Not a single review for the last chapter...-tear-
Just kidding. Y'all were just on vacation, right? ;)
Haley was sitting with Brooke and Peyton outside the school when Lucas and Jake approached. Lucas held out an envelope to Haley.
"What's this?"
"Secret message."
"Intriguing." Haley laughed as she opened the envelope.
"What is it?" Brooke asked.
"It looks like I'm going on a scavenger hunt." Haley smiled. She gathered up her stuff and reread the note.
"Off you go." Lucas said, shooing her away.
"Am I supposed to go alone?"
"I'm just the messenger."
"Right. See you later." Haley flashed one more smile at her friends and rushed off.
"So Nathan must have come up with a great way to ask her to prom." Brooke said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"He wanted to do something memorable."
"That's sweet. Jake here just showed up at my house with the tickets and said 'Hell yeah' then scarfed down some pizza." Peyton said, wrinkling her nose at Jake, who made a face back at her.
"What can I say, I'm a romantic." Jake laughed.
Haley walked up to the dock where Nathan stood in a suit, holding a bouquet of roses.
"Wow." Haley gasped.
"I see you followed my clues correctly."
"This is amazing."
"I was thinking about doing this in the morning, just like our tutoring sessions. But I couldn't wait."
"This is perfect."
"Haley, I want to have the most amazing prom ever. Will you please be my date?"
"Of course, Nathan Scott." Haley said, taking the bouquet from him.
"Good. I'm glad."
"You didn't have to go all of this trouble."
"I wanted to. I'm big on making up for lost time lately."
"No complaints here."
"I have something else to ask you."
"What's that?"
"Saturday night, will you go on our first official date? Our second first official date, I mean."
"What are we doing?"
"Will that affect your answer?"
"No." Haley smiled.
"I was thinking the typical high school couple thing. Dinner, movie, the usual."
"I think I'm free."
"So it sounds like it went well." Lucas said on the phone later that night.
"It was perfect. Thanks for all your help."
"No problem. Anything for my best friend and my brother."
"I appreciate it."
"So listen, Nate…"
"Yeah?"
"I just want to remind you, that Haley is my best friend. She means a lot to me. I know I definitely wasn't for you guys getting together at first last year, but I want you to know that I couldn't be happier for you two."
"That means a lot, Luke. Thanks."
"However. If you hurt her, you have to answer to me. That's a promise."
"I have no plans to hurt her, trust me. I know how lucky I am."
"Good."
"Hey, what about me though?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm your brother, man. Aren't you worried about me getting hurt?"
"Well that's why I gave Haley the same talk about you." Lucas laughed.
"You're the best, man. If not a little crazy."
"Runs in the family."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Listen, I gotta go. Dinner time. See you tomorrow?"
"You know it."
"Okay. I love you Nate."
"I love you too. Bye."
"It sounds like you guys are getting excited for prom." Andy said at dinner.
"Yeah I can't wait. It should be fun."
"Lucas, we have something we wanted to talk to you about." Karen said suddenly.
"What's up?"
"Remember when I went to join Andy on his trip?"
Lucas nodded.
"I didn't go to Charleston just because I was missing Andy."
"Thanks Karen." Andy laughed.
Lucas noticed that he seemed very nervous.
"Why did you go?" Lucas asked.
"Well, I wanted to tell him that…I'm pregnant honey. We're having a baby."
Lucas dropped his fork, the clatter echoing throughout the dining room.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course." Karen said quickly.
"This is a good thing." Karen insisted.
"You're right. Of course it is. I'm sorry. So tell me everything." Lucas smiled.
"Well we don't know much yet, I'm only about six weeks pregnant."
"Is the baby okay so far?"
"Everything seems great."
"That's great Mom."
"I know this must be kind of strange for you." Andy said.
"Maybe a little." Lucas admitted.
"This is something that I really want. I didn't think I did to be perfectly honest, but I couldn't be happier." Karen said.
"I'm happy for you. Really."
As soon as he was excused from dinner, he pulled out his phone to call Nathan.
"Hey man, what's so urgent?" Nathan said later than night, walking up to Lucas at the playground.
"I just needed to get out of the house. My head is spinning."
"What happened?"
"I just don't know how many more changes I can take."
"Luke, what's going on?" Nathan asked, starting get worried.
"My mom is having a baby."
"You can't be serious."
"I'm dead serious."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Weird. Really weird."
"That sounds about right."
"I mean I'm glad they're so excited, but it just seems really sudden."
"Well they've been married a couple of months now. Besides, doesn't Andy want kids?"
"Yeah but my mom didn't want kids. That's why she and Andy broke up originally."
"Do you think she's happy though?"
