2015 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Dear Lucas,
Something happened today. I got into a bad argument with my Mom. She's never around, honestly. She's always gone for work, or she's gone on 'business trips,' but, do you wanna know what I think? I think she uses her job as an excuse to stay away from home and away from Dan. In that regard, I don't blame her, but at the same time, I do. I blame her because she's escaping by herself while leaving me and Nathan to endure the horror that is Dan Scott. She knows how bad he's gotten... at least, I think she does, and yet, Nathan and I are always stuck with him while she's off, getting to live her life and act like she's not married. I know I'm exaggerating, and I'm being overdramatic. Of course, she still knows she's married. I guess as angry as I am at her, I'm also jealous of her. She gets to leave, she can get out, and she can use her job as the reason. Whereas Nathan and I are stuck... and I feel like I'm suffocating. Things have to be easier with you and Karen, right? Your mom is around and you don't have to deal with Dan Scott. I guess in a way, I'm jealous of you too. Pathetic, right?
Sincerely,
Logan S.

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"Who would've known that Dan Scott's basketball pedigree would be inherited by his two sons, Nathan and Lucas Scott," Logan read from an article that was published online that morning. There were three pictures side-by-side. A picture of Dan from high school in his Tree Hill jersey, shooting a basket. His picture was in the middle of pictures of Nathan and Lucas making shots as well. Dan Scott scoffed as he leaned over his daughter's shoulder to look at the article she was reading on her phone.

"You've got to be kidding me," He said.

"That's great, Dad. We're all one big happy family now," Nathan said sarcastically. Logan rolled her eyes. She was still mad at him for what he did at the beach house and she was still refusing to talk to him.

"We could be if you guys would get your egos out of your asses," Logan muttered under her breath but Dan still heard.

"Hey, watch your language," Dan snapped. Logan looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Bite me," She snapped back. Dan motioned to say something, but then he held his tongue and turned to Nathan.

"You watch it too. I wonder what they're paying this reporter to support his crack habit," Dan said and Logan rolled her eyes.

"Way to assume that someone doing their job means they're on drugs," Logan said as she clicked out of the article and opened Twitter to aimlessly scroll through it.

"How about some breakfast?" Deb Scott's voice tried to break through the tension of her husband and children.

"I lost my appetite," Dan said.

"Dan, the boy exists. He's on the team, it's not exactly headline news," Deb said and Dan rolled his eyes.

"Apparently in this house it is," Logan mumbled.

"Okay, young lady, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you need to fix your attitude, now... because disrespect is not tolerated," Dan snapped.

"Good one, Dad. Did you read that in a parenting book?" Logan asked as she rolled her eyes again. Nathan laughed from beside his sister, and Dan glared at Logan, but he didn't say anything.

"How do you think Lucas and Karen feel about it?" Deb asked.

"He probably doesn't care what they think or feel, considering that he abandoned Karen while she was pregnant, and then knocked you up with twins three months later," Logan said sarcastically. Dan was fuming, she could tell and she didn't care.

"Gosh, I don't know. Maybe we should invite them over for breakfast and find out," Dan said.

"Great idea," Logan said sarcastically.

"Between the two of you arguing and Logan's commentary, I'm out of here," Nathan said as he stood up from the table and grabbed his bag.

"We're not arguing, and Logan is finished," Deb said as she gave her daughter a sharp look. "Now both of you, sit, your breakfast is getting cold," She said.

"I'm just going to go grab something at school with my brother," Nathan said sarcastically as he left the house. Logan laughed as she started to grab her things while Deb glared at her husband.

"You know, there is a chance that Lucas and Nathan could get along if their father encouraged it," Deb said and Logan started laughing again.

"Yeah, right. Dad won't even acknowledge that Lucas is his son. Do you really think he'll encourage Nathan to form a relationship with him? You married a narcissistic man, Mother. It's time to live with the consequences like the rest of us have to," Logan said with a smile on her face before she left the house.

She was driving herself to school.

