So i haven't updated this is so long but hope some of you are still reading and will enjoy this latest chapter let me know what you guys think!
"Well well, would you look at this. My wife's home and she's cooked us dinner," Dan beamed as he walked into the kitchen to find Karen slaving over the stove. A delicious smell rising up out of it and into the air. "It's nice to see you at home for longer than ten minutes."
"Sorry I've been so busy of late, you know how business is," Karen said as she smiled and walked around the kitchen. She quickly grabbed a utensil out of the draw before going back to the stove. "Hey Lucas, how are you holding up?"
"I've gotta go, I'm already late for warm up." Lucas said as he sighed as he picked his bag up from the floor and strapped it onto his back. Here goes the charade again, he thought.
"Oh come on Luke, surely you can just sit down and grab a bite to eat with us." Karen pleaded.
Lucas found himself wondering, if Karen was begging because she wanted to spend time with him or was she begging because she wanted him to act as a buffer between her and Dan.
"I can't mom," he sighed before he headed towards the door. He turned at the last minute, shocking both himself and Karen. "You coming to the game tonight?"
"I wouldn't miss it," she told him as she beamed back at him.
He dropped his features into a loose grin before he turned and walked out the door. She turned and smiled at Dan, happy to have some success at getting through to him but he was already tucked into the food she had dished up.
"Oh come on, we're supposed to be a team. Scott, you're playing selfish. I want you both to get out there and act like you actually know each other! If we lose this game because of your greed then you'll be benched for the rest of the season. Got it?" Whitey yelled as he called a time out.
Having had his midweek chat with Lucas, he was hoping that he might have gotten through to the blonde and have him cooperate with his brother. Although if anything, Lucas had just gotten worse.
Lucas just stood and smirked at him, Whitey's threats were pretty empty. Even with Nathan joining the team there was no way the old man could afford to bench his star player. He was pretty sure of that.
Looking away from the huddle he glanced up the bleachers. Haley was sat there clutching her bag to her lap, clearly nervous about something. He shot her a grin and she instantly began to blush before lifting her hand and giving him a shaky wave. She's so innocent, he thought.
He looked then towards the cheerleaders. Brooke and Peyton stood in the center of them looking towards the players. He smirked casually at Brooke and she just frowned at him before she gestured towards Peyton.
He briefly wondered if they were breaking up or making up at this point and realized that he had yet to grovel to get his girlfriend back. He rolled his eyes at Brooke who shook her head at him in return, before he moved his gaze onto to Peyton. She had clearly noted that he had looked at Brooke first, so she shot him a glare before looking elsewhere.
Girls, he thought as he shook his head.
"Scott! Stop staring at the cheerleaders and get your head back in this game." Whitey yelled as they all ran back onto the court, ready to start play. He looked over at Tim who was laughing at him, shaking his head as the jogged alongside each other.
"Thinking about who you're going to be scoring with later man?" Tim grinned as he glanced up at the cheerleaders himself. He couldn't help but eye up Brooke Davis. All of the basketball players wanted her, but she'd become withdrawn lately. Her wild partying ways had died down a bit.
"I haven't had Peyton in a while, so I might check in there." Lucas grinned as he let his eyes wonder up and down the blonde.
She was his, which meant that he had to make sure that the rest of the guys at school remembered that. As bad as he treated her and even though their relationship had all but deteriorated. He didn't want anyone else to have the curly blonde, so he thought that he had better claim her tonight.
"I'm going to jump the sack with Brooke." Tim grinned at him and Luke just shook his head.
There was no chance that Tim would score with Brooke. She had been with quite a few guys from the basketball team before they had been suspended, but she was keeping herself reserved this season. Lucas liked that fact. He hated hearing the locker room talk about her and there did happen to be a lot.
