Haley tutored Tyler every day after practice. She'd set Friday as the deadline for the first draft of his book report because his first basketball game was Friday. He needed the extra credit in order to be eligible.

"Do you have your book report?"

"Yeah." Tyler pulled a handwritten essay from his backpack and handed it to her.

"Great. I'll look at it and we can edit it on Monday." Haley rewarded Tyler with a smile. Tyler didn't return the smile. "Are you nervous about the game tonight?"

"There are going to be a lot of people there."

"Nathan says you've been doing really well. Speaking of which, you should go before you're late for the game."

"Okay." This was the only time Tyler would rather be in tutoring than playing basketball. He knew he was good. He'd only ever played on the river court or in the empty gym, though. The thought of playing in a crowded gym didn't sit well with him.

Haley frowned as she read Tyler's paper. She'd seen his tests. He usually struggled with spelling and grammar. The reading comprehension issues he was having and the spelling mistakes he was making made Haley wonder if he might be dyslexic. The paper he'd given her was very well written. There was no way he could have written it.

Haley got on the computer and searched a few of the terms from Tyler's paper to see if he'd plagiarized. None of the terms returned any results.

"Hey!" Brooke called as she let herself in.

Jamie let go of her hand and ran toward Haley. "Hi Mama!"

"Hey guys." Haley smiled at Jamie. "Did you have fun with Aunt Brooke and Julian?"

Jamie nodded.

"Okay. Go get ready. We need to leave for the game in a few minutes."

"How are you doing?" Brooke asked as she sat down opposite Haley.

"I'm okay. How are you?"

"I'm going to lose my company. I don't know who I am without it. So much of who I am is tied to Clothes Over Bros."

"You've lost your company before."

"That was different."

"How?"

"I didn't lose it. I gave it to Victoria. Even then I felt a little like I'd failed. Now I really feel like I failed." Last time she'd lost her company, she'd also had Sam as a distraction. Now she was left with nothing.

"Brooke, you did not fail! You started your own company when you were in high school. You've done more in your twenties than most people do in their lifetime."

Jamie joined them at the table. He'd changed into a Ravens jersey. "I'm ready."

"Brooke, is Julian coming?"

"He's meeting us there. He was filming Chase at Tric."

"Okay, let's go."


Julian was already sitting down in the bleachers when they arrived. They joined him.

Jamie broke into a smile when he saw Julian. "Julian!" He sat down beside Julian.

"Hey buddy."

The game started. Haley spotted Tyler on the court. "Oh, he looks so nervous. Poor thing."

"Who?" Brooke asked.

"Tyler. He's the one who tried to steal Julian's car." Haley pointed him out to Brooke.

Tyler's cocky smirk was gone. His face was a sickly white color. He kept darting nervous glances at the bleachers.

"I can't believe Nathan's actually letting him play."

"He's really good."

Within the first five minutes of the game, one of the Ravens passed the ball to Tyler. He was the only player who could make a basket from anywhere on the court. He caught it instinctively. Normally when Tyler had a basketball in his hands, he forgot about everything else. This was different. He couldn't block out the roar of the crowd. All eyeballs were on him. This wasn't an escape. This was a trap.

Tyler choked. It was the first time Nathan had ever seen him miss a basket.

"Really good, huh?" Brooke asked sarcastically.

"It looks like he sucks at stealing cars and basketball," Julian said.

Nathan called a time-out. He pulled Tyler aside. "Are you okay?"

Tyler shrugged Nathan's concern off. "Yeah."

"It's okay if you're nervous." Nathan remembered Lucas' first game as a Raven. He too had choked. Nathan thought Lucas would never set foot in the gym again. Lucas seriously considered quitting, but Whitey was able to talk him out of it. Nathan wanted to do the same for Tyler now. He wanted to help Tyler face his fears and overcome them.

"There are just a lot of people here." Tyler wasn't looking at Nathan; he was looking at the crowd.

"Is your family here? Play for them. They're the only ones who matter."

"No, my parents are in prison."

"My dad was in prison." Nathan smirked at Tyler's shocked expression. Tyler had expected shock or horror. He hadn't expected to discover he had something in common with Nathan. "Look, basketball is basketball. It doesn't matter where you're playing. It doesn't matter if you're on the river court by yourself or here in this gym with all these people. You're a good player. Forget about all these people and just play."

Nathan knew Tyler was their only shot at winning. The Ravens hadn't won a game all season. Most of the other players couldn't make a free throw if their lives depended on it. Tyler was good enough to lead the team to a victory. He just hoped he'd had the same impact on Tyler that Whitey had on Lucas. He would have to wait and see.

He didn't have to wait long. As soon as the Ravens had the ball, it invariably ended up in Tyler's hands. Tyler closed his eyes for a few seconds. He pictured the river court in his head. He opened his eyes and looked straight ahead at the basket. He didn't dare look at the crowd. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when the ball went through the hoop. The crowd cheered loudly. Slowly Tyler broke into a cocky grin.

