The Return

The moment he stepped foot into the warm North Carolina air, he knew he had made the right decision to return home. The familiarity of his surroundings was something he hadn't felt in a long time. Traveling around the world had attuned him to always being spontaneous. He didn't know where he'd be staying half of the time and he definitely had no idea how to get around the places he'd visited. He couldn't even count the amount of times he ended up lost in strange, sometimes questionable, parts of foreign cities. So to be back in the place that he knew likes the back of his hand was very refreshing for him.

It wasn't necessarily the place that he had missed most, though, but rather the people he had left behind. Sometimes it amazed him that he was able to go two years without seeing his friends and family. He knew very much that all of the people he was closest to definitely weren't happy about that. He was going to have to take a lot of heat from them.

A few minutes of waiting later, he spotted a familiar red jeep making its way towards him. A wide smile came to his face as he walked towards it in excitement. The moment she stopped the car, his mother sprang out to meet him. He could barely say a word before she pulled him into a tight embrace, all the while muttering how much she missed him.

He laughed lightly as he pulled away. "I've missed you too, Mom."

She shook her head, looking at him pointedly. "You have been gone way too long."

"I know," he said guiltily. "But I'm back now, right?"

"Yes, you are," she said with a grin, "and you are not leaving anytime soon."

Before he could respond, the sound of a high pitched voiced stole his attention.

"Lucas!"

His little sister nearly tackled him as she ran into him, but he just laughed and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. "Oh, man, I've missed you, Lily."

"I missed you too," Lily replied, giggling as she tried to escape his grasp.

He set her down, getting a good look at her. She had grown so much since he'd last been here; it was almost unbelievable. Of course he'd gotten loads of picture from his mom, but to actually see her now, standing right in from of him, was totally different. Her straight light brown hair was longer than he'd ever seen it and her piercing blue eyes looked up at him expectantly. She looked like a mini version of their mom.

"Look at how tall you are," he marveled. "You've grown so much."

"Well, duh! The last time you saw me I was four. I'm practically a grown up now."

He shook his head, trying to hide his laughter. Lily's diva attitude definitely hadn't changed over the years.

He and his mom shared an amused glance. "Yes, you are."

"Well," Karen said, moving back to the car. "let's get you home. I know Haley is dying to see you."

He grinned at the thought of Haley. He missed his best friend more than he even realized. "I can't wait to see her. And Nathan and Jamie too. Jamie must be so tall now."

Lily giggled as Karen helped her into the car. "No, he's really short."

Karen sent Lily a stern look before glancing back at him. "She and her friends like to tease Jamie. The poor thing is surrounded by so many girls that all take pleasure in acting as if he is their own personal toy."

Once they were settled into the car, Karen pulled out into traffic and drove back towards his hometown. It felt good to be back; better than he imagined.

"So, what'd you get me this time, Luke?"

Every time Lucas would visit a city, he would always make sure to buy a small gift for Lily and his mom. It had become a tradition, but at the same time it made him feel a little better about being away. It let them know he was always thinking about them, even though he wasn't actually at home.

"Lily," Karen said warningly, "you know it's not polite to ask that."

"But he's my brother; he doesn't mind."

"It's okay, Mom," he said, winking at her before digging into his bag and pulling out a coffee mug. "Here you go, Lils. Enjoy."

Lily's face scrunched up in confusion as she took the cup from him. "Mommy doesn't let me drink coffee."

He grinned. "You can fill it up with water or something and then it'll look like you're drinking coffee and you'll be the coolest kid in school." Lily did not look convinced and he just shrugged. "Come on, give your big bro a break. I was in Seattle, coffee capital of the world. What else was I supposed to get you?"

"A simple t-shirt would've been a nice alternative," Karen said, chuckling.

"Yeah, but I've already gotten you both more than enough t-shirts. And I was too lazy to go shopping for gifts while I was there, so I just stopped by the Starbucks next to my hotel and picked up the first thing I saw."

"How thoughtful."

"Besides, the real gift was that I personally delivered the cups, right?"

Karen just smiled. "Definitely. It's by far the best gift you given us."

888

After dropping his luggage off it his mom's, Karen announced that she had to go back to work for a few hours, but suggested that he go see Nathan and Haley. He'd planned on this anyway and so he drove him and Lily over to their house. Haley bombarded him the moment he arrived, but he didn't mind at all; he'd missed her so much.

"Hey, Hales," he said, smiling down at her when pulled away. His response was a hard punch in the stomach. He couldn't help but laugh as he winced slightly from the pain. "I guess I deserved that."

