooke snapped back at him, suddenly in a bad mood. Were they really going to bicker over a technicality like a hyphened surname?  
"It looked like I knew nothing about my own daughter. It was bad enough that I couldn't answer the exact date for her birthday."  
"Luke, its okay. It's not a large secret that you didn't know about Lauren until recently."  
"It's not okay. She's still my daughter. Is there anything else I should know about her."  
"No." Brooke climbed off the counter stool. "I'm not going to fight about Lauren with you. I don't want to fight with you. When you've calmed down come to bed."  
The she disappeared from the kitchen to give him some breathing space.

"I'm sorry." Brooke had been drifting off into an uneasy sleep before Luke joined her in bed, his voice a whisper as his lips brushed up against the nape of her neck.  
"I don't want to fight with you either."  
Brooke managed to open her sparkling emerald eyes again before she rolled over to smile back at Luke; her dimples only just showing. Luke kissed her again, this time putting a bit more energy into it than the first kiss, and Brooke knew that from here on out that her request of 'taking things slowly' would be well and truly dead; even if it was never really started in the first place.

"Are you ready Lauren?" Brooke called out as she took a third glance at the wall clock in the last five minutes. It was Monday morning and it was Lauren's first day at her new Chicago school. She knew that transferring her daughter three quarters of the way into the school year would be difficult on her, but she really didn't have a choice.  
Lauren emerged from her bedroom, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, her backpack securely on her back and her blonde curls tied back into two pigtails.  
"Is daddy coming?" Lauren asked in a small voice, suddenly terrified at the thought of a new school.  
"Daddy's waiting downstairs for us; he's getting you a special treat." Sending her daughter to school straight after eating a doughnut was not something she was sure she should be doing; but she couldn't let herself worry about it. She didn't want to fight with Luke again today about their innocent daughter.

"You like it here remember?" Lauren clung to Luke's neck; he had bent down to hug her goodbye and she had latched on tightly. "You liked this school."  
Brooke knelt down next to Luke, she was aware of the young teacher drooling over Luke but she needed to forget about her. "Lauren Haley I want you to listen to me." She said quietly, and Lauren knew that she meant business if she was using the middle name.  
"You need to go to school. Daddy's going to be here to pick you up at three o'clock on the dot. You like going to school and playing with your friends."  
"I don't know anyone though."  
"That's why you have to go make friends. Lauren Scott isn't a shy girl."  
Lauren nodded in agreement and let go of the tight grip she had on Luke. She kissed both parents on the cheek before running off without so much as a second glance backwards.

"So what do you want to do today?" Luke asked Brooke as they made the long walk into the city. "I can take you shopping; we can do a little sightseeing."  
Brooke nodded as they walked along the path, until she caught sight of the glimpse of red hair that she had been waiting for.  
"Or I can hang out with Rachel." She smiled as the model spotted them and waved.  
"Don't be like that." She scolded as Luke grumbled next to her. "Just forget about the media today, and hang out with your favourite girl and her best friend."  
"Fine." He conceded as the model flung herself straight into Brooke. Today was going to be a long day.

**A/N: So, I'm not one hundred percent sure about this chapter considering that I've had really bad writer's block recently, but I finally managed to finish it. It IS another fluffy, family chapter and I promise promise promise that more drama is forthcoming.  
So please don't forget to review and hopefully I'll have an update for either this story or another story up soon =)**

**Casey xXx**


	11. The Calm Before the Tempest

Spread out on the black silk sheets on the large king size bed, long raven hair fanned out on the silk pillows, Brooke smiled coyly at her boyfriend of barely one week who was sitting on the edge of his large bed, staring in dismay at the number of shopping bags and receipts that she had returned home with only half an hour before.  
Luke, unable to bear the pure thought of spending an entire day shopping with Rachel Gatina had ended up baling on his girlfriend and her friend a mere ten minutes into the trip, leaving his pretty girl with one of his credit cards.  
"You left your credit card with Rachel." It was the only form of explanation that Brooke was going to give; the red headed model had decided that Brooke's wardrobe needed a massive update.  
Throwing the receipts he'd been holding onto the floor, he lay down onto the bed next to Brooke and pulled her close into him; his lips brushing against her neck as he spoke.  
"Are you going to model them for me tonight?" It wasn't hard to miss the shop names that were scribed onto the front of the bags. Brooke smiled, and moved her head so her own lips met his. She opened her mouth so she could reply but before any sound could escape her cherry lips another voice interrupted yet another moment between them.  
"I'm bored." The sound of their daughter's whine filled the room before they could even see her. Brooke sighed, pushing Luke's chest away from her in order to create a space between them, leaving him to growl irritably, a sound that emitted low in his throat. By the time that the small blonde appeared in the doorway, Brooke was sitting up and smiling cheerfully.  
"Why are you bored?" Lauren had returned home with Luke only ten minutes before Brooke had, and while they were enjoying their stolen moments together Brooke knew that she wouldn't be able to amuse herself all afternoon.  
"There's nothing to do and I can't go anywhere." She pouted climbing onto the bed, snuggling her way in between her parents. She might love Chicago but she was used to the outdoors and freedom of running around in Tree Hill.

Brooke wrapped one arm around Lauren's shoulders, and squeezed slightly smiling down at her.  
"It was going to be a surprise, to celebrate your first day of school. Your Aunty Rachel wants to take you to a dinner and a movie tonight." It was also Rachel's way of clearing the apartment of any distractions for the couple.  
Lauren looked up at her mum, and then quickly glanced at her dad. They weren't joking. She squealed excitedly and jumped off the bed, ready to start coordinating her outfit for the night; her Aunty Rachel was so much cooler than her parents.  
Once Lauren was out of the room, Luke tried to resume what they'd been doing earlier, but Brooke wasn't willing.  
She smiled slyly, knowing it was going to piss him off. "Not now baby." She climbed off the bed and gave him a single chaste kiss on the cheek, before chasing after her daughter.

Brooke sat on Lauren's large bed; the seven year old girl's bedroom still resembled the guest bedroom that it used to be, even though the transformations were beginning to show. Toys were strewn around the room, left where Lauren decided to stop playing, too lazy to put them back in the large toy box; the black and white bedspread gone, replaced by a blue Winnie the Pooh bedspread.  
"What am I going to wear?" Lauren pouted one hand on her hip as she looked at the wide selection of clothes in her wardrobe; since she first came to Chicago, Luke had taken Lauren on a number of shopping trips resulting in an almost brand new wardrobe. Staring at her daughter's back as she tried to make up her mind, Brooke smiled aware of just how much the two of them were alike.  
"It's just a movie and dinner baby girl. You don't need to get dressed up." Brooke laughed.  
Lauren sighed, and turned to her mum and Brooke was sure for a second that she had to be talking to a teenager, and not a seven year old.  
"I'll be with Aunty Rachel, I have to look great."  
Brooke smiled again, a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach. Her daughter was slowly transforming into a miniature Rachel. Oh, Luke was going to love this.  
Standing up to join her daughter, Brooke appraised the selection of clothes for a second, and then grabbed out a pair of jeans and a cherry red jumper.  
"I'll do your hair, you'll look great." Brooke promised.

"How do I look daddy?" After Lauren had dressed for the evening, Brooke had carefully plaited her hair and spent a good ten minutes convincing her that seven year old girls did not need any make up, no matter how much their Aunt would be wearing.  
While Brooke had been dressing Lauren, Luke had moved into the kitchen to begin cooking the couple dinner. He looked up from the stove top to appraise his daughter and smiled widely.  
"You look beautiful." He affirmed, before turning back to the stove. Satisfied with her appearance Lauren ran off again to the living room to wait for the red head, and Brooke went over to Luke, wrapping her arms around his waist as she stretched up on her toes to try and see over his shoulder.  
"What are you cooking?" She asked, kissing his shoulder. Instead of answering her though, he swatted her away.  
Banning her from the kitchen, she was exiled to the living room to wait with Lauren.

"She'll be back by ten at the latest." Rachel promised as Lauren started to pull her out of the front door. "That should give you two…enough time." The mischievous glint in Rachel's eyes earned a harsh glare from her best friend.  
"Don't corrupt my daughter." She threatened, just before the little girl managed to pull Rachel out.  
Shutting the door behind them, Brooke turned back to the kitchen. Unfortunately, she was still barred from the kitchen.  
"What am I meant to do then?" Brooke complained through the blocked door.  
"Anything." Luke called back, obviously distracted by the food in front of him.

