2004 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Brooke Davis, Peyton Sawyer, and Aurora James stood next to Peyton's locker as they waited for the bell to ring. It was surreal to Aurora that their junior year was pretty much over and they were about to be seniors. It was bittersweet, she was excited to be a senior, but also nervous because it was their last year of high school and she didn't know what path would be next for her after graduation.

Another thing that was weighing down on her was that Haley wasn't there. They've never not finished a school year together, so that was weird for Aurora. "Jimmy Eat World! That's a great idea!" Aurora heard Brooke exclaim when she checked back into the conversation.

"Brooke, it'll probably never happen," Peyton responded.

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you got The Wreakers and Pelthead to come and play; you can totally land Jimmy Eat World and when you do, I promise I won't break up with you to run off and join their tour," Aurora teased and Brooke laughed.

"I might," Brooke teased and the two laughed again. Peyton's face fell as she realized that's what Haley did when the four of them were solidifying themselves as a group. Aurora could see it on her face.

"That's it, isn't it? That's why your heart's not totally into finding a great band for the end of the school year. My sister and Nathan," Aurora said. Peyton sighed as she nodded.

"Yeah. That, and...-" Peyton trailed off, but Brooke and Aurora didn't need her to finish the sentence. They knew who she was thinking about.

Jake.

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"One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it," Their teacher read the quote to their class. Aurora was slightly listening, but she was also distracted. She had a lot of things on her mind. Especially whenever she caught a glance at the empty desk that used to be Haley's. "Now the little that Shaw realized at the time that his word would be the basis of your final. I'd like you to write an essay on the meaning of Shaw's quote. It's due on Monday, and then your school year will be over," He said. Aurora sighed. Another paper to write.

Aurora turned to the side and saw Lucas next to her, but he was looking at the empty desk that once belonged to Haley. Lucas sighed and Aurora reached over and gently placed her hand on his arm. At the feeling of her touch, Lucas turned and looked at Aurora. They both had the same sad look in their eyes.

"I know, Luke... we all started the year together, and it looks like we're not ending it that way," Aurora said. Lucas nodded before turning back to look at his paper. Aurora gently squeezed his arm before turning back to her paper.

After class, it was lunchtime. Whenever the weather was nice, Aurora always ate outside and that's where she was now. Brooke and Peyton had offered for her to sit with them, but Aurora told them she wanted to sit on her own and sort through everything going on in her mind and start working on her essay.

"Hey," Lucas Scott's voice rang out. Aurora looked up as he was sitting down across from her.

"Hey," She responded.

"You wanna go on a road trip this weekend?" Lucas asked. Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I'll play. Where?" Aurora asked.

"New York... to see your sister," Lucas said and Aurora's smile fell as she thought about the last time she went on a road trip with a Scott brother to go see her sister. It didn't end well. She and Haley got into an argument and they haven't spoken since.

"We have finals, Luke," She said as she gestured to her paper. Lucas sighed.

"I'll bring my laptop, and whoever sits shotgun can do the typing. What do you say, huh?" He asked. Aurora sighed again as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Haley didn't care enough to come back after Nathan and I saw her in Austin. Why would this time be any different?" Aurora asked and Lucas frowned.

"Ari... I know she hurt you. She hurt all of us in different ways. But the three of us started the year together... I just feel like I can't end the year without seeing her," Lucas said. Aurora sighed. There was another reason she was upset, it wasn't just Haley.

Lucas had told her what he had been up to, trying to expose Dan, but she couldn't tell Nathan, because he promised Nathan he would stop, but he didn't. So, one day, Aurora was at his house, and Lucas told her about the shredded paper he took from Dan's shredder. Aurora said that she liked to do puzzles so she would put the shredded pieces back together. When she was going through his closet to look for the bag of shredded paper, she found it, and something else. She found a box that was full of things from Peyton and of him and Peyton. She found pictures, a couple of letters, and a drawing Peyton had made saying the two of them could be together.

It broke Aurora's heart because she didn't know how Lucas could tell her that he was still in love with her, but then still be holding onto those things from Peyton. As she pulled herself out of her own head, she realized Lucas was looking at her and waiting for an answer about visiting Haley.

"Okay, I'll go... We can talk."

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Aurora made her way to the Scott House. After his accident at the racing track, Nathan moved out of the apartment and moved back in with his parents. The two friends were sitting on the basketball court in his backyard. Aurora was only praying that Dan wouldn't come outside and ruin things. She understood why Nathan moved back in, but she hated being here knowing that Dan was around. Aurora was debating whether or not she should tell Nathan that she and Lucas were going to see Haley.

"Hey, I got some great news today," Nathan said and Aurora smiled.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" She asked.

