Episode 309: NAME

An overview of the town is shown, with flashes of various places and people…

The entire town was celebrating the first Ravens game of the upcoming season. Banners are strung up all across town including the mall where an excited Brooke has gone to talk to her boss at Suburban Filth.

"Oh hey Brooke. How are you doing today?"

"Well for a day that started out terribly, quite awesome thank you. How are you?"

"Oh just fine, the sales just keep coming in. By the way congratulations on your designs. I must say that they're a great addition to the store." Brooke smiled.

"Thank you. Speaking of my designs um… I was just wondering, when do I get paid for those designs?" Her boss' smile began to fade.

"Um actually, didn't you know? You don't get paid for your designs, I'm sorry Brooke. When you began working here, you signed a waiver here and your entire line belongs to us now. Don't you remember? I'm really sorry, but you do get a 10% discount." The smiled wiped completely off of Brooke's face.

"Oh well uh… I didn't know that. It must have slipped my mind. I'm sorry. Anyways, look at the time, I need to go. I'll see you around. Bye." With that Brooke quickly scurried out. She walked as fast as she could without running until she got to her car where she slid in behind the wheel and pressed her forehead against it.

"Well… time to get my cheer face on… it's game day!" Brooke stated with a fake smile. She then pulled out of the parking lot and drove to school. Once she got there, she parked her car and gathered her stuff to get ready for the game.

"Hey Brooke!" Brooke turned around to see both Peyton and Haley heading towards her.

"Oh hey girls" Brooke responded as they got in line next to her.

"What's wrong?" Peyton immediately asked, sensing her friend's depression.

"Oh nothing really… just that remember how my designs got put out by Suburban Filth? Well it turns out that when I got the job, I signed a waiver and so all of my designs actually belong to them, so I get nothing except for a 10% discount." Peyton and Haley both smiled at her sympathetically.

"Oh Brooke… I'm sorry. That's terrible." Haley said as they walked into the school.

"Yeah I know. It's just not fair. Those were my designs! Mine! I came up with them and I drew them! It's not fair that I get nothing for it and Luke still won't talk to me, let alone look at me."

"Yeah, I know the feeling… I don't even know what's going on between me and Nate anymore."

"At least you guys know where your significant others are… I have no clue." Peyton responded.

"Oh, where did we go so wrong?" Haley sighed.

"Well I slept with Chris Keller and you went on tour with him." Brooke said with a wry smile.

"It could be worse you know." Peyton said trying to be optimistic. At Brooke's skeptical look, Peyton just rolled her eyes, "I mean I could have married Chris Keller or something." The three girls burst into giggles, but Brooke sobered up quickly.

"Come on Brooke. You need to be a little more positive here."

"Okay, whatever you say P Sawyer." Brooke responded as they approached the locker room.

"Seriously, when did we start letting boys dictate our happiness?" Haley asked.

"I was 9." Brooke stated bluntly. The other girls looked at her but didn't know what to say.

"Uh Ms. Davis," the three girls turned around to see their coach coming towards them, "I'm sorry Brooke, but you cannot cheer for tonight's game."

"What?! What are you talking about?" Haley exclaimed shocked.

"According to my record, you missed school today and as head cheerleader, I know you know the rules. If you miss school on game day, you are not allowed to cheer for the game."

"You missed school today? But I saw you this morning-" Peyton started

"Yeah I was here, but after that thing with that b*tch and Luke… I just couldn't stay there anymore. I know I know." Brooke responded at their looks.

"I'm sorry Brooke, but I can't allow you to cheer."

"It's okay Coach. There's nothing much to cheer about anyway. I'll see you tomorrow P. Sawyer and I'll meet you at home Haley." Brooke stated before heading to the exit of the school while their coach entered the locker room.

"Okay Brooke… Bye." The two girls watched Brooke walk away sadly. When she finally disappeared, the two shifted uncomfortably, realizing that they were alone together for the first time in a long time.

"This isn't right. Poor Brooke." Haley said, awkwardly breaking the silence.

"Yeah I know…" she trailed off, "look Haley I know that things between us haven't been that great lately and I know it's mostly my fault, but let's put that all aside to help out Brooke."

"Okay. I'm sorry for getting angry with you about the boy draft. I mean Nathan did ask you to pick him so how can I blame you for helping out your friend?"

"It's okay. I don't blame you; I mean he is your husband."

"Yeah… if that's what you can call it. I don't know what to do about that anymore. But there are more important things now like helping out Brooke especially with the whole Luke situation." Haley stated sadly.

"Oh well I think that you've helped out enough with that, don't you Haley?" Came a cocky voice from behind the two girls. They turned around to come face to face with a smirking Chris Keller.

"Chris Keller… just the guy we wanted to see." Haley said sarcastically.

"What the hell is your problem, who do you think you are, why do you insist on going around ruining people's lives?" Peyton shouted angrily.

