Peyton, Brooke, Claudia and Haley were all sitting in Brooke and Claudia's apartment. Last night Lucas walked in to find Brooke and Chris in bed together. Brooke was in tears.

"Chris Keller?!" Haley shrieked and Brooke nodded her head. Claudia was feeling a mixture of hate and sadness at that moment. 

"And Lucas actually saw?" Claudia asked and Brooke nodded again. 

"Whoa, Chris Keller, Chris Keller?" Peyton asked confused and that broke Brooke.

"Stop saying his name!" Brooke shouted as she sat in between alcohol and tissues. Peyton threw her head back in defeat. 

"I don't understand what happened – when Nathan and I left, you were like, pushing him out the door." Claudia explained and Brooke faced all the girls.

"I know, I know, I don't know. We were... we were drinking and I was feeling really lonely and I was really upset," Brooke explained before she took a little pause, "my shirt made his pants feel tight." She added and both Peyton and Haley looked away in disgust."Oh god, I told you guys, I was-I was drinking but he said a lot of other things and..." Brooke started to explained again and Claudia gave her a sympathetic look. "Claudia, don't look at me like that! You know how charming he can be!" Brooke exclaimed, Claudia gave her a look. In a strange act of civility, Peyton did not say anything. She just smiled tightly.

"Hey, he didn't, um,... " Claudia began to say before she laughed forcefully. "He didn't... sing to you, did he?" Claudia asked stuttering awkwardly, Haley and Peyton eyes both widened. Claudia's smile fell at Brooke's distressed face."

Oh my god, you guys, I'm a groupie!" Brooke cried.

"OK, have you talked to Lucas?" Haley asked sympathetically, Claudia felt very awkward. She had fallen into Chris's trap just like Brooke.

"He won't answer my calls... and, I mean, I'm not gonna leave a pathetic apology on his answering machine!" Brooke shrieked and Claudia looked away- she did that to Nathan, multiple times. Brooke realised her slip-up and turned to her. "I'm sorry." Brooke said sympathetically and Claudia nodded her head.

"So am I." Claudia replied looking at her feet, covered in toe rings.

"Sorry." Brooke said again and Claudia shook her head, forgiving her. "Lucas is never gonna talk to me again." Brooke cried and there was a knock on the door, Brooke looked up. expectantly. She rushed to the door and opened it. Chris stood there smirking, holding donuts.  

"Chris Keller always springs for breakfast." Chris smirked as he referred to himself in first person. Brooke scowled at him as the rest of the girls rushed to the door. "Oh, you've company." Chris said awkwardly as he looked down at the donuts. "Well, I guess we'll have to share." He finished smiling as Brooke scoffed. She grabbed the donuts and Claudia angrily slammed the door in his face. 

___

Nathan walked up to Claudia in her uniform, she had decorated his locker. She saw Nathan and stepped back. 

"Haircut?" Claudia asked smirking and Nathan nodded his head.

"Me and the team did it." Nathan replied and Claudia was fighting the urge not to correct him but her face was getting all screwed up. "What?" Nathan laughed and Claudia took a deep breath.

"The team and I." She replied and Nathan laughed.

"You just can't help yourself." Nathan stated and Claudia shook her head.

"It's a curse." She giggled before she pointed to the locker. "desperate think?" She asked smiling and Nathan spared the locker a glance.  

"I think it's still weird that you're a cheerleader." Nathan replied and Claudia laughed. He touched the plant that Claudia had stuck around a basketball hoop. "Purple flowers, huh?" Nathan asked rhetorically.

"Hmmm." Claudia nodded as she bit her lip smiling.

"It looks great, Claudia." Nathan complimented and Claudia pointed to his tie.

"and so do you." She smirked and Nathan looked down at his shirt and tie.

"Yeah, Whitey's new rules. Ties on game day, run till you puke." Nathan explained and Claudia  nodded her head. 

