Whatever It Takes

"Mom, ready for your first day of school?" Cassie asked as she yelled through the door of her mother's bedroom. She didn't realize how strange that sounded until the words came out of her mouth. She didn't care though, she was proud of her Mom for doing this. She heard the sounds of shuffling and of hangers being shoved every which way in the closet. "Mom?" Cassie said again as she knocked softly.

She opened the door slightly and was shocked to find her mother's usually neat and organized room a complete chaos. Clothes were scattered everywhere.

"I have absolutely nothing to wear, Cass." Karen said upon seeing her daughter enter the room.

"You do realize you sound like a teenage girl." Cassie laughed.

"Well I do feel like one." Karen said with a light laugh before remembering her current problem.

"Want some help?" Cassie offered.

Karen shrugged. "Go ahead, but it's no use."

Cassie looked at the clothes that littered her Mom's bed and picked up a knee length white skirt with a light floral patter that flowed out at the bottom, a light blue tank top and her Mom's denim blazer. "There you go, very casual yet not at the same time. You'll look awesome, and stylish." Cassie winked.

Karen looked at her daughter in amazement. "How did you do that? I've been staring at that same outfit for 10 minutes and nothing."

Cassie laughed at the awed expression on her Mom's face. "Well I have had some experience in this field." She joked. "And if there's one thing Brooke is good for, it's clothes. She taught me all I know." Cassie said giving credit where credit was due.

"Well thank you, and thank Brooke for me." Karen smiled as she shoed her daughter out of her room and got dressed.

Twenty-minutes laters Karen emerged to find Cassie, Lucas and Keith sitting at the table.

"Mom you look great." Lucas commented.

Keith nodded in agreement. "Amazing."

"Thank Cass, it was all her doing." Karen smiled.

"Nah, I didn't do much. Just gave her a few pointers." Cassie said before pointing to the clock. "Now look, Mom your going to be late."

"Oh my god." Karen said hurrying to get her things together.

Keith, Lucas and Cassie walked her to the front door.

"Geesh, you would think I was a rock star with the way you guys follow me around." Karen joked.

"Mom here, I thought you could use this." Lucas said as he handed her an apple. She gave him a weird look. "It's for the teacher, you know to suck up a bit."

"Lucas..." Karen scolded but then broke out into a smile. "Thanks." She said taking a bite out of the apple.

Lucas just laughed.

"So Keith, looking forward to your first day at the dealership?" Karen asked.

"Oh yeah, big time." Keith said sarcastically. "It'll be a real gab fest, I'm sure."

"Don't worry Keith, I'm sure there are a lot of women that come through that place, if you know what I mean." Lucas said with a laugh.

"Lucas! The world knows what you meant." Karen said. "Now, I'm sure you'll be fine Keith. Good luck today, but if I don't get going I really will be late."

"Ok bye Mom, have a great day. See ya at the cafe later on." Cassie said hugging her Mom as Lucas and Keith followed suit.

"Bye guys." She said as she walked out the door.

"Ok you two, you ready to go? I can drive you to school." Keith said.

"Nah, it's a late start today. Teacher conferences until noon." Lucas explained and Cassie nodded to back up his claim.

"Ok then I will see you both later." He said as he walked out the door.

"So you ready for this?" Lucas asked his sister.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Cassie nodded.

A little while later they arrived at Tree Hill Hospital.

"Excuse me, which room is Dan Scott in?" Lucas asked as he lead his sister up to the reception desk. The receptionist looked up a him. "I'm sorry, he's in the ICU, only family is allowed to see him.

Lucas looked at Cassie who just gave him a reassuring smile.

"Were his kids. Lucas and Cassandra Scott." Lucas said.

The receptionist then nodded and looked at the register. "He's in room 305."

"Thank you." Cassie smiled and Lucas nodded gratefully as he put his arm around his sister and lead her to Dan's room.

Lucas and Cassie entered Dan's room to find him reading a newspaper. When he heard the door open he looked up and smiled slightly.

"I was hoping you would come." Dan said.

Luke and Cassie stood planted in the same spot nearest the door, in case of the need to make a quick exit if he tried anything.

"You can come in, I don't bite." Dan snickered at the two.

"Yeah I bet you don't." Cassie said quietly, hoping he didn't hear her. Lucas did and gave her a look.

"You wanted to see us?" Lucas asked confidently.

Dan nodded. "I wanted to make up for lost time."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"Well my heart attack gave me a new perception on life. It made me realize that I have to change everything I've done and try and right my wrongs." Dan said.

