A/N: I love reviews, so thank you to those who did. I'm doing this story very much by the seat of my pants so any suggestions and tips are welcomed. Just so you all know. Hope you enjoy chapter two.

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An older doctor cleared his throat, catching Nathan's attention. He turned away from Haley and looked at the doctor. "Yes?"

The doctor held out his hand. "Nathan Scott, right? You're Dan's son?"

"That's right," Nathan told him, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm Dr. Farrell, your father's doctor," he told the young man. The doctor looked around for his patient's wife. "Do you know where your mother is?"

Nathan shook his head. Apparently his mother had slipped off somewhere while he wasn't paying attention. He wondered why she hadn't let him know that she was leaving. "She's probably at the chapel or something, though."

Dr. Farrell nodded, debating whether or not to discuss the elder Scott's condition with the young man or not. His decision was made for him when his pager went off. "I'll be back in a few minutes, hopefully your mother will have returned by then."

"Sure," Nathan said as he watched the doctor leave.

Haley put her hand on his shoulder. "Jeez, your mother should have totally been a ninja. When did she take off?"

"I don't know," he told her, seriously. "Do you mind waiting here just in case she come back? I'm just going to take a quick look around for her."

As much as Haley was not looking forward to the possibility of being alone with her mother-in-law, she knew she had to do this for her husband. "Yeah, no problem."

"Thank you." He kissed her. Nathan cursed himself for pulling her into his family drama. If he kept testing out the validity of those vows so soon after their wedding, she was going to start reconsidering that whole "til death do us part" thing.

Haley smiled at the tingling sensation she always had after Nathan's lips touched hers. She hoped that Nathan's kisses never lost their effect on her. "You know you don't have to thank me. It part of my job now. Anyway, go and bring your mom back."

"I love you, Haley James."

"That's Haley James-Scott, remember," she corrected him, grinning widely. "And I love you too, Nathan."

-----

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Brooke said.

Lucas took a step forward in her direction with his arms outstretched as if expecting a hug from the brunette. Brooke raised an eyebrow and looked over at Peyton to see her reaction. The blond girl, however, was still reeling from the boy's appearance.

When he realized that there was no embrace in it for him from Brooke, he lowered his arms sheepishly. "Hey there, Pretty Girl, you look good."

"I can't say the same for you," she retorted. "You look terrible. And what the hell happened to your hair?"

Lucas ran his hand over his head. "I kind of thought that I needed a fresh start and that included a new haircut."

"Why aren't you in Charleston?" That had been Peyton. Her voice came off as harsh and the glare she wore meant she wasn't happy he was in town.

Lucas felt his heart break at that. He was in big trouble if she didn't even want to be in the same town with him. "Well, you see, Dan had a heart attack."

Immediately, Peyton's expression softened and she went over to his side and embraced him. "Are you okay?"

Brooke noticed how the two blonds fit together. She had given Broody up and because of that, she could see the two of them with fresh eyes. Watching them, she knew that the two of them belonged together. Brooke was a firm believer in true love and she wasn't going to stand in the way. But then again, Lucas had been a total ass and had treated both girls despicably, so he didn't exactly deserve an epic romance at the moment.

Lucas shook his head and lowered his voice so low that it was only because of Peyton's close proximity to him that she heard him. "I'm not okay, Peyt. Not by a long shot. I'm so scared that he is going to die and I don't want him to. But I'm supposed to hate him, you know? He never once cared about my wellbeing!"

Peyton hugged him closer. "Well, that's not true. From what I hear, he was pretty worried about you during your accident."

Lucas closed his eyes. She was right, but she always was. Maybe it was because she was such a remarkable artist, but she had an uncanny ability to point out the truth to him, no matter how murky it was.

"Keith just dropped me off here," Lucas continued, his voice reaching a normal volume again. "Then he turned the car around and went back to Charleston. He didn't even consider for one second coming back. It's his brother and he's not here for him but he told me that it was important for me to be here for my brother."

Brooke came over and squeezed his arm. "How's Nathan holding up?"

Lucas shrugged, feeling embarrassed at having to be comforted by two girls. "I don't know. I haven't had the courage to head to the hospital just yet."

Peyton pulled away from him. "Well then, let's go."

"What?" Lucas asked. "Where?"

"To the hospital. You need courage, we'll give you courage," the blond girl said. "Nathan needs support? We'll give him that, too."

"Wait," Brooke said. "Are you talking about me going, too?"

"Of course."

"Nope, sorry. Not going to happen, P. Sawyer." Brooke gave her friend a pointed look. "Hospital duty is totally a girlfriend thing. So, I'm bowing out of this excursion."

"Yeah, and you don't have to go either, Peyt." Lucas said. "Nathan's there with Haley and his mom, so he should be okay. I know how much you hate hospitals."

Peyton did hate hospitals but she also hated being alone in her time of need and wouldn't wish that on anyone. Nathan and her may have not had the best relationship, but she still cared very much for the younger Scott brother. It didn't matter if he had a hundred people there, one more person showing him that he is loved was always welcomed.

"Well, I'm going to suck it up," Peyton told him. "I'm going home and changing and then I'm going to the hospital. Who's coming with me?"

