Nathan walked into Deb's Den after playing a pick up game with Skillz, Junk, and the rest of the guys at the river court. Nathan lived in small town, Tree Hill North Carolina. His mother was Deb Lee and his father, if you could even call him that, was the infamous Dan Scott. Dan had gotten Deb pregnant within the first few months of college. He stayed by her side until he found out that he had also gotten his high school sweetheart Karen Roe pregnant. He had to choose between the two and he choose Karen. Leaving Deb alone and with child. But Deb made it with the help of Keith, Dan's older brother. After saving up enough money, Deb opened up her own place, Deb's Den. It was a low key cafe where Nathan spent most of his time. Nathan had always wanted a brother, but Lucas Scott didn't want anything to do with him. So Nathan relied on the only very close thing he had to a sibling, his best friend.

Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott have been best friends since they were ten years old. Brooke was from the other side of Tree Hill, where the rich resided. At the tender age of 10, Brooke was dressed in designer cloths and wore make up. Nathan never thought that he would be friends with her. One day when Deb was running late to pick up Nathan from school she noticed little Brooke sitting by herself a few feet away from Nathan. When Deb offered to wait with her until her parents came, Brooke told her that her parents always forgot to pick her up and that she had to stay there until they came for her later on. Not liking the idea of leaving the little girl there, Deb brought her and Nathan to the cafe so she could get a hold of Brooke's parents. Nathan saw how lonely the girl really was, and from then on the Nathan and Deb had become her surrogate family.

"Hey mom." Nathan said to his mother

"Hey Nate, how was the game?" Deb asked her son

"It was good. I'm hungry, it's your job to feed me you know that right." Nathan joked

"Well go fix yourself something to eat, or ask Brooke to do it she is the back." Deb said. As if on cue, Brooke walked out of the back and handed Deb a magazine.

"The magazine pages are sticky again. Little perverts." Brooke said "Nate, haven't I told you to throw them out once your finished with them."

"Is that the 'why do I hang out with these people?' Issue, because you're on the cover of that, right?" Nathan said

"No, actually, it's the "my best friend is an asshole" issue." Brooke retorted, giving him the 'I won' face.

Deb laughed at the two bickering teens. "Brooke are you staying for dinner?"

"Hell yea. Do you think I wanna go home and eat the crap that is being force feed to me." Brooke scoffed as she sat down in the booth next to Nathan.

"It's nice to know that you only like me for my food." Deb said

"Well it's the truth." Brooke said

The rest of the night continued on like that. Nathan and Brooke bickering and Deb laughing at the pair.

It was a sunny Monday morning when Keith walked into Tree Hill High School. Home of the Raven's. It held so many memories because he himself had attended this school. He needed to see the coach to talk to him about his nephew.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Keith Scott." Coach Whitey Durham said

"How are you Whitey. Do you, uh, got a second?" Keith asked

"Yea, sure. I saw your little brother Dan a while back. He said I crush the dreams of young men." Whitey laughed

"Was he talking about himself, or was he talking about Lucas?" Keith asked

"I would say Lucas, but we both know how Dan loves to talk about himself." Whitey said

"So what I came here to talk to you about was Nathan. You know he plays right?" Keith said

"Nathan?" Whitey thought for a moment "You mean Dan's other son?" Whitey asked

"Deb's son, Dan was just the sperm donor." Keith said

"Is he any good? Where does he play?" Whitey asked

"Down by the river." Keith answered

"Well if the kid had any game he would have been on the team already." Whitey said

"Come on old man, just come take a drive with me." Keith said. Whitey looked a little hesitant but agreed to go anyway. Once they got to the river court a game was already in progress.

"Nathan is on fire tonight. How do you say 'hot' in French?" Mouth asked

"How should I know?" Brooke said

Mouth gave Brooke a skeptical look, but continued with the commentary. "Fergie finds Nathan, who takes out Junk again!"

"They never learn, do they Mouth." Brooke said as he clapped her hands. Happy that Nathan's team won the game.

Back at the car Keith turned his head away from the river court to look at Whitey. "Tell me he isn't good."

