Episode 1.09 With Arms Outstretched

Posted on November 18th, 2003 by Amy

Overview:

After fighting with his father and Haley, Nathan succumbs to the pressure he is feeling and takes amphetamines to help his game. However, he isn’t prepared for the destruction the drugs do to both his body and his family. Meanwhile, Peyton goes to Lucas to rekindle their relationship, but when she arrives at his house, she catches him with Brooke.

Recap:

Peyton walks down the hall of Tree Hill High to find Lucas at his locker. She approaches him to make sure he is ok with them “just being friends”. He says he is and that he “wasn’t ready for all that Peyton Sawyer girlfriend drama anyways”. Then he tells her to say hi to Brooke for him. As he leaves, Peyton looks a little upset.

Nathan walks up behind Haley and pulls her by the arm into a side oom, out of the hall. He kisses her. She says they can’t do that. Nathan tells her he’ll “kiss her later”.

Whitey is giving a speech to the team after practice. He tells them that if they lose to Cove City on Friday, then the sun will not rise the next day. He tells them they can be the first Tree Hill team to finish the season undefeated.

Lucas finds Brooke in the hall and gives her a book. She says that she’ll read the book if he does something “fun” for her.

Dan comes into Karen’s Cafe and finds Deb struggling to get the coffee machine to work. He orders a cup of coffee, which he tells her is kind of awful. While they are talking, Lucas walks in and immediately leaves when he sees Dan.

Dan and Nathan are eating “dinner” at home… it’s takeout. They talk about how weird it is having Deb helping Karen. They argue over whether Nathan will be able to break Dan’s scoring record against Cove City. Deb comes home and she and Dan argue.
Nathan goes to his room and calls Tim. He asks if his brother is still dealing. Nathan wants to buy some “performance enhancers” so he can stay on the court for the whole game and break Dan’s record.

Lucas and Keith eat dinner at a pizza parlor. Keith asks if Lucas is going to avoid the Cafe until Karen comes home. Keith compliments Deb for having the guts to help out with the Cafè, while Karen is away. Brooke interrupts and tells Lucas that she only has three more chapters and then he’s all hers. Keith smiles and asks Lucas what that was all about.

The next day at school, Nathan walks into the locker room where Tim gives him the steroids. He takes one and heads in the gym for practice. Nathan is going extra hard and fouls a teammate. Whitey calls the foul and they get in a shouting match. Whitey tells Nathan to leave the gym.
Haley finds Nathan at his locker and asks if he is fine. She tells him he’s shaking. He tells her it’s just because they have a big game coming up and he had a bad day yesterday. He says he’ll see her tonight for tutoring. When she leaves, he discreetly pops another pill.

Whitey goes to Dan’s dealership to talk to him about Nathan’s behavior. They argue about their coaching and parenting . Meanwhile, Lucas and Nathan are in the gym, lifting weights and talking about the game. Nathan is very edgy and mean. Lucas can tell he’s acting weird. Even weirder than usually.

Brooke finds Lucas outside and tells him that she has just finished the book and they have plans tonight. They go to a bar where they drink beers and play pool. Brooke beats Lucas and tells him something about her he didn’t know. The two of them are having fun. Brooke tells him that “this isn’t the thing you have to do for me. It’s just drinks before the thing”.

Nathan and Haley are in her bedroom. Studying. They start to kiss on her bed. He gets really aggressive and tries to take her shirt off. She tells him to leave.

Peyton is in her room, drawing a picture of how she and Lucas can’t be together. She calls Lucas’s cell. He doesn’t pick up since he’s at the bar with Brooke. Lucas and Brooke are a little drunk and she asks him what he thinks about tattoos. She takes him in a back hallway, pulls down the front of her pants and shows him her tattoo. He tells her that he thinks it is “very, very sexy”. Brooke leans in and they make out.
Lucas returns home to a dark house. He walks into the kitchen to find Keith. Lucas tells him he was drinking and Keith tells him how worried he was. He says they’ll deal with it in the morning.
In the morning, Nathan walks into his kitchen and Dan continues to taunt him, insisting he won’t break his scoring record. At Lucas’, Keith sees Lucas’ right arm. Last night, Lucas got a tattoo. “It’s an ancient symbol for fun”. Keith is very unhappy that he scarred his body for life, while Karen had trusted him to take care of Lucas. Keith tells him that he is grounded.

