I'm back! The wedding wasn't too bad, the place where they had it was extremely posh though. I had to watch how everyone else was eating so I would know which knife and fork I was supposed to use!

So I'm sorry that Skye's mind is all over the place right now, I was attempting to show how confused she is but I don't think I wrote it that well :-/

I hope this chapter is a little better (It's a Lucas one so it should be!)

Please continue letting me know your thoughts, it really helps me know where you all want me to take the story and I don't want to diappoint.

Next chapter, I promise I will answer all questions about Kate, until then I'm loving hearing your ideas :-)

Chapter 26: Life's Not Fair

Lucas

When I woke up I felt completely disorientated. It was strange being in my old room, like an overpowering sense of déjà vu. For a second, I considered that the past eight years of my life had just been a bad dream. But too soon, my mind caught up with the harsh reality; Kate was dead, and I had completely destroyed my life. The only good thing I had left was Skye.

I grumpily climbed out of bed. Although I could not deny that this bed was a hell of a lot comfier than the one in the hospital, I still would have rather spent an extra night in there. I hated giving the old man the satisfaction of having me stay here. It felt like he had won this particular power game. But I would win the next.

I rifled through the draws and found some of my old clothes. I hauled up a fresh pair of baggy khaki trousers and slipped on a dark blue shirt.

I crept toward the door, and pressed my ear against it as I tried to work out where my father was. Something was sizzling in the kitchen, so I presumed he was cooking himself breakfast. He was cheerfully whistling to himself as he did so. I cringed knowing I was the cause of his merry mood.

I was not in the frame of mind to even acknowledge his presence. It disgusted me how he thought I could so quickly forgive him. The old man was definitely going senile. He was lucky that I hadn't tried to strangle him in his sleep; the thought had crossed my mind. But as I planned to impress Skye, I had decided that murdering our father would not get me off to a great start.

So instead of walking out of the room, I turned around and moved toward my window. I carefully shoved it open, trying to avoid it creaking. It had clearly been a while since it had last been opened.

I did a quick survey of the surrounding area, before pulling myself through the gap. This had been my usual escape route when I hadn't wanted to see the old man, so I effortlessly slid out.

Once out, I realised I had nowhere to go. Before, I would slink away to my lab and work on the endless equations. Kate would be the only one who would risk disturbing me; she'd bring me food, knowing full well that I wouldn't have bothered to stop to eat. As she would refuse to leave until I had eaten something, I had learnt to humour her and would consume anything she brought without dispute.

I leant back against the side of the house and sighed. Normally I enjoyed being on my own, but whenever I thought her, an overpowering sense of loneliness would pass over me.

I heard my father call my name from inside the house. Without even determining a direction, I quickly sped off. I didn't even want to know what the old man wanted.

There was only one place I could think of going; only one person who would want to see me...Skye. Though I got the feeling that after the events of yesterday, she was probably avoiding me. Still, that wouldn't stop me from seeing her.

I trudged toward her house or my house as I should say. I still couldn't believe the old fool had given it to Skye. I couldn't wait to inform her of this. Her reaction would be priceless.

As I neared the house, Skye burst out of the front door. I was still a fair way back, so she didn't see me. She looked flustered. I debated going over to make sure she was alright, but she quickly turned and charged away from the house.

She was going in the direction of the hospital. My heart painfully whacked against my ribs as I wondered if she had been planning on going to see me. I doubted she had heard about my change in accommodation. I wondered what she would think when she found out I was living under the same roof as my father. As agitating as the situation was, I still found it amusing.

I was about to follow her, when I saw the Shannon boy emerge from the house. My temper instantly rose as I considered what they had been up to.

He was staring in the direction Skye had gone in. I really hoped they had had some kind of argument.

I casually paced forward. As young Shannon turned to go back inside, he saw me. From the look on his face, you would have thought he had seen a Slasher instead.

"You're out." He commented as I walked past.

"You're very observant." I retorted as I stopped and looked at him. "I had planned to come and pay my dear Bucket a visit, but I saw her storming away. I do hope things are well between the two of you." I mocked.

A sadistic grin had planted itself firmly on my face. It grew when the Shannon boy scowled at me. I loved knowing that I was responsible for this boy's obvious frustration. Sooner rather than later, everything would come out into the open. Skye would be mine, and I would be able to taunt the Shannon boy with that fact.

"Actually things are going great. Last night in particular went well. Thanks for asking."

His smirk was smug. I considered punching it off of his face, but as I was attempting to stay in Skye's good books, I decided against it.

Anger still flared inside of me. The thought of Skye being with any other man made my chest contort. The deadly beast I kept locked away, growled menacingly inside of me as it begged me to knock out young Shannon.

But I reminded myself of the kiss. Whether Skye liked it or not, the kiss had sealed our fate. I had accepted that, which was why I was still this side of the fence. So soon she would have to acknowledge that we were destined to be.

"Funny. When she came to see me yesterday, she gave me the impression your relationship was strained to say the least." I snarled.

