2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Lucas hasn't talked to Brianna since he returned her hat that he found in Peyton's car. That was a few days ago. Brianna decided she wouldn't let herself be upset by it. She continued to put her focus on her schoolwork, cheerleading, and tutoring Nathan. She hated to admit it, but tutoring him was not going horribly. She was starting to realize that under the facade he puts out, Nathan was a pretty decent guy.

Sometimes.

Brianna walked inside Karen's Cafe, and Lucas looked up when he heard the bell ding. When the two saw each other, Brianna sighed and shook her head before walking back out. She wanted to come to get something to eat, but she didn't want to deal with whatever mood Lucas might be in.

"Bree, how much longer are we going to do this?" Lucas asked. Brianna turned around when she heard his voice. She didn't realize that he followed her outside.

"Do what?" She asked.

"Avoid each other," Lucas responded.

"You tell me you're the one who threw a hissy fit and walked out and has been ignoring me for nearly a week," Brianna said as she shrugged her shoulders and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"And you're the one who lied to me," Lucas said. Brianna sighed as she ran her fingers back through her hair.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Lucas." She said.

"Just explain to me why you were with Nathan, huh? I know with Peyton being your best friend and Brooke being your sister, you'll be around him, but you never hang out with him... not just the two of you alone. Considering the past few weeks and what he's done." Lucas said. Brianna sighed because she felt bad. She knew how Lucas felt about Nathan, and that was one of the reasons why she never wanted him to find out about the tutoring. She knew it would hurt him.

"I can't," Brianna said.

"You know how I feel about him, Bree," Lucas said. Brianna sighed as Lucas turned around to walk back to the cafe. She went back and forth with herself for a few seconds and decided she would tell him the truth.

"Lucas, fine!" Brianna exclaimed. Lucas stopped walking and turned back around. "Yes, I know how you feel about him, but there's something you don't know... I promised him that I would tutor him if he left you alone." Brianna said.

"What?" Lucas asked. Brianna could tell by the shock on his face that wasn't the answer he was expecting as to why she was with Nathan.

"I'm doing it for you, Luke," Brianna said. Then she turned around and walked in the opposite direction to let Lucas sit with her words. She knew he may never understand. But after the team trashed the river court and basically abducted Lucas and he wasn't able to meet Haley for the movies. Nathan had asked her to be his tutor, and she had refused, but after those incidents, she figured she should try to do something to help Lucas. But there was one thing she couldn't quite figure out. She still didn't know how Lucas knew Nathan was driving Peyton's car that night.

Nobody had told her about the crash.

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Later that day, Brianna made her way back to Karen's cafe because she had a shift. She told Haley the truth because Lucas also wouldn't tell her why he was avoiding Brianna, and Haley was confused as to why her best friends weren't speaking to each other. When Brianna explained everything, Haley understood. She understood why Lucas was upset, but she also understood why Brianna did what she did. She knew Brianna was doing what she thought was best to help Lucas.

Haley would've done the same in her position.

When the bell rang, indicating that someone had walked in, Brianna looked up and saw Lucas approaching the counter where she and Haley were. "I'm an idiot," Lucas said as he looked at Brianna.

"I know," Brianna said as Lucas sat down. Haley took some dirty dishes to the back, and she wanted to let the two of them talk.

"I'm sorry... I miss hanging out with you, Bree." Lucas said, and Brianna smiled.

"Yeah, I miss hanging out with you too." She responded.

"Listen. I appreciate everything you did for me, I do... But how about you let me handle the team from now on, okay?" Lucas said, and Brianna nodded her head.

"Okay." She said.

"Alright. So you can stop tutoring Nathan now." Lucas said. Brianna raised an eyebrow as she shook her head.

"Um, no... I can't." Brianna siad.

"Brianna," Lucas said, and she sighed.

"Lucas, I can't. I promised him, and if I break that promise... then I'm just as bad as you think he is."

