Lucas stood at the Rivercourt with his eyes closed and a basketball tight in his grasp. He took in a deep breath filled with the sweet air of spring. The breath filled inside of his lungs and brought life to his broken body. He sat absorbing all the wonderful smells around him when a voice spoke from behind him.

"So, are you get stand there and smell the flowers or are we going to play some ball?"

With his eyes still closed, a smile hugged the corner of his lips. He turned around and looked at the face he missed most.

"Keith," Lucas's voice cracked. He instantly dropped the ball in his grasp and ran over to him. He leaned over and embraced him.

"Lucas, son, it's okay. Don't cry." The man comforted his son.

Lucas failed to realize the tears streaming down his cheeks. He held onto Keith with his eyes closed hoping he would never have to let go. He finally let go of the embrace and looked at his father with tears blurring his vision. The boy stood absolutely speechless.

"So I see this failed you." Keith stated stretching out his hand and placing it on Lucas's chest where his heart beated.

Lucas sniffled, "Yeah, I have HCM."

Keith let a smile come across his face which greatly confused Lucas. "I know."

Lucas looked at him funny. How did his newly adopted father know he had a heart condition?

"I've known for a couple months now actually. One day Haley came into the shop looking really stressed out. I made her sit down and tell me what was bothering her. She told me about your heart condition."

Lucas cursed his best friend mentally. He knew she wouldn't be able to keep it quiet. Keith interrupted his thoughts and began lecturing, "Don't you go getting mad at her. Shame on you for making her face that alone. Her best friend has life threatening condition, who risks his life everyday playing a game. A game! Lucas Scott, how could you be so stupid to risk your life like that?"

Lucas's eyes fell downcast on the ground below him. He took his shoes and dug them into the cement. All through out his life, Keith's lectures lead him to feel very selfish and bad for what he whatever stupid stuff he would do. Sometimes, Lucas would purposely do something just to hear Keith's angry but concerned voice reprimand him to make him feel like he had dad all along. That he truly did not need Dan Scott, who though genetically was his father never proved it otherwise. Dan, though he never really took a sincere interest in Lucas, still maintained a tight control over him. It was almost like he had an invisible chain collar around his neck. He did not realize it was there until he took a step he should not have, the grip tightened, and caused problems. Life with Dan Scott, illegitimate son or not, was like that.

"But most of all son, shame on you for facing this all alone." Keith's calm compassionate voice brought him back.

Lucas looked up at him with his teeth biting on his bottom lip. Keith rested his large calloused left hand on Lucas's right cheek.

"You should not have had to deal with this all alone. You should have told your mother and me, we would have helped you."

Lucas went to defend himself, but he ended up stuttering "If…I…I would h-have t-told…"

"We wouldn't let you play basketball?" Keith finished for him. "We could have discussed the options instead of having you sneaking around trying to figure it all out on your own. Now, here you are seventeen years old and you just had a massive heart attack. I don't think you'll be playing basketball anytime soon, son."

Lucas snorted. The game seemed so pointless after the shooting. It was just that, a game. Life had shoved its way past the frivolous thing and made a bigger part on stage. He would trade the game in a heartbeat if it brought Keith back, if his mother would talk to him again, and if it meant he would have never been born where all this heartache would have never happen.

"Hey, I know there's a lot going on right now but I know you'll be okay. Your heart will heal. Your mother will talk to you again, just give her time. Tell her I love her very much and pick Lily."

Lucas cocked his head to left like a puppy as his eye brows rose. Keith finished, "Just tell her I said that, she'll understand. Once you tell her, it will give you two something to talk about."

Lucas looked forward to talking with his mother. He missed her more then any teenage boy would care to admit. The thought actually brought tears to his eyes. He was carrying way too much pain to do it all alone. He really needed his mom.

"Take care of her, okay? She needs you know more then ever and you need her as well. All this pain I left with you guys will go away, I promise. It will take awhile but I assure you, it will. Grief is like paint an artist uses. At first, it's fresh and spreads everywhere if you touch it too soon but with time it dries. Soon it comes together with the rest of the picture and makes a beautiful masterpiece. A little slab of paint of the canvas does not look like it matters, but mixed with several makes an astounding creation. This part of your life is painful but someday, you'll figure out why it happened. Somehow you'll look at this tragedy and smile because you figure out how it worked out in the masterpiece of your life."

Hey hey...sorry I pretty much fell off the face of the planet. Between two six week classes, preparing for a missions trip, working long hours, getting ready for VBS, and being really sick...I pretty much did fall off the face of the planet to not only you guys but my friends. Plus I had pretty bad writers block not knowing where to take this. But anywhoo...I hope you guys liked that. Be honest, tell me what you thought of the paint illustration. I made it up completely. Well not it all, I do believe everything in our life does work out, good or bad, and sometimes we find out how it worked out in the greater scheme of things and sometimes we dont. I believe with all my heart that God uses everything for His glory and our good.

Hope everyone is doing well. : )