-o0o-

Brooke was waiting right outside the room, her hand already placed on the handle of the door in front of her as she tried to make out what Lucas and Nathan were talking about in muffled voices. She had difficulties understanding what they were saying. What she did hear, though, made her skin crawl. It made her want to barge into the room. But she had promised Luke to give him those few minutes alone with his brother, even though her urge to stay by his side had been so achingly strong. If only Haley would hurry to come back to her side. She wouldn't be able to reach Deb Scott anyway, so why couldn't she just give up trying already?

"My life sucks. I could just as well end it now and no one would think it a loss—"

"Don't say that, man. Don't. Say. That…"

"Why not? Crap, nothing is… —My life's practically over anyway, what with all this mess going on, now this here… So why—"

"Why? Seriously, dude? How can any one person be so freakin' selfish to even consider killing themselves? How can you be so selfish? And after everything—"

At that, Brooke could no longer restrain herself and burst into the room, where she found the two Scott brothers staring at her. "Okay guys," she said, her tone a mere note short of sounding hysterical. "What's going on in here?" She looked from Lucas to Nathan and back again into Luke's sad eyes. "Brooke," he whispered lamely. But when she waved her hand he fell silent again. "Yes, Lucas, I know I said I'd give you guys a few minutes to talk things over and do your," she air-quoted, "'brother-thing.' But, baby, did I just hear that right? One of you talking about suicide, for God's sake? Don't tell me you idiots are really stupid enough to have survived a horrible car crash only to decide to end your lives by your own hands now? Don't tell me I heard that right. Don't," she threatened, tears of anger and worry already pooling in her eyes. "So? Has either of you got to say anything to that? Nate? Luke? Lucas Eugene Scott."

She felt the boys' piercing stares then, a weird burning sensation, uncomfortably creeping under her skin and straight into her very core. Suddenly, she felt Haley's presence appear at her side.

"Brooke?" the girl queried, holding two steaming cups of coffee in her hand and glancing past Brooke into the room. "What…" Brooke noticed Nathan seek out tutor girl's gaze and hold it, and she let her own gaze travel back to Lucas.

But he had turned his face away from her, and suddenly she knew.

-o0o-

"Haley!" Karen saw Lucas's best friend waiting outside the school and ran up toward her, Keith in tow. She enveloped the girl in a brief yet tight hug, then held her at arm's length. "Where are they? What happened, Haley? Where is Lucas?" Only then did she see the other hunched figure who was holding Haley's hand: Brooke, Luke's pretty girlfriend, who looked more than just a little shaken. "Brooke!"

"Hello Ms. Roe," choked the brunette, unable to look Karen in the eyes.

"What happened. Girls…" Karen eventually let go of Haley and moved toward the cheerleader, gently lifting the girl's chin with one hand. "Brooke?"

That was all it took for Brooke to come apart at the seams and start crying all over again. Haley closed her eyes for a moment. Tiredly, she steeled herself for another bout of crying while she continued waiting for the ambulance to arrive. She heard Brooke choke out a heartfelt, "I'm so sorry, Ms. Roe. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. Oh God, why did I ever kiss that guy in the first place? Why didn't I just ignore him? Why is it that it's always me who screws everything up so…so…" Her voice died in a flood of fresh tears and though Karen wanted nothing more than run into the tall school building right away, she couldn't do so without consoling the poor girl first. Wrapping her in her arms, she quietly soothed, "It's okay, Brooke. I'm sure it was not your fault."

"But… you weren't there, Ms. Roe. Oh, you are going to hate me for making Lucas fight Greg. If it hadn't been for me he would have never started it… and and Nathan would never have gotten involved, and we wouldn't be standing here waiting for another goddamn ambulance—"

"Another ambulance?" Karen looked to Haley in alarm, but young girl merely shook her head and said, "Lucas is okay."

"And the police wouldn't be here… and Whitey wouldn't think Lucas and Nathan started it all, and—and Dan wouldn't have made everything so much worse…"

"The police?—And Dan? What does Dan have to do with this?" shrieked Karen, turning her gaze toward Keith who had finally arrived by her side. "Whoa," Keith made, his eyes widening. "Stop. Stop, Brooke. Now, will you girls tell us what happened and bring us to Lucas and Nate? Haley?"