"Yeah I do. I don't doubt that. I just wish everything wasn't changing so quickly. I know some of it like the joint custody agreement was my idea, but I've already been moved out of my childhood home and now they're having a baby? I'm just getting used to the idea of sharing my mom with Andy and now they're having a baby together."
"Can I be honest with you? I am not a big fan of this either."
"Why's that?"
"It's going to sound dumb. Never mind." Nathan said quickly.
"Come on Nate."
"Well. It's just that I don't want to share you. I don't like you being someone else's older brother, especially since it's not a sibling we share."
"I understand."
"Is that stupid?"
"No it's not stupid."
"Maybe a little selfish though."
"Maybe just a little." Lucas grinned.
"Look, I know we have our friends, and you have people you consider your best friends besides me—"
"You understand that nothing can change our relationship though, right?" Lucas interrupted.
"It better not."
"And you are my best friend by the way."
"Thanks Luke. You too."
"Besides, it could be a girl so you would still be my only brother."
"No way. What the hell are we supposed to do with a girl?"
"She could still be a basketball player."
"More like Brooke's own dress up doll."
"That's far more likely." Lucas agreed.
"What does she think of all this by the way?"
"I haven't told her. My mom actually wants to tell her. Which is sweet."
"She'll probably be more excited about this than she was about the wedding. If that's even possible."
"Probably."
"Hey, can we keep the whole baby thing between us for now?"
"Who would I tell?"
"Dad."
"Oh. Right. What do you think he'll say by the way?"
"I don't even know."
"I'm sure it will be fine Luke."
"Yeah. Thanks for coming out Nate. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"You got it, big brother."
"Baby, what color dress should I get for prom?" Brooke asked Lucas.
Lucas dropped his book in mock disbelief.
"You're asking me?"
"Very funny. I just don't know which dress to get."
"Brooke, whatever you get will be so beautiful. I loved your homecoming dress."
"Prom needs to be absolutely perfect."
"It will be. Prom is going to be great."
"It's one of our last nights as a group, and I don't want anything to go wrong."
"Do you want me to go shopping with you?"
"No. It's really sweet of you to offer though. I know how much you hate shopping."
"I would do it for you."
"Thanks baby."
"However, maybe you and Peyton should go. I know you want to spend as much time as you can with her before she moves."
"That's true. That's what I would normally do anyway."
"So is it safe to assume that you're making all of the plans for prom?"
"If you know what's good for you."
"Noted."
"So I was thinking of a blue dress for prom." Haley told Nathan at the café. Nathan had come to visit her while she worked.
"That sounds nice." Nathan said, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Brooke is taking care of most of the plans."
"Really?"
"I wouldn't expect anything else. It's probably just easier to go with what she wants."
"You really are okay with letting her plan our prom too?"
"All that matters is that you're my date."
"You're right. I'm so glad we're going together."
"Me too. Looking back at the beginning of the year, I didn't think it was possible."
"Yeah really. This time last year was awful."
"So much has changed."
"I never imagined that I would be sitting here about to graduate, going to Duke. With my brother who has become my best friend. Plus my parents are getting remarried and my dad has been so great. I can't even believe it."
"What about being with me?"
"That's never crazy. It just seemed impossible for the longest time."
"Thank goodness we made our way back to each other."
"Definitely. I'm glad my parents made their way back to each other too."
"Are they still doing alright?"
"Better than ever actually. My dad said finding out about what my mom did was a major wake up call for him. It really hit him how awful he had been up until recently. He knew that he treated Luke and Karen horribly, but I don't know how much he realized that the way he acted affected me and my mom too."
"Lucas has wanted this for such a long time. As long as I can remember."
"I'm glad he gave Dad another chance. I'm glad he gave me another chance too. I wasn't sure he was ever going to speak to our dad again after seeing him in the hospital. But I guess that whole mess ended up being for the best."
"Yeah, thank God he was there the night of the fire." Haley said without thinking.
Nathan choked on the sip of water he was drinking.
Haley went pale, horrified at her slip up.
"What?" Nathan asked, his voice strained.
"Damn." Haley said quietly.
"Haley, what are you talking about?"
"Damn it. Luke swore me to secrecy."
"What happened?"
"Nathan—"
"Haley, you have to tell me right now."
"Lucas was the one who pulled your dad out of the dealership."
"You're not serious."
"Nathan, you can't tell anyone. He's going to be so mad when he finds out I told you"
"I have to go." Nathan said, getting up.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just need to talk to him. I'll call you later?"
"Okay."
"See you."
"I think I can get the shop up and running in about two more weeks." Keith told Lucas.
"That's great."
