It's been a long time since I wrote, especially for OTH, but I was asked on Tumblr to do this prompt, so I hope I've done it justice.
Ties That Bind.
"I can't believe you're letting a girl get in the way of your basketball career Nathan!" An angry Dan Scott fumed as he watched his son miss a free throw while practicing on the hoop on the driveway.
"I'm not." Nathan replied through gritted teeth as he missed yet another shot.
"Really? Your aim says otherwise." Dan remarked. "Ever since she started tutoring you, your head's been out of the game. You're the star player son, the one that's going to make it to the NBA one day. Don't let some girl get in the way of that." Dan told him.
"Star player? NBA? Some girl?" Nathan repeated as he bounced the ball hard on the floor, showing his father his annoyance. "You were the star player, you were the one with the NBA dream and Haley is not just some girl!" He told Dan in a stern voice.
"What are you saying?" Dan asked.
"I'm saying that you're pushing me. Night after night you have me do this stupid free throw practice and..."
"It's not stupid!" Dan interrupted. "What is stupid is you missing it because you're busy with Haley. You were two hours late tonight Nathan and not being on your A-Game proves she's affecting it." He stated and Nathan took another free throw at that point, praying that it would go in to prove his father wrong, but he missed yet again and then cursed afterwards.
"See." Dan said and Nathan then threw the ball in anger before running off to retrieve it, anything to get away from his annoying Dad...even if it was just for a few seconds, but when he returned, Dan got even more pushy.
"You seem out of breath from getting that, your fitness is off as well as your game. Twenty push ups now please." He told his son.
"What? Nathan asked.
"Twenty push ups." Dan repeated.
"You can't make me do that." Nathan told him.
"Oh I can and I will." He replied, before pushing Nathan to the floor and making his son do as he was told.
Nathan found himself struggling after five and collapsed to the ground in a heap, much to Dan's fury.
"See look what that girl has done to you. You were never like this before. You need to seriously think about what it is that you want Nathan, some below average looking girl or a career where you could have any girl you wanted." Dan told him and then left his son in a breathless heap on the driveway to think about what he'd said.
It was about fifteen minutes later when Nathan went over to Haley's and she was surprised to see him again so soon after seeing him a few hours ago.
"Hey, this is an unexpected surprise." She said with a smile, but it dropped on seeing how solemn Nathan looked. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"I can't see you anymore." He told her, not even being able to look her in the eye. He was going to call her originally and break it to her over the phone, but he felt it was better to do it in person, he was regretting it now though, it was so much harder.
"What? Why?" She asked, hurt and confusion breaking through her voice.
"Ever since we started seeing each other my game has been off, my fitness is down and my Dad is..."
"Your Dad. I might have known he'd be involved in this." She cut in.
"He's really getting on my back Hales, he's pushing me harder." He explained, trying to make her see the predicament he was in.
"Fathers are supposed to have their kids backs, not get on them." She reminded him. "Why don't you just tell him to stop?" She asked.
"Dan Scott isn't someone who takes orders, he gives them." He told her.
"And you're just going to do as Daddy says for the rest of your life? If he told you to jump off the bridge near the lake, you'd go and do it?" She asked and he let out a sigh.
"You don't understand Hales." He tried, but she shook her head.
"No I don't. I've seen how you are with people at school, that reputation you have and carry around and I thought a reputation was all it was, I thought that I'd seen a different side to you since I started tutoring you, but you really are just a jerk of a jock aren't you." She told him.
"Haley..." He began, but she cut him off.
"No, if you were a real man Nathan, you'd have stood up to your Dad, but you're just a mouse. You've made your decision, now stay the hell away from me!" She said, raising her voice and then she slammed the door in his face.
Lucas had been in his Mum's Cafe for the last hour comforting an upset Haley. She'd come in to do her shift earlier, but was getting all the orders wrong and then she just broke down in tears before Karen got her to take a break and open up to them about what was wrong.
"Dan's never been the easiest person to go up against." Karen admitted with a sigh after Haley had explained everything.
"Do you think I was too hard on him?" She asked and Karen sighed, but shook her head.
"No, you don't want to be second best to a basketball career." She told her.
"But I don't think Nathan would have put me second, that was Dan getting in his head." Haley said, feeling guilty and slightly remorseful.
"He chose what he did though Hales." Lucas reminded her, even though he hated doing so as he saw his best friend's eyes glaze over again.
"Luke, can you cover Haley's shift?" Karen then asked her son as some customers came in and Lucas nodded before going to serve them.
"I'm sorry Karen, I should be doing that." Haley told her, but Karen shook her head and placed her hand on Haley's.
"Don't be. It's about time that son of mine helped out in here rather than eat and drink everything in it." She laughed and Haley smiled a small smile.
"I heard that." Lucas then said as he came over with Haley's favourite muffin and she thanked him.