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The following day at school, the girls were having cheer practice. One thing Brianna has always loved is that they share the gym with the basketball team when it comes to practice. The girls stay off the court and keep to the sidelines where they are on game days, but when Brianna was a freshman, she used to love watching the senior boys practice.

"Wait, hold on. Peyton, you've got the arms wrong." Brooke said as she was watching the girls' formations.

"It's not brain surgery, Brooke." Peyton snapped back.

"Okay... what's with the attitude?" Brooke asked. Brianna thought about what could be going on with Peyton. She knew that she and Nathan broke up for good, but Peyton wasn't in love with him, and she had said it was about time their relationship ended. Then Brianna remembered today's date, and she immediately knew what was wrong.

It's the anniversary of Peyton's mom's death.

"What's with your life? Seriously, aren't you embarrassed that the most important thing in your world is some stupid cheer?" Peyton asked.

"Look, I'm really sorry things didn't work out with you and Nathan, but don't go all Mariah on me, okay?" Brooke said to her.

"You think this is about Nathan?" Peyton snapped as she shook her head. "You're not even close! You're not even in the neighborhood of close!" She said.

"Okay, then, what's wrong?" Brooke asked. Peyton looked as if she wanted to scream at Brooke for not remembering what today was. Brianna didn't understand how Brooke forgot as well. They were at the hospital with Peyton all night when her mother died.

"What's wrong is... how pointless all of this is," Peyton said while shaking her head.

"Stop saying that!" Brooke snapped. Brianna noticed that all the guys stopped practicing, and they were now looking at Brooke and Peyton because of their argument.

"No! Because it's true. What difference does it make if you sleep with a popular guy, or you go to the right party, or you know the moves to some moronic cheer to do at some lame-ass game I could care less about!" Peyton yelled, and then she stormed out of the gym. Brooke turned to her sister in shock. Brianna sighed before running out after her blonde friend.

"Peyton!" Brianna yelled as she ran out into the hallway. Peyton stopped walking when she heard it was Brianna, and when she turned around, Brianna's heart broke. Peyton's face was flushed red from the yelling, and she could see her eyes starting to water. Brianna approached Peyton and silently wrapped her in a hug. Peyton wrapped her arms around Brianna, and the two stood in the hallway hugging for a while.

Peyton sniffled as she pulled away, and Brianna laid her hand on her shoulder. "I miss her too... go blow off some steam. I'll handle Brooke." She said, and Peyton's eyes widened slightly.

"You remembered?" She asked.

"Of course, I remembered, Peyton. It was the worst day of your life, and I loved your mother too. Mine didn't pay attention to me. Your mom and Karen were the closest people to mothers that I had. I'm sorry you have to relive this. Go, it's okay." Brianna said. Peyton smiled slightly, and wrapped her friend in another hug, and took a deep breath before leaving.

Brianna wiped her eyes as she went.

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Later that day, Brianna was at Nathan's house for a tutoring session. She was grading one of his English papers, and she didn't realize how bad Nathan was at this. But she was willing to put in the effort, and she knew if Nathan put in the effort, he could improve his grades. Brianna set the paper down and turned to Nathan.

"The good news is... you did better. The bad news is... better is a D." Brianna said, and Nathan nodded his head.

"Yeah... I guess I didn't give this one my best shot." He said, and Brianna tilted her head.

"What's going on with you?" She asked.

"Well, you probably found out first-hand that me and Peyton broke up," Nathan said, and Brianna nodded her head.

"Peyton and I." She corrected.

"Oh. She broke up with you too?" Nathan teased. Brianna shook her head as she rolled her eyes. "Just... I didn't know she was going to take it this hard. You were there, you saw how she went off on your sister at practice. I'm kind of worried about her." Nathan said, and Brianna could hear the sincerity in his voice which was nice, but Peyton's blow-up had nothing to do with him.

"Well, if you were more worried about her when you two were together, you would know that her blowing up on Brooke had nothing to do with your breakup," Brianna said. Nathan's eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't know the first thing about Peyton and I." He said.

