Chapter Three: Eavesdroppers never hear any good
Peyton was just gathering the last of her things from the party Brooke had hosted; in order to make Lucas jealous, by flaunting herself half naked in front of as many fit boys as possible. Lucas, in a predictable Lucas style, had muttered a few angry and intense words in Brooke's direction and than stormed off. Until now, Peyton hadn't had any idea where too. Now she found Lucas staring at the view from the balcony in Brooke's bedroom, with Nathan stood with him. They hadn't realised she was there and so she decided to keep quiet and see if their conversation gave anything away.
" – be fine, Lucas. Long as you don't go blabbing your mouth off." Nathan was saying to his 'older brother'.
"You shouldn't be so naïve, Nathan," Lucas replied, "it's unbecoming. She's not gonna leave this alone, not until she finds what she's looking for."
"Well, you'd better just hope that it's not the truth. Then we'll really be screwed." Nathan said lightly, taking another swig of beer. The brothers were silent for a moment, a tension rising in the air. Peyton risked a peep around the corner and was rewarded with the sight of Lucas sat down, arms wrapped defensively around his legs which were drawn up to his chin. Nathan was stood just a centimetres away despite the fact it wasn't a small space, his leg almost but not quite coming into contact with Lucas's knee. Lucas was looking up at Nathan who was looking everywhere but at Lucas.
"Why did you do it?" Lucas asked, his voice hoarse with emotion. Peyton wanted to burst in, yelling 'do what?' but she held herself back and awaited Nathan's reply.
Nathan looked directly at his brother then, not taking his eyes off the blond teenager. "I don't know, Luke. Because I could? Because I wanted to? Because you let me? Maybe just to see how much I could get away with. But I do remember one thing, that all the time I was doing it the thought of our bond being strengthened to unbreakable lengths was running through my mind. For some reason even before I discovered you were my brother I always wanted to be linked to you, to know everything about you. And it seemed perfectly logical, at the time, that this would mean we were always connected, even if it was in a bad way."
Lucas nodded, seemingly choked up whether with anger or something else, who could tell? "You are just like him sometimes."
Nathan flinched. They both knew who he meant. Dan. Their father.
"It's all about power. Having power, over me. Making me do whatever you wanted, controlling me. Having me. Making me keep our dirty little secret. Keeping me close, no matter the cost. Because after all, I was a threat to you. Sometimes I wonder whether Keith and Dan had the same kind of relationship. Like Basketball, maybe the whole twisted fucked up shit is genetic. God I wish we were normal instead of this…"
"Lucas. We aren't this. I haven't touched you in months. Not since I got serious with Haley and you started dating Brooke."
"Yeah but I still feel you." Lucas confessed rawly as he tried to ignore the visible signs on Nathan's face as guilt battled with satisfaction at Lucas's heartfelt words.
"You know we could have been brothers? Brotherly brothers." Lucas said, a whisper of a heartbroken boy.
"No we couldn't Luke. Don't delude yourself. We were never brothers." Nathan said, before storming past Peyton's hideout and leaving Lucas alone on the balcony, finger nails digging into his arm as tears of frustration and pain welled up in his seriously pretty eyes.
After about ten minutes when Peyton decided it was safe enough to come out and reveal her presence to Lucas. She gave him a soft smile when he jumped at the sight of her, and came to sit down next to him. She took his hand in hers.
"Lucas, I can help you if you just tell me what's going on. Your mom is worried about you, I heard her telling Deb about your night terrors. She said they used to happen a lot back when you were about fourteen, just after you quit basketball."
"I was thirteen." Lucas corrected her after a few minutes of silence.
They sat next to each other in silence until the early hours of the morning. At roughly four am Brooke stumbled back in, and upon seeing her best friend and her boyfriend together threw a fit in which she dumped them both and declared that if she ever saw either of them ever again it would be too soon.
Xxx
TBC if you want. Am planning on revealing how Peyton knows something is up next chapter. COMMENT if you want to know or read it or is you think this is good or crap or too dark or do you want some more darkness. More Nathan/Lucas scenes form the past. Do you want Lucas and Nathan hooking up in the present?
THANKS TO:
AlexCurtis (cheers)
J.Gongaware (sorry the chapter isn't very long! Thanks for reassuring me.)
Oth-hottness (your support is crucial. Cheers!)
And Summer Davis (first person to comment on ch2 and the person who motivated me to write chapter three!)