One Tree Hill: Lucas Scott

Lucas's wedding toast
Remember tonight for it is the beginning of always. A promise. A belief in each other and a possibility of love. A decision to ignore and rise simply about the past. A covenant that binds two souls together. A celebration of the chance taken and of what lies ahead. But two will always be stronger than one. Tonight is, more formally, promises made long go in the safety of our hearts.

[voiceover] You ever take a picture of yourself and see a stranger in the background. It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you. How many moments of other people's lives have you been in. Were we a part of someone's life when their dreams came true or were we there when their dreams died. Did we keep trying to get in it? As if we were somehow destined to be there or did the shot take us by surprise. And think, you could be a big part of someone else's life, and not ever know it.

You're destined for greatness and it starts tomorrow morning.

When all my dreams come true, the one I want next to me. It's you. It's you Peyton.

The darkness doesn't have any answers.

[voiceover] There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days.

[voiceover] As happens sometimes a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. And then the moment was gone.

[voiceover] Ida Scott Taylor once wrote: Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.

[voiceover] Joseph Conrad once wrote: Who knows what true happiness is? Not the conventional word, but the naked terror. To the lonely themselves, it wears a mask. The most miserable outcast hugs some memory. Or some illusion.

[voiceover] Sometimes when you look back at your life certain moments stand out: the day you graduated high school, your wedding day, the day you found out you were going to be a father. Most of the time they happen in that order. Most of the time.

Most of the time, love doesn't really need words.

[voiceover] Sometimes when you're young you think nothing can hurt you. It's like being invincible. Your whole life is ahead of you and you have big plans. Big Plans. To find your perfect match, the one who completes you. But as you get older you realize it's not always that easy. It's not until the end of your life that you realize how the plans you made where simply plans. Because at the end when you're looking back instead of forward you want to believe you made the most of what life gave you. You want to believe you're leaving something good behind. You want it all to have mattered.

[voiceover] Albert Camus once wrote "Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken." But I wonder if there's no breaking then there's no healing, and if there's no healing then there's no learning. And if there's no learning then there's no struggle. But struggle is a part of life. So must all hearts be broken?

My father abandoned my mother when she was pregnant with me. He left us to struggle on our own, even though he was a man of means. Growing up, I only had one person to look after me, Keith Scott. And this man killed him. His own brother, in cold blood at point-blank range. Next week, I'm getting married. Keith would have been my best man. But he's not gonna be there, just like he didn't see my state championship or see my first novel published. Dan took all that. And he did it with malice and premeditation. Dan is an educated man and if he is nothing, he's very persuasive. Do not let him fool you. He has a very dark and ugly heart. And he should never be allowed to walk the streets a free man.

[voiceover] Suddenly it was as if the roar of the crowd, the echo of the final buzzers, the cheers of my teammates were all sounding from 1,000 miles away, and what remained in that bizarre, muffled silence was only Peyton. The girl whose art, passion, and beauty had changed my life. In that moment, my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth - I was now and would always be in love with Peyton Sawyer.

[voiceover] Much as some of us fight it, our parents have a mystical hold over us, the power to affect our thoughts and emotions the way only they can. It's a bond that changes over time, but doesn't diminish, even if they're half a world away, or in another world entirely. It's a power we never fully understand. We're left only to wonder that when our time comes, what kind of hold will we have on our children?

MAYBE YOU SHOULD TELL THE TRUTH WHEN I HAVE A GUN POINTED AT YOUR HEAD!

[voiceover] Truth is still absolute. Believe that. Even when that truth is hard and cold, and more painful than you've ever imagined. And even when truth is more cruel than any lie.

[voiceover] Sometimes I wonder if anything's absolute anymore. Is There Still right and wrong? Good and bad? Truth and lies? Or is everything negotiable, left to interpretation, grey. Sometimes we're forced to bend the truth, transform it, cause we're faced with things that are not of our own making. And sometimes things simply catch up to us.

[voiceover] William Blake once wrote: "There are things that are known and things that are unknown. And in between, there are doors".

[voiceover] If you could go back and just change one thing about your life, would you? And if you did, would that change make your life better? Or would that change ultimately break your heart? Or break the heart of another? Would you choose an entirely different path? Or would you change just one thing? Just one moment. One moment that you've always wanted back.

