Yay! I updated. But first…

A lovely message from my infamous Author's NotesOkay. So here you go. It may be a little short but, not to fear. I have a deadline. I need to finish this story before the twenty fourth.

So sweets, I was thinking about this. You get to go to Italy, I take care of Henry (who misses you terribly), and I finish my story for you by the time you get back. I think this seems unfair so that better be one hot italian stud that you bring me back. Or at least something that sparkles…

But anyway. Enjoy the rush of chapters that will be coming.

And Karen's Café is in the town where David lives. And he's paying someone to keep it running because he refuses to go in there because he misses Karen.

Yes, Mama K is Karen

Just remember. I run on compliments and suggestions…

The house was in a secluded area with woods behind it. It was about average size, two stories yet much smaller than his own. It had started raining about a minute before he pulled into the driveway and it was now coming down steadily. He sat in the car for a minute. What would he say? It didn't eve look like anyone was home. There were no lights on in the house or car in the driveway. He got out of the car and prepared to walk up to the front door when a car turned into the driveway. He watched a man get out of the car and look him up and down. Dan did the same. He was about Dan's height, very muscular. He had brown hair and piercing brown eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked. His voice was strong, fairly deep. Dan had to wonder who would win if the got in a fight.

"Are you David Ilack?" Dan asked, trying to sound like he could take him on. He had completely forgotten the entire reason he was there.

"Who wants to know?" Well, that was a little shady.

"I'm Dan Scott," he remembered why he was in the middle of nowhere one hundred mile away from his home and put on a concerned father voice, trying not to loose all of his edge. "I'm looking for my son, Lucas. He took off this afternoon and social services said that he might have come down here."

"I knew this was going to happen sooner or later," he sighed. "Come on. They're probably inside." He picked up an open cardboard box overflowing with books and headed for the door. 'They're'?

"Who exactly is 'they' if you don't mind me asking?" Dan asked as they walked towards the house. Was this guy married? Did this guy have a thing with Karen? It would be a little strange for his teenage boy to runaway to some bachelor pushing middle-age.

"Well, Lucas and my daughter grew up together. Karen and I met when they first moved out here. Karen and I hit it off, and so did the kids."

"So you and Karen were…"

"No. Even though the kids constantly told us we acted like a married couple, we were always just really close friends. Practically family." He sounded a little sad. Like it was something great he used to have but lost. Maybe that was exactly right. They reached the front door and David put down the box. He got his key and opened the door.

"Hey, guys!" The only answer they got was a bark. A large German Shepard bounded down the stairs and started barking and growling furiously at Dan.

"Go lay down, Tricks." And with that, the dog turned and walked out of the room and jumped onto a couch in the next room.

"Maybe they went out," Dan suggested seeing that the dog was no longer a threat. The house was still completely dark.

"Nah. Jenna totaled her car last Tuesday." He flipped on a light in the kitchen and plopped the books down on a counter. The books must have been heavy because they landed with a thud. He walked over to the answering machine and Dan noticed that the little digital number '4' was flashing.

"Hey Dad," he heard a panicked girl's voice coming up from the little speaker. "Um, so I know you're supposed to be in meetings all day which is why you aren't answering your cell, but me and Luke went for a walk and we got lost and Luke fell and his leg is stuck underneath some fallen tree. Oh yeah, Luke is here Dad," she said as if she was just realizing that her father wasn't aware of it. "But it's getting dark and cold and I think it's gonna rain so please come whenever you get home. Okay, bye." It sounded like the poor girl had said the entire paragraph in less than thirty seconds.

"Shit!" was all he heard coming from the man standing next to him. He then turned and ran up the stairs muttering an 'I'll be right back.'

It couldn't have been two minutes later when he came barreling back down in jeans and a t-shirt. He strode into the kitchen and pulled out a flashlight. On his way back to the door, he threw on a jacket and grabbed two others.

"You coming?" were his only words as he walked out the door. Dan nodded, not knowing what he should do. He stuttered a 'yes' and followed him out the door. He walked in front of the man he had followed out when he saw him stop right before he closed the door. He seemed to be contemplating whether he should lock the door or not. "Tricks!" he yelled back into the dark house. Dan heard the feet of the dog hit the floor instantly, leaving her comfortable spot on the couch to be at her master's side.

