Hi all! Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you had a great 4th of July. Or if you don't celebrate, a lovely Thursday.
Speaking of fireworks, let's get to the next chapter shall we?
"So this may be shaping up to the best week ever." Lucas said, sitting down at lunch.
"How so?" Nathan asked.
He still hadn't told anyone about Duke. Or how nervous he was about the game tomorrow.
"Whitey just asked me to help him out at the game tomorrow. And for the rest of the season."
"Help out?" Nathan asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Say hello to your assistant coach, little brother." Lucas grinned.
"That's amazing!" Brooke exclaimed, throwing her arms around Lucas.
"I feel like I should be scared." Nathan laughed as he felt a sense of relief flood through him.
"I've seen that smile, Nate. You should be." Haley teased.
"Oh jeez."
"This is great Luke. Congratulations." Jake nodded.
After the bell rang, Lucas and Nathan gathered up their stuff to head to history together.
"I have to tell you something." Nathan said quietly.
"What's up? Should I have talked to you before saying yes?"
"No. Not at all. What I wanted to tell you is that I'm so freaking excited you're going to be with me tomorrow night. I just didn't want to say why in front of everyone."
"What's up Nate?" Lucas asked, studying Nathan's expression.
"Someone from Duke is going to be at the game."
"Are you serious?!"
"Yeah man. This could be it."
"You deserve it Nate."
"Thanks. I'm nervous as hell though."
"You have nothing to worry about. Just do what you always do."
"I hope so." Nathan sighed.
"We'll just have to make sure you're ready."
"Why am I starting to think Haley was right to warn me?" Nathan laughed.
"So Broody, now that we have Friday night all booked up, what are we going to do the rest of the weekend?" Brooke asked as they headed to the gym for practice.
"Well…I did have a thought."
"Do tell."
"My mom decided to go join Andy on his trip to Charleston. They won't be back until Tuesday."
"How interesting." Brooke said, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought so." Lucas said, leaning in to kiss her.
"You sure they'll be gone?"
"Positive. I've been looking forward to this. That is, if you're ready—"
"Your place or mine?" Brooke whispered.
"As long as I wake up with you it doesn't matter." Lucas kissed her again.
They didn't stop for a few minutes, until Brooke pulled away.
"We have practice, mister. Save that for tomorrow." Brooke smiled.
"You got it." Lucas laughed.
Friday night came a little too soon for Nathan, but he felt a lot more confident than he had just two days earlier.
"You go ahead Luke. I forgot something on the bus." Nathan said, clapping his brother on the shoulder.
"Okay. See you in there."
Nathan wandered back to the bus. He pulled out his phone to check the time.
Out of nowhere, he felt himself get slammed against the side of the bus.
"What the hell?!"
"One Scott down, one to go." An unfamiliar voice hissed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Now that your brother is off the team we just need to do something about you. Too bad we can't hope for a heart attack like we could if Lucas was still playing."
"Screw you, jackass." Nathan said, pushing the guy off him.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Hey!" Another voice boomed.
Keith came out of nowhere and shoved the kid against the bus.
"You think it's okay to pull this kind of stunt?" Keith yelled.
"Whoa back off man. We were just talking. What do you care?"
"I care because this is my nephew and you definitely were not just talking. Don't think I didn't hear that crack about my other nephew either. Now if you can't handle playing a game of basketball without intimidating your opponent, that's not anyone's problem but yours."
"Whatever man."
"Don't make me find your coach and make sure you don't play for the rest of the season." Keith said darkly.
"Hold up. No need for that." Nathan said.
The guys on the other team looked surprised, but remained silent.
"Nathan…"
"It would give me great pleasure to soundly kick their ass. Not that I wasn't going to already but this just makes the impending victory even sweeter." Nathan grinned.
"We'll see."
"Yeah we will." Nathan said firmly as they walked away.
"You sure about that Nathan?" Keith asked as they walked into the gym.
"Absolutely. By the way thanks. That was totally badass, Keith. Who knew you had it in you?"
"Anytime Nathan."
"Hey…you two." Lucas said slowly as they approached him.
"Hey nephew. I heard about the coaching. That's great. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks Keith." Lucas said quietly.
"Keith!" Deb called out from the bleachers.
"I guess I better go. Kick some ass you two." Keith smiled.
"Sure thing." Nathan said.
"What was that all about?" Lucas asked.
"Later. I promise. Now I've got to crush some dreams." Nathan smiled.
"Give them hell." Lucas laughed.
He stuck out his fist. Nathan pounded it before jogging out onto the court.
Nathan never had greater motivation to win a game. The score was 38 to 6, with two minutes left. There was nothing to worry about but Nathan felt like adding as much damage as he possibly could.
"Dude we are murdering them. Whatever it is, keep it up!" Tim said right before the whistle blew again.
"I plan on it." Nathan said quietly.
One minute left.
Nathan got the ball from Jake and made his way down the court.
The guy who tried to assault him earlier tried to block him.
"This is for my brother. Bitch." Nathan hissed, easily evading him and slamming the ball in the basket.
The buzzer sounded and one side of the gym exploded in cheers and applause. He smiled at the bewildered player in front of him and searched for his brother.