"Whitey thinks he can get me back into High Flyers," Nathan said with a wide smile on his face. Aurora's smile brightened too.

"Nate, that's amazing! But, with what just happened... is that a good idea?" Aurora asked.

"Ari, it's High Flyers," Nathan said.

"I know, Nate... I know... I just don't want you to hurt yourself more," Aurora said. After she said that, Dan Scott walked out. He had been listening since he heard Nathan mention High Flyers.

"You don't need the scouts to see you like that. Plus, there's your mother to consider," Dan said. Aurora shook her head. She knew Dan was about to attempt to manipulate Nathan.

"What are you talking about, Dan?" Aurora asked.

"That's Mr. Scott to you," Dan snapped and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll be respectful when you show that you're worthy of being respected," Aurora said with a sweet smile on her face. Nathan coughed into his arm to cover his laugh. Dan rolled his eyes as he turned back to his son.

"Listen, Nate. I don't like to burden you with these things, but you're a man so I'm going to be honest with you. Your mother's pill addiction started when you moved out. Now, you're in no way to blame, but she's going to be vulnerable when she comes home, and she's going to need you more than ever," Dan said and then walked back into the house without another word.

Aurora could see Dan's words affecting Nathan, it was all over his face. "Hey! Don't you dare listen to him," Aurora said.

"I moved out, my mom started taking her pills. It all makes sense; it is my fault," Nathan said and Aurora shook her head.

"Nate, if anything, Dan was probably the reason your mother started taking pills. You know what he's like. I'm surprised you're not an addict too from dealing with him. Talk to your Mom about it, don't let your Dad manipulate you out of an amazing opportunity. You deserve to go to that camp," Aurora said as she leaned over and kissed his cheek and then she stood up.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Back home to pack. Me, Alex, and Luke are taking a road trip for the weekend... I don't want to lie to you, Nate. We're going to see Haley," Aurora said. Nathan's face clouded over at the mention of her name and then he sighed.

"Thank you for being honest with me," He said.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked. Nathan stood up and shook his head.

"She's your sister, Ari. If she won't listen to me... maybe this second time around she'll listen to you and Alex," Nathan said. Aurora nodded and Nathan wrapped her in a hug. He wasn't mad at Aurora, but he was mad at Lucas. Because of the last conversation they had about Haley, and now Lucas has lied to him again.

"I love you," Aurora said and Nathan smiled.

"I love you too, Ari. Have a good weekend, okay? Don't worry about me."

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Lucas Scott along with Aurora and Alex James were in his car. Lucas was driving, Aurora was in the passenger seat and Alex was in the back. He had his headphones on and had fallen asleep, so Aurora and Lucas were talking. "Have you been talking to Peyton much?" Aurora asked as she looked down at the laptop. She had a basic outline of what her paper was going to be about. The topic of loss was an easy one.

"A little bit. I wish I was in her life more," Lucas said and Aurora nodded, but she kept her eyes glued to the laptop and tried not to react.

"I guess I know what loss you'll be writing about for your essay," Aurora tried to make it sound like she was teasing him, but it fell flat and she knew it. Lucas laughed but he shook his head.

"I lost myself this year, Ari. And what I did, I lost the people I truly care about," He said. Aurora nodded, but she didn't say anything else. "So, when we get there, we should probably keep the central focus on Haley. I know when you and Nathan went to see her it didn't go well, but maybe with me and Alex here as buffers, you guys can make up," Lucas said and Aurora shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe."

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When the three of them reached New York, they went to the venue where her concert was and they were able to get backstage. They were led to Haley's dressing room, and when they walked in, Aurora crossed her arms over her chest at what she saw. Haley and Chris were on the couch, and Haley was giggling like a schoolgirl as Chris tickled her. Once they were all in the room, Aurora loudly slammed the door.

Haley immediately looked up in alert, and her eyes widened to see her best friend and siblings standing there. All three of them with disapproving looks on their faces and she knew exactly what this moment looked like to them.

"Lucas! Aurora, Alex! Oh my gosh, hi!" Haley exclaimed as she walked up to them. She hugged Lucas first, then her sister, and then her brother. Aurora continued to look blankly at her.

"Oh, well, it's about time the tribal leaders came to collect their squaw," Chris Keller said and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Who was speaking to you?!" Aurora snapped.

"Shut up, Chris," Haley said.

"Alright, I'm going," Chris said as he stood up from the couch and walked to the door, but he turned to Aurora. "You know, I'm disappointed that you didn't join us. I also remembered how lovely your voice is," Chris said and then he winked before walking out. Aurora rolled her eyes and turned back to Haley.

"What are you three doing here?" Haley asked.

"We brought your English assignment," Lucas said.

