Title: Things Unspoken
Author: Jayta
Rating: PG18 - may contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
A/N: Anyone there? Hello:listens to echo:
Chapter Six: That Man
"Hey." Lucas shifted uncomfortably in front of his best friend, before choosing to sit down in the empty seat across from her.
"So are we okay, or are you still mad at me?" Haley leaned in, narrowing her eyes, trying to decipher his mood. "Because if you still are," she sighed. "I don't want to talk to you."
"All right. All right," he groaned, knowing he had been a jackass to both Haley and Nathan the whole week after the 'Royal incident'. "I give. I'm sorry I blamed it all on you."
"And?"
"And Nathan," Lucas added slowly. "But in my defense, you gotta know that it's a sore subject, Hales."
She knew. She knew all too well. Lucas never expressed his feelings outright; and when he did, it was only after she had dragged it out of him. The hurt and disgust he held the whole Scott family in contempt for - it took him a while to admit that to her. Haley knew how much it had pained him to all of the sudden have to endure it because of choosing to have an actual relationship with his half-brother, Nathan. "I know," she whispered, reaching over and grasping his hand. "But you have to know that Nathan isn't coming from that place anymore. He cares about you, Lucas - a lot. He's been in real agony over what happened at Royal's."
"Well, don't try to oversell it, Haley," he chuckled at her deep-set concern. "That's a little melodramatic - a little soap opera cliched for me." Then he sombered a little, smiling at her with a sheepish grin. "But you can tell little bro, 'no harm, no foul'."
"Really?" she asked hesitantly, unsure whether he was just saying that to appease her.
"Yes, really." He actually had missed the self-agrandizing jerk. He had been avoiding him like the plauge, other than at basketball practice. Whitey wouldn't have it. And even there, he had only been willing to talk b-ball with him. Nothing more.
"Great!" Haley jumped up and hugged Lucas over the table between them. "Thank you so much, Lucas." She squeezed him tightly, squealing just a little, like she always did when she was happy.
"Well, I'm still no saint," he said, plopping back down in his seat. His thoughts drifted to the odd encounter with Dan and his mother. Suddenly he found himself saying out loud, "It hink Dan's plotting something again."
"When isn't he?" Haley muttered, rolling her eyes. "I seriously think we shouldn't give him the time of day. Though that seems almost impossible."
"What do you mean?" Lucas furrowed his brow, not quite understanding what she meant.
"Sometimes I think that giving Dan the time of day is giving him much too much credit. We care too much or worry too much about what's happening in Dan's world, that it just creeps into ours." Dan Scott had been the epi-center of her life ever since she met Lucas, though only by association. And now that she was involved with Nathan, it just doubled the amount of time and energy which she dvoted to what Dan Scott was going to do next - to hurt her best friend and/or Nathan. "I'm tired of it," she spat out in frustration, unable to control her anger. "One man should not have that much power to wield over so many people's lives. Not when all he wants to do is bring misery and tears."
Lucas sat back stunned. He had heared Haley on tangents before, but never one on Dan specifically. The corners of his lips twitched slightly as he tried to remain stalwart after her Evita-esque declaration; but alas he could not. "You go, girl!" he exclaimed, laughing. "I'm inspired."
"Oh, shut up," Haley said grumpily, struggling not to join in. She sat back, folding her arms across her chest, flashing her usual unimpressed smirk. "You know what I mean."
"It's good to know you've got my back." He winked at her. "I mean, if Dan knew, I'm sure he would have backed off a long time ago," he said with a straight face.
"You're a regular laugh riot." Haley shook her head and rolled her eyes. "So what did he do now?"
"He hasn't done anything that I know of," he said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure he's up to something. And I know it's got something to do with my Mom."
"When would your mom have anything to do with Dan?" she asked, slightly confused. "She hates him." Suddenly her thoughts drifted to the day she saw Karen's car outside of Royal's house. Haley had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Yeah, I know!" he exclaimed. Lucas could not get the smug look on Dan's face out of his head. He looked like the cat who ate the canary. "He just seemed like he had something...I can't put my finger on it." He hit the table in frustration.
Haley bit the bottom of her lip, debating whether she should mention Karen's obvious visit to Royal's or not. Her eyes closed as she grit her teeth and said nothing. She could not get him worked up over nothing. There could have been many reasons why Karen's vehicle was parked in front of Royal's place. The fact that Royal had been at the cafe a couple of times for little late night chats with Karen meant nothing. Right?
>>>
"So I am asking you if you would allow me to be a part of your son's life?" Royal felt awkward even as the words left his lips. Asking for permission to be a part of his grandson's life seemed irrational and absurd; but nonetheless, it was something he had to do. There was no way there would be peace if he went about it in the way Dan seemed to be running his whole life - bullying and scheming, manipulating and tearing his way into people's lives.