"Well I am not complaining. It's really hot." She whispered flirtatiously as she grabbed a hold of his tie and pulled him a little closer to her, most people would call that desperate but she just called it having a little fun. Nathan smiled down at her, she quickly pulled back. "Alright, I'm gonna take off. I know you have to focus on the game but this was just, uh," Claudia smiled before she pointed to the decorated locker,  "mandatory." She laughed she began to walk away but then she turned to him. "I was going to go on a strike because I thought it was a little sexist but I decided to act normal for once." She laughed and Nathan joined in.

"Thanks for the elephant." Nathan said pointing to the elephant she drew for them. Nathan knew how much she loved elephants and especially the Aztec ones. 

"They bring good luck." Claudia replied smiling, she could see that Nathan was nervous. "You're gonna do great tonight." She continued truthfully and Nathan nodded unconvincingly.

"We'll see." Nathan replied and Claudia slapped his arm before she was walked off. 

___

Claudia was sitting on a table outside of the school, she was writing a new song called 'You've got the Love'. Peyton walked up to her table and sat on the bench.

"Hey?! You seen Brooke?" Peyton asked looking up at her. 

"Hmmm, just this morning. She was late." Claudia replied still writing down lyrics in her book.

"Guess late turned into never." Peyton muttered and Claudia looked up out of the book.

"What'd she skip?" Claudia asked distantly.

"Normally I wouldn't think twice about it but it's the first game day of the season. She lives for this." Peyton explained, as she looked around to see if she could spot Brooke. 

"Has she talked to Lucas yet?" Claudia asked as she went back to writing.

"No, but we have to figure out a way to make her." Peyton answered and Claudia looked up eyebrows raised.

"We? You want my help now?" Claudia asked confuse.

"Why so surprised? You are the resident expert on making things better after royally screwing them up." Peyton smirked Claudia closed her book with disgust. 

"Nope I am done." Claudia exclaimed as she stood up and started to walk away, Peyton ran after her.

"Where are you going?!" Peyton shouted after her confused and Claudia turned around as she pointed at Peyton.

"Peyton you can not say that to me." Claudia shouted and Peyton raised her eyebrows challengingly. "You know nothing so stop acting like I am bad guy here, if I am not correct you did a lot more with Lucas when he was with Brooke then what I did with Chris." Claudia replied smirking.

"That was a joke." Peyton replied unconvincingly and Claudia scoffed- she didn't believe Peyton for a second. "Any ideas?" Peyton asked Claudia sighed as she thought to herself. 

"Yeah, there might be one thing." Claudia replied and Peyton looked interested. 

___

Brooke sat at the counter as she ate toffee cake. There was a knock on the door and Haley, Peyton and Claudia entered all dressed in the cheerleader outfits. They stopped when they saw what Brooke was doing.

"It's gonna be OK, just... just step away from the cake." Peyton stated semi-seriously and Haley laughed.  

"You have too much to live for." Claudia added amused.

"Like what?" Brooke asked with a mouthful of cake..

"We missed you at school today." Haley said sympathetically as Peyton sat opposite her best friend. 

"Couldn't handle it." Brooke muttered before she looked at her three friends. "You guys, how am I gonna face Lucas if I can't even face the locker he decorated for me?" Brooke cried.

"Oh, just tell him how you really feel, Brooke! Nobody in this town deals with their problems head-on." Peyton exclaimed.

"And why would he care?" Brooke asked with a raised brow.

"Because he cares about you, Brooke." Haley replied seriously.

"But all he ever hears about is being non-exclusive and all he ever sees is boys on your wall and in your bed and that's not how you spent your summer, Brooke." Claudia extended smiling kindly, everyone knew she was right- including Brooke.

"The real way you spent it is locked away under your bed." Haley stated and Brooke looked at her briefly. 

"In the letters you wrote to Lucas." Peyton added and Brooke was shocked. She turned to face Claudia.

"You told them about my letters?" She asked and Claudia stayed quiet. 

