The final season of One Tree Hill is going to be an intense one for all of our favorite characters, but it sounds like Nathan (James Lafferty) is going to have a particularly rough go of things. And since we’ve all heard the rumors about his mysterious disappearance from Tree Hill, HollywoodLife.com couldn’t help but ask him for more details.

“Nathan gets into a situation where he’s powerless to control his fate, which is not something he’s used to dealing with,” James tells us. “It’s probably his biggest test yet.”

But before he makes his temporary exit from Tree Hill, Nathan will have dear old daddy Dan (Paul Johansson) to deal with, which is another storyline James promises gets… tricky.

“Things escalate between Dan and Nathan, but in a way the audience might not anticipate,” adding that there will be closure for their father-son relationship, “but I can’t say whether it will be one of love or hate.”

I know part of Nathan’s drama includes him disappearing for a while. Will that be connected to anything we’ve seen already in the series?

“I can say it’s pretty new stuff. Nathan gets immersed in a world he’s not that familiar with and gets himself into a bad situation. There aren’t any skeletons coming out of the closet to haunt him. It’s a new curveball for him to deal with.”

Even though you’re M.I.A. for part of the season, will we still get quality Nathan/Haley scenes?

“I shot eight episodes of the 13 episodes, but they’re scattered throughout the 13. So yes, his presence will be felt pretty constantly.”

What’s it like, for the first time, being done with an entire season before it airs?

“It’s going to be interesting to be able to sit back and watch the work that’s been done. We’re all going to enjoy it.”

If you could steal one thing from the set, what would it be?

“From a materialistic standpoint, I’d want to take Nathan’s Range Rover. That thing’s bad ass. But for sentimental purposes, the best things I got to keep were a couple of the Ravens jerseys. I have them mounted. Those are going to be the things I look back on most fondly.”

Wait, you mounted them? You won’t put one on and play basketball in your driveway?

“Maybe alone, when I want to relive the glory days.”

Speaking of the glory days, do you have a favorite storyline from the past nine seasons?

“I think the most fun I’ve ever had in my life was the SlamBall arc on the show. It was something different and out of left field, but we had so much fun. It was the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done. It was a huge challenge to gain the skill set, but I feel like I got pretty good at it. I’ve never had more fun doing anything than playing on the slamball court. I’ll have those memories forever.”