Warning: There's a bit of cussing and snarky adolescent behavior and implied parental ickiness in this chapter.

A Season in Purgatory
Chapter 52

Silence descended over the room, as Lucas stepped out from behind his younger brother and stared at his parents, who attempted to cover themselves with a small flannel blanket. Lucas was literally stunned into silence, wanting to look away yet unable to avoid the train wreck in front of him. He weaved a bit, looking unsteady on his feet for a moment, before Brooke moved in to support him.

Karen's heart constricted at the look of utter devastation written on her boy's face. "Lucas, I can explain," she started, attempting to get up before Haley interjected.

"Karen, you probably need to get some clothes on before chasing after him," she gently chided, knowing that the woman was embarrassed beyond rational thought. Karen looked down at Dan who clutched the tiny bit of blanket she'd left him with her abrupt move to get up.

Feeling the anxiety in the room, Nathan and Brooke avoided adding to the chaos that was brewing. Brooke was used to screaming families, but the sheer hostility between Lucas and Dan was more intense than any screaming fight she'd witnessed between her parents.

Nathan was just profoundly uncomfortable in the midst of this battle between his father and sibling. He'd grown up in a huge, silent house. He wasn't used to the kind of energy that seemed to swirl around his older brother. Feeling his father's gaze, Nate walked into the kitchen, totally unprepared to see his father so close to a woman that wasn't his mother.

Haley grabbed Luke's arm and began to move the still speechless boy toward what she thought was the kitchen. "Why doesn't everyone get dressed and we'll calmly discuss this over some tea," she asserted, attempting to take charge before all hell broke loose. It was her lot in life to play the peacemaker in bad situations. That particular talent had been formed with her own argumentative family. Haley always found a way to soothe angry people in any given situation.

Lucas finally reacted to the situation. "I don't want to chat over tea, Hales," he slurred, making a quick grab for Brooke, who was only slightly less drunk than he was. "I walk in on the anti-Christ fucking my mother and you want me to be calm?"

Karen's expression quickly went from one of embarrassment to one of fury. "Lucas, you will not use those words," she said, mustering as much dignity as she could in the situation. Dan looked away at his son's accusatory words. Things were so difficult with Lucas under normal circumstances and he could feel the boy's resentment from across the room. He sighed, realizing that he'd probably react the same way if he'd walked in on estranged parents. He realized that Nathan was upset, as he'd left the room a few minutes before without so much as a glance at his father.

Picking on her son's slurred words, Karen lost some of her embarrassment and snapped into 'mom mode'. "Are you drunk? I thought I told you that there was to be no more drinking," she chided, upset that Lucas was flaunting her rules yet again. Besides, a change of subject was more than warranted, she reasoned.

Swinging wildly about, Lucas turned to face his mother, still prone next to the man who was ruining his life. "Yes, I'm drunk. But trust me when I say there isn't enough booze in the world to block out this image." His pain was more than just shock at his mother in such an intimate situation. It was the worst form of betrayal that he could conjure in his mind. Luke's heart clenched at the idea of his mother being so close to the man who'd caused her so much pain through her son's entire existence.

Brooke grabbed Luke's hand and dragged him toward the kitchen. "I think you two need to get dressed," she suggested, moving Lucas out of sight. Haley backed her up, helping Lucas balance as he reluctantly walked toward the beach house's massive kitchen.

Nathan looked up from the table as his friends stalked in from the living room. "Is everyone still alive?" he uncertainly asked, clearly reading the fury in his brother's eyes. He realized that he'd taken the easy way out of a bad situation by leaving, but Nathan felt more than uneasy in this situation. He was like a part of the puzzle that didn't have a place, he thought. Karen and Dan were obviously hooking up and now they were dealing with their son. Nathan wasn't a part of that, he was just a left over piece that didn't belong to the final project.

Lucas somewhat unsteadily made his way toward the stainless steel refrigerator that dominated the professional grade kitchen. He paused a moment, mentally calculating the cost of such a high end appliance. It was difficult for Lucas not to compare it to the old, battered one that currently sat in his tiny kitchen. They'd never really had any new furniture in their house. But he'd never noticed how shabby their belongings were until he'd started hanging out with Nathan and his friends. It was difficult not to realize the life he'd been denied. Lucas gently touched the front ice dispenser, knowing that when he went home he'd have to contend with ice trays if he wanted a cold drink.

Brooke and Haley exchanged concerned looks at Luke's sudden interest in kitchen appliances. "Lucas, the "Price is Right" act is kind of creepy," Brooke said, trying to project a perkiness she certainly didn't feel. Dan and Karen had killed her buzz for the night.

His voice was still quiet, but his face suddenly seemed older and harder. More mature, somehow, than Brooke's first impression of him as a quiet loner. He opened the fridge and grabbed a beer before heading over to sit at the well-appointed table with Nathan.

Nathan watched in shock as his brother pulled the cap off and proceeded to guzzle the liquid down. "Luke, I don't think now is a good time to keep drinking," Nate diplomatically observed.

Lucas rolled his eyes at the younger boy's nagging tone. "Actually, I think right now is the perfect time to get drunk."

"Get?" Haley snorted under her breath. She was getting tired of Luke's pity party. "You're pushing Karen's buttons and you know it," she said in a matter of tone, well aware that her point of view was not welcome. She'd listened to Karen's lectures about irresponsible drinking for years. Lucas was deliberately doing this to get back at Karen and Dan.

Brooke leaned back against the granite counter top, strangely quiet given the current situation. The fights in her family usually didn't involve her. Her parents tended to scream and bitch about her but never involved her, other than as a passive hostage to their family dysfunction. She understood Luke's need to drink. There were some images that you couldn't block without it. Or something stronger, she thought, remembering what was in the pocket of her jeans.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Dan and Karen, now clothed, entered the room. Karen's eyes immediately zoomed in on the green beer bottle in her son's hand. Stalking across the room, Karen snatched the bottle away from Lucas. "Son, you are picking a battle you aren't going to win."