"Well one: I have no problem, it's fun. Two: I'm Chris Keller. And three: I didn't ruin Brooke's life. She didn't have to do anything, she was into me. I'm just that irresistible."

"Whatever, Brooke would never purposefully do anything to ruin things with her and Luke." Haley responded.

"Really? Well who did she spend Saturday night with? It wasn't Luke's name she was calling out that night and I know she was having a good –" SMACK! Chris' head snapped to the right as Peyton slapped him as hard as she could, leaving a red handprint across his left cheek.

"You asshole! How can you live with yourself?! Go to hell!" exclaimed an angry Peyton.

"Honestly, you can take yourself and that cocky attitude and shove it up your ass!" Haley added as they walked away from him.

"You know… that felt good." Peyton said giggling.

"Yeah it really did," Haley responded turning to her, "so do you forgive me for leaving?"

"Yes, yes I do. I was just angry because I'm so sick and tired of everyone leaving and I was just taking my anger out on you when you didn't really deserve it. I'm sorry."

"Well I did leave, but I forgive you." Haley said as they laughed.

"I really am happy that you actually came back. Welcome home Haley." Peyton said hugging a teary eyed Haley.

"Oh Peyton, I missed you!" Haley replied, returning the hug.

Meanwhile... while the two girls are making up, Brooke is at home in her living room.

"This sucks!" Brooke said to herself as she sat on her couch in front of the TV, watching a chick flick and eating some cake.

"Well you did bring most of it upon yourself." Brooke said before shoving some more cake into her mouth.

"Sigh… what am I going to do?" Brooke asked herself, before shutting off the TV and falling back on her couch.

Next, in the locker room, before the big game, the team is getting ready

Whitey walks in to the changing area amidst excited hooting and chants all around the lockers. He smiles as the motivation the players seem to be showing.

"All right, all right now! Settle down boys!" he called across the locker room, "now gather around these benches here, I have an announcement to make." The entire team gathered around the center of the locker room, wondering what Whitey wanted to say.

"I just wanted to say that's it has been a fun ride boys but I am getting old so I will be retiring after the season. This season will be my last one boys and I want to go out a winner! You hear me boys? I am going out a winner!"

"All right guys, let's hear it for Whitey. We're winning this for Whitey. Gather around boys, hands in the middle. Whitey on 3, 1, 2, 3… WHITEY!" the team shouts before heading toward the exit of the locker room. Lucas joins them, equally pumped but before he reaches the exit, a hand grabs his arm. He turns around and frowns to see Nathan standing there.

"You've been sucking really badly at practices big bro." Nathan states pointing his finger to Lucas' chest.

"Whatever Nathan." Luke responds, rolling his eyes.

"Don't whatever me. I'm just saying don't screw this one up. Just remember, if you screw up for the team you'll be screwing up for Whitey too. Later bro." Nathan said sarcastically before bumping shoulders with Lucas and exiting the locker room.

"Well great. Just what I needed for this game." Lucas said to himself sarcastically as he walked out onto the court. He looked around and noticed that Brooke was missing amongst the cheerleaders. His eyes met with Haley's and he raised an eyebrow and she shook her head. He tried not to think about the kiss as he approached her, pushing in to the back of his mind, telling himself that he was caught up in the moment, she was on the rebound and he loves Brooke.

"Hey. Where's Brooke?" Lucas asked once he'd cleared his head.

"Um yeah… about that. Well apparently she missed school this morning and well you know the policy so yeah, she can't cheer today." Lucas frowned.

"Oh… great. This game can't get any worse…" Lucas muttered to himself.

"I'm really sorry Luke." Haley said sympathetically.

"Nah, it's fine. At least you're here." Lucas said trying to cheer himself up. Haley smiled.

"Yeah, this is true. We always stick together and you know that I'll always be here."

"I know, I know. And me too." Lucas responded before pulling her into a hug. He took a second to breathe in her scent before he realized what he was doing and pulled away. What was wrong with him? Ever since that kiss… he shook his head again.

"Well you should start warming up now. The game's going to start soon."

"Yeah, I better go. I'll see you after the game?" Haley nodded.

"Definitely. Good luck!" Haley called as he jogged off to the rest of the team. The smile hadn't left her face and she didn't think that it would. It faltered for a second as she pondered the hug. She wasn't sure, but it had felt like the hug had been an extra moment or too longer than it should have been for friends, but she was probably imagining it. It wasn't like she wanted it to be a non-friendly hug; she didn't, right? Right Haley told herself as she went to rejoin the other cheerleaders in boosting the spirits of the crowd minutes before the game.

