Chapter 8

He just started driving and soon found himself at the church. He couldn't remember the last time he had been inside the church; it must have been six years ago when Kelly had died. He parked his car and started towards the church. He didn't know what he was doing, but he couldn't stop himself. When he got in the church he felt a little better, but he didn't know why. He walked to the front of the church and sat down in the first pew. He didn't know why or even when he started crying, but he found himself wiping his eyes. All of a sudden he felt a hand touching his shoulder, which made him jump. He looked up and saw Father Opitz standing next to him.

"Lucas, what brings you here?" Father Opitz asked.

"Um, I don't know actually. I was driving home after taking my girlfriend home and somehow I just ended up here." He knew that Father Opitz knew who he was because his mother had made him come to church when he was younger, but after Abby's mom died he refused to go to church because he couldn't understand why God would take away his best friend and her mom. He also knew that Father Optiz knew Jamie because she had been going to mass every Sunday since she got there.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Um…" Lucas knew that he had to talk to someone, but he had promised Jamie. "Yea, I do need to talk to someone, but I promised this friend that I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Well Lucas, you are a bright young man and I know that you will do the right thing. Is something wrong with this friend?" Lucas didn't know what to say.

"Father, what if you made a friend promise something very important and then you found out that your friend told someone. Would you be mad at that friend?"

"Well, I suppose it depends on what it is that I made them promise."

"I can't keep this anymore. Okay, so I have this friend and her dad is a real jerk. Well, one night I was over at her house and I saw him hit her. Her dad didn't see me, but she made me promise that I wouldn't tell anybody. She said that it wasn't the first time that it had happened, but that she deserved it and she had egged him on. I didn't know what to do, so I just promised her that I wouldn't say anything." After he had finished his little rant he looked up at Father Optiz's face. Father Optiz had just been listening with a look of bewilderment.

"Who is this friend Lucas?"

"I can't tell you that. I have told you what I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Please, it is killing me right now to think of her father hitting her. But she says that no one will believe her if she tells people."

"Well, I believe what you are telling me and I am going to tell you to go to the police. Lucas, you care about this girl and you don't want to see her get hurt. Am I right?" Lucas shook his head. "Well, then I suggest that you go and help her. You both might be thinking that it is helping her if you don't tell, but I believe that it will just get worse."

"But Father, if I tell and people believe me, then she will get taken away from here. I can't lose her. I cannot lose another person in my life. I have lost enough already." Father Optiz knew what he was talking about. He remembered Kelly and Abby and loved them both.

"Lucas, you might lose her if you don't tell anyone also. If you tell someone and she leaves Tree Hill at least she will still be alive and you will be able to talk and see her again. It is kind of hard to see someone when they are dead. You are a smart kid, I know that you will do the right thing, but I am leaving it up to you. Make the right choice Lucas." With that, Father Optiz left Lucas to consider what he had just said. Lucas stayed at the church for another couple hours trying to figure out what to do, but he still hadn't come up with any answer. He was in a strong daze when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He forgot that he had his phone on, but he was glad that he had it on vibrate. He walked out the church and picked up his phone.

"Lucas Eugene Scott! Where are you? You told me that you would be home for supper!" His mom's voice rang through the phone. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already eleven.

"Mom, I'm so…"

"Lucas, I don't want to hear it right now. You get your sorry ass back home. We will talk when you get back." She knew that her little outburst may make him stay away, but she figured she would try.

"Okay, I'm sorry mom. I'll be home in a couple minutes." As he drove home he couldn't help but notice how much his mom cared about him. He wasn't even upset at her for yelling at him to come home. He knew that as soon as he opened the door he was going to get it from his mom.

"Lucas Scott, I thought I told you to be…" she couldn't finish her sentence because Lucas walked over and gave her a hug. "What was that for? I was yelling at you and you give me a hug." Karen was very bewildered by her son's actions.

"Mom, I'm really sorry about not being home. I was at the garage and Jamie's dad wanted to talk to me. And because of that conversation with him I needed to talk to Jamie about us."

"What did her father say?"

"He told me that he didn't want me to see Jamie because I am a distraction."

"You didn't break up with Jamie did you?"

"No, but I wanted to tell her what her dad had said. She figured that we would get through this. So I dropped her off at home and then I just had a lot of different things on my mind. I just drove around and pretty soon I wound up at church. I know you probably don't believe me, but it's true. You can even ask Father Optiz; I talked to him for a little while. I just needed to clear my head and figure out some things."

"Well, did you figure things out?" Lucas shrugged his shoulders and let Karen continue. "You know you could have called me to tell me."

"I know, and I am sorry. Am I grounded?"

"Lucas, I know you didn't do anything wrong, but I need to know that the next time you say you are going to be home you have to be home. So, yes, I am going to ground you for two days."

"I can live with that. I am sorry that I didn't come home or call. I'll be in my room for the next two days. Oh, and I hugged you because I wanted to thank you for caring enough to ground me." He walked to his room and shut the door. He then remembered what he had told Jamie. He forgot that he had promised to find a place for Brooke to stay. He picked up his cell phone and started dialing Jamie's number. He prayed that her dad wouldn't pick up the phone, but he didn't have to worry to long because his mom came in and grabbed his cell phone.

"I told you that you were grounded and then I realized that you still had your cell phone. And you can't be grounded with a cell phone, so you will get it back in two days."

"Mom, that is so not fair. I have to talk to Jamie about…"

"Lucas, you are grounded and that has always meant no phone, television, or computer, just school, homework, and chores." She knew that she was being a little hard on him, but this wasn't the first time that he had forgotten to call when he wasn't going to be home when he was supposed to. He knew the rules and he also knew what the consequences for breaking them were. "Now, I think that you better get some sleep because you have to wake up bright and early to help me with the café tomorrow." Lucas just turned around and headed for the bathroom. He knew that he wasn't supposed to use the phone when he was grounded, but it was for an important talk.