It was about half an hour later when Karen's mobile rang and she picked it up to a worried Deb who asked if Nathan was or had been in the Cafe tonight.
"No, sorry Deb, but Haley's been here and told us that Nathan shew up at her's earlier and said he couldn't see her anymore." Karen replied.
"When was this? What time?" Deb asked and Karen put Haley on the phone and she answered all her questions.
"Have you heard from him since?" Deb asked, still sounding worried, but also a little bit hopeful.
"No. Is everything ok?" Haley then asked feeling fearful and now Karen looked at Haley, picking up on her side of the conversation and the worried expression on her face.
"He's not here, he's not come home and he's not answering his phone to me." Deb told her and now Haley felt just as panicked. It wasn't like Nathan to not speak to his Mum, his Dad yes, but not Deb, plus the weather had turned bad out there, it was raining and cold.
"Ok try not to worry too much, I'll try calling him and the second I hear from him, I'll let you know." She told her and Deb thanked her with so much appreciation, especially as Haley didn't have to do this with how she'd been dumped earlier.
Haley said it was fine and after they'd said goodbye, she called Nathan straight away, but it just rang and rang before going to voicemail. She'd hoped that him seeing her name flash up would have him answering, that it would appear she'd not meant what she'd said in telling him to stay the hell away from her earlier and she was really regretting that being the last thing she'd said to him now.
"Nathan, it's me. I'm so sorry for what I said to you earlier and how we left things. Please give me a call back when you get this. Thanks." She said, leaving a message and then she sighed when she hung up before explaining to Karen why Deb was in such a worry and panic and how she now felt the same.
"I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just wanting to worry Dan to spite him for earlier." Lucas said, not seeming overly concerned for his little brother's whereabouts. As far as he was concerned Nathan could look after himself.
"No, it's not like him to not answer his phone to his Mum or to me and look at that weather." Haley stated and Lucas could see how nervous and anxious she was getting.
"Alright how about I go out and look for him." Lucas offered much to Haley's relief, but Karen now felt worried about her own son.
"Be careful won't you. It's bad enough having one Scott boy out there in this weather." She said and Lucas kissed her cheek.
"I'll take the car and I'll be fine." He assured his Mum and then he looked at Haley. "I'll call when I've found him ok." He promised and she nodded before thanking him.
Lucas had a quick search down the streets near to his Mum's cafe on foot when he first left and around the town too, but he knew it was unlikely Nathan being anywhere there, there was only one place he was likely to be, it was the same place he usually went himself when he was feeling the way Nathan probably was right now and he jumped in his car and headed straight for the rivercourt.
As he parked up, he felt relief wash over him as his headlights illuminated his little brother's figure near a tree, but it also illuminated how wet and soaked through Nathan was as the rain had only gotten harder and the weather more storm like since he'd left the Cafe to search for him.
"Nathan." Lucas called as he got out of the car and it was only then he noticed his little brother trembling from the wet and cold of the weather, but when Nathan put his hands over his face on hearing his big brother calling his name, Lucas realised he was crying.
"Oh Nate." He sympathetically said, feeling sorry for him. "Come on, let's get you up." He added as he held his hand out for his little brother to take, but Nathan didn't move.
"Come on man, you're going to get sick if you stay out here any longer, plus your Mum and Haley are really worried about you." Lucas informed him.
"Leave me alone, Luke." Nathan replied.
"No, Haley explained what happened earlier and I get it, but don't let Dan drive you to this. You can do whatever you want Nate, you can be with whoever you want. You can be the star player of an NBA team and be with Haley, there's no reason why you can't have both." Lucas explained and Nathan took his hands away from his face which was wet from a mixture of both tears and the rain and he shook his head.
"I can't. My game's been off since I started spending more time with Haley. Dan's right." He told him.
"No he's not and you're going to prove him wrong because the Nathan I know fights tooth and nail for what he wants and believe me you really can have it all Nate. Don't give up, don't let Dan win." Lucas said and Nathan sighed.
"Come on, this is the first step, if you can do this, you can do anything." Luke encouraged before offering his hand to his little brother again and this time Nathan took it and Lucas gently helped him up off the cold, hard and wet ground, letting his own body support Nathan's weak feeling one and he helped him walk to the car.
Lucas ended up driving Nathan to his house knowing that Karen would still be at work so it would be quiet and only the two of them. He guided his still trembling little brother inside before helping him to sit on the sofa and then he placed a hand to his forehead and felt it burning up a little.
"I think you're already getting sick from being out there as long as you were." Lucas informed him and then decided the best thing to do was get him out of his drenched clothes and into some of his dry and much warmer ones.
He grabbed some jeans and a hoodie off his Mum's freshly tumble dried pile and took them into the living room where Nathan was still sat on the sofa.
