Author's Notes: So…finals kicked my ass but I'm done now and it's summer. But don't expect faster updates. I'm having an affair with writer's block.
Summary: Stupid mistakes, lies, and betrayal can make it hard to remember the ones you loved, fought for. Under cover of darkness, was where their love lay. It'd take years to peel back the layers and find it again – but who said they were above trying?
Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or the characters. I'm still learning business.
Under Cover Of Darkness
..
Chapter Four : It's Starting to Get Ridiculous
Lucas walks into the café his mother owns after coming back from a grueling basketball practice. Whitey had been extra hard on them this week after that disgrace of a game – he likes to call it – they played last week. He gave them about an hour long speech about how embarrassing and pathetic it was and how he's just going to chalk it up to teenage puberty but that if they didn't get it together this week, he'll threaten to remove basketball from the extracurricular activities.
Of course, the whole team knew he was bluffing. He'd be out of a job after all. But they also knew he wasn't kidding about the whole "getting their act together". They were playing like a bunch of strangers – not a team. They were just going through the motions and it stopped being about why they all joined the team in the first place – because they loved to play. They needed to get back into their element. That was why Whitey made them stay an extra two hours for practice. By the time they were finished, sweat wasn't the only thing that fell to the floor. It was their pride. Their dignity. Ashamed at how bad they were playing, and Whitey had had enough, walking out of the gym with the lingering threat of being better tomorrow, or else.
The team stood – tired, sweaty, defeated in that gym. Lucas hadn't known what to do until he considered the one place where he could always find solace – always find peace. The Rivercourt. A court in front of a river. It wasn't anything special to the naked eye, but to Lucas, it was where he felt most at home, what helped him think, where he came from.
The boys agreed to a later game after they all wind down. Lucas decided to visit his mom's café for a pick-me-up.
Now when he walks in, he's surprised to find it completely empty. He checks his watch – 6:30. He knows his mom hates closing early. She always wants to get a full day's work in so she can feel accomplished.
"Mom?" he calls out and heads to the back. He finds her sitting on the floor of the storage closet, a bunch of papers surrounding her. He gets a closer look and finds out they're bills.
"Mom…" he whispers.
She runs her fingers through her unruly hair and takes a minute before speaking. "It's too much Lucas," she says. "We can't afford everything."
He stays quiet. He wishes he had something comforting to say…anything that would make this better. But he doesn't. What do you say in a situation like this? It'll all be okay? Empty promises are nothing people want to hear.
"How bad is it?" he asks gently. Will they lose their house? The café?
She looks into his eyes, her dark brown hair framing her face. At thirty four, Karen Roe looked as young as a twenty year old. But if you look closely, you can see the bags under her eyes. The lines adorning her face from years of strain.
"I…I could lose the café."
Lucas covers his face with his hand. "How much time do we have?"
"Not a lot."
"Don't make any decisions yet mom." He advises softly. "I – I can get a job or something."
She begins to get up. "Lucas no. You have school and basketball practice, plus your job with Keith at his garage. I can't put all this stress on you just…let me handle it." She tries her hand at a reassuring smile. " I'm sorry for making you worry."
She walks back to the front and Lucas follows.
"Mom, you said we could lose the café. This is a big deal."
"Lucas." She says in a gently motherly voice. "It's fine. I can handle it."
"You were just crying on the floor of a closet! That's what you call handling it?"
Karen whips around, fury in her eyes. "Lucas Eugene Scott!" she reprimands. "Do not talk to me like that, I am your mother."
Lucas cowers back at her gaze, reverting back into his ten year old self. "Mom, I'm sorry." He says sitting on a chair. "I didn't mean it like that I just – I want you to let me help."
The café is her pride and joy. The one thing she had done on her own and actually succeeded. If they had lost it, Lucas knew she'd be devastated.
"I know how much you love this café and I know how much the people in this town love the café – business is great, it's just all the bills weighing us down and I would hate to see us lose this place." He gets up and walks over to her. "All I'm saying is don't shut down the idea of me helping right away."
"Lucas, you're only eighteen."
He shrugs. "A lot of people hire eighteen year olds. With three salaries coming in, we could keep this place up and running."
"Lucas, I can't take all your money. I can't ask you to carry this burden."
"You're not asking me Mom, I want to. Let me help you out."
...
Haley walks into the kitchen and Lucas is snapped out of his daydream. Sitting at the table, he watches as she goes to the fridge, pulls out two beers and sets them on the counter wordlessly. Her silence peaks his curiosity.
"What, no hello?"
She ignores him still. She takes out the bread, the mayo, the mustard, and the lunch meat.
"Silent treatment, huh? And what did I do to deserve this?"
