If You Ask Me, I Will Stay.

A\N: I don't own the characters or most of the plot in this story. It all belongs to Mark Schwan.

I was asked by a friend to write a story about her favorite characters and to write them a different ending then they originally got (and I was totally happy to do it). Some of this story is flashbacks from some episodes of what really happened between the two characters and what they were probably thinking. My storyline starts after the phone call later in the story. & I just wanna thank my girl Holly for reading this & thinking it's good! :) I love you dude! & if you are reading this, welcome to the beautifully tragic world of BL. ;)

The words in italics are writing or emphasizing a word or thought. The words that aren't in bold or italics is the past, which is the majority of the story. The words in bold is the present.

Dear Lucas,

So you of all people should know that I'm not a very good writer. Hell, I'm not even a good speaker. But I just thought I should say, what you did was wrong, way wrong. I mean, you really shouldn't date a girl, all the while having feelings for her best friend then, finally, when girl leaves, admit your hidden feelings for her. Come on, Luke, think a little. Well, I haven't really decided if I ever will forgive you. I probably will though, since you have those annoying but sweet blue eyes. Yeah. They always get to me. I have no idea what will happen when I get back. We'll all be seniors. I'm excited about it, yes. A new year of great times. But I'm dreading it because, well, you know Tree Hill. This town wouldn't be Tree Hill without all the drama. Yet what will I do with you? Hit you, perhaps? A little slap wouldn't hurt. Or maybe hug you? Because even though it's only been a week since I left, I still miss you. And everyone else. I'm sure I'll eventually forgive you. But enough about that mess. I'm having fun in California. But I really have no idea why I'm here. My dad hasn't moved from his work. He loves his new job though. My mother, well, let's just say she's enjoying her new "conquest" more than us so she's never here. Which doesn't bother us, really. My father does seem happier. But I wish she would pay a little more attention to me, maybe. Then again, I wouldn't want to talk to her. Sometimes I just yearn for affection and attention from her. But sometimes I just have this hate burning inside of me for her also. Why would she do this? Is there something wrong with me? Does she hate me? Completely loathe me? Maybe one day I'll know. Maybe one day she'll open up to me. I know how hard that can be. Anyway, I have to go. I'm going to the beach. Again. California is beautiful. But.. Tree Hill's home. And I can't wait to be back. Oh, one more thing. I think I still love you. Well, I know I do. I think I always will. Besides, you changed me for the better. Thank you for making me realize it. I do love you for that.

Of course I would rather die than tell you that!

Sincerely, Brooke Davis.

He smiled, despite his tears and lovingly folded the letter.

Brooke Davis. His first love. His Cheery. His Pretty Girl. His Brooke. His better half. That was his favorite letter from her. It was also the first letter she had written that summer.

Sixty years is a long time. He lived a pretty good life. Like life should be, he survived through the ups and downs, always having friends help him through it all.

His father has abandoned him and his mother before he was born and his mother before he was born and then he had to deal with him and his younger brother in high school. And that was when he developed a crush on Peyton Sawyer.

Peyton, he thought with a roll of his eyes and a huge smile. The totured artist, the center of drama, just like himself.

He could tell she was an outcast, even if she was actually in the popular group. He had watched her closely as she chatted with everyone with a fake smile on her lips. She could be so very cruel, but she was a nice person on the inside. She had, despite her being adopted, been raised by the right people, the right person. Pretty soon he thought he had fallen so deeply in love with her, the female version of himself. But then something happened one day.

As he was talking to Haley, his best friend since forever, his eye caught Peyton and he automatically focused his attention on her. He watched her say something to someone, then heard this scratchy, loud laughter and his eyes snapped to a beautiful brunette that was speaking to Peyton. Haley noticed his staring and she snapped her fingers in front of his face but he didn't look away from the brunette.

"Lucas, are you listening to me?" His friend asked, half annoyed, half amused.

"Who is she?"

His interest in this other girl was shocking to Haley, for he had always had a crush on Peyton, since eighth grade.

Not sure what to do, Haley just answered him. "Uhm, that's Brooke Davis. Captain of the cheerleading team." And when she saw a smile beginning to form, she quickly added: "Also sleeps with every guy she speaks to, so I don't suggest you get your hopes up, buddy. You don't want to be involved in that crowd.

