"A double date?" I said, arms folded across my chest. "Seriously?"

"What?" Clay said innocently, putting his hands behind his head. He was stretched out on his bed, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Nate's my best friend, Haley's one of yours."

"I may not be against the whole Naley relationship," I said, ignoring Clay's raised eyebrow at my usage of 'Naley'. I'd been hanging around Brooke too much. "But that doesn't mean I want to hang out with Nathan."

"Beth," he said, turning on the puppy dog eyes. "Come on…"

"Clay," I sighed.

"I get that it's weird," he said. "Your family dynamics would give anyone a headache. But just think how far you guys have come."

"What? In that we don't loathe each other anymore?" I scoffed. I may have been appreciative of Nathan being able to wake Luke up, but that didn't mean I was looking to hang out with him. We weren't friends, let alone actual siblings.

"He's not Dan," Clay said softly, and I narrowed my eyes at him. Bad move, Evans.

"Really?" I said with utmost sarcasm.

"Do you not want to be around him because he's the kid Dan chose?"

"I would be very careful, Clay," I warned him, my temper rising.

"Come on…"

"No, you come on," I said, annoyed. "I don't want to be around him because of the way he treated me and Luke! We were lower than dirt to him. We were the ones who were forced to feel ashamed, when we were the ones who were abandoned!"

I got up and Clay sighed, looking fed up. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," I hissed. "Go on the date by yourself."

"Hey," he said, pulling me by the arm to face him. "I'm not going to make excuses for how Nathan was. I saw more than anyone what an ass he could be. But I'll defend who he is, right now. He is not the same Nathan, and you know that."

"You want us to be brother and sister," I accused.

"No," he argued. "I just want to be able to hang out with my girlfriend and my best friend without it being weird. Nobody expects you to put everything aside and act with Nate like you do Lucas."

I sighed, my anger lessening as I started to see where Clay was coming from. He always made an effort with my friends. Of course, it helped that my best friend loved basketball, creating an easy common factor for them to bond over.

"You're lucky I love you," I sulked, sitting back down beside him.

He smiled widely, making it impossible for me to even bail after seeing how happy it made him.

"So, we were going to go bowling or something," Clay said as he drove. "But Haley and I thought it might start a war."

I scowled. Yes, I could be competitive. But bowling sounded better than dinner at my mom's cafe, a location that was chosen I was sure to make sure Nathan and I were on our best behaviour in the place both our mothers worked.

"Okay," I said simply.

Clay looked at me suspiciously. "You're quiet. Trying to be Zen?"

"I figure the quieter I am, the better," I said honestly.

"I thought you were going to try, Elizabeth," he said with annoyance.

I glared at him. "Don't call me Elizabeth, Clayton," I said. "It's..."

"What?"

"I'm afraid," I admitted softly as Clay pulled up outside the cafe.

He looked at me in surprise. "Really?"

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," I laughed as he parked the car.

He smiled at me tenderly. "You act so tough sometimes," he brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "Nate's changed, babe. And even if he hasn't, I wouldn't let him say anything cruel to you."

That wasn't what I was scared of. I wasn't afraid of what Nathan might say. I was sure I could hold my own against him, though I was sure he would behave in the presence of Haley and Clay. I didn't want to give Nathan a chance. I didn't want him to be my brother.

"Okay," I nodded, and Clay kissed me.

"Thank you," he said genuinely.

We got out of the car and walked inside. Haley waved at us cheerfully, and Clay led me to the table.

"Hey guys," Haley smiled. I smiled at her and say down, taking comfort in the fact Nathan looked as happy about this as I did.

For a moment, we all stared at each other, waiting for someone to speak.

"So!" Haley said brightly, trying to break the tension. "How're rehearsals going, Beth?"

"Not great," I said, making a face. "I didn't get the role I wanted."

"So she sits back and hates on the girl who got it," Clay grinned, resting his arm on the back of my chair.

"I do not," I protested, then sheepishly smiled. "Okay, maybe. But she's totally wrong for it."

Haley and Clay laughed, used to my dramatics. Meanwhile, Nathan gave me a contemplative look.

"So what are we getting?" Clay asked, opening his menu. The boys looked while Haley and I chatted, both knowing the menu by heart. We all ordered some Cokes and I tried to make myself relax.

Then, and I'm sure they planned it, Clay and Haley excused themselves to go to the bathroom. Nathan and I glanced at each other, and simultaneously drank our Cokes. I put my glass down quickly.

"Where'd you get the acting bug?" he asked suddenly.

I looked at him in surprise. Nobody had asked me that before.

"I don't know," I said awkwardly.