I think everybody feels that way sometimes. You know like people don't see them for who they really are. It's not just you.

[voiceover] Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real when you woke up you didn't know what to believe? What would you do if what you thought was true wasn't, and what you thought wasn't true was. Would you retreat into your dreams with the hope of finding a more perfect reality? Sometimes life is stranger than a dream, and the only way to wake up is to face what lies are hidden in your soul. And you can only hope that in those moments of dark reflection, that you are not alone.

You mean when you didn't kiss me on the quad or when you said dreams are e-mails from ghosts.

[voiceover] Have you ever wondered what marks our time here? If one life can really make an impact on the world... or if the choices we make matter? I believe they do. And I believe that one man can change many lives. For better... or worse.

[voiceover] Regret comes in all shapes and sizes. Some are small, like when we do a bad thing, for a good reason. Some are bigger, like when we let down a friend. Some of us escape the pains of regret by making the right choice. Some of us have little time for regret, because we're looking forward to the future. Sometimes we have to fight to come to terms with the past. And sometimes we bury our regret, by promising to change our ways. But our biggest regrets are not for the things we did... but the things we didn't do. The things we didn't say that could save someone we care about. Especially when we can see the dark storm that's headed their way.

'Cause it's who I am - and you need to be who you are.

[voiceover] When life comes at you out of the darkness, who will you choose to face it with? Will they be wise? Will their love for you help them to lead you to the light, or will they lose their way in the darkness? Will they make noble choices, or will that person be someone untested, someone new? Life comes rushing at you from out of the darkness. And when it does, is there someone you can depend on when it does?

[voiceover] There comes a time when every life goes off course. In this desperate moment who will you be? Will you let down your defenses and find solace in someone unexpected? Will you reach out? Will you face your greatest fears bravely or move forward with faith? Or will you succumb to the darkness in your soul?

[voiceover] There comes a time when every life goes off course. In this desperate moment you must choose your direction. Will you fight to stay on the path while others tell you who you are? Or will you label yourself? Will you be honored by your choice? Or will you embrace your new path? Each morning you choose to move forward or to simply give up.

You told me to fight for you and I did. But, you never fought for me.

What leg were you shot in when you kissed Chris Keller?

[voiceover] Because it's only when you're tested that you truly discover who you are. And it's only when you're tested that you discover who you can be. The person that you want to be does exist, somewhere in the other side of hard work and faith, and belief and beyond the HEARTACHE and fear of what life has.

[voiceover] But once in a while people push on to something better. Something found just beyond the pain of going it alone and just beyond the bravery and courage it takes to let someone in. Or to give someone a second chance. Something beyond the quite persistence of a dream.

[voiceover] There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroad, afraid, confused, without a road map. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. Of course when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back.

voiceover] My name is Lucas Scott. I'm a senior at Tree Hill High School. I play basketball -- at least I used to. I have a girlfriend -- at least I used to. And I have a best friend. Tree Hill is just a place somewhere in the world. Maybe it's a lot like your world, maybe it's nothing like it. But if you look closer, you might see someone like you. Someone trying to find their way. Someone trying to find their place. Someone trying to find their self. Sometimes it seems like you are the only one in the world who's struggling, who's frustrated, or unsatisfied, or barely getting by. But that feeling's a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes. Someone to help us hear the music in the world, to remind us that it won't always be this way. That someone is out there. And that someone will find you.

[voiceover] Peyton Sawyer is a good friend. Brooke Davis is my girlfriend. At least, for now she is.

[voiceover] Things that take 14 minutes - boiling an ostrich egg, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. It also takes 14 minutes to get from the Melina bridge to Tree Hill hospital.

[voiceover] My name is Lucas Scott. I'm a senior at Tree Hill High School. Tree Hill is just a place somewhere in the world. Maybe it's a lot like your world. Maybe it's nothing like it. But if you look closer, you might see someone like you. Or someone like my best friend, Haley. If you're married, a senior in high school, and not sure if your husband is still alive, then I'd say your world is a lot like Haley's. Today was supposed to be the best day of her life. But it's amazing how things can change in the blink of an eye. Or, in this case, in 29 minutes.

