Final Straw
Peyton lay in bed and watched as the sun rose early the next morning. She hadn't slept at all the night before because she couldn't help but blame herself for Cameran's behavior. There must have been something that she had done wrong raising her. Since the day her daughter had been born she was afraid that she wouldn't know how to be a mother because she had grown up without one. Now her worst fear had come true.
She wiped a tear from her eye as she looked at the family picture next to the bed. They had taken it only a month before Lucas and Peyton separated. Peyton wished that everything could go back to the way it was then, everyone was happy then.
"Mommy, why are you crying?" Eleven year old Riley stood in the doorway of her mother's bedroom. "Are you sad because you got into a fight with Cameran last night?"
"Come here baby. You don't have to worry about those things." Peyton told her youngest child as she patted the bed next to her. Riley quickly snuggled up in bed next to her mother.
"I promise that I won't leave you mommy. I don't think Cammie means to hurt you. I think she just misses daddy."
"Do you miss your dad too?" Peyton asked in amazement at how someone so young could read people's feelings.
"I don't know. I like it when I see him on the weekends."Riley shrugged. She had been only four years old when her parents separated. The only life she knew was spending the week with her mom and the weekends with her dad. It didn't even seem strange to only see her father two days a week.
Peyton sat silently as Riley switched on the television and began to watch cartoons. Listening to her daughter talk about Lucas made her realize how her children had been deprived of their father. Most eleven year olds could go on and on about the time they had spent with their dads but Riley couldn't even honestly say that she missed him.
At the end of the cartoon Peyton got out of bed to take a shower. Most households were still asleep at seven in the morning but not the Scotts. Lucas made a point to spend as much time with his kids, which meant picking them up at eight a.m. every Saturday. He would take them to breakfast then to the recreation center for Gavin's basketball game. Despite his busy schedule, Luke managed to find the time to coach his son's team.
Just when the warm water started to help her relax, Peyton heard the front door slam and footsteps come up the stairs. She quickly threw on her robe and exited the bathroom just in time to see Cameran scurry into her room. There was no use in confronting her about being out all night because they would only end up in another pointless argument.
Peyton went into her other kids' bedrooms to tell them to get ready for their father's arrival. Riley was always an early riser but she was surprised to find Ben and Gavin awake as well. It was only recently that the twins had decided not to share a room. Partly because they were fourteen years old and needed their privacy, but also because they were so different. Gavin was sitting on his bed playing NBA Live while Ben was engrossed in a book.
Cautiously Peyton opened the door to Cameran's room. She had already fallen asleep, still in her clothes.
"Cameran you need to wake up. Your dad is coming in five minutes."
"Yeah whatever." She replied groggily and slowly got up from bed.
The doorbell rang not to long after and all the kids, including Cameran, rushed downstairs to meet their father. Just before Lucas left, Peyton stopped him at the door.
"Luke, we need to talk."
"Sure but can we make this quick? The game starts in an hour."
"It's about Cameran." She told him and his face immediately became serious. "She got suspended yesterday for smoking pot."
"We have to do something about this. She can't keep getting away with things this serious." He said sternly.
"Well maybe you could try and talk to her for once because I just can't seem to do anything right." She replied sarcastically.
"Peyton don't try and pin this on me. I know that I'm not around as much as I should be but that doesn't make me responsible for every problem." Lucas yelled angrily. He always vowed to be a good father figure but somehow things didn't turn out that way.
"Fine, whatever. Just talk to her." Peyton told him in an exhausted tine. Without a good-bye Luke left, slamming the door behind him. All of their conversations ended with shouting and someone leaving. Where had they gone wrong?
Almost five hours later the kids entered their father's house with Lucas close behind them. They were all still pumped up from Gavin's game. His team won by one point in the final seconds.
The younger kids scrambled to the playroom to try out the new video games that their dad had bought them, leaving Cameran and Like alone in the living room.
"You know we have to talk about what happened, right?" He finally broke the silence.
"What do you mean?" She asked trying to sound innocent.
"Your mom told me everything. I know about the marijuana and you being suspended again."
"What a bitch! She always had to make things worse." Cameran shouted.
"Don't talk about your mother like that. She is only looking out for you. You need to learn to have some respect." Lucas was shocked at how bad his daughter's attitude was. The situation was worse than he thought,
"I give respect when it's deserved." She told him defiantly as she walked toward the door.
"Where do you think you are going?" Luke shouted at his daughter's retreating figure.
"Out."
"No, you're not. I didn't say you could leave."
"What gives you the idea that I have to listen to you? You can't just walk into my life every weekend and tell me what to do. It doesn't work that way." He stood in awe as Cameran left. Her words had hurt him because they were true, he didn't deserve respect.
Lucas made his way to the playroom to spend some quality time with his other children. He hoped that it wasn't too late to save his relationship with them.
At 1:30 in the morning both Lucas and Peyton were woken up by the ringing of their phones at their respective houses. The caller identified himself as a police officer and told them to come down to the station to pick up their daughter.
They pulled into the parking lot almost simultaneously and exchanged glances.
"I thought you were going to take care of this." Peyton told him.
"I tried but she wouldn't listen. She just ran out."
"So it wasn't as easy as you thought it would be." She gloated.
"Can we drop this? We have other things to worry about." He asked as they entered the station. Immediately they were relieved to see Cameran sitting unharmed with another officer.
"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Scott" The officer from the phone greeted them. "We caught you daughter trying to buy liquor with a fake I.D."
"What kind of trouble is she in?" Lucas asked. His tone was even but his body language showed his discomfort.
"Because her record was clean we decided to let her go with a warning." The cop told them.
"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Peyton led her former husband outside.
"What do you think we should do about this?" He inquired.
"I don't think grounding her is going to do any good. That Damien guy is a bad influence on her. Maybe a change of environment would help." She suggested.
"What are you saying.?"
"Maybe it would be best to move back to Tree Hill."
