iris | one tree hill

0. before

Keith looked at his son, giving the boy a strong hug.

"You can accept if that's what you want. And I can deal with Dan, and I have damn sure you can take care of whatever Nathan tries." Keith gave the boy a kiss in the top of his head, while Ethan just let a small, relieved breath, then Keith continued. "And you're too good to not be seeing playing. Don't know where all this talent came. I was a disaster playing." Ethan gave his father a little punch in the arm, laughing.

"Don't sell yourself too short, old man." With that Ethan ran out, with Keith yelling his wasn't that old.

[....]

As the time passed, Ethan first game came up. And while they were in the arms up, he didn't see his father. Ethan understands that since wasn't a home game, there was the chance of Keith couldn't come. As he looked in the crowd, his gaze locked up with Dan Scott, the boy could see a smirk in his face.

When Ethan felt the ball hitting him in the arm, he saw Nathan looking at him.

"Wake up, Ethan! What are you even looking for?" Ethan could hear the mocking tone that Nathan uses. Then he felt Nathan in his side. "He didn't come, right?"

Ethan looked up at the boy, passing his hand in his face.

"Don't fucking start, Nathan. Not now." When Ethan said and begun to walk away, his could hear Nathan said murmuring.

"Wish my didn't show up."

When the game started, Ethan didn't have his mind in the right place. And with fifteen minutes of the game, he let the ball escape his hands and almost hitting one of the cheerleaders. As the boy get close and grabbed the ball. The blonde cheerleader said to the boy.

"Pretty hands, Scott!" The blonde said with a mocking tone, while Ethan looked the girl in the eyes.

"Pretty legs, pompons." The boy said smiling at the girl and got back at the game. But with ten more minutes, coach bench him.

When Ethan felt someone touching him in his back and looked to see. There was Dan Scott, making a gestured to him get out and go to the corridors. Ethan didn't know what in the earth, his uncle could want with him. Ethan and Nathan weren't friends, they were cordial for the sake of the game, and that was it. Ethan didn't know why he was going.

"What?" The boy asked without any patience in his body to deal with whatever this was. He was playing like crap; his father wasn't there. It was a shit show. Ethan expected anything, really. He expects Dan Scott to mockup of the way the boy was playing, to threaten him out of the team. What Ethan didn't expect was Dan Scott giving him advice.

Ethan came back, and Whithey asked if the boy put his mind back together because he need him out there. Ethan played like he never played before, the boy felt the need to show for all those strangers that he was good, to show his teammates that he did deserve the spot, to show Nathan that he didn't have a fucking reason to never mock his talent. And that was what he did.

When the game finished, he searched the crowd again and then someone stopped at his side.

"So, who are you searching up?" Ethan listened the same soft voice of before.

"Someone who clearly isn't here." Ethan said finally looking at the blonde girl. And he never checked the girl up and down, he got struck with her eyes. The soft tone of blue and green mix together, and wasn't really sparked, he thought.

Emma listened the boy said with such a harsh tone, but not with her. She didn't say anything, he was looking at her in a way that wasn't uncomfortable, however, she did feel like he was seeing all her sins and fears looking at her on that way. She took a few seconds to look at his eyes, they were in such a pretty shade, hell, she did find Ethan a pretty guy.

"Well, too bad for then. They did really miss an awesome come back that you did. Good game, Ethan." Emma said to the boy and began walkway, when Ethan realized he didn't even know the name of the girl. He did run after the girl inside of the gym.

"Hey, pompons. I didn't catch your name." Ethan asked in a low tone, closed to the girl.

"I liked the pompons nickname. Bye, Scott." The blonde girl smiled at him, gave him a pat on the arm and left.

While Emma left the boy out, Peyton and Brooke were laughing at the girl who came back giving small jumps.

"What did he ask you, that let him look out like a kicked puppy?" Peyton asked smiling at her sister.

"My name." The girls smiled, and Brooke proceed to tell the girl to go be naked in his backseat to congratulated him because of the game, Brooke said with was a really good welcome to the team system. Don't need to say that the girls really laugh at Brooke's ideas.