She Paints Me Blue

Author's Note: I hope you guys like this chapter. This one was more of my ideas, rather than Friends stuff, although one particular part may be sort of like an episode from Friends, but different too. Lol. I really want to know what you guys think about this one, because it wasn't easy for me to write it. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll say I love it but at the same time I hate it. I didn't want it to be unrealistic or lame, I wanted it to be true and believable. Most of this fic has been Lucas' thoughts and feelings about Brooke, but I really wanted to get into Brooke's head in this chapter and show HONEST, REAL thoughts that she was having. I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone.

And I am extremely sorry that it's taken so long, and that it will again take awhile for a new chapter. I have no excuse, I'm sorry. A mixture of life, time, and writers block all made it pretty much impossible for me to write. Thanks to everyone who is still reading and supporting this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of One Tree Hill. And sadly, nothing of Friends.

Chapter Seven: Hanging By A Moment

"Ohmigod!" Brooke yelled while staring at her television, hunching over to look closer, and inching forward on the couch. "Just kiss her!" she yelled again, not even noticing that Lucas had walked in the door to their apartment.

"Kiss who?" he asked, completely unfazed by her shouts and demands at an inanimate object. This is who Brooke was. If there was anything that Lucas had learned about Brooke since moving in with her, it was that she loved her television shows.

"Pam!" she yelled to Lucas as she took a quick glance at him before turning back to her television. She crossed her legs under her and inched forward more on the couch.

"Pam who?" he asked, going along with it as usual, as he took of his coat and set his keys and briefcase on the kitchen counter. He took a glance over at the stove, noticing grilled cheese on a plate and tomato soup in a pan. Lucas lightly slapped his forehead as he realized he hadn't told Brooke he would be home late. She'd made dinner for him.

"Pam and Jim," Brooke said dully as the commercial began and she made her way over to Lucas. He shrugged his shoulders and lightly shook his head. "The Office." She stated, and for once he nodded, knowing the show in which she was talking about.

"They both work at this office and were like so best friends. But Jim was totally in love with Pam. And then when she didn't return the feelings he transferred to another office. And now he's back with his new stupid girlfriend Carrie or something and he just needs to hook up with Pam," Brooke explained to him as she sat down at the counter and began absentmindedly looking through his briefcase. Even though she had no idea what any of the journalism stuff was, she liked to pretend to be interested. And snoop, of course.

"Isn't that just adorable? Best friends in love and totally wanting each other. Totally cute right?" she asked as she continued shuffling through his things. Lucas, who was now looking through the fridge for a drink, stopped and looked up to Brooke. He coughed and groaned to clear his throat and gave a nervous smile to Brooke.

"Umm yeah," he said quietly, and watched admirably as she began scanning over an edited story he had typed up. "It is," he told her, trying not to think about the similarities in her 'cute' television couple and the feelings that he had for Brooke.

"Hey, it's almost nine, Grey's is on soon," he told her as he started to make his way toward the living room. Brooke looked up to him, giggling slightly, and he stopped immediately in his tracks. "I mean, that one Grey's Anatomy show comes on soon, right?" he asked.

Brooke laughed lightly and made her way into the living room, returning back to her spot on the couch. She patted the seat next to her, and he comfortably sat down next to her. "Yeah, 'Greys' is on soon," she said, using air quotes and smiled to him. "Oh I've taught you well," she stated happily as she pat his leg.

"Oh, by the way, before the show comes back on, I need to ask you a question," she told him, receiving a nod from him. "Now when I ask you this, think of all the joy you have in your life because of me and how wonderful I am."

Lucas laughed slightly as he looked up to the ceiling. "Oh really? Joy?" he asked, laughing as he did so.

Brooke hit him in the shoulder, while laughing herself. "Yes, Joy!" she yelled, lightly hitting him again. "Anyways, so there's this thing tomorrow night that Carly just informed me of today. I didn't know I was going to this one. And well, it's sort of a formal thing, and I… need a date," she told him hopefully as she bit her lip slightly.

Lucas looked away as she said the word 'date' and coughed slightly. Looking back to her, he asked, "What kind of formal thing is it?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, there's this dinner, in which I need you to be my date, and then I guess this…fashion show thing. Oh and the after party of course," Brooke explained to him softly, avoiding his gaze.

Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed out loud, but to be quite honest, he thought he actually might enjoy it. After all, being Brooke's date definitely wasn't a bad thing. "You don't want Nickolas to come?" he asked, honestly hoping that she would say she absolutely didn't want Nickolas to come.

"Nickolas? Come on Luke, you know I don't want him to come. I guess I'm over that, it was going nowhere. Pretty please… just think of all the models you'll see!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hands, wrapping them in hers, and pulling them to her lap.