Lucas made a face, almost of disappointment, and started to walk away when he saw her turn her head toward him.

He looked at her and their eyes met. She smirked. He just stood there. She looked him up and down. He thought about what Haley had just said and he shook his head, beginning to walk away.

You don't want to be with someone like that, he thought and willed himself to continue thinking about Peyton Sawyer.

Then he had won his first basketball game at high school. And Brooke Davis, captain of the cheer sluts, as Haley so nicely put it popped up in the backseat of his car.

"I think you have the wrong car.." He awkwardly told her.

"Oh, don't mind me, I just have to get out of this uniform." She said nonchalantly, actually ...taking...off her uniform.

His eyes widened and he quickly looked away.

"So how'd it feel? She asked, her low, raspy voice making him weak with desire.

All of a sudden, she slapped a leopard bra over his shoulder and he, startled, looked to her and into the most beautiful hazel eyes he had ever seen. "Good, huh?"

The corner of her mouth went up in a seductive smirk. "You know it did."

Then Coach Whitey came up to his car and she disappeared out of sight. He leaned down, smiling. "Now that game wasn't so bad!"

He nodded, hoping his coach would just go away.

Whitey turned to leave but turned back to him, "Oh and by the way, there's a half-naked girl in the backseat of your car." He smiled that sarcastic smile of his every time he teased a player.

Whitey left the car and the brunette popped back up, making a face. "...Grouchy."

He chuckled and she looked at him. "So anyway," She slipped her jacket on. "When you made the winning shot, did you feel it change?"

He squinted his eyes, confused. "Feel what change?"

She raised her eyebrows, "Everything. How many moments in life can you point to and say 'that's when it all changed'?

That was the first time he had met the hazel - eyed vixen. But instead of sleeping with her, like she so obviously wanted him too, he drove her home and told her goodnight.

And Brooke, liking the sweet innocence in him, smiled as she told her best friend Peyton, maybe she wanted a boyfriend.

Peyton, who had been reading a magazine, looked up, shock on her face. Brooke Davis and boyfriend didn't even go into the same sentence. She didn't think Brooke was serious about wanting to date some new guy on the basketball team named Lucas Scott.

Until she got him.

And Peyton, feeling jealous, began the love triangle and lusted after Lucas. She knew it was wrong to kiss her best friends boyfriend, but there was something that attracted her to him. Probably because they were exactly alike.

Peyton told him they couldn't do anything because he and Brooke made a good couple.

He told Peyton he was just hiding behind Brooke and that he really wanted to be with her, which was a bad move for him in the future. Brooke then found out he cheated and ignored him and the curly blonde she thought was her best friend.

But then Peyton had even rejected him and he slept with Nikki and then neither of them talked to him, so his life sucked at the moment. He had decided to move to Charleston with Keith, his uncle, then Dan, his father had had a heart attack so they rushed back to Tree Hill and remained.

Later in their junior year, he, Brooke and Peyton were finally friends again, despite their burning his letter, but he didn't mind, it was embarrassing for people to read his writing anyway.

He sat on the beach next to her and as she turned her head to look at him, her face sad and angry, he looked away when she glared at him for breaking her heart. He stood up and offered her a ride home and when she declined, then changed her mind, he held out his hand and she turned to face the hand, glancing up at him and with reluctance, she gripped his hand and a moment passed between the two, as if her grabbing his hand to be pulled up meant she was finally placing her trust into his hands and he better not let her down. They walked the rest of the way on the beach to his car, silence between both of them and as they climbed in the car, he offered to take her to breakfast.

"It is four in the morning," He shrugged.

She sighed. "I guess so. I am hungry. But you're paying."

He laughed and nodded.

That morning he had spent two -almost three- hours at a small Waffle House with the Brooke Davis. They talked about random things. He recommended some of his favorite books, and talked about his family. She talked about what she had always dreamed of doing, fashion and design. He told weak, pathetic jokes but they laughed and cried until she sadly said he should drive her home, even though my parents could care less, she joked bitterly. He stopped in front of her house, now truly upset that he had to say goodbye. And as she smiled and thanked him for breakfast, he stared into her dark brown eyes with specks of gold and felt a flutter in his stomach. She had said they should be friends, and, confused, he told her they were friends. She replied, saying that they should be friends and he got excited at the fact that he finally wanted to really be friends with him and hang out -as they did earlier- but without all the relationship drama. Yet as she gave him another smile and walked to her door, pictures of her face, laughing, smiling, happiness radiating from her to him, he shivered as the realization came over him.

