Chapter Thirty Two: I Don't Think That My Heart Can Take Much More

"And it's Lucas Scott with another basket for the Tree Hills Ravens. This guy is on fire tonight, scoring 40 points against the Cove City Cavaliers. He just needs two more baskets to beat the record set by his very own father, Dan Scott, nineteen years ago in this very gym…"

The atmosphere in the school gym was electric. It was the most anticipated game this season and more people than ever were cramped into the small gym. There was no doubt that this was the best Lucas Scott had ever played, and everyone was rooting for him and the Ravens.

"Smith passes it to Scott, who is looking for an opportunity…" Mouth commentated, his own breath hitching in his chest as everyone watched Lucas try to find an opening. Lucas passed it back to Tim, who in turn threw it back to Lucas when it was clear. Lucas didn't need to think before dunking it smoothly into the basket.

The crowd cheered loudly as the scoreboard added two points under the Ravens' name.

"Lucas Scott has now matched his father's previous record; he is only one basket away from making Tree Hill history," Mouth continued.

On the sidelines, Brooke led the cheerleaders in their support for the Ravens; jumping and encouraging the team.

"Go Ravens!" they cheered, prompting more cheers from the spectators in the bleachers.

Brooke's eye caught Lucas' for one moment, and she offered him a tight smile. Lucas gulped and got back into the game. Nathan watched the exchange from a corner. Since his parents were at the game, he and Haley decided to keep to the shadows and stay well away from public eye. He sighed as he watched Lucas attempt another shot. It only barely missed. The crowd groaned and Lucas seemed to take it badly and cursed under his breath. Fortunately Tim and other members of his team patted him on the back and told him it didn't matter.

Over the last two weeks, Lucas had become more and more focused on his game. Not that anyone was complaining, since he seemed to be playing the best he'd ever played. It just had begun to concern Nathan, especially since it felt like he was doing it for all the wrong reasons.

When Lucas saw Brooke eating lunch with a guy; he started to lift more weights.

When Brooke went to dinner with Bevin's boyfriend's friend; Lucas added another mile to his bi-weekly 5-mile run.

When Brooke talked to a guy at Tric; Lucas left and spent the rest of the evening doing practicing his jump shot.

Nathan's mind flashed to three days ago in the gym when they were all practicing. One guy came in to the gym to ask Brooke out; which she accepted. Nathan remembered the way Lucas become angry.

Before he knew it, Lucas was shooting hoops into the basket continuously – except one, which rebounded and hit the guy on the back of the head. Lucas had seemed satisfied after that. But Nathan wondered if Lucas thought that by improving his game and focusing on getting into college would bring Brooke back to him. Although je had tried to call his brother up on it, Lucas would avoid answering and leave to work on his dribbling or something.

The crowd roared as Lucas scored another basket, securing a place in Tree Hill history, moments before the final whistle was blown.

While the spectators and other members of the team rushed to congratulate Lucas and begin their celebrations, Lucas couldn't help but feel incomplete.

Tomorrow, he'd be the most popular boy in school (still) and he knew that in the weeks to come, he could have any girl he chose – but the girl he really wanted, was being approached by someone he recognised from his History class.

"Congratulations Lucas!" Karen greeted her son with a warm kiss and smile. "I knew you'd do it."

"Not bad," Dan said, making no effort to try and hide the smile etched across his face, "You did good, son," he complimented. Lucas just nodded.

"Thanks dad," he said.

"We're going to go home. Don't come home too late, okay?" Karen told him, knowing that he was probably going to want to party and celebrate. Lucas nodded and they left, moving through the scores of people surrounding their son.

When the coast was clear, Nathan and Haley came up to their brother and congratulated him. Nathan patted Lucas encouragingly on the back and pulled him into a hug, "You've made the family proud."

"Are you coming to the party? Tim's dedicating it to you," Haley grinned. Usually not up for Tim's parties, she was willing to make an exception tonight.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas saw Brooke chatting happily with the guy he'd seen earlier.

"Uh… sure," Lucas said, "But I'm tired so I might jet out early."

"You okay?" Nathan asked.

"Of course. I'm going to grab a shower." He excused himself and followed his team-mates through the crowds to get to the locker room.

"Did he look happy to you?" Nathan asked his wife.

"He's tired. He'll loosen up during the party," she promised. Nathan could see Brooke and a guy talking to each other in the corner of the room.

"I'll be right back," he told his wife as he approached the two.

"Hey Nathan," Brooke greeted, "What's up?" Nathan looked at Brooke's admirer once and she got the message, "Uh… I'll talk to you later, Michael, okay?" Michael nodded and disappeared. "What's up?" Brooke asked again once he was out of earshot.

"New guy, huh?" Nathan said, "What happened to Steve? Or Dylan? Or Brandon?"

"Are you asking me a question, or just naming characters from Beverly Hills 90210?" Brooke snapped.

"My point is that this is the fourth guy this week that's asked you out. Are you going to go?" Nathan questioned.

Brooke put her hands on her hips, "I didn't realize I needed to check in with you."

"Brooke…"

"I don't think it's any of your business, Nathan. At least I'm not crawling from club to club every night now. It just hasn't worked out with the other guys. They know I just came out of a relationship and not looking for anything serious. And if I guy I like asks me out, of course I'm going to consider it." Brooke said crossing her arms. "Is there anything else?"

