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"Hey." Nathan said, sitting down across from Lucas at their usual lunch table.
"Hey yourself. How's your day been?"
"It's been alright. I actually raised my hand to answer a question in math earlier. Everyone stared at me like I had three heads."
"Did you get the question right?"
"Hell yes I did."
"That's awesome Nate."
"Thanks. So…this weekend."
"What about it?"
"The away game?"
"Oh yeah. Are you ready for it?"
"Definitely. I know there will be important people there. I've got to kick some ass."
"You will Nate. I know it."
"Thanks Luke. So…"
"Yes?" Lucas smiled.
"You're coming, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I wish you were playing with me, man. It would make this so much better."
"I know Nate. Me too. It just isn't possible."
"It sucks." Nathan said sadly.
"It really does."
"The other night, with your medication. Are you okay?"
"Yeah dude. I'm really sorry about how I acted."
"Thanks but I actually meant do you have enough left? Do we need to talk to Dad?"
"No I'm good. Despite my best efforts, those bottles are pretty sturdy and I have a lot left. Not that many hit the floor. It sounded more dramatic than it was."
"Okay. Good. Look, I know you're not sick. But I can't promise to stop worrying about you. I can promise to trust your judgment though."
"Thanks Nate. That means a lot."
"However, if you have another moment like that I reserve the right to do what I think is best. Your health is more important to me than your big ego."
"I definitely do not have a big ego." Lucas said with mock indignation.
"It's a Scott family tradition. Anyway, deal?"
"Deal." Lucas laughed.
"Hey boys, am I interrupting?" Theresa asked as she walked up to the table.
"Not at all. How are you?" Nathan asked, jumping up and kissing her.
Lucas was kind of surprised to see him still being so affectionate towards Theresa but decided not to worry too much about it. It sounded like Nathan and Haley had come to some sort of an understanding.
"I'm good. Brooke and Peyton should be here soon. I think. They're kind of in a fight." Theresa sighed.
Nathan looked at Lucas, who shrugged.
"Peyton just told Brooke she's been making plans to move to California right after graduation. She's been getting in touch with anyone she can out there so she can start working somewhere in the music industry. Brooke is not happy."
"Peyton's always wanted to do that though." Nathan said.
"That doesn't mean her leaving hurts any less." Lucas pointed out.
"True. I wonder what Jake thinks." Nathan wondered.
"What I think about what?" Jake asked, arriving at the table.
"Did you know Peyton was off to the West Coast right after graduation?" Lucas asked.
"Of course. And…I'm going with her. I applied to schools out there, she wants to be out there, and it all makes sense. If I don't go to school, I'll work instead. We've been talking about this for awhile."
"Wow. That must mean you guys are really serious." Nathan mused.
"We have a really good thing going. Jenny loves her, I love her, and it makes sense to see where we can go."
"That's awesome Jake." Lucas smiled as Brooke and Peyton walked over.
"I'm glad you think so." Brooke grumbled, sitting down next to Lucas.
"Brooke, we'll still talk all the time. Plus you can come visit. Hey, you could even apply to FIDM and we would be in the same state." Peyton pleaded.
"Maybe." Brooke said quietly.
"Theresa what are your plans for school?" Lucas asked, already desperate for a subject change.
"I'm really hoping to go to UNC."
"That would be great." Lucas agreed.
"I'm just glad I finally got those stupid applications done." Nathan said.
"It will be worth it little brother, trust me." Lucas reassured him.
"Are you two trying to go to the same place?" Peyton asked.
"Umm…" Both boys replied.
"Wow." Brooke laughed.
"We've talked about it a lot, and we both know where the other is applying but we're going to make our decisions separately and share them once we've decided once and for all. Some of the schools we chose are the same, so we'll see." Lucas said.
"I kind of can't imagine the two of you apart anymore." Jake said.
"It would be really hard. We probably would have tried harder to end up in the same place but our parents, all of the parents, strongly encouraged us to make this an individual choice." Lucas said.
"It's kind of an interesting experiment. See how alike you guys really are." Jake pointed out.
"We'll see. There are a lot of schools out there." Lucas said quietly
"So, to bring up more happy thoughts, has anyone seen Mark?" Nathan asked. This wasn't his favorite subject for a variety of reasons.
"We were talking about that in homeroom. Nobody has seen him." Brooke said.
"Good." Nathan said firmly as the bell rang.
"How was school?" Karen asked as Lucas came through the doorway.
"It was fine. College is the main focus of every conversation these days."
"Speaking of which, you got two letters today. One from UNC and one from Syracuse."
"Really? Are they…"
"I have to say there seems to be a lot of paper in there just to say no." Karen smiled holding out the envelopes.
Lucas grinned and ripped them open.
"I got in." He said quietly, looking up.
"Oh baby I'm so proud of you!" Karen exclaimed giving him a huge hug.
"Thanks Mom."
"I knew you were applying to UNC, but what made you decide to apply to Syracuse? That's quite a distance."
"Basketball."
"I didn't realize you applied before you quit."
"I didn't. I just knew it was a school Nathan might be interested in."
"I thought you guys weren't basing these decisions on each other."
"We aren't. I just decided to look into it before we made the pact. They have a great writing program. It's kind of the best of both worlds. Even if I was able to play basketball, I don't think I have the same shot at a career that Nate does. I love basketball, but he lives and breathes it and he's thought of nothing else his entire life. I've always pictured myself writing anyway if I wasn't going to end up playing basketball."
