14. Total eclipse of the light

Keith Scott was a good man. Says everybody who has known him. He was an honorable man coming from an honorable family, a family that sadly went bankrupt in the end of time. Keith Scott loved Karen Roe, has always loved her, ever since he has known her, she was a delicate, lovely young lady, and he hated to see her being fooled by some jerk that just impregnated her and took off, not just her but another woman too. It would have been the scandal of the town unless Keith stood up for her and shut everyone's mouth and it wasn't too long after that they were in love resulting in marriage.

Keith loved Lucas as his own, he never treated him indifferent to that, and when Nathan's mom died, and Karen wanted to take care of the little boy, Keith didn't think otherwise, he was still Lucas' brother, and a lovely little boy whom Keith has also loved and cared for. Keith adopted the two boys; he made sure to be the father they never would have had.

So, Lucas and Nathan only knew one father; Keith. Even though they biologically share another one, the one who connects them by blood, but he's a one they never even considered.

Keith did a good job bringing them up, he has spent his whole life dreaming of having his own kids, and while he never got to have children of his own, he had those two well-brought boys to be thankful for.

One would say Keith Scott lived a happy simple life; but then again there wasn't such a thing, sure overall it was… but when someone would dig between the lines, he would find tragedies that the man had to face and stand against.

The last of which being his own death, a murder as once said. Keith's last day started off as any regular one, he got up, had breakfast with his family, and was ready for work, that day though, he had a fight with his son, with Nathan.

Keith always knew that Nathan had troubles to fit in, he always thought of himself as a burden and no matter what they tried to shake this idea off, it still stuck in the back of his mind, Keith and Karen had come to the conclusion that it doesn't have to do with him being under their care than it has to do with being abandoned by his real father in the first place, and that, they couldn't really fix but to provide him with all the love and care they could.

However, Nathan tended to come up with those extreme ideas as attempts to find himself, and this day he announced one of those ideas; Nathan wanted to join the army, he was yet to turn twenty and he wanted to volunteer, and it's not like Keith would stop him if that's really what he believed in, but he –Keith- has been there and wouldn't want to go back as the first time around left him scared, he thought that Nathan is only saying so, only wanting to do so because he thought it would be what he's good at, he knew that a part in Nathan was wondering for what his purpose in life is, he knew that he wanted to go only to fulfill it, without really knowing why though, Nathan just thought fighting supposedly matters, and as Keith saw it, fighting dos matter, but what Nathan needed to really fight was his own demons.

That was why Keith opposed it; he didn't want Nathan to start doing things for all the wrong reasons, much like he always do. It was the biggest fight they have ever had, Nathan said things he wasn't proud of, he said that Keith is always trying to control him, and he said that he doesn't care because he is not even his real father.

After that Keith left the house or things to cool down, he knew that Nathan didn't mean it; he knew that he was an angry confused young man, so, he left it at that on the determination to fix things later that night. But Keith left and never came back.

Keith died with a bullet. At first it was believed it's a murder, but then, investigations proved there was a gang war, and Keith happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time, it was never found out who shot the bullet that ended his life though, and the case was closed.

Until now, when all of a sudden, and almost a year after, the police made an arrest, one of the two sons of the murdered man; Nathan Scott.

XxXx

Lucas's head was spinning. It sounded like the world is going crazy around him, too many events taking place rapidly for his brain to process. People everywhere were only talking about Adolf Hitler's death and how the war will now come to an end, regularly he would be interested, but right now, he had so much going on to care about the rest of the world, from the club losing guests, to Peyton's disappearance, to Nathan's arrest… he was standing in the middle of the mess while the world moved along around him, while he stood still, in the middle of it, the center of the noise, the core of disasters, just one step away from a breakdown.

He wasn't processing, what's he supposed to do? What can he do? What should he fix? Can he even fix anything? People around him kept asking if they could help, they asked if he needed anything, and he honestly had no idea, he didn't even understand what was happening to begin to have a plan about it.

Normally, when someone goes through a problem, other aspects supported him, he could face a problem in work and has his family and friends or his partner to support him, or he could have a fallout with a family member and throw himself at work to resolve the tension out and talk to a friend to put his mind at rest. A misunderstanding with a life partner could be solved with a little chat with a reliable friend or family or even a colleague.

Right now, Lucas had no aspects at all, no support system, everything fell all at once.

