Thanks for all your reviews and I hope you like the next chapter. I don't own anything.


No words were exchanged as they followed Quentin towards the doors that would lead them out of the gym. He didn't talk to them and they didn't talk to each other. They had all gained a somber feeling, though they couldn't know why. As the boy walking in front of them pushed the double doors open, they were struck by the brightness of the outside. They didn't stop, though. Each of them passed through the light without pausing to think what would be on the other side.

They had expected to be led to the outside of the school. What they saw instead of concrete walkways and cement tables was instead grass and trees. There were headstones scattered around them and suddenly they could see why they had the feeling they did. The road at the bottom of the hill they were on was filled with cars led by a hearse.

Peyton, recognizing the area of cemetery they were in, instinctively turned her head to look for her mother's grave and drew her breathe in sharply when she saw the crowd of people standing not far from them. The rest of them turned their heads to see what had drawn her attention.

To the left of them was a casket hovering over an empty grave. The group of people dressed in black huddled under the tree were staring at the box that held their friend, lover, uncle, father. In the front of the crowd was Lucas and Karen. Next to her was Dan and then Nathan. On the right of Lucas stood Whitey. Behind them stood Haley, Brooke, Mouth and Rachel.

"Oh, god," whispered Peyton. Keith just nodded and pressed his lips together. They watched as Dan stared at the casket in disbelief and as Whitey struggled not to cry. They watched as Lucas stepped forward to take a handful of dirt and Karen's eyes fluttered closed. They watched as he let the earth slip through his fingers and Dan was called to do the same. And they watched as one by one, all the people who had loved Keith walked forward to say their last goodbye.

Quentin, who had been standing slightly in front of them, quietly turned his body to face the opposite direction. They all mimicked his actions, not knowing what to expect.

On the other side of them, was a different group of people. A different casket was being carried up the hill to be placed over a different grave. After the procession came what could only be Quentin's family, led by his mother and brother. On the other side of the casket they could see themselves. Lucas was staring ahead of him as Peyton held onto his arm. Nathan had his arm around Haley's waist as she stood next to Brooke. Deb was looking at Skills with concern on her face as he too gazed down at the coffin. Her arm was on Jamie's shoulder as the boy held a box in his hands.

Once again, they stood and observed the scene in front of them. They watched at Deb crossed over the stand next to Skills and rested her forehead against his. They watched as a group of boys in their basketball uniforms walked up the hill to hug the boy's mother and stand next to the grave. They watched as the boy's brother stood from his seat and went to stand with the team, slipping a much too large jersey on over his suit.

Before Quentin could move, they knew to look back towards the scene on their left. The only people left were Lucas and his mother. And they watched as the boy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. As she began to cry for the first time, none of them could stop the tears that had started pooling in their own eyes and falling down their faces.

To their right, people had begun to leave quietly until it was just Jamie and Brooke left behind. The woman had shed her sunglasses and they could now see the bruises around her eyes and neck and noticed the discoloration on her arms. They noticed but didn't say anything as the small boy in front of them opened his box and pulled a sheet of red material out. He spread it over the casket and they realized it was a cape with the letter 'Q' emblazoned across it. As Brooke made no move to stop the tears that had started streaming down her face and Jamie slipped his small hand in hers, the dead boy standing next to them turned to face them for the first time.

Even after knowing his for such a short time, they were unused to seeing the serious look on his face. They waited for him to say something but began to realize he wasn't really looking at them, but beyond them. So they turned, dreading whatever it was they were going to witness next.

On the hill behind them stood a woman alone next to yet another coffin. She just stared at the casket before her with a heartbroken look on her face.

"That's Mrs. Edwards," whispered Mouth. With that statement Haley's eyes widened and Lucas shook his head. Skills shut his eyes and tilted his head back, shaking it from side to side.

A red car pulled up on the road at the bottom of the hill and five boys they recognized got out. Once again, they watched a group of boys walk up to comfort a grieving mother. They watched as Lucas hugged her and Mouth reached down to take her hand. And they watched at tears finally began to fall from her eyes.

The world seemed to spin and there wasn't one among them who wasn't thankful to leave this place. Somehow they were back at the school, only this time in a hallway near the library. There was glass shattered on the floor and blood smeared across it and something felt off about the air. It was eerily quiet and they were all a little scared to say anything and even more scared to see whatever it was they were about to see.