Brooke was sitting in the living room, having managed to at least get a glass of wine out of the kitchen. She had taken the longest shower she could manage, and dressed in the sexiest lingerie she had brought that day, along with one of her new, Rachel-picked, outfits. She was now banned from the dining room as well, a sign that the food was almost ready. On television, 'E!' was playing and Brooke was watching with only a mild interest.  
_"A certain NBA playboy has been seen out and about recently in Chicago with two different girls from his past…" _  
The latest entertainment report started, and Brooke's attention peaked suddenly, what did they have to say?  
_"And now a third has emerged, revealing a hot and steamy night shared together when the now big star first moved to Chicago…"  
_Brooke lost all appetite for the delicious aroma that had long filled the apartment; she felt like she was about to be sick.  
"Dinner's ready, babe." Luke appeared in the living room and instantly noticed the expression that had crossed Brooke's face, and then he saw the television screen.  
All hopes for a romantic night disappeared out the window.

**A/N: And the fluffy Brucas has disappeared, at least for a couple of chapters.  
I've finally mapped out the rest of this story, so after this chapter there is roughly only four left. Big thanks to **_**ga-4-ever **_**who inadvertently supplied the title to this chapter.  
Grazie.**

**As always, don't forget to review. I love them all.**

**Casey xXx **


	12. Sometimes You Can Just Never Escape It

_Brooke was sitting in the living room, having managed to at least get a glass of wine out of the kitchen. She had taken the longest shower she could manage, and dressed in the sexiest lingerie she had brought that day, along with one of her new, Rachel-picked, outfits. She was now banned from the dining room as well, a sign that the food was almost ready. On television, 'E!' was playing and Brooke was watching with only a mild interest.  
"_A certain NBA playboy has been seen out and about recently in Chicago with two different girls from his past…"  
_The latest entertainment report started, and Brooke's attention peaked suddenly, what did they have to say?  
_"And now a third has emerged, revealing a hot and steamy night shared together when the now big star first moved to Chicago…"  
_Brooke lost all appetite for the delicious aroma that had longed filled the apartment; she felt like she was about to sick.  
"Dinner's ready, babe." Luke appeared in the living room and instantly noticed the expression that had crossed Brooke's face, and then he saw the television screen.  
All hopes for a romantic night disappeared out the window._

Brooke didn't want to talk about, or even think about, the fact that Luke had had a one night stand with someone from their past. She would have been completely naïve to believe that in the past seven and a half years for the big shot basketball star there hadn't been one night stands; but she didn't want to know that it had been with someone she knew. She tried so hard not to think of all the possibilities as she slowly ate her way through the dinner that Lucas had prepared.

The dining room in which they ate was filled with an awkward silence, as they both avoided the topic while eating.  
"Who was it?" Brooke finally asked pushing her fork away from her while she swallowed the last of the dinner.  
Luke shook his head, he didn't want to completely ruin the rest of their night, and he knew that if she named this girl his relationship with Brooke would be ruined.  
"Who was it Lucas?" Even though Brooke was speaking slowly, and with a great calmness in her voice, Luke couldn't miss the anger coming through.  
The blond hang his head, as the name bubbled in his throat. She had always managed to create a wedge between Brooke and Luke whenever there was some happiness between them.  
"Peyton." He whispered quietly, dreading the consequences of this already.  
The sigh that came from Brooke's end of the table was heartbreaking. It sounded like all her worst nightmares had just been confirmed.  
"Peyton." She repeated, not any louder than Luke had spoken the name.  
"Peyton FUCKING Sawyer." Her voice was a lot louder now as she stood up abruptly, sending the chair flying into the floor with a loud crashing sound. "Of course it was."  
She needed to get out of the room fast; she needed to create as much space as possible between her and Luke.  
She took off towards their bedroom, locking the door just before Luke could follow her in.

"_I thought we had broken up." Luke sat on the bench at the River court, unable to meet the eyes of his girlfriend; the emerald irises full of betrayal and hurt.  
"It was one fight Luke." The emerald eyed girl could barely speak. "One fight and straight away you turn to her."  
"I'm sorry Brooke." He whispered. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I love you." _

"Brookie, please just listen to me." His voice came through the wooden door cracked, as she laid spread across their bed, her emerald eyes shut trying to will away all the tears that were threatening to spill onto her face.  
"It was just after I came to Chicago, she came up from LA. We spent the whole day together, and I regret what happened every single day. I never wanted to hurt you."  
Silence came from both sides of the door, and for several fleeting moments Luke thought that Brooke would emerge from the locked room; but there was no such luck as her hoarse voice barely made it through the wood.  
"Go away Lucas." He could hear the tears in her voice, and he didn't move from the door.

The door didn't open again for another twenty minutes, and when the raven haired girl emerged the first thing she noticed was the brooding athlete leaning next to the door, a beer bottle firmly grasped in his hands.  
The first thing the blond noticed, besides the beauty that Brooke still had even when she had obviously been crying , was the large duffel bag slung over one shoulder.  
"What are you doing?" She couldn't walk out on him, not when they had Lauren to think about.  
"I'm going." She contradicted his belief. "I can't be near you at the moment. I just need space."  
"Where are you going to go? You don't know anyone in Chicago, and I'm not letting you take my daughter back to Tree Hill."  
Brooke faltered. He was right; she didn't know anyone to go to in Chicago; and she certainly didn't have enough money to go anywhere. Then she remembered who Lauren was with.  
"We'll stay with Rachel." Brooke smiled back at him triumphantly; she couldn't give him the satisfaction of winning. Then she walked out of the front door, leaving Luke slumped against the wall, the alcohol still in his hand.

Brooke messaged Rachel as she began the walk from Luke's apartment building to the Hilton Hotel where Rachel was staying; her eyes were hidden behind her new sunglasses which concealed the red splotchy eyes. She didn't tell Rachel why she was meeting them at the hotel; she didn't want Rachel to tell Lauren what was going on. She already knew that her daughter who was so much of a daddy's girl was going to hate her for leaving; she didn't want her to hate Rachel as well.

Waiting in the hotel lobby for her famous friend to return, Brooke was aware of the concierge behind the front desk watching her suspiciously. She was after all curled up on one of the chairs sniffling, her duffel bag on the floor next to her.  
When she was met by the sight of the familiar flaming red hair, she perked up a little bit, Rachel would without any doubt make her feel better.  
Rachel wrapped Brooke up into a tight reassuring hug as soon as she was in reach.  
"Everything will be fine." She whispered, as she started to lead the two girls up to her room. In the elevator, next to the elderly couple who was returning to their room after dinner in the hotel's restaurant, Brooke held onto Lauren's hand tightly.  
"What's going on mum?" Lauren asked confused, she loved her Aunt Rachel without question but she couldn't understand why they were going back to her hotel room when her daddy was waiting for them at their home.  
"I thought we could spend a little time with Aunty Rachel." Brooke spoke with as much enthusiasm as possible as they stepped out of the elevator leaving the couple alone. Rachel swiped her key card and they entered the suite just before Lauren could bombard Brooke with more questions.  
"Why aren't we with daddy?" Lauren's eyes narrowed, she was not as clueless as some people would believe.  
Brooke sat down on the large double bed in the middle of the room, patting the mattress next to her for Lauren.  
"Your daddy and I had a fight." Brooke fought for the words as she put it as delicately as possible for her little girl. "I just need some time away from him to think."  
"We are going back though, right?" She sounded a lot older than seven. "We aren't going to go back to Tree Hill are we?"  
Brooke sighed, and tried to fight back more tears. "I don't know yet sweetheart, we might." She didn't know what else she could say; she couldn't down right lie to the child.  
Lauren didn't say anything, but she wasn't happy. That was obvious when without a single word she jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind her making the window overlooking the city shudder; Rachel replaced Lauren on the bed.  
"Tell me everything."

"It's like high school all over again." Brooke complained after her twenty minute replay of the evening, not leaving anything out as per Rachel's instructions. Lauren still hadn't emerged from the bathroom and they were talking quietly so Lauren wouldn't learn the nasty details behind her parent's fight. "What am I going to do now?" Rachel was a great person to turn to for advice. "Lauren has school here, I can't just rip her out and move her back to Tree Hill."  
"But do you want to move back to Tree Hill?" Rachel asked softly. "Do you really want to go back there now and live in small town suburbia for the rest of your life when you know what you had here?"

That night, after Lauren had exhausted herself and had fallen asleep on Rachel's bed, and Rachel had drifted off to sleep next to her, Brooke found herself tossing and turning on the couch unable to fall asleep as the unwanted pictures of Lucas and Peyton together raced through her head.

