:Five:
The room felt strange, filled with too many shapes. So heavy, each piece of wooden furniture. Like it was weighing upon his chest, crushing him. Luke had never felt small in a bed before. No matter how many tosses and turns, the mattress stoicly remained as smooth as glass.
There were no familiar lumps and dents where his body could settle. A strange scent of some flowery perfume clung to his shirt; no amount of shaking could erase the effects of dresser-drawer potpourri.
Lucas stared at the ceiling, only to have it gaze back.
You don't belong here.
Keith's house usually smelled like grass and soap and whatever they'd had for breakfast.
Something creaked. The hallway floorboards.
Luke rose on his elbows, brow wrinkling in concentration. The blond thought someone might be outside his bedroom, for what purposes he hadn't the slightest idea.
Moonlight climbed through cracks under the shades, reaching slivers of silver.
The grandfather clock chimed twelve times.
Lucas gave up waiting in disgust. Probably some twisted method of Dan's. He flopped onto his stomach, remembering their tension filled drive. A guilty flush of color stole over Lucas' face. He still hadn't taken the medicine.
Not since his uncle's kind insinuation-oh, the merest hint-that his nephew was mentally unstable. After all, it was probably more mind games.
He couldn't ask Keith.
He had to know.
So Luke had shaken a tiny pill, pale and unassuming, into his hand. Stared at it, as if the answer lie somewhere in plain sight.
Then tossed the medicine into a trashcan.
Time to figure some things out for himself.
X
"Hey."
The low voice rested Lucas from his pleasant, sleep induced haze. An indistinct figure back-stepped as the blond snapped upright.
"What are you doing in here?"
He didn't trust them. Not a bit.
"Hey, relax. It's just me."
"Nathan? What are you doing?"
"I wanted to talk." Lucas' bed shifted, adjusting to the extra weight.
"It's after twelve."
"Ya, well Dad has ears like a bat."
Lucas folded his arms protectively across his chest.
"So?"
"I don't want him to see us, you know, getting along."
"I'd hardly call it that."
"You know what I mean. He expects me to make everything pretty bad for you."
"I think it's called freedom of choice."
"Whatever. Listen, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier."
"You mean when your mom looked at me like I was dirt?"
"She really doesn't think that badly of you. I think she actually kind of likes you." Feels sorry for you.
"Well, I don't need anyone's approval." Lucas drew his knees up, toward his chin.
"I guess you don't. So, you pretty much ran everything back home?"
"Not exactly."
X
"Look, I'm sorry for acting the way I did about Uncle Keith, too."
"Apology accepted. I kind of thought Dan put you up to it, anyways. I guess I was actually expecting something like that."
"So, truce?"
"Sure."
Nathan's hand stuck out of the darkness, surprising his cousin.
Lucas grasped it.
"Well." Nathan sighed. "Now that that's out of the way, why aren't you asleep?"
"It's too weird."
"Want to check out my CD collection?"
Talk about random.
"What are you into?"
"Just about everything. My girlfriend has this crazy music thing."
"That bad, huh?" Lucas grinned.
Nathan hesitated in the doorway. "It's actually kind of cute."
His cousin smacked him in the shoulder.
X
Nate's room was large, but not expressionless. Trophies, pendants, pictures...it was like stepping into someone's life. Lucas hesitated in the center space and took all of it in.
"Pretty popular?"
"Is that bad?"
"Depends." Luke bent to retrieve a book off the floor.
"Romeo and Juliet. Ahh."
Nathan unburied his head from a massive stack of compact disc's.
"You actually like that stuff?"
"Well, Shakespeare's's a classic."
"Tell me about it. I was trying to-ummm-find something cheesy for an anniversary card. Got it."
Nathan wiped the dusty CD on his sleeve. "This is good."
"You actually knew where that was?"
"Well, I was originally going for something else, but this will work."
"So." Lucas twisted the book around. "Why not just buy a card?"
"I know. I'm really not the type. But she likes it. I mean, my handwriting isn't half legible, but girls are strange."
"Uh-huh."
Nathan stretched. "Up for a drink?"
"I'm not sure." Luke replaced the classic in a more suitable location. The bookcase. "As in water or root beer?"
"Well, you got half of it. Check out this track. Be right back."
Lucas idly wandered around his cousin's room, flipping through various stacks of scattered possessions.