Karen's club was already losing profits as it is, they needed to substitute Chris' departure, and now, after having already two scandals the first being Lucas' attack, the second being Chris Keller, the third came to work as the last straw, people talked, and when people talked they change things, they exaggerate, and the gossip, so, now Karen's was off the list for Tree Hill and its honorable residents. And there went his work aspect.

Peyton Sawyer has vanished, of course Lucas had to not go to her house straight away as planned, and when he finally got the chance to, his small hope turned off, one look at her house and it's obvious that it's dead, empty, even though she wasn't the most cheerful person, but you could see her spirit in her house, and now, it's gone. Lucas has had prepared himself for never having Peyton Sawyer before, he has even confessed his feelings for her knowing he doesn't stand a chance, but apparently he does after all, now that he has had hope, now that Haley told him she likes him too, it hurt all the most that she is not there when he could have really liked just looking at her face in such a time. And there went his love life.

Nathan was his brother, his best friend, and the one who knows him the most in the world, and it went the other way around for Nathan too. He got through all kinds of things because they were together and had each other's backs, and this… what happened, Nathan's arrest, was a direct strike to the core of his support system, his backbone, having had everything else they would have talked about it and figured a solution, but now, Nathan was in deep trouble, and he needed him, he was alone and had to figure out a way to fish Nathan out of this swamp.

As for his friends, they all depended on him, after all, he was the boss; it was his club that's sinking, it was his love that's nowhere to be found, it was his brother behind bars. The final call is his. He has to decide what to do.

He tried to organize his thoughts as he sat behind his desk with a jumping leg and creased forehead and black circles under his eyes,

He now has employees to take care of, so, he has to fix up the club, Haley mentioned a singer, someone to renew the blood of the place –that if she accepts to of course, they will also have to spread words about the innocence of his brother, they will have to gain a reputation back, even though he knew exactly who's spreading the rumors against them in the first place. So, he'll ask Haley to go talk to the girl.

Haley- Haley is another one he'll have to take care of, he knows she must be frightened to death now, she must be lost, Nathan was starting to be a big part of her life, he knew they were getting closer and closer, and she is a private person, a reserved one when it comes to expressing feelings, much like his brother in fact, she will not show her fear, or her disturbance to Lucas unless he approaches her first, he needs to calm Haley down and tell her everything will be fine.

Nathan, he doesn't know how it happened, and he doesn't know why Nathan after all this time, or how in the hell does the police all of a sudden have proof against his brother, but he knows for sure that there's something wrong, and he wouldn't be surprised if it's a sick game of the one and only Dan Shaw, after all, Mouth has said before that he heard him cooking something against them, sure, it was supposed to be the Chris thing, but who says it has to be just that?

Nobody has told him anything yet, every time he requires answers as to why they took his brother, he receives the plain answer telling him he'll know as soon as the questioning and the investigation is over, which has been three days! Which only feeds up his theory of it being a game, a nerve-wrecking game.

So, he will need to find out what they have and work from there to prove his brother's innocence.

While everything around him points back to Dan in the end, Lucas couldn't shake off the feeling that Peyton's disappearance have to do with him to, and no, not just because she was afraid of him and wants to protect everyone as she thinks, he had a feeling that it connects directly with him, he's the one who made her disappear at this time specifically.

As Lucas sat down and shared his thoughts with Haley, Skillz and Mouth, they all sat down and listened to him bashfully explain his conspiracy theories regarding Dan Shaw.

Haley and Skillz shared a look, "Lucas, I know this is a hard time, and a lot is going on, but I think you're obsessing over the wrong thing here."

"Obsessing?" He glared at Haley with a disbelieving look; "Haley, don't you see it? Don't you know Dan has been lurking in the shadows all along? You of all people should know that."

"Yes, Lucas, I do, I know he's an awful man, but he's the last of your problems right now."

He gave a humorless laugh, "Haley, that's exactly it! He's the core of all my problems; it all goes back to him."

"No, Lucas," she frowned, "You don't know that yet, the only thing you can merely be sure about him being behind is Peyton's disappearance, and even that isn't directly relating to him." She scoffed in annoyance.

He couldn't believe she didn't see it like he did, "What are you implying?"

She took a deep breath not wanting to fight, "Look, I'm not implying anything, I just don't want you focusing on the sub-subjects and ignore your main problems, Lucas, I want you to set your head straight."

