2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

When Aurora got to school the following Monday, she went to look for Lucas. They texted a bit over the weekend, but she didn't see him. She mainly spent time with Alex and Haley before Alex went back to Duke. She saw Lucas at his locker and approached him with a smile on her face. "How's your punching hand?" She asked. When Lucas heard her voice, he turned and smiled at her.

"A lot better now that I nailed a guy's face in... twice. How about you? How are you feeling?" Lucas asked, and Aurora sighed.

"Like an idiot for going to the party in the first place, but better since I spent the weekend with Alex and Haley," Aurora said, and Lucas nodded.

"Glad to hear it. Hey, Aurora, we're good, right? I know we haven't had a chance to talk since the... you know." Lucas said, and Aurora sighed as she nodded her head.

"Water under the non-proverbial bridge. Of course, we're good, Lucas. You're my best friend, always." Aurora said, which made Lucas smile.

"Good, because I have something for you," Lucas said, and Aurora raised an eyebrow. Whenever Lucas gave her a 'gift', she never knew what to expect.

"And what would that be?" Aurora asked. Lucas opened his locker again, pulled out a book, and handed it over to her. 'The Winter of Our Discontent.'

"The book I've been talking about for weeks. I thought it was time you checked it out." Lucas said. Aurora laughed as she took the book from his hands and nodded.

"I guess I could read the book... but if I do, you have to do something for me." She said, and Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, what would that be?" He asked.

"Something fun, deal?" Aurora said.

"Okay, deal."

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Aurora found Nathan in the hallway, and she walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. She pretended she was going to jump on his back, but she didn't, and Nathan quickly whipped around and was surprised to see her, which made Aurora laugh because she's never seen Nathan that jumpy before.

"Very funny," Nathan said, which made her smile.

"Are you alright? Luke said you had some trouble at practice yesterday." Aurora said, and Nathan's face clouded over.

"Lucas needs to mind his own business. We have a game coming up, that's all. I just get a little intense." Nathan said, and Aurora rolled her eyes because Nathan acted like she didn't know who he was, and she hadn't seen him before a million games to know exactly how he acts.

"Are you sure, Nate? Because I know you, and you're shaking. Like visibly shaking. What's the extra layer about this game that I'm missing?" Aurora asked.

"My heart's racing too." Nathans aid as he grabbed her hand and put it on his chest over his heart, but she was still concerned about his body shaking, especially since she could feel it. "That's just what happens when I'm around you, Aurora James." He teased, and Aurora rolled her eyes as she pulled her hand back.

"God, you're such a goof. Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, and Nathan nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just...-I had a bad day yesterday. I'll see you later, alright?" Nathan said. Aurora nodded as they walked off in their separate directions, but something was still nagging at the back of her brain.

She knew something was off with him.

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"Okay, what are we doing here?" Lucas Scott asked when Aurora James removed his blindfold, and they were standing in one of the many wooded areas of North Carolina. They were about 30 minutes away from Tree Hill at this place Aurora found, and she wanted to show him. "You didn't bring me here to kill me... did you?" He asked, which made her laugh.

"No, you dingus, we're going on a hike. I want to show you something; come on." Aurora said as she held her hand out for him to take. Lucas smiled while shaking his head, but he did grab her hand and let Aurora lead him right into the woods.

"Okay, so what inspired this?" Lucas asked.

"Well, you know how Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors?" Aurora asked, and he nodded.

"Yes," Lucas responded.

"So, all of his books are based here in North Carolina because he lives in North Carolina, so one day I decided to do some exploring, and it brought me right... here." Aurora said as she brought him through the clearing, and they were now standing in front of a waterfall. Lucas's eyes widened as he looked at her.

"Ari... how did you?" Lucas couldn't finish his sentence because he was so blown away.

"I can't reveal all my secrets, Luke. Let's just enjoy it." Aurora said as she walked over to the rock she normally leaves her clothes by and started to strip down to her bikini and then turned to Lucas. "Alright, let's see the merchandise." She teased.

