A/N: Hello! How's everyone?

Well, first off I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! And all the people who have signed up for

alerts! I was so impressed, and it was really unexpected haha. To say thank you, I'm posting the next chapter a little earlier than I planned to :)

One thing that I did want to mention was Cassie's stutter. I was reading on the internet about how to properly write a stutter, and I got the impression that if I wrote the stutter everytime, it would get on people's nerves? What do you guys think? I don't mind writing it everytime (in fact, it's probably better for me to get it right in my head) but at the same time, I don't it to seem like the problem had magically disappeared :s I might only write the stutter every now and again to stop it from getting too repetitive. Please let me know what you guys think because it would really help me out when it comes to writing future chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own one tree hill. I wish I did, but I don't so that sucks for me haha

As always, let me know what you think!

Virtual hugs!

xoloveJBox

As soon as the bell rang the next afternoon, Cassie grabbed her things feverishly and bounded happily out of the building. She planned to go back to the river-court, to see Lucas again. Cassie knew that their fleeting conversation the day before had been a fluke, but she didn't care; the chance of it happening again was slim, but all too tempting.

However, she jumped in surprise when she reached the gate and almost collided with Lucas.

"Cassidy. Cassidy Scott, right?" he murmured in a low tone before Cassie had a chance to recover from her startled state. She gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod, wondering how he had known.

"You somehow forgot to mention that one to me yesterday." Lucas spoke with a velvety purr that Cassie found slightly comforting; it wasn't like what she had expected, but she was sure that, in the countless times she had pictured the first moment of speaking to her older brother, she had imagined him sounding more like Nathan or their father. However, no matter how many times she had envisioned meeting Lucas, the awkwardness that she suddenly felt had never been a part of it.
Cassie pulled her fingers down into her sleeve, shifted her bag on her shoulders uncomfortably, and looked down at the ground sheepishly. She was trying to work out what Lucas' voice was telling her. Not his words, but the sound of him. His voice was soft, and didn't seem to be angry; but then, she thought, nobody did in comparison with her father, whose voice was always booming with blame.

"I was w-w-worried that you wouldn't want to t-t-talk to me if you knew who I was." She whispered apologetically as hoards of overly eager school children whizzed past the two of them with unabashed levels of superabundant noise, totally unaware of what was going on.

"But you wanted to talk to me?" Lucas asked curiously, after a minute of confused silence between the pair.

Cassie nodded, the only thing she was totally sure of at that moment.

"Why?" Lucas questioned, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. Cassie tried for a few long seconds to make her reasons sound better than they really were, to make them sound more impressive, but whenever she tried to change the words, she found that they didn't explain it right, so she decided to just go with what she was thinking.

"You're my brother too, whether Dad and Nathan like it or not." She told him honestly, readying herself for him to laugh and walk away.

But he didn't. In fact, he took a step towards her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweater.

"Why now?" he asked, unsure whether he completely understood what was seemingly unfolding in front of him.

"I can't pretend." She admitted simply, realising that it was the first time she had even answered that question for herself and, totally engrossed in the moment, Cassie didn't even notice that she didn't stutter or stumble over any of the words.

"Where were you going?" Lucas asked her quietly, noticing that the girl had traces of tears in her eyes, and he couldn't find anything to suggest that she was lying.

"I was going to go back to that p-p-playground you were at yesterday. Were you g-g-going there too?" Cassie could hear her voice shaking slightly, so she took a deep but subtle breath to keep herself under control.

But when Lucas shook his head, she felt her heart drop a little.

"We don't play there every day." He told her "Do you want me to walk you home or something?"

As soon as Lucas said the words, he didn't know why he had. He had only met the girl once before, and he hadn't even known who she was then. So why did he find that he felt so comfortable with her? She was a stranger but, at the same time, familiar. He felt like he knew her, like she had always been around, and he almost laughed at the thought. This was Nathan Scott's little sister, but that was when it really hit him.

She was his sister too.

The only other person Lucas disliked more in the world was the father they shared, but no matter how much he tried, Lucas couldn't muster up any feelings of hostility or negativity towards Cassidy. There was just something about the small, slight girl in front of him with the mass of dark curls, and large, inquisitive, laser-beam green eyes that made Lucas feel something he had never experienced before, something he couldn't identify or explain to himself. He even felt disappointed when she shook her head.

"Oh," he sighed "Ok then." He mumbled, turning away to leave. Caught off-guard, Cassie didn't even react until he had taken a few long strides away.

"Wait!" She suddenly blurted, surprising even herself with how clear it sounded, making Lucas turn back to her "I didn't m-m-mean that I didn't want to walk with you. I just don't want to go home yet."

Lucas gave a small smile and inclined his head forwards, indicating for her to follow, and Cassie beamed before running to catch up with him.