Okay. I lied. The Brucas Library scene is in the next chapter. Mea Culpa. I thought it was in this chapter but it's not. So I posted a chapter early to make up for it. Sorry!!

A Season in Purgatory

Chapter 20

Lucas dropped the socket wrench on the dirty work bench in the back of the shop and paused a moment to catch his breath. He'd been working on an ancient transmission most of the afternoon and was worn out from fighting with the equipment. After carefully washing the grime and grease off his hands, Lucas leaned back against the workbench and stared at the old clock on the wall. He had exactly 25 minutes to get to the Café for his first ever 'Dinner with Dad', as he taken to calling it.

A giggle from the office in back caused him to frown. Anna. Keith's new fiancée. Anna who baked cookies for them and brought Keith muffins for a morning snack. His eyes narrowed, wondering if Anna was some kind of alien life form. The refined blonde lady never raised her voice, never got upset, and was generally freaking happy enough to be the subject of a damn Broadway musical. And what bothered Lucas more was that he actually liked Anna. How could anyone not like her? She was kind, listened emphatically to every word he said, and she truly dotted on Keith.

He craned his head around the corner wall that separated the shop from the office and took in the happy couple in front of him. Anna sat on Keith's desk, going over some list with him. She looked up at Lucas, and gave him a brilliant smile. "Hello, Lucas!"

Keith beamed at her beaming at him. They were a very beaming couple, he thought. Losing his smile, Lucas grew solemn noting that his mother never beamed around Keith when they were dating. "Hey," he neutrally greeted the couple, not wanting to interrupt their gigglefest.

"Lucas, we want your opinion," Keith began, shoving a thick catalog over to the edge of the desk. "Anna and I were planning on getting married at city hall, but I think she needs a dress," Keith commented.

Looking down at the catalog, Lucas realized it was a bridal magazine with all kinds of frilly fu fu gowns. Anna smiled at his reaction, knowing that no 16-year-old boy wanted to contemplate wedding attire. "I think Keith and I should save our money and put it toward a house instead." She wanted to be practical with both their time and money. A formal wedding could set them back months.

Lucas considered both arguments, slightly impressed that he'd been consulted in the first place. He looked from the magazine to Anna, who was starkly out of place in the garage with her wool plaid skirt and sweater set. And pearls. She was actually wearing a tiny row of pearls. "I think you should get some kind of dress," he finally said, knowing that every female he'd ever met had a vision of what their wedding would be like from the age of 5. "I mean, it doesn't have to have layers of fu fu, but you only get married once. You should have some kind of special dress for it."

Keith smiled at his nephew's words, proud that Lucas could be so positive about the upcoming wedding. Keith knew Lucas wanted him to marry his mother, but the respect that the boy showed the couple was endearing. Anna looked over at Keith and sighed in frustration. "I'm trying to be practical…" she began to argue, before Keith leaned over and put a small kiss on her check.

"We don't need to be practical. We've got the rest of our lives to do that," he said. He had been saving for years to get a house and he knew that Anna had done the same. They could afford to spend a bit on a small wedding without sacrificing their dreams of an old Victorian house with a big fenced yard.

Anna closed the bridal magazine and put it in her tailored leather bag. "We wanted to do this fast, Keith. Dresses and a small ceremony isn't fast."

Looking over at Lucas, Keith grinned at his fiancée's reaction. "Fast was a good option until my mother heard about the wedding. I just need something that's better than city hall, but that doesn't require engraved invitations." He'd called his parents that morning, after Dan's speech about parental involvement. Keith wasn't close to his father and over the years the situation with Lucas had upset him to the point of where he was estranged from his own mother. But he couldn't just get married without telling them. If they wanted to make the trip up from Florida, it was their choice. Needless to say, his mother had been thrilled that her oldest son was settling down, even as his father had been suspicious that Keith was marrying a town outsider.

Leaning back against the tan cinder block wall, Lucas considered their dilemma. "Why not get married in the park by a rent a clergy? You know, nondenominational ….bland….no invitations, yet good enough for a white dress."

