Chapter

Inevitable

AN: Thank you for the reviews... Not much to say, so on to chapter nine...

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There's a thin line between dishonesty and protecting someone from a mistake or consequence, for dishonesty is lying for the sake of who knows what, but protection is when the mind can't grasp the idea that the truth set's the soul free... honesty conquers pity or shame and that, is definitely unavoidable.

Luke...

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A week later...

Nathan looked down the hall full of faces, some tearless, some tearing and him, just waiting; calmly? Hell no.

The doctor came out of the surgery room, "Mrs. Scott?" Karen looked over to Deb, who stood up quickly.

"Is he?" She bit her lip, nervous.

"He's doing just fine," the doctor smiled, "breathing is normal, pulse is perfect and he should be awake in about two hours."

Deb sighed, gratefully, grabbing Karen's hand.

Nathan's heart dropped, his breathing began to slow a little, but not enough.

The doctor looked over to the youngest Scott, "Mr. Scott," he nodded, "I'm glad to inform you that you can breathe now—,"

Nathan gasped, Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Your brother should be awake in no time, surgery went perfect, my fellow workers and I think this is it, everything should be stabilized." He smiled wearily, and embraced Karen, who was thankfully crying, "You all should get your family back."

Nathan's heart slowed, he slowly sat down and took in a deep breath, perfect. A solitary tear slipped down his cheek, before he wiped it away, stood up and embraced his mother.

Karen was second to receive Nathan's warmth, "Thank you Nathan," she cried, "thank you."

Nathan could only nod, "But it wasn't me who saved him."

"If it wasn't for you, Nathan," she smiled, "he wouldn't have made it. You're his angel sweetie, he loves you."

The youngest Scott couldn't help but hold her tighter and when he finally let go, strong arms gripped him, "Uncle Keith," he smiled, patting his uncle on the back.

Everyone was jumping around, screaming and crying, perfect, Nathan thought once more. While he was hugging Peyton, he extended his sight to Haley, who smiled and caused his stomach to tingle.

He walked toward her, embracing her softly, "I told you everything would be fine." He smiled and walked away, feeling the cold hit him as soon as he lost her embrace.

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"Hey," Nathan's voice came soft, unlike most of the time, "How are you feeling?"

"A little like an elephant is sprawled out on top of me, but other than that, I'm fine," Dan replied sarcastically.

"Everyone's here Dad, Mom, uncle, Grandpa and Grandma just called, they should be here tomorrow," he bit his lip.

Dan sighed, "Nathan?"

Nathan looked up at his father, "huh?"

"I'm sorry son," he looked away, forgetting how to deal with his emotions, "you know I didn't mean to hurt you, right?"

"I know Dad," Nathan nodded, "I know."

"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" His voice was quiet and his words were shaken, but somehow, he knew that Nathan was going to be right and he didn't want to end up alone.

Nathan bit his lip, a serious expression clouding his features, "I don't know Dad, I forgive you, but I don't know," he noticed his father's uneasiness and sighed, "You could always ask him yourself."

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The door squeaked open, Lucas looked up slowly, his eyes still hurt and he could barely move, but he was thankful that he was alive.

When he looked up to see who it was his heart stopped, "Hey," he managed to say, his voice fluctuating.

Dan didn't respond, instead he wheeled him self over to Lucas's bed. "How are you feeling?" he simply asked, gesturing for the nurse, who helped him, to leave.

Lucas wasn't sure how to respond, what to say, how to act. How do you thank someone who's never been around, but that just saved your life? "Okay, thanks to you," he smiled wearily. "How's the wheel chair?"

"Lucas, Listen," he hesitated, "I know that I haven't been your father, or even a good person to you, but I do want you to know that I'm sorry."

"It's okay," the blonde responded, swallowing a forming mass in his throat.

"No, Lucas, it's not okay," he said sternly. "All my life, I've prided my self on being the best, conquering all, yet I failed to realize that I could be the best without avoiding you. I didn't understand then, heck, I didn't understand a month ago, but when I came into your hospital room a week ago and you were holding on for your life, I felt--,"

"Like my father?" Lucas looked down.

Dan swallowed hard, "I felt like I missed out on being your father, I know I've denied you and hurt your mother, but I felt like giving something of mine to you would at least let you know I'm sorry."

His son's eyes watered up, but like him he tried pushing it back, "I don't need your pity, Dan, its okay," he smiled, "really, I understand and I appreciate everything."

"You're just like me kid," Dan chuckled dryly, "don't comprehend a damn thing." He shook his head, "Listen, I don't want to pity you."

"What do you want?" Lucas furrowed his eyebrows.

"I want a chance," he hesitated, "to be a father to you and a father to Nathan."

Lucas took in a deep breath; he couldn't believe he was hearing this. "Why?"

"Because, I don't want to die knowing that I could have been something to you," he finished and looked away with his jaw clenched. "I don't want to die alone; I want to be a better father to both of my sons. I ruined your life and Nathan's, and I want the chance to fix that or at least try." When his son didn't respond he nodded, "I understand," and started to wheel himself away.

"Wait," Lucas called, waiting for his father to turn around, "you just did."

"What?"

"Fix my life," Lucas finished, a small smile plastered on his features, "but don't think just because you went soft on me, I'll go soft on you."

Dan chuckled, "what do you mean?"

"When I get out of here, I'm going to kick your ass at basket ball," he grinned.

Dan retorted with a stern expression, but broke it down into a beam, "I'm holding you to that."

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 Nathan couldn't help smiling, his dad was fine, his brother was fine and suddenly his life seemed fine. He walked down the hall's looking for one person in particular, when he couldn't find her he went outside and saw her on the phone. He slowly walked over to her, trying not to interrupt her conversation.

"Jake. Yeah everything's fine. No, not Nathan, Dan. Yeah, Dan. I know, I couldn't believe it either. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah, of course I'm happy. Um, I don't know when we can see each other. I know, but I mean, I just don't know anymore," he heard Haley saying.

Nathan heard enough, but before he could turn away, she did.

"Nathan?" Her voice faltered, "What's up?"

"Nothing," he said coldly, "I just wanted to give you this, I know you must be tired," he handed her coffee and turned away, "bye."

"I'm going to call you back Jake," she bit her lip and hung up, following after Nathan. "Nathan, wait," she pleaded.

He turned around, "what?"

"Maybe we should talk," she offered.

"No, I'm not in the mood to talk, but I'm sure Jake is," with that he turned away, not looking back to catch the tear that slipped from her eye.

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Later that night...

"It's inevitable; you need to tell him you're pregnant," Nathan said softly.

Peyton sighed, brushing curls from her face, "Not now, I want to make sure everything's going to be fine first."

He could only nod, "Yeah."

"You still love her a lot don't you?" Peyton frowned, feeling sad for him.

"I just can't seem to grasp the idea of her not with me," he chuckled dryly, "her sleeping with another man." He looked away, "her and Jake making love."

"Yeah," Peyton sighed, "but she loves you."

"That doesn't mean anything, love doesn't mean anything," he looked his ex girlfriend in the eyes, "you know?"

She laughed, "of course, I'm the ultimate love hater."

"And yet you love my brother?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile.

He smiled softly as well, "Do you think I could ever look at her the same?"

"I don't know Nate," she shrugged, "I don't know."

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Hehe... I know it's taking long to get to the point, but I had to clear a few things and set the tie between Lucas and Dan. Hope you liked it, review!