Lucas was in New Jersey for a couple days because the Nuggets were playing the Nets and then he was heading to New York to play the Knicks. While he was in New Jersey he was going to see Bella. It would be the first time he was seeing Bella since the knowledge of her father's identity had been revealed. Lucas wasn't sure if he should feel differently or act differently then he had with Bella before. Haley had told him to act like he would even if he didn't know he was Bella's father. The alarm clock in his hotel room went off and Lucas cursed to himself as he rolled over to shut it off. He was spending the morning in team meetings and then it was off to see Bella.

"Jared, come on. We gotta go man," Lucas said to his buddy.

"Get away from me," Jared mumbled into his pillow.

"What are you so tired for? I'm the one who got in at like 2:30 this morning trying to get my crying nephew to sleep before he woke up his brother."

"Dude where was your brother?"

"Out of town taking care of personal stuff. He asked me to keep an eye on Brooke, Jamie and Nate."

"Ok, ok. I'm awake. I swear to God, Scott, if you come any closer with that pitcher I'll kill you."

Lucas laughed as he took another small step toward the bed where Jared was still tucked under the covers. He looked up at Lucas and glared at him, sending Lucas tearing away from the bed toward the bathroom. Lucas and Jared were just throwing their gear in their bags when there was a knock on the door.

"Scott, Ashley, get moving!" one of their teammates said through the door.

The two left the room and went down to the lobby where they were meeting the rest of the team before they left to go to the arena for their meetings and then a short practice.

"So you're going to see your daughter today?" Jared asked Lucas.

"Ya, it should be a good day. It's the first time I've seen her since her mom's ex-lover insisted on a paternity test," Lucas answered.

"So you didn't know you had a daughter for 6 years but you knew her the whole time?"

"Ya, my life has always been weird so I would expect nothing less in this scenario."

"Damn dude. I don't know how you stay so down to earth with stuff like this in your life."

"I dunno, I guess my mom and my uncle had a lot to do with that. But let's not talk about that. My past only makes me wanna kick the shit out of Dan and I don't need to see Bella while I'm pissed off."

Jared nodded. He had no idea what it was like to grow up or live in Lucas' shoes but the more he listened to his friend talk about this dad of his the more Jared knew he was right to be thankful for the life he had.

Finally, the meeting and practice was over and Lucas was on his way to Haley and Jake's house. He called Haley to let her know he was on his way. She told him that Bella was excited to spend time with her daddy and that made Lucas smile. About five minutes later Lucas pulled into the driveway. He shut the car off and jogged up to the door and knocked. He felt his excitement to spend time with his daughter growing as he waited for someone to open the door and let him in.

"Hey Luke, come on in," Haley said as she opened the door.

"Thanks Hales. Where's Bella?" Lucas said as he followed Haley into the living room.

"Hey, Bell. Someone's here to see you," Haley said as she sat down on the couch.

Bella was watching tv with Jenny but she turned away from the tv when Haley said her name. Her eyes skipped past Haley and landed on Lucas. Suddenly without warning Bella was on her feet running toward Lucas with a smile.

"DADDY!" she squealed as he lifted her off the floor and hugged her.

"Hi baby, you ready to go?" Lucas said.

"Where are we going?"

"Out. It's a surprise."

"Daddy."

"Bella."

Haley, who was watching from the couch, burst out laughing as she watched Lucas and Bella interact with each other. It amused her to see that Lucas could mimic a 6 year old girl with ease.

"Ok, so, Hales I'll have Bella back to you in time for bed," Lucas said to Haley a few minutes later.

"What about dinner Luke?" Haley asked.

"Hales, I didn't forget that the kid has to eat. I'm gonna take care of that. Try not to worry so much. You trusted me with Bella more before you knew that I'm her father and then you are right now."

"Sorry I don't know why."

"Neither do I but trust me, Bella's gonna be fine."

"Ok. Bella come say good-bye."

Bella ran to Haley and jumped onto her lap. Haley hugged Bella and kissed her cheek. She put her on the floor again and Bella ran back to Lucas.

"You be a good girl, Bella," Haley said firmly.

"Yes Mommy," Bella replied shyly.