"Sure. It's just, one of us has to wait here, to guide the ambulance in…" Haley looked up at Keith out of eyes wide with evident shock. He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pressing down on it for a short moment. "Alright," he said and smiled reassuringly. "I'll wait here with you while Brooke—Brooke, do you think you can show Karen the way?"

Brooke looked a little bewildered at first, but finally Keith noticed her getting a grip again. She ran both hands over her hair, smoothing it down a bit, before wiping at the dark smudges of mascara that had appeared underneath her eyes. She was trying hard to force herself to calm down, and Keith appreciated her efforts.

"I'm sorry," she eventually muttered, embarrassed about her little breakdown. She stared at Luke's mom and bit her lip. Karen Roe surely took her to be the typical idiotic cheerleader now, overly emotional and just plain stupid. She wished she could hide, she wished for the ground to open underneath her and swallow her whole, if only it meant Karen would stop scrutinizing her so thoroughly. Suddenly, though, Luke's mom took her by surprise as she hugged Brooke once more, smiled and said. "I'm sure there's nothing you need to apologize for, Brooke. As it is, Lucas is unfortunately more than capable of making a mess of things all by himself. Now, let's go and see what he's gotten himself into this time, alright?"

"Uh huh," made Brooke, grateful for Karen's attempt to console her even though she was surely more than a little worried herself. The two were already on their way into the building, Brooke had started to explain about what—or rather who the ambulance was for—when Karen heard Haley yell her name. Turning around, she saw the young woman stare at her imploringly.

"Please, Karen, Nathan… I'm not sure Whitey will be able to inform Deb and…" She faltered just as Karen said, "I'll see to it that both boys won't have to face the police all by themselves. Trust me, Haley, okay?"

Thank you, Haley muttered, unaware that she didn't say the words out loud.

-o0o-

Whitey stood outside his office, debating with the two police officers who were constantly peering past him through the windows of his office. Finally, the old man had enough of that and suggested they give the boys some space.

"Gentlemen, let me tell you one thing. Those are fine boys," he heard himself say, a little astounded that there was not the slightest note of hesitation discernible in his voice. Then again, he had no doubt that he was indeed telling the two policemen nothing but the truth. The Scott brothers were good kids after all. No matter what had led them to beat up the Anders boy, Whitey had started to believe they might have actually had good reasons for that, too. And after that episode with Dan…

The Coach shivered at the mere recollection and stared down to where he and the officers had laid Dan's unconscious form onto the ground, his head now cushioned by Whitey's jacket.

"Mr. Durham, Sir. You said Mr. Dan Scott was the one who attacked Greg Anders to begin with, before he then went on to attack his own sons?" the older of the two officers was just saying, jolting Whitey out of his musings. Oh, he thought, what would his late wife say if she heard him lie to the police…

"Coach, please," he grumbled, and added, "and, yes Sir, that's exactly what I said."

-o0o-

"You'll see, Nate. This time, it's different…"

Lucas heard his own words echo in his head. He couldn't help but feel doubt rise up inside of him. What if he was promising too much? For how was he to help Nathan when so far the guy wasn't exactly known for welcoming any help in his life? Besides, what did Lucas know about what it meant to be living in the same house with Dan? Nathan was right, Lucas had absolutely no clue. Maybe the episode he had witnessed was some typical father-son routine with Dan and Nate. Maybe Nathan was used to such abuse already. Or maybe even to things way worse… Lucas felt himself involuntarily shiver at the thought just as Nathan suddenly pulled away from him again.

