Lucas smiled as he ran out of Central Park and towards their building. He loved being in New York. There was something about the smell of the city and the noise it always had. In New York he felt that he could live out his dream of being author. Becoming a father at eighteen he had to put many dreams aside as he had new dreams. When he comes to New York he feels like he isn't a small town basketball coach but a successful author. He was greeted by Patrick the doorman. Patrick opened the door for Lucas and he walked inside. He walked towards the elevate and went to the top floor. They had gotten a penthouse condo very cheap while Lily and Kieran were still very young. He got out and walked inside their unit. Brooke was sitting on the couch reading a book. When they were in New York she wasn't always on her phone as she was more readily available.
"How was the run?" Brooke asked as he greeted her with a kiss.
"It was great. I forgot how much I missed the city." He said as he noticed she was already dressed. "Leaving already?" He asked. "The sun isn't even up."
"Well, I thought we could take a walk and have breakfast." She said as he smiled.
"Of course we can do that!" He perked up as he walked to the bathroom.
The house was loud with music coming from multiple rooms at multiple different volumes. Yelling could be heard through the halls as Charlie walked in the front door. He was sporting a black Raven baseball cap, a black t-shirt, grey sweatpants and white vans. He walked into the kitchen and saw Davis eating cereal. Davis looked up from his phone and nodded at Charlie. Davis was wearing jeans and a Ravens basketball tshirt and his hair was still wet from the shower. Charlie looked at Davis and took a minute to figure out which twin he was.
"D…Davis…" Charlie said a bit unsure as Davis laughed.
"Yep." Davis said with a chuckle. He was use to people getting him confused with his brother.
"Is Kieran awake?" Charlie asked.
"Do you really think he could sleep with Lily and Keith going at it again?" Davis asked as he continued to eat. Charlie laughed as Kieran walked down the stairs. He was wearing almost an identical outfit to Charlie.
"What's up man?" Kieran said as he walked to the refrigerator. As he closed the door to the fridge he heard Lily scream Keith's name and then start banging on the door. Kieran turned around and was facing Davis. "What the actual fuck are those two fighting about now?" He asked as Davis laughed.
"Well you told Keith to wake her up and he threw a bucket of water on her." Davis said as Kieran's mouth dropped open. Charlie laughed as he heard this.
"What did Lily do?" Charlie asked laughing still.
"She threw something at him and hit him in the face." Davis said that's when I came downstairs to eat. "Keith said he was going to get her back before school." He said as Kieran sighed. When his parents left last night, they left Kieran in charge. It was almost like a punishment in Kieran's eyes. Getting to school in the morning was already a chore for him and now he has to get his three siblings to school as well.
"Can you please go tell them that we have to get going. I will be grounded for a month if anyone is late to school, so we have to get going." Kieran said as he shook his head. "Please." He asked as Davis nodded and ran up the stairs. Charlie was still laughing as Kieran shook his head. "Are you high?" He asked as Charlie laughed more.
"Maybe just a little." Charlie said. "I'm sorry dude, it's like I just jumped into the future when you're a dad." He laughed as Kieran rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was a scream from upstairs followed by a door being slammed so hard it knocked a picture off the wall and broke. Kieran let out a huge breath and looked at Charlie.
"Do you have any more?" Kieran asked as Davis and Keith came running down the stairs.
"Lily did it." Keith said quickly.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you didn't play any part of it." Kieran said as he shook his head. "What'd you do?" He asked.
"I just ripped up some stupid note from a guy she had on her nightstand." Keith shrugged as Charlie shot up a bit. He had seen the note from Dan in their Home Economics class yesterday and talked to Lily about it pretty much through the night over texting. She asked for him to keep it a secret because she still didn't know how to approach the letter with her family.
"Keith really. Jeez dude." Kieran said and looked at his watch. Charlie had been thinking about the letter and then looked at Kieran.
"Well if you guys have to get going, I have my Jeep. I'll just take her." Charlie offered. Kieran looked at his watch and nodded.
"That would actually be great. See y'all at school." Kieran said quickly as he looked at his brothers. "Let's go!" He said as he pointed towards the door. Kieran left with the boys and Charlie walked up the stairs. He got to her door and saw the broken picture. He picked it up and set it on the hallway buffet table. He then knocked on the door.
