Author's Note: So I started writing this forever ago and just found it. I've been writing a lot lately, just not for this. I didn't even think about it until I got a review like yesterday (and by the way to the last person who reviewed, you made me happy and got me to update. Yay you!). but anyways. I have absolutely no idea why I picked this song so it may be awkward. just a lil.

Author's Note 2: Wrote the first author's note a while ago but never finished the story. Obviously I finished it this time or else you wouldn't be reading it.

Song: 'wonderwall' by oasis.

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

"Luke's on my team," Skills shouted as soon as he saw Peyton's car drive up near the River Court. Luke had been playing with them for not even a week and he had already become everybody's favorite. They all wanted him on their team because he was such a good player. They all went to him for synopsis on the books they had to read for class but had conveniently misplaced before reading since he had already read everything that the school was teaching them. They all wanted to hang out with him after school because of the looks the girls gave him because of his sensitive blue eyes and messy blonde hair. Most people thought that they were just using him. Even if that was the case, Luke wouldn't have minded. He had never gotten so much attention. In their own twisted little group of outcasts, he was popular. The guys at River Court weren't using him though. They liked him. They were the outcasts of Tree Hill High. They just accepted him as one of their own. They had adopted him and it was just what he needed. He needed to be loved. He needed to be apart of a group. He needed to be needed.

He hadn't really talked to anyone but them and Peyton since she introduced him to them. He and Dan almost ignored each other; both avoiding the confrontation that they both knew was inevitable. He and Nathan hadn't talked much either. Nathan had been strangely pleasant around him but not to the point where he would talk to him in public or say anything nice to him. He talked to Peyton everyday while he sat on the bleachers and waited. He didn't even really wait for Nathan to be done with basketball anymore. He waited for Peyton to get done with cheerleading practice. Then she drove him to River Court. That was pretty much his day: he got up, got ready for school, Nathan drove him to school without saying a word to him, he said hi to Peyton as he passed her locker on the way to his first class, sat with the guys from River Court at lunch and joked around a little bit, waited for Peyton to get done with cheerleading, played basketball with the guys, went home, did his simple homework, and went to sleep. Everything was light. He knew it couldn't go on like that for long, but he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. He didn't think. He just went through the day the same everyday. It gave him a security blanket that he could hide in until someone mentioned his mom or asked him why he wasn't living with Nathan when they were younger. It would only last until someone called him a bastard or he finally came to blows with Dan. Then his safe, little security blanket would be ripped away from him and he would be forced to deal with the cold and cruel reality.

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

Everything was the same for about a month. If you had told Lucas that he would have a month of the life in his security blanket the day after his mom died, a month would have been more than enough. But now that he had lived the life, any time that he had to give it up would be too soon. It had started with Nathan.

"Hey, Luke. Can I ask you something?" He and Nathan were eating cereal for dinner. Deb had gone out of town and nobody ever really filled Lucas in on why Dan was never home.

"Sure." Normally, the question had thrown Lucas off guard. All the brothers ever talked about was sports. Lucas didn't really notice it though because he had had an amazing game at the River Court.

"You play basketball at the River Court after school don't you?" Peyton had talked to Nathan about it. Peyton said that Lucas was really good. That was when Nathan had started formulating his plan.

"Yeah. Everyday," Lucas replied with pride.

"Well, Peyton said you were pretty good and I was wondering if you were going to try out for the team."

"You mean at school?" Lucas couldn't believe it. Was Nathan scared that he would try and take his spot on the team? Or was Nathan inviting him? Either way Lucas looked at it, it was freaky.

"Yeah. If you're really good, I'm sure Whitey would let you try out. You play shooting guard right?"

"I guess so. I've never really played with a full team. Wait, isn't shooting guard your position?" Lucas' head was spinning.

"Yeah. And if you made the team I could help you perfect it."

"But the team already has you as a shooting guard. Why would you want me to go out for the team as shooting guard?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm thinking about quitting."

"Why would you want to quit the basketball? You love it! It's your life!" Life in this dysfunctional family was way too dramatic.

"My dad loves basketball. He makes basketball my life. It's just too much pressure. I've been wanting to take a break for a while and I think if you're there to take my spot, it won't hit him as hard." Lucas didn't want to do it. He was too much of a nice guy. He felt sorry for Nathan. They were brothers after all.

Lucas did tryout for the team. He did make it. Nathan did quit.

Nathan had waited for about a week after Luke made the team to quit. The problem was, Nathan didn't give Lucas a heads up before he told Dan. Lucas came home, exhausted from basketball practice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" was his welcome. Lucas hadn't seen Dan since before tryouts. It wasn't unusual for them to go that long with out seeing each other but apparently someone had just filled Dan in about the basketball situation. Luke had a feeling that if he had known sooner, he would have found him.

"What are you talking about?" Luke knew very well what he was talking about. He just didn't know what else to say.

"You think you can just take Nathan's place? Or are you just trying to get attention?" Lucas had never seen anyone's face turn that shade of purple. It was scary. How could one man get so worked up about a stupid game?

"Why the hell would I want any attention from you? I've barely even seen you and from what I have seen, you look like an ass!" Was that Lucas talking? He couldn't believe he'd actually said that. It was true though. All Dan cared about was himself. Nothing was ever good enough for him. Apparently Dan didn't see his logical reasoning. Dan backhanded Luke across the face. Luke was in shock. The shock lasted for about two seconds. Then he decided that he was going to leave no matter what.

