Title: "Rivalry"
Chapter: 1?
Rating: T, maybe up to M
Genre: AU
Pairings: This will eventually become primarily Nathan/Haley, but probably will have some Jake/Peyton and Lucas/Brooke as well.
Disclaimer: The characters involved in this story do not belong to me. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made.
Notes: This is really my first series fiction for this fandom. I've been working on this idea for a while. It's AU--and the key differences between the show and this are explained in the prologue. I absolutely love and crave feedback, so I'd love it if you told me what you think.

Summary: A slight twist on Romeo & Juliet. Nathan and Haley belong to different groups, different gangs—but when one of them pulls the other into the middle of a family feud, the other swears revenge. (I suck at summaries.)

Chapter 1- Prologue

Tree Hill was a quaint little town with its little lakes, beautiful scenery and good-looking people. Outsiders would probably render the town a tad boring with nothing much to do or see, but those within the town knew that their home was anything but boring. For Tree Hill's boredom had dissolved the day the Scott brothers severed their ties from one another and swore a rivalry that had tainted all those around them for the past seventeen years. A feud that some jokingly compared to that of the Montagues and Capulets, but between the same family, the same blood—the Scott blood.

There was Dan Scott who lived in the huge mansion that stood on a hill above everyone else's to show his dominance. He was married to Deb Scott, the beautiful blonde who had provided him with all the wealth and security that he had spent the rest of his life living on with their son, Nathan.

On the other side of town was Keith Scott, the elder brother. His house rivalled the same greatness as Dan's, but the only difference was his was filled with more warmth and love than Dan's had ever possessed. Unlike his brother, Keith had gained his own money through investments in stocks—his wealth was pure luck. At first he had spent a good few years living off his savings alone until she, Karen Roe, moved in with him and changed his world.

It was Karen's love that kept Keith's house different from Dan's, her touch that made the house brighten up and it was her belief that pushed Keith into opening his own business, financing branches of cafés and restaurants around the country. But despite all the warmth in her heart, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the usually perfect Karen had made an error in judgment seventeen years ago. She now lived with Keith, but it was highly publicised in the small town that Karen was Dan Scott's former flame, his high school sweetheart and ultimately the mother to his other son, Lucas. Karen was a lovely woman who radiated sincerity, but there was no denying that she was the spark that ignited the hatred between the Scott brothers that had lasted to this day.

In their day, Karen and Dan were the epitome of a power couple—their relationship admired and envied by all those around them. She was the captain of the cheerleading squad and he was the star basketball player. On paper they were perfect, but in reality Dan had moulded that perfection and love into sheer contempt when he had eventually left Karen to go and fulfil his dream—left her pregnant with his child. Keith had always been there, watching on from the sidelines as his brother and Karen's relationship developed and he had been there the day Dan left. He had watched as his brother walked away, not even turning back once to look at the woman he was leaving behind and it was then Keith vowed that Dan would never hurt Karen or her child again.

Karen had cried, broken down into Keith's arms, but she sadly still hadn't given up hope, she still believed Dan would return and he eventually had, but along with him came a new wife and another child. The entrance of Deb and Nathan into their lives was enough to heighten the gap between the brothers' already sketchy relationship, which eventually shattered to pieces in a heated confrontation. A confrontation where Keith had told Dan that he would forever be an asshole and Dan had spat at Keith that he could have his sloppy seconds and where Karen's hand harshly hit Dan's cheek, signalling the beginning of what had become known as the Scott feud.

The dispute wasn't as violent or severe as in movies—but hearts were broken, insults were thrown. It was a war that stung right at the heart of all those involved, because in the end they were brothers and they knew exactly how to hit each other where it hurt—through misconducts, lawsuits, possession of businesses and eventually 'their' children. Karen even joined in the hurtful games they played with each other, but Deb remained subdued throughout. Most of the time she hadn't been there and when she was, she rarely cared or paid attention. 'Business trip' was Dan's usual explanation for Deb's absence and no one dared to question him about it, even though it had been nearly a year since people had last seen Deb.

But this sibling rivalry did not just end with Dan and Keith. They were the mere beginning, the influence for a much greater feud—a feud between Dan's sons. Nathan and Lucas hated each other. Despised the sight of the other. Starting from their battle to be the better basketball player to eventually just mutual hatred. From kids to teenagers, whenever the two entered the same room insults would go flying, usually fists as well. But unlike Dan and Keith, they didn't just hit each other by themselves. They had back up—their personal 'gang'. The two had single-handedly split their high school into thirds. One belonging to Nathan, one belonging to Lucas and the other were the kids that were 'not good enough' to belong to either brother.

