Chapter 5 Hesitant Meetings

August 5, 2003

"So today is your first play date?" Haley smiled. "That's so cute."

"Less snark and more support, please."

Lucas sat at the counter, fidgeting a little, while Haley tried to calm him down by chatting about random things.

"So my Mom caught Taylor in the backseat of our car with a guy who had to have been at least ten years older than her. She's just unbelievable sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah," Lucas said.

"But I don't have any room to talk really, I mean, after the orgy that I had with Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, and Orlando Bloom, who am I to be throwing around the slut label?"

"Sure."

"Lucas . . . Lucas!" His eyes snapped to hers. "Pay attention. Everything is going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

"You're right. It's stupid to be nervous. But maybe we should call Deb and cancel, I mean, I've got to start getting ready for senior year, I'm taking all these AP classes—and there's basketball. I've got to get started on that before it's too late."

"It's the first week of August, Luke. I think you have time to spend a couple hours with the sibling you've never met before."

"Yeah." Lucas tried to look casual. "I might as well get this over with."

"Exactly. Look, tell me all about it tomorrow—"

"Hold up, you're not leaving are you?"

"Well, yeah. Your brother's going to be here any minute so . . ."

"No, no, no. You talked me into this, you're staying."

"Italked you into this? Lucas . . ."

"Uh-uh. Sit your butt back down."

"Fine!" Haley flopped back into her seat. "I hope you know that I'm missing American Idol for you."

"My heart's breaking." Lucas stood up as Deb walked into the café looking a little nervous. Behind her was a young boy with jet-black hair that fell into his face, partially hiding his eyes. He was dressed in shorts and a basketball jersey. On his feet were the latest Jordans.

"Lucas," Deb smiled, "it's so nice to finally meet you."

"You too," he said politely.

"I've heard a lot of great things about you," Deb continued.

"Oh, thanks. Uh, this is my best friend Haley James."

"Nice to meet you, Haley."

"You too, Mrs. Scott." Haley shook her hand.

"Please, call me Deb. And of course this is my son Nathan."

"Hey," Lucas said.

Nathan muttered a hello under his breath. Haley looked over at Lucas and saw him cracking the knuckles of his right hand—a nervous habit that he had had since forever. She could tell that he was searching for something to say. There was an uncomfortable silence and Karen looked like she wanted to say or do something but she stayed behind the counter. Haley looked around at everyone before speaking.

"So you're the famous Nathan Scott." Haley smiled down at him.

The boy finally raised his head and Haley saw his beautiful blue eyes for the first time. Aw, what a cutie, she thought.

"Famous?" Nathan finally spoke.

"You are the Nathan Scott that played small forward at Holden Elementary, right?"

"You know about that?" Nathan smiled tentatively.

"Know about it?" Haley scoffed, "Why do you think I'm here? When I found out that you were Lucas' brother I thought to myself that all these years of putting up with him have finally paid off—now that I get to meet you."

"Really?" Nathan's smile widened into a grin as Deb laughed.

"I swear." Haley nudged Lucas.

"I thought that maybe we could go down to the Rivercourt and practice our three-pointers, maybe play a little?" Lucas looked down at his brother and tried to look relaxed.

Nathan looked at his mom and when she nodded he shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay." Lucas left to get his ball from the backroom and when he came back Nathan was laughing at something that Haley had said. "Ready to go?"

Nathan stood up and followed Lucas to the exit. He was reaching for the door when Nathan said, "Can Haley come?"

"I'll ask." Lucas beckoned to her and she walked over. "Hales, do you think you could come with us?"

"Huh?"

"Nathan asked if you could tag along."

"Really?" She smiled at his little brother. "I'd love to."

"Thanks." The relief he felt was palpable. Haley saw it and winked at him.

Karen remained motionless during the entire exchange. She watched as they all walked off and smiled over at Deb.

"So far so good," Deb sighed as she sat down at a stool.

"Coffee?"

"Please."

Karen poured her a cup while Deb twisted her fingers together. "I was so nervous on the drive over here."

"Was Nathan?"

"I'm not sure if he's completely grasped what's going on. I told him that his father had another son with someone who isn't his mom before he was born and that's about it. I didn't know how to explain to him that Dan walked out on his own flesh and blood."

"I don't envy you that conversation."

"Karen . . . can I ask you something personal?"

"Go ahead."

"How did you explain it to Lucas?"

"I told him that his father was very young, immature, and that he ran away because he thought that he wouldn't be a good dad."

"How did Lucas take that?"

"Sometimes I still don't know. He's angry at Dan, of course, but I always wanted him to understand that it wasn't his fault that his father left. I really hope that he never felt that it was."

Deb sighed. "I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I was so sure that it was a good idea for them to get to know each other, but what about Lucas? How must he feel having this thrust into his life? I'm sorry about this Karen, I can't believe that I roped you into this . . ."

"What did I tell you about apologizing, Deb? Stop it. You were right. It's not going to do us any good to avoid each other or to pretend that this isn't going to be really uncomfortable for a while, but so what? I think this is a good move, I really do. I wouldn't have agreed to it otherwise."