He nodded with a frown, "And what do you think are the main problems, Haley?"

She knew he's working up a trap for her, and she knew by his look that he's already angry; but Haley didn't really think Lucas was thinking straight at the moment, after all, one can only take too much at once, "I… Look, Lucas, I really mean no bad, but sort out your priorities, you have a business to save and a brother to get out of prison, so, that's what you need to focus on, not a war with a rival or… or…"

"Or what? Peyton, right?" he finished for her as she sighed.

"All I'm saying that you shouldn't ignore the other two things and only-"

"God, is this what you think of me?" he exclaimed cutting her off, "Do you think I would abandon my brother and my own job and only try to mend my heart?" He scoffed, "Besides, Haley, she is your friend too, you know, you should be worried, she might be in danger and-"

"Says who?"

"Says every leading proof connecting all cases together; Dan!"

"Peyton left, Lucas! By her choice, she told me she's leaving!" she exclaimed her emphasis cutting through his heart, "See? This is exactly what I'm talking about, you can't just make a theory out of nothing just because you want to follow Peyton and make her another victim you need to save, and taking attention from other cases you really should be saving."

Lucas glared at her and then shifted his eyes to the other two who has been awfully silent, "What about you? Do you also think I'm being crazy?"

"I never said you're crazy, I just-" Haley started off but then Skillz extended a hand stopping her ramble as he looked at his life-long friend,

"Look, man, I know Dan could probably be behind everything, I mean, yes, he wants to mess with you, but, Haley's got a point, that's not what you should fix now, fix everything up and then think about Dan."

"I never said I'm not going to fix things!" he rolled his eyes, "But, don't you see it? Dan is the core of problems, he is how I'm going to fix everything all together!"

"So, what's your plan?" Haley glared, "Are you going to watch him? Terrorize him? Kill him?"

"I don't know, okay?" he yelled back, "God, that's why I regretfully decided to share my thoughts with you in the first place.

"Luke," Mouth spoke for the first time as all eyes flew towards him, "I'm with you."

"Oh, Marvin!" Haley mumbled with a headshake.

"No, I know what I heard, I heard Dan himself when he was talking to Chris, I know what I heard, it wasn't just about stealing Chris, his menacing tone of voice wasn't just about that, it held more."

"Thank you." Lucas exclaimed throwing a hand in his direction as he leaned back in his chair. He sighed, "Look, guys, whatever, I just wanted to share my thoughts with you… it doesn't matter anyway now, what I want from you is a few favors."

"See, now, you're being sane."

He ignored Haley's remark and continued, "Haley I want you to go talk to this singer you talked about and convince her to come work with us, we need her. Skillz, I will need you to manage the place for a while, take care of the administration and if anything is needed tell me. And Mouth, can I count on you for spreading news? Good words?"

"Sure, you can." Mouth nodded.

"Okay, Lucas, I will talk to Mia tomorrow. What about Nathan though?" she bit her lip.

He sighed, "I will go again tomorrow, hopefully they will let me know anything; they're supposed to, and maybe I'll even get to see him."

"Can I come along?"

He looked up at her hopeful eyes hiding worry and tears behind them and sighed, he does want to tell her it's going to be fine, but she just kept attacking him, she thought he doesn't care about his brother enough, maybe coming along would put her head to rest a little, "Sure, you can, I'll pick you up in the morning."

XxXx

"Oh my God, Nathan!" Haley breathed out as she saw sight of him and immediately was wrapping her arms around him clinging to his neck as he put a mortified hand on her back.

"Hey, little brother." Lucas said hugging his brother after Haley let go of him.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan looked at Haley whose face fell immediately, and even though Lucas was still annoyed at her, but he felt bad for the lack of his brother's welcoming, although he got where he came from.

"Nate, she just wanted to see you." He gave him a look.

Nathan sighed and sat down on the wooden chair looking exhausted as they copied his action with a wooden worn out table separating them from him, "I'm sorry. It's been three hellish days."

"It's okay." Haley gave a sad smile and reached out for his hand across the table, "How are you?"

"Tired. Exhausted." He shook his head, "But, I'm holding up."

"They just told me they found the murder weapon," Lucas frowned, "with your fingerprints."

Nathan's head shot up towards his brother a look of horror flickering through his face, "I didn't do it," he shook his head fiercely; "I swear I didn't, Luke."

