"Ready for the big game?" Dan asked at breakfast.
"As I'll ever be." Lucas replied, putting his bag down by the door.
"So you're going back to your mom's after the game?"
"Uh huh."
"Lucas!" Nathan said, hobbling over to his brother. He still wasn't up to playing basketball.
"Yes Nathan?" Lucas said as Nathan grabbed onto him for support.
"You ready for the game?"
"Yup."
"Remember, they're really hard and they have great defense."
"Yes, I think you've whispered that in my ear as I'm falling asleep every night since the season began." Lucas teased.
"Wouldn't put it past him." Dan said, sipping his coffee.
"Psycho." Lucas said to Nathan.
"How are you feeling?" Dan asked Lucas pointedly.
"I'm a little nervous." He admitted.
Nathan sat in silence, he hadn't really heard Lucas he was scared about his condition before.
"It's alright to feel nervous. Just be very careful and don't exert yourself." Dan said reassuringly.
"Thanks." Lucas said, and motioned to Nathan that they should get going.
"I'll see you at six!" Dan called.
"Bye!" They responded.
"I can't believe my stupid ankle is still keeping me out of the game." Nathan complained.
"You'll be back for the next game."
"Hopefully. I'm counting on you for this game, Luke."
"Nate, you should count on me for every game." Lucas pointed out.
"True, but this is the first game so it's important."
Lucas sighed.
"Sorry. I know stress is the last thing you need." Nathan said, feeling bad.
"It's okay."
"Broody!" Brooke chirped when she saw Lucas in the hallway.
"What's up?"
"I need you help with homecoming, remember?"
"Right, right."
"Later." Nathan said, hobbling off.
"Don't you want to help?" Brooke called after him.
"Oh I wish I could, but as you can see I'm injured. Plus there's the fact that I don't want to." Nathan said, smiling.
"Excuses, excuses." Brooke teased.
"Such a lovely leader you are." Lucas said.
"So I need you to carry these decorations to the storeroom by the gym." She said, handing him a big box.
"Okay." He said, walking off. Brooke followed him.
"Shouldn't you be doing stuff too?"
"Yes, but I pawned it off on you." She said.
Lucas laughed.
"Good to know you're hard at work."
"I am! I've organized this whole thing, helped sell tickets, and now I'm just rounding up the hot boys to do the heavy lifting."
"My mistake."
"You betcha."
"So Brooke, do you…have a date yet?"
"No. I'm waiting for the right offer to come along." She said, looking at Lucas
"Well…I'm offering." Lucas said quickly.
"I'm accepting." She smiled.
Lucas smiled widely.
"Now I can go shopping!" Brooke said happily.
He laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Guess who I'm going to homecoming with?" Lucas said to Nathan at lunch.
"Dude you asked her? Freaking awesome!"
"I know."
"Hey guys." Jake greeted them. He was with Peyton.
"Sup boys." Peyton said.
"I just asked Brooke to homecoming."
"That's so great!" Peyton said.
"Thanks." Lucas said. He noticed Haley heading down the hall.
"I'll be right back" He said quickly.
"Okay…" Peyton said slowly.
"That was weird." Jake said.
"So this is where you've been the past few weeks." Lucas said, sitting down at the table in the library.
"I feel like I don't belong here anymore." Haley said sadly.
"Haley, of course you belong. You're my best friend."
"Thanks. But I know how it must feel like choosing between me and Nathan."
"He doesn't hate you, you know. He told me."
"That's good…" She said quietly.
"I think you two can be friends again if you give it enough time."
"I hope so."
"So I guess you aren't going to Homecoming then?"
"Nope. At least that hasn't changed."
"I'm going with Brooke." Lucas said softly.
"That's so great! Are you two…"
"No. But we've gone out a couple of times and spent some time together."
"I'm really happy for you Luke."
"Thanks Hales."
"I miss you. Can we hang out sometime?"
"Of course. I'll be at my mom's this weekend. Bring a DVD."
"Sounds good."
That night the gym was filled with tons of people, cheering on their team.
Lucas walked onto the court, nodded to Nathan, who was on the bench and smiled at Haley, who he was surprised to see sitting with Karen.
