One Tree Hill

Disclaimer-I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did Leyton would still be together.

Summary-What if Dan never killed Keith in the school, but Jimmy did and Karen blames Lucas so much she throws him out? He then lives with Dan. Dan and Deb are still Married.

Nathan Scott was sitting at the dinner table with his parents Dan and Deb when the door bell rang.

"I'll get it." Nathan said, getting up and heading for the front door. When he opened the door there, he was surprised to see his older brother standing there with a bag slung over his right shoulder.

"Hey, Luke. What are you doing here?" Nathan wondered.

"My mom threw me out." Luke replied with a hurt look.

"What? Why?" Nathan asked.

"Well, she blames me for Keith's death because I went back into the school to get Peyton." Luke answered.

"Tell you what: why don't you come in and have dinner with Mom, Dad and me? Then we can talk about this thing with your mom," Nathan suggested, moving so that Lucas could come in. After Lucas had come in, Nathan looked out the door to the driveway to see that his brother had driven over in the Mustang that once belonged to their uncle Keith. Hearing the front door close, Dan and Deb looked up. To their surprise, Nathan walked back into the kitchen, followed by Lucas.

"Lucas, would you like some dinner?" Deb asked, trying to hide her shock. The only answer she received was a nod. She then stood up, got another plate, filled it with food, handed it to Lucas, and then sat back down.

"Here you go Lucas." Deb said putting the plate in front of him.

"Thank you." He answered quietly.

"Well this is nice…having my two sons with me for dinner." Dan said, watching Lucas sit across the table from Nathan. However, he was curious as to what could've happened between him and his mother.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed. Luke smiled, but said nothing.

"Are you ok Luke?" Dan asked, noticing for the first time that he seemed a little down.

"Yeah everything is fine. I just miss Keith that's all," Lucas said looking at Dan for the first time since he had come in. Dan could see sadness in his eyes and felt as if someone had ripped his heart apart seeing his oldest son hurting so much. I wish I knew how to help him, he thought. However, he sensed that this was not the time to press him. After dinner, Lucas and Nathan went out to a table in the back yard to sit and talk.

"So Dan has changed," Lucas suddenly noted. Nathan blinked at the abrupt turn the conversation had taken, but went with it.

"Yeah, he finally realized he has kids and is trying to do right by us. He even spoke to me about going to the Lakers game next month. He also asked if I thought you would want to come with us," he replied.

"Yeah cool. So are we going?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, why not catch a game out the old guy?" Nathan said with a laugh.

"It's my fault, Nate," Lucas said looking at his hands.

"What? Keith's death? What makes you think that?" Nathan questioned.

"If I never joined the Ravens, Jimmy would never have taken that gun to school. Therefore, Keith would still be alive and my mom wouldn't hate me."

"Luke, your mom doesn't hate you. And if you had never joined the Ravens, I wouldn't have Haley and we wouldn't be brothers," Nathan reminded, trying to make him see reason.

"Yeah I suppose your right," Lucas stated, meeting Nathan's gaze for the first time that night.

"Yeah, I know I'm right. Now what I want to know is, where you're going to live," Nathan commented. Lucas shook his head.

"I don't know, man," came the answer. After they had spent a couple of hours of talking basketball, Dan came out and said.

"Nathan, Haley is on the phone for you," he reported. Nathan stood up and walked back inside to answer the phone as their father sat next to Lucas.

"I herd what Nathan said about you needing somewhere to live," he told him.

"Oh yeah," Lucas said in embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Dan questioned.

"Mom threw me out because she blames me for Keith's death. And---and she's right. I---I---went back into the school---Jimmy Edwards was my friend---and she can't stand to look at me because she sees the kid that got his Uncle Killed," Lucas answered tears began rolling down his face. Dan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You're going to live here with us," he said.

"What?" Lucas asked in surprise. Live with---is he serous? He wondered to himself.

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I know I haven't been the father I should have been, and that Keith was," he apologized. "I was a coward, and I didn't think that I could have a relationship with both of you. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah it does and thank you for letting me stay here," Lucas answered. "But you know, if you treat us both the same you can have a relationship with both of us. And don't try and buy us off or black mail us, you might have something," Lucas said wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeve and giving him a half smile. Dan let out a small scoff at the reference to how he had bullied him into staying with them the previous year. What had I been thinking? He wondered with a shake of his head. That had been beyond stupid, and it had hurt Keith, an action he now regretted more than ever.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he said, removing his hand from his son's shoulder. "Well, how about we go get your stuff and get you moved in?" Lucas nodded his agreement, and father and son did so.

The next day at school, Haley, Peyton, and Brooke stood in the school parking lot at Brooke's car waiting for Lucas and Nathan to arrive when they saw a familiar figure approaching them.

"OH MY GOD! ANNA!" Brooke screamed, jumping up and down, and pulling her into a hug once she got close enough.

"Hey Brooke." Anna said as Brooke finally let her go, and then turned to hug Peyton and Haley.

"I heard what happened to Keith. How's Lucas taking it?" Anna asked. Before the others could answer, they heard the roaring of an engine. Everybody, including Brooke, Peyton, Haley, and Anna turned their heads as the Maroon Mustang with Black racing stripes down the middle pulled into a space next to Brooke's car, cutting off the Black BMW that was just about to park there. Haley smiled when she saw Lucas and Nathan get out of the car. Walking to the girls, Lucas and Nathan noticed Anna standing with them. Lucas smiled and gave her a hug, then Nathan did the same.

"Hey Luke, Nate. I'm so sorry about Keith," Anna said, pulling back from Nathan.

"Thank you, Anna. But I have to say one thing: welcome back. Because, you know, you're welcome back here, just not your brother," Lucas stated, putting an arm around her shoulders. As they started to walk into the school, they herd a voice come from behind them.

"Get your hands off my sister."

WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? SHOULD I CONTINUE?