"Well, we'll see if people still show up."
"I'm sure they will. They did before. You just need to spread the word."
"Luke, I need to talk to you." Nathan said breathlessly, running into the shop and grabbing Lucas by the wrist.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Just wanted to talk to you for a sec. Hey Keith."
"Hey Nathan. Sorry but I've got about a thousand phone calls to make so I'll be in the back."
"Something's wrong Nate. I can tell." Lucas said as soon as Keith was out of earshot.
"Haley told me."
"Told you what?"
"About the fire."
Lucas sighed. His hand unconsciously went to his side where he had a scar.
"You got hurt didn't you?"
"I'm okay."
"Lucas."
"It's fine."
"Let me see."
"Nathan, it's fine. Really. Compared to everything else that my body's been through this year, this is nothing." Lucas said, lifting up his shirt a little bit so Nathan could see.
Nathan swallowed hard, tears forming in his eyes.
"Nate, I'm okay." Lucas said gently.
"No you're not."
"I am. I promise. It's just a burn. Let's all remember that I've had a heart attack, I've been in a coma, I'm missing a spleen, I've been in two car accidents and I'm barely eighteen."
Nathan laughed.
"Please don't worry about me Nate."
"Why won't you tell Dad?"
"It's way too complicated. It's better this way, trust me."
"You saved his life and he doesn't even know."
"I'd like it to stay that way."
"Why? Why did you do it?"
"Well, I don't know why I did it to be honest. At least not at the time. That's why I don't want anyone to know. How am I supposed to look Dad in the eye and tell him I'm not sure why I would have wanted to save his life?"
"He would understand. He understood why my mom drugged him."
"Please don't tell him."
"I don't understand why."
"Do you need to understand?"
"I guess not."
"Thank you Nate."
"Thank you for giving our family a second chance."
"Have you heard from Lucas?" Deb asked Dan.
"Not yet. He might have plans with Brooke and decide to come home tomorrow. I can call and ask." Dan replied.
"That might be him." Deb said as the house phone rang.
"Hello?" Dan said, picking up the phone.
"Hey Dan it's Karen."
"Hey Karen, I guess Lucas is planning to come over tomorrow morning?"
"Well unfortunately, he and Brooke seem to have a stomach virus so I'm not sure if he should come over just yet."
"What happened?"
"He and Brooke have been sick all day. I'm not sure if it's food poisoning or not, but they haven't gone anywhere new so I doubt it."
"That's terrible. I hope they feel better soon."
"I'll keep you posted."
"Thanks Karen."
"No problem."
"Hey." Brooke said quietly, coming into the kitchen.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling better. Now I'm just tired. Thanks for letting me stay here."
"Of course. There's no reason you need to be alone."
"That means a lot. How's Lucas doing?"
"Still not great. But if you're doing better maybe then he's due to recover soon too."
"I hope so."
Lucas finally made his way down a few hours later.
"I think the worst is over. Where's Brooke?" Lucas mumbled as he flopped down on the coach.
"She's sleeping in the guest room. She's better but she was tired."
"I am too."
"I'm so sorry you two got sick." Karen said sympathetically.
"It's okay. Are you and Andy still going out tonight?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Oh come on. We'll be fine. You two need to go celebrate. You guys are having a baby."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't know, you're the ones who told me you were having the baby."
Karen rolled her eyes.
"You know what I meant. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Positive."
"Okay so what should we do first?" Nathan asked Haley.
"You didn't plan anything?" Haley teased.
"I told you my basic plan. Dinner? Movie? Sound familiar?"
"Want to go for a walk? I'm not hungry yet."
"Sounds good. Did you hear Luke and Brooke are sick?"
"Oh no, what's wrong?"
"Either a stomach virus or food poisoning."
"That sucks."
"I know I see him all the time but I still miss him when he's at Karen's. Dad makes fun of us because we still call each other every night if he's with his mom."
"That's cute actually." Haley laughed.
"He'll be better soon though. Shall we?"
"We shall. So, how about that walk?"
"Yeah. Lead the way."
Haley took his hand as they passed the café. Deb saw them through the window and waved.
"I'm glad your mom is okay with us being together."
"She wants me to be happy. You are what makes me happy."
"Right back at you."
"How's prom dress shopping going?"
"Perfect. I found my dress. Now I just need shoes."
"Well you know who would love to help you. Once she's better."
"Maybe I'll ask her and Peyton if they want to shop. I just don't want to intrude on anything."
"What do you mean?"
"Well they're going to be separated and they've been friends forever. And Peyton's off to California."
"So are you." Nathan pointed out.
"True. I just want to end high school on a high note."
"We will." Nathan said, squeezing her hand.