The harshness of her tone caused Dan to take a step backwards. He'd been on the receiving end of a Karen Roe bitch slap, but nothing in the past prepared him for the fury written on her face.

Lucas felt his muscles stiffen at his mother's harsh words, even though he knew he'd prodded a bear in a cage with his actions. He leaned back against the ornate chair and smirked at his mother, knowing he'd hurt her as much as she'd hurt him. The rational part of his brain had long been dulled by alcohol but he knew that drinking was the one issue guaranteed to upset this mom. "What are you afraid of mom? That drinking will get me knocked up? No wait," Lucas said, pausing a moment in a fake thought. "That's your forte, not mine."

The room was dead silent for a moment before Karen reached out and soundly slapped Lucas across the face. Haley's eyes widened in shock at Karen's actions. She'd never seen the older woman resort to physical violence. Karen was literally shaking the by the time she lowered her hand.

Luke's hand automatically moved to his cheek, now red from his mother's blow. He was stunned at her actions, but no less stunned than he'd been to find his mother horizontal with Dan Scott. "I hope he's worth it," Lucas softly muttered to her, as he walked across the room and out the beach house's door. The meaning behind his words was obvious; Karen was making some decisions that would forever alter the course of all their lives.

The room remained oddly still as the sound of the waves crashed into through the still open door. Finally, Brooke moved toward the door, before stopping halfway and looking back at the loose assembly. "He's just really upset," she said, at a loss for words. She turned and fled the house, intent on catching up with her boyfriend before he did something really stupid.

Brooke struggled with the key, finally maneuvering it into the lock, pushing the dingy door open. She and Lucas spilled into the room, dropping the various bottles of liquor that they'd acquired in the hour since leaving the beach house. She'd caught up with Lucas a short distance away from the beach house and together they'd slowly walked back to town and retrieved her car. Along the way Brooke had hit her favorite liquor stores, always known to be friendly to a pretty girl with a fake ID.

Lucas had refused to go home and since her parents were actually in town, she'd driven over to the bad side of town where there was a strip of dilapidated motels that didn't notice local license plates and underage kids. It was amazing what a credit card and a healthy cash tip did for you, Brooke thought.

Empty bottle in hand, Lucas collapsed on a bed that had definitely seen better days. "So how did you find this roach motel?" he slurred, looking up at her with hazy eyes.

Fighting the urge to get him off the thread bare, stained bedspread, Brooke locked the door behind them and leaned back against the door. "When my parents were getting divorced, I used to stay here when it was too cold to sleep in my car," she reluctantly reveled, hating to share details from that horrible part of her life. The motel wasn't overly clean but it was safer than her house on an average night.

She walked over to the bed and gingerly dropped down beside him, avoiding spilling what was left in his bottle. Lucas felt the world shift a moment as her weight settled on the bed. He ran his hand over her slight frame, luxuriating in the warmth her small body provided. "I'm sorry you were so alone then. I wish I'd known you better so I could have been your friend."

She teared up at his kind words. Even drunk, Lucas was a thoughtful poet. "I wish I'd known you back then, too," she admitted, realizing it had only been 6 months ago that her life had been turned upside. "But I'm here now and I can help you get through your difficult times," she offered.

His chest heaved a moment and she realized in horror that he was crying. Silently, stealthy tears coursed down his cheeks and onto her shoulders. Rolling over, Brooke pulled him closer to her, trying to give him the love and support that he normally gave her. "I'm so sorry, Lucas. I know you have to be devastated by your mom's actions." Brooke didn't have an issue with Dan, but she knew that he was the devil in Luke's eyes.

"I feel so betrayed, Brooke. It's like she chose him over me," he whispered, voicing the fear that he was losing his mother to his own deadbeat dad. It's not like he'd ever seen his mother in bed with anyone, let alone with the man who'd cause them both so much pain over the years. "I just don't want to feel all this pain right now," he said, slowly exhaling into the calm Brooke gave his life. "I don't want to feel anything at all."

She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to unleash any more chaos into their tumultuous lives. He felt her hesitation and looked down at her face. "What?"

Pulling the small, clear packet out of her pocket, she held it up in front of his tear streaked eyes. "Tim's brother gave me this at the party," she finally admitted.

"What is it?" he asked, knowing that the pills probably weren't aspirin.

"Its ecstasy," she said, staring at the pills with renewed interested. "It's kind of like booze with a kick."

"Have you done a lot of this stuff?" he asked, avoiding the word drug. Drugs were dirty and wrong, but if they offered some solace from his pain, was it really that bad of an idea?

She considered his words for a moment. "I've experimented a bit, but nothing like coke. X is more of a party drug than something you do on a normal basis. It kind of loosens you up and makes you feel good."

Lucas took the packet from her manicured fingers and opened it, examining the seemingly innocuous pills within. "I want to try it," he decided, throwing caution to the wind for once in his overly serious life. "I'm tired of watching everyone else live life while I sit there and watch," he explained to her.

She handed him the bottle of whiskey and watched as he quickly washed the pill down and then handed her the baggie. She popped the pill and pulled him back down to the saggy bed, waiting for the effects of the pill to wash away their pain.

A late post is better than no post! I'm sick, worked a full day, drove to three different states, raided Ikea and managed to get lost all in one night.

Replies and righteous indignation are always appreciated. I know....she slapped him. Of course, if I'd ever said those words to my mom, I'd been in much worse shape. Perhaps its a generational thing.

Same time, same bat channel next week.