Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Author's Note: So... this is what, fifth update in two weeks? Bet you all are happy about that. I know I am happy with that.

Author's Note 2: This chapter features some good old Scott family drama (emphasis on old and drama) and a lot of Nathan and Dan. Yep. Dan makes another miraculous appearance.

Author's Note 3: It's cold, wet, and raining outside right now. Expect another update later today or tomorrow.

Broken Hearts and Healing Minds

Chapter 34

Nathan's first reaction was to storm after his brother and demand to know where the hell the older Scott got off on accusing him of being incapable of kicking his drug addiction. But he knew that that wouldn't solve anything and he also knew that he would never get through to Lucas when the older Scott was brooding.

"I hate life some days," Nathan growled to no one in particular. He closed his hand into a fist around the syringe before throwing it with all of his might into the river.

"Take that, Lucas!" he shouted. "I am not some useless druggie!"

Tears stung the back of his eyes as he fought to keep himself under control. The alcohol he had consumed earlier wasn't helping and rage was building up inside.

"Nathan?"

His anger raged at the sound of his father's voice behind him. Nathan whirled around to face Dan, fully intent on punching something.

"What do you want, Dan?" he asked maliciously.

"To talk to you," Dan said. "And to make you an offer."

"No thanks," Nathan said through clenched teeth. "Lucas might be all buddy-buddy with you, but I can't stand the sight of you."

"Lucas is of the same opinion," Dan informed him. "He has made himself perfectly clear that the only reason why he is even talking to me in the first place is because he was in need of money. A desperate man will do that."

"Well, I am neither desperate nor in need of money," Nathan retorted coldly. "So you can take whatever the hell you want to say to me and shove it up your ass."

"I think you're forgetting your place in this world," Dan said taking a few steps closer.

"Enlighten me," Nathan offered sarcastically.

"You are the youngest Scott, which means that you are nothing more than a leech off of others. You have nothing to offer the world, so the world has nothing to give you. The only reason why you're still alive is because your brother, the one I saved, decided to save your sorry ass," Dan said harshly.

Nathan flinched with each one of his father's words, knowing that they were true and hating them. What was worse was the fact that his father wasn't finished.

"You used to be my favorite, Nate," Dan said conversationally as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You were the one that I thought would carry on my place in this world. You weren't exactly bright, but you were a good basketball player and you seemed more than willing to be able to manipulate people."

"I've changed," Nathan said icily.

"Clearly," Dan said looking Nathan over with an appraising eye. "I used to think it was Lucas that would be the one who would wind up in the middle of Oak Ridge as a drug dealer. That's why I tried so hard to beat it out of him. I never would have guessed in a million years that it would be you."

"Do you have something you want from me or did you just come here to insult me?" Nathan demanded.

"I have come to offer you a chance to restart your entire future," Dan said. "I will supply you with as much money as you could possibly need to move away from Tree Hill and set up a new life for yourself somewhere far away, like Alaska or Hawaii."

"And let me guess, I am never to return, right?" Nathan asked. "No thanks."

"You're only being a burden on those around you, Nathan," Dan told him. "The only reason why Lucas keeps you around is because he feels sorry for you."

The words stung more than Nathan was willing to admit. He had been thinking along those same lines. Hearing them from his own father only served to make it that much worse.

"You're lying," he said with a shaking voice. "Lucas is my brother. He cares about me."

"Really?" Dan challenged looking amused. "That's not the way it looked from where I was standing."

"You don't know the first thing about it, so just fuck off," Nathan retorted angrily his hands clenching into fists once more.

"Such a temper," Dan said shaking his head. "You really need to learn to let things go, Nate."

"My name is Nathan," Nathan said through clenched teeth. "And I'm not accepting your offer, so why don't you just go to hell?"

"You'll accept my offer," Dan said. "Because if you don't, then I cut off Lucas's money to pay for his heart surgery. And when that happens, you will both go into debt and he will blame you."

"You're lying," Nathan said his breath catching in his throat.

Dan wouldn't be that cruel. He wouldn't purposefully kill everything that Lucas had worked for just like that. This is Dan we're talking about, a small voice in Nathan's head reminded him. The one that beat up your brother for the fun of it and manipulated countless of people. Why wouldn't he do this?

"We'll see about that," Dan said smiling serenely. "But know that if you refuse my offer now, when push comes to shove, you're not getting any second chances."

"If you screw with my brother, I will kill you myself," Nathan said as the older Scott turned to walk away.

"My, my, Nathan," Dan said. "Looks like you're a man after all. But be careful—don't want to do anything else to ruin those chances of getting into Duke."