Haley and Lucas are at school. He tells him about how he got drunk and made out with Brooke. She laughs, and he tells her that Brooke is different from what people think. She asks about Peyton: he says that she just wants to be friends.

Brooke finds Peyton at a table and tells her about how she went out with Lucas. She says that they kissed and Peyton looks kind of shocked and disappointed.

Deb meets Dan in a rundown building. Dan tells her that they can make her own diner there. She says she doesn’t want her own, she just wants to help Karen.

At the tutoring center, Peyton and Haley are talking. Peyton asks how are things with Haley and Nathan. Haley vents about how she isn’t ready to have sex and wants to wait. Peyton asks if Lucas told her about what happened with them. It’s obvious she is still interested in him, but she’s not worried because “Brooke’s not exactly the dating kind”.

Back at the house, Keith gives Lucas tape to cover his tattoo for the game. He looks at the tattoo and sees that it’s bleeding. He gets concerned and tells Lucas that he has to “worry once for myself, and once for your mother”.

Nathan is in his room doing pull-ups when Dan comes in. Dan tells him that he would love for him to break his record, but he won’t. Deb comes in and says that she has to miss the game to be at the Cafè.
Nathan is walking to the gym for the game. Haley walks up behind him and gets his attention. He snaps at her and says “Not now!” She asks what his problem is, to which he responds “In 5 minutes, if I’m not perfect, they’re going to eat me alive. That’s my problem.” It is clear the pressure is getting to him.

Nathan is dominating the game: he has 38 points early in the fourth quarter. He is only 5 points from the record. He gets called for a charge, and he argues with the ref. Whitey tells him that he’ll take him out if he doesn’t calm down. Nathan gets the ball and is one basket from breaking the record. He passes out and crashes to the court.

At the hospital, Dan checks on Nathan and tells him what happened. The doctor comes in and tells him that he was severely dehydrated. He asks him about what supplements he has been taking. Dan gets mad at the doctor for interrogating Nathan. The doctor pulls Dan aside and tells him that the tests show that he was taking some sort of amphetamine. Dan says he’ll sue if they label Nathan an addict.
Haley goes to the Cafè to take over so Deb can go visit Nathan. She didn’t even know anything happened. She goes to the hospital and finds Dan, but Nathan isn’t in his bed anymore.
Keith finds Whitey in his office and tells him that Nathan is going to be fine. Whitey tells Keith that he realizes that he is part of the problem and that he’d rather forfeit the game than lose a kid. Keith tells him about what happened with Lucas. They share a drink.

Back at home, Deb argues with Dan about how he didn’t tell her what happened with Nathan. She had to find out 20 minutes later from Haley. She tells him that as long as he pushes Nathan as hard as he does, “he’ll always be in harms way”. Dan tells her that if she wasn’t helping Karen, she would have been there for Nate, like he was. Deb kicks him out of the house and insists that Nathan should stay with her. “Pack and bag and get out, or so help me God, I will stab you in your sleep.”

Haley is in her room leaving a message on Nathan’s voicemail. He shows up in her doorway. He gets emotional and talks about the mistakes he has made. He doesn’t want to do it anymore. He tells her that he needs her and nothing else matters.

Peyton shows up at Lucas’ house. She tells him she made a mistake by pushing him away. She tells him that she wants him. Just then, Brooke walks in, “Hey superstar, you ready to score?”

Closing montage. Dan leaves the house while Deb is watching. Whitey closes up the gym and puts up a “Basketball cancelled until further notice” sign. Nathan asks Haley if he can stay with her for the night and she closes her bedroom door. Lucas, Brooke and Peyton stand in an awkward silence.

Originally aired: Tuesday November 18, 2003 on The CW Writer: Mark Schwahn
Director: Greg Prange
Show Stars: Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Eugene Scott), Barry Corbin (Coach Whitey Durham), Paul Johansson (Dan Scott), Craig Sheffer (Keith Scott), James Lafferty (Nathan Scott), Hilarie Burton (Peyton Sawyer), Sophia Bush (Brooke Davis), Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley James-Scott)
Recurring Role: Bryan Greenberg (Jake), Barbara Alyn Woods (Deb Scott)
Production Code: 177508