He did always wonder what it would be like however, to have slept with the notorious Brooke Davis. He'd never heard any of the guys say a bad word about her. In fact they all seemed to pine for another go. He wondered what would have happened if she had never set him up with Peyton. Would they have had a drunk fumble together. Or would they have found themselves in their own unhealthy relationship. He couldn't help but think what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around the brunette as they got lost in the throes of passion, instead of her best friend though.
"Lucas!" Whitey shouted which quickly snapped him out of his thoughts as the ball was thrown down the court.
He quickly ran after it before he slammed it into the net and clapped Tim on the back. He loved getting under Whitey's skin like that. Moments were his skill shone through almost always managed to irritate the old man.
The ball was thrown back onto the court again. Lucas started off with it before bouncing it over to Tim and heading up the court. He found himself quickly double teamed however and failed to break free. He watched Tim throw the ball out to Nathan who threw the ball from outside the line to score three points for the team.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asked him annoyed.
"He had a better angle. Luke, come on man I'm just trying to win." Tim continued to follow Lucas around the court begging, until the game came to an end with the Tree Hill Ravens winning comfortably.
"Come on Lucas, you can't not talk to me." Tim continued to whine as they made their way down the tunnel and into the changing rooms. Lucas purposefully hung back until most of the team had left, including Tim who'd needed to be forced out the room.
"So you've had three decent games in a row now. You're either getting better or you're just lucky. Anyways the team's gonna party tonight, my parent's beach house." Lucas turned to face the only other person that was running late, his brother.
"Why are you telling me that?" Nathan asked as he looked up curiously and turned to face the blonde. He looked sincere but then he knew what both Dan and Lucas were like, the perfect little actors.
"Cause I said the team didn't I?" Lucas raised his eyebrows as if it was obvious. "It's gonna be a long season so we might as well deal with it."
Lucas widened his eyes at Nathan before he grabbed his bag and headed out of the changing rooms.
"Why are we doing this?" Haley muttered as she stepped into Nathan's car.
He had told her he was picking her up to take her to the team's party at Lucas' house. Shehad almost died of shock. She couldn't help the nerves she felt at seeing Lucas. Not because of his charm or looks but for the fear that he would open up Pandora's Box and tell Nathan what they had agreed to keep a secret.
"Look, I know it's a setup okay. I know that he's probably just going to talk me down all night. But he offered this up as a challenge, he doesn't think I'll show up Hales. I can't let this guy win." Nathan told her as he sighed and set off towards the beach house. Everyone in Tree Hill knew where the Scott's beach house was. Tonight was the first night however that Nathan would step foot in it.
"He might not, maybe he did just invite you because he's tired of the whole thing and he's trying to settle it. You don't think that maybe he could have had a change of heart?" Haley shrugged casually as she offered the suggestion. She knew that Nathan was probably going to tear it down immediately.
"That would require a heart Hales," Nathan chuckled as he shot a glance at her and noticed that she was sunk into her seat and staring out of the window. A very un-Haley thing to do. He nervously asked. "Are you okay Hales?"
He thought of something being wrong scared him however it didn't scare him as much as knowing that she was keeping something from him.
"Perfect, I just don't want to go." She whispered and he just nodded and focused back on the road.
He wondered when the silences they shared had gone from comfortable and easy to the awful piercing one that they were sat in now.
~X~
"Every time I get in your car I swear it's the last time!" Brooke protested as she jumped quickly out of Peyton's car as soon as they'd pulled up outside the party. Peyton just got out and laughed at her.
"Thanks for the ride Peyton." she mocked the brunette who just stuck her tongue out and hit her lightly on the arm. It wasn't long before their banter was interrupted by Tim running in between them and begging like a puppy.
"Peyton, tell him. You saw that Nathan had the better shot!" Tim held onto her arm and she had to shake him off. Every time Lucas got pissed at Tim he'd coming begging to Peyton to try and get her to change his mind, as if he actually believed she had some control over him.
