The Search for Who He Was, and Is

By Emily Carol

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty.

Wow! Thanks for the tons of replies. Sorry about the "Tree Hill"/"One Tree Hill" thing…I wrote this (it's not done but I have a fair amount of chapters) in the summer and I must have just spaced out. My outline (I have it all planned out) has "Tree Hill" so I don't know what I was doing when I wrote the "One"…yes Nikki…I have seen the show (and ironically you've so far made a similar impression to the one on the show…I hope it's a false impression). So I've fixed chapter 1 and now here's chapter 2!

Enjoy!

-Emily Carol

Chapter 2: Hidden Lives

"What are you up to tonight Lucas?" Karen Scott asked her sixteen year old son.

"Just hanging out with Peyton and Haley," Lucas told her. Peyton Sawyer and Haley James were Lucas's best friends. He and Haley had known each other ever since Lucas's family had moved into the rich area of Tree Hill, North Carolina when Lucas was eight and Karen had just begun to franchise Karen's Café and they were finally making good money. Haley lived next door to Lucas and through her he had also been introduced to Peyton, Haley's best friend from age six on.

Karen nodded. She and Lucas didn't talk much. She was normally running off to visit any one of her cafés throughout North Carolina, plus one in South Carolina, while he was either practicing basketball or hanging out with his friends.

"Did I just hear you're hanging out with the girls again?" Dan asked, coming into the kitchen. Lucas nodded in response. He and his mom didn't talk much, but he and his dad basically didn't talk at all unless the subject of basketball was involved. "So apparently you're not going to practice your three-pointers like I suggested? Tsk-tsk, if you want to make it past quarter-finals this year in the state tournament you really should be practicing twenty-four-seven."

"Whatever, I'm out of here," Lucas said as he left the kitchen. A few seconds later the front door slammed shut.

"That attitude's not going to get you anywhere," Dan yelled but Lucas couldn't hear him. "Can you believe our son? I don't know why he disrespects us like that."

"Maybe if you lay off of him for once, he might respect you," Karen retaliated.

"I'm doing it for his own good," Dan told her.

"Or your own," Karen mumbled as she walked out of the kitchen.

"What's up Peyt?" Haley said, flopping down on her best friend's bed. Peyton was in her closet shifting through albums. Peyton shrugged. Lucas walked in the door behind Haley.

"Move over," Lucas said to Haley as he sat down on Peyton's bed.

"No," Haley protested.

"Whatever," Lucas replied as he took a seat on Peyton's desk chair.

"Wow, Lucas Scott lost an argument to Haley James in what, four words?" Peyton commentated. "That has to be a record." She gave up trying to find the record she wanted and sat down at her desk chair.

"My dad was being an ass again," Lucas said. "I just don't want to deal with anymore arguing."

"Dan being an ass? Really? I can't see that," Haley said sarcastically.

"Just don't let him get to you Luke," Peyton told him.

"I don't," Lucas said defensively. Peyton and Haley just exchanged a knowing look.

"So, on a lighter note," Haley said with a smile. "Did you all see what Brooke Davis did at cheerleading practice today?" Peyton laughed as she remembered.

"What'd she do?" Lucas asked.

"Fell flat on her face," Peyton continued to laugh.

When it was just the three of them, the trio of Lucas, Haley, and Peyton seemed like they could be some of the nicest people at Tree Hill High, but in fact it was the opposite. If Lucas, Haley, and Peyton liked you, you'd have a great time in high school, go to all the cool parties and have a reputation (not necessarily a good one, but in Tree Hill there were very few people with a good reputation anyways, so they took what they got). But if the trio didn't like you, you were in for guaranteed hell in high school, unless you managed to steer clear of the three.

Brooke Davis didn't get the memo to steer clear of Lucas, Haley, and Peyton, or maybe she just didn't care. It was probably the latter.

Brooke had been a part of the trio in elementary school and half of middle school (or course then they would have been referred to as a quartet). She lived across the street from Peyton, but when she was in seventh grade, at age thirteen, her dad lost all of their money and the Davis family moved to the other side of town. There she'd attended a different middle school before heading to Tree Hill High with Lucas, Haley, and Peyton again. She'd quickly joined the cheerleading squad, hoping she'd be able to see Haley and Peyton again, but to her surprise, the trio had gone from loving her to ignoring or tormenting her.

Lucas laughed as well.

"She's going to have hell this year," Peyton said. "Even more than before."

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"Because our precious Haley here was named cheerleading captain today," Peyton announced. "First sophomore since, well your mom Lucas."

"That's great Hales," Lucas said, giving his friend a one armed hug.

Nathan Lee stepped off of the bus and into Tree Hill, North Carolina. Nervously he looked around, trying to find where he could get directions. He didn't want to be here, but he might as well respect his mom's wishes.

Ten minutes later Nathan arrived at the residence of Dan Scott and family. He slowly made his way up the front drive of the large house; you could have fit three of his house into this one, and to the door. "Now or never," he mumbled.

