Hey! Thanks for all of the reviews...I really enjoyed them! I think you'll like this chapter...

A HUGE thanks to Gia for helping me out so much with this...and trying to get a particular scene as good as we can! Also, the song is Be Yourself by Audioslave...GREAT song!

"Damien called for you while you were out today," Karen told Lucas while he rummaged through the refrigerator for something to eat. Seeing Lucas eat was an unusual occurrence. Although, nobody seemed to notice that Lucas went sometimes more than one day without eating.

"He did?" Lucas pulled his head from the fridge to look at his step-mom.

Damien was a seven year old Lucas met during one of his community service excursions. He was made to be a Big Brother. At first, he hated the idea, but as soon as he met Damien, he couldn't help but like him. The little boy came from a poor home. His father left him when he was young, and his mother was struggling to keep food on the table, but none of that seemed to bother the child. Lucas admired that about the kid. So, after the community service project was over, he made a point to keep in contact with the little man.

"It's still early enough to call him. He was excited about something, but I couldn't get out of him what it was."

Lucas immediately ditched the idea of eating, and called Damien. The boy was excited about a basketball his mom bought him, and desperately wanted Lucas to take him out to learn how to play. Lucas promised him that the next day he would be at his house as soon as he was done cleaning up the beach. One of Lucas' favorite things about the kid was how he didn't judge Lucas at all. In fact, Lucas was more like a hero to him. He didn't know that Lucas had all kinds of problems, or that he hated his life. He envied Lucas. He tried to emulate everything Lucas did.

After his conversation with Damien, Lucas grew excited for the next day to come. It was unusual for him to be excited about anything, so it was a revelation. That night at dinner he didn't start any fights, and even tried to hold small talk with his family. He gave up though, since Nathan and Dan already had an opinion about him, and it wouldn't change.

Dinner went better than normal, and afterwards he went to his bedroom. He pulled out his journal, and started to write. Writing had become one of Lucas' releases when things became too tough, in contrast to the many others, this release was actually healthy for him. It didn't take long for him to fill a journal. He had about five stacked in his closet, already.

There was a soft knock on the door, which caused Lucas to shut his journal. He got up to open the door, and was surprised to see Haley standing on the other side. She looked nervous, and was fidgeting with her fingers.

"Hey Lucas," her voice was soft, not full of her usual confidence. "I just wanted to come say hey and see what's up."

"Oh," Lucas gave her a dejected reply, "well, not much really. Do you want to come in and sit down?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that new Killers album." She followed Lucas into his room, and took a seat in his computer chair. "Did you buy it? Because if you did, I really want to burn it."

"No, I haven't, yet. I've been wantin' to, though." Lucas plopped onto his bed, and shoved his journal under his pillow. "Are you and Nathan fightin' or somethin'? You never come to visit me."

"I know," she shrugged, "but, I was just thinking about that album and then I remembered talking to you about music and stuff, so I thought maybe you had bought it."

"Oh," an awkward silence grew in the room. "So," he trailed off.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you feel weird, I can just go." She started to stand, but Lucas held up his hand to stop her.

"No, it's okay. I actually wouldn't mind the company right now." Haley was caught off-guard by his response. Lucas was never one to want company. "I know, weird, right?"

"Yeah, a little," she shrugged.

"You're pretty cool, Haley." Another statement that surprised Haley. "I just don't know why you're with my brother." There was a statement that didn't surprise her. "You could do a lot better than him."

"He's not that bad, Lucas," she sighed while shaking her head. "He's with me, and who would have thought that would ever happen? Nathan Scott dating the school nerd? That has to say something about him, right?"

"No," Lucas sat up, "what says something is that you'll actually give him the time of day. He's probably just with you to get a piece of ass, that's how he was before you." He didn't mean for his comment to be as abrasive as it was, but when it came to his brother, he usually didn't have kind words. But, Haley didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

"Not true," she lowered her head. She knew about Nathan's past, but she didn't like to hear about it.

