2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

"Okay, this is the fourth time you've been in this apartment since you got your own apartment. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having your own place?" Aurora James asked as she stood in her sister's doorway and saw Nathan lying on Haley's bed.

"That's what I've been telling him," Haley said as she laughed. Nathan rolled his eyes at both sisters.

"Tim keeps bringing over all these hot chicks. Which is a problem because none of them are Haley." Nathan said, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Nate, it's your apartment. Tell him to stop." Aurora said.

"I know, but that place is like party central, and it's not even my own party," Nathan said.

"Well, maybe it should be," Haley said, and then her face brightened up, and Aurora knew she had an idea. "Oh! We should throw our own party. Like a take back the party, party." Haley said.

"Not the worst idea I've heard you come up with." Aurora teased, and Haley rolled her eyes.

"Alright, let's do it. How about this Saturday?" Nathan asked, and the twins nodded.

"Sounds good. I'm free." Haley said, and Aurora laughed.

"You both know I'm not doing anything." She said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Done, and you two can plan it. Just make sure it's kind of lowkey. Just a few friends, you know?" Nathan said. The sisters nodded their heads.

"Okay, sounds fun," Aurora said, and Haley looked at her.

"Would you be mad if I invited Peyton and Lucas? You know they aren't coming together...-" Aurora cut her off.

"...-I can't believe you're still friends with her. Does sister loyalty mean nothing?" Aurora asked. She was slightly teasing, but she was also serious.

"Fine, I won't invite her. Maybe Brooke instead?" Haley asked.

"I don't care. Invite Lucas. I don't care... but inviting them both is like a slap in the face. I'll see you guys at school." Aurora said as she turned and walked out of the doorway, but she did hear Nathan tell Haley.

"She's right, though. Sisters before anyone."

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Later that day, when cheer practice was over, Aurora noticed Lucas was still standing in the gym and trying to shoot. She took a deep breath and began to approach him, but Peyton beat her to it before she could, and she rolled her eyes. Of course, Peyton would beat her to it.

"Well, the good news is, I'm back. The bad news is, I suck." Lucas said while he was trying to stretch out his shoulder.

"You okay?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, it's just a little tight," Lucas said. Peyton stepped beside him and started to help him stretch his shoulder, and Aurora rolled her eyes again.

"Here. You're just rusty. Pretty soon, you'll really suck. Just like before... better?" Peyton asked as she let go of his arm.

"You know, I'd tell you two to get a room, but I guess you already did that," Aurora said. She waited until Peyton and Lucas looked at her before she walked past them and left the gym. Peyton sighed, and she gave Lucas a look before chasing after her.

"Aurora! Ari! Come on; we've gotta stop doing this." Peyton said. Aurora stopped walking and turned around to face the blonde.

"Fine, I'll stop talking to you, and you could stop talking to me. Oh, and while you're at it, stop talking to my sister too. If your sister got cheated on, would you befriend the girl her boyfriend cheated with?" Aurora snapped, and Peyton rolled her eyes.

"Okay, but what I mean is... We're really not friends anymore, are we?" Peyton asked, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"You know, for a fake blonde, you catch on slowly." Aurora snapped, and Peyton shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright, fine. I tried apologizing to you, and I'm done trying now." Peyton said.

"Great, I never asked or cared for your apologies anyway. It was getting pretty pathetic." Aurora said, and Peyton nodded her head.

"Fine. If that's what you want, Aurora, fine." Peyton said. Aurora remained silent as she stared Peyton down. She waited for Peyton to walk away first and then turned back around in the direction she was going in.

She wasn't going to let it get to her.

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Haley and Aurora James went shopping after school to get groceries and other things that would be needed for the party. Nathan and Tim were on the couch playing video games when they walked inside. "Hey, guys," Aurora said when they walked in.

"Hey," Nathan responded as he paused the game. He came to the kitchen as Haley and Aurora started unpacking the groceries.

"We got everything but the drinks," Haley said.

"Make it a BYOB or BYOT. Get it? Tim? T." He said. Haley and Aurora looked at each other, and they rolled their eyes.

"There aren't enough Tim's in the world," Aurora mumbled, which made Nathan and Haley laugh.

"You know, if you guys need some cash, I got some from selling the car," Nathan said, and Haley quickly shook her head.

"No, this party is totally on us." He said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Come to think of it. I shouldn't have spent so much on you for that boy toy auction." Aurora teased. Nathan rolled his eyes, but they both laughed, and so did Haley. "Oh, we ran into some extra people, and I was all for saying no, but you know your girlfriend, she's too nice." She said.

