Lucas grunted as he went for the basket. It was an easy enough layup but he missed it. He cursed out loud as he played by himself on Dan Scott's private court. He threw the ball from what had to be thirty feet away. It didn't even touch the rim but it never hit the pavement either. Lucas looked up.

"Don't quit your day job."

Lucas smiled.

"Anybody ever tell you that you catch like a girl?"

Haley grinned as she threw the ball back to him.

"Anybody ever tell you that you throw like one?"

Lucas walked up to her and gave her a great big hug. They walked over and took seats on the expensive patio furniture.

"How's it going, Buddy?"

Haley sighed with a tired smile.

"It's going", she shrugged. "How about you?"

"I can't complain. You see Nathan today?"

Haley shook her head.

"Not yet. What about you?"

"Yeah. He's a little sore but uh…it could have been a whole lot worse."

"I know."

"You two get a chance to talk?"

Haley nodded.

"Yeah but…it's complicated as usual. I don't know."

"Look, Hales, I know this is tough and I know it's something that won't resolve itself or be over and done with overnight. I don't mean to pressure you but I just hope it all works out. You and Nathan love each other. You belong together."

"I know. Despite everything that has happened and what might happen in the future, I have and always will love Nathan."

"I always knew how you felt about him. I remember the first time you told me that you loved him that night after the Boytoy auction at school."

Haley smiled at the memory.

"That was the first time you saw my tattoo. You were so pissed."

"I was because I didn't understand it back then…any of it. But the more you talked to me about it and the more time I spent getting to know Nathan in the gym, the more it started to make sense. Then it just clicked for me that day in the apartment when I came to say good bye. Keith and I were heading out for a new life in Charleston but the surprise was on us. You and Nate got married. I couldn't believe it. It threw me for a loop but when you told me…that look on your face and that little giggle you did and the way you guys looked at each other…I just knew it was for real. And I was happy for you, for the both of you. I wasn't there when you said the vows but I was there for the reception. It's a beautiful thing to see two people that happy and that in love. And now you're a part from each other and it's just a shame, Hales."

Haley looked away.

"I know we haven't talked much since I left and I never really explained some stuff but you have to know that none of this was about Chris."

"Then what's it about?"

"Honestly? Me…the music."

Lucas nodded knowingly.

"But you have to know Haley that it…well, it looks bad."

"I know he comes off as a jerk but he isn't so bad. And Chris has helped me so much. But there's nothing going on. I do love Nathan. Chris is more like a really protective, smart, annoying big brother", she smiled. "It's innocent. He is to me like…I don't know, like…"

"Like what I used to be?" Lucas dared to say.

"Yeah", Haley whispered. "I guess."

"You know, it's funny. I go to the café and I expect you to be there. The phone rings and I want it to be you. I'm in class and I keep waiting for you to show up and sit in that empty seat next to me. All this stuff with Chris and the music and even Nathan is still so new to me. Not so long ago it was just us, Haley."

"I know it's rough. Everything, all of this happened so quickly. It's been hard for me too adjusting to change after change."

"Are you happy?" he asked, looking her dead in the eyes.

Haley thought for a minute.

"Sometimes I am…and sometimes I'm not. I feel like I have a split personality. There's Tutor Girl, the klutz that is your best friend and works at the café, then there's Haley Scott, the suddenly new popular chick who just so happens to be married to the most popular guy in the eleventh grade. Then there's Haley, the rock star who tours with the Wreckers, eats lunch with Gavin DeGraw and signs autographs after concerts. It's hard to believe sometimes that that's the same person and that person is me. It's three completely different worlds and it all happened so fast…too fast. Each one has its good points and its bad points but lately I've been looking in the mirror and I see a stranger staring back at me."

"Somehow I can kind of relate."

"What about you, Luke? Are you happy?"

He shrugged.

"Trying to be. Trying to be a better person in general. Trying to enjoy this new relationship with Nathan. Trying to make sense out of who Dan Scott really is…"

"I'm talking about you. You've always been the one to take care of everyone else. What about you? What about your heart?"

He smiled.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was in limbo?"

"Brooke?"

"I'm that easy to read, huh?"

"Only because I know you better than myself", she sighed. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Lucas nodded.

"It's weird. Last year I didn't know her at all. The we hooked up and at first it was all fun and games. Before I knew it I was her boyfriend but I thought I was in love with Peyton. I ended up really hurting her and it's taken so much for us to be where we are right now and that's real friends. I don't want to blow it but now I can't imagine life without her. It took seeing you and Nate and her being with Felix and me being with Anna and all this to realize that I do love her."

"And Peyton?"

"Peyton is great. You know that. I think we'll always have that special connection but she belongs with Jake."

"You believe in that? You think it's possible that Nathan and I are destined to be together and so are you and Brooke and Peyton and Jake?"

"I think the story is written at the beginning and set up for what should be the end. But it's up to us to live the middle and in doing that it might change what was supposed to be the end. Make sense?"

She looked at him.

"In a way it does", she said softly. "I just want us to be happy…all of us."

"I know. Me too but sometimes it just isn't in the cards."

"What if you had the power to make it happen? What if you had the power to secure the ending? Would you take it?"

"Without a doubt."

"Even if there was a bunch of heartache in the middle, a huge storm before the happy ending?"

"Anything in life worth having almost never comes easy, Hales. That's just the way it is. Besides, what doesn't kill us does make us stronger. You live and learn and life is about taking risks sometimes."

She just looked at him, her brooding, handsome, philosophical best friend, wise beyond his teenage years.

"You're right", she answered. "You're absolutely right. Listen, Luke, I have to go…"

"Okay", he said, bouncing the ball. "Me too. I'm just gonna head in and shower and then I'm gonna get back to the hospital."

"Okay."

"I guess I'll see you later then…"

She reached over and hugged him tight, tighter than she ever had, almost refusing to let go.

"You'll see me again", she looked in his blue eyes. "That you can count on."