"Come on, Haley, you mean to tell me that being with Nathan Scott isn't like a dream come true for you? Every girl in that school is in love with him. I can't believe you would be any different."

"I didn't like Nathan at all before I got to know him. Maybe you should try it. You know, I didn't come in here to get into a fight with you about your brother."

"Yeah, like he wants to get to know me. It's not gonna happen. He wrote me off a long time ago, just like Dan did. Why should I want to get to know someone who treats me like shit because I was his daddy's first son?"

"Whatever, Lucas, I guess coming in here to try and have a decent conversation and maybe become friends with you was a mistake. I think you both need to grow up and realize you're brothers and will always be. He gets shit from Dan, just like you do, Lucas."

"Whatever, Haley," Lucas mocked her, then laid back on the bed, trying to give her the hint to leave.

With a huff, Haley left his room, vowing to never make that mistake again. Lucas closed his eyes, trying to forget about what had just happened. Of all people to ruin his day, it had to be Haley, the one person he didn't expect it from. The next thing Lucas knew, his alarm clock was going off and it was time to head down to the beach. He remembered to grab everything he needed before leaving. The walk down there wasn't long enough for him, and he contemplated circling the block a couple times before checking in for duty.

"Nice to see ya, Scott," the guard chuckled. Lucas shot him a dirty look. He grabbed his stuff for the day, and ventured onto the beach.

Instead of staying in the rays of the sun that day, he headed towards the pier where he could hide in the shade beneath it. The plan worked for a while, but eventually even the shade became suffocating from the heat. He ventured out from under the pier, moving closer to the ocean, hoping to catch a few breezes. As he walked closer towards the water, he didn't notice the body lying on a towel in the sand. His feet caught theirs, and he tumbled to the ground.

"What the?" The body sat up to see what just hit her legs.

"Sorry," he mumbled, turning around to face the person, still sitting in the sand. "I wasn't watch-" He stopped mid-sentence. She was beautiful. He had never seen someone so breath-taking. A scowl was on her face, but even through the ugly expression, he could see her beauty. Chocolate brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her face. Sparkling green eyes stared through him. Her lips were full and held a perfect pout. Her skin was flawless, and her cheeks held a light pink color from the warmth of the day.

"Um, it's okay," she spoke, her voice low and raspy. "Just try to watch where you're going."

"Yeah, will do," he brushed the sand off his legs. "I haven't seen you around before, you from Tree Hill?"

"Just moved here," she smiled. Lucas just about got knocked over with her smile. Her entire face lit up, and dimples replaced her cheek.

"What's your name?"

"Brooke."

"I'm Lucas Scott," he stuck his hand out, knowing it was a weird move, but he had to touch her. He didn't believe something so beautiful was real, and needed it to be proved to him.

"Nice to meet you, Lucas Scott," she took his hand. Lucas tensed up, and almost forgot to give her hand back.It was a relief to not be repulsed by someone's touch. "What's with the pitch fork thing?"

"Um," this would be the first time he was embarrassed to admit he was a screw up. How do you tell the most beautiful girl you've ever met you're doing community service? "Just cleanin' up the beach." He didn't totally lie.

"Out of the kindness of your heart?" She giggled. "Well, Lucas Scott, that's so sweet of you."

"Well, no, not really," he blushed.

"Ohh, so you're a bad boy," she smiled, flirtatiously.

"No, not really. I just get into trouble a lot." He could have kicked himself; he wasn't making any sense at all. What was it about this girl that broke his usual confidence? He shouldn't to care enough to get all flustered.

"Right," she giggled again. This girl seemed so confident with herself, and it just added to her sexiness. "So, Lucas Scott, what is it you do here in Tree Hill for fun? I mean, besides tanning on the beach? Or, in your case, cleaning up the beach."

His cheeks flushed again. "I guess, I don't know. Drink and stuff. I usually try to find a party with free alcohol and try to crash it."