Nathan sighed before continuing the real reason he approached her. "Yeah, there's just one other thing. Does Lucas seem different to you? Has he been acting differently?"

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"I mean, you've been at all his games. He's at his physical best right now – I'm just worried his mind isn't in the right place."

"You think he's going crazy?" Brooke was confused.

"No, not exactly," Nathan sighed then groand. "Forget it.. Could you just keep an eye on him at home?"

"Whoa, hold on. I'm already being forced to be nice to him, but you want me to babysit him too?" Brooke scoffed, "No way, Nathan."

"Brooke, this isn't a request. Look at him; he's constantly tired, he's always working out. He's putting more effort into basketball than into school."

"So? He just wants to do his best." Brooke began to leave but Nathan grabbed her arm.

"Brooke… since when was Lucas this passionate about basketball?"

She thought about it but instead of agreeing with her friend, she just gave an irritated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll keep my eye out. Happy?" She pushed past him and headed towards the gym doors.

Nathan watched Brooke leave the gym and rubbed his forehead.

"You okay?" Haley asked her husband, "I saw you talking to Brooke. Is everything alright?"

Nathan nodded and kissed his wife's forehead, "Everything's fine. We'd better get going, there's a party tonight."

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Two days later, Brooke and Michael accepted an invitation for a double date with Haley and Nathan. Although Brooke was a little apprehensive about doing so, she figured that if everything went to hell with Michael, she still had two people to hang out with.

The only problem was that Michael was dropping by the house to pick Brooke up, and Lucas was home.

But Brooke figured it was okay, she'd just open the door and slip out without Lucas seeing Michael.

However, Brooke was still only half-dressed when the doorbell rang. She cursed under her breath as she yelled at Lucas to leave the door.

Unfortunately for them all, Lucas had already opened the door and was face to face with Brooke's newest admirer.

"Uh… Lucas," Michael said, "I'm here for Brooke," he winced slightly expecting to be pummeled, but Lucas allowed him in.

"Brooke!" Lucas yelled in the direction of her room.

"Coming!" came the rushed reply.

"She's on her way." Lucas bit out. Michael nodded.

"So… uh, we're in History together, right?" Michael attempted to break the ice.

"Yup."

"Um, done the homework?"

"Nope."

"Great. Neither have I!" Michael scratched his head.

"I'm here," Brooke announced.

"Oh, thank god," Michael said under his breath as he greeted Brooke. "You look nice."

Brooke nodded, "Thank you, so do you."

They both turned to where Lucas was standing with a clenched jaw and fist.

"Uh… we'll be back soon," Brooke told him. "You're staying home, right?"

Lucas shook his head. "Actually, I'm going down to the Rivercourt."

"Didn't you just come from—actually, never mind," Brooke said pushing it out of her mind. "We're going to go."

She managed to make a swift exit with Michael, letting out a relieved gasp and following him to his car.

Lucas watched from the window as they drove off before grabbing his basketball and sprinting down to the Rivercourt.

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"I can't believe you just broke up with Michael," Haley said as she, Brooke and Nathan sat around a table in a nearby diner. "Before you even started the date."

"I feel like an idiot. Who does that? I could have just let him pay for the movie and dumped him afterwards." Brooke pouted.

"Why did you agree to go out with him if you weren't even going to go through with it?" Haley asked. Brooke swirled the straw in her coke in circles.

"I don't know; I just changed my mind on the way here. Sorry for dragging you guys out here." she apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Nathan said. "We can still hang out. Where's Lucas?"

"Nathan!" his wife chastised.

"He's at the Rivercourt."

"But we just came from the Rivercourt a few hours ago," Nathan said.

"I know… maybe you were right, Nathan. Lucas is acting weird." Brooke said after considering it. "But it's okay, right? I mean, he's only working out."

"Yeah," Nathan said a little unsure of it himself.

"What time is it?" Haley asked.

"Almost 5.15pm," Nathan replied, "We still have a while before the movie," he told his wife.

"So, have you met anyone you could actually go on more than one date with?" Haley asked her friend, "Because so far, you've seen Steve, Tyler, Joe and David once, and Michael… for twenty minutes," she said.

"I'm thinking that I might be done with boys for a while."

"Oooh," came Nathan's reply, which earned him glares from both girls.

"The dating thing, I mean. I just can't get back into it."

"You just need time," Haley reassured. "You only broke up with Lucas a month ago."

"Yeah… but why do I keep wishing I was with him?" Brooke asked, "The problem with all those other guys were that they just weren't Lucas. I'd be with one of them, and he'd do something that reminded me of Lucas, or say something like Lucas would. Steve even liked the same movies as Lucas. It's like he's haunting me." Brooke complained.

"Maybe you should get back with Lucas." Nathan suggested.

"That's not an option," Brooke shot back, "I can't be with someone I hate."

"Time." Haley repeated, as she rubbed Brooke's arm, "Just give it time."

"Speaking of," Nathan looked at his watch, "It's abut time we caught the movie. Shall we?"

The three friends stood up, paid for their meal and entered the cinema; not knowing that within the next hour, things for all of them would change forever.

To Be Continued…