2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Aurora James sat in Lucas Scott's room as she waited for Karen to bring him home from the hospital. She told Karen her plan. She bought Lucas one of those giant teddy bears like he bought for her when she was in the hospital after she broke her arm, and she made a poster for him, so she was on his bed, waiting for him to come home.

When she heard the door open, she stood up. "Surprise!" She exclaimed as Lucas walked in. The first thing he noticed was the bear, and he started laughing.

"Just like the one I got you when you broke your arm." He said with a smile, and Aurora smiled as well; she was glad he liked it.

"That's not too cheesy, right?" Aurora asked, and Lucas shook his head.

"No, no. I love it. It's an awesome surprise, Ari." Lucas responded, which made her smile more. She walked over to him and Karen and gently wrapped her arms around her boyfriend to hug him, and then she hugged Karen too.

"Then my mission is accomplished. I just wanted to say, welcome home, best friend." Aurora said as she leaned up and gently pecked his lips. She didn't want to kiss him fully since Karen was in the room.

"Can we have a minute, mom?" Lucas asked Karen, who was smiling at them. She had always secretly rooted for Lucas and Aurora to get together, and she was so happy that they were, but she had no idea that Lucas was about to break Aurora's heart.

"Yeah, and Aurora, if you're going to stay long, make sure he gets in bed and he's resting," Karen said, and Aurora laughed while nodding her head.

"Of course, I will," Aurora said. Karen smiled and left the room, and then she turned to Lucas. "So, are you doing okay? I know you probably don't feel 100%, so whatever you need, I'm here for you, okay? Between work and school, of course." Aurora said, and Lucas nodded his head.

"And just so you know, I can't have sex for a while," Lucas said. Aurora was a little caught off guard that he would say that randomly, and she raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't even thinking about sex, but... okay," Aurora said. She shook her head to erase the awkwardness of that encounter. "Anyway, whenever I'm not at work, I can help you with whatever you need, okay?" She asked.

"I just need some time to figure some things out," Lucas said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Okay, and I'll be here for you if you need me. That was my whole point." Aurora said, and Lucas sighed. He didn't know how to do this, and he didn't want to hurt her, even though he knew he was inevitably going to.

"Ari, see... that's the thing," Lucas said. Aurora could tell by the tone of his voice where this conversation was going.

"Wait, are you breaking up with me?" She asked, and Lucas sighed.

"Aurora, I just think it's the best thing right now," Lucas said, and she laughed a little as she walked towards the door.

"Yeah, maybe for you." She said. Lucas gently grabbed her arm and spun her around, but she quickly pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"Aurora, I'm sorry, but like you said, you're my best friend. Right now, I need my best friend more than a girlfriend." Lucas said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Yeah, because it's just so easy to slip back into that role after getting your heart broken. Get some rest, Lucas." Aurora said as she walked out of the door and wiped her eyes. She took a deep breath to compose herself and then walked to her car.

She decided just to go back home.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Haley James came to see Lucas after she got a distressing phone call from her sister that Lucas had broken up with her, and then, on top of that, when Haley went by the river court, she saw Lucas and Peyton making out.

She knew the two events weren't a coincidence.

"Lucas? Lucas?" Haley said as she lightly shook him. He was asleep, but she couldn't wait. "What hurts the most?" She asked.

"All of it," Lucas said. He was referring to his accident and the fact that he knows he screwed up with Aurora.

"So you broke up with my sister to be with Peyton?" Haley asked.

"You think that's wrong?" Lucas asked. The glare that Haley gave Lucas would be lethal if looks could kill.

"Do I think that's wrong? Did you really just ask me that? Lucas, I told you when you first started dating Aurora that if you weren't 100% into it and her, then don't go out with her. Sure she's your best friend, but she's been in love with you forever. You broke her heart and asked her just to be your friend again? That's not fair. Especially considering you cheated on her. More than once." Haley snapped.

"Did you tell her?" Lucas asked. Haley couldn't believe that was his only takeaway.

"Trust me, Lucas. If I would've told her, you would know." Haley said, and Lucas nodded because he knew that was true.

"Hales, look, I'm sorry. I know she's your sister, and I know I hurt her. But it hurts me too, she's my best friend, and I may have just lost her forever." Lucas said.