"Tim, are you being pathetic again?" Brooke smirked as she looked down at him. He instantly straightened himself up and tried to put on his 'cool' face. Brooke just laughed at and looked up to see who had just arrived.
"What's he doing here?" Tim cried out as Nathan and Haley both exited the car and began to wander round to where the three of them were stood.
"I invited him. Y'know, since you two are such good friends and all." Lucas smirked as he walked round the side of the house and down to meet his brother and Haley. He was hoping that the bastard would bring her and it appeared he'd fallen right for the trap.
"What are you trying to pull?" Peyton asked as she glared at him and he just shrugged back innocently.
"Nothing," he smiled as he walked down the steps of the decking and towards the two of them. Lucas and Nathan ended up stood opposite each other. "I wasn't sure you were going to come."
"Trust me, neither was I." Nathan shot back as he moved around Lucas and towards the house. Haley followed close behind until the blonde slipped in between the two of them.
"Hi, Lucas Scott." He introduced himself casually and offered his hand out to Haley who took it nervously.
"Haley." she replied. She hoped that this wasn't some game he was playing to get back at her best friend and that it was to show her how serious he was about the tutoring offer.
"I know." he smirked as he followed them both up into the house, walking past Brooke, Peyton and Tim.
"What are you doing in here Karen?" Dan asked as he reached the top of the stairs and found Lucas' bedroom door wide open. Karen was sat on the bed, looking around at the walls and the piled up clutter Lucas had covering the surfaces.
"He used to ask me before he did stuff in his room, before he put posters on the wall of the films he loved at the time or basketball players he idolized. Not I don't know what he's interested in." Karen sighed as she put down a DVD that had been thrown on his bed.
It was a chick flick which she presumed was Peyton's or Brooke's. She often found it confusing which one he was dating and which one he actually loved. He'd grown so confusing to her as he'd gradually began to morph into his father.
"Basketball." Dan grinned at her as if it was a joke.
Basketball was the only thing that ever seemed to spark conversation in the cold house, the majority of it coming from Dan. It had seemed that even the blonde boy that used to love the sport had grown tired of it.
"He changes from day to day at the moment. Sometimes he's that innocent little boy asking me to spend time with him and hang out with him again and then at others he's so closed off and distant that I don't know how to break down the barriers anymore. He talks to you thought Dan, how's he doing?" Karen asked. She was tired of the way her life had turned out.
"He's doing well. I mean having Nathan on the team has shaken him a little and he put in a few bad performances but you know. He'll pull through, he scored some good shots in practice this week and his average is still pretty high." Dan thought about it.
"I asked how he is Dan, not how he's playing. It must be so confusing with him having to play with Nathan and having to cope with that when he's never had to before. Sharing his life with a brother he's never even had to acknowledge until now." Karen worried for her son. She looked at her husband in the hope that he could sort this out for their boy.
"I think that's just temporary." Dan murmured as he stood up and began to walk out the room. He turned back to look at his wife before he exited and headed down the stairs to pour himself a stiff drink.
"Think or wish?" Karen mumbled to herself before she wiped a loose tear off her face before she left the room. She looked over it from the doorway once more before shutting the door firmly.
"How's the tutoring going?" Haley spun round as she exited the bathroom to find Peyton leaning against the opposite wall with her arms folded across her body. Her curiosity got the better of her as she approached the shy girl.
Peyton couldn't help but let a smug grin play on her face as the girl opened her mouth to deny that it was happening. She loved being in the position where people found her intimidating and powerful considering she had little power with either Brooke or Lucas.
"You're tutoring Luke, it's okay, he is my boyfriend. We tell each other everything." Peyton shrugged casually as she exaggerated her relationship. She'd had to snoop through his bag and watch him meet Haley to find out. He never told her anything.
"He just needed some help." Haley muttered looking from side to side, eager for a way out from this confrontation.
Peyton looked her over as she wondered whether the girl was trying to sneak in on her man. She realized that the naive girl wasn't a threat at all. She wouldn't be able to entertain Lucas if she tried.
