Nathan POV

What was I gonna do? I can't believe I did that to Mercedes. Just walk away from her like that. How stupid am I? Why did Whitey choose me? Why not Lucas? Oh! I know why, because Whitey hates me. He knows I get all this crap from my dad, and now this… I know that's why. Or it may be just 'cause he's bored and evil. I was trying to be mad at Mercedes. She had just made my life so much worse. When I thought she was gonna make it better. My mistake. I headed home and up to my room. When I got inside I realized that I wasn't mad at Mercedes because of the game. I couldn't be mad at her if I tried. But things were different now that she was on the team. I had to do something to let her know that I wasn't mad at her. Because I was assuming she thought I was because of the way I left things.

"Idiot!" I yelled into my pillow.

Lucas POV

When we arrived at the house Brooke and Mercedes were still not there so we decided to go out and wait on the porch. When they arrived they got out of the car and headed to the door, Brooke opened it. We all headed to the living room and piled on the couch.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Mercedes said getting up and walking out.

The rest of us just looked at each other in silence.

"I'll be right back." I said getting up and headed up the stairs.

I walked to her room, knoked on her door, and waited for her to answer. I couldn't hear water runnig and I knew she was in there.

"Mercedes it's me, Can I come in?"

She walked over to the door and opened it. I stood there looking at her. The sadness that was portrayed in her eyes was killing me. I walked inside and she closed the door.

"Hey what's wrong? I asked as I sat on the bed. "Come here."

She walked over and joined me on the bed. I held her and she began to cry.

"Hey. Come on, tell me what's wrong?" I said rubbing her back trying to comfort her.

"I tried talking to Nathan after the game, but he just walked away from me. Maybe Brooke was wrong when she told me he liked me. Maybe it was a mistake coming here in the first place."

"Hey look at me." I lifted her head so she was looking into my eyes. I held her and wiped away her tears with my thumbs. "It wasn't a mistake. I for one am glad that you're here. And about Nathan… he was just upset because he lost to a girl. But he's an idiot anyways."

She laughed trough her tears and I smiled at her.

"See, I knew I could make you smile."

She fell into my arms again and it surprised how perfectly she fit into them.

"Thanks Lucas. I'm glad you're here."

"I'll always be here for you Mercedes."

She left the comfort of my arms and stood up to grab her towel.

"I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Ok we'll be downstairs." I said getting up and walking to the door.

"Ok." She said looking at me.

I walked out and closed the door behind me.

Mercedes POV

I walked into the bathroom and turned the water on. After taking a shower I got out and got dressed. I walked downstairs and headed to the living room.

"Mercedes. There's something for you by the door." Brooke said taking a bite of her pizza.

I walked over to the door and on the table that was next to it there as a large bouquet of red roses and an envelope. I took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a baby blue piece of paper it read…

"Mercedes-

I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you after the game. I should have said something, and not walked away from you, but I didn't know what to say. You know I like you a lot but… now that you're on the team things are different. I wish they weren't but they are. I'm sorry for what I did. I hope you can forgive me."

I couldn't help but cry. I walked into the living room and looked at Peyton.

"It was Nathan wasn't it?" They all looked up at me. "The roses, the notes, it was Nathan."

"Mercedes, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you but I knew Nathan would kill me if I did."

I looked at her. I knew that if she could she would have told me. I was just stunned that it was Nathan.

"I have to go find him." I said grabbing my coat and my car keys.

"Wait… You don't even know where he is. Let me call him." Brooke said picking up the phone.

She walked into the kitchen and Lucas walked over to me and led me to a chair and kneeled down. He pulled my hands into his and I just looked down at my hands. I didn't want Lucas to see me like this.

"What did it say?" He asked.

"It said that he was sorry for walking away. And that he liked me a lot but that things were different now that I was on the team." I answered tears running down my cheeks.

He took one of his hands and wiped away my tears. I looked up at him.

"Asshole. I don't like what he's doing to you. I think I should go with you. That way I can kick his ass after you talk to him."

"Thanks Lucas but… this is something that I should do alone."

"Are you sure? 'Cause I don't mind kicking his ass for you."

"I'm sure."

"Ok. I just don't like to see you upset." He said pulling me into his arms.

Brooke walked out of the kitchen with Peyton and walked over to us.

"He's not answering his cell phone, but I called his mom at the café and she said that he was at the river court."

I got up and walked out. As I was driving to the river court I was thinking about what I was going to say to him. I arrived and got out of my car. I looked around and didn't see him, but there was a guy shooting hoops so I decided to ask.

"Hey" I said walking up to him.

"Hey." He said grabbing the ball and walking over to me.

"I'm Mercedes."

"Skills."

I shook my head and smiled.

"Umm… Sorry to get right to the point but… Have you seen Nathan?"

"You just missed him. He left like 10 minutes ago."

"Do you know where he went?"

"Home probably."

"Ok. Umm… Can you tell me where he lives?"

"Sure."

After he gave me directions I said thank you and began to walk to my car.

"It was nice meeting you Mercedes!" He yelled out.

"Nice meeting you to. Call me Z ok?"

He shook his head and I got in my car and left. When I got to Nathan's I saw him shooting hoops. I looked in my mirror and wiped away a few stray tears. As I got out I grabbed a few pieces of paper from the passenger seat and closed the door. That's when Nathan turned around to look at me.

"Mercedes… What are you doing here?" He said as he put the ball under his arm.

I walked toward him and he walked toward me.

"I'm sorry Nathan. For the game, for everything."

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

"You obviously think I did something wrong or else you wouldn't have said that thing were different."

"Mercedes… I…"

He stayed quiet. Trying to find the word to explain to me how he felt.

"You know… this weekend I couldn't stop thinking about you." Although I tried my hardest not to cry in front of him, my hardest wasn't good enough and a few tears escaped my eyes. "I don't know why Nathan but I really missed you. Do you remember the night that we met and you were holding me?" he shook his head. "Well… I didn't want you to let go. And when I saw you this morning… I was really happy. But then you didn't say a single word to me all day, and you walked away when I tried to talk to you. And I though that maybe… you weren't interested in me, and honestly…. It really hurt Nathan."

Nathan's eyes began to cloud up.

"I love basketball Nathan, I always have. It's kept me out of trouble, and it means a lot to me that I'm on the team. But if I had to choose between basketball and you…"

"You'd pick basketball." He said cutting me off, and looked down at the ground.

"No, I wouldn't. I care a lot about basketball. I do. But I care a lot about you to."

He looked up at me and I saw him shed a tear. He wiped it away and stayed quiet.

"Are you gonna say anything?" I asked

He just looked at me.

"Ok. I think I should go then. You can take from this conversation what you'd like." I said turning around and heading to my car. " I drew these for you." I said putting to pieces of paper on the bench. I got in my car and left.

As I was leaving my phone rang and I picked it up and answered.

"Hey Ciara. What! Is he ok! Oh God. Yeah. I'll be there as soon as I can. I don't know a few hours maybe. Bye."

I hung up and dialed Brooke's number. She answered and heard I was crying.

"What's wrong?" She asked worried.

"It's Q. He was hurt."

"What! Is he ok!"

"I don't know Brooke. Ciara told me he was in surgery right now."

"Oh God. Where are you?"

"On my way to the airport."

"Ok, I'm going with you. I'll meet you there."

"Ok."

I hung up and headed to the airport.