Title: Moonlight
Author: Cleo Clipper
Genres: Drama, Angst, Romance
Warnings: Slash, violence, abuse, hints at sexual abuse, language, adult themes. If you don't like to read about Lucas and Nathan being romantically involved (as brothers or not) or if abuse/sexual abuse is a touchy subject for you, then don't read this story. You have been warned!
A/N:Thank you for all the reviews! And I would especially like to thank LathanFan for their incredibly long review that I loved :). I do want to point out though that Dan doesn't take out his "sexual frustrations" on Nathan every night, just like he doesn't hit him every single night. It's kind of a rare thing, and I'm sorry that I gave you that impression. If I have indicated that it was every night somewhere in the story please let me know so I can change it because that's not how I wanted that to come off. I know it's mentioned a couple of times that he does do this, I think one time in the first chapter and when Deb is suspecting that this kind of thing is happening, but its definitely not happening every single night. I'm not that mean or that creepy, I swear! :)
I also want to mention that Nathan's suffering will soon be coming to an end and good things will be happening for him! I never planned on making him suffer for so long but I needed to show the kind of situation he was in before I could change it :) and there will be lots more LucasNathan time...everyone's favorite! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for this plot and Mitch. I don't know if I mentioned this in an earlier chapter, but Mitch is Lucas' father who died, and the background story to that will be coming in the next chapter I believe. Enjoy! :)
Nathan quickly scrambled to his knees, ignoring the searing pain in his ankle. He rolled the lifeless woman onto her back and quickly tore off his shirt to hold to her head to clot some of the blood, all the while muttering in shock, "Please don't die, don't die on me mom, please…please don't be dead."
Dan stood at the top of the stairs seemingly frozen in place, arms coming to his sides limply, staring at the scene of his son trying to revive his wife. Suddenly Nathan let out a noise that sounded like a sob and a gasp and his head snapped to Dan. "Don't just stand there! Call 911!" he yelled at the stunned man, waking him out of his stupor. Nathan began looking for his cell phone with shaking hands and found it in his back pocket. He had just dialed the numbers in and was raising the phone to his ear when a sharp pain from a kick to his hand caused his phone to fly into the wall and hang up. He barely had time to register what happened before Dan was on him, delivering a punch to his face before shoving him to the ground, holding his face with one large hand.
"I don't think so Nathan," sneered Dan. "If we call the police, they're going to ask questions, and then they're going to get curious and investigate and I can't have that. I'm not letting my position as mayor, my respect, or my family be taken away from me because she has a little cut on her head!" Dan hissed, his other arm crushing Nathan's windpipe. Nathan could feel himself choke and gasp and he clawed at his face in order to get free. He kneed Dan between the legs and the man let out a pained yell, rolling over to the side off of his son. Nathan took in deep breaths, hands still shaking, and he rolled over onto his side, noticing his shirt that cushioned his mom's head was slowly becoming soaked with blood. His panic returned and he scrambled over the hardwood floor to his phone when he was stopped by Dan grabbing his hair and yanking back harshly. Nathan let out a pained yelp, his hands flying to the one on his head to try and alleviate the pain. "Dad please! She's going to die if we d—don't do something!" Nathan could feel himself becoming hysterical, sobs were building up in his chest as he struggled and fought with all his might against the stronger man. His arm reached out for his phone and he was yanked back again, landing hard on his hip. Dan stepped around him and picked up the phone, staring at it as though it were a foreign object.
For a moment, Nathan thought that Dan would throw his phone into the wall again and he would have to try and get to the house phone. But he surprised him when he dialed those three numbers again and spoke in a panicky voice, "Hello? Yes I—I need an ambulance…my wife just fell down the stairs and she's not breathing!"
After standing in the rain for about ten minutes after Nathan left, Lucas went inside and, after he shut the door, slid down it, putting his head in his hands. That was the last time he would see Nathan and he had no idea when he'd be allowed to see him again. Whenever he was safe was what he said, but who knew how long that would be?
He raked his hands through his wet hair and slammed a fist against the door in frustration. God…why did he wait so long to figure out that Nathan was the one? If he'd realized this sooner, they would've had more time to spend together. He knew that thought was irrational, but he couldn't help but blame himself of wanting to be in denial of what everyone already knew. He squeezed his wet hair and leaned back against the white door, getting lost in the memory of the day he confessed his feelings to Nathan.