The pathetic boy in front of me winced at my words. His own rage began bubbling inside of him; his cheeks flushed from the anger.

"I know you kissed her. She told me everything...and I forgave her." He leered at me before continuing. "She told me it meant nothing to her, that you meant nothing to her. Last night she made her choice, and she chose me."

He grinned viciously. At that moment I couldn't hold it in any longer. I lurched forward and punched young Shannon in the jaw. The monster in me laughed sinisterly as he cried out in pain.

He had to be lying; Skye couldn't have chosen him. I had given up everything for her and chosen to stay in so-called paradise. I had even endured one whole fucking night with the old man, just so I could be near her. And now she had chosen some other man? The Shannon boy was lying; she was mine.

I couldn't have been the only one who had felt something when we had kissed. She had held me to her; she had wanted me to kiss her...she had wanted me.

Young Shannon straightened back up and glared at me. His hand rubbed his jaw.

"Hit me all you like. It won't change a thing. Skye loves me, not you, me."

My eyes narrowed and I swung for him again. He ducked away from my fist and backed up toward the door. I wanted to charge again; grab him by the throat and whack his pretty-boy face against the stone wall. But the door opened behind him, and one of Skye's roommates appeared. His dark brown eyes frowned when he saw me.

"Everything alright Josh?" He inquired in a way which told me he would quite happily provide the Shannon boy with back-up if a full on fight broke out.

With the fury still rising in me, I forced myself to turn away. My heart was furiously pounding against my chest and my whole body shook. People were staring at me as I stormed through the market.

I needed to get away from this place, far away. She had betrayed me for the last time. This was it; this was the day when I would finally cut all ties with her. No more forgiving her. I could never forgive her for choosing him. That boy was nothing. He would never be worthy of Skye's affections. No man would.

But if that was what she wanted, then I wasn't going to stop her. She could fuck up her life if that was what she wanted. I no longer cared. All that mattered now was getting out of this suffocating prison, and get back to my personal army. I would drive them straight through the gates and finally have them rip this place to shreds. I would personally destroy Skye myself.

Before I left though, I had to say goodbye to her. Skye could rot in hell for all I cared, but she had always stood by me.

I charged toward Memorial Field. I had visited her grave once before, when I had last been here; later that day, I had seen Skye and then gotten into a bar brawl with the two Shannon's. What a great day that had turned out to be. Of course I had had the joy of hearing Skye beg for me to spare her precious boyfriend's life. I was seriously regretting relenting. But I had never been able to deny her what she wanted. Skye was my weakness. She always had been, but not anymore.

She would no longer control my actions or occupy my thoughts. As of today, Skye Tate was dead to me.

I gazed down at the small, pathetic, white headstone. Her name was carved in the stone in basic font. It seemed too insignificant to be a grave. It was definitely too plain and ordinary for Kate.

I crouched down in front of the grave. Memories of the night she had died flooded through my mind. I had tried to save her; but I had failed. That had always been my greatest failure; it even surpassed me losing to my father last year.

"I'm sorry." I muttered.

I didn't know why I had bothered to apologise. It wasn't like she could hear me. Even if she could I knew she would tell me that I had no reason to be sorry. Despite her death being entirely my fault, Kate would never blame me; she never blamed me for anything.

I straightened back up, but kept my eyes latched on her name. She'd be pissed off to know my father had carved her full name in; she had always hated the name Katherine. I'd call her Katherine when I was teasing her; it would always piss her off and usually earn me a slap.

A perfect reconstruction of Kate's serene face filled my mind; her pale satin skin, long auburn hair and hazel coloured eyes.

I closed my eyes as I remembered her final words to me. Hearing her imagined voice sent involuntary shudders through me. She had stroked my cheek and smiled the way she always did. Then she had silently slipped away in my arms.

"Lucas?"

My eyes snapped open and I flinched at the sound of her voice. She had sounded apprehensive; right now she did need to fear me. I felt like smashing her head against one of the headstones.

Slowly, I turned to look at her. I was unable to keep the glare off of my face. She took a step back, probably seeing the monster within me.

Seeing her was like having a dagger driven through my heart. Knowing she had chosen the Shannon boy over me was unbearable. All I wanted was to be with her. Her happiness was all I cared about. Even my own dreams meant nothing if she wasn't content.

But I had lost her. She had clearly made her decision, and she hadn't chosen me. So why should I care anymore?

"What do you want?" I growled.

I watched as she tentatively moved slowly toward me. She acted like I might attack at any given moment; she was correct to make that assessment. Although I never wanted to harm her, she had caused me irreversible damage. It seemed only fair that I hurt her back.

"I came to put flowers on my mom's grave."

She held up a bunch of spectacular blooms. I glared at them before returning my gaze to her face. I hated that all of these people were able to mourn their loved ones, whilst I was stuck in a different dimension to my mother. She was left in a large hole, decaying with all the others slaughtered in Somalia.

"It's not fair." I snarled.

A small crease formed between Skye's blue eyes. This was my favourite of her expressions; her frown's always held such intensity. I could practically see the cogs of her mind turning.

