A Perfect Life
Chapter One
This is my story about One Tree Hill. It takes place right after the Championship Game is won. It is different though. Nathan never met Dante. Nathan and Haley are still having money problems because of it. The Ravens won easily and were never accused of point shaving. Nathan still has his scholarship to Duke. Also, I hated the fact that Keith was dead so I made sure that he wasn't dead. Jimmy Edwards killed himself but Dan didn't kill Keith. Dan is a good person and Deb is in rehab.
The crowd was going crazy and the court was being swarmed by fans. Nathan and Lucas Scott were in the middle of it all. They weren't paying attention to anyone else. They were hugging and smiling.
"Thank you for making that shot," Nathan said. "If you had missed I would have hated myself for not tying the game when I had the chance."
"Good thing I'm so good at making three pointers," Lucas said. Lucas lovingly messed up the hair on Nathan's head.
"Nathan! Nathan!" someone called through the crowds. Nathan turned around and a huge smile broke out on his face. He walked towards his wife and swept her into his arms.
"I'm so proud of you," Haley said. "I love you so much. I can't wait to see what our son thinks when he sees his dad play such a great game of basketball."
"We're having a boy?" Nathan asked.
"I accidentally found out today. I wasn't feeling very good so the girls took me to the hospital. I'm fine; it was just a usual course of pregnancy. The doctor let it slip," Haley said.
"Our son is gonna have a great mom and also be a great basketball player with my coaching," Nathan said.
"And mine," Lucas said walking up on them. "Brooke just told me that I am gonna have a nephew. I figured the parents would be able to say if that were true."
"It's a boy!" Nathan said.
"That's great!" Lucas said embracing his brother and sister-in-law at the same time. They pulled apart and were suddenly surrounded by all their friends and family. Brooke, Peyton, Skills, Bevon, Rachel, Mouth, and even Fergie and Junk were all there. Right behind them were Dan, Keith, and Karen. Lucas walked over to his Mom and Keith and gave them both a hug. He turned to Dan and paused for a second. Then he decided to hug Dan too.
"Thanks for being here," he said to his Mom and Keith. "You too," he said to Dan. Dan smiled at the fact that he was being acknowledged by his first-born son. Dan then walked over to Nathan and Haley and gave them each a hug. Lucas watched them talking to each other and he turned back to his mom and uncle.
"So are you getting nervous?" Lucas asked.
"About what?" Karen asked.
"About your wedding!" Lucas said. "It is in two days."
"You know, for once Luke, I can honestly say that I'm not," Keith said. Keith was usually always nervous about this type of thing. "Besides, with you as my best man, and your mom as the bride, how could I get nervous?"
"How's my matron of honor?" Karen asked looking towards Haley. "I noticed that she wasn't here for the first half."
"She's fine. She wasn't feeling good though so she went to the doctor before she came. All the girls took her. She found out she's having a boy," Lucas said.
"Oh, that's great," Keith said. "How's my other groomsman taking it?"
"Oh, he's fine now. He was worried about her when he didn't see her. I think that's why he didn't play as well in the first half," Lucas said. The three walked over towards Nathan, Haley, and Dan. They were stopped by Brooke.
"Hi Karen, Keith," Brooke said. "I already said hi to you," she said to Lucas.
"Hi Brooke. While I have you here I should let you know that I want you and Haley at my house by ten on Saturday," Karen said.
"Sounds great," Brooke said. "I'll tell Haley." She turned around and walked over to Haley.
"Hey Keith, what time do we have to be wherever it is we're getting ready?" Lucas asked.
"We are getting ready at my apartment and we have to be there at like noon," Keith said.
"Don't you think that's cutting it a little close?" Karen asked.
"No," Keith said. "You're forgetting the fact that all we have to do is put on tuxedos and brush our teeth. Besides, the ceremony doesn't start until two-thirty. We'll be there Karen. Even better we'll be there on time."
"Alright. We're gonna go Lucas," Karen said.
"Before you do, I was thinking that maybe we could use Tric to celebrate the win," Lucas said. "Can we?"
"I suppose," Karen said. She took the keys out of her pocket and tossed them to Lucas. "Don't you have school tomorrow though?"
"No," Lucas said. "We have an institute day tomorrow. Well, at least the seniors do. We only have two more weeks left at school so they decided that we get every Friday off. It's the schools gift to us."