Walked across an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.
I felt the earth beneath my feet,
Sat by the river and it made me complete.
Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you're gonna let me in,
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

They walked for about fifteen minutes into the woods without saying a word. All Dan could do was to follow this man and pray that he knew where he was going. They had veered off the path about five minutes ago and Dan was starting to get nervous. He was constantly flashing the flashlight back and forth as if he knew where they had been walking just not where they had stopped.

The dog stayed at the man's side the entire time. He remembered the time he had bought Nathan a dog. The damned thing bit everyone in the house and ran away every time someone opened the door. As he looked down at the dog, wet ears pushed back, coat dripping with the heavy raindrops that were continuously falling through the tall trees, he noticed that the dog's tail was wagging. The dog was excited. He trusted the man. He put complete faith into his master and would probably follow him to a cliff and jump off if the man commanded so. Maybe there was such a thing as loyalty.

They finally heard a girl scream "dad". She had probably seen the flashlight. The dog looked up expectantly at the man. The man made some sort of signal for the dog to go and she ran up to the girl and followed her as they ran up to the man together. The girl automatically jumped into her father's arms. She was on the verge of hysterics.

I came across a fallen oak tree,
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

They had a brief conversation regarding Lucas and her father made sure she put on the jacket he had brought for her, and before Dan knew it, they were off again. Lucas was lying on the ground, eyes closed, soaking wet. His foot was stuck underneath a log. He didn't look alive. Was this Dan's fault? What if he died? Wait. He wasn't really dying was he? He couldn't be. Dan was just being melodramatic. He had to admit though, Luke did look bad.

He stood back and watched as the man he had just met struggled, yet succeeded, in lifting the log off his son's foot. It wasn't long before the man had the young boy covered in the other jacket and was carrying him off towards the direction in which they came.

He carried Lucas with ease. It made Dan wonder how much the teen weighed. Had Dan ever actually seen him eat? Was Dan ever actually home?

Was this really just some man that the boy's mother had been best friends with? Was he really just the best friend's dad? Dan looked over at Lucas again. Barely conscious, soaking wet, so cold he was shivering, ankle probably broken. Still, he somehow looked almost happy. It wasn't an emotion Dan had ever seen on his son, so maybe he was confusing it with something else. He sure looked… something. There wasn't a word to describe it. The only emotion Dan could imagine a boy in Luke's position to be feeling was pain. It wasn't like he was deep-in-thought-thinking-about-something-happy. He looked like he could barely register the things going on around him. Yet, he somehow looked like he knew everything was all right. Dan looked over at the girl walking practically on top of her father. She was actually holding on to his jacket. When Dan tried to look past her worried expression, he also saw a sense of ease within her too.

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you're gonna let me in,
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.
So if you have a minute why don't we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don't we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know.

Trust. That was what it was. They trusted this man. They knew that everything was going to be all right because he came to the rescue.

The walk back to the house seemed shorter than the one out. It may have had something to do with the fact that they were all practically speed walking. Not only was the rain not stopping, it was coming down harder. As the streaks of lightning lit up the sky brighter and brighter, the thunder got louder and louder. It was almost as if the storm were following them.

As soon as the pushed through the door, David rushed Luke over to the couch. Dan simply sat there while the other man checked his son's foot and helped him up the stairs to change and get some sleep. Shouldn't Dan be doing those things? Shouldn't it be the father who takes care of the son? Not some random guy taking care of the son?

He had to keep reminding himself that this was not some random guy to Lucas. Dan was never around when the boy was growing up. He was probably a surrogate father to him. Karen never had gotten remarried. Had she? The things Dan didn't know about his son's life made his head spin.

While David was upstairs helping Lucas to bed, Dan was left alone with the daughter. He couldn't remember her name to save his life. It wasn't like they had been formally introduced or anything, but he felt odd having her dad know more about his son than the boy probably knew about himself and he not even know the name of his daughter.

Dan was sitting on the couch waiting for David to return. He was just sitting there minding his own business, and she was sitting on the other end of the couch, staring at him. Dan was beginning to get pissed off. What right does she have staring at him? Why would she star at him? She was just a sweet, little innocent girl and he was just a concerned father.

