Yeah, I know I said I had this all written and everything the last time I updated, but I think I've edited this like 8 times now. So hopefully it's good.

Lucas and Nathan spent the next few days at the River court, getting into gear for school.

"And…I win!" Nathan said, making a jump shot.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucas laughed, sitting on the picnic table and drinking some water.

Nathan's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Jake! How are you man?" Lucas looked up with interest.

"Good, good. Is Lucas okay?"

"Yeah, he's right here. We've been home all summer."

"That's good. I tried calling his cell, he didn't pick up. Got a little worried."

"Typical. Did everything work out with Nikki and Jenny?"

"Yep, we have a court hearing next week and I am almost certain that since she ran off, that the custody battle will finally end."

"That's great man. I bet Peyton was psyched to see you."

"It was great. She and Brooke are out shopping or something. Where are you two?"

"The River court. You should come down."

"Already here." Jake said, walking down the hill.

"Learn to answer your phone." Nathan chided before Jake appeared on the court.

"Hey man!" Lucas hopped off the table and hugged his friend.

"Good to see you."

Nathan and Jake slapped hands.

"So Jagielski, got any game left in you?" Nathan asked.

"Probably not. I've been so out of practice."

"You and me against Luke, lets see what's left in you."

"No fair." Lucas said.

"Oh well."

Jake threw Nathan the ball, and ran towards the basket, hoping to catch Nathan's rebound if necessary.

Lucas guarded Nathan the best he could, considering he was double-teamed.

"You guys suck." He complained 15 minutes later.

"Wearing you out, eh?" Jake teased.

"Just a little." Lucas laughed and dribbled down the court.

"Hey, now its Lucas and me against you, Jake." Nathan called out.

"Finally!" Lucas laughed.

"Crap." Jake complained.

Nathan dribbled and dunked the ball, and the brothers high-fived. Lucas and Nathan continued making shots, laughing while Jake complained about being double-teamed.

Nathan passed Lucas the ball, and Lucas shot a three pointer. He stumbled a little, and stopped. He was uncomfortably aware that his heart was pounding.

"Why'd you stop?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Lucas said, dribbling the ball towards to basket. His head was pounding and his vision was getting blurry.

"Luke, you alright?" Nathan said, and jogged toward him. He tried to ignore the sense of dread building up inside him. This scene was very familiar.

"My head is killing me…" Lucas said.

Nathan knew what was happening and sped up towards Lucas.

He managed to get close enough to break his brother's fall.

"Whoa, whoa, Luke!" Nathan said, holding onto his brother.

"Oh my God…" Jake said, running over. He knelt down besides Nathan who was still supporting Lucas as Lucas' head lolled to the side.

Jake took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.

"Lay him flat." He instructed.

Nathan did as he was told, his hands shaking and his heart pounding.

Jake was shaky as well, as he checked Lucas' pulse.

"He's breathing, and his pulse is strong. What's wrong, what's wrong?" Jake wondered out loud in worry.

Nathan was so scared; he was doing everything he could to wake Lucas up.

"Lucas…come on Lucas don't do this to me…" Nathan whispered.

"We should call 911" Jake said.

"Please wake up." He said.

Lucas twitched a little bit, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Oh thank God…Luke are you okay?" Jake asked, helping Lucas sit up.

"I don't know." Lucas mumbled, taking a deep breath. Jake ran and got him the bottle of water that was sitting on the table nearby. Lucas took a drink, nodding gratefully at his friend.

Nathan moved so he was next to Lucas, and leaned him against his shoulder.

"So…what the hell happened just now?" Nathan asked.

"I felt so bad all of the sudden, I couldn't breathe, my head was pounding and I couldn't see. Next thing I remember is waking up on the ground." Lucas said, turning into Nathan's shoulder and feeling embarrassed.

He realized he must look like a child doing this, but he didn't care at the moment.

Jake sighed and looked at Nathan, who was thinking about something.

"You've been taking your medicine right?" Nathan asked suddenly.

"Of course I have." Lucas mumbled into Nathan's shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut. He just wanted to lay down now.

"Medicine for what?" Jake asked.

"HCM, it's a heart condition." Nathan said.

"I've read about that. It's pretty serious, Luke. When did you find out you had it?" Jake asked.

"A couple of months ago."

"Lucas, you really shouldn't be playing basketball."

"I have the medication now, it's supposed to be fine." Lucas said, looking at Jake.

"Lucas, you blacked out during a game with just friends." Jake said.