"But it's still going to be lowkey, I promise." Haley quickly jumped in to defend herself. Nathan nodded his head.

"Okay," Nathan said. Haley turned around and reached up to the cabinets to put things away. Her shirt started to ride up, Aurora caught Nathan looking, and she playfully hit his chest. Nathan looked at her and made a face that made her roll her eyes.

"What?" Haley asked when she turned around and noticed Nathan staring.

"You're just lucky that Tim and your sister are here... because I got a thing for girls named Haley James," Nathan said, and Aurora playfully rolled her eyes.

"Really? Well, you're lucky Tim, and my sister are here." Haley responded.

"Gross." Aurora teased.

"Tim, Aurora, go home." The couple said at the same time while they were staring at each other with their eyes filled with lust.

"No," Aurora responded.

"What? Tim asked because he hadn't been paying attention and had already unpaused the game and continued to play. He was probably sabotaging Nathan so that he could win.

"Um, well... we've got more stuff in the car, so go play. I'll kiss ya later." Haley said to Nathan, and the sisters walked back outside.

"Careful, sis. You'll be just like me if you lose that virginity before marriage!" Aurora teased, and Haley laughed a little.

"Being you wouldn't be so bad. But, to be like you, I'd have to lose my virginity to Nathan and then sleep with Lucas." Haley said, and Aurora rolled her eyes while she playfully shoved her sister.

"Oh, you bitch!"

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Nathan was still at work when the party started, but Tim came early because he wanted to kick things off. There was a mock DJ stand on the kitchen counter where Aurora was standing with Mouth because he was the DJ. Haley and Tim were sitting on the couch.

"No one is coming. I'm sure of it." Haley said as she sighed.

"Most people don't want to be first at a party," Tim said.

"Well, no one would be. Because you were the first person to get here, Tim." Aurora responded. Haley laughed while Tim rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but Nathan is late too," Haley said.

"He's probably still at work," Aurora said. The doorbell rang, and Tim immediately got out of his seat to answer it. Strangers that Haley and Aurora didn't recognize came through the door. The girls looked at Tim.

"Uh, Tim... Do you know any of these people?" Haley asked.

"Not really, but it's a party, Haley. You wanted people to show up, right?" Tim asked. Haley sighed as she looked at her sister, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders. There was nothing they could do now.

"Yeah, sure... Uh, cool." Haley said. The twins looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.

They knew this wasn't going to turn out well.

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Aurora and Haley James were making their way around the party to find people they knew. "Nathan Scott and your own apartment? You have like the best life ever." A random girl said to Haley as they passed, but Haley shook her head.

"Well, thanks, I mean... it's not my apartment, but." The girl had already walked away while Haley was responding. Then Aurora turned to the door and saw Lucas and Peyton walking in.

Together.

"Seriously, Haley?" Aurora asked. Haley looked over at the door and noticed Peyton and Lucas. She turned back to her sister and quickly shook her head.

"I didn't invite her. Lucas must've told her. I wouldn't do that to you. You asked me not to, and I respect that and you." Haley said. Aurora nodded and smiled at her sister, but she was still annoyed that Lucas brought Peyton, but she shouldn't have been surprised.

When Lucas and Peyton found the girls in the crowd, they approached.

"Guys, who are all these people?" Lucas asked.

"Who cares? It's a party, right? If you'll excuse me, I need a drink." Aurora said as she started to walk away, but then Brooke walked inside with a girl she didn't recognize.

"Sorry, I'm late. Hope nobody minds, but I brought a friend." Brooke said.

"Let the games begin." The girl, Nikki said. She was Jake's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, but she ran off after the baby was born, leaving Jenny alone with Jake. Aurora turned to Haley with a confused look on her face. Neither invited Peyton or Brooke, but now Brooke has shown up with a random girl.

What the hell was going on?

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"Maybe if I had just invited her..." Haley trailed off while shaking her head when Aurora joined her by the drinks. Lucas and Peyton were standing with her as well.

"It's not your fault, Hales," Lucas said.

"Who is this Nikki chick anyway?" Aurora asked.

"Jake's baby's mom. Yeah... she's a train wreck." Peyton said. Then they heard a loud crash coming from another room.

"That didn't sound good, excuse me," Haley said as she walked away. Aurora sighed as she was left alone with Lucas and Peyton. But then Nikki approached Lucas and started talking to him, so Aurora turned to Peyton.

"Peyton." She said.