"Look. There's blood." They all jumped as Nathan and Lucas walked through the door next to them. Both boys had baseball bats in their hands as Lucas turned back towards his brother. "It could be Peyton."

"We don't know that," said Nathan, shaking his head.

"Well, it's someone. The library doors don't lock. It's not safe." Lucas inclined his head towards the shattered door behind him.

"Lucas, I have to find Haley."

A resigned look went over Lucas' face as he nodded. "I know." As the dark haired boy began to walk away, Lucas called out, "Nathan." He stopped and looked away as the younger boy turned back.

Something unspoken passes between them and Nathan nodded. "Yeah. You too, man." They look at each other one more time before going their separate ways.

The group followed Nathan, knowing that was the way they should be going. As they turned the corner behind him, everything went dark around them and they froze. Suddenly, they heard the ringing of a cell phone and after a minute, a light switched on.

They're all surprise to see Lucas sitting up in a bed in front of them as he picks the phone up from his bedside table. Peyton was stirring next to him and rolled over just in time to see him flip the device open.

"Hello?" He listens to what's being said on the other end before saying, "Oh, my god."

Peyton had leaned closer to him and looked at him with worry written across her face. "Lucas, what is it?" He flipped the phone shut and stared straight ahead.

Lucas stuttered for a moment before saying, "Quentin Fields was shot tonight." He paused before adding, "He's dead."

Peyton only paused for a second before putting her hand on his arm and moving herself closer. The man laying next to her just shook his head.

The group is thrust into darkness again but it doesn't last long. This time, they're standing in the library at their school. It doesn't take them long to see the blood on the carpet and to follow the trail to the end of the bookshelves. When they reach the other side of the last one, they look down and see Peyton and Lucas sitting there.

Her face was pale and the circles under her eyes were dark. As if they're one, their eyes travel from the pool of blood under her foot to the ripped jeans covering the hole in her leg. Lucas was in the middle of saying something to Peyton but none of them really started to listen until the girl answered him.

"You're always saving me." She whispered this and they could hear the weakness in her voice.

"Somebody's got to," Lucas said, shaking his head slightly with a small smile on his face.

"If I say I love you right now," Peyton pulled her eyes up to look him straight on. "Will you hold it against me?" She paused before adding, "Cause I've lost a lot of blood." They can all hear the tears in her voice.

Brooke could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes again as she watched her best friend on the ground. Even though she had already heard this story straight out of Peyton's mouth and knew it didn't end with her death, she couldn't believe that blond girl could actually recover from something like this. "You're dying," she stated as she looked at the same girl standing next to her. This Peyton, wearing her cheerleading uniform and a hard look on her face, just met the brunette's eyes briefly and looked back down.

Lucas hadn't responded but had given the girl sitting next to him another small smile.

"Come here," she breathed. He leaned closer to her as if to let her whisper into his ear and looked slightly confused when she moved her face closer to his. She brought her mouth up to meet his and he squeezed his eyes shut as he kissed her back. She pulled away just as quickly as she had started it and left him with a disconcerted look on his face.

"Just incase you can't keep your promise," she said, trying to smile at him but failing. She let her eyes fall shut and left him to stare at her.

The group standing over them began to feel something different in the air than before. There was a buzzing in their ears and they could feel time passing as they wait for it fade. When it finally stopped they look down, expecting the two blonds to be talking again.

Instead, Peyton's eyes were still closed and she was even whiter than before. They could tell she was unconscious as she slowly started to fall sideways and only stopped when she hit Lucas' shoulder. He looked down at her in concern and turned his body toward her carefully. He gently shook her shoulder but she didn't respond. They could see him beginning to get frantic as he shook her a little harder and began to look around him wildly.

The two started to blur and then the group was standing in a different room.

"This is the tutor center," Haley whispered as they took in the sight before them.

"And that's Jimmy," muttered Mouth. He was staring at the boy in a red hoodie standing before them. On one side of the room sat Mouth, Skills, the red headed cheerleader they had all seen at Midnight Madness, and another boy they don't recognize. On the other side were Nathan and Haley, leaning into each other.

"I promise you: whoever steps into that hallway is gonna die." They all felt a chill go down their spines at his words.

Jimmy had the gun pointed straight at Nathan while a phone lay on the floor between them. No one said anything until they all heard a loud bang echo out in the hallway.

