Finding Home
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
Haley stroked the picture on her nightstand. She didn't have the strength to out of bed. She could usually go through her day as normal but it was days like today that she found hard. Days where every little thing reminded her of him.
The picture was of a blond haired boy with a cheeky smile holding his baby cousin. He had been so excited that she had been born on the same day as him. She loved that picture the most because it had both of them in it.
Haley rolled over and looked at the space on the other side of the bed. Nathan had to get up for his work. The game was in a few days and the Ravens still needed more training. But Haley knew that he would be distracted and quiet, just like her. Days like this were hard for both of them, not to mention Lucas and Peyton. Days like this made it hard to be happy or excited.
Today was Jamie and Erica Scott's birthday, and the anniversary of their disappearances.
"Ryan! Julie! Get down here right now," Carrie screamed from the kitchen. As she put the toast on the table, a handsome blond boy walked into the room. He had a black jumper on and a pair of worn out jeans. He sat at the table without a word to Carrie and poured some cereal.
Carrie sat down next to him and buttered some toast. Then a younger girl bounded into the room, wearing a t-shirt and shorts and sat down opposite the boy. She grabbed the cereal and poured herself a bowlful. "Hungry," the boy asked sarcastically. The girl just stuck her tongue out to him playfully. "Come on guys, be excited! Today is your birthday," Carrie said. "Great, I could jump with joy!" the boy said, a hint of spite mixed in with the sarcasm.
"Ryan, don't ruin the day. You're turning 18 and that is a big deal." "Yes, and you can do so many things when your 14," the girl said, her tone identical to the boy's. "Julie, I don't want you picking up your brother's bad habits. Uh, I just knew the two of you would be like this," Carrie pursed her lips, sulking.
"So you didn't buy us any presents in advance? Don't worry Carrie. You've blamed us for about everything that has gone wrong in your life since we were kids," Ryan said standing up.
"We know the drill," Julie followed Ryan's actions. The two of the hurried out the door, shutting it behind them with a click.
Lucas sat at his laptop and waited. He waited for inspiration to come so he could start writing. But it didn't. It never did on days like this. Right before Erica was born, Lucas gave up coaching the Ravens so that he could concentrate on his writing and his family. Nathan had taken the coaching job and still treated Lucas like a co-coach, asking him what he thought and did he think they need to train more or less.
Lucas sighed as he looked over at his wife. Peyton was sitting up on the bed, drawing. She drew the same picture every year on the same day. A picture of Jamie and Erica when they disappeared. She had drawn 14 pictures in all and she kept them in a box under the bed.
Lucas didn't know what was worse. Knowing they were dead or not knowing. If they were dead then they could have a funeral and they could have closer. But they didn't, so they couldn't.
Lucas had seemed like the strongest of them all, the one to go on TV and beg for their children back, the one to always go on search parties, the one who kept it together.
But really Lucas was like the rest of them. He hoped that they were OK; he hoped that they were alive. Most of all, just like the rest of them, he wondered what they looked like, 14 years down the line and would they ever get them back.
"Come on, let's go to the diner, I'll treat you to a real birthday breakfast," Ryan said . Julie smiled. "You've treated me to a birthday breakfast every year since you turned 12 and I turned 8," she said.
"Well it's not like Carrie is going to do anything special. She always finds some way for the day to revolve around her." Julie just smirked.
They walked down the main street and saw a big banner stretching from one side of the street to the other. The words GOOD LUCK TO THE WARRIORS IN NEXT SATURDAY'S GAME were printed across it.
"You nervous about the game," Julie asked. "A bit. I mean we're playing a really good team."
They walked into the diner and sat at their favourite table. The cook there knew what day it was so they didn't need to order; the food would just come. As they tucked into their breakfast, Ryan said, "Now this is so much better than Carrie's cooking."
"She hates it when you call her that. She prefers to be called Mom," Julie said.
Ryan's eyes grew dark and he said slowly, "I don't care what she says, that woman isn't my mother and I'm pretty sure she's not yours either. Don't you ever get this cold feeling off her? Like something's not right" Julie nodded. "Do you think we're adopted or something?" she asked. Ryan shrugged his shoulders, ending the conversation.
That topic was a touchy subject for both of them.
"So do you think I can come to your game on Saturday?" Julie asked lightly, ending the silence. "Sure," Ryan said, "I can't play without my lucky charm there to cheer me on." Julie laughed. "With your skills I doubt you need a lucky charm," she said. "You're not so bad yourself."
"So where is this game? Is it home or away?" she asked. Ryan swallowed his food and replied, "Away."
"Some town called Tree Hill."