"Oh, she speaks to me," Peyton said, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Deserved. But, I want to apologize. Honestly, being mad and trying to hate you takes way too much mental effort that I'm tired of giving... and I miss my friend." Aurora said. Peyton was surprised by the apology, but a smile found its way onto her face.

"You really mean it?" Peyton asked, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Yeah, I do. We can move past this. I'm willing and trying to do the same with Lucas. Can we be good?" Aurora asked, and Peyton nodded her head as she pulled Aurora into a hug. Aurora smiled as she hugged her back.

"Of course, we can. Glad to have you back." She said as they pulled away.

"I thought I smelled something." The girls turned around and saw Nikki had approached. Aurora rolled her eyes while Peyton looked at her.

"Oh, that's skank... I think it's coming from you." Peyton snapped back, which made Aurora laugh. "Come on, Ari," Peyton said as she linked her arm through Aurora's, and the two of them walked away, but Aurora heard Nikki scoff.

"Please." She said, and Aurora sighed.

She had a bad feeling about that girl.

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"Careful! Please be careful!" Aurora yelled when she saw two guys carrying Mouth across the room. She had no idea what they were going to do with him, but she couldn't imagine it would be anything good.

"Little help." Mouth said as they passed, but Aurora had no idea how to help him.

"I cannot stop the madness," Haley said as she approached Aurora, Lucas, and Peyton. Aurora nodded her head because things were starting to get out of control.

"Okay, you know what? Drink this. You look like you could use it." Peyton said as she handed Haley a cup filled with alcohol, which her sister downed in one gulp.

"Wow." Peyton and Aurora said at the same time. Aurora had never seen her sister drink like that.

"Hmm, you're still here. I thought you'd be running off to tuck in my kid." Nikki said to Peyton as she stepped into their circle, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Someone has to," Peyton responded.

"Yeah? Well, hopefully, it's not some slutty boyfriend thief." Nikki snapped. Brooke walked up to the circle, and Aurora looked at her.

"You know, Brooke. I really don't appreciate you telling her my business. I don't even know her. I thought we were friends. I'm not just your newest gossip because I got cheated on." Aurora said.

"Look, why don't you do what you're good at and disappear." Peyton snapped. Aurora smirked a little as Nikki's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Do you have a problem?" Nikki snapped at her. Aurora decided that she was tired of this girl. She stepped up in front of Peyton and glared at Nikki.

"I advise you to walk away right now." Aurora snapped at her.

"Get out of my way." Nikki snapped at Aurora and pushed her out of the way before approaching Peyton. "I asked if you had a problem." She said.

"Yeah, I do. It's called you, bitch." Peyton snapped back.

Nikki immediately grabbed Peyton and threw her into the fridge; then, she slapped her hard. Peyton pushed Nikki onto one of the tables and tackled her onto the floor. They continued hitting each other and pulling each other's hair when they got off the ground. Lucas looked at Aurora and nudged her.

"Ari, a little help here," Lucas said. Aurora nodded her head and jumped in to grab Peyton while Lucas grabbed Nikki, and they pulled them away from each other. Nikki picked up a stool and threw it at Peyton, but Peyton ducked out of the way, and the stool went flying through Nathan's window and broke it.

Aurora's eyes widened, and now she was pissed. This girl was ruining Nathan's property, and now Nathan would have to pay to get it fixed, but Aurora would help pay for it, too, and she knew Haley would as well.

"Come on, stop!" Lucas yelled. They had also broken the coffee table. Tim wrapped his arms around Nikki to physically restrain her while Aurora held Peyton's arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Bringing her here?" Aurora snapped at Brooke.

"I thought this was what you wanted," Brooke said.

"Why the hell would I want this, Brooke? I don't even know her." Aurora snapped.

"Stop!" Tim yelled at Nikki, who was still fighting against him.

"You need to go. Now." Lucas snapped at Nikki. She started laughing as she looked between Aurora, Lucas, and Peyton.

"Well, isn't this sweet? Lucas Scott coming to the defense of his women? Oh, but wait? Shouldn't that include someone else?" Nikki asked. Peyton, Aurora, and Haley turned to face Lucas, wondering what Nikki was talking about. "Don't worry. I can keep a secret too." She said, and then she left the party.

"What did she mean by that, Lucas?" Aurora asked as she turned to him.

"Yeah, someone else?" Peyton asked. Lucas sighed as he remained quiet. He just continued to look between Aurora and Peyton.

"She's the girl I met in the bar." He finally said in a quieter tone. Peyton and Aurora looked at each other because they were finally feeling the same thing for the first time. Aurora remembered when they found his sling in the bar, and the bartender told them Lucas had left with a girl.