"Sounds like fun," she kinked her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged.

"You don't think so?" She leaned forward, like she was intrigued by what he was about to say.

"Yeah, it's alright. You know? To get drunk and everything. I don't really like parties too much, but I like to drink. It's fun to pretend to be someone else once in awhile." Lucas, again, wanted to kick himself. Was he really babbling to this girl? When did he ever babble?

"Yeah, something like that," Brooke giggled.

"Scott, quit flirting and get back to work!" The guard yelled at him. Lucas groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess duty calls," he started to stand feeling disappointed to be leaving the beautiful girl.

"Have fun, gorgeous!" She winked at him as he turned around. He laughed to himself and shook his head. This girl may be the death of him.

The rest of the day, Lucas couldn't stop thinking about Brooke. He wondered what she did for fun, what kind of people she hung out with, and most of all, if she had a boyfriend. He'd definitely like to get to know her better, which was unusual for him because he never wanted to get to know anyone new, let alone some random girl from the beach. Maybe Peyton was right; he did need to get a little action. But, he'd never wanted that before, why now? When his day ended, he ventured back to the spot he met her in, but she was gone. He was disappointed, not that he expected her to stay there all day. He did look forward to the next day, hoping she would be back again.

In the midst of thinking about Brooke, Lucas almost forgot his play date with Damien, but he didn't. After community service, he made his way to the young boy's house. The boy rushed outside, holding up his new basketball for Lucas to see. They talked about it for a moment, before Lucas decided to take him to the river court. He'd never taken Damien there before, but it was an important place for Lucas, and he wanted to share it with him.

"Wow." Was Damien's first words while walking up to the court. "This place is awesome!"

"It is," Lucas chuckled.

"Can you play basketball, Luke?"

"A little bit," he held his fingers up, putting a small space between two of them. Before Lucas became the loner he was, Dan tried to get him into basketball, and he did enjoy it, but he learned at a young age to reject anything Dan taught him.

First, Lucas had to show Damien how to dribble the ball. He was seven, and should have known already, but with a mother that barely had enough time to take care of the kid, and a non-existent father, Damien never had someone to show him. And when the boy caught on to what Lucas was showing him, Lucas couldn't have felt prouder for himself. He had Damien running around the court, dribbling the ball as he went. He watched on as the boy ran, wondering where he got his seemingly endless amount of energy. Lucas started to chase after the boy, and when he caught up to him, he grabbed him into his arms and held him over his head. He ran towards the basket, and instructed the boy to throw the ball through the hoop. The ball fell through the net, and Lucas went running, Damien still over his head, screaming at the top of his lungs. Damien was laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath. He tried to yell out in excitement with Lucas, but the laughter seemed to have over-taken him.

Lucas calmed down, and set the boy back onto the ground. His forehead was soaked with sweat, and the sunburn he'd received was burning. He took a look at the small boy who was still giggling, and noticed that his chocolate skin didn't seem to be affected at all by the sun. In fact, nothing about the sun, not even the heat, seemed to affect the boy.

"So, Damien, any new girlfriends?" Lucas asked, eyeing him.

"Ew, no, Luke! Girls are gross," Damien's face distorted with disgust. "There was this one girl in my class and she tried to kiss me and I ran away from her. I couldn't believe she tried to kiss me."

"I'm sure one day, it'll be the other way around," Lucas chuckled. "But, I guess for now, that's a good way to view things. Girls are just trouble, little man."

"Do you have a girlfriend, Luke?"

"Nah. Girls are gross," Lucas mused. "Are you doing good in school? Remember what I said about doin' good in school?"

"Yes, I remember, Luke. Geez!"

"I'm just trying to keep you on the right track. Goin' to school is very important."

"I know. And I'm doing alright."

"Alright, just alright?"

"Yes, Luke. Can't we get back to playing basketball instead of standing here and talking like a bunch of girls? It's going to be dark soon, you know."