"Thanks, Karen." Deb wrapped her hands around her coffee cup.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything when you came in. I had this whole speech prepared but I was a little startled . . . Nathan looks a lot like his father."

"I'm sor—" Deb cut herself off when Karen gave her a look. "He really does. Mae says that Nathan looks just like Dan when he was around that age."

"I expected Lucas to look more like him, I have no idea where his blond hair came from, both of my parents and my grandparents were brunettes."

"Almost all of my relatives are blondes. You have no idea how disappointed my dad was when Nathan came out so dark, but you can always pick my son out of a family photo."

"He and Dan must really stand out."

"Oh, Dan hasn't been in any of the pictures for years now. He got too busy with trying to get his sports agency off the ground. And he was just so combative with everyone who tried to help him . . . and I'm sure you don't want to hear any of this."

Karen thought for a minute and then a relieved smile spread across her face. "No, it's okay." She spooned some sugar into her cup, looking a little surprised at herself. "It's really okay. Go on."

"Lucas Scott has the ball and the Ravens are down by two points, they only need one more basket and they'll be the champions of Tree Hill." He dribbled the ball up the court as Nathan attempted to guard him.

"Scott shoots," Lucas raised his arms to hit the three-pointer.

Nathan charged forward and tripped, accidentally landing an elbow in Lucas' midsection. He felt the air whoosh out of him; the ball hit the rim without going in before bouncing onto the court and then into the grass. Lucas fell onto his back and Nathan landed on top of him.

"Scott is fouled hard by Nathan," Lucas groaned. "And the dreams of thousands of fans are ruined."

Nathan laughed. "I win!"

Haley ran over to them. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, he didn't hit me that hard." Lucas rubbed his stomach as he sat up.

"I was talking to Nathan," Haley said.

Lucas rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, Haley," Nathan said shyly.

"You have a pretty good jump shot, Nate." Lucas stood up.

"Thanks, my Dad made me practice it a hundred times."

"Did he?" Lucas said neutrally.

There was a small silence.

"Are you guys played out yet?" Haley asked. "Because as much as I love watching the two of you bounce an orange ball up and down the court we could go do something else."

"Like what?" Lucas asked.

"Like the arcade."

"Yeah!" Nathan's eyes sparkled.

Lucas checked his watch. "It's getting a little late, I'm sure Nathan's mom is expecting us back soon."

"We'll only play a couple games, come on Luke."

"Okay," Lucas went to retrieve his ball.

"Nathan, you should know that I rule Mortal Kombat."

"I'm pretty good too," Nathan said proudly.

"Maybe, but I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're cute." Nathan smiled at that. "Because nobody plays Kitana like I can play Kitana."

They walked off and Haley tried to engage both Nathan and Lucas in conversation. Nathan was friendly enough but he was more reserved than she'd expected him to be and since Lucas wasn't very talkative either, they'd spent most of their time in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, exactly, but there was definitely a weird vibe.

It was like running into a celebrity in person for the first time: you see his face and you know that you know him, but you're also certain that you've never met before.

She felt that same half-familiarity with Nathan, especially when she watched him and her friend play together. On the court some of that awkwardness had faded away a little but now that they'd left, it had returned.

They got to Gameworks and Lucas held the door open; Nathan walked inside and Haley followed him. He hadn't seen much of Tree Hill or even really met anyone. He was glad to get out of the house, his parents weren't talking and there were times when he felt more scared by the silence than he was by the fighting.

His brother . . . Nathan was still getting used to that, but at the same time it was a little exciting. Lucas was the best shooter he'd ever seen. His friend Haley was really fun, too. She talked a lot and made them both laugh.

Lucas got the tokens and Haley looked over at Nathan. "You're up."

"Excuse me?" Lucas looked slightly offended. "I paid for those tokens, why isn't he playing me first?"

"Because I'm the defending champion," Haley said with the air of someone who'd been asked a question almost too obvious to be taken seriously.

Nathan looked up and at her and then grabbed the joystick. They both selected their players and Nathan bit his lip as he focused on trying to beat Haley, she was good.

Eventually he lost out to her mastery. After watching her character make Liu Kang explode into a shower of gore he looked over at his new brother.

"If I can't beat her I'm not sure that you can either."

"Ha," Lucas scoffed. "Watch me."

"Bring it, Scott," Haley challenged.

By the time they got back to the café it was already dark. They rushed in and Deb stood up, relieved that they all looked like they'd had a good time.

"A little late aren't you?" Karen said.

"I'm really sorry Mrs. Scott," Lucas said. "We went to the arcade and Haley kept beating us both and then she said that she could win against me six times in a row—"

"And I did," Haley said under her breath.

Lucas glared at his friend and then turned back to Deb. "I'm really sorry."

"It's Deb, Lucas, and it's okay. I'm glad you had fun."

"Mom!" Nathan ran up to his mother. "Lucas plays for the Tree Hill Ravens and he showed me how to shoot a three-pointer so you never miss!"

"Did he?" Deb grinned down at her son.

"Yeah . . ." Nathan went on and on and Deb felt herself completely relax for the first time that day.

