Disclaimer: I don't anyone. I wish I owned Dan, just because he needs just a little redemption.
Title: Things Unspoken
Author: Jayta
Rating: PG18 - may contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
A/N: I see pink elephants! Pinkz I tellz ya:cough: Um, yeah. You can't have these pills. They are mine. All MINE! Muwahahahaha!

Chapter Eight: Haunted

"Royal," Karen said slowly, staring into the coffee cup which she cradled in her hand. "I think we need to talk about something."

"The color?" Royal took a step back, resting his empty hand one his hip, while the one holding the roller hung at his side. "Yeah, I thought this blue was kind of feminine, but it's grown on me. Plus, you know, it's supposed to dry a darker shade."

A slight smile tugged on Karen's lips. "No, Royal," she sighed, chuckling slightly. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

Royal frowned. He didn't like the tone in the little lady's voice. It didn't sound at all like the good news variety. "All right," he drawled, turning around to face her. "What has my son done now?"

"Nothing," Karen blurted out quickly. Well, he had, but not in a direct way. Although the real threat of Dan exposing her efforts in keeping Royal in town to Lucas did seem right up Dan's ally. "I just...I just think maybe we should put on hold any further plans about me helping out with your house."

She hadn't heard anything from Lucas. For the past few days, Lucas had been crashing at Nathan and Haley's apartment, in an attempt to avoid her. She had let him get away with not asking her because she knew it had been partially her fault that the argument had occurred. Plus, he had been responsible enough to leave her a note about what was happening and why.

"Karen," he said, tramping over to the dining room table, where she sat. "Is that really necessary?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea right now, with Lucas and all."

Royal had felt something off with Karen all morning. It was like there was a cloud over her, and he hadn't been able to pry it out of her. "Is Lucas upset that you're helping me out?" he asked slightly confused. If that was the case, the boy need a talking to. Karen's kindess to an old man and friend should have been appreciated by his oldest grandchild. "Because if that's the case..."

"No!" she exclaimed, with more energy than she had intended. "Uh, no, that's not the reason."

Royal narrowed his gaze and leaned in. "Don't lie to me, Karen. You really aren't very good at it."

Suddenly she felt her face flush as she realized she hadn't fooled him on the reasons for her withdrawal of help. "W-What do you mean?" Karen asked, trying to cover. But of course doing a horribly unconvincing job of it.

"Karen, does Lucas know you're helping me?" It was the only thing that made sense. He had asked her to keep mum about his arrival, but for her to not explain how she was being generous about lending a helping hand.

"No," she coughed, diverting her gaze.

"Karen!"

"I know! I know!" she exclaimed, pushing the chair back and getting up from her seat. "I should have told him when I told him about you. But it just seemed to contradict everything I told him about you and our relationship."

"Which was what?"

"Well, pretty much nothing." Karen paced back and forth. She could see Lucas' face right now. It held disappointment and anger now, but if she were to tell him that she had kept up a real relationship with him...

"Well, Karen," Royal sighed. "I know you did this to protect him and partly because I asked you to. So I will keep my mouth shut about this." He didn't want to cause a rift between Lucas and Karen at her expense. He was surprised she was still talking to him.

'Which she wouldn't be, if you were to tell her everything,' a nagging voice chided.

"Thank you, Royal," she breathed, throwing her arms around the man. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I mean, I just don't think Lucas would understand..."

"Understand what?"

Royal and Karen spun around to see Lucas standing in the foyer.

--&--

"Understand what?" Lucas said darkly. He waited for an answer, knowing he would never get one. Or at least the truth.

"Lucas!" Karen exclaimed, unable to hide the shock and surprise from her voice or face. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd drop in on dear ole' gramps here," he retorted, eyeing the older man beside his mother. "You know, get to know him, since he decided to actually care."

"Lucas." Karen did not care for the tone. As much as she screwed things up, she had taught him better than that. Even though he was probably angry as hell, it didn't mean he could take it out on people.

"What?" He feigned ignorance. "I'm telling the truth," he said, malice lacing his words. "Unlike some of the people standing in this house."

"Don't you dare talk to your mama that way," Royal barked, hearing enough of the back talk out of this young man. "You show some respect to the woman who gave you life."

"The way you showed her respect?" Lucas retorted. "Sure. No problem."

Silence pervaded the entire house. No one moved; the tension that filled the room could have been cut with a knife.

"So you never did answer my question," Lucas commented casually. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Uh," Karen stammered, licking her lips. "I..."

"I asked her over for some advice," Royal interrupted, glancing over at Karen, who seemed displeased at his assumption. "About you."

