Nathan parked his car at the school's parking lot, got off from it and turned on the alarm. He was walking towards the school's entrance when he saw a little boy staring at him in clear disbelief. He smirked, knowing what was to come, and watched as the little boy walked closer to him.

"You're Nathan Scott" the boy said with his eyes wide open.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am" Nathan answered nicely.

The boy reached his backpack hanging from the shoulder and looked for a notebook inside that he handed to Nathan with a pen.

"Could you give me an autograph, sir?"

Amused by the 'sir' treatment, Nathan took the pen and notebook from the boy's hand and gave a half smile, "What's your name, kid?"

"Peter Johnson" he answered proudly.

"Peter, huh?" Nathan got quiet for a minute as he wrote something down and then gave the pen and paper back to the boy, "Here you go."

The boy stared at the paper overwhelmed and then opened up a huge smile as he read:

To my man, Pete.
Thanks for the care and stay in school until you're old enough to make your own decisions.
Nathan Scott.

"Thank you so much, sir!"

"Anytime" Nathan messed with the boy's hair who took off running towards the entrance holding on his backpack on one hand and the paper on the other.

The boy ran as fast as he could so he could quickly join his friends inside the school, at the gym where many other boys were waiting for basketball practice. When Nathan finally got there, looking for his brother, the little boy was talking to his friends who were laughing and mocking him, not believing the autograph he had just shown them was for real. But once Nathan walked into the gym, the boy shouted.

"Look! It's him! I told you I wasn't lying!"

All the boys around them turned to look at Nathan at the same time. Lucas was standing by the corner, next to the hoop and saw all the attention he was getting from the students disappear. He looked at the same direction and saw his little brother. He walked to him.

"'Sup, little brother?"

"Hey, man" he hugged Lucas and tapped him on the back, "How you doing?"

"I'm good. I mean, you know… have you heard the news?"

"Yeah" Nathan tried to smile but couldn't.

They heard some giggles and whispers and then Peter, the boy from before, came closer to them while whispering back to his friends.

"Mr. Scott is Nathan Scott's brother?"

"Hey" Lucas said pointing a finger to him, "There used to be a time when people would think that the cool thing was for him to be my brother. Not the other way around."

The boy blushed a little and Nathan laughed, "C'mon! Don't lie to the kid."

Lucas rolled his eyes while nodding, "Alright" he turned back to the boys and handed them the basket ball he had on his hands, "Why don't you let me talk to my brother here and after we're done I promise he'll talk to you and even hand all the autographs you want. Ok?"

The boys all cheered and ran off with the ball to practice on the other side of the court trying to impress their idol. Nathan watched them leave and turned back to Lucas who had a smirk on his face.

"Why did do that for? I'm already running late for practice, man."

"That's for stopping by to lecture me" he was now smiling.

Nathan squinted, "How did you know I knew?"

Lucas walked over the benches with Nathan next to him, "Peyton told me Brooke crashed at your place, so I figured you already knew what happened and was here to try to convince me to go after her just like Peyton did" he took a sit, "Lemme tell you that backfired a little."

Nathan took the sit next to Lucas, "How?"

"Brooke saw me and Peyton talking at Starbucks and for some reason thought that something was going on."

"Whoa" he leaned back shrugging, "You can't blame her, you know? Due to your history with Peyton and all… and the present circumstances. I don't know…"

"Are you serious?" Lucas frowned, "Tell me you're kidding."

"Hey, I know that's not true. But I can see why Brooke thought so."

Lucas looked down, staring at his own shoes and shook his head, "I don't know, man… I don't know if I have the energy to go through all that again."

"So what now?" Nathan leaned foreword again closer to Lucas, "You're giving up on her?"

"No" he shook his head, "Never. But I just can't put myself out there again and try to get her to see my point when she's not up to. I mean, I did what I could and now it's really up to her" he took a breath for a second, "I love her. She's my whole world and she knows it. But when you admit that you get vulnerable."

