The Unkindness

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A/N: Thank you cRaZyGuRl093 for reviewing! Reviews always help with the motivation and inspiration process. :)

Prologue Part 3: Looks Like Teen Spirit

Lucas Roe felt the canvas fabric of his favorite Converse sneakers begin to go limp as the rain continued to soak through, penetrating through his socks, and chilling his feet. He shook his head fiercely in attempt to move the stray wet hairs from his vision, while his feet continued its steady jogging pace. His piercing blue eyes lay on her serene face, with droplets clung to her temples. Her petite body lay in his arms and she didn't bother to wake up, despite the wind, rain, and cold that enveloped their bodies. "Only Summer would be out cold on a night like this," Lucas thought to himself.

His lungs released a deep sigh as he arrived at the stone steps of the veranda to the infamous Scott household. It was a short walk from Summer's car to her front door, but the pouring rain still managed to completely soak the both of them. Sheltered from the harsh weather, the young blonde gently placed the girl's body on the patio sofa. Placing his hands on his hips, he quickly attempted to remember if Summer had brought a purse to the party. Not knowing the answer, he searched the pockets of her herringbone shorts – shorts he noticed that clung to and also highlighted the best part of her thighs.

Shaking his head of his hormone induced thoughts, Lucas quickly returned to his mission – to find any key that would open the door. Finding a lone gold key sans key ring in her left pocket, he picked her up again and went to open the door. He carried her slowly up the stairs, not wanting to wake up anyone who might be in the house. The house was usually empty on Saturday nights, but Lucas knew better than to risk having her parents find her in such a pitiful state.

After gingerly lying her down on her bed and removing her red patent heels, he began to slowly undress her of the drenched long sleeve top and shorts that hugged her body. His eyes and mind only focused on the task, to get her into warm clothes, but his heart raced seeing her clad in a sexy red bra and panties.

"Damn, Summer. You are out cold," he mumbled to no one in particular, trying to focus on something other than the fact that he was undressing a cheerleader – to prevent pneumonia, of course. For a minute he grew fearful that there was a chance of alcohol poisoning, but when she stirred a little and groaned in her sleep, he realized that she was just in a deep slumber. He dried her up as best he could as his mind and his eyes began to wander again. What was wrong with him? It's not like he never saw her half naked before...bikinis were her outfits of choice.

"Someday I'm going to move out of N.C. and go somewhere nice and hot, just so I could wear a bikini everyday," he remembered her saying one day.

Lucas eyed what looked like pajamas draped over a chair: last year's navy blue Ravens cheer shorts and her favorite Radiohead concert tee, or rather his favorite one, before she stole it from him. After dressing her and covering her in a light blanket, he took a moment to ingest his surroundings.

He saw everything was, for the most part, still as he remembered it to be two weeks ago. There were some new pictures on the wall, a magazine rip out of Justin Timberlake to add to her ever expanding collection, and it looked like her childhood toy was moved from her shelf to the top of her dresser. Even though it had only been two weeks since he had been in the house, it felt like ages ago. Being a teenager sure did make time go by too slow…but yet too fast.

He smirked when he noticed some new cd's spread on her desk, all rock bands that he no doubt influenced her to appreciate. Another smirk crept onto his face when he eyed a nearly hidden picture between her magazines. The setting was the boardwalk, in front of the ice cream shop, and the two figures in the picture were him and her. Their heads were turned towards each other and both were smiling exuberantly, like there were no worries in the world.

If a stranger saw the picture, they would think that the couple was…well, a couple…boyfriend and girlfriend. When in reality, they were just two strangers who needed a friend for the summer. Who knew that by the end of three summer months, they would grow from two strangers to two friends.

Two best friends, he thought to himself as the picture before him transformed into a memory from two weeks past.

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flashback

"Hey! We weren't even looking! I can't believe you, Roe-ski," Summer exclaimed, stealing the slim digital camera from his grasp and slapping his arm. She crossed her arms and pretended to be mad at him for spontaneously taking a picture during a random moment.

"Exactly the point," he answered her, snatching the camera back and examining the picture in the LCD display. "See?" he asked, gently nudging to get her attention. "Now that is a great picture," he pointed out as he handed her back the camera. She stared back at the digital image, and sure enough he was right…again.

"Well, my hair does look perfect," she said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Who knew you'd be such an expert photo man?" she kinked her eyebrow and poked his forearm playfully.

"A photographer?" he asked, trying to correct her.