"Then maybe you can teach him to stop being such a jackass." she smirked at the girl who let out a meek giggle back.
"I'll put it on the lesson plan." Haley smiled as she turned and headed away from the curly blonde. She tried to look for Nathan so that the two of them could get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
"Does Nathan know you're tutoring Lucas?" Peyton asked and smirked as she noticed that Haley had stopped and was slowly turning round to face her, mouth open once again, ready to deny something.
"You know, you say an awful lot when you keep your mouth shut," Peyton chuckled as she pushed herself of the wall and walked round Haley so that she was standing in front of her, smiling at her. "I'll keep mine shut too."
Peyton turned and walked away, leaving Haley to panic in peace. Would Peyton really keep her mouth shut?
"I've never had sex with someone on the baseball, football and basketball team." Teresa said.
She giggled as she watched Brooke carefully. She burst into laughter as the brunette picked up the cup and tipped the contents into her mouth quickly.
"Brooke Davis!" Lucas scolded in a laughing manner as he slung his arm casually around the back of her chair.
He had no chance of getting laid tonight with Peyton watching over him like a hawk. There was no way she was going to put out either. He figured he'd block Brooke off so that he at least had someone to keep him entertained, when everyone else started to pass out or head up to a bedroom.
"Nathan, come play." Bevin called out as the newest member of the team walked into the kitchen to get a beer. He looked up to find the inner circle of the popular crowd, complete with Brooke and Lucas sat at the table looking at him expectantly.
"We're playing I've never, basically someone says something they've ever done and if you've done it you have to drink. It's your turn Davis." Lucas smirked as someone handed him a drink and Brooke began to pout.
"I've never, oh no. I did do that," She giggled before looking at Lucas who just raised his eyebrows at her and nipped her waist, causing her to laugh harder. "Okay okay, I've never had sex with Lucas Scott."
"But you did. Remember that time?" Lucas joked as the table looked at him seriously before Brooke slapped him and they all burst out laughing. "Well feel free to use me anytime you want baby."
Lucas winked at her and she pretended to slap him again as several girls who were playing picked up their drink and downed it. Nathan was shocked to see how many girls openly publicized that fact that his brother had slept with them on a one off.
"My turn," Lucas chuckled coldly which made Nathan look up sharply. There was no chance that Lucas had let him join the came without knowing he'd get a chance to put one down on Nathan. "I've never had a dad that wished I was a stain on the bed sheets."
Lucas smirked as a few of the guys burst out laughing and high fived each other. Everyone else looked up at Nathan, curious to see what the raven haired boy was going to do. Everyone but Brooke who turned to look at Lucas. She knew just how threatened he felt by his brother but wondered why he had to act like the jerk she knew he wasn't all the time.
Nathan moved around so that he was stood behind Lucas and bent down to lean over him. He slammed his cup on the table just in front of him, bending lower so that his mouth was hovering near Lucas ear.
"Then you're welcome to mine!" he spat as he stood up and moved away from the kitchen.
"I'm ready to go," Nathan murmured as he bumped into Haley at the bottom of the stairs. He glared at a few of the popular people who had left the table shortly after him, no doubt the light going atmosphere of the game had died down after Nathan's comment.
"What's happened Nathan?" She sighed as she ran her hand down his arm and tried to comfort him as best as she could, her heart instantly going out to him. She'd known coming to the party was a bad idea and that Lucas would probably just toy with her best friend, despite her begging him to leave Nathan alone.
"Oh just some feeble comment that he thought was funny." Nathan chuckled to himself before shaking his head.
"Have the two of you just ever sat down and talked?" Haley asked suddenly, causing Nathan to look up at her like she'd just grown three heads or said that she was moving to the Arctic to marry an Eskimo.
