There was no way I was going to the shop. Keith was there and Keith was mad at me. Not that he didn't have a right to be mad at me, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

I finished my cheerios and took a shower. Then I lay down on the couch. The next thing I knew, Keith was making something in the blender.

I opened my eyes. There was a blanket on top of me. I must have fallen asleep on the couch.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"6. You slept through the whole day, Luke."

He turned off the blender and poured the milkshakes in two milkshake cups that Mom gave me for my 5th birthday. One had Mickey Mouse and the other had Minnie. That was back when I thought I was going to marry Mom.

I had never had milkshakes with anyone but Mom. She only got out the milkshake cups when she had something important we needed to talk about. If she would have found out about the condoms, it would have been a milkshake moment. Keith took the Minnie cup, and for some reason it made me angry. The Minnie cup was Mom's and only Mom's. Keith would laugh at my immature reasoning, so I just let it go.

"Good morning, sunshine." He said when I sat down at the table.

He handed me my Mickey Mouse cup. "Do you want some advil?"

I shook my head.

He sat across from me and started slurping his shake.

"So was your day as productive as it looked?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Keith laughed. "I missed you at the shop."

"Did you really think I was going to go voluntarily go to let you kick my ass?"

Keith laughed again. "I had no intention of kicking your ass."

I scoffed in disbelief.

"Really, Luke. You are a big kid. You know what is best for you."

"I do?"

"I think so. I mean, yeah, Luke. You were responsible when it came to sex, you didn't try to drink and drive, you made it home before curfew. The only ass kicking I can think of would be for you tattoo, but you're right. It's in the past. Let's just forget it."

I sipped my milkshake. He was being way too cool about all this.

"So I'm off the hook? That's it?"

"Do you want some kind of punishment? Cause it is lonely here at night without you."

"No, no, that's fine."

"Just curious, though. How did you plan on keeping the tattoo a secret from me?"

I shrugged. "It worked this far."

"No more lies, okay, Lucas?"

"Okay."

We sipped in silence. I thought about what I was going to say the next time we called Mom. I couldn't tell her about the tattoo, or getting drunk, or my fights with Keith.

I had to ask Keith, "What happened? Why are you not mad at me?"

"Whitey brought his car in today."

"Oh." That couldn't be good.

"I bet he fully intends on kicking your ass, though. Just to warn you."

"Gee thanks," I said.

"At least I'm not gonna kick your ass."

"What does he know?"

"That you got drunk...again."

"Why did you tell him?"

"I was pissed! I had to talk to someone, and he knows you, so...I don't know, Luke. I just needed to talk."

"And he said..." I prompted him.

"He said that you're a good kid, and that you'll find your way back. And he also said that drinking is not good for your basketball skills and that if I don't mind, he was going to work the alcohol out of your system. And, well, at that point I didn't mind."

"I see." I looked into my shake.

"Well, listen. Let's call your mom. We haven't talked to her in a long time."

"Why? What are you going to tell her?" I was nervous.

"That we miss her and can't wait until she comes home." He must have sensed the relief in my eyes because he said, "Don't worry, Luke, I'm not going to tell her about any that happened today."

"Mom!" I exclaimed when she answered the phone.

"Lucas! Hi, baby!"

"How is everything in Italy, Mom?"

"It's culinary boot camp. Jeez, I can't even breathe."

"So it's going well then?"

She laughed. "Yes, it is...How are things in Tree Hill?"

"Miserable, like always. Small towns, bad accents. You know the drill."

"Good to hear," I could hear the smile in her voice. "So how is your basketball season going?"

"It's going good. We're still undefeated."

"That's fantastic, honey."

"Yeah."

"Is Nathan still on your back all the time?"

"At practice, yes, but he knows that Whitey will kick his ass if he's like that during games."

"I can hear that you're talking like Keith now. I was afraid of that."

"He apologizes." I said.

She laughed. "Oh I miss you, Lucas."

"I miss you, too, Mom."

"How is school?"

"It's good. Grades just came out. Mostly good."

"Mostly?"

"Well you know, it was a hard semester."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she was still smiling.

"No, seriously. I have demonic teachers."

She laughed. "I love you, Luke, even if you have the worst excuses I've ever heard.

"Oh, I try." I said, giving her my big cheesy smile. I wished she could see it.

Keith was looking very anxious to talk to Mom.

"Mom? I think Keith is ready to profess his love for you. Should I pass you to him?"

"Lucas!" she laughed. "Sure, let me talk to him. I love you."

"Love you, too." I handed the phone to Keith.

"Keep it clean, kids, I can still hear you," I joked.

Keith whacked the back of my head. "Ow!"

"Give him another one from me," I heard Mom say from the other end of the phone." Keith whacked my head again.

"That hurts me, Mom." I shouted, so she could hear me.

I heard her laugh, Keith chuckled and then said, "Your son is a smartass, Karen."

"I knew he was picking up the language from you!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'll make him stop."

Mom laughed again. I missed her. Keith did, too apparently. The look of longing in his eyes made me think I was not that far from the truth about Keith professing his love for her.