A/N: Here's a brief summary of what happened in the past. Everything from season 1 happened. That's where it ends. Lucas stayed in Charleston, and shortly after he moved away, during the summer after their junior year, Brooke moved away too. Then, during winter break of their senior year, Peyton also moved away. They were both pregnant and gave birth during their senior year, Peyton at the end, and Brooke in the middle, though they didn't tell anyone about being pregnant. Now, 14 years later, Peyton and Brooke move back to Tree Hill, and soon enough-next chapter-Lucas will move back too. I think that's all that y'all need to know for now. Here's the chapter:
Peyton pulled her Comet into the driveway and looked at the house she hadn't seen in nearly 15 years. She took a deep breath, still mildly surprised to find herself here. It had been a long time, too long, and she really hadn't expected to ever be here again, but she had promised herself to always do what was necessary for the teenager next to her, and right now she was relatively positive that the best thing for the blonde was to return to Tree Hill.
So, here she was, pulling into the driveway of the house she had lived in until she was 17. She had been surprised that it was for sale when she had started looking for houses in Tree Hill, but it was sort of perfect, that her angsty teenaged daughter was going to be living in the house that she had lived in growing up. Only in Tree Hill did these things happen, and so she had immediately bought the house.
With a sigh, she roused her daughter, and led her into the house, leaving the few suitcases that hadn't fit in the moving van in the car. She only grabbed the sleeping bags, and the overnight bags that carried their pajamas. It was late, and the moving van would arrive in the morning, so she decided that they could gather the rest of the stuff out of the Comet in the morning. "Come on, Aud, we're here," she said to the blonde who was still blinking groggily.
Audrey Elizabeth Sawyer blinked her blue eyes at her mother, finally realizing the car was stopped. When the two of them had set out on this journey, she had been almost anxious to see the house where her mother had grown up, even if she liked to pretend she was resentful to her mother for moving her out of the only home she'd ever known.
Right now, though, she was only partially conscious, so she couldn't do much more than get out of the car, sling her bag over her shoulder, and stumble her way into the house. She didn't really look around as she made her way to the bathroom when her mom told her where it was, and then she changed into pajamas and located her mother in an upstairs bedroom, where Peyton had laid her sleeping bag and pillow out for her.
Once Audrey had collapsed onto the floor, burrowing into the sleeping bag, and then falling back into unconsciousness, Peyton placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, slipping out of the room and heading for the bathroom to change into her own pajamas. She went into the room her dad used to have, because she had let her daugher have her old room, and laid out her own sleeping bag.
As she crawled into her sleeping bag, she thought about the town she was now in. She would have a lot to deal with tomorrow. After the movers got all of her stuff into the house, she would have to go enroll Audrey at Tree Hill High school. She was going to have to find out who else from her past was here, too, and deal with whatever that would bring. "Welcome home," she sighed to herself before allowing sleep to take over.
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Lucas rolled over and slapped at the damned alarm clock. He pushed himself out of bed and went to the bathroom. He had been having another dream about the only woman who made him regret his decision to move to Charleston all those years ago. He had heard she had made a life for herself, but he tried not to follow her successes too much. He had heard rumor that she was moving back to Tree Hill, though, with her teenaged daughter.
He couldn't help but think of her, though. She really had changed his life during their junior year, and he couldn't help but wonder how different things would be if he had stayed in Tree Hill, or if he had gone back when Keith had. There was no use in dwelling on those thoughts, though, because they were moot. He hadn't moved back. He had stayed in Charleston, and that was that.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen now, when they would be living so close to each other again. It had been a long time since they had lived just hours apart. Actually, it had been years since they had even lived in the same state. He wondered if she had followed his success as he had followed hers.
Not wanting to let his thoughts dwell on her for long, he turned his thoughts to his other loved ones that lived in Tree Hill, the same city she would be inhabiting with her daughter any day now. He thought about his mother, who was once again pregnant, and his little sister, who was 12, and happy to be becoming a big sister.
Keith and Karen hadn't planned on another child. Actually, they hadn't even planned on having Lily, but that had been another surprise when the couple had gotten together during Lucas's first year of college. The new little one was going to be Karen's last, she proclaimed, since she was only a few years away from fifty, but Lucas had a feeling they were actually glad to be pregnant, and hoping for a boy.
