It was a game high school dreams were made of. Cove City had kept it close from tip off to the fourth quarter. The score was tied with just seconds left when the opposing shooting guard went for the basket. Almost flying into the air went Nathan Scott with a block to end all blocks. The pro Ravens crowd roared as the block led to a steal and right before the buzzer, number 3, Lucas Scott sank the shot that won the game. The bench and the stands went crazy. Dan and Deb Scott jumped up and down, hugging each other as the team hoisted the two Scott brothers in the air.

Jubilation ran rampant except for a few sour faces scattered about. It started in a corner in the bleachers. One man in particular, though proud of his nephew's talent and performance, stood with a forced smile on his face as he forced his hands to clap. He had a lot on his mind and sitting at the game was probably the last place in the world he needed to be.

A few feet away, was the announcer's deck. Two Tree Hill High seniors were the friendly faces and voices for the school's broadcast department, putting on air a daily show to keep the students informed and involved. And they were the animated, undisputed voices of Ravens' sports, their comical banter providing commentary for athletic events, never missing a home or away basketball game. The young man, who usually loved his job, had been rather somber and somewhat serious all night, a deviation from his normally cheerful and lively public demeanor. He too had things on his mind.

And they weren't the only ones. As the other cheerleaders screamed and jumped and down with excited glee, a pretty red head, bandage underneath her still swollen right eye stood on the sidelines. She ruffled her pom poms nervously as she anxiously looked around, eyeing the stands. On the opposite end of the line, a solemn brunette, fresh from a three day school suspension for fighting, had had enough. She rolled her eyes and slipped quietly through the crowd en route to the nearest exit.

"Nate! Hey, Nate!" Cooper called out to his nephew, fighting his way through the masses.

"Coop! What's up, man? I'm glad you made it."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world. You did good out there, man. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

"Look, I know you're probably gonna celebrate here and all but I think I'm just gonna take off, you know head back or whatever. So come see me when you get home. We'll have a beer."

"A what?" Deb cleared her throat, eyes narrowed, hands on her hips.

"I meant a Coke", Cooper grinned sheepishly, winking at Nathan.

"Sure thing, Coop", he said laughing and bumping fists with his uncle. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Hands in his pockets, Cooper walked out to the parking lot where his car was waiting for him. Sighing, he reached for his keys but stopped when he felt something tiny and warm brush up against him.

"Guess who?" she purred.

He closed his eyes.

"Rachel…" he turned around.

"Good guess", she grinned, inching further towards him. "Glad I caught you before you snuck off. You know, you're a hard man to keep up with sometimes."

"Yeah…"

"You know there's gonna be a hell of a party tonight."

"Yeah, I figured. It's cool, though. I don't feel much like partying. I was just gonna head home and chill there."

"Suit yourself", she shrugged. "I don't really feel like partying either. Want me to ride with you?"

"Rachel…"

"I don't mind taking separate cars. I could totally follow you."

He took a deep breath.

"I, I don't think that's a very good idea."

"But Cooper…"

"Rachel, we have to talk."

She smiled warmly up at him. Sure. Anything he wanted. Anything at all.

"About what? You know you can tell me anything."

"Rachel, about the other night, you know the night of the storm…"

She sighed dreamily, her body shivering in the chill of the night air as she relived every touch, every word, every sensation.

"I can't stop thinking about that night."

"Me either", he sighed.

"It was magical, like kismet or fate or whatever. Cooper, it was the most perfect night of my life. What about you? Do you feel the same way?"

He reluctantly stared down into the hopeful eyes of a love struck girl. And that's exactly what she was…a girl. It was wrong and he had known it all along, although for the moment, he had become lost and instead was caught up in the rapture. But the second the sex was over, reality had hit him. He was left feeling frustrated with himself and confused as to what would happen next.

"I'm sorry, Rachel."

"Sorry?" she frowned. "Sorry about what?"

How was he supposed to just come out and tell her?

"I, I'm sorry about everything, okay? That night…Rachel, that night was a mistake and I think we both know that. It shouldn't have happened."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true."

She looked around, trying to conceal her hurt.

"I thought, I thought you liked me, Cooper."

"I do. Rachel, I do like you as a friend. I mean, you're a really nice girl and everything but…"

"But what? Listen, it'll be okay. I know you just came out of a really serious, really long relationship. So maybe you're a little scared to jump back into that. I feel the same way. So don't worry about it. I'm not trying to rush you or pressure you. I don't want to just ease back into another relationship myself. We can totally take it slow."

"Take it slow? What do you mean? Are you saying…wait a minute. Did you, did you break up with Mouth?"

She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Getting there. I just don't want to hurt his feelings. These things take time."

"Oh my God…"

"It's okay."

"No. None of this is okay. Trust me, it is anything but okay."

"Why are you all spazzing out on me?"

"This is a mess. It wasn't supposed to be this way. You're getting into fights with Brooke, getting suspended from school and now you just want to end things all of a sudden with a really great guy who obviously loves you very much."

"Look, the suspension wasn't my fault. Brooke is a psycho and she jumped on me. Anyway, that's in the past and who cares about her anyway?"

Cooper bit his lip.

"Did you tell her, you know, about what happened between us?"

"She had to know the truth…"

He shook his head and stepped away.