"Do you really think I wanted you? Because I don't! I never wanted you! You were the reason I left your mother! I never wanted you and I never will!" There you have it. It stung a little bit, but Luke shook it off.

Nathan was relieved when he saw that all his brother did was run upstairs. Lucas could take some time to calm down while Nathan explained to Dan what was going on. Nathan heard Dan sigh and walked over to him. He realized that his father was drunk. It explained a lot but there was still the question of why the older man was dunk before six o'clock that wandered through Nathan's head. Dan couldn't have been that upset about his son quitting basketball, could he?

Some thumping from the top floor drew his eyes to the stairs. He saw Lucas running down, still in his basketball uniform, duffle bag in tow.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he heard his father scream at his brother who was staring to form a bruise on the left side of his face.

"You obviously don't want me here! Why would I stay?"

"Fine! Get out of here you little bastard!" And with that, Lucas was gone. It scared Nathan a little. Where would he go? He didn't have anyone else, did he?


And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
I don't know how

The second Lucas was out of the house, he headed for the nearest bus station. He knew exactly where he was going. He never had to go back. He felt a little bad for not saying goodbye to Peyton and the guys, but he could always come back and to play ball with them and he had Peyton's number.

Running away had really been his plan the whole time. Ever since he got to where his long, thankfully-lost father lived, he had been waiting for Dan to do something wrong. Any sign that Dan didn't want his first born around. He had become less and less alert after meeting Peyton because he had actually started to enjoy his life. It didn't change the fact that at the first sign of trouble, he would run away. He would 'give it a chance' as everyone told him he had to. Now it was done. The phase in his life where he had his father was gone, past, never to be seen again. Lucas couldn't help but smile a little at that. He was going to get his old life back. He got to the bus stop with just enough time to start rereading The Great Gatsby. His life was finally going back to the way it should be.

Nathan couldn't believe Lucas had really left. Should he follow him? Should he try talking to his father? Where the hell was his mother? So many questions floated through his mind. He couldn't even get one out. He tried, and he ended up sounding like a babbling idiot. After a couple minutes of "What the… Dad… How could you…" he turned and ran up to his room. Let his drunken ass of a father sober up and feel like a complete bastard for saying those horrible things to his eldest.

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

The second he was on the bus, he pulled out his old, battered walkman with his favorite cd in it. The cd was a mix that his Jenna gave him. He watched the odd, unknown streets pass him and by the time "Wonderwall" came through his headphones, the unfamiliar streets turned to landmarks he remembered passing on long trips, and those turned into the houses he recognized. His school. The park where he, Dave, and Jenna would throw a football back and forth while his mom sat and watched. He thought that the thought of his mom would make him sad, but he just smiled at the memory. When he knew exactly where he was, he almost jumped out the window and walked the rest of the way. He was too excited to just sit and watch their house creep closer and closer. Then the bus turned. That wasn't the way to their house! They were going the wrong way! He had to get off! He had to… Then the fact that the bus wasn't going to take him directly to his best friend's house, let him off and say "Have fun!" struck him. The bus would take him to the bus stop and then he could walk from there. If he remembered correctly, it wouldn't be a long walk and his feet seemed to carry him there anyway. He knew the roads so well, and he practically ran there in excitement of knowing where he was going.

Today was gonna be the day?
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

What the hell had he done? Why would he say those things to His son? Why would he? And now that Nathan had explained what exactly had happened, it made him feel even worse. Sure, Nathan shouldn't be quitting the team, and Lucas shouldn't be taking his place, but he would fix that once he found the boy.

He called social services to find out if he had anyone to go to. He debated on asking Nathan if he had any friends but decided against it after he saw how upset his youngest was. It took him forty-five minutes of talking to idiots to hear them blubber out the name 'Dave.' The man had been on Lucas' emergency care card.

"Would you like the phone number, sir?" the annoying woman with the deep voice that sounded like a man asked.

"Well, I have I'd really like to see if my son's okay and I have to go up there anyway so could you just give me the address?" There. Let this Dave guy see what a caring father he was.

It wasn't too long of a drive. It was a drive that he shouldn't have even been making, he realized about half way there. There was no guarantee that his oldest son would be at this man's house. He didn't even know who the hell this man is. He told himself that any good father would have made the drive anyway for the sake of his son. He didn't care. He had to drive for an hour and a half now because he was already half way there and Dan Scott never turned back. He told himself that he would at least look like a father-of-the-year nominee. It made him feel a little bit better but it still bugged him that he had to go all this way out of his way for this kid.

Author's Note: So realizing that I've been ranting for six pages, has made me decide to take this in two parts because I still got a lot to say. And also: it has been brought to my attention cough lisa cough that I've been contradicting myself right and left so I've gone back and edited some things. So I've gone back through all the previous chapters and fixed everything. For all those confused people who don't want to reread ten chapters looking for tiny differences, I'll tell you: there was no Skills or Rivercourt where Lucas used to live. Lucas lived in tree hill when he was a baby up to the time he was five and they moved. In all those years, Lucas never knew that he had lived that close to his father and Dan had never acknowledged him. I have not mentioned Keith yet and, while reading back I found that I actually said Keith died. Well he didn't. I haven't decided if or how I'm going to work him in. Karen's fiancé died. Dave has been around for forever. I changed his daughter's name from sam to Jenna after thinking of how Sam and Dave sounded (they were old singers if you didn't know). So no Haley either. She's in the same place that Keith is. I think that's about it. If anyone finds anything else freaky let me know.