"That could work," Anna admitted, liking the idea of getting a formal dress and still avoiding a church ceremony. "Lucas, I know you've already agreed to be Keith's best man, but if we had a formal wedding, would you consider walking me down the aisle, too?"

Lucas knew that Anna had grown up in foster care and lacked even the most basic of relatives. It was the main reason that she and Keith had wanted a small civil ceremony instead of a large church wedding. He tentatively smiled at her. "Yeah, I could do that."

Anna clasped her hands together and smiled, as she watched Keith wrap Lucas in a bear hug. "Thanks, Kid. You are really being supportive."

Pulling back from the hug, Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "At least I can be supportive of something and not play the role of malcontent," he snarked, knowing that Keith caught his reference.

"I don't know what to say, Luke. I went to talk to them about that today," he explained, watching as Luke's eyes grew big.

"They were together in the middle of the day?" he asked, growing more alarmed every day at how close Karen was getting to Dan.

Keith silently shared his nephew's alarm but didn't want to feed the anger that he saw growing daily within the boy. "They were in the Café talking about tonight," he said.

Anna patted Luke's arm reassuringly. She'd lived in over 14 different homes in 9 years, so she knew how upsetting it was to have parental figures move in and out of your life. Her empathy for Lucas grew, knowing it was particularly hard for him because this was his own biological father.

"Speaking of which, Brooke is supposed to pick me up in five minutes. I was just getting ready to tell you I was leaving when we got side tracked by wedding dresses," he admitted, pleased that at least two people in his life were happy. He was dreading this dinner thing but the idea of seeing Brooke even for a few minutes brightened his day.

Anna spontaneously reached out and hugged him, quickly releasing him when she felt his shoulder muscles tighten at the contact. She could appreciate that Lucas was fairly reserved around people and that she'd just invaded his private space. "Thanks, Lucas. I'm so happy that you are playing such a big role in our wedding."

Waiting for his fiancée to move away, Keith stepped and ruffled his nephew's hair. He didn't want to crowd Lucas with too many displays of affection. "Hang in there tonight and don't let Danny get you riled up," Keith commented, knowing just how difficult that could be. His little brother had a particular talent for upsetting people. "Remember that it's better to be aloof and silent than to speak and get grounded."

Lucas grabbed his backpack from the beat up sofa and moved toward the door. "I'm doomed," he predicted, knowing that he never could keep his mouth shut when Nathan was involved. Dan was much easier to ignore, as their paths didn't tend to cross much. But Nathan was a prevalent as a virus, Luke thought. Hearing a car horn, he smiled at them then turned and left.

Brooke smiled as he slid into her front seat, moving at once to kiss her. She deepened the kiss for a moment, before pulling out of the parking lot. "Did you bring it?" he asked, admiring her tan legs a moment before moving his eyes up to her face.

She giggled a second and motioned to the backseat. Lucas felt around a few seconds and retrieved the bottle of vodka that was lying in a bag on the floorboard. He unscrewed the lid and looked around for police cars before guzzling the warm liquid.

Brooke's eyes narrowed in a concern a moment. "Are you sure you should be doing this before the 'dinner o' death?' she asked, genuinely concerned about his state of mind. She knew he was upset about forced interaction with his estranged family. "I mean, you didn't eat anything for lunch and you don't want to get noticeable drunk in front of your mom." Knowing Karen, that woman probably had a portable blood alcohol kit in her purse, just waiting to use it on Lucas. She was over protective with a capital "P".

"I'm going for casually buzzed," he revealed, flashing her with a rare smile. "Honestly, I just need something to relax me and take the edge off."

Brooke relaxed at his words. This was Lucas, mature, rational and totally dependable Lucas. She hated it when people lectured her about her drinking and she wasn't about to stop him from imbibing a bit to get through the night. She looked over and noticed that he was well on his way to draining the small pint of Stoly she'd smuggled out of her parents wet bar.