"Don't you ever stay away so long again! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I—."

"Two years is way too long to stay away from home!"

"I know, but—."

She hit him again, this time a lot less forcefully, and gave him a playful smile. "It's good to have you home, Luke."

"It's good to be home," he said, grinning softly at her.

"Hi, Uncle Luke."

Lucas looked down in surprise at his nephew who had suddenly appeared at Haley's feet. It didn't matter what Lily said, Jamie definitely had grown.

"Hey, little man," he said, bending down and pulling Jamie into a hug. "I've missed you, kid."

Jamie smiled shyly up at him. "I've missed you too, Uncle Luke."

"I hear you rival your dad on the basketball court. You'll have to show me how much better you've gotten since I left."

"I'm a pro now!" Jamie exclaimed, no longer shy at the mention of his favorite sport.

He ruffled Jamie's short blonde hair. "I bet you are."

"Looks like my big brother finally decided to grace us with his presence."

Lucas laughed as he looked up from Jamie and saw Nathan standing at the doorway. A little girl that couldn't have been older than five followed Nathan down the walkway and towards them.

Lucas looked over at Haley in confusion. "Did you have another kid without telling me?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "No, but you wouldn't be able to blame us if we did since you never bother to call anymore."

Lucas was thankfully saved from responding to that as Nathan had arrived.

"It's good to have you back, Luke," Nathan said, pulling him into a short hug. "We've missed you."

"I've missed you all too," he replied. He looked down at the girl who was currently tugging on Haley's hand. She was a cute kid with shoulder length dark brown hair and inquisitive brown eyes. "And who are you?" he asked, sending the little girl a friendly smile.

"I'm Kate," she said, smiling widely up at him. "And you're Lucas."

"That's what they call me."

"Jamie told me all about you. He said you were even better at basketball than Nathan!"

He laughed. "Jamie's a smart kid."

Nathan just looked down at his son in surprise. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Daddy, but it's true."

"Okay, okay," Haley interrupted, "before a brawl breaks out, let's all go inside."

Lucas followed his brother and sister-in-law inside. Jamie immediately ran out to the backyard, with Lily following close behind. Kate stopped at the backdoor, sending Lucas an enthusiastic wave before going out to join Lily and Jamie by the pool.

He took a seat at the counter next to Nathan, while Haley got them something to drink. "So who does Kate belong to?"

"Oh," Haley said, handing him a glass of iced tea, "she's the daughter of a friend of mine. She comes over here a lot when her mom has to work."

"She's very…sociable."

Nathan laughed. "Yeah, she's a cool kid. I can't believe Jamie told her you were better than me at basketball, though. I mean seriously, I'm the one playing in the NBA."

Lucas just laughed. "I'm sure Jamie was joking. So how's that been going anyway?"

"What, basketball? Great. It's the off season now, but we finished with a good season. Did you keep up with us at all while you were gone?"

"My little brother is playing for the Bobcats— of course I've been keeping tabs on you."

Nathan had started playing for the Bobcats a few months before Lucas left and Lucas had barely seen him play live. He had, however, always made sure to check out everything he could online to see how his brother was doing.

"How about you, Hales?" Lucas turned to look at his best friend who was now perched on top of the kitchen counter. "How's teaching going?"

Haley let out an exasperated sigh. "It's exhausting. I really do love it, though, even if some of the kids are super obnoxious. It definitely makes me appreciate our own teachers back when we were in school. They put up with more than any of us could ever know."

"We weren't that bad," Lucas said thoughtfully.

"Speak for yourself, man," Nathan said with a snicker. "I was horrible back in high school."

"Well, of course you were, but Haley and I were both model students."

Haley snorted. "Yeah, until Rachel almost corrupted you back in senior year."

"Almost being the key word," Lucas replied. "And she really wasn't as bad as you made her out to be."

Haley arched an eyebrow. "Lucas, I still don't know how you can defend her after all she did."

He sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "I'm not defending her, I just…"

"Can we change the subject, please?" Nathan cut in.

"Yes," Lucas said, sending Nathan a thankful glance, "that's probably a good idea."

"Sorry, Luke," Haley said apologetically. "I shouldn't have brought it up.

He smiled softly. "It's okay, Hales."

His senior year of high school was definitely one year he would never forget. There were some great moments— Nathan and Haley's second wedding, winning the state championship, prom, graduation and of course the births of Jamie and Lily. But then there were the bad memories that will forever be imprinted in his mind— the school shooting and the death of Keith, murdered by his own brother, and the whole mess with Rachel, just to name a few. It had been an interesting year, to say the least.

