Inhale. Exhale. Calm down, he told himself. And yet he couldn't. He could barely even button the jeans that now hung from his hips. They were found, neatly folded, at the bottom of Haley's sock drawer. She was in the bathroom at the moment and he took advantage of her absence to shed the clothes he had slept in and slip into the jeans. It wasn't until he heard the creaking of her bathroom door that he realized, he still didn't have a shirt. Hell, his jeans weren't even zipped.

He quickly tossed on the t-shirt he had slept in, just to avoid being naked in her presence. Well, it wasn't that he would have been naked naked. He just didn't want- He didn't know what he didn't want. He knew that there would be something in that room that he wanted. Something that he couldn't have. And being semi-naked in her presence would only make him want her more.

Hearing the bathroom door open, he turned. And his jaw dropped.

She was in a towel. Just a towel, preumably. Her legs and arms dangling. Her hair slicked back and wet. She was so beautiful.

She sheepishly grabbed the pile of clothes on her chair and scuttled back into the bathroom. But in the twenty agonizing seconds she had been in the room, serious damage was done. Lucas struggled to regain his breath as well as coherent thought.

He. Wanted. Her.

That was the only thought in his mind. And he knew, he knew very well, that if he stayed in that room any longer that he'd burst into flames- that or grab Haley by whatever body part was nearest and kiss her breathless. He knew which option he would prefer, but he was scared that she'd hate him for it.

He was supposed to be her best friend, her solid rock, her person to turn to now that her boyfriend was being a complete jerk. He was supposed to be proud that he held that position. He was supposed to be glad that he held that place in her heart. But he wasn't. No, he wasn't any of those things. He was just a guy, who wanted her. Who loved her.

The bathroom door began to creak open again, and as though he was afraid that she'd hear his thoughts, he scrambled out of the room and ran the whole way to school.

He never even noticed the black car pulling into Haley's driveway.

==========X===========X============

Nathan sat in the front seat of his car, wondering why exactly he sat in Haley's driveway when school was only another couple of blocks away. But the guilt that had been eating him from inside all morning began chomping ferociously again. He was here because he knew that there was a strong possibility of becoming physically sick if he hid this any longer.

Memories of the previous night twisted restlessly in his mind. Arms pinned under arms, legs tangled all over each other, lips searching for comfort, sucking to be pacified. But it was Brooke. It was Brooke, not Haley.

He wanted to vomit.

He wanted to grab Haley pin her down quickly and ravish her, right there in the front seat of his car.

Sighing heavily, Nathan began to pull out of the driveway. He didn't know what he wanted. But being there, knowing that Haley was inside her home, probably sitting at a mirror and applying her favorite watermelon lip gloss, made Nathan feel worse by the second.

At least going to school would force him to focus on Hamlet and trigonometry and the laws of supply and demand. Not Haley and his betrayal and how much it would hurt her if she found out what happened.

=========X===========X===========

Whitey couldn't figure out why both Scott brothers seemed so distracted. It had at least made sense when neither played their best when they still hated each other's guts. Even last week, when Nathan almost toppled Lucas over with every pass, Whitey understood. There was serious history of animosity between the two.

Apparently, now, things were better between the boys but worse within them as individuals. When did the three ring Scott circus ever end?

Studying his clipboard, Whitey reviewed notes on the practice. Their two main plays they had been working on seemed to be flowing smoothly enough. Their full court press was weaker than it could be. And the both Scott had missed 80% of their shots through the practice. The team would need some extra practices before next Saturday's game, but even that wouldn't help if Lucas and Nathan continued playing like mindless zombies.

He sent the rest of the team home, but resolved to talk with both Nathan and Lucas before their performance on the court could get any worse. He pulled Lucas aside first.

"Son, I've noticed that you've been distracted lately," began Whitey's speech to the teenager. "I know its not because of your brother, and I'm glad for that. But now that you two can finally grasp teamwork, your individual performance has dropped quite a bit. So I know that you're probably messed up right now over a girl..."

Whitey smiled knowledgabley.

He patted the blonde's shoulder. "What's going on with the girl?" Whitey asked, a clear picture of Brooke in his mind. The coach anticipated Lucas to open up about Brooke, but instead the young blue eyes refused to meet his.

"You want to talk about Brooke?" coach offered.

"No," he hesitated a few moments before adding, "But I think I'm in love with Haley."