A storm started to brew as Lucas finished reading the letter for the fourth time. Just as he went to fold it and place it back in the envelope, a loud rumble of thunder vibrated the apartment. Lucas stood up and looked out the window. The trees were being violently pushed by strong winds. The sky turned an angry dark. Thunder rumbled off in the distance. Lightening lit up the dark sky.

Lucas thought about running home but by judging the distance between the thunder and the lightening, he figured he would stay the night. He brought out his phone to call to tell his mom where he was, but he figured she would be asleep. He went into Keith's room, the scent overwhelming once again, and looked for a hoody and sweat pants. He opened up a pair of doors of his uncle's closet where his dresser sat. As Lucas put on the clothes, something hanging caught his eye. He pushed back some of hangers out of the way and saw something that truly broke his heart.

Keith's tuxedo.

Lucas could barely breathe seeing it. He touched the fabric of the suit as his fingers shook violently. Every year before school would start, Haley and him would write down predictions they had hoped would come true in the new coming year. One of Lucas's this year was in fact that Keith and his mother would get married. It broke Lucas's heart over and over again realizing the two of them would never be married. His mother would never get to marry the one man she loved the most in this world. Hate filled inside of Lucas. His mother was so selfless but yet life threw her some of the meanest curveballs. Why couldn't she have just the one thing in life she asked for?

Lucas even let his thoughts turn to himself. All he wanted in his life was a man to call his father, he never asked for anymore. Of course, when he got what he wanted, he was taken away from him in the most horrible way possible. He took a deep breath as tears filled his eyes. He shut the closet doors and plopped down on the bed. He took slow steady breaths as he attempted to calm down.

He found the bed very comfortable. He had done a lot of running around in the past five days so he could run away from his demons. For some reason keeping busy gives you a head start in running against the demons called thoughts, but the instant you lay your head on your pillow at night, they finally catch up with you. They invade yours life, like a thief in the night and make your life absolutely miserable. If he had it his way, Lucas would work all through the night at the café so he would not face the thoughts.

As Lucas sat on the bed, he saw a few photo albums resting on the top of Keith's bookshelf. He grabbed one and plopped down on the bed again. Slowly and steadily went through the pages in front of him. Three people had pictures of them consistently through out the book; Keith, Karen, and Lucas. Haley was the next one in line. Haley was like Lucas's little sister he never had. She was apart of the family just as much as Keith was.

Lucas saw a picture of his parents and him standing towards the sunset leaving their bodies to be made out like a silhouette. They had their backs facing the camera as they were down the beach. Lucas sat on top of Keith's shoulders with his arms raised high. Karen and Keith had their arms stretched out as they held hands.

Just as Lucas realized a few tears snuck out of his eyes, he heard the front door of the apartment open. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand as he rose out of the bed. He looked at the clock and it blinked 10:30 at him. Who would be at his uncle's house this late at night? He opened the door of the bedroom that would bring him to a hallway and then lead to the living room. Thunder roared as Lucas wrapped around the corner. For some reason, he prayed Keith would be there.

And for a moment, that was Lucas saw. He was stooped over the counter dropping off his keys with his jacket soaking wet. He picked up the mail and thumbed through it quickly. Lucas let a smile come across his face as he took a step causing the floor to creak. Lightening lit up the room as Keith turned around and looked at Lucas.

The lightening flashed across Dan's face, not Keith's. Lucas shook his head hoping him seeing Dan's face was hallucination not the other way around but not matter how hard he shook his head, he kept seeing the same face.

"What are you doing here, Lucas?" Dan inquired as he took of his coat.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Lucas stated suddenly stiffening at the sight of his biological father.

"Keith was my brother. As for you, you were just the stray dog he took in." Dan spent no time bantering his oldest son.

Lucas snorted. Here he was, facing the most painful thing he had ever been through, and the only thing he father can say to him were those painful words. After seventeen years of relentless verbal, and the occasional physical, abuse you would think Lucas would grown use to the fact that he would never be more to Lucas then his illegitimate son. Nothing more then stain in the carpet that no matter how much effort used, it would not be erased.

At one point, Dan tried to get the pregnant Karen to have an abortion. He told her would pay for it entirely. Karen refused to let the little growing fetus with in be exterminated so Dan could pursue his basketball dreams. Dan even went as far as to get her drunk and to take her to the get the inconvenience out of his way. Just as he went to take her intoxicated self out the door, Keith stopped by with some flowers.

Keith recognized Karen as completely drunk and upon seeing Dan's urgency to get her out of the house, he put the pieces together knew what his brother was up to. Karen had confided in him about Dan wanting the abortion. Keith placed the flower bouquet on a table and came over to the two of them.

