Disclaimer: I have no rights, I've played around with some what ifs with characters and a setting that I have no ownership over. Even if I probably would have done a better job with a few things, just saying.
Author's note: This update should have happened a long time ago. I thought I had lost this story but I recently found a copy so it should get back on track now. Enjoy. An check out my new story 'Shot in the Dark' if you have time, more BL feels.
Chapter Three
Bad Company
The memory was still there as clear as ever, the last time he'd seen the man who had fathered him. Five years later and Dan Scott still wore the same expression, proud and defiant, a mocking glint that told the world they could not touch him. Lucas had tried, he'd used all his might to bring this man down and instead Dan had succeeded in crushing Lucas' life. As Lucas' sentence had been handed down he'd turned away from the judge, unable to face the sobbing features of Brooke and his mother Lucas had instead searched for Dan and there he'd been, on the other side a row down looking straight at Lucas. Then he'd stood and left, dismissing Lucas from his life and walking away as his son was handcuffed and taken away.
Chuckling Dan lowered his arms, "don't shoot"
"You bastard" Lucas hissed his voice like ice.
With a smirk Dan simply replied, "no that would be you"
Straight away Lucas stepped forward, his hands becoming fists. With a lift of one dark eyebrow Dan eyed the action, still gazing at Lucas' fist he smiled "easy son, you wouldn't want anything to get in the way of your parole"
As if he'd been hit Lucas stepped back before he froze, his face changing into an expressionless mask while his hands only clenched more.
Chuckling again Dan was enjoying the sight behind him, "it always amazes me you pulled the trigger, I never thought you had it in you. You were always so weak" he stepped closer, his voice lowering "and here we are. How does it feel? Standing right in front of me and unable to do anything"
Lucas could feel Dan next to him, his poisonous breath against his ear and just as Dan had said he was unable to do anything.
"Just like Keith" Dan whispered getting even closer, "he just stood there. You were always more like him, weak, and the weak ones lose"
A twitch started in Lucas' jaw but he resisted reacting and then Dan was backing up and all smiles again, "ah, Miss Davis" he crooned. Lucas snapped around, his eyes widening on seeing Brooke behind him, she looked pale and her eyes darted between Lucas and Dan.
Dan walked around them both until he was standing to Brooke's side right behind her, he lifted a hand and she flinched and smiling more Dan merely straightened his jacket. They followed him with their eyes, Brooke feeling her heart picking up again as Dan casually stepped closer, which made Lucas tense.
"The three of us together again, it's like déjà vu"
"Does that mean you get shot next?" Brooke managed to get out, shaking at her bravado. Despite the tension that hung between them Lucas managed to smile.
"Now is that really necessary, why not let bygones be bygones" he smirked at Brooke before looking to Lucas, "I forgive you son, you were delusional, confused… and in the end your lies only hurt yourself" with that Dan tipped his head towards the two and took a step backwards, "have a good evening."
The moment Dan turns his back Brooke closes the distance between her and Lucas, she reaches for him but Lucas moves away, "hey…you ok?" she asked instead.
Unable to speak Lucas didn't respond straight away, his eyes followed Dan's departure instead.
"Lucas?" Brooke tried again and she got more worried with each second that ticked by without Lucas reacting to her, "Luke!"
The years faded away, standing in front of Lucas and watching the pain flickering across his face Brooke couldn't help but see the old Lucas, and with that she couldn't stand watching him going through this pain. Moving directly in front of him until their bodies were barely a breath away from each other Brooke grabbed Lucas' wrists wrapping her fingers around them, her hold was firm and insistent.
One more time she says his name, her voice demanding attention, "Lucas-" and his eyes snap down to look into hers, "-don't let him get to you"
Deep inside Lucas something stirred, he recognised her words but at the same time he was too lost in the past.
Even more insistent the green in Brooke's eyes was more noticeable, her voice lowered as well as her chin but her eyes stayed trained on Lucas. It was brief but she saw the flicker of recognition in his gaze and she knew he was actually seeing her. The longer they stared at each other the more real it became, finally she let out a breath, her voice husky "look at me, focus on me" and Brooke stepped closer, her chin lifted.
Their skin brushed. Though there was nothing sexual about their contact Brooke's breasts were now pressed against his chest, Lucas blinked down at her and she managed to smile.
