Disclaimer: all rights to OTH/Songs/ or mentions to any other shows, movies, songs, and or etc. go to their rightful owners. I only take credit for the storylines.
Triggers: don't continue this chapter if you have any triggers that have been previously mentioned in any other chapters. Masturbation, sex, drinking, and etc.
I walk these streets
A loaded six-string on my back
I play for keeps 'cause I might not make it back
I been everywhere, still, I'm standing tall
I've seen a million faces
And I've rocked them all
"Bad news," Doctor Coleson said as he stepped into the room where Jamie laid out on a bed with his girlfriend in the chair next to him. "You do in fact have a penile fracture".
"This is a nightmare," Jamie said as his head crashes back into the pillow looking up at the ceiling, plotting his friend's death.
"Unfortunately, this nightmare won't just go away on its own" Doctor Coleson told him. "We need to get you into surgery as soon as we can to prevent permeant damage".
"Permeant damage"? Jamie yelled, shooting up in the bed like a jack-in-the-box, forgetting briefly just how sore he was from the waist down but was quickly reminded. "Ouch. Damn it" he said as Madison aided him laying back down.
"Should he be in this much pain"? Madison asked the doctor.
"We have given him something for the pain but it's not just his penis—".
"Oh, my god" Jamie said covering his face at the risk he was turning red from the humiliation.
"It's the area around it as well" the Doctor finished saying, ignoring Jamie's dramatic comment. "He is actually very lucky that he didn't fracture his hip bone or even shatter it completely. You're quite lucky".
"You call this luck"? Jamie snapped pulling his hands away from his face. "Instead of losing my virginity—like we were doing I get trampled on by a freaking horse and it breaks my—".
"Penis"?
"Not the word I was going to use," Jamie said crossing his arm.
"A nurse will be in here shortly to prep you for surgery, I'll see you down there".
The doctor walked out of the room and the two were quiet for a few passing seconds. Mostly due to Jamie's child-like pouting. Not that Madison blamed him.
"So, much for our weekend," Jamie said. "I swear when I get my hands on Chuck he is going to be eating out of a feeding tube for weeks".
Madison sat down on the edge of her boyfriend's bed, looking down at him she said: "don't worry about Chuck".
"I swear this is unbelievable".
Madison leaned down and kissed Jamie on the lips, in the hope to take his mind off of his current predicament. It worked, for a brief second. He ran his hand up to the side of her face, cupping her cheek as he kissed her.
"I'll be right here when you get out" Madison promised him.
"You mean when I do my walk of shame"?
"Stop it," Madison told him. "I'm not laughing at you, no one has".
"I know—it's just so embarrassing. I'm still a Virgin and I have a broken penis. How is this possible"?
"Because, a horse jumped on you—now stop".
Jamie looked over at the door, making sure no one was standing there before turning back to Madison and he said "you looked so damn sexy. That's why I'm so upset, you would be too if your girlfriend was as hot as mine".
Madison laughed "I don't know my boyfriend is pretty damn fine".
Jamie smiled before pulling Madison back down to kiss her once again. "I love you".
"I love you, too".
"Aww teenaged love" the two heard as before looking over to see two nurses standing in the doorway. "Hope you don't mind, I'm going to have to take him down".
Madison smiled before kissing him again and standing up.
"I'm officially in hell," Jamie said as he laid back.
Brooke slowly opened her eyes, and for a split second, she forgot where she was or why she was here. Then it all came rushing back to her as she saw Haley asleep stretched out on the couch in the corner and Peyton asleep inside one of the many booths that were about to be installed. Brooke, however, found herself asleep on top of the bar, clutching a tequila bottle—just like her kids did with their stuffed animal.
"Oh," she said dropping the bottle, hearing it hit the floor with a loud crash, but didn't hear it break.
Out of habit she went to stretch, reaching her hands above her head and rolled onto her back but forgetting that she had been sleeping on limited space, and found herself falling—and like the bottle, she landed with a loud crash.
"Oh, my god".
"Brooke, are you okay"?
The second time when Brooke opened her eyes she saw Haley and Peyton both hovering over her. She assumed the loud thud her body made when it hit the floor woke the two.
"I really hope you two angle your selfies from up top," Brooke said, her voice slightly hoarse.
Haley and Peyton each couldn't help but smile as they helped their friend to her feet, but found that she was still a little unsteady. Brooke found her way to a seat, with the aid of her two friends, and sat down as she rubbed her head.
"Let me find you some Tylenol" Peyton said as she went to walk away.
"How are you feeling"? Haley asked Brooke.
"Where are my pants"? Brooke asked, slowly. "Why am I not wearing any pants? Why are they called pants"?
Haley chuckled, "they are over there—you turned the old jukebox on last night and gave us quite the show".
"And to answer your last question" Peyton said walking over with a water bottle and a small pull. "They originally were called Pantaloon—trust me that's all you want to know".
Brooke took the pill, tossed it in her mouth, and washed it down with a large gulp of water.
"I'm starving," Haley said. "There has to be food around here somewhere".
"It's a bar," Brooke said. "The food is in the bottles".
Haley laughed at Brooke, who still sat in a daze—clutching her water bottle.
"I'll help you look for food," Peyton told Haley.
The two walked away as Haley said: "a bar serves peanuts—so where would Chase keep the peanuts"?
Peyton and Haley wondered through a door to find themselves standing in a large freezer.
"Jackpot" Haley squealed.
"Do you see nuts"? Peyton asked rubbing her stomach.
"Better" Haley said jerking a large tub out. "Ice cream".
"I'll find some spoons".
Nathan searched and searched for his brother, high and low—he looked from one end of the facility to the other. If he didn't have the keys he would have been certain that Lucas had left, but wherever he was—his brother had found the best damn hiding spot in North Carolina.