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Peyton replied.

"I didn't tell her," Brooke exclaimed before she pointed to Claudia, "she Winona Ryder'ed them out from under the bed." Brooke finishes she glared at Claudia. 

"OK, alright, not the point. The point is, you need to stop hiding. Just... talk to Lucas." Peyton stated and Brooke scowled, she took some cream off the cake and licked her finger. 

___

Chris was sat in the studio. The door opened and Claudia walked in, in her cheerleading uniform. She was not happy.

"Well, well." Chris smirked as he saw her. He stood up. 

"Shut up!" Claudia warned as she picked up her bag and walked to the door. "I can't believe you were with Brooke." She exclaimed as she turned to face him. She was angry, like really angry.

"Are you jealous?" Chris asked and Claudia gave him a you-better-shut-up look. "I swear, I thought about you the whole time, Claudia." Chris stated tauntingly. Peyton stopped as she heard what Chris just said. She walked to the door. 

"I am going to throw up!" Claudia exclaimed as she fake gagged. "You're a jerk, Chris!" She shouted.

"Careful, that's what Brooke said right before we hooked up." Brooke smirked and Claudia glared at him. Peyton walked into the room and got between Claudia and Chris. "Hey, what's up, blondie?" Chris smirked and Peyton smiled misleading before she slapped him hard. Chris' head snapped back. "Oh! Hmm." Chris groaned and Claudia gaped Peyton, impressed. They both turned around and walked to the door. They both looked back once, simultaneously. They glared before they walked away. Chris looked away, rubbing his cheek

___

Claudia and Peyton were sitting in Peyton's car. They were driving to the Raven's first game.

"Thanks for picking me up." Claudia smiled as she looked out of the front window.

"Yeah, no problem. You needed a ride, I got to slap Chris; win-win." Peyton replied and Claudia laughed.

"I can't believe you did that." Claudia said amused and Peyton smiled. "Though, sometimes I feel like you wanna slap me." Claudia muttered looking straight ahead. Peyton looked at Claudia for a second.

"Look, I know I've been a bitch." Peyton sighed and Claudia shook her head.

"You haven't been that bad. You were just looking out for Nathan." Claudia lied, Peyton was a bitch. Claudia just couldn't tell her that.

"Please, Brooke's been calling me... Peyton Marie Sawyer." Peyton grinned and Claudia looked at her confused. "PMS." Peyton elaborated.

"Oh!" Claudia laughed as she got it.

"Yeah. I'm just,... I'm so tired of everyone leaving. You know, they all have really great reasons but it still hurts. So I guess I've been taking out all my anger on you coz... you're the only one who's come back!" Peyton explained before she turned to face Claudia grinning, Claudia smiled at her. "Welcome home." Peyton smiled genuinely.

"Thanks." Claudia replied gratefully. 

___

The Ravens weren't playing their best for their first game. Claudia, throughout the entire first half, couldn't stop looking at Nathan.

"Scott having a little bit of trouble. He's not looking too good right now." Mouth commentated and Claudia was watching the game with her heart in her mouth. She was freaking out over Lucas. Lucas was playing terribly due to his medication and he missed another basket. The scoreboard read forty-three to twenty three. The Ravens were trailing. 

Lucas squinted at Chris, who was chatting to some girls ad eating popcorn. Lucas ran between Chris and Nathan- who was holding the ball.

"I'm open, Nathan, ball!" Lucas shouted as he held his hands out. Nathan spared Lucas a glance before he turned away. He reconsiders and then turned back to Lucas. "BALL!" Lucas shouted determined, Nathan threw the ball. Lucas stepped aside and it knocked Chris on the head. He groaned and fell backwards off his seat.

"Go Lucas!" Claudia shouted grinning and Lucas smirked at her and Haley- who were clapping their hands. Nathan laughed impressed. Whitey threw his board on the floor angrily. Lucas turned to look at Chris before slowly turning back to face Nathan. A huge grin was plastered on both their faces.

