This is a pretty crazy chapter. There is some nice Brucas though. After last Wednesday's episode I desperately needed some Brucas.

Enjoy.

"Nathan, Tim told me everything. You can get help, just tell me where they are, and we can get you help." Lucas said, standing up and looking Nathan directly in the eye.

"Where are what?"

"The painkillers. Please, just tell me where they are."

"Lucas…"

"Nathan, you can't do this to yourself. You need to get help."

"I'm not addicted to painkillers if that's what you're saying."

"Then why did you steal my bottle from the accident? Why are you buying them from Tim's brother? Don't lie to me, Nate."

"I still need them, I ran out." Nathan insisted.

"Nathan you've been taking way more than you need."

"Stop." Nathan pleaded.

"Nathan, I want to help you."

"Just leave me alone."

"Nathan."

"Just get out of my room." Nathan snapped.

"Not until you tell me where they are."

"How about I make you get out?" Nathan said, clenching his fist.

"Let's see, who would win that fight?" Lucas said, looking at Nathan's cast.

Nathan sent his fist towards Lucas' face, but Lucas was quicker and caught Nathan's fist with his hand. Nathan glared, but also felt a familiar pang of guilt when he saw a slight flash of fear and hurt in Lucas' eyes.

Lucas slowly lowered his hand and let go of Nathan's.

"I thought we were past this." Lucas said. He turned to leave.

"Lucas, wait." Nathan called after him, following him down the stairs.

"Look, you don't want my help? Fine. I have to go home now." Lucas said.

"Boys are you fighting?" Deb said, as she passed by the stairs.

"No, I was just saying goodbye."

"You sounded angry."

"Just upset about moving."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Lucas said, holding his hand out to Nathan, who stared for a moment.

Lucas raised his eyebrows and glanced at Deb.

Nathan took the hint, slapped hands with Lucas and gave him a quick hug.

"Please talk to somebody about this, if you won't talk to me." Lucas whispered in his ear.

"Good luck with your new house." Nathan said out loud.

"Bye." Lucas said in defeat, hugging Deb and going to find Dan.

"It won't be that bad. Hey at least you live closer to my apartment." Brooke said the next day.

She and Lucas were in his brand new bedroom, unpacking his things.

"True, very true." Lucas smiled.

Brooke sat on the bed and watched Lucas as he unpacked his computer.

"Glad I invited you over to help." He teased.

Brooke laughed.

"Come here Lucas."

Lucas lay down beside her, and she put her head on his chest.

"Is it really that bad?"

"No… right? My mom's so happy, we are in a big house, with nice stuff, Andy is great…"

"You have a great car." Brooke said.

"Well I don't have that anymore." Lucas said.

"Oh…right…" Brooke said awkwardly.

"Wait a second…"

"I promised your mom I wouldn't tell." Brooke said, sitting up.

"Andy bought me a car, didn't he?" Lucas said.

"Maybe." Brooke grinned.

"You're kidding me." Lucas laughed.

"Nope." Brooke smiled, grabbing Lucas and kissing him. She caught him off balance, and they fell off the bed, laughing.

"Ouch."

"Sorry," Brooke laughed.

"Lucas?" Karen said, poking her head in the door.

"She pushed me." Lucas said.

"Liar!" Brooke laughed and swatted him.

"You two are so…sweet." Karen joked.

"Aren't we?" Brooke said.

"Okay Lucas, Andy and I have a surprise for you. Brooke, make sure he doesn't peek."

"Dan, you haven't gotten Lucas a new car have you?" Deb asked.

"No, not yet. Why?"

"Because Karen just called me, all excited about the move and the fabulous new car Andy got for him."

"You're kidding." Dan sighed.

"It's a nice thing he did."

"His mom's boyfriend buying him a car, it's real fantastic Deb."

"They're getting married, Dan."

"Whatever. What kind of car?"

"A black BMW."

Dan rolled his eyes.

Deb laughed softly and went to go make dinner.

"Okay, open your eyes." Karen said.

"My eyes are open. Brooke move your hands." Lucas laughed.

Brooke giggled and moved her hands from his eyes to around his waist.

"Oh my God, Andy." Lucas said, looking at the shiny new black car just a few feet away.

"I hope you like black. And BMWs." Andy said, tossing him the keys.

"It's amazing." Lucas said, opening the door and sitting inside.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Thank you…so much. I can't believe it."

"You're welcome."

"Okay, boyfriend. Time to take me somewhere fabulous. If that's okay." Brooke said, looking at Karen and Andy.

"Just be home by eleven." Karen said.

"Thanks so much." Lucas said.

"Have fun." Andy said, putting his arm around Karen and walking inside.

"This is insane." Lucas said, running his hand over the dashboard.

"It's a great car."

"I know, I love it."

"Where are you escorting me then?"

"I don't know." Lucas laughed.

Jake and Peyton were sitting on his porch. Jake was playing guitar while Peyton held Jenny.

Lucas pulled up in front of the house, and he and Brooke got out.