As all of this was happening on the court… at the announcer table, Mouth sat contemplating the events of the last few days…

'Wow… these last two weeks have been crazy. I don't even know what to do anymore, let alone what I'm feeling'

In the last two weeks Mouth had learned that there was a lot more to Rachel than what she showed, on the surface. At first she had seemed like the complete and utter bitch that Brooke had been moaning to him about, but after spending the past few days with her, he had to admit that she was truly an awesome girl. Granted she really wasn't the nicest person, but at least she was honest and true to herself. There were a lot of girls in this town that tried to put up a front and he was sick of it. It was nice to experience something different for once.

During this time he had also learned a lot about himself and about some people he had thought he had known better than anyone else. He hadn't expected to see the side of Brooke that he had been seeing these last couple of days. She was his best friend and he had been in love with her for quite some time, but this wasn't the Brooke that he loved. She was being unreasonable, angry and just plain rude at times and he didn't appreciate it. He loved her and he let her go to her various guys from Felix to even one of his friends, Lucas, but when he actually displayed interest in another girl… when that girl showed interest in him, she suddenly got possessive and angry. It wasn't fair at all.

He just didn't understand what was going on with her anymore. She wasn't even in love with him but she still thought that he wasn't allowed to date other girls. Brooke acted as though his attention had to be focused one hundred percent on her and that was just selfish.

He sometimes wondered if maybe, just maybe she was jealous. The way she was acting… the signs were all there, but then he'd see her pining after Lucas and have to face the facts that he was just being wishful. She'd never be jealous of him with anyone else. Brooke simply didn't feel that way with him, period. It hurt, but maybe it was time he accepted that fact. It would make his life easier and far less painful. Maybe this entire situation… and Rachel would be a way for him to finally get past this obstacle, to finally give up on the girl who owned his heart: Brooke Davis.

Meanwhile, at the Ravens' basketball game…

SWISH! Lucas smiled at the sound of the ball gliding into the net. He could feel that he was on his game tonight. He would not let Nathan's words get to him. He would not let Brooke's absence get to him. No, he was going to focus on the game and what he was here to do. He was not alone on this court. His brother may hate him again, the girl of his dreams may not be here, hell he may even have a heart condition, but he would not let any of those factors get him down. Not today, not this game, not ever.

The game was about to start and they were finishing up their warm ups and Lucas knew that he was ready. This was the first game of the season and he was not going to start failing now. This season was for the team, for Whitey, and most importantly himself. He would not give up on basketball. This was his home, where he was most comfortable. Everything else… Brooke, Nathan, Chris Keller, even Haley, he would leave off the court.

His mind wandered back to Haley. From what he had gathered from Nathan, it seemed like he had already signed the divorce papers and that Haley knew about it. Or at least they had talked sometime this weekend and come to the conclusion that they were pretty much over. Lucas refused to agree with that. He had seen their relationship develop; he had watched them fall in love. He would not let them give it all up so easily. Not after all these years and the progress that they had made. He would not let Dan be right. Haley and Nathan deserved each other… they love each other. He refused to accept any other possibility or any other logic for his need to get them back together. They were just meant to be. He resolved himself to talking to Haley after the game and to take their jealousy plan seriously. That way things would move along for himself and Brooke as well as Haley and Nathan.

"Hey man, you ready for this?" Skills asked walking up to Lucas. Lucas nodded his head as he took another shot from the free throw line.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Lucas asked genuinely confused.

"Well I mean the opening with Whitey and well you know." Skills responded motioning to the sidelines of the court.

"What are you talking about Skills? And what are you pointing at?" Skills grabbed Lucas' arm and turned him around, pointing to the sidelines of the court. Lucas looked around confused until he noticed Chris Keller standing on the sidelines, chatting with the cheerleaders… more specifically Haley.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Lucas asked angrily.

"Uh… Lucas… didn't you know? Chris Keller's singing the anthem before our game." Lucas faltered in his shooting, missing his next free throw.

"What?! Are you serious?! You've got to be kidding me!" Lucas muttered to himself. He was not going to let this get to him. He was not. That bastard was only going to sing the anthem; that was it. He was just here to sing the anthem and that was it. Lucas only had to watch him sing the anthem and then he could forget about him for a while; focus on the game. He could do this.

Peyton looked around wearily at the scene before her. Chris Keller was here at the game and he was singing the national anthem. To make things worse, he was standing with the cheerleaders, surrounded by them, but his attention was focused solely on Haley. With both of the Scott brothers glaring coldly at the jerk's back, Peyton had a really bad feeling about this situation.

"Hey Chris, what are you doing here?" Peyton asked as she stepped into the conversation going on between Haley and Chris.

"Oh nothing really. Just here to grace you all with my singing. You should all be honored, really. It's not very often that you guys get someone with as much talent as I do to sing the national anthem for you." Peyton rolled her eyes. This guy was just too much.

"Well that's nice. Anyways, shouldn't you be somewhere else, warming up or something?"Chris scoffed and looked scandalized at her suggestion.