He had almost given up hope, it wasn't until he heard a loud shake that there was a light at the end of this particular dark tunnel. Nathan followed the noise to find Lucas shaking a snack machine, followed by a swift kick.
"I know this is hard—but that vending machine didn't do anything to you," Nathan said, gaining his brother's attention.
"It took my money," Lucas said.
Nathan glanced at the machine before reaching into his pocket, pulling a dime out, and sliding it into the machine. "You were ten cents short," he said as he watched Lucas' candy bar drop down.
"Oh," Lucas said. "Thanks".
Nathan watched as Lucas tore into his candy bar and devour it with two large bites.
"Do you want to talk about it"?
"No," Lucas said as he plopped down on the chair. "I mean—what's there to talk about? Keith is alive, sort of. He has been in a coma for seventeen years. What is there to talk about, Nate? My mom—being with Keith was all she wanted. He was alive this entire time, he has missed Lily's whole life. How did this happen"?
"That's what Doctor Eagleston wanted to speak with us about," Nathan said. "That among other things".
"What other things"?
"She didn't say," Nathan told him. "I told her I would come to find you".
Lucas rubbed his hand over his face as if that was going to melt his problems away—but he knew that it wouldn't. Instead of sulking, like he would like to do he stood up and followed his brother.
The two made their way to an office before stepping inside.
"I know this is a lot to digest," Doctor Eagleston said, greeting the two. "Please sit down and we will get started".
"How did this happen"? Lucas asked, almost immediately.
"We will get to that—but we have a more important item first," she said.
"Okay," Nathan and Lucas both said, nervously.
"Keith's condition, it's not a permanent one," she told them. "It can be fixed with surgery—and he could wake up and live out the rest of his life as a normal healthy middle-aged man. He is only in his early fifties".
"Then why has no one done this surgery"?
"Because he has been a John Doe" she explained. "We do life-threatening surgeries—such as if had a heart attack or something along the lines of that, or if someone is sixteen and over they can speak for themselves if an adult is not present but he hasn't been able to sign for this surgery. I just looked up his information, he left his power of attorney if something were to happen as Dan, your father".
"That could have been a grave mistake," Nathan said.
"Well, with the passing of Dan, that leaves you two as the next in line as his only two living children".
"That we know of".
"So, it's actually up to you two if you would like to move forward with the surgery".
Nathan and Lucas looked at one another, both worried.
"Can you go into further detail before we make a decision"? Nathan asked.
"Of course".
Haley laid the large blanket over Brooke, before walking over to the booth Peyton say in—eating peanuts and sat across from her.
Haley said, "she just needs some rest, I haven't seen her like that since her bachelorette party".
"I missed that," Peyton told her. "From the sounds of it, it was fun".
"I couldn't be sure myself, I cut off halfway. I was pregnant with Lydia"
"Oh, that's right".
The two sat quietly, awkwardly—eating, sharing glances every once in a while.
"I once asked Lucas when all his dreams came true who did he want standing next to him—he answered, without hesitation—Brooke," Peyton said before taking a sip out of the beer in front of her. "A few months later I told him how I felt about him, he answered 'oh," she said chuckling lightly as she vaguely recalled the memory. "Not long after that—he changed his answer to me. He wanted me standing next to him when all his dreams came true, it took him weeks to make that decision, and even then I didn't believe him. I wanted to believe him, I wanted him to want me—but all along I knew it was Brooke that he wanted".
"Peyton" Haley said reaching across the table taking her hand. "That was in high school, Lucas loves you".
"I know he does, I'm not denying that but—Brooke has always been the one he wanted to be with me. Not me" she told Haley. "We didn't have sex for five months after Brooke arrived to go with ya, I assumed it was just a dry spell. I thought every couple goes through it, once or twice. But, one night Brooke took all the kids and let us have a night to ourselves".
"That was nice of her," Haley said, shrugging.
"It was—it was the first time in months we had sex, and at the end—he called me Brooke. I don't even think he realized that he did it, and I didn't ask. I thought maybe he had too much to drink, but the next morning when I come downstairs in the cabin we were renting he was chasing Brooke and the kids. I felt like the odd man out" Peyton told her. "They were always together, drinking buddies—staying up watching tv and I always felt on the outside".
"He would never cheat on you".
"Oh, I know that" Peyton assured her. "But, he will never love me the way he loves her, even after all these years she is still the one. It's no excuse for what I did, it never will be but maybe now you'll understand why I did it".
"Have you talked to him about Brooke—since"? Haley asked.
"Yeah," Peyton told her nodding. "He can never give me a yes or no answer, and after I cheated on him now he always brings that up so I quit asking".
Ever since Haley heard about what Peyton did she didn't sympathize with her, she went straight from love to hate, but Haley felt sorry for her. As she thought back on it, she could see just what Peyton saw. It wasn't hard to miss, the way Lucas looked at Brooke—and maybe it was all innocent but anyone on the outside wouldn't perceive it that way.
Peyton didn't.
Now, neither did Haley.
Lily stepped out of her tent standing up straight, stretching the aches from sleeping on the ground off of her body. The fire had gone out at some point over the night, but Chuck sat on one of the logs—alone.
Lily assumed Andre was still asleep in one the tents she saw or walking. She knew he couldn't have gone too far, Madison and Jamie took the only vehicle.
"Good morning," Lily said, as she slowly approached Chuck, and sat down next to him.
"Don't know much good about it—but right back at you?" he said as he tossed a rock into the pile of ash in front of him.
"Is this about last night"?
"I guess," he said shrugging.
