This has some angst for both our boys, but there is also some cuteness. Oh, how I love the angst and the cuteness.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews! You guys are the best.

"Hey buddy." Lucas said quietly, trying to hide his excitement.

"Hey."

"Um…how are you?"

"How do you think? I'm in withdrawal." Nathan said sullenly.

"Sorry, stupid question. Hey, your mom is on her way to work I can probably catch her…"

"Don't bother, I only have a few minutes."

"Oh…okay."

"I don't really know why I called…"

"I'm glad you did."

"I can't do this, it's too hard."

"Nate, come on. You definitely can get through this."

"Oh, shut up. It's your damn fault I'm here in the first place. I was fine and if you had just minded your own business I would still be at home." Nathan snapped.

Lucas inhaled sharply, trying to keep himself calm.

"You needed help-"

"It's your fault I feel like this."

"What?"

"If you hadn't made me go to Homecoming, we wouldn't have gotten into the car accident and none of this would've happened."

"Nathan-"

"Just forget it. I have to go."

"Fine. Bye." Lucas said, shocked. He hung up.

"Wait…Luke…" Nathan said quickly as the dial tone sounded in his ear.

Deb unlocked the café and started making coffee. She wasn't looking forward to working with Karen.

Karen walked up to the café and slowly opened the door.

"Good morning Deb…"

"Karen." Deb said simply.

Karen turned the sign to "Closed" and walked behind the counter.

"How's Nathan doing?"

"Why? Need some more evidence for your case?"

"Deb, please, Andy just wanted what was best for Lucas and he got carried away."

"And you let him!"

"I'm so sorry Deb. We're not going through with the case."

"Is that supposed to make it better? Because forget how you made Dan and I feel, using Nathan as an excuse to start a lawsuit we'll get to that later, but what about Lucas?"

"I never meant for it to get so out of control. But Andy, you know how he feels about Dan, and he just wants to be a good father figure for Lucas. He's still learning, Deb, and I'm sorry I didn't stop him."

Deb sighed.

"I don't know Karen, this is just such a big betrayal, it's exactly what I don't need right now."

"I'm so sorry Deb…"

"We all need to talk about this."

"You, me and Dan?"

"And Andy…and Lucas. We can't make decisions like that for him."

"I know."

"He and Nathan love each other so much, I can't imagine separating them."

Karen sighed.

"I know. You're right."

Lucas walked into Tim's house, where Tim was throwing a party. Technically he was supposed to be grounded, but Deb and Dan decided he needed to get out of the house.

He got there early and didn't feel much like talking, so he went straight for the keg and filled his cup with beer.

"Lucas." Tim called, coming over to him.

"Nice party." Lucas said dully.

"Look, I just want to apologize, about Nathan. You know he's my best friend, and I seriously thought your dad was just working him hard."

"He doesn't do that anymore."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's okay." Lucas sighed.

"We just have grown apart lately, I just wanted to do something for him." Tim said sadly.

Lucas nodded. Tim may be a goof, but he really tried to be a good friend.

"I understand. But you might want to be talking to Nathan about this, not me."

"You're probably right." Tim said, clapping him on the shoulder and walking away towards some cheerleaders.

Lucas sighed and downed the rest of his drink as Theresa came up to him.

"How are you Lucas?"

"I'm fine…" Lucas said in confusion.

"I heard about Nathan. We've been hanging out some more this year, like at Homecoming and your dad's party. I just wanted to know how he's doing."

"Oh. Yeah, he's doing as well as can be expected I guess. He'll be back in a few weeks."

"You miss him don't you?" Theresa asked.

Lucas paused. This was an awkward conversation.

"I'm making you uncomfortable aren't I?"

"Um…"

"It's okay. I just wanted you to know we're all pulling for Nathan." She said, indicating the guys from the team and all the cheerleaders.

"I'll tell him that." Lucas said.

"Great." Theresa said. She smiled and waved as she walked away.

Lucas stared after her for a minute and then refilled his drink. Standing by himself again, he finished another cup of beer when he saw Brooke come into Tim's house.

"Hey baby." Lucas greeted Brooke, who walked up with Peyton and Jake.

"Hey." She said, giving him a kiss.

"Hey Jake, Peyton." He said.

"Lucas…have you been drinking?" Brooke asked, noticing the empty cup in Lucas' hand and where he was standing.

"Just a little."

"Baby come on, I know you're upset about Nathan-" Brooke said, leading Lucas outside, taking him to the beach nearby.

"So what? I should be. He blames me…for being there. And he's right, I made him go to the dance, we got into a car crash and now he's in rehab, addicted to painkillers." Lucas said, sinking down onto the sand.

"Lucas, it's not your fault…" Brooke said, sitting down next to him.

"But what if it is?"

"It's not." Brooke insisted.

"I can't deal with this…" Lucas said, holding back tears.

"I'm here for you, anything you need." Brooke said

"I can't believe this is happening." He said, a few tears slipping out. Brooke took her thumb and wiped them away and gently stroked his hair.