"Come on, let's get you into these." Lucas said, going to help Nathan change, but his little brother pulled away in embarrassment and then tried to get up, wanting to run away from this moment completely, but his body was so weak that he couldn't and he collapsed back onto the sofa like he'd collapsed onto the driveway when he'd being doing push ups for Dan earlier.
In the end Lucas got him into his clothes and then grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa and covered Nathan in it, keeping him warm and allowing him to get the sleep and rest he needed and as he watched him drift off, he felt so sad for him. This was his brother, his little brother and he'd hated seeing him in the state he'd found him in at the rivercourt. His protective instinct kicked in again and he headed into the kitchen to get him some medicine and to make him a nice hot meal for when he woke up later.
While it was cooking, Lucas called both Deb and Haley to let them know that he'd found Nathan and that he was looking after him, he'd even spoken to his Mum who said he could stay the night which Deb was ok about.
It was a good few hours later when Nathan woke up and at first he didn't know where he was, but as his eyes adjusted, he realised he was in Luke's house and everything came back to him, including his brother trying to get him dressed and as he looked at what he was now wearing, he felt just as embarrassed as he had earlier.
"They look better on you than they do me." Luke commented and Nathan looked at him and then lowered his head, feeling ashamed for what his brother had done for him.
"Hey, it's ok." Luke said and then informed him that he'd cooked him a meal which was being kept warm in the oven and then he nodded his head in the direction of the medicine and a steaming mug of coffee.
"I think you could do with both of those." He told him and although Nathan felt his cheeks going red at his brother being like a mother hen to him, he nodded and agreed.
They ended up eating the meal that Lucas had cooked in silence to begin with, but Nathan broke it as a question had been playing on his mind since he'd woken up and since he'd been blinded by the headlights of Luke's car at the rivercourt earlier.
"Why did you come and look for me?" He asked, but then he went further before Luke could answer. "Why did you bring me here and look after me? Why have you taken care of me tonight?" He asked.
They'd never had the best relationship and had only really started to mix recently when Haley became as important to Nathan as she was to Lucas.
"I did it because of Haley." Luke replied, which Nathan expected to hear. "Your Mum too." He added and again Nathan wasn't surprised to hear that, Deb had always helped Karen out at the Cafe and was a good friend to Luke's Mum, but then came something Nathan wasn't expecting to hear. "I also did it because I care." Luke admitted much to Nathan's surprise.
"When Hales first came into the Cafe earlier and explained what had happened between you two, I wanted to beat your ass for treating her like that, but as soon as she mentioned Dan's involvement I understood." Lucas told him, knowing what Dan could be like and Nathan sighed.
"It's so hard at home right now, him and Mum fight and I think he takes it out on me by pushing me the way he does. It's not right, but it's how it is." Nathan explained and Lucas just nodded.
"I'm sorry, all those times we've bickered in the past, I never knew what you were going through, but I understand now." Lucas said and Nathan just weakly smiled.
"It's ok and listen, thanks for what you've done tonight and everything else. You really didn't have to and I really don't deserve it." Nathan said, feeling bad himself for how he'd treated Lucas in the past.
"Of course you do, you're my little brother after all, it's my job to take care of you." Lucas told him. "Besides Haley would kill me if anything happened to you." He added, causing them both to laugh and Nathan thanked him again.
It was just as they finished eating when there was a knock at the door and before Lucas could even get up to answer it, Haley burst through, still feeling worried about Nathan and she instantly ran to him as she saw him sat at the dining table.
"Oh my god, thank god you're ok." She said as she engulfed him in a hug.
"I'm so sorry about earlier, I didn't mean what I said, I don't want to stop seeing you." Nathan told her and she pulled away from him and smiled.
"It's ok and I'm sorry too, I sometimes forget what Dan can be like and that things aren't as easy as they sound when it comes to him." She replied. "You got me pretty scared when your Mum called in a panic, she wasn't the only one who was worried." Haley said and Nathan apologised before hugging her and she breathed him in, feeling safe and protected in his strong arms, but most of all she was happy that he was safe and protected from anything that could have potentially happened tonight.
"I should probably be going, my Mum will be wondering where I am and your Mum will be back from work soon." Nathan said a little while later and Lucas shook his head as did Haley.
"Mum said you could crash here tonight if you needed to and Deb said it was fine when I told her." Lucas told him.
"Plus you need to look after yourself, Lucas said he thought you'd already gotten sick out there tonight." Haley added.
"Ok, maybe we could watch some tv then?" He suggested and Lucas put it on only for his little brother to fall asleep in front of it about half an hour later.
Haley put the blanket back over him and cuddled up to him under it herself before looking over at her best friend.
"Thanks for helping him tonight, Luke. It really means a lot." She told him and he just smiled at her.
"It meant a lot to me too." He replied, feeling like him and his little brother would be much closer from now on.