"That sounds perfect for you."
"Thanks Mom."
"So what do you tell your dad? It must be hard for him and Deb to keep these things secret."
"I'm not sure. That should be interesting."
"What are Brooke's plans?"
"She wants to design clothes or jewelry and have her own store. She's considering design schools but you know her, she does her own thing. She applied to some of the schools I did too."
"It sounds like she might just be following you though."
"Maybe. Selfishly I don't mind the idea of her coming with me wherever I end up."
"You really love her don't you?"
"She's the one, mom. She always should have been. I just don't want to ever screw that up again. I feel like I'm already missing a huge amount of time that I should have been with her and I don't want to add to that."
"You've come a long way Lucas, I'm proud of you. You know I love Brooke too don't you?"
"Yeah. I know she feels the same way about you."
"Just be sure she takes care of her own needs too okay? She is such a special person and she deserves to show the world just how talented she is."
"Absolutely." Lucas agreed.
"Speaking of which, shouldn't she be here soon? We'll be eating in an hour."
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Ask and you shall receive." Lucas laughed as he opened the door.
"Hello boyfriend." Brooke smiled.
"Hey there we were just talking about you."
"Oh?" Brooke cocked an eyebrow.
"We were saying how awesome you are."
Brooke looked to Karen for confirmation.
"It's true. I'll be in the kitchen." Karen said.
"Care to share your conversation?" Brooke asked.
"Well, first I have to tell you. I got into UNC and Syracuse."
"Oh my God! I'm so proud of you Lucas. That's amazing! Remind me where Syracuse is?"
"New York. State, not city."
"How far from city are we talking about?"
"Some hours by train I think."
"Oh. I was hoping that it would be a lot quicker for us to visit if we end up in different places."
"I told my mom you were unsure about school."
"What did she say?"
"She just wants to make sure you are doing everything for you, and not just coming with me wherever I go."
"I like being where you are." Brooke said, kissing him.
"Me too, trust me. I would love to be with you all day, every day. But I want to make sure you end up where you belong."
"I belong with you."
"Brooke…" Lucas smiled.
"Preferably in New York City. In a fabulous apartment with a huge closet." Brooke grinned.
"I'll see what we can do about that." Lucas laughed.
"But you said Syracuse isn't nearby, plus you applied to other schools. And what about Nathan?"
"We'll see. I still hope that there's a solution where we can all end up in the right place and still stay close by each other. I don't want to lose what I've found, with either of you. I just know that college is four years, but our future goes way beyond that. We'll make it work no matter what. I promise."
"That makes me so happy."
"Me too."
After Brooke left that night, Lucas decided to call his brother.
"Dude I was just about to call you." Nathan said when he picked up the phone.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Apparently Mark was arrested the night he followed you."
"What for?"
"He had been drinking and he decided to smash in some windshields on his way home. Did he seem drunk to you?"
"That wasn't really on my mind when I saw him, but now that you mention it, he did seem out of it. Plus he kind of just let go of me really quickly and bolted when he thought someone was coming."
"Yeah, well. I guess that solves our problem."
"Does it?"
"Apparently he's off to military school. His dad is even more of a hardass than ours ever was."
"How do you know that?"
"Dad told me. Apparently they do know each other."
"I guess it's a small town."
"Son I need to talk to you." Dan interrupted.
"Now? I'm on the phone with Luke." Nathan protested.
"Now, please." Dan said firmly.
"I gotta go dude." Nathan said.
"What's up? Was that dad?"
"Yeah. I don't know. I'll see you tomorrow. Night." Nathan hung up.
"We need to talk Nathan." Dan said sternly.
"About what?"
"Your mom found several of your brother's pills behind the sink when she was cleaning."
"Yeah. About that...he was really frustrated the other night and threw the bottle. But he told me that he had plenty left so don't worry."
"Don't worry? He could have been lying to you Nate. Why would you let him do that?"
"Dad I couldn't exactly stop him from having a reaction like that. He doesn't want to hear that he's sick. That upsets him and he reacted to it in a bad way. Why don't you talk to him about this?"
"You need to be honest with me when these things happen. You can't just be his friend and let him hurt himself just so he feels better about his condition. You have to tell us if he's having problems."
"Once again, this is not my problem, it's something you need to talk to Luke about. Why the hell am I being blamed for this?"
"I'm not blaming you Nathan—"
"Yes you are. You would rather get mad at me than get mad at him, which isn't fair. You're the one who wants to act like his buddy all of the time. If you're going to be his dad then you have to be his dad for everything. You're allowed to get mad at him. I sure have. You need to trust me when I tell you that he is taking his medication and he will be okay."
"Fine." Dan sighed.
"Are you going to talk to him?"
"I trust you. I don't see any reason to talk with him."
"You have to have the hard conversations with him too. It's not fair to him either if you are afraid."
"I'm not afraid, Nathan."
"Then why—"
"Go to bed son. You have school." Dan said quickly, getting up and leaving the room.
Nathan sat there, stunned.
Meanwhile, Lucas felt uneasy about the way his conversation with Nate had ended. He wondered what Dan wanted.
After half an hour had passed, he decided he wasn't going to hear anything that night. He studied the bottle of pills in his hand. He may have lied a little to Nathan about how many were left, but he still had half the bottle.
"I'm not sick." He said to no one, dropping the bottle and letting it roll under his bed.