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He hadn't seen Nathan at all at in classes or anywhere in the hallways, and it was already lunchtime. He hoped that Dan hadn't gone and severely hurt Nathan but he didn't know what to think after Nathan hadn't answered any of the six calls he made. When the bell signaled for lunch, he found Brooke and Haley by their lockers right next to each other.
"Have you guys seen Nate today?" Lucas asked trying to casual but ended up sounding worried, which Haley immediately picked up on.
"No…you don't think there's something…wrong do you?" she said, concern clear in her big, brown eyes, gazing at him in question.
"God I hope not," Lucas sighed, his mind spinning with possible scenarios of the extent of Dan's abuse towards his son. He leaned against the steel, blue lockers, touching his head against them. "He hasn't returned any of my calls or texts. It's not like him."
"Well Luke, maybe he just doesn't want to talk to you," said Brooke curtly, her eyes never leaving her mirror as she put on mascara, "I mean, it must be pretty hard for him to see you with Peyton as your girlfriend and for him to only be what, your booty call?"
"This again? Jesus Brooke it's not like I did this on purpose! He ambushed me with all this, how am I supposed to know what to do?" he snapped at her. He was getting really tired of her blaming him for this whole situation, even though he knew it really was his fault.
"So now this is Nathan's fault? You've got to be kidding me!" Brooke retorted, closing her locker forcefully and turning to Lucas with a sneer. "It's really simple Lucas; you choose one! Either you want to be with Peyton, or you want to be with Nathan, but you can't keep doing this to both of them! Nathan is supposed to be your best friend and you're stringing him along like he's some lost puppy! And I thought Peyton was the girl you were soooo in love with but you've been lying to her face every day for the past month! You definitely deserve the boyfriend of the year award!"
"You guys can we please not fight about this right now?" Haley asked anxiously, tugging on her multicolored knit scarf wrapped around her neck. She hated it when Brooke and Lucas fought, and they had been doing it more and more lately, ever since Lucas and Nathan started messing around behind Peyton's back.
"It's not that simple! No matter what I do someone is going to get hurt! You don't think I feel guilty about all this?" Lucas bit back, completely ignoring Haley's timid request. "You're a hypocrite lecturing me, considering you've strung people along before, but you don't see me giving you shit about that do you?"
"They weren't my best friends or my boyfriend were they Luke? And I didn't string them along! I let them know that I was seeing other people! You haven't even given Peyton the heads up that you're also into guys!"
"I'm not into guys! It's just Nathan!"
"And here we go with the denial! You keep messing around with him so you must like guys just a little bit Lucas! How could you do this to Peyton? How could you do it to Nathan after everything he's—"
"Stop it!" Haley said sharply, fixing them with an even stare. "Just stop you guys. Fighting about this isn't going to solve anything. Lucas, go by Nathan's house and see if he's alright," Haley said, her tone final. Lucas sighed and with one last harsh look at Brooke he left without another word.
When he arrived at the Scott residence he spotted Nathan's grey, slightly battered sedan in the cobble stone drive way. The Scott house had always amazed him; the size of the house was impressive in of itself, with the elaborate, wooden door with the intricate designs and windows that were the perfect size. He knew that Dan wouldn't be home because he was busy running the city from his office, so he rang the doorbell.
"Nate!" he called, knocking on the wood, "Nate its Luke, open up!" No answer. "Nathan? Are you okay?" Still no answer. He pounded on the door with his palm. "Nathan!" Maybe he really didn't want to talk to him.
Lucas twisted the door handle, and to his surprise and worry, the door opened. He let himself into the house quietly and closed it behind him, locking it. He looked around the open hallway for any sign of trouble; nothing seemed out of place. The white tiles were spotless, the pictures hung neatly from the walls, telling the story of the Scott family through their forced smiles. Lucas briefly wondered how many pictures Dan made his family participate in in order to keep up their appearance as the perfect family.
He walked quietly through the living room, the big, plasma television resting on the wall in between two maple wood cabinets that housed Nathan's trophies from every sport he participated in. There were a few trophies from other sports like baseball or football, but most of the certificates, ribbons, and plaques belong to basketball. There was also a shelf dedicated to Dan Scott and his former glory days on the basketball court. In front of the television was a comfortable-looking brown, leather couch with two brown stands on either side that each held an iron lamp. Two brown leather chairs were placed on the other sides of the stands, a stained towel resting on the one closest to him. On closer inspection, Lucas realized that it was stained with blood and his heart pounded.