Lucas waved to Haley real quick before turning and walking out to the car with Bella. He was glad that Haley finally let them out of the house. He helped Bella get into the backseat before he jumped into the front seat. As soon as he started the car Bella jumped from the bass. Lucas laughed softly to himself as he reached to turn it down.

"Daddy, that's loud," Bella said seriously.

"I'm sorry sweetie. That should be better now," Lucas said.

Bella nodded and Lucas pulled out of the driveway and drove toward the main road. Lucas was taking Bella out to the park and then a movie and whatever else she wanted to do until 7:30 so he could have her home in time for bed as promised to Haley before they left the house.

"Daddy where are we going?" Bella asked as Lucas continued toward the park near Brooke and Nathan's house.

He would have taken her to a park closer to the house in East Rutherford but the only park he saw was near the arena and the neighborhood seemed a little shady and there was no way Lucas was taking his daughter to a park if it looked shady. Not only would he never forgive himself if something went wrong but Haley would want to kill him too.

"We're gonna go play at the park near Uncle Nathan and Auntie Brooke's house. How does that sound?" Lucas answered.

"Yay! I like the park. Can we play basketball?"

"Of course."

Lucas had to laugh at that. Leave it to my daughter to wanna play basketball.

"Good. Jake is always tired and we never get to play. And Mommy doesn't like to play or she's too busy with Lucas and Colin."

"Bella, your mom never played basketball when we were kids either. Don't feel bad, it's nothing against you. She's just not the athletic type. The only reason she was even a cheerleader in high school was because Auntie Brooke begged her to join the squad so she wouldn't have to let this other girl on the squad instead."

Bella's face twisted in surprise. She was trying to picture Haley as a cheerleader and the only picture that came up in her little mind was a girl with frizzy hair and thick glasses in a cheerleading uniform holding a book instead of the pompoms with a guitar off to the side. Bella laughed at the picture in her head causing Lucas to look back at her in the rear view mirror.

"What's so funny?"

"Mommy as a cheerleader."

"Ya, it was pretty funny. But she looked good."

"Daddy."

"Sorry."

Lucas would never say it but he always had a thing for Haley but being the kind of guy he was, never did anything about it. Being friends with Haley and loving the friendship they shared for so long Lucas wouldn't dare doing anything to jeopardize that friendship.

A little while later Lucas was pulling into the parking lot and Bella was itching to get out and play ball. As much as she loved to play dolls or house or Barbie with her sister she loved to basketball more. Haley and Jake bought her a Nerf basketball hoop for her bedroom door and whenever Bella didn't want to play house or whatever she would play basketball in her room. Haley tried to teach her daughter to sing or play the piano but Bella had no interest and she playfully cursed Lucas for that.

"Daddy lift me up! I wanna dunk the ball!" Bella squealed.

"Ok," Lucas said as he lifted Bella off the ground so she could dunk the ball, while delivering a play by play of the action. "Isabella James goes up for the dunk. Oh what a beauty! Ladies and gentlemen, Isabella James is on top of her game!"

Bella laughed as the ball went through the net and rolled toward the grass. Lucas put her on the ground and she went to get the ball. He stood patiently on the court while Bella dribbled the ball back onto the court and then passed it to Lucas. Once he got the ball he took a shot and it bounced around the rim and then dropped through the net. They continued to play basketball until Bella decided she was too tired to go on.

"Daddy," Bella whined.

"Bella," Lucas whined in response.

"I'm hungry."

"Let's go get some lunch and then it's off to the movies."

"Yay! What movie are we gonna see?"

"I dunno princess. You tell Daddy what you wanna see and that's what we'll see."

"Oh boy. I like hanging out with you Daddy. Can we get candy and popcorn and soda?"

"Whoa, whoa. I dunno about all that. Let's see how you do with lunch first."

"Ok."

Lucas laughed as he grabbed the ball and Bella and walked back to the car. He opened the door for Bella and she climbed in the back and he shut the door again only to hear her wail. Lucas jerked his head up and realized that Bella hadn't gotten all the way in and he had slammed the door on her foot. He whipped the door open so hard he nearly tore it off the hinges. Shit! Haley's gonna kill me.

"Daddy! It hurts! Make it stop. DADDY!" Bella cried as she tried to get her foot in the car.

