Chapter 2

When it all Falls Down

"What do you want?" Lucas asked coldly as he stood toe to toe with Dan Scott

"I've come to take you home, son," Dan responded in a cocky tone.

"I am home." Then Lucas noticed the woman standing behind Dan. "Who are you?" he asked.

The woman stepped forward and extended her hand to him. "My name is Donna Ellis," she said. "I'm from the DCFS."

"DCFS?" Lucas asked with a confused look on his face.

She nodded her head. "Department of Child and Family Services; I'm here to discuss your living arraignments."

"There's nothing to discuss; I'm living here."

Donna knew it was going to be hard for Lucas when he heard what she had to say. She turned to Dan. "I need a moment alone with Lucas," she said.

"Sure…I'll just wait inside," Dan replied.

He started to go inside, but Lucas blocked his way. "I don't want you in my house. You can wait out here while we go in to talk."

Donna shrugged her shoulders as she followed Lucas into the house. Once they were inside Lucas was quick to slam the door on Dan. Lucas offered Donna a seat and then asked, "Would you like something to drink."

Donna couldn't help but notice that Lucas was more mature than most sixteen year olds. "No thank you, Lucas."

Lucas sat down across from her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"You're living arraignments. We need to discuss where you're going to live."

"I already told you; I'm going to live here."

Donna shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not an option, Lucas."

Lucas felt his world crumbling. First he lost his mother, and now they were trying to take away his home. He refused to go down without a fight. "Why not?" he demanded.

Donna felt the situation heating up, and she had to calm Lucas down; arguing with him wouldn't solve anything. "You're a minor, Lucas," she said in a calm tone. "You're just sixteen; the state requires you to be at least eighteen before you can live on your own."

"What are you saying?"

"You mother didn't have a written will when she died, and since she has no living relatives, I have no choice but to place you in the care of your father."

"You can't do that!" Lucas screamed. "You can't make me live with a man who doesn't want me!"

"That's not true, Lucas; your father wants you to move in with him."

Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dan was obviously doing a good job of tricking the system. "Yeah…that's why he abandoned my mom and me. He walked away and never looked back."

"You don't know the whole story, Lucas."

"What are you talking about?"

Donna took a deep breath. She knew her words were going to hurt him. "Lucas, when you were a baby Dan filed a petition for visitation rights. Your mother refused him. Dan walked away when he learned that he would never win a court battle."

"Don't you dare make my mother out to be the bad guy!" Lucas screamed. "Dan Scott is the evil one!"

Donna shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you want to believe. Now you can go willingly to Dan's, or I can have a uniformed officer escort you there."

Lucas calmed down a bit. "Can I have some time to pack?"

Donna nodded her head. "I'll take you there this afternoon." Then she left Lucas alone so that she could speak to Dan.

When she was gone Lucas looked up towards the sky with tear filled eyes and asked, "Why is this happening to me?"

Dan entered his kitchen, and was surprised to see Nathan sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Nathan was never up before noon. "Why are you up so early?" Dan asked.

"I thought I'd enjoy the day," Nathan said in between spoonfuls of cereal. "Where were you?"

"I had a meeting with social services. Lucas is going to be living with us."

"That bastard doesn't belong here, Dan. He's a river rat, so I suggest you keep him with all the other white trash."

Dan nodded his head. "You're right."

"Then why are you letting him stay here?" Nathan shouted.

"I did it to get your mother off my back. You can hate him all you want, Nate, but if you know what's good for you, you'll act civilized to him when you're mother's around."

Nathan threw his spoon into his bowl and stormed off. "Whatever, Dad," he said.

Dan sat in his office and was surprised when he saw his wife coming down the stairs with the vacuum in hand. He was surprised she even knew where it was. The upstairs only got vacuumed once a week when the cleaning lady came. "What are you doing, Deb?" he asked as he rose to his feet and approached his wife.

"I want the house to look nice for when Lucas gets here," Deb replied.

"Why bother? That boy is used to living in filth."

Deb was not amused by Dan's remark. "That's not funny, Dan. Karen and I got to be pretty good friends, and I know for a fact that Lucas was the world to her. She may not have had a lot of money, but I know that she took great care of Lucas, and I made a promise to her that I would love Lucas like my own. I expect you to do the same."

"Do you realize what you're asking, Deb?"

"I know exactly what I'm asking, and it shouldn't be hard for you considering that he's your son."

Dan was about to respond, but stopped when he heard two car doors shut in the driveway. He looked out the window and saw Donna Ellis walking up the driveway with Lucas following behind. He looked at Deb and said, "He's here."

"You better treat him right, Dan," she replied.

A few moments later there was a knock on the door. Dan took a deep breath before answering it. He put on his best fake smile and said, "Welcome home, son."

The title of this chapter is from the Kanye West song "All Falls Down"