The Way It Could Have Been part2

"Haley are you sure this is a good idea? I mean this guys my brother and yet I've hardly ever said two words to him." Cassie said as she followed the girl through downtown Tree Hill.

"Well you said yourself that you wanted to get a glimpse at what his life is like, right?" Haley asked.

Cassie hesitantly nodded.

"Ok then follow me." She said walking into a building that Cassie had driven by a thousand times yet never once been inside, mostly because of her parents but apart of her was almost afraid about what would happen once she did.

"Deb you here?" Haley asked going behind the counter.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" Cassie asked in surprise.

"Ugh I work here." Haley explained. "I have since I was 14. Don't you work?"

Cassie shook her head. "Not really, I mean I help my Dad sometimes at the dealership when he has a ton of filing that needs done and his secretary is either to incompetent or busy doing other things."

"Incompetent huh, I'm surprised you know the meaning of the word." Haley said and smiled at Cassie to show she was kidding.

"Haha, very funny. I do get good grades despite what you think." Cassie said sticking out her tongue, surprised that she was getting along so well with the girl her so-called friends had tortured over the years. She had talked to Haley the whole walk over and was surprised they had so much in common. Haley was just as surprised. She had thought Cassie was just one of those typical spoiled rotten society brats, but she had surprised her.

"Haley I thought I heard you come in and another voice." Deb said coming around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who that other voice had belonged to. "Oh hello." She said trying to be polite, wondering what this girl was doing standing in her diner.

"Hi..." Cassie said almost sounding shy. She didn't know how to act around this woman. Haley thought she would try and help out.

"Deb I know you know who this is..." Haley started but was interrupted.

"Look, I don't know what this is but if your parents sent you to spy on me for some reason, you can just leave right now." Deb said getting angry. How dare Dan do this and to use his daughter no less.

"My parents don't even know I'm here or believe me they would be here so fast dragging me away kicking and screaming." Cassie smirked. "I get that you don't trust me or my family and you have every reason to hate us but really I just wanted to come get a coffee."

"Yeah Deb, we've been talking, she's really not as bad as Nate or I made her out to be." Haley said with a genuine smile.

"Oh well in that case, I am very sorry for snapping at you. I try not to judge people but sometimes it's hard." Deb said sincerely sorry.

"It's no problem. You've got a really nice place here. I will have to tell my friends about it." Cassie said with a smile.

Deb wasn't sure she should trust the girl but decided that Cassie seemed genuine enough.

Nathan entered looking at a piece of paper in his hand.

"Hey honey." Deb said smiling at her son. "Whatcha got there?"

"I..uh it was taped to my locker this morning. Coach Durham wants to meet with me to discuss me playing on the team." Nathan said sounding shocked.

"What that's great Nate." Deb said. "We have to celebrate."

"What's this about you playing on the team?" Haley asked snatching the note from her friends hands. "Dude, congrats!!" Haley through her arms around him.

Nathan smiled and Haley and out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Cassie.

"What's she doing here?" Nathan asked. "Whatever this is, whatever you or your jerk brother or your ass of a father want...please just go away."

"Nate, it's cool. I invited her." Haley said surprising him. "She's really not all that bad, you should try talking to her."

Cassie slowly walked over to the brother she never knew. "I know you have no reason to trust me and no reason whatsoever to give me the time of day but I just wanted to get a glimpse of what your life was life. You got the better end of the deal, I have to say."

"Your sure that's all this is?" Nathan asked. "Sure that your Daddy or brother isn't going to hop out of the corner and shout 'gotcha'?"

Cassie smiled. "I'm sure, I don't really have anything to do with either of them anyways. Not unless it involves basketball which believe me I do everything I can to avoid." She checked her watch. "I better get going it's almost the end of this period and if I skip another class, my parents will probably follow through on their threats of boarding school."

"Hey well, how about I'll walk back with you then." Haley offered. She had to admit she was a little intrigued by Cassie. Something inside her told her Cassie really was being sincere and that her life really wasn't as great as it seemed.

Cassie smiled and nodded. "Thanks for the coffee." She waved at Deb and turned to Nathan. "Thanks for giving me the time of day." She laughed and then walked out of the cafe.

A few days past and the end of the week finally neared. Cassie had seemingly become friends with Haley over night and had spent almost everyday after school at Deb's Den. Of course neither of her parents knew where she spent close to 2 hours a night and she hoped they would never find out. She was enjoying getting to know Haley, Deb and now Nathan was even included. After the first couple of days he finally decided that the sister he didn't know was being sincere in what she said about wanting to get to know him. He was even learning more about her home life and he was actually happy things had worked out the way he did. He was glad Dan was not apart of his life, Cassie's life was hell as far as he could tell. Dan ignored her, her mother was never there and her twin brother just didn't care.

