A/N Hey everyone! So, six chapters is long enough to wait. I bow to the demands of my readers:D Y'all get to find out now what's wrong with Lucas. Well, most of it anyways. Hope it's up to par!! Sorry if it's kind of long, but I didn't want to be lynched for breaking it into two chapters. Hehehe
Fuck! What is it about this town? Does everyone who grows up in it develop an innate sense of horrible timing? Brooke sighed, knowing the moment had been lost. Brooke saw Lucas' eyes pull away, the walls he'd been slowly letting down slamming right back up. Letting go of his hand, she ran her fingers through her own hair, and settled her nerves. Maybe it was for the best. Now she'd have a chance to talk to Hales, and could find out what the scoop was.
James came barreling into the living room and landed squarely between Brooke and Lucas. Squealing with the excitement that only a three year old can pull off, he hugged his aunt and uncle and then started speed talking about his day. Lucas grinned, being around his nephew never failed to brighten his day and make everything seem okay. He suddenly felt very, very guilty for not being around the last couple of months. It finally dawned on him that he wasn't the only one hurting from his seclusion.
Laughing, Haley came into the room after putting her jacket and purse away. Nathan came jogging from around the corner and swept his wife up in a huge hug. Lucas and Brooke smiled at the obvious happiness the couple shared, and James ran up to be included in the greeting.
Abruptly Lucas stood up from his place on the couch and walked out of the room. Before anyone could react, the front door swung open and slammed shut behind him. Brooke jumped up as if to run after the man who still had her heart after all these years, but Haley stepped in front of her.
"No, Brooke, don't. This is what he does. He runs away. That's all he's been doing lately. For a while, someone would go running after him, but we had the hardest time finding him. And the few times that we did? Yeah, it wasn't pretty. It's like he's not Lucas anymore, he's this weird shadow of the boy we knew in high school." Haley sighed, plopping down into a wide chair and kicking her shoes off.
Nathan sat down next to Haley on the arm rest, and absent-mindedly rubbed her shoulders. James, sensing yet another serious discussion coming on, flounced from the couch, sat down on the floor and flipped on the tv. He knew when his parents needed some grown up talk time. For being three, he was smarter than anyone thought. He wasn't the son of Haley James Scott for nothing!
"You probably figured that I stuck around. We wanted to give you guys some space, but my gloomy older brother has been so unpredictable lately, I wanted to make sure that things didn't get out of hand. Not that he's raised a hand to anyone, or even thought about doing any physical harm. In fact, it's the complete opposite. He's sluggish and reclusive. The only one he's hurt is himself." Nate was suddenly extremely interested in his shoes, and wouldn't meet Brooke's eyes.
"And just what does that mean?" Brooke demanded. Her eyebrow cocked and she gave her two friends a deadly glare.
"Listen, Brooke. What did Lucas tell you about the last couple of years?" Haley wasn't trying to dodge the question, she just wanted to make sure the foundation was laid right before she shook everything that Brooke knew.
"Hales, don't –" Brooke was clearly frustrated. She jumped up off the couch and stormed back and forth in front of the couch.
"Brookie! Please! Sit down. I'm not trying to stall. I just, I don't want to make the mistake of telling you something without giving you all the facts. We need you focused and strong enough to make this work, and I don't want to jeopardize our final shot at getting Lucas back." Haley spoke quickly, hoping to calm her friend down. She was anxious for this to work.
"Oh Hales! I'm so confused! I can tell something's wrong with Lucas, and it makes me so mad that he's gotten this way and I didn't know a thing about it! But I'm mad at myself! Because I'm the one who left him, I'm the one who shut him away and avoided him like the bubonic plague. And who's this girl he's living with? If they're living together, why the hell isn't she helping him!?" Brooke was nearly shouting as she rambled. She was tired of the run around, the mystery. She wanted answers! And she wanted them NOW!
"That girl he's living with is lower than scum." Haley's voice dripped with scorn and hatred, and Brooke was momentarily stopped in her pacing. What in the world? Haley, the woman who had a heart the size of Australia, was talking smack about some chick? Wow, this had to be pretty bad.
"Hales, come on now. Be fair. We've never really taken the time to get to know Amber." Nathan immediately stepped away when he saw the look his petite wife was giving him. She may be small, but she packed a hell of a punch when she was pissed. Like right now. Brooke's giggle broke the tension, and all of a sudden Haley and Brooke were rolling in laughter on the floor. Nathan, shaking his head at the scene, was just relieved that he hadn't come away from the whole thing with a black eye or bloody nose. There's no way the basketball coach could survive being beaten up by his own wife.