Timidly Nathan knocked at the door. A few seconds later it was opened by a tall, dark haired man. "Hello, I'm looking for Dan Scott," Nathan said, his voice shaking slightly.

"I'm Dan Scott," Dan said. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you," Nathan said.

"Listen, I don't want to buy any popcorn so go on your way," Dan said, strangely mistaking Nathan as a boy scout.

"No," Nathan said. "That's not why I'm here."

"Who are you?" Dan asked, he'd never seen this kid around Tree Hill.

"My name's Nathan Lee," Nathan replied.

"And you want?" Dan asked.

"Lee, as in Deb Lee," Nathan tried.

"Oh, Deb," Dan said, he stepped out onto the front step of his house and closed the door behind him. "So what, you're her nephew or something? Really younger brother?"

"This might come as a bit of a shock but, I'm her son," Nathan told him. This guy was seriously intimidating him and now he had to force himself not to run away.

"How old are you?" Dan asked, he didn't appear to be getting what Nathan was trying to say.

This was the moment that Keith Scott decided to pull up so he could deliver some papers to Dan from the dealership, Keith Scott Motors, of which Dan was vice-president, mainly because Keith wanted to make sure Karen and Lucas were cared for by Dan himself, not just Karen's income from her cafes.

"Hey little brother," Keith said patronizingly. "Who's this?"

"I'm sixteen," Nathan said.

"Hello?" Keith asked his brother, waving his hand in front of Dan's face, but Dan looked shell-shocked as he continued to stare at Nathan.

When Dan didn't say anything for a few seconds Nathan realized he had to drop the bomb. "I'm you're son," Nathan said quietly.

"What?" Keith half-shouted.

"Liar," Dan said automatically after Nathan told him, Nathan barely heard him over Keith's reaction, but he still heard him.

"Why would you say that?" Nathan asked.

"Deb, oh, that Deb, she always just wanted to get me back for leaving her. She couldn't stand that I left her, well it took her almost seventeen years, apparently took her that long to get a brain. But she can't fool me, go back to where you belong and stop doing that bitch's bidding," Dan said with a laugh before he went into the house.

Nathan just stared at the door as it was slammed into his face and Keith just stared at this teenaged boy who looked like a lost puppy.

Haley sighed as she walked into her bedroom. Peyton and Lucas had decided to go to a party being hosted by Tim Smith and she had opted out. Looking around her room, it seemed that Haley James was your everyday cheerleader, her pom-poms were on her bed, her cheerleading uniform was hanging on the front of her closed closet door. Two editions of American Cheerleader were on her nightstand, and numerous pictures of her fellow cheerleaders littered the room.

But Haley James wasn't any normal cheerleader.

She picked up her backpack from the floor and carefully sat at her desk, moving pictures aside to make room for her books as she dutifully began to study.

Haley James was a closet bookworm genius. Okay, perhaps not a genius but she was smart, a year ahead of everybody in school and the most talented tutor at the Tree Hill High Tutor Center. But very little people realized that when Haley James said she was going to the Tutor Center that she was going there to tutor, not to be tutored.

Haley finished a trigonometry problem and smiled at herself before continuing to the next one. Some cheerleaders spent their Friday nights partying. But Haley James wasn't any normal cheerleader.

"So Dan dated your mom at the beginning of their freshman year in college?" Keith clarified. Nathan nodded as he continued to eat. Keith had finally been able to coax him away from the Scott residence and took him out to dinner to see if he could get to the bottom of it all. "And when you were born she told you that he was dead?"

"Yeah," Nathan replied. "And then she sent me to find him because she thought I should know my father." Nathan had decided that, at least for the time being, he wouldn't mention to anybody that Deb was dying from cancer.

"So you're my nephew," Keith said, mainly to himself. Again, Nathan nodded in clarification. "So what do you plan to do now?"

"Go back to Charlotte I guess," Nathan shrugged. "I wish I could get to know my dad, despite that he seems like an ass, and I know my mom wants me to get to know him."

Keith paused, pondering. Finally he spoke up, "how about getting to know your uncle?" He offered.

"Huh?"

"Come live with me, you can go to school at Tree Hill High, at least for the semester, and maybe we can get Dan to realize that you're his son," Keith said.

"I dunno, I've got my basketball team back home-" Keith cut Nathan off.

"First off, basketball, we've got you covered here in Tree Hill. Our team made it to state quarter finals last year, if you've got something of Dan in you then Whitey'd love to have you," Keith said. "And secondly, weren't you already going to leave your basketball team if Dan had accepted you as his son?"

"Yeah, I guess," Nathan said.

"Then it's settled," Keith said. "Although, call your mom first, let her know where you'll be." He scribbled down his home number and address on a napkin and handed it to Nathan. "Give her this information."

Nathan nodded and began to walk away to make his call in private but he turned around before he got too far away. "Thanks," he said, smiling for the first time since he'd gotten to Tree Hill.