Nathan was inches away from closing the gap between him and his estranged father and decking said father, but he knew that wouldn't solve any of his problems. It would make him feel better, yes, but only until the cops came to arrest him for assault. Instead, with an extreme show of self-control, Nathan let his father walk away completely unharmed.

"Damn it!" Nathan shouted the second his father was out of ear shot. "Damn it all!"

Lucas was barely aware of the fact that he was freezing as he stumbled up the stairs to his apartment. His head throbbed and he felt as though he had been sucker punched in the gut with all the images of the party whirling around in his mind. First Peyton's kiss. He knew that she had been wasted, but it had still hurt to see her making out with some dumbass. Second was Nathan's denial of the drug usage. Lucas would have been pissed off if Nathan had just owned up to it in the first place, but the fact that the younger Scott denied it just made it even worse. But what if he's not using? the voice inside his head that always made him want to scream asked.

Lucas angrily pushed the voice away as he fished his key out of his pocket and jammed it into the lock. He was just about to push the door open when a gentle hand on his shoulder made him pause and turn around.

"Haley?" he asked in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you're okay," Haley said. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Lucas said opening the door and allowing her to step in first.

Haley hesitantly stepped inside as if something was going to appear from the darkened depths of the apartment and bite her.

"Did you kiss Rachel?" she asked as Lucas closed the door behind them and headed for the kitchen.

"She kissed me," Lucas corrected sighing as he sat down at the kitchen island. "You talked to Peyton, didn't you?"

"I did," Haley said with a nod. "She was drunk, you know. Really drunk, as in won't remember what happened to her in the morning, drunk."

"Are you telling me this so I'll forgive her when she comes back here in the morning or are you telling me this because you want to make me feel better?" Lucas asked quirking his lips in the smallest of smirks.

"Both," Haley admitted as she sat down next to him. "Though if you forgive her, then you will ultimately make yourself feel better."

"You're like Yoda, only stranger," Lucas said letting out a sad laugh. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What's up, Luke? You look like you're about to go punch someone," Haley said.

"That's because I am," Lucas told her. "Only I'm not sure who to punch. Nathan, for being an idiot, Greg Baker for being a jackass, or me, for being a complete and utter moron."

"Care to explain any of those?" Haley asked.

"Greg Baker is the guy that Peyton was making out with at the party," Lucas said through clenched teeth as he attempted to force the memory out of his head. "Nathan… I don't really want to talk about it."

"You don't get to do that, Lucas," Haley said. "You don't get to start opening up and then all of a sudden clam up. Come on, tell me what's going on so I can start punching people for you."

Lucas smiled softly.

"You're a great friend, Hales, you know that?"

"It's all apart of my charm," Haley said rolling her eyes. "What's going on with Nathan?"

"You're not going to like I t," Lucas said.

"I think I'll decide that one for myself," Haley told him.

"I think that Nathan's using again," Lucas mumbled resting his head down on the cold table top, hoping that that would relieve his headache.

"What?" Haley asked.

Lucas didn't need to look at her to know that her eyes were wide with surprise and her mouth was hanging open.

"You heard me," he said closing his eyes. "I think he might be. I found him at the party surrounded by drug users and that Greenberg guy. He had a syringe in his pocket."

"Greenberg… as in Michael? As in Ryan's best friend?" Haley asked.

"Do you not care about the syringe I found in Nathan's pocket?" Lucas snapped.

"I do," Haley said instantly. "Believe me, I do. And the second I find Nathan, I'm going to have a long and serious talk with him. But Michael Greenberg… Luke, I still have nightmares about that night."

"I think we all do," Lucas murmured reaching out without lifting his head and taking her hand. He squeezed it gently. "His being there was just a coincidence."

"I thought you didn't believe in coincidences," Haley muttered.

"I am also not paranoid," Lucas said. "And I refuse to believe that Michael's being there had anything to do with you, me, or Peyton. Or Nathan for that matter."

"You're lying," Haley said with a note of stunned realization in her voice. "You believe differently."

"No," Lucas said. "I don't."

"Don't insult me, Luke," Haley said. "I've known you for practically our entire lives. I know when you are lying. So give. What's up?"

"I don't think that Nathan would willingly use those drugs," Lucas admitted as he grudgingly lifted his head off the table. "And I don't think he did. I think tonight, he just had one too many drinks and was pissed at me because I didn't believe him. I don't think Nathan's surprise was an act."

"What does Michael's being there have to do with any of this?" Haley questioned.

