Author's note: I would like to thank the two people who replied to the last chapter. Three, if I count the person who posted to ask me to post more chapters. I thought maybe with the show being over it might effect the interest level in the story. Until I realized that the story received over 450 hits for the last chapter. I'm not really good at math so I'm not sure what the percentage of reads per replies per hit comes down to, but it's really small. I can't tell if people are reading and disliking or what. It's hard to try to finish the story when I can't figure out if anyone is on board with what's going happening in the chapters. My goal is to finish the story without having chapter 78 consist of "and a horrible meteor wiped out the entire town of Tree Hill. The end".

So...with that said, I would appreciate any feedback you have. Including "please post more chapters". Though of course, being the greedy feedback wench that I am, I would love something more in depth.

Thanks for reading. My snarky commentary is over.

A Season in Purgatory

Chapter 77

The chatter around the house was nearly infectious, Karen thought, taking in the sight of her son and his friends around Dan's seldom used formal dining room table. The end of the semester had finally motivated Brooke and Lucas into studying and they'd enlisted Haley's help to help them salvage what Karen could only assume was a disaster of a semester. She didn't know how many classes Lucas was going to fail, but she could only assume that he'd need to either make up classes while he was away or in summer school.

Dan walked in from the living room and watched Karen watch their son. He could tell that she desperately wanted to reconnect with Lucas, but the while the boy had managed to be respectful while in Dan's house he wasn't particularly happy about the close association with his family. Karen had initially hoped that just being together in the same house would bring them all together, but Dan was always the realist in their relationship. And he knew that hell would freeze over before Lucas gave up his righteous indignation about parents. But the boy had been much calmer in the weeks since the accident. He was more focused and seemed to be doing a lot more homework.

He gently wrapped his arms around Karen's distended waistline. "Let's get out of here and go get the hoard some food," he suggested, worried that Karen had spent way too much time in the house. While the doctor's had ordered her to rest, Dan feared she was going to go crazy stuck in the house all day.

"Guys, we're going to get food. We should be back in while," she called out to the group, getting a mixed reply of grunts in response. He briefly worried about leaving Lucas and Brooke alone in the house before remembering that Haley was an excellent influence on both of them and they'd be lucky to get away from studying to eat.

They continued studying for a while, only interrupted by Nate's cell phone. He slammed the phone down on the table and got up, reaching for his keys. "That's Tim. His car broke down over on River Road." It was just like Tim to call Nate for help.

Haley glanced over at Brooke, who was buried in her English paper. "Brooke, do you mind if I ride with Nate?" she asked, not wanting to abandon her friend after offering to help her study. She felt like she never had enough alone time with Nathan. Between helping Karen with impromptu wedding and working at the Café, she was lucky to see her boyfriend at all.

Looking up, Brooke smiled at Haley, knowing her friend was loyal to a fault. "I have another hour of work on the last edits you made," she noted. "Feel free to leave. I may be finished by the time you all get back."

Nate looked over at the clock. "We should be back in 30 minutes." Lucas nodded at his brother and Haley as they headed out the back door toward Nate's SUV. He looked over at Brooke and smiled. "All alone," he murmured, shocked that they finally had some space. His parents had been smothering him to the point where it was hard to breath. They were never left alone, between Dan and Karen and Anna and Keith's watchful eyes.

"All alone with tons of homework," she sarcastically replied, hating that they had to actually pretend to care about school work. While things were much better with her staying with Anna and Keith, she still had bigger plans to worry about.

They were interrupted by the shrill sound of Karen's cell phone.

"Your mom must have forgotten her phone," Brooke said as she meandered over to the counter and took a look at the incoming phone number, concerned that they were being checked up on by his mom. Her brow crinkled up, reading the text message that flashed across the screen. Fighting down the panic that was spreading through her body, Brooke began flipping through the iPhone's stored text messages, reading as fast as she could.

Lucas leaned back in his chair and took in his girlfriend's frantic movements. "Maybe you shouldn't be going through someone else's phone," he slowly suggested, uneasy at the privacy invasion. Maybe it was a girl thing to read other people's stuff, he wondered.

"Maybe some people should learn to lock their phones," she replied, knowing that in her family this was how she found out what was going on.

Frowning, she started scanning through Karen's contacts list. "Google this phone number," she demanded, tossing the number out to him. She didn't recognize it as being any of the local phone codes. Her concern was growing with each text message she read.