Nathan turned to look at him. "So…did you talk to Jake?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I called him yesterday. I'm actually going to meet him and some of the other guys at the Rivercourt tonight to catch up. You wanna come?"

"Of course," Nathan replied. "We'll probably have to bring Jamie, though. You know, to prove that I am the better basketball player in this family."

"I've barely played these last two years, so I don't think you'll have a problem proving that. As a matter of fact, the last time I touched a basketball was in Barcelona over eight months ago. I ended up playing streetball with a couple of locals. It was pretty awesome now that I think about it."

Nathan just shook his head. "Lucas, I'm so gonna kick your ass tonight."

He laughed. "I don't doubt it, Nate."

888

It was early evening by the time Lucas, Nathan, and Jamie headed over to the Rivercourt. Lily had stayed behind to hang out with Kate, who was apparently a good friend of hers as well. The sun was beginning to set and soon the street lights would come on. Jake was already there, playing one on one with Skills while Mouth sat on one of the benches, commentating. He smiled at the sight; it was almost like he was back in high school.

Skills stopped mid-game. "Well, well, look who it is."

He grinned as he walked over to meet the others on the court. "It's been awhile."

Jake laughed, patting him on the back. "Dude, it's been forever."

"Yeah," he admitted, "it really has."

Mouth, one of his oldest friends, came over to him with a big smile. "How'd traveling the world go, Luke?"

"It was…fun."

And it really was fun, but there was still something in his mind that was constantly nagging him, telling him that there was something out there that he was looking for, something that he still hadn't found. It was frustrating because he honestly doesn't know what it is. He just hoped that someday he would find it.

"You try out a lady in each country?" Skills asked, smirking at him.

He chuckled. "Not every country, no."

"Too bad, man. If I was you, I would've made sure to get a taste of each country, see which one was on top when it comes to the ladies, if you know what I mean."

Lucas chuckled. "You really haven't changed, Skills."

"So," Jake said, throwing Lucas the basketball, "are we gonna play or not?"

"Let's do this," Nathan said, grinning over at Lucas. "Jamie, you'd better watch this. You're gonna want to see your old man kick your uncle's butt."

Almost a full hour later, Lucas was about ready to drop in exhaustion. He wasn't in shape for this anymore and Nathan definitely had kicked his butt. Pulling out of the game and watching Nathan pump his fists in victory, he sat down on the benches. Jake pulled out a second later and sat next to him.

"Thanks for coming home, Luke." Jake wiped the sweat off his head with his shirt. "It means a lot to have you here for the wedding"

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he replied. "So how's all the planning going?"

"It's been hectic, but it's all going according to plan. Peyton's best friend, Brooke, was dying to help with the wedding planning, so she and Peyton have done most of the work. All I really had to do was pick out a ring and try on tuxes. It really hasn't been that bad…for me at least."

"Tell me about Peyton. I don't think I've ever even met her."

Jake seemed to drift off into another world at the mention of Peyton. A look of pure love crossed his face, similar to how Nathan looked whenever he was thinking about Haley.

"Peyton is amazing," Jake finally said. "She's so great with Jenny and she just makes me so happy…I'm really blessed to have her."

"You guys met at NYU, right?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah, three years ago. Feels like just yesterday…" He drifted off again, a happy smile on his face.

Lucas looked at him in amusement. "Wow, man, you've got it bad for this girl."

Jake just laughed. "I can't help it. One day, when you've found the girl you're going to spend the rest of your life with, you'll know exactly how I'm feeling."

He looked down at his hands thoughtfully. He'd always been a romantic; that's why his first story had basically been a romance novel. But at the same time he'd never really experienced true love. It was something that he had once strongly desired, he'd even thought he'd found it once, but he had been wrong, and then his heart had been closed off ever since. He still wanted it though, especially if someone could make him as happy as Peyton made Jake or Haley made Nathan.

Love. Maybe that is what he had been searching for all this time. He'd thought about it before, but he really hadn't had much interest in starting any romances abroad so he quickly brushed it off. Now, though, he found the desire coming back. He just wanted to share a bond with someone that was only between them. He wanted something special and something real.

He wanted love.


A/N: I know there's no Brooke in this chapter, but I promise she'll be in the next one. This chapter was still a bit of an introductory one. I hope you liked it. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. It could've been better and it was pretty short…

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful reviews last chapter. I got so much more feedback than I expected, which is why I ended up whipping this up quickly so I could reward you all for your awesomeness! :D Thanks so much for reading and please remember to review!