"Julian..."

He stopped, eyeing the shooting guard warily as he removed his headphones from his ears.

Could he trust a Scott?

"What do you want?" Julian demanded, crossing his arms. "You here to 'warn' me again, man? Or was that part of your brother's plan? You gain my trust enough to stall, so Dim, and some of the other guys can grab me?"

Lucas sighed, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other. He deserved everything the mathlete was giving him.

"I'm sorry..." He began. "And I know that that's a really lame thing to say, but it needed to be said. I tried to back out of the plan, I told Nathan that I didn't want any part in it after Brooke told me that she actually liked you... But I didn't get to you soon enough, and I let them hurt you... I don't know if you can ever forgive me... But I just needed you to know that I'm sorry..."

Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to walk away. He'd said it, he'd apologized for his part. It was up to Julian to make the next move, but if he didn't, Lucas wouldn't have blamed him.

He'd done a shitty thing for no reason.

"Lucas."

"Yeah?"

"Brooke likes me?" Julian asked with a smile. "Umm... Wow."

Lucas laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand. "Yeah. Umm... I never told you that, if she asks... Cause then she'd kill me, and I'd never see Peyton again... And Haley! Peyton and Haley... And Nate, I guess."

He rolled his eyes. "Peyton's pretty important to you, huh?"

That was an understatement. She was very important to him, not that Haley and Nathan weren't, but with Peyton, it was different.

She was stubborn, she was feisty, she was full of life, she was beautiful, she was kind, she was talented, she was intelligent, she was one of a kind... He could have gone on all day.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Lucas replied, the image of Peyton's beautiful green eyes still on his mind.

"How are all of you friends?" Julian said, he'd been dying to ask. "I mean, you all seem so different, but you fit together so perfectly..."

Lucas laughed. His group of friends, fitting together perfectly? That was news to him, considering the fact that they fought like cats and dogs. But at the end of the day, they were there for one another, and that's what really counted.

"Honestly." He muttered, shaking his head. "Nathan, Brooke, and Peyton were the ones who were really destined to be popular, they just dragged Haley and I along with them. It's no secret that my dad didn't want me at first, he left my mom to raise me on her own until I was seven, or eight. Then he threatened to fight for full custody if she didn't give him visitation rights, so Nathan and I grew up together. Haley was my friend first, and Nathan had Brooke and Peyton. We just stuck together, and freshman year, Nathan and I joined the team, Brooke and Peyton became cheerleaders, and Haley started working at the tutor center. She joined the squad last year, because the girls finally talked her into it."

His phone buzzed.

'Nathan Calling'

Julian glanced at the screen and began to back away. Lucas had surprised him.

"I should take this..."

He nodded. "Thanks... For apologizing... And trying to warn me, I guess."

"Look." Lucas sighed. "The guys on the team... They're in a tough spot. None of them are brave enough to stand up to Nathan... It's not right, but that's the way it is."

Julian scoffed. "Yeah, well, the way it is doesn't work for me."

It didn't. Who was Nathan Scott to try and dictate his friend's love life? Nathan wouldn't control Brooke anymore, not if he had anything to say about it.

"Yeah, I know. But that's..." He smiled sadly. "That's kind of why I came here."

At one point in his life, he'd been fine with the way things were, the way his brother ruled the school, but those days were gone. Ever since Brooke had come to him, admitting that she had feelings for public enemy number one, none of it seemed right anymore.

"This thing could get really messy if someone doesn't take the high road." Lucas continued. "And I know this is not my place to ask, but I was just hoping that you could rise above it."

"I don't think I can do that."

Lucas nodded. "Okay. Just know that if you do, the guys are gonna come around. They're gonna see that you're a good guy."

"And if I can't?"

"Then I got your back." He promised. The call went to voice mail, but he caught sight of a familiar, raven haired basketball star approaching him.

"I'll see ya." Julian said. "Lucas... Thanks again."

"Lucas!" Nathan called, jogging across the street to get to him. "Where the hell have you been, man? I've been calling you!"

Lucas shrugged, watching Julian's retreating figure. Just like the girls, he'd been avoiding his little brother for the last three days.

"Around."

Nathan let out a long sigh. He knew Lucas was still pissed, but his brother was one of the only people he could go to for his most personal thoughts.

"Do you remember that night, junior year?" He asked suddenly. "When I took those drugs to help me with my game, and I ended up collapsing on the court? Dad was all about, you know, covering it up for the Scouts? When I left the hospital, man, I went to see Haley, because I needed to know if she could forgive me. I wanted to see if I still had the chance to be great in her eyes. And when she did, she forgave me, that was the moment that everything changed for me. That was the moment I fell in love with her: this girl who could see past all the mistakes I've made."

Lucas raised an eye brow. He remembered that night all too well, because it was one of the only moments that he hadn't been proud of Nathan.

He'd never heard the younger Scott actually admit his true feelings for Haley.

"Where are you going with this, Nate?"

"I don't know." Nathan admitted. "I guess maybe sometimes I screw up, because I want to feel that again. I guess that sounds pretty broken, but... My problems with my past are of my own doing, Luke. I'm stubborn, I have a temper, and I don't always make the best decisions."

He blinked. Who was this person standing in front of him? This was not the same Nathan Scott he'd been three nights ago, pranking Julian just for the hell of it.

Was it possible for one person to mature over the course of three days?

"So what do you want, Nathan?" Lucas demanded, crossing his arms. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want my family back." He said, reaching out to rest a hand on his older brother's shoulder. "You, Peyton, and Brooke. And I want Haley to trust me again. I want her to look at me the way she used to, and see a better man than maybe I'll ever be. And then I want to be that man. And I will be, for her, because I'm in love with her, Lucas. I always have been, and I will be. Always and forever."