That Yesterday Rain - Chapter 7 - Blind Rage
--
Brooke sat at the kitchen table across from Haley, drumming her fingers absentmindedly on the wood. They had had plans to go to a movie, but Brooke changed her mind when Lucas hadn't returned home from his walk three hours after he had left.
"You don't think he--he did something...stupid...do you?" Brooke asked, stopping her drumming and looking up at Haley.
Haley shook her head and looked down at the table. "No, that's not Lucas. He could be in the worst emotional despair man has ever suffered, and he wouldn't...kill himself to ease it."
Brooke nodded and started picking at a napkin. Both girls jumped as the shrill ringing of the telephone sounded throughout the house. Brooke shot out of her chair and clumsily ran across the kitchen to answer it, picking it up before it rang for the second time.
"Hello?" she said urgently.
"Brooke? It's me," Lucas said over the line.
"Oh my God, Lucas, we've been worried mad about you. Where are you?" Haley got out of her chair and joined Brooke's side.
"I'm--I'm in jail and--"
"You're what!" Brooke screamed, cutting Lucas off. "What the hell did you do?"
"I...threw a rock through a bank window. Listen, Brooke, I'm on a payphone so I don't have much time left before my quarter runs out. I need you to just--God, do something. I fucked up big this time, I don't know what to do, Brooke. I didn't know who to call, so I just called you. I didn't mean to do it, well, I did, but I didn't mean for it to be a bank. I just wanted to break something, God, why did it have to be a bank?"
"Lucas, calm down, don't worry, we'll figure something out. Just sit tight, we'll take care of it."
"Thank you, Brooke, I just want you to know, I'm..." the line went dead.
"Lucas? Lucas, are you there? Can you hear me?" Brooke held the phone to her ear for a moment before slaming it down in it's cradle. "Damnit."
Haley stared open-mouthed at Brooke, having been able to listen in quietly to what Lucas had been saying. "He's in jail?"
Brooke nodded silently, then added, "so what are we going to do?"
Haley looked down at the ground and then back up at Brooke after a few seconds with a frustrated look on her face. "We have to call Dan."
"What? Why? What does he have to do with this?"
"Brooke, Lucas is his son, he's got money, he's got lawyers, and he's the only one in this town that could get Lucas out of this."
"God, you're right. Well, let's get a move on this then," Brooke said, grabbing her purse and heading for the door.
--
"Let's go, Scott, on you're feet," a police officer said, unlocking the cell door and sliding it back. "You made bail, your hearing's on the eigth, city hall."
Lucas got up and walked past the officer, giving him an angry glare on the way. He rounded the corner and found Haley and Brooke waiting by the front door, both wearing undistinguishable looks.
He slowed his pace a little, trying to figure out if they were angry with him or relieved that he was ok.
"Let's go," Brooke said, turning around and heading for the doors, Haley right by her side. That's it? Lucas thought. Settling with the idea that they were most likely upset with him, he followed them out the door, making sure to keep a good distance from them. But when he made his way through the doors, he wished he had never even walked out of the cell.
Dan Scott stood waiting, leaning against his SUV with a smug smile on his face. "You make a father proud, Lucas."
Lucas didn't say anything to him, but just kept walking after Brooke. Without a word said, they got in the car and quickly drove home.
--
Lucas refused to talk to Haley and Brooke for the rest of the day, and even three days after, conversation was still strained. They avoided talking about recent events on all counts, but found that there wasn't much else to talk about. With school closing in on them all, and Lucas's hearing in four days, nobody really knew what to do. Lucas wasn't even sure if he should bother preparing for school, not that there was much to prepare for in the first place, but he wasn't sure if school was what would be occupying his time this fall.
Lucas, feeling lost and aprehensive about his upcoming court date, had wandered over to Dan's house, hoping that if he put his hatred for the man aside for just an hour, he would be able to get a decent lawyer to defend him and keep him out of jail.