"Then you should've thought of that before you started dating her in the first place."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Aurora was in Haley's room, lying on her bed with Nathan. Nathan came by the house to check on both of them, but she told Nathan that Haley was at the mall with Peyton, which he said was okay because now he could spend time with her. When he asked why she didn't feel like being in her room, she told him about Lucas breaking up with her and how she didn't want to face the dozens of pictures of the two of them that she had in her room.

"He sucks, simple as that," Nathan said, which made Aurora laugh. He was lying against Haley's headboard, and Aurora was lying on her back with her head on his stomach.

"I should've seen this coming. I knew it was too good to be true. The best friends aren't always supposed to date, and when they do... it only ends in disaster." Aurora said, and Nathan shook his head.

"That's not true. Lucas is just an idiot. He let the best thing that's ever happened to him slip right through his fingers." Nathan said, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders.

"You don't think that maybe... it's because his feelings for Peyton came back, do you?" Aurora asked, and Nathan sighed a little.

"Oh, come on, Ari. The dude almost died in a car accident. I think he just needs some space. He'll come crawling back to you in no time." Nathan said, but Aurora shook her head.

"I doubt it. I don't know, Nate. My gut tells me something deeper is going on here, and you know my gut is never wrong." Aurora said. Nathan laughed as he twirled the end strands of her hair; as Haley walked into the room, she was surprised to see her boyfriend and sister in her bed.

"Oh, hey guys," Haley said as she set her things down. "Are you feeling better?" She asked Aurora, to which Aurora shook her head.

"No." She said as she sat up from laying on Nathan's stomach and moved over so Haley could sit down on the bed too. When she did, Nathan glanced over her before raising an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute... is this a new outfit?" Nathan asked, and Haley smiled.

"He noticed. Yes, it is. It's all a part of the new me. Do you like it?" Haley asked. Aurora looked at her sister and raised an eyebrow. The new her? She thinks Haley has been spending too much time with Brooke and Peyton.

"The new you?" Aurora asked.

"Yeah, you look great, but what's wrong with the old you?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing. I just thought I'd branch out into some new things." Haley said. Aurora shrugged her shoulders. It never hurt anyone to try something new.

"This could be a good thing for you, sis. What kinds of things are you branching out into?" Aurora asked. Haley looked over at her sister and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know; there's a lot of stuff I want to try that I've never done before," Haley said, and Aurora nodded. That's not a bad idea; Aurora was thinking of dying her hair; she was in the mood for a change. Not because Lucas had just broken up with her, she had been thinking about dying her hair for a while.

"Like fooling around with me," Nathan said with a smirk. Aurora laughed while Haley rolled her eyes and gently hit him on the shoulder.

"Like snowboarding," Haley said.

"Hey, Nate and I can teach you how to snowboard. Remember that trip we did like three years ago over break?" Aurora said as she looked at Nathan, and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, I fell once, and you never let me forget it. But like she said, Hales, we can teach you." Nathan said, and Haley nodded her head.

"Yeah? Cool." Haley said, and Aurora smiled. She was glad to see the two made up because she loved them together. She still didn't like Nathan's original reason for going after Haley, but she knew it hadn't been like that for him in a while; she could see it.

"What else?" Nathan asked.

"Singing," Haley said. Nathan's eyes widened, and he looked at Aurora before turning back to his girlfriend.

"I knew Aurora could sing, but you do too?" Nathan asked, and Haley sheepishly nodded her head.

"Yeah, I um... I sing when no one, or just Aurora, is around. She sings all the time, she's not as shy as I am with her voice, and I don't blame her; she's got an amazing voice." Haley said.

"And so do you, Hales," Aurora said, and then she turned to Nathan. "We sing duets all the time." She said, and then Haley nudged her.

"I think both of you should sing one for me, sometime. I'd love to hear your voices together." Nathan said. Aurora smiled while Haley quickly shook her head.

"Right, okay. I'll catch you on the slopes." Haley said sarcastically, making Aurora and Nathan laugh as Nathan shook his head.

"You know. I don't know how I'd deal with all this crap with my parents if I didn't have the James sisters in my corner." Nathan said, which made the girls smile.

"Well, you're welcome," Haley said, and Aurora laughed a little.

"I'm serious, guys. It's like the worse things get with them, the better my relationships with both of you get." Nathan said, which made Aurora frown.