"And you might get hurt when you're vulnerable" Nathan added quietly.

Lucas nodded looking at him and then turned to stare at the gym. The boys were training by the hoop across the court and taking turns to try to get a good shoot, always looking back to make sure Nathan was seeing them.

"I'm gonna go talk to them already. I'm running late and the coach's gonna kill me if I do that again this week."

"Again? Is that the Nathan Scott I know and cherish so much?" Lucas mocked.

Nathan rolled his eyes, "Funny" and got up going to the kids.

…

There were pieces of fabric all over the place. Opened magazines, sketches and some pencils were laying around the dinning table and the coffee table at the living room couldn't even be seen. Brooke was sitting by the dinning table, among all the craziness. She heard a noise at the door and lifted her head on a jump.

"Hey, Brooke" Haley walked in, closing the door behind her.

"Hi!" she stood up quickly, "No! You're home early!"

"Yeah, I am" Haley said looking around and not getting it.

Brooke rushed around, picking up as much things as she could, "Oh no, no, no…"

"Did a clothing bomb explode here?" Haley asked while putting her purse on the armchair since there was no place on the coffee table anymore.

"God, I'm so sorry" Brooke had some clothes on her hands and were pressing them against her chest as she made a sorry look, "I made such a mess! It's just that, you know, when inspiration strikes…" she glanced around.

Haley nodded sighing, "Tell me about it" and sat down on the couch, "I just finished three lyrics on a row."

"Really?"

She nodded again, "Didn't make half of this mess, but…"

"I'll clean it up!" Brooke rushed back to the table, "As soon as I finish, I promise."

"That's ok" Haley got up, "Take your time. I'm gonna take a bath for now, so just… don't worry."

As Haley walked towards the bathroom, Brooke turned around to stop her but she was already gone. Leaning foreword on the chair, she peeked at the hall.

"Actually, I…" she said loudly for Haley to hear but it wasn't necessary since Haley was coming back with a frown.

"Did you receive the inspiration while in the shower by any chance?"

Brooke forced a grin, "Yeah… I'm so sorry."

With a hand gesture, Haley shook her head, "That's fine. I'll go to my room then. Is it safe there?"

"Totally" Brooke giggled, "Are you mad?"

"No, I'm amazed. I never knew you could take that much of a room even thou we lived together for quite a while."

"Sorry" Brooke shrugged, "I get chaotic when I'm nervous."

"Yeah, that I knew" she smirked, "Anyway, I'll let you finish your work. I'll be at my room, ok?"

"Ok" Brooke hesitated while Haley disappeared from her sight again and then shouted to her, "Haley!" she waited 'til she was back and almost whispered, "Can we talk?"

"Sure" Haley smiled and took a sit by the couch again, "About what?"

Taking a deep breath, Brooke stood next to her, "I saw Lucas with Peyton today."

Haley frowned confused, "What do you mean with Peyton?"

"I mean I saw them together" she sighed, "Talking…" and took a sit beside Haley, "And laughing together."

"Wait. You don't think…"

"I don't know what I think!" she snapped, "I saw what I saw and I freaked out!"

Haley moved on the couch and put one arm up on the seat's back, "How did you freak?"

Brooke shrugged, "Let's just say I'm happy Peyton's leaving today."

"That's not fair, Brooke" Haley shook her head and saw Brooke rolling her eyes, "She probably went to talk to him about you."

"That's what she said too."

"So?"

"I don't believe her" she said coldly.

Haley took a moment looking at Brooke and then took her hand gently, "Are you sure this is about Peyton?"

Brooke sighed, "No…"

On a soft tone of voice, Haley stroke her hair while saying, "I know you're frustrated and trying to find someone to blame but this is not her fault. Or his. It just happened and now you have to work things out."

"I was afraid you're gonna say that" Brooke looked down.

"Why?"

Brooke looked back up and bite her under lip, "Because I'm not so sure anymore that I want to work things out."