My heart clenched once more. I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let her go. She was all I desired from this world; but it would seem like I couldn't even have that.

For the first time I regretted my choices. I wished I had never left Terra Nova. If Skye had met me first, then I was sure the Shannon boy would have been completely written out of the equation. She would have been mine; she should have been mine.

Grief that I had lost my one desire overcame me. I frowned sadly at the beauty in front of me. She gazed back at me with a concerned expression.

I didn't want her worry; not anymore. If pity was all she had for me, then she could leave me alone like the rest of them.

"What's not?" She asked softly.

I hated her gentle voice; she sounded so much better when she was her usual feisty self. It was her spirited nature which I loved the most, which was why I enjoyed hearing her mock or yell at me.

"All of these insignificant people get their own graves whilst my mother gets to rot in a pit with a hundred other decaying bodies." I answered simply, unable to even begin stating how unjust it was of her to choose the Shannon boy.

Skye looked at me with sympathy plastered across her face. She appeared distressed by what I had said. I no longer felt pain for the distance between my mother and me. Numbness had taken over long ago.

Skye took a tentative step forward, slowly closing the gap between us. Her proximity was causing my heart to hammer against my chest. It was physically painful to be this close to her, but not be able to touch her.

"I'm sorry." She breathed.

Her gaze became more passionate. I could tell that my words had troubled her. Instantly I felt the need to offer some comfort.

Let her boyfriend comfort her I ordered myself. She wasn't my problem; she meant nothing to me. I could have made her so happy; I would have given her anything and everything she wanted. But all of that was over now. Whatever we had shared had been destroyed.

Her eyes focused on something behind me. I missed not being in her gaze. The frown appeared once more on her face. Weakness overcame me and I started to bring my hand up to her face, intending to stroke away her troubles.

"Who's Katherine Bell?" She questioned.

My hand dropped to my side and I glared. Anger ignited me at the thought of Skye finding out the truth of what I had done. Kate's blood was eternally stained on my hands; I had killed her, it had been my fault.

"She's no one." I growled through gritted teeth.

The air was suppressing me, and I felt a powerful need to get away from both of them. I flashed forward, intending to charge off. Skye jumped backwards, and I realised she thought I was going to hurt her.

I hated that she thought that. She was about the only person left that I gave a damn about. The only times I had ever laid a finger on her was when she needed to be taught a lesson, reminded who was in charge. She had a bad habit of pushing me too far and forcing me to lash out. But I hated doing so. Harming her was like hurting myself.

I forced myself to ignore her reaction. Instead I focused forward and quickly stormed away from the graves, from her. I was not in the mood to play happy, caring brother. If she needed someone to talk to, then she could go see her pathetic excuse for a boyfriend. I was sure he could cheer her up better than I ever could.

I stomped down the stairs of Tom's bar. A hush fell over the few people who were there when they saw me. I ignored them and marched toward the counter. Tom walked toward me.

"Whiskey." I demanded.

He half filled the glass and I nodded appreciatively at him. He didn't move as I downed the glass in one gulp. I glared back at him, wishing him to leave me be.

"Heard you were staying at your old man's place."

I nodded.

"Against my wishes." I added spitefully. "I told him I would rather stay in the brig, but he clearly feels the need to torture me even more."

Tom chuckled. He smiled warmly at me. I couldn't believe after all this time, after everything that had happened that he still greeted me like a friend. I had always gotten on well with him. I had known him my whole life; he had lived next door to us in the building block we had resided in when I was a child, and had fought alongside my father in many wars.

When I had grown up, he had been like an uncle to me. After Somalia, I had spent a great deal of time at Tom's; anything to get away from the old man.

I hadn't understood why the old man and his bitch Washington had turned against him. In my mind Tom was the good guy. The only thing I could fault him for was his obvious bad taste in barmen. Luckily for me, young Shannon appeared not to be working today.

"So how have you been?"

Tom refilled my glass and poured a whiskey for himself. I sat down on a stool and he leant on the bar opposite me.

"I've been better."

"Taylor giving ya grief?"

I nodded as I took another swig from my glass. The whiskey was helping to numb the anger I was feeling.

"Well ya know, you're always welcome at mine if ya need a place to stay."

I looked Tom straight in the eyes. He appeared to be sincere.

"Really?" I queried disbelievingly.

Out of everyone here, Tom had the most reason to hate me. I couldn't comprehend why he would want to help me out.

"Yeah, sure. You staying with me is bound to piss your old man off, and naturally I'm on board with any plan that can do that."

I chuckled. Tom raised his glass.

"Do we have a deal?"

Relief coursed through me at the idea of not having to spend another night at my father's. Although I didn't plan to stick around much longer, I knew I wasn't going to be able to leave straight away. My dear old dad had obviously upped the security around here to prevent me from escaping. So I was stuck for the time being.

I chinked my glass with Tom's and smiled.

"Deal."

We both downed the rest of the whiskey in the glass and soon moved on to the next bottle.