"Oh man. Alright. I haven't laughed like that in ages! But seriously, Hales, come clean. Now, before there's any more interruptions." Brooke wiped tears from her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She had needed the laughter, but it was time to get the facts.
"I needed that too. Come on, let's get a drink in the kitchen and leave the boys to their cartoons. This conversation shouldn't be had in the presence of little ears." Haley stood up and reached her hand out to Brooke to help her up. The friends walked into the kitchen, and Nathan settled down to some father-son bonding time with James.
Haley filled a glass with water, and sat down next to Brooke at the kitchen island. Taking a short sip, she gathered her thoughts.
"Okay, this is a long story, so you might as well get comfortable. After you left Tree Hill, Lucas moved in with us for a couple months. Karen had started dating this man from a town down the road, and he had immediately moved into Karen's house. He started taking over everything, and I do mean everything. Karen changed, and she just let this asshole walk all over her. Lucas had the hardest time keeping his tongue, and one night he lost his temper and hit Karen's boyfriend. Karen got all sorts of pissed off, and told him that if he was going to behave that way, then he needed to leave." Stopping for another sip, she surreptitiously peered over the rim of her glass to see Brooke's expression. It was…not there. So far, Brooke hadn't shown anything yet.
"Three am that morning, and he's banging on our door, a bag in hand, and blood shot eyes. Of course we let him in. He's family, I mean come on! So for the next two months, he stayed at our place, and we just sort of, well, acted like nothing was wrong. If only things had been so easy." Haley sighed, tears welling in her eyes. Struggling, she kept on talking.
"Lucas got a phone call from his mother. Her asshole of a boyfriend had come home pissed as all get out, and started chucking things around the house. Come to find out, he's got a horrible temper that he just couldn't control, and the slightest thing set him off. He was throwing a vase out a door when Lily...when Lily," Haley had to stop. She was crying softly, and just couldn't continue.
"Oh no, Hales, please tell me Lily's alright! Please!" Standing, Brooke searched for some Kleenex, and found a box laying by the end table. She handed some to Hales while slipping her arm around her crying friend's shoulder.
"Oh tigger! I wish I could! He wasn't watching, and chucked the vase through the doorway and hit Lily in the face with it. She crashed backwards and fell into a coffee table and hit the base of her head on the edge. They rushed her to the hospital, but she was so little, and hit so hard…there was no saving her!" Haley wailed, crying so hard Brooke was afraid she was going to hyper-ventilate. Rubbing her back in gentle circles, she tried to sooth her friend while containing her own anger at the situation. What a fucking asshole! Poor Karen! And Lucas! No wonder he was so changed!
"Hey Hales, come on, calm down. I need you to calm down Haley. This kind of crying's not good for you. You'll make yourself sick. I can only imagine how hard this had to have been for you and Nathan and everyone. But it's in the past now, and there's nothing either of us can do to change that. I need you to calm down." Brooke spoke softly to her friend, who she was now holding as she sobbed out all the frustration from the past year.
Realizing that Haley wasn't just crying about Lily, that this was more than sorrow over a friend's loss, she settled herself down and let Haley cry on her shoulder. These were tears of frustration, loneliness while struggling to keep her friends and family together, stress over fighting a battle every day, and then, finally, relief that she wasn't alone any more, relief over the fact that she didn't have to carry the burden by herself.
Nathan, peering around the corner, saw his wife bawling in Brooke's arms, and made to step forward to help. Shaking her head, Brooke bit her bottom lip trying to find a way to make it known that he wasn't needed just then.
Nathan, having learned through other emotional fits that sometimes being her husband wasn't enough, took the hint and stepped back. Glancing at the clock, he was shocked to see that it was already past his little man's bed time. Mouthing to Brooke, he explained that he was going to tuck James in, and then settle in the study for some more PlayStation. She nodded in understanding, and tightened her grip on Haley as she continued to cry.
Some minutes later Haley finally gathered herself together, and managed to wipe away her tears. Smiling in gratitude to her friend for letting her release so many months' worth of worry, she glanced down at Brooke shirt and burst into a fit of giggles. Looking down at herself, Brooke saw that her shirt was thoroughly soaked. Laughing too, she took Haley's hand and went to her room to change into some comfy pajamas.
Once Brooke was comfortable, they went to Haley's so she could do the same, and they settled onto her bed and resumed talking.
"Okay, so Lily's gone. That explains a lot. But if that over a year ago, what else has happened?" Brooke asked Haley quizzically. Yes, Lily's death was major, but not something that should have hit him so hard that they were calling in for reinforcements.
