All usual disclaimers apply. I don't own the characters from One Tree Hill.
Keith looked in on his nephew one last time. He resisted the urge to pull Lucas's blanket up around him and tuck him in, lest he disturb his fitful sleep. Lucas had cried for a long time before he regained his composure. And when he finally stopped, he wriggled out of Keith's hug and with a weak smile headed to his room. Half an hour later, Keith saw that Lucas was in bed and pretending to sleep. Just like when Lucas was a young boy and having bad dreams, Keith sat outside his bedroom door to keep the daemons away.
It was two a.m. before Keith untangled himself from his sitting position on the floor and he calculated the time in Italy where Karen was. It would be morning and he could still catch her before class began. Keith knew he had made a mistake all along not letting Karen know the truth about what was going on with her son. Tonight that realization was crystal clear. Karen couldn't prevent the hurt that Luke was feeling. Dan had done everlasting damage when he left mother and son to fend for themselves. But only Karen was equipped to help heal Lucas's wounds.
Keith dialed the number and had to only wait a few moments before he heard the click and then the ringing of the phone at the other end of the ocean.
"Hello."
"Karen? It's me. Keith."
"Keith! Hi. What time is it? Shouldn't you be in bed? Is everything okay?"
"I miss you," he said into the phone. He sat on the couch with the cordless and put his feet up on the coffee table.
"I miss you too. You didn't call me at two a.m. just to say that."
"No," said Keith, shaking his head, even though Karen could not see. "It's Lucas. I haven't been telling you everything."
"So, you're finally going to fess up about the tattoo," she said lightly.
Keith caught his breath and didn't say anything right away. "You know about that?"
****
Lucas didn't remember ever having such an intense practice session. He and Nathan had been all over the court, working together so that Nathan could keep scoring. Tim and Jake slowly caught on, and soon it seemed like Nathan was handed off every possible shot. Lucas was sure they didn't understand why they were doing it, just that they should.
Whitey saw it too. The coach was actually praising the team, in his gruff way. He knew that if they kept playing like this, they would defeat Cove City again in three weeks. They had a real chance at being undefeated this season. But that didn't matter to Lucas. He just wanted Nathan to break Dan's scoring record. He wanted it for him as well as for Nathan.
"You look wiped," said Brooke, slinking up behind him.
"Beyond that," Lucas said, shaking off some of the sweat that was drenching his head.
"Eeew," screeched Brooke, jumping away. "That is so gross."
"Sorry," laughed Lucas.
"You don't look very sorry," she said, swatting him lightly. "So what are you doing after practice?"
"Crawling into bed."
"Seriously."
Lucas shrugged.
"Then come ice skating with me," Brooke urged. "I'm dying to do some skating. I haven't done any in ages."
"I don't know Brooke. I'm so wiped and then there's my uncle Keith."
"Lucas, you need to stop worrying so much. You've got to let loose."
"And all this can be accomplished if I join your ice skating party."
"It's a start."
"Okay. You win. As soon as I shower, we'll go ice skating."
***
"Whitey," said Keith with a smile. "What brings you to my humble garage?"
"My breaks." Coach Durham handed Keith they keys to his car and whistled to himself while waiting for Keith to take a look at it.
"It'll be a minute. I told Lucas he could go out with his friends and blow off work tonight."
"Take your time. I'm not in a rush."
Keith rolled under the car he was in middle of working on. "Whitey, tell me, how's Lucas in school? At practice? Cause he's been having a rough time of it at home these past few weeks."
"He's been doing okay, except that little incident with Brooke Davis." Whitey tried to erase that image from his head. It wasn't easy; considering it wasn't the first time he had seen a half-naked Brooke around Lucas Scott. "You should have seen him and Nathan on the court today. They were moving like one, Keith. It was beautiful. You should come down and watch them sometime."
Keith rolled out from under the car. "Lucas has a doctor's appointment after school tomorrow. I was planning on picking him up after practice. If I can get away early, I'll come and watch."
"It'll be well worth your time," said Whitey.
***
"I haven't been on skates since Junior High," warned Lucas.
"It's like riding a bicycle," assured Brooke.
"That's the problem! I wasn't very good back then." He bent over, and pulled the laces tight around his ankles.
