AU, but it follows the normal timeline up until high school (Peyton not included). I've also removed/changed certain details, i.e. Lucas doesn't have HCM and Brooke and Peyton were never friends, etc etc.


Another loud honk woke Lucas up from his deep slumber for the umpteenth time, making him groan and exasperatingly wiggle his head under his pillow, a trait that his best friend and brother had always teased him about. It's been five years, and the bustling streets of New York City never failed to annoy him to no end, and especially so during the days when he would come home with a hang-over or a battered body due to basketball.

'Fuck,' he muttered, the noise somehow becoming louder despite his attempts to cover his ears. He reluctantly sat up, throwing his covers and pillows haphazardly across the room, beyond enraged. Days like these, he wished he had stayed in Tree Hill and took the job of becoming the Ravens' coach instead of an NBA star alongside his younger brother.

Finding the strength to finally stand up, he dragged himself across the room with a sigh before opening his door, only to be met with the sight of his brother and best friend/his brother's wife making out in their open kitchen, unaware of his presence.

'You two are incorrigible,' Lucas rolled his eyes, albeit amused at the sight of Haley and Nathan trying to get their selves together, somewhat still embarrassed after being walked in on by Lucas bazillion times already. 'Where's Jamie?'

'Sleeping,' Nathan smiled; a smile Lucas knew was solely for his wife.

'Why are you even awake at five in the morning?' Haley mused, knowing that her best friend came home pretty late last night, so it was a wonder as to how he was awake so early. 'Coffee's ready.'

'Noise kept me up all night,' he sighed, pouring himself a cup of coffee, patting Haley's back as a silent thank you. 'You'd think after years, I'd get used to this, but no, every damn day, the racket just gets louder and louder.'

'Oh, don't complain too much,' Nathan said, sitting himself on the barstool opposite of Lucas. 'I thought you were staying at Brooke's yesterday?'

'Yeah, well, she was dragged to Paris by Victoria,' Lucas shrugged. 'Apparently, they're going to be opening another store or something.'

'Oh, isn't that great then?' Haley grinned, turning around to see Lucas nodding before pulling out a pan from the drawer, knowing it was best that she make breakfast now before Jamie wakes up. 'Ya'll want pancakes?'

A lazy grin appeared on both the Scott brothers before answering Haley in unison, 'Yes, please.'


'Momma!' Jamie called, his gaze not once leaving the television, unbothered to run and get the ringing telephone. 'Momma, someone's calling!'

'I got it, Hales,' Nathan called out, shushing Jamie with a finger to his lips, shaking his head. 'Uncle Lucas is sleeping, remember, Jim-jam?'

'Sorry,' Jamie frowned.

'It's alright, buddy,' Nathan chuckled before picking up the phone, hearing someone crying in the background.

'Hello?'

'Haley? Is this where Haley James lives?'

Nathan furrowed his brows, the voice unfamiliar to him. 'Yeah, who's this?'

'Put her on the line, please,'

'Hales, someone wants to talk to you,' Nathan gave the cordless phone to his wife, shrugging when she asked him who it was, before walking towards Jamie.

'Haley speaking,' Haley put the phone between the crook of her shoulder and left ear, continuing cutting the carrots. 'Who's this?'

'It's me, Hales,'

'Peyton?' Haley stopped her ministrations abruptly, shocked to hear her cousin's voice after almost ten years. Her face switched from happiness to immediate disappointment. 'Nice of you to finally call after years of being MIA, Peyton.'

'Haley, we need to talk, please, in person.'

She shook her head before cutting off the line. How dare she call her after years of not answering her messages, phone calls and letters? Does she think that after all this time, everything would still be the same? Haley shook her head angrily, determined not to answer the ringing phone again. However, a part of her was dying to know why her cousin has called her, and why her voice was laced with fear and sadness.


Tell me what you think!