"Baby, don't move it. Here, let Daddy lift you in," Lucas said as calmly as possible while he carefully lifted Bella off the seat enough to slide her all the way into the car. He double and triple checked to make sure she was all the way in before shutting the door this time.

"Daddy, you have to call Mommy and tell her my foot hurts. I want Mommy!" Bella cried as Lucas shut his door and grabbed his cell phone.

He knew that Bella was right, there was no way he could get around calling Haley. Turning the car on Lucas drove toward the hospital so they could get Bella's foot examined and find out exactly what happened. Lucas was hoping that it wasn't broken but since Bella's so little and so young the possibility of a broken foot was almost inevitable in Lucas' mind.

"Hales, it's Luke," he said a minute later.

"What's up?" Haley asked not picking up on the nerves right away.

"I accidentally slammed Bella's foot in the car door. I'm taking her to get it looked at right now. She wants you."

"Luke! I send our daughter out with you for one day and you get her hurt? Unbelievable."

"Hales, it was an accident. She's fine, with the obvious exception of an enormous pain in her foot and she's upset."

"What hospital are you taking her to?"

"Hackensack University Medical Center."

"Ok, tell Bella I'll see her there. Jake just came home a little while ago so I can leave the kids here with him."

"Hales, I may not be in the right to say no to that but please, let me take care of this. I'll bring her home as soon as we're done at the hospital. I promise."

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Haley! I didn't do this on purpose. Come on, give me a break here. I messed up, let me be the one to fix it."

"Ok, but I swear if something worse happens I'll kill you Lucas Scott. Count on it."

"I know you will Hales. Trust me I have no doubts about that."

"Don't ever forget it. Let me talk to Bella."

Lucas passed the phone to Bella and told her that Haley wanted to talk to her.

"Mommy," Bella sniffled into the phone.

"Hi baby. Are you ok?" Haley asked.

"My foot hurts. Daddy closed the door on it. Can you come to the hospital? Please?"

"Baby I would but I have to stay here with Colin, Lucas and Jenny until Jake gets home."

"Oh."

"Daddy's gonna take care of you and then you'll be home. Ok baby?"

"Ok. Don't be mad at Daddy. It was an accident."

"I know sweetheart. I just don't like when you get hurt."

"I don't like it either."

"I love you Bella. Let me talk to Daddy again."

"Ok, I love you too Mommy."

Bella gave Lucas the phone again and sat back as tears clouded her eyes. Never in her life had she felt such unbearable pain. She bit her lip as she felt another intense wave of pain rip through her foot again.

"Daddy! Go faster. It really hurts," Bella pleaded through tears that had escaped.

Lucas looked in the rear view mirror and his heart broke at the look on his daughter's face. It made him feel even worse to know it was his action that put that look there. He pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and got them to the hospital as fast as he could. He whipped the car into a parking space and slammed into park before he jumped out and ran to Bella's door, whipped it open and pulled her out with a gentle quickness and kicked it shut again before he ran into the hospital. He didn't stop until he found what he was looking for.

"Excuse me sir, what can I do for you?" a doctor asked Lucas when he saw him holding Bella.

"My daughter, her foot, car door," Lucas rambled.

"Slow down. I didn't understand that."

"I slammed the car door on my daughter's foot. I need to get her looked at."

"Follow me."

Lucas nodded as he followed the doctor with Bella clinging to him. He felt her grip tighten occasionally and he guessed it was because in those moments pain ripped through her foot. Finally they stopped when they approached an area of the hospital that was clearly designated for x-rays.

"Ok, I'm gonna need to take your daughter in for some x-rays. This could take a while if you want to get something to eat," the doctor said to Lucas.

"No, I can wait. I was gonna take her for lunch before this happened," Lucas answered.

"All right. What's your daughter's name?"

"Bella."

"Ok, Bella, let's go take some pictures of your foot. Then we come tell Daddy what's wrong."

"No! Daddy come with me," Bella cried.

"Sweetie, I can't. I'll be right here when you're done and I promise you we'll get something to eat and then I'll take you home to see Mommy," Lucas said as he tried to loosen Bella's grip on his shirt.

"No Daddy! I can't go without you."

"Baby, you have to. It'll be ok. Be good for the nice doctor."

"Bella, my name's Becky, how about if I go with you?" a young girl asked as she came over with a wheelchair for Bella.

