New fic, tell me what you guys think. :)
One
"Don't listen to him Karen, he's delusional." Dan tried to convince Karen.
"Maybe you should tell the truth when I have a gun aimed at your head!" Lucas threatened Dan, pointing the gun in his direction.
"Lucas, please just put the gun down alright. I can't… I can't…" Karen told her son feeling lightheaded, ultimately collapsing to the floor.
"Karen…" Dan asked worried about to see if she was ok.
"Do not touch her!" Lucas ordered. "Mom? Mom, are you ok?"
"She could be having a miscarriage."
"You stay right there! Do not touch her!" Lucas demanded moving closer to the both of them with the gun still pointed at Dan.
"Lucas!" Dan pleaded.
"That is my mother! I swear to god I will kill you." Lucas warned Dan one last time.
Dan ignoring his warning, bent down in attempt to care for the unconscious Karen. Before he could even get halfway there, Lucas pulled the trigger and the gun shot fire.
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It had been a little over two days now since that day, where Lucas lost all of sense of control and pulled the trigger. He knew in his heart what he did was wrong and immoral, but that didn't change the fact that it was Dan who killed his real father, Keith. Everytime he began to feel an ounce of regret about what he had done, he thought back to the school shooting and what Dan had done, shooting Keith, his own brother in cold blood. With that image freshly embedded in his mind, all the guilt and remorse was quickly replaced with anger and hate.
Lucas and the gang were all still in the waiting room of the hospital. Karen had been unconscious since the incident and the doctors had to place her in a coma. They were able to deliver the baby via a caesarean but upon deliver, the baby was unable to breathe on its own and passed away shortly after. The death of his little sister was enough to have him reeling, but the whole Dan scenario, his mom still in a coma, it all had Lucas in an almost surreal mind frame. He wasn't sure what to do now or where to go from here.
He was scheduled for a court date around three weeks from now. Karen was his only hope for not spending any amount of time behind bars, but with her in a coma there would be no one to testify in his defense. Lucas just hoped that his mother would be able to wake up before then, or even ever at all. Not just so he wouldn't have to go to jail, but just so she can be his mom again, which is needed more than anything.
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"I'm gonna go for a coffee run. You wanna cup?" Haley asked nudging him.
"Yeah, sure." Lucas answered softly.
Haley walked off to the cafeteria and Lucas looked back down to the same spot of the floor he had been looking at for what seemed forever.
Peyton sat back down next to Lucas carrying some treats she snagged from the nearby vending machine, "You'd figure having peanut M&M's, they'd have the plain ones." She complained.
Lucas snatched the bag from her and started to munch on them before she could lay her hands on any of them.
"Hey, I wanted those." Peyton whined slapping his arm.
Lucas knew she was allergic to peanuts, but she was always too stubborn and ate them anyway. "Peyton, everytime you eat 'em your head swells up to the size of a watermelon." He said annoyed, knowing they had this conversation like a million times already.
"No it doesn't" She lied grinning.
He shook his head in amusement, crumpled the empty bag in ball and tossed it in her lap.
"You suck." Peyton joked back
All Lucas could do was laugh and pulled her in for a hug as he stroked her golden curls.
Peyton scooted over in her chair and sunk herself into him. She rested her head onto his chest, "Everything's gonna be ok."
He knew it was something she had to say, but to be honest it didn't help him a single bit. His mother was still in a coma, his baby sister wasn't here anymore, he killed his biological father, and he was maybe, most likely facing major jail time. Just going through the number of recent events in his head, it made him want to curl into a corner.
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Two weeks later…
Karen's status hadn't really changed much over the last two weeks and Lucas' court date was only getting closer and closer. His lawyer was urging Lucas to just sit tight and wait out the trial, being that there was no real hard-pact evidence to link him to the crime anyhow. The only thing prosecutors really had on Lucas was that he was there at the scene of the crime, but it was his place of living after all. Strangely enough, the gun he had used that day mysteriously vanished from the crime scene when investigators got there. Lucas to this day always wondered what ever happened to it but he knew he had more important things to deal with at the moment.
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"Luke, c'mon. We gotta get going." Peyton yelled from outside the front door.
Lucas had arranged a funeral service for his baby sister. Although she was only here with all of them for a short time, he wanted to make sure everyone would remember her and get to say their last goodbyes.
He finally was ready and was walking out the door when he spotted an unmarked package on the doorstep. The only words written on the box were 'Lucas'.
"Luke, c'mon." Peyton yelled honking her horn.
The horn taking his attention away from the box, Lucas placed the box on the kitchen table and hurriedly made his way to Peyton's car, "Alright, I'm coming."
"I swear, sometimes you take longer than me. What took you so long anyway?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing. Was just making sure I had my speech all set." He lied. He figured the package was just a gift from someone, he's been getting so many of them that he began to even lose count. He wondered though why the person would just leave it on his doorstep though, and why not just give it to him in person.
