Chapter 11!!

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Lucas's eyes opened slowly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Haley James Scott, his best friend.

"Lucas! You're awake!" She hugged him tightly, tears in her eyes. "I was so worried about you!"

Lucas hugged her back weakly, "I'm okay, Haley."

"How do you feel?"

He yawned, "I feel like I've been sleeping for years."

"Close, you've been asleep for a few days."

Lucas shook his head, trying to clear it, "I had a heart attack, so how am I still alive?"

Haley moved out of the way for Lucas to see Nathan silently sitting behind her. Lucas realized quickly why he was so quiet, he was asleep. His head was on Lucas's bed, his head was actually lying on Lucas's legs.

"He saved you Luke. The doctor said that if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have made it to the hospital alive."

"What did he do?"

Haley shrugged, "I have no idea, he refuses to tell anyone. He won't even tell the doctors."

Lucas looked down at his brother's peaceful, sleeping face.

"You must be tired," Haley stated, "You should get some sleep, I'll call Karen and tell her you're awake."

He nodded, "You're right, I should sleep."

She kissed the top of his head and then went to wake up Nathan.

"Let him stay." Lucas told her.

She turned around and looked at her best friend, "Are you sure?"

"Ya, I don't want to bother him."

"Okay, see you Luke." She waved him goodbye.

"Bye, Hales."

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When Lucas woke up again, the first face he saw wasn't Haley's, it was his brother's. Nathan was still sitting in the same seat, but now he was staring at the other wall with his headphones blaring. Lucas sat up, which attracted Nathan's attention. He pulled his headphones out and looked over at the figure on the bed.

"Hey, little bro." Lucas greeted him with a weak smile.

Nathan's smile was bigger than Lucas had ever seen, "You're up. Finally."

"You saved me, Nate."

"What?"

"Haley told me." He stated, "Apparently if it wasn't for you I would have died."

Nathan just shrugged it off, like it was no big deal.

"Nate, I owe you my life."

Nathan shook his head, "What are you talking about? I didn't do what I did so you were in debt. I did it because you're my brother, I didn't want you to die."

Lucas stared at his brother's honest face and couldn't help but smile, "You were crying."

"No I wasn't." Nathan glared at him, "I wouldn't do that."

Lucas chuckled, he knew Nathan was lying.

He changed the subject, "So what exactly did you do?"

Nathan suddenly became nervous, "I just did what I had to do, okay?"

Lucas looked at his brother curiously, not understanding what was going on. Nathan was nervous and he was keeping something from him.

"You didn't tell me you had a heart condition."

Lucas looked guiltily at his brother, who was now very serious.

"I didn't want you to be worried."

Nathan ignored the excuse, "Did you take your pills?"

"…no."

Nathan glared at him, "What the hell were you thinking, Lucas? You could have died!"

Lucas sighed, "I know, I wasn't thinking."

Nathan seemed to calm down, "I know your upset about Keith."

Lucas looked down at his uncle's name. It hadn't been long enough for Lucas to realize Keith was gone forever.

"I know something's wrong with you too, Nate."

Nathan looked at his brother seriously, and then looked at the ground.

"I saw the gun."

Nathan looked at Lucas with a face of shock.

"So you saw it?" Nathan sounded sort of nervous again.

Lucas remembered when he had walked into Nathan's room after getting drunk. Nathan had been sitting on his bed, playing with the metal figure in his hands.

"Is it still under the bed?" Lucas asked, receiving a nod from Nathan.

"I also saw the smashed mirrors, and the smashed tap."

Nathan shook his head, "I don't know what's wrong with me, Luke. I keep seeing Dan and blood and..I think I might be going crazy."

"And how does the gun help?"

"It's for protection."

"From who?"

Nathan looked away, still refusing to talk to anyone about what was going on.

"Nathan!" Lucas yelled, "Stop pulling away!"

"Dan's trying to kill me!"

Lucas stared wide-eyed at his brother, he was definitely not expecting that.

"Dan hired those guys who brought guns to the school. The people they attacked was not a coincidence, they were paid to attack certain people…the people close to me."

"And the guy who shot Brooke and Keith…was one of them?"

Nathan nodded, bringing tears to Lucas's eyes.

"I knew Dan was bad," Lucas whispered, "But not that bad."

"No, the guy in my house was there on his own business. He was scared of being caught because one of the guys has been arrested."

Lucas gasped, "Nathan, your not gonna like this."

"What?"

"We found the video Tim made and turned it in. The police arrested one of the shooters."

Nathan rolled his eyes, "I know, that was a horrible idea. But what's done is done."

"Keith is dead because of that."

Nathan gave Lucas's legs a push, "Don't blame it on yourself, it's not your fault Keith died, you didn't pull that trigger."

"Anyway," Nathan changed the subject, "It's not over yet."

"What do you mean?"

"There's still one guy left, and I need to stop him before someone else dies."

"No," Lucas fought back, "We need to tell the police."

"We have no proof he has something to do with the shooting at the school."

"But Nate," Lucas was still upset, "You can't do this by yourself. Let me help you."

Nathan smiled, "You know, you're a good brother. And I do need your help."

Lucas stared at him, "What? Did you just ask me for my help?"

"Ya."

"What changed your mind?"

"I think I'm going crazy, Luke. With the death of Keith and my dad now after me, I don't know how I can handle this without cracking…I need you."

"Really?"

Nathan nodded, "I still think you're going to get in danger, but there's no use on fighting it anymore. You're never going to give up."

Lucas chuckled, "Ya, it's true."

"Anyway, Nate." Lucas went on, "What's happening-"

He was cut off when the door opened, Karen walking in.

"Lucas!" She called, running to him and embracing him.

"I'll leave you alone." Nathan mumbled, rushing to get out of the room.

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Just as Nathan was out the door, he was grabbed by the arm and yanked into one of the other rooms. Nathan was taken off guard, but he was relieved to see it was just Brooke.

"Brooke?" He wasn't sure what to say to her.

She smiled at him, and he immediately noticed the sling on her doubt because of the bullet that had been in her arm.

Before Nathan could say anything more, Brooke laid a small peck on his cheek.

"What's that for?"

"I never got to thank you for saving my life."

He tilted his head to the side, "That's how you thank me?"

"Nope." She stated, reaching into her pocket. He stared as she pulled out a pair of keys.

"Keys?"

"The keys to my apartment."

Brooke attempted on handing the keys to him, but he pulled his hand away.

"Take it." She told him, "Haley told me that you were planning on moving back in together."

"But-"

"No buts, it's the least I can do. I'm staying with Peyton anyway."

She grabbed him by the wrist, placing the keys in his hand and then closing his fingers over it.

"Thanks Brooke."

"No problem." She smiled widely, "If it will make you and Haley happy again."

He smiled back and couldn't help but hug her. When they separated, she gave a wave and turned, walking away. But Nathan heard her mumble something that made him nervous.

"Poor Haley, she's going to be so lonely."

Nathan's eyes widened, what had she just said? He stared at her while she went out of sight. He shook his head, trying to shake out what he had just heard. But nothing would make him forget that, which worried him.

Did Brooke know?

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Chapter 11 done!!