"That's a lot of wrongs to right." Cassie said bitterly, finally speaking up.

"Cass." Lucas warned.

"No, it's ok." Dan assured his estranged son. "She should be aloud to say what she feels. Cassie, I understand your attitude towards me. You have every right to hate me after what I've done."

"You bet I do, we do." Cassie gestured to her and Lucas. "And by the way like I told you before, it's Cassandra to you."

"Sorry, Cassandra." Dan corrected. "Look, I want to try and make you two understand my choices."

"What choices would those be?" Cassie asked. "Oh you mean the one where you chose basketball over our Mom, or the one where you chose to abandon your own kids after Mom told you she was pregnant. Or what about the best one yet, where you chose to raise the kid you had with another woman, after Mom told you she was pregnant, and you raised that kid to get everything he wanted while your other two children suffered." Cassie said angrily, glad to get all her built up anger from the last 17 years off of her chest.

Dan sighed. This wasn't going the way he wanted it too. Cassie was obviously more like her mother then he even thought. Keith was right, she didn't just look like Karen, she was Karen just 17 years younger. "Yes those choices. I'm very sorry you and Lucas had to grow up the way you did." Dan said almost sounding sincere.

Lucas scoffed. "Your sorry? That's all you have to say after 17 years of ignorance. Come on Cass, I'm done here." Lucas said as he opened the door to leave.

"No, please don't go." Dan said. "I promise if you don't like what I have to say and if I make you uncomfortable in any way, you can leave and I will never bother you again." Dan said.

"Fine, say what you need to say and after that, were gone." Lucas said.

Dan nodded motioning for them to take a seat.

"Ok first off you two need to see my point of view on how things turned out." Dan started. "Lucas your 17 and basketball is your life, right?"

Lucas nodded.

"Well imagine having everything you ever wanted in life and it was because of that one thing. I had colleges knocking on my door, the life I dreamed of was just a diploma away from me. Then your mother tells me she's pregnant. Suddenly everything I've ever dreamed of seems further and further away, it's been taken away from me." Dan said.

"That's the best you can do? You would have had to give up your dreams to raise us? That's your excuse?" Cassie asked. "Mom gave up everything to raise us."

"Cassandra, you and your brother were your mother's dream. She wanted a big family, always did. I didn't. Well not until later on in my life. I wasn't ready to be a father when she told me, sometimes I still think I'm not. I was a kid. Your age. Tell me, would you want to be saddled down with two kids at the age of 17?" Dan asked.

Both Cassie and Lucas didn't know what to say, but then slowly shook their heads.

"So you see that's how I felt. After I took my scholarship and went to University, I realized my mistake and I was going to go back to your mother, tell her I wanted to raise you two with her, but then I met Deb. We fell in love, that was something I couldn't help. The heart wants what it wants." Dan explained. "And then I found out she was pregnant. Again my world was rocked, I didn't know what to do. I still didn't think I could be a father, but then I remembered my regret at not raising you kids and I knew I couldn't leave Deb."

"So why not ask for joint custody? At least then you could have helped raise us." Lucas said.

"I did ask. I know your Mom's told you about that." Dan said.

"Well yeah, she said you didn't ask until later though, and we understand why she didn't want you to raise us." Cassie said. "So don't you dare try to turn this on Mom."

"I wouldn't dream of it, I now realize the soul blame for all this is on me" Dan said.

Cassie almost didn't believe it, but he did sound very sincere. "You really did think this through didn't you."

"I want to be in your lives. Not as your father, I know that's not possible, but maybe as a friend or mentor." Dan said. "I know Keith's the only father you want or need."

"You got that right." Cassie said.

"Dan your serious aren't you?" Lucas said still trying to find the manipulative look Dan was so well known for.

"Dead serious, I've never meant anything more in my life. Give me the benefit of the doubt and I promise you I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust." Dan said.

"That could take forever. We have a lot of trust issues because of you." Cassie said.

"I know, and that is something I want to make up for." Dan said. "So will you allow me into your lives?"

Cassie sighed. "Can we have some time to think about this?"

Dan nodded. "Take all the time you need, I'm not going anywhere." He smirked.

Cassie and Lucas both nodded. "Ok, we'll consider it. But if our Mom wants us to stay away, we will." Lucas said and Dan agreed.

"Of course. I wouldn't dare double cross Karen." He said with a light hearted laugh.

"Ok then. Luke it's time to go." Cassie said as Lucas nodded and they left, missing the look on Dan's face, saying he really was up to something.