The second she smiled Lucas stepped back breaking the contact between them, he could read the hurt in her eyes and saw the moment Brooke closed off to him. Where there had been sympathy in her hazel eyes now it was a dark blankness, the colour still hadn't returned to her skin and all he wanted to do was hold her and apologise for everything. For pulling away from her, for hurting her now and in the past and then he remembered the ring he still had and Lucas couldn't say the words he needed to, the I'm sorry got caught in his throat and instead the opposite came out, "I'm fine"
"Of course you are" Brooke's voice was twisted. The brunette had the sudden urge to throw her arms in the air and scream I give up! She didn't know what Lucas wanted from her.
"What do you want from me Brooke? You've made it clear that the only thing we have in common any more is Jamie, that there is no us, so forgive me if I choose a different shoulder to cry on"
Her face flings back as if he has hit her, colour rises to her cheeks "and whose fault is that?"
"Mine" Lucas screamed back unexpectedly, Dan's comment still echoing inside his mind. His eyes wide, his face flushed Lucas continued, "don't you think I know that. I did it for you because you deserved better than what I could give you because I love you and yet… you hate me for it"
Brooke stayed silent, taken aback by his reaction. He was in her face now and Brooke stepped back almost tripping, his hands grabbed her and without acknowledging the move Lucas kept talking "I never actually wanted you to move on but you did so yes Brooke I'll find somebody else to fucking talk to and I don't give a fuck that it's my own fault"
"You don't need to be so vulgar about it" she chose to ignore most of what he said and changed the subject to his behaviour. At the moment Brooke didn't want to talk about their relationship or her self with Lucas.
"Vulgar…?" he lifted his brow, lowering his face so he was even closer to her and that hard stranger from the night before, the part of Lucas that Brooke didn't know, was staring straight at her "a few cusses offend you? Fuck you, Brooke. Vulgar is you in my bed when you have a fucking fiancé you never mentioned" his eyes narrowed further, those baby blues Brooke loved so much were like ice and she could feel the coldness coming from him as he pressed them closer together "pretty skanky move Brooke, after all that bullshit you put Peyton and I through and here you are screwing me behind some poor saps back. Then again you were always-"
Smack!
They pulled apart stunned, Lucas didn't let his shock show no matter how much his cheek was stinging while Brooke had to clench her hands by her side to stop herself from touching his suddenly red cheek. He straightened up and Brooke poked him in the chest her anger still alive, "I'm not sorry"
"For hitting me or fucking me?" he purposely swore again wanting to get his control back because despite the fact he wanted to pull Brooke close five years looking out for himself in the closest thing to hell he'd ever experienced made it harder for Lucas to be vulnerable. It was a cruel world, you either took the hit or gave it and years of living by that rule it was now ingrained in Lucas' body.
"Trust me, letting you touch me again was the biggest mistake I ever made"
"Easy to say now but last night you were begging for it"
Without thinking Brooke's lifted her hand again, her palm about to connect with Lucas' cheek for the second time she gasped when instead his hand caught her wrist. A second ticked by, his fingers curling around her delicate bones and then he was flinging her back.
Suddenly let go of and shocked by the move Brooke stumbled as she went backwards, her foot tripping over the uneven path. The hand that had been about to slap Lucas was now in the air as she floundered in the street, connecting with the pole behind her and stopping her momentum Brooke managed to stiffen her body and find the ground under her but now she stared at Lucas.
Pure shock filled Brooke's veins and though he was disgusted at himself Lucas remained cold. I'm sorry the words again hovered in Lucas' throat but wouldn't come out, his hands digged through his pocket and pulling out the ring he dropped it by Brooke's feet, "might want to be more careful next time"
Avoiding his unfeeling eyes Brooke bent down to retrieve the ring and felt a sigh of relief – and strangely a moment of unease – when the ring slid effortlessly back on her finger. It glittered as she stared at her hand, the diamond was bigger than Brooke would have liked, the band was simple and the stone overwhelmed the design. Those facts ran through Brooke's thoughts as she stood back up, then she buried them because it didn't matter. The important thing was what the ring represented. The longer she wore the ring, her eyes still on it while Brooke could feel Lucas staring daggers at her, the more and more guilty she felt. Pretty skanky move, Brooke. Lucas' taunt came back to her.
"I will be" Brooke managed to stutter out and avoiding Lucas she turned away. Two steps later Lucas' voice reached Brooke, "what happened to the ring I gave you?"
