So Sorry for the wait!

Haley stood outside Peyton's house, not wanting to knock on the door. Not ten minutes after she had talked to Peyton, Lucas had shown up on her doorstep, completely distraught. All Haley could get out of him was that Peyton had broken up with him, and that there was someone else. The protectiveness instantly kicked in, and

Haley stayed up half the night with Lucas while he cried and told her what an asshole he was for not seeing it sooner. Surprisingly enough, Haley couldn't detect any real anger towards whoever Peyton had cheated on him with, but he refused to tell her who it was. Every time she tried to worm it out of him, he just shook his head, refusing even to look at her.

She had left him at her house with Nathan and Jamie a little before nine, and now she couldn't make her hand move. Curious as she was about what had happened and why Lucas wouldn't tell her who it was, as well as why he was so closed-up about it, the brunette finally rang the doorbell and waited.

A few seconds later, the door swung open, and Haley found herself being hugged by Peyton. "Thanks for coming, Hales," she said. Looking around behind Peyton and not seeing any sign of Brooke, Haley asked, "So where is she?"

Closing the door behind Haley, Peyton turned her around and said, "Haley..." the tone of the blonde's voice tipped Haley off and she asked, "What? What's wrong?" Peyton opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again in an effort to think of how to tell Haley what had happened to Brooke.

Concern filled Haley's face, and she brushed past Peyton quickly before the blonde had a chance to grab her arm. She saw Brooke sitting on the couch, and called, "Brooke?" The brunette turned, and Haley gasped as she saw the bruises covering the other girl's face. Rushing to her side, she asked, "Brooke, oh my god, what happened?"

Reaching out to take the other girl's hand, Haley grasped it even when Brooke shied away the tiniest bit, holding on tightly. Peyton came in, walking quickly, and saw the two. "Brooke, I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell her..." Peyton trailed off as she saw Brooke give a small shake of her head. Nodding, she turned to leave the two alone.

Turning her attention back to the other girl, Brooke took a breath in the sudden silence and said quietly, "Haley, I was attacked in my store a few days ago."

"Oh Brooke, why didn't you call me? I would have been there in a heartbeat, you know that," Haley whispered, stroking the side of Brooke's face. The brunette shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Hales, I was just so lost and confused and hurt....I didn't want you to see me like that."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Haley simply pulled Brooke to her in a tight hug. Pulling back, she scanned the brunette to try and get an idea of the full damage. Wincing as she saw the print around Brooke's throat, her eyes caught the large bruise that looked much more recent than the others around Brooke's arm. Reaching out and lightly running a finger over it, she asked, "What happened here?"

"Lucas." The response came from behind Haley, and she turned to see Peyton standing behind her, suddenly looking worried. Haley frowned slightly, not able to comprehend why Lucas would grab Brooke so hard, and when he would have seen her so recently.... And it hit her. "It was Brooke."

It was more statement than question, but Haley still couldn't quite believe it when Peyton nodded. "I'm sure he told you already, when he came by yesterday I told him it was over, but he barged in and grabbed Brooke before he realized who it was. He figured it out pretty quickly after that." Haley shook her head slowly, not sure what to make of what she was being told.

Tugging on Haley's hand to get her attention, Brooke said, "Hales, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for him to be hurt like this. I didn't want him to find out like this either, but it was like I couldn't say anything. When he grabbed me on the bed, it was like..." Her voice trailed off, and Haley focused back on Brooke and what she was saying.

Looking away and blinking back tears, Brooke refused to meet Haley's eyes, so she turned back to face Peyton. When Haley saw the tears in the blonde's eyes, her frown grew, and she knew what Brooke must have been thinking about. Squeezing Brooke's hand, Haley said, "Brooke...."

Turning back to face the other girl, Brooke said, "It's ok, Haley, I understand if you can't get past the fact that I hurt Lucas like that-" Cutting Brooke off, Haley said, "I'll get past that eventually. Right now, I'm more concerned about you." Looking at Haley in surprise, Brooke opened her mouth and closed it, unable to find the words she wanted.

Haley hugged the brunette again, and Brooke couldn't help but smile a little at the flicker of jealousy she saw on Peyton's face. Mouthing "Later," she hugged Haley back and let herself relax. She had been so worried that Haley would hate her, and here she was hugging her instead.

Peyton sat down on the other side of Brooke, and the brunette leaned against her immediately, grateful for her presence. "So, are you ok...with this, I mean?" Peyton asked, gesturing between her and Brooke. Smiling a little, Haley said, "With what? I don't see any difference between this and what you guys were like before....you two have always been way closer than most people. I personally would have been a little worried to ever leave you two alone if I was Lucas."

Grinning as Peyton's mouth dropped open, Haley said, "But seriously, I'm just glad that you had someone you thought you could trust, Brooke. Much as I hate that you thought I would judge you, or do anything but try and help, I'll get over myself as long as I know that you have Peyton to take care of you." Brooke sighed in relief at Haley's words, letting her eyes drift closed as she leaned against Peyton.