"Nate, Nate!" Lucas leaned forward, "I never believed you did. What are you saying?"

Nathan's features seamed to relax at that as he let out a grunt of pain.

"How is it that your fingerprints on it?" Haley frowned as she stroked her thump over his hand to let him know she's not letting him go.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Nathan gave her a sad smile.

Haley frowned in confusion and so did Lucas as he looked at his brother who seemed to have a theory of his own.

"The picnic day, Haley." Nathan reminded.

As Haley's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, Lucas' widened in realization as he hit his hand on the table, "I knew it! That son of a bitch." He exclaimed and his brother only gave a sorrowful chuckle.

"What? What is it?"

"I told you that slithering snake is behind everything. Dan!"

"Wait, what? How is it related to the- oh! Wait! No!" they both watched as Haley started getting the picture that they have got a while earlier, "The… the gun?"

"Of course it's the gun." Nathan nodded. "They plan was never to scare us or to harm us; they only wanted to trigger me to take the gun, to hold it and frame myself."

"Oh, my God, what? But, how can he be so sure you would pick it? It's just…" Haley shook her head with a paler face and wide eyes.

"If it didn't work then he would have come up with something else, Haley, it's no big deal." Lucas rolled his eyes before turning his attention to his brother, "Did you say that? In the investigation?"

He shook his head, "If I did they would have asked Haley to come and testify."

"Why didn't you?"

"They wouldn't let me even say his name before cutting me off, changing the question or repeating it. He owns them, man!"

Lucas clenched his fists, "That bastard."

Haley was now more terrified than ever; if this was true, if Dan is behind everything, and he even has the police on his side, then how in the hell is Nathan going to get out of it?

"I'm getting you out, Nate. Don't worry."

"What are you going to do, Luke?" Nathan asked alarmed.

"Dammit, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you out of here, okay?"

"Lucas, don't do something stupid, I wasn't rational for a moment and it got me here. Do you hear me?"

"Time is up." The guard came interrupting as he tugged Nathan's arm to bring him up on his feet.

"Haley, don't let him do stupid things. Okay?" Nathan said as the man pulled him away.

"Don't worry, Nate." Lucas called after him as Haley only stood petrified with tears of horror streaming down her face as Nathan was taken away

Lucas sighed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder rubbing her arm comfortingly, "Let's go." He said and led her out of the grim place.

"What's going to happen now, Lucas?"

"He's going to get out."

"How?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll make sure of it."

"Lucas, please don't do anything stupid, we can't lose you too, I can't lose you too."

"Don't worry, Haley James, you haven't lost anyone, and you're not going to." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Now, why don't you go and see Mia?"

She wiped her tears sniffling and nodded, "Just promise me you won't get yourself in trouble."

"I promise you, happy?"

"Kind of." She cracked a smile.

As Lucas sent Haley off for her admitted mission, he was finally able to drop the brave face he held in front of her and Nathan, he was scared to death, he didn't know what to do or where to start, Dan, just gave the message loud and clear, the town is his and they don't stand a chance, in one single move he turned the people and the law against them.

He knew one thing though, and that was he will have to find a way to bring his brother out of this hellhole.

He needed to relax though, he barely slept at all in the past three days, and his brain wasn't processing at the moment, his body was aching with every step he took towards his house, he wanted nothing but to hit his bed and sink into the covers and shut away the world. He knew he wouldn't be able to though, he knew that he'll barely get a proper amount of sleep, he'll only shut his eyes for a few minutes and his mind will force him awake again, that's how he always is when he's not at rest.

He finally reached the comfort of his house, this house that he has been living in his whole life, it knows him, it holds all his secrets and saviors all his memories. It's funny though that as much as he loves the house, he feels estranged to it at the moment; he has never been in it by himself, or at least by himself without choice.

He sighed making his way to his room upstairs; he at least needs to try getting some sleep anyway.

"Luke!" a voice stopped him in his tracks at the bottom of the stairs. He turned around ready for the disappointment, but, no, it was real, she really there.

He didn't realize how much he needed her until he saw her in front of him again, he didn't know how really exhausted he is, or that he actually wants nothing but to scream and cry until the pain goes away, he didn't call how defeated he felt until he saw the look in her eyes, he has been longing for her, missing her, Lucas Scott came home ready to steal a few moments of disturbed sleep but instead he found the warm embrace of his mother.

