Disclaimer: I do not own the tv show One Tree Hill that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

A/N: This story was not written by me, however, the author, who wishes to remain anonymous, asked that I post their Lathan stories for them. Enjoy.

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The sun was shining above the river court brightly as Nathan shot yet another basket and made it. He was waiting for his brother, Lucas, to arrive, so they could talk. Lucas had just moved into Dan's house and Nathan wanted to know why. He had heard about the entire Joules and Keith thing, but Nathan suspected there was something more going on.

"Hey," Lucas yelled, coming down the small hill and across the court. Nathan froze in mid-shot as his brother did so, admiring his golden blonde hair and brillantly blue eyes. Lucas had always been able to take Nathan's breath away, even without realizing it.

As of very recently, with Haley leaving for tour and not returning any of Nathan's phone calls, Nathan had been having weird feelings towards his brother. They had always been there, but now they were starting to surface in startling ways. Every little movement Lucas made, every little touch he gave Nathan sent the younger Scott over the edge. It was extremely hard not to just kiss Lucas every time that happened, but somehow, Nathan managed to restrain himself. The thought of Lucas's rejection of him was much harder to face than just being gay and in love with your brother.

"We need to talk," Nathan said, putting the ball down and walking over to the picnic tables where Lucas now sat. God, he looks so sexy sitting like that, with his arms leaned back and... got to stop thinking like that, Nathan inwardly scolded himself. He let none of these feelings or desires show in his face.

"What do you want to talk about?" Lucas asked, putting his hands on his knees and leaning foward. Nathan felt himself shiver despite the heat. Man... I just want to kiss him, he thought desperately.

"Why did you move in with Dan?" Nathan asked bluntly, not wanting to deal with any preamble. Lucas suddenly froze before turning to face the other Scott.

"I told you, I'm doing it for Keith," he said, his dreamy blue eyes giving him away. There was something else going on, something that Lucas wasn't telling Nathan.

"Bull shit," Nathan said, narrowing his eyes at the elder Scott. "Would you mind to tell me the real reason why you moved in with Dan?"

"Joules is working for Dan and I don't want Keith to find out. It wouldn't be fair to him," Lucas said, turning his face away from Nathan. That made Nathan pissed off, because he couldn't stare longingly at his brother's perfect features anymore or tell what he was thinking.

"Right. I've heard that reason."

"It's the only reason."

"Really? Cause I don't think it is."

"I'm really surprised no one has figured it out yet," Lucas muttered, staring out at the river. Turning back to Nathan, he added jokingly, "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"I'll take that chance," Nathan said, also joking. He admired how easily they fell into a brotherly banter. It just felt so right, like being here with him and talking to him. How Nathan longed to do this every day and so much more!

"Believe me, it's nothing serious," Lucas promised, breaking the teasing mood between them. "I'd tell you if it was."

"Swear on everything you hold dear?" Nathan asked. Lucas nodded, before looking away quickly. He was blushing! Nathan had only seen that blush twice before, and both times around Peyton and Brooke. That was totally weird, Nathan thought, smiling internally. That blush meant so much more to him than it probably was supposed to.

"Anything else you want to talk about or do you just want to play a game of one-on-one?" Lucas asked, changing the subject. He had turned back to looking at Nathan without the younger Scott even noticing.

"What? Sure, we can play a game of one-on-one," Nathan agreed, not wanting to lose the time with his brother. Who knew, maybe he could gather up the courage to tell Lucas he was secretly in love with him.

Two hours later, Lucas was walking up the steps to the cafe, where Peyton was working. Brooke was in California until further notice, while Nathan had to go to work at the pretzel shop in the mall.

Lucas enjoyed the time spent with Peyton, for she was the only one he could really talk to now that Haley was out of town for God knew how long. She was also the only person outside of Haley that knew Lucas was a closet-gay with a crush on his brother.

"Hey, doofus! Watch where you're going!" Peyton yelled just as Lucas ran smack into her. She was carrying a tray full of empty glasses and dishes back to the kitchen, where Deb was working on the lunch hour rush food.

"Shit!" Lucas said as the glass shattered everywhere and they both landed flat on their asses. "I am so sorry, Peyton! Here, let me help you clean it up."

"No!" Peyton shouted, just as Lucas took a rag off of one of the empty table tops and started cleaning it up. "You've done enough already, thanks."

"Oh please, Peyton, don't make me feel bad! I have worked here for the past seventeen years. I think I know how to clean up glass!" he said, putting all the shards of glass on the tray. "There, now you don't have to worry about slicing yourself."