"Alright, but call me if you stay at someone's house," Karen said.
"I can stay at someone's house?" Lucas asked.
"You can stay at certain people's houses. Such as Nathan and Haley's, Brooke's, Peyton's, so on. Only people I know," Karen said.
"Karen, I don't think him staying at Peyton's house is a good idea," Keith said.
"Why not, they're friends," Karen said.
"Hah, as of tonight they're a little bit more," Keith said. "I saw that kiss in the middle of the court." Lucas laughed.
"Nothing gets by you does it?" Lucas asked.
"Not if it's about you or your mom," Keith said.
"Okay so not Peyton's house. Fine," Lucas said.
"No you can stay with Peyton," Karen said. "I think I can trust you enough for that. At least I hope I can."
"Thanks Ma," Lucas said. "I could come home if I had a car though."
"You do," Dan said popping out of no where. Dan held up keys and handed them to Lucas. "I talked with your mom and Keith and they agreed that you could have a car. It's the same one you had before. I gave one to Nathan that's the same thing in a different color. Do you like it?"
"Why are you giving it to me?" Lucas asked.
"Because you're my son. I have never gotten you anything. Think of this as seventeen years worth of Christmas and Birthday gifts," Dan said. With that he walked away. Lucas turned to his mom and she nodded her head, then she turned and walked away Keith. Lucas walked over to Nathan and Haley.
"Is this the greatest night ever or what?" Lucas asked. "I got a car and the keys to Tric. I'm gonna ask some people to come there after here. Ask anyone you guys want."
"Alright," Nathan said. He held up his car keys to show Lucas. Lucas held up his as well. Peyton walked up and dragged Lucas away.
"We'll meet at Tric in half an hour," Lucas said as he walked away.
"If we're meeting in half an hour than I should probably go change," Nathan said.
"Okay," Haley said. "I'll meet you outside the locker room in fifteen minutes. We'll go then."
"Sounds good," Nathan said. "And if anyone needs a ride to Tric we have room for two or three people in the backseat." Haley watched Nathan until he walked into the locker room. Haley spent the next fifteen minutes inviting people to Tric. She ended up not having to offer rides to anyone. Rachel was driving Brooke, Mouth, Skills, and Bevon. Lucas was driving Peyton, Fergie, and Junk. Everyone else that was invited had other rides. Even Tim had a car now.
Haley walked over to the locker room and met Nathan just coming out. He was carrying his duffle bag and talking with Lucas. Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley and they walked out.
"Hey Nathan," Lucas called. "I have to go find the people I'm taking. You'll probably get there before me so would you mind getting stuff ready. My mom gave me the key to the front and the key to the cabinets where all the pop is. She didn't trust me with the alcohol cabinet keys. Anyways, can you just give people a drink as they come in? I'll take over once I get there."
"Yeah sure man," Nathan said. Lucas tossed the keys to Nathan and then left to find Peyton and the rest of his friends. Nathan and Haley walked out and found the new car. It was blue. It was a Ravens color for sure. He spotted Lucas' red Corvette parked right next to his. The top was already down on their car. Nathan put his bag into the trunk and then climbed into the driver's seat. He pulled out of the parking lot, getting the feel for the car. He liked it. The couple drove the half hour trip back to Tree Hill. They were the first car to pull into Tric. Nathan got out and ran around the car to open the door for Haley. She grabbed his hand and they walked into Tric.
They opened the drinks just as Lucas asked. Nathan went around putting the chairs down. As people came in, Haley handed out the pop. No one complained that there wasn't any alcohol. Within ten minutes of them arriving, Lucas, Peyton, Fergie, and Junk arrived. There were only a few people there already. Lucas took over handing out drinks, and Peyton went over to the DJ area to put on some music.
"What would we do for music without Peyton?" Lucas asked.
"We wouldn't be listening to any music right now," Nathan said. Nathan grabbed two stools and brought them around to the other side of the bar. He sat in one and put the other one down for Lucas. "I'll stay here and help tend bar."
"Thanks Nate," Lucas said. They sat together behind the bar and served drinks to anyone who wanted one.
"Doesn't your mom usually have people pay for the drinks? Pop does cost money," Nathan said.
"She can take it out of my paycheck at the café. It was my idea for the party anyways," Lucas said.
"That's not fair Luke. I'll pay for half," Nathan said.
"No, this was my idea," Lucas said. "I'll pay for it."
