Title: Loose Ends

Summary: At 25 the Tree Hill gang has seen their share of love and betrayal. It's been seven years since they went on their ways to college and now their worlds are about to collide again when a tragedy brings them all back to Tree Hill.

Rating: T

Characters/Pairings: I'd rather not say the pairings, but I can assure you there is Nathan/Haley. Other characters are Peyton, Brooke, Lucas, Rachel, Karen, Whitey and some original characters.

Disclaimer: I don't own OTH. All I own are Emily, Deena, Will, Mike, Liza, Craig, Adam and Amber. Don't sue.

Notes: This takes place seven years in the future. Since the OTH time line is about as clear as algebra to me, I've made the gang the class of 2007, since next year in 2007 will be the second semester of their senior year, therefore they're technically going to graduate in 2007, even though they were also seniors this year. What the gang's been up to will be explained in this chapter, no worries. As far as I know there are no spoilers for season four. I can assure you there are no intentional spoilers, I don't read them.

Chapter One

August 20, 2014

Nathan Scott let out a frustrated groan, pulling his sheets over his head tightly. The three week break his coach had given the team was quickly coming to an end and he wanted to savor every final moment of it. It wasn't often that the Charlotte Bobcats got a break from their training, of course they had to work hard to keep their high rankings, and he was enjoying every extra second that he got to spend at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Nathan's wife of the past nine years, Haley, had also lucked out in the vacation department. She had graduated from Duke in 2010 along with Nathan and had been offered a generous teaching position at a Charlotte high school. As one of the student's favorites she had found herself constantly roped into teaching an English summer school course. The school board had seen a significant improvement in the students' English scores since Haley had begun teaching, often giving her raises as she won more and more teacher of the month awards. She had gotten this summer off though, wanting to spend more time with her family.

Finally surrendering to the young brunette girl pulling at the covers, Nathan pushed himself up in bed and quickly wrapped his arms around his three year old daughter Emily, pulling her in close. Emily had certainly gotten his looks, no doubt about it, but she had her mother's brains. He had no doubt in his mind that she could take over the city when she got older.

The bedroom door opened as Haley entered, still clad in her pajamas, her hair thrown up messily. She crossed the room and climbed back into the large bed alongside her husband and daughter. Letting out a large yawn she looked over to Nathan.

"Emily figured out how to unlock the child proof locks on the front door," Haley told him, looking weary. Nathan groaned. "I blame you."

"Why?" he asked innocently, raising an eyebrow at Haley's accusation.

"Because I knew you when we were younger. I bet anything you were sneaking out of the house by middle school," Haley told him.

"Yeah..." Nathan admitted. "But she's three!" The two looked down at their daughter who had been watching the conversation back and forth between her parents, an amused smile growing on her face the whole time. Laughing, Haley shook her head at Nathan and pulled the sheets over her, snuggling down into the bed more and taking her daughter's hands in her own.

"No more giving mommy a heart attack, okay?" she asked Emily. The girl giggled and nodded her head vigorously.

"And here's the woman of the hour!" Mike Vaughn announced loudly as Brooke Davis entered her small boutique. Throwing open the curtains on the store window and flipping the sign mounted on the door over to "open" he expertly maneuvered his way through the racks of clothing and threw his arms around Brooke, pulling her into a tight hug.

"What's the occasion, Mike?" Brooke asked, laughing. In the four years she had known Mike he had always been over affectionate, they had worked well together that way, but this, attacking her as soon as she stepped foot into the shop, was bizarre.

"Dakota called," Mike said, breaking the hug. Brooke laughed again as she watched his eyes grow wide with excitement. The two had met in their fashion design class back in freshman year at Parsons School of Design and formed an instant bond. Over the years the two had become close, both pooling their money to move across country to San Diego. One night, tired of looking for somewhere to buy their clothing line the two had been laying around their apartment when Mike suggested they open their own shop. Neither of them had expected Davis & Vaughn Fashions to pick up so well, but after only being opened a few months the shop had truly taken off, even brining in celebrity clients.

"And?" Brooke asked, just as anxious as Mike now.