"Alright boys, it's the first game of the season. Remember the plays we've been doing."
"Ravens on three!" Tim said.
"One two three…Ravens!" The team shouted.
Lucas had possession of the ball. He dribbled around another player and made a basket. The crowd cheered.
The team worked together and racked up the points on the scoreboard. The score was 21-7 when Whitey called a time out.
"Scott you look a little winded." Whitey commented. Nathan looked up in concern from where he was sitting on the bench.
"I'm fine." Lucas said. He was just ready to finish playing the game.
"You sure?" Whitey asked.
"Yeah."
Nathan came up and pulled Lucas back a little bit.
"Are you lying." Nathan hissed in Lucas' ear.
"I said I was fine." Lucas hissed back. He pulled away from Nathan and listened to Whitey's instructions and went back into the game.
Nathan sat down on the bench and sighed. That familiar feeling of dread was coming back. He chalked it up to nerves, sighed, and watched the game.
Lucas was fine, but obviously being on the floor for so long was getting to him.
He got the ball, and dribbled towards the basket. He was so tired, but he just had 6 more minutes to go. He could do it.
The ball went through the basket. Another three pointer. The crowd cheered.
Five minutes.
Jake got the ball and passed to Tim, who passed it on to Lucas.
Four minutes and twenty seconds left.
Lucas passed back to Jake, who surprisingly took a shot and made another 2 points. Jake high-fived Lucas, who jumped for the ball.
The other team managed to make a three pointer.
One minute left. Lucas felt relief flood throughout his body. He was completely spent.
He managed to keep it together, and kept giving up the ball to his teammates.
It didn't go unnoticed by Nathan. He watched intently, while an internal battle was going on about whether or not he should tell Whitey to pull Lucas out of the game.
Finally the buzzer sounded. The Ravens won. Jake ran over to Lucas.
"You were freaking awesome!"
"Thanks." Lucas said breathlessly.
"Luke…you alright?" Jake said in panic.
"Not used to being on the floor for so long I guess." Lucas said quickly.
Jake was about to protest, but Whitey summoned the team over to the bench. He could see Nathan was nervous too.
"Good games, fellas." Whitey said, dismissing the team to the locker room.
Lucas swallowed hard, and headed towards the locker room.
Nathan stopped him.
"You seriously look like you're about to pass out." Nathan said, his eyes wide. He put both his hands on Lucas' shoulders and studied Lucas' face.
"I'm alright." Lucas said.
"Whitey!" Nathan yelled.
"I said, I'm fine." Lucas snapped and pulled away.
He sat down on the bench in the locker room and drank water, taking some deep breaths. He felt a lot better after a few minutes.
"What the hell is your problem?" Nathan yelled as he entered the room. Luckily it was empty.
"I said I was fine." Lucas said tightly.
"You didn't look fine a few minutes ago."
"Nathan, lay off. I was just a little off from not doing consistent practicing and I have never been on the floor that long before."
"Don't lie to me! Whitey would've let you sit out."
"I had to keep going!"
"Stop lying to me. You know that you could've sat out the rest of the game and we still would've won."
"Nathan come on, I'm okay. Really."
"You're not." Nathan protested.
"I am." Lucas insisted weakly.
"Forget it. If you're not going to honest with me, then just forget it. I'll be around when you decide to tell me how you're really feeling."
"Nathan!"
"Have fun with Brooke this weekend." Nathan said, and left.
Lucas sat there, stunned.
Nathan walked to where his parents were.
"Lets go." He said tightly.
"Are you okay sweetie?" Deb asked.
"Fine." Nathan sighed.
"Where's Lucas?" Dan asked.
"Getting his stuff together so he can go home with his mom."
"Oh, I wanted to talk to him." Dan said.
"He might be at the house tomorrow to drop off some things for his room."
"I was wondering when he was going to do stuff with his room." Deb said.
"I guess he's finally feeling at home." Dan said happily.
Nathan couldn't help but feel a little better at that. He knew how much Lucas meant to Dan. All he wanted to do was help his brother to be safe, to show how much he meant to Nathan.
Stuff's about to happen y'all...drama coming up in the next few chapters!
Ahhh season premiere on Wednesday! So excited.
Thanks for reading/reviewing!