INDEPENDENCE DAY PT 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Second part of my story. Title inspired by the song Independence Day by Imani Coppola. It was on the Touched by an Angel soundtrack. It's pretty good. One Tree Hill belongs to Mark Schwahn and the CW. As with Lucas Lies, the story will shift POVs, but I'll try to make things clear.

For a moment, Lucas stared.

"My father? My father?" he repeated. He let out a scoffing laugh. Well, that was just great. "Well, then, Daddy, where have you been my whole life? Where were you when I was getting beaten and used as a sex toy?" he questioned.

"I understand you're upset---" Dan began.

"You understand?" Lucas repeated. "Like, you even care. You probably didn't even want me," he continued.

"That's true," Dan allowed.

"I knew it," Lucas said bitterly. "You know what? I don't need you…Daddy." With that, he walked off just as Julian pulled up. Lucas angrily threw his backpack into the car and then got in and slammed the door.

"Everything okay?"

"Let's just go." Dan watched as the two drove off. Then, Nathan came out and the man took his son home. The boy watched as his father paced around the living room.

"You okay, Dad?" Nathan asked. Dan shook his head.

"I talked to Lucas today. He wasn't too happy with what I told him," he answered. The boy looked to his father.

"What do you mean? How'd you tell him?" Nathan wondered.

"I looked at him and told him point blank, 'Lucas, I'm your father'," Dan answered.

"Dad, seriously, you Darth Vadered him?" Nathan questioned. "Well, no wonder," he continued.

"I know, I know. He doesn't even know me," the man said. "But I just---I'm sorry, Son. I don't think I can explain this very well," he man continued. "I guess you could say I got a bit excited about the prospect of connecting with my other son." Nathan was about to respond when the front door opened. Confused, the two turned to the front door.

"Mom, you're home early," Nathan noted in surprise.

"Deb, honey, is everything okay?" Dan questioned in concern.

"Oh, am I glad to see you, Danny," Deb sighed in relief.

"Mom, is everything okay?" Nathan questioned, his concern mounting.

"I'm all right, Nathan. I just had a really hard day and decided to come home early," Deb answered, sitting down and rubbing her head.

"I'll go make you some hot tea," Nathan stated.

"Oh, thank you," Deb sighed. Nathan went to the kitchen.

"Okay, what really happened?" Dan asked once their son was out of earshot.

"Oh, it's like I said---it's just been of those days. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," Deb responded. "First, two our waitresses called in sick, then one of the busboys took off without telling anyone, and then if that wasn't enough, the oven decided to reenact a scene from a bad horror movie," she told him.

"Oh, you have had bad day," he said sympathetically, as he pulled her into a hug. Then, "If it's any consolation, I just a really boneheaded move at Tree Hill High."

"What did you do?" The man's expression became sheepish. "I---kinda ambushed Nathan's friend Lucas with the news that I was his father."

"Oh, honey. That's not what I meant when I told you to go for it."

"I know." The woman shook her head as her son brought out the beverage.

"Here you go, Mom."

"Thank you, honey." She took a sip of her tea. Back at the hotel, Lucas was pacing around angrily, waving one of his required reading books in the air.

"I mean, who does he think he is, Julian? Just ambushing me like that? It's probably not even true," he raged.

"So, um, let me check to make sure I have this straight: this guy---Mr. Scott---he's your father?" the older boy questioned.

"So he says," came the response.

"Well, uh…how do you feel about that?" Lucas just scoffed.

"Are you kidding me?" Julian didn't respond, recognizing that the question was rhetorical. "He didn't want me! He said so himself!"

"W---wait a minute---Luke---if he didn't want you, why would he even bother telling you?"

"How should I know? Maybe he's some kind of sociopath that gets off on other people's pain." With a frustrated yell, he threw the book at the wall.

"Lucas---"

"I---I can't handle this, Julian. I---I gotta get out of here." With that, the boy opened the door to their hotel room and stomped out. Julian blew out a breath.

"Well, that was a lovely conversation."