Hi guys! I know this is a bit short for me, but I know you guys deserve SOMEthing for being so awesome and patient. But here's the thing about this story. I know how I want to end it for the most part and I have things written. It's all the pesky stuff in between, so you are going to have to bear with me even more than you already are with this particular story. If anyone has any suggestions, please message. I am all for suggestions, although I am sure I'll figure something out. :)

Enjoy!

Lucas's eyes narrowed unaware of Brooke's knowledge of the hellish last days of their high school career. He supposed it made sense that she knew of the events of the party and what happened to Peyton subsequently. It had been the subject of rumor mills even at their graduation. He'd simply been too consumed by trying to figure out what it was he could have possibly done to hurt the woman he loved to notice.

His memory of that night never did return to him. Sometimes he had curious dreams that involved Peyton standing in a doorway wearing a heart broken expression, or of him and Peyton together in a way that couldn't be anything but sheer fantasy. He'd only made love to Peyton a handful of times, that one night in her room. He would be shocked at how vividly painful those memories still were if not for the fact that the pain had simply never left him.

"Why would you know anything about that?" He asked. Brooke scooted her seat back a bit and then stood to pace the room. She doubted he was in any condition to jump up and throttle her, but better safe than sorry.

"Okay…um-Wow, this is hard," she sighed. "Um-That night at the last party? That night you can't remember….There's a reason, you can't remember it."

"Do you remember Rachel talking to you?"

Still confused, and now wondering how Brooke knew he'd lost his memory of parts of that night, he nodded faintly.

"Yeah, she-sort of…It's hazy," he mumbled.

"She gave you a beer and managed to get you upstairs."

Lucas didn't like where this was going and it didn't help that Brooke was having a hard time spitting it out. "Did-did I-and Rachel?"

"No, Luke, just let me get this out okay. You didn't have sex with Rachel….but she did slip you something-"

"Wait…." He stared incredulously at her and tried to sit up a bit. "What? She drugged me?"

Brooke took a large shaky breath and another step backwards. This was by far worse than telling Haley or even Peyton. "That's probably why you can't remember…what happened afterwards."

"Why?!" he cried. "Why would she do that?"

Brooke gulped. "You talked to Peyton that night at the party. I was outside with Rachel when you did. You said…she was the one you wanted next to you when your dreams came true and that once before when she'd asked you, you said me and you didn't mean it. I was still so hurt Lucas, so when I went upstairs and saw that Rachel had drugged you and you looked at me and you called me Peyton-"

Lucas's mouth fell open and he unconsciously rubbed his chest as the stress of her words settled over him.

"You knew I was drugged," he hissed.

Brooke shame-facedly looked up at him and caught his movements and began to worry. "Lucas, should I get a nurs-"

"Finish it Brooke," Lucas spat, shaking his head. "Tell me."

"Well I- and I know it was wrong-I responded to you-And things sort of progressed from there."

"We had sex?"

Brooke winced at his forceful and more than unhappy tone. "We didn't get that far." Brooke took a small breath that did nothing to calm her before dropping the next bombshell.

"Peyton walked in on us."

Lucas's eyes slammed shut and suddenly everything made sense. Her disgust with him, her anger, her tears. Why she'd left Tree Hill with Jake had all been because she thought he'd betrayed every promise he made to her with Brooke.

"You tried to go after her, but you could barely walk and then you collapsed."

All that dread he'd felt the next morning and couldn't place; all those years of wondering what could possibly make Peyton look at him that way, and past all that anger he could remember even now, that there had been hurt. Hurt that Brooke caused her.

"So, this was revenge then? Revenge for hurting you," he said in a low, dangerous tone that made her wish he was yelling instead.

"No! Well, yeah….I-I guess so," Brooke shrugged, twisting her hands together. "Lucas I'm sorr-"

"And what about the past five years? Was that revenge for…what Brooke? My drinking," his voice began rising with every question. "My treating you like a doormat? My acting like a piece of my soul was missing?!"

"Lucas I've been hurting too," Brooke cried. "You think it has been easy knowing your mind has been off somewhere else all this time? Even when you were having sex with me Lucas-Even when you were inside me all you could think about was her. I've known Lucas! I've always known and I stayed, because-because I know that if it weren't for me, you'd have been with her."

Lucas turned his face away unable to bear the sight of her and concentrated on breathing. He couldn't remember being this angry ever, not even with Peyton. What he felt with Peyton was more hurt than anger.

"You think that makes you some type of martyr Brooke?! After five years of silence and because you stayed with the mess you made!"

Brooke's mouth dropped open and thrust a finger at him, refusing to take responsibility for all of it. "I didn't put that bottle in your hand and I didn't tell you to stop taking your medication! How could you be so stupid! So careless!"

"Says the woman who had me drugged," Lucas sneered.

"What is going on in here?"

Brooke turned shame-facedly to find an angry nurse glaring at them with arms akimbo. "This is a hospital. Mr. Scott just suffered a major heart attack and he and every other patient on this floor needs rest not a screaming match."