Lily looked at the boy next to her, he was tall and thin, his blonde hair hovered just above his eyes—something that would have been annoying to her but he didn't seem to mind. It was the first time he wasn't wearing a big goofy smile like he always was anytime she had been around him.
"It's a bone," Lily said laying her hand on his back. "He will be fine. Jamie is the overdramatic type anyways, he will be alright".
"It's more than that," he told her, honestly. "I mean I feel bad about that, but Jamie and I we fight—and then we make up. It's sad to say but we are like an old married couple" Chuck said. "I got into it with my mom yesterday".
"Oh," Lily said. "Everyone else did mention that you were acting a bit—off".
"Yeah," he said, sniffling—though he had been crying but Lily couldn't get a good enough look at his face to confirm whether he had or not. "Have you ever heard of the big brother program"?
"Yeah," Lily said, though once she said it, she wasn't entirely sure. "I think".
"They give kids a mentor—my mom at the time was an alcoholic and my dad—well he wasn't in the picture. That has yet to change. I got my first mentor—my only one. Chase, he owns Tric" Chuck told her. "For years and years, he was the only parent I had. When my dad was around he beat on me and when he wasn't my mom damn near drank herself into a coma. Chase, he was all I had, one day he came over to my house and I heard him and mom get into it. They were arguing so loudly I was sure the neighbors were going to file a complaint charge".
"What over"?
"After my dad left my mom began drinking, more than she ever had. He gave her two options—he said either he could take me and she could go to rehab or he was calling child services, he told her he would much rather me be in foster care than be raised the way she was. The next day my mom signed her rights of me over to him and she left for—six months. Rehab" he told Lily. "Even when she got back I didn't move back in for six more months, just in case she fell off the wagon".
"Did she"? Lily asked, unknowingly rubbing his forearm.
"No, she has been clean for three years" he boasted proudly. "Chase, he still has rights to me, just in case. Moms idea, actually. But, yesterday before I left—I walked in on them in bed together. She has never, never been able to keep a man. I was so mad, I just started drinking. Which as much as I used to get on to my mom for it, was the dumbest thing I could have done".
"If you don't mind me asking—why exactly were you mad"?
"Clean or not, she just has problems with relationships" he answered her, easily.
Chuck didn't want to admit it, but he did, in fact, know the reason he was so upset with his mother.
"She drives everyone away, and I just don't want that to happen," Chuck told her.
"But, how do you know that's going to happen"? Lily asked. "He cared about you and your mom long before all this happened, no man just storms in someone else's home and makes ultimatums as he did with her. That wasn't just about you, I'm sure you played a large part in it—of course. He might genuinely care about your mom, too".
Chuck looked up for the first time and became painfully aware of just how close he was to Jamie's cousin, and the fact that she had her hand on his arm.
The two looked at one another before sharing a small kiss.
"I just got off the phone with the chief of surgery at New Brunswick Regional Medical Center," Nathan told Lucas as he sat down next to him on a bench outside of the facility. "He seemed pretty confident that the head of Neurosurgery could perform the surgery, he is giving him the scans and everything—if all goes as planned Keith should be headed to Tree Hill first thing Monday morning".
"He was shot in the heart—the chest," Lucas said as he looked directly in front of him, his eyes fixated on something as he spoke although Nathan couldn't be entirely sure as to what. "How does he need brain surgery"?
"She explained it to us, several times," Nathan told his brother. "He had surgery and there were a few complications—".
"I know, I just can't believe any of this is happening—I didn't even know that heart surgery could be linked to the brain. He is going to wake up with mom dead and the father to a sixteen-year-old girl. How is he even going to process that"?
"He will have us," Nathan said. "We are his family. It's not going to be easy, but when he wakes up we will manage".
"If".
"When," Nathan told him sternly. "If this doctor doesn't check out I will find the best one there is in this whole damn world, Keith is alive and I'm going to keep it that way".
"But, how"? Lucas asked sitting back. "It makes no sense—Dan wouldn't have turned himself in if he thought Keith was still alive".
"No, he wouldn't but we are going to find out, I promise," Nathan told him.
Nathan didn't make promises to often, so the ones he did make he kept. That was something his brother knew in fact—but for some reason had a hard time leaving his faith in anyone when it came to this matter.
"Have you heard from Brooke"? Nathan asked, worriedly changing the topic. "I talked to Quinn earlier, Davis had a small allergic reaction—he is fine but she was trying to let Brooke know but hasn't been able to reach her. Or Haley. And I'm having a hard time getting a hold of Haley myself. It goes straight to voicemail".
"That's odd—Brooke's phone does, too," Lucas said before dialing another number. "Peyton's is doing the same thing—do you think they are okay"?
"It's not like Haley to not check in—with at least Lydia. Quinn won't be back until tomorrow night with the kids, Jamie isn't home—".
"Should we head back"?
Nathan wanted to say yes, but he knew where his brother needed to be right now. He needed to be with Keith, and Nathan needed to be with his brother.
"My bet is one or more of them is drunk" Nathan said shrugging. "Kids free weekend and all".
"It says Brooke is at Tric".
"What are you looking at"?
"The GPS on her car" Lucas said nonchalantly.
"Wait—you called Brooke first and you have her GPS on your phone".
"Oh, don't start with that" Lucas said rolling his eyes as he stood up.
"Why didn't you just check Peyton's GPS".
"I—erm—I don't have hers".
Lucas knew where this conversation could very easily go, but despite how badly Lucas tried to avoid things to do with uncle all day he decided he would much rather face those things than this topic. Probably because he wouldn't like the answer his brain had already come up with.
"Alright," Lucas said turning to walk towards the hospital. "I'm going to go and see if the doctor knows how Keith came back from the dead".
"Technically he didn't come back from the dead" Nathan said as he walked quickly to keep up with his brother.