Nathan's was piled with snooty, wealthy and bitchy cheerleaders and jocks, the ones that looked down on the rest of their classmates. There was his right-hand man, Tim Smith, rightfully chosen because there had never been a time when Tim doubted Nathan. Along side Nathan walked Peyton Sawyer, gorgeous and flawless. She was his best friend, though he would never admit it. She was different from the rest of the girls that yearned to be in his gang—she was strong, brave and unique and that was why she was Nathan's most valuable member. On Nathan's other side, usually hooked onto his arm because that was the best pose, would be Brooke Davis, the prettiest girl in school—the captain of the cheerleading squad, sometimes rumoured to be Nathan's 'fuck buddy'. It was destined that Brooke would belong with Nathan's group—she had the looks, the power and oozed sex. She could sweet-talk anything or anyone and Nathan made sure to milk her for all she was worth. Together as a collective unit they had ruled their school in their early years, but their power was stolen the day that Lucas fought back. Lucas had initially ignored Nathan, almost for an entire year in junior high, as his younger brother provoked him but soon it was too much for Lucas and he fought back, opening up new wounds within the already torn family.

Lucas formed his own group to fight his brother with. They were the smart ones—the different kids, the ones that didn't fit any moulds and always standing with him was his best friend, Haley James. James by name, but Scott by heart. Smart, perceptive, passionate, beautiful in her subtle way—that was Haley. She had grown up in the little house next to Karen's, before Keith had been brave enough to invite Karen into his grand home. Haley had felt an attraction to the family instantly. An attraction to Lucas who would always be her best friend and an attraction to Keith and Karen and their complex relationship. Haley had adored Karen's family, almost as much as hers, which consisted of her two loving, parents. Parents that were such avid travellers that they would leave their only child in the care of Karen for their weekly business trips and one day they left her for good—victims to a plane crash. She was young, about 8 or 9, and was staying with Karen and Lucas when it happened. It had been Karen who had calmly told her what happened and what it meant. She had nursed Haley through the trauma and welcomed her into her home with open arms after her grandparents handed custody of her to Karen. Haley was happiest with them, they claimed—they were too old to treat her as well as Karen would. But it wasn't only Karen that watched over Haley; Keith treated her like a daughter as well. He never hesitated to give Haley everything she wanted and for that Haley owed everything to them. She and Lucas had grown up as brother and sister and there was never a time Haley didn't feel secure and happy like she did in their family. She was an outsider by blood and name, but in their hearts she was one of them. But along with love Haley had also inherited another family trait—hatred for Dan Scott.

Haley had grown up despising Dan and it was only natural that her hatred for the younger Scott brother would pass onto the next generation and so she ended up disliking Nathan Scott too. She didn't know him personally; they never really spoke unless you counted the times Nathan insulted her to get to Lucas. However, even then she would still never be able to talk back at him, because by the time Nathan closed his mouth he would be on the floor with Lucas pounding away at him. That was the norm—Haley was used to it now. She had witnessed several altercations between the brothers and she had stood next to Lucas in each and every one of them. Usually she was there for moral support or to hold Lucas back from winding up in jail, but on the rare occasion Haley would end up standing behind Lucas and coaxing him on.

But unlike all the other cronies in both gangs, Haley was different. She was highly intelligent—one of the brightest in Tree Hill High and so she spent the rest of her spare time, when she wasn't attending parties with Lucas or witnessing a heated fight between the Scott brothers, tutoring students. Tutoring was her redemption, she claimed. And that was Haley James' life—tutoring, advocating and watching. She had nothing that resembled the normal teenager social life—that was until she hooked up with her boyfriend of a few months, Jake Jagielski.

Jake was different from the rest of the basketball players—he had the skill that made him instantly a good player, but unlike the other players he had a heart, a good one in fact. But as one of the star players on the basketball team Jake was another source of power to Lucas and Nathan and it was a given that he had to be behind one brother. For the first few months of Jake moving into the town, he had tried to remain neutral and not interfere. He was a closer friend of Lucas' rather than Nathan—everyone saw that, but the lure of violence and sibling rivalry was enough to make him not commit to Lucas' ways. Jake refused to join either side and it was his refusal that made him even more tempting for the Scott brothers to 'win' and the fight for Jake eventually came to a halt when he met her. Not Haley, but Peyton.

Haley had watched Peyton and Jake's relationship form months back. She knew Peyton by reputation more than anything. She was Nathan's running buddy, his confidant, but Haley also knew that Peyton was different from the rest of the cheerleaders. She was the antithesis of a normal cheerleader, but yet she was one and so it was only natural that she would be attracted to Jake, the contrasting jock. And Haley knew Peyton was attracted to him for all the reasons she was—his personality, his kindness. But unlike Haley, Peyton had the confidence to get what she wanted. Peyton flirted with Jake for several weeks and he had willingly responded, while Nathan watched on from the sidelines with a big smirk. Within weeks, Jake and Peyton were the most talked about couple in the high school, some whispered that it was true love, but most of all everyone talked about how Jake, albeit unintentionally, had become part of Nathan's group much to Lucas' dismay.