"I guess that's my cue." He seemed to whisper more to himself than anyone in the room with him. He turned sharply and started for the door. He only stopped when he heard the red head call out after him.

"Don't. Just stop. Change it. Don't do this." Jimmy stared back at her and shook his head slightly. He shut his eyes as Mouth began to speak.

"Please, Jim. Just turn yourself in. I can go with you." He closed his eyes tightly. "This can't be happening." He whispers that last part more to himself than anyone else.

"Yo, Edwards, man. It don't have to be like this, dog."

"Yeah, I think it does." Jimmy looked straight at Skills. He turned once again and unlocked the door. As he opened it, Haley tried to reach him one last time.

"Jimmy." He pause for a second upon hearing her whisper and twisted to look at them.

"You know, they're going to remember me as a monster." He stopped. "I wonder how they'll remember all of you." With that he turned and walked out of the room. Haley leaned her head onto Nathan's chest and Mouth silently began to cry. The group stared at them with wide eyes as they felt themselves start to be moved again.

When they look around them, they're on the river court for the first time. It's early morning as Nathan shoots around with a basketball. They're all distracted by the words painted across the black top and only look up when they hear Nathan say Quentin's name. When they see he's only leaving the boy a voicemail, they then turn their attention to the car that's driving a little top fast to reach the court.

Nathan snapped his phone shut as Haley got out and rushed towards him, leaving the car on and her door open.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked with a confused smile. Haley didn't answer but instead put her hands on her hips when she's standing right in front of him.

"Haley, what happened?" They could see the tears forming in her eyes as she struggled to find the words to tell him what they already know.

Just as quickly as before the group is moving again and find themselves on the porch leading into Lucas' room. Skills is leaning against the doorframe as the blond pulls open the door and looks at him.

"Hey, did anybody call you?"

Luke only inclined his head slightly and said, "Yeah."

"Is it true? Is Quentin really..." Skills looked down before continuing. "Is he dead?"

Lucas looked away and nodded reluctantly. "Yeah." Skills face fell as he quickly looked out into the night.

"Come on in." Lucas stepped back and gave Skills room to walk inside.

Suddenly they're inside of the bedroom and Lucas is sitting in front of them bouncing a basketball against the wall. Skills leans around the doorway and knocks lightly.

"Sup, my brother?"

The boy sitting on the bed just sighed. "Nothing," he answered as Skills walked in.

"So. listen. The guys talked and decided...We're not gonna go to Jimmy's funeral tomorrow. I mean Mouth kinda tore up about it but we all loved Keith. It just don't seem right."

Mouth shook his head and took a step back. "No," he said shaking his head. "Jim wouldn't have..." Haley squeezed her eyes shut before reaching down to grab his hand.

"Do you think there's a heaven, Skills?" The boy looked a Lucas for a minute before answering.

"Do I think there's a heaven?"

"Yeah, you know. Like pearly gates and angels," he said it with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Skills walked over and sat on the bed next to Lucas. He shrugged and wrinkled his forehead. "I don't know about all that. Maybe some chrome gates and some freaky angels." He grinned a little bit when he saw he had made Lucas laugh.

His face turning serious, he continued, "But I do think there's something else out there. And I do think that whatever we do in this world matters in the next."

Lucas spun the ball in his hands. "Before you came in, I was thinking about Edwards. How he could take Keith's life."

Skills cut him off before he could go any further. "Luke, he wasn't right, dog. Jimmy was sick."

Lucas turned suddenly to look him in the face. "So, if that's true is heaven the kind of place that'll hold that against someone? You know, because if not, Jimmy's a victim too. And right now, in your world beyond this one, Jimmy and Keith are in the same place. I can't figure out what kind of place that would be."

"It's a place you and I wouldn't understand."

"Or a place that doesn't exist," Lucas muttered. Both boys continued to stare straight ahead of them, thinking about something only they could know. As they sat in silence, the people watching them were lost in their own world, too.

Haley looked at Lucas standing right in front of her. His back was rigid and she could tell from the set of his shoulders, he was angry. She stepped forward to be next to him and placed the hand that wasn't currently attached to Mouth on his shoulder.

"Luke," she whispered. He glanced down at her but didn't say anything. For the brief moment she saw his eyes, she got lost in the grief and fury in his gaze.

Before she can say anything, they were going again. When they stopped, they were in a different blue bedroom. The boy they all knew was Jamie was sitting on the bed petting a big rabbit while Nathan and Haley stood in the doorway watching him. He turned to look at his parents and saw the tears that were falling down his mother's face.