"Well, what do you like about it?" he continued. "Like your favourite thing?"

I considered him for a moment. He didn't look like he was trying to make fun of me.

"I like being someone else, trying to get into their mindset," I said finally. It was probably the most honest thing I had ever said to him.

"Yeah, I can get that," he nodded, and once again I found myself surprised. Reluctantly, I started to see what Clay had been saying. Nathan had changed.

Clay got back to the table, looking a little nervous presumably for having left us alone. "What are we talking about?"

"Being someone else," I answered and my boyfriend looked lost.

"So… basketball?" Haley offered as a conversation starter.

All three of us gave her an amused look, and Nathan asked the table's opinion on the recent basketball game. And I was the one who answered him.

The Boy Toy Auction was all I heard about from Brooke for a good few weeks after the Classic. It was all to raise money for charity but wow, did that girl want a boy toy.

Basically if you won the man, they were at your beck and call until midnight. There was something up with her, though she was adamant that she was fine. She was more hyped, more anxious than usual. Though, with Brooke being Brooke, I knew better than to push her into telling me. Instead, I allowed her to drag me there early, demanding we got the prime spot so she could get herself a man for the night.

Unfortunately, you needed cold, hard cash to get your man, and while Brooke bagged herself a cutie early on, but she needed something other than her numerous credit cards.

She headed for an ATM while I went back inside, ready to bid on Clay.

"Hey," I greeted Peyton and Haley.

"Hey," Haley said. "Ready to get your man?"

"Yep, I have a whole evening planned," I said with a quirk of my eyebrow. "So who are we bidding on?"

"I think Jake, actually," Peyton said, much to my surprise. I had kind of wondered if she'd bet on Luke. Although she was trying to become friends again with Brooke, there had to be something there for her to cheat with him.

"You guys are really hitting it off, huh?" Haley said.

"We're just friends," Peyton was quick to clarify. "What about you, Haley?"

"I think I'm going to bid on Lucas," she said.

"Really?" I said, surprised again.

"Yeah, I haven't had much time to spend with him lately, and I get Nathan for free," she said, and we all laughed.

"Who's up next?" I asked, and we looked at our programs.

"Oh no," Haley said, and every girl in the room groaned.

"Tim."

The overly confident boy attempted a sexy dance that horrified many of us to our very souls, and was finally won by a kind bid of eight dollars from Deb.

Clay was up next, confidently strutting his way onto the catwalk in a classic suit. He took the jacket off and threw it at me.

"You're mine, Evans," I called.

"Start the bidding at…"

"Forty!" a voice called out.

"Sixty!"

"Seventy!"

"Ninety!"

"Shit," I muttered, stupidly not having anticipated just how popular my boyfriend would be.

"How much do you have?" Peyton asked.

"One twenty!" I yelled, just hoping all the cash I had on me was enough.

"One thirty!" Theresa, the girl I'd covered for at the Classics, countered. She was one of those dumb, slutty girls. And she was apparently after an evening with my man.

"Down girl," Haley said, grabbing my arm as Theresa was declared the winner.

"Sorry babe," Clay said, strutting himself off stage, loving it. I shook my head in amusement, though was sure to send Theresa a death glare.

Peyton then lost her bid to a mystery woman for Jake, leaving us both wondering who we'd win. Luke walked out in his typical outfit of long sleeved shirt covered by a t shirt with jeans, looking awkward with his hands in his pockets. Definitely not loving the attention as my boyfriend had been.

"Go Luke!" Haley cheered. "I got you!"

He attempted a little bit of the robot, making me laugh.

"All right, let's start the bid at twenty dollars," Whitey, our auctioneer, announced.

"Twenty five!"

"Thirty five!'

"Fifty!"

Haley looked astonished.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one underestimating," I teased.

"Seventy five!"

"One hundred!"

"I'll go a hundred and one!"

"One oh five!" Haley called. "One ten. Oh what the hell, one fifteen!"

"Sold!" Whitey announced, and Peyton and I congratulated Haley on being the first of us to win.

"Café savings," she said. "No way he's worth it, though."

I laughed as Nathan appeared on the stage. The girls were officially going into meltdown as he stripped off, revealing a toned physique with BOY TOY written in blue across his chest.

"Eighty!" was the first bid.

"Whoa!" Peyton said. This was going to go high. "Smells like sex in here," she commented, much to Haley's horror.

"Ninety!"

"Ninety one!" Haley yelled.

"That's a creepy threesome," Peyton said, horrifying me this time. There was just images you couldn't remove from your brain, even if imagined.

"Ew," I complained. "Peyton!"

"Do I hear ninety two dollars?" Whitey asked.

"Ninety two!"

