Thanks for reading. Deep thoughts and diatribes against Karen are always appreciated. Actually, any thoughts that show anyone is still reading would be neat too!!

A Season in Purgatory
Chapter 30

The final buzzer sounded with the Ravens winning by 2 points. Lucas sank down on the bench, having hit the clutch 3 pointer to win the game. Whitey surveyed the team's mini floor celebration with disdain. Granted there had been no fist fights or brawls between his two star players, but the team had lacked unity and spirit, he decided. Even a veteran coach couldn't make a team that hated each other gel. Tim hated Lucas on behalf of Nathan. Jake was over protective of Lucas because of Nathan and Tim's behavior toward his friend. They were all so tense around their team mates that the other team had nearly stolen a game from them. Whitey's gaze drifted to the stands, where Karen and Dan stood watching their sons walked off the gym floor. At least those two had finally found some rational parenting skills, Whitey grumped as he followed his team into the locker room.

Dan looked down at Karen. "That's not a good sign. Someone's in for an ass chewing," he said, an alumni of the Whitey Durham School of post game bitching. Even though he knew both boys were going to catch hell, Dan was still proud of their performances. Nate looked strong on the court and Lucas was showing more skill with every game. If the kids could set aside their differences, they'd both get national recruiting attention during their senior year.

Karen looked confused. "But they didn't fight or even talk to each other," she argued, knowing that Lucas had totally bought into her threats to bar him from the team if he fought Nathan again.

He helped her down the bleachers, steadying her slight form as she maneuvered over the rows of seats in high heels. "It doesn't matter that they weren't openly fighting. They weren't playing as a team either. And that's the biggest sin in Whitey's book," he said, explaining the intricacies of team sports that Karen had never bother to master.

Keith and Anna moved toward the exit, eying his younger brother warily. He'd avoided family introductions with Anna for as long as he could, though. He guided his fiancée toward where Dan and Karen stood mid court on the floor. Karen tensed, instantly knowing who the petit blonde woman was. She wasn't sure why it bothered her so much. She'd been the one to initiate the break up with Keith and he was free to move on just as she was.

Dan waited awkwardly as the couple approached. He had to give Keith credit. His fiancée was certainly soft on the eyes. She was nearly the total opposite of Karen, Dan realized, taking in Anna's blonde hair and conservative air. She was all tweeds and cashmere, not the type of woman that Keith normally took up with. He took a deep breath as Keith and Anna stopped in front of them.

"I guess I can't put this off forever," Keith slowly started, wishing that he'd just eloped with Anna so she didn't have to meet his family. Okay, maybe that was a stupid thought considering that he lived in the same small town with his brother and extended family. "Anna, I'd like you to meet my brother Dan," he said, watching her as she eyed his rather large brother up and down. She stuck out her hand and smiled graciously at him. "I've heard a lot about you," she politely offered. It was nicer than saying she'd heard Keith and Lucas complain about him since the day she'd come to town.

Karen stood there, unsure if she should leave or stay. Realizing that he'd totally ignored her, he directed Anna's attention toward his ex-girlfriend. "And this is Luke's mother, Karen."

Anna smiled at the woman, genuinely happy to be meeting Lucas's much talked about mother. "I'm so pleased to meet you," Anna said, moving to stand next to her. "I think you have the greatest son. He's been so helpful regarding the wedding."

Karen nodded at the blonde woman, wondering if she got all her sweater sets from Talbot's. "He's a great kid," Karen offered, not sure what else she could say. Karen was honestly happy that Keith had found someone to settle down with but she couldn't help but feel sad that she wasn't moving on as well. It amazed her that Keith had found someone special so soon after they broke up. Karen was beginning to think there was something fundamentally wrong with her that repelled every marriageable man in a
three country radius.

Anna reached out for Keith's hand and continued speaking. "I'm so touched that Lucas has agreed to give me away during the wedding. I was afraid I'd have to walk myself down the aisle when he stepped in," she commented, sincerely touched by her nephew to be's kindness.

Dan noticed the complete surprise on Karen's face and injected himself into the conversation. "We hadn't heard that Lucas was so involved in the wedding," he noted, shocked that Lucas had taken on more than being best man. His son didn't seem to be a fan of public events and his enthusiasm for Keith's wedding surprised him.

"So, less than a week until the wedding," he asked, wondering where all the time had gone. Dan's parents were set to come up in a few days and stay with him and Nate. Things were moving forward at a rapid, if uncertain pace.

She smiled up at Keith, and placed her small hand on his chest for a second, an intimate gesture in such an unintimate place. It struck Dan, such a small touch between engaged people. But he knew in that instance that Keith was serious about this girl. She wasn't just some last ditch attempt to get married and have kids. He was in love with her.

Anna looked over at Karen and Dan and smiled serenely. "We've got everything ready to go for the wedding. I'm too busy with the last minute details to even be worried."

