Not So Bad After All

This is in season 1, on the episode Lucas discovers Dan wanted to help Karen raising him and she said no and didn’t tell anyone about it.

This happens the day after Lucas told Karen he wanted to leave One Tree Hill with Keith, pretending she didn’t let him and that Dan didn’t have a heart attack.

.

Lucas Scott grunted, frustrated when he missed again. It seemed like he was too upset to play … Last night, his mother had told him he couldn't just run away from his responsibilities with Keith; denying him the option to start over. 

The boy sighed sadly, it wasn't fair… Why did she feel like she could still make that kind of decision for him? Hadn't it been enough with the whole Dan thing?

Groaning in exasperation, he threw the ball as far as he could, which happened to be in the same direction as a luxurious car that was passing by. 
Lucas cursed under his breath when he recognized the driver of the perfect vehicle, who had just parked to check his car. 

"What do you think you're doing, boy?!" Dan Scott yelled from across the street, approaching him angrily. He had just taken the car out of the agency!

That had to be the worst timing ever… Lucas was so not in the mood;the last thing he wanted was to have to talk to anyone, and especially not that man.
Lucas opened his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off, but what came out of his mouth instead, was a completely different story. 

"I…"

"You what?! You wanted to destroy my car's windshield?!" 

"Iwanttoknowyou…" 

The anger left Dan's face, and soon, astonishment took its place. 

"What did you just say?" 

Lucas wanted to ask himself the same question, but found his mouth working again. 

"My mom… she told me… ith's leaving, and she's making me stay. I'm just saying, she's making an important… wrong decision for me without thinking about what I feel about it… Again."

After processing the child's awkward ramblings, Dan decided he couldn't care less about that stupid windshield. Soon, he felt himself trying to contain a smile. He’d have to tell Whitey he’d be too busy to coach the team after all.

"Well, it's never too late to make things right." 

.

"What do you think about this situation, Lucas?" The social worker asked the awkward teenager, who did his best not look at anybody else's eyes, save the man. It was understandable, it wasn't everyday that parents asked for shared custody when the child was already a teenager. 

"I… I think I'd like to get to know Dan." He spoke, with difficulty, after a moment. 

The shock was apparent in both his parents faces, but with Dan, it came with a subtle smile of victory, disbelief was written all over Karen's face, like she had never even considered the possibility before. 
The social worker, on the other hand, just kept on going. 

"Well, I thank you for coming, your opinion is important in this case…" the man started saying before being abruptly interrupted.

"Bullshit!" Karen slammed her hand hard on the table, prompting her son to try and calm her down. 

"Excuse me?" the social worker was clearly confused. He had to deal with that kind of parent on a daily basis, but the woman had looked so calm and collected before entering the room… 

"My son can't go live with that poor excuse of a man! Dan abandoned him, and then came back just to treat him like dirt! I have been trying to protect Lucas from that monster all his life!" 

Dan refrained from laughing at the desperation on Karen's face. While Dan couldn't deny that Karen had done her best raising their son, it didn't mean she hadn't screwed his life in the process. 

"What you did was put your pride before your child's needs." Dan cut her off, "I was wrong when I walked away, and my behaviour regarding Lucas has been a mistake lately, but I'm not a monster! I wanted to be part of his life, and had the best intentions and you forbade me, and then you told our son I never even tried."

"You wanted power over us!" 

"I wanted to give him a better life! That was not about you!" Dan may not have the best temper and he sure needed to mend some fences, but he was tired of being the fucking devil in town, "I tried to rectify my actions and you put your damned pride first and our child second! Stop trying to make it sound like it was all for him." 

"Well," The social worker finally spoke, knowing that it was not fair for the boy to be listening to all of that, "The current situation is different now, and Lucas, being fourteen…"

"He just turned fifteen," Dan cut in, much to Karen's irritation. 

"Sorry, Lucas, being fifteen, is able to decide if he'd like to take on his father's offer and allow him to be part of his life." 

Lucas sighed, feeling conflicted. 

"I think I'd like that."

"You know what? Fine," Karen stated clearly hurt, "You want to be a father to Lucas so much? Great, let's see for how long," she started getting up, "Go pick up his stuff today, I'll make sure not to be there."

Despite Lucas' utterly confused face, Dan almost smiled with joy. Everything was turning out better than expected. 

"I'm afraid I'm not understanding…" The social worker began, almost as confused as the boy. 

"Yes, Lucas wants his father so badly? He can go live with him then, he's welcome back with me as soon as he realizes what kind of shitty person this man is!"

"Mom, I…" 

"Save it, Lucas. Do you really want to know him?" 

"…Well, yes, but…" 

"Then I'm done here." The woman left the room, determined.