----

Nathan stepped out of the hospital. He hadn't been able to find his mother anywhere. Finally one of the nurses had told him that his mother had gone off with some dark-haired gentleman. Nathan took out his cell phone and called his mother. If Deb wasn't in the hospital, surely she'd be able to answer her cell phone.

"Hello?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Mom. Where are you?"

There was silence for a little while before he heard his mother take a deep breath. "I'm not at the hospital right now. Listen, Nathan, we need to talk."

"Talk? About what? Where are you? Dad's doctor came by and wanted to talk to you but you're not here. When are you coming back?"

"I'm not coming back," Deb told him. "Apparently your father signed the divorce papers before his heart attack, so I'm leaving. He's not my responsibility anymore. I'm washing my hands of that man and if you were smart you would too."

"I can't do that, Mom." Nathan couldn't believe how selfish his mother was being. She had every right to leave, but couldn't she just wait until Dan was conscious at least? "The doctor wanted to talk to you. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him that I'm ran away, tell him I'm washing my hair, tell him anything, I don't care. Dan Scott is no longer my problem."

"Whatever, Mom," he said. "I'll deal with it. So where are you running off to?"

Deb shot a sidelong glance at the driver. She gave Keith a brief smile. "I don't know yet. But I'll let you know when I do."

"One more thing, before I let you go. Haley and I got married. Bye, Mom." Nathan hung up the phone before his mother could say anything else. And then he shut the phone off because he was going back into the hospital and be the adult his mother couldn't be.

-----

Peyton made her way to her car. Lucas was leaning on it, waiting for her. He looked nervous and she couldn't tell if it was because of her or because of going to see his father. Either way, Peyton had to admit that Lucas could stand to feel a little discomfort.

"Are we going?" Lucas asked when he caught her looking at him.

"Yes," she answered as she slid into her car.

"Guess Brooke's a no-show, huh?" Lucas wasn't surprised by his former girlfriend's absence. He definitely wasn't disappointed that she had decided to sit this out. In fact, he felt rather relieved at that. It gave him a chance to spend some time alone with Peyton.

"She called me as I was heading out the door to let me know that there was a killer party going on over at Theresa's house and that she was obligated to go." Peyton chuckled. "I told her she was off the hook for tonight, but that she wouldn't get out of it so easily next time."

"Listen, I know this is awkward, so let's just get it out of the way," Lucas started. "About the letter I wrote you guys…"

"We burnt it."

"What?"

"We burnt your letter," she admitted. Peyton bit her lip and gave him a sheepish shrug. "There wasn't money in it, was there?"

"No, but-"

"You can't exactly blame us for that," she told him. "We were mad at you and really didn't want to know what you had to say. Sorry about that."

Lucas sighed, torn between feeling relieved at the fact that they didn't read it or upset that he had spent so long perfectly wording the letter to fully express how he felt only to have it be completely unread. He settled on relief. "Well, I guess that's good. At least I won't have to be embarrassed about what I wrote, then."

"Wait, what did you write that was so embarrassing?"

Lucas just shrugged. "How much is it worth it to you to know?"

Peyton just ignored his question, changing the subject. "So what did your mom say when you told her that you were back in town?"

"She was happy about it, of course, but she seemed pretty heartbroken when she found out that Keith wasn't staying."

"I can imagine," Peyton said. "Your mom cares for Keith very much and I'm sure she missed him and would have liked him to stick around."

"If she had wanted him to stick around then she should have accepted his marriage proposal ," he said angrily, his tone surprising Peyton. "But she said no and she has no right to wish he'd give up a chance of happiness for her."

"I don't think that your mother-"

"He loves her and she just wanted to be his friend! He's been in love with her for years and she turns him down because of some stupid reason! And then the second that there's the possibility that he won't be there as her standby-"

"Are you talking about your mom and Keith or are you talking about us?" Peyton asked him, interrupting his little rant. "Because that is not how it was and you know it."

"Really? Because that's how it seemed like to me."

Peyton pulled the car over to the side of the road and glared at Lucas. "How can you say that to me? After everything we've been through?"

"I don't know," he cried. "God, Peyton, don't you get it? I would have done anything to be with you but you kept turning me down!"

She put her hands on the steering wheel and forced herself to calm down. "Okay, we're getting a little emotional right now. How about we table this discussion for now and we'll continue it at a later time? I don't want to fight with you right now."

"I don't want to fight with you either," he told her truthfully. "I messed up with you, I admit that. But through it all, I still wanted to be with you."

"Luke…"

"No, please let me just get this out." Lucas took her hands off the steering wheel and pulled her to face him. "You're the one for me Peyton. I just need to know that you feel something, ANYTHING, for me, too."

"Of course I feel something for you, Luke," she started. "But it's neither the time nor the place to have this conversation."

Lucas nodded. "You're right."

Inside he was rejoicing. Peyton felt something for him. She didn't exactly specify what it was that she felt, but Lucas felt like he could assume that it was something resembling what he was feeling for her. (At least he was hoping it was.) There was no way that she could be as angry as she was at him and still be so willing to do what she needed to do to be there for him. Her admission was enough for Lucas to know that he was going to be able to win Peyton's heart. How he was going to accomplish that, however, he had no idea.