"Lucas Scott's betrayal train, all aboard," Aurora said as she looked at Peyton. Peyton shook her head and rolled her eyes as she looked at Lucas.

"Move." Peyton snapped as she pushed past him and walked away.

"No comment." Aurora snapped as she walked to the door. Haley was also by the door, and Nathan came home from work to see what was happening in his home.

"Haley, Ari?" Nathan asked.

"Nathan, I'm so sorry. It was Tim, he invited all these random people, and then Brooke showed up and made a bigger mess, and I'm so sorry." Aurora apologized. There were so many things going on that they didn't even notice the police approaching the door.

"Whose apartment is this? It's not going to be that hard to figure out, so why don't you just save us some time?" One of the cops asked.

"Alright, it's mine," Nathan said as he stepped up to the cop.

"Everyone else, get out of here before we start checking IDs." The cop announced to the rest of the party. That was enough to make everyone clear out; the only people left were the Scott brothers and James sisters.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Nathan asked the officer.

"Writing you a citation." The officer said.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Underage drinking, disturbing the peace." The officer said as he wrote out the citation.

"No, officer. He had nothing to do with any of this. He just got back from work. If anyone should get the citation, it should be me." Aurora said, and the officer shrugged his shoulders.

"It's his apartment, his responsibility." The officer said. Nathan rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

"Great, I'm impressed. Did you learn that in detective school?" Nathan snapped.

"So you want to smart off? Fine. You can do that from a cell." The officer said as he turned Nathan around and pulled out handcuffs.

"Come on!" Lucas yelled as Aurora said.

"Are you kidding me!" Aurora snapped.

"Do you two want to join him?" The officer snapped at them. Lucas and Aurora fell quiet, but Aurora rolled her eyes. "I didn't think so." He said as he finished cuffing Nathan. "Let's go." He said, and then Aurora looked at Nathan.

"Don't worry, Nate. We'll fix this."

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After leaving Nathan's apartment, Aurora went to Peyton's house to check on her. "Who knew my sister could throw such a rager." She said as she stood in the doorway of Peyton's room. Peyton looked up and laughed while shaking her head.

"Who knew," Peyton responded as Aurora walked into her room and laid down next to her on her bed. "So, thanks for sticking up for me." She said, and Aurora smiled.

"No problem. Brooke went too far. Why the hell would she bring Nikki there?" Aurora asked.

"Who knows? She convinced herself it was something you wanted." Peyton said, and Aurora laughed.

"I don't even know that girl; why would I want that? I'm glad we called a truce. I need my rational-headed friend back." Aurora said, and Peyton laughed.

"Me too," Peyton said.

"You know, I was thinking about Lucas. He's just a guy. He makes mistakes like all the rest of them. But it hurt worse because we've been friends for so long." Aurora said, and Peyton nodded her head.

"It's always worse when you expect more from someone," Peyton said, and Aurora nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know... so, that Nikki bitch is crazy," Aurora said, making them laugh, and Peyton nodded.

"Do you think we can get back to the way we were?" She asked. Aurora nodded her head as she smiled.

"Of course I do," Aurora responded.

"I'm so tired," Peyton said as Aurora laid her head down on her shoulder and nodded her head.

"Yeah, me too."

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"Hey." Lucas Scott said to Aurora James the following day at school. She was sitting at one of the outside tables and reading a book. She had started a new historical romance book series called 'Bridgerton,' the first book was published three years ago in 2000. There were going to be eight books total, but only five were out, and Aurora had just started reading 'The Duke and I.' She put a bookmark in her book and looked up at him.

"Hey." She said, and Lucas sighed.

"Look, I didn't know about Nikki and Jake. I didn't know who she was until after I met her." Lucas said, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders.

"So, she was just some stranger in a bar you slept with? Lucas, you don't need to apologize to me, okay? It's just that... after all the stuff we've been through, where my head and heart were, I couldn't have just gone and slept with some stranger. You remember that Nathan and Peyton were together, and he was a pretty crappy guy to her, right?" Aurora asked, and Lucas nodded his head.

"Yeah." He said as he nodded his head but still sounded confused about what that had to do with them.

"Well, who knew that you two would switch places?" Aurora said as she stood up from her seat. She slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up her book before walking away from Lucas to catch up with Peyton and Haley as she saw them walking by. She was on her way towards forgiveness with Lucas since she forgave Peyton, but finding out Nikki was the random girl in the bar that he slept with?

It was like one step forward and five steps back.

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─── AUTHOR'S NOTE
don't worry, luke and aurora will be good again here soon.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.