Haley spun to me in a panic. "You have to buy Nathan."

"I'm not sure that's legal," Peyton quipped.

"Please," Haley begged. "Look at those girls. They're practically drooling. Plus, you already lost Clay."

"Thanks for reminding me," I said, glaring at Theresa. Before I could argue it further, Haley raised my arm for and yelled, "One hundred!"

"How much money do you have?" she asked as the bidding increased.

"Nothing, I'm broke," I lied, and then she remembered the high bid I had placed for Clay.

"One twenty!" Haley called in an attempt of mimicking my voice.

I didn't want to be the girl bidding on her brother. Not that I saw him as such, but the rest of the school sure did.

"Sold, one Scott to another," Whitey announced, banging his gavel.

I turned to Haley with my hands on my hips. "Haley Bob James…"

"It'll be fine," she said quickly, trying to diffuse my temper. "It's just hanging out. You did it last week."

"On a double date with you and Clay," I hissed. We had them as buffers so it was okay. "Did you plan this?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Nope," Haley answered. "Just worked out well for me."

Of course, Brooke finally arrived, having missed the whole auction.

"We're fresh out of flesh," Whitey announced. "I want to thank you all for coming this evening and supporting this cause. Now all of these men belong to the highest bidders until that midnight kiss."

Haley conveniently looked away as I glared at her for that.

"Let's try to keep things legal this year," Whitey concluded, as Mouth moved onto the stage to move the microphone cords. He'd done an awesome job as DJ.

"I'll give five dollars for the microphone boy!" a sex crazed woman in the audience called.

Mouth jumped in surprise, now under the spotlight.

"I'll go ten!" another called.

"Woo, go Mouth!" I yelled.

"Do I hear twenty?" Whitey asked, realizing an auction was happening.

"I will!" the girl who'd almost beat me for Nathan called.

"Twenty five!" another shouted.

"No, I got two hundred!" Brooke yelled, seemingly desperate for some kind of male company this evening.

"Sold!" Whitey declared, thus making Mouth the most expensive date of the night. "All sales are final."

I cheered loudly as did Haley, knowing the sweet guy deserved it.

"Haley talk you into buying me?" Nathan said knowingly, approaching me after the auction.

"More like completely took over, including mimicry of voice," I laughed.

"Thought as much," he nodded. "So, what did you want to do?"

Honestly, nothing came to mind. I wasn't exactly sure what we would have in common, beside a love for basketball. I didn't want to play him or anything, anyway.

"Beth! Nate!"

We both turned in relief to see Clay, already awkward with each other's presence and sixty seconds probably hadn't even gone by yet.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about you stealing my girl," Clay joked, putting his arm around me.

"Well, be sure Theresa knows I can and will kick ass," I said, attempting to give the girl the evil eye from across the room.

Clay just laughed. "So what are you to up to?"

Nathan and I looked at each other, and I was inclined to just bail.

"Look, we don't have to…" I began, but Clay was quick to interrupt.

"You should show her your new place, Nate," he said. "Did you know Nate's a full blown adult now?"

"You don't have to," I tried again, but this time it was Nathan to shake his head.

"Nah, it's cool," he shrugged. "Not much of a place at the moment, but we could chill there. For charity, right?"

"Right," I agreed, barely resisting the urge to roll my eyes. I kissed Clay, slapping him on the butt. "Don't forget you're spoken for, Evans."

"Always about the ass," he teased, swinging it side to side for my apparent benefit as he headed for his own charity date.

"So," I said. "Haley and Clay been on your case too?"

Nathan grinned. "Yeah," he said. "Couple of hours won't kill us, right?"

"Plus earn us brownie points," I nodded.

Nathan offered to drive, knowing I didn't have a car. We got in and as we drove, he switched on his CD player. Rap music blasted from the speakers.

Without quite meaning to, I started singing along, stopping at Nathan's disbelieving look.

"You know Tupac?" he said incredulously.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "It's kind of my jam."

Nathan grinned. "I had you picked as a girly girl."

"Oh, I can be," I admitted. "But when Skills is your best friend, it's all about the rap."

The song launched into the chorus, and we both started rapping at the same time. I laughed and kept going, as it turned into a competition who could go the longest.

We arrived at his new place after picking up some takeout, which I discovered to have been covered in plastic as I walked in.

"Awkward question," I said. "But are you planning to kill me?"

"The painters must have left it," he said. "So what do you do think?"

"Very minimalist," I replied. "I can't believe you're emancipated."

"Really?" he said, a note of challenge to his voice.

"Not in a bad way or anything," I clarified. "I guess I'm just that used to my mom and Keith around all the time," I shrugged.