"Thanks so much for your help," Peyton said, putting on a fake British accent as she picked the tray off of the table. "Are all gay people so nice?"

"Only to people they like," Lucas joked, not really caring about the jab to his sexuality. He didn't mind, just as long as she didn't tell anyone.

"I'll take that as a complement," Peyton said, rolling her eyes. Checking the clock on the wall of the cafe, she swore quietly. "Shit! Do you think you could cover for me? Jake's due to call at like any second and I really don't want to miss another one of his phone calls."

"Sure, no problem," Lucas said, smiling at the blonde. "Tell Jake and Jenny Uncle Luke says hi!"

"Will do!" Peyton called over her shoulder as she dashed out of the cafe. Lucas smiled and shook his head, taking the glass filled tray into the back. Deb was there, cooking a cake.

"Did Peyton leave already?" she asked, quickly adding a random ingredient to the bowl of cake mix.

"Yeah, she had to go answer a hone call from Jake. He's calling from Savannah today," Lucas explained, setting the tray of broken glass in the trash. "I said I'd cover for her."

"Okay, that's great!" Deb said, handing him a tray. "Go take orders from table three. Then you can start refilling drinks and taking the food out to the customers."

Lucas groaned internally, before taking the tray and pad and heading out of the kitchen. Only the thought of his brother kept him going through the day. Two more hours of this torture and I can go and see if he wants to order pizza tonight, he promised himself.

Nathan was tired and hurting all over as he got into his car to go back to his apartment. He had had an extremely long day at work. His boss had decided that Nathan was his go-to man and had to do everything from cleaning the floors without a mop to making all the pretzels by hand. Life sucked sometimes.

Buzz. Buzz. His cell phone vibrated due to an incoming text message. Nathan picked it up off the seat and smiled as the caller id read: Lucas. The text read: Hey Nate. Got pizza and new movie. Am at the apartment. C ya soon! Luke.

Even in his exhausted state, Nathan was excited about tonight. It would be the first time he was really around Lucas since he had finally admitted it to himself that he way gay... and was in love with his brother.

Lucas checked his watch for the millionth time. He had recieved a text message from Nathan not ten minutes ago, saying that the younger Scott would be home soon. Lucas wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was extremely nervous about tonight. It was going to be their semi-first date, since Lucas had plans to admit to Nathan about his sexuality preference. He just prayed to God that Nathan wouldn't reject him. It would kill him if he did.

A loud voice yelling, "Hey!" made Lucas turn around. Tim Smith, the long lost idiot who used to play on the Raven's basketball team was standing there, looking angry. Tim had left town before Lucas and Nathan had gotten close, so he didn't know about the brothership going on between the blonde and brunette.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Lucas asked, as the shorter brown haired teen came up the steps. "Aren't you supposed to be at military school?"

"Aren't you supposed to be at the river court with the other rats?" Tim taunted. "Faggot."

That one word made Lucas freeze. How did he know? Does he know or is he just messing with me?

The sound of a door slamming pulled Lucas out of his thoughts. His heart skipped a couple of beats as he looked across the sidewalk at his younger brother who was now staring at Tim, a look of shock etched into his face.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked. The estatic look in his blue eyes was enough to send anyone to over the edge. Lucas felt a strain of jealousy that it wasn't directed at him.

"Sheri let me come home for a week and I decided to come over and visit you!" Tim said, also smiling. Gesturing towards Lucas, he added, "That's when I found bozo over here standing there. Is he the new pizza delivery service?"

"Yeah," Nathan said, looking apologetically at Lucas.

That crushed the blonde, more than any punch or any diss at his sexuality. Nathan was rejecting him, before he had the chance to go out with him.

"Here's your pizza," he mumbled, handing it to Tim. As the brown haired teen pulled his wallet out of his pants, Lucas added, "It's a nonprofit orginization. We don't accept tips or payment."

He ignored Nathan's desperate stare as he headed down the sidewalk.

"Luke, wait!" Nathan called. The apartment door slammed shut, signaling Tim's going into the house. Lucas stopped at the stop sign and turned around to face his brother.

"What, Nathan?" he asked, not even bothering to hide the anger in his voice. Sighing, he said, "I get it, Nate. Tim's your best friend. You should hang out with him while he's here."

"Lucas, I don't want to," Nathan protested. "I had no idea he would be here."

"Keep telling yourself that," Lucas muttered. Raising his voice so Nathan could hear him, he said, "Have fun with him. I won't be seeing you."

With that, he turned and started running. He ignored the fact that he hadn't taken his medications this morning, the fact that he had HCM, and the fact tha the was leaving an extremely crushed Nathan in his wake. He was on his way to anywhere but there.