Haley, Cassie and Nathan were sitting at the table closest to the counter going through pictures of Haley and Nathan growing. Cassie had even brought a couple of her own, back to a time when her life had been better.

"So that's me and Nate at our Halloween party when we were 10." Haley said pointing to the picture that Cassie held in her hands.

"This is so cool. You were dressed as Cinderella and the Prince." Cassie smiled. "Cinderella was my favorite movie growing up."

"I only dressed like that because Haley practically forced me to." Nathan said glaring at his friend.

"I did not force you to dude!" Haley said quick to defend herself. "His Mom did."

"Only because you were going to throw a fit otherwise." Nathan said causing Cassie to burst out laughing.

"You guys are so going to end up married someday." Cassie said through her laughter. "You already fight like an old married couple."

"Oh god, you sound like Deb." Haley said frustratedly.

"Huh?" Cassie asked.

"My Mom has been saying that for years." Nathan explained. "Ever since I pretended to be Haley's boyfriend in junior high."

Cassie laughed and looked at the picture again. She smiled sadly wishing she could have what they had, a real friendship. Sure she had her friends but none whom she was this close too. She also wished she could get along with her brother like Haley and Nathan seemed to get along, like brother and sister.

"You ok?" Haley asked.

"Yeah just thinking." She paused. "You guys are lucky to have eachother."

"I guess." Nathan shrugged. His friendship with Haley was just something that had always been there and now that he thought about it and was learning of Cassie's life experiences, he realized he really did take it for granted. "Anyone want a milkshake?" He asked trying to change the subject because it turned sour.

"Sure." Cassie and Haley both said in unison. Just then a bunch of guys from the basketball team walked in, leading the way was Lucas. Cassie's eyes widened as she looked at Haley who was already one step ahead of her. She grabbed Cassie's arm and pulled her behind the counter to hide.

"What's he doing here?" Haley asked Cassie suspiciously.

"I don't know. I didn't even think he knew this place existed." Cassie said. She tried to listen closely to what her two brothers were arguing about.

"Get out of here man, I'm warning you." Nathan said.

"Relax." Lucas said with a smirk on his face. "Were just here to lay down a few ground rules now that you are officially a Raven."

Cassie's eyes widened. She realized what he meant as she remembered all the time Lucas and his friends spent time hazing the new team members. She knew for Nathan it would be ten times worse.

"If your going to be one of us, there are a few things you need to know. One, the cheerleaders are off limits especially my girlfriend. I catch you even looking at her and it'll be the stupidest move you ever make." Lucas said and took a breath. "Two, this is my team. It has been for years and I'm keeping it that way. If you know what's good for you, you will stay out of the way and three remember I have the power to make your life hell if you disobey with any of these rules." Lucas sneered.

Cassie had heard enough and not even caring that she would be caught, she jumped up and glared at her twin brother. "Shut-up Lucas and get the hell out of here." She yelled causing customers in the store to stare at her in shock as she took on the captain of the Tree Hill Ravens.

"Cassie?" Lucas asked shocked by the sight of his sister in a place his parents had basically labelled forbidden. "What the hell?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, brother of mine." Cassie said. "Leave Nathan alone, he hasn't done anything to you and your jerk friends and need I remind you, I am one of those cheerleaders you mentioned. We are not any of your possessions, we don't belong to you and if one of the other girls takes an interest in Nathan then he should be free to do as he pleases without you on his back."

"Cass..." Nathan said in shock at the fury in her voice.

"You really shouldn't be here Cassandra." Lucas said angrily. His sister had betrayed him in every sense of the word by siding with the enemy as Dan had labelled his illegitimate son.

"You can't tell me what to do." Cassie barked.

"Maybe I can't, but Dad sure as hell will." Lucas said.

"Go to Dad, I don't care." Cassie shouted. "I finally found someone I could relate to and I'm sorry but that someone is our brother and I don't care what Dan says."

That was it. Lucas had had all he could take of this. He grabbed his sisters arm and pulled her kicking and screaming out of the diner leaving Haley, Nathan and the rest of the people in shock. Haley and Nathan watched as Cassie and Lucas battled it out before Cassie finally relented and walked away, clearly angry, but headed in the direction of her house. Lucas walked back in and over to Nathan.

"I don't know what the hell you did to my sister, but that was your biggest mistake yet." Lucas said. "If you think I'm going to take it easy on you now, just you wait."

Nathan sighed and rolled his eyes. He wasn't scared of Lucas, that much he knew. The guy was all talk. It was Cassie he was worried about. He knew after listening to her stories that things at her house were about to get ugly and he couldn't have been more right.