"And since I wasn't invited to Austin with Aurora and the other Scott, I decided to tag along for this one," Alex teased. Aurora shook her head but slightly cracked a smile.

"Oh my gosh... finals! That just feels like a totally different life," Haley said.

"For you, it probably is," Aurora said. Alex nudged Aurora, while Haley looked at her sister and frowned. She knows Aurora is hurt, she made that clear in Austin, but Haley didn't know how to make it up to her. There was a knock on the dressing room door and then it opened.

"Let's go diva," Haley cleared her throat as they all turned to look at the man who had just walked in.

"Hey, Joey D, this is um, my friend Lucas, my twin sister Aurora, and our older brother, Alex," Haley introduced them.

"What's up, guys?" He said and then he turned to Aurora. "Aurora, the other girl from the video at TRIC; why didn't you join us too?" Joey D asked.

"Dancing is more my thing," Aurora said as she shook her head.

"That's too bad because you have a great voice. I'm sorry I have to drag her away, but we've got three meetings and a satellite radio interview. You ready?" Joey asked as he turned to Haley.

"Um...-" Haley cut off and let out the worst fake cough Aurora had ever heard. "I'm just feeling a little... flu-ish," She said. Joey shook his head but he was still smiling.

"Haley!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, I...-" This time Aurora and Alex cut Haley off with more convincing coughs.

"It's kind of going around," Aurora said. Haley turned to Joey with a smile.

"Cover for me?" She asked.

"Um...-" Haley cut him off before he could answer.

"...-Really, because I'm just... I'm as sick as a dog here," She trailed off as she grabbed her siblings and started to drag them to the door, signaling for Luke to follow as well. Joey was shaking his head.

"No, no, wait, Haley...-" But he was cut off by Haley closing the door.

Then they were gone.

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Haley James took the three of them back to her hotel. When she opened the door to her room, Aurora took time to take a look around. It was a pretty big space. She noticed a bedroom with a king-sized bed, and she noticed the couch was a pullout one. There was a full kitchen, and living room area. "Come on in! What do you guys think?" She asked.

"This is awesome, Hales," Alex said as he smiled.

"What do you guys wanna do today?" Haley asked. As Aurora was walking around and looking around the room, she noticed Lucas looking at something. She walked closer to the dining room table and noticed annulment papers sitting there. Aurora raised an eyebrow and felt her anger rising. First, her sister leaves without a word, barely calls Nathan, and now she wants to file for an annulment, saying that their marriage never happened. "Wanna take a limo to see the city?" Haley's voice snapped Aurora out of her thoughts.

"I was thinking maybe we could just talk," Lucas said. Haley looked uncertain as she looked at all three of them, but she nodded.

"Uh, yeah," She said as she sat down on the couch, and then she noticed the looks the three of them had. "Look, what you walked in on in the dressing room was totally innocent," She said and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Sure. I doubt Nathan would've seen it that way if he were with us, though," Aurora said. Haley frowned at the mention of Nathan, but she knew Aurora was right. If Nathan had seen that, he would've been even more pissed than he already was.

"No, it was. Look. I'm not with Chris, okay? We were just kidding around like...-" Haley trailed off and Lucas chimed in.

"...-Like we used to?" He asked but Aurora could hear the bitterness in his tone.

"Yeah," Haley whispered. Then she sighed, stood up, and approached all three of them. "I miss you guys so much," She whispered pulling the three of them in for a group hug. Aurora didn't participate much.

She didn't know how she felt anymore.

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Lucas and Haley went to the park, while Aurora and Alex went shopping. Mainly Aurora shopping and Alex offering to hold her bags for her, but Aurora didn't get too much. She knew how to budget. They got back to the room first and Aurora groaned as she realized Haley had the only key, so they had to wait for Haley and Lucas to get back.

"Lucas and Haley aren't back yet, but you can come into the Devil's lair," Aurora heard Chris' voice and his guitar. His room was right next to Haley's and she walked over to the doorway. Alex stayed behind her. "Drop your things, have sex with Chris Keller," He sang.

"Okay, I'm tired of the innuendos you keep making at my sisters. Who the hell is this guy?" Alex asked. Aurora laughed and shook her head.

"Not worth it," Aurora said, and then she turned to Chris. "Here's the deal. Aurora James thinks that Chris Keller can self-serve Chris Keller; in other words, you can go fu...-" Aurora was cut off, but Haley's voice.

"...-Hey Ari, Alex. You guys got back sooner than expected. I thought we'd beat you," Haley said and then she noticed they were standing in front of Chris' open door. "What's going on?" She asked.

"She was just hitting on me," Chris said.

"If by hitting on him, he means I was about to murder him, then yes, I was," Aurora snapped.