"Yeah of course, we text on a daily basis too." Nathan chuckled at the joke, wondering what the hell had gotten into Haley. There was as much chance of him and Lucas talking as there was Angelina Jolie ringing him up and telling him that she loved him.
"No I just mean that you're so sensitive around each other, it's like you can't be around each other without both of you getting worked up and lashing out. Maybe if you just sat down and talked you'd realize that you're both not as bad as the other thinks and that it's all just been built up by everyone in this town!" Haley ranted on. She realized that she shouldn't have said anything as she saw his features cloud over.
"I'm not gonna let him win Hales, and why are you defending him?" Nathan questioned darkly, his voice void of all emotion as he glared at her. He couldn't believe she was sticking up for the guy that had treated him like trash for the majority of his life.
"Don't let him win then, I'm going home." She sighed as she wrapped her jacked tighter around her and stormed away from him and the house, ignoring his shouts for her to come back to him.
"Are you leaving?" Lucas grabbed her as he saw her storm away from Nathan. He was glad to see that he was already causing problems for the golden boy.
"Lucas, we had a deal. You promised me you'd be nice," Haley glared as she shrugged him off and looked around to make sure that Nathan hadn't followed her outside of the house. Although there were little people due to the cool breeze and she was scared to be this alone with Lucas. She never knew what he'd try or what his ulterior motives were.
"I was, I am being. I invited him to this stinking party didn't I?" Lucas protested, convincing Haley he was a good guy when he himself knew he wasn't was a harder task then he thought it would be.
"Yeah, so that you could pick on him in public," Haley glared at him as confusion flickered across his face. "What did you say to him anyways?"
"Oh man, is that what this is about? Look sometimes the guys rub each other up a little, it's nothing personal. I was just trying to include him." Lucas smiled softly at her as he made himself look as innocent as possible and he knew she'd fall for it.
"Fine, maybe you should change tactics." Haley murmured as she pushed him away and headed down the beach to ring the taxi to come and pick her up. She didn't want to hang around with either Scott anymore.
"Dan, we need to talk about Lucas. He's so distant and I think that you pressuring him with basketball is just making him worse." Karen sighed as she walked into his study, ready for the argument she was sure would come when she told him to back of Lucas.
"Me? You're blaming this all on me? At least I'm here Karen, I'm not away working at all hours of the day and for up to weeks at a time." Dan raged as he stood up from his seat and walked over to her, fists clenched.
"You wanna know why I'm always working Dan? Cause ever since you forced that god damn basketball into his hands it's all you've allowed him to think about. You stole him away from me and brought him up to think that this stupid ball game is all that matters." Karen yelled back in his face, waving her arms around.
"What?" Dan seethed as he glared at the woman he once loved.
"You make me irrelevant in his life Dan!" Karen screamed once more as she stormed away from him and marched back and forth.
"We shut you out? Work has always come first with you; you have constantly put it above this family." Dan slammed one of his fists against the book shelf, causing a few to topple off and land on the floor.
"That's not fair and you know it! I have always juggled my career and this family but at least my career doesn't feel me leaving like crap. Out there I'm doing something that means something, what I'm doing matters, here, in this house," she yelled waving around her hands some more. "You've made it so that what I do and what I say doesn't matter. If I'd known the way you'd raise our son I would never have left him here to turn out the way he has!"
"He's a good kid Karen," Dan glared at her; he wasn't going to allow her to stand there and slate his son.
"Based on what? His point's average?" Karen shot back quickly, trying to calm herself down.
"I'm just doing what makes him happy, if basketball is what makes the kid happy you can't take that away from him Karen." Dan sighed as he retreated back to his chair and lowered himself into, leaning back casually.
"Well that boy I saw earlier Dan, he's anything but happy." Karen snapped before she left the study, leaving Dan on his own.
"Don't let me have another beer unless I beg you, same goes for boys." Brooke smirked as she slipped down next to Peyton on the stairs. She had decided to go slightly off the rails after she'd shaken Lucas off.