"Oh, so I have to get naked before you kill me? You've been watching too many documentaries." Lucas said, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Luke, shut up. I told you to wear something to swim in, and now you know why, so let's go." Aurora said as she started snapping her fingers at him to hurry up, which made him laugh more.

"Okay, you first," Lucas said, and Aurora rolled her eyes before pointing at him.

"Same time," Aurora said. Lucas nodded his head, and the pair stripped off their clothing simultaneously. When Aurora looked up and noticed that Lucas was looking at her, she turned away as she felt herself starting to blush. She had on a basic black bikini because it was simple and one of her favorites. "Ready?" Aurora asked.

"Uh, yeah, we're just going swimming. What's there to prepare for?" Lucas asked, and Aurora laughed.

"Lucas, where is your sense of adventure? We're jumping off the top; come on." Aurora said as she started to climb up the cliff side. It wasn't super high, and it wasn't going to be that far of a jump, but Aurora had done it before, and she already knew the water was deep, so they would be fine.

"Whoa, is it deep enough?" Lucas asked. He was still standing where Aurora left him while she continued climbing.

"Yes, you idiot, I wouldn't say we're jumping off the top if it wasn't deep enough," Aurora said. Then she noticed Lucas was starting to follow behind and made his way to the cliff side. "Don't you trust me?" She asked.

"With my life. Of course, I do." Lucas said. Aurora made it to the top first, and once Lucas got close, she extended her hand and helped him up.

"Then let's do something crazy together." She said. They were still holding hands, and neither let go when Lucas reached the top. Lucas looked at her as she guided them to the cliff's edge.

"When are we jumping?" He asked.

"On three. You ready?" She asked. Lucas nodded his head and took a deep breath while Aurora squeezed his hand to give him a little reassurance. What she loved about Lucas is that he did try to play on the safe side a lot. He was similar to Haley in that way. And Aurora knew one of the reasons she and Lucas were close was because she challenges him to try new things.

"Yeah, I'm with you," Lucas said, and Aurora smiled.

"Okay... one... two... three," Aurora said, and the two jumped on three. The drop felt like nothing; it was over in a second. The water's cold spikes initially took over when her body was submerged, but the water felt warmer as she resurfaced. When Aurora wiped her eyes, she looked around for Lucas and noticed he was shaking the water from his hair, but he had a broad smile on his face.

"Ari?" He said as he looked around the water for her. Aurora took the opportunity to splash him, and Lucas quickly whipped around to look at her, and the smile never left his face. Lucas moved his hands to splash her back, but Aurora quickly went underwater and swam up behind Lucas before resurfacing.

"You missed," Aurora whispered in his ear. Lucas quickly turned around, and both of them started laughing, and Lucas shook his head.

"That was amazing. Do you do this often?" He asked, and Aurora shrugged.

"Sometimes, when I'm stressed... but, you are the second person I've brought out here to do this with me," Aurora said, and Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Who was the first? Haley or Nathan?" He asked.

"Who do you think? You think Hales is gonna jump from up there?" Aurora asked as she pointed to the cliff. She and Lucas started laughing as Lucas shook his head.

"Of course, she wouldn't," Lucas said, and Aurora nodded. "I needed this, Ari. The perfect way to let go of some stress before the game." Lucas said.

"I know. Cove City is a pretty big opponent. Nathan always gets a little more competitive than usual." Aurora said, and Lucas chuckled a little because he had seen it in practice.

"Yeah, I can see that," Lucas said, and Aurora sighed.

"Hey... don't be so hard on him, okay? Dan puts a lot of pressure on him during this game because he holds the record for the highest scorer against Cove City, so he always taunts Nathan, saying that Nathan will never beat his record. Basically telling Nathan, he'll never be as good as he was." Aurora said, and Lucas's eyebrows furrowed. Then he thought back to the story Nathan told him when they were trying to get away from the Pickerington Pirates after they got kicked off the bus, and he wondered if Aurora knew that Little League story too.