**So, this chapter is a little later than I stated on my profile page, but it's up =)  
There should be another chapter up soon-ish, now that I'm back at school I've realised that it's easier for me to write when I should be studying.  
Review and tell me your thoughts, as always. I love them all.**

**Casey xXx**


	13. Stranded In A New Life

**Okay, so because I'm somewhat of a perfectionist I have rewritten this chapter. I can promise you that the story will end like I've intended it to this entire time, but as **_**moonkisss **_**and **_**photobooth romance **_**pointed out, it's a bit too rushed and unbelievable, OOC etc… and after reviewing the chapter again myself I find myself agreeing with them. Hopefully, this makes it a little more believable and in character.  
I don't want to have come this far in a story to completely ruin it in the last couple of chapters, I did it with ****Destructive Secrets ****and I refuse to do it again =)  
On the plus side, at least the story has now like two to four (instead of one/two) updates left and I'll try to make the ending really worth it.**

**So if you reviewed the previous chapter, I would still love to hear your thoughts on the revised chapter; but I don't know if will allow you to review a chapter you've already technically reviewed so if that's the case I would absolutely love a PM; I'll reply to every single one still =)**

**Casey xXx**

When little Lauren Haley Davis-Scott lived in Tree Hill no one gave a second thought to the fact that her absentee father was basketball star Lucas Scott; for the Scott's were a well respected (and in Dan's case feared) family in the small country town and no one was in a hurry to go blabbing to the first gossip magazine that would pay for the story.  
In her new Chicago elementary school, the new girl was earning a reputation for the famous figures that she affectionately called family; unaware of how much of a big deal it was. On her first day of school it had been her daddy who had walked her to class and hugged her goodbye while the single, young female teacher kept glancing at him pure lust raging through her eyes; then on her second day the little blonde had turned up with the international supermodel known as Rachel Gatina who was on holiday from New York City, who she affectionately called _Aunty Rachel._ The redheaded model gave her goddaughter a large kiss and hug goodbye and then waited by the door for Brooke to say goodbyes, smiling politely and even sometimes waving at the steady stream of fathers and older brothers who passed through the class doors, trying to determine if she was the real deal or just an extremely good impersonator.

"Are we going back home tonight?" Lauren asked Brooke stubbornly while Brooke kissed her cheek. "Is daddy going to be here after school like he was yesterday?"  
"Not today sweetheart. Your daddy and I have some problems to work out first."  
Brooke tried to smile, but her famous dimples remained hidden. Lauren didn't know what had happened; she didn't know what had triggered Brooke's tense walkout.  
Lauren grumbled and then stalked off to the opposite side of the classroom where a couple of other young girls were excitedly waiting for her. Brooke stayed in her crouched position for a minute longer watching her baby girl and when Lauren refused to look back, Brooke sighed and stood up fighting back tears that were threatening to streak down her face.  
"She'll come around." Rachel guaranteed as she slipped her Gucci sunglasses over her eyes as they stepped out of the school building and into the morning sunlight.  
"She's a Davis-Scott." Brooke grumbled. "She got her stubbornness from both Luke and me." She reminded her friend bitterly. "Do you remember when we were her age; I could hold a grudge for months."  
Rachel, for a minute, was thrown back to a time where they were all young and carefree like Lauren was, and she remembered what it was like to be a friend of both Brooke Davis and Luke Scott.  
"She's come around eventually." She ended up repeating but both girls could hear the loss of confidence in her voice.

"So…" Rachel started up another conversation as they walked towards the main part of the city, fighting against the briefcases as they fought their way through the crowds busy to get to their offices before nine o'clock. "I heard you tossing last night." She knew what it was like to learn that the man you loved had gone behind your back and messed around with someone else; she even had experience of the men doing it with people you thought were your friends, in the modelling world there was trusting no one, and she knew that Brooke had been through this situation before.  
"I can't get it out of my head." Brooke felt like throttling someone, involuntary her hands moved up in front of her imitating throttling a neck. "What makes it worse it's the same image; it's like I'm back in junior year." They were waiting at an intersection for the pedestrian light to turn green; there were the expected couple of people, all of the XY chromosome persuasion who did the double glance of Rachel, letting their eyes linger for a moment more than necessary but were generally left alone to be able to talk.

Rachel wasn't aware that they were headed back to her hotel room until they were on the street with the large building in view.  
"That is so not happening." Rachel protested grabbing at Brooke's arm to slow her pace. "I'm not letting you mope around my hotel room all day hiding from the world. Anyway Luke's probably waiting to ambush you in the lobby; he knows your at my place."  
That stopped Brooke in her tracks, the last person she wanted to see at them moment was Lucas Scott.  
"Come on." Rachel coaxed her back in the direction in which they just come. "Some retail therapy is exactly what you need at the moment."  
As they strolled through boutique after boutique; the number of bags they juggled between them increasing with every stop, Rachel allowed Brooke to rant on about her jerk of a lover/ex-lover/who exactly knew anymore.  
"Every time something happens he turns to _her."_ Brooke's husky voice was on the verge of a hiss as she searched through a rack of skirts with a little too much of aggression. "In junior year it was after our first fight."

_Brooke brought the thick black jacket that she was wearing around her svelte frame tighter as she tried to ignore the cold that was settling over the park as the night continued to wear on. She knew that she could go home to her nice house where the heater would no doubt be on and she could deal with this problem in the morning when they were at school again, but she didn't want to spend an entire night fighting with Luke. Nathan had promised her that Luke would inevitably show up at the River court if the two had just had a fight. Whenever his brother was upset, he promised, he would go down to the park and just shoot hoops all night.  
She glanced at her watch and resisted the urge to sigh. It was nine thirty and it was a Thursday night; she really needed to get home if she wanted to be at school the next day. She had almost given up on her brooder boyfriend for the night, her black boots were already swinging as she prepared to jump off the picnic table she had been sitting on, when the familiar figure appeared at the park boundaries clutching the recognizable orange basketball.  
"Brooke." If anything Luke sounded surprised to see the raven haired girl waiting for him next to the court.  
"Luke." Brooke smiled slightly back at him, she jumped off the bench to give him a brief hug before she fell back a comfortable distance to glance up at him.  
"I'm so sorry." He apologised instantly and maybe it was the argument that had occurred earlier that evening but Brooke was immediately suspicious. Why was he jumping to apologies? His tone suggested more than just a mere argument.  
"What did you do?" She took another step back from him as her suspicions ran riot on her; she tried to convince herself that they were only the product of an overactive imagination and the turbulent relationship her parents had as she was growing up.  
Luke passed by her to take her position on the wooden table and Brooke spun around quickly to face him.  
"What did you do?" She asked him, the panic and fear in her voice rising. She tried for her own emerald eyes to meet his cerulean ones but he refused to look up from the markings on his ball.  
"I thought we had broken up." The way he whispered the words, the refusal to meet her searching eyes. Brooke took another couple of steps away from him; stumbling in her haste to do so; he didn't need to tell her what had happened. "The way you stormed off, I thought it was over. When I saw you waiting for me though I knew that I was wrong…"  
Brooke could feel the harsh sting of her tears as they welled up in her eyes; she quickly brushed the back of her hand across her face to conceal the fact that she was indeed crying.  
"One fight Luke. It was one fight and straight away you go to her?"  
"I'm sorry Brooke; it was a mistake. I love you."_

"He did learn his lesson after that though; I think three weeks of you completely ignoring him and pretending like he didn't exist got to him." They walked out of the boutique, having not brought anything and started to make their way to the Starbucks across the street; Brooke was starting to feel fatigued due to her restless sleep the night before and needed a desperate shot of caffeine.  
"Obviously he didn't."

"What are you going to do now?" Rachel asked as they exited the crowded store with their two takeaway lattes'. "Lauren is going to want to see Luke soon and I don't think he's going to just let you take her away _again._"  
"I don't know." Brooke sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to talk to him at the moment; but I can't just drag Lauren back to Tree Hill; it's not fair to her to just toss her around the country because of my relationships with her father."  
"Has he tried to explain what happened?" Rachel knew she was interrogating her friend but she also knew that if Brooke bottled it up she would eventually explode.  
"He said that they spent the day together and that he regretted it every day after that." Brooke let her attention be immersed in a diamond ring on display in one of the nearby window displays.  
She understood that they had broken up when it happened, but it still didn't change the fact that the public hungry whore Peyton used to be her best friend; and the one person in the world that Luke knew Brooke despised.