"Go away." Lily said as the knock continued. She was sitting on her bed in a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and a pink van crop top. Her hair was lightly curled and in a half up ponytail. She got up from her bed and walked to the door. "I said go awa.." She said as she opened the door and saw Charlie standing there. "Oh it's you." She said as he was shocked.
"Wow thanks Lil." He said as he saw the note torn up on the ground. "I told Key I'd take you to school. Do you want to go to Karen's and get breakfast? We have some time." He said as she shrugged.
"Fine." She said as she walked to her bathroom. She checked herself one more time and then grabbed her backpack. While she did this Charlie gathered up the letter from the ground.
"Did you tell anyone else who the letter was from?" He asked as she shook her head.
"No. Just you and Jamie." She said as he was a bit shocked the two walked down the half and then down the stairs.
"Not even Spencer?" He asked as he opened the front door and she closed and locked it behind her.
"I want to tell her, and I probably will today, but like with her mom and everything." Lily said as they walked to the Jeep. "I don't want to stress her out. Her dad brought over some woman the other day and she spent the night." She said.
"Damn really?" Charlie laughed as he opened her door for her.
"Thanks." She said with a smile. He smiled back and closed the door. He ran over to his side and got in.
"I think I can tape the note back together, if you want me too." He said as he drove towards the café.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "It's fine." She said as he sighed. He knew how important the letter was to her.
"Okay well I'll change the topic then…so are you excited for the dance tonight?" He asked as they pulled up to the café.
"Oh my god yes. It's my first high school dance!" She said with excitement.
"Followed by your first high school party." He said as they both got out. They walked towards the front door and then inside the café. It was busy like it normally was in the morning. Haley was standing behind the counter taking an order from a customer when she saw the two teenagers walk in and sit at a table next to the window. She finished taking the order and walked over to the table.
"Just the two of you?" Haley asked.
"Yeah Kieran had to take the twins to school." Lily replied. `They ordered and Haley walked away.
"So Kieran told me that Tanner is taking you." He said as she smirked. "Haven't you had a crush on him since the second grade." He laughed.
"Yes! I can't believe he asked me." She smiled from ear to ear. She had her dad's smile and it made everyone that knew Keith be reminded of him for just a bit when she smiled. Haley walked back and put three muffins on the table and milk. Lily watched her aunt leave and took a muffin.
"Did you invite him to the party?" He asked.
"Yeah and he said he would go with me!" She said with a smile. He smiled as he could remember back to road trips he took with the Scotts and Tanner was all she talked about. Charlie and Kieran had actually been friends long before Kieran became a Scott. Charlie and Kieran met on the playground when they were just three years old. Kieran's dad was dating a nice woman during this time and she would often take Kieran to the playground. Kieran and Charlie became inseparable after that until Kieran was taken away from Clark in Kindergarten.
A young child ran off the school bus. His light brown hair was wet and unbrushed. His backpack was falling off his shoulder and he could barely keep his hoodie on his arms. Kieran was just excited to be at school after a long weekend. The weekend was a bad one as his father Clark lost money in bets, and took his anger out on his son. Clark couldn't help himself sometimes and other times he would take Kieran's punishments too far, but Kieran still loved his dad. Kieran would often ask about his mother Sherri, which led to Clark getting angry. He learned that he should just keep his mouth shut and his head down when at home. School was the one place Kieran could be free and enjoy himself, and he got to see his best friend Charlie. The bell rang and the kids hurried inside. Kieran and Charlie were walking together. Today Kieran seemed a bit different when he talked to Charlie and interacted with the class. At P.E. Kieran asked to sit out because his back hurt, and at recess he didn't want to play dodgeball because he didn't want to get hurt more. During their playtime in class, Charlie finally asked Kieran why he was hurt.
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked as Kieran looked up from his coloring sheet. Kieran shrugged. "Why didn't you play at recess?" He asked and again Kieran shrugged. "Did something happen?" He asked and Kieran shook his head. Charlie had often noticed that Kieran had scrapes and cuts on him. He overheard his parents once say that Kieran gets hurt a lot. "Are you hurt?" He asked as Kieran nodded. "We should tell Miss Taylor, she can take you to the nurse."