"Dude! When did you get that?" Jake said, setting down the guitar and checking out Lucas' car.

"Andy gave it to me, my mom and I moved into his house today."

"Damn." Jake said.

"Very nice." Peyton agreed.

Jake and Lucas began talking excitedly about all the features of the car. Brooke and Peyton rolled their eyes, went back to the porch and played with Jenny.

"Boys." Peyton laughed.

"Yeah, he's so excited about it though. I think he's finally warming up to the idea of Andy and his mom getting married."

"I thought he was excited before."

"I think he was more excited about the idea of it at first, but the changes that came with it kind of shocked him a little."

"Probably." Peyton agreed.

"This is so cool man." Jake said.

"Yeah, it is."

"Does your Dad know?"

"No…he's gonna hate Andy even more."

"Probably."

Lucas sighed.

"It'll be fine."

"Yeah." Lucas said.

Lucas sat in the library, reading a book, just like he had everyday that past week. He had a free period, which he usually spent with Nathan, but he and Nathan weren't on the best terms.

He jumped a little when someone stuck a bottle of Gatorade in front of his face.

"What's this?"

"Peace offering." Nathan said, sitting down across from him.

"It's pink." Lucas said, taking a sip.

"Yes it is. Look, I'm really sorry for how I acted Saturday. I let my anger and fear get the best of me."

"I'm sorry too. I could've come to you in a better way about your problem instead of ransacking your room and yelling at you."

"Yeah…"

"So are we good?"

"We're good. About to be better, even. My cast is coming off finally."

"That's great."

"Now we can put this stupid car accident behind us."

"Nathan, have you told them?" Lucas asked.

"No. Not yet. I will. Soon."

"Define soon."

"As in…I don't know…"

"Nathan, come on."

"Lucas, you're not helping. You may think you are, but you're not."

"I'm just looking out for you." Lucas said, grabbing his backpack and leaving.

Once he got outside, he got into his car and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello?" Dan answered.

"Dad?"

"Lucas, why aren't you in school?"

"It's a free period." Lucas said shakily.

"What's wrong, son?"

"I need you to go upstairs to Nathan's room. Somewhere, I don't know where, there's got to be a baggie or a bottle of painkillers."

"From the accident." Dan said in confusion.

"No, Tim said that he bought some from a guy at the pharmacy, and he also took my bottle from the accident."

"Lucas, this is a very serious accusation. I hope you know what you're talking about."

"Dad, please. I wouldn't make this up. I think he has a problem."

"Okay, I don't think you would. I'm on my way over to the school so he can get his cast removed."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"Not now. I will look for them after I bring him back to school. I think we should all be there to support him if it turns out you're right."

"Okay. Thank you Dad."

"You're welcome. I'm at the school. Where are you?"

"Here." Lucas called, waving to Dan.

Dan hung up his phone and came over to Lucas.

"So this is the car." Dan observed.

"Yup."

"It's nice."

"It is."

"Okay, well I should go get Nathan, enjoy your free period."

"Thanks. For everything." Lucas said, heading back to the library.

He got to his usual lunch table before most of his friends because he had the free period, so he set his backpack down and looked through it for his book.

He found it and stood up to find Nathan standing there.

"You have to stop doing that." He laughed nervously, putting his hand on his chest.

Nathan didn't reply.

"Uh…so how's your arm feeling?"

"Great. Especially since I need to do this." Nathan said, punching Lucas.

Lucas staggered back a few steps.

"What the hell, Nathan?"

"You told him, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie." Nathan said, pushing Lucas against a pole.

"Why don't you explain to me what you're talking about." Lucas said, shoving Nathan off him.

"You told him about the pills. I know you did, I saw you talking to him in the parking lot. He seemed a little weird at the doctor's and then he was in a hurry to drop me off."

"So? He has to work Nathan." Lucas said quickly.

"You're such a bad liar."

"You're right. I did tell him, okay? He needed to know." Lucas said, glancing off to where kids were finally coming outside for lunch.

"You stupid bastard!" Nathan yelled, tackling Lucas to the ground.

Lucas shoved Nathan off of him as he watched Brooke run inside, presumably to get a teacher.

"What's the matter Luke? Too afraid I'll kick your scrawny ass?" Nathan said, standing up.

"I don't want to get in a fight at school in my senior year and get suspended." Lucas snapped.

Nathan didn't respond, but tried to punch Lucas again. Lucas finally had enough and punched him first.

Nathan lunged for Lucas again, but was pulled away by a teacher, and Lucas felt someone pulling on him too.

"What the hell is going on?" Jake asked, gripping Lucas tight.

"Why don't you ask Lucas? Oh wait no, he'll just lie to your face." Nathan said.

"Shut up Nathan." Lucas said quietly.

"What was that?" Nathan said, trying to break out of the teacher's grasp as Whitey approached.

"I said shut up." Lucas said louder. He was shaking in Jake's grasp.

"Luke, calm down." Jake said quietly.