"Me? Warm up? This is Chris Keller you're talking to. Chris Keller doesn't need warm ups in order to perform." Peyton rolled her eyes again as Chris winked suggestively at Haley. She was relieved that Haley looked ready to puke at the wink.

"Well either way, the game is about to start, so we should get ready and so should you." Haley responded. Chris actually agreed to this statement and turned to walk away, only to bump right into one of the Scott brothers with the other one standing not too far away.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Chris asked as he smirked at Nathan.

"Get out of my face Keller!" Nathan growled; the anger clear on his face. Chris held his hands up in surrender, taking a step back.

"Settle down there, Superstar. If I remember correctly, you were the one standing right behind me. But, you're right. I'll step out of your way. After all, we both have more important things to do. Or at least I do." Chris stated as he leered at Haley. The fury in Nathan's eyes only increased.

"Stay the hell away from her." Lucas growled, stepping in front of Haley. Chris raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then the smirk on his face widened.

"My, my. Do my eyes deceive me? I must say Haley James, I'm impressed. Not only have you married the younger Scott, but you've also sunk your claws into the older one as well? Nice work! I congratulate you. You really are learning the trade of the artist. Do whatever you have to in order to get those records made… or should I say do whomever?" Both Lucas and Nathan lunged for him. Tim and Skills grabbed Nathan, while Haley stepped in front of Lucas. Lucas tried to step around her, desperate to beat up Chris Keller.

"Lucas, please. He's not worth it. Come on. The last thing we need is for you to be benched before the game even begins." Haley pleaded, staring up into his eyes. Lucas growled, but took a step back.

"You better watch your back Keller. I'm letting you go this time, but I'm not going to be so easy on you next time." Lucas sated, glaring at him. Chris scoffed.

"Oh please, spare me. I think we all know that you're nothing more than talk Scott. After all, if I recall correctly, it was me who was getting under a certain brunette last –" he was interrupted by Lucas' furious shout as he charged at Chris. Thankfully, Skills, Nathan, and Tim all grabbed him in time, preventing Lucas from getting kicked out of the game. He struggled against them, trying to get at Chris as Keller continuously taunted him. The group was starting to cause a scene and the gym had begun to quiet down as people noticed the action going on near the Ravens' sidelines. Whitey's shrill whistle interrupted anything else that could have happened just as Lucas slipped from the grasp of the three players.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" Whitey shouted. Immediately everyone turned away, not having a response. Chris Keller put on a charming smiled and decided to respond.

"There is nothing to worry about here, Coach. We were all just getting reacquainted. You see I left town for a while and I just came back. They were just saying hi to an old friend." At Whitey's skeptical look, Chris added, "I know it's a little unconventional to greet a friend like that, but hey, that's just the way things are when it comes to me… unique!" Everyone else rolled their eyes but said nothing.

"Okay… you can go back to your seat Keller. The game's about to start. Same with you girls. As for the rest of you… get back to the bench!" Whitey barked, turning to his players. Nathan and Lucas glared at the smirking Chris Keller before heading towards the sidelines. As they reached the bench and went to sit down, they heard a remark.

"By the way… good luck you two. God only knows you guys are going to need it. Especially since I'm going to be watching it. That's right; I'm not here just to sing. I'm here to watch you play… and lose. I don't know if you guys have noticed it by now, but Chris Keller always gets his way and this time… he wants you to lose. Have fun sucking… losers!" Chris called out from his seat. Both Nathan and Lucas turned in their seats, ready to punch Chris' lights out.

"SCOTT! I don't know what you guys were up to, but I'm not stupid. Be thankful neither one of you actually hit him. Otherwise I would bench you right now! I'm really starting to rethink this whole captain thing for the two of you! Especially you Lucas. Now I don't know what your problem is but you better fix it now! There's no time and this is our first game. Put aside whatever your problems are and focus on the game… now!" Both Lucas and Nathan nodded, before glaring at each other and joining their team on the sideline. Lucas' good mood was quickly deteriorating, but he was not going to let Chris Keller get to him. He wasn't.

At the announcers table, Mouth was happily giving the audience a play by play voice-over of what was going on in the game…

"Oh and there he is again. Number 51 of the Lions scores again and it is now 45- 26 Knights with only 2 minutes left in the half!" Mouth cheerfully announced. His tone was misleading to the crowd, but everyone on the Ravens' side knew that it was a pretense Mouth was keeping to stay neutral. The Ravens were getting killed out there and he was really concerned about Lucas. The entire team had been playing horribly, but none of them were as bad as Lucas. He was playing out there like 5-year old who had never seen a basketball before ever in his life. The person he had been guarding the entire game, Number 51 was taking serious advantage of Lucas' lack of skills and building up points.

