Chapter 3

Lucas sat at the kitchen table. He was waiting on Jamie to finish getting ready for their day out on the town with Haley and Nathan. He couldn't believe that she had only been there for a month.

As if on cue, Jamie walked downstairs. "Ready?" she asked quietly. Lucas nodded and stood up.

As they drove toward Nathan and Haley's apartment, Lucas found himself thinking about his sister again. She's polite and friendly but also very withdrawn and quiet. Lucas glanced at Jamie who was staring out the window. There's something about her. I can't put my finger on it but I know she's hiding something. Lucas decided to try and talk to her.

"So mom told me that you were in college. How is that possible since we're the same age?"

"She told me that you started a year late. She never told you that?"

Lucas gaped at her. "I started late? Oh man. No I didn't know."

"That's okay. Life after high school isn't all that great. You know they actually expect you to work?" Jamie joked. They both laughed. Jamie couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so easily. Maybe life here won't be so bad after all, she thought. But again the nagging voice said, You have to tell them.

"We're here." Lucas said as he pulled the car to a stop. "I thought maybe we could hang out here for a while then we'll all go to lunch and maybe go to the mall."

Jamie nodded. "I can't thank you guys enough for this. I mean, you hardly know me and you're welcoming me into your family." She gave him another smile, this one sincere. Lucas smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

"You'll soon find out that that might not be such a good thing."

Jamie stole one of Lucas' fries as she listened to Haley talk. The four of them were at Karen's Diner and Haley was explaining her complicated marriage to Nathan. Lucas was in the back talking to Karen and Nathan was chatting with some of the Raven's basketball team that had shown up for lunch. Jamie was being caught up on all of the Tree Hill drama. She couldn't believe the amount of stuff these people had gone through.

As Haley glanced at Nathan and smiled, Jamie could see how deeply in love she was. "Nathan seems like he's a great guy. So does Lucas. You guys have barely known me for a month and you're welcoming me like I'm part of the family."

Haley smiled. "Hey, you are part of the family. We're all one big crazy family." The two of them laughed as Nathan and Lucas came back.

"Hey babe. Ready to go?" Nathan asked Haley, who nodded and stood up. Jamie also stood up and walked to the door with them. Haley and Lucas walked out just as a redhead girl walked in. She saw Haley give the redhead a dirty look and a quick glance at Nathan. Uh-oh, trouble in paradise she thought.

They drove to the mall and walked around for a couple of hours. When Haley dragged Nathan into a home designer store to look at stuff for the apartment, Lucas and Jamie decided to walk around and talk. Lucas laughed at something Jamie said and when he looked up he saw Brooke standing there, looking at him with a hurt expression.

"Lucas can I talk to you? Alone?" The two of them walked over to a bench and sat down.

"I'm pregnant." She said it softly, with a slight quiver in her voice. "The test I took was negative so I told you I wasn't but I was feeling weird so I went to the doctor." Brooke started to cry and Lucas pulled her against him.

He looked and saw Haley, Nathan, and Jamie standing by the store entrance. He walked over to them. "Could you guys give us a moment. Actually here." He threw his keys to Nathan. "God. Brooke's pregnant." He turned and walked outside with Brooke.

"I can't believe she's pregnant." Nathan said as the three of them turned to walk back to the door they had come in. "You know what I mean?" he said to Haley. She looked at the ground.

"I kind of knew. I went to the doctor with her. She asked me not to tell anyone."

Nathan shook his head. "Man, this is really gonna change Lucas' life. It'll change all of our lives. I can't believe I'm going to be an uncle." Haley nodded and patted him on the arm but Jamie noticed a worried look on her face.

Jamie thought to herself as they walked out of the mall and got into the car. Jeez. I thought my life was messed up. This place is drama central.

She had no idea how right she was until they got to Nathan and Haley's apartment. Not long after they went inside, there was a knock at the door. Nathan opened the door to find his father standing there. He looked at Dan and then at Jamie with a nervous look on his face.

Dan however, was apparently in a hurry and didn't notice it. He hurried into the apartment. "Your mother has gone insane. Did you know that she's started back up with her pill habit? She's also carrying around a gun and she said she'd-,"

"Dad!" Nathan yelled. "Get out. Don't come to me with your problems like we're best buds or something."

"Nathan she's your mother!"

"I know that dad! I'll get her help. What she doesn't need is you sticking your nose in her business. Now get out of my apartment."

"Fine." Dan said as her turned to leave. As he saw the tall blonde girl standing there next to Haley, his heart skipped a beat. She looked just like Lucas. She could have been his twin.

When Nathan saw this he tried to get his father to leave again. "Dad come on. You need to leave."

Dan held up his hand to silence his son. "Who are you?" he asked Jamie.

"Jamie Bradshaw." She responded, unsure of why Nathan didn't want him to find out who she was.

"I haven's seen you around before." Dan said.

"Well I-," Jamie stopped as she saw the look on Nathan's face. His eyes were wide and he was shaking his head no. She rolled her eyes. "He's gonna find out eventually. We might as well tell him."

"Tell me what?" Dan asked, starting to get angry with his son's attempted deception. "Who are you?"

"My name is Jamie Bradshaw. I'm Lucas' twin sister. Your daughter." As she said this she stood up straight and looked him straight in the eyes. She knew all about him abandoning Karen and Lucas. She had also heard about what a horrible father he was to Nathan.

"What?" Dan yelled. "Why wasn't I told about this?" He looked back and forth between Nathan and Jamie, expecting an explanation. Jamie stepped forward and looked in square in the eyes again.

"Well maybe if you had been there when I was being born you would have known."

Dan's jaw tightened. "That stupid bitch" he muttered. Without another word he walked out of the apartment, slamming the door. Jamie looked at the floor. This wasn't exactly how she had expected she would meet Dan. Then, as Dan's words clicked in her head she looked up and caught Nathan's gaze.

"Karen" they both said at the same time. Nathan glanced quickly at Haley and the three of them ran outside and jumped into Lucas' car.

As they sped along, Haley dialed Lucas' cell number. She got his voice mail. "Lucas this is Haley. If you get this message, get home as fast as you can. Dan found out about Jamie and he stormed out of the apartment. We think he's going to your house. We're on our way there." She hung up then dialed Karen's cell. When she didn't get an answer she started freaking out.

"Haley calm down!" Nathan yelled as he turned onto a side street. The house was only a few blocks away.

They skidded to a stop in front of the house and quickly got out. Dan's SUV was already in the driveway. They heard a screeching noise and saw Brooke's silver Bug come flying around the corner. Lucas jumped out and ran toward them.

"You two wait here." Nathan said as him and Lucas ran into the house. Jamie stood in the driveway with a hysterical Haley. Suddenly they heard glass shattering Karen screaming. Haley started crying. Jamie grabbed Haley before she could run inside.

"Haley wait!"

"Let go! That's my husband in there." As she said this she slumped against Jamie and started sobbing. Jamie tried to comfort Haley while she dialed 911.