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"Wait!" Brooke Davis exclaimed. The girls were in the gym, going over a cheer routine, and Brooke stopped them in the middle of one of their formations. "Hold on, Peyton... you've got the arms wrong," She said.

"It's not brain surgery, Brooke," Peyton snapped at her.

"Okay, what's with the attitude?" Brooke asked. It looked like Logan wasn't the only one in a foul mood that day. One thing she liked about their cheer practices was that they practiced in the gym at the same time as the boys. Logan glanced over to the boys and she noticed everyone was there except one person.

Roman.

Before she could think too much about it, Peyton's voice brought her back to the conversation she was having with Brooke. "What's with your life? Seriously, aren't you embarrassed that the most important thing in your world is some stupid cheer?" Peyton asked.

"Look, I'm really sorry things didn't work out with you and Nathan, but don't go all Mariah on me, okay?" Brooke said. That's when Logan started thinking. She didn't think Peyton was upset about Nathan, they broke up all the time. Them being done for good wasn't really a shock, to anyone. Logan looked down at her Apple Watch and she noticed the date, and then her eyes widened.

It's the seven-year anniversary of Peyton's mom's death.

"You think this is about Nathan? You're not close, you're not even in the neighborhood of close!" Peyton snapped at her. Brooke's face fell, completely unaware of what today meant to Peyton. Logan didn't understand how Brooke could forget. They spent the whole night in the hospital with Peyton.

"Okay then, what's wrong?" Brooke asked. Logan saw Peyton's face fall when she realized Brooke had forgotten what today was. Logan frowned as she looked between the two of them. They're her best friends, they're supposed to remember information like this, so the fact that Brooke didn't, Logan knew it hurt Peyton.

"What's wrong is... how pointless all of this is," Peyton said. Logan didn't blame her. It's not like she was going to blurt out that today was the anniversary of the day her mom died.

"Stop saying that!" Brooke snapped.

"No! Because it's true. What difference does it make if you sleep with a popular guy, or you go to the right party, or you know all the moves to some moronic cheer to do at some lame-ass game I could care less about!" Peyton snapped and then she stormed out of the gym. Brooke's eyes were wide as she watched Peyton storm off and Logan quickly ran after her friend.

"Peyton!" Logan called out, but Peyton didn't stop walking. Logan jogged until she caught up to her and got in front of her to make her stop. "Peyton," She said.

"Logan, move," Peyton said and Logan shook her head. She wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her close. Peyton stood still for a moment, shocked at what was happening, and then she wrapped her arms back around Logan and squeezed her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Peyton..." Logan said as they pulled away. "If someone asks... I'll cover for you, don't worry," Logan said. As fast as the smile came on Peyton's face, it was gone.

"Thank you, Lo... for remembering," She said.

"I spent all night with you in the hospital... you never forget something like that. Get out of here, okay?" Logan said. Peyton nodded and squeezed her friend's hand before she continued down the hallway to leave the school. Logan frowned as she watched her go, remembering how hard that day was for her.

Logan turned back and went in the direction of the gym, she just wanted to make it to the end of practice. But a lingering thought was in the back of her mind as she made her way back to the gym.

Where the hell was Roman?

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After school, Logan went to see her Uncle Keith. He was the only person she could talk to when things were really bad. She knew she could talk to Peyton, but given what was going on with Peyton today, she wasn't going to bother her further. "Hey, kiddo. What brings you by?" Keith asked when she walked into the body shop. She sat down on one of the stools and let her bag fall to her feet. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I feel so angry and have nowhere to direct it. Mom is back from her business trip and says she'll be cutting back on hours so she can be at home more, which is shocking since she's always taking business trips," Logan said.

"So, are you mad that she's back?" Keith asked.

"Yes... no. I don't know. I'm mad that she thinks she can come back and act like everything is normal and we can pick up from where things were left off for her when that's not the case. She knows exactly how her husband is, yet she still leaves Nathan and I to suffer under him," Logan said and Keith frowned.