"Ok, now I'm not saying that he isn't but why put him through that?" Whitey asked

"Because he should know that he's good. Not just playground good, but good period. He could use that in his life." Keith explained.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do...I remember when Dan told me he got another woman pregnant. I thought he would of learned his lesson after getting Karen pregnant.

"Dan will never learn." Keith said

On the other side of town, where all the rich and luxurious houses were. Peyton Sawyer sat alone in her room with her music blasting, trying to tune herself out from the rest of the world. That didn't work for too long.

"Peyton what are you wasting your time at now?" Lucas asked as he flopped down on Peyton's bed. She was sitting at her computer desk.

"I didn't hear you come in." Peyton said as she reached for her stereo and turned the volume down.

"I can see why, you know nobody listens to this crap." Lucas said

"Where were you tonight. I waited for you." Peyton said. Finally facing him.

"Yea the guys wanted to tip a few." Lucas said

"You could of at least let me know." Peyton said, getting angry. She didn't know why. He always did stuff like this.

"That's why I came by, do you wanna go?" Lucas asked

"No"

"You know what. I'm getting tired of this. I came by to spend time with you." Lucas yelled

"Yea, me and half the team." Peyton yelled back

"You wanna act like a bitch? That's fine, just listen to your loser rock and i'll see you tomorrow." Lucas said

"How about you don't see me tomorrow." Peyton challenged

"Look Peyton I'm sorry. Ok? I'm really, really sorry. It's a team bonding thing and it would make me happy if you were with me tonight." Lucas pleaded.

"Fine." Peyton said as she went to go get dressed.

Lucas stayed on Peyton's bed while she was in the bathroom. Lucas was the best player on the basketball team, and it was only right for him to date one of the cheerleaders. They started going out freshman year, and things were great between them. They liked the same things and enjoyed doing things together. But now, it's like they lost that connection. They weren't the same people anymore and he knew it was a matter of time before they were going to break up permanently. Not that Lucas really cared. He was too much like Dan for his own good.

Whitey walked into the class room, preparing himself for trying to convince Nathan to play for his team

"Scott" Whitey said

"Yea coach." Lucas said, he started to get up.

"Not you. You." Whitey said pointing to Nathan. Then he pointed back to Lucas "Now you on the other hand. Do some work, Lord knows you need to."

Whitey didn't say a word until they reached the gym. Nathan didn't know what was going on until Whitey started to speak

" Nice, isn't it? A lot of people like their gyms loud. I like mine like this, quiet, clean... Kind of like a church. A lot of praying done here, anyway. "Whitey began

"No offense Coach, but why did you want to talk to me?" Nathan asked

"I saw you playing at that court by the river. You're good. Why don't you play for the Raven's? I have an opening for varsity. It's a chance of a lifetime. What do you say?" Whitey said

"I'd say those people that pray here are wasting their time. God doesn't watch sports." Nathan said as he walked out of the gym.

"When were you gonna tell us about your meeting with old Whitey?" Skillz asked, they were making free throws at the river court.

"I wasn't, it was nothing important" Nathan said as he took another shot. He made it.

"Whitey asked you to play on the team, and it's nothing important?" Skillz said

"It's nothing 'cause I'm not playing -- not with those guys." Nathan said. He stopped shooting the ball and faced Skillz

"Nate, man, I've been guarding you almost every night since we was 12 years old, right? And how many games have you won?" Skillz asked him

"All of them, but that just means that you suck at basketball" Nathan laughed

"Laugh all you want, I can still kick your scrawny ass. You were asked to play on a real team, it matters." Skillz said

"Well, it doesn't to me. Don't you guys ever think that maybe we belong here?" Nathan said

"No. We belong here." Skillz said, motioning to himself, Fergie and Junk. "You've never belonged here."

"Thanks a lot, Skillz. Just shoot for teams." Nathan said. He passed the ball to Skillz. He was getting tired of explaining himself to his friends.

"Yo, Nate, man, you know you're one of my best friends, right? Ain't nothing never gonna change that, man. But keep it real. We ain't shooting for teams. We're shooting to be your excuse. And I ain't about to be a part of that, man. " Skillz said as he dropped the basketball and walked over to the bench and sat down with the rest of the guys.

Nathan shook his head, they just didn't understand. Nathan got into his truck and drove home. When he got there Brooke was sitting on his porch with a package in her hands.

