Disclaimer: The Characters do not belong to me but to the CW and the writers of the show.
Chapter Two – The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Deb:"Nathan, honey, calm down--"
Nathan:"Calm down?! Mom, are you freakin' nuts?!"
Lucas approaches his mother disbelievingly. "Mom, if this is a joke, it's really not funny--"
Karen:"This is no joke. We're quite serious about this."
:Lucas:"This isn't possible" he murmurs under his breath. "Mom, I don't believe you. I know you can't possibly be serious."
Karen:"I am, Lucas"
Lucas:"you can't honestly expect me to live under the same roof as Nathan--"
Karen:"I can, and you will--"
Lucas is baffled. "Mom, what is wrong with you??" he looks at her but feels like he doesn't recognize the woman in front of him.
Nathan joins in, disgusted as hell. "Are you guys that hard strapped for cash that you're taking a handout from my mom??"
Deb's mouth grew wide in horrification. "Nathan-!" she yells, gasping.
Nathan pays her no mind and continues, determined. "Listen, if that's that case, I got a trust fund, I can go to the bank right now and withdraw more money than you've probably ever seen in your life." He pauses and waits until Karen makes eye contact with him. "You want it? It's yours!"
Karen shakes her head, not letting his words affect her. Lucas was too focussed on his mom as well as shocked and confused at this point to register what Nathan was saying. That was until --
Nathan: "It wasn't enough that you hooked my mom into investing in this stupid cafe, now you're invading her home too? That's messed up! Friends don't mooch off of their friends. Leeches!"
Deb explodes at his behaviour. "Nathan, ENOUGH!"
Lucas was fuming now, snapped out of his thoughts. Blood rushes fast to his face and he swears he's about to pop a nerve.
He runs over to Nathan and grabs him by his varsity jacket, brings his fist mere inches from his face, the urge to beat it to a pulp growing irrisistably so.
"You watch your filthy little mouth about my mother" he seethes warningly. "Shove your silver spoon up your spoiled-rotten ass, my mom doesn't take handouts from ANYBODY."
Far be it for Nathan to know when to stop. "Well, it sure as hell doesn't look that way" he adds, daringly.
Lucas' fist finally makes contact with Nathan's face, crashing into it with much force.
Before they know it, Nathan retaliates with a punch of his own, pushing Lucas back onto a table as both it and he fall to the ground, and sounds of glass breaking resonates throughout the cafe. It's not long until Lucas recuperates and kicks Nathan hard, tripping him and the two are on the floor at it again for the second time that day.
Karen and Deb yell pleadingly for them to get off each other and try to separate the two but the pleas fall on deaf ears. They watch in horror as they watch their worst fears unfold.
Shortly after, there's a shrieking scream along with shattering plates; scary enough to snap everyone's attention out of what they're doing, succeeding in breaking up the fight.
They all turn around, spotting Haley standing on the counter, massaging her throat.
Haley:"Jeez, what does a girl have to do to get your attention around here?" she half jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
The brothers both looked at Haley as if to ask, 'what gives?' as Lucas looked annoyed, and Nathan unimpressed. They were both breathing heavily and wiping away at the blood on their bruised faces. Deb and Karen were grateful for the interruption.
Lucas:"What the hell was that?"
Haley:"uh, have you not heard a word Karen and Deb have said? This is exactly what they don't want to see happen again. Fighting like cavemen isn't exactly helping your case, Luke.
"She's right." Karen chips in and sighs. "In fact, If I wasn't sure before that this was the right thing to do, I sure as hell am now. Things cannot continue going on like this. You need an intervention now, more than ever."
Haley quietly comes down from the table, realizing that things were going to get much more intense.
Deb agrees. "Your little brawl there just sealed your fates."
Karen turns to her son. "Lucas, start packing."
Lucas was not giving in.
Wait!" Nathan interrupts before Lucas has a chance to say or do anything. "there is no way in hell i am letting this happen!" he repeats.
Deb scoffs at his choice of words. "Let? Frankly Nathan, you don't have a say in this."
Nathan:"Fine, you know what? If he moves in, I'm moving out."
Deb smiles.
This annoyed Nathan. "What? You don't believe me? I'll do it, watch me."
Deb:"Oh honey, you haven't had to take care of yourself a single day in your life. You don't even have a job, how will you afford a place to live?"
Nathan:"I have my trust fund." He says matter-of-factedly.
Deb:"Oh no you don't. You can't touch a penny of that money until you turn 21."
He stops and thinks for a minute, she's got him there.
A smirk forms on his face, a thought occurring to him.
Nathan:"Wait a minute, I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before. I bet I know somebody who has a say and who would never let this happen."
