Pretty Baby
By AmericanBaby
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, other than Lacey Scott; they belong to the WB or whatever. I just like writing about them!
Chapter 5, Lacey:
Who's to Say
"Mom?" Nathan called after Deb, obviously confused by her words. "Mom!" he called a second time, but her car had already reached the street. He stood at the door as we watched her drive out of site. I watched Nathan as he slowly turned around and looked at me wide-eyed. I liked his eyes- they reminded me of my own and gave me a strange, new sense of belonging.
Although I hadn't even been in Tree Hill for twelve hours yet, it gave me the same sense of belonging that I got looking at Nathan or Deb. Neither of them gave me that awful feeling of being unwanted. The feeling that I had been dreading before I rang the doorbell last night. It was the same feeling I got ever time I was passed from one foster home to another over the past couple of years. Tree Hill seemed to understand that Nate and Deb didn't mind me here; it welcomed me, too. I had gotten to Tree Hill earlier last night, but I didn't have the courage to go and find my family. Instea, I drove around Tree Hill for hours before I confronted Deb and Nathan.
Snapping back to reality, I realized that Nathan had been looking at me, his eyes practically begging me to say something. I was at a loss for words, unsure of what to do next. So I just shrugged my shoulders, played with my hair nervously, and gave him what I hope looked like an encouraging smile.
"Um," Nathan tried to reply as he looked around and scratched the hair at the nape of his neck. "I guess we eat breakfast now," he finally came up with. Then he led me to the kitchen table. I don't think I would have ever pegged the two of them as blueberry pancake people; yet sitting on the table were three plates of blueberry pancakes. He nodded to himself as we sat down across from each other.
As soon as I had picked up the silverware from the table, a chair scratched across the kitchen floor. "Actually… I just thought of a phone call I have to make. He needs to know. He would want to know. You, um, you… You just stay here. Finish breakfast. Whatever. I'll be back soon." And without another half sentence he walked out of the room. He was making about as much sense as Deb had. I heard him in the den sitting down, rustling around for something.
I shook my head and laughed, remembering how somber he had been last night compared to right then, I reached for the syrup to pour a little on my pancakes. Only enough to spell out my name like my first foster mother had done when I was little. I heard Nathan in the next room still looking for something when I replaced the bottle on the table. Finally he stopped and everything was silent for a moment. The only thing I could hear was my own chewing, which made me self conscious so I swallowed the half-chewed bite.
"Hey, man. It's Nate. I don't really know what to say, but I really need to talk to you. I guess call me back. If you want to. Mostly just meet me at the café at 11. Bye, Luke… Oh, yea, I almost forgot… Hayley's home."
Then he reappeared at the kitchen door and peered in. "Um, Lacey, you should get to know Lucas, too… I don't know if Mom told you, but Luke is Dan's other son. He'll want to meet you. So I just called him, I asked if he could meet us and all- at 11. That's in like, an hour. And Hayley, she's… she's a complicated story. She's also my wife. Hayley just got back to Tree Hill last night. She's taking a shower now, but I'm sure there's enough time for you to shower before we meet Luke. I guess that's it- you're filled in. For now." He looked out of breath, that was probably more the most he's said since I got here last night.
I looked at Nathan and smiled. Then I nodded and we both began to eat at the same time. A couple of minutes later, a pretty brunette with wet hair joined us and I assumed she was Hayley. For the rest of breakfast, the three of us at in a comfortable silence. That had to be a good sign, right?
And you say we're too young, but maybe you're too old to remember
And I try to pretend but I just feel it when we're together
And if you don't believe me, you never really knew us
You never really knew
Chapter Title and Song Lyrics are from Vanessa Carlton