His tone has an underlying playfulness to it. Still she says nothing. She makes the sandwiches in silence and he just watches in amusement, knowing that she will crack soon enough because the silence will get to her and she hates awkward silences – like Brooke.
Just like Brooke.
He shakes away thoughts of the brunette upstairs as Haley begins to put the condiments away. She picks up the two beers and the sandwiches, gets a plate, and makes it to the door of the kitchen before setting the things down and turning to Lucas.
"I need you to know where I stand in all of this."
"How kind of you to finally notice my presence." He taunts.
She takes a deep breath. "When it comes to you and Brooke, and getting your son, I am on your side. One hundred percent."
Lucas raises an eyebrow – as if he didn't already know this. "Nice to know Hales–"
"But when it comes to you and Brooke," she continues as if he hadn't interrupted. "and only you and Brooke," she watches his eyes narrow. "I am on her side, one thousand percent. I have to be."
"Nice to know." He says bitterly, standing up now, his chair hitting the wall.
Haley shakes her head. "You won't understand now–"
"No I don't!"
"And I don't expect you to." She states, her voice firm. "But one day you will. It'll be sooner than you know."
"Damn it, Haley cut this bullshit." His hands slam on the table. "Every time you visited me you had the same sob story! Do you remember?"
"Any word on when I'll be out of this dump?"
Haley smiles at her longtime friend and hopes it looks genuine enough for him not to notice anything wrong with her. But even she can see her reflection on the glass partition that separates them and cringes at the fakeness of her smile.
"They said there's a chance you could make bail but I have a feeling they might rule it out since you were all basically caught high off your asses and into oblivion." She manages a small laugh. "It'll probably be a couple of months before your case goes to court but when I overheard some lawyers talking they said since there were so many of you and they've been looking for Fernando for years, it could get pushed up to the forefront."
He nods but says nothing. Just stares at her – urging her to open up about what's on her mind.
"Lucas," Haley sighs. "You could go away for a long time."
"I won't Haley." He says gently.
"How do you know?" she whimpers, letting the first batch of tears fall. "Fernando's a dangerous guy and you were caught in his company meaning you're being looked at as dangerous too."
"Hales," Lucas sighs, wishing he could talk to her face to face and not through glass and over a phone. "It'll all be okay. Dan says he's got me the best lawyer in the state."
Her eyes narrow. "You're trusting Dan now?"
"He was the only way I could get a decent lawyer. My mom can't afford one and they confiscated all the money we made so I'm basically broke, we're broke."
Haley nods, seemingly content with his answer. "Your mom still not talking to you?"
He rubs the back of his neck. "She said she'll come visit when I've turned back into the boy she raised." He says in a low voice laced with embarrassment – crushed that he disappointed his mother so much she couldn't even be around him.
"She's not wrong, you know." He glances away from her in disgrace. "Selling drugs Luke? That's not you. Getting high on the weekends just for the hell of it? That's not you either."
They sit in silence for a while, mulling over unvoiced thoughts, neither knowing what to say, until Lucas remembers there's someone he desperately wants to see. Someone he hasn't seen in three days.
"Is Brooke here?" he questions, his eyes squinting. "I thought she'd come visit sooner. Did she come with you?"
Haley's wide eyes look away from his questioning glance. The nervous action doesn't escape Lucas' ever observant nature. His throat tightens with dread, his stomach drops.
"Hales." He says firmly. "Where's Brooke?"
She shakes her head and the tears start up once more.
"Haley!"
He feels like shaking her until she tells him what he wants to know. If only he could get to her. Damn glass. He stares at it in contempt and watches as Haley stares a hole into her lap.
"Haley," he says her name again, his voice lowered as he takes note of the look one of the guards sent him. "Just tell me, where Brooke is? Where is she? Why isn't she here?" His voice shakes, cracks, imagining the worst. "What's going on?"
"I don't know."
"What…?"
Haley sighs and raises her eyes to meet his. "I don't know where Brooke is."
His grip on the phone tightens and he feels his heart sink to his chest, creating a whole that wouldn't come to be filled for five years. Five long years.
"Wha-What do you mean?"
"I mean I went to her house and her room was empty, all her stuff was gone." She pauses to wipe her eyes. "Lucas, she's gone."
Lucas can feel his breathing being cut short. His eyes, wide and alarmed as they stare at Haley, begging her to tell him that this was untrue, that this was somehow some sick joke that she and his friends decided to play on him that they thought would be funny. Brooke will appear at any second.
Any second now
"No…" he whispers.
"I'm sorry," Haley begins but does not get to finish.
He drops the phone, stands up, breathless. Feeling like he's run a mile and his heart hurts, hurts so bad, and he wonders absently if he remembered to take his medicine.