"Hey, we missed you at the on-air. How's the flu bug?" Chris asked Haley.

"Oh... it'll pass. Thanks, how'd it go?" Haley asked.

"Well, without you, there was more time to talk about me. So it went great," Chris said. Haley rolled her eyes.

"Huh," Aurora said as she started to breathe heavily, acting like she wasn't getting any air. Haley and Alex looked at their sister in concern.

"What?" Haley asked.

"I can't breathe," Aurora said as she gasped for breath. "There's no room with Chris' ego. Can we go please!?" Aurora said as she slightly raised her voice.

"Yeah, let's go," Haley said. She led her siblings back into the hotel room and Aurora noticed Lucas wasn't behind them. She hoped he stayed back and punched Chris in the face. "Aurora, are we ever going to talk?" She asked.

"What is there left to say? You made it pretty clear how you felt when Nathan and I came to see you in Austin. And I noticed the annulment papers. Seems you made up your mind," Aurora said as she shrugged. Haley's eyes widened at the mention of the annulment papers.

"It's not like that, Ari," Haley said as she shook her head. "Dan brought those papers to me and Nathan signed them," She said. Aurora stopped and raised an eyebrow. Surely if Nathan had signed annulment papers, he would've told her about it, right?

"I don't believe you... I mean, I believe that Dan brought you the papers, but Nathan would never sign them, and if he did, he would've told me," Aurora said. Haley sighed as she walked to the table.

"Aurora, I'm serious...-" Aurora cut her off.

"...-I'm done with your excuses, Haley. If you're going to choose this over your husband, then yeah, sign the papers. Put him out of his misery," Aurora said as she walked off to the bathroom right as Lucas came back into the room. Alex frowned as he looked at both of his sisters, he wasn't sure what to say.

Haley stood there with a dejected look on her face while Aurora was in the bathroom with the same expression.

Both girls have no idea how to mend their broken hearts.

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The next morning, Lucas and the James siblings were getting their things ready to leave when Haley walked up to Aurora and handed her a stack of paper. Aurora raised an eyebrow and Haley laughed. "It's my English final. I pulled an all-nighter," She siad.

"Aren't you supposed to be trashing hotel rooms or something? You know, what kind of rockstar spends the entire night doing an English final?" Lucas teased.

"Well... I am still Tutor Girl. Besides, it was... it was a pretty easy topic for me," Haley said as she looked down.

"Yeah, that makes... literally all of us," Aurora said. Haley noticed she didn't sound sarcastic when she said it, she sounded hurt.

"So maybe this means you're coming back soon?" Lucas asked. When Haley looked up and Aurora saw her expression, she knew the answer immediately. Haley wasn't coming back.

"No... I'm not coming home, Lucas. This is my life now," She said. Lucas' eyes fell.

"Hales," Alex said. Haley took a deep breath, walked over to the table, grabbed the annulment papers, and brought them to Lucas.

"Um... I need you to give this to Nathan for me, please," Haley said. When Lucas saw what it was, he frowned, and Haley turned to Aurora. "You were right, yesterday... If I wasn't planning on coming back, I should put Nathan out of his misery," She said. Aurora scoffed as she shook her head.

"I never knew you to be one to give up, Haley James. I guess I never knew you as well as I thought I did," Aurora said. Without another word, she left the hotel room. Haley sighed when she left and wiped her eyes. She didn't know what to do. She felt horrible, but she loved being on tour. Lucas and Alex also said their goodbyes and then left. Aurora was waiting for them outside of the car since she didn't have the keys.

"Are you going to be alright?" Lucas asked when they got back on the road.

"Are you?" Aurora asked. Lucas sighed, but he didn't know how to answer the question. "Also... the other elephant in the room, it's okay that you're into Peyton. I was avoiding it this whole trip, but when I was trying to help you solve the shredded papers you found in Dan's office, I found the stuff in your closet. I wasn't snooping, I swear, but the heart wants what it wants, right?" Aurora said.

Lucas couldn't respond. He didn't know what to say. He knew Aurora was wrong, and was way off the mark, but he knew if he told her that, she wouldn't believe him and she would accuse him of just saying what she wanted to hear. His eyes met Alex's through the rearview mirror, and Alex frowned and mouthed, "I'm sorry," to him. Lucas sighed as he continued to drive. Aurora laid her head on the window and watched the scenery go by.

It was a quiet ride back.

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aurora is always on haley's side, but think of her perspective. haley up and left, said nothing to her, and hasn't kept in contact. she's been in tree hill hurt over her sister leaving without a word and also seeing how horribly it's been affecting nathan too, and after multiple attempts of trying to bring her back home, haley still won't come home. aurora is pissed.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.