"Hey... your mom loves you, you know that, right? Just let her in," Keith said as he sighed. Being one of the people who knows about what his brother did when Logan was a baby, he always tries to give Deb the benefit of the doubt.

She and Dan had a really bad fight when he brought Logan back from Karen's. Deb didn't understand how he could be so cruel as to snatch a woman's child away from her. Deb had even tried to take Logan back to Karen, but Dan had threatened her. He said if Deb ever tried anything, he would take Nathan and Logan, and she would never see them again. Deb was stuck. She felt horrible about what Dan did to Karen and felt horrible about the circumstances, but she wasn't going to take it out on Logan, she knew it wasn't Logan's fault. Deb knew all she could do was give Logan all the love she deserved, and that's all she's tried to do.

"That's the problem... maybe I don't want to let her in," Logan said as she shrugged. "She's never acted like she cared before, so why would she now?" She asked.

"Because she's your mother, and she loves you. Just try to talk to her without blowing up in anger. Now, what else is bothering you?" Keith asked and Logan sighed.

"I gave Lucas my letters," Logan said. Keith's eyes widened but then his face settled into a smile. "And he hasn't said anything about them. I don't know if he likes them, hates them, burned them, tucked them away, and hasn't read them. It's driving me crazy," Logan said and Keith laughed. But when he saw Logan's frown deepen, he laid his hand down on her shoulder.

"Maybe he's waiting until he reads them all before getting back to you," Keith said.

"But why? I'm going crazy in my head over here," Logan said.

"Okay, so we've gone through two filler topics. Are you going to tell me what's really bothering you or not?" Keith asked and Logan sighed.

"I haven't heard from Roman in a few days, and he hasn't been at school either," Logan said.

"I thought you didn't like him?" Keith asked.

"I don't like him in a romantic way, but we are friends, and since I know his parental situation... I'm worried about him," Logan said.

"Have you tried to go see him?" Keith asked and Logan shook her head.

"No... I don't know why, but I hope he's okay. I know when it comes to his family, he's really private about it and he doesn't share much with other people... I don't even know how much Nathan knows," Logan said.

"Roman's a strong kid, he'll be okay," Keith said. Logan shrugged as she ran her fingers back through her hair, and pulled her ponytail to tighten it again.

"I hope so," She said. The pair heard footsteps approaching, and Logan assumed it was Lucas, but she was surprised when she saw her father walk inside. Dan looked just as shocked to see Logan was there.

"Twice in one week. It's got to be some kind of record," Keith said. Dan looked away from his daughter and turned to his brother.

"Yeah, well, it's this father/son thing," Dan said.

"What father/son thing?" Logan asked as she turned to Keith.

"The father/son basketball game. Lucas asked me to play with him," Keith said and Logan smiled.

"Aww, that's really sweet. I'll try to make it to the game. Nathan will need the moral support," Logan said and Keith laughed a little. Logan hopped off the stool and grabbed her bag from the ground. "I'm also not in the mood to stick around and listen to the argument that I'm sure is about to happen, so I'll see you later, Uncle Keith," She said. Keith smiled as Logan kissed his cheek.

"Bye, kiddo," He said. She walked out past her dad without saying a word to him and decided to go back to trying to find Roman. She thought about trying to find Peyton but then knew Peyton probably wasn't looking to have company, so she switched back to trying to find Roman. She knew who she should go see first.

His brother Josh.

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"Hey, Lo... what brings you by?" Joshua Castillo asked when he opened the door to his apartment. Logan took a moment to look over him and she noticed that his hair was a bit messy and he was rubbing his eyes. And he only had on a pair of sweatpants.

"Josh, I'm sorry if I woke you up, I was just wondering if Roman was here," Logan said.

"He's not... I haven't seen him in a couple of days, why?" Josh asked.

"He hasn't been to school in a couple of days either... June hasn't said anything?" Logan asked. A troubled look crossed Josh's face as he shook his head.