"Really?" Lucas asked, and Aurora nodded her head.

"I told you, Lucas when you're having one of your moments, feeling sorry for yourself because Dan abandoned you, don't. Trust me; Dan Scott is not the dad you wanted. He doesn't deserve you or Nathan as his sons." Aurora said. Lucas really let her words sink in, and then he pulled her into a hug and gently kissed her forehead. "What was that for?" She asked.

"Just because."

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After their swim, Aurora got them some liquor and juice for a chaser, and they were on the roof of Karen's cafe. Their game isn't until tomorrow night, but the guys have been stressed about it in practice. Karen was gone, she went to Italy to attend a cooking school, and Keith wasn't at the cafe; he was at Luke's house, so they could easily sneak the alcohol up on the roof.

"How did you manage to buy this?" Lucas asked.

"Taylor's fake. I look enough like her to get away with it." Aurora said, and Lucas laughed as he nodded his head.

"That's true." He said.

"Of course. I get what I want, Lucas Scott. You know that." Aurora said as they laughed and sat down on the ledge. Aurora remembered when she, Lucas, and Haley used to come up here and drop water balloons on people they didn't like. Aurora did once, during her freshman year, on a senior who used to pick on her. Morgan Finely. It felt good to drop the balloon on her, and the three laughed at how mad she got.

But dropping balloons didn't always help.

"Alright, so what? You read a book. I drink your mixed cocktail; we're even, right?" Lucas said. Aurora rolled her eyes while nudging his shoulder. Aurora also bought herself some wine because that was her favorite alcoholic beverage, which Brooke teased her about all the time, but she didn't care.

"Oh, Lucas Scott, I read books like I breathe air. I just wanted to read your book for another fun excuse to hang out with you." Aurora said.

"Oh, come on, Ari. You never need an excuse to hang out with me." Lucas said.

"Lately, it feels like I do," Aurora said.

"Why do you feel like that?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know... I mean, I notice you spend a lot of time with Peyton and like... that's fine, I'm not your girlfriend, and even if I was, I can't tell you who you can and can't hang out with, but I don't know." Aurora trailed off and sighed as she shook her head. "Never mind, I sound stupid." She said, and Lucas shook her head.

"Hey, no, you don't," Lucas said. Aurora looked out over the roof as she took a sip of her drink, and Lucas put his hand down on her knee. "Ari, look at me." He said. Aurora sighed and reluctantly looked over at Lucas and met his gaze, and she had a frown on her face.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't hang out with me whenever you wanted, making you feel like you needed an excuse. You're always going to be my main best friend, Aurora... just don't tell Haley." Lucas said, and Aurora laughed, which Lucas knew was what she needed.

"Scout's honor, Scott," Aurora said. Lucas leaned forward and kissed her forehead, and she laid her head down on his shoulder. The two of them sat in comfortable silence for a while, but then Lucas's phone started ringing. He looked down at it to see who was calling, and then he looked at Aurora.

"Out of area?" He said.

"Booty call?" Aurora asked, and they both laughed.

"Where were we?" He asked.

"We were having fun," Aurora said, making Lucas smile as he tucked some of her hair behind his ear.

"I'm glad we did this," Lucas said, and she nodded.

"Me too... hey, Luke. I have a question. What's your take on tattoos?" She asked. Lucas raised an eyebrow because he wasn't sure where she was going with this conversation. Aurora has a tattoo and never told anyone except Taylor and Alex because they were with her when she got it.

"Okay, come here," Aurora said as she stood up from the ledge and walked back onto the roof. Lucas stood up as well, and he put their drinks down. He looked at Aurora curiously because he still didn't know where she was going with this. Aurora turned to her side and lifted her shirt so Lucas could see the inscription that she had in perfect calligraphy.