Luke wasn't waiting for them in the hotel lobby when they returned afterwards to dump their day's purchases in the hotel room but the concierge did tell Rachel that a young man kept asking for the women's whereabouts.  
Instead the muscled blond man was lazily leaning against a tree outside Lauren's elementary school when the two girls' arrived to pick up Lauren for the day.  
"Uh, I'm going to go get Lauren." Rachel excused herself from the situation quickly, leaving the two parents in an awkward silence.  
"What are you doing here?" It was the first question that Brooke could think of. "What do you plan on achieving by showing up here?" She crossed her arms across her chest as a mental barrier between the two.  
"I want to talk to you; I want to see my daughter." He stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Please, I can't just let you take Lauren and disappear from my life like this."  
"You were the one that went straight to Peyton." Keeping in mind that they were standing in front of their daughter's school and in a matter of mere minutes there was going to be a stream of children racing through the doors Brooke kept her language clean.  
"It was a mistake; I never meant to sleep with her. She was only meant to be a friendly face why I got moved in."  
"You've always gone straight to Peyton though. What about junior year. I don't think you _never meant to sleep with her_ then."  
"I wanted to hurt you then." Luke admitted with such a blunt honesty; Brooke took a deep breath to control the rage bubbling inside of her; there was really no point in getting furious again over something that happened nine years ago.  
"I remember that all I wanted to do was forget that I loved you." He suddenly felt the need to explain actions nine years old and Brooke couldn't do anything to stop it. "Sleeping with Peyton was a way for me to hurt you; for me to try convince myself that what I felt for you wasn't love."  
Brooke shut her eyes; she had tried to block everything about Luke from her life when she had Emily because she wanted to forget everything she had felt when they were together. She had thought that what they had then was the real thing; she didn't want to hear Luke saying that he tried to prove that he didn't love her.  
"I've got to go get Lauren." Brooke didn't open her eyes again as she started to stumble backwards. "I can't deal with this at the moment."  
"But I do love you Brooke."  
A horrifying thought flashed through Brooke's mind, and her eyes flung open again. Even as she said the words she hoped that once again it was only her cynical, overactive imagination at work again.  
"Did you see Peyton last night?" The words came out a choked whisper. "Did you decide to test if you actually loved me or not _last _night?"  
Luke looked horrified. "Of course I didn't Brooke; I spent last night on the couch hoping you would come back to the apartment."  
"I have to go." Brooke repeated; she really didn't want to lay everything out like this at the moment and then she raced inside leaving Luke out by the tree.


	14. First Day On A Brand New Planet

_**I want to know…did anyone read the story closely enough to spot the large mistake I made in the previous chapter. I only noticed it myself when re-reading the chapter before writing this one. =)**_

Had she been dreaming? Had the last couple of weeks been a cruel dream on Brooke? Show her what was possible, what she could have had if she hadn't been so stubborn as a teenager and just told Luke the whole truth from the beginning, before ripping it all away from her like it was just a game?  
If she wasn't currently walking through the streets of Chicago alone, battling the crowd of tourists and shoppers; a display file full of bare resumes tucked safely away in her large handbag then she might be able to let herself believe her dream theory, because right now that theory sounded idyllic.  
Instead she had to face the reality - a daughter who wasn't speaking to her, a hotel room she was using on borrowed time, no job, no money, soon she would have no friend to rely on and Luke was trying to get her alone with him again.

It had been a week since she last talked to Lucas Scott and she was no closer to figuring out what to do about the effed up situation she was currently living in. Did she disappear back to Tree Hill and end up in a vicious custody battle over Lauren where the small girl would only end up resenting the both of them? Did she stay here in Chicago where Lauren would be able to seem them both on a regular basis and the two adults would end up resenting each other more than necessary? Did she wait another couple of weeks and see where her relationship with Lucas ended up at? She expelled a large breath, groaning quietly so she didn't scare off any passers-by and looked up at the next shop that was on her long list of places to drop her so called resume. It was a small clothing boutique, and while Brooke's only work experience was serving coffees' and cleaning table she could only hope that this place would accept her.

Stepping into the silent, air-conditioned store, the girl behind the counter barely registered Brooke's appearance. A quick, casual glance up from her latest fashion confirmed that Brooke didn't require any actual attention; she looked like she didn't have a lot of money to splash on clothes. They were right.  
"Excuse me." Brooke used the most polite voice she had built up when dealing with rude customers. "I was wondering if I could speak to someone about leaving a resume."  
The girls eyes flicked up and not as subtly as before assessed Brooke's appearance.  
"We're not hiring at the moment." She said in a monotone and Brooke suspected that a lot of people had been through the store asking the same question. The raven haired girl felt like screaming; her small feet ached from walking around the city without a single break all morning and if she didn't find a job, and money, soon then she would have to send Lauren to live with Luke since she'd be homeless.  
"Please, just take it." Brooke was close to begging, "just in case something _does _come up." Her hand slid into the large bag, but instead of going to the folder where she was keeping all her resumes, she reached for the loose leafs of paper next to it. They were _almost _identical to every other resume she had handed out, but these one's Rachel had given her before she had started her search; they listed the famous supermodel as a personal reference. The red head didn't understand why Brooke used the connections she had more often; and Brooke didn't want a job off the credit of her lifelong friend…but she was desperate.  
She handed over the piece of paper and started to slowly walk out the store, she was hoping that the name would be enough to get her job…she was close to praying and Brooke was not a religious person.

"Wait." Brooke had just extended her hand to open the glass door, when the other girl's voice echoed throughout the small store, her voice no longer a monotone and Brooke mouthed a grateful _Thankful_.  
"You really know Rachel Gatina?"  
Brooke turned her head, and flashed her most sincere smile at the girl nodding slightly. She waited a couple more beats as the girl assessed the rest of Brooke's mediocre resume.  
"You can start tomorrow."

Brooke didn't care that her blonde daughter was still mad at her when she went to pick her up in the afternoon. Brooke scooped the girl up in a tight hug and gave her a large kiss on her cheek.  
"Mum." Lauren whined, pretending to be disgusted by the public display of motherly affection; but Brooke could see that her daughter was no longer _as _angry at Brooke as that morning. "What was that for."  
"I got a job." _So we're staying in Chicago. _  
She didn't actually vocalise the last five words to the sentence but Lauren heard them all the same.  
"That's great mum." Lauren spoke to her mum with the most enthusiasm Brooke had heard in a week; and she even got a second hug from the girl.  
Brooke took the schoolbag from the ground next to Lauren and slung it over her own shoulder.  
"Come on, we have to go tell Aunty Rachel the good news."  
Lauren was so excited about the new development that she didn't even care that they were going back to the hotel room which only had one bed for its three occupants.

"You used my resume didn't you?" After listening to Brooke's futile search and the eventual success, Rachel smiled mischievously as she asked the question. "You gave into the dark side didn't you?"  
When Brooke didn't refuse her best friend's assumption, Rachel wrapped her friend up in a hug laughing. "Brookie, you've finally crossed to the dark side." She teased playfully. "I'm so proud of you."

"I want to talk to daddy." Lauren had behaved so much all afternoon; she hadn't given attitude to Brooke or Rachel, she had done her homework without an argument, she didn't complain when it was another night of room service for dinner because her mother didn't have the energy or enthusiasm…or money to go out for the night.  
"I guess." Brooke sighed, as Lauren raced for the hotel phone. The last time Lauren had spoken to her father was three days ago when he had managed to charm the administration staff to letting him take his daughter out for a quick lunch. The school didn't know that Lauren Scott's parents were in the middle of an argument, that they refused to talk or see each other; he claimed that his training schedule was limiting the amount of time he could spend with her outside of school hours and the majority female staff was putty in his hands.  
Of course, Brooke didn't know about that little adventure; it was a daddy/daughter secret.

Brooke sat on the couch, watching her daughter pace through the room while she waited for her father to pick up the phone on the other end. The two had the room alone for the time being; Rachel had gone out with a guy she had met a couple of days ago after her friend's reassurance that she _could _be left alone.  
When she heard Lauren go off into a rapid speech, Brooke knew that Luke had picked up and asked her about her day. Brooke stretched out on the couch, that doubled as her current sleeping arrangement and closed her emerald eye's listening to her daughter's voice which was surprisingly calming.  
"Yeah, mum's here." Brooke didn't register what Lauren was actually saying until it was too late. "I'll just get her for you."  
Brooke bolted up in her seat, and glared at her daughter as she innocently held the phone out to her; a mischievous glint in her own cerulean blue eyes.  
"Daddy wants to talk to you mum."  
Brooke snatched the phone off Lauren and held the phone to her chest as she disappeared into the bathroom, after warning her daughter that there would be serious repercussions if she listened in to the conversation.

Once she was alone in the locked bathroom she held the phone up to her ear.  
"What do you want Luke?" She asked as she sat down on the edge of the porcelain bathtub.  
"Lauren told me you got a job at a clothes store." The blonde basketball star was trying so hard to make conversation, so he could hear Brooke's husky voice, which he had always found sexy, in his ear.  
"Well I need money." Brooke replied shortly, she didn't want to make this whole process easy for him.  
"Or you could just come back home." His voice was soft now as he spoke, and Brooke imagined him sitting all alone in his large penthouse. "Pretty girl, I miss you and I miss Lauren and I love you both so much."  
Brooke didn't reply, she wanted to curse at him and refuse to reciprocate his feelings but she couldn't because no matter how much she tried to deny it, no matter no how much she _tried _to convince herself that it was good that they weren't together, she missed and loved him as well.  
"Luke, I have to go." She heard a door crash outside the bathroom and surmised that Rachel must have returned. "I think Rachel's back."  
"Don't go…" Luke's last plea went unheard to Brooke's ears as she disconnected the phone call.