"She was just leaving," Lucas gritted, turning his gaze back to Brooke and pinning her with an icy stare. "And she's not coming back."

Brooke pursed her lips together and nodded, having expected no less.

"Fine," she rasped. "But, you can't cut everyone out of your life Lucas. Nathan and Haley, your mom and Peyton."

"I'm not. Haley and Nathan didn't betray me," Lucas snapped.

Lucas blanched at the sad look that flitted across Brooke's face when he said that.

"Did they?"

Her silence was all he needed, for his mind to race back towards his last memory; of Jamie talking about Peyton's son,

"Peyton had a baby, Luke but…"

His brother's voice far behind him yelling, "Tell him, Haley!""Lucas! Please listen to me,"she cried, trying to grab a hold of his arms as he paced aimlessly, back and forth.

"It should have been me," he whimpered to himself. "It's not fair. It should have been me."

"Lucas, Lucas you don't understand-It is you!

Lucas opened and closed his mouth and looked up at Brooke.

"They knew," he breathed. Brooke remained silent and Lucas slumped back into the bed. "They knew about my son and they didn't tell me."

"Lucas-"

"Get out," he gritted, blinking back tears turning his face away from the two women in the doorway. Brooke bit her lip, wanting to say more, wanting to comfort the slumped figure in the bed, choking back lonesome tears, but knowing she'd said more than enough. She left without another word.

"Sorry about that," he murmured to the nurse whose annoyance had dissipated when she saw all the fight go out of Lucas.

"It's okay, honey. You all are better than television." She winked kindly at him and he managed to lift a corner of his mouth for her.

"You just need to rest so you can get back home to your family."

The word family had never been so painful to Lucas, even when he learned that Dan had not only abandoned his mother, but had never wanted him. He wondered sadly at the family he had left. He'd been betrayed by the people he loved the most. All of them. These betrayals had cut his heart more than any heart attack ever could.

Quietly, he said aloud. "I don't have any family left."

"Well that's not true. Isn't that little guy with the curly blonde hair yours? Anyone can see that's your boy. He has your eyes."

"Yes he is." Lucas looked past the nurse to find Karen standing at the door. She had seen the tail end of Brooke's visit and watched as her son realized that there was no one in his life who hadn't hurt him, heard him say he had no family and watched him take a backwards step into the dark that he'd unconsciously fought his way out of. She to remind him

"That's his little boy," Karen said, her eyes locked upon her son's.

He stared at her and saw in her eyes the understanding that only she could have, a look he remembered seeing as a little boy. That look-that motherly look that most women are blessed with when they have a child.

"Yeah," Lucas echoed, smiling genuinely for the first time all day. "He is."

"Well, it may not be a lot, but you do far worse then that sweet little boy," the nurse smiled. "Get some rest Mr. Scott."

The nurse left quietly as Karen made her way farther into the room.

When Lucas didn't say anything, she decided to fill the silence. "So there's a rumor that you might get out of here tomorrow," she said. "I ran into your doctor in the hallway and-"

"Mom," Lucas finally said, looking down upon his bed sheet and the up towards her. "I can't say that I'm not still upset or…hurt-"

"Luke-"

"Let me finish. Please." Karen nodded, unconsciously wringing her hands together. "When you chose Dan…It hurt mom. It hurt because I knew it was my fault that you let him into your life. Because if I hadn't gone into that school that day Keith would still be here. And I miss him so much right now," he choked. " I just want to talk to him and ask him what to do."

Karen wiped a tear off her cheek in futility as another quickly replaced it.

"I miss him everyday mom," Lucas whispered, wiping a tear of his own away quickly. He looked up at her then and Karen held her breath. "But I know you miss him too. Maybe more. I know how it feels, to lose someone."

"Peyton is still alive sweetheart," Karen said, sitting at the side of his bed. "I know you missed her when she left and I know you still love her."

Lucas looked away. He didn't want to think about it. Thinking about her was still far too painful and confusing, now knowing the truth about why she left. He knew she was justified. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if their places had been reversed, but she had still kept his boy from him; the one shining light in his life at that moment.

Because of that light, his son, he knew he had to make some major changes in his life. He couldn't continue on the path he'd been on and he couldn't continue to wallow. He had his answers about why Peyton left, but there was just far too much pain between them, too many years for it to make a difference to him now. Now, all that mattered was getting his life back together and becoming the man his son deserved, the man Keith would have wanted him to be. And that meant, taking the first step in forgiving his mother.

"Can I come home?"

Karen felt a new batch of tears burning her eyes. The weight of her son's first step to forgiveness filling her heart to bursting.

"Of course, my boy."

Let me know how this went. I feel like there was so much prior drama that Lucas finding out the truth might have fell a bit flat. I don't know. I'm not the happiest with this chapter and it may have to do with the fact that I'm not sure where to take it from here. Anywho, review!