"What's wrong, Momma?"

Nathan and Haley exchanged glances before Nathan said, "It's about Quentin, son." They moved inside and surrounded Jamie as Haley laid next to him and Nathan sat beside him. "Son, Quentin had an accident, Jamie."

"What kind of accident? Is he gonna be okay?" the boy asked innocently.

Nathan's voice began to sound choked as he answered, "No, he's not okay, you know." He shook his head at his wife. "We won't see him anymore."

"What about the Ravens? Isn't he gonna play anymore?"

Haley drew in her breathe besides him. "Jamie..." The boy turned to look at her. "He died, honey. He can't play anymore." Even though none of them can see her face, they can all hear the tears in her voice. "And mommy and daddy are incredibly sad about it. So it's okay if you're sad, too. I know that he loved you very much and I know that you're gonna miss him and we're really gonna miss him too."

Jamie just looked dejectedly at the animal in front of him. "But what about his cape?" He stood up suddenly and jumped off the bed despite his parents' protests. He turned back briefly and said, "He's gonna like it. You'll see." With that he walked out of the room and left his parents behind.

They were shifting again and found themselves in Keith's Autobody Shop. Lucas was sitting in front of a car and Jamie was standing next to him dressed like Keith. He had a goatee and mustache painted on his face and a bandana on his head as Nathan watched them with a smile on his face. Keith let out a laugh and hearing this, Karen and Lucas smiled for the first time since they had heard he was going to die.

"You know, your great uncle Keith was the best guy I knew. He was always good to me. And my mom. He always helped me out when I was struggling." Lucas was looking at the little boy, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Sounds a lot like you, Uncle Lucas."

Lucas just looked at him for a minute before looking away with an embarrassed smile. "I don't know about that. What I do know is that he loved me and he was proud of me just like I love you and I'm proud of you." He stopped before smiling again. "Maybe you're right."

The group felt time begin to speed up around them. There was the ringing in their ears and when it stopped they could see night had fallen outside the shop. Lucas and Nathan were standing in front of the toolbox, cleaning up while Jamie was walking around with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sad I never got to meet Uncle Keith." He looked at the two men as they turned to face him. Lucas sighed and looked down.

"Yeah, I'm sad about that too, buddy."

"And I'm sad about what Grandpa Dan did."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, we all are, Jamie. "

"Am I still allowed to miss Grandpa Dan?" Nathan and Lucas just looked at each other. Nathan nodded his head almost imperceptibly at Lucas as the blond squinted his eyes. His face relaxed as he sighed again.

"Yeah, Jamie. Yeah." Jamie smiled slightly at this affirmation.

"I like it here." He looked around the shop. "You bring something broken and you fix it up." With that, the boy turned and started walking towards the car.

The two men started to file out behind him and Lucas turned to look back. His gaze swept across the shop and came to rest where Keith was. In that moment it seemed almost as if he could see the dead man standing in front of him. He held his gaze there a little while longer before turning off the lights and nodding. "I always liked it here too."

Keith's eyes were wide. As Lucas pulled the door down, they were plunged into darkness. Then they were standing back in the hallway at the high school. They were alone until they saw Lucas walking around the corner with Peyton in his arms. Her arm was around his neck and her head was resting against his chest. They could tell from looking at her that she hadn't woken up since they had last seen her in the library.

From the opposite direction came Jimmy with the gun in his hands."Oh, god," whispered Haley.

"Where do you think you're going?" he yelled as the blondes came through the doorway. His gaze softened a tiny bit when he saw the state Peyton was in.

"She's bleeding."

"The school's on lock down!" Jimmy shouted and looked around wildly.

"I know, Jim." They all heard the tears in the back of his throat. "But if I don't get her out of here, she's gonna die."

Jimmy had the gun pointed towards them but his face was crumbling. "I didn't mean to hurt her," he whispered.

"We know that, Jimmy." They all stared as Keith came out of the hallway to their left.

The other Keith stared at the four people before him. "This is it," he muttered under his breathe. He wasn't scared or angry or sad. In that moment, he just felt content. Content in knowing that even though he was going to die, he left behind two amazing kids who would grow up to be amazing people.

"What the hell is this?" Jimmy shouted. "The school's on lock down!"

