A.N: There was some confusion about the last chapter. Nathan did sleep with Taylor. Sorry. But what was revealed last chapter was that Taylor tricked both Nathan and Haley into thinking that they had slept together a second time… if you still don't understand, just PM me. I love getting on the computer to new PM's and review's…

you said I had something to say
then you got that look in your eye
there is something youve got to know
you said it as you started to cry

-Three Doors Down

Chapter 12: Siblings are fickle friends

Haley ran back into the house, her mother's words echoing through her head angrily. How could her own sister want to hurt her that bad? That was just cruel to want to do to your own flesh and blood. She couldn't fathom what in the world she could have done to ensue such hatred from her sister. The simple fact that Taylor had always been jealous of her just didn't seem to be enough of a reason in her mind.

She thundered through the house, ignoring the questioning glances she received from Dan, Deb, and her father as she passed the sitting room. She was moving on autopilot, not watching where she was going, or who she ran into. She ignored Brooke when she plowed into her near the stairs, nearly making her loose her footing and fall to the floor. She even ignored her best friend when she gave a little squeal of protest and attempted to talk to her. "What the hell Hales? Are you okay?"

Haley simply kept walking, pounding on the stairs as she went, the sound of her feet connecting with the wood echoing off the walls. She walked determinedly to the place she subconsciously knew she was headed. She wasn't sure why she had to speak to him, or why she knew that he could help, but for some reason, she knew it would.

She knocked on the door feverishly, waiting for a reply before entering, not wanting to walk in on something she didn't want to see. When she didn't get an answer, she knocked again, trying to make the noise recognizable over the blasting from the stereo coming from inside the room.

The volume to Daughtry's 'It's Not Over' faded down to a level where it wasn't pulsing off the walls, and making the doorframe move to the beat of the drums. "Who is it?" Came the soothing voice she was waiting for.

"It's Haley." She waited for an invitation to enter, but didn't have to wait long.

"Come in." He sounded confused, but not angry, or frustrated, which she appreciated more than she could possibly ever describe to him.

Lucas lay on the queen size bed in the middle of his room, a small novel open to somewhere in the middle draped across his chest as if he had just put it down to see what was the matter with her. He gave her a reassuring smile as she opened the door just enough to look in, but his smile convinced her to venture in further, testing her limits. He set a black ball point pen beside his hip on the blue plaid comforter, giving her his full attention as she entered the room tentatively, moving across the soft beige carpet slowly as the door behind her snapped shut.

At the sound of the door closing, she felt like she had been locked in. Now that she was in this room, she knew she had to ask him the question that had been boiling over in her chest, and he seemed to be the only suitable person to ask such a question to. But the closing of the door seemed a sign of sorts to her. It signaled that she needed to start talking. Meaning she would really have to ask him. She couldn't back out now.

"Do you have a minute?" She asked shyly, not quite sure why all of the sudden she was shy around Lucas. She had known him her whole life, just like she had known Nathan and Brooke. Lucas had always been around, he was always hanging out with Nathan, after all, they were brothers. He was Brooke's best friend until they started dating, and Brooke decided that she needed a girl best friend too. But the four of them had always been friends. They were the four musketeers. The four of them were always together, always having fun, going to the movies, sharing secrets that no one else knew; that is, until Haley's fifteenth birthday. But she couldn't seem to place why she seemed to be nervous about this question that she needed to ask him, and only him.

She let out a sigh of relief as he motioned to the foot of the bed for her to sit. She sat softly, trying not to disturb the weight he already had placed on the mattress. She crossed her legs Indian-style, and stared at her hands that she had clasped together in her lap. She took a deep breath, and turned towards the guy that she considered as good as one of her brothers. After all, he was around and present in her life more constantly than any of her real brothers.

"What's bothering you Hales?" He asked softly, moving the book from his chest, placing it by his pen, and moving closer to her on the bed, crossing his legs in an imitation of her, and sitting directly across from her, ducking his head to try and catch her eye; but she stared resolutely at her clasped hands, not noticing, or not caring, the attempt he was making.

