Haley makes Nathan agree to go to the prom even though his parents will be chaperons; Peyton pays Brooke's chosen dress for it; Lucas tells Felix he's taking Anna; Mouth comes alone 'on the prowl'. Lucas learns Dan is hiding his full recovery. Haley finally accepts to play with Chris in Peyton's club, but they run late, leaving Nathan dancing with his ma; when she finally arrives they are crowned king and queen of the ball but just then Nathan learns she worked with Chris even while he was in Charlotte, and ends up showing he gave up Highflyers for her. After Mouth tells her he, not Felix, took care of her while she was drunk, she's livid and tells Felix he'll never have her heart.

After Deb's confession to have slept with Keith, Karen shows her the door and later has a misunderstanding which makes her break up with Andy. Haley chickens out on her music career at the last minute, so Chris leaves alone. When she gets home, her older sister Taylor is there. Nathan hopes she won't remember she was his first sex partner at a party in the beach house. They become friends and he decides she can stay a few weeks. Jake is back, without Jenny, for a few days he spends mainly with Peyton. Lucas finds out how Jules' poverty drove her to break Keith's heart. Felix has a fight with Lucas for 'hurting Anna' -who later confesses to Lucas she's just lesbian but hoped to be bi. Karen and Andy ultimately make up.

Nathan is recovering and back home, but won't tell Lucas what drove him. Brooke pieced together a shredded invoice Lucas sneaked home, so she learns about his investigation for Dans car dealership scam, and Andy makes sense of it but feels Lucas should stop taking risks. Nathan was relieved to hear his hospital bills are all paid, when Dan bursts in; he refuses to move back home even during revalidation, but keeps annulment forms. The kids planned a benefit film night for Nathan's medical bills, and go on just for the fun; to their surprise he appreciates an accidental films switch showing car accidents. After talking to Peyton he wants to forgive his ma for fleeing into pills, as she begs in a letter, but understands his insurance wasn't paid, so he sees Dan who confirms he paid, the rent too, and ends up believing he could be on the road to becoming a bitter bastard like him if he makes the wrong choices; he even asks Lucas to back off his investigation and decides to return home; Haley got her annulment petition offered by Dan too. Andy shows Lucas the profits went largely in a college fund for him; he moves back to Karen when Nathan returns.