"Mom." He breathed out as he threw his body forward towards the older woman and she instantly wrapped her arms around him while he felt like a little boy once again as he couldn't help his tears.

"I'm here, Luke, I'm here, son." She said rubbing his back. Lucas has grown to be a man, even taller than her, and Karen knew exactly how she raised him to be a responsible man of actions, but she knew that even the strongest of men would crack under so much pressure, and for the first time ever, her son was facing all too much ugliness on his own.

They sat down on the couch as he pulled away, "What are you doing here?"

"I came as soon as I heard what happened, did you expect me not to come?"

To be honest, it has completely escaped his mind being engulfed in overcoming the events and taking it in in the first place.

"I'm… I'm just glad you are here."

She nodded as she tapped his arm reassuringly, "What happened to you?" she asked referring to his broken arm, "How's Nathan?"

"I'm just fine." He shook his head, "He's…" he didn't know what to say exactly, "He's in trouble, mom. It's… I don't know. I was there with him."

"It's okay, it's okay, calm down. Your brother will be fine, we'll overcome it all together."

He nodded; that really did help, to hear someone else he trusts says that things will be fine instead of just telling himself so, "Yeah, yeah, sure."

"So, what happened?"

"Can… can we talk later? I'm just… I'm so tired, mom. And I need to talk, I need to talk to you and tell you everything."

"It's okay, it's okay son." She put a reassuring hand on his cheek and offered him a warm smile that seemed to calm her distraught son a bit, "Why don't you go relax and catch some sleep? And when you wake up, I'll be right here." She offered and he took a deep breath before nodding and giving her a weak smile.

"Thank you, mom." He gave her one more hug as if making sure she's really there before heading upstairs to actually have his first proper amount of sleep in three days.

XxXx

Having slept all day, Lucas woke up actually feeling more stable, mentally and emotionally. His mind has refreshed making space for rational thinking and rightful planning.

Descending down the stairs he heard some distinguished exchange of words and an easy-going conversation. He rounded to the kitchen to see his mom, Haley and Skillz sitting on the table and talking together.

"Here he is," Karen smiled warmly, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, actually." He said, "I see you have met."

"We came to check on you and met Karen instead." Haley explained.

"What about the club?" He frowned looking at Skillz worried that something worse has happened.

"Relax, man, it was a light night and Owen is handling it."

"Sit down, Lucas, I'll serve you dinner, we've already eaten." His mom said as she got up to fix him a plate while he sat down.

"I guess I owe you an apology." Haley bit her lip.

"It's okay, I know you lack the brains." He said with a smirk and she hit his hand playfully with a gasp. It seemed like Karen has been already easing everyone's worries out.

"No, seriously, I just attacked you basically defending Dan." She said seriously as he shrugged.

"Dan?" Karen frowned as she returned to the table putting Lucas' Woolton pie in front of him. "As in Dan Shaw?"

"Yes, mom, the one and only."

"What about him?"

Lucas struggled to find the words and so Skillz took it upon him to explain to the older woman briefly how Dan made it his life task to make their lives a living hell, thankfully leaving out big parts of what he has actually done not to scare the older woman; he knew that's Lucas' concern regarding the topic.

"Did he do this to you?" she asked referring to her son's injuries.

"This is not even-" Haley started.

"It was an accident, mom." Lucas cut her off as he gave Haley a look and she took it and sighed looking down.

"And what does he have to do with Nathan's case? Is he responsible for that?"

"Y-"

"Most likely." Lucas altered the truth a bit; he knew his mother would worry what he might do, and now that he has had rest and can think straight again, he knows he wants to keep things quiet and to not go around talking and pointing fingers at Dan anyway.

"What do you mean most likely? Lucas, this man is-"

"Dangerous. I know. Don't worry about me, mom, and Nathan will get out of it just like you said; because he didn't do anything in the first place."

"That's right." Karen said sternly giving him a look to make sure he actually believes what he's saying.

"Yeah, you don't need to worry." He assured her knowing she's currently analyzing him to know if he's hiding anything, so he took a forkful of his pie and changed the topic, "So, how do you like Haley as a daughter in law?" he smirked.

"Lucas!" Haley gasped with reddening cheeks.

Karen chuckled, "I think I always knew Nathan would choose the right one eventually, he's always had a good eye." She smiled warmly at Haley who blushed even deeper.

"How did it go with Mia by the way?" Lucas asked Haley who was thankful he stopped the teasing.