Lucas wasn't the only on doing terrible. Even Nathan and Skills were making mistakes. Whitey was furious at them. He had tried subbing them out, but his substitutes were playing even worse than his starters, so he had no choice but to put them back in. He was not a happy man.

Mouth wondered what was going on with the team. Minutes before the game they had seemed hyped and ready to go, but after that encounter the Chris Keller, Mouth couldn't help but wonder if the guy had really gotten to the team or specifically the Scott brothers. A shrill whistle interrupted his thoughts and he tuned in just in time to see an angry Lucas approach the ref.

"What?! Are you kidding me?! That was an accident! There was no foul!" Lucas screamed at the ref. The ref merely ignored him and Skills grabbed Lucas, but he pulled away and punched the pole supporting the net. The ref blew the whistle turning to the crowd.

"Unsportsmanlike conduct. Ravens, Number 03, technical foul. This is number 03's second Foul, disqualified until next point is made." The ref called out. There were a series of boos in response as Lucas slammed the ball back to an opposing player and went to sit on the bench. Mouth glanced towards the side and caught Haley's eye. She gave him a worried glance and he shrugged in response not knowing how to respond. Any further communication was interrupted by the horn announcing that the first half was over. Haley quickly jogged over to the announcer's table to talk to Mouth.

"Haley, what's going on? I've never seen Lucas act this way before. Is it because of what happened before the game with Chris Keller? What did happen between them anyways?" Haley shook her head.

"I'm not really sure Mouth. I think Chris had something to do with it, but I think it's also because Brooke's not here and I don't know. I think there's something more going on. I can't really explain what I think is happening or what happened earlier because of the halftime show, but I'll talk to Lucas afterwards and fill you in later, okay?" Mouth nodded in response and Haley hurried off to join her squad at center court.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, the Ravens are getting the lecture of a lifetime. Whitey is tearing into them about their terrible performance and at one point he's too furious to say anything. He turns to Lucas and starts ripping into him personally, further sinking Lucas' already low spirits.

"And you Scott! If practices weren't enough, here you are at our opening game and what are you doing?! I honestly have no clue! You were out there and it's clear that you've never played basketball before! You even argued with the ref and cost us a player until someone scores a point! And it damn well better not be them that scores!" Whitey roared at Lucas before turning to Nathan and Skills, "and it isn't bad enough that I have one player playing like a 5 year old, I have two others playing like GIRLS! My grandmother can shoot better than you! So much for retiring on a good note!" The locker room doors slammed shut Whitey stormed back out to the court. Nathan immediately got up and faced his brother.

"Way to go big brother. That was a great way of showing your worth for this team. I told you not to mess this up and what do you do? You go and mess it up. Good job!" Nathan said sarcastically as he got into his brother's face. Lucas turned his head away angrily, but Nathan grabbed his face.

"No you look at me! I'm talking to you and you need to listen da-" Nathan was pulled away from Lucas. He quickly turned to rip into the person who grabbed him but was interrupted.

"Hey! Why don't you lay off? Luke wasn't the only one who sucked out there. We all did. So instead of blaming him, why don't you work on figuring out what you're doing wrong? Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I am going to go out there and fix this. It's Whitey's last season and we are not going down as losers. Not tonight, not next week, not ever!" Skills exclaimed before exiting the locker room. Nathan scoffed angrily, but followed him out the door.

"Damn it!" Lucas muttered to himself as the rest of the team slowly filed out, "I told myself that I wouldn't let everything get to me. Why am I letting them win?! I have to turn this around. I can do this!" Lucas vowed to himself before following his team back out onto the court. He reluctantly took his seat on the sidelines, waiting impatiently for the second half to start and for someone, hopefully a teammate, to score.

"Hey," he felt a hand touch his shoulder, "are you okay?" Lucas looked up to see Haley standing behind him, with a concerned look on her face. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay… well as okay as I can be with the whole HCM, Nathan, and Brooke things. And Chris Keller being here is really not helping. I'm trying not to think about those things but I can't help it and I keep losing my focus." Lucas explained, frustrated. Haley smiled sympathetically.

"You and I both buddy. But you know what? The Lucas I know is strong enough to get past all of this. I know he's made of better stuff than what he's been showing on that court. This is your opportunity, you chance to take all of that stuff and put it behind you, to move past it. Take that anger, the frustration and channel that energy out into your game. Make those baskets and turn this game around. Just forget about everything else and win. I know you can do it."

"You really think I can do all of that?" Lucas asked skeptically. Haley nodded.

"It's you we're talking about Lucas Scott. I know you and I know you can do this and I know that you're a great basketball player. So what you need to do is show them the awesome guy that I see every day. I believe in you and I know that you can do anything." Lucas smiled in response.

"You really believe in me that much Hales?" Haley grinned.

