Still here. I hope you are. I'm working on a Chicago Fire Stella/Sylvie fic (again) but this one from OTH has been on my mind.

Lucas had been ambushed, even if he didn't realise it yet. Haley had run right into his house; she did not pass go, she did not stop to talk to Nathan about the newest drama, she went straight to the source- and she was angry.

"Lucas, we need to talk," she said, stomping into his bedroom where he lay, sulking.

"I'm not really in the mood, Haley. Can it wait?" he asked, flopping onto his side and letting his irritation be evident.

"No, it can't. And right now, you don't get to decide," she told him, approaching with her cell phone held out in front of her.

"Come on, Haley. Get off my case. It's been a long day."

"Not as long as it's been for Brooke."

At the mere mention of the girl's name, guilt and fear shone in his eyes, knowing he'd been caught. Haley held her phone out to him, revealing the picture of Brooke's exposed and badly bruised back.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out? That you could just act like it never happened?!"

"I didn't do that," he said quickly, unable to believe the atrocity before him.

"But you did, Lucas. You might not have realised it, but you did this," she said, shaking the phone in front of his face once again.

"I…I didn't do that," he said with a huff, disbelieving and shaking his head in confusion.

"How many times did you push her, Lucas?"

"I… a few. I don't know," he admitted. "I wasn't thinking straight."

"Obviously!" Haley spat. "You hurt her, Lucas. You insulted her, you threw her into lockers… you really hurt her, and I don't think you understand that."

"I didn't mean to," he admitted, wiping unshed tears from his eyes. "I was so upset about Peyton and I knew it was her fault, so—"

"Her fault?!" Haley countered. "If Peyton pulls away from you, breaks up with you, whatever, that's her decision. I bet you wouldn't have thrown Peyton into the lockers so easily. You were mad and you needed someone other than yourself to blame, Lucas. Brooke just got in the way. If you had seen her, Luke, those bruises…"

"A-hem."

Karen stood in the doorway, looking more serious than Lucas or Haley had ever seen her. It truly scared them both.

"What's this? What am I hearing?" she asked, tone calm despite her obvious agitation.

"Nothing, Mom," he tried to brush off.

The concern on Haley's face, along with the fact that she had been eavesdropping, were enough to let Karen know that this certainly wasn't nothing.

"You hurt Brooke?" Karen asked, her face sad and unwavering. "What happened, Haley?"

Haley looked to Lucas, silently begging for him to come clean so that she wouldn't have to rat on him. The idea of giving Karen this image of Lucas broke her heart, but he put it upon himself and he should have to own up to it. Lucas's silence and strong-standing ego gave her no choice.

"Haley…" Karen warned.

"Lucas pushed Brooke into the lockers a few times. He was really rude to her, and she's hurt," Haley said, monotone.

"Hurt…physically?"

Haley nodded, subconsciously glancing at her cell phone, where the picture of Brooke's back remained.

"Let me see," Karen demanded, knowing Haley all too well.

Haley handed her phone over as Lucas sat behind them, shaking and terrified.

"Oh my god… You did this?!" Karen said, holding a hand over her mouth in disbelief as she looked at the picture.

"I didn't mean to," he said quietly.

"What did she do, Lucas?! Is this about Peyton?"

"Of course, it's about Peyton! Everything she does is about Peyton!" Lucas yelled, finally snapping. "She talked to her, weaseled back into her life, even kissed her on the cheek! She just can't leave her alone, Mom!" he said, voice quieting, as tears rolled slowly down his face.

"So all she did was try to get her best friend back, and you hurt her?" Karen asked, having to take a deep breath after seeing her son cry.

"It's not that simple, Mom."

"It is, Lucas. Whatever happens with Brooke and Peyton has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me, Mom. She can't even look at Brooke without pulling away from me."

"So that makes it okay for you to hurt her?" Karen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean to hurt her. I just told her to stay away from Peyton or—"

"Excuse me?!" Karen jumped in, feeling less sorry for her son by the second.

"She broke up with me, Mom!"

"She didn't break up with you until she saw Brooke crying on the ground," Haley felt the need to interject.

"That's it. We're going over there," Karen said, grabbing Lucas by his t-shirt and pulling him to his feet.

"No, Mom…"

"What must her parents think?"

"They don't know, actually. They're not in town, but it's not like Brooke would tell them even if they were," Haley said. "But Larry's gonna be pretty upset when he finds out, and Peyton…"

"I can't imagine how Peyton must feel," Karen sighed. "You know she loves Brooke so much."

"Yeah, Mom. That's pretty much the problem."

XXX

"Do you think you should go to the hospital, Brooke?" Larry asked, clearly concerned but stoic, as they sat at the kitchen island.

"Larry, I'm fine. It's just a couple bruises," Brooke blew the hair out of her eyes, not understanding all the ado. Not accepting the severity of the situation.

"It's not just a bruise, Brooke. You could have broken a rib," Larry reasoned, holding in his anger in order to be strong for his daughter, and for Brooke, who may as well have been. "Peyton, do you think she should go get some x-rays?"

"I think it's up to Brooke, dad. When I touch it, it obviously hurts her, but it doesn't seem like anything's broken," Peyton told him, for a second fearing how that might sound.

Larry's impending debate was interrupted by the doorbell, causing all three to sigh.

"I'm going to go upstairs," Brooke muttered, desperately trying to escape whatever company there was, exhausted already.

When Larry went to the door, he stopped her attempted retreat.

"It's Karen and Lucas. I think you need to stay."

"Great," Brooke rolled her eyes, which were forming tears, but Peyton was right there to soothe her.

"Hi, Larry. I'm so sorry to barge in like this," Karen said, jaw set, uncomfortable and angry.

"It's fine, Karen," Larry said quietly, reminding himself that this was not her fault and he needed to keep his composure.

"So I'm guessing you know why we're here?"

"Unfortunately, I do," Larry nodded. "The girls are in the kitchen," he said, refusing to look Lucas in the eye.

Lucas froze when he saw the girls at the kitchen island, Peyton protectively close to Brooke. He couldn't fix this. He couldn't get Peyton back, so what was the point?

"I- I came to apologise."

"I know you're only here because your mom made you come," Peyton spat, not removing her hand from the small of Brooke's back.

"But I, I really didn't mean to hurt you, Brooke. I was just so upset, and-"

"Don't, Lucas. Don't bother," Peyton said, becoming angrier by the second.

"It's okay, Peyton. Let him talk," Brooke said sadly. "Let's just get it over with."

"I just… I didn't mean to scare you. You know that's not me. I would never-"

"But you did, Lucas! You scared her. You hurt her!" Peyton interjected once again, comforting Brooke the only thing stopping her from jumping across the counter and punching him in the face.

"I know, I just- I really didn't mean to," he stuttered. "And I didn't mean the things I said. I was losing Peyton, and I was scared, and—"

"That's enough, Luke," Brooke interrupted. "You can go tell your mom that you apologised. And you know what? I actually believe that you're sorry. But you fucked up, Lucas," she said, tears muffling her voice. "You were so worried about losing her and now you've lost her for good. You're not getting her back. No matter what, I guarantee that."