'you matter'

Lucas lightly ran his finger over it, which made Aurora shiver a little because the tattoo was on her ribs, but when Lucas moved his hand, she put her shirt back down and waited for his reaction. "What made you get it?" Lucas asked.

"You remember Morgan Finley, right? She was a senior when we were freshmen. Captain of the cheerleading team before Brooke. Made my life a living hell?" Aurora said, and Lucas nodded his head.

"Yeah, I remember. You isolated yourself a lot that year." Lucas said, and Aurora nodded her head. Freshman year was a rough year for her, mainly because of Morgan. She was pretty sure that the only reason Morgan put her on the cheerleading team was just to torture her and make her life hell.

"Yeah, that was also the year I got diagnosed with clinical depression. She made me feel awful about myself like I was worthless. You don't know this, Haley doesn't know this... god, nobody but Alex knows this, but I tried to take my own life at one point." Aurora said, and Luke's eyes widened.

"What?" It was the only thing Lucas could say because he was shocked. Aurora looked down at the ground because she had always felt ashamed of it. She went to therapy after realizing how poor of a decision that would've been. She started to think about the other people in her life, and she couldn't believe that she almost put her parents, siblings, Lucas, and Nathan through that pain.

"Alex found me in the bathroom. I thought just drowning myself in the tub would be the easiest way. Taylor was a senior, Alex was a junior, Haley was in the house, and my parents. It was the only way I could think of. Taylor tried her best to make Morgan back off me since they were in the same grade, but every time Taylor confronted Morgan about bullying me, Morgan only got worse, so I told Taylor to stop, even though I appreciated her trying." Aurora said. When she finally looked up at Lucas, she hated that he was crying, but she was crying too.

"Why'd you never tell me that?" He asked.

"Because I didn't want you to look at me the way you are now," Aurora said.

"And how is that?" Lucas asked.

"Like I'm broken," Aurora said as she started to cry more. Lucas immediately wrapped his arms around Aurora and let her cry. She felt his fingers running back through her hair. She didn't expect this to come out tonight, but she was glad she finally told him.

"You're not broken, Aurora. You're the strongest person I know." Lucas said as he lifted her chin and made her look at him. He wiped away her tears as she sniffled.

"You really think that?" She asked.

"I know that. Your tattoo is right. You matter, and you always will." Lucas said. Aurora slightly smiled at him as she wiped her eyes, then wrapped her arms around Lucas in a hug. Lucas immediately hugged her back, and she closed her eyes and let out a deep exhale.

When the pair pulled away, they held each other's eye contact, and as they did, they both felt a pull. Lucas started leaning in, which surprised Aurora, but she closed the gap, and their lips met. Even though Aurora has kissed Lucas before, that's mainly been jokes, saying it was good luck before the games, but she knew this kiss felt different; she knew this kiss was real as their lips moved together. It wasn't in Aurora's plan for the night to go like this.

But it was one of the best nights of her life.

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"So, what did you do last night?" Haley James asked Lucas Scott as they were at one of the outside tables on their school's campus. Haley knew that Aurora was hanging out with Lucas last night, but Aurora didn't give any details as to what they were going to do.

"Nothing, you?" Lucas said.

"Nothing," Haley responded, and Lucas sighed. He didn't know if Aurora told Haley whether they kissed or not, so he figured he'd get it out into the open.

"Well... actually, I kind of made out with Aurora," Lucas said. Haley's eyes widened at the mention of her sister's name and the word make-out in the same sentence. She was surprised that wasn't the first thing Aurora told her when she got home last night.

"What?" Haley asked.

"We had some drinks," Lucas said, and Haley started laughing.

"She used Taylor's fake?" Haley asked, and Lucas nodded his head. "Oh, wow. Slow night for you. What happened?" She asked.

"We made a deal. She reads a book I like, and we go out. We went cliff diving, and then we went to the roof of the cafe. She opened up to me and shared something vulnerable, and then it just... happened." Lucas said.