I need you to trust me and believe me when I tell you that my heart is with you. Part of me feels like ever since we got back together you've been waiting, waiting to push me away.

[voiceover] Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred. How did it find us? Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us? That we now send our children out into the world like we send young men to war, hoping for their safe return but knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness. Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?

[voiceover] Most of our lives are a series of images, they pass us by like towns on a highway. But sometimes a moment stuns us as it happens and we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever.

Because, you kink your eyebrow when you're trying to be cute. Because you quote Camus even though I've never actually seen you read. Because you miss your parents, but you'll never admit that! And because I've given exactly two of these embarrassing speeches in my life, and they've both been with you. I mean, that's gotta mean something right?! And because we're both gonna get pneumonia, but if you need to hear why I love you, I can go on all night.

If you're always looking for reasons not to be with somebody, well you'll always find them, and I guess at some point you should let go and give your heart what it deserves.

[voiceover] H.L. Mencken wrote, "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands,hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."

[voiceover] Scott Taylor Idus once wrote: Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone. And do not trouble about the future for it is yet to come. Live in the present and make it so beautiful, that it will be worth remembering.

[voiceover] Robert Louis Stevenson once said, "You cannot run away from a weakness; you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?"

[voiceover] Blaise Pascal once said: "The heart has reasons that reason cannot know."

You know if I ever met the devil, I figured she be hot and holding a basketball.

[voiceover] Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
- Invictus, William Ernest Henley

[voiceover] Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, 'There is no privacy that cannot be penetrated. No secret can be kept in the civilized world. Society is a masked ball where everyone hides his real character, then reveals it by hiding.

[voiceover] Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: "All are architects of fate... so look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again."

[voiceover] Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: 'All are architects of fate... living in these walls of time.'

[voiceover] Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "Live each season as it passes. Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, but resign yourself to the influences of each."

[voiceover] Tennessee Williams once wrote: We all live in a house of fire. No fire department to call. No way out. Just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns down the house...with us trapped, locked in it.

[voiceover] Shaw was right. As we strain to gasp the things we desire the things we think will make our lives better: money, popularity, fame... we ignore what truly matters ... the simple things... like friendship, family, love. The things we probably already had.

[voiceover] And Hansel said to Gretel: Let us drop these bread crumbs so that together we can find our way home. Because losing our way would be the most cruel of things. This year I lost my way.

[voiceover] Stephen King once wrote: Time takes it all. Whether you want it to or not. Time takes it all, time bears it away, and in the end, there is only darkness. Sometimes we find others in that darkness. And sometimes we lose them there again.

[voiceover] Charles Bukowski once wrote: There will always be something to ruin our lives. It all depends on what or which finds us first. We are always ripe and ready to be taken.

[voiceover] Khalil Gibran once wrote: Your reason and your passion are the rudder and sails of your seafaring soul. If either be broken, you can but toss and drift or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining. And passion, unattended is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

[time capsule] My best friend, Haley, left town recently. And it's.. been hard. You know, until this year, it's... it's always been us against the world. We pretty much grew up together and.. now she's just gone. You know, I.. I understand the leaving part. Trust me, I just wish she woulda called me; before she left. I wish.. I coulda talked to her about it. I mean, not to change her mind.. or to tell her what to do, but.. just to say I love you... and I miss you. Just to say goodbye. My brother's been going through a tough time lately. I wish there was more I could do to help him. I mean, just getting along is kinda new to us. But I guess that's how brothers are. Better to each other and worse to each other than anybody else. I also wish I could make things easier for my mom. I mean, even though it's been a tough year for us, I want her to be happy more than anything. But that doesn't change the fact that I need to get closer to my father because if I can get closer to him, maybe I can find a way to beat him. Once and for all - set the people that I love free. I just hope I have the strength to tear him down for good.

[voiceover] Octavio Paz once wrote: Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.

[voiceover] Tennessee Williams once wrote: When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.

[voiceover] Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote: No man, for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.

[voiceover] Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.

[voiceover] Katherine Anne Porter once said: There seems to be a kind of order in the universe in the movement of the stars and in the turning of the earth and the changing of the seasons. But human life is almost pure chaos. Everyone takes his stance, asserts his own rights and feelings, mistaking the motives of others, and his own.

