Author's Note: I just want to thank everyone for all of your amazing feedback. It encourages me to keep writing. Please keep the replied coming.

Chapter 18

"Dreams are the Flowers that Bloom in your Heart"

In the weeks following Lucas and Dan's move into the beach house, Brooke noticed a big change in Lucas. The once quiet and withdrawn boy had now become the life of the party. Brooke had to stay sober when they went to parties to make sure that Lucas didn't do anything he would regret. Haley also noticed a change in Lucas, and she too kept a close eye on him.

It was a Friday night and Lucas was upstairs getting ready for the party he would be attending with Brooke. He had just finished getting dressed and popped two pills before heading downstairs. He was surprised to see Dan standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dan asked when he saw Lucas approaching.

"Out with Brooke," Lucas responded.

"Out where?" Dan asked.

"Since when do you care where I go or what in do?"

"I don't…I don't give a damn about you, Lucas. All you are to me is a mistake, and I don't really care if you ever come home."

Dan regret his words as soon as he said them. Lucas had a heartbroken look on his face, and his eyes were filled with tears. He stared at Dan a few moments before silently walking away. Dan wished he could take back those words, but the damage had been done.

Brooke was walking up the driveway when Lucas came out of the house. She knew something was wrong when she saw the tears in his eyes. "What happened?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lucas responded in a cold tone as he walked by her.

Brooke wasn't going to let him off that easy. She chased him down the driveway and rudely turned him around as she grabbed hold of his arm. "Don't walk away from me! I just want to help you, Lucas."

"I just want to get to the party and have fun," Lucas retorted.

"No, you just want to get drunk." Brooke led him over to the beach and forced him to sit down. Then she sat down next to him. "That's not going to help you, Lucas. Believe me…I've been there; it helps to talk about it. Let me help you."

"I'm beyond help," Lucas whispered with tear filled eyes.

"I'll be the judge of that. What happened?"

"I got into it with Dan. He basically told me that my life means nothing."

Brooke's blood began to boil when she heard what Dan said. He had no right to say those harsh words to Lucas. She wanted to give him a piece of her minds, but she couldn't leave Lucas. However, Dan Scott would hear it from her. "Don't listen to him, Lucas. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I try to ignore him, but I can't. He's my father, Brooke, and it hurts to hear him say that he never wanted me."

Dan poured himself a glass of scotch and then went out onto the deck to clear his head. The first thing he heard when he stepped out into the cool night air was the sound of the waves crashing against the beach. Then he heard voices. He went over to the railing and saw Brooke and Lucas cuddled together on the beach. He was going to back inside to give them their privacy, but stopped when he heard Lucas mention his name. His curiosity was peaked.

"When I was little, before Dan moved back to Tree Hill, I used to dream about my father," Lucas said as he stared at the water. "I used to dream that he'd show up at our door, scoop me up in his arms, and tell me that he loved me. Then he and my mom would get married, and we'd be a family. We'd live in a house with a picket fence, have a puppy, and I'd have a little brother." He shrugged his shoulders. "They were just stupid dreams."

Brooke pulled him into her warm embrace. "They're not stupid dreams."

"Then Dan showed up in town. I didn't know who he was at first. Nathan and I even played together on the playground. Then Nathan and I started playing in the junior leagues together, and I loved it. It was something I was good at. The other kids started teasing me because Nathan and I had the same last name. They said I was Dan's bastard. I didn't know what that meant, so I asked my mom."

Brooke saw the pained expression on Lucas' face, so she rubbed his back gently. She knew that it was hard for Lucas to open up like this.

"My mom told me that that word was evil, and to never say it again. I asked my mom if Dan was my father and she said yes. I saw that it hurt her to talk about him, so I didn't ask anymore. The next day I quit the junior leagues. I didn't quit because I didn't love the game; I quit for my mother. I knew she couldn't stand to be around Dan."

"I'm so sorry, Lucas."

"My life got easier. I met the guys at the rivercourt and I had Haley. Then we got into high school, and I crossed paths with Nathan again. He wasn't the same Nathan I knew…he was arrogant and mean. He and his friends always called me the bastard and they even beat me up a few times. My life was a living hell when I first joined the basketball team. Nathan and the team were hazing me pretty bad. He apologized for it, and told me that Dan made him do it."

"I didn't know that it was that bad," Brooke replied softly.

"I was lucky to have my mom and Hales; they got me through some pretty hard times."

"Your mom sounds like she was an amazing woman."

Lucas smiled as he thought about his mother. "She was…she was all I had, and we were as close as can be."

Dan felt terrible as he listened to Lucas open up to Brooke. He never realized how much he had hurt Lucas. His decision to abandon him had left the boy bruised inside, but it also made his relationship with his mother that more stronger. For the first time Dan realized how Karen's death had affected Lucas; it left the boy broken. Unable to bear any more of his son's pain, Dan went back inside.

"I wish I was that close with my parents," Brooke admitted as she stared at the water.

"You're not close with them?" Lucas asked.

Brooke shook her head. "My parents believe that they can buy my affections with their credit card. Don't get me wrong…I love spending money, but I want their attention. I want my parents to hug me, to tell me that they love me, but most of all I want to hear them say that they're proud of me." Brooke looked into his deep blue eyes. "Is that too much to ask?"

Lucas pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head. "Not at all," he whispered. "You deserve the best, and I promise that I will give it to you."

"You know Broody…your life doesn't make sense, and my life doesn't make sense, but together we make sense."

Lucas laughed. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Cheery."

The title of this chapter is titled after the Disney lullaby "Dreams are the Flowers that Bloom in your Heart."