"Of course I do. You're my number one hero and even if you don't win this game, I'll still be proud of you because I know that you'll have tried your best and that you gave this game everything you got. I'll be proud because I know that despite everything that's going on in your life right now, you did not let it get to you; you moved past it and still put your all out there. That's the Lucas Scott I know and that's the Lucas Scott that you'll always be for me." Lucas nodded in response. He was starting to agree with her words and he could feel his spirits lift a little bit. The shrill of the whistle brought their attention back to game where Lucas realized with a groan that the Knights had scored.

"I won't let them get to me." Lucas vowed as he was allowed back into the game. He watched as Nathan passed the ball in to Skills who dribbled the ball down to center, looking around for an open teammate. Lucas maneuvered around the court, finding the perfect spot and waited for Skills to pass. He caught the ball and pivoted left and right to find any openings. He didn't see any and began dribbling the ball, keeping it away from his opponent. He looked around and saw that all of his teammates were covered and knew that he had to go for a shot. He took a deep breath and tuned everything out, trying to rid his mind of any and all distractions. He heard a voice call out to him distinctly. Still dribbling the ball, he zoned into that voice, trying to make it out.

"Come on Lucas! You can do it! I believe in you!" He'd recognize that voice anywhere. His mind rewound back to the conversation that they had just minutes earlier and he vowed that he would win this. He would turn this game around. Not just for his team, not just for Whitey, not just for him, but also for her, that lone single voice that had stood by him through everything else, no matter what. Yes, he would do this for her; he would gather his strength from her.

Back at the apartment, Brooke is still sitting in front of the TV, moping about her terrible week and her even worse day…

"I can't believe I couldn't cheer at the game. Why was I so stupid? I shouldn't have skipped class. I knew it was a game day. Lucas is going to be even madder at me than he was before. Oh how do I get myself into these situations?" Brooke groaned out loud, throwing her head back on the couch. Her mind wandered back to the conversation she and Haley had on their way to the mall earlier that day.

Flashback Start!

"I know I've said this before, but where did everything go wrong? One minute I'm not letting Lucas get close because I'm too scared of getting hurt again to trust him and the next I'm in bed with Chris Keller making a hypocrite of myself. What happened?" Brook asked wrinkling her nose in absolute bewilderment. Haley shook her head.

"I really don't know Brooke. I never imagined that I would be here: married, pretty much committing adultery, and on the borderline of getting a divorce all before I even graduate high school." She let out an ironic laugh, "when did every aspect of my happiness begin to rely solely upon the presence and actions of boys in my life?" Brooke gave a shrug.

"I don't know about you, but like the rest of us it happened at some point. But you know what I've decided?" Haley quirked an eyebrow in question, "I've decided that Luke doesn't even have the right to be mad at me because he did the same thing to me last year with Peyton. Not that it excuses my actions or anything but at least for me it wasn't his best friend!" Haley nodded her agreement.

"And you know what else, Brooke? Boys are not worth it, they're not. It's just all too much trouble. What we really need to do is stop sitting around, moping all day and letting boys dictate our lives. We need move on and get over it. You should focus on other things, more important things in your life, like… fashion, shopping! From here on out, it should be shopping over men. Clothes over boys." Haley insisted. Brooke slowly began nodding her head.

"You're right. I do need to move on, get past this. I can do it. And really, clothes are the more important thing in my life right now. And I'm going to start moving on by making a new fashion line. Clothes over boys! Well… Clothes over bros?" Brooke asked questioningly.

"Clothes over bros." Haley affirmed.

Flashback End!

Despite having agreed with Haley earlier, Brooke wasn't so sure she could agree with her now. She had spent the night making some doodles and adapting some of Peyton's drawings, but they did nothing to fill the hole she had in her heart. She could not simply leave her relationship with Lucas as the tangled mess that it was now. She had to fix things. She couldn't allow things to remain the way they were. She wasn't going to let him ignore her either.

She looked at her dresser, knowing what was hidden in its depths. She got up and slowly pulled out the stack of paper out. She had written letters to Lucas all summer. One for nearly every single day that they were apart, but she had not given any of them to him. Not a single one of the 82 letters that she wrote. Despite everything that had happened, she could not bring herself to give him those letters. Not yet anyways.

First she needed to make sure that everything was okay between them. And if the talk went okay, then she would trust him with her heart by giving him those revealing and personal letters that she had written. If not, then she would toss them. Despite her desire to be with him, she did not want to get her heart broken again. After all, he was the only guy who had ever seen her as something more than a dumb cheerleader or an easy lay sort of girl.

She glanced at the clock. The game would be ending just about now and the guys would be getting showers pretty soon. If she left now she could make it just in time to catch Luke before he left. She had to talk to him. She couldn't wait for another day to pass. He had not let her have time to heal and stew in her anger so she was not going to let do so either. She was going to fix things and that was a promise.