"Please, Jimmy. Please just let them go." He gestured to the teenagers behind him. "And you and I can talk about this. She's hurt, Jimmy."

"I didn't mean it." Once again they could hear the desperation creeping back into the boy's voice.

"I know." Keith looked at Lucas and Peyton and nodded his head as he went to stand in front of them. Lucas looked like he was about to say something but didn't. "Go on, Luke," he said over his shoulder.

Jimmy kept the gun trained on them as Luke reluctantly began to move towards the doorway. Keith made sure to stay in front of them until they were at the entry way.

"Keith.." Lucas nodded his head sideways as if to tell the man to follow him.

"Luke.." Keith let his breathe out and glanced back. "I love you. Now go." The boy blinked rapidly and looked like he was going to refuse but then looked down at the girl in his arms. And he walked out, leaving Keith alone with Jimmy.

Then the group was outside of an old gas station. They watched as a white car pulled up in front of them and Quentin got out. He walked unhurriedly into the store without looking back. He disappeared into the building as they waited.

After a few minutes of silence, Haley was the first person to speak up. "He's been in there too long," she whispered, trying to deny what she already knew was about to happen. Just then, they heard a gun shot. They all jumped and Haley put her hand in front of her mouth.

Just as quickly, they were back in the hallway. Jimmy was on his knees in front of them. He still had the gun aimed at Keith but it was wobbling in his grasp as he looked around him, dazed.

"I'm not here," he murmured. "I'm not here." Keith started to move towards him.

"Jimmy, please." The boy seemed to come back to life for a minute, shaking the gun at Keith. "It's gonna be okay, son. It's gonna be okay."

"But it hurts." Jimmy pounded his fist on his chest. "It hurts. It always hurts." His voiced ended in a scream."

"I know." Sobs were starting to go through Jimmy's body as Keith stepped closer. "Please." He repeated again, "Please."

Jimmy just stared at him as the breathe went out of him. "I'm sorry." They all gasped as they saw his hand turn to point the gun at his own chest. It seemed like time was going in slow motion as his finger pulled down on the trigger.

The last thing they heard was Keith's shout, "No!" before they were back in the tutor center. They heard the gunshot come from down the hallway where they knew an innocent life was ending. They watched as Haley's head shot off of Nathan's chest with a disbelieving look. Mouth was sobbing into the red head's arms as she struggled to hold back her own tears. Next to them sat Skills, not moving his gaze from the table in front of him.

They stayed like this, frozen in shock and sorrow until they heard a second bang resound through the halls. Keith felt his breath leave him and Karen turned to him with a horrified look on her face.

"That was..." She trailed off and held his gaze.

He nodded. "That was me."

No one said anything. They heard sobs and in that moment they didn't know if it was coming more from the broken people sitting before them or themselves. They didn't know how much time had passes before someone spoke.

"I don't understand." They all looked at Brooke to see what she was talking about. When she had finally been able to stop crying, she started to think about everything they had just seen. "If Jimmy shot himself, then how did you die?"

Everyone stared at her, trying to piece together all of the fragments of memories that they had witnessed. Just then, Quentin spoke, "Come on, You'll understand soon." They quickly fell back into the silence that was starting to be natural for them.

The turned left out of the tutor center. Not one of them looked to the right, scared of what they would see. They processed through the school, following the twists of the hallway until they found themselves outside. The ones who went to school there soon realized they were taking the long way to the other side of the school where the gym was. As they made their way around the building, they began to head the buzz of people talking.

Quentin stopped abruptly when the scene in front of them came completely into view. There were people everywhere as well as cops and special forces units. They saw new vans and reporters milling around amongst the worried parents. Then they saw Karen and Keith standing and staring at each other right near them.

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to our boy."

Karen nodded and they embraced. Dan watched them with an indescribably look on his face. When they pulled away from each other, Keith pressed his lips to Karen's forehead and squeezed her hand before beginning to walk away. He grabbed Dan's shoulder on his way and made eye contact with his brother but the two didn't speak. Then he walked towards the school.

"We could stop him," whispered Lucas.

Peyton shook her head at him. "They can't hear us. They can't see us."

"We could make him feel us."

Quentin shook his head and grimaced at their small exchange.

Just then, a commotion began among the people. Through the doors they saw Lucas coming out still carrying Peyton. They watched as he passed her to someone else and was forced to lay on the ground with his hands on his head. As the men patted him down, he didn't say anything but just went along with it.

