During practice, Nathan made it a point to have sex with Peyton that night.
"Will you just take me home, please?" Peyton pleads, looking absolutely miserable on the ride to his house.
"Listen, I'm sorry about earlier, Peyton. I've just been going through a lot lately," He tells her, really trying to convince her to come home with him. He needs this, and needs it bad, because whatever the hell happened when he went to pick Peyton up, he doesn't want it to ever happen again.
"I'm sorry's getting a little old, Nathan," She says curtly.
"I know, but look, I wanna make it up to you, if you'll let me?" He looks over at her and makes the best puppy dog face he can muster right now. Finally she folds and starts laughing.
Damn, he's good.
Immediately when they get to his house, Nathan drags her into the shower, furiously ripping her clothes off as well as his own. He turns the water on, not once moving his mouth from hers. He runs his fingers through her hair and pulls her head back, trailing his lips down the nape of her neck, making her moan.
Yeah, bet you like that, don't you Lucas?
Suddenly, he jumps away, looking at Peyton like he's seen a ghost.
"What the hells the matter?" Peyton asks with a bewildered expression.
Honestly, he doesn't even fucking know.
"Sorry, it's nothing," Nathan tells her, continuing where he left off.
What the hell, man?
Nathan continues working his tongue all the way down her body, ending up between her legs, making her moan even harder. Pushing his soaking wet hair back, he stands up and shoves her against the wall. Then, he pushes his dick inside her, causing her to practically scream with excitement.
"Fuck yeah," Nathan breathes, kissing her on the neck. Then he closes his eyes and suddenly imagines…
Lucas.
He starts thrusting even harder now.
Hell yeah. You like that? Like when I put my dick inside you, Lucas?
"Shit, Nate, I'm gonna -," Peyton breathes, mere seconds away from an orgasm.
Peyton screams out in pleasure, her contractions sending Nathan over the edge. He pulls out and shoots his load everywhere.
"Holy shit, that was great," Peyton says, trying her best to catch her breath. "You've never screwed me like that before."
Nathan doesn't answer her.
"Nate?"
He still doesn't answer her, unable to do anything but stand under the running water. Was he just imagining himself fucking-
No, no way in hell. He stops himself from even thinking that thought.
"Hm? What?" He finally answers, breaking free from his trance.
"You okay?" She asks.
"I'm great, babe. That was awesome!" He says, pulling her in and kissing her on the forehead. "Now I'm more than ready to play this game tonight."
He was completely lying through his teeth. He knows what just happened, even if deep down he doesn't want to admit it. The thought of seeing Lucas after that absolutely petrified him. Just what the hell is going on inside his head right now?
After they finished their shower, Nathan can hear Dan come in the house as he's drying off.
"Crap, my dad's home," Nathan says, wrapping his towel around his waist. "I'll walk out first, okay?" Peyton nods in agreement.
As soon as he leaves the bathroom, he comes face to face with Dan.
"What's up, dad?" Nathan asks. Dan looks at the ring Nathan has on his left nipple and smirks.
"If I wanted a daughter, I'd adopt one," Dan says.
"So you can abandon her, too?" Nathan says. "Just a joke, dad."
"Uh-huh. And this bet tonight, is that just a joke too?" Dan asks. How does he even know about that?
Tim.
Nathan makes a mental note to tape his mouth shut later.
"Nope," Nathan answers.
"What if he beats you and makes you look like a fool? You have everything to lose here, Nathan, and nothing to gain."
"Sometimes what you call everything, I call nothing," Nathan retorts. Can't his dad butt out for once?
"I'm just trying to make you do what's best, Nathan. Call this off and we'll find another way," Dan pleads with him.
"No, dad, I'm not going to," Nathan tells him. "I do a lot of stuff for you, almost everything, but I'm doing this for me."
Leaving it at that, he turns and walks towards his room.
He has to beat Lucas tonight. If he doesn't, Lucas will be on the team, and whatever fucked up thoughts Nathan keeps having will just continue.
The further away Lucas is from him, the better.
—
Lucas and Haley get to the Rivercourt that night just ten minutes before midnight, seeing hordes of people sitting in the bleachers.
