hey guys and girls thanks for the reviews thanks to my reviewers im glad you're all liking it i love your reviews

before i let you read this chapter i need help: i need to know how a typical american school year is planned out, like when the holidays are and exams etc and i need to know when the school basketball season would start and end if someone could pm me with the info that'll be great.

ive finished planning the perfect solution there are 23 chapters in total and yes i did that on purpose i thought it'd be cute or something. ive planned the summer and a couple of chapters after for this story and its at chapter 15 so this fic's gonna be a long one kinda like this authors note im gonna shut up now enjoy the chapter and review

Chapter 4

When Nathan got home from Haley's he called Lucas. He needed to talk to someone his age that was his gender too. Fortunately for him Lucas was hanging out with their friends so Nathan was able to talk to all of them. Jake Jagelski, Antwon 'Skills' Taylor, Marvin 'Mouth' McFadden, Chase Adams and Tim Smith made up the group of friends along with Nathan and Lucas. All the boys played basketball except for Mouth who commentated instead.

They were hanging out at the river court, a basketball court that had been conveniently built alongside the river that ran through Tree Hill. It was one of Nathan's favourite places to go, not only because he could play basketball but because it served as a great place to think. When something had gone wrong for any of the boys, the others would more likely than not find him at the river court.

Lucas told Nathan that they had to play two on two games now that Nathan was gone.

"Why don't you get Mouth to play"

"Do you remember how Mouth used to play?"

"Yeah" Nathan said remembering how bad Mouth played

"He hasn't gotten any better. In fact I think he's worse"

Nathan laughed then Lucas said that he'd put him on speakerphone so everyone could hear him. The boys talked in general about stuff that had happened in Tree Hill since he left which, except for a party a couple of nights ago, hadn't been much. Nathan told them about the house he was living in and going to Scott Entertainment and getting the job from his father. He then told them about the party at Haley's house. The boys were surprised that, not only was Nathan living next door to and speaking to Haley James, he'd been invited to a party at her house.

They weren't sure if it was true but Nathan finally convinced them that he wasn't playing a prank. He really was living next to Haley James and he'd spoken to her but he didn't tell them that she'd beat his butt at video games, something they as an entire group had never been able to do.

Nathan then asked to speak to Lucas alone. Lucas took the phone off it's speakerphone setting and said "What's up?"

"I think you should come here" Nathan said not wanting to beat around the bush

"I'm not gonna do that Nate. I don't want to live in the same house as the guy who left us"

"Luke we've been over this a million times. He needed to leave and there's a job for you too. Maybe if you spent time with him you wouldn't get so worked up about the separation. We don't know why it happened and maybe if you came here you could find out"

"I don't know if I can. What about mum? I can't leave her"

"Mum doesn't mind. It's not like she's left alone. She's got Deb" Nathan said referring to his mother's best friend and business partner

"Let me think about it. I'll let you know"

"Okay" Nathan said as his father walked in the room "Dad's here if you want to talk to him"

"No I'll talk to him if I decide to come. I'll call you later"

"Okay"

Nathan hung up and turned to face his father. He explained that Lucas was considering coming but Keith just told Nathan he probably wouldn't. Keith didn't want to get his hopes up.

In the evening while Nathan and Keith were having dinner the house phone rang. Keith answered it. It was Karen.

"Hello Keith" she said

"Karen hi. How are you?" Keith asked a familiar stirring in his stomach occurring from the sound of her voice saying his name

"I'm very well. I just thought I'd let you know that Lucas has decided he'd visit you for the summer as long as he's able to come home whenever he wants to"

"That's fine. I'll book him a ticket. Why don't you talk to Nathan while I see when the earliest flight leaves"

Nathan took the phone from his father and spoke to his mum about everything that he had been doing so far. He'd only been in LA for three days and it felt like he'd been there for ages the way he talked about it to his mother. Karen was delighted that Nathan was having a good time and hoped Lucas would do so too. She voiced her fears to Nathan but he squashed them telling her that Lucas would have a great time.