"What's up B. Whatcha got there." Nathan said as he walked up to her.

"I don't know. It was on your porch when I got here. Since when have your doors been locked." Brooke said as they walked into the house and into his room.

"I don't know, ask my mom. Who's the package for." Nathan asked as he sat on his bed.

"You, it has your name on it." Brooke handed him the package and went into the kitchen to get something to drink.

Nathan opened it and it was the Raven's basketball uniform. He looked at it for a few seconds, walked into his bathroom and put it on. Brooke came back into the living room with her cell phone pressed to her ear.

"Nathan Scott, get your ass out here. Why didn't you tell me Whitey asked you to play for the Raven's?" Brooke yelled

Nathan walked out of the bathroom dressed in the uniform, and he looked good wearing it, Brooke thought to herself. But she was still shocked.

"Skillz, I'm gonna have to call you back." Brooke said as he hung up the phone.

"What do you think?" Nathan asked "Do I look like a Raven?"

"What's going on?" Deb said as she walked into her son's room.

"Someone left this at the door." Nathan said

"Take it off." Deb said sternly as she walked back out of the room and into the living room

"Yes, take it off." Brooke laughed, clapping her hands together. Nathan rolled his eyes at her comment and caught up with his mother.

"Mom, are you ok?" Nathan asked

"I'm fine, do you know who left it?" Deb asked

"I think Whitey did. He asked me to play for the Raven's today." Nathan said

"The team that Lucas is on?" Deb asked

"Yea..." Nathan said.

"I think you should do it." Deb said

"What?" Nathan said

"You've always wanted to play for a team, don't not do it because of Lucas or Dan or because of me." Deb said

"I'll think about it." Nathan said as he walked back into his room.

Lucas is in the weight room, when his father Dan walks in.

"What are you slinging?" Dan asked

"About 160." Lucas answered. He was breathing heavily

"Give me that. Your mom called. She won't be back ,what do you know about Whitey inviting... "Dan started but was cut off by Lucas.

"Your son to play?" Lucas said

"Don't call him that." Dan yelled

"He's got our last name dad." Lucas said

"The fact that he shares your last name is only wishful thinking on his mother's part. We were young. She wasn't supposed to get pregnant." Dan said

"Look, it's kind of screwed up, all right? People talk about it." Lucas said. When he was younger and he found out that he had a younger brother, he was happy. But Dan made sure that Lucas hated Nathan

"Get out of there." Dan demanded, Lucas shook his head and was walking away, but Dan called him back.

"I want you to go to this kid, encourage him not to play."

"I'm not afraid of him, dad." Lucas told him

"Well, you should be. We've worked too hard to have anyone coming in now, disrupting the offense, taking away shots." Dan told him. Lucas nodded his head and left.

The next day at school, Lucas was talking to Peyton when he saw Nathan walk out of the tutoring center.

"I'll be right back" he said and walked to catch up with Nathan.

"How's it goin' little brother?" Lucas said

"What do you want Lucas?" Nathan said. He wasn't in the mood for one of Lucas' games.

"Whitey said you were thinking of joining the team. I just wanted to talk to you. I've seen you play and honestly, I don't see what's so special about you."Lucas said

"Whatever man, now that you have said what you needed to say. Get out of my face." Nathan said

"Listen, I'm tired of people comparing us. I want to show every one once and for all that I am better than you. No one wants you on the team. The guys don't want you, Peyton doesn't want you, and Dan sure as hell doesn't want you. Oh but wait, I think Dan already has proven that theory. So how about a game of one on one. Just you and me. You pick the time and the place." Lucas said

"I don't feel like playing games with you brother." Nathan said

"How about a little wager. If you win, I'll quit the team. If I win, you crawl back in your little hole and you remember your place in all this." Lucas said as he walked back over to Peyton.

Nathan was pissed off and he walked back into the tutoring center. Grabbing Brooke by the arm, he dragged her towards his car.

"Ok, not that I don't like being kidnapped by my best friend, because really I do." Brooke started sarcastically. "We just got to school. Where the hell are you taking me?" Brooke asked.

Nathan didn't say anything until they got to the beach. Nathan explained to her what happened with Lucas earlier.