"My dad said I can't." Kieran said.
"Why?" Charlie asked.
"Because I'll get taken away." Kieran replied.
"Why?" Charlie asked.
"That's what my dad says each time." Kieran said as Miss Taylor told the students to start getting ready to go home. The boys started cleaning up their areas and getting ready to walk outside. Miss Taylor walked her bus riders to their line and then the car riders went outside with her. Charlie waited with Miss Taylor until his mother got there. She was driving a blue Range Rover. Miss Taylor helped Charlie get inside the car and then Linda drove away.
"How was school honey?" Linda Andrews asked her son as they came up to a red light.
"It was okay." Charlie said as Linda tilted her head.
"Why just okay?" She asked. Charlie was looking out the window as they rounded the other side of the school. He waved to Kieran who was still waiting for his bus.
"Mommy why would Kieran be taken away?" He asked.
"Umm…I don't know." She said. "Did he say something?" She asked. One night when Kieran spent the night she helped him brush his hair after a bath. She noticed some bruising on him that wasn't normal so she always had a little voice in the back of her head thinking of Kieran.
"Well he said that's what his dad tells him." He said.
"Was Kieran hurt again today?" She asked.
"Yeah he didn't play at recess or PE. We had two recesses too and he just kicked a ball by himself." He said as she nodded.
'
"How did he get hurt?" She asked and then Charlie shrugged.
"He never tells me but I think his daddy hurts him." Charlie said as they pulled into the driveway.
"Go inside honey." She said as she then text his father George. "I will be inside shortly." She finished and Charlie got out of the car and went inside. She took a deep breath and then called the police station.
"911 what's your emergency." The teller said.
"I believe my son's best friend Kieran Jones is being abused by his father Clark Jones. I don't think he has much time left." She said into the phone. The phone call Linda made sparked a whole trial as Clark was also dealing drugs from his house. Kieran was placed into foster care and left Tree Hill for almost two years until he came back to the group is when he met Lucas and Brooke, and finally found his forever home. The Andrews had no idea where Kieran was or how to contact him. On the first day of second grade Charlie and Kieran were reunited once again.
The bell rang and students filled the hall. The first period of the day was over and that just meant closer to the dance. Spencer and Lily were walking to there next class while talking about the night. Lily was carrying her binder in her arms. She looked over at Spencer. She was talking about the party and how excited she was.
"I got a letter from Dan." Lily said quickly. Spencer stopped walking and stopped Lily.
"What?" Spencer said as she then pulled Lily into the girls bathroom. "Tell me everything." She said. They ended up spending the period in the bathroom, while Kieran was being checked out of school. Kieran walked to the office confused as to why he was being checked out. When he got to the office he saw his uncle sitting in a chair waiting. Nathan stood up when Kieran walked into the office. Nathan said goodbye to the front desk worker and then walked outside with his nephew.
"Where are we going?" Kieran asked as he followed his uncle to the parked black SUV. They both got in and Kieran turned around in the passenger seat to put his backpack in the back seat. He noticed a little bag of snacks and drinks and grabbed it. He faced the front and laughed a bit. "Going on a road trip uncle Nate?" He asked as Nathan chuckled.
"Well I thought you might get hungry." Nathan said as Kieran looked at him.
"Where are we going?" Kieran asked as Nathan sighed.
"Do you remember your birthday wish from your 10th birthday?" Nathan asked. Kieran thought for a minute and then nodded his head.
"I wished that I could see Clark. It wasn't that I wasn't happy. I just needed to see him." Kieran said as Nathan nodded.
"Today Clark is getting out. In about two hours actually. Ted and I have been planning this for a while. We didn't tell your parents because we knew they would have said no. If this is what you want I will drive you to the prison and we can sit in the car. We'll watch him leave the prison and be a free man, or if that is too much for you to watch we can just go get lunch and I'll take you back to school." Nathan said as Kieran's phone rang. It was Ted. Kieran answered the phone.
"Hey Kieran did Nathan pick you up?" Ted asked.
"Yeah he just told me too." Kieran said. "Won't mom be mad?" He asked.
"I'll deal with your parents, if this is something you want to do, then do it." Ted replied. Kieran looked over at his uncle and nodded.