Lucas woke up and searched around for Brooke. He could hear the television going downstairs.
"Hey." Brooke called out.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Please do."
"Okay I'm going to grab some water."
Lucas filled a glass with water and went to place it on the counter. He was still really lightheaded. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a second. Maybe he needed to sit down.
"Hey Brooke?" He called out.
Next thing he knew, he was on the ground surrounded by shattered glass, water, and what appeared to be blood.
"Oh my God, baby. What happened?"
Lucas became extremely aware of the pain in his shoulder. His heart was racing.
"I think I passed out." Lucas mumbled.
"Take this and press it to your forehead. You're bleeding."
"I cut my head on the glass?"
"No I think you hit your head on the counter. Your hand is bleeding too."
"My shoulder hurts too. I think it's dislocated."
Brooke swallowed hard, trying to keep calm.
"We need to get you to the hospital."
"Let's call Nathan. Mom and Andy are probably still at dinner."
"No, it's okay. I'll take you."
"You're sick and shaken up."
"I'm okay."
"Call Nathan. It's okay."
Brooke nodded and got up to find her phone.
"He's not answering. It's going straight to voicemail."
"Oh. Weird. Here, call my dad."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's okay."
"Hello?" Dan answered.
"Hi Mr. Scott, it's Brooke."
"How are you guys feeling? Karen told me you guys were sick."
"We were doing better, but Lucas passed out and hit his head on the counter. He thinks he dislocated his shoulder. The one he hurt in the accident?"
"Where's Karen and Andy?"
"At dinner. Lucas and I were feeling better so we told them to go."
"Okay. I'll be right there. Stay put."
"Thank you."
"Are you nervous about starting college?" Nathan asked Haley at dinner.
"A little bit. I've never lived anywhere but here before. I'm used to this town and the people. It will be weird to not know anybody."
"They might really want to get to know you, if they saw you on tour."
"I kind of hope not."
"Why?"
"Stanford is a place I can start over. Nobody knows me there. That's one plus."
"I guess I'm lucky that I'll have Lucas with me."
"You guys are really lucky to have that."
"I'm going to miss our friends though. It feels like I finally found people to support me, not just people to party with."
"I guess it's going to be different next year with all new teammates."
"Definitely different. I'm going to miss them. Especially Jake. We've gotten to be good friends this year."
"What about Tim?"
"Well Tim is doing community college so he'll be around. You, Jake, and Peyton. All going to California."
"You, Lucas, and Brooke, all staying here in Tree Hill."
"East coast versus west coast." Nathan joked.
Haley rolled her eyes.
"I'm going to miss you."
"Me too Haley."
"I still can't get ahold of Nathan or Haley." Brooke sighed.
"Karen said she and Andy are on their way." Dan said.
"Thanks for coming to get us. I was going to drive but Lucas didn't think it was a good idea."
"Of course. You did great with him. I'm glad you were there."
"Dan!" Karen called out.
"Hey. He's okay. He's just getting stitches."
"What happened?"
"He was still a little lightheaded it seems. When he passed out, he hit his head on the counter and knocked a glass of water over, which cut up his hand. Then he landed badly on his shoulder. Luckily Brooke was there to save the day."
"I didn't do anything." Brooke said quietly.
"You did great. I'm so thankful you were there." Dan assured her.
"Thanks."
"Hey there. Lucas is doing well. He needed some stitches on his forehead and his hand, and a sling for his shoulder, but other than that he just needs to rest." The doctor said, approaching Dan and Karen.
"Does he need to stay overnight?" Karen asked.
"No, he should be okay to go home soon. He was still dehydrated so we're going to let him be on an IV for a few more hours."
"Thank you." Dan said.
"He is around the corner, second door to the left if you want to go see him."
"Thanks." Andy said, shaking the doctor's hand.
"There you are." Lucas said, smiling at everyone coming in. Brooke sat down on the side of his bed and kissed him on the forehead.
"So two months since your last visit, not bad." Karen said.
"A new record for this year." Lucas agreed.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" Dan asked.
"It's alright." Lucas shrugged.
"The doctors can give you something."
"I don't need it." Lucas said firmly.
"Okay. We've been trying to call Nathan but he's not answering."
"Oh." Lucas said quietly.
"I think he and Haley are out somewhere." Brooke pointed out.
"I'll go try again. I'll be right back." Dan said, going out into the hallway.
"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Karen assured Lucas.
"Hey, while we're waiting...did you want to tell Brooke?"
"Tell me what?" Brooke asked, looking between Lucas and Karen.
"Andy and I are having a baby." Karen said, smiling.
"That's amazing!" Brooke squealed, rushing over to hug her.