"Are things really that bad with your parents?" She asked, and Nathan nodded.

"It's a war zone, and I'm stuck with whoever has the best lawyer," Nathan said. Aurora looked at her sister and shook her head because that didn't sound right. She figured Haley would know something he could do.

"No, that's... you should know your rights." Haley said, and Nathan shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like I have any." He said. Haley shook her head, stood up from her bed, and walked to her desk to turn on her computer.

"No, you do. Knowledge is power."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Aurora made her way back to Lucas' house, not to see Lucas, but she wanted to see Karen. She remembered how Karen said at the hospital no matter what happens between her and Lucas, their relationship won't change, and she still wanted to hear about Karen's trip to Italy. Aurora knocked on the door, and Karen was in the kitchen, so she looked up.

"Come in," Karen called out. Aurora popped her head in the door, and Karen gestured for her to come all the way in, so she did and closed the door behind her.

"Hey, Karen." Aurora greeted her, and Karen smiled.

"Aurora, hey." She said softer, so Aurora automatically knew that Karen knew what happened.

"Lucas told you?" She asked, and Karen nodded as she reached for Aurora's hand.

"Yes, and I'm sorry... but like I told you, that changes nothing with our relationship," Karen said, and Aurora smiled.

"And I'm happy about that. What's all this?" Aurora asked as she looked at the table and saw all the pictures scattered around.

"Oh, I was putting together a scrapbook for my trip. Do you want to see?" Karen asked, and Aurora nodded her head as she smiled.

"Yeah, I was excited to hear about your trip before the accident happened," Aurora said as they started going through the pictures together. There were so many, and as they looked through them, she looked up at Karen with a smile. "So, did you actually do any cooking? Or just tour Italy the entire time? Either way, I'm so jealous." Aurora teased, and Karen started laughing.

"Are you kidding? It was a culinary boot camp. But we had our Sundays free, so it was all about fitting the entire country into six days." Karen said, and Aurora laughed as she pointed to a beautiful sunset picture.

"Where was this one taken?" She asked.

"Oh, that's the Piazza of San Marco in Venice. It was so beautiful." Karen said with a smile which made Aurora smile too. When Aurora, Alex, and Haley were little, they used to say they would take a 'sibling world tour' and travel the world together.

"I'd love to go there someday. Alex, Haley, and I said we would travel the world together one day, but granted, we were like 8 and 9," Aurora said, making Karen laugh.

"Well, one day, you guys should. Whether it's together or separately. I don't even know how to describe it, Aurora. I got to be an entirely different person for a little while. I almost didn't want to come back." She said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Well, I'm glad you did, but I understand what you mean. If I lived in Italy for six weeks, I wouldn't want to come back here either." Aurora said, which made both of them laugh, and then Aurora sighed. "But I understand when something is special to you, it makes it harder to let go." She said, and Karen caught the double meaning.

"Luke is going through a hard time right now." She said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know... and I get it. He told me he needs his best friend, and of course, I will always be his best friend, but when you get your heart broken by your best friend, it's hard to slip back into that role immediately." Aurora said, and Karen nodded her head.

"You're right, Aurora, and I completely understand where you're coming from. You need some time to heal, and Lucas will understand that, and once everything settles down, I know you guys will be back to normal." Karen said, and Aurora smiled.

"And no one would've given me such sound advice if you were still in Italy," Aurora said, which made Karen laugh, and then she wrapped her arms around Aurora and gave her a hug which Aurora reciprocated.

She's always seen Karen as a second mother.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

"Well, I should go check on Lucas," Karen said after she and Aurora had been sitting in the kitchen and talking for a while; Aurora decided to take the first step of friendship, and she wanted to check on him herself.

"How about I take the first step in slipping back into the friendship role and check on him?" Aurora asked. Karen smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course, you can," Karen said. Aurora stood up from the table and walked back into Lucas' room to find that he wasn't there. She thought that was weird.

As she looked around his room, wondering where he could've gone, she saw his computer was open out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned to look at his computer, she had her answer to why he wasn't there, and she immediately felt like an idiot.

She put the pieces together that Lucas didn't break up with her because he wanted space. He didn't even break up with her because he thought they'd be better as friends. What she saw on his computer was why he broke up with her. She felt anger and hurt rising in her at the same time.

She was done.