Luke pulled his MacBook Pro over from the center of the table. Another of Daddy Dan's welcome to the family gifts he'd been plied with since his release from the hospital. "It's the phone number for a wilderness program in Oregon," he replied taking a few minutes to read the website connected to that phone number. Brooke leaned over his shoulder and read the information on the screen.

"Oh no," Luke softly replied. Brooke took a breath to calm herself before replying. "Oh yes. We knew Dan and Karen were much too calm about your hospital stint," she reminded. They wondered when Luke would get punished for his binge, but Brooke was still shocked that Dan and Karen were willing to go this far.

Lucas sat back in his chair, his shoulders slumped in defeat. He knew that his behavior had not been the greatest, but he didn't think it was so bad that his mom would want to get rid of him.

"How bad can it be?" he shakily replied. "So it's extreme camping and deprivation. I've been going without all my life." Plus, he really enjoyed camping. He and Keith spent weeks out in the woods, foraging from the land. "So, I'll spend a couple of weeks outdoors and I'll come back and we'll be fine."

Brooke vehemently shook her head. "It's not a couple of weeks, it's more like a couple of months, and they don't always let you come home."

He looked at her quizzically. "You seem to know a lot about this."

She nodded at him absently, still trying to glean as much information as she could from the website. "I had a cousin that was sent to one of those a few years ago. It was a great scandal at the time. He was hauled out of bed in the middle of the night by two strangers who were hired to drag him to one of these camps."

"They hired people to escort him to the place?" Luke incredulously asked. "His parents couldn't be bothered to take him?" He was now seriously concerned for his safety, not knowing what depths his parents might sink to.

"The worst part is that after the camp, they decided he needed more work and sent him to some residential school in the middle of no where."

Lucas forced himself to stop looking toward Dan's liquor cabinet. He was surprised that they hadn't stripped Dan's house of all booze before he was released from the hospital. "What did those texts on my mom's phone say?"

"She's talking with some lady who is trying to find the right "fit" for you, and discussing the need for a school, as well," Brooke revealed. "Leave it to your mom to send you away before we enact our plan." The irony was nearly beautiful to Brooke. She'd managed to sober Broody up with a few words where as Karen needed "professional" help.

Lucas reached out and grabbed her hand for support. "We need to find out when they plan on sending me away," he said, realizing that this game of cat and mouse could only go on for so long.

Brooke frowned in concentration a moment, before pulling Lucas out of his chair. She headed for Dan's office, all too familiar with parental reconnaissance. "We've got a few minutes before everyone gets back. We just need to find your folder."

He looked at her in confusion as she moved around the massive cherry wood desk. "What folder?" he asked, watching as she carefully opened the file cabinet in Dan's office. She efficiently flipped through two drawers before exclaiming "never underestimate the power of a sneaky woman!".

She pulled out a folder with a typed label that read 'Lucas E. Scott'. "Right after Nathan's," she triumphantly informed him. "Every well organized parent has a folder on each kid."

Lucas stared at the thick manila folder in confusion. "That's a lot of data for the short time Dan has been my dad," he coldly replied, never pleased when he found proof of Dan's involvement with his life.

Carefully flipping through the file, Brooke noticed there were a lot of documents that pre-dated the time Dan had been involved with Luke. She ignored those documents, knowing their mission had one goal and that was the date they planned on sending him away. From the text messages she'd read, Brooke realized that a contract had been sent to Dan and Karen, which means there had to be proof some where.

She saw the program's seal on the top of the letterhead. "Here it is," she said, pulling the paper out so that they could both inspect it.

Seeing the date, Lucas fell back into Dan's black office chair in shock. "January 2nd. They plan on getting rid of me right after they get married," he realized, feeling worse about his new family more than ever. His mind focused on that as Brooke inspected the document for any other clues about the parental blindside.

He distractedly flipped through the rest of the file, feeling numb to see so much of his life in that folder. Dan had a copy of his birth certificate, birth announcement, and some old school records. He had no idea where Dan had gotten this information but it creeped Luke out. Seeing an official looking document, Luke pulled it out and to read what it pertained to. He scanned what appeared to be an official court motion.

Brooke dropped the paper she was reading when she noticed that Luke's complexion had turned absolutely ashen. "What's wrong?" she asked, knowing by his reaction that Luke had found something serious. She could see the fear in his eyes and the way his shoulders had tensed up, as if he were getting ready to ward off a vicious blow.

Luke slowly looked away from the paper held by shaking hands. "It's a sixteen year old court motion seeking joint custody of me."