"Oh yeah, don't want to get your heart rate up." Nathan said.

"That's enough Nathan." Whitey yelled.

Lucas sighed.

"You two, follow me to the principal's office." Whitey said firmly. He took hold of Lucas' arm and Nathan followed behind.

"Sit." The principal said.

Nathan and Lucas sat as far away from each other as possible.

"I already called your father. He had to do something, so he'll be here soon. Now do either of you want to tell me what happened?"

"Lucas went behind my back about something and I got mad. That's it." Nathan said simply.

The principal looked at Lucas.

"It needed to be done. I had to tell him, Nathan." Lucas said directly to Nathan.

"Whatever. Now he knows and you won't have to deal with me." Nathan said darkly.

Half an hour later, Dan walked in the office, looked at his sons with their scraped up arms and bruised faces, and sighed.

"Starts to drive you crazy, eh Danny?" Whitey said dryly.

"Can I take them both home?" Dan said listlessly.

"I suppose, Mr. Scott. Just make sure that they deal with their issues before they come back to school Tuesday. Two day suspension."

Lucas sighed.

"Try not to kill each other." Dan walked out towards the parking lot.

"Dad…um…my car…" Lucas said quickly, not wanting to make the situation worse.

"Right. Uh, actually that would be better. Call your stepmom and tell her to come home, and then drive your car back."

"Okay." Lucas said, heading to his car.

"Does mom really need to come home?" Nathan asked.

"Well we could deal with you two fighting later, but I think the large supply of painkillers, yours and Lucas' empty bottles, and your bottle of alcohol that I found in your room needs immediate attention."

Nathan sighed and leaned back in his seat.

Deb picked up her ringing cellphone.

"Sorry," She said to Karen. "Oh, it's Lucas."

"Lucas are you alright?"

"No, Dad wants you to come home, he's there with Nathan and I'm on my way too."

"What's going on? Why aren't you in school?"

"Nathan and I got suspended for fighting."

"What happened?"

"Nathan has a problem, and he got mad at me for telling Dad. Just please hurry. And don't tell my mom, yet." Lucas said as he got to the house and hung up.

Deb shut off her phone.

"Is he alright?" Karen asked in worry.

"It's Nathan, something's wrong, I need to go home."

"Yes, of course. Call if you need anything."

"Thanks." Deb said distractedly, and ran out of the café.

Dan and Nathan arrived at the house after several minutes of silence.

"Son, I brought down your bag from the attic."

"You're sending me to rehab." Nathan said quietly.

"Nathan, I found a ton of pills in your room. You stole from your brother, and some patient didn't get their pills at the pharmacy because your dealer stole for you. You're sneaking alcohol, and you and your brother got into yet another fight at school."

"I know." Nathan sighed.

"I know you're strong, you can pull through this. You're getting help before it got a lot worse. You have me and your mom, and Lucas pulling for you."

"He must hate me by now."

"No he doesn't. He's just frustrated to see you slipping like this."

Nathan nodded.

"I'll go pack." He said, going upstairs.

"Lucas what's going on?" Deb asked, slamming her car door. Lucas was walking up to the house.

"Last Saturday at the party, Tim told me that Nathan had been buying pills from his brother. I went upstairs, and my bottle of painkillers was missing."

"Oh my God." Deb said, tearing up.

"I confronted him, but it didn't go so well. We hadn't really been speaking all week, and today I finally called Dad from school, and Nathan figured out."

"That's when the fight happened."

"Yeah. I'm so sorry Deb, I should've handled this better."

"Lucas, you did the best you could."

She and Lucas walked into the living room, where Nathan came down and dropped his bag on the floor.

Deb walked up to Nathan and hugged him tight.

"It will be okay, I promise." She said.

"I'll be seeing you." Dan said, giving Nathan a hug as Deb got ready to take him to the clinic.

"Yes you will." Nathan said.

Nathan reached out and gave Lucas an awkward hug, but once the reality of the situation set in, he held on tighter. Lucas held on tight too, not wanting to let go.

"I'm pulling for you." Lucas whispered in his ear.

Dan and Lucas stood on the porch, watching as Nathan stuck his bag in the backseat and Deb got in the driver's seat.

Nathan gave one glance back at Lucas and Dan.

"I love you Nate!" Lucas yelled.

Nathan couldn't hear him, and tilted his head in confusion.

"He said he loves you." Deb said.

Nathan lowered his head and smiled, then shouted it back.

Lucas smiled.

Deb started the car, and Lucas and Dan watched as the car disappeared down the street.

"He'll be okay." Dan assured him.

"I know." Lucas said, his voice breaking.

Dan rubbed his son's back as Lucas held back tears.

Deb took a deep breath and held back her own tears.

Nathan sat back in his seat and watched the scenery go by.

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt hot tears sliding down his cheeks.

Extra long chappie for y'all!

BTW, I wrote a One-Shot called "A Stronger Man" that centers around Dan. It doesn't fit in with this story or anything, but y'all should check it out :)