"No! I want my daddy to go!" Bella screeched as Lucas put her in the chair.

"Isabella, come on. Be good for Daddy," Lucas said softly as he knelt in front of his daughter.

"Daddy, I'm scared," she whimpered.

"It's ok baby. Go with Becky and the nice doctor. I promise I'll sit right over there until you're all done."

Bella nodded weakly as she hugged Lucas. He wrapped his arms around her in returned and kissed her cheek before Becky traded places with Lucas to tell Bella what was gonna happen. Lucas was relieved to see Bella smile at something Becky said as they disappeared down the corridor. He wandered over to the plastic chairs and slumped into the first one. All Lucas wanted to do was spend some time with his daughter. Never had he imagined it would end up like this.

About an hour later, Becky was bringing Bella back out to Lucas with x-rays. He stood up as soon as he saw the two girls. Nerves ran through him as he waited to hear what was wrong with Bella's foot.

"What's the verdict?" Lucas asked as he tried to calm himself down with a little humor.

"Well it seems that Miss Bella broke her foot. We'll be taking her to put it in a cast and then you can be on your way," Becky answered.

"What about crutches?"

"Oh right, well we don't have any crutches small enough for Bella. I'll see if we can get her fitted for a boot."

"Thanks Becky."

"You're welcome."

"I want a blue cast Daddy!" Bella yelled.

"Ok sweetheart," Lucas said as he followed Becky down the hall.

Another half hour went by before Lucas and Bella were leaving the hospital. Becky had been able to find crutches for Bella so she was hobbling out of the hospital along side Lucas. Her cast was blue just like she wanted and despite the pain, Bella was smiling.

"Belle, I'm sorry I slammed the door on your foot babe," Lucas said as he lifted her into the backseat and laid the crutches on the floor.

"It's ok Daddy. I forgive you," Bella said as she kissed Lucas.

"Thanks sweetie. Ok, let's go show Mommy your cool cast."

"Ya!"

Lucas couldn't help but laugh again. He got into the car himself and drove them back to the house in Rutherford. When Lucas pulled into the driveway it didn't surprise him that Haley was waiting on the porch from them to get back.

"My baby!" she squealed as she ran down the driveway and opened Bella's door.

"Mommy I gots a blue cast and crutches," Bella said.

"Oh baby, does your foot hurt?"

"Not right now."

Haley lifted Bella out of the car and Lucas took the crutches out and followed the girls into the house. Haley carried Bella to the couch and laid her down gently. Taking care of two toddlers, Jenny and an injured Bella was going to be interesting for Haley but she was determined to do it.

"Hales, I'm sorry. I know I said it before but really, I didn't mean for today to go this way," Lucas apologized.

"I know you didn't. Don't worry about it. Did you eat lunch?" Haley answered.

"We didn't get a chance to. We were just leaving the park to go get lunch. Bella's probably starving. Have you fed Jenny and the twins yet?"

"Not yet. I was just gonna make them something. Do you wanna stay for lunch?"

"Daddy stay!" Bella begged from the couch.

"I guess I'm spoken for," Lucas laughed.

"Good, come on. You can help me with the mac n cheese," Haley told him.

"No, no. I'll hang out in here with Bella. You don't want me in your kitchen. Mom's cooking skills didn't exactly carry over to her offspring."

Haley couldn't help but laugh. She knew that was true but she figured she'd let him give it a shot. But if he wanted to stay with Bella there was no way Haley was gonna object. Lucas walked over to the couch and pretended to sit on Bella's foot which caused the little girl to laugh. Lucas moved down to the end of the couch and sat down. Seeing the cast on Bella's foot made Lucas feel like he was the worst dad ever but that was something he wouldn't say out loud to anyone if he could help it.

"Daddy, are we still gonna go to the movies?" Bella asked.

"Not today baby. Next time I come to visit I promise I'll take you to the movies," Lucas answered.

"Ok. Can we watch a movie here then?"

"Sure if Mommy's okay with it. We can watch a movie after lunch."

"Mommy!" Bella yelled.

"What Bella!" Haley yelled back.

"Can Daddy and me watch a movie after lunch?"

"Sure, if Daddy wants to."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Mommy said we can."