"She wants to wear the green dress!" he squealed excitedly, giving Brooke flashbacks to her days as a cheerleader back in North Carolina. Mike was gay as could be, which just made Brooke love him even more with no worries about making their friendship awkward with relationship drama.

"Oh my God!" Brooke screamed. A few people passing by the shop stopped to look in at the strange sight, two 20-somethings doing a celebratory dance with each other in the boutique, neither caring how stupid they looked, though both somewhat regretting the solid glass store front. Mike swung Brooke around before pulling her back in close and wrapping her in another tight hug as both jumped up and down.

"We're going to get so much exposure!" Brooke bounced. "This is the best day ever!"

"I've got coffee!" Peyton Sawyer announced, struggling to balance a rack of coffee cups and open up the door to the tiny corner art gallery she and three other friends had been running since their junior year in college. Bills had been tight and the four had bonded over nearly having to live together on the mean streets in a cardboard box. Granted, Rhode Island didn't really have any mean streets, but their location after college was another story.

"Excellent," Liza said as she emerged from the back office covered in paint, her red hair held back up in a messy bun by only a ballpoint pen. "Adam had a meeting with a potential client, so we can drink his coffee. Amber's around here somewhere. She's probably doing a strip tease in the display case." Peyton laughed as she sat the coffee down on one of the makeshift tables in the gallery and took a long drink of her own.

"I wouldn't put it by her," Peyton admitted. Amber was the wildest of the group, hands down. She had been the first one of the group that Peyton had met back at RISD and the blonde had no doubt in her mind that she had been drawn to Amber because of a somewhat eerie resemblance, both physically and mentally, Amber had to Brooke Davis, Peyton's former best friend.

"For your information I was washing the glass," Amber announced, coming into the main part of the gallery. "I would never do a strip tease in a display case. Take me to that nigh club down the street and then we'll talk." The three girls laughed and Liza wrapped an arm around the two.

"I think we're ready to re-open this place. Then we can all make millions and move into an upscale Manhattan apartment," Liza told them.

"Hey, Peyt hung a painting of an upscale Manhattan apartment on our cold, empty walls," Amber pointed out.

"Speaking of Peyt," Liza said, turning to face Peyton. "How was the doctors?"

"Usual big white building that smells bad. I'm fine guys," Peyton assured her friends. "Come on, we need to finish setting this place up. Then we can lock Adam out and make him crawl in through the ventilation system again." Amber smirked.

"Are we going to put another tarp full of pant down underneath the opening?" she asked. Rolling her eyes Liza took a hold of her friends' shirts and pulled them into the office.

"Way to be immature," she muttered.

Lucas Scott popped a pill into his mouth and forced it down his throat. After all those years he had mastered dry swallowing. Quickly cracking his knuckles he grabbed a towel and jogged out of the locker room and back into the gym. Rubbing the back of his neck with the towel he scanned the large gym looking for the student he was supposed to be meeting. After coming out about his heart condition senior year he had been benched, his dream of playing professional basketball had ended. Instead of dwelling on his lost opportunity, Lucas had embraced it.

After high school graduation he had moved to Florida to attend college, choosing to keep in the basketball business by becoming a sports medicine major and athletic trainer.

He was supposed to be meeting a huge upcoming college basketball player. It was rumored that he could give Charlotte legend-in-the-making star Nathan Scott, Lucas's very own brother, a run for his money after graduation. It also seemed to Lucas that basketball aside this student and Nathan had the same sense of time – None.

He was about to pack up and call it a day when the heavy doors to the gym swung open, a half dressed boy just a few years younger than Lucas entering.

"Went for a run, lost track of time," he offered up as an explanation, wiping some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Run or not, Miami had reached record breaking temperatures that afternoon, the residents all fairly certain they would spontaneously combust if they left the comfort of their air conditioned homes. Taking a quick glance down at his watch, Lucas nodded.

"You're Craig?" he asked.

"Yeah, and you're Mr. Scott?" Craig asked him, though it was stating the obvious.

"Lucas, yeah," Lucas responded.

"Lets get this show on the road then," Craig responded.