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Lucas finally arrived home and dropped his keys onto the kitchen table. He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and while doing so recognized the package sitting there. It was really late and he could've waited to opening it tomorrow but he thought what the hell. He finally removed all the tape, which seemed like an obscene amount and opened the flaps of the box. There was a card resting on the top of a bunch of styrofoam balls. He unfolded the card and read it to himself, "I thought he may want this back. I hope you don't misplace it this time."
He didn't know what to make of the message, so he just put it aside and continued to see what the content inside the box was. Once he dug through all the styrofoam, he felt something cold touch his hands. He pulled the object out of the box and he literally almost fell back in his chair. It was the nine millimeter handgun he had used that dreaded night. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and hoped that this was some sick practical joke. He began to worry if anyone knew what he had really done, that he was a murderer.
Lucas sat there stunned and terrified not knowing what this meant. Did someone see him shoot Dan and how did they even get their hands on the gun? He also wondered what this all meant now for his upcoming court date, was this mystery person going to speak up there, or has him/her already have? Spending any time in jail was not an option in Lucas' eyes. That was the last thing he or anyone close to him needed.
He thought back to these past couple of weeks and it seemed everything close and dear to him has been taken away, he wasn't going to let his freedom be one of them also. He figured he had nothing left for him lose, he was desperate and all out of options. He knew what he had to do.
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He arrived at the hospital and made his way to his mom's room. She was still hooked up to a bunch of machines, but the doctors told him her condition was fine. It was only a matter of her waking up, it could be days, weeks, or months. He looked through the window of the door and saw her lying there so peacefully, he opened the door taking a deep breath.
He took a seat beside her and held her hand. "Mom? I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I thought I should come here anyhow. Something came up and I'm may have to be gone for a while. I know that's the last thing you need right now, but I'm doing this for your and everyone else's own good. The last thing any of you need is visiting me in a holding cell. I promise once I get this whole thing straightened out, I'll come straight home. Hopefully when I do come back, you'll be awake to greet me…" He said trying to hold back tears. "I love you mom." Lucas added giving her hand a kiss and breaking down in the process.
He sat there for a couple more minutes wanting to savor the moment, not knowing when of if he may ever get to again. He gave his mom one last kiss on the cheek and walked out the room. He got in his car and thought to himself, "Ok, now for the hard one."
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He drove his mustang into her driveway and looked up to her window. He could hear the music blasting from down here so he knew she was home. He let himself in and headed for her room, he tried to think of how he was going to go about this but he knew there wasn't going to be an easy way of telling her. He peeked in the room and saw her sketching away in her sketchbook, curled up in her chair just rocking her head to the music.
He knocked on the door and she quickly turned her head, "Hey you." She greeted him.
He hovered over her and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.
"So what's up?" She asked cheerfully.
He slowly took a seat on her bed and threw his hands onto his knees, "I need to tell you something."
Hearing the tone in his voice, she set her sketchbook aside and sat next to him a little worried now, "Ok…"
"Someone knows Peyton, someone knows what I did."
"Huh, who? How?" She was now genuinely scared for him.
"I don't know, but I know someone knows now and they're out there somewhere." He replied still not believing it himself.
"So what are we gonna do now?" She inquired concerned.
"I think the best thing to do for right now is to just disappear until I can come up with a better plan." He stated knowing what her reaction would be.
"What…" Her face turned from fear to shock.
"There's someone out there Peyton who knows. If I don't find out who it is before they turn me in, I'm gonna go to jail for sure. I can't let that happen." He affirmed.
"That doesn't mean you have to leave." She responded on the verge of tears.
"Peyton, if I stay here I'll just be a target. I don't want anything to happen to any of you either." He said caressing her check.
"When we'll you be back?"
He couldn't answer that question for her, he didn't even know for himself how long he'd have to be on the run, "For as long until I know me and everyone I care about is out of harm's way."
He could see her starting to break down, he took her in for an embrace, stroking her back. "Peyton, I'll be fine. I promise I'll be back, and when I do… you better be here waiting for me." He lifted her chin, "Peyton, I will always love you. No matter what. This isn't the end, ok."
She responded the only way she knew, giving him a passionate kiss. She tucked her head onto his shoulder tears still rolling down her face, "Promise me you won't do anything stupid and come back to me in one piece."
He wiped the tears from her eyes, "I promise. Once I get this mess cleaned up, you better expect that this will be the first place I come." He kissed her on her forehead, making his way to the door. He turned to look at her one last time, "Peyton, remember this isn't the end… I'll be seeing you."
Those last couple of words broke her heart, if it wasn't shattered already. She just hoped, prayed that this wasn't the last time she laid her eyes on him. She looked out her window and watched as he drove off, getting further and further from her by the second. She cupped the small mound on her stomach and cried uncontrollably.