"Well, he sure as hell was gone".
"He sure as hell was".
"Nate"?
"Yeah".
"I really want to know what happened, before I know anything else I need to know what really happened to Keith that day. I —just have to know".
"Then let's go see if we can find out".
Jamie had a little sister, of course, he had met with the writhing pain of being punched between the legs one too many times. Although nothing—and he meant nothing compared to the pain that was coursing through the area directly below his waist, he didn't care what the doctor said there was no way it was normal. He was having to lean on his girlfriend to walk, it was without a doubt the most humiliating thing he had ever endured.
"We are almost there," Madison said as she and Jamie approached his parent's house.
As the two stood in front of the door Madison reached out to turn the doorknob but found it locked.
"That's weird," Jamie said. "Moms car is here".
"Do you think she locked it before she went to bed"?
Jamie shook his head "she wouldn't be in bed, it's just past eight. The sun isn't even down".
"The doctors said they couldn't get a hold of her either, that's why they let you discharge yourself".
Jamie, confused, reached into his pocket and handed his girlfriend his set of keys. "My house key is the third one over," he said as she took them.
Madison unlocked the door and helped Jamie up the stairs and into his room, because as painful as the walk was—there was absolutely no way he was laying on display for the whole family on the couch. Once in his bedroom, Madison slowly helped him sit on the bed.
"Thanks, baby," he told her as she sat his keys down on the nightstand.
Madison found Jamie some clothes before walking back over and sitting them next to him.
"You need to get out of those clothes," she said.
Madison reached to the end of Jamie's shirt and tugging it up over his head. It was when she looked down at his pants that she hesitated, but eventually ran her fingers down his black and blue abdomen, from the massive bruising, and unbuttoned his jeans before discarding them to the side after helping her boyfriend remove them.
"God," Madison said as she looked at the bruising on his waist. "That looks so bad".
"Well, if it helps—I'm sure it feels just as bad as it looks," he said wrapping both of his arms around her waist.
"Jamie".
"Hmm"?
"You heard the doctor—no vigorous sexual activities for six to eight weeks".
"That's fine," he told her laying back on his bed. "I can't feel it anyways".
Madison couldn't help but laugh as she sat down next to him on the bed.
"Why did you freak out at the campsite"? Madison asked,
"Well, if you can't tell I had a little injury," he said sarcastically.
"No," she said. "When I tried to look at—it".
Jamie opened his eyes to find Madison looking at him, though she wasn't looking at his face.
"It's because I have never seen you naked isn't it"? She asked though he didn't need to answer her out loud—she knew.
"I just don't think that the first time you see—that particular area of my body it needs to be black and blue—and bleeding".
"Maybe—this weekend was a bad idea".
Jamie felt his heart drop to his stomach at her words. "I thought you might want to back out," he said, his voice low in disappointment.
"No, no," she said quickly. "You have the wrong impression, I just meant—do you remember when Andre and Chuck had sex for the first time they both said something similar".
"What's that"? Jamie asked. "They both went into great detail, knowing I was still Virgin it was their way of teasing".
"That it was awkward, seeing a girl naked for the first time—I don't want our first time to be awkward," Madison said. "Because, there will be a difference between our first time and theirs, we will see each other again".
"Everyday for the rest of our lives".
"So, I'm thinking that maybe—we shouldn't just jump into bed together. We should—take it slow".
"What do you mean"?
"Well, you're not able to have sex for a while so during this time we can warm up to certain things".
"Like what"?
"Like, no more limits when we kiss—when you're healed enough to really kiss. We can work our way up to sex. I want to have sex with you, I was going to go through with it Jamie. But, I was nervous about you seeing me naked for the first time—just like you were nervous about me seeing you—I'm simply suggesting that by the time we have sex we can have that part behind us".
Jamie, who was still confused, although he was still groggy from the anesthesia—simply nodded.
"You're not seeing anything below my waist right now," Jamie said pointing. "It seriously looks like the eggplant emoji everyone uses when they talk about it, and that's not cute—for anyone".
Madison laughed as she laid down next to her boyfriend. "I didn't mean now," she told him. "You're sore—".
"My hips are killing me," Jamie told her. "They hurt worse than anything".
"Let's get you dressed and then you need some rest".
"I need a shower. I need food—something that you wouldn't find in the eat less category of the food pyramid" Haley said as she walked around Tric. "It's almost ten—I need my bed I don't want to sleep on some stuffy old bar couch, I need my phone—I need to check on Lydia. I need to feed the dog, I need to do the laundry—".
"You're to do list makes me tired," Brooke said as she continued to play checkers with Peyton.
"Jamie will be home first thing in the morning and I have always cooked him a big breakfast after his camping trip—".
"Honestly, if you're not there when he gets home I really don't think he will mind," Brooke said before she laughed.
Haley turned and glared at her friend, although it was a look that tended to get her husband or kids to change their attitude—it had no effect. In fact, it only made her laugh more.
"Okay," Peyton said looking back and forth between the two. "What am I missing"?
"Nothing," Haley said immediately, as her face flushed red.
"Haley walked in on Jamie taking the sausage hostage," Brooke said turning to Peyton.
And Brooke wasn't the only one laughing anymore, Peyton found herself laughing just as hard.
"It's not funny," Haley said, although she was laughing with the two.
It was a moment that she never wanted to relive, a moment that would be burned into her brain forever but it was without a doubt hilarious. It would only ever happen to her, of course, it would happen to her.
Haley walked over and joined the two, sitting the booth with them.
"You have two boys—that will one day be teenagers," Haley told Brooke.
"But, that's why you knock".
"So, thankful for my sweet little girl," Peyton said with a grin.