"Oh yeah, they're together now, aren't they?" he said. "Is that weird?"

"Not really," I said. "Kind of been waiting forever for them to realize they were perfect for each other."

"Yeah," Nathan sighed. "Keith seems like a good guy."

Keith did tend to spend more time with my family than Nathan's. Dan was his, but Keith was mine and Luke's.

"He is," I said simply. "So, grand tour?"

"Sure," he said, leading the way through his apartment.

"So, no furniture?" I noticed as we walked through to his bedroom. "I stand corrected," I said at the sight of his bed.

"Yeah, sticking with the essentials for now," he said, starting to pull the food out of the plastic bags. I took a seat beside him. We ate mostly in silence, and as always I was unsure what to say to him.

Once we had finished, we went for a walk outside.

"Pool? Nice," I grinned as we turned a corner.

"Why? Wanna go swimming?" Nathan teased.

"No, but you know I do have the power to make you go swimming," I pointed out with a smirk. "Boy toy, remember?"

"Right," he nodded. "So, if I have to do anything you say tonight, does that mean now's your chance to get back at me?"

He looked at me like he was trying to figure me out.

"I don't know," I answered lightly. "Want to atone for your sins?"

He laughed. "You want to push me into the pool, don't you?"

I couldn't help but grin. "Maybe."

He smirked, grabbed me, and pulled me in with him. I swam to the surface and found him laughing in the water beside me.

I splashed him, but strangely I wasn't angry. In fact, I was laughing.

"That was a risky move," I said once we had calmed down, leaning our heads against the side of the pool. "Hasn't anyone mentioned my temper?"

"You know, I had heard about it," he nodded. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see how mad you still were with me from being such an ass to you."

"Yeah, well, you're lucky," I said. "I've blown up at people for less."

"So I guess you don't hate me, then?"

I was taken aback by the hope in his voice. He had once mocked me, even if I hadn't suggested it, for the very idea of us being siblings. Was that something he now wanted?

"So you don't still wish I was a stain on the sheets?" I returned, not wanting to be the first to admit they didn't hate the other.

Nathan frowned. "I shouldn't have said that," he shook his head. "There was a lot of things I shouldn't have said."

"You don't have to…"

"Yeah, I do," he exhaled. "It's weird, you know. It's easier to talk to you than to Lucas."

"It is weird," I said. "Luke's the level headed one. But then, you bring out the aggression in him like only…"

"Dan?" Nathan supplied, and I nodded. It was strange. He had pulled me into the pool, and that should have made me angry. Instead, I reacted as if he were a friend that had done it.

"Yeah," I said. "A lot of what you said sounded like it came from Dan's mouth…"

"It doesn't excuse it," he said quietly. "I just… I'm sorry."

I didn't quite know what to think of his apology. For the longest time, it was so easy to hate him. Not only was he the one who had gotten a father (even if it was Dan), but his general asshole attitude gave me more than enough reason to despise him.

I tolerated him for Clay and Haley, or at least that was what I told myself. Now here he was, apologizing to me. I couldn't excuse accepting it as a favour to my boyfriend or friend. It was accepting him almost as a friend. I was tired of hating him, and it was with a certain wariness that I realized I hadn't hated him for a while.

I gave him a side look. "We don't need to hug it out or anything, do we?"

He laughed out loud, breaking the tension between us. "I'm going to take that as 'I forgive you' in Beth, then?"

I looked at him, slightly surprised. With the people who knew me well, I was easily readable. However, I wouldn't have put Nathan in that category.

He got out of the pool, holding his hand out to me. I took it.

"I don't suppose you have towels?"

In response, he threw one to me. "Thanks," I said, running it through my long, dark locks. "I should get going, anyway. Thanks, for a surprisingly not sucky night."

"You know, you are a charmer, Beth," he said.

"That's what they say," I grinned, handing him the towel. "Clay's picking me up on his way back from his date," I paused, thinking of Theresa. "Hope that skank kept her hands to herself."

Nathan laughed. "And risk infuriating you? Not everyone has my guts," he said. "So, I don't really wanna kiss you. How about a hug?"

It was quick and mostly awkward, but we hugged nonetheless.

"I'll see you around, I guess," I said. As I walked, Clay pulled up.

"Should I ask why you're wet?" he said cautiously, waiting for me to explode.

Instead, I smiled at him. "Just mucking around," I said, kissing his cheek.

"Wow," he said. "This isn't the mood I expected you to be in after spending a couple of hours with Nathan."

"Drive, Jeeves," I said, leaning back into the seat. "Got a long story for you. But I have a feeling you're going to be pretty happy about it."