"Crap, look at me. Crying like a freakin' baby; damn…" hissed Nathan, cursing himself. He had lost it. Again; and in front of Lucas, even though he had sworn himself it would never happen, ever again. Great, he thought, as he angrily slammed his fists into the ground only to instantly feel pain shoot up his injured arm and curse even more. "Damn. Damn it! Fuck Dan, and Greg and Whitey, and—"

"Whoa, Nate! Relax, okay? Hurting yourself is not gonna help things, okay?" Nathan briefly glared at his older brother, who continued, "Come on, man, look at yourself: if you go on like that you're only ruining your arm more." Lucas glared back at his brother and found himself starting to feel annoyed, too. What was it about his brother that always made Luke's temper rise congruously to Nathan's? What was it that made Luke want to protect him from being hurt one second and kill him the next? Sighing, he allowed his head to rest against the wall and his gaze fell on Whitey's broad back that was barely visible from where he stood facing the two policemen that had arrived some five minutes or so earlier. Just then another snide remark from Nathan reached Lucas' ears.

"Yeah, thanks for the advice, Luke. Coz you're so good at following it yourself when it comes to your leg, right? I mean, walking around like that… I'm sure that's not why the doc put you in that thing, or was it?"

"Dude," Lucas warned. He was in no mood to fight, not against the kid who was sitting beside him now, still looking slightly shaken. But if Nathan continued to force it, Lucas would rise to the bait. He was no longer willing to suffer through any more of Nathan's fallbacks into old habits, including his previous jackass behavior toward Luke. "Leave it man," he therefore hissed angrily.

"What? Do you like being wheeled around in that chair so much that you wanna—"

"Dammit, Nathan! I said leave it!" Lucas angrily interrupted his brother's sneering, but Nathan merely rolled his eyes. That was the last straw for his brother. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!" he shouted. "I tried to help you! Should I have let Dan choke you? Is that what you wanted me to do? Huh?"

"I didn't need a friggin' cripple to help me! If you had given me more time—"

"If I had given you more time," Lucas shot back, "you'd be the one lying on the ground now! And I don't know whether Dan would have stopped at merely making you pass out, Nate. I risked my damn health to protect you and all I get from you is a verbal slap in the face because I dared place the importance of your state of health over mine in one—apparently 'weak' moment? Well then, screw you, Nathan. I thought you were worth it, I thought we were finally starting to be and treat each other as actual brothers—"

"Lucas—"

"But obviously I was mistaken. You are not worth it. Apparently Dan and you really do deserve each other after all! I'm sorry if I interrupted some father-son moment you were having back there. I won't do it again, I promise. If you think you can deal with him alone, then fine! But don't you come crying again about how horrible living with Dan is! Because, honestly? I no longer care! Let him choke you next time, I don't care! It'll probably even make my life easier!" The venomously spat words had already left his lips when Lucas realized what he had said. He got a brief glimpse of the younger one's face, saw the shutters close behind Nate's eyes before he turned away. Sighing, Lucas tried to get up, hardly realizing that his body was loudly protesting against the sudden movements. He cursed himself as a stifling silence pervaded the room. For a second Lucas thought his kid brother would walk over to where he was struggling to get up and would throttle him. But Nathan just remained standing there, still not looking at Luke.

-o0o-

"Nathan," the older Scott eventually began, focusing his stare on the floor instead of his brother. Had the situation been any different, he would have started wondering whether Dan had regained consciousness already. He would have been worried, whether the man was alright, just as he would have continued worrying whether Greg was doing alright. Right then, though, in this room with his brother, he couldn't really make himself worry about any of that. He didn't even wonder about the Coach's prolonged absence anymore, or the fact that the police hadn't started questioning him and Nate, yet. Too pressing was the sudden fear that he might have irrevocably destroyed something between him and Nate with that last outbreak of his. At the moment, Lucas wasn't even quite aware that he couldn't seem to make his legs cooperate underneath him, so intent was he on finding a way to take back what he had just said. "Nate. I'm—sorry, I shouldn't have… I—I didn't mean it like that…" He couldn't think of anything to say.

Quite unexpectedly, Nathan suddenly looked up and met his brother's gaze. The younger one was smiling. It was an eerie expression, Lucas couldn't help but think, and it made his skin crawl uncomfortably.

"Yeah, sure," said Nathan in a flat tone.

"Listen. Nate."

"No, you're right. I'm not."

"You… what?" Lucas whispered uncomprehendingly, struggling to get up and failing. Again. He flinched as this time his try didn't even cause the usual painful response in his leg.