"Nathan? Are you here?" Lucas asked again, now walking into the clean kitchen and seeing nothing out of place, he cut over to the extravagant staircase, climbing it carefully so as not to startle anyone who might be there. He started down the hallway, more pictures hanging from the walls, staring at him as he crept quietly towards his best friend's room. The door was open, so he went inside but no one was there.
Lucas frowned, his worry beginning to increase. Where the hell was Nathan?
Then he heard it; a sound between a sob and a sigh of pain and the click of a bottle being placed on the counter.
He quickly made his way to the bathroom door and knocked, "Nathan, you okay?" He waited a few seconds; no answer. He closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for what he might see, and opened the door.
Nathan was standing in front of his mirror, hair still damp from his shower. He was dressed in jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt that was currently opened, revealing large bruises on his chest and ribs, one particularly nasty black and purple one on his stomach. There was an open tub of cream sitting on the counter which was halfway full because of frequent use. Nathan had some of the white substance from the tub on his fingers, carefully rubbing it in on the large, discolored patch of skin.
Lucas felt his heart shatter at the sight and as he thought about his and Brooke's latest argument, he felt like a complete ass. Here was Nathan, his best friend since they were in elementary school, the friend that was there for him when his father died, when he and his mom were struggling with the café and money issues, the best friend that he played basketball with, struggling trying to hold his life together as his father beat him, his mother too drugged up to be supportive, and he, Nathan's so-called best friend, was using him to figure out if he was going through a sexual orientation crisis. Nathan loved him, really loved him, and Lucas could barely look at him when they were at school because he was afraid that people would look at them and know what they were doing; they would know he was cheating on his super-hot, cheerleader girlfriend with the star basketball player of Tree Hill High. That he was spending his days with Peyton pretending their relationship was all hearts and roses and his nights in Nathan's arms, sharing kisses that were too passionate and touches that were too loving to be considered an experiment.
And through it all, Nathan never complained; never once did he ask Lucas to choose between him and Peyton, and he never asked for anything more than what Lucas wanted, though he heard endlessly from Brooke he was breaking his heart. In that moment he knew that he couldn't hurt Nathan like this anymore. He was too important to him; he always had been.
Nathan turned his head when he heard the door open and set his eyes on Lucas, his eyes bright with pain, fear, and self-loathing. It gripped at Lucas' heart and made his stomach churn; how could he let this happen? This was his best friend! the one that would always stay up late with him talking about their dreams, their fears, what they would do when they got out of Tree Hill, the best friend that knew every detail about him, his life, the best friend that…he fell in love with.
The realization was clearer to him more than ever now, and instead of completely freaking out he was...thrilled, excited even. He loved Nathan, more than he had realized. He cherished him more than he had ever cherished Peyton. He knew what he wanted and it was the brunette in front of him and he wanted to spend a lifetime showing Nathan the love he deserved.
With this new realization, Lucas moved until he was standing in front of Nathan, noticing the height difference up close. Without a word he drew Nathan into his arms, one hand going to his back, the other burying itself in the dark head of hair. The other boy's arms immediately came around his waist, seeking warmth and comfort that Lucas was now more than ready to give, now that he realized that this was what he wanted, what he needed. He pulled back slightly, Nathan's hands resting comfortably on his lower back, hands tracing a bruise around Nathan's collarbone and around the upper part of his chest, ghosting down his shoulders before going back to his neck. He raised them to frame the pale face, his thumb smoothing over high cheekbones, the skin pale and smooth before raising his head and gently pressing his lips to Nathan's. He felt Nathan sigh lightly against his lips, hands coming to rest on his narrow hips.
Lucas broke the kiss, their lips mere millimeters away from each other, and gently gripped the nape of Nathan's neck, the words he wanted—needed—to say not being able to remain quiet for much longer. He glanced up into Nathan's blue, blue eyes through his long, blonde lashes and whispered them without a trace of hesitation.
"I love you."
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Lucas smiled slightly at the memory; the smile that lit the brunette's face when the words left his mouth was one that Lucas would always remember. He had kissed Lucas so passionately that he had nearly fallen over while Lucas had slipped his shirt off his shoulders, one thing led to another and before he knew it they were making love on Nathan's bed for the first time. He had been nervous at first, considering he was about to be with another male, but Nathan had been so gentle and careful and made sure that Lucas felt pleasure beyond his wildest dreams.