Lucas had a huge smile on his face.
"Way to go man!" Eric said, giving him a high five.
"Thanks. Great game." Nathan said breathlessly.
Jake grinned and gave him a nod.
Nathan made his way over to Lucas who was still smiling. He pulled his brother into a tight hug.
"I knew you could do it." Lucas said quietly.
"Thanks man."
"I'm proud of you little brother."
"Alright, good job men." Whitey said, addressing the team.
"That was our best game yet." Tim said.
"Let's hope it keeps on getting better. You made me proud tonight. That being said, if any of you ladies are late for practice tomorrow thinking you can get away with murder, you can enjoy a two mile run and extra drills. I've got some people to talk to but let's not dillydally getting back on the bus, okay?"
"Party at the beach house." Nathan called as the rest of the team headed to the locker room.
"Does Dad know about that?" Lucas teased.
"Of course. You coming?"
"We can for a little bit. However, Brooke and I had other plans." Lucas said slowly.
"Ah. I see. Well okay then but I expect you to make it up to me tomorrow."
"I'll buy you lunch."
"Deal. Any chance you'll get face time with the scout?"
"Nah, unfortunately."
"Damn straight." Whitey grumbled.
"Come on coach!"
"What, do you want me to have your mommy talk to him too?" Whitey asked before walking off.
"Worth a try." Nathan shrugged.
"Hey Jagielski, it's nice that you finally decided to start showing up to after game parties this year." Nathan said when he opened the door.
Peyton rolled her eyes and led Jake into the house.
"Hey there superstar." Theresa said, greeting him with a kiss, which he eagerly reciprocated.
Nathan was so excited and in the moment that he didn't realize that Haley and Eric had walked in while he and Theresa were making out.
"Hey guys." Eric laughed.
"Hey. Sorry. Come on in." Nathan said quickly, embarrassed.
Haley gave him a quick hug before following Eric.
"You were amazing tonight." She whispered in his ear.
"Hey Haley." Lucas said, walking up with Brooke.
"Hey yourself! How was your first game on 'the other side'?"
"Not bad at all. I'm so excited for Nate."
"Me too. Hey did Jake tell you he's going to play with me at Tric next month?"
"Really? That's great. Do we know when it's going to be?"
"Not yet." Peyton sighed, coming over for a refill.
"What's wrong P Sawyer?" Brooke asked.
"It's just a lot of work. When is your mom getting back Luke?"
"Tuesday."
"Good. I need her help. See you guys later."
"Wait, so are you and Jagielski playing separately or do we have to worry about you both running off on tour together?" Brooke teased.
"Please. We might do one song together but I don't really know his style too well. Hey Luke can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure. Be right back." Lucas said to Brooke, following Haley.
"Guess what?" Haley said as soon as they were alone.
"What?"
"I got into Stanford." Haley said, her eyes wide.
"Haley! That's amazing. I'm so proud of you." Lucas said, hugging her.
"Thanks. I'm so excited. I still can't believe it."
"Was Eric excited for you?"
"You're the first person I told."
"Seriously?"
"It had to be you Luke."
"That means a lot, Hales."
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
"I'm not sure what to say to Eric. I know graduation isn't for a few months, but I don't know how to plan for this."
"For what?"
"Like, do I worry about staying close to him? I like him a lot, but I don't know if I'm at the point of being part of anything serious."
"I don't know Haley."
"Are Nathan and Theresa factoring each other into their decision?"
"I don't know." Lucas said again.
"Okay. It's just that between them, and you and Brooke, and Jake and Peyton, I don't know what couples are supposed do in this situation."
"Do what feels right. That's all I can say."
"Thanks Luke."
"Ready to go?" Lucas whispered in Brooke's ear a little while later.
"Of course." Brooke jumped up and followed Lucas through the crowd.
"See you tomorrow" Peyton called.
"Hey guys, heading out?" Nathan said, putting down his drink.
"Yeah we are. I'll be home tomorrow okay?"
"Looking forward to it. I love you." Nathan said, hugging him again.
"Love you too little brother. Enjoy tonight. You deserve it."
"Thanks Luke. It's been one of the best nights I've had in awhile."
Lucas woke up the next morning feeling completely at peace. Brooke was still sleeping, her head on his chest.
He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Good morning boyfriend." Brooke said quietly, smiling.
"Hey. I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's okay."
"I slept great." Lucas said, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her.
"Me too."
"I wish we could wake up together every morning."
"I look forward to the day that we will." Brooke smiled. She reached down to the floor to try and find her phone.
"The outside world can wait, can't it?" Lucas groaned.
"I'm just seeing if we missed anything good last night."
"I can't think of anything better than last night."
"Same here. Oh wow, five texts and two voicemails. We might not have missed everybody, but they sure missed us. Or at least me."
"Funny." Lucas laughed, reaching for his own cell phone.
"What the hell?" Brooke said quietly.
"What's wrong?"
"I have three texts from Peyton saying I better call her ASAP. One from Haley saying 'I thought we were past secrets' and one from Nate saying—"
"I'm sorry." Lucas finished for her, showing her his phone which had the same message on it.
BOOM. Drama. Get ready for a TON of it next chapter.