"Good," she said, taking her hands away from him. She started driving again, cursing herself for letting Lucas pull that little piece of information out of her. He had hurt her badly and she hadn't wanted to have him know that she still had strong feelings for him. Especially since she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to be with him or not.

Thankfully, he had let her put the conversation on hold and she was going to do her damnedest to make sure that it stayed on hold until she could get control of her feelings. Which was going to be a huge challenge because just having him there sitting so close to her was making her heart beat like she was running a marathon. This was going to be hard.

----

Nathan made his way to the waiting room to find that Haley was accompanied by an older woman. He wasn't exactly close to Karen but he knew from both Lucas and Haley that she was an incredible woman. But above that, he was excited to be in the presence of a responsible adult. He was tired of having to pick up his parents' slack in that department.

Karen stood when she saw him and came over and wrapped him in a warm hug. "How are you holding up?"

It was amazing how this woman who was barely more than a stranger to him was able to make him feel better with a simple gesture. This what a mom was supposed to be like, he thought, suddenly feeling very jealous of his half-brother.

"I'm not doing too good," he admitted. "My mom left."

Haley blinked at the news her husband had delivered. "What do you mean she left? Where did she go? When is she coming back?"

"Apparently she's not coming back, Hales." Nathan sat down in one of the chairs, feeling completely defeated. "She doesn't want anything to do with Dan and now that she got her divorce papers signed, she's taking off."

Karen let out a deep breath. She knew that Deb had been suffering for quite some time now but that was no reason for her to just leave in the middle of all that was going on and let her son shoulder the burden. She took a seat next to Nathan. The poor boy needed to know that he wasn't alone in this situation. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Dad's doctor, a Dr. Farrell, wanted to talk to my mom about my Dad's condition. She's gone and I don't know if he's going to want to talk to me…"

Karen gently patted his knee and then she stood up. "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Karen," Haley spoke up as she took the seat that the older woman had vacated. She took Nathan's hand and squeezed it.

"Yeah, thanks," he said.

Karen smiled as she started her mission, leaving the young married couple alone again. Haley laid her head on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haley asked.

"About my mom leaving? Not really. I mean, there's really nothing to talk about." Nathan groaned. "It's so typical, you know? But I did manage to tell her about us."

Haley's eyes widened and she turned to look at him. "You did not."

"Yeah, I did. Right before I hung up on her." He laughed at the memory. "She's probably calling my cell, clogging up my voicemail."

"Or she's on her way to the hospital so she can turn her son into a widower," Haley replied, only half-joking. "I mean, I'm glad you told her, I just wish that it hadn't been like that."

"It's not like she left me any choice. She's running away," he reminded her. "I'm not really going to concern myself with how she's feeling right now."

Haley just nodded, content to just sit there with her husband in silence until Karen came back with some news.

"Hey guys," a female voice called out to them.

Haley and Nathan turned to see Peyton and Lucas standing there. Haley felt Nathan relax slightly. He was trying to be strong in front of her, but she knew that he needed Lucas's support as well. Peyton reached them first and threw her arms around her ex-boyfriend. Usually, a new wife should have been jealous of that amount of affection between her husband and his ex-girlfriend, but Haley knew that she had nothing to worry about in that department.

"I'm here for you, you know that right?" The blond girl hug the younger Scott brother tighter. "Just let me know what you need, okay?"

"Thanks, Sawyer." Nathan felt a lump in his throat. How could she be here after all the crap he had put her through? He had been a terrible boyfriend to her, but he hoped that he would be able to one day be a good friend.

Lucas stood a few feet away, feeling terribly uncomfortable. He couldn't just go up to Nathan and hug him like that. Sure, the two of them were slowly getting closer, but they were nowhere near that level just yet.

Peyton stepped out of Nathan's embrace and noticed Lucas standing there. She then turned to Haley. "You want to go get some coffee with me?"

Haley looked between the two Scotts and realized what Peyton was trying to do. "Yeah, I could totally go for some caffeine right now."

Peyton and Haley gave their respective boys a knowing look before they headed out of the waiting room, leaving Lucas and Nathan alone. The boys exchanged a nod before sitting down next to each other in matching uncomfortable chairs.

"How is he?" Lucas asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Nathan answered. "His doctor was going update me on his condition but he wanted to wait until my mom was around. But, oh wait, she had taken off."

"Sucks."

"Yeah. So, aren't you supposed to be in Charleston, right now?"

"Yeah, but Dan had to go and muck that plan up." Lucas shook his head.

"Classic Dan," the raven-haired Scott said. "So, your mom's here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, she's off trying to see if she can convince the doctor to talk to me," Nathan informed his older brother. "Your mom's awesome, by the way. I'm glad she's here."

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome."

"I'm glad you're here, too," Nathan admitted.

Before Lucas could respond, Karen stepped into the waiting room. The expression on her face spoke volumes. The boys came over to her and she took a hand from each of them. "Dan's awake and he wants to see you. Both of you."