I apologize for the delay. School is extremely time consuming.

Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I appreciate it. This chapter is Lucas centric, but the next chapter will definitely be focused on Nathan.

Lucas took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

"I'm so sorry about all this. Keeping it from you and Deb, and for fighting with Nathan. I handled this so badly."

"It's okay, the important thing right now is Nathan getting better." Dan said.

"He will."

"Of course he will."

"Of course." Lucas said absently.

"Do you want to talk about this?" Dan asked.

"Maybe later…I just want to go clear my head."

"Okay…but this weekend don't make any plans. A two day suspension is pretty serious."

"I won't. I'm sorry." Lucas said before walking away in a daze.

"Are you ready?" Deb asked.

"As I'll ever be." Nathan replied.

"Just remember, you have a huge support system, and we're all here for you."

"I know. Thanks."

"I'm extremely proud of you for doing this."

"Thanks Mom."

Deb held her son tightly for a few moments, before finally letting him go.

Lucas jogged along the streets of Tree Hill. He couldn't believe it. Nathan had started off the school year with plans for college, basketball, moving on, and it all fell apart so quickly.

Thinking about this drove him crazy, so he broke into a run, ignoring the tightening in his chest and ran to the Rivercourt.

When he got there, he ran down to the edge of the river and stopped. Taking deep breaths, he sat down on the picnic table and stared out at the river.

He sat there for a while, but eventually he stood up and walked around town. He glanced at his watch. School had been out for a while, and he knew that his friends would be asking a lot of questions, so he walked in the opposite direction.

"Lucas." He heard as he jogged towards his dad's house. He ignored the call, and instead sped up and ran as fast as he could.

"What's he doing?" Peyton wondered as she watched him sprint away.

"He shouldn't be doing that." Jake said, upset. "Okay, go find Brooke, I need to go after him. Meet us at the Rivercourt."

"Okay." Peyton said as Jake sped off after Lucas.

"Luke!" He called, chasing after Lucas.

Eventually Lucas slowed down, his medication made it hard for him to run anyway. Jake caught up to him and put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

Lucas turned to face Jake. He had a slight flush on his cheeks from working himself so hard, and he was shaking.

"You need to sit down." Jake said, leading Lucas to the picnic table at the Rivercourt.

"Jake, I really screwed up." Lucas said finally, sitting down and taking deep breaths.

"What's been going on? All this week you and Nathan have been cold towards each other, that is when you were even speaking, and then at lunch you two are going at it."

"He's on his way to rehab."

"What?"

"He got addicted to painkillers, he's been stealing mine and bought some off of Tim's brother."

"Wow…Jeez, Luke…I had no idea. What happened?"

"I confronted him after the party Saturday and he tried to fight with me then, but today I told my dad. I guess Nate figured it out when Dad took him to the doctor's because of the way he was acting, and then before everyone came out for lunch he hit me, and eventually I hit back. God, I can't believe this is happening."

"It's going to be okay." Jake tried to reassure him.

"What is wrong with me? I should've told my dad and Deb the second I found out. Hell, I should have noticed that my little brother was abusing drugs. He's been so depressed lately, since Homecoming, and I didn't do anything to help him."

"Lucas you couldn't have known. You have to calm down though. The way you were shaking this afternoon, and the way you were pushing yourself just a few minutes ago isn't good. You're going to make yourself sick over this."

"But this is the kind of thing a older brother protects his younger brother from! I'm supposed to be there for him, and I had no idea he was in that much pain."

"You did the best you could with this situation, the important thing is that he's getting help."

"He was so excited for the school year to start, and now it's been falling apart for him." Lucas said sadly.

"Lucas!" Brooke called running down the hill. Peyton followed her.

Brooke rushed over and hugged Lucas tightly. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"What's been going on with you and Nathan?"

"He's going to rehab for painkiller addiction." Jake said, relieving Lucas of having to say it out loud again.

"What?" Brooke and Peyton gasped at the same time. Brooke pulled away from Lucas and took both his hands in hers.

"He's been hurting lately, he's still pretty broken up about Haley, he started taking those painkillers, and he couldn't stop." Lucas said quietly.

"Oh Lucas…" Brooke said.

"He'll be okay." Lucas said half-heartedly.

"You got to believe that, man. He will." Jake said.

"I know…look, I'm really sorry…I just don't really feel like talking right now. I'll see you later."