"Worth it. It's what he says, too.—See, you two, you really aren't all that different than you think."

"Dan said that?—Nathan, he and you…" Suddenly, a terrible sense of foreboding made Lucas swallow what he had been about to say. But he knew that it was now or never that he might be able to make Nathan talk about what was bothering him at home. He knew that he had to make Nathan talk. Luke saw the younger one turn toward him then, felt Nate's gaze burn on his face, and eventually continued, "Nate, what Dan just did… is he like that often?" For a moment, Nathan simply stared at him in silence. His jaw muscles were moving, though, giving his tension away. Lucas just started thinking his brother wouldn't ever answer when Nate quietly said, "Define: often." He dropped his gaze then, staring hard at the ground. He looked so defeated all of a sudden, so startlingly vulnerable, so not like his usual jackass-self that Lucas felt that weird sense of affection return, affection for Nathan. It was still a new sensation, a feeling he had first experienced right after the crash. He bit his lips from the inside, unsure of how to continue, unsure even of whether Nathan really had implied what Lucas thought he had. Eventually, Luke settled on nodding and waiting whether Nathan chose to elaborate, which finally he did.

"I've told you before that you can have my damn life if you so desperately want it. You can have all of it; basketball, my ever-present, loving father—who wants me to live his freakin' dream. My pill-addicted mother, my dead best friend. Take them all. I don't want them. I don't want any of this. Except for Haley nothing good has ever happened to me in the past I-don't-know-how-many years. It's just school, and basketball, and practice, and school, and then along comes one Lucas Scott who's got nothing better to do than steal the one thing from me I'm actually good at."

"Nate…," Lucas tried to butt in, but his brother spoke over him. "You think being neglected by Dan Scott is hard? You think living alone and in peace with a mother like yours is hard? God, how I wish my dad would 'neglect' me a little more…"

"God, Nate, I didn't know—"

Nathan forced a laugh. "Yeah, you didn't. Just like most everyone else. Except for Tim—but he's dead, right?—And except for my mom, though she's pretty effective at making herself forget the bleakness of her life. Wish I could do the same. Hell, maybe I just should, who cares anyway, right?"

Lucas' shock was more than evident. "Don't say that, man!"

"What? Didn't you, too, just tell me how worthless I am? Huh, Lucas?—Crap, I'm so tired of it. I'm so tired of people telling me what a great big party my whole life is. Stupid people like you who don't know half of what they're even talking about."

"Nate, man…"

Suddenly Nathan allowed himself to fall into a sitting position right next to his brother, sighing as he came to sit. Resting his head against the cool concrete of the wall behind him, he stared into nothingness. Lucas glanced over at him then, studying his profile for a moment.

"I meant what I said at the beginning, Nate," Luke eventually whispered and noticed the younger one swallow. "This time it will be different. You're not going back to live with Dan, okay? Nor with Deb. Alright? Nate?"

He heard the kid snort. But other than that he remained silent, worrying Lucas with his sudden muteness. "Nate? Come on, man, talk to me. What do you want me to say? I'm sorry, okay? Seriously, I am. Crap, if only I had known that before… Dan is such a son of a bitch!" Lucas's rant continued on for another few minutes in which he alternately cursed himself and Dan, until finally he ran out of things to say. All throughout his monolog, Nathan had remained silent, merely sitting beside him, cradling his head in his hands, not once commenting on anything Lucas had said.

Finally, Lucas glanced over to his younger brother once again, and sighing he made one last attempt at getting a response from him. "You think we'll be alright?" he asked and was relieved to at least see Nathan smile sadly in answer, before he actually muttered, "Dude, we're Dan Scott's sons. How could we ever be 'alright?' Lucas snorted at that. "Yeah." A grin played across his lips briefly, and for a while both boys simply continued sitting there, neither of them breaking the silence that had again set in. Finally, Lucas once more tried to move his legs, flinching as, again, his injured leg refused its service, this time feeling like it was completely paralyzed.

"Luke?"

The blond boy rubbed his eyes with both palms and bit his lips. This was not good. It was not good.

"Luke."