Noticing her concern, Lucas waited until she pulled up to a red light and nuzzled her neck, teasing her with little nips around her neck and under her very sensitive ear. "Thank you," he said, finally forcing himself to pull away from her before he did something he'd regret.

Brooke snapped to as a horn behind them indicated that the light was now green. "How much longer before you can official go on a date?" He laughed at her obvious frustration as they drove on, looking for a spot where he could kill the bottle and be alone with her for a few minutes. Brooke smiled at him, the one part of her life that was great even as the rest it was crashing around her.

Dan noted the time on the Café's clock before turning his attention back to the small group that mingled in the now closed dining area of the restaurant. Taking a healthy sip from his imported beer, Dan realized that Lucas was now over 20 minutes late to their first family dinner. He wasn't a beer drinker. And even though this was one of the better imports in Karen's small stock, Dan would rather take a shot of bourbon any day. Karen frowned on the heavier spirits though, and he had resorted to beer to calm his nerves. Not that it matter since it appeared that Lucas wasn't going to show up anyway.

He turned to face Karen, who was finishing up some work at the counter. "He'll be here," she said, instantly knowing what was on his mind. "Luke is too afraid of what I'll do to disobey me."

Dan laughed at her confidence. "Or maybe you know that he's desperate enough to get ungrounded so he can go out with Brooke. Desperate enough to hang out with me," he added, sadly knowing that getting to know his oldest son wasn't going to be easy.

Laughing, Karen dropped her dishrag and smiled at him. "That too. He's definitely very interested in Ms. Davis." She just wished that she had a better vibe about the couple. Maybe it was her mother's instinct but Karen just knew that Brooke and Lucas together meant trouble.

A giggle from across the room drew both their attention away from the subject of Lucas. Karen raised her eyebrows at Dan. "Seems like I'm not the only one who needs to worry about sons and girlfriends."

Dan watched as his son unconsciously flirted with the pretty petite waitress next to him. They were a striking couple, he conceded, but he didn't want Nathan getting too invested in her. Nothing good came from overly seriously high school relationships. "As long as he uses birth control and doesn't let off his game, I'm fine with it."

Staring at him as if he'd just grown a fourth head, Karen finally hit him in disgust. "There is more to life than basketball, Dan. You can only push him so hard." Karen of all people understood Dan's passion for the game. And though he'd deny it, Karen knew that Dan felt like a failure for not making more of his college sports career. The fear of failure had driven Dan most of his life, and was now nearly haunting him regarding his past decisions.

His shoulders tensed up, knowing that she was right, but still not liking the idea of Nathan losing his focus. "I'm trying, Kar. It's hard to change though." His deep blue eyes met hers and they held a silent communion for a moment, before the sound of the front door opening broke their gaze.

Lucas meandered through the door and dropped his backpack on the couch, taking in the staring group with mild disinterest. Karen approached him, looking at her watch. "Do you need me to remind you that 7 PM is when the little hand is on the 12 and the big hand is on the 7?" If Lucas was going to act like a child, she was going to treat him like one.

He ignored most of the room and sauntered over to the counter and poured himself a glass of water. "I was working on a car and wanted to finish so the customer wouldn't be stranded," he lied, the words flowing effortlessly from his mouth. If his mother did bother to call Keith, he'd more than likely back Lucas up, since he wasn't exactly a time oriented kind of guy. And it was only 25 minutes. They'd sat in a deserted parking lot near the Piggly Wiggly while he'd consumed the pint of vodka. Lucas wasn't a serious drinker, but he knew that he'd gotten enough booze in his system to relax him, without appearing drunk. Brooke had been concerned about how much he'd had, but Lucas knew it was under control.

He stared at his mom calmly, not really caring if he had answered her question with enough information or not. His eyes narrowed as Dan walked up behind Karen, having heard the lame excuse the boy offered.

"Keith doesn't let you off work to eat now?" Dan asked, knowing that more than likely Lucas had purposefully delayed getting to the Café on time. He watched as the boy's squint grew, turning into a broad scowl.

