Nathan Scott

The moonlight danced across the lake shimmering into the darkness. A low rustle of the tree's gave way to an approaching storm. I closed my eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of dew. A big smile filled my lips as I stretched my arms out toward the lake. Suddenly a dark figure appeared underneath a broken lamp post by the dock. Confused, I slowly make my way towards the dark figure. My heart pounded underneath my chest as the shadows followed me. I paused a few feet from the figure.

"Show yourself!" I demanded.

The figure stepped forward, the moonlight threw away the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" I asked eyeing the girl.

Haley smiled and brushed her hand through her long dark hair.

"Just chillin… You know how I get bored sometimes." She replied with a playful smile.

"I'll bet." I responded quickly throwing her into a hug.

Her fresh smell of lightly scented vanilla and soap flourished in my nose. I hugged her tightly, wrapping my arms around her back. She slowly pulled out of my grasp and looked me in the eyes.

"I've been waiting for you…" she whispered softly.

"I know." I responded backing up a few inches from her.

"I've been thinking about you Nathan Scott. And I've decided to come to a decision." She smiled throwing her arms up into the air.

A small smile crept onto my face. "And what is that?"

"I cannot live without Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches." She laughed.

"What? That's what you've decided?" I asked with a slight amusement to my voice.

"Hell yea! What did you expect?" she teased.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled genuinely at her. "I don't know. I was just kinda hoping that you could tell me what to do." I responded.

Her smile fell from her face. Her beautiful brown eyes began to change color. I furrowed my brows as Haley looked up at the cloudy sky. She glanced back at me with big orange eyes.

"The storms coming." she whispered. Then she quickly started backing away from me.

"Haley? What storm?" I asked.

She frowned at me at nodded at the sky. I glanced up. Shock filled me as the night sky lit up with bolts of lightning. The wind began to whirl around me in a vicious circle. Panic began to flutter in my chest. I quickly looked back at Haley but she was running away. Not knowing what to do, I followed her.

"Haley! Wait!" I shouted.

My footsteps pressed against the pavement as lashes of rain smacked my face. The stinging and burning of the cold freezing rain attacked me from every side. I tried to keep up with her, but she seemed to be getting further and further ahead of me.

"HALEY!" I shouted.

I could barely see her faint outline of the white dress she was wearing. Suddenly a huge blundering pain hit my back. I stopped in my tracks. Water soaked my clothing as I touched the spot of impact. Dark crimson fell onto my hands. I glanced up and saw another figure standing before me in the midst of the pounding rain. Pain shot throughout my entire body as I fell to my knees. The figure stood towering above me, wielding a gun.

My body fell into a huge puddle on the street. The figure knelt beside me and grabbed onto my hand. I looked up into the face of the last person I had expected to see.

"I don't understand." I whispered in pain.

Brooke closed her eyes and slowly leaned in. She gently planted a kiss on my forehead. Then she raised the gun and placed it into my chest.

"It just has to be. You knew it would end like this." She whispered into my ear.

Dark spots began to take over my vision. My eye sight became blurry.

"I had no choice…" I grunted.

"You always had a choice Nate. You just didn't choose the right one." Brooke gently cried out. Tears filled my eyes as I glanced up at her beautiful face.

"What can I do?" I pleaded.

She gave my hand a final squeeze and dropped it. A loud click was heard as she cocked the gun.

"Nothing." She whispered.

BANG! BANG!

My body flew up from my bed. I gasped for air as my hands explored my chest. No bullet hole. I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. Dampened sweat trickled down my face. I rubbed a hand on my face and blew a sigh of relief. It's just a nightmare. That's it.

I glanced over at the other bed in the room. It was empty. I looked around the dark room for Lucas, but he wasn't in here. Swinging my legs off the bed, I grabbed my shirt off the floor and threw it on. I made my way outside the bedroom and into the kitchen. The light to the kitchen was already on. I spotted Lucas at the fridge roaming through the food.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked.

Lucas jumped at the sound of my voice. "Shit Nate! You scared the shit out of me." Lucas stammered.

I chuckled slightly as I grabbed the bread.

"Sorry." I apologized.

Lucas took in a deep breath and nodded. "It's alright. But no.. I couldn't. I tried but it was no use." He shrugged.

"Was I talking in my sleep again?" I asked.

My brother grabbed at the jelly in the fridge. Then he made his way over to the pantry and grabbed the peanut butter jar.

"Kinda…" he sighed making his way over to me.

"Sorry bout that." I nodded.

"All is good bro." he laughed.

We both stood side by side as I whipped out the peanut butter jar and started smearing it onto a couple of slices of bread. After I was done with them I handed them over to Lucas, who was ready with the Jelly. Within 3 minutes we had created 6 sandwiches, three for each. We dove into our sandwiches and ate in silence. In the living room we heard the loud snoring of Skills and Jake.

"So how's school going?" Lucas asked, turning his head to me.

I smacked my lips and let out a low sigh. "It sucks. I'm failing in all my classes, I'm practically living in detention, and I've got the reputation of being the school's bad boy." I smirked.

Lucas smiled and patted my back. "Don't worry lil bro. You only have to hang in 3 more days."

My eyes shot up. "3 days?"

Lucas nodded and dove into his 2nd sandwich. "Yep, Mouth and Jake have already taken care of the place and RV. The RV will be here tomorrow. I've already got a full list of the parental's numbers. All in all, I'd say we were pretty good." Lucas nodded.

"So this is happening then." I glanced down at my last sandwich.

"Yes.. it is." He smiled.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked playing with the edges of my thumbs.

Lucas sighed and looked at me as if I was annoying him to death. "Nate. Come on man. We agreed to this alright! No turning back."

"What about Brooke?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Lucas lifted a brow.

"If you go through with this, she's going to end up hating you forever." I responded.

"I've got a plan." He smiled.

I slammed my fist onto the counter top and looked my brother in the eyes. "Damn it Lucas I'm fucking serious!"

My brother's blue eyes were fixed on mine. He glanced down and licked his lips.

"All I'm saying is that once we do this, there is no turning back. When she finds out that it was us that kidnapped her, she will hate us and want nothing to do with us." I calmly replied.

Lucas stared down at his hands; his eyes were closed as if he were deep in thought. He clenched down on his jaw and tightly curled his fists into a ball.

"You think I don't know that already Nate. Well I do! You think I hadn't already planned this?" Lucas whispered.

"I just don't understand why you're doing all of this?" I spoke.

"I'm doing this for us…. Nate. So that we can be happy again. We can start a new life and be normal!" Lucas nodded.

"Can't you see what you're giving up?" I asked him.

My brother stood up and grabbed his plate from the counter top. He carefully placed the dish in the sink and rinsed it off. With a small smile he glanced over at me. "She's just a girl Nate."

"Is she?" I quickly countered back.

My brother paused as he swept past me. Then he nodded and left the room without saying another word. I let out a low sigh and dropped my head onto the countertop.