"He hasn't?" He asked as he took out his phone and then he registered the second part of her sentence. "I haven't heard from June either," He said as he unlocked his phone and pulled up his call log. "Have you heard from either of them? Roman or June?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No... June normally will text me if she hasn't heard from Roman after a while, but I haven't heard from either of them. I was hoping you might've," Logan said and Josh shook his head.

"When was the last time you saw either of them?" Josh asked.

"A couple of nights ago, at the party, Nathan threw at our beach house after our game. Roman took me home after Nathan did some... stupid stuff," Logan said.

"Was June at the party?" Josh asked and Logan shook her head. "Did Roman say where he was going after he dropped you off?" He asked.

"He said your mom's house... why?" Logan asked. Josh shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Come in, Lo. I just need to change," He said. Logan nodded and walked inside of his apartment and closed the door behind her. Josh disappeared into his bedroom and a few moments later, walked back out with a shirt on. The troubled look on his face had Logan worried.

"Stay by your phone, okay? I'll call you if I find him. And stay here. If he or June show up, someone should be here, and call me if one of them does show up," He said and Logan nodded.

"Josh, where are you going?" Logan asked.

"Logan, please. Just stay here, and if one of them shows up, call me. If they don't, and I find Roman, I'll call you," He said and Logan sighed as she nodded. She knew she just had to trust him.

"Are you going to your dad's?" She asked. Josh remained silent at her question, but she could tell from the look in his eyes, she was right. He was going there. She only hoped that Roman and June were okay, especially since they were supposed to be at their mom's house.

"Wait for me to call, okay?"

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Logan's phone started ringing and she quickly answered it without checking the Caller ID, thinking it was Josh calling with an update. But when she answered the FaceTime call and saw her mom, Deb on the other side, she sighed. "Mom, I don't have time to talk right now," She said.

"Logan, where are you?" Deb said and she sighed.

"I'm at Josh's apartment," She said.

"Josh? Roman's older brother? For what reason do you need to be at an older man's apartment?" Deb asked and Logan rolled her eyes.

"First, Josh is only 21, he's not that much older than us. Two, it's not your business why I'm here. Is there a reason you called? I need to keep my phone line open," Logan said.

"I was calling to ask if you wanted to go to the father/son game together," Deb said and Logan shook her head.

"Pass," Logan said.

"Logan, sweetie. What is going on with you? Ever since I've come back home, you've been way more disrespectful, to me and your father. You leave before breakfast, you come home well after dinner, or you don't come home at all. You don't check in... are you binging again? What's going on?" Deb asked and Logan rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm not binging again, and it's insulting that you would even ask. What's wrong is you, Mom? You leave all the time for business and then come back and act like everything is the same way it was when you left when things aren't. Things are not the same when you leave and Dad is solely in charge. It's miserable, and now with you back, they're even more miserable," Logan snapped.

She knew she was being unfair. Yes, she was partly upset with her mom, but she was mainly concerned about Roman, and she just wanted to know that he was okay and safe.

"Logan...-" Logan stopped listening when a notification flashed across her screen. Brookie 💙 iMessage. Logan sighed and opened the text.

Brookie 💙:
Hey, do you know where Peyton is?
I haven't heard from her all day.

Hey, Brookie. I haven't seen her since she stormed out of practice
I'm not sure where she is, I'm sorry.

Brookie 💙:
Thanks, Lo. I'll let you know if I find her or hear from her

Sounds good

"Logan, are you listening to me?" Deb's voice snapped her out of her conversation with Brooke.

"No, honestly, I wasn't. I don't have anything else left to say to you, Mom. Don't you have a game to get ready for?" Logan asked and Deb sighed. She looked at her daughter through the screen for a long moment.

"Alright. I will see you at home," Deb said. Logan hung up the phone without saying goodbye. She knew she was being mean and unfair, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. Not until she knew Roman was okay. Her phone started ringing again, and Josh Castillo popped up on the screen. She immediately answered her phone.

"Josh, did you find them?" Logan asked.

"Lo... come to the hospital, now."

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dun dun dun... don't worry, he's okay.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.