Karen and Dan entered the house laddered with cartons of Chinese Food. After eating bland food due to Karen's condition, she felt like rewarding the kids with something tasty. Finding the TV room empty, they followed the voices to Dan's seldom used formal dining room table, shocked to find all four kids studying.

Karen looked at Dan in surprise, not really expecting Lucas and Brooke to actually be studying, even though that was the purported reason for Brooke and Haley to be invited for dinner.

Haley was proof reading an essay for Brooke, who was actually taking notes of her suggestions. Nathan was buried in his history book, while Lucas dutifully appeared to be working on his calculus.

"Time to eat," Dan hesitantly called out, not wanting to distract from all that studying. Haley looked up for a second and motioned Dan over. "Just leave it on the table, they can graze while working," she instructed the adults, totally used to being a study group dictator. Dan did what she said, a little in awe of Haley's ability to simultaneously motivate Nathan and Lucas, while controlling Brooke's talkative nature. He felt rather than saw Luke's cold gaze on him, and turned to look at his oldest son in a questioning manner. Lucas met his eyes for a brief moment and for a rare instance, Dan didn't see unconditional hatred in them.

Lucas shifted his eyes back to his paper, unnerved by his father's presence. It was one thing to hate a man who wished he'd never been born, but he didn't know what to do with a father who tried to get custody and failed. Karen, who was placing a pile of plates and eating utensils on the table, noted Luke's pale complexion.

Walking over to him, she gently touched his forehead, checking for any sign of illness. "You look sick, Lucas. Are you okay?" she quietly asked, never knowing what kind of reaction her motherly concern would garner.

"I'm fine," he evenly replied, catching a warning glance from Brooke, before turning his full attention toward his mother. "Just trying to catch up in math." He bitterly forced down all the accusations he wanted to throw in her face. But Brooke was right. He couldn't confront his mother because it would tip off that they'd been snooping in Dan's office. He swallowed the bile that was forcing its way up his throat and gave her his best tepid smile.

Dan noticed that Luke was making a small effort with his mother, so he moved over towards his oldest son, to join the family moment. "I was always good with math," he offered, pleased that Lucas actually looked at him without contempt.

"Are you any good in calculus?" Lucas curiously asked, for once genuinely interested in his answer. The bulk of his anger toward Dan was that his father had written him off at birth. Brooke had made a copy of as many of the legal documents as she could in the short time they had been alone in the house. They hadn't had time to study the documents before Nate and Haley returned home. His mind was screaming so many questions, but all he could vocalize was a stupid math question.

Dan sheepishly looked down at his son's homework, knowing that he was out of his depth. "Um, not really," he admitted, shocked when Lucas offered a "thanks anyway" instead of taking a stab at Dan's intellect. He slowly nodded at the boy, before walking toward the kitchen to get some bland food for Karen.

Watching the adults in the kitchen, Brooke leaned over and whispered, "Good job." She was impressed at the restraint Luke showed while interacting with Dan and Karen.

Nathan looked over at Lucas and then back to where his dad stood in the kitchen. "What's up with the Pod Luke routine?" he asked, picking up on the strange energy coming from his half brother. Nathan had tried his best to stay out of the tension between the adults and Lucas. He couldn't blame his father for being upset at Luke's stupid decisions. His brother had been making some bad mistakes and even Nathan could see that he needed to change his behavior.

Nathan wasn't sure about the living situation. Lucas had been very quiet and docile since moving into Dan's house. While things appeared calm on the surface, Nathan couldn't help but sense the turmoil that lurked under his brother's calm façade. Haley glanced over at the rest of the group, dismayed that they'd lost focus so soon. "Pod Luke is trying, Nathan. There are a lot of adjustments that everyone needs to make," she gently lectured, knowing that Luke was at least being more compliant. While things were going well between Nathan and Karen, Lucas was still struggling with the new living arrangements.

Dan sat in the kitchen, eating at the island with Karen, while surreptitiously staring at his prodigal son. "Does it feel like the world just shifted on its axis?" Dan softly asked Karen. He couldn't place his finger on the exact vibe that Lucas was giving him, but for once it wasn't outright hostility.

Karen considered his words, cautiously appraising her son. Luke and Brooke had barely spoken while they were studying. It was as if they knew Karen didn't approve and they were trying to be respectful. "The counselors said that after an extreme behavioral episode we can expect Lucas to behave better so as to avoid punishment." The counselors had explained that once a placement was made, teens tended to pick up on the change of energy in a house and react accordingly.

Dan ate a few more bites of food, considering her words. "I think he realizes how far things have gone and he's trying to do better."