"You're a real jerk off. You know that?" Oh-so sweet and innocent. What could she be upset about? Sure his intentions weren't the greatest coming out here, but his curiosity overthrew his selfishness. That, and seeing his son hurt had more of an effect on him that he would have thought. But Luke was safe now. Which meant that Dan could concentrate on finding out more about what had happened to Karen. And Lucas.

"Excuse me?" Dan was utterly startled by that comment.

"You heard me." She looked disgusted by his presence. It was weird getting a look like that from someone that looked like her. "Do you have any idea what will happen to you if my dad finds out what you did?"

What could she be talking about? Probably the way he treated his eldest while he was drunk. He didn't remember much of it. But he did remember a lot of yelling. And then he hit him. Would Luke tell on him? David would probably label him off as some abusive alcoholic. Dan couldn't have that. He was in the process of debating on whether his son would say anything or not when David walked back into the room.

"Jenna, go take a shower." The voice came from the stairwell. It was David.

Jenna didn't even make a move to get up. She just sat there. Eyes boring into Dan's skull.

"Is she bothering you? Come on, Jen. Leave the nice man alone," he continued. Apparently Jenna wasn't going to stand for that kind of talk, even if it was obviously said in a somewhat kidding tone. She opened her mouth to start blabbing. Dan could tell she was just waiting for an excuse to spill his slip-up to her father. Her exceptionally strong-looking father.

"It's all right, David." He looked over at her, expecting to see an upset face because he ruined her chance. Instead of looking pissed off or pouty, it looked like he had just refueled her fury.

"Don't call him that." If Nathan would have said anything with that tone of voice, Dan would have blurted out 'Can you say anti-Christ?' But he retained it seeing as she looked like she was about to pounce on him. "Only Mama K was allowed to call him that. Her and Lucas." Mama K? Karen?

"Oh, what about step-mommy Ashley? Don't tell me you've already forgotten her," the man whose name Dan was not allowed to say interjected as he leaned against the couch. Whoever Ashley was or whatever he was talking about, seemed to work some kind of magic over Jenna.

"Just because you got drunk that one night in Reno does not mean she was my step-mother," she said in a laughing voice. This was one bipolar chick.

"Come on. Go take a shower before you catch hypothermia. She sighed as if she had just been asked to run across the country, but got up and headed towards the stairs. Just before disappearing from view, she gave Dan one last death glare.


Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So, tell me when you gonna let me in,
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.
SO if you have a minute why don't we go,
talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don't we go, so why don't we go,

"I actually go by DJ. Oh, and I apologize right now for whatever she said," he laughed.

"What makes you think she said anything?" Did Lucas tell him?

"I know my baby girl," he sighed. "She's very… protective."

"So, uh, her and Lucas are really close, huh?" What was the best way to ease into a conversation about the woman you abandoned while she was carrying your child with her best friend?

"Yeah. Met the first day of kindergarten and totally hit it off. They eventually dragged Karen and me together too.

"Wow. So how was Karen." He chose his words carefully. Apparently DJ didn't notice.

"She was great. Usually pretty happy. Money got pretty tight every once in a while. She and Lucas moved in and out of here for a few years. But other then that, there wasn't much going on." He said the last part with his head down. God, he must miss her.

"How have things been going between you and Luke?" Obvious change of subject.

"Well, not too great actually." Might as well use the change of subject to get some advice. "I think he's still a little depressed about the accident." Of course he's still depressed about his dead mother. And of course a kind and caring father would notice. "I've been working a lot lately too so I don't think that helps." Might as well not tell all lies.

"It probably has a lot to do with the change in environment. Taken away from everything and thrown into completely new. Have the two of you talked much?" It completely shocked Dan that not one word that came out of DJ's mouth was accusing. This must be some guy…

"Not much. I can't really seem to get through to him." Of course Lucas' loving father has been trying to get through to him. Nothing works.

This could be the end of everything.
So why don't we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know.

"I think that if the two of you spent some time together somewhere where he's comfortable, he might feel more comfortable when it's just the two of you. You know what? It doesn't look like the rain's gonna let up anytime soon. Why don't you spend the night here?"

Author's Note: And now who the hell is going to review? My sweets is in Italy! Please review to cure my loneliness.