A/N: Thanks to my beta: Leeese

Chapter Twelve

Last Known Surroundings

Karen was helping Lily with her homework when they heard the back door open. She looked up and was surprised to see Lucas. They greeted each other as Lucas immediately went to the pantry for the snacks. "Hey, I thought you were going to hang out with your friends until the game started."

"We are, but we need food," Lucas told her as he grabbed bags of chips. "And since the café is closed for the evening, I have to go to plan B." He then stopped for a moment as he turned to Lily. "Is Mommy making you finish your homework before you can come to my game?" Lily nodded. "Well, you should get it done then. I would hate for you to miss me playing in my first basketball game here."

"Don't forget it's your brother's first game too," Karen gently reminded him. "Speaking of your brother, where is he?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't know. He took off right after practice," he replied as he finished up with collecting the amount of food and drinks that he needed. "My guess is he is either with Haley or Peyton. I'm hoping that it's Haley." Karen tried not to smile as she heard his guess. "But I'm sure he will be back in time for the game," he assured her. "I should go. The guys are waiting for me." He then walked over to Lily. "Give me a kiss for good luck." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. He gave her a smile. "Now we'll win for sure."

"Before you go, could you go and get the mail for me?" Karen asked him. Lucas nodded and he soon reappeared with the mail in his hand. He gave his mother everything except one small envelope that was addressed to him.

He frowned as he looked over it. It had no return address. He shrugged, believing that it was a thank you note from Brooke. He decided to read it later and quickly put the note in his bedroom. When he returned, he saw his mother staring at an envelope in her hands. "What are you looking at, Mom?"

"I have an opportunity to take a cooking class for six weeks," Karen told him. Lucas looked at her interested. "But I don't think I'm going to go."

Lucas couldn't believe that his mom was turning the offer down. "Why not? This sounds like a great opportunity for you," he said.

His mother didn't answer him at first. Instead, she turned to her daughter. "Lily, why don't you go and finish your homework in your room?" she suggested. "I'm sure you can do the rest on your own. If you still need help, just call me." Lily nodded as she grabbed her workbook and left the room. "The cooking class is in Italy." Lucas then understood why his mom was so hesitant about leaving. "I'm not going to take you or your siblings out of school for that long. And as much as I want me and your dad to take a little vacation, I really don't think that we can trust you and your brother to take care of the house or your sister alone."

"Mom, I know that we messed up, but it won't happen again," Lucas assured her. "You can trust us. Just let us prove it to you."

"It's not me who you should try and convince," Karen replied. "It's your father. He hasn't been exactly happy with the choices you've been making lately." Lucas let out a heavy sigh. He didn't want to hear another lecture about his wrong decisions. "Can you really blame Ms. Davis for not allowing you and Brooke to date?"

"But Victoria doesn't even know the whole story," Lucas protested. "She has only heard Dan's version. And you know how he loves to spread lies about us. What the hell is his problem anyway? What did I ever do to him?"

Karen gave him a warning look. "Watch your language. And Dan has nothing to do with this conversation. My point is that she doesn't want her daughter to make the same mistakes that you made."

"She's one to talk," Lucas snapped. "She doesn't care about Brooke. She only cares about making sure that Brooke doesn't ruin her reputation. If she really thinks that Julian is a better match for Brooke than I am, then I'll just have to prove to her that she's wrong and I'm the one for Brooke."

Karen didn't have a chance to respond as he walked out the front door. She watched him get in his car as she let out a sigh. She knew that there was no point in arguing with him. She knew that she needed to have a talk with her husband before she made her final decision about going to Italy.

A couple of hours later, Brooke and her fellow cheerleaders were eagerly getting ready for the game. Brooke couldn't wait to see Lucas and Nathan in action on the basketball court. As she was finishing up painting an 'R' on her left cheek, she suddenly noticed that they were missing a cheerleader. She counted twice to make sure that she wasn't wrong. She wasn't happy when she was satisfied that they were indeed missing one. "Does anyone know where Rachel is?" she asked the group. She had shown up for school, but she was now absent.

"She's probably with Julian again," Bevin told her. "She has been focusing more on him than our project for Mr. Hargrove's class."

Brooke decided to try Rachel on her cell-phone. She waited impatiently as it rang and rang. "Come on, Rachel. Pick up the phone," she muttered to herself, hoping she would finally hear her voice. She groaned in frustration as the phone finally went to voicemail. However, she tried to stay calm as she left a message. "Rachel, it's Brooke. I was just wondering where you are since the game starts in a few minutes. Hope to see you here soon. Call me back when you get this message. Bye."

"Let's start without her," Theresa said. "She will probably be here by the time the first quarter is over."

Brooke knew that they had no choice. So they left the locker room without waiting for Rachel to arrive. Both Brooke and Haley spotted Lily, sitting with her parents. They quickly waved to her before they got into position. They waved their pompoms in the air and started to get the audience wound up for the game. Mouth's voice boomed through the gym, announcing that Midnight Madness was about to begin. He then introduced his co-announcer Millie.