Tyler continued playing well for the rest of the game. He scored the game winning point in the last three seconds. The crowd erupted into applause. It was the first game they'd won all season.

"I take it back. He's better at basketball than stealing cars," Julian said.

"He is really good," Brooke said.

"Hey, can you guys take Jamie? I want to go talk to Nathan and Tyler," Haley said.

"Of course."


Julian and Brooke took Jamie to get ice cream.

"Are you sure we should give him sugar before bed?" Julian asked.

"Not our problem," Brooke said.

"If they don't want him, we could always take him," Julian joked.

"Don't say that. Last time I joked about kidnapping, I got arrested," Brooke said.

"You got arrested like Grandpa Dan?" Jamie asked.

"Unfortunately."

"Why?"

"My mother did something bad, and they thought I was involved."

"But you weren't, were you, Aunt Brooke?" Jamie's confidence in his Aunt Brooke never faltered. He knew how loving and kind she could be. He couldn't fathom that she was capable of doing something bad.

"No buddy."

"I know because you're really good. You're one of the best people I know."

"Thanks Jamie."

"What about me?" Julian asked.

"You're really good, too. But you're really bad at video games."

"Thanks," Julian said sarcastically.

"Sorry. You're good at other things like…well, you make Aunt Brooke happy."

"She makes me happy."

"I'm really glad you guys are getting married."

"Me too."


Haley stopped Nathan and Tyler before they went into the locker room. "Tyler, are your parents here?"

"No."

"I wanted to talk to them about something."

"Hales, his parents are in prison."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Who is your legal guardian?"

They were treading on dangerous grounds. Tyler knew one wrong move could have disastrous results. He didn't know what the right move was, though. Too afraid he would say the wrong thing, he said nothing.

"Where do you live?" Haley asked.

"I'm staying at a friend's place."

"Are you in foster care?"

"No. My mom kicked me out before she was arrested."

"Why?"

"I stole a car…got arrested. She was drunk and pissed off." Tyler had just told two people he'd known for less than a week more than he'd told any adult in the last year. He didn't want to tell them his life story, but he was at a loss for words. He couldn't come up with a better story off the top of his head so he was left with the ugly truth.

"Okay, I can get you some help."

Tyler snickered. "What help? I'm not going into foster care." He did not want to go into foster care, but he knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it Haley and Nathan reported him.

"You're sixteen years old. You shouldn't have to take care of yourself right now."

"It's better than foster care."

"You don't know that. There has to be something better out there for you."

"Look, my sister is in foster care. It's not so good. There's no way I'm going into foster care. So you can call Child Protective Services and report me, but if you do, I'm not going to stick around. Your husband's going to lose his top scorer."

"My only scorer," Nathan muttered under his breath.

Haley was torn. She knew she should report Tyler. She had to believe there was something better out there for him, but she knew she was being idealistic. As unfair as it was, there were too many children out there who had no one protecting them. "Okay. Maybe you should come with us tonight and we can figure this out in the morning."

"So you can report me while I'm sleeping? Yeah, I don't think so." Tyler may not be book smart, but he was street smart. He didn't trust any adults. Haley and Nathan knew too much.

"You think I'm going to lose my top scorer? Come on. We won't do anything tonight. I promise," Nathan said.

Tyler didn't know whether to believe Nathan or not. He knew Nathan did not want to lose him. Nathan hadn't worked this hard to get him on the team only to push him away.


Jamie was shooting baskets in the driveway when they got home. Julian was standing to the side of the hoop, throwing the ball back to Jamie after he shot. Brooke was watching with a smile on her face. She loved how good Julian was with Jamie.

Jamie ran to Tyler. Tyler was his new hero for winning the game. Julian and Brooke were long forgotten. "Tyler! You're really good!"

Tyler chuckled. The smile reserved for Jamie played across his face. "Thanks. I saw you shooting around. You're not bad, but can you do this?" Tyler took the ball from Jamie and dunked it.

"No, but Daddy can."

"What about this?" Tyler backed away from the hoop. He stood several feet away facing the opposite direction as the hoop. He threw the ball over his head. He heard the distinct swoosh as the ball sank through the net.

Jamie's eyes widened. He tried to copy Tyler, but his attempt missed the basket by a long shot.

"That's enough. Jamie, go get ready for bed," Haley said.


Tyler felt like an intruder. He'd been in their house before, but that was different. It was one thing to be there for tutoring sessions. It was another thing entirely to stay there. He'd only ever stayed with friends. As the others made themselves comfortable, Tyler lingered in the foyer. "Should I take the couch?"

"No, you can stay in the guest room, but I want to talk to you. Come sit down." Haley indicated an empty chair at the kitchen table.