Back at the school, the basketball game is down to its last couple of minutes…

"And with less than a minute left in this game we are at the turning point of the century ladies and gentlemen. What started out as a one-sided game has completely turned around and everything is now up in the air. A half that started out 45 - 26 Knights is now tied at 64 - 64! It has been an amazing turn around for the Ravens, especially for co-captain Lucas Scott." Mouth paused to take a breath.

"After a miserable first half where the player could not keep up with his opponent, let alone the ball, it seems now that the opposite has happened where Scott is leaving them in the dust. He has certainly been a key player for this come back, scoring 27 of the 38 points scored by the Ravens this half! That's more than 70% and the last points scored were from a steal made by Antwon "Skills" Taylor who passed to Lucas Scott and he took it all the way successfully tying this game. Amazing! This has become quite a game folks, quite the game. This is what basketball is all about and the crowds are certainly going wild now as it all comes down to this final play to see whether or not this come back will make or break the Ravens. What a night!" Mouth exclaimed in one giant breath.

He still couldn't believe what had happened. He didn't know what Haley had said to Lucas, but it had certainly worked. He had seemed apprehensive when he reentered the game, but after one look at and a cheer from Haley he had transformed into the player that he had been last season, if not even better. It was amazing and one of the best come back he had ever witnessed and he was almost positive that it was all because of Haley.

"And it's the Knights' ball ladies and gentlemen with 50 seconds left on the clock. It is clear they are taking their time, trying to stall as much as they can before shooting. May I remind you that according to the rules they have 10 seconds to take the ball halfway and another 30 seconds to shoot before the shot clock will go off. Stevenson passed to Marquez who dribbles down to half court. He pivots left, then right and passes to Johnson. Johnson dribbles around the key. He passes to Stevenson who looks around for anyone open and finds no one. He maneuvers closer to the net, looks for a clear shot, he doesn't find one."

"He passes to Mitchell. 25 seconds are left in the game, 15 on the shot clock. Mitchell passes to Owens. Owens takes the shot, a miss, but rebounded by Marquez. 15 seconds left. Marquez dribble back, it looks like he's going to go for it and oh! The ball is knocked out of his hands by Lucas Scott! 10 seconds! Uh oh, it's heading out of bounds and it's saved by Antwon "Skills" Taylor who brings it back in to center court. It's a quick pass to Lucas Scott who goes for a three… and there's the buzzer ending the game, will the ball make it? And it's a swish! Nothing but net ladies and gentlemen! The Ravens have done it! They have won their opening game in a fantastic finish, 64 - 67!" Mouth exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

The crowd on the Ravens side went wild! They had won their opener, despite the depressing first half they had. It was unbelievable! The entire team poured onto the court, followed by the cheerleaders, and then the audience. Mouth watched as the people of Tree Hill celebrated the win.

Even though it was only the first game of the season, it felt like the Ravens had won one of their most important games of the season. He looked around for Lucas and found in the dead center of things, fist raised in the air triumphantly.

He observed Lucas turn, as if someone called his name and then hold his arms out wide as a blur jumped into them. Lucas caught the blur and in a fluid motion he spins her around as she shrieks. It took a second for Mouth to realize the blur had been Haley and then he watched as Lucas set her down and they shared a hug.

They stayed there, hugging in the middle of the celebrating people of Tree Hill, and Mouth could see the connection between them; the link that would always hold them together. The bond that they shared was clear and Mouth had to wonder if either realized the extent of that bond.

If anyone else saw what he was seeing, it would be clear that the two were perfect for each other, but given the circumstances, he knew that each had their hearts set on someone else and were blind to what was there between them, beneath the surface. He wouldn't say anything to the two of them. As long as they were both happy, he would not interfere; even if it hurt him in the end.

Meanwhile Nathan angrily slammed his hand against the wall. Yes the Ravens had won today, but it was not because of him. He had done very little to help the incredible comeback that had been the second half. He didn't think he had ever played this bad in his entire life. He was not happy with himself and he was even angrier that he had warned his brother not to mess the game up and in the end it had been him who had messed up. Granted they hadn't lost, but Nathan had played from bad to worse. He knew that his father was not going to be happy about this.

Before entering the locker room he glanced back at the celebration going on at center court when something caught his eye. Lucas was standing in the middle, one fist up in the air, celebrating the win. He watched as Haley ran up to him and practically tackled him in a hug. As Lucas spun her around and then they just stood there hugging for minutes, Nathan felt the rage and jealousy boil in him. Lucas had told him many times that nothing was going on between him and Haley, but it definitely didn't look that way. If Haley wanted to reconcile with him then she should have been out there looking for him, not hugging Lucas in front of hundreds of people.

Nathan shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. He had already signed the divorce papers, he just had to give them to her to sign and then they would be finished. He was positive that was the only possible step in their relationship. He just didn't they could make this marriage work… but looking at her, standing there all beautiful and smiling, he couldn't help but miss her. May be their marriage couldn't work right now… maybe they just weren't ready for that yet, but was it possible that could start over and try again.

