Chapter 5: Waiting Game

Deb straightened herself up before entering the study. She didn't want Dan to know how hard she had been crying. Dan was worried too, but he wouldn't let himself show it. That was a sign of weakness. He made himself feel better by remembering the good times, scanning all the photographs and trophies from Nathan's (and his) basketball pedigree. He was doing just that for about the hundredth time that evening when Deb entered. He looked up at her. Had she been crying? I thought my wife was stronger than that.

Deb spoke quickly so as not to betray her true state of mind. "That was Lucas on the phone. Nathan's okay."

Dan felt relieved, though he was slightly pissed that the son he hadn't wanted knew more about the son he did want that he himself did. If he found irony funny, he might have laughed at this. "That's good news. Can we go pick him up? He needs to rest, so he can be ready for next week."

Deb swallowed loudly. "I don't know where he is. And do we really -- "

"You don't know? Great, Deb. You can't manage to wrangle Nathan's location from a teenage boy? Next time let me handle it." Dan's tone was borderline menacing.

"He's not just your son. I am just as worried and confused as you are." Deb bristled a bit at her husband's impertinence, crossing her arms in front of her body defensively.

"Well, you are wrong about one thing. I am not confused at all. Nathan needs both of us to be united in our focus on him and his future. Not confused."

"Don't you think we should worry a little less about the future and a little more about the present? Our son is clearly hurting, Dan." Deb didn't relish the idea of pushing this issue with her husband, but didn't he recognize how unhappy their son was?

"He just made one little mistake. He's a good kid. He'll be alright." Dan made a small, dismissive hand gesture.

"I don't know how we can talk about this. You are like talking to a brick wall. Can't you see past his accomplishments on the basketball court to the type of person he's becoming?"

"How does that matter if his future is secure? He has a real shot -- "

"At becoming a jackass, like his father." Deb left the room crying even harder than before and not even trying to hide it. What had become of her family?

x x x x

Haley felt terrible. She had nearly forced Lucas to talk to Nathan. I should have known that it wouldn't go well. It was too soon. And now Lucas was gone, with some kind of major crisis going on in his life, and nothing could be done. Nathan was upstairs in her room, but she couldn't go in there right now. She was furious at him. Actually, just very disappointed, she admitted to herself. A tear trickled down her cheek as she stared at the ceiling of her living room. I care about Nathan but I can't stand being caught between him and Lucas too much longer. Maybe this is too complicated. Lucas and I can just return to normal and forget everything that has happened recently. Memories of the not-too-distant past swirled in her head for a few hours before she succumbed to exhaustion, falling asleep on the couch.

x x x x

Nathan knew he had screwed up. With Peyton he could call her up right away, apologize, and all would be back to normal. Of course, Peyton had told him that normal sucked with them. So maybe that wasn't the approach of choice. He also had a feeling in his gut that his relationship with Haley was very different. And very complicated. Despite all his experience with girls, he had no experience with this kind of girl. For the first time in my life, I honestly don't know what to do. As he struggled with that uncertainty, the old impulse to just go and correct his mistakes (i.e. apologize) nearly took over. But some unseen force stopped him. He lay in Haley's bedroom, confused and weak, and experienced the pain of loneliness in a very significant way for the first time. Eventually, the physical ordeal he had undergone overwhelmed the mental and emotional gymnastics going on in his head and he fell into a restless slumber.

x x x x

Keith found that he had been sitting in the living room, staring aimlessly at the various wall hangings, for a lot longer than he had intended. An empty tumbler sat next to him, the shot of whiskey long since consumed, leaving the leftover ice to melt into a slick film which covered the bottom. Lucas should have been home by now ... I can't imagine visiting Nathan would go on all this time. Civility between the two brothers was something a of a new trend. So new that it wasn't really a trend yet.

Never a man of inaction, Keith decided to go try and find his wayward nephew. But where should I search? He reasoned that Lucas' absence more than likely had to do with Brooke, since earlier he had observed her to be in a state of distress. If Lucas wasn't actually talking to anyone about this, he was off somewhere thinking about it. And where better for Luke to think than the ol' River Court? With his destination firmly in mind, Keith headed out the door.

-Note: Chapter title from a song of the same name by Yellowcard.