Lucas' gaze never left his mother, whose expression was less than appreciative of Royal's reply. "Mom?" he said. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"Uh, yes." Karen felt the blood rush to her face. It wasn't a lie and it wasn't the truth. Caught in a tough position, and she reverted to Dan's tactics. "I just came over to talk to him about you."

"Right," Lucas nodded, glancing over at his grandfather, who kept glancing over at his mother. "That must be it." He shook his head. This was a load of crap. "Thanks. That's all I needed to hear." He turned around to leave.

"Lucas!" Karen moved towards her son. "Where are you going?" she asked anxiously. "I thought you came to talk to your..."

"Why would I want to talk to either of you?" He spun around and glared at them. "People who can lie to my face without blinking! Mom, I thought you taught me these morals and ethics for a reason," he spat. "But I can see you're no better than Dan."

Karen turned her head slightly, taking his accusation like a slap in the face. She knew she wasn't. Suddenly she felt on par with Dan Scott in the scumminess department.

"At least he's not a hypocrite," Lucas scoffed. "He owns up to the fact that he tells bold-faced lies. With him what you see is what you get."

"That is enough!" Royal pushed Karen behind him, stepping in front of her. "You don't know when to shut your yap do ya?" he said angrily. "Your mother has done everything for you and you're going to treat her in this way?"

Lucas raised a stunned and disbelieving brow. "You...you're gonna tell me what my mom has done for me?" He blinked several times and burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right?" he asked, frowning. "Because I know exactly what my mom's been to me." He looked over at his mom and swallowed hard. "And it's the only reason why I'm so pissed at her right now."

"Lucas..."

"You know what," he sighed, adjusting the bag on his shoulder. "Decide which 'mom' you're going to be first and then talk to me."

With that, Karen watched as Lucas walked out the door, unable to do a thing. "Why didn't I just tell him?" she hissed angrily at herself. "I should have just told him."

"Karen, you couldn't have known."

"I should have known better," she spun around, her fingers entangled in her hair, "than to do something that stupid." Karen had always taught Lucas that as mad as she could get at him for making a mistake, he should never lie to her about it. And here she was, lying to him. "I should have just told him the truth," Karen groaned, plopping back down in her chair. "Then it wouldn't have gotten so blown out of proportion."

"I can see this is a lot trickier than I thought," he sighed, dropping into the chair beside her. "But he'll forgive you, Karen. He loves you. You're his mama. He'll understand...eventually."

"Yeah," Karen groaned again. "But how long is that?"

--&--

Tired. That was what Lucas was. When he stormed out of that house, he had no idea where to go. It was like he had been hit in the guts, to be left gasping for breath. If he couldn't trust a single word out of his mother's mouth, who could he trust?

Lucas felt like his world was being turned inside out. He knew his mom wasn't as virtuous as he would sometimes like to imagine, but there were times when he thought she could do no wrong. And in the morals, ethics and love department, he had put her on a pedestal. Now everthing seemed to be crashing in on him. Where else could he turn?

"Lucas!" Haley hadn't been expecting him. "What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. "Don't tell me you're still mad at your Mom over this whole thing with Royal?"

"She lied to me again," he blurted out, plopping down on the nearest sitting space in the apartment. "I went over to talk with 'him', and there she was, just standing there."

"Oh, uh, your Mom was over at Royal's?" She tried to sound surprised, lowering her head, allowing her bangs to veil her eyes. "Did you find out why?"

"I couldn't get a straight answer out of the two of them. It was like they were two peas in a pod." His thoughts trailed back to the shocked look of horror on his mother's when she realized he had been standing there listening in on their conversation. "What makes them think I'm either too fragile to hear the truth? It's either that, or they really just think I'm too plain stupid to catch on to what's going on."

"I don't know what to say, Lucas," she sighed. Haley knew how hard this must be for him. And she hated feeling so helpless. She hated feeling that she had some part in hiding a secret from her best friend.

"Don't say anything," he growled. "There's nothing to say." Running his hands through his hair, he sighed. Lucas did not want to go home that night. It made him mad everytime he thought about confronting his mother. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Well, this is a change," Haley joked. "Lucas Scott running over to my place, instead of me, over to his." She winked at him, nudging him with one hand before falling down beside him on the couch. "Of course." She smiled and slipped her arm through his. "I'm sorry you've been tossed around by this whole mess."

"Yeah, and it is a mess," Lucas groaned, closing his eyes and resting his head on hers. "Haley, I just don't get why she lied to me all of those years. If I were being objective, which I really don't feel like being right now, I could probably understand why she kept me away from Dan's family for as long as she did; but what I don't get is why she doesn't hate him anymore? In fact, it seems like she never hated him."

