1Love & Hate

Chapter 1 - Deception

A deception made from love is still nothing but a lie...

Life is full of deceptions and lies. Everywhere you look someone is pretending to be someone they're not or pretending something's not happening. It is everywhere, poisoning everyone that it can - friends, families and lovers. No one is immune to the poison it brings into our lives.

Lucas and Haley Roe learned very young to hate. It was an emotion that they learned almost before love. It was what their mother felt for them and for their father. Right after Karen found out that she was pregnant, Jimmy James was carted off to jail for murder. The first thing that they learned was to hate their father as their mother did.

The only light in their lives was the their love for one another. They made sure to take care of each other. The bond between them was stronger than anyone, especially their mother, could understand. It was them against the world, almost from day one.

On their thirteenth birthday they came home from school to find a letter from their mother. She couldn't handle the pressure of being a mother any longer. Their uncle Keith, a complete drunk, would be taking care of them from now on. They didn't really care that their mother was gone, but living with Keith wasn't easy.

It was hard for Keith to keep a job because he couldn't stay sober. Without a steady job, it was hard for him to support the kids. So at the age of thirteen they gave up their freedom and began to work odd jobs to keep them afloat. When they turned sixteen, they got real jobs so that they wouldn't starve. They never had a life in high school as they had to work so that they could stay alive.

The day that they turned eighteen they packed up their stuff and found themselves a small, two-bedroom apartment in the worst part of town. But it was better than living with Keith, who they hadn't heard from since they left, which had been almost two years ago. But at least now it was just the two of them and they did everything that they could to make ends meet. Even if it meant lying to one another about where the money came from.

"Haley!" The pounding on her door jarred Haley from a sound sleep.

"What!" She screamed as she buried her head under her pillow.

"Can I come in?" The door swung open, revealing Lucas.

Haley rolled her eyes as she sat up. "Why do you even bother to ask it you're not going to wait for my answer?"

Lucas grinned. "Because I already know the answer." He plopped down on the bed next to her.

"And what would you have done if I'd had a guy in here?" She glared at him,

"Haley, when was the last time that you had a guy over?"

"That is SO not the point."

Lucas laughed, shaking his head. "I assume that if you ever do bring a guy home that you'll be smart enough to lock the door."

Haley shrugged. "I hope so, too. Especially with the way you just bust right in." She shot him a small smile. "So, what's so important that you're busting in here at this ungodly hour?"

"Haley, it's noon."

"Exactly. I have another hour to sleep before I have to get up and go to work."

"Whatever. I'm throwing a party tonight. Skills is back in town."

"Is he?" Haley grinned. "It'll be good to see him again. It's been awhile."

"Yeah, it has. And do me a favor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Please don't sleep with him again." Lucas shook his head. "I don't want my best friend sleeping with my sister."

Haley laughed. "We didn't ever actually have sex, Lucas. We just happened to pass out in the same bed."

"Whatever. Please don't do that either. I'd rather you pass out in my bed."

"No thanks!" Haley threw up her hands. "I don't want to share a bed with you and Rachel or you and Brooke." She sighed. "Why is it okay that you sleep with not only one, but both of my best friends and I can't sleep with yours? There's something wrong with this picture."

"Just deal with it. It's a guy thing. So what time do you get off tonight?"

"Two-ish - maybe three. I'll try to get off early."

"We probably won't get started until midnight so it's a not a big deal." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm going to work some overtime. I'll see you tonight. Be careful."

"Yup, you too." As he left the room, Haley laid back down. She tried to sleep, but it was being evasive. With a sigh, she crawled out of bed and got into the shower.

She had to be to work by 2:00 and would get off at around 9:30 from her job as a waitress. She worked at a sports bar for her primary job and although her brother didn't know it, she worked as a stripper at night.

She'd been struggling to make ends meet with just her being a waitress when her two best friends suggested that she come work with them. He first response wasn't just no, but hell no. Why would she want to take her clothes off for a bunch of horny men? But then she'd found out how much money they made in a night. Half the work and twice the pay, she cut back her hours at the sports bar and began stripping.

Haley had been stripping for almost a year now and was still hiding it from Lucas. She knew that he didn't care that she hung out with strippers, but become one? He'd kill her if he knew. No, it was better to keep this from him; she'd just continue to leave him in the dark about where the money was actually coming from.

Haley glanced in the mirror as she fluffed her hair one last time. This wasn't how she'd imagined her life would turn out, but you have to take what life deals you and do your best with it. She threw her outfit for the party in her bag and headed out the door.

Meanwhile, Lucas wasn't working the overtime his sister thought he was. During the week he worked construction, but like his sister he had another job on the side. One that he kept hidden from her because he knew that she would disapprove.

"Skills, man! What's up?" Their hands clasped in between them as they hugged. "How are you?"

"I'm great. Glad to be back." Skills glanced around. "Fergie should be here anytime now with the stuff."

At the moment a blue Ford Taurus pulled up and Fergie jumped out. "Luke! Skills! Good to see you guys!" He opened the trunk and waved them over.

As they approached he was unzipping a backpack, identical to the one that Lucas was carrying now. Inside were bags of pills, powders and weed. Lucas handed Fergie that bag that he held. "Money's in there." He shuffled through the bag in the trunk, verifying that everything was there. He quickly zipped it back up and tossed it over his shoulder. "Looks good."

After tossing the backpack holding the money in the trunk, Fergie slammed it shut. "Always, a pleasure doing business with you, Lucas." He turned to Skills. "Will you be starting up again anytime soon?"

Skills shook his head. "I'm just gonna help Lucas out for awhile. I almost got caught last time. I don't want to take any chances."

Fergie nodded. "Makes sense. Well, if you change your mind, let me know."

"We're having a party at the apartment tonight to celebrate Skills homecoming if you wanna come."

"Sounds like a plan. Guess I'll see you tonight." With a final nod to the both of them he jumped into the car and peeled off.

Lucas and Skills walked back towards Skills' car. "So, where's your car anyways?"

"Me and Haley can't afford two cars so we share the one. I use it mostly during the week. But when she works late I want her to have the car." Lucas sighed as they settled into the car. "I don't want her walking in this neighborhood by herself. I wish that we could afford someplace a little bit safer."

Skills shook his head. "Your sister is fine here. No one's going to mess with her. They know who she is."

"Yeah, but what happens if someone new comes and doesn't know." He turned to Skills. "We both know how much the guys drool over Haley."

"She is hot."

"Skills, seriously man! Didn't we already have this conversation? I can't have you calling my sister hot. It freaks me out."

"Whatever, man. She is and I get why you worry. Some day you guys will be able to get out of here and live someplace nicer. If anyone can do it, the two of you can." Skills shot him a smile as they pulled up to Lucas's apartment. "She's gonna be gone right?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, she has to be to work at two so we can get this stuff taken care of." They quickly exited the car and went upstairs to go through and separate all of the drugs into smaller amounts.