Rise And Fall

Chapter 4 - Cautioners

If I lay here,
If I just lay here,
Would you lie with me,
And just forget the world.

Lucas sat at the bar in TRIC, absentmindedly sipping at his coke. He still couldn't believe that Peyton had gotten Snow Patrol to play at the small club. They were his favorite band.

A rather large pair of hands covered his eye and a voice growled in his ear, "Who is the sexiest man in the house tonight?"

"I don't know... That's a toughy. Maybe my boyfriend, Nathan?" Lucas suggested, smiling as the hands disappeared and Nathan's baby blue eyes came into view. The younger Scott sat at the bar next to Lucas.

"So, how are you liking this?" Nathan asked, motioning towards the band and the entire party. Lucas shrugged, trying to hide how happy he truly was.

"It's great," he said honestly. Looking seductivley over at Nathan, he added, "You know what would make it perfect?"

"No, but I can guess!" Nathan said, smirking as Lucas rolled his eyes. Nathan leaned over and kissed Lucas on the lips.

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

Lucas deepened the kiss ever so slowly, until Nathan was moaning in his motuh.

"Let's get out of here," Lucas whispered as they broke away to breathe. "I know a great place."

"Where?" Nathan asked, his blue eyes darkened with ecstasy.

"Follow me and I'll show you," Lucas said, grinning as he took Nathan's hand and towed him out of the crowded club.

In the distance, standing next to the stage, was Tim, eyeing the blissfully happy couple jealously. Lucas Scott has to go, he thought. Because there's only room for one man in Nathan's life, and that's me.

Peyton shrieked excitedly as she saw her best friend, Brooke, leaning against the side of the stage. Snow Patrol had just finished their set and Jimmy Eat World was preparing to go on stage. Until then, there was a break and Peyton had seized the oppertunity to go best friend hunting so to speak.

"PEYTON!" Brooke screeched excitedly, throwing her arms around her best friend. The pair hadn't seen each other in over two months. Brooke had flown off to California towards the end of the school year becasue her parents weren't letting her stay with anyone else.

"BROOKE!" Peyton exclaimed, returning the embrace. She felt a contentness she hadn't felt in a long time with Brooke. She used to feel that way wtih Jake and Lucas too. It was right.

"How you've been, P.?" Brooke asked, breaking the hug and looking her best friend over. "You still are skinny as ever."

"And you're still as cheery as ever," Peyton returned sarcastically. "I'm good, Brooke. How about you? Meet any hot guys in Cali?"

"Nah. None of them were the one for me," Brooke said, witsfully looking across the bar to where Lucas was sitting all alone. He was joined a few moments later by Nathan.

"You know that Luke is gay, right?" Peyton asked, just as Nathan and Lucas's lips locked. Brooke stared at them, shocked.

"No, I didn't! When did this happen and why didn't you tell me?" Brooke demanded, turning to her best friend.

"Lucas asked me not to tell anyone and it happened two weeks after you left," Peyton explained. "I kind of knew all along. When he was with me during those two weeks, it was good and all, it just wasn't right."

"Maybe it was because he was dating me at the time?" Brooke suggested dryly, her eyes angry.

"Yeah," Peyton said, trailing off. "Sorry."

"Hey, it's in the past now," Brooke said, waving it off. "So are Nathan and Lucas like together now or what?"

"I guess so," Peyton said, leaning against the stage next to her friend.

"What about Haley?" Brooke asked, knowing that the girl had gone off with Chris Keller to sing on tour. As far as Brooke knew, she hadn't returned yet.

"What about her?" Peyton asked, getting defensive. "It doesn't really matter now, does it? She left, Brooke."

"I know that, I was just wondering if she knew that her ex-husband and her best friend are together," Brooke said. "Sorry for asking."

"Nathan and Lucas are happy now. I don't think even Haley could change that at this point," Peyton said.

"Please welcome, Jimmy Eat World!" the announcer called from up on the stage.

"I guess that's my cue. I'll talk to you later, B. Davis," Peyton yelled over the roar of the music. Brooke waved good-bye as Peyton disappeared into the crowd.

