A/N: Yay! I'm back after only a month…wow…I'm sorry really but thank you guys for bearing with my long periods without any fresh meat (Errrk please let's not talk about meat, lol). So here we go with the new update I hope you'll enjoy!

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Cold. It all fell cold. He heard it again. He heard the sound he never wished to hear once more in his life. That laugh, so cruel. He was there. There was no escape to this. He was trapped…in his own body. His head was sending signals his limbs wouldn't follow. He felt the soft touch on his skin, the sweet perfume. That voice coming from so far away yet so close.

'Hey, Luke! Wake up!'

His eyes fluttered open. A dream again. Apparently that was the only thing he could produce correctly. Nightmares. Then he saw her. His heart felt whole. She was there for him, smiling like always.

'Hey you' he said.

'Get yourself up, sleepy head!' Lauren chuckled. Lucas smiled and pushed onto his hands to get in a sitting position. The girl was holding a paper bag.

'You went out?' he asked. She smiled.

'Nope. I just told my dad I was hungry and he made us some lunch…'

Lucas looked at her deeply. 'Us?'

She smiled again. 'Alright I didn't tell him about you I just said he should make more in case I grow too hungry' she giggled. Lucas laughed.

'Alright then, what do we have?'

She bit her bottom lip in a small as she got two sandwiches in Ziploc bags out. She tossed one to Lucas who stared at it for a moment.

'Is that what you call "high gastronomy"?' he chuckled.

'What?! Tell me you don't like it and I kick your butt!' she laughed. Lucas laughed as well.

'Well, I haven't been eating that since I was six!' he laughed. She winked.

'I guess I really am six, then' she said taking a bite at her improvised meal.

Lucas smiled. 'You really are weird' he joked.

'That's part of my charm' she said, her mouth full.

Lucas sighed. 'God, PB&Js! We're back in first grade!' he said.

'Just shut up and eat already'

They both laughed as they ate their lunch.

'You're right. It is a part of you charm and it IS good' he said.

She nodded. They totally understood each other when they said the least. Lucas came back onto earth for a second. He suddenly remembered something about the time they went on the roof.

Lucas sighed. 'Do you remember that time when you got me on the roof?' he asked.

Her eyes met his. She was chewing slower now. That had to come. 'Sure' she simply replied. 'What about it?' she added.

'You were gonna tell me something when…when they came' he said.

She lowered her head. Now wasn't a good time. They were having fun, right? Lucas saw the change in her face.

'You want to know why I'm here' she said coldly. Lucas was hesitating now.

'Well, just if you want to tell, I mean, I told you' he said.

'So that's your excuse?' she spat. Lucas swallowed. He went dead quiet, his eyes fixated on nothing. She sighed.

'Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a bitch' she apologized.

He nodded lightly before going back in the state he had been for the past days.

'You're pouting?' she asked. He didn't answer. He was already somewhere else. She snapped her fingers.

'Lucas?!'

He looked at her with his empty gaze.

'I'm sorry' she repeated.

'It's ok…' he said softly. 'It's not of my business anyway' he added. She felt bad for being so hard but she had no other choice.

'What about you? You've been in observation for a long time now!' she noted.

'Because of what happened yesterday, they won't let me out before at least tomorrow to make sure I don't collapse again' he admitted. She nodded her head.

'Does that mean that it's the end for us?' she asked.

He didn't answer. In fact, he didn't know. Hot tears burned the back of her eyes. In a few days, they had gotten so close that now it saddened her to think that they were going to be apart. Lauren tried changing subject.

'So what about your brother and the hot brunette I see often? Is she your girlfriend?' she asked.

'Brooke?'

She nodded thinking this must have been her name.

'No she's not. We dated twice actually but it never worked out' he said sadly.

'Why?' she asked.

He shrugged. 'It just wasn't meant to be' he said, knowing deep down that this wasn't the really best answer he could give since he still loved Brooke, a lot. They just weren't meant to be together…at least not now. They weren't ready.

She held a sad smile. 'And the blonde girl I saw a couple of times?'

Lucas's fist clenched at the thought. That wound was still wide open and he could feel a new flooding of blood running out of it.

'My ex girlfriend…' he said on an harsh yet barely inaudible tone. She felt the discomfort.

'The one who dumped you?'

He nodded. She sighed. 'Sorry, I shouldn't have asked'

'You couldn't know'

They stayed silent for what seemed like hours.

'What about you? I don't see you having too many visitors' he told her.

She shrugged. 'I'm not the girl who has thousands of friends. I bet nobody noticed that I wasn't there…only my dad comes everyday' she answered.

'Are you staying here for the rest of the year?' he joked.

Her eyes deepened. His smile faded. They filled with water. It turned into a grimace.

'I don't know' she cried.

Lucas was seeing her break down for the first time now. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her like a baby whilst she cried. He was gonna say more when Dr Calley poked her head inside the room.

'Lucas?' she asked.

'What?' he spat whilst Lauren was wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her hoodie.

'It's time for our meeting' she said.

Lucas sighed. He had totally forgotten about that meeting.

'Can I join you in a minute?' he asked. The woman nodded and left to wait outside. Lucas took one last glimpse of her friend.

'You'll be ok?' he asked.

She nodded. 'Yeah, sure. Go.' She assured.

He swallowed. 'I just don't understand what's wrong' he admitted.

She smiled. 'I'll tell you when you get back' she promised. Lucas smiled and gave a quick peck on her forehead. Lauren smiled. He smiled back before he got off the bed and took his way out the door. Lauren held one last sad smile before he turned the corner and disappeared.

