Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews and thanks to everyone who is still hanging in there with this story. I can't promise that updates will be coming faster, but I can definitely promise that this story will be finished. Keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Nine

Marvin "Mouth" McFadden planed to make a career by talking. He'd always been able to watch things unfold and find interesting things to say. Now, he had seen more than he ever had before and he had no words. It might have seemed strange to him had he been able to think about it. As he stared up at his bedroom ceiling, lying flat on his back on his bed, few thoughts penetrated his mind.

What did penetrate his mind were visions—horrible visions of visions he had seen yesterday, and the raw horror he'd felt sitting in a classroom for hours, wondering if the shooters were close, when he and his classmates would be found and by who.

He'd been in his Western Civilizations class, when everyone had heard shooting and screaming down the hall. The teacher had turned off the lights and they'd hidden underneath desks. Mouth spent two hours underneath a desk with two other students who had never talked to him before. He'd managed to keep his mind relatively clear at the time, except that he was

When the police finally came, he'd walked down the halls with the others seeing the physical remnants of what had happened. Blood and bullets riddled the walls and lockers and floors of every hallway. They were the very last students coming out alive, unless there were others still in hiding. White, blood-stained sheets covered bodies—Mouth had to force himself to look away at that, but it was engrained in his brain.

He'd spent the entire night awake, fighting it all off. Once he'd gotten out alive, the clarity he had managed somehow to keep had gone. Once he'd found out if his friends were okay and gone to the safety of his house and his parents, it became clear that nothing he'd seen that day was going to go away. He wouldn't be able to sleep if he couldn't even close his eyes, and sure enough, he'd spent the entire night just staring at the ceiling, not even noticing the time passing.

The sun had come up hours ago, Mouth knew by the way that the sun hit his bedroom window. He didn't particularly want to lie on his bed anymore but he didn't want to get up, either. He didn't want to talk to his parents or any other relatives. For the first time since Lucas had introduced him to the River Court, Mouth didn't want to go there either. He'd spent too long there yesterday waiting for Skills, Junk and Fergie, waiting for Lucas to realize he hadn't gotten out of the school okay. Mouth just didn't want to do anything, and so he continued to lay there.

When the knock on his closed bedroom door came, Mouth didn't even move. "Yeah?" he called out just loud enough to be heard, his eyes still on the ceiling.

The door opened and his dad peered through the frame. "Your aunts and uncles are coming over for breakfast."

"'Kay."

His dad entered the room, pushing the door open all the way, and stood at the foot of the bed. "Why don't we get you showered and into some fresh clothes?"

"'Kay." But Mouth didn't move until his dad had come to his side and gently pulled him up. "I can do it myself," he assured his dad. He headed into the bathroom, not sure if being up and moving was better or worse than what he'd been doing for the last several hours.

"Hey."

The first word he heard when consciousness returned came from his brother—Nathan instantly recognized his voice. The brown-haired teenager blinked at the light a few times and then turned his head to the right, in the direction of Lucas' voice.

"Hey," he returned, looking around. The hospital room he was in was large and his was the only bed. That meant he was in a private room, not ICU or the ER. Two IVs hooked into his right arm and he could see through the sheet the bulk of the bandage that was wrapped around his thigh. Then he looked back at Lucas.

The blond sat in a wheelchair wearing a hospital robe; an IV bag attached to the wheelchair with a line running into his wrist. A few stitches ran across his forehead where the bullet had grazed him. Lucas looked a bit pale and tired, and Nathan remembered his harsh coughing.

"You all right?"

Lucas looked honestly surprised by the question. "Mild concussion, a few stitches. Mild pneumonia." He shrugged. "I'll be okay."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Pneumonia? What are you doing out of bed?"

"Dude, relax. I actually just got here. They almost didn't let me out of bed, but when I heard you weren't awake yet I demanded that they let me come."

"Was I out that long?"

"Almost nineteen hours since I last saw you, and you weren't a pretty sight. This is the first you've been awake since the ambulance."

"Oh." Nathan looked away awkwardly. "This is some weird role reversal, huh?"

Lucas chuckled. "Yeah."

Neither knew what to say then. Now assured the other was okay, there didn't seem to be much else to talk about. The TV wasn't on, and no adults were around. A few minutes passed in awkward silence and then Nathan started.

"Is Haley okay?" he asked, feeling slightly panicked.

"Yeah, she's fine. Between the two of us, though, we scared her pretty good."

Nathan nodded, relief coursing through him. "What about everyone else?"

"Peyton's okay. The guys from the River Court are all okay. Most of the team's okay. Jake's missing." Lucas went quiet as Nathan's eyes widened.

"I remember seeing him lying next to me," the younger brother whispered.

"Yeah." There was a long pause. "Uh, Brooke's in ICU. She got hurt pretty bad."

Nathan just nodded, absorbing everything. He looked down at his leg. "Well, everything's different now, huh?"

Lucas automatically knew what that meant. "Hey, come on. You could come back."

"If there's anything to go back to," Nathan replied honestly. "I can't even think about it."