"That's the best pit you've made all night." Nathan smirked and Lucas walked back onto the court. Whitey glared at  both of them. The  torturous game was finally over as the buzzer sounded. The score stood as Ravens- thirty nine; guest- fifty nine. 

"Well, you can forget that undefeated season, folks; the Ravens have lost their first game." Mouth commentated and Claudia looked at the basketball players sympathetically before her and Haley walked into the girls locker room. 

___

Claudia leaned against the wall next to the door, waiting for Nathan. She had to see him. It opened and Nathan walked out. She turned around to face him. He looked down at her.

"Hey. You did a good job tonight." Claudia said truthfully.

"What game were you watching?" Nathan asked jokingly and Claudia laughed. 

"The game where you had the entire team guarding you and you still made, like, thirty points." Claudia replied, she knew nothing about basketball but she wanted to make him feel special.

"Sixteen, Claude." Nathan laughed. "The whole team only had thirty-nine." He added and Claudia still thought it was impressive. Despite her growing up on the river court all she knew was you aim for the hoop and hope for the best.

"Well, it's almost half. Plus, I gave you more coz your shots were really hard. That should totally be a rule!" Claudia laughed jokingly. 

"It doesn't work that way." Nathan replied and Claudia shook her head.

"Well they should make it a rule, someone should petition whatever basketball people deal with the rules, or something." Claudia laughed awkwardly and Nathan was still looking at her.

"Thank you." Nathan stated sincerely and Claudia blushed as she looked down at the ground. "Did you wait out here for me?" Nathan asked and Claudia looked up at him biting her lip.

"Yeah. I mean I had to make sure you were okay, it would be wrong if I didn't." Claudia explained and Nathan didn't respond. "Nate, are you okay?" Claudia asked sincerely.

"Not really, but, uh,... I do this thing when I play like crap... where I... walk home alone and try to let go of it all on the way." Nathan explained and Claudia nodded her head.

"OK. Call me later if you wanna... talk or..." Claudia dragged on and Nathan nodded his head. Claudia laughed before she walked off. About five seconds her phone began to rang. She stopped and pulled it out. She flipped it opened to see that it was in fact Nathan calling her. She smiled and turned around to see that Nathan also had stopped and had his phone to his ear. Claudia showed him the phone and they both shut their own. Claudia laughed as she walked up to him smiling. 

"I have something to give you." Nathan said as they walked. Claudia smiled up at him.

"I have something to give you too." Claudia replied.

"You first." Nathan stated and Claudia nodded her head as she opened up her bag. She pulled out a plain back note book.

"So when I was on tour my mum told me to write letters to you, so I felt like you were there every step of the way." Claudia explained and Nathan looked down at her expressionless. "I was going to send one off at every state I went too but then I thought no. So I decided to write a diary so people can read my experience, all of its the truth." She continued before she smirked up at him. "You are just going to have to trust me." She smirked as she held the diary out for Nathan.

"Why do you want me to have it?" Nathan asked as he held onto it himself.

"So you can see how much you mean to me and how much I wanted you on that tour with me. I know I told you that night that I thought we went to quickly into marriage and I was wrong. I was trying to figure out what I wanted from us and the music. It was stupid." Claudia explained truthfully and Nathan turned away and looked straight ahead. "But anyways, take it. You don't have to read it." Claudia laughed awkwardly.

"Thank you." Nathan replied sincerely and Claudia nodded her head.

"So what did you have to give me?" Claudia grinned like a five year old.

"Your song." Nathan stated as he took it out of his back pocket. "It was really good by the way. The lyrics I mean." Nathan stated and Claudia looked down smiling.

"Thanks." She replied as she looked up at him before taking her song back. "Chris totally deserved a ball in his face, I mean he deserves a lot more but that was so cool." Claudia laughed and Nathan joined in. It was like they were back to normal.