"Me and Peyton." Brianna corrected, and Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He said.

"And you're right. I don't know much about you and Peyton, but I do know Peyton and as I said earlier... her blowing up at my sister today had nothing to do with your breakup." Brianna said.

"Then why did she do it?" Nathan asked. Brianna looked at Nathan and shook her head. It was bad enough that Brooke didn't remember what today was for Peyton... but Nathan and Peyton have dated for the last two years, and in the beginning, they were really good together, so the fact that he didn't know either. It made Brianna wonder, did they really care about Peyton?

"For you and Brooke to claim that you care about Peyton... it's astounding that neither of you remembers what today is for her." Brianna said as she slid Nathan's paper over to him. "Let's just get back to work."

"Bree," Nathan said, and she looked back up.

"What, are you still in denial?" She asked.

"About what?" Nathan asked.

"Missing her... it's okay that you do." Brianna said, and Nathan laughed a little.

"What are you? My tutor or my shrink?" He asked, and Brianna shrugged her shoulders, but she was still smiling.

"Whatever you need." She said before she could stop herself. Did she really just offer herself as a shoulder to lean on for Nathan Scott? She surprised herself by offering that to Nathan.

"I treated Peyton pretty badly. She had every right to walk away. Okay, yeah. It was my fault. I screwed up. I just wish I had another chance." Nathan said. Brianna was grading his practice exam, but she was still listening to him.

"Nice work," Brianna said as she graded his paper. Nathan sighed.

"Bree. I was telling the truth." Nathan said, and Brianna looked up.

"I'm sorry, Nathan. I meant on your practice exam." She said as she slid his paper over to him. "You got an 81." She said. Nathan looked down at the paper, and when he saw the grade, he smiled.

"Oh." He said. Brianna couldn't help but smile as she saw Nathan smile at his paper. This was one of the reasons why she loved tutoring. She loved to see people get it, and she loved to see them be proud of their work. "You know... it's funny. I think we've actually talked more than Peyton and I ever did." He said.

"Peyton and I... good job," Brianna said as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. You too." Nathan said, and the pair sat in silence for a few moments, but Brianna noted that it wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable silence. "Hey... are you coming to the game?" He asked. Brianna believed he was talking about the upcoming father-son game because he knew she would be at a regular ravens game.

"Um, well... It depends on how you do on your English exam. Anything less than an 81, I'm staying home and watching Friends." Brianna said as she started packing up her things.

"Alright... oh, and Bree?" Nathan asked as he walked her out to the door.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I know this hasn't been easy for you. I just wanted to say thank you." Nathan said. Brianna let out a breath and smiled at him. She knew how Lucas felt about this, and she knew it was hard for him and it was hard for her, so hearing Nathan acknowledge how hard this is on her and genuinely appreciate her help made her feel good.

"Good luck, Nathan."

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Brianna made her way to Karen's cafe, and Karen told her that Haley and Lucas were on the roof. Brianna made her way up there and saw them playing golf on the mini golf course the three of them built together. Haley turned around when she heard the door close, and she smiled when she saw it was Brianna. Lucas also turned around when Haley did. He gave Brianna an acknowledging look, and then he turned back around.

"Lucas... I don't want to be like this." Brianna said, which made Lucas turn back around. She missed her best friend, and she hated that she and Lucas were barely talking to each other. They've been friends since they were 8 years old and they've never gone this long without talking before.

"What is that?" Lucas asked.

"This! Us skirting around each other. I mean, we're friends. You know, when you wanted to join the team, I didn't understand it, and I told you that, but I still supported you." Brianna said.

"I know," Lucas responded.

"So... support me! When I'm tutoring someone, and they get it, and that light goes on, I feel good! I feel worthy. The same way that you feel when you play basketball. Besides, haven't things gotten better for you? The team has left you alone, the hazing stopped? Yeah, so that's worth the risk for me. What's not worth the risk is us. You're my best friend, and that's important to me." Brianna said. Haley frowned as she looked between the two of them.