"Yeah, sounds like. You and Aurora James... finally." Haley said, and Lucas rolled his eyes.

"What?" He said.

"I mean, I know you had a little Peyton Sawyer crush phase, but even I knew it would always be Aurora," Haley said, and Lucas sighed. As much as his feelings for Aurora were growing, he was still conflicted for a different reason.

"Hales, I don't want to lose Aurora," Lucas said, and Haley looked at him curiously.

"And you think you will by dating her?" She asked.

"What if we break up and it's bad? What if we can't fix our friendship because of how bad it gets? I can't... I can't go through the pain of losing her from my life, and I know if I lost her, I'd lose you too. You're her sister, of course, you'd take her side, and you should." Lucas said, and Haley laughed a little.

"Of course, I will always take my sister's side unless she does something blatantly wrong towards you, but why even think that far down the rabbit hole. Okay, the worst scenario is you lose her, but what's the best scenario?" Haley asked.

"That we make it, all the way, for the rest of our lives," Lucas said, and Haley smiled.

"Exactly, so focus on that." She said. Lucas nodded and took a deep breath, and then Haley sighed. "I've been kissing Nathan." She finally admitted.

"If I told you not to do that anymore, would you listen?" Lucas asked.

"Would you?" Haley asked back.

"Maybe," Lucas said, and the pair looked at each other for a moment.

"Probably not." They said at the same time and then laughed.

"Look, Lucas... all I ask is, before you pursue my sister, just make sure you're over Peyton. I don't want either of you to get hurt. And you both deserve to be happy." Haley said, and Lucas smiled at her while nodding his head as he realized that Haley did too, no matter what he thought of Nathan.

"Yeah... you do too."

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"Hey, sister." Aurora James greeted Haley in the tutoring center. The twins have the same free period, and Aurora asked if she could talk to Haley during their free period, but if she had too much work to do, she could wait. But Haley told her sister that she always had time for her.

"Hey, is everything okay? You said you wanted to talk." Haley said as Aurora sat down.

"Do you think second chances are a lie?" Aurora asked.

"Well, it depends on who you're dealing with, I guess," Haley said, and Aurora nodded her head. She knew that wasn't much background, but mainly because she didn't have one. It was just a random thing she was thinking about, and she decided she wanted to run it by Haley.

"Yeah, that makes sense. So... how are things with you and Nathan?" Aurora asked.

"Hmm, not so great. I don't know what he wants us to be. Are we a couple? Are we just hanging out? Is it for sex, because if it is..." Haley trailed off, and Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"If it is, what?" Aurora asked.

"That's not enough for me," Haley said. Aurora almost joked about Nathan in bed because that was her immediate reaction, but then she remembered that Haley didn't know they used to do that, so she stayed silent. She and Nathan were never a couple, they never had time to be between the millions of times he and Peyton broke up and got back together, but their "flings" didn't last that long anyway. They experimented because they thought, since they are best friends, maybe they were meant to be more.

They quickly realized they were much better as friends.

"Bad experience?" Aurora teased. Haley looked at her sister and rolled her eyes because, of course, Aurora knows that she's a virgin, and Haley knows that Aurora isn't one. But Haley doesn't know who Aurora lost her virginity to, and now since Haley is dating the person Aurora lost her virginity to, she doesn't think it would be helpful to tell her.

It may not go over well.

"You know I'm a virgin... and I mean, so what if I am," Haley said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Of course, I know that, and I'm proud of you. But what are you going to do?" Aurora asked.

"Try and get some answers, I guess," Haley said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Did Luke tell you what happened between us? I know I disclosed nothing last night." Aurora said, and Haley nodded her head.

"Yeah, he told me you two had an emotional night and kissed. But that was all. I'm surprised you didn't tell me as soon as you got home." Haley said, and Aurora sighed.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm just still not sure what it means. Is connecting with someone really this complicated, or is it simple, and we just make it worse?" Aurora asked.