"Lucas? Lucas!"
Haley's calls fall deaf on ears as he walks away and signals to the guard that he's done.
He's done.
Haley's eyes close as she tries to get the memory out of her mind, erase it.
"Of course I remember." she whispers.
"Then what is this shit about not being on my side?" Lucas demands. "You fucking cried every time you came to visit Hales, every time! Cried because you didn't know where Brooke was, you had no clue where she'd run off to."
"Lucas–"
"She fucking left Haley! She left without a word when I needed her the most – when we needed her the most." He corrects and takes a deep breath. "And you cried every day. And I brought her here for you."
"Not just because of me." Haley interjects. "You need her here to get your son."
Lucas shakes his head. "I don't need her here to get my son, I know where he is."
"How? How did you possibly manage to find him?" She asks. She knows Brooke would've hid the boy carefully. Haley knew she'd take extreme measures to protect him.
"Besides the fucking point." He snaps. "You're with her for a day and you pull this shit?"
"Shut up Lucas, I'm not pulling any shit." Haley retorts.
"Fine, once this is all done and Brooke leaves, you can follow her ass out."
"Lucas–"
"Don't bother coming back, like her. I'll be sure to tell Jake the good news."
Haley turns to collect herself before hitting him with a hard stare. "Did you hear her last night?"
He says nothing, simply stares.
"You must've." She sighs. "And you did nothing. You feel nothing."
"Brooke being dramatic doesn't exactly make me quake with emotion."
Haley shakes her head. "I said you'll understand soon enough; let's leave it at that before we say stuff we'll regret."
She leaves the room again but Lucas still stands there. Breathing deeply. He flings the nearest object in anger which happens to just be a paper towel holder. Nathan comes in a second later, looking passive.
"She's ready."
Lucas walks out and hauls his jacket from the coat closet. "Tell her I'll be there in twenty."
…
"Here you go." Haley says handing Brooke a plate. "Made you a turkey sandwich and got you a beer."
"Thanks." Brooke mumbles in response, keeping her position on the bed. She feels Haley sit next to her and they sit in silence.
Brooke appreciates it. After the damage she had done to their – Haley's room, she'd finally unlocked the door and Haley stepped in, followed by Nathan. Once he'd seen her face, his expression went from indifference to concern, which was erased as quickly as it came. He had walked out after making sure she was still alive.
Brooke's still determined to get some emotion out of him.
Haley had put the bed back in place, hung up all the clothes, picked up the broken pieces of the lamp and fixed the dresser, all in silence. Then she practically had to carry the brunette to bed and held her all night while she cried.
Brooke knows Haley wants some answers but that she also loves her enough not to ask at the moment. To wait. And for that she's incessantly grateful. Her gaze shifts to the new lamp she noticed when she got up this morning.
"You got a new lamp."
"Yeah." Haley affirms. "Got it this morning while you were still sleep. And don't worry about all the broken hangers I can just borrow some from Nate and Luke."
Brooke nods and stares at her plate, losing what little appetite she had to begin with.
"I'm sorry about that Haley, I just–"
"Don't worry about it." Haley smiles warily. "We all go a little crazy sometimes."
Brooke surprises herself and Haley included when she lets out a small laugh. Small, but Haley counts it as progress compared to the mess she was last night. Brooke had stopped crying somewhere around two in the morning. Even when her cries had turned to mere whimpers, her grip on Haley's hand had fallen limp, and her light snoring had filled the otherwise silent room, Haley still hadn't fallen asleep. And wouldn't for another few hours.
Not with the brunette's distressing cries circulating around in her mind. Not with the way her clammy hands shook as they held onto hers in a firm grip. Not with the way she'd wake up every few hours, panting heavily because of a nightmare.
There are certain things Haley won't ever forget, this is one of them. She watches as Brooke takes a small sip from the beer bottle. Ten minutes go by and she finishes it. But the sandwich lays untouched, as does hers. Haley can't keep her silence any longer.
"Brooke," she speaks softly. "I know you want to be there when Lucas gets your son…I can try to talk to him–"
Brooke scoffs and grips her plate. "Don't bother Haley. He's made up his mind."
"It's not right. Have you seen him since you gave him away?"
Her grip falters. "Um, no I haven't."
Haley huffs in chagrin and stands. "And he's not even taking you to go with him? Unbelievable." She strides back and forth in the room. "You are his mother. I mean you would think he could at least try and be civilized in this situation."
"Haley don't stress about this, Lucas won't listen to anyone except one, himself."
"What I don't get is why he brought you here if he's not gonna take you with him when he gets your little boy."