Yeah. You see, then a funny thing happened; Haley. She showed me that you can find the good in everybody, if you just give them a chance. The benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, people disappoint you. Sometimes they surprise you. But you never really get to know them ... until you listen for what's in their hearts and that's what Haley did with Nathan. That's what we should do for them. So for you skeptics out there, prepare to be surprised. So this is to my ... brother and my little sis in-law, and in love.

[voiceover] T.H. White said: Perhaps we all give the best of our hearts uncritically to those who hardly think about us in return.

[voiceover] Some people believe that ravens guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck while more than one raven together predicts trouble ahead.

[voiceover] What a frightening thing the human is, a mass of gauges and dials and registers, and we can read only a few and those perhaps not accurately.

[voiceover] As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. Then gradually time awakened again and moved sluggishly on.

Hey. So I saw Nathan in the shower. Yeah, no wonder you broke up with him.

Uh ... beware of crazy ladies who talk to dresses?

[voiceover] John Steinbeck once wrote "It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live for our death brings no pleasure on the world."

[voiceover] E.E. Cummings once wrote; To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists. It is real. It is possible. It is yours.

Your art matters. That's what got me here.

[voiceover] There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune but omitted, and the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat and we must take the current when it serves or lose the ventures before us. -Julius Caeser

You ever have something that you knew that you were better at than... almost anybody else?

Why are you a cheerleader? I mean, no offense or anything, but you're about the least cheery person I know. ... Come on, let me give you a ride. I'll let you insult me.

Is that the 'why do i hang out with these people?' issue, because you're on the cover of that, right?

No foul, basket counts. Besides, you won't score again.

And the way I see it, Skills would be a better father than Dan ever was.

It's funny, you know all these years we called him Skills, I always thought it had something to do with basketball.

Peyton, I hate you. I wish you'd never came back. You ruined my life.

Yeah. You ever wake up from a really good dream, and try to get back to sleep? Or you got the flu, and you promise yourself you will appreciate normal so much more, if you can just get back to it? That's the way I feel. I just want things to go back to the way they were.

[voice-over] Do not let your fire go out... spark by irreplaceable spark... in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish... in lonley frustration for the life you deserved... but never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists, it is real. It is possible. It is yours.
[Ayn Rand]

I didn't want to be like him and I was afraid that I'd become him if I played. In the gym, I felt like he had a piece of me. I never felt like that on the playground.

Don't live your life alone. Let us in.

Brooke, seeing you like this makes, "the sun go down in my heart."

[voiceover] William Shakespeare wrote; 'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. It is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom’.

The last time I gave a speech about Nathan and Haley was, well at their first reception. I remember saying, 'Prepare to be surprised.' Well, I have to say even I was surprised; because, you see they do something that's very rare to see in someone our age. Actually, it's very rare to see in anybody; they give their hearts to each other, unconditionally. And, that's what true love really is. It's not this fairytale life that never knows pain, but it's two souls facing it together and diminishing it with unconditional love. To Nathan and Haley Scott.

[voiceover] At this moment there are six billion, five hundred and two million, eight hundred and sixty seven thousand, one hundred and twenty people in the world, give or take a few and sometimes all you need is one. For better or for worse.

[voiceover] Dan Scott is many things: the mayor of Tree Hill, the once great height school basketball player and Nathan's father. He's also my father, but he never claimed me. Believe it or not, I got the better end of the deal. I was instead raised by my mom with the help of my Uncle Keith, until Keith's life was taken.

[Thinking] I guess I should've said something... anything... I mean, for a guy who wants to be a writer, it suddenly seemed like no words had ever been written. But when someone tells you that they somehow stopped missing you, you're pretty much screwed, no matter what you say.

But to have it halfway is harder than not having it at all.

My confession is that I’m sometimes selfish. I don’t always give back as much as I get.

Clearly a rookie, mom. Next time, try sneaking through the window.

Whatever you think... I really do care about you, Peyton.

Chapter three. Peyton Sawyer is destined for greatness. Actually she’s already great. Because Peyton has a thing called integrity. And nothing or no one is ever going to change that. I remember the first time I met her.