She unlocked the bathroom door and was almost knocked over as Rachel barged through the door.  
"What happened to you?" Brooke let out a snort of laughter at her friend, who was soaked head to toe; her hair no longer the picture of perfection it was when she left only three hours ago.  
"We were heading out to the club after dinner, when it just started bucketing." Rachel growled and Brooke tried to stop the smile that was forming on her cherry red lips; this was perfect.  
"I told him I just needed to change, but he said we should just leave it for the night. He didn't even hail me a cab."  
"Men are jerks." Brooke offered as Rachel was already turning on the hot water, and stripping down.  
"I don't believe you." Rachel started ushering Brooke out the bathroom so she could shower in privacy. "Your daughter told me who you were on the phone with; and you have that look in your eyes."  
"What look?" Brooke went on the defensive straight away; did she get a look in her eyes?  
Rachel leaned forward so a still somewhat innocent seven year old girl couldn't overhear her. "Like your ready to tie someone up so you can get a fuck."  
"Rachel Virginia!" Brooke was that shocked that her friend actually said that when her daughter _was _in hearing distance that she actually used the middle name to which the other girl never responded to positively. Fortunately, Rachel was laughing from behind a closed and locked door; and a quick glance to Lauren confirmed she was paying absolutely no attention to her mother and godmother.  
"I do not get that look." Brooke called through the locked door, even though she knew that Rachel would probably just ignore it.

Brooke had only just gotten comfortable on the couch, with Lauren snuggled into her side staring at the television screen where a movie she loved was just starting, when the phone on the table besides the couch rang shrilly through the room; the concierge from the front desk.  
Brooke picked the receiver up tenderly; Rachel was still in the shower.  
"Miss Gatina?" The man's voice was crisp and professional.  
"Miss Davis." Brooke confirmed; the front desk knew that two extra people had temporarily moved in as guests to Rachel Gatina.  
"Miss Davis, wonderful; there is a man down here demanding that he talk to you."  
Brooke glanced down at Lauren whose attention was still solely focused on the large screen.  
"I'll come down." She said quickly before hanging up the phone.  
"I'll be back soon sweetheart." She kissed her daughter's hair. "Stay with Aunty Rachel."  
Lauren nodded, and Brooke wondered just how much she was paying attention. Not wanting to disturb her anymore though, Brooke stood up and quietly exited the room.

The blonde head of hair was exactly the person she was expecting to see when she stepped out of the elevator into the grand front lobby.  
"Brooke." Luke breathed a visible sigh of relief. Even though the concierge had told him that she was coming down to talk to him, he had doubts.  
"Lucas." Brooke led him away from the front desk where they wouldn't attract so much attention as a steady stream of guests came through. Wordlessly she led him off to the side where there were a couple of arm chairs where they could sit.  
"Brooke, please I can't do this for another night."  
Brooke didn't dare speak; she didn't trust what could potentially spill out of her lips when she opened her mouth.  
"Brooke, pretty girl, cheery…" Old high school nicknames came spilling out. "Please just talk to me, Brooke. I can't take this silence anymore. Knowing that we _can _be happy together, but that you won't let us."  
"Don't tell me that I'm stopping our happiness." Brooke closed her eyes, so she wouldn't have to look at him while she spoke; she found it easier.  
Suddenly, one large rough hand found its way to the soft flesh of her leg; and Brooke jumped at the touch. She hadn't been expecting the warmth, or the memories of the last couple of weeks to flash behind her eyelids as his hand resurrected the ones she had tried so hard to bury.  
She flung her eyes open again, so she wouldn't have to remember anything anymore and found herself staring straight into his cerulean blue eyes; while she had her own eyes closed he had leaned forward, minimising the space between them and now all she could smell was him. She gulped; maybe Rachel was right about what she was ready to do.  
"Brooke Penelope Davis." Luke spoke slowly, each name a whisper in his ear; Brooke tried to remember to breathe. "I love you; you and only you."  
"I love you too Luke." Brooke whispered, what was the point in trying to deny it anymore.  
"Move back home with me." He was still whispering into her ear; his large hand rubbing up and down the soft flesh of what was exposed of her thigh. "I'll make sure that you're always happy."  
"Okay." Brooke let her head rest on Luke's shoulder; she couldn't even start to explain why she was crying.

**Okay, so no Brucas engagement yet; but you don't want me to rush the Brucas love right. This story deserves a proper ending =)  
Do I even need to remind you review?**

**Casey xXx**


	15. It's A Whole Different Game Now

**AN: I just realised the date in this story is kind of iffy. When I said in an earlier chapter that Lauren was moving to her new school three quarters into the year I was thinking of the Australian school year; silly me. So the story is currently in October to clear up any confusion about next chapter =)**

"_Brooke Penelope Davis." Luke spoke slowly, each word a lingering whisper in her ear; Brooke tried to remember to breathe. "I love you; and only you."  
"I love you too Luke." Brooke whispered back, what was the point in trying to deny it anymore.  
"Move back home with me." He was still whispering into her ear; his large hand rubbing up and down the soft pale flesh of what was exposed of her thigh. "I'll make sure that you're always happy."  
"Okay." Brooke let her head rest on Luke's shoulder; she couldn't even start to explain why she was crying._

To the other guests, the more refined and exclusive guests of Chicago's Hilton Hotel, it was impossible to tell that the young brunette woman who was sitting in a quiet corner of the front lobby was crying; the silent salty tears streaming down her face and streaking the little make up she actually had on today. Half of this was due to the fact that her companion, a blond muscular man, was concealing her from the public's view.  
"Please stop crying Brookie." Luke pleaded quietly, her small hands resting gently within his larger ones. It killed him to see his Pretty Girl crying, it was always worse when he _knew _that he was the one responsible. Brooke took a deep breath, and removing her hands from his grasp brushed the tears of her cheeks.  
"I'm fine." She tried to convince the two of them. "Come on, there's a little girl upstairs who's going to be ecstatic that you're here."

"Daddy's here. Daddy's here. Daddy's here." The excited screams of a seven year old bounced off the walls of the luxurious hotel room as she raced around the room throwing what little belongings she had with her into her backpack. "Daddy's here. Daddy's here. Daddy's here." By now, Brooke was almost convinced that the floor they were on, as well as the ones above and below them knew that _Daddy was here. _  
"What did you give her while I was gone?" Brooke had entered the hotel room, a firm grasp on Luke's hand to find Lauren peacefully still watching her movie, cuddling up to _Auntie _Rachel who had just emerged from the shower.  
"Nothing you want to know about." Rachel joked, and her best friend knew that it was just a joke from the playful glint in Rachel's eyes; from years of experience she knew that the glint emerged when she was planning something or playing with someone.  
Brooke rolled her eyes. "I'm going to miss you bitch." She wrapped the red head up in a tight hug. "But I'm going to enjoy sleeping in my own bed tonight."  
"I bet that's not all you're going to enjoy tonight." A suggestive smile appeared with the glint this time, and Brooke didn't even bother to reply because she knew that Rachel would see straight through any objection or lie she came up with for her daughter's ears.

"Ready." Lauren appeared abruptly in front of the three adults. "We can go now."  
"What? You want to get away from me that badly that I don't even get a goodbye?" Rachel appeared to be offended. "No hug or anything? Maybe I should just go back home tonight then."  
The blonde girl laughed at the act Rachel was putting on and dropped her backpack to give her Aunt a tight hug kiss on the cheek.  
"I love you Auntie Rachel. Please don't leave tonight."  
"Oh baby, I love you too."  
The soft, tender side of Rachel that not many people knew existed in her emerged as she knelt down to Lauren's height; Lauren Davis- Scott was probably one of the few people in the world who was accustomed to seeing Rachel Gatina like this.  
"I won't leave until Saturday, then you can come to the airport and we'll have a proper goodbye."  
Lauren nodded seriously and gave Rachel one last kiss on the cheek; Luke slung Lauren's backpack over his shoulder and then the small family of three left the hotel room, towards the storming city and the comforts of their own home.