"Just lean on me," Brooke said and pulled Lucas to a standing position. "Let's get on the ice. I can't wait."
Tentatively, Lucas stepped out on the ice. He tried to hide his wobbling legs, but Brooke seemed to catch on and hooked him under his right arm. "Come on sexy, just hang on to me."
Soft music played on the speaker, while Lucas and Brooke circled the ice arms linked. Brooke leaned into Lucas, putting his head on his shoulder. But as soon as she felt him wobbling again, she lifted her head and smiled coyly.
"Are you ready to let go?" she asked.
"I guess."
"Who would have thought you are such a wuss?"
"A wuss? Me?" Lucas asked, his voice rising.
"Yes you! You can't even stand on your own two feet on the ice. And you're scared to try."
"Is that what you think of me?" Lucas said, his eyes twinkling. Brooke chewed on her lip, but nodded anyways. "You're in a lot of trouble, young lady." He let go of Brooke's hand, only to wrap his own hands around her skinny little waist. "No one gets away with calling me a wuss," he whispered into her head.
"I just did."
"You didn't get away with it."
He started to skate again, forcing her along with him, going faster and faster. He heard her screeching with delight behind him, but Lucas didn't slow down, until they were in the center of the rink, where the professional or experienced skaters went. Just as they were in the thick of it, and the music was crooning a love song over the air, Lucas skidded, pulling them both down. Brooke fell on top of him with gales of laughter.
"So am I sufficiently punished?" she asked, running her tongue over her teeth.
He put her arms around her, letting his hands slide to her ass. "For now."
She leaned into him, kissing him hard. Lucas kissed back, parting his lips, letting his tongue slip into her mouth and her tongue slip into his. She tasted good. She smelled good. Everything about Brooke Davis intoxicated him and he knew he could never abide by Uncle Keith's rules.
"Come on, children. Get up or get a room." They heard someone sliding to a stop beside them. "This is a family place!"
Lucas looked up and shot his little brother a dirty look.
"Don't give me that look, bro," said Nathan.
"Yeah," interjected Haley. "The manager was about to come here with a hose."
"Though the cold is obviously not doing anything to keep you two from pawing at each other."
Brooke disentangled herself and stretched out her hand to Nathan, so he could help her up. Lucas tried to get up on his own, but fell down immediately, much to the delight of his friends.
"Will someone help me up?" cried Lucas after his third failed attempt.
"Nathan, I think you should have some pity on your brother." Haley nudged her boyfriend, forcing him to lend a hand to Lucas.
Nathan helped Lucas to his feet. "That was for you, honey," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"You're such a sweetie." She took Nathan's hand and pulled him away, calling out, "let's leave the two lovebirds to themselves." The two skated off without a backwards glance.
"Alone again," Lucas said, wrapping his arms around Brooke's waist.
"Mmmhm," she said, tasting his lips.
"Maybe we should go somewhere more private."
Brooke nodded and led Lucas off the ice. Ten minutes later, they were sitting in a corner, skates still on their feet, but steaming cups of coffee between their freezing hands.
"Lucas, I don't want to wait anymore." She moved from sitting beside him, to his lap.
"Neither do I."
"Then we're in agreement," she said. She wrapped her leg around his. "My parents are out of town again. We can find Nathan and ask him to give your uncle some sort of excuse."
Lucas shook his head.
"But you just said –"
He cut her off. "I know what I just said. I don't want to wait. But Brooke, I could never live with myself if I hurt you in anyway. What if I test HIV positive? It's just a couple of more months, until I get tested again. I've marked the day on my calendar. And they have those rapid AIDS tests, so I'll find out before I even leave the hospital. Come on, let's hang in there and have some fun in the meantime."
"Scott, I told you, you've got to lighten up."
"Not with this, Brooke," he said, his expression growing serious. "Not with your health."
"You're doing this on purpose," she growled. "You just want to make yourself more irresistible."
"I'm not irresistible already?" he asked, leaning over and kissing her on the lips.
"Why do you care so much? What if I said, I didn't care? I'm willing to throw caution to the wind."
Lucas sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "I'd say it doesn't matter. I'm not going to risk hurting you. I care too much. I think I'm starting to love you Brooke."