2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

"What's up, loser?" Brianna Davis asked as she invited herself into Luke's room from his backdoor. Lucas was sitting at his computer and typing an email to his mom, and when he heard Brianna, he smiled.

"Hey, you. I'm just finishing up this email to my mom because she comes back tomorrow." Lucas said, and Brianna smiled. Karen had been gone for the last six weeks, and they all really missed her. Brianna couldn't wait to hear about Italy.

"Nice, tell her I said hi. You're going to call me when she gets back from the airport, right?" Brianna asked, and Lucas nodded his head.

"Of course." He said.

"Good. So, the reason I'm here is because I need to borrow a couple of things from you... like your basketball... and you." Brianna said. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Okay... why?" He asked.

"Because I'm totally failing PE, and I need you to show me how to make a free throw." She said.

"You know I would love to, Bree, but I have to do some stuff with Brooke and Peyton tonight," Lucas said, and Brianna raised an eyebrow.

"So you're hanging out with my best friend and my sister without me? Hmm, what are you guys doing? Unless it's a threesome, then definitely leave me out." Brianna teased. Lucas didn't laugh; he sighed. He thought it was funny, but being in front of Brianna right now, he felt guilty. When he and Peyton went down to identify whether it was Larry that was found. He cheated on Brooke. They didn't have sex, but they almost did. What stopped them was Peyton's hair getting caught in the puka shell necklace Brooke had given to Lucas.

"Bree, I kind of need to talk to you about something," Lucas said. Brianna's eyebrows furrowed because now she knew something was wrong.

"What's going on, Luke?" Brianna asked. Before Lucas could answer, the back door to his room opened, and Brooke walked in. She smiled when she saw Brianna.

"Hey, tutor twin." She said.

"Hey, Brookie. What's up, and what's this I hear about a hangout without me?" Brianna teased. Brooke's eyes faltered as she began to ramble.

"I mean, of course, you can always come to Peyton's. I just figured you might have been spending your free time with Nathan." Brooke said. Brianna smiled as she shook her head. She and Nathan haven't spoken since he told her he was going to play basketball again.

"I was messing with you, Brookie," Brianna said. Lucas turned to his friend.

"Raincheck?" He asked, and she nodded her head.

"Don't worry about it. Either of you. Have fun, okay?" Brianna said. Brooke smiled at her sister, and then she turned to Lucas.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," Lucas said as he nodded.

"Then let's go, boyfriend."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

After Brooke and Lucas left, Brianna took Luke's basketball before she went to work. After her shift, she went to the river court, and she was glad that none of the guys were there. She figured that if Lucas couldn't help her, maybe she could help herself. She's been a cheerleader for years. She's been watching basketball players for years. She figured she could probably mimic what she's seen well enough to make one free throw. She made an attempt.

And she failed.

"Was that your jump shot?" Nathan Scott asked. Brianna's eyes widened as she saw her boyfriend standing under the hoop, and he had caught the ball that she missed. "Because if that was your jump shot, I can't date you anymore." He teased, and they both laughed. "My mom said you'd be here. Something about a grade?" He asked.

"Yeah. You cannot be here right now." Brianna said.

"Why not?" Nathan asked.

"Because I look stupid," Brianna said.

"Bree, you realize I've seen you cheer, right?" Nathan teased. Brianna placed her hands on her hips and gave him a look. "I'm kidding, Bree! I'm kidding." Nathan said, and Brianna rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Nathan. This is embarrassing! I want you to think I'm... not embarrassing. I'm an all-A student, I'm a cheerleader, and I'm a captain. I'm dating the star basketball player. I have an image to uphold." Brianna said, and Nathan shook his head.

"You don't embarrass me, Brianna. You never could." Nathan said. Brianna smiled a little as Nathan passed the ball back to her.

"Oh yeah? Okay." She said. She threw up another shot, and it airballed and went back to Nathan.

"I take that back." He teased, and Brianna frowned.

"It's no use. I can't do it." She said as she shook her head. Nathan frowned as he realized how upset Brianna actually was about this. He knew she was always receptive to her teasing, but he could see the thought of not passing a class was really stressing her out. With the basketball in hand, Nathan walked over to her.

"Hey, Bree. Yes, you can. Alright... Square your shoulders to the basket, and you've got to bring the ball upright past your nose like this, okay?" Nathan said as he demonstrated to her what he meant. "Bend your knees a little. Relax your hips, and just shoot." He said as he placed the ball in her hands. Brianna did what Nathan had instructed her to do and threw up the shot. It didn't go in, but it was close. It hit the rim and bounced off. "Okay, that wasn't perfect, but it also wasn't embarrassing. It was actually kind of sexy."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

The following day, Brianna was working another shift at the cafe. Her shift had just finished about 5 minutes ago, and she was sitting at the counter. She balled up a piece of paper and tossed it toward the trash can, following the instructions that Nathan had given her the previous day and she missed. Then she noticed Peyton approaching her, and she smiled. "Hey, girly, what's up?" Brianna asked.