"You say caramel, I say carmel," she shrugged as they continued to walk down the boardwalk. The sun hung high above them, indicating that morning was over and afternoon was going to take over.

He placed an arm around her shoulders and she responded by leaning her head against his body, their slow pace never faltering.

"So what do you do with all these pictures, anyways?" he suddenly asked, interrupting both of their thoughts. "I haven't seen any of them in one picture frame. And now that I think about it, I don't even think I made it onto the photo collage," he feigned complaint as he referenced her infamous wall mural full of pictures since the beginning of their high school days.

"No offense, but I don't want to see your geek of a face on my bedroom wall everyday. That space is reserved for the pretty," she quickly played off his sarcasm.

"Two minutes ago you exclaimed how cute my face was," he commented as they stopped in their tracks.

"That's cause it was smeared with ice cream, you goof. Mint chocolate chip is a lovely shade on you," she replied with a laugh. After a couple minutes of exchanging sarcastic comments, the girl grew quiet as she eyed a head of familiar blonde curls lounging on the beach.

Biting her lip, the tiny brunette brought up a painful truth. "You know this is the last day we can spend together, right?"

Arching his eyebrow in confusion, his gaze wandered to where hers rested. And he saw what she was talking about. "And you know that it doesn't have to be this way."

"And you know that it does," she started walking away, trying to hide the sadness in her voice. She stopped, feeling his grasp on her wrist. She sighed, afraid to look into his eyes, "Please – just – I don't want to end the summer fighting."

"Then don't," he let go of her wrist and tried to think of a solution to the whole "clique" thing. She merely sighed and linked her arm with his to show that she didn't like any of it either. She didn't know how them being friends could work, and he didn't know either…at least not with certain other people standing in their way – like the entire hierarchy of Tree Hill High and certain other people who happened to come back early from their Australian vacations, backpacking tours, and island cruises.

"Summer," he started, but she placed her hand over his mouth to quiet him.

"Thank you for this summer. Seriously," she smiled and stepped on her tip toes as she hugged him in reassurance. "Now let's go have one last day of Roe-Scott craziness, whaddya say?" she asked with the sparkle returning to her large brown eyes. He sighed, realizing that the only thing they could do for now was to enjoy the day.

"As long as it's not something related to Princess Sparkle," he joked, replacing his arm on its usual spot around her shoulders.

"Poke fun at my childhood again, Roe, and I'll chop off your manlihood faster than you can say Iron Chef," she stated seriously, imitating what she would do with hand gestures.

"So, what do two friends do on their last day together?" he asked with a single raised eyebrow.

"Whatever the hell they please. And Roe-ski, we're not two friends…we're two best friends...at least until midnight."

"Why, are you going to turn into a poor cinder girl?" he joked.

"Please, you're talking about the beloved daughter of the family Scott, but you, my friend, will probably turn into a tubby little pumpkin," she poked him playfully and they continued their last round of Roe-Scott fun.

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Laughing silently at the memory, his blue eyes wandered back to the figure sleeping peacefully on the bed. Lucas brushed his hand through his hair as he walked over to the dark haired beauty. Sighing, he placed his hand atop hers and whispered a good night.

Before finally leaving the driveway, Lucas turned and stared at the top right window, the window with the white balcony, the window from where she first let him into her world. He sighed at the thought that she wouldn't remember about how she got home from the party. She wouldn't find out until the rumor mill would start up on Monday. And with that thought lingering in his mind, the handsome blonde stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked home in the rain.

Her deep brown eyes fluttered open as the thunder crashed in the night, or was it morning? She lifted her body up with one elbow and examined her surroundings. She was back in her bedroom, dressed in her pajamas, and her favorite red heels lying neatly beside her bed. Questions raced through her mind, the most dominant being how the hell she got home and semi cleaned up. She quickly stood up, but just as quickly regretted it. She didn't know how long she had passed out, but the pain and dizziness in her head indicated just how messed up she must have gotten.

"Summer Roberts Scott, what did you do to yourself?" she pouted under her breath.

She slowly trudged to the bedroom next door and poked her head into the basketball adorned quarters. Basketball trophies lined his shelves while his Ravens jersey appeared to have been thrown haphazardly on the floor. She stared at his unmade, empty bed and sighed, realizing he wasn't home. He was probably still at the family beach house.

Groaning, the petite girl returned to her room and collapsed on her bed. She wasn't going to bother with her nightly facial routine, all she wanted to do was pass out again and succumb to the darkness of sleep. Her questions and curiosity would have to wait for tomorrow.