Still facing the café's direction Brooke stayed still for a heartbeat before twisting her head to look over her shoulder at Lucas. Hair whipping around her face Brooke sent him a blank stare, Lucas waited with his hands fisted by his side.
Another heartbeat went by, "I threw it in the river" and her lip twitched in an unsympathetic smile. In the silence Brooke turned back around and started walking, tears building in her eyes as Lucas watched her go.
…
The room was emotionless as the man who sat behind the desk, dark and quiet Dan Scott let his cool blue eyes dance over the pictures spread out across the mahogany desk. The snapshots were taken from a distance, some were zoomed in but none of them had any smiling faces directly looking at the lens. A finger under his chin Dan picked up one photo with his free hand and then moved it closer before taping the image.
Watching from afar, that had become Dan Scott's way. He viewed Tree Hill like a game of chess, he was the player in control moving the pieces to his liking, some pawns he sacrificed and others he was far more careful with but in the end the result, the win, was all his.
Or it should be. Some people still refused to play with him and they didn't understand the game. Dan Scott was mayor; he was powerful and rich and used every opportunity to charm his way where he wanted yet still his sons defied him. Lucas was a lost cause, Dan had long given up on that one but Nathan had promise, he hadn't done everything the way Dan had wanted but he was easier to influence. Eyes on the photo under his finger Dan smiled, his lips curling up to reveal his perfectly white, straight teeth, it made him resemble a wolf on the hunt.
Lucas wasn't the only one who was defiant, from the first time he'd met her Brooke Davis had been a thorn in Dan's side and then she'd gone and become the mother of his only grandson. The thought infuriated Dan, Lucas might me worthless but the boy could have been a second chance but no his stubborn mother had been blocking Dan from the moment the child was born.
There was a quick knock on the door and Dan swiped all the photos up and hid them inside the folder, "come in"
"Mayor Scott, your son is on line one"
For a second Dan had to resist asking which one and then he gave a curt nod "Nathan" and picked up the phone with a quick look of dismissal to his secretary, "son?"
"Dad" Nathan sounded distracted, Dan waited knowing Nathan would get the point quickly. His son never stayed on the phone long, the rebellious teenage who had emancipated himself and spurned Dan still reared his head and despite standing by Dan all those years ago Nathan still limited their time together. Sure enough Nathan quickly added, "I'm coming home"
"Is there a reason for this visit?"
The silence that greeted him made Dan worry but Nathan didn't answer the question, "I should be there in a few days"
"Both my sons returning to the nest, makes a father proud" Dan pressed knowing Lucas was a subject that Nathan avoided and as expected Nathan ignored the comment.
"I'll call you when I am in town" and then with a click Nathan was gone leaving Dan to himself once more. Alone Dan tucked the folder on his desk away, humming a lullaby as he slipped it between Sandrino and Scott Lucas.
…
With shaking hands Nathan dropped his phone and picked up one of the photos he had dumped out of the shoe box. There was a crease along the upper left hand corner, staring at the imperfection Nathan felt a vein throbbing next to his eye, he twitched, and gently rubbed his thumb over the crease it an attempt to smooth it away. The mark remained.
For a moment Nathan kept going over the crease and then his eyes slowly made their way towards the smiling faces, their youth and happiness captured forever caused an angry ache to twist inside Nathan's heart.
In a panic Nathan grabbed all the photos and papers he had turned over and shoved them ungracefully back into the shoe box. For a split second he contemplated throwing the box in the bin though the thought left him almost as quickly as it had flickered to life, instead Nathan placed the show box back inside his large walk in wardrobe, tucking it on the top shelf behind another box.
…
I didn't understand it. I couldn't understand what bonded the two of them together. Looking at my best friend and my little brother who for so long had been a stranger to me, I saw a chaotic mess that just didn't make any sense.
It would be a long time before I understood. How can you fathom the unstoppable, maddening stampede of love until it gets you in its unwavering path?
People think they know love but real love is not something you know with your head, it's not the fairy tale spun to teach children or the butterflies of a first kiss. When you fall in love you won't know it, one day you feel it that tugging on your heart leading you down paths you can't imagine.
Real love fills the holes inside you, it makes the big things seem insignificant, and not being with the person you love is not like missing another person – it's like you're missing yourself.
(Extract. An Unkindness of Ravens, Page 111)