-Lucas laid on his bed thinking. In the last month he had lost two of the things that were most important to him, his uncle Keith and basketball. As much as he loved the sport, he just couldn't play anymore, he couldn't be selfish his mom had already been through enough. He thought about his uncle, it had all happened so fast, in one day everything had changed. The pain of losing Keith did not seem to get any lesser as time moved on, there was just this huge hole in his life now. He knew people were expecting more from him, he was suppose to talk about how he felt, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to. The worst part was, he felt horrible for hurting them, mostly Brooke. She had been by his side through all this, but he still couldn't bring himself to open up to her about this, something was stopping him and he couldn't figure out what, and he knew that it was hurting her, even if she wouldn't admit it.

-Precisely as this moment Brooke walked into his bedroom. "Hey boyfriend. I was thinking maybe we could go for a walk, it's a beautiful day outside."

-Lucas sighed, he didn't feel like going outside at all, he just wanted to stay in his room and ponder this huge mess his life had become. "Brooke, I don't know. I just want to be alone right now." He said doing his best not to hurt her feelings. Obviously it wasn't working because he could immediately see the pain in her eyes as he turned her down.

-"Fine, I'll leave you alone but know this Lucas. At some point you're going to have to let me in or this is never going to work. I'm trying to be supportive here, but I just don't know how long I can handle you shutting me out all the time. So why don't you do us a favour and figure out what's holding you back", she told him as she walked out of the room and close the door behind her.

-Lucas sighed, really things couldn't be any worse could they. He just kept messing things up, he was starting to think that it was in his genes. He sat there a couple more seconds before he realised that he should try to smooth things out with Brooke. He got up and went into his closet to grab his coat, and lucky as he was, he pulled too strongly and the box that was on the shelf fell down. He was about to just leave it and go find Brooke, when he saw the content of the box on the floor, it was his Peyton box.

-He sat on the floor and proceeded to put everything back in the box, the last thing he needed was for Brooke to come back and see all of this. She would ask questions that he wasn't sure he could answer them. He was about done when he realised that one item was missing. He looked around and finally spotted it, a transparent plastic bag with a piece of clothing inside. Lucas gently took it in his hands and looked at it. It was a piece of the shirt he was wearing that awful day, and it had blood on it, Peyton's blood. He thought back to this day, how he had finally convinced the hospital staff to let him keep the shirt, that is with the condition that Lucas wouldn't release it from the plastic bag it was in. He hadn't told anybody about that, he wanted to avoid questions.

-He hadn't really talked to Peyton much since that day, they both had a lot to deal with he guessed that could explain why, but inside him he knew it wasn't the real reason. They were both hiding, that was the reason, they were hidings from things that they couldn't control, mainly from what happened that day in the library.

-Lucas sat there contemplating that day and everything that had happened afterward when suddenly it hit him, he got his answer. He gently placed the plastic bag inside the box and darted out of his room, there was something he needed to do.

-As he sat behind the wheel in his car, he started to have doubts on what it meant and what he should do. "Haley, she'll know what to do." He told himself as he started the car and headed in the direction of Nathan and Haley's apartment.

-Lucas knocked persistently on the door, he really needed someone to advice him on all this. Finally the door opened and Lucas was face to face with Nathan.

-"Lucas, is everything okay?" His brother asked concern.

-"Yeah, I just, I need to talk to Hales. Is she here?" He asked nervously.

-"Yeah, want to come in, I'll go get her."

-"No, I just, I'm going to wait here." Lucas told Nathan.

-"Okay then." Nathan walked inside the apartment as Lucas sat on the step waiting for his best friend to enlightened him. Lucky for him, said best friend was sitting beside him within seconds.

-"Lucas, Nathan told me you wanted to talk." Haley started.

-"Yeah, I just need your advice on something."

-"Okay shoot", Haley told him.

-"I was just wondering, does it make me a bad person if a decide to do something that I think I need, but that will hurt someone I really care about?" Lucas asked Haley.

-"Lucas, why are you being so cryptic?" Haley had no idea what he was talking about.

-"Just answer me alright."

-"Hum, okay. I think that if you are not happy and that you think that you know what to do to change it. I think that you should do it. Not doing something you really want to do because you don't want people to get hurt usually end up with people getting hurt anyway. I think that if you are happy then people around you will eventually be happy too. Does this help?" Haley asked unsure. It was hard to advice him when he was giving her so little to go on.

-"Yeah, I think so. But doesn't that make me selfish?" He asked Haley.

-"Maybe, but I really think that there are times when you need to think about what is best for you, you need to put yourself first sometimes Luke." Haley tried to convince him.

-"I don't know. I don't want anybody to get hurt." He said sadly.

-"I know you don't Luke, but I also know that at the time you are the one who's hurt. If you think doing whatever it is you want to do will make you happy, then I think you should do it."

-"Okay, thanks for the advice. I'll think about it." He said as he got up and hugged Haley, he really needed to think about this, and the Rivercourt always had been his favourite place to think, which is why he really wanted to go there.

-He started toward his car and was about midway when Haley stopped him. "Hey Luke!" He turned around to look at her.

-"At some point you'll tell me what this is about right?"

-"Yeah sure. I just need to figure things out first." He told her as he walked to his car and got inside. He waved goodbye to Haley and headed to the Rivercourt.

-Lucas was laying down on the court looking at the sky, contemplating what to do. He stayed there for hours just thinking and then he finally took his decision. Haley was right, he needed to think about himself right now, he needed to follow his heart wherever it led him. He stood up and headed for his car, hoping that he was making the right decision.

-Lucas was at his house waiting for Brooke. He had called her right after he had gotten home telling her that he was finally ready to talk and asking her to stop by. He was nervously pacing in his room when she showed up, obviously still upset about their earlier encounter.

-"You wanted to talk?" She asked him with an even tone.

-"Yeah, but first of I want to apologize. I've been shutting you out lately and that was wrong, you deserve better." He said sincerely.

-"Yeah I do, so are you ready to finally let me in?" She asked him hopeful.

-"Yes, I am." He started.

-"Thank you."

-Lucas took a deep breath, he had officially reached the point of no return.

-"We can't be a couple anymore."