A/N: This is slightly AU. Takes place in the beginning of Season 5. Nathan was never in the bar fight and plays basketball for the Charlotte Bobcats. Lindsey is just Lucas's editor and Deb was never a drug addict.

Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own OTH :'(


Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis were on their way back to last place they thought they would ever return. Peyton had realized that her internship at a record dealer wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she called her best friend, Brooke. Brooke, being the good friend she is, took time off from her highly successful clothing company, Clothes Over Bros, and booked her and Peyton the first flight back to Tree Hill. Brooke only planned to stay long enough to help Peyton settle in and say hi to all of her old friends.

They were both nervous since they hadn't seen their friends in such a long time. Peyton kept thinking about that one night where everything fell apart for her and Lucas. Lucas had proposed, but she had wanted to see what she could do in the music industry and wasn't ready to settle down yet. She hadn't said no, but it drove Lucas away anyway. She regretted her decision every day. Peyton missed him more than words could describe. She wanted him back, but the question would be if he'll take her back.

"Are you ready for a new beginning, P. Sawyer?" Brooke asked as the plane started descending.

"Ready as I'll ever be."


"C'mon! Hustle!" Lucas yelled as he and Skills watched the boys running suicides. They were the new coaches of the Tree Hill Ravens. Ever since Whitey had retired, the Ravens seasons had been full of losses, but Lucas and Skills were planning on changing that.

"Hey boys," said the newest edition to the Tree Hill High School teaching staff.

"Hello, Mrs. Haley James Scott. How was Nathen's game today?"

"Awesome. Nathan scored 30 points and the Bobcats won by 10." Nathan had signed with the Charlotte Bobcats his junior year in college. He was their star point guard and lead scorer. With Nathan on their team, the Bobcats had never had a better season. He continued to get his degree in night school just to be safe since he had a family depending on him.

"Nice, dawg. Yo, are we still on for dinner at Karen's Café?" asked Skills. The gang usually got together every two or three weeks for dinner.

"Nathan should be home by then so yeah. Do you know if Mouth is coming?"

"I think so"

"Okay. See ya guys at 6 sharp. Don't be late. I need to get Jamie in bed at a reasonable time."


Lucas was walking his daily walk to Karen's Café after practice. His doctor said that Lucas should get daily exercise that wasn't too strenuous to help his heart. He hadn't had a heart attack since the state championship, but his heart was still weak. If he does too much exercise or gets too stressed out, his heart will hurt and he'll started to get dizzy and short of breath.

Since he has HCM, Lucas had to give up his dream. He still missed basketball, but he enjoyed his job as an author and found it very rewarding. Since he published his first book, he was working on his second book, which was almost finished. This one was about heartbreak, thanks to Peyton.

The thought of Peyton still caused his heat to ache. She had turned down his proposal for her job. He was still embarrassed just thinking about it. He had left and hadn't seen her since. That was two and a half years ago. Lucas had thought she was his true love and that they would be together forever. It crushed him to think how wrong he was.

"Lucas!" someone yelled, drawing him out of his thoughts. He turned around and saw the last two people he expected to see.

A/N: It's sorta short and boring because I'm setting everything up, but it'll get so much better. This is my first fanfic so please let me know what you thought!