"For me, it's complicated. You just make it worse." Haley teased, which made the sisters laugh, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders.

"Touche."

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"Hey, Nate!" Aurora James called out for her best friend when she saw him entering the school ahead of her later that night. It was time for their game against Cove City, and she hadn't talked to Nathan in a couple of days, so she just wanted to make sure he was okay. When she ran to catch up with him, Nathan didn't look happy at all; in fact, he looked angry.

"Not now, Aurora," Nathan said. His tone was stern and harsh, which was something Aurora did not like.

"I just wanted to wish you luck, like I do every game," Aurora said.

"Aurora, I said not now, okay!" Nathan snapped at her. Aurora crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow as her head slightly tilted to the side.

"First of all, who the hell are you talking to? Second of all, whatever the hell is wrong with you, snap out of it, quickly." Aurora snapped back at him. Nathan and Aurora stared each other down for a few moments before his face relaxed, and he took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Aurora... it's just, you know how my dad is about this game, and if I don't play perfectly and beat his record, I'll never hear the end of it. That's my problem." Nathan said. Aurora frowned as she laid her hands down on Nathan's shoulders.

"Screw Dan Scott. Don't play this game for anyone else but yourself. If you beat his record, great. If you don't, that's fine too. Either way, I'm still going to love you, I'm still proud of you, and you will still be a way better person than your dad could ever hope to be." Aurora said. A small smile crept onto Nathan's face at her words, and he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too, Aurora. Thank you. I needed to hear that."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Tree Hill was currently winning their game.

Nathan had 38 points so far, and he was so close to being Dan's record. Throughout the game, Aurora gave Nathan encouraging smiles whenever he looked at her, and she always shouted out cheers for him specifically because she knew he needed it. She wanted him to know that she always believed in him and had his back. She also saw Lucas and Peyton exchanging a few glances, but that was none of her business.

Lucas stood on the sidelines next to the cheerleaders waiting to inbound the ball, but Nathan wasn't open, and that's who Lucas wanted to inbound it to. Nathan now had 41 points and needed a minimum of one more basket to beat Dan's record. Lucas threw the ball into Nathan once he was open. But when Nathan caught the ball, that's when things got weird.

Aurora noticed that he started stumbling, and he started leaning into the player that was defending him. That player had his hands up and tried to back up so that the ref wouldn't call a foul on him, which was understandable, but Aurora knew something was wrong. Once she noticed that Nathan was starting to fall to the ground, she threw her pom poms down and ran out onto the court.

"Nathan!" She yelled as the other team's player snatched the ball from Nathan, and he hit the ground hard. Aurora got down on her knees next to him and grabbed his wrist to check for a pulse, and she let out a breath of relief when she had one. "Whitey!" She called out as the basketball players started to crowd around them. Whitey knelt on the other side of Nathan and laid his hand on his chest while Aurora was still holding his hand.

Nathan's eyes were closed because his fall was so hard that he knocked himself unconscious when his head hit the ground. Aurora had tears falling from her eyes as they waited for the paramedics because they assumed someone had called 911.

She just hoped Nathan was okay.

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Aurora followed behind the ambulance that took Nathan to the hospital, and she stayed in the waiting room until she saw Dan and Deb leave Nathan's room. She was able to slip inside, and she was relieved to see that Nathan was awake and sitting up. She immediately rushed to his bedside and sat beside him before throwing her arms around him as she started crying again. She cried the whole way here, thinking that something had happened to him, not knowing if he was in a coma or dead. She was terrified.

"It's okay... I'm okay." Nathan said as he wrapped his arms around her and laid his head down on hers. Aurora lifted her head and wiped her eyes as she faced him.

"What happened, Nathan?" She asked.