"Well, Lucas took Lily's death harder than we all expected. Some how he managed to convince himself that her death was completely his fault. He kept saying that if he'd managed to keep his temper in check, or just bide his time, he'd have been there to prevent it all. He swore that Lily's death was because he was a horrible person, and he'd let down his mother and sister and left them with a dangerous man. He hit rock bottom after Lily's funeral, and started drinking himself unconscious nearly every night. Nathan and some of the other guys that they kept in touch with from the team went and dragged him out, saving his ass each time. Eventually, the other guys just gave up, seeing a worthless cause, but Nathan kept at it." Haley tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked at Brooke again, hoping there'd be some sort of reaction this time.
She wasn't disappointed. Brooke's shoulders were slumped, and she was feeling insanely guilty for not being there when everyone dealt with such a harsh blow. Talk about unfair! To steal the life of such a young child, an innocent! How cruel! Brooke's eyes were shadowed with pain and compassion for her friends, and anger that something so unjust had taken place.
Gulping hard, Haley kept on the narrative.
"About three months after Lily's death, Lucas hooked up with this girl from one of the bars he'd frequented. She worked him over something good, but we all thought it was worth it. He'd finally stopped drinking so much, Nathan was able to sleep through the night most times, and well, Lucas at least seemed to be returning to normalcy. We didn't find out until last month that it was actually Karen who had fished him out of the despair he'd been in. Turns out the boyfriend came back one night after Karen had kicked his punk ass to the curb, and beat Karen."
"Oh god, no! Not Karen! Please tell me Lucas didn't lose Karen too!" Brooke was horrified! Her eyes were as big around as saucers, and she shook slightly with the fear that her poor Lucas had not only lost his sister, but his mother too.
"No, she'd managed to get to the phone and call Lucas, who came storming in, beat the man to within an inch of his life, and chased him out of town. Lucas and Karen had a long, and I do mean LONG talk, and he quit drinking every night. Instead it was every other night, but it was progress of a sort. He'd moved back home after Lily's funeral anyways, so we hardly ever saw him."
"Oh thank goodness. I don't even want to think about how destroyed Lucas would have been if he'd lost them both." Brooke settled herself down again, telling herself to be calm. This was worse than she could possibly have imagined! And to think, Lucas hadn't said a word, had just moved on past all this like it hadn't even happened. Her heart went out to him
"Nathan had tried to call him a couple times, even stopped by the diner and the house. But each time Karen either said he wasn't home, or he was holed up in his room and didn't want to see anyone. The girl we'd all thought was the reason he'd changed was apparently glued to his side, and he went everywhere with her. We finally met Amber at a party Nathan threw when Skillz came back for a brief visit with his family, and to say we were shocked is an understatement."
"Amber…I've never heard of her. How old is she?" Brooke searched her memory for an Amber, but came up short. She'd known nearly every girl in Tree Hill when she'd lived here, one of the perks of being most popular.
"She moved here shortly after you left. I think that's why Lucas hooked up with her. She didn't know his past, she didn't know about you and him, or Lily's death. She was a way for him to hide from all that had happened, and he was in need of that reprieve. We didn't realize until it was too late that he was hiding from his problems instead of dealing with them."
"So he buried his head in her lap instead of the sand?" Brooke tried to crack a joke, and instead it came out with just that faint hint of jealousy. Well damn. That's not what she had aimed for.
Haley smiled and tried not to laugh at Brooke's jealousy. It was half the reason she had asked Brooke here. She was counting on Brooke's feeling for Lucas to touch something inside Lucas and bring him back to reality.
"Something like that, yeah. It's kind of why you're here. There's been other stuff happen to Lucas since all that went down, but that was the start. Now he's hiding from everything and refusing to look at what's going on outside. This bitch wont leave him alone, she's even managed to finagle her way into Karen's house and is living with him, and Karen can't get her to leave. Each time she tries, Lucas steps in and says he needs her. She can't deny her son anything, not after he stepped up and protected her from the asshole. Lucas hardly ever comes out of his room, and when he does, he's with Amber, and she wont let any of us get within shouting distance of him."
"Wow. Be sure to point Amber out to me the next chance you get. I'd like to give her a piece of my mind. Well, maybe a slap or two as well" Brooke said grimly. She was pissed. Who did this bitch think she was? No one had a right to keep her Lucas from his friends and family. Whoops. Did she just say her Lucas? Yeah, she needed to watch that.
A/N: Well, hope y'all liked it. At six pages, I figured this was long enough. However, I've still got some writing left in me tonight. Who knows! I might just have to post some more! I'm on a roll! Let me know if I did alright! Thanks everyone!!!