Lucas laughed at Damien's abruptness and remark, and nodded his head. After Lucas nodded his head, Damien threw the ball towards the hoop, where it bounced off the rim and fell to the ground. It was then Lucas decided he was ready to learn how to shoot the ball. The two didn't notice as the sun started to set and it started to become darker. They were too wrapped up in the game they were playing. The sound of the over-head lights of the court coming on broke Lucas from the game. He turned towards Damien, with sadness, and told him it was time to go. Damien protested, but Lucas persuaded him by promising to bring candy the next time they met for a play-date.

"I'm sorry we're so late," an apology came from Lucas as soon as Damien's mom opened the door. "We lost track of the time playin' basketball down by the river court."

"That's okay, Lucas," she gave him a smile. Damien's mom was suspicious of Lucas, and he could tell by the way she looked at him. She knew about Lucas' troubles, as did most of the people in Tree Hill. But, she also saw the side of Lucas when he was with Damien that not many people got to see. He had a good heart, and she could tell by the way he cared for her son.

"Damien, tell Lucas bye and thank-you," she instructed.

"Bye Lucas!" Damien yelled. Lucas would have given him a hug, but Damien was old enough that he thought hugs were gross. Instead, he gave him a high-five.

"See ya later, little man," Lucas bid his farewells and went on his way.

Lucas' cell phone beeped at him, letting him know he had a message. He dialed his number to get the messages, and listened as Karen's voice came through the speaker. She wanted him to meet her at the cafe. He checked his watch to make sure it wasn't too late, and then headed in that direction. The 'closed' sign was hanging on the door, but Lucas knew he could still go in. In fact, when the cafe was closed was the best time to be there. Haley, who worked there once in a while, was helping close up as Lucas entered.

"Oh, hey," Haley's voice was less than enthused. Lucas knew it was because of the fight the two had, and couldn't help but feel a little awkward around her himself.

"Hey," Lucas muttered, making his way towards the counter. "Um, look, I, um, wanted to apologize for fightin' with you last night."

"Lucas Scott, apologize?" Haley gasped in mock surprise. "Nope, I don't believe it."

"Hey, weirder things have happened," Lucas laughed.

"Um, don't worry about it Lucas," she blew a strand of hair out of her face, "it's not a big deal."

"Thanks, Haley."

This was one of the things Lucas admired about Haley. She seemed to take everything so easily, and was so laid-back. It was almost like she just understood without having to have it explained. He didn't know her too well, but all the times he'd have tutoring sessions with her, and he'd been somewhat rude, she'd just let it slide. She would call him on it, but the next time they would meet, it was like nothing ever happened.

"There you are, Lucas," Karen smiled, as she stepped out from the back room. "I have a plate of food waiting for both of us. Just let me finish up some things so Haley can go home, and we can eat."

Lucas nodded his head and started to strum his fingers on the counter as he waited for them to finish. Dinners alone with Karen had become some what of a ritual between the two. It was one of few things Lucas actually looked forward to. It meant there would be no Dan or Nathan around, and he got to talk to his step-mom alone. Although, he didn't let on about much in his life, he did share future goals with her. Goals he knew he'd never be able to achieve, but could only dream about.

The bell above the door chimed, and shook Lucas from his daze. He turned to see Nathan walking through the door, no doubt coming to get Haley. Lucas sunk in his chair. His one night alone with Karen would be ruined if Nathan found out it happened. Nathan couldn't stand Lucas getting attention from anyone, and if he knew he was getting it from his mom, he'd be pissed.

"Hales, you almost done?" Nathan questioned, ignoring his brother's existence.

"Yeah, almost, Nathan. I just have a few things to do in the back and I'll be right out."

Dread filled Lucas. Alone with his brother? Even for only a few minutes, being alone with Nathan could be nasty. He stared straight ahead, trying to avoid him as much as possible. His day had been a good one, and he didn't want to end it by getting into a fight with Nathan. Of course, that wouldn't stop Nathan from saying anything.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan questioned. "Isn't there some crackhouse you would rather be at?"