"Humans are complicated people, Lucas. They have the capacity to love and hate, forgive and forget." Haley wasn't quite the expert, but there had been little things that had challenged her along the way - especially during her trying relationship with Nathan. "But you just have to remember," she sighed, squeezing his arm. "That she's your mom, Lucas. She loves you and had the best intentions. And she's human and bound to make mistakes along the way too."

Lucas slightly pulled away, just enough to glance down at Haley, who had this dreamy expression on her face. "Wow, Nathan's taught you that much, has he?" he said teasingly.

"Oh shut up," she punched him in the arm, "I am not just talking about my experience with your brother, Lucas."

"Well, I can see how he can be trying. I mean, the guy was a complete a..." Haley pinched him before he could finish his thought. "Ow!" he chuckled, rubbing his smarting tricep. "You didn't have to pinch me."

"You shouldn't say things like that around me then," she rebuked, with a satisfied grin on her lips.

"Sorry!" He laughed. Lucas loved that he could depend on Haley. He knew he could come to her for comfort, understanding, or even a smack upside the head when he needed it. Though she enjoyed giving the latter far too often.

"You should be," Haley said, sticking out her tongue.

"Oh, very grown-up."

--&--

Things had gotten out of hand. And things were spiralling periously out of control. He hadn't realized Dan was in so much trouble. His son was miserable and everyone had turned their backs on him. He had taught his sons to be fighters; never admit defeat. Except now Royal saw that Dan was taking it too far.

He would not admit his mistakes. Instead, he was brushing them off and finding new and insidious ways of explaining them away, without success - well, except to himself. He realized that his previous plan would not work. Tough love wasn't going to do it. Dan had received enough of that from him to last a lifetime. And waiting around for his son to realize the errors of his ways would be like waiting for hell to freeze over. He would have alienated everyone he loved.

Not that he hasn't done that already.

He had planned to do this without raising ghosts of the past - ones that would rip apart years of carefully placed facades. Secrets would be revealed, ones that Dan would not want exposed. But there was no other choice.

And he couldn't do this alone. Royal knew he needed help. But the question was whether anyone was left that cared enough to try.

----

Dan closed the door behind him, tugging gently on the necktie, loosening its' knot, as he threw his briefcase on the counter. It had been a long day. Very successful, but tiring.

As he looked around his beachhouse, silence filled the room. No one was home. Deb had made a concerted effort to stay away; and Nathan, well, he had made his feelings loud and clear. He was in a house all alone. Even his Dad had deserted him.

Not that it was something to be mourned over. Living with his father, as much as he loved the man, was like being tortured in new passive and internal ways. Ever since his parent's appearance two years ago, when his world happened to be Scotch taped together, Dan found himself scrambling to pull things together. But everything had fallen apart.

It was only in a weak moment - in the silence of an empty house - that he, Dan Scott, would ever admit such a thing.

Pull yourself together, man!

He hated these moments. And he grew increasingly aware of his slight penchance for weakness lately. It was like he was haunted. And Dan knew who was to blame for it, too. Dad.

"He's got to go," he breathed, walking over to the wet bar and pouring himself a drink. Weighing his options, he stared at the seductive glow of the honey carmel liquid swirling in his glass. It wasn't out of spite, though he could think of a few reasons why there should be bitterness on his account. It's for his own good.

He raised the in the air, making a silent toast to his father before consuming the hot fiery liquid in one gulp.

"Like you taught me, Dad," he said, staring into the now empty glass. "You just have to get rid of all those pulling you down. And sad to say, right now, you're one of them."

--&--

"So you're still talking to me?" Keith hesitated, before sitting down in front of Karen. He hadn't visited the cafe in ages, not because he lived in a different town, but because he thought she might possibly want it that way. Since his one-night stand with Deb, he found himself unable to look her in the eye. He had been a disappointment. He had seen it in her eyes when she had found out.

"Keith!" Karen hadn't expected to see him. Her mind had been swirling since the incident at Royal's place. "What are you doing here?" she asked distractedly. "I thought you'd be in school?"

Her eyes darted back and forth, never resting long. Keith knew what the reason was. She was disgusted with him. He had fallen in her eyes. Further down in her mind, now that she knew he had slept with Deb. "Uh," he coughed, beginning to think he had made a mistake in coming. "I took the day off. Dad called about something urgent."

Karen frowned. "What did he say?"

She was almost afraid to ask. Lucas had been giving her the silent treatment all day. And he refused to remain in the same room with her for more than necessary - which meant the length of a quickly shoveled-down meal.