"Hello? Peyton? What!? Can you get him to the emergency room, and I'll meet you there." Aurora heard Karen frantically say into the phone and then poked her head into Lucas's room. "Aurora, it's Lucas. I have to go." Karen said, and Aurora turned around.

"I'm coming with you."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

When they got to the hospital, Aurora wasn't surprised to see Peyton there since she was the one who called Karen, but Aurora also wasn't surprised for another reason. "My goodness, Lucas. Are you okay?" Karen asked when they walked into his room. Lucas's eyes first went to Aurora, then turned back to his mother.

"Yeah, I think so." He said as he nodded his head.

"The doctor said his fever is going down," Peyton said. Aurora couldn't even look at her, or she knew she would go off on her.

"Where were you?" Karen asked as she looked at her son.

"Peyton," Aurora said as she found it in herself to look at her. Peyton turned to Aurora with a hint of sadness in her eyes, but Lucas was talking before she could say anything.

"I was down by the river court." He said, and Karen gave him a look. "I know I shouldn't have, but I had to get out. I guess I overdid it. I started feeling pretty bad, and Peyton drove by." Lucas lied. It made Aurora sick at how easily Lucas could lie to their faces.

"So now that you guys are here, I should probably go," Peyton said as she grabbed her purse.

"Thank you, Peyton," Karen said as she nodded.

"Sure, I'll see you guys later," Peyton said as she walked out. Once she was gone, Lucas focused his attention back on his mother.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said.

"Yeah, you should be. Honestly, Lucas...-" Lucas cut his mother off.

"...-Mom, don't yell at me now, please? Can we wait until we get home?" Lucas asked, and then his eyes fell to Aurora. She was holding everything in right now when all she wanted to do was yell at Lucas and slap him, but she chose to stay civil, especially since Karen was here.

"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked, and Lucas nodded his head.

"Yeah." He said. Aurora nodded her head, and then she started to leave the room. "Aurora, wait," Lucas called out after her, but she didn't wait; she kept walking.

She wasn't interested in hearing his lies.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Aurora went to work to take her mind off things, and she told Haley about what she saw. Haley started crying and admitted to Aurora that she already knew because she caught them in the library shortly after they had returned from Peyton, having to identify if a body that was found was her father. Aurora couldn't believe they had been sneaking around behind her back for that long. She wanted to be mad at Haley, but she couldn't. Haley and Nathan were the only people she had right now.

She knew Brooke would probably take Peyton's side, but then she wasn't 100% sure because she was positive Brooke would support her, but she knew she wouldn't drop Peyton. As the sisters were cleaning and preparing to close, Nathan came in.

"Hey." Haley greeted him, and Nathan smiled at both of them.

"Hey, you guys are still here." He said.

"We're always here, but how are you, Nate? Are you okay?" She asked, and Nathan shrugged his shoulders which made her frown. She hated how everything with his parents was affecting him. Just because they're going through a messy divorce doesn't mean they need to drag Nathan into the middle of it. They're adults and should settle it like adults.

"Whatever I said the last time one of you asked probably still applies." He said. Aurora and Haley exchanged the same sad look. They hated seeing Nathan struggle the way he is.

"I can get you some coffee? There's some left if you want to talk about it." Haley offered, and Nathan shook his head.

"Actually, I'm kind of tired of talking about it," Nathan said, and the girls nodded their heads. They understood it was an emotionally heavy situation, and Aurora doesn't blame him for being tired of talking about it. It's emotionally draining and exhausting.

"Well, if we can do anything, just let us know," Haley said, and Aurora nodded in agreement. Nathan nodded as he looked up with a smile, and Aurora could tell he already had an idea.

"Well, I was thinking about what you said, living in the moment. I realized that if I'm going to live in the moment, I want to live in it with the two most important girls in my life. My best friend and girlfriend who just so happen to be twins." Nathan said as he kissed Haley, and that made her smile. "Were you serious? About doing something for me?" He asked.

"Well, that depends on what it is," Haley said. Nathan's eyes drifted over to the corner, and when Aurora followed his gaze, she smirked while Haley shook her head; he was looking at the piano. "Nathan... no," Haley said as she shook her head.

"Here's your chance. Come on; you said you would do anything to help me, and this would help me take my mind off things. I want to hear you guys sing together." Nathan said. Aurora looked at Haley with an, 'it's up to you,' look, and Haley sighed as she gave in.

