Crash

Author- Emily-Grace Mendes (Brookebynature)

Discalimer- I don't own any of the characters or the song. I don't even own the plot line really.

A/N- I just want to say thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I've never gotten so many reviews for one chapter before, so thankyou so much. There are a couple of responses at the bottom, but for now, please enjoy, and REVIEW like crazy lol. xxx

Crash

Lucas squinted at the time in the corner of the screen on his computer. He should have left work over two hours ago, yet he was still sat in the same chair in the same office, in the same situation that he had found himself in too many times to count. He thought back to Brooke, and how she would be pissed at him once again when he got home. She'd gotten passed the stage of being worried about why he was so late, and now when he walked in, loosening his tie as he always did as he set his briefcase on the sideboard, she would just give him an angry look as she walked up the stairs to check on Madison.

He looked at the picture on his desk. It was of him and Brooke, her with a beaming smile and him just watching her as she held their tiny daughter who was a little over a week old. They both looked so happy. Neither of them had had those smiles on their faces for so long. She wore a fake one in front of people, he could still see through that act. But then again, so did he.

Lucas sighed and turned the computer off, followed by his desk lamp. Picking up his car keys and jacket on the way out, he glanced at his surroundings once more before heading out of the door.

He slowed his BMW down to a stop as he reached the long line of traffic stuck on the highway. There was no other way home so he had no choice but to wait. He thought about calling Brooke, but decided against it, figuring Madison would probably be in bed. Truth was he had no idea what time her bed time was, but she was normally asleep when he got home.

"So what's the story to this one?" the officer asked as he stamped out his cigarette on the frozen ground.

"We don't know yet. She had no I.D on her."

"Drink-driving?"

"Don't think so"

"Officer 170 do you copy?"

The officer walked to his car, picking up the radio.

"Go ahead"

Nathan peered out of the bus window as he felt it stop. He grimaced as he looked ahead, seeing the build-up of traffic. All he wanted to do was get out of Tree Hill, but judging by the scale of the accident, it didn't seem like it was happening any time soon.

He looked at his cell and flipped it open, pausing to look at the picture on the screen. It was of him and Haley. He studied her face with his hand, remembering just how beautiful she had been that day, how beautiful she was every day. He snapped it shut quickly before any feelings and emotions could enter his head.

The day he left, she was a mess. Beginning him not to go, pleading with him that they would be better together, that they could have a good life. But that was it. They could have had a good life, but they didn't. Maybe if they'd done things differently, maybe if they'd communicated more they would be happy now. But this was his life. Running. Scared.

"We gotta seal off the area" the officer said to his partner, referring to the radio message he had just received.

"You got the tape?"

"Yeah"

He held out one end, and they officers slowly walked across the road, creating a barrier so that no cars could get through either way.

"It's gonna be a long night for these folks" one said as he looked at the huge build up of traffic either side of the highway. The other officer just nodded and contemplated lighting up another cigarette.

Lucas beeped his horn impatiently at the other cars in front of him. What the hell was taking so long?

He yanked off his seatbelt and opened the door of the car, letting in a rush of icy cold air. Stepping out onto the road, he pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he dug his hands deep into his pockets. He was angry, really angry that he couldn't get home. But when he thought about it, he'd never really wanted to go home before. Lucas only wanted to get there because it beat getting stuck in traffic at God knows what time of night. But then, did he really really want to go home? Home meant either fighting with Brooke, or her ignoring him. Usually it was both.

Still, Lucas kept walking until the sight of police lights were visible. There were cars for miles along the highway, all of them in the same situation as him, yet nobody was getting out of the other cars. He looked through windows of those he was passing, seeing mainly husbands and wives, elegantly dressed up. He knew that it was the annual Tree Hill Christmas Ball tonight at the town hall. A slight feeling of guilt washed over him when he realised that this night had been what Brooke was talking about for so long. She'd bought her dress, and told him about it so many times, yet Lucas couldn't even remember what the color of her dress was.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and kept on walking. He had no idea where he was walking to, or what he was looking for. He had no idea why the anger inside him was threatening to boil over at any point. Opening his eyes again, he walked passed another car with Christmas songs playing loudly. Lucas smiled slightly as he heard the children in the back singing along to the songs, as well as their parents who were laughing, mainly at the badness of their singing Lucas thought.

That's what he should have been doing with Brooke and Madison. Instead, he was working. Working in an office that was deserted, because everyone else was out living their lives, having fun.

"We got any information on her yet?" The officer asked, finally giving in to temptation and lighting another cigarette. His partner just shook his head.

"It makes you think doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Why things like this happen, why things work out the way they do"

"You're crazy man" the officer laughed, taking a drag of his cigarette and blowing it in his colleague's face.

"Maybe" he shrugged. "But maybe everyone else is crazy too"

Nathan pressed the play button on his mp3 player. Shutting his eyes as the sound filled his head, he wondered why it was that he was actually running. And why he couldn't face the truth.

I've been down and I'm wondering why
These little black clouds keep walking around
With me……

So maybe tomorrow
I'll find my way home……

People are interesting. Their lives are interesting, as are the thoughts they have, the choices they deliberate, the decisions they make. There are so many unanswered questions in life. But why? What's stopping us finding the answers?

If we want to know why we're scared, or why we didn't make good decisions, we need to look at out philosophy on life. We need to learn more about ourselves to be able to answer the questions. Nobody can tell you anything about yourself you don't already know. They can only remind you of what's missing.

You like?...

Laura369- Glad you enjoy the way I write, and thankyou for reviewing almost every fic I have done lol.

brucasfanatic- I think Crash is the best movie I have ever seen. The way it comes across is so powerful, and you should DEFINATELY go see it lol. Thankyou so much for the awesome reviews you have given me-they're always nice and long :) Just how I like them :)

x-Brucas-luvin-x- You LOVE it? Wow lol. That's a good response to get. I hope you keep reading and keep enjoying the story. And keep reviewing! lol

TO EVERYONE ELSE- I appreciate the reviews so much, and I'm honoured at some of the comments. I really hope you continue to enjoy this fic, because I am enjoying writing it so much.

Emily-Grace xxx