AN: Thanks for all the reviews and keeping up with the story! Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think :)

Lucas shook his head and chuckled. Chris Keller was being pathetic and there was no reason for him to begging for money. He could have picked a better occupation than coffee shop musician. This was further proof that Haley should stay far away from him.

"I don't want to have to do this, Luke…"

He turned to face him, his eyes were watering, "Do what?"

"Finally give Dan the information to what happened to his beloved car dealership."

A cold chill washed over him and he tried to breathe. This wasn't going to be good. His chest began to tighten and he feared that he was going to have a heart attack. How did he even remember that?

"Like I said, I don't want to have to do this, Lucas," Keller said as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a box of cigarettes.

Lucas stared at him in utter disbelief. They were friends and yet, he was being blackmailed. There was no way that it was even remotely possible for him to pay Chris whateverhe wanted.

He turned to face him, maybe the dumb card would work, "What are you talking about?"

Snickering, "Don't play dumb, Lucas."

Shit. He took another breath and tried to calm down before he had a panic attack. If he revealed the truth to Dan, it was going to be so ugly and way out of control. Brooke would never want to see him again, even if it had nothing to do with her.

He sat down on the bench next to him, "Why didn't you go get a job like the rest of the world?"

"No one would take me or I thought that I deserved better," he said as he let out a puff of smoke.

Lucas felt like smacking him hard across the face. If you needed money to pay for bills and get out of debt, you accept any kind of job because you will be getting income. He had to come back to Tree Hill and practically beg to get a job and a place to stay. Chris was always lazy but wasn't this financial problem self inflicted?

Rolling his eyes, "Then you work wherever so that you can make some money."

"I don't need a lecture on financial problems!" he snapped.

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck, it was tense, "What kind of trouble did you get into?!"

Things weren't adding up with this whole situation. Why was Chris in such financial difficulty that he had to come blackmail someone that helped him be filthy rich? There had to be something that he did that would make sense for the state of urgency.

Chris Keller had a heart of gold under the layers of asshole. He had to have gotten money from the wrong person if he would turn into this person.

"That is not the case—"

"I'm not a fool, Chris. If you are in such a problem, like you claim to be, then you had to get the money from somewhere horrible."

"Shut up!" he hissed as he tossed his cigarette on the ground.

Lucas stood up and smashed the cigarette, "Oh, calm down."

"Funny. You can put that cigarette out, but not the fire that you started."

A chill ran down his spine and images flashed in his head. It was a dark and rather abnormally cold day in Tree Hill. Lucas was just walking home from the big game when he passed by Dan's Dealership. He could feel the anger and pain that he once had at the moment.

"Flashback, Scott?" he teased as he interrupted his thoughts.

Lucas just stood there and froze. Everything was washing over him and he was saddened by what he had done. He wanted to be accepted by his father, deep down inside, but that would never happen.

Sighing, "This is going to destroy everything for me…"

"Join the club," he snarled.

Pursing his lips, "Can't you just keep this all under wraps and I will try and figure something out?"

He shook his head, "I need close to six digits, Lucas."

The air was gone from his chest. Six figures?! He was struggling to even make four a month. Why did it have to come down to this?

"You know that I can't do that, Chris."

He shrugged, "Well, then Dan will know about that little spark that turned into a flame."

"How long do I have?"

"Since I like you, three days."

Brooke tapped her fingers on the kitchen table. Her hazel eyes watched the hands on the clock slowly move. Where is he?

Last night was definitely going to go down in history for her. Having a picnic with Lucas was romantic and made her feel more of a connection to him. It was worrying her that he hadn't been home all day. Keith called and told her that Lucas didn't come to work today. She had no clue why Lucas would call in sick, but she didn't like thinking of reasons.

She jumped as the front door opened. Lucas walked in and looked pale as a ghost. Maybe he was sick.

Brooke waited for him to sit down before she pestered him, "Busy day?"

"Yeah, work was pretty hectic."

She froze like a statue and tried to not freak out. He had just flat out lied to her about where he was all day. Now, all Brooke could think about was him doing something that was all but pleasant.

Forcing a smile on her face, "Oh? What did you do today?"

Lucas tried to think of something quick to say, "Oil change, engine malfunctions, and other junk. This one lady's car belt broke and her car just stopped working. Can you imagine if she was on the highway?!"

Brooke shook her head and rolled her eyes. The fact that he had to make up a fake story to cover his ass, made her see that he was covering something up. Was he cheating on her?

This wasn't making sense to her. They spent a wonderful night together and the next day he goes missing? He obviously didn't know that Keith called her to check in on Lucas. Brooke was praying that she kept her cool.

"How long did you work today?"

"Seven to…whenever I got home."

Another lie. Keith called at twelve and said that Lucas had called in sick. So, where was he those other hours? Brooke didn't want to start anymore drama between the two of them. She was content in their relationship, but why was he lying to her?

"So, what's her name?"

AN: Hope you liked the chapter. Let me know what you think! I will try to post the continuation tomorrow ;)

COMING UP: Lucas tells Brooke the truth, but can they stop Keller before he tells Dan?