"Fine, but you asked for it." She said. Nathan laughed with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Yeah, I did," Nathan said.

The girls sat at the piano, and Haley played a song they used to sing together all the time. Nathan watched as Aurora got lost in the music, and he knew this was something she needed. She had called him earlier to tell him about what she discovered between Lucas and Peyton. That was part of the reason why Nathan asked the girls to sing.

He knew Aurora needed the distraction just as much as he did.

When they finished, Nathan had a big smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around them. "You guys are amazing," Nathan said. Haley's face started blushing while Aurora smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Scott. Now, if you both will excuse me, I have something I have to take care of." Aurora said. Nathan and Haley exchanged a look before they turned back to her because they had a feeling of what she was about to do. They knew she was either about to confront Lucas or Peyton... or both of them.

"You want backup?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, you know we got your back. Although, I already did chew out Lucas." Haley said, and Aurora smiled.

"I love you guys so much; you know that?" She said, and they nodded their heads. "But I gotta do this on my own. I'll see you at home, Hales." Aurora said. She hugged her sister and then hugged Nathan as well before she left the cafe. When she left, Nathan looked at Haley.

"Don't worry about her, Haley. She'll be okay." Nathan said, and Haley nodded her head.

"I know... and if she isn't okay, that's what we're here for."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

"Hey," Aurora said when she let herself into Peyton's room. Although Aurora would tell her this was dangerous all the time, Peyton usually left her front door unlocked until she went to bed. That's how she and Brooke could always come in and come up to her room whenever her dad was gone on his job. Peyton looked up from her sketch, and she was a little surprised to see Aurora, but after the looks in the hospital, she had a feeling she knew why Aurora was there.

"You're out late," Peyton said, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders.

"You know... it was lucky that you found Lucas as easily as you did. If you didn't drive by the river court, who knows how long he would've been out there before someone noticed." Aurora said. As soon as Lucas' name left Aurora's mouth, Peyton knew that Aurora knew about them. Peyton tried to keep her face stoic, so she didn't give anything away.

"Everything turned out okay," Peyton said in the most neutral tone she could muster. Aurora laughed a little because she was trying to go about this calmly, but she was so close to exploding.

"No, not really. I mean, I don't know what hurts worse. You and Lucas sneaking around behind my back, or both of you lying to my face about it." Aurora snapped as her tone got harsher. Peyton's eyes slightly widened, and her immediate assumption was that Haley had told her. Of course, she did; she's Aurora's twin sister.

"Aurora...-" Aurora cut her off.

"...-Don't worry, Haley didn't tell me, Peyton. You did. The next time you want to steal my boyfriend, you might want to turn that thing off." Aurora snapped as she pointed to Peyton's web camera, which was currently on, so anyone who watched her webcam was watching this confrontation go down. "I was talking with Karen, and then she asked me to check on Lucas, and what did I see when I went into his room? He wasn't there, but his computer was on, and guess what was on it? Your webcam and he was here, in this room, so I know the two of you were together." She said. Peyton had tears in her eyes as she looked at her friend.

"Aurora... we wanted to tell you...-" Aurora cut her off again, but this time she was laughing. Peyton knew that when Aurora was angry, she started laughing? It wasn't going to be good.

"Oh, that's great, Peyton. You two wanted to tell me together how you were sneaking around behind my back because you both love me so much that you didn't want to hurt me? Save it, and save your fake tears. You knew. You knew how much Lucas meant to me, as my best friend, and more than that. I was ready to step back and just continue to be his best friend if that was what he really needed, but no... he used the "I think we're better as friends" copout so that he could be with you. And now, you know what? I really don't care if I ever see either of you again." Aurora said as she shook her head and walked out of the room.

Peyton looked over at her webcam with tears in her eyes and thought, how could she be so stupid? Especially since her webcam was currently on, the people who watch her webcam just saw Aurora confront her. She thought nothing could be worse than this.

Lucas sat in his bed, watching Peyton's webcam, so he just witnessed everything that happened and was ashamed of himself. He hurt one of the main people in his life that was important to him. Lucas loves Aurora, but with the accident, everything feels so complicated for him now that he doesn't know what to do. He just knew he didn't want to lose her forever.

But he might be too late.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

─── AUTHOR'S NOTE
and now the secret is out. 

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.