"Oh, come on," Brooke said. "She is still a Scott, you'll go through this as much as we will".
"I'm putting a deadbolt on Jamie's door—I don't care. I mean I saw—it. Do you know how traumatic that is for a mother"?
"They say that when boys go through puberty—they take after their father's in that area, is it true"? Brooke asked smiling as she looked at Haley.
Brooke's comment didn't register with Haley, at first. She found it to be an odd change of topic, but when it hit her, it fell like a ton of bricks.
"Oh, my god. Eww. Brooke"! Haley said covering her hands with her face. "You literally just ruined my sex life, I'm never going to be able to have sex with Nathan again after that".
"Good," Brooke said shrugging. "Maybe now the rest of the house can get some sleep. But, I say that answers my question".
"And ruined having a decent conversation with my son ever again".
"Brooke" Peyton said shaking her head. "Why would you even say that? Now, we all know what Jamie looks like naked—none of us needed that".
"Why has everyone at this table seen my husband naked"? Haley asked although she laughed.
"Two-thirds have seen my husband," Peyton told her.
"Just as many have seen my husband," Brooke said, but her smile quickly dropped. "Saw. We saw him".
Although the three had been laughing for quite some time—the laughter slowly died out when Brooke realized that anytime she spoke about Julian she had to use his name in the past tense. He no longer existed, he was no longer here with her and their boys.
Peyton and Haley watched as Brooke—their best friend, the life of the party—broke down. They watched as her heart physically shattered and they each wrapped an arm around her.
"When is this going to stop hurting"? She asked wiping away her tears.
Haley and Peyton looked up at each other, but truthfully neither had an answer that would make her feel better.
"My mom told me that—it never stopped hurting," Haley said. "But, it does get easier"
"And you have us until it does," Peyton told her. "You're a warrior—remember"?
Brooke sniffled as she looked at her two best friends, Peyton who had her head on Brooke's shoulder, and Haley who had her head rested against Brooke's—she sat there with her two best friends in the world.
Unmoved.
Unbothered.
United.
"If I had known to talk about Jamie's teenaged maturation habit and my dead husband would bring you two back together—I would have done this before I drank two bottles of tequila yesterday".
"Now, this is more like it," Lucas said as he walked into the hotel room he was sharing with his brother. "Notice how it has two beds? That's my favorite part—don't want you trying to grab my ass a second night in a row".
Nathan rolled his eyes "I did not grab your ass—I would never even look at your ass, ever".
"You were asleep—it's okay. You probably thought I was Haley, we have the exact same ass".
"You and Haley do not have the same ass".
"And how would you know that if you weren't touching or looking at my ass"?
"For the love of God," Nathan said throwing his head back. "Can we talk about anything else that doesn't concern your damn ass? You're such a pain in the ass".
Lucas laughed as his brother shook his head and sat down on the bed. He then slowly pulled out a relatively large file. "This is everything the doctors could find on Keith. It's everything they had there on him as a John Doe—to everything when he was Keith Scott from the year he was born. She printed it all out for us" Nathan told his brother. "I'm hoping that maybe we could figure out something, anything—through this, nothing is in order so we better get started".
Nathan opened the file and pulled out two folders handing them to Lucas—before taking his own.
The brothers were both tired, exhausted—but neither would be able to sleep until they had answers. Any answers, any indication as to what really happened. So, they searched—and they searched. They went through every folder, every paper—every doctor visit he Keith ever had that was documented.
"Did you know Keith broke his leg"? Lucas said as he took a long sip out of his coffee. "He was fourteen, the doctor's note says sibling rivalry".
Nathan scoffed "I would say that's an understatement," he said.
"Of a lifetime".
"Wait," Nathan said as he laid the folder he had been searching through.
"What"?
"I don't know why but I just remembered—after I was kidnapped when I got home Haley had these nightmares for months, she got a call one day to go down to the corners office to identify a body," Nathan told his brother. "It wasn't me, though".
"I actually put that one together, Nate".
Nathan rolled his eyes "someone—a family member would have had to identify the body".
Lucas nodded, "the same thing with Peyton when she got a call about Larry," he told Nathan. "That was back in high school, but yeah—she had to do the same thing".
"I had to sign one with dad, even though he died right in front of me" Nathan explained. "It's not a death certificate—it's more like a confirmation or death. That's the paper we need to find".
And like wildfire the brothers began ripping through the papers, they searched and they searched. It amazed them both just how many records Keith had in his short life, but finally, Lucas jumped up at the sight of the paper the two spent seventy-three minutes looking for.
"Found it," Lucas said standing up. "Keith Alan Scott—blah, blah, blah— signature, this can't be right".
"What? Who"?
"Deb—it's Mrs. Dan Scott, signed just like that" Lucas said handing his brother the paper.
"Mom? I thought mom and dad were divorced then".
"They filed for it—but maybe it hadn't gone through yet"?
"No," Nathan said as he examined the paper closer. "Luke, this doesn't make sense".
"Well, we can go straight to the source and just ask her".
"She won't be back for three weeks, she is on some singles cruise. No technology, no phone—nothing" Nathan said tossing the paper to the side. "Could she have been that strung out—? Not to notice that the man on the table wasn't her brother-in-law"?
Lucas sat down next to Nathan, "when she gets back, we will just talk to her then, hopefully, she will have some sort of answers for us".
Naked.
Lily was naked. She wasn't in her own tent, that she bought specifically for the adventure, and she was naked.
She slowly glanced under blankets that were draped over her and Chuck—and he was naked, too.
Freaking out would be a good reaction, however, she made these decisions totally sober.
There was zero alcohol involved in her Saturday, she spent the day hiking and exploring nature—the woman who hated dirt, spent the day alone in the woods with two strangers and some point in time ended up in one of the stranger's tents. Instead of her own.