"I want to see him leave for myself." Kieran said as Nathan nodded. Nathan drove towards the prison and the music was taking up much of the noise in the car. Nathan turned down the volume and looked over at the teen. Kieran was on his phone watching videos.
"Excited for this season?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah I think this season we could take state." Kieran said. "We've been so close."
"Well you have to start getting back on defense." Nathan said. "You can't be playing this selfish ball hog game. Trust me, I've been there. You can't win the game yourself." He said as Kieran nodded.
"I think Jamie is going to make a huge difference on the court. He's been playing with me and the boys for years now." He said.
"Do you think you'll play soccer this year?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah I'm hoping to make varsity this year." Kieran said. He was now receiving texts from his friends asking where he was since he wasn't in Health.
"I'm sure all the running you do in practice will help you with the running they do in soccer." Nathan said as Kieran half laughed. The car got quiet as Nathan pulled up to the gate at the prison. They weren't going in so he parked in a parking spot that was in a good view of where Clark would be walking out. They weren't the only car out there. On the other side of the parking lot there was a blue Kia Soul parked with a woman sitting in the driver's seat. They couldn't make out who she was, only that she was a woman a couple years older than Nathan.
"Do you think my parents are going to be mad that we're here?" Kieran asked. Nathan sighed and looked down at his phone.
"Yeah I do." Nathan said. "But you let me worry about that." He said.
"Okay." Kieran said back.
"I didn't have a close relationship with my uncle Keith. So I don't really know what I should say, or what's going to make you feel better. But I do know dads, more importantly I understand bad dads. My dad did some pretty terrible things to me, my mom, Lucas, and honestly everyone that came in contact with him. He was a terrible person, but in the end I felt like he was different. That he actually changed. I wish I would have had someone to talk to about it back then. Maybe I would have seen how he changed sooner. I'm not saying you'll ever forgive Clark for the things he has done, but I think seeing him is going to give you the closer you were looking for so long ago." He said as Kieran smiled at him.
"I think you're a pretty good uncle. Keith would have been proud." Kieran said. It made Nathan tear up just a bit. The two started eating the lunch that Nathan had packed in the car for them. They were both on their phones. "How's everything in your adult world?" He asked. Nathan cleared his throat as he finished reading his last email.
"Well your aunt is about to go work on her new song." Nathan said as he scrolled through his phone. "Your parents just sent me a picture of their red carpet outfits for tonight. I guess they are at a fitting." He said as he held the phone up to show Kieran. The picture had Brooke smiling in a mirror selfie with her arms wrapped around Lucas, he was taking the picture and was smiling down at Brooke... Lucas was wearing a black tux with a black bow tie. His hair was fixed to the side. Brooke was wearing a formal red fitted sleeveless dress. She had bright red lips and she looked so happy. It wasn't too often that Brooke and Lucas could swing a weekend together without the kids. It was one of their big relationship problems.
"Oh they look nice." Kieran said as he smiled. "Look how happy mom is!" He said as Nathan smiled.
"What about your world? Anything going on?" Nathan asked as Kieran got a text message and he started laughing.
"Well, apparently Lily got lunch detention." Kieran said laughing. "Jamie said that Spencer and Lily were found in the bathroom during class. They had been in the bathroom the whole time." He said continuing to laugh.
"Greeeeeeeat." Nathan said as he shook his head. "Anything else?" He asked.
"Hmmmm…Keith and Lily got in a fight this morning. Something got broken." Kieran added.
"They are always fighting." Nathan said and Kieran chuckled.
"Always fighting." Kieran said as the doors to the prison opened. He sat up a bit as three gentlemen walked out. He didn't recognize one of them but the other two he did. He wiped his mouth and then rested his hand over his mouth and his elbow on the window seal. Clark was rather tall, probably stood at about 6'3. He looked rugged. His brown hair was a bit unbrushed but clean. He had a rather bushy beard but it wasn't hanging off his face. He was wearing sweatpants and a big blue jacket. Nathan was shocked seeing Clark for the first time. He knew immediately which one Clark was out of the three men because he looked so much like Kieran. Next to Clark stood a man just an inch or two taller than him. He had similar features to Clark. He was wearing jeans, a nice red polo and had a pair of nikes on. Kieran watched as the three men walked out to the car and get in. Kieran let out a huge breath as they drove away. He watched the car leave and then looked straight. Nathan looked over at Kieran.