Lucas eventually turned to face Nathan and found his brother eyeing him worriedly.

"Are you all right, man?"

"I…" Lucas felt his voice waver but couldn't stop it. "Crap, Nate. I don't think I can get up by myself."

"Okay, I'll help you," he heard Nathan answer, heard him get up beside him, the rustle of clothes and air curiously enhanced. Still, he couldn't pay attention to it, couldn't comprehend what was going on around him all of a sudden, He didn't really understand a word of what Nate was saying because all he could think of then was that he could no longer move his leg. He couldn't make his leg move, at all. Not an inch.

"No, I—God, I can't move my leg, I—I can't get it to move." He stared up to where Nathan suddenly towered over him, worry etched into his features as Lucas' face scrunched up in a mixture of fear and pain and desperation. "Oh God! Oh God…"

"Hey, man, don't worry. It's probably just—"

"I can't make it move, Nate, I can't—it's… I don't really feel anything but pain, it's—oh God…" He wasn't even aware that he was crying, didn't even have time to wonder from where the hell Whitey had suddenly appeared, because all he knew was that something was seriously wrong. "Nathan," he choked out, pleading with his brother. "Oh God, please help me. I—Nate…"

"It's okay, Luke." Nathan was frowning at him, though. He was frowning as he assured him that, "It's okay. You're okay…"

And then it was okay; he was okay. Because he felt himself leave the ground, and a calming noise of rushing blood filled his ears. The pain left his leg just as the frightening sense of lifelessness left it, too, when his whole body started to feel numb. He didn't feel a thing, not anymore.

Nathan, though, was only too aware of the painful grasp in which Lucas held his wrist and which made Nate's fingers start tingling uncomfortably. "You're okay," he forced out as he felt his older brother's stare on his face. "Lucas!" someone yelled then and Nathan lifted his gaze to find his brother's mom run to her son's side, and Brooke...

With Brooke's arrival, coldness eventually seeped into Nathan's hand and wrist for Lucas's hand had traveled on to be grabbed by both his girlfriend's tiny ones. The youngest Scott took it as his cue to stop in his tracks, to remain standing where he was, witnessing the goings-on from a safe distance; safe, just as usual, safe from any involvement in family matters.

Then he felt a small warm hand wiggle its way into his, and his fingers closed around it of their own accord.

Haley.

Looking down into her beautiful face he wanted to say anything but what he heard himself say to her then. "It's his leg, Hales. I think this time he really damaged it for good.—It's all my fault."

"No, Nathan."

"If he shouldn't be able to walk again, it'll only be because of me…" he whispered and added under his breath, 'It's not worth it, it's just not worth it. I'm not worth it…'

Haley could only stare up at him then, not sure she had heard him correctly. Right then, though, one of the police officers came up to where they stood. "Nathan Scott?" he said, and Haley involuntarily grabbed his hand yet a little tighter as he turned to face the officer. "I'm sorry, kid, but you'll have to answer a few questions before we can allow you to accompany your brother to the hospital."

"Sir," Haley suddenly shot at him, surprising herself with the firmness of her voice. "Can't this wait? As a matter of fact I think Nathan's arm needs some medical attending, too, so…"

"Haley is right," she suddenly heard someone chime in behind her and was surprised to find Nathan's uncle walk toward them. Placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder and smiling kindly at the kid, Keith addressed the policeman again. "Let me accompany my nephew to a doctor first and I'll assure you, Sir, we'll answer all your questions as soon as a doctor has checked on him. Is that okay with you?"

And finally, the officer nodded his consent. "Alright. But you'll be coming with me. Don't mind me saying this, but I've heard about the infamous Scott clan after all, Sir…"

Keith grinned. "So who can blame you for taking a few precautions, I understand. Well, let's go then. Haley, Nate?—Nathan?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, kiddo, let's get you to a doctor, okay?"

"I'm okay, Uncle Keith…"

"Right you are…," Keith made, furrowing his brow as he noticed the absent look on his brother's younger son. Once again, he found himself having to see his two nephews to the hospital. All that within the span of only a couple of weeks. Something surely had to change, he thought, and soon…