"Hiiii Keith, you are looking sexy today!" Karen slurred as she wobbled in Dan's arms.

"Dan, I know what you trying to do and there is no way I will let you do it." Keith declared.

Dan's head tilted, "Whatever do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"The plan to get Karen drunk so she will consent to the idea of having her baby aborted just so you can go play basketball without having a kid to raise. If you are not willing to raise it, then just leave. Pursue your silly dream of basketball and let someone else who cares take over." Keith responded.

"Who? A loser like you?"

Keith smiled, "Yeah, a loser like me."

"Fine, Keith. Take her and the bastard she will have." Dan hissed as he shoved Karen towards his older brother.

Karen stumbled in Keith's arms. Dan left the house and slammed the door behind him. Karen fell to the ground and start throwing up all over. Keith came down to her level and rubbed her back as she emptied the contents of her stomach all over the floor. After cleaning her and the area up around her, he carried her to the couch and laid her down.

Just as she was sobering, Karen looked at Keith. "Where's Dan?"

"He left," Keith softly answered as he pressed a cool rag to the beautiful woman's forehead. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Not just for now but forever. I am going to be there for you and this precious being inside of you." he spoke as he touched her slightly bloated stomach. "I will be here to help you raise it every step of the way as if it was my own child."

Karen and Keith never shared this snip bit of their lives with anyone. They vowed they even would not tell the baby growing inside of her the horrible thing his father tried to do.

Since Dan did not get his way with getting rid of Lucas, he figured he would not play any part in the boy's life. However, as life's humor would have it, Karen raised the boy in the same small town; he raised his other son in. Ever since Lucas found out whom his father was, the only attention he would gain from him was harassment and bantering.

And tonight, amidst Lucas's pain, Dan found no exception to break his normal relationship with his oldest son.

"Whatever," Lucas replied trying to let the comment sink in his already fragile heart.

"So are you going to tell me what you are doing here?" Dan questioned as if he had a right to know. Thunder growled over the apartment. "Because frankly, I don't think I would have the guts being here or in this town knowing it was my fault my uncle was killed."

There it was. The horrifying thought that spun around in Lucas's head, the thought was no longer stuck in his head, it was said out loud. Lucas tried to ignore the statement; Dan Scott thrived on getting into people's heads and messing with them. Lucas would and could not let him win, but he had been so tired and emotional his heart had no defense.

"What?" Dan inquired snidely noticing Lucas paling face. "You know he went in that school to find you. If you had come out right when everything happened, he probably would have been still alive. You would have your father here if you didn't play the stupid hero thing."

Lucas took in a deep shaky breath and blinked back the tears that were forming. There was no way he would let Dan see tears because that automatically awarded him a victory.

"It is all your fault your mother stays up all night crying. She cannot even look at you because you killed the man she loved. You should have pulled the gun and shot him yourself, that is pretty much what you did."

Lucas already had lost. Tears spilled down his cheeks as the man before him stoned him with guilt.

"What you should have done, was take the gun from that monster Jimmy Edwards and shoved it in your mouth and pulled the trigger. To your mother your life is pretty much pointless. The only reason she ever wanted you was because of Keith. Keith made her keep you."

Lucas shook his head; he did not want to hear this part of the story. He had a terrible feeling it would hurt too much. He tried to run but his legs stayed absolutely still.

"Your mother and I wanted an abortion. But your idiot for an uncle forced her to keep you. Sure, after you were born she held no regrets for having you. She even fell in love with the man who watched over you. But now, he's dead because of the boy that ruined her life seventeen years ago, did it once more."

Lucas shuddered violently as the truth dressed in a coat of lies came out of his father's mouth. He fought believing it with all of his heart but he could not do it. The pain shattered him. As he stood there crying and slightly doubled over, Dan feeling victorious, picked up his coat and walked out the door.

Lucas stumbled over to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. He sobbed as the words replayed his mind over and over again. He never felt so lonely in his life. He never felt so desperate in his life either. He felt like going outside in the middle of the storm and praying he would get struck by lightening. When he tried to get out of the bed, he was much too paralyzed to move. He lied there in a heap, crying himself to sleep.

So to be completely honest and not bragging, but that was all too painful to write. MY own heart broke for Lucas. I hated Dan for saying those things and I began to hate myself for having those horrible things in my head for a character to say. Ughh...shivers...scary what a writer can convey.

Next...after a having a nightmare, Lucas wakes up to be shoved into another altercation but with someone he loves. Da Da Dum... : )