Okay, so he wasn't exactly a stranger. She had been around him more than a handful of times, but she never got his jokes and he had always been quite annoying.
Oh, yeah and he was Jamie's friend, which basically makes him family. Or close to.
But, he was awfully cute.
"Jamie is going to kick my ass into the middle of next week," Chuck said as he rolled on to his back, away from her, making it known that he was awake too.
Lily couldn't help but giggle "why's that"?
"I got his penis broken and then used mine to have sex with his cousin," Chuck said rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. "He is effectively going to end my life".
"It won't be that bad," Lily said laughing.
"Friday, it was supposed to be his and Maddie's first time—trust me it's going to be that bad".
"Oh," Lily said, but still couldn't help herself from laughing. "Well, in that case—he just might kill you".
"Thank you for the support," Chuck said as he looked at her, smiling, still groggy from the sleeping. "Can you hand my underwear"?
Lily reached over and handed him the boxers in the corner, Chuck slipped them on then reached for his shirt.
"Madison will be here about mid-day to get us," Chuck told her. "So, my funeral will probably be about Tuesday".
"Hmm, What should I wear"?
"What you have on is just fine".
Lily laughed, and playfully smacked him on the arm—but before she knew it she was kissing him. And she didn't mind it. He didn't seem to mind it either, the only person who would possibly be upset with the current situation was Jamie.
And Andre, who lay in the next tent—kicking himself for not asking Lily out when he had the chance.
The door to Tric swung open Haley, Peyton, and Brooke all three jumped up at the sound—the sound they had prayed for forty-one hours. Chase stood in the doorway observing, what could only be called a chaotic mess—the liquor bottles, the blankets, the food, and the three women behind it all running at him like they were heading towards a seventy-five percent sale at the mall.
"Thank you, thank you," Peyton said as Brooke ran past Chase nearly knocking him down as she ran in the direction of her vehicle.
"I could kiss you" Brooke called behind her. "I don't want to—but I could".
Peyton laughed as Haley caught up with them.
"This place is a mess," he said.
"Yeah—be careful about shutting that door. Put it on my tab" Haley told him. "Better yet, put it on Brooke's tab".
Peyton laughed, as she and Haley ran after Brooke who was already in her car.
Nathan drove his brother's car up his driveway to find Haley, Brooke, and Peyton climbing out of Brooke's large SUV—all three laughing and smiling.
"Looks like Haley and Peyton are getting along," Lucas said, looking at his wife and best friend, confused.
Nathan parked, shut the Engine off, and got out of the car with his brother.
"Are you alright"? Nathan asked walking over to his wife.
"Of course I am," she said wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Don't take this the wrong way but you need a shower" he told her. "I tried to call you all day yesterday—Quinn couldn't get a hold of Brooke".
"Yeah," Brooke said. "I just walked to her".
"Just now"? Lucas asked. "We tried to call you—all three of you—all day yesterday".
"And this morning," Nathan told him. "If you weren't here when we got home I was calling the law, I was really starting to get worried".
"We are fine" Haley promised her husband leaning up and kissing him. "We just—well—".
"We have been trapped—all weekend," Peyton said. "Inside of Tric".
"Trapped"? Nathan asked. "Why didn't you call someone"?
"Damn it," Brooke said throwing her arms up. "Why didn't we think of that"? Before she took her hand and popped Nathan on his forehead. "We couldn't"!
"With the remodeling when the electric kicked off it the phone and internet powered down and it has to be turned back on from the inside," Peyton told Lucas and Nathan. "And they are waiting on some parts so it locks when you shut it and you can only open it from the outside".
"I know you three weren't without your phones," Lucas said.
"Oh, of course not" Brooke agreed. "I got really good at Tetris".
"Tric has those walls that block out all mobile carriers—internet, phones—I loved the idea that when you go to Tric no one is trying to talk on their phones or they have to step outside," Haley said. "Until this weekend".
"What did you eat"?
"Brown liquor," Brooke said. "And lots of it".
Nathan and Lucas laughed.
"How did your weekend turn out"? Haley asked looking back and forth between Lucas and Nathan.
"Well, it's Keith," Lucas said. "He is alive".
"Wait—What"? Peyton asked, shocked, looking at her husband.
"We are still learning all the details ourselves but we saw him. He is in a coma—he needs surgery. But, mom is the one who identified the body" Nathan said. "I don't know what to make of that".
"I don't know how to even tell Lily," Lucas said.
"Back up—Keith is alive"? Peyton asked looking at her husband, and he nodded. "You saw him"?
"He is in a coma—he has been for the last seventeen years but yeah—it's him".
"What's the surgery"?
"When he was shot—he had to have open heart surgery and there was a complication. Well, now he needs brain surgery but he always needed a family ever to sign off on it" Lucas told her.
"Doctors can intervene without patients say so if it's life or death but they can't just up and do brain surgery if the patient is in most respects healthy," Nathan said. "Keith isn't brain dead, and besides being in a coma he is very healthy".
"So, will you do the surgery"?
"Nate and I are leaning towards yes," Lucas told his wife. "We are talking to a doctor here on Wednesday but I know Keith—he would rather take a risk than spend the rest of his life as a vegetable".
Peyton covered her mouth, mostly from the shock, but also because the news was so great.
"You should wait until after the surgery though to tell Lily," Brooke said.
"I absolutely agree," Peyton said.
The five all smiled, there were mixed feelings about Keith but the fact remained he was alive. It was still confusing and new and didn't feel real but he was alive.
Lily wasn't an orphan.
Nathan and Lucas had an uncle.
The door to the house swung open and Madison stepped out, unaware that five adults stood on the outside.