"He'll be fine mum" Nathan added "There's loads to do and I've made some friends next door so he'll be fine"

"Who are these friends"

"Oh you know that singer Haley James" his mum said yes "Well she lives next door to us with a couple of her friends. I hung out with them today. They're pretty cool"

"Haley James is that pretty one you have a poster of on your wall. She's very talented"

"She's really nice. She made me feel really welcome but… don't tell Lucas or the guys this… I had to watch 'The Notebook'"

Karen gasped in shock. She would never have thought that her sons would actually watch a romance film "Do you like this girl?" she asked convinced it was the only way her son could have been persuaded to watch it

"Yeah" Nathan said unable to lie to his mother "But that's not why I watched it. Her friends made me"

"Are all her friends girls"

"Yeah it was really weird hanging out with girls instead of the guys but I didn't really notice it"

"Well that's good. Has you father found a ticket yet?"

Nathan turned to his father who was giving his credit card details to the airline on the phone "I think so. Let me just check"

Keith had written down the details on a piece of paper in front of him and Nathan repeated them to Karen. Keith then ended his call while Nathan was still talking to Karen. He motioned for Nathan to pass him the phone and Nathan said a hurried goodbye before handing the phone back to his dad.

Keith told Karen the flight details and assured her that he would pick Lucas up from the airport. He also assured her that he would take care of Lucas during his stay. Suddenly out of the blue he asked "How's the café?" referring to the café Karen and Deb ran.

"Oh" Karen said shocked "It's fine. Business is doing well"

"You don't have to work Karen. You know that. I can take care of you"

"Keith don't do this. It only hurts more" Karen said sounding exhausted

"I'm sorry. Tell Lucas I'll pick him up from the airport with Nathan tomorrow"

"Okay. Goodbye Keith"

"Bye Karen" Keith said then in a whisper he added, "I love you"

"What?" Karen said not sure what Keith had said

"Oh nothing bye" Keith replied hastily and hung up the phone

Nathan who had finished his dinner asked if he could go next door to tell Haley, Brooke and Peyton about Lucas coming. Keith said that he could and told Nathan that he had to be ready by eight-thirty the next day as the meeting was at nine-thirty and they could not be late. Lucas would be arriving after lunch so they had to start the meeting on time if they wanted to get to the airport on time.

Nathan agreed to be ready on time and bid his father good night. He then went out of the back door and through the yard along the now familiar path. He jumped over the wall and made his way through Haley's back yard. He found Haley, Brooke and Peyton relaxing in the hot tub. They greeted him and asked if he wanted to join them. Nathan told them why he was here as he rolled up his pant legs and sat down at the edge of the tub, his legs dangling into the warm water.

The girls could tell something was wrong. Although Nathan seemed happy about his brother coming to visit there seemed to be something holding his excitement back. Peyton questioned it and Nathan said "I'm scared he's not going to get along with my dad. They haven't spoken since he left and whenever I mention it Luke gets really cold about it. He thinks its dad's fault that my mum and dad separated"

"Maybe it's a good sign that he's coming. Maybe he wants to talk to your dad about it" Haley suggested

"Yeah I guess. My mum's worried too and I had to tell her that he'd have a great time"

"Of course he will. He gets to meet us" Brooke said.

Nathan, Haley and Peyton laughed. Brooke however took a hold of Nathan's shirt and pulled him into the tub. Nathan was so shocked at first that he didn't do anything but while the three girls were laughing he dunked Brooke's head underwater. When she came up, she looked at Nathan angrily for a second but then joined in the laughter. She gave Nathan a look and he nodded his head slightly indicating that he understood. Then without warning they both dunked Peyton and Haley under water. When the two girls came up from underwater a huge water fight began.

When it was over Nathan told the girls he had to go as he had to get up early tomorrow. He told them to come over to his house the next day so they could meet Lucas. They agreed and Nathan left his clothes dripping as he'd been fully clothed when Brooke had pulled him into the hot tub. He made his way to his house and Nathan crept to his room and changed out of his wet clothes. Fifteen minutes later he was fast asleep.

Nathan woke up to his alarm. He immediately shut it off and got out of bed. He showered and got dressed then headed downstairs to the kitchen. He made breakfast and was eating when Keith walked in. Keith was surprised that Nathan was ready on time but didn't question it. After breakfast, they left for the Scott Entertainment offices in Keith's Bentley.