"Rachel…"

"Brooke Davis obviously has issues way bigger than me. As far as Mouth? Yeah, that sucks. He is a super nice person and I really do care for him. But he's not the boyfriend type. He's more like a little brother. We're not compatible and the sooner he realizes it, the better. In time, he'll get over it and he'll move on and be happy with someone more his equal."

"Rach…"

"You know what? He'd be a good match with that Gigi chick. You know, the mousy little thing that calls the games with him? It's plain as day she really likes him anyway. They'd be cute together."

"Rachel…"

"Okay. Enough about Brooke and Mouth. I want to talk about us."

"Us? Rachel, there is no us. I'm sorry. I mean, have you not listened to a word I've said. We are not together and we can't be together. Sleeping with you was wrong. I took advantage of the situation."

"No, you didn't. I wanted it, Coop. We both wanted it."

"You're an attractive girl and the circumstances were crazy that night. Still it's no excuse. I'm the adult, Rachel and I should have known better. I should have stopped it. But I didn't and now everything is really screwed up. I feel like I may have led you on or whatever and now look at all the things in your life that are getting so messed up?"

Rachel shook her head.

"No. No, you don't mean that. My life is fine. It's great now. You didn't screw anything up."

"You might not think so now."

"It's okay. I don't care about any of that and you shouldn't either. Why does it even matter? We had a wonderful time that day and I'm not just talking about the sex, even though the sex was out of this world. But we connected. We really talked. We got to know each other and that was so special. Just think about how much more beautiful it could be. All we have to do is give it a chance…"

"We can't give it a chance", his voice rose more than he meant it to. "Jesus, Rachel! You are in high school still and I'm a grown man. Hell, I could get arrested. You're only 17 years old."

"Don't be silly. In North Carolina, I only have to be 16 for us to be together. So no worries, right? We didn't do anything wrong or illegal."

"Maybe not in the eyes of the state but when I think about what we did, what I did…it makes me sick. Look, any pain I may have caused you I'm sorry but I think it's best that we don't talk anymore. Please. Just…just stay away from me."

"You don't mean it", tears filled her eyes.

"Yes, I do. I'm so sorry…"

"What about Brooke?" she asked angrily.

"What about her? Yeah, I may have had feelings for her but the thing is, we never acted on those feelings. That's the difference. Anyway, everything is so crazy now, it's not like it matters anyway. Brooke probably hates me."

"Who cares?"

"I care. Now Rachel, please don't make this any harder than it needs to be. I don't want to be mean or rude about this. I'm not trying to treat you badly. You're a great girl but that's the thing…you're just a girl. And I'm sorry but you're not the girl for me. I hate how it came down to this. I guess I was naïve enough to think that you'd just let it go after that night. Then I thought you'd get the hint when I didn't return any of your calls and text messages. Sure we talked one time since then, long enough for you to tell me about the fight but this, whatever it is you want to be between us…it's no good. It'll never work."

"What do you expect me to do?" she asked tearfully.

Cooper shrugged. He had no clear answers for her.

"I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. You go on with your life. Enjoy life. Go back to how it was before you even met me."

"I can't do that", she shook her head.

"You don't have a choice", he turned to his car.

Rachel was desperate. Certain defeat was looming but she couldn't stand for it. She wouldn't. And when all else failed, she knew how to pull her ace card. Walking up to him, she let her hands slide under his jacket. His body trembled beneath her touch.

"What are you doing, Cooper?" she asked, rubbing him all over. "You can't walk away from this. You know you want me just as much as I want you."

"Rachel, stop it", he faced her.

She gave him a sultry smile as her tongue slipped inside his mouth. For a brief few fractions of a second, Cooper Lee lost himself again. But he quickly came back to his senses.

"Rachel!"

She looked at Cooper, thinking he had called her name but it didn't take long to figure out he hadn't. Instead she followed his stunned gazed to the direction behind them. There the boyfriend she had told everyone she was going to break up with, that is, everyone but him, stood in a state of disbelief.

"Mouth!" she looked shock. "What, what are you doing here?"

"It's true", he mumbled out lout to no one in particular.

"Man, this isn't what it looks like", Cooper tried to explain.

"Mouth…" Rachel started towards him.

"How…how long?" he managed to ask.

She felt just awful seeing the hurt in his eyes but not awful enough.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you and I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

"Why?" he mouthed in a faint whisper.

She had no real answer, no tangible explanation.

"Mouth, you are a beautiful, beautiful person. You've been so sweet to me and you've always taken such good care of me. You're the best friend I've ever had and I never want to lose that but lately, I…I just don't feel for you the way a girl should feel about her boyfriend. And it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong, you were the nicest guy…"

"And what do they say?" a single tear slid down his cheek. "Nice guys finish last."

And that was the saying. Nice guys did finish last. Cooper could actually sympathize with Mouth on that one. After all, he had been a nice guy, too, once or at least he thought he was. At least he tried to be. But somewhere along the way, things had gone awry. Cooper had taken a wrong turn and suddenly found himself the proverbial heartbreaking bad guy in the midst of a teenage love triangle. And Brooke, the one human being he had connected with, the only one who seemed to understand him, the one he had been so careful not to act upon his feelings with for fear that everything would be ruined, had managed to accomplish the one feat he was most afraid of…indeed he had ruined everything. So much for being a nice guy.