"I insist on paying for half of it," Nathan said. "Come on Luke. I'm your brother. It's because of both of us that we're here. I don't care what you say. I'm paying for half of it."
"Fine," Luke said. "Any idea how many cases there were before we started handing them out?"
"Yeah, actually I think there were about twelve or thirteen cases," Nathan said.
"Okay, we still have like seven of them. That can't be that expensive," Lucas said.
"Okay, but the party's not over yet," Nathan said. "Did your mom say what time we had to be out of here?"
"Yeah, she wants everyone out by midnight. It's already eleven-thirty right now. There can't be that many people that still need another drink," Lucas said.
"Alright well, we only have a half hour left and then we have to clean up right?" Nathan asked.
"Oh, I totally forgot that we had to clean up afterwards. Yeah I guess we will," Lucas said. "Since I have a car I can actually go back to my own house if I want."
"What do you mean if you want?" Nathan asked.
"My mom told me that I could stay over at someone's house too. I think I'll stay at Peyton's," Lucas said.
"Your mom is letting you stay at Peyton's house?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah," Lucas said. "She said I could've stayed at your place too since you guys had a car. Speaking of that old piece of crap, what did you do with it?"
"Oh, I gave that to Keith. He said he was gonna try to fixit up a bit. After that, who knows what he'll do with it," Nathan said.
"Knowing Keith, he'll be able to fix it up, good as new," Lucas said.
"Yeah," Nathan said. "Maybe he'll be able to sell it for a decent price. It might help pay for the wedding a little bit."
"Yeah it could," Luke said. "Speaking of the wedding, Keith wants us at his apartment at noon to get ready on Saturday."
"Alright," Nathan said. "Should I meet you there or do you want me to pick you up?"
"You could just meet me there. We should have separate cars in case we have to run some last minute errands," Lucas said.
"Alright," Nathan said. They spent the last fifteen minutes of the party passing out drinks and just talking. They were getting ready to make an announcement for everyone to go home but it seemed that it wasn't necessary. Everyone had already started leaving. When they looked around the room again, the only people there were their closest friends.
Rachel, Brooke, and Peyton were sitting on one of the couches. Brooke and Peyton were both asleep with Rachel just sitting there finishing her pop. Haley was sitting in a chair, also asleep. It had been a tiring day for her. The brothers walked over to Mouth, Fergie, Junk, and Skills. Bevon was asleep on Skills' shoulder.
"Hey guys, can you help us clean this place up?" Luke asked.
They nodded their heads and got up. Skills maneuvered out from under Bevon's head. She lay down on the couch, still asleep. With all six sets of hands, they finished cleaning up in ten minutes. Nathan went behind the bar to inspect how much pop had been consumed. There were six cases left.
"Hey Luke," Nathan said. "We have to pay for six cases. Find out how much that'll cost from your mom and then call me. I'll find out if you pay for more of it."
"Alright," Luke said. "We should get going. I'll lock up. Take Haley home and get her to bed. She had a long day."
"I know," Nate said. He turned to Luke and gave him a hug. "Thanks Luke."
"For what?" Luke asked.
"For everything," Nate said. "For being my brother, for winning the game, and for throwing the party. My son's gonna be lucky to have an uncle like you."
"Thanks Nate," Luke said. He gave him another hug and then Nathan walked over to his wife. Not wanting to wake her he lifted her into his arms. She stirred a little but than fell back to sleep.
"It's a good thing she's not farther along," Nate whispered to Lucas on his way out.
"Hey Nate," Fergie called quietly. "Do you think you could take me and Junk home on your way? We're closer to you than we are to those guys."
"Yeah sure," Nathan said. "Come get this door will ya?"
Fergie and Junk walked out of Tric with Nathan and Haley. Rachel stood up causing Brooke to wake up from the loss of a head rest. Brooke stood up and then left with Rachel, Mouth, Bevon, and Skills.
Lucas made his way over to Peyton and squatted down.
"Hey pretty girl," Lucas said. Peyton stirred and looked at Lucas. "You ready to go home?"
Peyton nodded her head and stood up. They left Tric, locking the door behind them. When they got to Peyton's house, it was one o'clock. Peyton turned to Lucas and asked, "It's pretty late. Do you wanna just stay here tonight?"
Lucas nodded his head and then got out of the car. They walked inside and locked the door behind them.