"She has an amazing voice, Lucas, and she is so nice, she was actually thrilled to get an offer, I guess she needs a job."

"Good, let her start right away."

"Yeah, I spoke to her and we're going to start rehearsing and preparing her from tomorrow."

"Thank you, Hales. I can't really thank you enough." He was actually grateful that he has the club taken off his shoulder for now at least.

"Don't say that, Lucas." She shook her head with a smile.

"What are you going to do though, Lucas?" Karen asked and he needn't to ask, he knew from her tone she meant Nathan.

He shrugged, "I'll help Nathan of course, I'll try and find proof. You'll help me, Skillz, won't you?"

"Of course, man."

"Good, I'll need both yours and Mouth's help in looking."

"What about me?" Haley asked.

"You weren't even there when it happened." Lucas rolled her eyes before going uneasy, "Actually, I was hoping to ask you for another favor…"

"Sure, what?"

He didn't know how to ask with his mother there without getting her asking questions, if she did, he didn't know how to answer them without bringing Dan's name in, it was all a big tangled mess, and he didn't want his mother connecting Peyton's name to the trouble they have been facing. His pause though made Haley take a good guess of what he wants before he says anything,

"Could you try and find out… you know, maybe Brooke will even help, you know…"

"Where Peyton at." Skillz continued his sentence for him with a smirk while Haley laughed knowingly as Lucas glared at them both.

"Peyton?" Karen raised an eyebrow as she looked at her son who looked far from comfortable at the moment, "As in the skinny blond you have been-"

"Yes, mom, the one and only." He cut her off affirming before she says anything embarrassing.

"He has been obsessing over her since he was a little boy." She had to say it anyway as she addressed Haley who muffled a chuckle.

"Yeah, Lucas, I'll try and find out where she went, but she probably didn't tell anyone." Haley told him not wanting to get his hopes up high for nothing, she knew he had a lot on his mind and wither they agreed with him or not, Peyton was one of them.

Karen gave a small sad smile, "Apparently, I missed on a lot."

When Karen left, it was shortly after Keith's death, and she was just distraught, she has had a dream with Keith to travel and see new places together once the boys were grownups and settled, and since she was never going to have that now nor was she at all healing, both boys have encouraged her to go away, to have a change of scenery and share it with Keith who must be looking over her from heaven, she has seen it in their eyes, that they were ready to handle everything alone, they were working with her anyway in the café, and they can handle it on their own, they were twenty years old anyway –at the time- but apparently, while she left to focus on healing, she missed a lot of her sons' own lives, and she came back to find a lot has changed and to find they have grown up more than she would have imagined on leaving.

"No, mom, not much."

"He grew some guts and talked to her." Skillz informed her as Lucas sent him yet another glare.

Karen looked between the two boys, one smirking, the other glaring and was glad that at least this haven't changed. "What happened?" she asked hopefully.

"It's a very long story, mom, I'll fill you up later." Lucas said getting up, "Now, you need to come with me to find Mouth, we need to talk." He addressed his friend.

"You hear that Mrs. Scott, he's kicking me out neatly." Skillz told her as she laughed and Lucas hit his shoulder with his good hand before wrapping it around his mother's head planting a kiss.

"Don't wait up for me, I might be late." He told her, "Do you need a walk home, Haley?" he offered.

"No, actually, why don't you stay the night with me? I'd like to get to know you better." Karen offered and it took Haley a while but she eventually agreed. And while Lucas knew she's probably looking to get more information about her sons from Haley as they talked, he also knew that both women needed such closure, one who has known Nathan his whole life and the other who was closer to him the last few months. Both women needed the other's assurance that the brunette Scott is going to be just fine.

So, he left with the comfortable thought that at least these two are going to have each other's back for the time being as he began to think along with his friends of how to bring Dan down and get Nate out.

XxXx

Once again, Julian found himself between the arms of Brooke Davis giving his muscles a wave of relaxation that was much needed. She, on the other hand was tense, and he felt it, so he pulled away and looked at her as she opened her eyes confused, "What?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" he asked and her frown deepened.

"Yeah, of course." She said leaning forward to reconnect their lips but he pulled his face back only for her frown to get more irritated, "What?"

"You're not." He shook her head, "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? Nothing is wrong." She gave a side smile, "Everything is the same exactly." She said and attempted to kiss him again but again he dodged her face.