"Ok then sounds good. I'll be right back, I'm gonna go see how Mommy's doing with lunch," Lucas said as he stood up and walked to the kitchen.

He walked toward Haley who's back was toward him. He had to fight the urge to walk up to Haley and crush his lips down upon hers. She had so much going for her and again Lucas didn't want to do anything to mess up their friendship. Haley nearly jumped when she turned around to find Lucas standing in the middle of the kitchen staring at her.

"Luke!" she screeched, "You scared me."

"Sorry," he whispered.

"It's ok, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see how it's going in here."

"Fine. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I um, I," he trailed off and stepped closer to Haley. It was now or never. Lucas' head was screaming no but his heart was screaming yes. Haley's eyes widened when she saw the look in Lucas' eyes. It was similar to the look he would give her in high school before they had sex.

"Luke," she whispered.

"Shh," Lucas said as he placed a finger over her lips.

He couldn't stop staring at Haley. He wanted to kiss her desperately but the voice of reason kept telling him not to and for reasons unknown to him, Lucas kept listening until finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He closed the gap between himself and Haley and let his lips crash down on hers. They exploded in the most intense either of them ever experienced.

"Haley," Lucas whispered after he broke the kiss.

"Luke, I can't," Haley said.

"But Hales, I love you."

"Don't do this."

Haley turned around and went back to making lunch for the kids. She didn't want this to happen. Her life was perfect the way it was. If she were to give into her desire for Lucas she knew that all hell would break loose and that would be the straw that broke everything.

"Hales," he persisted.

"No, Luke. I love Jake. Don't do this to me. If you really love me, you'll respect that," Haley said firmly.

Lucas knew that Haley was right. If he really did love her, he would respect that she was happy with her life the way it was. He nodded as he turned to go back to the living room. Once again Lucas would not have the girl he truly felt he belonged with.

"Luke," Haley said.

"What Hales?" he bit back.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Sorry I didn't do something about this sooner.

With that thought in his head Lucas walked back to where Haley was standing and turned her around. Once they were facing each other, Lucas kissed Haley with such passion she couldn't resist. As the kiss deepened Lucas let his hands explore Haley's skin as he pushed her clothes out of the way. Haley was lost in the heat of the moment or she wouldn't have allowed Lucas to strip her down to nothing and leave hot open mouthed kisses all over her skin. Before they knew it, both Lucas and Haley were making their way to the nearest bedroom. Lucas kicked the door shut behind them and gently laid Haley on the bed before he stripped down. Haley found herself aroused at the site of Lucas standing naked before her and she began to kiss his abs and down to his waist and back up again.

"I need you," she whispered.

Lucas looked Haley in the eye for confirmation. When she nodded Lucas slipped himself inside and they began moving in one accord. As they went on Lucas pumped himself harder into Haley and she bucked her hips to match Lucas' thrusts. They kept going like that until Lucas choked, "Cum with me Hales." And before he was done speaking they reached the climax and he released into Haley and felt her warmth mix with his.

"I love you," Lucas said as he wrapped his arms around Haley and kissed her temple.

"I love you too," Haley said.

They fell asleep in each other's arms. Not remembering that it was Haley and Jake who were married, not them. But that didn't matter. Lucas and Haley shared a love that no one would ever understand.

"MOMMY!" Bella shouted.

Haley's eyes shot open when she heard Bella's voice. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized what had just happened. Quickly she got up from the bed and got dressed, running to see what was going on.

"Is lunch ready?" Bella asked.

"In a minute baby," Haley said as she went to the kitchen to finish the mac n cheese. Five minutes later Haley had given all the kids lunch and then she brought some to Lucas who was still not dressed.

"Luke you need to get dressed. We can't let Jake see you like this," Haley said as she gave him the bowl.

"Hales, he's gonna find out anyway," Lucas answered as he dug into the food.

Haley sighed as she sat down next to Lucas and rested her head on his shoulders. She didn't know how this had happened but there wasn't a bone in her body that regretted it. But she knew it had to stop. The only thing was convincing herself to actually follow through on that.

"We can't do this anymore."

"I know."

With that, Haley and Lucas fell into an uneasy silence. The one thing they didn't want to do had become the one thing they couldn't avoid. Life would never be the same.