Karen stared at her mashed potatoes for a moment, contemplating why her son couldn't have tried to do better before she'd been pushed to such extreme solutions. "He probably is trying harder, but the counselor warned us this might happen."

He gently squeezed her hand, appreciating how hard this was for Karen. She just wanted her family to be together. "Well, just think that the worst is over. I think we've hit rock bottom and there's no place to go but up."

Dan led the group down the hall, pointing out features as he went. "So these are the two free bedrooms we have upstairs," Dan explained. Lucas had been sleeping in the downstairs guest room. It was a short term solution, as both Dan and Karen feared he'd start sneaking out of the house if given the chance. The larger of the two rooms was next door to the master suite, while the smaller room was near Nate's room at the opposite end of the hall. "We'll turn which ever room Luke doesn't want into the nursery," Karen added, wanting her son to feel part of their new home.

Luke ignored all the questions still colliding in his head and focused on his mother. Brooke walked into one of the rooms, which was currently being used for storage, and inspected it. "I think Luke should take this one," Brooke said motioning to the smaller room at the end of the hall. "That would leave the room closest to the master for the nursery," she logically pointed out to Lucas. "That means the baby will be closer to your parents, which makes it easier for them."

Dan smiled at Brooke's thoughtfulness, noting that being around Anna had really brought out her maternal instincts. "That's a good point, Brooke. It will really help with middle of the night feedings."

Forcing herself to smile, Karen nodded at the younger couple, appreciatively, even as she wondered when she started taking orders from her son's girlfriend. "What kind of furniture would you like Dan to order?" she asked Luke, pointedly ignoring Brooke.

Forcing himself to focus, Lucas turned to Brooke and shrugged his shoulders, completely disinterested in decorating. "What's in there is fine," he calmly replied, not wanting anyone to spend money for something that he'd probably not be using.

Dan could feel some sort of unspoken tension in the room, but for once, he didn't feel like it involved him. "That's older furniture and we'd like you to have something new," Dan replied, wanting his son to see that he truly did want him to feel like his home was Luke's home.

Brooke sensed Luke's growing unease, knowing that he wanted to confront his mother with all the recriminations running through his mind. "He'll take something dark in Danish modern, with a desk and a bookcase." She knew Broody so well, down to the kind of furniture he'd like.

Smiling, Dan ushered them out to the hall anxious to get Karen off her feet. Brooke gently grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. Pulling a small gift out of her Birkin bag, she handed it to Dan, while carefully trying not to exclude Karen.

Realizing that Brooke was holding the gift toward him, he slowly reached out and took the prettily wrapped package from her small hand. Brooke subtly nudged Lucas, who uncomfortably cleared his throat before saying, "We wanted to get you all something."

Dan looked over at Karen in surprise, before slowly unwrapping the gift. He pulled out a sterling silver picture frame, decorated with block letters that spelled out "BABY". Brooke sensed Lucas wasn't going to elaborate on his earlier comment, so she jumped in with more information. "We wanted to get you both something for the baby," Brooke explained. "The picture of us is just until you get one of the baby to put in." Brooke noticed that Karen looked surprised before reaching out to pat Luke's back.

"That's very sweet of you," she said, touched that Luke was finally coming around to the idea of the little brother or sister. Dan's smile lessened a bit as he watched Luke's body language. The boy's shoulders tightened and he tensed up every time his mother touched him. While the gift was a sweet gesture, Luke's body language screamed otherwise.

"The picture is from the Snowball Dance," Brooke pointed out, wanting Karen to have a picture where Lucas was actually smiling. "That was taken right after we were crowned king and queen," Brooke sweetly noted, knowing that she and Karen were both head cheerleaders and both winter formal queens.

Karen forced a smile and turned toward Brooke. "Yes, Haley told me about it," she replied, the unstated accusation being that her son had not bother to tell her. "I didn't know that either of you attended school enough to participate," she chided, still disappointed with Luke's scholastic effort.

Refusing to take the bait, Brooke smiled benevolently at the older woman, before replying, "It's a popularity thing." Brooke didn't expect to win everything, but she was well liked by many different groups at school. Besides, considering that the evil Seyton had been her biggest competition, there was no way Brooke wasn't going to win.

Sighing, Dan checked his watch and then ushered everyone out in to the hall. "Kar, you need to go take your medicine. Brooke, you need to get going to Anna and Keith's."

Luke hesitantly touched Dan's sleeve. "I'm going to walk Brooke out to her car," he informed the older man, and even waited for a nod of consent before he walked down the stairs with his girlfriend.