"Jake, I'll be fine. Trust me."

"If you're sure…" Jake said.

"I am. But I'll be careful." Lucas promised.

"Okay." Jake sighed.

Nathan let go of Lucas, and Jake helped Lucas walk to the car. Lucas leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He still felt terrible.

"Thanks Jake." Nathan said, turning the keys in the ignition.

"I'll stop by later." Jake promised.

They drove in silence for a while.

"You scared us." Nathan said sadly.

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I know you don't want to hear this but.."

"I'm not quitting."

"Look what it's doing to you though."

"I'll be careful." Lucas said, turning up the music.

Nathan was silent, periodically glancing at Lucas.

He pulled up into the driveway, and turned to Lucas.

"You promise to be okay?"

"I promise."

Lucas got out of the car, painfully aware of how unsteady he felt.

"You good?"

"Not really." Lucas said.

"You don't want me to tell Dad though…"

"I rather you didn't."

"Fine." Nathan said.

"Thank you." Lucas said, as he walked unsteadily towards the house.

Nathan followed closely behind him, and they both quickly greeted Deb and Dan before going upstairs. Lucas managed to keep it together in front of Deb and Dan, but Nathan tried helping him up the stairs. Lucas insisted he was fine.

Lucas fell down on his bed and sighed.

Nathan got him some aspirin and water.

"Thanks," He said, sitting up.

"Jake should be over soon." Nathan said, getting up.

Lucas sighed and went to sleep.

"Hey Nathan, where's Lucas?" Dan asked when Nathan got downstairs.

"Upstairs, sleeping. He felt kind of um, sick today."

"Is he alright?" Dan asked.

"Just needs to sleep a little, I think. Nothing major." Nathan lied.

"Did he take any medicine?" Deb asked.

"I got him some aspirin."

"You're a good brother, Nathan." Dan said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"I hope so…" Nathan said, mostly to himself.

Ten minutes later, Jake knocked on the door. Dan answered.

"Hi Mr. Scott, can I talk to Lucas?" Jake said.

"Hey Jake, Nathan said Lucas wasn't feeling very well, so don't be too long."

"I wont. Thanks Mr. Scott."

"His room is right across from Nathan's."

"Alright." Jake said and headed upstairs, ignoring the fact that Mr.Scott was acting normal for once.

Nathan saw Jake from his doorway.

"Hey. I think he might be asleep." Nathan said, quietly opening the door.

"Looks like it." Jake commented. He leaned against the doorway.

"I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I agree to cover this up for him." Nathan said, looking into the room.

"Look, Nathan, I don't think Lucas would be stupid enough to put himself in danger like that if it was just a one time thing."

"But it's almost happened before. He got winded and I bet if we hadn't stopped, I would've had to practically carry him up the stairs then too."

"Just keep an eye on him." Jake said reassuringly.

"I will." Nathan smiled.

"I should head out. Peyton and I have a date and I'm officially late."

"Have fun. Thanks man, you're a good friend to Luke. And me too."

"Anytime." Jake said, and left.

"Did Jake stop by?" Lucas said, as Nathan walked into his room later that night.

"Yeah, you were out of it so we just let you sleep."

"Thanks. It helped."

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better."

"Good."

"You don't believe me." Lucas observed.

"I just don't want that to happen again."

"It won't." Lucas insisted.

"Stuff like this has happened before."

"You're right, but as long as I pace myself and take the medicine I'll be fine, I know it."

"Lucas, you just don't seem to understand how much this scares me. Anytime while we're in a game or hell, just having fun you might just completely shut down…and I don't know if I could handle it."

Lucas didn't say anything, but lay down and looked up at the ceiling.

"Its not fair." Nathan said.

"I'll do my best to live with it. Just please, please lets keep it between us and Jake?"

"You haven't told anyone besides Dad, me and Jake?"

"Not really. Well, I'm sure Deb knows by now."

"She might not. Dad might think she'd tell your mom."

"Good point."

"How could you not tell your mom?"

"You know how she would react."

"Still."

"I'll be fine, I'm going to be fine, basketball will be fine."

"You say that, but you never know."

"Nathan, please don't try to take it away from me. I promise you that if I feel that I can't do it anymore, I will go to Whitey and quit right then and there."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I just don't want to watch life pass me by."

"Okay." Nathan said hesistatantly. He sighed. He couldn't make this bad feeling go away and he couldn't seem to make anybody else see it either.

Aww...Boys worry too. :)

Thanks for the lovely reviews from the last chapter. You are wonderful!