"Wow, everyone's been calling me." Nathan said, finally looking at his phone.
"You didn't have your phone?"
"I turned it off during the movie. I guess I forgot to turn it back on. Hang on a sec, let me listen to my messages."
Haley nodded and took his hand while he listened to his phone.
"Shit." Nathan said, slamming his phone shut and yanking his hand away from Haley's. He fumbled around for his keys.
"What's wrong?"
"Lucas is in the hospital. I've got to go."
"What happened?"
"He fell and hurt his shoulder and cut his head on the counter."
"Let's go."
"Damn it."
"Nathan he'll be okay."
"Damn it." Nathan said again.
"Lucas should be back in his room." A nurse told Dan.
"Oh good." Dan said.
"Thanks for letting us know." Andy said.
"Are you his brother? I've heard you two are the best of friends." The nurse said to Andy.
Dan couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing.
"I'm his stepfather actually. His brother should be here soon. Hopefully." Andy said, smiling too.
"Oh I'm so sorry." The nurse laughed nervously.
The awkward moment was saved by Nathan rushing up to them. Andy saw Nathan first and immediately pointed down the hall.
"Room 306."
"Thanks Andy."
Nathan rushed off, leaving a bewildered Haley behind.
"He's going to be fine." Dan told Haley.
"Good to know." Haley mumbled, dejectedly following Nathan.
"Luke." Nathan said breathlessly, hurrying into the room.
Lucas was sitting on a bed in his regular clothes, hooked up to an IV.
"Hey."
"I'm so sorry." Nathan said frantically, rushing over to where Lucas was sitting.
"For what?" Lucas asked, tired.
Nathan looked at his brother's face and remembered that Lucas didn't want to be fussed over.
"Sorry that you're a dumbass. Faint on the couch next time, and stop breaking crap. I'm sure Andy paid a lot for that glass you broke." Nathan teased.
Lucas cracked up.
"Oh how I've missed you. Where have you been?"
"Sorry. I turned off my phone during a movie."
"Where's Haley?"
"Here." Haley said quietly.
"Hey best friend. I think I've finally surpassed you in klutziness."
"Impossible." Haley smiled weakly.
"It's good to see you guys together." Lucas smiled.
"It's good to be together. Where's Brooke by the way?" Nathan asked.
"My mom took her home to get new clothes. She got blood on her shirt."
"She must have been terrified."
"Yeah she was, but she was amazing. I was a mess but she called Dad and really saved the day."
"Thank God she was there." Haley said.
Once Lucas was getting ready to go home, Nathan and Haley walked out into the hall. Haley walked ahead of Nathan, not really acknowledging him.
"Haley, I'm sorry that I kind of rushed off and left you behind."
"I feel like you're mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you, I was just worried about Luke and I wasn't thinking. I'm just usually there for him when these things happen and I didn't want him to think I didn't care."
"Nathan, you can't be with him all the time. He knows that."
"I know. I'm just protective of him. He's been through so much and I just want to be there for him. The day he had that heart attack was one of the worst days of my life. I was so scared."
"Of course, Nathan. But it would be impossible to watch him all the time. Sometimes somebody else might have to be there for him. It isn't fair to treat me like I kept him from you."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"I almost lost him that day."
"I know."
"I was the one who found him, did you know that?"
"I heard. You must have been so scared."
"He was slumped on the floor, and he was in so much pain. He couldn't even tell me what was happening. I was screaming for my dad, and I just felt him go limp. His pulse was all over the place, and he was sweating, but he was cold. Seriously, I thought he was going to die. For a second I thought he did right there."
"Oh Nathan…"
"I'm sorry I blew you off, Haley. I can't promise that I won't be scared and let that consume me if something like this happens. I just can't. I won't forget that feeling, ever."
"Let's hope this isn't a regular thing."
"It has been though. I hate it. I'm never going to stop being scared of losing him."
"You can't go through life being scared of losing people."
"You're right. I'm still struggling with it though."
"Just think, you are spending the next four years at school together. Lucas is so excited."
"I am too. But hey, have I mentioned how much I am going to miss you?"
"I don't think so." Haley teased.
"Thank you for being here with me. This year I promised myself to say I love you as often as I can. Especially after Lucas had that heart attack. I make sure to tell my parents and Luke that I love them every day, at least once. I love you Haley."
"I love you too Nathan."
"I missed way too many days of telling you I loved you. I won't let that happen again."
"Good."
Coming up in the upcoming chapter(s)...
-Prom (of course!)
-A little relationship drama
-Bubblz's evil thought: Hmm...Lucas and Nathan haven't had a fight in awhile...UH OH ;)