"I was hoping you'd be here," Peyton said. Brianna frowned as she took in her best friend. Peyton looked upset; Brianna could see it in her eyes. She was curious to know what was going on. First, Lucas seemed like he needed to talk to her about something urgent, and now Peyton looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

She wanted to know what was going on with her best friends.

"What's wrong, P. Sawyer?" Brianna asked.

"Um, you know when you realized that you like Nathan and you knew that Lucas would flip out because obviously, I encouraged you... How did you deal with that?" Peyton asked.

"Why? What's going on?" Brianna asked.

"It's just friend-of-a-friend stuff," Peyton said, and Brianna raised an eyebrow. She knew all of Peyton's friends. Her, Brooke, and Lucas. So now she knew that something was going on, and she was being kept in the dark about something.

"Okay, well, I sort of asked myself... repeatedly... if this thing with Nathan is really worth losing my best friends over. But then you said you were okay with it because you were the main person I needed to be okay with it in order for me to even pursue it." Brianna said, and Peyton nodded.

"As long as you're happy, Bree, then so am I," Peyton said, and Brianna smiled.

"Look, if Lucas is really my best friend, then he should just be happy for me. It's not like he's the one dating Nathan. Are you sure you're okay? Because I know you, and I will figure it out." Brianna said, and Peyton laughed.

"Of course, and I'm good. Thanks, Bree." Peyton said, and Brianna smiled.

"Anytime."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

Brianna Davis was at her boyfriend Nathan Scott's house. It was early before school. They were outside in his driveway, and Brianna was practicing her shot on the hoop Nathan has. Today was the day of her PE class, and she had to make the free throw in order to pass. Brianna was still missing shots, and she was getting frustrated because she did not want something as silly as this to ruin her all-A reputation.

"What's this?" Dan Scott asked as he came up the driveway and saw Brianna take and miss her shot. Brianna shrank back closer to Nathan. Dan has always made her uncomfortable, but ever since she threw up on his lap and the information learned at his birthday dinner, she hated being in his presence even more.

"Hey, Dad. I'm just giving Brianna a few pointers." Nathan said.

"I'll bet," Dan said, and then he looked at her. "Brianna."

"Mr. Scott." She responded.

"So Nathan, I thought we'd grill up some steaks at the beach house for dinner. Just the two of us." Dan said. Brianna would've thought it was a nice offer if it was coming from anyone except Dan, but since his parents are in the middle of a separation and possible divorce, she figured that Dan wanted to get Nathan alone and fill his head with lies about his mother because he assumed that Deb was doing the same thing. Nathan cleared his throat, and he looked at Brianna momentarily before turning back to his father.

"That sounds great, Dad. But, um... Brianna and I already have plans tonight." He said.

"Okay," Dan responded. He didn't try to hide the disappointment on his face or in his tone.

"Some other time?" Nathan asked.

"Sure. I heard you were back on the team. I think that's a good move." Dan said. Brianna raised an eyebrow. How did Dan always know what was going on at their school? It was weird.

"Yeah," Nathan responded.

"How's my house?" Dan asked. He didn't wait for Nathan to answer; he walked past the pair and went inside. When he was gone, Brianna looked at Nathan.

"I'm sorry. You should go have dinner with your dad tonight if you want to." Brianna said, and Nathan shook his head.

"I don't want to go with my dad. I want to be with you. Now, knock down this shot like I know you can." Nathan said as he handed her the ball again. Brianna took a deep breath, lined herself up with the basket, bent her knees, and took the shot.

And she missed again.

"I'm never gonna get this," Brianna said, and Nathan shook his head.

"No, no. It's okay. This just calls for drastic measures, but you're going to be fine." Nathan said, and Brianna shook her head.

"No, Nathan, I'm not. I'm going to fail, and all the hard work I put into my classes to maintain all A's is going to be gone! All because I can't put a damn ball through a hoop." Brianna said. Nathan walked over to her and gently kissed her forehead.

"Try it, granny style."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

It worked. Brianna tried the granny-style method, as Nathan said, and she made her shot and passed PE. When she found Nathan between classes, she had a wide smile on her face as she ran up to him. "Hey, I owe you big time," Brianna said.

"Good, because I need a favor," Nathan said as he led her to the library. He explained the situation at hand with Whitey, and they were on the computer looking up information about him.

"Hey, did you know that Whitey's real name is Brian?" Brianna asked.

"Brian Durham?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Brianna responded.

"Who knew?" Nathan asked, and she laughed.

"Come here; this is great. This whole site's got his whole record before Tree Hill." Brianna said. Nathan sat down in the seat next to her to look at the information she had found. They were looking up his basketball records as a player and a coach before he started at Tree Hill.

"That's perfect," Nathan said.

"I'm gonna go grab something to drink. You want anything?" Brianna asked.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Nathan said. He kissed Brianna's cheek, and then she stood up and walked away to go find the vending machine. As she walked past the bookshelves to leave the library, she stopped when she caught sight of something. She saw Lucas kissing someone, and her eyes widened when she saw he was not kissing her sister.

He was kissing Peyton.