Soon, the game began and Brooke kept an eye out for Julian in the crowd. She knew that if he was there, then Rachel shouldn't be too far behind. However, the stands were full of people. So it was hard for Brooke to catch sight of him. Haley knew what she was doing. "Would you quit it?" she asked her. "She'll be here. You should really keep an eye on the game. I think Lucas is showing off for you."

"It's just not like Rachel to be late," Brooke replied as she turned to watch the game. Lucas and Nathan took turns in passing the ball to each other and scoring points. However, the other team fought back. That only made the Ravens want to push harder.

As the evening wore on, neither Rachel nor Julian appeared. Brooke tried to focus on the game, but she was still worried about Rachel. She wanted to go over and check on her, but she knew that she would have to wait until after the game was over. It seemed like forever before the game was finally over. Thanks to the new players, the Ravens were victorious. The cheerleaders were first to congratulate the players on their win.

"We're going to the café to celebrate," Lucas told Brooke. "Do you want me to give you a ride?" he offered.

Brooke shook her head. "Actually, I'm going to meet you guys over there," she replied. "I'm a little worried about Rachel since she didn't show up tonight. It's not like her to skip a game just to be with Julian. I think there's something wrong."

"I'll come with you," Lucas told her. He wasn't planning on having her go to Rachel's house alone.

Brooke smiled at him gratefully as Keith, Karen and Lily joined them. Lily embraced her brothers in a hug first before she went to hug Brooke and Haley. "I'm so proud of you boys," Keith told his sons. "You two really worked well with your teammates."

"I suppose this means that I'll have to open the café tonight after all," Karen said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "And I was so looking forward to have a night off."

"You still can," Nathan replied as he and Haley came over to them. "Luke and I can handle it. After all, somebody has to watch Lily."

Lucas could see that Brooke was getting impatient. "We'll meet you there later," he told them. "Brooke and I have an errand to run." They quickly said good-bye before they headed to the locker rooms to change their clothes.

A short time later, Brooke and Lucas arrived at Rachel's house. Brooke was now more worried than ever. On the drive over, she had tried calling Rachel over and over again. This time, it had gone through straight to voicemail.

Once Lucas parked the car in front of the lawn, they couldn't help but notice how dark and quiet the house was. "Maybe she is with Julian," Lucas suggested, wanting to give Rachel the benefit of the doubt. However, he even was getting a little concerned.

Brooke wanted to go into the house anyway. She took out the spare key that Rachel had given her and unlocked the door. She turned on the light as she called out Rachel's name. There was no answer.

Brooke and Lucas continued to walk through the house. However, it was clear that nobody was on the first floor. They then decided to check out the second floor. Brooke was getting more concerned by the second. She immediately hurried to Rachel's bedroom. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

"Rachel, are you here?" she called. She pulled on the door handle and found it to be unlocked. She opened the door and looked around the room. She was surprised to see that there were dresser drawers pulled out and emptied. The closet was the same way. Brooke started to realize what had happened. "Rachel ran away from home, but why would she do this?"

"Maybe she couldn't deal with the pressure of dating Julian behind Dan's back?" Lucas suggested.

Brooke gave him a look. "This is Rachel we're talking about. She was willing to do anything to see him."

"Well, something scared her off," Lucas replied as they went back down the stairs. "You don't just pack all of your clothes and take off without telling anyone without a reason behind it, but maybe she wasn't alone. Maybe Julian took off with her." Brooke was about to respond when they heard the doorbell ring. Brooke went to answer it and found Julian. "Well, there goes that theory," he muttered as Julian walked into the foyer.

"What are you two doing here? Rachel and I are supposed to have the house to ourselves tonight," Julian replied.

"Have you talked to Rachel today?" Brooke asked him.

Julian nodded. "Yeah, we talked this morning before school. I told her that I was spending some time with Alex after school, but we could hang out tonight. She told me that she would miss me until then. Why? What's wrong?"

Neither had the heart to tell him that Rachel took off without a word. He hurried past them and ran up to her bedroom. He was devastated when he saw the empty dresser drawers. He groaned in frustration. "Dan must have found out the truth about our relationship and probably blackmailed Rachel to make sure she stayed away from me." He then turned to Brooke and his cousin. "And that could mean that he could be going after you two next."

"He's not going to get rid of me that easily," Lucas replied. "And don't worry. We'll get that son of a bitch somehow and then you and Rachel will be reunited." Even though he didn't like his cousin, he was still willing to help him out. Julian smiled at him gratefully. "But for now, let's get to the café and celebrate our victory." Julian was about to decline the invitation when Lucas didn't let him. "I know you want to talk to Dan now, but that will only make it worse, not better. We'll start thinking of a plan in the morning." Julian was quiet for a moment before he finally agreed.