"Romeo and Juliet-"
A sharp crack cut him off.
Then another.
Lucas studied the window curiously.
Some one was tossing pebbles.
"This guy has an interesting life." Luke eased the curtains aside, raising the pane quietly.
He stuck his head out.
"Nate, we really need your help."
Feminine voice. Why did that come as a surprise?
The yard was dark, and Lucas barely made out the dewy leaves of a rose.
Trellis.
This was unreal.
"Nate! What are you doing?"
"Um-here. Grab my hand."
Lucas pulled and a face appeared over the sill.
"Who are you?"
Luke held on tightly as the girl's grasp faltered. Then bit into his fingers.
"I'm Lucas."
"Nathan has relatives?"
"Ya."
"I'm sorry." Infectious giggle. "I just didn't know Scott's came in blond."
"Sometimes we do." Lucas peered over the ledge, smiling at the stranger's scrutiny.
"Brooke! What's going on!"
Hoarse whisper below.
"Oh." Brooke swung a nicely shaped leg practically into Lucas' nose.
"Here, help me in. I forgot about Peyton."
"Nathan!"
"She's going to wake somebody up." Lucas leaned out for a second time.
"Go around to the back door."
"Who are you?"
A warm body pressed against him.
"He's Nathan's-" she hesitated.
"What are you again?"
"Cousin."
"Nathan's cousin," the brunette repeated, needlessly.
"Alright, so is Nathan home?"
"He's downstairs. I'll let you in."
The outline of a girl nodded, walking briskly around the corner and out of view.
"So. Where are you from, stranger?"
Lucas drew himself inside."South of here."
"Well, if you're going to be visiting for very long-"
"Indefinitely."
"Oh, good." Brooke clasped her hands. She pointed a finger at him. "Remember, I saw you first."
"I will." Lucas shook his head. "We'd better find your boyfriend."
Brooke grabbed the blond's sleeve as he started through the doorway.
"Oh, no. No." She flipped a loose lock of hair from her eyes. "That would be Peyton. She's Nate's girlfriend."
The one with the attitude. Figures.
"Okay." Luke brought his voice down to a whisper."But let's be really quiet."
Brooke giggled again, then slapped fingers across her mouth. "Sorry."
X
Dan paced around the breakfast table, coffee, bagel and paper systematically destroyed.
"Sleep well, Lucas?"
His nephew was heavy lidded, but there was a lightness in Lucas' manner previously unexpressed.
The kid was heaping his plate and eating with apparent gusto.
It puzzled him. Deb had filled Dan in on events last night. He'd known Lucas was harmless, but nodded and "I told you so'd' in spite of that. The kid was trailer trash.
"Good. I'd hate to think you lost any rest on my wife's account."
The fork hesitated, halfway to it's destination.
"Not even going to deny it?"
Luke lifted his gaze, azure stare that was mildly unsettling. Then he began on the bacon.
"Well, at least your appetite has ceased being a problem. I was beginning to think we'd lose you."
"It all tastes good."
Dan seemed taken aback.
"Thanks for letting me stay here."
Lucas pushed his orange juice aside, grabbing the cup beside Nathan's plate. He had a piece of jam toast with bagel raisin eyes, nose and mouth.
"I'm just going to take this upstairs."
What the crap.
Lucas unloaded his dishes in the kitchen, one handed, then wandered back out.
His generous mouth tipped up.
"See you."
Then the blond ran upstairs.
Dan threw his paper aside.
What was going on?
X
Nathan had a mild hangover.
Lucas found his cousin still muffled under the bed covers, a pillow atop his head.
"Come on. Your Saturday's a-waisting."
"I don't care." The mountain shifted.
"What's wrong with me?"
"I think you drank too much."
Lucas stated the obvious, settling the orange beverage on a napkin.
"Thanks for your prognosis."
"Ah. Sarcasm. You'll be just fine."
"No, I won't."
"Dan seems pretty confused. I think I rattled him a little."
Lucas retraced his steps across the thick carpet.
Muffled voice. "Rattled?"
"Ya."
"Man. I had to miss it."
"I had fun last night."
"Just the girls."
Lucas feigned nonchalance. "I know."
The mountain rose.
"Peyton should learn how to change a tire. And I mean, come on, it's not like she couldn't have called someone."
Lucas shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it was more of an adventure. Dark road at night. Climbing trellises. It's pretty cool."
