Disclaimer: One Tree Hill belong to Mark Schwann and the CW, not me. Sad but true.
A/N: Dan shooting Keith was the worst scene in OTH history for me so I'm resurrecting him.
This is a Keiren, with a heavy dose of Leyton, and some Brase and Naley for good measure.
A Love Worth Saving
"Marry me?"
"You can't propose to me, I was going to propose to you…"
In that moment when her lips captured his he suddenly felt more than 15 years of pent up emotions run through his body. Keith had always loved Karen. Always. Everything about her had made him weak at the knees. Her intelligence, her sense of humor, her beauty, her strength. She shined in every way possible.
Since Lucas was a baby, Keith knew that he wanted both Karen and Lucas to be his family. For Karen to be Mrs. Keith Scott and for Lucas to be his son, for Lucas to call him 'Dad'.
After Dan abandoned a pregnant Karen, Keith immediately stepped in. He had to make right what his brother had wronged. At first, he just came around from time to time to check out how things were going, and then as his friendship with Karen and his love for Lucas began to grow, he spent more and more time at their house. Soon, it was almost as if Keith was a husband and a father.
Fast forward fifteen years and Keith was still in the same place he was all those years ago. Pushing 40, still living in a bachelor pad, with no wife or children. It seemed to him that Karen got what she needed, but what about him? What about what he needed?
After the Jules/Emily debacle, Keith realized that the only person he really wanted was Karen. She was the only person who could make his heartbeat quicken and slow at the same time. He knew that she was his soulmate in every definition of the word. So, he returned to Tree Hill. And suddenly things were different..
She was ready to be with him. After nearly 20 years, she was ready.
In the moments before their first kiss, Keith was in a state of confusion. Her words were baffling him..:
"We've known each other a long time and every time we have gotten close I've been stubborn and scared and have found ways to let things get between us and I, I can't let that happen again"..
And she kissed him and in that moment his whole world came into focus. This woman was it for him.
--
As they broke apart each had loving smiles and were breathing heavy from lack of oxygen. As the kids were dancing on the stage, Nathan with Haley and Lucas with Peyton, everything seemed absolutely perfect.