"No, it's not, you're obviously not okay, Brooke."

"So what if I'm not?" she pulled back now feeling angry; well, of course she's not okay, Nathan Scott has been arrested for murder and she knows he wouldn't even hurt a fly, and she can't shake the feeling that Dan has something to do with it away, just what she wasn't sure, and it made her angry that she was so close yet so far… this is all on top of the fact that she helped sending Peyton away.

Haley wasn't the only one who has visited Peyton that day, Brooke has been there before her, and when Peyton was only crying and telling Brooke she thinks she better leave, Brooke agreed, she has seen Dan too, and she knows he won't stop hurting everyone and Peyton won't stop blaming herself, she also believed that it was better if Peyton left, and when she knew she thinks so too, Peyton has decided to leave that night to a farmhouse her mother owned in Red Heights, a town nearby. And now, Brooke hears that Lucas figured it all out and has been even more devastated.

Had she known this was all going to happen, had she known that Lucas really cared so deeply for her, she would have talked her out of it, she would have stopped her, because as painful as the realization is, but Lucas needed her by him in such a hard time.

"You can talk to me." Julian told her and she gave a nervous sound.

"I don't really want to talk."

"You don't want to talk or you don't want to talk to me?" he asked giving a sad smile.

She looked at him with a glare, "Talk to you? Why would I talk to you?"

"Brooke, I told you I care; why else do you think I keep coming back?"

She raised a sarcastic mean eyebrow, "Why else do I think? Hmm, I don't really know, could it really be sex?"

Julian's hands dropped to his side as he looked down, "Brooke, that's not it, that's not all I am."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, Julian, but, what are you really? Because after all, all you look like is Dan's faithful filthy servant." She spat bitterly.

He frowned looking up, "Well, thanks for sharing your opinion over me!"

She gave a laugh; she knew she was wrecking her whole plan at the moment, but she was fuming with rage, "Did you really think otherwise? Why? What did I see from you other than that, Danny's boy?"

"I care for you, I tried helping you, Brooke, I got Dan to not hurt you."

"Helping me? All you did was tell me I better do Dan's job otherwise I'll get hurt, I think I know the difference between a threat and an advice."

"I only said that because it's true. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Oh, so, is that why you keep following him around? So he won't hurt you?" she rolled her eyes.

"No! Because I owe my life to that man." He screamed back, "That man saved my life, and my family's."

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked now stopped screaming and squinted her eyes at him questioningly.

Julian took a shaky breath, it was a tough shot anyway that he has with her, so, he might as well tell her the truth and where he comes from, "I don't come from a rich family, in fact, there were days we didn't know if we'll have anything to have by dinner, but we managed anyway. My father left long time ago, we used to get letters from him, and sometimes money, and one day it stopped, I don't know what happened to him or where he's been at… some say he joined military, some say he ran off, and some say he died, I used to listen to all those theories but it didn't matter, because the truth is he wasn't there and we were on our own." He stopped to take a long breath and shifted slightly away from her when he felt her pitiful gaze on him,

"My mom worked for a few nickels that weren't sufficient, and I tried to get as much job as I could, I'm the oldest anyway. And when we were about to get kicked out of the small house, when we had paid all we own for late rent and had nothing else to offer, that was when Dan entered my life. He knew the landlord, and he was with him when I was trying to convince him to lay off a bit. Dan ended up paying for us in exchange of hiring me with him, and I have been with him ever since."

"Julian," Brooke said as she shifted closer towards him raising a comforting hand.

"No." he jumped away, "I didn't tell you this to earn your pity, Brooke." He shook his head.

"Why did you tell me then?" her gentle tone made him look up at the intriguing question; because he didn't really know why he told her.

"I… don't know." He murmured, "I guess I just want to." he inhaled another deep breath, "I think I should get going." He said and got up purposely avoiding locking eyes with her.

"Don't go." Came her mumble that stopped him at the door as she got up following behind him as she stopped at his back touching his shoulder.

"Why?" he asked her from over his shoulder.

She tiptoed to be able to snake her hands around his neck from behind, "Because," she said and attempted to turn him around to face her and he obliged, "you're more than just Dan's man."

Julian smiled at the words, it felt like his heart just started pumping blood throughout his body once again; he has thought that his heart died a long time ago, he was only used to the feeling of freezing cold, he was even acquiring pale skin that in a different place and in different circumstances people would say he's a vampire, but at this very moment and out of the blue, his heart functioned again spreading warmth through his veins.