Lucas look down at her soft hands that were holding his, a slight smile emerging on his face, and looked back up to Brooke. "Of course I will," he told her.

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Brooke's face grew wider and wider as she smiled to the woman across from her in a very, very fake manner. "That's great," Brooke said in a high-pitched tone, and stood still as the woman standing across from her clapped her hands and gave Brooke a girlish peck on the cheek. "I'll call you to set it up. I'm so excited," the woman stated over-excitedly before walking away.

Brooke rolled her eyes as she turned back to Lucas and immediately threw her hand up into the air. "No way. I'm not going to anything with that little witch. I hate her," Brooke exclaimed and grabbed Lucas hand to pull him in a different direction.

When they reached a place completely away from the select group of people that Brooke was obviously avoiding all night long, she pulled him into a tight hug. "I think we can get out of here soon. It's really just a show up and talk to a few important people, have a few drinks, and then take off with someone. I just need to go tell Carly that I'm leaving and I'll talk to her about her drama tomorrow," Brooke said with a small chuckle, before placing her hand lightly on Lucas' arm and smiling up to him.

"Thanks for coming Luke," Brooke stated in a quieter tone and sincerely smiled up to him. Lucas looked down, looking into her eyes, and returned the smile. "It meant a lot to me."

Lucas nodded as he continued smiling softly at the girl in front of him. "Of course, Brooke," he started as he remained smiling to her. "I'd do anything for you," he informed her, in a very quiet, sincere tone and continued to look into her eyes.

He knew he was going to do it. They stood looking into each others eyes for a solid minute and then Lucas decided he was going to go for it. He cupped her face gently before leaning in closer to her and planting a kiss on her lips, something he had wanted to do for quite awhile.

Brooke was shocked by his actions, he could tell. Did she not feel the same way… or was she just surprised? Lucas didn't know, but he didn't let that stop him. This was the perfect opportunity for him to finally tell her how he felt. He pulled her body closer to him as she gave in and the kiss grew more passionate.

A few seconds later, Brooke broke away from the kiss completely breathless as he tried to read the look on her face. She was surprised. Possibly even confused… he wasn't sure. He could honestly say that was one of the very few times that he didn't have an idea of what Brooke was thinking.

"I…" Brooke started, searching for words to speak, really anything to say. "I… gotta go," she said, and took one glance up at his eyes before quickly running out of the party, leaving Lucas behind. He turned around and watched as she ran away, hurt to say the least, before making his way over to the bar.

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Brooke tapped her foot impatiently on the cement underneath her, before knocking loudly on the door a few more times. Finally, after two minutes of waiting outside of the apartment, Peyton opened the door and Brooke immediately let herself in.

"I need to talk to you," Brooke said softly as her voice cracked and Peyton pulled her into a hug.

"What happened?" Peyton asked as they made their way to the living room couches and sat down.

"I'm sorry I'm here so late. It's just… I really need girl talk right now and Haley's celebrating her stupid anniversary with Nathan… even though they aren't even married but whatever," Brooke rambled on, clearing avoiding the subject that she was so upset by.

"Sweetie it's fine, what's wrong?" Peyton asked her in a concerned tone.

"It's Lucas. I don't know what to do. He was my date tonight for that fashion thing and we were at the after party talking about leaving and then all of a sudden he kissed me. And I didn't know why… so I pretty much ran out of there and took a cab to downtown Manhattan. I was seriously walking around in SoHo for twenty minutes before I came here," Brooke rambled once again, before taking a deep breath and calming down.

"I mean… I can't believe he kissed me," Brooke said as she ran her hands through her hair and tried to sort things out in her mind.

"Well Brooke, come on," Peyton said as though Brooke obviously knew about Lucas' feelings. Brooke looked up to her with a questioning glare, not sure what she meant by the statement. "He's in love with you Brooke. He has been for awhile. You have to know that," Peyton told her, before coming to the realization that Brooke didn't know.

"He's in love with me?" Brooke asked softly and watched Peyton nod.

"Yeah, but the question is, Brooke, how do you feel about him?" Peyton asked as she rubbed Brooke's back lightly in an attempt to make her feel better.

"I don't know, I never really thought about him in that way before. I mean, he's a great guy. He's so sweet, he always takes care of me and does great things for me. We get along so well and I'm so… comfortable with him. And I have to admit he's pretty damn hot, and a really good kisser," Brooke told Peyton, as she stared down at the floor, clearly confused by the situation.

Peyton smiled as she took Brooke's hand to get her attention. "Brooke," she said with a wide smile on her face, as she pictured in her mind what it would be like for Brooke and Lucas to get together. "I think you have your answer right there. You should go for it, I mean what do you have to lose?"