"Oh," she said when they all looked up at her. "I didn't know you were all here, sorry. I was just going to pick up the rest from the campsite".
"The rest"? Haley asked. "Why aren't you at the campsite"?
Nathan and Lucas shared a look, luckily unnoticed by Haley. They both assumed that Madison and Jamie had come back to the house to be alone, how wrong they were.
"Jamie and I got back last night," she said, awkwardly.
"Wait—you and Jamie spent the night here, by yourselves"? Haley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, god—no. I mean—erm, yes. Yes, we did—but not like that" Madison attempted to explain nervously, her words spilling out like vomit. Unable to stop them or control them. "Jamie had an accident—I took him to the hospital Friday night".
"Oh, my god" Haley said darting to the door. "I need to go check on him".
Madison grabbed Haley by the arm stopping her from charging into the house like the mama bear she was wanting to be. "After what happened the other morning—I don't think that's a good idea".
"Does everyone know about that"? Haley asked looking at her friends, all of which shrugged and nodded. "Why does that matter? If he is hurt—I need to go check on him".
"Haley, I respect you like my boyfriend's mom and my boss and my mentor but I can not allow you to go into his bedroom".
Madison wasn't exactly one to stand up to someone with authority. At all. But, she was proud of herself, although she didn't know she looked as threatening at as little bunny you buy at the state fair.
"Okay," Nathan said chuckling at Madison. "What is going on with my son—can you inform of us of that"?
"Jamie broke—a bone," Madison said.
"A bone"? Nathan asked. "A leg, and arm—what kind of bone are we talking about here that his mom can't go take a look at"?
Madison shut her eyes tightly and felt her entire face turn a bright shade of red. "He—erm, he broke a bone" she repeated slowly unable to make eye contact with either of his parents. "Jamie broke a bone, that only a man could break".
And that was all it took.
"Damn".
"Oh, damn".
The dramatic responses came from Nathan and Lucas, both of which felt the sudden need to cover their lower parts—as though they had felt the same pain.
"He broke—his penis"? Brooke asked.
Madison nodded, slowly.
Brooke, Peyton, and Haley all three burst out laughing.
"That's not funny," Nathan told them.
"Not even in the least" Lucas agreed.
"Oh, just two days ago you two were dying after Haley walked in on him," Brooke said.
"That was funny," Nathan said, putting his hands on his hips. "This is not—you three really need to know your boundaries".
"Us"? Haley asked. "This coming from the man who has to have sex after every funeral we have ever been to—including Keith's".
"Yeah, and he is still alive, so look where that got us," Nathan told his wife. "I'm going to check on my poor son".
"I'm going with you," Lucas said.
The girls watched as Lucas and Nathan disappeared behind the door.
"Men," Peyton said scoffing.
Jamie limped around his room, as he searched for his antibiotics—that he knew his girlfriend left someplace. He remembered that she told him where she put them, he remembered she told him not to forget where she put them, and yet he couldn't remember. But, between the pain and the exhaustion, the only thing he could seem to recall was that he wasn't wearing any pants.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it"? Jamie asked.
"It's Luke—and your dad" he heard his uncles voice.
Jamie glanced in the mirror, he wore an oversized long sleeve shirt and a pair of boxer briefs, his tattoo was covered but for the first time that wasn't his main concern. He needed pants.
Before he had the chance to respond the door swung open.
"We took our chances and assumed you weren't doing anything—important" Lucas said as Nathan shut the door behind them.
"Nope," Jamie said as he continued to limp through his room, searching for pants and antibiotics—in that order. "Not for six to eight weeks".
"Seriously"? Nathan asked.
"I have stitches—where no man wants stitches," Jamie said ultimately giving up and sat down on his bed. "No sex, no masturbation—I even have to wear a cup when I play basketball—which FYI I'm not even allowed to do for at least two weeks".
"Damn," Lucas said as he sat down next to his nephew, unfazed by the fact that Jamie was only wearing underwear from the waist down. "I am curious about something".
"Oh, great" Jamie said looking Lucas. "What's that"?
"Well, I thought you could only—end up with a—fracture like that during sex"? Lucas asked. "Madison didn't exactly clarify how this happened, I know I said to give it all you got but—".
"We were not having sex—that is not how this happened," Jamie said pointing down below his waist. "It was a horse. A horse stomped on me—a wild horse at that. I'm not limping around because of my—you know, I can't even feel my favorite part of my body" he said causing his dad and Lucas to both chuckled. "Wait—did you tell him"? He asked pointing to his dad.
Jamie had become aware that when the topic of sex got brought up Nathan didn't flinch, or react at all. As if he already knew.
"Yeah" Lucas admitted. "I did, but relax. He isn't like your mom, he isn't going to freak out and want to put you back into preschool".
"No, but he will tell her," he told Lucas before turning to his dad and saying, "you tell her everything".
"I don't tell your mom everything," Nathan said as he sat down in the chair in front of Jamie and Lucas. "I don't lie to her, but I won't just come out and tell her either".
"Besides," Lucas said. "There are some things your dad would probably be better at helping you with then I would—especially when it comes to sex".
"You want me to get sex tips—from him"? Jamie asked pointing at his dad. "The man who screws my mom—seriously"?
"You have a broken penis—If I were you I would take advice from anyone who would give it".
"Touché".
"Anyways—back to how this happened—you said something about a horse"?
Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose as he really didn't want to relive this particular memory but he nodded. "Madison and I—we were fooling around about to—you know," he said glancing up awkwardly at his dad. "Andre came over and said Chuck was missing. He had been drinking—a lot. So, we went to go help look for him and we got in the middle of these wild horses, I guess between leaving the tent and ending up in the field with the horses I didn't—erm, exactly—".
