Sunlight, bright and warm...lying on his back, the cool grass a cushion, whispering to him...low flying bird...distant voices...Lucas closed his eyes, but even so, the sun still shone....two points of glowing fire in the dark...
"So-"
Nathan tramped through the rustling greenery, froze. Lucas looked to be sleeping, a CD playing in his ears. Nathan bent, trying to catch what it was.
"Hey." Blinking in the hazy clearing. Lucas smiled fuzzily as his brother dropped beside him and rested his head on his arms.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"I guess so." Nathan frowned upward. "Never did much of this."
Lucas laughed. "What are we doing?"
"Chilling."
"How about staring at the sky on a perfect summer day and just being glad we're alive."
"If we were in another state, I doubt we'd have much thought on the matter."
"Always cynical." Lucas shifted to stare at his sibling.
"Haley says you're the brooder."
"I am. It's two different things."
"I guess."
"You're diffident."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know. Just look."
"The sky?" Nathan's brow wrinkled.
"All of it. There's no end."
"It makes me feel speckish."
"Speckish. Hales has been rubbing off."
"I'm glad. I need her."
Lucas adjusted his music. "We all need Haley."
Half-glad that his brother hadn't elaborated on the touchy-feely subject, Nathan sighed with relief. "So, this doesn't intimidate you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it was made for us. Nothing good will make you feel small unless you let it."
Nathan plucked at a stray weed. "You are a little weird."
"I know." :
Dan stood rigid, face empty, completely devoid of expression. Keeping quiet. Watching, listening.
An empty feeling in the pit of stomach seemed to spread into the very air he breathed. Why was the growing closeness so sickening?
Because this was his world. He'd pushed Karen and Lucas out of it, closed the door. Locked it, years ago. Let past mistakes stay in the past. Cover them up a little, everything was okay.
The occasional brush with Lucas, the accusing, hollow stare..it disturbed him, yes...but no more than a timid knocking because there was plenty of time in between these chance meetings to lock the door again.
This trip wasn't what he'd expected it to be. Nathan avoided him, even attacked his hassling of Lucas. Next, they'd be hashing childhood memories, this was grossly stupid. Deb's fault. She must have put Nathan up to it. No one understood. Dan's face took on a self-pitying cast.It wasn't about the son he never loved. It was Karen, Karen's son against Dan's. Everybody in Tree Hill was on her side, like he'd attacked her or something that day...her choice!
She wasn't going to beat him. Shove her son into his life. He'd have to show them.:
Nathan had fallen asleep-Lucas smiled softly, hoped his brother had remembered to wear sunblock. The heat seemed to rise from the damp ground with each tuft of balmy wind. Hard to stay awake. His song seemed to fit the unrest inside of him, slipping in and out of conscious thought...Blank page...tired of dreaming...not alone...you haven't changed...you're still the same...
A shadow seemed to fall over them as they slept...too old for ghosts-Lucas relaxed, drifting back...
Nathan opened his eyes. It had grown colder. He couldn't recapture his careless drowsy state...so stared up at the misting patches of white. One was shaped like a little boy. Nathan traced the child's outline, not accustomed to discovering pictures in the clouds, put a hand on Lucas' shoulder to see it, too-but then a sharp gust of wind, unseen, tore the figure in half, separating before his eyes.
The torn pieces regrouped into nothing at all.: