Effy had shut down emotionally. She was drowning on dry land, barely breathing and only somewhat functioning. Her nightmare hadn't ended because it wasn't really a nightmare because she wasn't dreaming, this was her reality. Her father had said that he hadn't wanted her, the Big Bad Dan had said out loud that if he had wanted a daughter than he would have adopted one. Those words kept ringing in Effy's head and the more she tried to forget what she had heard, the louder the words seemed to ring in her head. She couldn't understand why this was bothering her so much, Effy had always known that her father had preferred Nathan than her, it had been obvious for the entire world to see as Dan had never made any attempts to hide it. But somehow hearing it for herself, had made it all too real for Effy which is why she had yet to go home yet. All night and all day had Effy been out, she couldn't bring herself to face Dan and Nathan so she had stayed out all night and skipped a whole day of school in the process. Effy wasn't even sure what time it was anymore as she aimlessly skated round Tree Hill, her cell phone had died hours ago and she had left her wristwatch at home. If she had to venture a guess, Effy would have to estimate that it was late mid to late afternoon. All Effy really knew was that she was beyond tired and in no real hurry to go home.

If Effy dragged herself back to the hellhole that was her family home, she would have to face Dan and she really wasn't ready to do that. But on the other side, there wasn't really anywhere else for Effy to go as she knew by now that her morally questionable father was probably looking for her, or more likely forcing Nathan to track her down so that ruled out Effy going to crash with any friends. Effy knew that she was going to go home eventually, she couldn't wonder around Tree Hill for the rest of her life and the longer she stayed out, the increased chance that Dan would possible call the cops to haul her ass home. She'd go home but Effy need a bit more time to get her thought together and come up with a plan for when she finally made her way back to the Scott household. Effy knew that Dan would no doubt play it off as some kind of stupid and ill-timed joke when Effy eventually went home but she wasn't going to believe it. There was some part of her father that meant what he said, Effy was beyond certain of that and no doubt so did Dan despite the fact he would probably deny such a thing. Either way Effy had already cruised by the house around 2am and smashed all the windows of her dad's car with her skateboard. It was pretty juvenile Effy would admit that but her dad deserved it because there was no way in hell Dan Scott could say something like that about her and get away with it. Effy didn't care that he was her father, if it had been Nathan or her mom she would have done the exact same thing. Effy wanted her father to know that regardless of whether he wanted her or not, she was here and she was not no shrinking violet who would be easily be quieted.

"Elizabeth!"

Frowning at the use of her name Effy came to a stop on her skateboard and wearily looked around to see who was stupid enough to address her by her full name. Effy really didn't like being addressed by her first name, it was that she didn't dislike the name Elizabeth, as it was a nice enough name but Effy didn't think it suited her. She was more an Effy than an Elizabeth. Getting ready to give the offending person a piece of her mind, Effy opened her mouth and was ready to let numerous insults flying out of her mouth when her eyes fell upon a familiar face who was glancing up at her from under the hood of a car. The man was in his mid to late 30's with short dark hair, warm brown eyes and the friendliest smile in all of Tree Hill, he was a welcome sight for rather sore eyes. Keith Scott; local mechanic and general nice guy who was unfortunately a member of the most dysfunctional family in Tree Hill.

"Oh, hey Uncle Keith…" Effy began with a forced smile, silently grateful that she had looked to see who was calling her first before pulling out the insults.

"About time kiddo! I called out your name a few times and you never responded as you seemed to be in your own little world so I tried Elizabeth and straight away it got your attention." Keith explained as he pulled back from underneath the car and made his way towards Effy and she bent down and picked up her skateboard from off the ground and tucked it under her left arm. As much as Effy wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, she always had time for her Uncle Keith as he was pretty much the only person in her immediate family who paid her any attention and took an interest in Effy's life. Keith was a very interesting character to Effy as she had always found that her uncle's actions spoke louder than his words although she would not discredit her uncle's way with words as he always knew what to say whenever Effy had approached him in the past for advice.

"Sorry I didn't hear you Uncle Keith, I must have been off in my own world." Effy wearily admitted with a small smile, as she slowly walked towards her uncle, forcing herself to put up the pretence that everything was fine in her not so happy life. Keith had already spent most of his life cleaning up after the Big Bad Dan's messes which was not limited to helping to raise the child that Dan had abandoned. From what Effy was aware of, Keith had been a huge part of Lucas' life and filled the dad like void that Dan had left behind when he chose to walk away from his responsibilities. It made Effy somewhat jealous of Lucas' at times.

"Eff, what happened to your hand?" Keith questioned and Effy looked down to the top of her right hand which was in a bit of a state. Well that was pretty much an understatement as her hand was covered in grazes and dried blood and her knuckles were really messed up. Effy had banged them up pretty good although she couldn't exactly remember how she had done it, after all it had been a very long night. Although Effy was pretty sure that it must have happened sometime after she had snuck out the house and sunrise. She wouldn't hold herself to that but did it really matter? Whatever pain there had been, it was long gone now apart from an occasional twinge but it didn't both Effy as it wasn't like she needed her right hand to skateboard. Tying her shoelaces however, was becoming a bit of an issue.

"Skateboarding… Deb thinks it's going to be the death of me as I'm never paying attention and for once she may be right. I was off in lala land this morning and I missed the curb but lucky for me the sidewalk was there to catch my fall. But my hand took the brunt of it, I wouldn't worry about it Uncle Keith, it's not biggie. This kind of thing happens all the time." Effy lied as she knew there was no way she could be honest about what had happened, even though she had no real recollection of what happened. Judging by the look that Keith was giving her, it was clear to Effy that he didn't believe a single word she was saying. Effy awkwardly waited for her uncle to call her out on her lie but it never came, instead he looked back in the direction of his garage.

"Luke, bring out the first aid kit!"

"Uncle Keith, I appreciate the concern but there is no need for all of this. It's only a couple of grazes for a minor skateboarding mishap, trust me my hand is fine." Effy began in an effort to stop her uncle but Keith wasn't having any of it and gently he took Effy by the elbow and led her into the garage.

"Anyone with a set of eyes can see that your hand is not okay Effy, it needs to be taken care of, so we can do this one of two ways. Either you let us take care of your hand here and you can keep the details of what happened to yourself or, I can take you to the hospital where you'll have to tell a doctor as well as your parents what happened. Take your pick kiddo." Keith firmly stated leaving no room for argument and Effy couldn't help but roll her eyes as her uncle wasn't leaving her much choice. It wasn't very often that fun Uncle Keith put his foot down and played the authority figure but seemed like he was willing to do that today. Effy sighed before tilting her head towards the direction of the garage, signalling that she would have hand taken care of here. The last place Effy wanted to go was the hospital as that meant Dan would have to be called and she wasn't ready to see her dad. Effy needed a bit more time.

Shuffling alongside Keith, Effy slowly and rather reluctantly made her way into the garage, wondering how long this entire thing was going to take. "You don't have to do this Uncle Keith, I'm a big girl now. I am more than capable of sticking a band aid on my hand."

"Yeah I do, I wouldn't be a good uncle if I let you go without having that hand taken care of. Besides you look like you need a cup of coffee and someone to talk to as you look like crap Eff, so we'll get you fixed up and then we'll have a little chat. How does that sound to my favourite niece?" Keith questioned and Effy let out a chocked out laugh as that was pretty much the best offer she had received in days. She glanced at her uncle, his brown soulful eyes full of warmth and Effy wanted to cry. It seemed like Keith cared more about his brother's children than Dan did himself. It wasn't fair that she was stuck with a father who cared so little about her, who made supposed jokes at her expense which destroyed her self-esteem. The only time Keith ever made jokes aimed towards Effy was in an effort to cheer herself up. God know what they had all done in a previous life to deserved Dan Scott in their lives.

"I'm your only niece Uncle Keith but I would like to take you up on that offer of a cup of coffee and somebody to talk to as things aren't too great for me right now." Effy allowed herself to admit for perhaps the first time in a long while. Although that statement was pretty much an understatement as Effy couldn't remember if things in her life had been okay at any point in her life. Everything always seemed to be surrounded by chaos or basketball, sometimes it was both of them together in this one big messy jumble that was Effy's life. As Keith brought Effy into the garage, in the general direction of the office, she caught sight of Lucas walking out of the office carrying the first aid kit in his hand and the surprise that Effy was here at the garage was clear on his face, given that she never tended to swing by the garage that often.