Brianna was appalled, and now Peyton's "friend of a friend" excuse made sense, and it made sense why both she and Lucas seemed to be acting weird. They were sneaking around with each other behind Brooke's back. Now she was furious. She couldn't believe that they would do this to her sister. Lucas as her boyfriend, and Peyton as her best friend, but especially Peyton because Peyton has been in her life longer than Lucas has. Brianna shook her head as she walked away, and she went back over to Nathan.

"Hey, I thought you went to get a drink," Nathan said, and Brianna shook her head.

"I'm not thirsty anymore."

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

After school, Brianna went to Lucas' house. When she walked inside his room from his backdoor, she noticed that Haley was there, and she felt bad that Haley was about to witness a fight between her two best friends, but she couldn't let Lucas get away with what she saw. She wanted the truth, and she wanted the truth immediately. She didn't tell Nathan about what she found out, and she avoided Lucas and Peyton the rest of the day. She also didn't tell Brooke; she didn't know how. How could she break her sister's heart like that? She knew Lucas needed to tell her. If he had the audacity to cheat on her, then he needed to be man enough to own up to it.

"Hey, we were just about to leave to pick up my mom," Lucas said.

"What's going on with you and Peyton?" Brianna asked, getting right to the point. She noticed Haley lowered her head, which meant Lucas already told her.

"Nothing." Lucas lied.

"So you guys haven't been together recently?" Brianna asked.

"No." He lied again. "Why? Did you talk to Peyton?" He asked.

"Why? Are you trying to figure out what we talked about so you can know what lies to tell me next?" Brianna asked. Lucas sighed; he knew Brianna caught him. He knew it was over. She knew.

"I wanted to tell you, Bree," Lucas said.

"Tell me what?" She asked.

"That we've been...-" Brianna cut him off.

"...-Yeah, I know you've been because I saw you kissing her, which is a real jackass move considering you have a girlfriend named, uh, my twin sister Brooke." Brianna snapped.

"Yeah... I'm gonna go." Haley said as she quickly stood up and left Lucas's room.

"Don't lecture me, Brianna. I know that." Lucas said.

"So, stop it," Brianna said.

"I can't. It's complicated." He said, and Brianna scoffed.

"It's not complicated, Lucas. It's simple... It's really simple. What you're doing is wrong, and you're hurting my sister, which means you're hurting me too! I told you, Lucas. I told you that if you even had a fraction of your old feelings for Peyton to leave my sister alone, and if you can't see how messed up your actions are, then I don't like the person you're becoming." Brianna snapped.

"Okay, the person I'm becoming? What about the person you're becoming?" Lucas asked.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Brianna asked.

"You know what it means, Brianna. Nathan says a few nice things to you to get back at me, and you fall for it." Lucas said, and Brianna rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh. If I hear that one more time. You know I did that for you." Brianna snapped.

"You did it for me?!" Lucas yelled.

"Yeah," Brianna responded.

"Okay, is that what you tell yourself every time you're kissing him? That you're doing it for me? You're the one that's lying. Alright, if you're looking for betrayal, look to yourself." Lucas snapped, and Brianna laughed.

"You're seriously trying to gaslight me right now, Lucas? Seriously? You think me dating Nathan is on the same scale as "betrayal" as you cheating on my twin sister with her best friend. Last time I checked, you are not my boyfriend, and my relationship with Nathan has nothing to do with you being a cheating, manipulative asshole. Try to flip this on me all you want, but it doesn't change what you did, Lucas Eugene Scott, and you know it! As a matter of fact, the next time you see me, don't bother talking to me, and stay the hell away from Brooke." Brianna snapped as she walked to the door.

Lucas was taken aback. Brianna had never called him that many names before, especially not manipulative, but he knew she was right. He was trying to throw the blame on her to absolve himself of his own actions because he knew he was in the wrong.

"Fine!"

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

When Brianna got back home, she immediately called Nathan. Brooke wasn't there, and she needed to vent about her fight with Lucas, and she couldn't vent about it to Brooke or Peyton since they were the reason they fought. "What's wrong?" Nathan asked as they were lying in Brianna's bed, and he had his arms wrapped around her.

"I got into a fight with Lucas," Brianna said.

"About me?" Nathan asked.

"No, not this time. Um... just the way he's been acting, he's really disappointing me." Brianna said, and then Nathan laughed. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing, it's just... kind of ironic," Nathan said.

"What's ironic?" Brianna asked.

"Lucas being a jerk."

"How... How is that ironic?"

"Well, because that used to be my role, right? I mean, this whole thing started because I was just trying to mess with Lucas. It's just kind of weird, that's all." Nathan said without realizing what he said and who he said it to. Brianna's eyes widened, but she didn't move because she didn't want to tip Nathan off, but she was in shock.

He only started talking to her because he wanted to mess with Lucas. Their entire relationship was based on a lie? Brianna would hold out until Nathan went home to cry. Her best friend cheated on her sister, her boyfriend only started talking to her to mess with Lucas, and everything was so messed up, but little did she know.

Everything was about to change.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

uh-oh. trouble with her best friend and boyfriend. poor bree.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.