Nathan and his father left the Scott Entertainment building just before Lucas's plane was due to land. The airport was not too far away and they would reach the airport in time to meet Lucas. The meeting had gone superbly. Nathan had been introduced to Justin and heard the new album. It was good. Nathan and Keith had liked it and Keith had given Justin his stamp of approval. The album would be released in the fall and Nathan predicted it would go to number 1 on the charts.

Nathan and Keith arrived at the airport just as the plane landed. They waited for Lucas to come out and eventually he did. The brothers embraced glad to see each other. Nathan took Lucas' suitcase out of his hand and placed it in the trunk while Keith attempted to greet his son. Keith held out his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas just got into the back of the car. Nathan gave an apologetic look to his father before they both got into the front of the car and Keith drove them home.

The journey home was filled with tension. Lucas answered Keith's questions in a flat voice and completely ignored his fathers questions about his mother. Nathan attempted to keep the peace by talking about things that were not related to their parents separation. He talked about the meeting earlier and the friends he had made in the last couple of days.

When they got to the house, Keith was called back to the office but promised the boys he'd be there for dinner. He left and Nathan gave Lucas the grand tour. Nathan showed Lucas the downstairs then they made their up. When they got to Lucas' bedroom, Nathan could tell Lucas was impressed. Lucas' bedroom was similar to Nathan's and Lucas admitted he liked it a lot. Nathan then took Lucas to the garage to show off his father's car collection. Lucas was shocked that his father had so many nice cars and couldn't hide his excitement when he saw his own.

"What do you think?" Nathan said as he watched Lucas explore his car

"It's nice" Lucas said "He really went to great lengths to make sure we like him"

"Luke" Nathan said sternly

"Sorry. I know. I can't help it"

"Come on I gotta show you the garden and dad should be home in an hour or two"

"How long can it take to see the yard"

Nathan just laughed

Nathan showed Lucas the back yard. He walked him through from the pool to the flower beds to the area next to the wall. Nathan glanced over the wall to see if Haley or any of the other girls were near but he couldn't see anyone. Nathan then led Lucas back towards the basketball court. When he showed Lucas the court, Nathan knew a game of one on one would occur and therefore had left showing the court to last.

Nathan was right. As soon as Lucas had looked at the top of the range baskets and basketballs he picked a ball up and threw it at the back of Nathan's head. Nathan immediately grabbed the ball and threw it into the basket. Not even a minute later the two brothers were in a ferocious game.

Halfway through the game, Haley, Brooke and Peyton appeared. Nathan and Lucas stopped playing so Lucas could be introduced to the girls. After the introductions were made the boys went back to their game only this time they had an audience. Haley ended up cheering for Nathan, Brooke was cheering for Lucas and Peyton cheered whenever a basket was made regardless of the scorer. In the end Nathan won and he got a congratulatory hug from Haley and Peyton.

Peyton's phone started to ring and she walked a little away to answer it leaving Nathan and Haley alone.

Haley said "So we're going away for three weeks"

"What for?" Nathan said concerned

"I have a mini tour around the country but we'll be back in three weeks"

"Are all three of you are going?"

"Yeah. Brooke and Pey are like my entourage" Haley giggled "Plus I need Brooke for my outfits. She's a style queen"

Nathan laughed as he glanced at Brooke who was talking to Lucas. They seemed to be getting along pretty well. Nathan turned back to Haley and said "Well you have fun. I'm sure you'll be great"

"You have fun too"

"Yeah because watching my dad and brother hardly speaking is fun"

"It'll work out Nathan. I know you're father pretty well and he loves you both and I've only just met Lucas but he seems like a nice guy. They'll sort it out"

"I hope so. So I'll see you when you get back" Nathan said moving in for another hug

"Yep" Haley said hugging him back "I'll let you know when we get back. I'll have a party or movie night or something"

A while later the three girls left and Nathan and Lucas went back into the house. When Keith got back he proposes a mini fishing trip to the boys. Nathan agrees to the idea with enthusiasm whereas Lucas only agrees to it half-heartedly.

okay that was chapter 4 please review and let me know what you thought i might not be able to update as soon as i would like to. i started university properly this week and i already have two 1000 word essays to do before the end of october second year is definitely gonna be harder than first im already scared but i will finish these stories im determined to do it okay im rambling thanks for reading please review