The blond nodded. Nathan looked at him, remembering the moment when he had told the paramedics they were brothers. He'd meant it when he said it, but he didn't know if he still meant it. He didn't even know how Lucas felt about it. After everything that had happened, could they really be brothers? Could they put all the junk behind them and forge some kind of relationship? They hadn't even been able to be civil until both of their lives ad depended on it in the school basement.

He remembered Luca pulling him off the floor and dragging him out of the school cafeteria, leaving Jake and many other injured students behind. Lucas had saved his life—Nathan had been in way too much pain to try to escape. He would have been left there to either get shot again or bleed to death if Lucas hadn't risked his life to get him out.

"Hey, Luke," he said suddenly, and the older Scott snapped his head back to the figure in the bed. "Thanks… thanks for getting me out."

"Oh, it was nothing."

"No, it wasn't. You could have gotten killed. I might have… well, I might not be here if you hadn't dragged me out of there, especially since I told you to leave me there."

"We're both okay. That's what matters," Lucas insisted with a shrug. Another long paused passed the two. "Hey, Nathan. You said something yesterday… I don't know if you remember it or not?"

Nathan didn't know if he would ever forget anything that had happened the day before. He eyed his brother warily. "What did I say?" he asked, although he had a feeling he already knew.

Lucas hesitated. "You—well… Nah, it wasn't that important. I should probably get back to my room now."

Nathan watched Lucas wheel himself around and head for the door. And as the blond went, Nathan figured he knew what Lucas had been talking about. And he decided that he did still mean it.

Haley looked sincerely happy to see her boyfriend awake, and the smile she gave him when she entered his hospital room was the first real one she'd been able to manage since the ordeal. He was still pale from the blood loss and was still connected to a heart monitor, but he was alert and moving.

She set down the flowers she'd brought him on the table at the foot of the bed and then stepped up to him. He reached out for her and she slid into his embrace, holding him tightly back. It wasn't one of his strongest hugs by far, but it was possibly the best one she'd felt.

When they pulled apart, Nathan stole a quick kiss from her and she pulled up a chair. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Leg hurts a little, but the meds are taking care of most of that. How're you?"

She bristled a little and the fake smile returned. "I'm fine."

Immediately he took her hand. "I know that's not true, Haley. None of us are 'fine.'"

Tears sprung up but Haley refused to shed them. "I'm… God, yesterday was awful. I still hear the gunshots. I thought both you and Lucas were dead. But, neither of you are. I will be okay, I promise. Don't worry about me." She squeezed his hand to try to reassure him, but she knew by his face he wasn't convinced. Luckily, he didn't press the matter.

"I brought you flowers," she said, pointing to the yellow roses on the table.

"Yeah, they're nice," Nathan replied blandly. "My mom's probably buying out the gift shop as we speak."

"I'm surprised Dan's not here."

"I haven't seen him yet," he said, also sounding surprised. "Mom said he was here all night, though." He paused briefly. "I'm surprised your parents let you out of their sight."

She rolled her eyes. "My whole family is freaking out. I told them I was coming to visit you and that's the only reason Mom let me leave."

"You have a great family, Hales."

"I wish you did, too."

Nathan shrugged. "They love me, right? At least I'm not living with them."

Haley nodded and then changed the subject, looking concerned. "Are you going to be okay living on your own when you get out of here? With your leg and everything?"

"I'll manage," he replied. "What else can I do, right?"

Haley frowned. "I guess so." She saw his eyes go past her and she turned to see Dan in the doorway. She turned back to her boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss. "I should leave you two alone." As she walked towards the door, she felt Nathan's eyes on her, so she turned to give him one last smile. His return smile was weak and she knew that they both knew that things—everything—were not fine.

No one was allowed to visit Brooke except for her parents. Peyton had been surprised to see Brooke's dad come to the hospital, but both of her parents had stuck around the waiting room the whole night. Even so, it made her angry that they were the ones who could see her for ten minutes every hour instead of her. Peyton had been Brooke's best friend since they were nine and Brooke's parents had never been around. They hadn't been there for her like Peyton had been.

She was sick of sitting in the hospital waiting room, knowing that even if Brooke pulled through, they might not ever be friends again. She'd visited Lucas, and she had dropped by Nathan's room last night. Nathan was probably awake, but they hadn't spent much time together, or even established a good friendship since their break up. And his family was probably smothering him anyway. And she didn't have Jake to turn to—he was yet another worry.

The last time she'd tried calling his parents house, she'd gotten no answer, and she figured she probably shouldn't keep calling them, reminding them that their son was missing and therefore probably dead.

After what she'd heard from Lucas she didn't really hold out hope that Jake was alive. Now that she was on the outs with Brooke and Lucas and not really friends with Nathan, Peyton felt like she had no one. Her dad was at sea and wouldn't be home for a few days. And Haley would be tied up between her family, her best friend and her boyfriend.

She didn't care if Brooke didn't forgive her right away, but she would make sure that they would be friends again. She still loved Brooke—they had been like sisters. Peyton knew she'd made a big mistake, but she would never do it again. She just wished she could see Brooke, wished that she would hear that Brooke would be okay. Then, once that happened, Peyton could try to make all the rest of it okay.

TBC