With a heavy sigh he stood and peeled his wet t-shirt off of him and had just put a dry one on when he heard someone come in through the front door and his mom's voice call out, "Lucas honey, you here?"
"Yeah," Lucas called back, walking out to the living room, ruffling his already messy hair.
"So…you want to tell me why Brooke finished out your shift tonight? Haley told me Whitey called for an emergency practice, but since some of your teammates came in the café I figured that wasn't it."
Lucas sighed; he'd completely forgotten all about the café and his shift. His top priority was Nathan leaving him. "I'm sorry mom something…came up."
"What's gotten into you lately? You've been so…different Luke," she sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her, "Is everything okay honey? Are those boys from the basketball team harassing you again?"
"No everything's fine…mom listen, there's something I need to tell you and I don't want you to freak out okay?" Lucas winced in his mind. Maybe he shouldn't have started it out like that.
Karen didn't know whether she should be amused or concerned so she let out a laugh, "Lucas honey you're kind of scaring me. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad, right?"
'You might think so,' he thought to himself as he braced himself for the confession he was about to deliver. He had wanted to tell her since he broke up with Peyton because he wanted everyone he considered important in his life to know who he was involved with, but he kept it under wraps for Nathan's sake. Now with Nathan leaving, he figured it couldn't hurt to explain everything to her.
He opened his mouth to speak when his cell phone rang, and he recognized the ringtone playing as Nathan's. Lucas shot up like he'd been burned and ran in his room, grabbing the black device off his nightstand.
"Hello?" he answered.
"…Luke?" Nathan sounded awful, like he had been sick or…crying?
Fear gripped at Lucas. "Yeah—baby what's wrong? What happened?" Lucas asked, a feeling of dread building in his stomach. Whenever Nathan spoke in this tone he knew that something horrible had occurred.
"I'm…I'm a—at the hos—hospital...m—my mom…she's in sur—surgery…can…can you…" Nathan couldn't even finish, and all Lucas heard were soft sobs over the phone.
"Yeah baby, hang tight I'm on my way," Lucas said already pulling on his grey hoodie and slipping into tennis at the same time, heart hammering in his chest. If Nathan lost his mom…he shuddered to think how that would affect him.
He ran out into the living room, dialing Haley's number as he searched for his keys.
"Lucas what's going on?" His mom asked. Lucas started, but then continued his frantic search, the confession he was about to spill being pushed to the back of his mind.
"It's Nathan he—his mom's in surgery. I need to—yeah Haley?" he answered, breath coming out in pants out of anxiousness, "It's Nathan, his mom's in surgery…yeah…okay I'll be there in five," he slid the phone shut and finally found the keys.
Karen stood quickly; her son in his frantic state was in no condition to drive. "Lucas let me drive; you'll get in an accident like this."
Lucas nodded, not even bothering to argue with her, tossed her the keys and ran out the front door, Karen hot on his heels.
Nathan stared at his still-shaking hands then dropped his head into them heavily, his mind spinning from the events of the past few hours. Not three hours ago were he and his mom about to make a brand new start with his uncle Keith, away from Dan and now he was in the hospital with his mom fighting for her life all because Dan didn't want to lose his punching bags. He felt his hands clench, his hatred for his father increasing every passing second his mother was in surgery. He glanced over next to him and his blood boiled at the sight of Dan sitting and reading a magazine so casually as if he were waiting for his wife to get out of an appointment rather than surgery. He itched to wrap his hands around the infuriating man's throat; it was his fault they were even here and he didn't even care!
As if sensing his son's heated gaze, Dan looked up from the money magazine he was reading and gave Nathan a cold stare. Nathan glared back, the anger he felt, the pure fury and hatred he felt at this man, who had an obligation, a duty to love and protect him no matter what, and he wound up being the cause of his pain and misery as well as his mother's. What had they done to deserve this? What the hell gave his dad the fucking right to treat him and his mother so horribly? Nathan could barely breathe; these raw emotions intense, his anger consuming him, pressing down on his heart, the fury coursing through his veins urging him to destroy Dan as he has nearly destroyed him. He stood up, a look a pure determination crossing his features. He was in a hospital; there were plenty of people he could tell and he could end their suffering, right here, right now. He didn't think about if people would believe him or not, he had the proof all over his body if they wanted it.