"Call me later if you need to talk." Brooke said, giving Lucas a quick kiss.

"I will." Lucas said, walking away.

Lucas walked into Andy's house and was surprised to hear his father's voice from the kitchen.

"Dad?"

"Hi, son. I came to talk to your mom…about Nathan." Dan said. He and Karen were seated at the table, both looking uncomfortable.

"I'm so sorry, Lucas." Karen said.

"I should be heading home. Deb will be returning soon. I'll see you tomorrow, Lucas." Dan said.

"Bye."

"Oh honey, do you want to talk about it?" Karen asked once Dan left.

"No…I just…no." He said, going up to his bedroom.

Later that night, he heard Andy and Karen arguing. He quietly moved down the hallway and listened in on their conversation.

"…Karen this is the last straw for Dan. This is exactly what we need."

"Believe me, I want to, but its not what he wants, Andy."

"Karen, don't you see? Nathan going to rehab is just another reason for us to show to a judge that he is an unfit parent."

"Andy, that is not entirely fair. Nathan is getting help really early on, it could have been a lot worse, and he did an excellent job of hiding it. He and Lucas are extremely close, and he didn't even have any idea of what was going on."

"I understand, Karen, but why we aren't calling my lawyer right now and telling him to go ahead with the custody case? We have more than enough proof to get full custody of Lucas."

"I just can't imagine blind siding him with a custody battle right now."

"You know this is what's best for him, though."

"I suppose…"

"He'll thank us one day for getting him away from his father."

Lucas clenched his fists, livid. How could Andy do this to him? How could his mom do this to him?

"You know what Andy?" He said loudly, walking into the room. "You might be right. Maybe my dad hasn't always been the best parent. He definitely hasn't. But he's really trying now, and Nathan's addiction is breaking his heart."

"Lucas…" Karen said softly.

"And you? How can you be doing this to me? My little brother is in rehab, and you are trying to take me away from him when he needs me the most?"

"Lucas, please. It's what's best." Andy said.

"Shut up, Andy." Lucas said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Karen gasped.

"I'm sorry Mom. But Andy, this isn't really any of your business."

"I'm going to be your stepfather, Lucas."

"Right. So you're not my father, you can't make decisions like this for me."

"Lucas, we're thinking of your best interests here. Dan may be really trying to change, but the truth is-"

"The truth is you hate him!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Personal feelings aside…he's an unfit parent."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know when a father keeps a heart condition from a kid's mother, and his other son is in rehab, that the father shouldn't be taking care of those kids. I know how much you care about Nathan, but being in an unhealthy environment isn't going to help either one of you. Dan just isn't fit to be a father to you two."

"Wow. I never imagined you'd sink so low as to go through a custody battle out of spite."

"Lucas, that's enough." Karen said firmly.

"You're right. It is. I'm going to his house, I need to be there."

"Lucas, wait." Andy said.

"If you go through with this custody battle Mom, I swear to God I will pick him over you." Lucas said, and then he ran out of the house.

He got to Dan's house and used his key to let himself in.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Dan asked. He and Deb were in the living room. Deb was still a little red eyed from crying.

"I couldn't stay there for another minute. Andy wants to use Nathan as a reason to for he and my mom to get full custody."

Dan and Deb were speechless.

Nathan sat in a circle with a bunch of strangers. He was an annoyingly well-lit room, at his first group therapy meeting.

He listened as other people shared their stories, about how they needed some kind of drugs or alcohol to get through their day, and how it affected their families. One man was talking about how he would constantly yell at his wife and kids and leave them alone for days, going on a drinking binge.

Suddenly, he felt a little better about coming to rehab. He was getting help before it got so bad that he was intentionally hurting everyone he loved.

All he had to do was break this addiction, and he could go home. He just wanted to go home.

"Alright, how about you go next, Nathan?" The leader said, taking Nathan out of his thoughts.

"Oh…um…"

"Don't be shy, Nathan. We're all here for you."

"Okay." He said, standing up.

"Just tell us about yourself."

He looked around at all the unfamiliar faces and swallowed hard.

"Um…my name is Nathan. I'm 17, and over the past month I've been using painkillers from a car accident my brother and I were in a lot more than I needed to. I'd been going through some stuff and it just made me feel better. You see it all started when…"

Sorry it's a bit on the short side.

Please read and review!