"So, Nathan challenged you. Are you gonna play him?" Brooke asked

"I don't know. It's not like I have anything to prove." Nathan told her.

"But don't you just want to show him sometimes?" Brooke asked

"Ah, man. I would like to show him sometimes, though, what a mistake he's made."Nathan looked down at his feet

"Dan?" Brooke asked carefully. Dan had always been a touchy subject

"Mostly for mom... And...Sometimes for me." Nathan said. They walked in silence for a little while.

"Ok, were being too serious. You, mister Scott, need to loosen up. I suggest that we go get drunk." Brooke said

"You're crazy, you know that." Nathan laughed

"I know, that's why you love me." Brooke said

"I'm gonna go to Keith's, you need a ride somewhere." Nathan asked as they got into the car.

"Yea, back to the school. I left my car there." Brooke said "Won't he be mad that you skipped school."

"Nope." Nathan said. They talked for a little while longer as he pulled up to the school.

"See you later Brooke." Nathan said

"Alright, bye. Oh, and tell Uncle Keith I said Hi" Brooke said as she walked towards the building.

"Hey Uncle Keith." Nathan said as he walked into the body shop.

"Nathan? What are you doing here?" Keith asked poking his head up fom under the hood of a car.

"I just needed to get out of school for a while. I'm not missing anything important." Nathan told him.

"If your mother finds out, I don't know anything about you skipping school." Keith warned.

"Deal." Nathan laughed. They talked together as they worked on the car until Keith brought up basketball.

"So I talked to Whitey. He said that you turned him down" Keith said, but Nathan remained quiet. "Why won't you play?"

"I do play. I play every night." Nathan finally said.

"It's not the same Nathan and you know it." Keith told his nephew.

"Why? What makes it any less of a game if people don't see it?" Nathan asked.

"I'll tell you why. When I was a kid, my father took me to Raleigh to see David Thompson play. I was 9 years old. I couldn't have cared less about basketball. But when Thompson stepped on the court, he was so young, so quick, and just so graceful that I was mesmerized. I couldn't take my eyes off him until late in the game, and I look up at my dad, and he's got tears in his eyes. 14,000 strangers and my father's crying because he's so beautiful. He played with such poetry that he made us feel like we were a part of it. You have a gift, Nate, and it's a crime not to let people see it, to hide it in the park. It's a damn shame. That's why." Keith finished

Nathan nodded his head, getting the point of the story. Suddenly the phone rings, pulling them both from their thoughts.

"Keith's body shop and towing." Keith said into the phone. He listened for a while to the person on the other line and wrote something down. After hanging up the phone the handed the paper to Nathan.

"Car broke down. They need a tow." He told Nathan.

"Ok." Nathan said grabbing the keys to the two truck. "And thanks for everything." he said leaving the body shop.

"Hey bestfriend." Brooke said, jumping onto Nathan's back. "So did you get caught skipping yesterday?"

"Nope, Mom still doesn't know." He laughed. "Did you get caught?"

"Getting caught would require my parents actually being home to catch me." Brooke said sliding off of Nathan's back and walking next to him.

"Still not home yet?" He asked.

"Nope, but Maria's there so it's not totally lonely." Brooke said referring to the maid.

Nathan walked Brooke to her first class and spotted Lucas by his locker. Nathan walked up to him confidently

"Tomorrow night, at the riverfront. But if I win, I'm gonna want something else." Nathan said

"Oh yea? And what would that be?" Lucas asked.

Later on that night, Nathan was on the roof of Deb's Den when Brooke came up.

"This place looks great." Nathan said, knowing it was Brooke behind him.

"I know, I know. No need to thank me. I just finished putting up the lights. Miniature golf is never going to be the same." Brooke laughed walking up next to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "You know your mom is worried. She's downstairs with Keith picking through her past."

"Do you think I'm being selfish playing Lucas?" Nathan asked suddenly.

"Do you?" She asked

"A little bit. I mean, if I walked away, then my mom wouldn't be downstairs worried about it now." Nathan told her

"You know, I don't act serious way too often 'cause it's weird for me, but...you're a really good guy, and I'm glad we're friends. But you and your mom worry too damn much."