--

They were sitting in Dr Calley's office for seconds before she started shooting her one thousand questions to him. Lucas got dizzy with the flow of questions.

'Woa...' he exclaimed.

'Sorry' Dr Calley said. 'I'll start again but slower now' she added. Lucas nodded.

'So how have you been since yesterday?'

He shrugged. These meetings were always leaving him cold and bitter. Whatever he felt before was gone when he was going to get his mental checked up.

'Could you try answering with words?' she said. Lucas rolled his eyes.

'Not bad, I guess…' he was hesitant.

'You guess?' she asked.

He shrugged again. 'It's hard to say…I can't tell exactly what I'm feeling' he moaned.

'Is it always like that?' she asked.

'For the past months…' he growled.

She nodded and wrote a few things down on the pad that had always appealed Lucas. He always wondered what she wrote on it and if she could use it against him.

'But is there one thing you are sure of?' she asked. Lucas looked at his fingers.

'That I've been better…' he said softly. She wrote some words on her pad again then put the pen down. Lucas looked at the pen then at his doctor.

'I'll have to ask you some questions…but we don't need to write it down, do we?' she said in a friendly tone. Lucas looked at her without wincing. She took it as a yes and smiled.

'Lucas, when exactly did things start to feel, let's say, weird?'

Lucas lowered his head. 'When I first told my mom about my dream…'

'And what did it do exactly?'

He shrugged. 'It hurt. I felt betrayed. She chose to believe my asshole of a father instead of believing me' he confessed. She nodded with a solemn look on her face.

'Any troubles sleeping?' she asked.

'Lately yes…' he admitted whilst looking at his fingers who suddenly felt really interesting.

'Eating?'

'Not that hungry…' he moaned.

'Your thoughts?' she asked. Lucas breathed deeply.

'Dark…I get lost in 'em a lot'

She nodded and clasped her hands together. She waited before going in again. She was finally getting what she wanted and he was opening up which was good.

'Have you had any other nightmares?' she inquired.

He nodded his head in agreement. 'Always the same one…' he added.

It was her turn to nod.

'What about your friends and your mom?'

'Which friends?' Lucas snapped. It came out too fast but left him to think about it afterwards. In the category 'friends', he could always consider Brooke and Lauren. Dr Calley studied him.

'Don't you have like four of five friends who are here every day?' she asked.

'I guess…I just don't know if they can be considered friends…'

'And why's that?'

Lucas was now passionately playing with his nails. 'They don't care…'

The woman's gaze now held so much compassion. 'Of course, they care! They've been here every day even when you refused to meet them! Your mom worried sick about you' she burst out.

Lucas's eyes didn't change. They stayed empty and cold.

'You don't trust me?' she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.

'I don't know who I can trust anymore' he confessed. His eyes now burned in hot tears. She offered him her most sympathetic smile.

'It's ok' she said. Lucas knew she meant that it was okay for him to cry. He didn't have to make a big effort at it, the tears quickly rolled down his cheeks before he could stop them.

--

Haley, Nathan and Karen all waited in Dr Calley's office. Lucas had been sent to his last tests that would determine if he could go home in the next day. They waited and waited until she came in with her familiar pad. She sat in the chair in front of them and waited for a few seconds.

'Hi everyone, I'm Dr Calley, Lucas's therapist. I'm here with the official news' she said.

'Is he gonna be alright?' Haley spat almost immediately.

'I think he will' the therapist replied.

Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding.

'So I just got the results from the last test and they came out perfect. Lucas is out of harm way on that point' she announced.

'What's the other point?' Nathan asked, feeling the 'but' that was coming. There was something else.

'Normally, we'd let Lucas get out tomorrow if everything's fine but there's something we need to consider. I've been meeting with Lucas every day since he ODed and he showed some signs of depression. I would prefer to have him medicated but we can't let him go alone with medication after an incident like this. If it's ok with you, we would like to keep him at first just to make sure that when he leaves here, he is ready to be in society again' she explained.

It took several seconds for everyone to swallow all of this. Karen then nodded.

'If it's for the best…'

Dr Calley gave the sad mother her best smile. A genuine one.

--

Lucas's POV

So they got me inside that office for the second time today. I could barely make out what they were saying. I missed her too much. She said she'd wait for me and that was hours ago. I want to see her so bad. I know she's younger but no one ever made me feel the way she makes me feel.

They're talking. I can't concentrate enough to know what it's about. I think they're talking about me. Yeah, I just heard my name. What are they saying? Depression? Medication? No they're not talking about me, are they? Maybe they are.

I just want to see her. My mom's crying. I don't care. She betrayed me. She never trusted me. She's sad? Good. They're telling me I have to stay here. That means I'll get to see her. That's the greatest thing!

Ok now they're getting me back to my room. I feel it. She's there and she's waiting for me. Just a few steps ahead and I'll be lost in her eyes again. Nathan opens the door for me. I get into the room. It's empty.

It's too late. She's gone.

She really is. There are no sheets on the bed. It's empty. Like no one has ever been there. You erase a story to start another, pretending nothing happened. Where is she? She promised she'd tell me. She promised…

--

Dun, dun, dun…hehe I'm cruel! Well I hope this chapter was long enough to get my long absence forgiven. Again, I am so sorry for the delay but I am doing my best to update frequently. Just tell me what you thought.

Next:

-how does Lucas handle life between the four walls

-where's Lauren

-friends reunion like, really they need to talk!