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Five… six… seven… and suddenly Brooke stopped. She was pacing back and forth in the hallway outside the door of the apartment she shared with Lucas. She had passed the door seven times already, and she still didn't want to go inside. What would she say to him? Should she knock on his door, or just walk in? What if he was asleep… should she wake him up or just wait until the morning? After all, it was getting pretty late. She knew she shouldn't have went back to the store first. She smacked her head lightly, cursing herself as she did so.

It was pointless, what self respecting woman buys a guy flowers? She thought to herself. She knew Lucas well, he wouldn't want flowers. She had been halfway back home before she realized how stupid she looked carrying flowers for the guy back at her apartment, and threw them to the ground.

To be honest, she was buying time and she knew that. She was nervous and afraid of what he would say to her. Maybe she had blown the whole thing way out of proportion. Maybe he didn't want to be with her at all. Maybe Peyton was just making it up to get a good laugh. And then she realized… she would be disappointed. If Lucas didn't want her, Brooke would be sad and disappointed, and that meant something.

She was taking Peyton's advice. Really, what did she have to lose? If Lucas didn't feel that way about her, if she didn't feel that way about him, or if they weren't going to be good together, well then at least they tried. She knew things would probably never be the same between her and Lucas, especially if things ended badly, but wasn't that a risk she had to take, because maybe, just maybe, Lucas was the one she was meant to be with. She once again cursed herself for being so blind. How had she not known that Lucas had feelings for her? Looking back on it all now, Brooke felt like a complete idiot.

She only wished she had came to the realization earlier. She'd never thought about him in that way before, but standing outside of their shared apartment, she wished she had. He was an amazing guy, one that she could honestly see herself being with for the rest of her life. They already lived together, new each other in and out, and she knew that they would be perfect for each other. Maybe she hadn't thought about any of that before, but she was thinking about it now and it sounded… perfect.

Brooke jammed her key into the lock to the apartment door as she realized she was getting ahead of herself. She would take everything as it came. She would storm into Lucas' room, him asleep or not, and demand to know whether he really did have feelings for her, or if he just randomly decided to kiss her. And when he hopefully said that he was in fact in love with her, she would kiss him and tell him that they should try. Maybe she had been too blind to fall in love with him yet, but she knew that would happen. He was already one of her best friends, and a perfect guy for her, so she was ready to risk their friendship and take that chance.

As she reached his bedroom door in the dark and silent apartment, she stopped and let out a deep breath. Okay, so maybe storming in and making him grouchy wasn't the best thing during a girl's confession. After the way she had ran out on him a couple hours earlier, she knew she should be nice and give him a break. Slowly, almost shaking, something that Brooke had never done before, she raised her arm up and knocked a few times on the door. She stepped back a foot and folded her arms across her chest, waiting for him to answer.

She smiled as he opened the door and leaned against the frame. He was in nothing but his boxers, his hair disheveled, and his eyes lazy from just being asleep. He looked adorable. She heard him whisper something that sounded like a hello and her name, and mumbled the same thing back.

"Look, I'm sorry about before. I know I ran out on you, and that was rude of me. I… I was just surprised, that's all. And then I was a little confused. I didn't know if you had feelings for me or what, so I just… ran. But then I talked to Peyton and she told me some stuff and realized that… well you're pretty perfect Lucas. Any girl would be lucky to have you… I would be lucky to have you. I guess what I'm trying to say," Brooke rambled, as she tried to calm herself down and think of the right words to say, before she completely embarrassed herself.

"I want to… well… I mean… do you have feelings for me?" she asked nervously, deciding to make sure that Peyton was right before she admitted that they should be together. Just in case.

Everything was silent for a moment. He was standing up, leaned against the door frame but still towering over her, and she was standing out of his room, nervous and fidgety while staring straight into his eyes the entire time. She watched as a small smile graced his face, and she could tell that he knew exactly what she meant. She returned the smile, deciding maybe she didn't need to wait for his answer, she could just kiss him… when she heard the rustle coming from inside his bedroom. She stepped to the left slightly, to see past his body.

And there she was… the tall redhead she had seen walking on the stage in designer clothes only hours earlier. She was sitting up in his bed, also looking half asleep, and Brooke could see that the girl was wearing nothing. She turned back to Lucas, sadness in her eyes, and notice the same coming from his.

Her jaw dropped just slightly and she ran her tongue across her bottom teeth, closing her eyes for just a moment to keep from building tears right in front of him. She stayed silent, only nodding, before she turned around and made her way down the hallway to her own bedroom, the tears forming as she did so. She could hear the distant calls from Lucas, who was following her, that were telling her to wait, but they were only met by the slam of her bedroom door and the single sob she let out.