"Deflate"? Lucas asked.
"What's with you and your odd metaphors and choice of words"?
Lucas laughed but found he was the only one.
"I'm actually with him on this one" Nathan said pointing at his son.
"Anyways—yes it didn't go down, I was really turned on and this horse stomped on me I heard this loud pop, and I just prayed it was my hip or leg but mom watches enough of those medical dramas that I just knew," Jamie said.
"How bad is it"? Nathan asked his son.
"My dick"?
"Well—That and the rest of the area not just that one specific—part".
Jamie leaned back and lifted the bottom of his shirt up—revealing the bottom of his abdomen that was black and blue and even part were purple from the massive bruising.
"Damn," Lucas said, wincing at the sight.
"God," Nathan said as Jamie lowered his shirt back down. "But, they checked for internal bleeding and things like that"?
Jamie nodded. "Yeah, it's just bad bruising. They gave me some medicine and said I should make a full recovery—but don't be surprised if I can't give you any biological grandkids one day".
Lucas laughed "I'm going to go downstairs and talk to Peyton," he told the father and son duo before stepping out of the room shutting the door behind him.
"So," Jamie said rubbing his palms together as he glanced up at his dad. "What all did uncle Luke tell you"?
Nathan shrugged, he felt that there wasn't a right answer to that.
"He told you about—the problem I was nervous about". Jamie said.
It wasn't a question, he could tell by the way his father was dodging the previous question he asked.
"Yes," Nathan told him. "I mean he told me you were worried that you wouldn't last long".
"Thank you for not using some horrible metaphor," Jamie said. "Luke started talking about a bank".
Nathan laughed, oh his brother.
"But, yeah. Worry doesn't begin to cover it, I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack over it" Jamie admitted.
"That's when Luke told you to—".
"Yes," Jamie said before he could finish his sentence.
"Why—If you don't mind me asking why were nervous about that"?
Jamie found it odd, the man who he used to share everything with so easily and the two had trouble speaking with one another. At least, about this matter.
"I—don't want it to just be thirty seconds," Jamie told him. "I want it to be good for her, too. That's what I told Luke. I know it will be good for me, anything that doesn't involve a porno with a cheesy storyline and my right arm would be great for me, but this isn't just my first time it's hers, too".
"Jamie, you know there are other ways to ensure that she enjoys it as much as you do, right? I mean—foreplay. If you spend a good twenty minutes on foreplay, correctly, she will enjoy it as much as you do. I promise".
"We have years and years of foreplay, I don't want to kiss her for twenty minutes," Jamie said. "What is she going to get out of that"?
"Oh, my god. I have failed as a father" Nathan said, only half serious. "Jamie, you know foreplay isn't just kissing—right"?
"What"?
"There are other ways to—help, make sure she has a great time before you even actually start having sex".
Jamie, confused, looked at his dad—at first, he thought he was kidding but found no trace of a smile on Nathan's face.
"What do you mean"? Jame asked.
Nathan snickered "what porno's are you watching that you literally know nothing about foreplay"? He asked his son. "Foreplay is just as important as sex is, especially for a woman—and especially her first time. That way it's less painful".
"It's painful"?
"The wrong choice of words," Nathan said running his fingers through his hair. "Not painful, uncomfortable but not if you know what you're doing—which you clearly don't. Okay, here's what you do—".
Outside the door, Lucas laughed silently as he continued to Jamie and Nathan talk—bond.
Believe it or not, most of the time, Lucas did know what he was doing. He knew that Haley wasn't ready to accept her son had grown up, but Nathan was different. Perhaps it was the father-son relationship that he always wished he had with Dan, but never did, that he longed for with his son.
Jamie was tired of being treated like a kid, that's why he began to distance himself from his father and mother. Lucas could see through that, easily. He knew of that was going to change he had to warm up to one parent or the other, Lucas knew if it was going to be either parent it would be Nathan.
For now.
But, it was a start.
"Damn, I'm good," Lucas said as he walked away.
Lucas found his wife in the bedroom he had been staying in the past couple weeks, fresh out of the shower.
"I so needed that," she said drying her hair off with a towel.
"A shower"? He asked as he shut the door.
"That, too," she told him smiling. "But, no. A weekend with the girls—not the way I envisioned Haley warming back up to me but I guess beggars can't be choosers".
Lucas smiled before he walked up behind Peyton and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, she tensed up—perhaps it was the surprise or perhaps it was the fact that she hadn't been touched let alone held by her husband in so long.
Lucas looked at her through the mirror "Can we talk"?
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted (wanted) dead or alive
I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side
I'm wanted (wanted) dead or alive
And I ride, dead or alive
I still drive (I still drive) dead or alive
Dead or alive, dead or alive, dead or alive, dead or alive
A/N I started to get a little nervous over the last conversation between Nathan and Jamie, Due to the fact that I felt I was getting a little past the borderline of PG-13. Such as things as Jamie calling a penis a dick, but I figured he is 16 and a 16-year-old boys would not want that referred to as penis. I have a six-year-old brother and a 17-year-old brother, and an 11-year-old son none of which like the medical term.
As I have mentioned before because I have seen a couple private messages, and a few reviews that want Peyton and Lucas to get divorced, that will happen. But, as I have explained before I still want to keep these characters is real to how they were in the series and I just feel that no matter what Lucas just wouldn't leave his marriage and jump into bed with another person, no matter who it is. Brucas Will happen but it will happen over a longer time Than five or six chapters.
But, Deb is the mastermind behind the fact that Keith is still alive, can you guess what she did?
I was asked about where the kids are during all this, I probably should have clarified it in the first part they were away with Quinn.
Thanks for reading! review! & until next time!
xOXO