"Tomorrow, I'm skipping practice and the two of us are going to stay in bed for the entire day." The two of them had collapsed into bed, exhausted, after finally wearing out the energy in Lauren.  
"I have to work tomorrow." Brooke looked up to smile at him. "If you're going to skip practice then you're going to have to entertain yourself."  
"You would rather go and work all day than stay at home with your boyfriend who you haven't seen in two weeks?" Brooke couldn't work out if Luke was pretending to be hurt or if he was actually offended by her refusal. Lifting her head up of his chest, she propped herself up next to him using her elbows.  
"I only got the job today Luke, and it was a miracle I did get it. They're going to fire me if I don't show up for my first day."  
"I'm sure they won't mind." Luke was in a playful mood as he tried to bring Brooke back into him again, it wasn't a difficult task; he had two weeks of built up sexual frustration and all he wanted was to be with his girlfriend.  
"I don't have the money you do Luke, and I don't want to be dependent on your money; I could've ended up homeless if Rachel wasn't here."  
"Okay, okay I'll have to save it for tomorrow night then." He wrapped one arm around Brooke's shoulders as she settled back down again, reaching up for a kiss. Neither of them were willing to start a fight any time again soon, they were both stubborn and had tempers that flared in the heat of the moment.  
"You don't know how much I missed you Broody."  
Brooke didn't understand it, she went seven years fine without having any sort of sexual relationship but now she couldn't even last two weeks; she was never going to be able to leave Luke again.

"_Why are we playing this game again boyfriend?" A sixteen year old Brooke laughed as she walked down the street, hand in hand with Luke. The Saturday spring morning was enough to put any one in a good mood, and the photogenic couple was taking advantage of the day. "It's not like you're going to remember anyway. You can't even remember what you have for breakfast yesterday."  
"We're playing it because it's fun, and I am going to remember." Brooke wasn't convinced. "So come on, your favourite flower is?"  
"Gerber Daisies." Brooke replied after a seconds thought. "What's your favourite animal?" She could play his game as well._

Brooke didn't realise that working in a clothing boutique would be such a quiet job; a chance to read the fashion magazines that she had never had the time to read when she was a waitress. The girl who had given her the job yesterday was amongst the racks, talking to a customer about skirts, but besides that the store was empty.  
She had let herself become absorbed in the season's latest fashions, her long buried dream of designing clothes slowly resurfacing when the small bell above the door rung loudly announcing that there were more customers in the store, and a chance for Brooke to show off her customer service skills.  
Looking up and climbing off her seat though, the person that had just entered the small shop was not a customer but a delivery guy.  
"Brooke Davis?" He asked the brunette, a large bunch of flowers in his hand. Both Marjorie, her co-worker, and the sole customer looked at her interest. Brooke quickly signed the electronic pad he was holding in her direction and accepted the bouquet.  
_Gerber Daisies.  
Did you seriously think I would forget that day, when you confessed everything you loved?_  
"They're just from my boyfriend." Brooke smiled at the two other girls before they went back to their conversation; she set the flowers on the counter in a vase and sat there staring at them. She had seriously thought that he had forgotten, especially since it had almost been ten years ago she had told him.

"I'll be back before you know it." Saturday had come to fast for Brooke, and instead of spending the day out with her best friend like she had grown accustomed to since making the big move to Chicago she was standing in Chicago's domestic airport, saying her last goodbyes to Rachel before the Manhattan bound plane began to board.  
"It's not going to be the same though." Brooke didn't want to let go of her friend, still the only real friend she had in Chicago; Lauren's friends' mothers' were friendly to Brooke but she was too young for them, she had nothing in common with Marjorie from work and all of Luke's teammates wives and girlfriends were too pretentious for her.  
"You'll be fine Brookie." Rachel promised, the voice of the flight attendant announcing the Manhattan plane over the intercom cut through the farewell. She turned to Lauren who was standing next to Brooke; Luke had missed out on the farewells because he had a game later in the day and the team had a last minute meeting. "Behave for your mum okay?" Rachel gave her niece/goddaughter one last hug and then disappeared behind the glass doors that were going to lead her towards the plane.

"Come on Lauren," Brooke looked down at her daughter once Rachel was gone. "Daddy's waiting for us."

**Okay, so I hope this chapter turned out okay; my mind is starting to slip into auto mode. Don't forget to review, and I'll hopefully have the last two chapters up soon. No more big dramas anymore =)**

**Casey xXx**


	16. I Can't See Life Without You

**So…all these unfinished stories I have? They're all in my head - ideas, outlines and sometimes even full sentences. The problem? The second I start to write it's as if I can't speak English; nothing is coming out right! So I hope this chapter makes sense.**

_**To all the people who continue to read, review, alert and favourite my stories even though I have a tendency to drop off the face of fan fiction without any explanation.**_

_**Enjoy xXx**_

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas; there is just one thing I need.  
I don't care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree.  
I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know.  
Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you."_

It was the aroma of fresh coffee and eggs scrambling that pulled a reluctant Brooke out of a deep and comfortable sleep. With a steady blanket of pure white snow falling to the ground outsider her window, she pulled the bed cover tighter around herself, shutting her emerald eyes again in an effort to go back to her dream world.

She failed, of course because just as she began to drift off again a small blonde hurricane raced into the room; jumping up onto the bed with too much energy for a nine year old at six thirty in the morning.  
"Wake up mum!" Lauren bounced around the brunette woman. "It's time to wake up!"

A small smile formed over cherry red lips, as sparkling, playful eyes slowly opened again.  
"How about you come into bed with me?" She offered instead. "It's too cold to be out of bed."  
"But it's Christmas." Lauren whined, stopping her bouncing and dropping herself down onto the mattress in a sitting position. "And daddy's making breakfast, you have to get up."  
"It's Christmas?" Brooke feigned surprise as she pushed herself up into a sitting position so she could pull Lauren in for a morning hug. "Were you a good girl this year? Did Santa come?"  
Lauren nodded excitedly, "But Daddy said I had to wait for you to wake up before I start."  
"So if I stay in bed all day?" Brooke loved teasing her daughter, mostly because it was so easy to do it.  
Lauren went to complain, but the playful sparkle in her mum's eye gave her away.  
"So what did you say about daddy making breakfast?" Brooke finally asked. If she delayed getting out of bed for too long she was going to have a very cranky daughter.

"_Everything's really pretty." Lauren observed as the small family of three walked through the streets of Chicago, quiet now that the shops were all closed and the last of the frantic last-minute shoppers had gone back home to be with their families; the massive traditional Christmas dinner that one of Luke's teammate's wives had cooked settling in their stomachs. _

_It was Christmas Eve and from every lamp post and shop window there were festive decorations; twinkling fairy lights, colourful tinsel, bells, fully operational Santa's climbing down model chimney's…the further they walked the longer the list grew. _

"_It's magical." The small brunette of the group agreed, reaching down with a petite hand to pick up her boyfriend's much larger one, their fingers entwining together. "Everything has just been so magical."_

The delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, fresh fruit and muffins had been devoured quickly by the young family, Lauren too eager to start the present opening ritual to sit and linger over empty plates.

Brooke and Luke were sitting side by side on one of the couches in the living room, grasping at steaming mugs of hot chocolate, watching as Lauren stood next to the large pine tree that had been standing in their living room for the past two and a half weeks, her eyes wide as she took in all the colourfully wrapped boxes; most of which was for her.

It had taken Luke, and half of the basketball team, a good half hour to get the large hand picked tree from the road to the top floor penthouse at the beginning of December. It then became a daughter, daddy project to transform the bare, green tree into a decorated masterpiece, leaving Brooke responsible of filling the empty space at the base of the tree.

Even though it hadn't taken Brooke long to completely fill the space with presents, discounting the ones that were from family back in Tree Hill and from 'Santa', it had only taken the girl ten minutes at most to rip through the wrapping on each and every one, taking the appropriate time necessary to appreciate each one.

"Did you get everything?" Brooke laughed setting aside her empty mug to join her daughter on the floor. "You went through all the presents fast. Did you see what Aunty Rachel sent you?"  
Lauren nodded, her hand diving into the mountain of presents that had accumulated and somehow pulling out the new clothes that Rachel had sent over from New York.  
"I'm impressed." Brooke could hear the smile in Luke's voice even though he was still sitting on the couch behind her. "But I think you did forget something."

Brooke looked back at her boyfriend to see if he was joking, how could he tell there was something left unwrapped amidst the chaos of torn wrapping paper and presents? But he was pointing at something right next to the base, something so small that it had easily been overlooked.

Lauren dove for the last box, her tiny fingers grasping at it tightly.  
"It's for you mummy." She smiled, handing over the suspiciously shaped box.  
"Do I get another present?" Brooke smiled towards both her daughter and Luke. The new silver diamond pendent that hung around her neck had been a present from Lauren while Luke had presented her with a surprise getaway to the South of France; somewhere she had always dreamed of visiting before she had Lauren.