It made him happy that his mom and Keith were happily together. Karen had decided sometime during his senior year that she missed Keith too much to consider her feelings for him strictly platonic anymore, and once she had told him that, he had waited only until Lucas had finished high school and moved on to college before moving back to Tree Hill.
Lucas hadn't gone back, but he had visited occasionally during college, choosing to stay instead in Charleston. He stayed in contact with his mom and uncle mainly through email, and they had webcams. He didn't see much reason to go back, since Keith and Karen were happy anyway and he had formed a life in Charleston. After 15 years, though, he had to admit it still wasn't home.
After going to his practice, in which the players all expressed their feelings about losing him as a coach, Lucas stuck around to shoot hoops for a bit before leaving, driving the Mustang Keith and his mom had given him as a graduation present when he graduated from college. Dan had died in a fire that had destroyed his dealership while Lucas was still in high school, and Nathan had given Keith the dealership, once it was remodeled.
The loss of his father hadn't really affected Lucas. Actually, Lucas hadn't really lost anything. It had probably been more damaging to Nathan, but Lucas hadn't been close enough to help his brother through it. Haley had been, though, and that had been what Nathan had really needed. Lucas was actually surprised that the couple was still going strong, with three kids now. James Lucas Scott had been born their senior year, and they had had two more kids since then, though Lucas had to admit, he had yet to really interact with his nephews and neice.
For the three day weekend, Lucas was going to visit his parents in Tree Hill, and he'd stop by and hang out with his best friend and brother, too. He hadn't told her he was coming, but she would be happy to see him nonetheless, he was sure, because he knew he was anticipating seeing her. He did miss his best friend, even though he had made new friends in Charleston, Haley had always been the best friend he'd ever had.
The reason he was going to visit Tree Hill now was because he knew his mother only had a few months left to go during her pregnancy. To be honest, he was contemplating moving back, once she had the new baby, because he didn't want to miss on on his new siblings life, like he'd missed out on Lily's so much. He wanted to be a good older brother to this one, but he wasn't sure when he would make the move back.
Of course, he'd have to at least wait until the basketball season was over, but there were other reasons for waiting, too. He knew that she would be living in Tree Hill, and he didn't want it to seem like he was coming back for her. Part of him did wonder if he would be though, at least a part of him, because rumor had it, even though she had a 16 year old daughter, she wasn't married.
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Haley James-Scott stood on her front porch, watching impatiently as the blonde got out of the car and approached the house. She wanted to envelope the familiar figure in a hug as soon as she had seen the car parked in front of her house, but she had waited instead on her front porch, as her best friend came to her. She smiled widely as she was finally noticed and she finally got her hug.
With a grin, she pulled back and looked at the blonde she hadn't actually seen in years. His hair was long and shaggy and she knew he hadn't shaved in a while, but the look suited him. She didn't care if he was a scruffy version of himself, as long as he was here. "Lucas Scott, is that you? It's kind of hard to tell," she said jokingly.
Scoffing, Lucas lightly shoved his brunette best friend. She was right, though, and he knew that, so that stopped him from responding to her sarcasm. He instead pulled her into another hug. "It's me, Hales. Where are my nephews and neice?" he asked, and she led him into the house, calling for her family members as she did.
As soon as Nathan saw his brother, he froze, and Haley knew what he was thinking, but she flashed him a look that said he better not say anything yet. She knew he had to be told eventually that he wasn't the only one from their high school days who was in Tree Hill, but now was not the time. She wanted his first time hanging out with her kids to go well, and she didn't know how he would take the news. So she would tell him later.
When he saw that look, Nathan knew to keep his mouth shut, and decided it wasn't his business anyway. So he walked over and pulled his brother into a hug before introducing his brother to his children. James could vaguely remember his uncle from when he was little and Lucas had been around more, but neither Daniel nor Lillian really remembered him, so the adults had to explain things a little, which made things awkward for a bit.
By the time dinner was rolling around, Lucas had to leave to go to his mother's house, and Haley had to admit she was kind of relieved, because she already was having company for dinner, and she didn't want to have to explain that to Lucas. So she had invited him to come over another day, and he had left, barely ten minutes before another car pulled up.
