I am so sorry that it took so long for me to update! All this homework is really cutting into my writing time. But I promise to update at least two more times this weekend. I hope you like chapter 26!

Mercedes POV

I drove around for a bit when I realized I had no idea where to look for him. I decide to give him a call. I pulled my cell out of my purse and dialed his number. It rang but I got his voicemail.

"Hey Luke, it's me. Look, will you give me a call when you get this? It's important. Ok, bye."

I hung up and drove around town for about 10 minutes. I was starting to get really worried. He hadn't called me back and I didn't know what the hell was going on. I dialed his number again but like before I got his voicemail.

"Lucas will you please pick up your phone? Please call me back. I'm really worried about you."

I hung up and finally thought of a place that I could go look for him. I drove up to the Rivercourt and saw Lucas sitting at the picnic table overlooking the water. I got out of my car and walked toward him.

"Hey stranger." I said sitting down next to him.

"Hey." He said never taking his eyes off the water.

He stayed quiet for a moment before I turned myself to face him.

"What's going on Luke?"

"A lot of things."

"Luke will you please look at me and tell me what's wrong."

"What are you doing here Mercedes? It's late, shouldn't you be home safe in bed?" He said flatly.

"No need to be an ass about it Luke. I can leave right now if you don't want me here." I said getting pissed off and standing up.

"Mercedes... I'm sorry. Please don't leave." He said putting his face in his hands.

"Luke... I'm sorry. I know you're going thru a hard time right now. We were just really worried about you, you didn't answer any of my calls."

"We?"

"Your mom, Brooke, Peyton."

"Peyton?"

Before I could answer my cell rang and I looked on the caller ID to find Peyton's name there.

"Speaking of." I said before picking up. "Hey Peyton."

"Have you found him?" She asked worried.

"Yeah, I found him. He's fine. You can relax now. Do me a favor and call his mom. Tell her that I found him and that he's ok. If she needs anything to call me."

"Sure, I'll call her right now."

"Ok, thanks."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and turned my attention back to Lucas who was still staring at the beautiful sight of the moon hitting the water.

"Luke... are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" I asked gently placing my hand on his shoulder.

He didn't answer and I got up and walked in front of him. As soon as our eyes met my heart broke. It killed me to see my best friend going through so much pain. I knew he would tell me what was going on in his own time. But I just had to be there for him now. I walked to stand in between his legs and held him tight. He buried his face into my shoulder and sobbed softly. I could feel the tears welling up in my own eyes as I felt his soak through my shirt. Some time passed and his sobbed ceased. I pulled away from him and looked at his tired eyes.

"Come on, I wanna take you somewhere." I said pulling him off the table.

"Where are we going?" He asked as we neared the car.

"It's a surprise. Just... trust me." I said getting inside.

He raised an eyebrow and got into the passengers seat. We drove outside town for about ten minutes before I parked along the sandy beach. I got out of the car and he followed. I pulled a big blanket out of the trunk and looked at Lucas as he looked out on the ocean water. I walked up to him and put my hand in his. We walked along the beach together before settling on a spot by the water. There were no words needed. We both understood each other instantly. I lay down on the blanket and he followed my lead. We stared up at the ocean sky for a while before I turned on my side to face him, my head rested on my hand to hold myself up.

"You feel better?" I asked quietly, as if to not interrupt his thoughts.

"Yeah, I do. How did you find this place?"

"I found it when I drove here from LA. I kinda got lost on my way to Tree Hill and I ended up here."

"You got lost?" He asked turning his head to look at me

"Yeah."

He laughed lightly to himself to not hurt my feelings.

"Lucas... what's wrong? Is it about Peyton?"

"It's about everyone."

"Will you tell me?"

"A lot of thing are going so good in my life right now. My mom and Keith are finally together and I couldn't be happier for the two of them. Haley's career is taking off and I'm so proud of her, you know?" I shook my head and he continued. " But... The whole thing with Peyton and then Nathan. I just.. I feel like I'm losing everyone I love. I don't know how many times I called Haley the last three days and she's managed to not call me back. I miss her a lot."