Karen nodded at that thought. She catered enough weddings to know that they were stress inducing affairs. "Are you going on a honeymoon?" she asked, more to be polite than out of curiosity.

"We're going to take a week and go out west once school is out," Keith revealed, happy that he was finally getting this meeting over with. All he had to do was make sure his parents didn't scare Anna away and he'd be set. And that nagging detail of having to deal with the Lucas/grandparent issues. Keith was getting tired of micromanaging his very complicated family. His father had called him two times a day inquiring about "that girl" he was marrying and if Lucas was still going to the wedding. It just saddened him that his parents had never shown so much interest in Lucas before now. And all of that because Dan had finally taken and interest in the boy and sanctioned his family to do the same.

A pall of silence fell over the group. The history of all the adults was so intertwined that it boarded on incestuous. "You're a teacher?" Dan asked, knowing that Keith had said something about her working at Tree Hill Elementary. He was struggling to keep the conversation going.

"I teach fifth grade. I just got my teaching degree a few years ago and when I saw the position available, it looked like a good town to settle down in." She'd never really had a home, as growing up in the foster care system had made her a relative vagabond.

Dan looked for any kind of subterfuge in the girl and realized that she was pretty uncomplicated, much like his brother. While Dan was ambitious and restless, Keith had always just accepted what life threw at him. He'd never been occupied by ambition or growing beyond Tree Hill while his younger brother was obsessed with it. "Is your family going to attend the wedding?" he asked, wondering if there would be any unpleasant surprises in store for them. Other than the fireworks that exploded when his father and son met for the first time, he thought.

Anna smiled sadly at Dan. "I'm sure that Keith's told you I don't have any close relatives. I have invited some of my good friends from school and my entire class. The children are very excited about the entire thing," she said, her eyes sparkling in happiness. She and Keith were pleased to have an informal wedding in the park that everyone could attend.

Dan heard the patient but firm tone in her voice. He'd poked her about her past and was satisfied that she wasn't going to share anymore of it with him. Dan was an aggressive person. He'd never claimed otherwise, but he also knew what people he could push around and what people would push back. Anna might be small and dressed in pearls but she wasn't going to roll over and play dead with him. He decided then and there to stop making inquires into her family.

"I hope you both will be there," she said, looking at her watch. "I need to get going, Keith. I've got homework to grade before tomorrow." Keith smiled down at her and then over at Dan and Karen. "We'll see you all at the wedding."

As they walked off, Dan sighed in relief. Anna was much better than he'd feared. Outside of Karen, Keith had horrible taste in women. He had a tendency to pick needy creatures that had no job and suspect backgrounds. But Dan liked what he'd seen of Anna. Maybe this was the year that things got better for all of the Scott men, he thought, watching as his oldest son walked out of the locker room.

Lucas headed out of the locker room and hesitated when he saw his mother standing next to Dan. He stood there, physically incapable of walking over to them. He felt an arm snake around his waist and a smile broke out across his face. "Hey there," Peyton said, nuzzling his neck from behind. He immediately tensed up, having expected the warm arm and soft skin to be Brooke's. Lucas immediately stepped away from her, wanting to create as much space between him and the blonde girl as possible.

"Hey Peyton," he replied noncommittally. Lucas had played her games for months and now that he was with Brooke, she decided to get serious. Peyton moved a step forward with each step backward he took.

"Rick Walters is having a private party at his house tonight, if you want to go with me," she asked, running her hand over his chest. Lucas flushed, knowing that Karen and Dan were watching her touch him. He grabbed her hand and removed it from his chest.

"It's a school night, Peyton. I have to go home." Lucas was getting tired of these run ins with her. He just didn't know how to tell her to back off without appearing rude. Sighing, he was just tired of confrontations. It seemed most of his life was nothing but confrontation.

A voice called out behind them. "My, look what desperation dragged in," Brooke called out, seething that her "friend" was making such a blatant play on her man.

Peyton pouted and looked over at Lucas. "I didn't know you had lost the right of free association, Luke." He stood uncomfortably between them, never sure how to handle arguing women.

"I didn't lose any rights, Peyton. I'm dating Brooke now and you shouldn't be asking me out," he said, putting his arm around Brooke's waist. As they walked away, Brooke gave Peyton a withering stare, wondering when their friendship had spiraled into nonexistence.

"I don't know what gets into her," he said. Peyton's behavior had grown increasingly inconsistent over the past few months. He was tired of being played though. And it was more than obvious that he and Brooke were a couple.

They moved toward the gym doors, intent on getting outside when Karen's voice stopped them in their tracks. "Lucas."

He sighed, before turning around to face his mother and Dan. "I know we are all going to end up on Judge Judy some day," he muttered to Brooke, as Dan and Karen approached them.