"Aw, come on, Lucas! Just make-up already!" Haley exclaimed. Lucas laughed a little, and he turned back to Brianna with a smile on his face.

"You're just tutoring him?" Lucas asked, and she nodded her head.

"I'm just tutoring him, and only for this semester. That's it." Brianna said. Lucas nodded his head and held out his fist toward her. Brianna smiled and knocked her fist against Luke's, and for the rest of the night, the three of them played mini-golf together.

Just like old times.

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Brianna was walking through the school to find her sister. She was going to ask if she was staying for the father-son basketball game. She knew she probably wouldn't, and Brianna told Nathan she'd stay if he did better than an 81 since he got an 81 on the practice exam. But then she felt someone grab her arm. She looked up and saw Nathan standing there.

"Got a sec?" He asked.

"Hey, yeah... what's up?" Brianna asked.

"Check this out," Nathan said as he held up his test. Brianna's eyes scanned the paper, and when her eyes landed on his grade, they widened as a smile broke out onto her face.

"An 84! Nathan, that's amazing!" Brianna exclaimed. From over Brianna's shoulder, Nathan saw Lucas coming around the corner, so he held his arms out for Brianna to hug him. Brianna figured why not. A hug was innocent, and he did well on his test, better than his practice exam. Brianna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Nathan, and they shared a hug.

Nathan smirked at Lucas from over Brianna's shoulder as they hugged, but he also enjoyed the way it felt to hold Brianna. It felt much different from hugging Peyton, but also, he and Peyton didn't hug very often. Holding Brianna felt comfortable, it felt right, and suddenly, he didn't care anymore that Lucas was there.

He just wanted to keep holding her.

On Brianna's end, the hug also felt nice. She couldn't believe she was hugging Nathan Scott, someone that she has always disliked. But this hug felt nice. Nathan was warm, and she was comfortable. She wouldn't mind getting more hugs from him. Of course, Brianna had no idea that Lucas was watching them, and that was the entire reason that Nathan hugged her in the first place. When they pulled away, they were both still smiling.

"Looks like I'll see you at the game." He said, and Brianna nodded her head.

"A deal's a deal, right?"

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Before the game, when Brianna tried to call out for Lucas, he ignored her. She turned to Haley and asked if she did something wrong, especially since they had just made up, and Haley said Lucas didn't mention anything to her. Brianna was frustrated again, she didn't understand why Lucas kept getting mad at her instead of just talking to her.

During the game, she was impressed that Nathan took a stand against his father. Brianna has always hated Dan for how he abandoned Lucas, but in tutoring Nathan and the way he talks, she can tell that Dan has also done a number on Nathan, but in a different way. After the game, Brianna walked over to Lucas and grabbed his arm.

"Lucas, are you mad at me? What is going on? I thought we figured everything out." She said.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Lucas snapped, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, well, instead of avoiding me, can I at least know what I did wrong this time?" She asked.

"I saw you with him," Lucas said, and Brianna scoffed because she thinks she knew what he was talking about.

"Who, Nathan? Oh my gosh, Lucas. He got a good grade on his quiz, so I gave him a hug. It was nothing! I hug you all the time." Brianna said. She didn't understand why Lucas was making such a big deal out of it.

"I want to believe you, Bree... But I don't think you're telling the truth." Lucas said, and Brianna raised an eyebrow.

"I am telling you the truth, Lucas. There's nothing going on." Brianna said. Lucas shook his head as he looked down at Brianna's wrist.

"Nice bracelet." He said. Brianna looked down to see she was still wearing the bracelet that Nathan gave her from the cracker jack box. She was so accustomed to it that she kind of forgot about it. She sighed as she looked up at Lucas, and she was going to defend herself.

But he had already walked away.

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aw bree, you don't have to explain yourself to him.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.