Dan's eyes narrowed in confusion as the boy walked off. First, he was making a great show of doing homework, then the gift for the baby and now acknowledging Dan's parental authority. Something was definitely up.

He walked into his bedroom and saw Karen cradling the picture frame. She looked up at Dan. "He's actually smiling," she noted, realizing that he looked genuinely happy in the photo.

Dan wanted to voice his concerns that Luke was up to something, that this current compliance of his wasn't real, but he couldn't bring himself to destroy the happiness he saw on Karen's face. He pulled her close and murmured, "It's going to be okay."

Lucas sighed and leaned back against the side of Brooke's car. "How did I do?" he slowly asked, feeling like his heart was about to pound out of his chest. The lies and deception were dragging him down. At some point, he couldn't stand another revelation about his life. What was worse, all the anxiety was making him crave alcohol.

She tenderly stroked the side of his face, understanding how freaked out he was. "I think you brought the awkward," she joked, knowing that he didn't have to fake that. "Karen was buying it, but I'm not sure about Dan." There was an assessing nature to the way Luke's father handled tonight. Brooke knew the man well enough to know that pure sentiment wasn't going to move Dan Scott. But they just needed to think that Luke had calmed down a bit. Brooke needed to make sure that they didn't send Lucas off to that program earlier than expected. They just wanted that damn wedding and all it's distractions to help them bide some time.

"I don't know how long I can go without screaming at her," he finally admitted. "She told me that he never wanted me and that he never tried to see me when I was born." It was a basic fact that was inculcated in him from birth.

Brooke's heart clenched at the anguish that was written on her boyfriend's face. He looked up at her in confusion. "Why would she lie to me?" he asked, his voice laden with the grief of sixteen years of hurt and anger.

Brooke pulled him into a hug. "I think the better question is why would she do that to Dan?" Brooke softly replied. And given the rumors and gossip around town on this subject, why hadn't the truth about Dan and the custody case come out by now?

He inhaled deeply, letting the familiar scent of Brooke's perfume calm him. "And given Dan's . . . Dan-ness, for lack of a better word, why did he let everyone in town think he was a dead beat dad, when he clearly wanted to be in my life?" Luke was stunned that his mother let his hatred build up over the years, when it clearly wasn't true.

"Do you think this is why she let him into your life?" Brooke asked. She thought it was because of the accident and Dan saving Luke's life, but what if it was really due to the guilt she felt about keeping father and son apart all these years?

Luke thought about her question for a moment before answering. "Would I ever be able to trust anything that comes out of her mouth? I'm more likely to get the truth from Dan." Luke had always felt like the man was holding something over his head. He'd thought Dan was just taunting him, but now he reconsidered all their past conversations and realized that maybe Dan had just wanted to tell him the truth.

Brooke stood there for a moment, as she held his hand for comfort. "Would any explanation Karen gave you be good enough?" she cautiously asked. Brooke understood that through all the pain and anger, Lucas dearly loved his mother. Unlike Brooke, Luke had a deep parent-child relationship.

He leaned back against her car, lost in thought. "What's the excuse for letting your kid believe that he's worthless and unlovable?' he calmly asked. Dan saying that he wished Luke had never been born and that he wasn't Luke's father didn't help, but Karen was the one who told him over and over that Dan didn't want anything to do with him.

Brooke thought about the way Dan took care of Karen, similar to the way Brooke watched out for Lucas and the answer was obvious. "Dan is protecting her," she announced. Luke looked at her in confusion. She clarified. "Dan's not telling you the truth to in order to protect Karen from your anger. She lied about the past and he'd rather you hate him than her." Dan was taking on all of Luke's anger to shield Karen from the mistakes she'd made in the past.

Lucas shook his head in disbelief. How was he supposed to frame this new reality? He'd given Brooke all the legal documents they'd copied earlier in the day. He couldn't be sure that the parents wouldn't go through his things, so it was safer with Brooke for the time being. He finally found his voice. "We need to get through the next two weeks and this farce of a wedding so we can get away from these people." His tone was so cold that Brooke had to look up at him to make sure it was her sweet boyfriend. He'd had it with these liars. He didn't know what made his mother lie about his entire life but he sure wasn't sticking around to find out more lies about his life.

Brooke heard the resolution in his tone and slowly nodded. Two weeks. That's all they had left before this game was over.

Up next:

Is Dan two steps behind Brooke and Lucas or is he about to call their bluff?

What is Brooke up and why is Lucas wearing a tie?

What does Haley find?

Thanks for reading and replying!