Lucas and Nathan, also known by their portmanteau Lathan, are a relationship on One Tree Hill, portrayed respectively by Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty.
History[]
Background[]
Lucas Scott and Nathan Scott are half brothers: they share the same father, Dan Scott. He was the high school boyfriend of Lucas' mother, Karen Roe, but left her after she told him he was pregnant because he didn't want to give up on his dream of becoming a successful basketball player, although he recognized Lucas and gave him his last name. Then, Dan moved to college and met Nathan's mother, Deb Lee, and became her boyfriend, but soon she discovered to be pregnant too, so, when he got injured and was forced to give up on basketball anyway, he decided not to behave the same way he did with Karen, to be there for Deb and their child and asked her to marry him. However, the whole situation made him realize that he had made a huge mistake with Karen because he was still in love with her and she was the one for him, to the point he came back to Tree Hill on the evening of his rehearsal dinner with Deb and stayed all night in front of Karen’s house, undecided whether to come in and tell her how he felt about her, but in the end he was overwhelmed by his pride, leaving heartbroken and deciding to stay with Deb, raise Nathan and not to get involved in Lucas' life, despite doing an attempt to joint Lucas's custody, but Karen refused. In the meantime, Karen started to grow closer with Dan’s big brother, Keith, who was in love with her too and was there for her during the pregnancy and when she went into labor (Dan came back also for Lucas' birth, but didn't enter the hospital room precisely because Keith was already there), then she helped her to raise Lucas like he was his son and becoming a sort of foster-father figure for him.
Season 1[]
At the beginning of the series, despite being half brothers, the relationship between Lucas and Nathan is terrible because Dan always tried to put one against the other, putting so much pressure on Nathan to make him become the successful basketball player he couldn't have become himself and totally ignoring Lucas, who has been raised by Karen and Keith, who's become like a father figure to him. When Lucas decides to join the Ravens, Nathan, under Dan's influence, begins to do everything he could to make Lucas' life impossible, but as time passes, the two start to know each better and better (also with the help of Haley James, which whom the share close bonds from the beginning) and to realize that the only enemy is they father Dan, who's ruined both of their lives in different ways. At the end of the season, the have mended their relationship and have begun to consider them as friends and real brothers.
Season 2[]
Lucas and Nathan bond continues to grow stronger and stronger and the two become like best friends with Lucas helping Nathan as much as he can when Haley leaves him to go on tour and going to her begging her to come back home for Nathan, succeeding.
Season 3[]
Nathan's behavior towards Haley after she's come back from tour puts a strain in the relationship between him and Lucas because the latter thinks the former's being too rude with his best friend, so, to force the two get along, coach Whitey Durham nominates both fo them co-captains of the Ravens. Then, they finally make amends as Nathan gets back together with Haley and Lucas is his best man at their vow renewal. Also, they go through a hard time after the school shooting when Keith is murdered and the Ravens decide to dedicate the championship to him, engraving his initials on their game shirt.
Season 4[]
Lucas discovers Nathan is involved in illegal stuff with Daunte Jones and that all this thing could compromise their win at the State Championship, so he tries to make him realize he's doing bad, but after understanding the pressure Nathan's going through because he's going to be soon a father of his and Haley's first child, he supports him, but Nathan eventually decides to do the right thing and not to boycott their victory, but this leads to tragic consequences: Daunte tries to run over him, but instead Haley is the victim and Lucas has a heart attack while trying to rescue her. Fortunately, both of them survive and also Haley doesn't lose the baby. At the end of the season, Haley gives birth to her and Nathan's first-born calling him Lucas as his mid-name in honor of his uncle, who is also chosen by the couple to be his godfather, so he decides to go to a community college near Tree Hill with them to help them with the baby. Lucas and Nathan also discover that Dan is the murderer of Keith, so they both decide to definitely cut him out of their lives.
Missing years[]
Lucas and Nathan spend their college years together as Lucas has attended the same college of him and Haley to help them with Jamie and then the three of them come back to Tree Hill and remain a family. Lucas also helps Nathan when he's got injured.
Season 5[]
Nathan is becoming more and more insufferable because of his injury, compromising the peace of his family and Lucas tries to make him realize that he's doing bad and to recover quickly if he doesn't want to lose Haley and Jamie. Then, Haley kicks Nathan out of their home and he moves in with Lucas for some time before he and Haley make amends and he can come back to his home.
Season 6[]
Lucas and Nathan continue to support each other no matter what and the latter is overjoyed when the former gets finally engaged to Peyton and the two discover to be pregnant with their first child. Lucas, Nathan and Jamie continue to spend time together as a family while often involving also Haley and Peyton as they've basically become an extended family. At the end of the season, Nathan is Lucas' best man at his wedding with Peyton.
Trivia[]
- They share the same father, Dan Scott, but they have different mothers: Lucas is the son of Karen Roe and Nathan of Deb Lee.
- They also both have a problematic and unhealthy relationship with Dan, who ruined both of their lives in different ways. Ironically, it was their common hate for their father which made them get to know each other better and bond in the first place, starting the progression of their relationship from not getting along and being rivals to considering one another true brothers.
- They have the common passion for basketball and, in high school, they both were part of the local team, the Tree Hill Ravens. Then, Nathan became a professional player and even made it in the NBA, becoming part of the Charlotte Bobcats. Lucas had the same dream, but because of his heart disease, he had to give up on it and instead he became a writer, which was his second dream.
- They both share a special and everlasting bond with Haley James: in fact, she is Lucas’ best friend since childhood and the two have always had a brother/sister relationship, while Nathan fell in love with her during their junior year and then the two got married and had two children, Jamie and Lydia Scott.
- They both have also been romantically involved with the other two female leads of the series, Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis. In fact, Nathan, in high school, had an on-and-off relationship with Peyton before getting together with Haley and, after their ultimate break-up, the two formed a great friendship, while Lucas had always been in love with her and then she’s become his wife and the two have also had a daughter, Sawyer Scott. As for Brooke, Nathan had a one night stand with her while still in his on-again, off-again relationship with Peyton and then they’ve always remained good friends, while Lucas dated her for some months between their junior and senior year in the context of the love triangle which involved the two of them and Peyton, but eventually they broke up for good and remained friends from then on, understanding they were not the right person for each and had never really been in love with one another (in fact, Lucas’ one true love had and would have always been Peyton).
Brooke and Haley • Brooke and Lucas • Brooke and Nathan • Brooke and Peyton • Brooke, Peyton and Haley • Lucas and Haley • Lucas and Nathan • Nathan and Peyton • Peyton and Haley