Karen grabbed Dan's arm and started pulling him toward their son. "Remember, be positive. And don't lecture him about missing those free throws," she quietly instructed. She wasn't going to let Dan put the insane Scott family basketball pressure on her son.

Dan smiled down at her domineering self and laughed. "And you need to be nice to Brooke. Make an effort with her, Kar." Last minute instructions finished, Karen smiled at her son, who'd already put a protective arm around his girlfriend. Lucas wasn't stupid and he knew that his mother wasn't fond of Brooke. It hurt that she mistrusted his judgment especially when she was asking him to trust her judgment regarding Dan.

Lucas could see Dan's shoulder's tense up as he was obviously as uncomfortable around Lucas as Lucas was around him. Why the older man even bothered with these games was beyond Luke's comprehension. He ignored Dan and turned toward his mother. "What do you need?" he asked, keeping his tone civil and respectful.

"We need to get home, since it's a school night. I know you've got a lot of homework and it's getting late," she pointed out, not very happy with all the basketball games played on week nights.

Karen remembered Dan's words and attempted to reach out to Brooke. "The squad looked great tonight, Brooke." She watched as the younger girl's face lit up at the compliment and she shyly said "thanks." Lucas was amazed that only a few weeks of exposure to his mother had such a huge effect on Brooke. Where as she was overly talkative and animated in most situations, Lucas had noted that Brooke recently started being quiet and reserved around his family. It was the same way he reacted when he was around Dan, he realized. The less you said and the less you responded, the faster the unpleasant time went by. It was only through Brooke's similar reaction that he realized they were losing their voice, their innate right to react to the world around them.

Dan stood there uncomfortably for a moment before adding to the struggling conversation. "You've whipped the girls into shape over the summer, Brooke. I'm sure you're going to win a lot of competitions this year." Dan realized that in his basketball dominated world that the cheerleaders were more than decorations. They lived for their own competitions outside of the basketball world.

"Thanks," she replied again, not wanting to embellish the discussion so she could get Broody alone for a few minutes. The problem with game days was that they barely got to spend any time alone together. She just wanted to get him in her car so they could spend a few minutes just holding each other.

"And you played a great game, Lucas," Dan said, knowing his voice seemed particularly high pitched even to his own ears. "The three pointer had great form." He hoped that it was enough of a positive statement to coax some kind of reaction out of the boy, without sounding too coach-y or preachy.

Lucas stared at the ground and muttered "right" in Dan's general direction, refusing to even look at him. He finally looked at his mom, though it was hard seeing her so close to that man. "Brooke's going to drop me off at home, if that's okay with you." He hated asking her for permission to do little things, but anything involving Brooke got Karen's immediate attention.

Dan felt Karen tense up and knew she was going to argue that idea, so he spoke up. "Have a safe drive, Brooke. The roads are getting slick, so be careful," he added, giving de facto consent to her driving him home. Lucas gave him the evil eye for a moment, furious that the man thought he had any say over what Lucas did or didn't do. He looked at Karen, who eventually nodded in consent. "Just be home in 30 minutes. You need to get moving on that homework," she finally said, not very happy with Dan's good cop/ bad cop routine.

Brooke's smile lit up the gym. She never expected Karen to agree to something as simple as her driving Broody home. But it was Dan's influence, she knew. Brooke was too smart to get her hopes up because parents never tended to like her. And Karen was no exception to the rule. "We'll have him home safely in that time," she promised, as she practically dragged Lucas out of the gym, breaking his stare-fest with Dan. Men and their stupid power struggles, absently thought.

Karen watched the couple disappear out the doors, leaving her and Dan alone yet again in the gym. It seemed they spent most the most critical points of their life together alone in the facility. "Did I ever once give you any indication that you were allowed to give my son permission to do things?" she asked, keeping her tone neutral.

Dan shrugged his shoulders at her words. "It was a small thing, Kar. What does it matter if he goes home with you or with Brooke? In return you make an impression with Luke that you are trying to get along with his girlfriend." He'd noticed what kind of reaction a few nice words had gotten from Brooke. Karen really needed to try that approach with her more often.

"And it helps your image with Lucas to look like a good guy who let's him do whatever he wants," she argued, not pleased with him overstepping his boundaries regarding Luke's time. She let his comments about Brooke pass by. She wanted to try to get along with the girl but it wasn't easy letting her son go.

Dan guided her to the door of the gym. The maintenance crew had begun to shut down the lights and he didn't need to feed the town gossip by being alone in a dark gym with his ex-girlfriend. "I'm not trying to score points with Lucas, Karen. But it's been a long day and maybe he just wants to relax with his girlfriend a few minutes before diving into all that homework he's got waiting for him." Dan had watched his son drag that dilapidated back pack around town long enough to know that his oldest son was in some serious classes. He knew that Lucas used homework as an excuse to avoid him at the Cafe while "studying" but Dan also knew that Karen had pushed him into one of the more difficult academic tracks that Tree Hill High offered. If driving home with Brooke helped him come down from his "game high" then Dan was all for it. It was something that Karen could never understand about athletes and a post game adrenaline rush. It was hard to focus on anything during that time let alone school work.