"I took performance enhancers." He said, which broke Aurora's heart, and she knew it was all Dan's fault. "I needed to beat my dad's record," Nathan said, and Aurora shook her head. She hated Dan; she hated Dan so much. He puts so much pressure on Nathan over a game that he put his life in danger just to measure up.

"Basketball isn't worth your life, Nathan... you could've died," Aurora said as she shook her head more. "Then what, huh? How am I supposed to live without you in my life? I don't know how to live a life without you in it. How could I live with that? How could Haley or your parents?" Aurora asked.

"My dad would only be disappointed that I died before I got to play college ball," Nathan said. Aurora frowned because she knew that wasn't an exaggeration. If it wasn't about basketball, Dan Scott didn't care about anything else that was going on in Nathan's life.

"Like I told you before the game, screw Dan Scott. I love you, Nathan. Don't you ever scare me like that again," Aurora said, and Nathan nodded his head while laughing.

"I love you too, and I promise I won't." He said. Aurora nodded her head as she hugged him again.

"Good." She said. Nathan nodded his head as she pulled away, and she noticed that his eyes fell a little sunken, so she knew something was wrong. "What is it that's bothering you?" She asked.

"Can you help me get dressed, and then can we leave?" He asked.

"You want me to jailbreak you from the hospital?" Aurora asked, and Nathan nodded his head.

"I'm begging you." He said, and she nodded her head.

"Alright, where are we going?" She asked.

"Your house."

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After Aurora dropped Nathan off at her house, she went to Lucas' house. Luckily, he was home and in his room. Aurora lightly knocked on the door since it was late, and when Lucas opened the door, she immediately hugged him.

"Hey. Is Nathan okay?" Lucas asked, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Yeah, he's with Haley now. I think he'll be okay, but I wanted to talk to you." Aurora said. Lucas nodded as the two of them sat down on his bed.

"What's up?" He asked.

"So, I was thinking about the other day, and since the start of basketball season, I guess I'm just a little confused. What are we doing, Lucas? Because I know I like you, and I have for a while, but I know you had this Peyton phase, and I don't know if I'm a rebound or...-" Lucas cut her off by bringing their lips together, which caught Aurora off guard, but she did kiss him back.

"Aurora, you're not a rebound; you're not a replacement. You're not anything like that. I like you a lot, and part of me is terrified that if this doesn't work, I'll lose you forever, but the other part wants to try it because if it does work, then you are mine forever. So, Aurora James... will you officially be my girlfriend?" Lucas asked. Aurora's eyes widened. She's envisioned hearing those exact words for years, but she couldn't believe she was actually hearing them.

"Lucas Scott, of course, I will," Aurora said. The pair leaned in and brought their lips together again, but this kiss was shorter. Then Aurora stood up from his bed, grabbed his hoodie that said 'Keith's Body Shop' on the back, and smiled. "I'll be right back." She said. Lucas nodded, and she stepped out of his room to change. Then, there was another knock on his backdoor, which confused him. When he opened it, he was surprised at who was on the other side.

"Peyton?" He asked.

"I heard about Nathan." She said.

"Yeah, he's gonna be okay. So... what's up?" Lucas asked because he was confused about why Peyton was at his house.

"Lucas, I made a mistake... the closer we've gotten, the more I realize... I was scared...-" Lucas cut her off because he had a feeling that he knew what she was about to say.

"Peyton...-" She cut him off.

"...-I don't want to be scared anymore, I want...-" Peyton was cut off by Aurora walking back into the room and calling out for Lucas.

"...-Alright, superstar, ready to score? That is an obvious joke because I'm actually tired." Aurora said as she laughed, but when Lucas didn't laugh, she noticed Peyton standing at the door. "Uh, hey... we missed you after the game tonight."

"Yeah, I just... I guess I just got turned around." She said, and then she quickly turned to leave. She didn't want to embarrass herself more because she felt practically humiliated.

"Peyton."

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─── AUTHOR'S NOTE
this episode always made me sad for nathan, and dan scott sucks.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.