"Cassie." Lucas yelled after his sister when she stormed through the door, slamming it in his face and headed straight for the stairs, not even bothering to say hi to either of her parents. "CASSIE!!" He screamed for her but she kept on running.

"Lucas." Karen yelled at her son. "What is going on?"

"This is between me and the traitor formerly known as my twin sister." Lucas said.

"What is this about?" Dan asked gaining interest for once. Something told him this would be huge.

"I caught her at that freak's Mom's restaurant." Lucas said.

"Who are you talking about?" Karen asked.

"Nathan, who else. Cassie was there hanging out with Nathan and that girl he's always with." Lucas said and the look in his father's eyes said it all. Dan stormed up the stairs after his daughter.

Karen's eyes widened as she took off after her husband. "Dan!" She yelled but it was no use as she heard him storm into their daughter's room, not bothering to knock.

"What the hell were you thinking, Cassandra?" Dan's angry voice carried through the entire house so much so that Cassie was pretty sure the neighbors would hear.

Cassie didn't bother to answer him, she just buried her face in her pillow. Dan grabbed her arm roughly and forced her to look at him.

"Don't think you can ignore me, little girl. What were you doing in that restaurant?" Dan asked again raising his voice yet another notch.

"I just wanted to talk to him." Cassie said innocently.

"About what? How long has this been going on?" Dan asked.

Cassie shrugged.

"You know those long runs Cass said she was going on, well turns out she's been with him." Lucas answered for her.

Karen decided it was time to intervene. She sat down on the bed next to her daughter and decided that for the first time in a long time, they were going to talk this through. "What did you want to talk to him about Cassie?"

Cassie gave her Mom a slight smile but then it was gone. "I just wanted to know what his life was like. I don't know, I bumped into his friend Haley, completely by accident the other day and we sort of just go to talking. Turns out we have a lot in common."

"Like?" Karen asked.

"We both have absentee fathers." Cassie said seeing the vein in her Dad's head throb. She didn't care though, she was tired of hiding her feelings.

"You have a father." Dan said. "Right here."

"Yeah only because you found out I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be." Cassie said. "Tell me father, when was the last time you actually sat down with me and had an actual conversation?" When he didn't answer Cassie went on. "I'll tell you, it was when I was 12 and decided I no longer wanted to play basketball. All you ever cared about is that stupid sport. The only reason you even give Lucas the light of day is because he still cares. And you know what, congratultions because Luke just proved tonight he was you all over again a huge jerk." She said shooting glares at her brother.

"Alright Cassie, that is enough." Karen said. She saw the look in her husbands face and knew he was about to explode. She pleaded him with her eyes not to but it was of no use.

"You are never to go back there again, you hear me." Dan bellowed. "If I even catch you looking at him or talking to his friend, you will be off to boarding school, understand."

"Why does it matter so much if I talk to him? It doesn't mean you have to. He and Haley are the only real friends I've got right now." Cassie said sounding surprisingly calm.

Dan just about back handed her across the face and would have if Karen hadn't stopped him. "Dan." She screamed.

Cassie didn't even think twice as she stood up and ran out the door, grabbing her jacket on the way.

"Cassie." Lucas screamed after his sister.

Dan went for the door but Karen stopped him. "Don't. You go after her and we will lose her. Do you understand me."

"I think it's too late." Lucas said and walked out.

Cassie ran straight to the first place she could think of, the River Court. She hadn't been there in forever but she remembered coming there when she was a kid to play basketball with her brother, Lucas.

She saw a familiar face as she looked at the court. "Hey." She called to Nathan who looked up shocked to see her there.

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked. "I take it things didn't go well."

Cassie shrugged and told him the whole story.

"I can't believe he raised his hand to you." Nathan said. Physical discipline was something that never occurred in his house.

"That's not the first time trust me. I just had to get out of there." Cassie explained as Nathan nodded.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just really wish I had the kind of life you have. I wish my Mom was more involved in my life, although tonight she was almost like a normal parent." Cassie said with a smile.

"You wish your Dad wasn't part of your life?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah in a lot of ways." Cassie sighed. "Feel like shooting some hoops?"

Nathan nodded. "First one to 10 wins."

Cassie smiled as they ran around the court and for the first time in years she actually remembered why she loved the game.

"You know Lucas wants me to play him." Nathan said.

"Way to bury the lead." Cassie said. "Are you going to?"

Nathan shrugged. "I guess. It's just a game right?"

"With Lucas it's never just a game. Even when we were kids it was always a competition." Cassie explained. "Everything with him is a competition. What did he bet you?"

"If I beat him he gives me his spot on the team." Nathan said.