Nathan laughed at his friend "So are you ready to go?"

"Hell yea! We're so gonna kick Lucas Scott's ass." She yelled, running towards the door to the roof.

When Nathan and Brooke arrived at the River Court it was filled with people.

"Where the hell did all these people come from?" Brooke asked to no one in particular, once she and Nathan reached the picnic table they were able to see Mouth and Jimmy.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to an historic night of basketball. I'm Mouth McFadden, along with my gamey partner, Jimmy Edwards, and, Jimmy, we're in for a treat tonight." Mouth said in his announcer voice that Brooke thought was the funniest thing.

"And who doesn't love a treat, Mouth? I know I do...s'mores, ice cream, cake." Jimmy rambled on

"How did all these people know about the game?" Nathan asked

"I don't know, they were here before we even got here. Must of heard it at school." Mouth said before going back to what he was doing. "just moments before the stroke of 12:00, and still no Lucas Scott."

"The crowd is getting restless, Mouth." Jimmy said

"Junk Moreti joins us now. Junk, you care to make a prediction?" Mouth askes, putting the microphone up to his mouth.

"I predict you guys will be the two biggest morons out here." Junk laughed at his friends.

" And it looks like Nathan Scott has arrived, driven by car right onto the court." Mouth announced, causing everyone to look in the direction that Mouth was. The crowd started cheering for Lucas since he was the popular one.

"Okay, folks, here we go. 15 by ones. Make it, take it, win by one, and you can feel the intensity in the air." Mouth said. Brooke took a seat by Mouth while Nathan walked up to Lucas.

"You ready for this? " Lucas smirked, as Tim passed him the basket ball.

"Why not?" Nathan said, shrugging his shoulders like it wasn't a big deal.

"It's your life." Lucas told him, passing him the ball

"Yeah. It is." Nathan said

"I'll give you a head start little brother." Lucas smiled. Nathan smirked and shot the ball into the air and waited for the familiar sound of the ball swishing threw the net.

"Oh-ho! A 25-footer rips the silk like Jimmy Edwards in a size 3 dress." Mouth excitedly announced from the sidelines.

"Is that all you got, man? If that's all you got, this is over." Lucas said

As the game goes on, it's gets heated by the second. Which leads to Lucas elbowing Nathan in the face.

"No foul. Basket counts. Besides...you won't score again." Nathan said cockily.

"Oh, the basket counts, and it's 14-12, game point for Lucas. He could win it all right here. Lucas for the win. Holy crap!" Mouth's eyes bulged out of it's sockets as he saw the amazing block that Nathan just made. "Did you see that?! Someday men will write stories about that block. Children will be named after it. Argentinean women will weep for it. Nate gets a basket, and he's down.." He said looking towards Brooke.

"By one." She said, keeping her eyes on the game praying that Nathan will win.

"You're down by one, man. Don't choke now." Lucas said, trying to get into his head. The crowed is now spilt, one side screaming for Nathan while the other screamed for Lucas.

"This is it, folks. No going back now. The next basket wins it." Mouth said dramatically.

"He's never mentioned you, man. Not once after all these years." Lucas continued to antagonize Nathan.

"This is for my mom." Nathan said, closing his eyes and taking the the shot.

"Nathan for the win! It's good! It's good! Nathan Scott takes it 15-14, and there is bedlam and delirium and felicity for all!" Mouth shouts and the crowd goes wild. Brooke ran to him and jumped in his arms.

"Congrats Nathan." She said, finally letting him go.

"Thanks B." He said as other people came up to congratulate him. One of them being Peyton, Lucas' girlfriend. Brooke excused herself and ran over to Mouth

"So what did you get if you won?" Peyton asked

"Nathan stays on the team." Nathan said

"Why would you do that?" Peyton asked curiously.

"Because it's the last thing he wants." Nathan smiled. Lucas walked up to the two of them.

"Peyton lets go." He said, taking her by the hand.

"I guess I'll be seeing you more often then." Peyton said as she walked away with Lucas. After everything calmed down and everyone left, it was just Brooke and Nathan left.

"So you know the basketball team is gonna give you hell come Monday morning right.'' Brooke said

Nathan nodded his head "Just shoot me now."