"I have a question for you. I want you to answer me as truthfully as you can, and not just what you think is the right thing to say." He nodded sadly, surprised to see this side of Haley. Over the past few years he had seen a lot of things in this girl he had once been so close to, things he never quite expected to see, but at the moment, she had a look in her yes reminiscent of he Haley she had been before she and Nathan had had the fallout him and Brooke had only heard the content of the night before. She had such determination and fire behind the brown spheres, he didn't even notice that she had finally looked up into his eyes.

He had the same eyes as Nathan. That's the only thing that Haley could think of as she looked into Lucas' eyes. They were brothers, only half mind you, but still brothers. They had very noticeable differences, but only the people closest to them would notice the attributes that they shared. They had the same eyes, though Lucas' were a few shades lighter, both of them shared the shape of their top lip, and both of their noses turned up slightly at the end, but you could only see it you were extremely close, like her and Lucas were at that moment.

"If your siblings did something…" She paused to think of a suitable word for what Taylor had done to her, adding in the newest information her mother had just added to the pot, and trudged on, "unforgivable. Would you forgive them?"

Lucas could now see the pain in her eyes that had been a trademark of Haley's through the past two and a half years, and knew the exact context that she was asking the question in. "Siblings are fickle friends." He mused, knowingly, as if he were weighing the question in his head, trying to decide what he would do.

"I would probably do the same thing that you're doing in the case of your sister." He said sadly, as if he were almost ashamed that he had come to that conclusion. He was, actually; to an extent. He wasn't proud to say that he would completely cut one of his brothers out of his life entirely, the way that Haley had done Taylor, but he also remembered Taylor James. "The only difference, Haley, is that we are talking about Taylor here. She was never a good person. She wanted what she couldn't have, and she did anything she could to get it, or tried to get something better; which was rarely likely. She was hateful, and jealous." He ran his thumb across Haley's cheek consolingly, as a show of comfort. She glanced up from her twisting hands, and locked eyes with him, trying not to see Nathan when she looked into his eyes. "But something that you always have to remember Haley, is that she'll always be your sister. No matter what."

She went back to staring at her hands, but began talking too. "See, that's what I thought too." She paused, looking at the comforter between them blankly, twisting her hands in her lap again. "No matter what Taylor has done to me; I always say that she's my sister and that I'll love her no matter what. She sighed deeply, and shook her head in a cryptic sense of humor. "And then she does something that makes me want to take it back." Her voice was nothing more than a mouse squeak; the tears were welling up in her eyes more and more by the second and she willed for them to disappear. She wanted to stop crying. This was what Taylor had wanted. She wanted to make her miserable, to make her suffer. And that's what she didn't want to happen. She didn't want Taylor to win, or even think she had won.

The only problem was that: Haley wasn't ready to forgive yet.

A.N: I have been listening to Three Doors Down for a few weeks now. But today when I was looking for a song that I could use the lyrics to describe this chapter, I instantly thought about the song 'Behind Those Eyes'. I call it the 'Azure Eyes Song', and if you've heard it, you'd know why. But when I went to go and read the lyrics, I found that that song could sum up this whole story. It just seems perfect. I love that song. If there's any way for you to listen to it, please do. (shameless promotion for one of my favorite bands!)

Sequel Spoiler: I used the second verse of that song, 'Behind Those Eyes', as the song verse I am using for the first chapter of the sequel. If you read it, you might get some ideas. I already have the first chapter of the sequel done about half way. I'm trying to decide if I should take what I have and use it as the first chapter, or if I should make an extra long first chapter. You tell me. Mind you, it won't be out until the completion of this story, but there's only a few more chapters to go. Okay, I kind of went off topic about the spoiler I was planning, so…

Read, Review, and make sure to read the new Harry Potter book when it comes out in July (and see the 5th movie, of course!)!

-Keira