Old Wounds are Hard to Heal

At his house, Keith was keeping busy with packing. He didn't know where half of the crap he was putting into boxes had come from, but still it had to be done. Truth was, he couldn't keep his mind off of Karen. He wanted her to come with him so badly now that he knew she felt the same for him. What was he going to do?

"Nothing," he muttered. He was leaving and that was final. He sighed and put down the books he was shoving into a box. He looked around and ran his hand down his face. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" The door opened and there stood Dan Scott.

"Hey, big brother. How's packing?"

"Well, a few beers certainly are helping the process, but I really must say that it sucks. Can I help you?"

Dan put up his hands in a gesture of peace and walked further into the room.

"Look, I know that we don't get along very well. Neither of us is stupid so let's not beat around the bush. I just came to say good-bye, you're still my brother and I believe it's common courtesy."

Keith scoffed. "Common courtesy and brother don't go in the same sentence, Dan. I don't know if you've heard but usually brothers are friends and if you can imagine it, they like each other! What would you know about that though, considering your sons were almost as bad as we are."

"Maybe I'll see you around. Maybe not. Good luck with your little teaching job." With that, Keith's younger brother walked out. He almost wished it was the last time he would see him again.

"I couldn't be that lucky," he muttered to himself as he went back to packing. Seconds later he was interrupted again by the phone.

"What?" he asked annoyed when he picked it up.

"Keith?"

"Oh hi, what's up?"

"It's Karen. I have something I need to tell you."

It seemed like an eternity had passed before they finally reached the hospital. Haley went in and told the nurse that she needed help getting the two teenagers out of the car. Once in, they were taken to a doctor. He came up with a diagnosis quickly.

"It seems that your friends have been given some sort of benzodiazepines which are sleeping pills. They have an affect on humans that is much like that of tranquilizers. They should be fine; they really just need to sleep it off. Do you want to take them home? If not, we could always get them rooms here and keep a watch on them."

"Um, no. No-that's all right. We'll take them back."

"Ok. Make sure they drink plenty of water when they wake up if you can't get them some now. They'll most likely be a bit dehydrated. Do you have any idea who could have given them this drug?"

Haley and Lucas looked at each and their eyes met.

"I don't know," he replied. "I guess we'll find out when they wake up." He looked down at Peyton and he felt a little better. Maybe this really was just a mistake.

"Well, you'd better go then. Remember what I said about the water. If anything unusual happens, bring them back. Good night."

"Thank you, doctor. You have a good night too." The men who had helped get Peyton and Eric into the hospital brought them back to the car. Haley and Lucas walked out of the hospital together. They were clearly confused about what had just happened.

"Sorry for interrupting your night with Nathan, Hales. I feel really bad. You know, about coming over and pounding on your door like a maniac, looking like the ghost of betrayed boyfriends." He looked over at her quickly, and then brought his eyes back to the road.

"Luke, it's no problem. None of this betrayal junk either. I'm sure there's a good explanation for what happened tonight. I, for one, can't wait to hear it."

"You and me both." He looked in his rearview mirror at the two sleeping forms in the backseat and continued driving.

Deb was finally home from an exhausting day at the café. Well, exhausting yes, but she always felt really good about herself when she came home each night after working hard. It gave her a great deal of satisfaction. She tossed her keys onto the table inside the foyer and walked down the hall into the kitchen. On the counter were the divorce papers she had gotten the day before. She averted her eyes from them knowing it shouldn't be this difficult. All she had to do was sign the damn things. She couldn't bring herself to do it though. Dan had been terrible the last few years as Nathan grew into a teenager but he had also been a good husband for many years before that and despite how hard she tried, she still had love in her heart for him. Deciding to continue to put it off, she walked into the living room over to a picture of the three of them together when Nathan had only been about eight years old. They looked so happy. She picked it up and touched the glass lightly wondering how things could have gotten so bad.

"Thinking about better times, Deb?" she jumped when she heard the man's voice. She looked behind her and saw Dan in the entryway.

"Yes, actually I was. Is that silly of me?" Deb cocked her head slightly and searched his face.

"No, not silly, I guess. We all think about times when things were better, if things are bad, right?"

"Sure," she replied, looking down at the floor.

"Look, Deb," Dan started, walking across the room to touch her cheek, "I know the divorce papers came. What I don't know is if we should sign them. Can you just give me a few weeks to turn around? I'm not ready to let you go."

Deb stared at him. This was a rare moment of weakness for Dan.

"What do I say to that? I really don't know." She sighed and then looked out the window before bringing her gaze back to him. She had just been giving it second thoughts herself, so…. "Ok, Dan. I'll give it a few more weeks. That's it though."

He looked relieved as he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"I'll be a changed man, Deb. You'll see."

"I hope so," she whispered as she watched him walk out the door.

It had been a few hours since Lucas and Haley had brought Peyton and Eric back to her house. He had not left her side and despite attempts to make Haley go back to Nathan, she was still there too. He was just starting to nod off when he heard sheets rustling, his eyes snapped open. Peyton was starting to wake up. He got out of his chair and sat at the edge of her bed, taking her hand in his.

"Peyt? Are you awake?" She rolled her head from side to side and let out a sigh before her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Lucas? What are you doing here?" She sat up on her elbows and rubbed her head.

"It's a long story. Do you remember anything from last night?" She looked at him, clearly confused. Why was he acting so strangely and looking at her like that? Like he thought she was hiding something.

"No, Lucas. Not really. Brooke and I went to the bar and she introduced me to this guy named…um, named…Eric. She went to get us a couple of drinks and that's the last I remember."

He looked at her hard and then nodded off to her right. "Is that Eric there?"

She turned to look and her mouth dropped. "What's he doing here? What's going on?"

"You really don't remember how the two of you got here?"

"NO, I don't! Tell me what happened."

He took a breath and told her about the web cam, the hospital, the sleeping pills and when he was done, she just sat there, dumbfounded. Then she glanced at him, right into his eyes and said, "Nothing happened with him. I would never do that to you. You believe, don't you?" she pleaded with her eyes.

Lucas sighed and then took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"I do, Peyton. I'm just so glad it's not what I thought it was. My heart broke when I saw- well, when I saw the two of you together."

"I'm so sorry you went through that." They kissed for a moment and then Haley ahem-ed quietly.

Peyton looked over and laughed. "Sorry, Hales. Didn't see you there. Were you part of the search and rescue team?"

"I sure was, you troublemaker. Anyway, since no one else is going to mention this, I apparently will have to be the one. Someone had to have given you those pills, Peyton. Who was it? It couldn't have been Eric. What would be the point of drugging you if he was going to drug himself too?"

They all thought for a moment. Peyton's gaze searched her room and landed on a picture of three people: she, Brooke and Lucas. They were laughing and looked happy. It was taken when Brooke and Lucas had still been together.

"I think I know," she whispered, though her heart desperately wanted to believe she didn't.

AN: Thanks for reading, everyone! I've only got a few chapters left that have been prewritten. I'm glad this story is getting more readers even though it's still not as many as my other fic. Hope you liked the chapter. Read and review:)