Deb looked up. "We've got to get going, Nate."

"Do we have to?"

"We'll come back later."

Deb cringed a little because she and Karen hadn't talked about getting the boys together after this first meeting. She looked over at her with an apology in her eyes.

Karen spoke to Nathan for the first time. "Of course you'll be coming back," she said, "you haven't tried any of my desserts."

"Nathan," Deb put one hand on her son's head, "this is Ms. Roe. Lucas' mom."

"Hi, Ms. Roe."

"Hello, Nathan. You can call me Karen."

Nathan nodded, shy again.

"We'd better get going." Deb pulled out her car keys.

"Wait a second." Haley pulled the out a keychain that had a little basketball hanging from it out of her pocket. She handed it over to Nathan with a warm smile. "Here."

Nathan had a look of total surprise on his face. He took the trinket from her and after looking at it for a moment he hugged her around the waist. Deb blinked at him, surprised. Usually it took Nathan a long time to warm up to people. She'd never seen him be so spontaneously affectionate.

Nathan looked over at his brother. "Bye, Lucas."

"Bye kid." Lucas had a half-smile on his face.

Deb gave Karen a grateful smile and then walked out the door. Nathan was so energized that he seemed to bounce up the sidewalk as they walked to their car.

"How'd it go?" Karen asked.

"It was good," Lucas said cautiously. "Nathan's a really fun kid."

"You seem to have made an impression," Karen said to Haley.

She shrugged. "What can I say? The people who know me, love me. Hey, Karen, do you want me to close up? I know you've had a long day."

"Thanks, Haley. That's okay, you and Lucas can take off, I've got some paperwork to do."

"Okay, Mom." Lucas hugged Karen.

Haley waved to her as they walked out.

"Thanks for hanging with me today, Hales."

"Oh, no problem. I had a good time."

"I can't believe that you sacrificed all the tickets you won to get him that prize. You've been playing that game for weeks and you finally had enough to get that bracelet you wanted."

"Eh, it isn't every day you reunite with your long-lost brother."

"I'm a little hurt that you didn't give it to me."

Haley laughed. "I'm not that generous. So what did you really think about him?"

"It was fun, I mean, it's weird too. I keep thinking about what I'll say to people when we're out. Do I say, 'This is Nathan' or 'This is my brother, Nathan'?"

"Does it really matter? I'm sure everyone already heard the whole story through the grapevine."

"That's comforting, Hales. Thanks."

"People talk, Lucas. And your story is a little like something out of General Hospital."

"My life, the soap opera."

"And I get a front row seat." Haley grinned. "Pam Hodges has been trying to pump me for information about this all week."

Lucas glanced over at her. "So what do you tell them?"

"If they want to know anything I demand cold, hard cash." Haley nodded seriously. "I don't talk for less than a thousand."

"Only a thousand? I'm a little insulted."

"Don't worry so much. Before you know it the next scandal will come along and you'll be yesterday's news."

"I don't really care that much . . . but it's got to be hard on my mom."

"She seems to be dealing with it okay."

"Maybe."

"You think this is harder for her then she's letting on?"

"I don't know. Whenever Mom does talk about Dan she always seems really calm about him."

"I'd probably be pissed off all the time at that . . . jerk."

"Language, Haley."

"My bad." She smiled.

"She says that even though Dan wasn't the man that she thought he was she doesn't regret anything because she's happy, really happy . . . and that she has me," Lucas added softly.

"Karen's a smart woman." Haley spoke with perfect confidence.

"If Mom is strong enough to let Nathan and Deb be in our lives then I guess I can try to be his brother."

Haley looped her arm through Lucas' and leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked down the sidewalk together.

"I like you, Lucas."

He laughed. "I'm not letting you off the hook Haley. When Nathan comes over next week you're going to be right there with me."

"Crap. Then I withdraw my affection."

"Doesn't matter. I need you there in body, not spirit."

"Come on, Luke. Are you afraid to be alone with him?"

"Sort of," Lucas said quietly.

The teasing light faded out of Haley's eyes. "Why?"

"I don't care about Dan most of the time but sometimes I just get so pissed off at him. And Nathan looks a lot like him."

"Luke . . ."

"I just don't want to take it out on him."

"You won't. How many times did you even think about Dan tonight?"

"A lot. Until we got on the court."

"It's going to get easier, trust me."

They walked while Lucas thought to himself. Finally he asked her something she could tell was eating at him a little. "Do you think Nathan likes me?"

"Of course he likes you, Luke."

"He didn't talk to me all that much."

"Well, you didn't talk much either. But before you know it the two of you will start chatting and then can hate each other for all the right reasons. Like me and my brothers."

Lucas smiled. "What are the right reasons?"

"Matt cut my hair once when I was sleeping—"

"Oh, yeah I remember that." Lucas laughed. "God, that was ugly."

"Shut up," Haley mumbled.

"And right after that you got dumped by the heartthrob of the entire fourth grade."

"You were just jealous of Pete because none of the girls wanted your scrawny butt."

"I am not scrawny!"

"Denial is so sad."

They argued all the way back to Haley's house.