Keep Hope Alive

Author's Notes: This takes place at the very beginning of "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, and Tired Souls We Slept". There will be one character death. There might be a slight change in pairings, but nothing is final. I'm unsure of the final pairings myself. Title credit- Keep Hope Alive by The Crystal Method. Chapter title credit- Who We Are by Hope Partlow.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything that is One Tree Hill or its characters.

Chapter One: Who We Are

Lucas stepped up the few steps, and stared down at the casket, holding the lifeless body inside. He stood there, staring at what was left of the person, for what seemed like hours. Pain grew in his eyes, as a single tear fell from his eyes, followed by many more. Someone had taken away one of the most important people in his life.

Lucas reached down, laying his hand on the cold one in front of him. How would he ever be able to get through the rest of his days? He could hear small sad whispers from the people behind him, as he looked over to the large picture next to the decorated casket. A few more tears fell from his eyes, which disappointed him even more. He couldn't say goodbye. He looked back down, into the eyes of his loved one, remembering back to that fatal day.

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Brooke cheerfully smiled to her blonde best friend as she practically bounced over to her locker. "Hey, P. Sawyer!" She exclaimed as she hugged her friend.

"Someone's in a good mood." Peyton stated, with a bit of worry in Brooke's tone. That much cheeriness, even from Brooke, meant she had a huge shopping trip with new clothes, or her and Lucas were getting it on. And nothing on Brooke seemed to look new, so it must be Lucas. "Lucas?"

"Well, if you must know the details of our totally awesome sex life, yes." Brooke said, a huge grin on her face.

Peyton playfully rolled her eyes, having a disgusted look on her face as she closed her locker.

"What? Lucas has totally been into it, since the whole time capsule thing. You know, the strip show. Mr. Scott got to see a preview of what he's been missing and we had some long overdue sex." Brooke gave a laugh, enjoying the look on Peyton's face, as she linked arms with her and started walking towards first period.

Peyton's face scrunched up. That was definitely TMI. "That is just…" She started, at a loss of words.

"God Brooke, now I have mental pictures!"

Brooke let out an even louder laugh. "Well, as long as there good ones." Brooke commented.

Peyton rolled her eyes as her friend, even though she secretly enjoyed their friendly banter. "Okay, enough with the B and L sex talk, I gotta get to Chem." She stated, giving some excuse to get out of that conversation.

Brooke gave a laugh, and a slight hug to Peyton. She noticed the guy from the time capsule, unaware of his name, standing in the middle of the hallway. "See ya later, Goldilocks." She gave a smile to her best friend, and started walking towards her first period class.

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Nathan and Lucas climbed off the small yellow school bus, bringing them back from the gym. "That was mine!" Lucas called from behind Nathan.

Nathan gave a playful roll of the eyes, not agreeing with Lucas' view of a shot from practice. "Whatever bro, I'm off to find my wife."

Now Lucas rolled his eyes to his younger brother, as Nathan went into the school in search of Haley.

"Lucas!" Someone called from behind him. Lucas turned around, recognizing the deep voice of Whitey. Whitey motioned for the co captain to come to him, and Lucas did so. Whitey then began discussing a play for their upcoming game.

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Inside, Nathan walked toward the tutor center, knowing he would be a little late to first period if he did so, the bell was soon to ring. He passed Peyton, her giving a small laugh. "What?" He asked innocently.

"Oh nothing, you're just…running. Afraid you'll get detention?" Peyton joked with her ex.

"No, I just wanna catch up with Haley, she's at the tutor center." Peyton gave a nod. "Well in that case, see you later." She gave a sincere smile and continued on her way.

Nathan rounded the corner, stepping into the hallway of many of the students lockers. He saw a familiar face…Jimmy Edwards. Nathan had seen him, only a few days ago at TRIC, where he was coincidently saving Lucas. The kid had been really messed up. At least his time capsule entry was. Then again, Nathan's was too.

But this time, Nathan stopped dead in his tracks at the site of this guy. He had a gun raised, and was pointing it at a few guys near Nathan. Nathan stood still for a minute, not realizing the reality of the situation.

And then, the fear of most student's came true. The sound of a gun going off. Immediately, students and teacher's were running in countless directions. He looked towards the hall for the tutor center, behind Jimmy. Nathan couldn't get to Haley, but he couldn't leave her either. He looked to his right, seeing the door to one of the small offices opened.

He darted in that direction, not clear on how he would get to Haley but we would. As he neared the office, he saw Brooke on the ground. struggling to get up. He grabbed her arm to pull her up, while trying not to get ran over by the stampede, and got both of them into the office.

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As Peyton heard the gun go off, her first thoughts we're Brooke. Where was she, was she okay? What would happen if she had lost her best friend? Peyton quickly ran out the door to the school building, along with many others. Seeing Whitey and Lucas, standing by the bus, she ran to them very quickly.

"Lucas! Lucas!" She screamed to him as she approached the two guys.

Lucas looked at all the scared, running, kids, and then at Peyton. "Peyton…what happened?"

"Ther- There's somebody…in the school. A-A gun. Somebody had a gun, they were shooting!"

Lucas looked at Whitey, and back at Peyton. People were being loaded on to buses, alarms were sounding, and Luke still didn't know what was going on.

"I…I couldn't find Brooke. She… She's inside!" Peyton exclaimed frantically.

Lucas' expression quickly changed from confusion to fear. His girlfriend was in the line of danger, in a school where shooting was taking place. He hadn't seen Nathan or Haley come out of the school, and they definitely hadn't gotten on the bus. Lucas new what he had to do, go into the school.

"What about Nathan and Hales?" He asked, taking a glance at Whitey who was demanding they get on the bus.

"Nate, he was looking for her. He said she was in the tutor center."

Lucas gave one quick glance at Peyton, then began running. Whitey called after him, but he simply ignored it. He couldn't just leave Brooke, Nathan, and Haley behind. "Lucas!" Peyton called, knowing it was no use. She knew he wouldn't leave them in the school. She felt tugging on her arm, and within a second was pulled onto the school bus.

A tear fell from her eye as she looked out the window of the moving vehicle. Every true friend of hers was inside, and she wasn't sure she could handle anything that was to come without them.

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Lucas got into the school, running faster than any man could. People were still running out of the halls, but he saw no sign of Brooke, Nathan, or Haley. He went to the one place he was sure he could find one of them…the tutor center.

One thing was for sure, for all the students and the parents of Tree Hill High, this would be a shot heard around the world.

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Well, this is my first published One Tree Hill fic. Please review!