Taking her time to unwrap the gold wrapping paper, much to the annoyance of an incredibly impatient Lauren, she carefully opened the small jewellery box to reveal a platinum diamond ring.  
A small gasp escaped through Brooke's lips, it was perfect. It took her a minute to tear her eyes away from it and when she did she found that Luke was now sitting on the floor next to her, looking straight at her.  
"It's perfect Luke." She found herself tearing up. He didn't need to say anything; it was obvious what the jewellery meant.  
"I can't see life without you Brooke." He was still going to say the words, even if it was just to hear her answer. "Marry me?"  
"Of course I'll marry you." She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck.

Pulling away from the embrace reluctantly, Luke picked the small box up from the floor next to Brooke, extracting the ring from its cushioned holder carefully. Brooke held out her left hand patiently as he slid it on to her finger, making their engagement official.

Lauren was on the phone to her grandmother, regaling her with all the intricate details of the ring and the proposal while her parents cuddled together on the couch; all the rubbish in a big black bag by the front door waiting to be taken to the garbage chute.

"Luke." Brooke's voice was soft as her eyes were focused again on the new piece of jewellery that adorned her left finger. "Can I ask you something?"  
"Of course babe." Luke's lips brushed across the top of Brooke's raven hair.  
"Do you remember that night…the night I…left?" They had only discussed that night once, the night after she returned home and they had made a silent agreement to never talk about it again. Luke froze behind her, obviously he didn't want to talk about that night again.  
"Yes."  
"You were going to propose to me that night weren't you?" The candles, the romantic dinner, it made perfect sense.  
For a couple of beats the only sound came from the other room where Lauren was still chatting.  
"I was."


	17. Something Old Something Blue

"**Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue"**

**Okay, there's something I need to address with the show…and I'm going to try and put this in a way that won't get me into a lot of trouble for people who haven't seen the first three episodes yet.  
Dan's wife…That is kinda sick and twisted, yet I find myself wanting to know more about it. Does anyone else agree?**

_**Enjoy xXx**_

As Brooke handed over a couple of crisp green bills to receive her Grande Double Mocha and Lauren's Hot Chocolate from the Starbucks stall, the artificial lighting from the airport caught her ring; causing the diamond to sparkle slightly catching the brunette off guard. She had been engaged for exactly ten days and hadn't grown accustomed to the new weight on her finger.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Lauren bounced around as Brooke handed over her drink; already bored of the waiting game that they were playing.

"The planes will be here soon." Brooke promised, leading her daughter over to the glassed window that overlooked the tarmac where a number of planes from around the world were arriving as well as taking off.

"Aunty Rachel's plane should be here in about ten minutes." Brooke promised, casting a glance at the constantly changing arrivals screen. "Then the others should be about another ten minutes after that."

By _the others, _of course she meant the rest of the Scott family – Karen, Nathan, Haley and Jamie who were coming for the rest of the holidays and for the females to start helping with the planning.

One look at her daughter's young and innocent features and Brooke knew that she wasn't going to be able to sit there for twenty minutes quietly.  
"Go watch the planes." She suggested to her hyperactive daughter who was too much like her. "The next plane that comes in will be Aunty Rachel's."

Brooke watched the blonde girl run off to the window as she stretched back in the uncomfortable industrial steel chair, sipping at the hot drink in her hands. It was only five months ago that she was in the back of Karen's Café, scrubbing dishes as she tried to avoid _anything _that had to do with Lucas Scott.

If someone had told her that by the beginning of the New Year she would be living with him in his up-scale penthouse home in Chicago and engaged to be married she would have laughed in their faces and told them they were crazy.

"She's here, she's here, she's here." Of course Brooke could always count on her daughter to interrupt deep trains of thought, and she looked up to smile at her daughter, standing up to go and join the growing crowd by the gate.

"You only saw her two months ago baby girl." Brooke laughed as Lauren raced ahead of her. "Even she can't change too much in that time."

It didn't matter to Lauren though, because her Aunty was really, really glamorous and she always brought the _best _presents with her when she visited.

"There's my favourite god daughter." Rachel barged through the crowd to reach the two-man welcoming party, bending down to give the small girl a tight hug.  
"You look so much older." She laughed, "You look more and more like your mother every day."

"Bitch." Brooke smirked as she went to give her old friend a hug, "You're older than me anyway." The two had been doing it since elementary school; teasing each other mercilessly.

"By two months." The model countered. "It doesn't even count."

"Grandma." Of course, even Rachel couldn't keep Lauren's undivided attention and when the plane from North Carolina landed Lauren was off and running again to find her father's side of the family.

"My beautiful baby girl." Brooke could hear the excited cry as she stood off to the side with Rachel. "You're looking more and more like your father every day."

"So…" They had barely been home for ten minutes before Haley pulled three thick magazines out of her carry-on bag.

"Hales." Brooke's eyes almost exploded when she caught sight of the magazine titles. "It's only been ten days."

"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about the dress Brookie, it's the dress." Haley pulled her soon to be sister-in-law down onto the couch next to her, Rachel joining them. There was no denying it now, Brooke had invited them into her house and now wedding plans were in full motion.

"I can totally get Vera to make you a dress." Rachel exclaimed excitedly after twenty minutes of unsuccessfully looking at dresses.

"I don't need a custom made Vera Wang dress Rach; this isn't going to be a big wedding." Brooke looked at her friend doubtfully. Then from behind her Haley spoke again, the words sending a chill down her spine.

"Haven't you seen the magazines Brookie?" She was already searching through her bag again for the tabloids she had brought earlier that day from the airport. "They're offering you and Luke a lot of money for an exclusive magazine deal."

Brooke almost snatched the tabloids from her friend's hand; glaring in horror and dismay as she read through the articles about their engagement and up coming marriage. Before anything else could go through her head though, the front door opened.

"I'm back." Luke called out, home from the team meeting that had prevented him joining his fiancée and daughter at the airport to meet his family. Brooke joined the sound of both Lauren and Jamie's feet to greet him at the front door.

"Half a million dollars Lucas?" It was the first thing out of her mouth after he had kissed her hello. "They want to pay us half a million dollars for rights to our wedding?" She held out the magazines as an explanation.

Cerulean eyes gave them a glance over, and he knew that this would take some explaining.  
He sighed, leading Brooke into the living room where his sister-in-law and Rachel were still sitting patiently, also waiting for explanations.

"A couple of magazines rang me the other day, offering money for the exclusive rights to the wedding." Karen and Nathan appeared from the other room when they heard the conversation; they were apparently admiring the collection of trophies that Luke had accumulated in the past seven years.

"Half a mil?" Nathan whistled, "They're offering half a mil for _your _wedding photos?"

For Lucas and Rachel the 500 grand was a lot less than what they earned in their jobs, but to everyone else in the room it was still a lot of money. Yet Rachel needed to warn her friend of the consequences of that money.

"They'll put everything behind curtains and umbrellas B. They'll want access to everything." She knew her friend was a private person, so she knew that Brooke wouldn't want this day published for everyone to read.

"What did you tell them?" Brooke looked up at the man who had wrapped her up in a hug.

"I told them to forget it." Luke reassured her. "I know what you want pretty girl; this wedding is going to be small and secret."

Brooke smiled, and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss Luke softly across the lips. "I love you." She whispered, the two of them forgetting everyone else in the room.

"I love you too."

**Okay so this chapter is incredibly short, and not a lot happens but it's more a filler for the next chapter, which will (hopefully) be a great chapter.**

**;)**

**So…next chapter = wedding day = last chapter of **_**I'm Your Daughter, **_**so don't forget to review and the chapter will be up soon.**

**=)**

**Casey xXx**


	18. It Seems Like A Lifetime Ago: Part Two

**It Seems Like a Lifetime Ago: Part Two**

_**This is it…last chapter. It's kind of sad, but it's also good because it means that I might finally get around to writing the other stories that were kind of just abandoned. So don't forget to review this last chapter, which will completely push it over 200 reviews.**_

_Brooke took a deep breath, looking at the heavy wooden doors that separated the small bridal party to the rest of the wedding party that had assembled for the Scott wedding. _

_This is it, she thought to herself. It had been more than eight years since she had stopped believing she would ever have the life she had envisioned for herself back in high school; the perfect life she had always imagined having with Lucas Scott._

_Yet, here she was now; standing in the entrance to the church with the daughter she and Luke had together, about to get married and have that life. _

"_Are you ready Brookie?" Rachel glanced back at her friend, as she and Haley went to open the church doors._

_**The night before…**_

"You're torturing me." Brooke claimed dramatically before collapsing down on the large double bed that featured in the room, staring at the ivory silk dress that was hanging from its clear dress bag from the wardrobe door.

"Don't be so dramatic Brookie." The voice that sung out from an adjoining room sounded like she was actually enjoying what the raven haired bride to be was going through. "I could think of a million things worse than this. It's just one night."

"It's one night too long." Brooke's sparkling emerald eyes travelled from the dress to her cell phone that was sitting on the dresser, to the closed bathroom door that Rachel was hiding behind, back to the phone.