"Michael is a lot like Ryan was," Lucas said touching his hand to his face. He remembered vividly the beating Ryan had doled out in the school hallway where Michael and the other kid had pinned Lucas down.

"Which means what exactly?" Haley wanted to know.

"Michael isn't smart," Lucas said. "And he sure as hell isn't Ryan. But he hung out with the guy for years. He was bound to pick up on some of Ryan's ideas eventually. And one of Ryan's ideas was to hurt me and the people I care about in as many ways as possible. And Nathan's drug habits… they aren't exactly a secret. I'm going to assume that Michael knew how I was going to react if I ever found out that Nathan was using again."

"So you're saying that you think someone planted that syringe in Nathan's pocket, knowing that you would find it?" Haley asked incredulously.

"Maybe," Lucas said with a shrug. "Or maybe it's just me trying to believe the best in people. I don't know, Hales. I don't want to believe that Nathan's using. I don't want to believe that Peyton doesn't love me."

"She does, Lucas," Haley said. "She does love you. More than anything else."

"Then why was she making out with Greg?" Lucas asked.

"It's complicated with her," Haley said. She held up her hand when Lucas went to protest. "Her father came home to tell her that he was leaving again. She was upset about that and pissed off because you were acting like her father."

"How?" Lucas demanded. "By telling her that I thought that she had one too many drinks?"

"I don't know," Haley admitted. "She wasn't exactly talkative about that part. Though honestly, Luke, you can tend to be a tad over possessive."

"Thanks Hales," Lucas said sardonically.

"I'm not saying that it's a bad thing," Haley said. "I'm just stating the facts. And I think that that might have pissed her off even more because she went to the party to hang out with the boy that she loves very much and to get away from any form of control."

"I screwed that up, didn't I?" Lucas asked. "Shit."

"It wasn't entirely you," Haley said. "It was mostly her fault, so don't blame this on you, okay? You weren't the one that told her you had to kiss that Gary guy."

"It's Greg," Lucas said.

"Whatever," Haley said. "She was hurting about her father leaving and she was drunk. She had already pissed you off, apparently, so she was looking for someway to get rid of all that pent up anger. Greg just happened to be single and somewhat cute. Then she saw Rachel shoving her tongue down your throat, got jealous, and wanted to make you jealous. Honestly, Lucas, you should be proud to know that you inspired that feeling in someone."

"You know that comment about you being by best friend? I take it back now," Lucas said.

"Oh get over yourself," Haley said rolling her eyes. "I found Peyton on the couch very much alone after you and Nathan left… apparently to go duke it out on the river court. Anyway, she said that she felt extremely guilty and wanted nothing more than to take it all back."

"So are you saying that I should just forgive her then?" Lucas asked. It was his turn to be incredulous.

'No. I'm saying that you should give her a fair chance and hear her side of the story," Haley said. "You might be surprised at what you hear."

"There's something else going on, too, isn't there?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Haley said. "But I swore to Peyton that I'd let her tell you on her own terms."

"She's drunk, remember?" Lucas said. "She won't remember in the morning."

"Nope," Haley said. "Not happening."

"Please?" Lucas asked.

"No."

"I said please."

"There's a first time for everything. Honestly, I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out yourself. You must really be dense. Or clueless. I'm inclined to go with clueless."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, that's a way to get a girl to tell you what you want."

"Hales…"

"Fine. But you didn't hear it from me. Peyton's mad at you because, according to her, you two don't show that you love each other in public."

Lucas's jaw fell open in surprise. He had thought that she was okay without the PDA. He knew that she knew about Brooke and everything that had happened with him and her. He also thought that it was enough for Peyton. And he was trying to get better about it, he really was. He might not have been as casual about it as Stephen had been, but Lucas had some serious emotional scars when it came to those sorts of things.

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you speechless before," Haley commented. "That's amazing."

"I thought she was okay with the way things were," Lucas admitted his voice soft. "I never knew. I should have asked her what was going on instead of just going off on her like that."

"She'll forgive you," Haley assured him. "And I'm sure Nathan will too."

Lucas groaned.

"I am an idiot," he said burying his head in his arms again.

"Yep. You are," Haley said.

"Thanks, Hales," he said. "That makes me feel so much better."

"Two Tylenol and a hot shower would probably help you out more," Haley informed him. "Go. I'll make you a cup of hot tea or something as well."

"Thank you, Haley," he said this time meaning it. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

"I try," Haley said loftily. "And Luke? Don't be too hard on yourself. If I had seen the things you had, I probably would have reacted the same way."

"Thanks," he said again.

"Anytime," Haley replied.