When Peyton and Audrey came to the door, they were a little better received. Nathan hugged Peyton, before pulling back to examine her, and then her daughter. "Sawyer, it's about time you came back to Tree Hill. L.A really can't compare to this small town," he said, before turning to Audrey. "I have heard a lot about you, but I don't think I've seen you since you were about seven," he said, but she allowed him to pull her into a hug.
The group sat around the Scott table, and Haley and Nathan didn't question why she was back, which made Peyton feel a lot better. Mainly they talked about Nathan's basketball career, which was still going strong, which meant he was out of town most of the time, and their children. Haley did bring Lucas up after a while, though. "Hey, Peyton, I thought you should know Lucas is in town this weekend. I didn't know he was coming," she was quick to clarify.
There was a moment of silence as Peyton thought about this, and Nathan and Haley waited for her reaction. She finally smiled at her friends. "Well, I hope I run into him, then. It's almost like a reunion," she said, leaving out the fact that they were missing one person for this to be a real reunion. Neither Nathan nor Haley mentioned the missing brunette either, and the meal continued.
After dinner, James asked if he could go meet his friends at the Rivercourt, and Audrey asked if she could tag along. She was actually a cheerleader, and by choice, unlike her mom in high school, but she still liked to play basketball, and she was actually kind of good at it. The adults agreed, and James didn't mind either, so the teenagers took James's Ford truck over to the court.
James, some guy friends of his, Sean and Logan, and Audrey kind of fit immediately into the group, forming an instant friendship with Logan, while becoming instantly infatuated with Sean. She wouldn't admit it to her mother anytime soon, but she decided the move wasn't too bad, if there was hot guys for her to hang out with, and if she made the cheerleading squad, things could be really great.
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Less than a week after the blonde and her daughter moved back to Tree Hill, another mother/daughter pair moved into the small town. Brooke Davis and her 14 year old daughter moved into the house that Brooke had lived in while she was in high school. A house she hadn't been in since high school. She hadn't wanted anyone to know she was there, though she knew the press had spread the news that she was moving back.
Kristine Marie Davis knew that her mother didn't want to make it known that she was living in the small town, and a part of her was glad to not be enrolling in the high school, because she didn't want to make friends, only to leave them, and she didn't want to stay in Tree Hill. So she had agreed to being homeschooled, because she was also pretty sure this was just a phase her mother was going through, and she'd be living the good life in New York again soon enough.
What Kristine didn't know was that Brooke had no intention of going back to New York. She was tired of the life of glamour and fame, and she wanted to start over. She wanted to live in the small town she had grown up in again. She just wasn't ready for everyone to know that she was back yet, because she was worried about her reception. She didn't know how anyone would feel about her return.
As soon as the movers left, Kristine tried to disappear into her room. Brooke caught her daughters attention, though, and Kristine turned her intense blue gaze on her mother. "I know you don't want this, baby, but you'll get used to life here, I promise, and one day I'll let you go to the high school, but I want your father to know about you first. I just need to find the courage to tell him," she wanted to say that, but couldn't find her voice.
After a moment of staring at her mother, Kristine flipped her chestnut colored hair over her shoulder and continued to her bedroom, closing the door and turning on her music. Brooke stared at the hallway her daughter had just disappeared down, and sighed. She went to her own room and closed the door, getting out her sketchpad to work on designs. "Welcome home," she muttered to herself as she moved the pencil over the paper.
A/N2: I know. I'm completely horrible, starting a new fic when I have so many others in progress, but this idea just came to me and I had to get it down. The next chapter will be a couple years down the line, when Peyton's daughter and Brooke's daughter are in their junior year. No, you won't immediately find out who the fathers are. It will take a couple chapters. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I guess we'll have to see what happens. This is the first time I'm starting a fic without knowing where is's going, really, but I was watching the pilot of One Tree Hill, and the idea for this alternate universe came to me. Tell me if you think I should continue, or if I shouldn't. If you're confused about some things, ask me, and if I can, I'll answer the questions, but most of the information should be revealed over time. So, whatcha think? Let me know.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to One Tree Hill.