"I'm really not in the mood, Nathan," Lucas shook his head.

The raven haired brother rolled his eyes, while the blond transfixed his on the clock in front of him. The ticking flooded his ears, and time seemed to stop while he waited for Haley to come back out and leave with Nathan. Minutes seemed liked hours, and if they were, it would have been ten hours before Haley came back out, but in actuality it was ten minutes. Haley offered a goodbye to Lucas as the couple left the cafe.

"Here we are," Karen set a plate of food in front of Lucas. "Be careful, it's hot. I had to re-heat it in the microwave because it got cold from sitting out so long. Try it. It's a new recipe I'm trying out."

Lucas grabbed his fork, and stabbed the casserole sitting in front of him. He put the food in his mouth, savoring each flavor so he could tell Karen whether or not the recipe was a good one or not. And, after he swallowed and took a drink from his soda, he gave her a smile.

"Not bad," he nodded his head. He took another bite. "It's actually really delicious," his mouth full of food as he spoke.

"Lucas, I know I taught you better manners than that," Karen chuckled. "But, thank-you. I'm glad you like it, especially since I've been selling it all day. Of course, I didn't get any complaints from anyone, so I guess that was a good sign. But, I always value your opinion."

"Didn't you try it before you served it?"

"No, I didn't have time."

A silence fell between the two. The only thing that could be heard was the banging of their forks against their plates. Every once in a while, Lucas would look up from his plate, and catch Karen's looks. She would give him a reassuring smile, and then shrug her eyebrows.

"So, Lucas, what's new with you? Any girls or anything?"

"No," Lucas laughed, "no new girls. Nothin's new, really."

"How's Peyton? I haven't seen her in a while."

Karen didn't actually like Peyton; she just tolerated her for Lucas' sake. The girl had big problems, and with Lucas the way he was, she knew the two could only bring each other down more than they were. But, because Lucas didn't have many friends, she let it go.

"Fine, I guess," Lucas shrugged. "I haven't talked to her today. I went and got Damien right after community service. And then I came here."

"How is that little guy? You should bring him around more often. That kid has such a personality."

"I know," Lucas beamed, "he's doin' good. It amazes me how unfazed he is by everything. If I was in his circumstances, I don't know what I'd do. But, he has such a positive outlook that it's almost contagious."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Lucas."

Lucas hung his head, suddenly ashamed of the person he'd become. Karen tried so hard for him, and he'd disappointed her so many times. He had no idea why she hadn't given up on him, yet.

"I was looking through old pictures the other day, and guess what I came across," a sly look crossed Karen's face.

"What?"

"Pictures of you when you used to play basketball. You looked so happy, then. I remember it was so hard for us to get you off that damn water court, or lake court, whatever you call it. You'd be out there all day from dusk till dawn."

"Yeah, that was when things were simple and when I didn't know how much of an ass Dan was." Karen gave him a stern look for cussing in front of her. "Sorry, but he is."

"I know," she sighed. "You know what I was thinking? Maybe you could join the basketball team this year."

"No way."

"Just hear me out, first, Lucas." She set down her fork and looked Lucas directly in the eyes. "The last time I remember you happy and smiling was when you played basketball. It was almost as if the moment you quit playing, that light inside of you blew out. And I love you either way, Lucas, but it kills me to see you so bottled up. Basketball used to help you release all of those other things. Like, your mom dying."

Lucas tensed in his seat when Karen mentioned his mom dying. It was usually a topic nobody brought up with him, especially people that knew him. There were the select few who were dumb and curious, but most people knew better than bring up the sensitive subject.

"I know you hate talking about her death, Lucas, but you can't just keep it all inside. It'll eat at you, it's been eating at you, I can tell."

"Can we not talk about this please?"

"Will you promise me you'll at least think about joining the basketball team?"

"Sure," he didn't mean it; he just said it to make her stop talking about it.