He arrived at the house just after dusk, dark and stormy rain clouds hovered over the town -- as they had for much of the past few weeks -- and threatened to unleash their wrath at any moment. Lucas stood on the front step, nervously rocking back and forth, and knocked on the door. After a few minutes of no signs that anybody was actually going to answer the door, Lucas pushed it open and stepped over the threshold.
The house was dark and quiet, as always. After deciding to wait for Dan's return --and wanting to avoid walking home in the unforgiving rain that had let loose seconds after he entered the house -- he began walking through the rooms, looking at old pictures and examining the life of Dan Scott.
After about five minutes of observing, he found himself upstairs in Nathan's old room, clutching a picture frame that held a photo of Nathan, Brooke, Peyton, and himself, all decked out in Ravens basketball uniforms or cheerleading outfits, after Whitey's 500th win. The angry storm of guilt within him broke out and raged so strong that it could have given the storm outside the walls a run for it's money.
He shakily dropped the picture frame back down to the desk and backed away from it, as if it had just come to life. He shook his head, sending tears that he didn't even know were there scattering to the floor. He ran down stairs and stormed into Dan's office, his eyes searching for only one thing -- Dan's liquor cabinet.
He hastily wrenched the doors open and grabbed the first bottle that his hand came in contact with. He unscrewed the cap and threw it across the room before bringing the bottle to his lips and sucking down the unforgiving drink.
The alcohol worked fast, quickly blurring his vision and unbalancing his steps, but this time, it didn't ease the pain. He heard the front door open and leaned against a wall in the main hallway. Dan entered the house, his beady eyes settling on Lucas. He strode forward, seemingly curious. Dan stopped next to Lucas and glared down at him with a look of disgust on his face. "Well, well, look who it is. My pathetic excuse of a son."
Lucas's guilt and heartbreak were suddenly replaced with a burning hate, and he stood up to his full height, standing face to face with the man that had never ceased to make his life a living hell. Dan shook his head and gave a quick laugh. "All of this, over some stupid girl. You don't deserve the name Scott. Just who the hell do you think you are, breaking into my house, going into my office, and drinking my liquor?" Dan moved closer to Lucas, almost so that they were touching.
Lucas smiled at Dan and raised the bottle to head-height for a second before lowering it again. "I'm Lucas Scott, bitch," he pushed Dan out of the way, knocking his left shoulder to Dan's right fiercely, and quickly left the house. Dan stared after him with an almost satisfied smile on his face.
Lucas broke out into a run as soon as he was out of the house. He smashed the bottle down on the sidewalk as he turned the corner and ran down the next street.
After five minutes of running, he burst through Nathan's front door and slammed it shut. He leaned back against it and let the tears stream down his cheeks for the second time that hour. Nathan and Haley came running out of the back bedroom to see what all the noise was about.
"Lucas, what's wrong? What happened? You're soaking wet!" Haley asked as she and Nathan quicky approached his slumped form. Nathan took hold of his arm and the front of his sweatshirt and tried to slide him up into a standing position.
Lucas looked up, his eyes bloodshot and his cheeks red and windwhiped from the cold rain. "I don't want it to hurt anymore," he cried before his knees gave way and he dropped down. Nathan wrapped his arms around Lucas before he hit the floor. Lucas held onto Nathan, both men trapped in a powerful brotherly hug, as Lucas's emotions finally broke the surface.
--
to be continued...
--
God, I shouldn't even be allowed to write stories. It only took me about a month to get this chapter up. I'm so sorry guys. I've been working a crazy amount of shifts at work, school started and my teachers have been giving us piles of homework already, and I've only gotten to go out with my friends once in the past two weeks. I see my friends everyday at school, yet, I still miss them. So, this story has been the one thing I've been purposely focusing less on. I just don't have time to do everything, and I write when I get a chance. So, all I can promise you on the next chapter is that it will be up within a month, sorry guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews though! I really, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, enjoy reading them. I love hearing your guys' reactions to my story. So, thank you.
Oh, by the way, I wasn't sure if Lucas played in the game of Whitey's 500th win, but I couldn't think of any other game where they were all happy and friends, so I just went with that one. Sorry if I got it wrong.
Thanks for reading, please review! -McB