Lucas pretended to consider the older man's words. "Well, I did have to clean up. It takes a while to get all that grease and dirt out from under your nails. Oh, wait, you and Nathan would know nothing about manual labor, would you?" he asked, venom dripping from his words. Nathan looked up from across the room, where he sat chatting with Haley. They exchanged a glance for a moment, before returning their gaze back to the Lucas/Dan sideshow.

Karen step in between the two men, knowing that Dan was already insulted by Luke's biting accusation about the differences in their social classes. "That's enough, Luke. I would ask you to apologize to Dan, but I'm assuming that would be pointless. But I do want to talk to you in back, NOW," she tersely stated, not waiting for an answer before walking off. Lucas continued to stare at Dan for a moment before reluctantly following his mother to the kitchen.

Dan tightened his grip on his beer bottle, fighting the urge to throw it at something. Lucas had an innate ability to get on his last nerve. Looking up, he noticed Nathan watching him and he sent his younger son a reassuring smile.

Luke watched as his mother paced around the kitchen, putting away various items as she wiped the main counter. Abruptly, she spun around and pointed a shaky finger at him. "You will not keep disrespecting my rules," she announced, her voice as firm as steel.

"I was at work, Mom. You can't expect me not to finish up what I was doing just to get here to smooze with Dan Scott," Lucas snapped back, tired of the man's intrusion into his life. Her eyes narrowed at his words. "Were you working or just chatting with Keith to waste time?" Karen wouldn't put it past Keith to try to protect his nephew from his own father.

"I actually did stop to say good night to him and Anna," he said, noting the expression that crossed her eyes at the mention of Anna. He decided to continue that vein of conversation. "Actually, we were discussing the wedding and all the roles I'm going to play in it."

Karen looked away, knowing she was just jealous. While she didn't love Keith in the right way, she was jealous that someone was finding happiness and love. And that yet another girl was getting married. There were times that Karen didn't care about being alone and focusing on her son. But lately, she'd grown tired of sitting home alone, missing out on adult male companionship. It wasn't fair to turn Lucas into her defacto spouse and she'd done just that.

She finally spoke. "It's one thing to be late; it's another thing to go around insulting people. You know better than that because I raised you better than that," she said, watching as he slowly sighed, shoulders slumping. "I'm not asking that you be best friends with them, Lucas. But I am asking that you speak when spoken to and don't insult them just because you can."

"Whatever," he said, wanting to fast-forward through her boring lecture. Karen gave up, knowing that she'd done her best. And Lucas tended to respond to her lectures, despite his eye roll and posturing.

They walked back out to the front. "Dinner should be ready to go in ten minutes," she announced, her tone seeming overly happy even to her own ears. Lucas noticed Haley and Nathan setting the large table in the center of the room and he froze. "Wait a minute, what is she doing here?" he asked Karen, his tone of voice catching everyone by surprise.

Haley's eyes widened in surprise, shocked that Lucas would even ask that question. "I always eat with you and Karen after work, Luke. You know that." Luke's face remained angry. "So while I'm forced to sit and eat with these two, Nathan gets to make cow eyes and flirt at Haley. That's not fair," he declared, upset that his mother didn't see this. How was this a punishment for both boys if Nathan was being rewarded with Haley?

"Luke, it's a tradition for the three of us to eat together," Karen began, before Lucas cut her off.

"Traditions change, mom," he noted, waving at the inclusion of Dan and Nathan. "If it can change to add them, why not Brooke?" He was growing petulant, knowing that if Haley and Nathan talked all night, he'd be forced to talk to Dan and Karen for most of the time there. And that idea made his stomach hurt more than the vodka currently residing there.

"Besides, it's Monday night which is Haley's parent's bridge night. If she goes home without dinner, she's going to have heat something up and eat alone," Karen explained, hating when kids didn't have a family to sit down and share dinner with.