Brooke was mad. Still is mad. But, she has just thought that she was letting it out on the wrong person, she has felt it before, she has seen it somewhere in him that he holds goodness inside of him, but was never able to explain it, because when she looked at what she felt and looked at his own actions, it seemed impossible for this person to acquire any good traits. But, now, she gets it, there is a backstory, he's not just with Dan because he wants to, he's loyal because he owes him, he's paying him back, and he sees it differently, he thinks he has seen the good in Dan, the good that he has made him.

Who knew Julian might be another victim of Dan's? Because Brooke didn't believe he helped him for no reason; after all, this little merciful action granted him a faithful man who would do anything for him.

Maybe he just needs guidance, maybe he- Julian- doesn't know what he can do? Maybe he needs someone to help him wake up from the myth that is Dan Shaw.

Maybe they can bring Dan down together.

Julian didn't kiss her, but instead, he leaned forward and took her between his arms, and it seemed like he needed that hug, and that was when Julian realized that he may be attached to Brooke Davis more than he has intended to… on a level, he never thought he's capable of.

XxXx

It was a long night Mouth had with his pals, he has known the Scott brothers almost his whole life, and they have helped each other a lot throughout the years, and stood by each other's sides. Anyhow, what was happening to them now isn't even close to what they have faced before, it was surreal, and Mouth wasn't naïve, he knew that Dan Shaw was taking things really seriously with the boys for some reason, and Lucas knew it.

It has become obvious, that Dan was ready to go distances to just hurt them, but for what? Because they opened another club? Because his wasn't the only one in town anymore? Because Lucas liked Peyton? Because they took Haley from him? Was any of this really worth destroying their futures before they even start it. They were only in their early twenties!

He has promised along with Skillz to help Lucas no matter what it takes to get Nathan out of this. Although they didn't really have any idea what to do, but they were decided to dig for information, possible witnesses from that night, any trace leading back for the actual murderer, any alibi for Nathan; which was highly unlikely to find, because after their fight, Nathan has also left the house and he said in the after investigations back then that he was all alone by the river.

But, they weren't going to allow Dan to win this one over.

Mouth have picked the habit of walking home, it was always refreshing. But, tonight, and after such a long day, he has decided to make a stop.

Things with Millie were going smooth, Brooke has helped a lot by bringing her out of the house more and more, and for that he was grateful, it turned out that they do have things in common, she was into the same kind of literature he was and she was mostly a quiet person much like he was, but the trait that both acquired but was not aware of yet, was loyalty to their friends, both were ready to make all kinds of sacrifices for the people they care about.

The attraction was mutual, but, Millie was mostly shy, and that night Mouth has decided to do something he doesn't usually do, when he saw a beautiful rose on his way, he had picked it up, and decided that Millie deserves a bold move from him, well, at least a move that he considered bold, he knew it was nearing midnight, but he just wanted to see her face and give her the rose that reminded him of her.

So, he successfully snuck into Brooke's backyard where he knew Millie's window overlooked and was looking around in the darkness for a small pebble to throw at it to get her attention when suddenly the backdoor was opened.

Mouth jumped involuntarily and ducked down in the bushes with a pounding hard, there was nothing to hid from but, he didn't exactly want to be caught by Brooke while trying to win her friend's heart like that.

But instead of Brooke, or instead of only Brooke, Mouth saw something that caught him of guard, he saw Dan's boy walking out of the door. He saw Brooke in night clothes standing at the door as Julian turned around and planted an eager kiss on her lips before leaving.

It seemed like that the habit of walking home that Mouth has acquired, came with the additional package of being in the wrong place in the wrong time, because as he came to realize, the nightlife of Tree Hill might be really interesting.

As I'm not American, and not even a native English speaker, and obviously haven't been around in that era, I don't know much, but I found through my humble search that men were called to military from the age of 21 to 45... if I got anything wrong regarding that let me know, also, if you have information about those times please feel free to share them :)

I really appreciate your comments, and love reading them, so thank you to everyone who takes the time to do so :)

And LeytonTLA1990, Julian being in love with Dan made me laugh haha, anyway, I was already planning on answering both of your questions in this chapter, and I hope the Keith relation is less confusing now?

Let me know what you think guys :) and stay safe and healthy.