"Shh…it's going to be okay."

"I'm sorry…I kind of ruined the party for you."

"Don't worry about it. I rather be with you."

"Even like this?" Lucas laughed.

"Good or bad." Brooke smiled.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me…Brooke…I love you…" Lucas said quietly.

Brooke's eyes filled with tears. Lucas widened his eyes in alarm.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you mean it?" She asked through her tears.

"Of course. I'm not just saying that because of what's happening with Nathan, Brooke. You have this amazing way of making me laugh, when I want to cry. You've been there for me through tough times…and I love you…pretty girl…" He said, smiling as he wiped away her tears.

"I love you too, Lucas." Brooke said, hugging him.

"Everything's going to be okay." She assured him.

"I hope so. I just want him here…I want everything to be good again."

"It will be."

Lucas got home, feeling a lot better.

"Hi honey, did you have fun?" Deb asked.

"Yeah…it was good…to get out." Lucas said, trying to hide that he had done some drinking.

"I talked to your mom today."

"Oh…right…"

"Lucas, she feels terrible. I am still upset over the whole thing, but I sort of see where she's coming from. It doesn't reflect well on your father and me…this whole thing…" Deb said sadly.

"All that matters is that Nathan and I know that you two are good parents. Which you are, I know you're both trying. This is just a bad time, a rough patch."

"Thank you Lucas."

"Absolutely."

"So do you think you'll want to talk with her and Andy sometime soon?"

"I don't know…I mean…what they were planning to do…"

"That's why we all should talk. You, me, your father, your mom, and Andy. It will be okay."

"That's what I keep hearing…" Lucas sighed.

Nathan was staring at the ceiling with the phone in his hand. He had been like this off and on for hours, debating whether or not to call Lucas.

Kyle came in and watched Nathan for a minute.

"Okay so who did you call and how bad was it?" He asked.

"How do you know?"

"Kid, you are doing the exact same things that I did when I came here. I called my wife and blamed my alcoholism on everything but myself."

"You're right… I am doing the same things. I called my brother this morning…"

"And you've been sitting here all day?"

"Pretty much. I told him it was all his fault, to mind his own damn business next time."

"Sounds familiar."

"I know it's wrong…but I just want to…put this on someone else…I want to piss him off…I want him to-"

"To stop caring." Kyle said.

"Dude, you're gonna have to stop that. Now it's just freaky."

"Nathan, look, I did everything I could to push my wife away when I got here. I figured I didn't deserve to be treated well, and that if I pushed her away, I could just get out of here sooner."

"Exactly…but that's crazy." Nathan said slowly.

"Call him. He loves you, that isn't going to change."

"It could. It's not like we were exactly friends for the first 16 years of our lives. That's what scares me, we moved into this really good relationship so easily, what if it's just as easy to go back to being enemies?"

"Well that's why you need to make things right."

"But…"

"Just do it." Kyle said firmly.

"Yes sir." Nathan said, smiling a little.

Nathan's fingers where shaking as he dialed the number, hoping Lucas would answer.

Luckily for him, he did.

"Hello?"

"Hey…please don't hang up." Nathan said quickly.

"Nathan…look I'm really sorry-"

"No. Just shut up."

"What?" Lucas said in disbelief.

"Sorry. It's not your fault. I was just lashing out on you because I don't want to be here and…"

"And what…"

"And I don't understand why you're sticking by me."

"Because you're my brother, Nate."

"We've been so horrible to each other in the past and then today I was just…scared. I don't want us to stop being brothers."

"We won't."

"But with us…it's just so…"

"Listen buddy, screw what happened in the past. I've seen you at your worst and I've seen you at your best, and I'm still here for you, you can't drive me away. This whole brother thing, I'm in it for the long haul, aren't you?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. That's not going to change, ever. So you just focus on getting better, then when you get home I can yell at you for being a moron, and then we can move on."

"Sounds good." Nathan said, sniffing.

"Are you crying?" Lucas said teasingly.

"Shut up." Nathan laughed.

"Alright, alright."

"So…how are you?"

"Had a crappy day, pretty good night."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well I finally got to have a real conversation with you, and Brooke and I…"

"Gross. No details."

"What?"

"About you and Brooke."

"I just told her I loved her, smart one."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Lucas laughed.

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks…I guess I should go. You better haul your ass up here sometime soon and come see me."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"And call."

"I will." Lucas said. "I promise." He added before Nathan could say anything.

"Good. Okay, love you."

"Love you too little brother." Lucas said, hanging up.

Nathan put the phone back and smiled.

After a few minutes, Kyle came back in.

"How'd it go?"

"You were right."

"I always am. You'll learn that soon enough." Kyle joked.

"Nice."

"Okay, I am turning in."

"Me too."

"Think you'll sleep better tonight?"

"I think so." Nathan said, turning out the light.

Aww.

So I'm thinking probably one more chapter with Nathan in rehab, because, well, I've had the scene where he comes home written for weeks, and I wanna share it soon!

Thanks for reading, please leave a review!