"You said we weren't going to do anything tonight." Tyler didn't trust them to begin with. The fact that Haley was already going back on her word solidified his belief that he couldn't trust adults.

"That's not what this is about." Haley waited for Tyler to take a seat. Once he did, she held his paper up. "Can you explain this?"

The anger dissolved leaving confusion in its place. Tyler expected a long, drawn out conversation in which Haley tried to convince him that foster care wasn't without merit. He hadn't expected an impromptu tutoring session. "It's a book report."

"A book report that you didn't write." It was not a question, but a statement of fact. Haley left no room for argument. She didn't sound angry, but rather disappointed.

"I had a little help."

"From who?"

"My sister. Look, I'm not good at school."

"I think there's a reason you're having a hard time. Tyler, have you ever been tested for a learning disability?"

"What? No!"

"I've been looking over your tests and writing. I think you might have dyslexia, but it's weird; your grades were good until last year. Did anything happen last year?"

So much had happened last year. His mom kicked him out because he got arrested. He hadn't lived in the same house as his sister since the day he was arrested. "My sister always helped me."

"And by help you mean did your work for you?"

"No. Well, yeah. Look, she tried to help me, but when I didn't understand, she-"

"Did it for you," Haley finished. "Okay. Well, I'm going to need to talk to her. Can you call her and ask her to come over here?" She didn't condone Sarah doing Tyler's work for him. Not only was cheating wrong, but it had also hurt Tyler in the long run. He'd turned in work completed by Sarah and none of his teachers had known he'd needed help. If he'd been unable to complete the work, he would have gotten the help that he needed.

Tyler pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Sarah's number. "Hey. Can you come talk to my coach's wife?"

"No." He could barely hear Sarah's response. Loud music and chatter in the background drowned out the sound of her voice.

"Where are you?"

"A party at Joe's. You should come! Everyone's here." Sarah was slurring her words together. In the last year, Sarah started drinking like a fish and smoking like a chimney. She was turning into their mother before Tyler's eyes and he was powerless to stop it. He'd tried talking to her, but she didn't listen to anyone. She did whatever she wanted.

"Be careful." Tyler hung up and looked at Haley. "She can't make it."

"Okay, we'll talk about this more in the morning. Nathan will show you where you're staying."


"What's Tyler doing here?" The question had been on Brooke's mind since Haley and Nathan arrived with Tyler. She waited until after Nathan and Tyler disappeared up the stairs to ask it.

"He's going to stay here tonight. His parents are in prison. He's been staying at a friend's place."

"Does stealing cars run in the family?"

"I don't know what they did."

"I would put your car keys somewhere where he can't find them," Julian joked.

"He doesn't need keys when he has a crow bar," Brooke said.

"You guys, he's been doing really good," Nathan said as he joined them at the table. He looked at Haley. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Well, do you want him to stay here?" Nathan couldn't ask Haley to take Tyler in when they had Jamie and she was pregnant with another child, but he secretly hoped she was thinking along the same lines as him. He had no doubt that Tyler would run away from a foster home. He didn't want to lose his star player.

"What about Jamie? Don't you think prison break would be a bad influence on him?" Julian asked.

"Hey, if you have any ideas, let's hear them," Haley said.

"Well, he could stay with us," Brooke said tentatively. She looked at Julian to gauge his reaction.

Julian smiled. He'd been waiting for Brooke to say that. After their conversation about fostering another child, he'd known it was only a matter of time until she realized it was what she wanted. She was a mother without a child.

"Brooke, are you sure? Because I would totally understand if this wasn't a good time with everything going on with your company," Haley said.

"Maybe that's what makes this a good time. I need something to focus on other than losing my company."

Tyler came downstairs. He'd changed out of the suit they were required to wear on game days and into a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Everyone stopped talking abruptly. It was a dead giveaway that they'd been talking about him. They were probably talking about what to do with him. He paused at the foot of the stairs. "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." He turned to go back upstairs.

"No, Tyler, it's okay," Haley said.

"Can I, uh, have a glass of water?"

"Sure. Glasses are in the cabinet over the sink."

"Thanks." Tyler got a glass and filled it with water.

"Tyler, we have an extra room. It's yours if you want it," Brooke said. She had said the same exact words to Sam. The painful memory reminded Brooke why she wasn't sure if she wanted to take in another kid that wasn't really hers. What if Tyler found a place in her heart and he left her, too? What would happen when his parents got out of prison?

A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks. He didn't want Brooke and Julian to do him any favors. "You really don't have to do that."

"I know we don't have to. We want to."

"Why would you want me to stay with you? I tried to steal your car."

"Yeah, I know. No more stealing."

Tyler's lips slowly formed into a hesitant smile. Staying with Brooke and Julian would be a hell of a lot better than being put into the foster care system.