After several quiet minutes, the brunette's breathing evened out into sleep, and Peyton gently laid her down on the couch as she got up. Haley followed her to the kitchen and softly asked, "What happened to her Peyton?" Tears sprang to the blonde's eyes, but she brushed them away and said, "She was attacked, Haley. Someone went into her store and beat her to within an inch of her life, and..." she trailed off and looked away.

"Peyton? What?" Her voice lower than a whisper, Peyton said, "He did things to her, Hales, I don't even know exactly what, but I know it was bad...the doctor said...the doctor said that there was evidence of a sharp implement being used." Peyton looked up at the sharp intake of breath from Haley and saw the smaller girl with tears running down her face.

"How did this happen?" the brunette whispered, "Why would anyone do that to her?" Peyton just shook her head, still not sure of the answer herself. Haley sat down heavily in the chair, wiping her eyes as she shook her head. "She didn't deserve this, Peyt, this shouldn't have happened to her."

The blonde nodded but said, "It did, though, Hales, and all I know now is that I love her and she's going to need all of her friends to be there for her."

Haley nodded, saying, "I'll talk to Nathan and everyone, but I honestly don't see there being anything but support for you guys."

"But Luke..." Haley cut Peyton off and said, "He'll get over it, Peyton, and in a day or two he's going to feel horrible about all of this, and then when he finds out about Brooke he's going to feel like the biggest ass in the world. Don't worry, he'll come around, and if her doesn't I'll just have to talk some sense into him." A small smile appeared on Peyton's face at Haley's words, and she said, "Thanks Hales."

Studying the blonde in front of her, the brunette quietly asked, "How are you?" Peyton shrugged, "I'm fine, really. This is just....hard. But I'm fine." Shaking her head, Haley said, "No, Peyton, I can tell you're not fine. Don't blow me off like that, not when it's so completely obvious that you're anything but fine."

Looking down and then back up at Haley, Peyton finally whispered, "I'm scared, Hales. I'm scared that I won't be able to help her through this, that no matter what I do it won't be enough. I'm scared that this happened at all, but more than that I'm scared that something like this would happen to her and she wouldn't call me." At the questioning look on the other girl's face, the blonde said, "She didn't call. I found her when I came home. She said that she didn't want to bother me when she knew I was happy with Lucas..."

The look on the blonde's face almost broke Haley's heart, and she said, "First of all, I know for a fact that you're the only one in the world that can fix her, and I also happen to know that you're the only one she would even let try. Second, you did find her and help her, and even if she didn't call, you somehow still managed to find her and try to make everything bad go away. It doesn't matter anyways, because the way you two look at each other will always be enough to fix things."

Unable to help herself, Peyton reached down and hugged the brunette hard, whispering, "Thank you." Haley squeezed the blonde back before standing and saying, "Come on. We better head back in there before she wakes up and yells at us for letting her fall asleep."

Smiling, Peyton nodded and they went back to the couch, sitting down. Not thirty seconds after they sat down, Brooke shifted and groaned. Sitting up, she brushed the hair out of her eyes and said sleepily, "How long was I out?" Looking down at her fondly, Peyton said, "Not long."

Glancing between the two, Haley smiled to herself and said, "I have to leave and go pick up Jamie from school, but I'm really glad you're ok Brooke." Brooke nodded and hugged the smaller girl fiercely for a minute and whispered something Peyton couldn't hear before releasing her and shooing her towards the door. "Go on now, don't be late to pick my godson up!"

Peyton walked Haley to the door and hugged her as well. Pulling back, the brunette said, "Call if you need anything, or if Brooke needs anything too, ok? I mean it- if I found out that there was something I could have done and you didn't tell me, there's going to be hell to pay for you, missy!"

Peyton smiled and watched Haley as she got in the car, waving till she was out of sight down the road. Heading back to the living room, she saw Brooke sitting on the couch, holding her knees to her chest, a pensive look on her face. Sitting down next to her, Peyton asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Brooke started and looked at the blonde. "Sorry, I didn't even notice you sit down. I guess I just got lost in my thoughts." Peyton opened her mouth and closed it. If the brunette didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to make her. Sighing and leaning back against the blonde, Brooke said, "But really, I was just thinking about how amazing everyone is being. I mean, you haven't left my side since you came, and Haley was beyond supportive, and I just...I wonder, sometimes, what you guys see in me that's worth this amount of effort."

Not having expected such an honest response, Peyton wrapped an arm around the brunette's middle and with the other grasped a smaller hand in her own. "We see an amazing, selfless, person, Brooke. We see an unbelievably resilient woman who has overcome too many obstacles in her life that she should never have had to face, and that she didn't deserve. And I see the person I love. That alone is worth all the effort in the world and more- you know that all of us would go to the end of the earth and back for you, Brooke."

Squeezing Peyton's hand, Brooke said, "Thank you for not giving up on me Pey."

Kissing the brunette's head, the blonde said, "Never."

Well then... yay for crazy late updates? ha. not really. but i'll try to post sooner in the future, promise! As always, reviews are love!