"Oh, hey…"

"Right back at you Lucas." Effy replied with a small smile.

"Lucas can you do me a favour and clean up Effy's hand? It seems like your sister has supposedly had an accident with that skateboard of hers, it's in a bit of a state." Keith asked and Effy was surprised that her uncle had openly addressed her as Lucas' sister. Even though it was true, Effy had never really referred to Lucas as her brother in front of anyone apart from doing it to wind up Dan and she doubted Lucas did the same. It was strange but very nice as Effy didn't want to pretend that Lucas wasn't anything to her like Dan had made them do all these years. The two of them were the children that Dan didn't want and as such, Effy thought that the two of them should get to know each other. Just because Dan didn't want them, it didn't mean that they couldn't be friends and get on with their lives and ignore Dan just like he did to them

"My pleasure." Lucas replied with a small smile that managed to make Effy feel slightly better about the situation that she managed to get herself into. But just as quickly as the smile appeared on Lucas face did it fall, only to be replaced with a pensive frown and glancing over her right shoulder, Effy saw what had caught his attention. It was an SVU, Effy didn't recognise the car itself but she knew where it had come from given it had one of the Scott Motors licence plates on it. Effy couldn't clearly make out the driver but the sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach, made her think that it was her dad. Given the damage that she had inflicted on her father's car, it wasn't a stretch for Effy to think that her dad was driving one of the cars from the dealership for the meantime.

Still not ready to see her father and listen to him try to explain himself once again with same lame ass excuse that he didn't mean, Effy decided to hide. It was immature of course, but Effy didn't know what else she could do as if she stood around for any longer, there was a good chance that Dan, if he was in the SVU could possibly spot her. If it wasn't Dan in the vehicle than Effy could come back out and no harm would have been done. Given her rather limited hiding options, Effy was certain she couldn't make it to the office in time, she ducked down behind the closest car by her and prayed like hell that her dad hadn't shown up here looking for her. She highly doubted he would as that would have to mean Dan actually cared enough to look.

"Effy, what are you doing?" Keith questioned as he peered down to look at her and Effy vehemently shook her head as right now wasn't the time to be asking questions. They could do all of that later.

"You haven't seen me."

"What do you mean I haven't seen you? I'm talking to ya right now kiddo!"

"Please Uncle Keith, if that is Dan and he asks if you have seen me then I need you to tell that you haven't seen or heard from me. I know that it doesn't make sense but I begging you not to tell my dad anything. I will explain everything including the deal with my hand after but I need you to get rid of him as I can't deal with Dan right now. I need you to do this for me, Uncle Keith." Effy pleaded and by the expression on her uncle's face, Effy could see that Keith was rather confused about the whole situation but none the less he nodded in agreement albeit rather reluctantly. Feeling a rather small weight from her shoulders being lifted, Effy crawled a little further away to try and keep as far out of sight as she could but it was a little bit awkward with a bad hand and a skateboard. Soon enough quietness fell over the garage but then Effy heard the sound of a door being shut and approaching footsteps and she placed her good hand over her mouth to make sure she wouldn't make a peep. For once in her life, Effy needed to keep her big mouth shut.

"Hey Danny, what brings you here twice in so many days? You keep this up, people might start talking." Keith seamlessly asked in a nonchalant manner as if nothing was wrong, all whilst Effy was convinced that her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

"I'm looking for that errant daughter of mine, Effy snuck out at some point last night and she hasn't been home since. Apparently, she also didn't turn up to school and Nathan hasn't heard from her except for a message late last night telling him to stop bothering her. She's wasn't answering her cell and now any time I try to call it, the damn thing goes straight to her messages. I just stopped by to ask if you've seen her at all in the last 24 hours as I know Effy seems to hold you in high regards for some reason." Dan coolly replied and Effy couldn't believe how calm and collected her father sounded as if nothing was wrong, seemingly unconcerned that his youngest child had been gone for at least fifteen hours. It just proved to Effy that her father had never really cared for.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen her Dan, although I am a bit concerned as it's unlike Effy to just take off for so long without letting anyone know where she's going. Eff's usually a lot more responsible than that." Keith said and now that he had got his answer, Effy was hoping like mad her dad would just leave and she could come out from where she was hiding. Effy had no idea what was going on, she wasn't sure if she should come out until Lucas came and stood right next to where she was hiding, momentarily glancing down and even though he didn't do or say anything. Effy knew that it meant for her to stay out as Dan was still here.