Karen didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected it. Well, she had, but she hadn't. It was a complication she didn't need. It was a complication that would insert Dan Scott back into her life, just as it had that morning. "I-I..." she stammered, unable to think of a reply.
"Now Karen, I know how unexpected this is, but you know I care about Lucas. May and I had promised on Dan's behalf to stay out of it - to respect his wishes - but with May gone, I've come to realize how short life is, and I'm not going to wait until Dan comes to his senses and allows himself to treat Lucas like a proper son."
Making this decision would exact a toll. Dan had already begun to simmer with his declaration this morning. It was one thing Dan had taken from him. He had raised his son to take no crap from anyone. He had been proud of Dan for standing his ground; but when Dan had conceded where Karen and Lucas was concerned, he had taken offense. He had seen it as a failure. Over the years, Royal had seen Dan change. It seemed his son had realized his mistake and taken measures never to concede again. It was in this, he knew that Dan would do everything in his power to keep Royal from allowing Lucas to be seen as 'family'.
"I-I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that, Royal." Karen felt the heat of change when Dan arrived at her doorstep. She knew that there were stirrings - rumblings of change that would turn their world upside down.
"Tell me you aren't going to object, honey," he drawled, slipping onto the stool in front of her. "I couldn't take it if you were against this."
She knew she couldn't say no. She knew this wasn't her decision to make. She had an opinion. Lord knows, she had an opinion. But there was nothing she could say. It was Lucas' choice. He had been the one spurned. He had been the one destroyed amidst Dan's complete and utter mode of self-destruction all of those years ago. "What's Dan think about this?" She asked, but she already knew the answer.
"He doesn't like it all, sugar, but there's nothing I can do about that." He shook his head, letting out a weary sigh. "He has too much pride," he said slowly. "And I believe I'm partly to blame for that. He is a champion at holding grudges. It's something I regret."
"It's not your fault," she protested. "Dan is a grown man and he makes his own choices."
"But if I hadn't pushed him," Royal frowned. "It might have not turned out this way. I rode him too hard and came down on him when he made his mistakes."
"But you didn't promise to come home to me and then turn your back on us for another woman." Karen still could not say those words without them being tainted by bitterness. "He changed so much in one year," she said softly. "You cannot take the credit for that. That was all Dan."
"Yeah," he nodded, "but if I was any parent at all, I would have been there to help him - not berate him. May always said I rode him to hard and put him on a pedestal too quickly."
"Well, that's the past," Karen stated, turning around to grab the coffee pot. "And I don't know what Dan has to be bitter about when it was Lucas and me who got left behind."
"I know."
"Well then, what are we talking about?" She smiled tightly. "Let's just put it behind us."
"So are you saying..." His heart skipped a beat. Could she actually forgive him for the way he had treated her and Lucas?
"It's not about me," Karen interrupted quickly. "Like I said, it's not my decision that matters."
"It's the boy's."
Karen locked gazes with the gruff old man. "You talk to him, Royal. Because right now it's his choice whether he hates you or not."
>>>
Everyone had gone home. He had made sure of that before he dared bring out the metal lockbox. As he sat within the safety of his glass walls, he felt secure in his isolation.
Slipping the hidden key from it's place of anonymity, Dan placed the thin, shapely piece of metal into the slot of the keyhole. No one knew about this secret indulgence - a piece of his past. It was where he had locked away the last pieces of that man he had known so intimately before the new improved Dan Scott had emerged.
His thoughts had drifted to this object of weakness all day, since his chat with his father and his encounter with Karen and the boy. It was like a hammer pounding at him, until he would give in. Lifting the lid, he felt the ghosts of Dan Scott's past fill the room. Emotions that had been left behind, dreams and desires that had been lost the day he returned to Tree Hill with a wife and child in tow. All of it locked in a tiny box.
Leafing through the elementary school pictures of 'the boy', with a smile that lit up any room, he felt a pang in his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt so deeply for the child - the boy, who had been once known as his son. As he fingered the picture of a toothy grinned boy, he felt himself slip into the oblivion of emotions that had once enveloped him - threatening to swallow him whole. His son. His beautiful boy.
Those were the words he had uttered when he saw him. During the middle of the night, he had stolen into the maternity ward, where he had his first glance at his little boy. He had never felt so amazed, so full until he had seen him.
No. Closing his eyes, he fought to gain control - knowing if he allowed himself to immerse himself into those self-indulgent feelings he might never come back. I cannot have him. I cannot have that life. I cannot be that man.
"I never was that man," he whispered, his body tensing. "It was just an illusion."
>>>
Lucas slipped into the kitchen through the back door. He was just a little late arriving home than when he had told his mother. He was hoping she wouldn't notice.
"Sneaking in?"
His head shot up at the unfamiliar voice and was met by two dark brooding eyes. "What are you doing here?" It was the only question that came to mind.
"I just thought I might introduce myself," the older man said, moving forward while extending his hand. "The name's Royal. And I'm your grandfather."