"I don't think I can do this anymore Brooke," Peyton sighed as she looked up at her best friend and tears pooled in her eyes. "I can't pretend that him not caring about me anymore doesn't hurt. I can't go on acting as if this relationship can survive anything and I certainly can't carry on turning a blind eye to the stuff that he does behind my back. The stuff that runs around school for weeks after he does it and I'm supposed to not hear it, pretend that I haven't heard the latest rumor about him sleeping with some girl."
"Come on Peyt, you know he cares about you. Lucas just has a funny way of showing it sometimes. He's under a lot of pressure at the moment from his dad and with Nathan joining the team. He's just going through some stuff." Brooke sighed as she once again tried to save the doomed relationship.
"No, I don't know and do you know why I don't know Brooke? I don't know because he's too busy telling you about his problems. Or he's just trying to get in my pants. He never sits down and actually has a conversation with me like he used to. He's not interested in this relationship anymore and neither am I." Peyton huffed as he placed her head in her hands.
"Peyton you're wrong, Lucas loves you. He told me only the other night that he does." Brooke lied as she rubbed her friend soothingly on the back. This sure was one way to get sobered up. Personally she'd rather just take the hangover.
"He loves me? If he loves me so much why is he so interested in trying to get with Haley. Nathan's friend." She added when the brunette looked at her confused, having no idea who this 'Haley' girl was.
"I've tried Peyt, if you're not happy with you and Luke anymore then end it for good and stand by your decision. We both know that you'll go on about this tonight and I'll ring one of you tomorrow night and you'll be hooking up once more. You're both as bad as each other. So do something that will really shock us all. Either stand by your words and finish with him or sort the relationship out so we don't have to have this conversation next week. 'Cause I'm done with these chats." Brooke sighed as she pushed up from the stairs and stormed down them quickly. She tried to be as easy going as possible but her best friend dumping all of her shit onto her was not what she signed up to.
"Brooke, what's up?" Lucas ran towards her urgently. All she'd wanted to do was get out of the house and collect her thoughts before returning to her drunken state once more.
"You, you're what's up Luke." Brooke growled as she pushed him away and pushed the double patio doors open with a slam and marched her way down onto the beach. She tried to ignore the blonde that was easily keeping up with her.
"What have I done Pretty Girl? I've been inside the house all the time, I've been behaving I swear. I haven't even had chance to look at another girl tonight with Peyton following me anyway so what could I have done?" He gave her a rare genuine smile and grabbed her arm, spinning her around so quickly so that she fell into his arms.
"You can't call me that Lucas, you know Peyton doesn't like it." Brooke grumbled as she allowed herself to fall further into his embrace. She decided to not give a fuck what Peyton thought right then. If she wanted to hug her best friend then that's what she was going to do.
"I don't care what Peyton doesn't like, but I do care to know what's got you in such a pickle." He chuckled lightly as he kissed the top of her head and pulled her down onto the sand as he dropped down. He grinned as she fell into his lap and didn't bother to move herself. His arms were wrapped around her and his hands rested on the small of her back.
"That's the point Luke. You're meant to care about what Peyton thinks. She's your girlfriend," Brooke sighed as she nuzzled her face into his neck and allowed her senses to become filled with Lucas Scott.
"This thing between me and Peyton is over Brooke, everyone knows that." Lucas sighed as he ran a hand down her arm casually, sighing as he looked out towards the water.
"Then why doesn't one of you do something about? Why do you both whine to me and expect me to sort it out." Brooke moaned as she sunk further against him and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. She felt him tighten his arms around her in response.
"I'm just waiting for Peyton to call it quits and mean it. I could finish it all tomorrow and be happy if that's what you want me to do?" Lucas questioned with a grin. The thought of being free from the blonde permanently sounded great.
"No, that would just upset Peyton too much." She grumbled into his chest once more which caused him to laugh lightly again, typical Brooke. Even whilst whining about Peyton she still kept the girls interest at heart, something Lucas can say he never did.