"Have you seen her?" Dan questioned and judging by the reluctance in his voice Effy quickly realized that he was addressing Lucas for once.

"Seen who?" Lucas asked glancing briefly down at Effy before looking back up and Effy appreciated him feigning ignorance to the entire situation. Lucas had no reason to go along with this, he didn't really know her as well as Keith did. But yet here he was doing this for Effy and she sure as hell felt a lot better with him standing so close to her. It was somehow very reassuring to Effy in this moment, knowing that the one person that Dan didn't want, was standing right by her side as she hid from what she had feared the most; rejection from her father.

"Your sister." Dan replied after a few moments, forcing himself to acknowledge and admit that Lucas was Effy's brother. But the tone in his voice suggested that he wasn't happy about doing so, but Effy didn't care. Anything her dad said or had an opinion on no longer mattered to Effy, Dan Scott could burn in hell for all Effy cared. He may be her father but Dan Scott was no longer her dad. That may have sounded harsh but Effy had long had enough with being irrelevant to her dad and not as important as Nathan so she was making him unimportant to her.

"No I haven't."

"Danny, if Effy has been gone for as long as you say she has then why haven't you called the cops? Are you not worried that she's gotten herself into some kind of trouble?" Keith questioned and Effy couldn't help but blanche as she was now aware that she was in a serious amount of trouble with Keith. He was going to rip her a new one over staying out all night and skipping school.

"Trouble? That's a good one Keith… Effy wouldn't know how to get herself into trouble if it hit her in the face, so there is no real point in wasting my time calling the cops as she's probably off sulking somewhere. Eff will come home, she always comes home no matter what's happened. But if you see her any time soon Keith, then tell Effy that she had better get her ass home." Dan firmly stated and all Effy wanted to was get up and scream at her father as he acted like he knew everything about her but in reality he knew nothing about her. Effy unable to get herself into trouble? That was a good one. Dan Scott was in for a rude awakening as Effy liked to walk on the dark side when the lights went out. But Effy was unable to get up as she was frozen solid, she couldn't have moved even if she wanted to, as once again her father's words had stung her badly. They had pierced through the ten foot wall that she surrounded herself as she heard her father talk about her as if she was nothing but the butt of a joke. All Effy could do was sit there and she continued to sit there even after she could hear a car door shut, followed by the sound of a car engine starting and the sound of her dad's car leaving the garage.

"Dan's gone and out of sight Effy, so do you want to come out here and explain to me what on earth is going on? Did you really do what Dan says you've done? C'mon staying out all night and skipping school? That's not you Effy especially the part when you take off without letting anyone know." Keith questioned and Effy knew she needed to explain herself, explain the reasoning behind all her actions but she still couldn't get up. Dan may have left the building but his impact had endured and hearing what her dad had to say about her just made Effy relieve the memories of last night. She had been playing it over and over in her head ever since she had snuck out but her dad being here in the garage just made all those negative and hurt feelings that she had pushed away to come flooding back and Effy could feel the hot tears prickling the corner of her eyes.

"Keith, you had better come here…" Lucas wearily called out as Effy furiously tried to wipe her eyes but it was no use, she was exhausted and very emotional and all Effy wanted to do was cry until no more tears came out and then sleep for the rest of her life. She wasn't strong enough to hold herself together anymore.

"Eff… Effy? Elizabeth what is it? Effy, talk to me, tell me what's wrong?"

Effy managed to look up and see that Keith was standing right next to Lucas until he crouched down beside her. Her uncle was giving her look that was telling her that everything was going to be okay even when she knew it wasn't going to be okay. "W-What isn't the problem Uncle Keith? Everything isn't so sunny side up for Effy Scott. My life is a joke and Dan isn't afraid to let me know that… H-He doesn't want me Keith, h-he's never wanted me."