However, the cards once again changed when Jake and Peyton broke up months later. The arrival of Jake's ex-girlfriend, the Scott warfare, and Peyton's loyalty to Nathan were supposed factors for the break up—but no one really ever knew why they separated. But everyone did know that the break-up was just the opening Lucas needed and seeing the look in Haley's eyes and the vulnerability in Jake, Lucas introduced them to each other and instantly they hit it off and once again Jake was dragged into the middle of the sibling—this time pulled towards Lucas and the hatred that existed between the brothers continued to grow.

Usually, they kept it mild in school—glares and insults spewed out, but occasionally it got out of control. Both had served their share of jail time over their actions towards one another. Fighting, vandalism, stealing—they had used every trick they could to get to the other. Shoves and scuffles were common between the two—both had broken numerous bones to prove it. But yet they played on the same basketball team. Not out of their own choice, but due to there being no other choice. There was one team and they were both too good to be held back because of their family history. Both bled basketball, the desire to play and win, because after all they were both Dan Scott's sons. But neither looked at basketball as a place to let bygones be bygones. If anything the basketball court was their playing field, which they used to intensify their competition putting their team at risk to be defeated by others. Whitey had fought with the brothers, telling them they'd be off the team unless they cooperated, but soon he like everyone else realised that the two would never get on and they were too worthy to let go. He eventually gave up, claiming that the two were better off hating each other, as their determination to beat the other kept both in top form—keeping the Tree Hill Ravens undefeated.

But even beyond basketball, their games never stopped. Case in point, a week ago Tori Clayton—a new girl who was foolish enough to have not been informed of the Scott feud, decided to throw a big party after a game to get to know her new classmates. Almost everyone was invited, mostly those that she thought were good looking, popular—anyone she could cling onto and exist with for the rest of her high school life. But, it was Tori's introduction party where things grew even more heated between Lucas and Nathan. They both knew the other was invited, they both had ensured their gang arrived and they had made snide comments to each other all night. Then while Tori was tending to someone, Nathan took the opportunity and pulled out a video that he had brought with him and switched on her big screen and VCR. Nathan smirked as he along with everyone else at the party watched Karen and Dan's prom video, enraging Lucas more. It had only taken a moment for the video to play that Lucas lunged at Nathan. Punches were thrown, glass was broken, eyes bruised—and it was then Tori found out first-hand how dysfunctional the Scotts were.

Now, a week from that day, as Nathan and Lucas stood on opposite ends of the bench, glaring at each other—Lucas smiled at his younger brother. A smile that told Nathan to expect what was coming to him. The normal gesture they shared before a game—eyeing each other down while the other team would capitalise on their distractions, but this time they were playing against 'the shittiest team ever' according to Tim. The team had never won a game and rarely made any baskets and everyone was keen to just get the game over and done with and Lucas knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to extract his revenge on Nathan.

Lucas' gaze then fell towards Nathan's feet as he saw Mouth's stubby fingers shaking ferociously as he tied Nathan's shoelaces together. Nathan was oblivious to Mouth's presence as he winked and flirted with the hot, redhead cheerleader on the sidelines watching him.

"Scott! Move it!" Whitey bellowed across the gym at him.

Lucas smirked as Nathan shrugged off his jacket, smiled back at the girl one more time and got up to make his way towards Whitey. But it took him all of one step to fall flat on the gym floor. Sounds of horror and laughter suddenly erupted in the gymnasium from parents and students as they all witnessed his fall. With a groan, Nathan propped himself on one arm and flushed in embarrassment as he saw several pairs of eyes on him. He slowly untied his laces and his gaze then met his father's and from the look Dan gave him Nathan knew instantly he was going to get his ass kicked later. Dan Scott hated embarrassment, hated any stain on his reputation—and he had raised Nathan the same.

But the trip was only a trivial start for Lucas, which Nathan soon realised as the game began. Nathan ran around the court practically doing nothing as Lucas took each opportunity to score. Whenever Nathan held the ball he was double, sometimes triple, teamed and his chance to score faltered, as he had to pass the ball to someone else. Yet Lucas managed to receive the ball the whole time as the players on the other team literally handed it over to him and would perfectly score.

And that was Lucas' revenge. A simple display of talent that outdid his brother's. It was a revenge that hit Nathan to the core.

Anger built inside the younger Scott and a scuffle ensued between the two, as Nathan shoved Lucas. The two were eventually pried off each other when Whitey grabbed Nathan by the collar and benched him, which was where he sat for the remainder of the game and watched the team win thanks to Lucas. Nathan watched as some fans and teammates ran over and hugged Lucas for his wonderful playing. Keith and Karen like usual weren't there, they rarely came to the games—they knew Dan would always be there and not even they were brave enough to face him on a basketball court.

Nathan sighed as he slowly turned around to receive a vicious scowl from his father. Unfortunately, Nathan had no choice in facing his father and tonight he was really going to get it from Dan, there was no doubt. Nathan stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder when his eyes met Lucas'. Nathan glared at him and then the corners of his mouth turned upwards and he smiled back at Lucas.

A smile that said 'bring it on'. A smile that told Lucas to expect something in return.


TBC