"You've got to be kidding me," Haley says. "How many people know about this?"
Tim Smith walks up to them, smirking. "Hope you don't mind, but I told a few people."
"No problem at all," Lucas responds. He can take Nathan with or without an audience.
Lucas proceeds to the center of the court, grabbing a basketball and shooting some practice shots. He can hear Mouth commentating as he's shooting.
"And Lucas Roe is warming up, ladies and gentleman. With only a few minutes before midnight, one has to wonder, just where is Nathan Scott?"
Good question. Is he chickening out?
As soon as the thought enters his mind, he sees Nathan's truck pulling up to the court. Nathan gets out first, followed by Peyton. He waves at her, which gets him a slight smile and wave in return. He can tell Nathan noticed, as his scowl just increased tenfold (God he's cute when he's mad).
The people in the stands are cheering Nathan's name. Lucas isn't going to let anything psych him out.
Not even how gorgeous his brother looks right now.
"You ready for this?" Nathan asks him, standing in front of him in the center of the court.
"Born ready," Lucas responds. "What're the rules?"
"First to fifteen by ones," Nathan says.
"Fine by me."
"It's your life," Nathan says curtly.
"Yeah, it is."
Lucas jumps and shoots the ball, making it in. Nathan retrieves it and hands it back to him.
"Go ahead man, I still have all night to whoop your ass," Nathan says cockily. In response, Lucas shoots and makes another one.
"What happened to all night?" Lucas asks him as he went to retrieve the ball again. The fire in Nathan's eyes is getting hotter by the second. Lucas can tell he's furious.
Hate me, Nathan. Hate me so this can be easier. Hate me so this ache in my chest goes away.
"Is that all you got? If that's all you got, this is already over," Nathan baits.
The game went on, each brother making shot after shot. Lucas can tell that his brother's bringing his A-game.
It's 13-12, with Nathan's lead now. He can't let him score again.
Lucas is trying to block Nathan from shooting, when suddenly Nathan jumps and elbows him in the face, tossing the ball into the basket. A white hot flash of pain erupts in his nose, and he can taste copper in his mouth. Spitting out blood, Lucas turns and looks at Nathan.
"No foul; shot counts," He says.
"And the basket counts! It's 14-12 now, game point for Nathan! Could this be it?" Mouth commentates from the bleachers.
They line back up in the middle of the court. Lucas can practically taste the anger welling up inside of him.
"You won't score again," Lucas spits, which gets him a smirk from Nathan.
The game starts again, Nathan running towards the basket, but Lucas is right on his heels. Nathan attempts a layup, which Lucas stops by slamming his hand against the ball before it could even touch the rim. The audience bursts into applause.
They line up again, with Lucas in possession of the ball. Nathan's looking increasingly more and more panicked. Lucas jumps and shoots, making it in. Now he's only down by one.
"Don't choke now," Nathan teases, handing him the ball. Not responding, Lucas sinks another shot.
Now they're tied. One more shot, and he wins.
One more shot, and hopefully, Nathan will hate him for good.
So he shoots, praying that the ball goes in.
And it does.
The audience goes completely berserk with applause. People start to crowd him, showering him with praise and congratulations. Eventually he sees Haley break through the mass of people, and runs up to give her a hug.
"I knew you could do it!" Haley exclaims, letting Lucas lift her into a hug. "I never doubted you for a second!"
"Thanks, Hales," Lucas responds, grinning from ear to ear.
Peyton makes her way to him as well.
"So Nathan tells me I'm your prize?" She asks him.
"I was just trying to scare him," Lucas answers. He figures that he's embarrassed Nathan enough for one day; stealing his girlfriend would just be a low blow.
That day, anyway.
Plus, as much as he wants Nathan to hate him, there's a larger part that just wants Nathan to love him, even if that would literally never happen. Not to mention how fucked up it is.
Speaking of Nathan, where did he go?
Amidst all of the commotion, Lucas completely lost track of Nathan. He looks all around for him, eventually spotting him standing by his truck, staring right at Lucas.
He looks absolutely terrified.