"Key?" Nathan said as Kieran looked at his uncle.
"Thank you uncle Nate." Kieran said as he then looked out the window. Nathan nodded and then put the car in reverse. He started his trek back to the high school. The car had been quiet for about 40 minutes when Nathan finally decided to break the silence.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Nathan asked.
"I didn't know Jason was out of prison too." Kieran said. "I thought when Jason got out he would have at least tried to find me, you know. Like nothing would have came from it, but I thought he would have at least made some type of contact." He said as Nathan nodded.
"That's was your uncle Jason." Nathan said now knowing who was all there. He recognized the third man as Clark's case worker, but had only seen old photos of Jason.
"Yeah that was Clark's older brother Jason. He went to prison when I was four, that's when Clark got really bad." Kieran said. "I haven't seen him since I was four, but you don't forget your family. You know." He said as Nathan nodded. Nathan pulled into the high school and stopped by Kieran's Jeep.
"If you want you can just go home, I'll call the school and let them know the doctor's appointment went longer." Nathan said as Kieran shook his head.
"The dance is tonight. I have to be at school for half the day if I want to go." Kieran said as Nathan nodded. He was happy to see that it hadn't effected Kieran's mood quite yet.
"Alright, call me if you need to talk." Nathan said as he then started driving to a spot to drop him off at the front.
"I will." Kieran said as Nathan stopped the car.
"Oh, I'm just going to pick up the twins from school, so you don't have to worry about that." Nathan added.
"Awesome, thank you!" Kieran said as he got out of the car. He was about to close the door and stopped. He climbed back in and reached across the car to give Nathan a hug. Nathan wrapped one arm around Kieran. "Thank you, really." He said and then got back out of the car. He closed the door and started to walk inside. Kieran got checked back into school. He walked to his fifth period which was English. He handed the note to his teacher and took his seat in the empty desk next to Jenny. He sat down and she looked at him.
"Where have you been?" Jenny asked quietly.
"Doctor's appointment." Kieran said quickly. He then rearranged his seat and started taking notes.
The final bell rang and the students filled the hall. The basketball team got stuck with setting up for the dance. Kieran and Charlie were hanging different decorations when Jenny came walking in with a couple other students who were on the dance committee. Kieran climbed down the ladder that Charlie was holding as Samantha came walking into the gym.
"Kieran Scott!" Sam screamed as Charlie shook his head. Kieran popped up with a smile.
"What's going on babe?" Kieran said as he tried to hug her.
"Where were you at lunch. I sat alone." Sam said as Heather laughed a bit.
"A bit dramatic Sammie, even for you." Heather said. "You ate with me and Jenny." She added.
"Not my point." Sam said.
"I was at the doctors." Kieran said.
"Um, no you weren't." She said back.
"Yes I was." He replied back. Their group of friends had disappeared and let them battle out. Lily had walked into the gym and was talking to Jenny and Charlie.
"No you weren't. You went to the doctors on Saturday with your mom." She said back as she put her hands on her hips.
"I'm not arguing with you on this." He said. "I'll pick you up at seven." He said as he went to kiss her. She pulled back from him.
"I don't think I want to go with you." She said as he shook his head.
"Cool." He said as he looked over at Lily. "Let's go Lil." He said as Sam stopped him.
"I was just kidding." She said as she pulled him into a hug. She kissed him and then smiled. "I just want you to remember who's the boss." She said as he sighed. "See you at seven." He rolled his eyes as she left with Heather. Lily walked out of the gym with Kieran. They walked to his car and both got in. The car ride home was pretty quiet and once they got to the house it was even quieter.
"I'm going to take Teddy for a walk." Lily said as Kieran nodded.
"I was going to take a nap before getting ready. Do I need to drop you off anywhere?" He asked as he stood on the stairs.
"Nope, Spencer's dad is dropping her off here since he works tonight." She said as he nodded.
"And to the dance?" He asked.
"Tanner is picking us up!" She said as he nodded. He watched her leave and then headed upstairs. He laid down on his bed and within seconds he was asleep.
Happy New Year! Please Review! -M