Karen crossed her arms and stood her ground. "Dan, we've discussed this before. You are spending time with Lucas, but you aren't parenting him." Lucas had balked at just having diner with the man, she could only imagine his reaction to having to get Dan's permission to do things.

"I would say I think you are overreacting, but I'm afraid you'd girl hit me," he remarked, waiting for her to slap his shoulder like she'd done so many times in the past. Sensing no attack, he glanced down at her. "I just want to be involved, Kar." And as he'd done so many times in the past weeks, he melted her last line of defenses. She knew when Dan was being sincere and this was one of them. It was hard for her to get mad when she knew Dan was just trying to get a foot hold in his son's life.

"Just watch it next time. I don't want to hear that you think they needed alone time in Jamaica so he's ready for the championships," she commented, watching as his eyebrows rose in amusement.

"No, that would be us. I think by the time the championships roll around, we'll both need a beach and some strong alcohol in us," he commented, ignoring the images of them basking in the sun together. He shook his head, wondering where those thoughts were coming from after all these years.

She actually brightened at his words. "Shots...shots would be good right now," as they walked from the building into the cool night air.

Keith opened the door to his old Jeep, pausing as he heard footsteps behind him in the now deserted school parking lot. He turned and saw Nathan standing somewhat uncertainly behind him.

"Good game, Nate," he causally said, surprised to see his nephew approach him. The years of tension between Dan and Keith had caused a serious family riff that pulled the kids into a black hole of relations. Keith couldn't say he was close to his nephew and had regretted that for most of his nephew's life.

"Thanks," Nate replied, looking back to where Haley stood, encouraging her boyfriend to continue the conversation.

"Have you met Anna yet?" Keith asked, motioning toward his fiancée who was already seated in the car.

Keith made a brief introduction and watched as Nathan waved politely in her general direction. "Are you going to the wedding on Saturday," he asked, growing more interested in Nate's discomfort than in their actual conversation.

"Haley kind of asked me to go as her date," he said, a smile hovering at his lips and finally making his eyes brighten a bit.

Keith nodded in approval. "That's a great girl, if you want my opinion." Haley had been a favorite of Keith's for years, even as he'd lost hope that she'd ever get together with Lucas. "I'm glad you are going to be there, Nate."

Nathan shifted his weight, clearly uncertain about talking to his uncle. "Um, Haley is the reason I wanted to talk to you," he slow began, looking back at her for support.

Immediately, Keith grew concerned. His conversations with Nate had barely had any kind of substance and now the boy was here, clearly carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Are you okay, Nate?"

"I'm fine. It's just that I had some questions about the past and Haley thought you might be able to help me with them," he finally replied, staring at the ground to avoid his uncle's eyes.

Keith's eyes widened in shock. This was unexpected behavior from his normally reserved nephew. "Okay, I can tell what I know, if I know anything about it."

Nate dropped his gym bag and forced himself to look at Keith. "Uh, I kind of had a question to ask, a favor really," he corrected, unsure of how to approach this. "I just had some questions about my mom. Dad doesn't really talk about her and Haley pointed out that you knew her for a while and maybe you could tell me some things about her."

Keith's expression softened for a moment, realizing what his nephew was asking him for. He wanted someone to talk to about his mother, someone that could remember her answer his questions. He'd never thought Dan's lack of communication about Deb was a good thing. But he'd made the family promise not to bring her up, so as not to upset Nathan anymore than her death had already done. That might have been a great way to handle an 8 year old, but Nathan now looked like he was fighting to keep the memory of his mother alive.

"Well, she was my sister in law," he announced, much to Nate's relief. "We weren't as close as we should have been, but I can tell you what I know."

Nate smiled at that. "Anything you could remember would be nice," he added. He wanted to know the little things that his dad was too dense to remember. Things that he might have been to young to recall.

"Why don't you come over to the garage after practice tomorrow and we'll get some pizza and talk?" Keith figured that would give him time to clean up and go out.

A rare smiled crossed his nephew's face. If Keith didn't know better, he'd think the boy was actually happy. "Thanks. I'll definitely be there. Have a good night, Anna," he called over his shoulder as he walked back toward Haley.

Keith slid into the front seat of the Jeep and looked over at his fiancée. "What was that about?" she asked, knowing that his family was all sorts of dysfunctional.

He watched as Dan walked Karen to her car and leaned over and kissed her check. "I think that's the past coming back to haunt us," he replied, before starting the car up and driving off into the night.

Next up: Brooke goes under cover for a cause
Dan and Karen sneak off to plot
a wedding will be held.