"Who? Your dad?" Keith questioned and Effy wearily nodded her head "I know Dan can say some pretty stupid things, I think we all heard him just now and he isn't much of a dad to anyone but he loves you Effy. In his own weird way, you know he loves you."

"T-Then why does he talk about me like I'm a piece of trash? L-Like you said, w-we all heard him and it's not the first time I've heard him idly dismiss me. Last night before Nathan left for the River Court, I-I heard Dan tell Nathan that if he wanted a daughter than he would have adopted one. I heard every word. H-He never wanted me U-Uncle Keith, I am just this piece of crap that came along with Nathan." Effy said clearing her shaky throat and wiping away her tears as best as she could. "That's why I took off last night and why my hand is a mess… I always knew that I was an outsider in my house, Dan never pays me the slightest bit of attention. It's all about Nathan. I'm just the extra in the family photos. It all makes so much sense to me now, I should have realised earlier but a part of me wanted to believe that I meant something but clearly I don't. Deep down I always knew the truth and yet I-I'm still getting upset, like I wanted to be wrong about Dan for the first time in my life."

"Oh Effy–" Keith began in a sympathetic voice.

"Lucas wasn't the only child that Dan didn't want, I just got kept because it was a lot harder to brush me off to the side like I don't exist. It's like I'm invisible in that house, I'm only seen when Team Nathan need to show unity…"

"–Who is he not to want you?" Lucas interrupted sitting down next to Effy and catching her by surprise as that was the last thing she was expecting him to say. "Who is he to say something like that to you Effy and make you feel like this? Dan has no right to make you feel like you don't belong here because you do. If doesn't realise how great you are than that is Dan's loss and you shouldn't have to feel upset because he is an idiot not to realise your worth. You are not some spare part or an extra that came along with Nathan, you are a person with feelings and no one should ever make you feel like don't matter because you do matter. People matter, you matter Elizabeth."

Effy couldn't help but wearily laugh. "That sounds awfully familiar, I think I've heard it somewhere before."

"Yeah, it is… I heard it from this girl with a skateboard and a nose ring, after she gave this rather unsolicited pep talk, I thought a lot about what she had said to me as it was good advice and I decided to re-use as it seemed rather fitting." Lucas explained and Effy surprisingly found herself smiling as she never would have thought that she would have found some common ground with Lucas over Dan and giving each other little pep talks. This little moment that they were sharing almost made them seem like real siblings.

"That girl sounds pretty awesome."

"I agree with you on that, the girl with the skateboard is pretty damn awesome and she also happens to be my little sister. I don't know her all too well but I would like to change that, I'd like to get to know her better as from what I've seen, Elizabeth is full of spirit and a surprising amount of backbone. She also gives pretty good advice." Lucas admit and Effy could feel herself on the verge of tears as that was quite possibly the sweetest thing she had ever heard. The brother she barely knew treated her with more respect and kindness that the brother she had grown up with, here Lucas was comforting her in her time of need and he was acting like she was some kind of nuisance. He hadn't needed to stay and listen to her woes after Dan left, Lucas could have gotten back to work and get further sucked into the Scott family drama but he had stayed and had made sure Effy knew that she mattered. He had used her words to lift her spirits. Lucas was being the big brother that Effy needed.

"Lizzie." Effy said feeling the need to correct Lucas after he had referred to her as Elizabeth only moments ago. Seeing as he had just witnessed her having a little meltdown, Effy felt like the two of them had moved past the whole formality of Lucas calling her by her first name in full.

"Excuse me?" Lucas questioned, a look of confusion appearing on his brown and Effy smiled as whilst he wouldn't understand now, one day Lucas would. The world knew her as Elizabeth Leigh Scott, most people in Tree Hill knew her as Effy. The only person who called her Lizzie was Nathan, her big brother and it had started off as a twin thing. But Effy didn't want it to no longer be something that she shared with only one of her brothers, for the first time she wanted to share it with her other brother. The one who she didn't know too well but regardless of that, had sat by her side in a moment of despair and reminded her that she was pretty damn important no matter what their irresponsible father thought.

"My big brother gets to call me Lizzie."