"Actually I don't know why he called," he admitted. "I went to his house and he was nowhere to be found."

"That's odd," she breathed, her chest tightening. Karen did not want to involve anymore people in this mess she had gotten herself into. Besides what could Keith have done?

She supposed he might have been able to talk Lucas down. But it was doubtful. What she had done could only be undone by telling the truth. Karen had come to that conclusion earlier that afternoon.

"Well, well," a malicious voice chuckled. "Look what the cat dragged in?"

Keith spun around to see Dan hovering over them. "Dan!"

"So what brought you back to this little quaint burb?" His eyes briefly darted to Karen before settling back upon Keith. "Like I didn't know?" he smirked. "Well, I guess old habits die hard."

"Get out Dan," she growled. There was a time and place for Dan. And she preferred that place be hell.

"Now, is that how you treat paying customers?" He threw down a fiver on the counter. "A coffee if you wouldn't mind?"

Karen gritted her teeth and swiped the money off the counter. "Bite me," she said under her breath.

Keith couldn't help but smirk at the comment. Things hadn't changed. He could not imagine how these two ever lasted long enough to have Lucas. However, as he glanced up at Dan, things had changed a lot since then. "So Dan," he sighed, relegating himself to the fact that he was related to the man. "How's business?"

"Oh great!" Dan boasted, slapping him on the back. "Business is booming. I was even thinking of expanding. You know, getting into a chain of dealerships. Say, maybe into your neck of the woods?"

"No! No. I don't think they're ready for the likes of Dan Scott," Keith coughed, forcing himself not to overreact. "No. We're just to small for your tastes."

"Well, sounds like the perfect place for Dad to have retired to."

Karen slammed the cup of coffee in front of Dan, along with his change. "Here you go, sir" she chirped, plastering a fake smile on her face. "Hope you enjoy yourself. Wouldn't want you to burn yourself."

"Keep the change," Dan winked, taking the coffee and leaving the coin.

"So what exactly is your reason for being here?" she asked irritably. "Deb's not here for you to 'charm' your way back into your house."

"Oh," the tall dark-haired nemesis said, shaking his head. "No. That ship has sailed. I mean, why chase after a woman, who ended up not being worth it?"

"Dan, watch it," Keith warned darkly.

"What?" he shrugged innocently. "The woman is as loose as the sweaters she wears."

Keith jumped up, not able to take anymore of this. Deb didn't deserve to be disparaged in this way, especially when she wasn't around to defend herself. She was a saint compared to him.

"Keith!" Karen exclaimed, reaching over the counter and grabbing hold of his bicep. "Don't do it!"

Dan had the widest grin plastered on his face, as he leaned back, just out of Keith's reach.

"You know, you really have reached new lows," Keith spat, shaking his head. "I thought maybe Mom's passing might soften you. I thought maybe it had. I mean, you forgave me and all. But you really still are an a..."

"What's going on here?" Royal growled.

"Nothing," Karen said calmly, staring at Keith. He didn't seem to want to back down, his muscles still tense and ready to lunge at Dan. "Right, Keith?" He met her gaze, and after a moment, he sat back down.

"Danny boy, are you stirring up trouble again?" Royal asked gruffly.

"Whatever are you talking about, Dad?"

Keith couldn't believe how easily Dan played the martyr. It was like there was an on and off switch hidden somewhere beneath the raven tuft of hair. "Where were you, Dad?" he asked distractedly, turning his gaze upon his father. "You leave a message to get my butt down here and you're not even home when I get there."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"Why did you call him, Royal?" Karen furrowed her brow, equally as curious to know the explanation.

"Yeah, ditto!" Dan chirped, grinning like a five-year old. "Why did you?"

"I didn't think you cared, Danny." His tone was terse and strained.

"Fine," Dan scoffed, shaking his head. "You know what? Shows you what you get for being a caring son."

"I think I'd die of shock if that ever happened," Keith coughed.

"Funny." He stood there, waiting for his father to explain.

But no explanation came.

"If you're going to act like children," he huffed. "Fine. I'm leaving. But mark my words, I'll find out one way or another what this is about." Without another word, Dan stormed out of the cafe.

"Okay, what's this about?" Keith blurted out, as he watched Dan hop into his black convertible.

"I need your help," Royal breathed.

"What is it, Royal?" Karen asked, a little concerned.

"I want to help Dan out of the hole he's dug himself into."

Karen and Keith glanced at each other, before turning their attentions back to the grey-haired Scott patriarch. "You're kidding, right?" they exclaimed in unison.