Leaning back against the counter, Lucas shook his head in anger. "Brooke doesn't have anyone to eat with most nights of the week and I don't see you asking her over," he bitterly noted, growing petulant at his mother's seeming dislike and disinterest in Brooke.

"Lucas it is not my job to make sure that Brooke's parents do their job. Haley is family and this is a family night," Karen slowly explained, not understanding Luke's sudden animosity toward his best friend.

Luke's stomach sank with Karen's words, mixing with the booze that was swilling about in the pit of his stomach. "You did not just refer to them as 'family' did you? Haley, sure. But she's actually been around for more than a few minutes, unlike them," Lucas gestured toward Dan and Nathan.

Realizing her mistake, Karen attempted to distract Lucas from her inclusion of Dan and Nathan into his family. "The point is that Haley is not going anywhere and you are not inviting friends for dinner."

Dan had been holding back for most of the conversation, afraid to say anything that would illicit Lucas' considerable anger. "Uh, I actually agree with Lucas." The entire room, including Lucas, turned to stare at the man in the dark suit. Even with his tie loosened, Dan still stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Nathan is still grounded, but he's getting to spend a few hours with Haley because she works here, yet Lucas doesn't have anyone here strictly on his side," Dan noted, not above trying to curry favor with his estranged son.

Haley interrupted his thoughts. "I am NOT on anyone's side," she emphatically stated, getting sick of this game. "I just work here and normally eat here. I was talking to Nathan because he actually replies when I speak to him," she finished, looking pointedly at Lucas, since they hadn't talked to each other in over a week.

Dan acknowledged her point and turned back to Karen. "I just think it's unfair that by default Nathan has Haley here and Lucas can't invite Brooke," he finished, knowing instantly he'd made a huge mistake. Karen's eyes were practically boring holes into him.

"This isn't the Dating Game, Dan. The goal here isn't so they can sit around and flirt with their girlfriends," she said insistently. She looked at Dan as if he'd lost his mind.

Dan looked hesitantly over at Lucas, who was staring at him in interest, obviously shocked that the older man was actually taking his side on something. Or maybe Lucas was shocked because his father had finally listened to something he'd said. Either way, Lucas forced a cold expression on his face. Dan never did anything without a reason and this was just his way of trying score points with his oldest son.

"I'm not suggesting we turn this into single's night, Karen. I'm just saying that I see the basic injustice here," he explained, turning to face his ex-girlfriend. He could tell she mad at him for breaking ranks with her decision.

"My son, my rules. That's not up for negotiation," she clarified, just in case Dan didn't get the point.

Dan sighed and straightened his broad shoulders, knowing that they were definitely heading for a fight over this topic. "Isn't that the attitude that got us in our current situation?" he calmly asked, nodding toward all three teens now stood, watching their fight as if a spectator sport.

Silently, Karen reached out and grabbed his large arm, practically dragging him into the kitchen. Making sure that the kids weren't watching them from the order window, she spun around and furiously spoke. "You are dangerously close to crossing some lines, Dan Scott." She dropped his arm suddenly and moved across the room from him.

He leaned back against one of the counters that lined the wall and slowly exhaled. He'd forgotten just how strong those tiny hands were. When Dan was losing control of a deal or any situation, he resorted to the one thing normally alien to him: rationality.

"Karen, you need to take some time and consider if you really want to continue this plan. If you really want me to get to know Lucas and to help Luke and Nate become brothers, you've got to trust me enough to lower those walls of yours," he said, knowing he was dangerously close to getting hit. "But I do know that if we don't present a unified front, those two boys are going to eat us alive."

She mimicked his posture by leaning against a cabinet on the opposite wall, staring at her ex in frustration. Whenever Dan won an argument using logic, she was always overreacting to something. The question was, what was pushing her buttons? Was it the close proximity to him? Or the general stress and distance that was happening with her son? "I admit that I'm a control freak. I've just not had anyone question my rules before," she admitted.