Rachel wouldn't even notice that she had left until it was too late, and all she needed was one little phone call.

"Don't even think about it." Her plan was spoiled when her soon to be sister-in-law entered the hotel room and saw the plan forming in Brooke's eyes.

"It's just one little phone call." Brooke pleaded with one of her closest friends. "No one besides you needs to know."

The bathroom door crashed open and her red-headed model friend appeared in the frame.

"Brooke, this is not torture. You got through eight years; you can get through one little night."

"It's tradition." Haley soothed her friend, sitting down on the bed next to Brooke and pulling her into a hug.

"But Luke and I aren't traditional. Nothing about us is traditional." Brooke felt like crying. "I want to spend tonight with Luke. Why can't I spend the night with my fiancé?"

The two bridesmaids looked at each other, trying to formulate a stronger argument than _tradition_.

"You'll have bad luck." Rachel blurted out not knowing what else to say.

"We've already had all the bad luck possible."

The hotel room was silent for a minute, before Haley came out with a completely motherly response.

"You can't talk to Lucas tonight, because I said so."

"_What are you watching?" Brooke wrapped a thin dressing gown around her swollen body as she walked into the living room where Karen Roe was relaxing on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate watching a movie._

"_The new Johnny Depp movie," Karen moved the cushion that had been covering her feet and invited Brooke to cuddle up next to her. "Couldn't you sleep?" _

_Brooke shook her head as Karen moved strands of her raven hair from her face. "She keeps kicking me."_

_Karen smiled comfortingly at the nineteen year old. "You'll be wishing for nights like this soon enough."_

_For a while Brooke and Karen fell into a comfortable silence while they watched the movie; Karen getting up at one point to make herself and Brooke another cup of hot chocolate. _

"_Thanks for letting me stay here Karen; the baby is a lot calmer when we're in his bed."_

"_Of course the baby is." Karen smiled, turning off the television. "Come on baby girl, you need to get some sleep." She helped the pregnant girl up off the couch._

"What are you guys watching?" Brooke disappeared from the hotel room where Rachel and Haley were keeping her under close surveillance to a hotel room down the hall where her daughter and mother-in-law were staying.

"Finding Nemo." Lauren exclaimed excitedly. "It's really funny."

Brooke joined the two on the couch, and almost instantly Karen wrapped her arm around Brooke's shoulder.

"I just want to talk to him Karen." Brooke hoped that maybe appealing to Karen would work.

It didn't. Karen smiled at the girl who was about to officially become her daughter-in-law sympathetically.

"It's just one night Brooke. You'll be able to talk to him tomorrow and every day for the rest of your life."

"He said he loves you mummy and that he can't wait to see you tomorrow in your pretty dress." Lauren looked up at Brooke and gave her the brightest smile she could.

"You've been talking to daddy?" Brooke asked, wrapping her daughter up in a tight cuddle. "You've been talking to daddy since we've got here and kept it a secret from me?"

There was a smile forming on Brooke's face to show that she was only playing around with her daughter and the blonde little girl responded with an enthusiastic nod.

"What did Aunty Rachel promise you?"

"She said for my birthday she'd take me to FAO Schwartz and I could choose whatever I wanted."

"You can be brought that easily?" Brooke laughed, "I should have known that my daughter was a traitor."

Playing with Lauren, Brooke missed Karen's cell phone ringing on the table between the couch and the television, and it wasn't until Karen started talking that Brooke realised.

"She misses you too." Brooke knew that it was Luke on the other side of the phone call, and all of a sudden she was facing Karen like an excited little kid on Christmas Day; waiting patiently for the woman to hand over the phone.

"No you can't." Karen informed Luke, and Brooke's excited expression dropped. She could guess what Luke's side of the conversation sounded like, and she didn't much like the answers.

"Because I'm terrified of what Haley would do to me when she finds out."

There was silence for a couple of seconds, only a muffled whisper coming from the phone; nothing Brooke could decipher and then suddenly Karen's voice paled.

"It can't have gone far." Brooke leaned in to try and hear the whole conversation; a growing feeling of dread was forming in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll kill him tomorrow after everything has gone off perfectly."

Karen disconnected the call, and calmly and carefully placed the phone back down on the table. She didn't mention anything to Brooke.

"What can't have gone far Karen?" Lauren's attention was back on the clownfish but Karen had Brooke's sole attention.

"Nothing for you to worry about." Karen promised with a small smile. "We should really just enjoy the movie. You can't stress now, you'll break out for the big day."

"What has he lost Karen?" Brooke spoke between clenched teeth, struggling to keep her voice controlled.

"He….Nathan…" Karen corrected herself. "Nathan may have misplaced the wedding rings."

"Nathan lost the wedding rings?" The heavy shallow breathing was coming from Brooke as she tried to control her anger. "Nathan _lost my _wedding ring?"

"He'll find it. It has to be in the home somewhere."

Brooke stopped, and took a deep breath before smiling serenely. "I'm going back to my room." She announced calmly.

"Your husband lost the wedding rings." The second she was back in the hotel room, Brooke could no longer control the anger that was flaring inside her. Haley and Rachel both looked up in a panic.

"I'll…go help them look." Haley offered a small smile to her friend before grabbing her handbag and disappearing out of the line of fire.

Once the door was shut again, Brooke crumpled down into the bed; tears flowed down Brooke's cheeks staining the makeup Brooke had applied that morning.

"Don't cry Brookie," Rachel sat down next to her friend to comfort her. "This just means you're going to have the perfect wedding."

Brooke took a deep breath, looking at the heavy wooden doors that separated the small bridal party to the rest of the wedding party that had assembled for the Scott wedding.

She smoothed her palms down the soft, silk material of her ivory dress; evaluating her appearance one last time in the mirror that had had been placed for her next to the door.

Her makeup was subtle and neutral, and not a strand of chestnut hair was out of place from the style that the hairdresser Rachel hired had fashioned.

_This is it_, she thought to herself, looking at Lauren's back, clad in a pale pink material, which was to lead her down the aisle.

It had been more than eight years since she had stopped believing she would ever have the life she had envisioned for herself back in high school; the perfect life she had always imagined having with Lucas Scott.

Yet, here she was now; standing in the entrance to the church with the daughter she and Luke had together, about to get married and have that life.

"Are you ready Brookie?" Rachel glanced back at her friend, as she and Haley went to open the church doors.

Brooke took a deep breath, hoping that Luke safely had the rings tucked away in his tuxedo pocket and that this wedding would go off without any trouble.

"I, Brooke Penelope Davis, take you, Lucas Eugene Scott…" As Brooke started to say her vows, she smiled softly at Luke; who was staring at her with adoration in his eyes that she had never seen from him before.

"I, Lucas Eugene Scott, take you, Brooke Penelope Davis…" After Brooke had completed quite possibly the most important phrase she would ever say in her life; Luke echoed her words.

Brooke hadn't been the only one to stop believing in the perfect life she had envisioned for herself back in high school.

Believing that he had completely effed things up by ending it with his pretty girl after high school, Luke thought he would never have the chance again to experience the love they had held for each other. So for this moment to happen, for him, was everything he ever wanted.

"You may now kiss the bride." The magic words were spoken, Lucas and Brooke were now husband and wife, and Luke pulled his wife into him from the waist causing her to giggle slightly as he dipped her back to kiss her.

"Everything's been too perfect." The toasts had been made, the cake had been cut, the happy couple had danced their first dance together, and now the two were on the dance floor among the other couples content to sway to the music.

"Don't jinx it." Luke laughed lightly as he stepped away from Brooke to spin her underneath his arm. "We still have the honeymoon to go."

Brooke laughed, "I was expecting a psychotic blonde who seems to derive enjoyment from my misery to show up and ruin today."

"Not even Peyton could destroy today." The song ended, and the couples drifted off the dance floor again; feet throbbing from a night spent on the dance floor.

Brooke and Luke had just sat down at the head table again when Lauren came racing over to them, excitement spread of her face.

"The limo's here, the limo's here." She announced excitedly. The limo would be taking the newly-weds to the airport where they would be flying to the South of France for two weeks to spend their honeymoon.

Brooke glanced back at her husband, who seemed to be already in the South of France, imagining the two of them locked in a hotel room for two weeks.

"I want you to behave for Aunty Rachel while we're gone." Brooke gave her daughter one last hug, as the couple were about to leave the hotel function room.

"Come on Mrs. Scott." Luke, who had a hold of Brooke's hand gently pulled her towards the door; dropping his hand to her waist when she joined them. "I believe it's time to go."

**Okay, so this is an extremely fluffy chapter with only minimal drama right at the beginning (which I think doesn't really count) but right now I think all Brucas fans deserve all the happy, romantic Brucas as possible =)**

**Casey xXx**

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