Then they heard the gunshot. The same one they had all heard before. The police all stopped moving as Lucas' head shot up and he began to argue with the nearest person. They couldn't hear what he was saying but they could see him struggling to convince them to let him stand. Then they heard the second shot. After that, they let him up. He immediately went towards his mother, who was standing near the ambulance Peyton was being loaded into.

"Dan's gone," whispered Deb, meaning the man who had been standing a few yards away from them. She turned to her husband who was right besides her and said, "What did you do?" He looked at her like she was crazy. The blond woman just nodded her head towards Brooke. "She was right. It made no sense. That boy killed himself before Keith died. They're saying you were in jail and you were a murderer. That's what you did. You killed Keith. You killed your brother."

Dan shook his head slightly. She was being ridiculous. He could never have killed his own brother. Could he?

"You killed him and then you pinned in on an innocent boy. You let someone else take the fall for your own stupidity and jealousy." He turned to look at Karen. The look on her face said that she was the one who would be able to kill at this moment. Keith reached out and put his hand on her arm. He was staring at his brother, but he didn't have that murderous rage on his face like she did.

"Don't, Karen." She looked at him like he was crazy before turning back to Dan. "Karen..." As he breathed her name, she felt her anger leave her and let Keith wrap his arms around her.

Lucas had watched this entire exchange with his eyes narrowed. He now glared at his father and didn't have a doubt in his mind of what the man had done. He stepped right in front of him, pulled his fist back and swung right towards Dan's face. And then he nearly fell over from momentum when his arm passed through the air like the other man wasn't even there.

"This ain't the time, Coach." Quentin was shaking his head at Lucas as the blond boy looked back with confusion on his face. "You'll get your chance but not here. Not now. You all just need to concentrate on what's going on here." They all stared at him, shell-shocked over the information they had just learned.

"Keep moving." They reluctantly followed Q again as he led them further away, back towards the gym. As they approached it, they saw Brooke come hurrying out. She leaned heavily on a pole and began to sob. She covered her mouth and tried to quiet the sound of her cries. Eventually, she sunk so she was squatting down, resting her forehead against the pole.

Brooke looked down at herself in surprise. She never let herself be weak in public. It broke all of her rules. She jumped a little when she felt a hand go in hers and turned to see Peyton looking at her. As soon as the blond saw she had Brooke's attention, she nodded her head slightly and squeezed her hand. Brooke squeezed back and looked forward.

Quentin led them past the broken girl but when they entered the gym, it wasn't what they were expecting. It was still the gym but it was obviously a day long after the one they had just witnessed. Once again the banners had years far in the future inscribed upon them and the white jersey belonging to the boy in front of them was hanging on the wall.

They were gathered a little closer to each other then they had before. They were now finding comfort in their proximity rather than unease. Dan was the exception, standing a couple feet away from the rest of them. They heard the door open on the other end but didn't want to look.

Jamie Scott walked into the gym alone. He was dressed in a suit and it looked like he had attempted to comb his hair back rather then leave it in it's normal disarray. His hands were in his pockets as he slowly moved across the room. He stopped under the the banner hanging from the ceiling with the years of Tree Hill High's state championships.

He wasn't too far away from them at that point and they could see that he was older than he had been before. Definitely out of high school, if not college as well. He stared up at the banner and let his eyes travel over the dates. Behind him, the door opened again but he didn't look behind him to see who it would be.

Four people walked into the gym, 3 women and a man, all dressed in black clothes. The people silently watching recognized them as the children they had seen not that long ago. But these children were obviously grown now and had lost the innocence and trust they had once held. They gathered around Jamie but didn't speak.

The girl they knew to be Leah stepped forward and linked her arm with his, drawing him closer to her. Her light brown hair was pulled half up as she looked at him with hazel eyes.

"Jamie, we have to get going if we're going to make it to the service on time."

He nodded almost imperceptibly but made no move to go.

"She's not coming, is she?"

He didn't even turn to look as Leah shook her head slightly. He nodded like he had expected it and focused on the banner again. Sawyer exchanged glances with Anna and stepped forward too.

"Jamie, it's okay to be upset with this but you have got to let us help you. You don't have to go through this alone."

He got a far away look in his eyes, like he was thinking about something far, far away. "I remember being little and Mom and Dad telling me that he was dead. That's my first memory of him. Being told that I would never get to meet him because he was gone before I was born. Being told that even if he hadn't died, I wouldn't have wanted to know him anyway because he was an evil man."