Dan looked up at his son, "What are you doing Nathan?" he asked in a hard voice.
"I'm going to tell them exactly how she fell down the stairs Dan," Nathan spat harshly. "I want them to know that it wasn't an accident and the man who put her in surgery is in their waiting room."
"You do that, and you will regret it every day for the rest of your life Nathan Scott," hissed Dan, now standing as well. "Don't do something you can't take back."
"The only thing I regret is not telling someone about you sooner!" Nathan spat, his arms fists clenching again, wanting nothing more than to beat the man. "I should have told someone when I was 14-years-old but I was so scared that you would hurt me and mom even more. But now…now I have nothing to lose. If she dies, it's on your hands, and I will do everything in my power to bring you down."
Dan stood and grabbed Nathan's arm tightly and Nathan winced, but his face never lost its angry, defiant look. "Listen to me you little shit, I've done everything for you! I've put food on the table for you, I've given you the best that money can buy, and I've made sure that you had a future! And I sure as hell can take that all away. Don't you think for one minute that you can escape me, because I own you. So go ahead, tell someone about all the awful things I've done, we'll see if they believe you. But when nothing happens, and you have to return home because your pathetic mother is a drug addict who can't even take care of herself, you will be sorry."
Nathan felt chills run down his spine and he tried to pry his arm free from Dan's tight grip, wanting to get as far away from the man as possible, but Dan gripped even tighter and pulled Nathan closer to him, hissing in his ear, "Who do you think they'll believe Nathan? Some spoiled rich kid with everything he could ever want, or the mayor of the city? I have everyone eating out of the palm of my hand; no one is going to help you."
"Nathan!"
He mentally sighed with relief as Dan let go and turned in the direction he heard his name. Lucas, Haley and Mrs. Roe were all running down the hallway towards him and Dan. Haley barreled into Nathan, wrapping her arms around his back in a tight hug, making Nathan wince as she pressed into a healing bruise on his stomach, but hugging her just as tightly. Lucas reached them and wrapped his arms around the two other teens, absorbing in their warmth. Karen stopped in back of them and smiled slightly, her expression changing as she turned her gaze to the man whose eyes were also on the three teens. She casually walked to him and regarded him with a cool gaze. "Dan," she said indifferently.
"Hello Karen," Dan nodded at her, his eyes not-so-subtly checking her out. Karen shuddered; Dan was still as creepy as ever. She wondered what the hell she saw in him that made her want to waste a year on him in high school. She coughed lightly and held her purse on her shoulder, "How is she? Has there been any word?"
"She's in surgery right now, they said she lost…a lot of blood in the ambulance," said Dan softly, his voice taking on the tone of a man who was terrified to lose his wife. Karen stared; she never heard Dan sound so upset.
"She'll pull through this…Deb is a very strong woman. She'll be okay," replied Karen, placing an arm on Dan's, squeezing gently. He smiled slightly at her and she returned it.
"I hope so Karen…I hope so."
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Deb's doctor eventually came out to the five people waiting anxiously in the waiting room. He delivered the news that she made it through the surgery and they were able to close the wound, but due to the extensive blood loss and the damage she sustained from the impact of the blow to her head, she had yet to wake up and they weren't sure when—or if—she would. Nathan had clutched Haley's and Lucas' hands so tightly he cut off circulation, but neither one seemed to mind, breath hitching when they told them that she might not wake up. Immediately after the doctor allowed for visitors, Dan jumped up, claiming he was needed back at the town hall building. Karen had offered to stay while Haley went to call Brooke and Nathan and Lucas went in to see Deb. She was flipping idly through a magazine when footsteps quietly approached and stop a good distance in front of her. "Well, well Karen Roe; aren't you lookin' good."
Karen glanced up, and her heart immediately began hammering in her chest. In front of her was a man in his mid-thirties, wearing fitted blue jeans, sneakers, a black and grey striped button-down shirt and a brown jacket. His face had a 5 o'clock shadow and his brown hair was mused every which way, but she still recognized him. He looked no different than when she saw him the day of Mitch's funeral all those years ago. She put the magazine down and walked into his arms, "It's so good to see you Keith."
Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review! :)