"I know you do Luke. And... I know how hard this thing with Haley is. I've been in the same place she's in right now. Trust me... it's harder than hell to balance a career and your life at the same time. It takes a lot of time to get used to things. I'm sure that it's not because she didn't wanna call you back. It's just because she hasn't had time. You have to understand how hard this is for her." He looked at me and shook his head. "You and Peyton are still going to be friends right?"

"Of course, I couldn't bear to loose her completely. It's just that... us breaking up isn't what hurts me the most. I hurt someone one that I really care about to be with Peyton and just knowing that I hurt her so bad for this relationship not to work out... that's what hurts the most."

"Luke... do you have feelings for Brooke?"

"I guess... I'll always have some feeling for her but... I love her as a friend."

"When Brooke found out that you two broke up she was really upset. Not because of what happened between the three of you but because she was worried about you and Peyton. I don't think she thought of it that way."

"Maybe..." He said looking back up at the sky.

"That's not the only thing that's bothering you is it?"

"You know Nathan and I have the same dad right?"

"Yeah."

"Well... before you joined the team we had a few games and Dan would always be there."

"And...?"

"It's just that... It felt like when he looked at me he took a piece of my soul with him. I don't know... is that stupid?"

I sat up and looked down at him. He sat up and leveled his eyes to mine.

"Of course it's not stupid Lucas. It's perfectly understandable for you to feel that way."

"I just... I don't want to be like Dan in any way, shape or form, you know?"

"Lucas..." I said hugging him. "You will never be like your father, ok? Ever. You are more of a man than your father ever can be."

He shook his head as he whispered gently in my ear...

"Thank you so much Z."

He had never called me Z before and for some strange reason it felt comforting to hear him say it. I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.

"It's definitely not a problem, you know I luv ya Luke." I said smiling brightly.

"I love you too Mercedes." He said smiling back

We laid back on the blanket and once again looked up at the sky. A few moments passed and I thought of something that I needed cleared up.

"Luke..." I said turning my head to look at him.

"Yeah?" He answered doing the same

"Why did you lie to Nathan? I mean...why didn't you just tell him about Haley?"

"It wasn't my place to tell him. It's more than difficult to have your brother dating your best friend. When Haley came and told me that she was leaving Nathan to be with Chris... I knew she was making a mistake. I even told her that. But she didn't listen. She told me that things with Nathan had been going down the drain for a while now and that she needed time to find what else was out there for her. I broke my heart that she could even think about doing that to Nathan but I couldn't question her about it. She's my best friend. Best friends don't have to understand why they do things... they just have to support them. She made me promise that if Nathan ever asked that I didn't know about anything. So when he asked... I didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. It would kill him if it came from me. I couldn't explain the way that Haley was feeling when she made that decision because I honestly didn't know. That's why I couldn't tell him. I tried explaining things to him but.. He wouldn't listen."

"Nathan's stubborn that way" I chuckled uncomfortably. This whole situation was a little a little uncomfortable for me. "I know he'll get over it though. You're brothers. Family can get through anything." I said hiding my feeling and saying it confidently. "I just... I never thought that Haley could do something like that."

"Believe me... I couldn't either."

There was no need to talk more about the subject and we looked back up at the sky.

Lucas POV

The sky was beautiful, and the girl lying next to me was incredible. I looked down as my watch, 11:00. I should probably get Mercedes home before Brooke kicked my ass for keeping her out so long. I sat up and looked at Mercedes who was lying on her side away from me.

"Mercedes." I said softly. I turned her a bit and saw her fast asleep. I laughed lightly to myself and heard her phone ring. I picked it up off the blanket and looked at the caller ID. It was an out of area. I didn't want to wake her so I decided to pick it up.

"Hello?" I said picking up

"Lucas! What the hell are you doing answering my girlfriends phone!"

"Nathan!" I asked confused. What the hell was he talking about his girlfriend ?

How was it? Did you like it? I hope you did. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think! Thanks so much to Newyorkchicka and OTH-Lucus'gurl for your reviews! You're the best!