"Why didn't we ever date Brooke?" He asked seriously as he looked down and looked at her properly for the first time in a while. She'd grown up from being his childhood best friend. She was now a teenage queen bee with so many possibilities that it was crazy.
"Because you're with Peyton and I've never found you attractive enough." Brooke smirked and laughed at his put out face. He pouted at her a little more before she covered his mouth gently with her hand. She scrunched up her face in disgust when he licked it in protest.
"Don't lie Davis." he dropped his tone and smiled lazily at her as she wiped her hand over his shirt covered chest to get rid of his saliva.
It was a look that made him look far too sexy for his own good and he was more than aware of it. He looked from her eyes down to her mouth and noticed that her breathing had sped up to match his own. He looked back up at her eyes to notice that her own were focused on his mouth. The two of them slowly moved towards each other, unable to resist something they'd both been denying for too long.
"Yo Scott, beer pong now!" Vegas yelled across the beach, abruptly cutting the atmosphere and ending the moment between the two friends. They jumped up awkwardly and began to make their way back to the house in silence. Both contemplating what could have and probably would have happened if the Raven hadn't interrupted.
"You're still here, what a surprise." Dan chuckled as Karen walked into the kitchen the following morning. The tension in the atmosphere still raw from the arguments that had happened the previous nights.
"But Lucas isn't where is he Dan?" Karen asked as she slammed a glass down on the counter before filling it with water, keeping her eyes focused on her husband at all times.
It had appeared that whilst she'd been preoccupied with work and Keith that everything back home had slipped to beyond bearable and rather than running from it now she'd have to step up. She owed it to Lucas.
"I'm cutting down my hours at the office; I'm going to be spending a lot more time at home from now on to ensure that my son is happy." Karen stated happily, knowing that this was probably interfering with some of Dan's plans.
"That really isn't necessary Karen; I didn't mean what I said last night about work." Dan interrupted immediately; there was no need for her to cut back on work.
"Oh it is Dan and that's what's happening. There's nothing that you can do to change it." Karen smiled sweetly at him as he jumped up out of his chair and marched out the room. She hadn't expected him to be overjoyed that she would be home more often now. She herself wasn't over the moon about it but it was what had to be done for Lucas' sake.
She remembered back to a few days ago when Keith had asked her for the hundredth time to just leave Dan and be with him. She'd taken it more seriously than the other times and asked him if he'd protect Lucas, save Lucas from becoming a man like his father.
For him to turn around and tell Karen that it was too late for Lucas, he was already Dan's little clone had been too far. There was no way she could bear to face that truth just yet, she told him that she wouldn't be seeing him anymore and then left, determined to sort out the mess that her and Lucas' life had become.
"So, you're avoiding me right." Haley smiled up as she saw Nathan walking towards the counter looking awkward. She tilted her head to the side and grinned at him in the hope that he'd come round and the two of them could go back to goofing around.
"A little." he shrugged as she began pouring him his usual coffee. She turned to look over her shoulder and shot him a look; a look that told him everything he needed to know. She was sorry, she missed him and she wanted them to stop arguing.
"I was just trying to help you; I just thought that maybe if you tried looking at him from his point of view it may help you understand why he does what he does." She sighed as she moved around the counter and pulled her stubborn best friend into her arms. She knew that the best way to get him to forget everything was always to just give him a big hug.
"Promise me that we can still talk to each other Hales, that we won't keep secrets and that we never will." Nathan begged as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her further into the big hug, causing her to smile at how tight he was holding her.
"Of course we can." Haley lied as she buried her face into his chest so that he couldn't see the blatant lie that she'd just told him.
But he didn't have to see her face to know that she was lying. He could hear it in her voice and see it in her actions; she had a secret that was huge and a secret that she was purposefully keeping from him.
Let me know what you think!