"Well he said so you'd stop crying so, there's that." Brooke laughs a little as Haley's cheeks turn a slight red. "And so I can be alive for my son."
Haley's eyebrows crinkle. "What do you mean be alive for your son? What does he think you're incompetent or something? How does he presume you've stayed alive these past five years?"
"No I–" Brooke pauses and stares at Haley's relaxed face for a beat. She can't fathom why she hadn't figured it out before since Haley never mentioned anything to her about it. And Haley definitely would've said something by now.
"He hasn't told you."
Haley shrugs a shoulder. "Told me what?"
She only needs to mention the name Fernando when Haley's eyes start to water. By the time her sentence is done, Haley's face is wet – drenched with tears. She envelopes the brunette in a tight hug before rushing out of the room and down the hall.
"Haley!" Brooke calls, following her out.
Haley bounds down the stairs, determination and betrayal clear on her face, with Brooke hot on her heels.
"Haley. Haley please stop."
"You son of a bitch!" Haley yells making it to the bottom. Right over to Lucas she stomps and smacks him straight across the face.
"Haley." Nathan states firmly, getting out of his seat.
"What the hell is your problem, James." Lucas says in a voice so calm Brooke feels goose bumps appear on her skin.
"My problem!" Haley exclaims. "Why the hell are we here Lucas? Why are we here and not in Tokyo or some remote place in Idaho!"
"You slip something in her drink?" Lucas asks, referring his question to Brooke but not looking at her.
Haley hits him, then hits him again.
"What Haley? What the hell is your problem!" he yells.
"Fernando has a death sentence on my best friend and you don't bother to tell me?" Haley cries, fuming red and matching his tone full force.
Lucas shuts his eyes and curses out loud. "Fucking hell Brooke! Why do you open your mouth?"
Brooke gapes at him. "I thought she knew. Nathan knew so I figured you told her."
"Surely you must be smarter than that."
Brooke groans in aggravation. "Why didn't you tell her then?"
"Why didn't you tell me Lucas?" Haley repeats. "You cannot keep keeping things from me, I am a part of this too. And now that I know the seriousness of this whole ordeal, I deserve to have a say in the decisions you make."
"Haley." Lucas states firmly. "this place is off the map, completely isolated. You have nothing to worry about.
"Nothing to worry about." Haley mocks and pinches the skin in between her eyebrows. "How would you feel if you just found out a dangerous criminal who, even though in jail, can still take your life if he wanted to, had a target on your best friend?"
"I don't have a best friend."
Haley throws her hands up in annoyance. "Fine, your brother or your mother, or your sister…"
"And this is exactly why I don't tell you anything." Lucas walks around Haley and settles himself back on the couch. He reaches for the remote and flicks the TV on. "You let your emotions get in the way of reason."
"And you don't?" Haley shoots right back. "All this pent up anger towards Brooke for something she had no control over five years ago is causing you to make stupid decisions."
"Shut up about that." Lucas mutters, rising from his seat.
"She was pregnant Lucas, what did you expect her to do? She had a baby to think about, her future, not your sorry ass."
Brooke watches on silently as Haley desperately tries to come to her defense. She steals a look at Nathan, who looks like he'd rather be back in his chair watching the TV then be a witness to this fight.
"I said shut up about that." Lucas says more strongly this time but Haley keeps going.
"And now you're punishing her by not taking her when you get your son? She hasn't even seen him since she gave him up, just like you! She deserves to go with you, you need to–"
"I said shut up about that!" Lucas reels towards Haley in a movement so quick no one saw it coming fast enough to stop it, and grabs her by the shoulders fiercely. He can see the fear in her eyes, the horror. He's scared her. But he doesn't care about that right now. All he can see is red. "I don't want to hear another word about what happened five years ago or how sorry you feel for her."
Brooke flinches and feels her heart drop. He can barely even say her name.
Haley's eyes are wide, alert, and she doesn't say anything for a while before stepping out of his death grip. She looks at him strangely, as if he's exactly that – a stranger.
Lucas sits back on the couch in front of the TV, breathes deeply, and turns up the volume.
No one says anything and all you can hear are the sports announcers on the TV getting increasingly hype over various shots that are being made by sweaty basketball players. They're all so entranced in their thoughts that they don't hear the footsteps from the basement coming up the steps until the door opens and a voice begins to talk.
"God, a girl can't get some sleep without all your incredibly loud voices filtering throughout the house. You'd think everyone was on their period."
Brooke and Haley whip around, startled. Haley doesn't bother to hide her disgust, staring daggers into the person in front of her and mutters a barely audible, "You've got to be kidding me," while Brooke finds herself speechless.
Speechless as she's staring into the eyes of one Peyton Sawyer.
Yay P. Sawyer's here.