They would be more mature this time and there wouldn't be a marriage weighing on them. They could make it work. He didn't know why he was thinking these thoughts again when he had finally come to a decision a couple of days earlier. Maybe it was seeing her with Lucas or maybe it was that smile on her face. He just couldn't give up yet. He was sick of being a quitter and just this once, he wanted to be a winner.

"Hey, you okay?" a voice asked, interrupting his thoughts. Nathan turned to see Peyton standing next to him, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah I'm okay… it just feels empty I guess." Peyton gave him a confused look.

"Well at least we won. You guys turned that game around and the last five minutes was fantastic. You should be happy."

"I know… I am, but what did I do for this win? I'm glad we won, the team deserved it, but what have I been doing? I've been spending all our practices giving my brother a hard time, taking my anger out him, and blaming him for everything that's wrong in my life, especially with Haley. I thought I was past that stage, you know? And for a while, we were past that point. Haley brought us together and now it's almost like she's tearing us apart."

Peyton smiled at the irony of that statement. With the way things were going nowadays, she wouldn't be surprised if Haley did become a reason the brothers fought each other, just not exactly in the way that Nathan was thinking. If things kept going where Peyton feared they might go… and with the way both Nathan and Brooke were acting, she was really worried the two of them would push Lucas and Haley straight into each other's arms. Then who would be left to pick up the pieces? Peyton herself. It would tear their group apart.

"Nathan, we talk about this every single time and I hate repeating this over and over again, but you really should rethink this whole divorce thing. You and Haley, you guys are like the golden couple. You shouldn't give up on that. Even if you guys get that divorce, you shouldn't let the relationship end there. Maybe you guys weren't ready for marriage, but that doesn't mean that you two aren't meant for each other. Really Nathan, you guys should start over and for once just take it slow. What? What's so funny?" Peyton asked as Nathan burst into laughter.

"It's funny. I was thinking the exact same things earlier right before you came to talk to me. God it's like you can read my mind or something… then again; you always did know me best." Nathan responded and for a moment there, looking into her eyes, Nathan felt a flicker of something he hadn't felt in a long time… at least not when he was with Peyton. Why was he feeling this way? He shook his, trying to clear his minds of these thoughts, he had to focus on Haley. The moment had passed anyway. It was probably nothing anyways. Nothing at all.

The game was officially over and the crowd had mostly dispersed as the Ravens were in the locker room, showering and getting dressed.

Lucas was still in the locker room, pulling on his jeans and shirt, thinking about the game and everything afterwards. He had tried so hard to not let everything get to him in the first half but it had and his performance had suffered because of it. He had gotten what he deserved from Whitey, but his brothers words kind of hurt. They were reverting back to the way they were before they had become friends. He didn't enjoy fighting with his brother and actually kind of missed him. Hopefully with time their friendship would be okay again.

His thoughts drifted back to his conversations with Haley; the one at half time and the one after the game. She had always been there for him and he could never thank her enough for that. She was and always would be his best friend. Her words to him at the start of the second half had really helped him. If it hadn't been for her, he knew that the Ravens wouldn't have won today and Lucas wouldn't have been able to play the way he had in the second half. He was sure of it.

He knew that he hadn't appreciated her enough and hadn't treated her the way she should have been treated. From here on out he was going to be better. He wasn't ever going to turn his back on her the way he had when he found out about her and Nathan. He was going to be a better friend and he was going to use the time that they spend together trying to make Brooke and Nathan jealous to be the friend that he should have been and will be from here on out. He would show her how thankful he was for supporting him and everything else that she did for him. He promised himself that he would treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

After the game, she had run to him immediately and as he'd twirled her around, Lucas hadn't felt that happy, that at ease, and that carefree since all of this drama had started. It had felt good and to be honest he had enjoyed holding her in his arms… maybe a little bit too much, but he wouldn't think about that. Those kinds of thoughts would just take him where he didn't want to go. But as they stood there, holding each other and with Haley whispering in his ear, telling him that she knew he could do it and saying how proud she was of her… Lucas hadn't wanted anything else at the precise moment. He had been completely happy and utterly satisfied. That thought scared him. What did that even mean?

He shook his head, clearing his mind, as he grabbed his bags and headed to the locker room exit. Maybe if he said it enough he'd believe it. That's what he kept telling himself anyways. He opened the door, walking out into the hallway towards the exit that led to the parking lot. He was not going to think about anything other than friendship when it came to Haley. She didn't need that kind of stress and drama in her life right now. She had more than enough as it was. He was going to focus on being her friend, her best friend and the kind of friend that she needs and deserves. That what he was going to do he decided, as he turned the corner only to crash right into someone.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay - Brooke?"

Scene fades out…end of the episode