Anna looked at Jamie sympathetically. She was usually the one who was good with words. The one who could comfort anybody through anything. But right now, she had no idea what to say to make him feel better.

"But I found out the truth and I insisted on meeting him. At first they refused, saying they didn't trust him with me. But then he saved my life and they began to rethink it. So I got to meet my grandfather. My grandfather, the murderer. And I think even though I was only 4, I loved him because I was the only person left in this world who would. I knew how they all felt about it. My dad and Uncle Lucas especially. What I didn't understand was how somebody could survive like that, all alone in the world."

He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a tattered book. He flipped through the pages until he got to the point he was looking for and began to read.

"Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty? This hatred? How did it find us? Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us?" He paused, reading silently to himself before continuing. "When did we lose our way? Consumed by shadows, swallowed by darkness. Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?" He whispered the last sentence as he let the book fall closed in his hands.

Sawyer wrapped her arms around herself and absentmindedly rubbed them. Leah just leaned her head against her brother's shoulder and sighed.

"He must have been talking about Dan, right?. In the moment he wrote this, Dan was everything that was dark and evil in his life. What does that make me when I feel the way I do? When I miss him now that he's gone?"

Scott shook his head. "Jamie, there is nothing wrong with loving him. There is nothing bad about you."

Jamie finally turned his head to look at his younger cousin. "Then tell me why this morning I made my best friend cry. I could see that she was upset and I still yelled at her until she broke down. Tell me why I said things that I could never have imagined saying to anyone, much less her. And why I told her to get out, to leave and not bother me again until she was ready to stop being a selfish bitch. Tell me why before she left, she told me that I was just like he had been. That she could see me turning out to be just like him."

Anna said, "Jamie, she knows you didn't mean any of it. This has been the hardest on you but it hasn't been easy for any of us. You have got to stop blaming yourself for these things. Maybe you shouldn't have said the things you did to her, but she'll get over it. You guys always do."

Jamie shook his head doubtfully. "Does this darkness have a name?" he muttered bitterly to himself.

"Fear." They jumped as a voice came from behind the other group. The five people in front of them had been too preoccupied with their conversation to notice her entrance from the other side of the gym. Lily was wearing a black dress and heels and her hair was pulled back away from her face.

"The darkness is fear." She looked Jamie straight in the eye as she continued. "It's what makes us cruel and lost. It's inside all of us and it consumes us and the only thing that keeps it from taking us completely is the fact that we have each other. You're scared that loving him makes you a bad person. I'm scared that having anything to do with him means I'm betraying my father." She stopped to make sure he was completely paying attention to her. "Both fears that have no truth in them."

She glanced at the banner and then back at her cousin. "I think that he was more scared than any of us. And I think that's why he did the things he did. I'm not giving him an excuse for any of it, but it does mean that maybe we can understand him better. Or at least try."

She walked over and grabbed Jamie's hand. "You forgave him years ago and when you did that, you gave him something to live for. Something to make him want to make up for his mistakes, even if that wasn't really possible. It's taken me this long, but I think I'm finally ready to do the same. I think my dad would have wanted it that way."

He looked down at her and nodded. "Okay," was all he said to her. He let go of her hand so that he could wrap his arm around her and pull her closer. She crossed her arms in front of her and let herself lean into him. Together the six of them looked up again.

Jamie's eyes traveled from the year his grandfather brought the Ravens to their championship to the next line. He smiled a little at the large gap it took for the Scott brothers to bring this team back to it's former glory. Then he looked at the last line up there, his graduating year. At least he kept up with the tradition.

"I really hate to break this up, but we're definitely going to be late and we should probably leave now if we don't want to miss the entire thing." Jamie sighed at Sawyer's words but nodded and started to walk. As they went towards the door, she added, "Plus, I definitely heard Jenny saying something about comforting you tonight after the funeral to try and make you feel better, hot shot."

Jamie reached over and pushed the blond girl as the other four made various noises of disgust. They could always count on her to break the tension. Despite himself, he grinned a little.

Behind them, the group stood in silence. They looked at Q expectantly, waiting for him to say something or lead them somewhere new. Instead he just looked back at them, with his cheeky smirk back in place.


Hope you all enjoyed it. Please review. It really does help motivate me when I write :-)