89- Support Me

Summary: Lucas quits the basketball team, which shocks his friends. But then he reminds them, they never really cared.

Requested by: Elvenheart65

AN: Don't worry, I'm alive! August was a really busy month for me and I could never find time to pick up the computer! Hopefully September is a bit clearer for me.

There were lots of reasons.

Jason, for one, even though he was in jail. Lucas just didn't feel very comfortable being apart of something he used to be captain of.

Also, if like last year, he would be on the bench the entirety of the year, then that's something he didn't want to do that again. Even though he should suck it up and just get through it.

But lastly, it was because he knew his friends didn't like the fact that he was on the basketball team.

They didn't try to hide it. Whenever he told them that he had to skip campaigns because of practices, they always had a flash of anger or annoyance in their eyes.

The thing was, he really like basketball. Loved it, actually. Which made it very tough when he decided to quit.

And when the coach told him he was considering Lucas for assistant captain, it was even tougher.

He still quit though.

It was one of the worst decisions of his life.

Lucas felt instant regret when did.

But he knew it would make his friends happy, so it was worth it.

Right?

"When's the next campaign?"

The question struck them with surprise.

Lucas didn't notice it until he looked up from the VHS tape he was holding.

"What?" he asked.

Dustin glanced around, finding that he was the one to answer this. "It's just, we thought you had practice."

That stung. Yet, Lucas just shrugged. "Nah, I quit."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. Lucas fiddled with the tape a bit due to the eyes on him.

Mike was the one who broke the silence. "You quit?"

"Yeah, it just wasn't my thing, I guess."

"But," Max started. "You loved basketball." Max was shocked, yeah she was in her "funk" when he joined, so she never was really around when he was apart of basketball, but she knew her boyfriend enjoyed the game.

Lucas just shrugged again, going back to looking for a movie to watch.

"Why did you quit?" El asked.

"I didn't want to spend the entire year benched again." Lucas lied.

"But I thought that was just a freshman thing." Will stated.

Dang.

During one of their phone calls when the Byers lived in California, Lucas had mentioned he was being benched, but didn't lose hope due to the fact sophomores get a bit more playing time.

"You never know, there's some good seniors this year."

Dustin squinted at his best friend. "You are good at basketball, though. Wouldn't you get some playing time?

"Can we just drop it?" Lucas exclaimed, growing frustrated. "I already quit, so there's no reason to keep talking about it. Besides it's never like you really cared."

The room grew quiet.

"Lucas," Max spoke softly. "I'll go to your games. I just-"

"No, it's fine." Lucas assured, even though he didn't believe her. "Can we please just drop it?"

So, they did.

But Max kept the conversation in the back of her mind, bothering her. She knew how much Lucas cared about basketball.

Why would he quit?

Of course, the conversation came back around.

They were now in the backyard, playing with the fall leaves, feeling like kids again. It was nice.

Max is the one who brought it back up, curious about why Lucas quit, the whole thing still bothering her.

"You know, I would come to your games. I do care." she murmured, trying to make sure her assurance worked this time.

Lucas froze.

"I just, I don't understand why you quit." Max said.

"We're still on that?" Lucas asked, becoming irritated.

Dustin comes bounding up behind them. "On what?"

"Why Lucas quit basketball." Max told him. "Even though I told him I would come to his games."

Okay, that's it.

"You know what, I don't believe you, Max. None of you, ever came to my basketball games. Dustin, you and Mike were always trying to get me to quit. Well, here I am quitting basketball. Hope you're happy." Lucas ranted. At this point all of his friends were there, listening with shocked glances at one another.

"Lucas," Mike tried.

"No. No, all you did this year was shame me about trying to something different. Trying something new, that I actually enjoyed!" Lucas's voice was raising over every sentence.

There was silence.

Lucas took a deep breath and turned to the twins, realizing something. "Except you guys of course. You supported me. Even though you couldn't come to my games, you supported me. Thank you."

With that, Lucas turned and left, hopping on his bike.

The three friends turned to the twins.

Neither of them looked happy.

El glared hard at her friends. "Hope you're all happy with yourselves."

Will said nothing, just gave his friends a disappointing look.

"Come on, Will. Let's go find Lucas." El pulled him to their bikes.

The twins left, leaving Dustin, Max, and Mike standing there.

After a few moments, Mike spoke, "We're the biggest jerks on the planet."

Max nodded. "For once, we actually agree on something."

AN: Hope you liked it Elvenheart65! I definitely feel like this should be a scene in Season 5, but with everything else this kind of thing feels small. Still, definitely loved writing Lucas ranting. He deserves it. Happy September everyone! Requests are open!