Dan nodded at her words, knowing that for the last 8 years, he'd not had a co-parent around either. It was easy to move into dictator mode when there wasn't another adult to balance you out. "You really seem to have issues about Lucas and Brooke," he causally mentioned, not wanting to get her riled up again.

"It's just that Lucas has never had a girlfriend before, and this one is so blatantly sensual. I just worry about what she's doing to my little boy," Karen revealed. The few times she'd seen them together, every instinct she had blared out warnings full force.

Dan listened to her motherish rant for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Karen, are you honestly listening to yourself? The kid is 16, do you honestly think he's not messed around with a girl before Brooke?" The laugh lines around his eyes deepened as he fought off another round of laughter. "You do remember what we were doing at that age?"

Karen covered her ears with her hands. "La…la….la…not hearing that my son is probably having sex," she explained, frowning at the humor he found in this situation. "Yes I remember what we were doing at 16 and I also remember what happened because of it. Are you ready to be a grandfather at 34?" she asked, gently reminding him of how the past intermingled with the present.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Karen stared at him defiantly. Dan remembered his own fears about Nate's growing sexuality. He'd spent every Thursday night for three months lecturing Nathan about birth control and STD's until his son had begged him to stop.

He considered her words for a moment. "God, can you imagine having grandkids at this age? I don't feel old enough to be a father, let alone have grandbabies around." Dan frowned a moment, realizing that when Lucas had children, those would be his grandchildren. A tentative thread between estranged father and son. And if he didn't stop the current distance, he would play the role his parents were currently playing toward their oldest grandson: stranger. If Dan didn't help change things he'd eventually have grandchildren who didn't know who he was. And that was something he'd seen first hand.

Slowly, Karen walked over to the counter he was leaning against and leaned back next to him. She overlooked when her arm brushed against his muscled forearm just as she ignored the strong, sensual scent of his cologne. "I need to find a way to exclude Brooke on Monday dinners. I know Haley has become close to Nathan, but if we invite Brooke, you will never get a word out of Lucas. He'll use her presence to block you and Nathan from existence."

Dan didn't move from where they stood in close proximity. "Why don't you invite Brooke over for dinner on Tuesdays, so you can get to know her and exert some of your motherly control on her? God knows with Katherine as her mother, she could use you in her life." Any time Dan felt like a failure of a parent, all he had to do was look at Brooke's parents and he felt instantly better. He knew he'd pushed Nathan hard when it came to basketball and perhaps he wasn't the most touchy feely father on the planet. But he did tend to know where his son slept at nights and he made sure that the boy had food and care. As far as he could see, Brooke spent more nights in his house than her own and Dan was fairly sure he'd fed the girl more meals too.

She slowly nodded, trying to force the tension out of her neck and shoulders. "I'll do that and hope that it will placate Lucas somewhat for these dinners. And I'll try to be more open about his relationships," she said, jumping a bit when she felt his hand on her shoulders, rubbing the tension that he instinctively knew was there. Karen's shock disappeared quickly has his hands found the source of her tension and she fought the urge to lean back into him. She'd had a particularly busy day at the Café and had pulled more muscles than usual lugging trays of food and moving huge cans of food and supplies from the storeroom.

He ran his thumb along her tense muscles and was shocked at how easy it was to fall into old behavior. He done this very same thing to her on nights they'd spent "studying" together after tense days of cheerleading and basketball practice. Except back then his hands hadn't stopped with a simple back rub. A flood of feelings invaded and Dan quickly removed his hands, as if burned.

Dazed, Karen noted the way he quickly moved away from her and wondered if she'd done something wrong. But his hands had worked magic on her tired muscles and she already felt better, despite the tension stand off with her and Lucas and the problems with Dan invading her parental space. "We should get back in there before they start throwing dishes at each other." His eyes met hers and he realized that she was just as disconcerted as he was.

Smiling, she slung an arm around his back and steered him toward the door. "I hope not, I've lost too many to Haley's waitressing to lose more in a brotherly battle." They opened the door and prepared for a long night.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Cyn