Cassies eyes widened. "He did what? My God, if my Dad finds out he will kill him."

"That's what I said." Nathan said.

"Be careful Nathan. Lucas will not go down easily." Cassie said. "I just don't want anyone getting hurt."

Nathan nodded. "So you going home?"

Cassie shrugged. "I guess I don't really have a choice. If I don't my Dad will have a search party for me and that back hand will be a sure thing."

"Want me to walk you?" Nathan asked.

"Sure that'd be cool." Cassie agreed. "Can we take the long way though."

Nathan laughed and nodded. "Yeah sure." He said as they started walking. "So I asked Haley to be my date for the homecoming dance."

"Really." Cassie said surprised. "That's awesome. I bet your Mom was pleased." She laughed. "Wow best friends turning into lovers, it's like a movie or something." Just then she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. "What the?"

"Isn't that your Mom and Keith?" Nathan asked and Cassie could only nod as she got a little closer so she could hear what they were saying.

"I'm really worried about her Keith. Dan went ballistic after she left." Karen sounded as if she had been crying. "I'm just so afraid what he's going to do if I don't find her first."

"Relax Kare. It's going to be ok." Keith said as he held her. "Why do you stay with him?"

Karen looked at him as if he had sprouted two heads. "Why do you think? Because of my kids. If I leave there is no way Dan will let them stay with me. I need to protect them. Lucas is already starting to act like him and Cassie is doing her best to get out from under him."

"Well you know if you came with me, I'd protect them with my life." Keith said.

"I know you would." Karen smiled as they walked hand in hand.

Cassie just looked at Nathan with a look of shock.

"Your Mom and our Uncle?" Nathan asked.

"Can't say I'm that surprised. Luke and I have been speculating it for months now." Cassie said. "All the late nights...it explains so much.

"And yet you don't seem all that angry." Nathan said surprised.

"I'm not, not really." Cassie said. "If my Mom can get away from my Dad, the more power to her."

"What about you and Luke?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. I just have to wait another year and a half and I'll be 18, till then I'll just have to ignore my Dad the best I know how. Luke can do what he wants." Cassie said. "Look, I'll be ok. Why don't you get home. You've got that big game later tonight."

"You gonna be there?" Nathan asked.

"Wouldn't miss it, I'd never thought I'd get to see my one brother get his ass kicked by my other brother." Cassie said.

"Who are you referring to?" Nathan asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Cassie said as she walked away. "See ya at the game."

Four hours later and the game was tied up. The next basket would take the win. Cassie was standing next to Haley, as far away as possible from her parents. As far as they were concerned she was at home in bed.

"And it call comes down to this." Mouth's voice broadcasted. "One last basket."

Cassie watched as Nathan cleared the blood from his face after Lucas had purposely elbowed him in the mouth.

"Come on, come on." Cassie heard Haley whisper and she smiled at her new friend.

"This is for my Mom." They heard Nathan say as he got the upperhand on Lucas, turned one way then quickly turned the other and sprinted towards the hoop doing a lay-up when he got close enough.

"And it's........good. Nathan Scott is the now the reigning basketball champ of Tree Hill." Mouth said as everyone gathered around Nathan.

Cassie walked over to Lucas. "It's just a game bro." She said and nudged him before walking away.

Nathan and Lucas walked towards eachother and shook hands. "Come back to us, Nate." Luca's voice echoed as his vision became cloudy.

"Come on Nate." He heard Cassie's voice whisper and he opened his eyes to find himself in the hospital, staring at a bright light. "Where am I?" He whispered.

"In the hospital man." Lucas said. "You were in an accident."

He looked at Cassie and Lucas. "You....and you." He pointed to them.

"We what?" Cassie asked.

"In my dream, you were both there. My Dad chose your Mom and you hated eachother...it was so real." Nathan said.

"Are you sure your not still high from the morphine? Cause your talking crazy." Cassie said with a laugh.

"Look Nate, we'd love to sit and talk but your Mom's out there and she's going to bust down the door if we don't let her in." Lucas explained. "Come on Cass, let's leave them alone." He said as he guided his little sister out the door.

"So he had the dream." Cassie said.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"The dream that you and I have both had numerous times...you know which one I'm talking about." Cassie said.

"Yeah I know. Do you ever wish that was what happened?" Lucas asked.

Cassie shook her head. "Never in a million years."

"Me either." Lucas agreed. "Wait there's Mom."

Karen had her head buried in her knees, looking like she was sobbing.

"Mom?" Cassie and Lucas asked in unison as they approached her. "Are you ok?"

Karen shook her head.

"Did everything go alright with Keith?" Lucas asked.

"He proposed to Jules." Karen said.