Deb:"What is it now?" she asks, humouring him.
Nathan:"Oh, you must know who I'm talking about, right mom? You know-- Dad? Your husband?"
Nathan starts laughing smugly, pleased. There isn't a doubt in his mind that Dan Scott would never open his home to his bastard son. Heck, he'd denied Lucas' existence since the day was born.
Deb tensens quickly but brushes the feeling off as soon as it hits her, standing firmly behind her position.
Deb:"Oh, don't you worry about your father, I'll take care of it. I'll deal with him"
Nathan:"Yeah, you go ahead and try, mom. I'm sure that'll go over real well. Nobody 'deals with' Dan Scott, mom. We both know that."
Deb: "Believe me, he will not be a thorn in my side for much longer."
Nathan's eyes narrow at her underhanded comment. He notices a shadow of a glint in her eyes that disappear quickly. "What the hell does that mean?"
Deb:"Nothing. We'll talk about it later, in private."
Nathan scoffs. "Why hold back now? You threw privacy out the window the second you decided to have this charade in front of these people. Tell me now – what did you mean?"
"Nathan, I don't think now is a good time"
"Just say it mom"
Deb shares a look with Karen, and Karen nods, encouragingly.
Deb sighs. "Ok." She walks over to him. "First, I want you to know that-"
"Don't try to sugar-coat it, just tell me."
Deb:"Your father and I are getting a divorce" she blurts.
His eyes widen, the news taking him by surprise. Disapointment and defeat appears on his face.
'Whoa' Haley mutters under her breath. Lucas looks over at her and then back at the mother-son duo.
"What? – Mom... I just spoke to him yesterday. He didn't mention anything--"
Deb:"Yes, well, you have to know that this has been a long time coming Nathan—"
Nathan:"A long time coming? Mom, so you argue every now and then, big deal, no relationship is perfect. You'll work it out—"
Deb:"I'm afraid it's much more complicated than that, sweetie."
Nathan:"Don't give me that. Don't patronize me and talk to me like i'm a kid. Why don't you un-complicate it for me? Make me understand how you could throw away a 17 year marriage over some petty arguments."
Deb doesn't know where to begin to respond.
"Mom, I know dad can be a jerk sometimes but just give him a chance--" he tries to plead.
Deb:"I've given him plenty of chances honey, over and over again but I just can't live with him anymore. The put-downs, the lying, the cheating--"
Nathan's head shot back. "Wait, the cheating? Dad's been cheating on you?"
Deb bends her head slightly. "That surprises you? Really? Because he's never around, and he's always traveling. Why would a dealership owner need to go on so many 'business trips', Nathan?"
Nathan looks at her, hurt and angry, something in him clicking. Even still, there's a pang in his chest because all he wants is to keep his family from falling apart. His mouth and his heart aren't at the same pace and he quickly jumps from concerned to defensive.
Nathan:"Yeah, well if I remember right, you had an affair with your tennis coach when I was younger and dad forgave you." Deb looked around uncomfortably at the mention of her indiscretion.
"Don't you think it's a little hypocritical for you to turn your back on him when he gave you a chance? Can't you forgive him too?"
Deb:"I can't believe you're asking me this. That was not the same thing! When I—slipped, I was going through a hard time, it was right after I miscarried Summer, and it only happened once in a moment of weakness! I needed to feel close to someone and your father was never there. I would hardly call it an affair. But your father? he has mistresses in three different states! Do you really condone what he did? Would you really respect me if I take him back?"
It pisses him off that he can't think of a single comeback to try to pacify her so he hits below the belt and he knows it too.
Nathan:"Well maybe he needed someone too! Maybe if you weren't so cold all the time, he wouldn't have had to go somewhere else to get from someone else what he wasn't getting from you!"
Deb's hand lands on Nathan's face in a slap.
He looks away from her, shame in his eyes as they land across the room, on Haley's. He scoffs when he remembers that they've got an audience and he hates that he was ambushed into this position, the secrets that have come out and the things it makes him say.
"You know, mom... do whatever you want" he runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "You will anyway. Not like what I care or want actually matters, right? So go ahead and force all this on me, just don't say I didn't warn you." He fixates his eyes on Lucas before he continues."Don't think I'm going to make this easy for anybody."
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Author's note: Hi everyone! First of all, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update this story. My laptop broke down a couple months ago and i just got it back 2 weeks ago and I had finals and assignments so i'm truly sorry. I hope you liked this chapter, the next one or the one after that will definitely have more Naley scenes. PLEASE REVIEW It would seriously mean a lot.
Spoilers:
Haley goes looking for Lucas in a vulnerable moment, broken and needing a friend, but finds Nathan instead. What will happen?