Nathan's face emerged, blanket draped over it, Jedi style.
"Ya. Brooke was the psycho climbing the rose trellis."
The blond jammed his fists into his pockets.
"I know."
"Oh, my gosh." Nate dropped back wards, laughing at the ceiling.
"What?"
"You like Brooke."
"I do not."
"Do too. Wait 'till Peyton hear's this!"
"It's not funny." Luke stared quietly at his cousin, as if he had taken complete leave of his senses.
"Just pipe down."
"This is cool."
Nate bounced back up.
"Now you can go to parties with me. You and Brooke, Peyton and I. At least, as long as you like hanging out with Brooke. I have to warn you, most of the guys at school think she's a little-"
"Ya. I get it. Maybe she has a story."
Nate shrugged, squinting against the sunlight.
Never figured it that way. But, if you think about it-most of us do."
A book dove into Nate's stomach.
"Ow! I think that's called abusing hospitality."
"If you say one word-"
X
Deb sighed, tilting her head to ease the ache in her neck. She liked to start the day's work early, but sometimes her frantic schedule caught up with her.
There were so many things to do.
Take Lucas shopping for some school clothes. Find a way to get Lucas to go shopping for clothes. Cancel those charity dinner reservations-
And go through the papers in the large brown envelope that had arrived, addressed to her.
It was from Keith. Obviously he hadn't meant for little brother to get ahold of it. Deb already knew what it contained-school things, medical information, birth certificate. Each neatly folded, creased, or paper clipped.
Obviously, Keith had kept this part of Lucas' life in order. She skimmed the contents of a report card, pleasantly surprised at the grades. Lucas was a good student. Unlike her son. Nathan spent half his time at parties.
Deb glanced at her wristwatch, almost forgetting the time. One of the local girls was supposed to drop by, in response to Deb's ad. She'd been meaning to hire someone to give a her hand in the kitchen and keep the place organized. What with Deb being away so much of the time...and now Lucas was staying with them. Three men.
Yes, they definitely needed extra help.
The report cards and sundries were stacked in a drawer; the more important documents would go with the rest of the family's.
She almost smiled, humming a snatch of a tune. Dan was going to be at the dealers, catching up on some paperwork. Just like she was.
He'd be gone most of the day, and Deb hadn't planned a thing to do. Well, aside from interviewing the girl.
Glancing through the certificates one last time, something held her attention.
The birth certificate.
What was the date on that?
No, that couldn't be right.
Maybe she was remembering wrong.
But hadn't Keith come back to Tree Hill right after the summer?
Yes.
Karen and Dan, they were supposedly 'very much in love.' At least, from Dan's perspective.
She'd heard the story, over and over. Keith returned sometime in early autumn. He hadn't been home in over a year.
They'd disappeared-in a matter of days. After Keith's homecoming bash. Dan had repeated the details to her again and again. He threw his brother a huge welcome home party, and, according to him, Karen had slipped away that very night. Along with his dear older brother.
But it said here, Lucas Scott was born on March 4th, 1989.
March 4th.
Her heart started pounding, double time. Deb bit her lip.
September. September to March. Six months.
There wasn't time.
Even if Karen's son was premature.
Could he have been three months early?
And why had Keith sent these papers separately? Why not just pack them with Lucas' things?
Because Dan might see them. And, hardly knowing Deb, Keith had trusted her with this.
Trusted her.
She didn't know if she could handle such a weighty trust.
Deb decided to sit.
Perching on the edge of the couch, she wondered if Lucas was aware of the truth.
Keith Scott wasn't his father. Couldn't possibly; unless Karen had somehow been seeing him without Dan's knowledge. And that didn't fit in with Dan's controlling, watchdog personality. He would have found out.
Then who was the father?
The obvious answer was staring her right in the face.
"I know who you remind me of," she whispered.
X
"Hello?"
The soft voice brought Deb hurtling to reality.
"Mrs. Scott? I'm sorry, but nobody answered, so I just came in. The door-was open-"
The girl pointed behind her.
"You know, if this is a bad time-"
"No. No. It's okay. I'm sorry. I've just had-a lot on my mind. Won't you sit down? Would you like a glass of something to drink?"
"No, thanks, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I just forgot how quickly time flies." Deb set the papers aside, gathering her composure. It took a colossal effort.
"So, you're Haley?"
X