That's when it all changed, a distinct voice echoed.

He had fallen in love with Brooke Davis and had told her he wanted to be with her right when her cab was outside, he thought with a chuckle, she must have been so angry at him, especially with everything that he had already put her through.

And she came back, looking even better than she was the last time he saw her, in tears. Now, here she was, standing in his room, her dimples deepening as she smiled and tells him she's missed him and he, overjoyed, tells her he missed her too and calls her his nickname.

He fought in a battle for Brooke Davis's heart, enforced by her rule to date but see other people also. He had told her that he was the one for her in front of tons of guys on a beach, he even had a sort of play date that had been set up by Rachel Gatina, and she told him to make the shot if Brooke was the one, and he did, he made it. That means something, right? He remembered being disappointed and angry when he had seen Kris Keller in bed with Brooke. He hadn't talked to her for a while since then, trying to deal with his anger and a deep depression overcame him. Why couldn't he just realize he loved her sooner, before the mess? But then she showed up at his door, holding a box that contained eighty-two letters, over the summer. She said she was afraid, but he forgave her. Then she blurted out "I love you," he recalled with a smile and his and Brooke's relationship as Pretty Girl and Boyfriend began again. Except this time the love was real and mutual.

They lay on his bed, her snuggled up in his arms and he continuously kissed her on random spots. Her cheeks, her head, her eyelids, her forehead. He smiled with contentment, yearning to be like this always.

"You won't do it again, will you?" She asked quietly.

"Do what?"

"Hurt me," She whispered, "break me again."

"Never," He automatically replied, hugging her closer. "My heart is forever yours."

Of course he meant it at the time but high school always changed things. He had lost his Uncle Keith in a dangerous shooting at his school by one of his old friends, Jimmy Edwards.

"Hey Pretty Girl," He said, stretching as he walked into his room, a little surprised to see his girlfriend on his bed.

Everyone had finally left his house after Keith's wake. After Lucas had told his mother goodnight, he was looking forward to falling into his bed and going to sleep. But seeing Brooke there with a small, insecure smile on her face made him want to lock her up in his room and just lay there with her.

"Hey," She greeted back. "I was gonna sleep in my car but I heard a noise and I think it was a bear or something."

He smiled, "Where were you parked?"

"Right ...outside there..." She pointed to the door that led outside, an innocent expression on her face.

He laughed and she smiled softly as the sound filled her ears.

Lucas climbed in next to her, wrapping his arm around her petite form. "Have I told you how much I love you today?"

She looked into his eyes, the insecurity shining. "Not really."

"Well I do." He said, reaching for her hand and rubbing the smooth skin with his thumb. "And even though I don't tell you, it means a lot to me to know you're there. It means everything."

"I am here." She whispered, "we both are."

"I know. It's good being here." He smelled the strawberry radiating from her har, comforting him. "Especially with you." He leaned his chin on her arm.

"I wish that it was me…" She suddenly spoke, making him glance up at her. "I know it's horrible, and I know it's selfish but..." He lifted himself up a bit to hear her more clearly, surprised she thought herself of being selfish. "I watched you rescue Peyton, and you told me you rescued Dan..." He sighed when she mentioned Peyton and referred to his father almost dying in a fire. "And sometimes I just wish you could rescue me."

"From what?" He asked curiously, for he knew she needed no saving. She was independent. She was Brooke Davis.

But her answer surprised him.

"From all of it."

"Okay." He finally answered, making her smile. "I will." He toyed with the sleeve of her black shirt. "If you promise to rescue me back." He grinned.

Her smile grew on her face as she nodded. "I promise."

His love for her almost exploded as they looked into each other's eyes, grabbing her chin and pulling her toward him, kissing her slowly and softly.

A\N: Thaaat's the end of part one. I know I reaaally shouldn't be starting a new story but this isn't new really, I've been working on it for a very long time and I'm almost done with it but I have a lot of details to fill in. Just a matter of time (: if I get a good amount of my favorite things (reviews) I will post part2 since it's waay easier because it's already all written & revised. :) I hope you guys will like this! And also, I want to thank my friend Molly for helping me out with this. Anywaays, REVIEW :D