Lucas and Nathan were at the river court, sitting on one of the picnic benches and staring out into the water. They were sitting extremely close and their hands were entwined. Anyone could see that they were obviously together.

"What are you thinking about, Luke?" Nathan asked, turning his gaze from the water to his older brother. The blonde Scott was obviously lost in thought. His blue eyes were distant and hazy. It was what Brooke called his 'brooding look'.

"I'm just thinking about how screwed up my life has gotten recently," Lucas admitted. Nathan looked at him, encouraging him to go on. "A year ago, if you had told me that I would be with my younger brother and have a potentially fatal heart condition and be on the Ravens' basketball team, I would have laughed in your face."

"Things change, Luke," Nathan said, shrugging. "People change as the grow older. Sometimes they leave."

"I'm really sorry about Haley, Nathan. I wish there was something I could say or something I could do to make it go away," Lucas said, leaning his head against Nathan's shoulder. It felt right to the both of them. They were both comforted by the other. Nathan wrapped his arms around his brother's middle, resting his chin on Lucas's blonde hair.

"Just stay with me and don't leave me," Nathan whispered. "That's all I ask."

"I think I can manage that," Lucas murmured, not wanting to break the peacefulness of the moment.

"Well, well. I leave for two months and this is the kind of reunion I get?" an all too familiar voice asked that was loud with disbelief. Nathan let go of Lucas and turned around to face the person.

The time I would spend with pictures I would not send.
I watched you go from left to right.
I followed you all night across my blinds.

"Haley," he said, unable to believe that his ex-wife was now standing in front of him. He thought she was gone for good. She wasn't supposed to come back. That was the deal they had made.

"Lucas, how could you?" Haley demanded, ignoring her former husband for a moment. "I knew you were gay, but hitting on my husband the moment I'm out of town really hurts."

"Leave him alone, Haley. This isn't his fault," Nathan defended. "It's yours for leaving me in the first place!"

Lucas had gotten off the picnic table now and was standing in front of Haley, in between the two ex-lovers.

"Nathan, I love you for trying, but stay out of it," he said, turning his gaze from the brunette he loved to his best friend. "Haley, you left. I thought you were never coming back. You did divorce him. And we didn't get together until last night. We had no idea you were coming back to Tree Hill."

"You should have, Luke!" Haley cried. "You should have known that I love Nathan and that I would always come back for him! That I would always come back for you, Lucas! I could never leave Tree Hill for good. I couldn't. It's my home."

You'll change your mind come monday and turn your back on me.
You'll take your steps away with hesitance.
Take your steps away from me.
I'm making my peace, making it with distance.

"That might have been true at one point, Hales, but it is no longer. You lost the right to call this place home when you went off with Chris Keller on tour," Lucas said coldly. "You have no friends or family here anymore. You need to leave."

"I'm staying, Lucas. There's nothing you can say or do that will stop me from doing that," Haley said, looking past Lucas to Nathan, who had stayed quiet through the whole exchange.

"Haley," he said, speaking for the first time. "You can't stay here."

Those words hurt Haley more than any slap or threat could. To hear her former husband say that he didn't want her around anymore hurt like hell.

"Then I guess I will go then," she said softly, fighting back tears. Lucas, feeling guilty at once for hurting his best friend, reached out to try and comfort her, but she shook him away. "No, Luke. You've done too much already. I was stupid to come back here."

Maybe that's a big mistake.
You know I'm thinking of you.
I miss you.
You'll change your mind come monday and turn your back on me.
You'll take your steps away with hesitance.
You'll take your steps away from me.

With that, she was gone, disappearing through the trees surrounding the river court. Lucas stood in the middle of the court, uncertain of what to say or do. He no longer had his best friend, the person he could depend on for everything. And it hurt him more than anything ever could or would to hear her say that she thought all this was his fault.

"Luke?" Nathan whispered after nearly an hour of silence. Neither one of them had moved.

"I should go home," Lucas murmured. "My mom will be calling me soon."

"You want me to come with you?" Nathan offered, getting off the picnic table. Lucas shook his head sadly.

"No. I'll call you tomorrow."


You'll change your mind come monday and turn your back on me.
Take your steps away with hesitance.
Take your steps away from me.