Chapter Three

"Nathan, thank god," Brooke moved quickly toward Nathan who heading toward the minivan to get a good look. After studying the damages for a few minutes, he headed back towards the group.

"Hey Brooke," Nathan acknowledged her hurriedly, but continued over to the group of teens whom he did not recognize, "I'm Nathan Scott, from Scott Automotive."

"Ryan Atwood," Ryan stepped forward and shook Nathan's hand. "You can tow us?"

"Yeah, it's definitely not even close to drivable," Nathan nodded, "It's looking pretty bad, but I can't really tell how long it'll take to fix. I'll take it back to the shop and we'll take care of it right away, but I can't take all of you back. There's only room with four more in the truck. Brooke could you..."

"What?" Brooke sighed, "Seriously you want me to help more?" Upon receiving 8 pleading looks, she finally caved, "Fine, whatever, I can fit two more,
but they're going to have to squish in back with Jenny's car seat."

"That's fine," Lindsay spoke up, "We can all totally fit."


"My God, are you guys okay?" Haley asked as she rushed into the garage. Everyone had just arrived in Tree Hill, all of them looking tired and unsettled. "I got your call, and I figured I'd better get down here."

"We're fine," Peyton responded before Brooke could get a word in, afraid of what her dramatic best friend might come up with, "It was a fender bender, that's all."

"Oh thank God," Haley breathed, finally turning her attention to the rest of the group, "So this is them?"

"Yep," Brooke sighed, reapplying her lip gloss in the side view mirror of her car, "That's them."

"They look okay," Haley shrugged after looking them over, "You know Brooke, it never hurt anyone to be nice."

"Says you tutorwife," Brooke teased, "They'll be gone in no time, there's no reason for me to be nice."

"Get ready to eat your words," Nathan laughed as he came up from behind, "Their van is pretty messed up. It'll take us two days just to make it drivable, and that's if we're lucky."

"So, it's not like they can't get another rental car," Brooke pointed out, a slight grin playing on her face. Her smile quickly faded as she remembered a dilemma she had had herself not too long ago. "Damn."

"What?" Nathan questioned, his arm already wrapped around Haley's waist. Brooke rolled her eyes, really, was the freaking honeymoon ever going to end?

"You have to be 25 to rent a car," Brooke explained, "Unless you have a parent or guardian to sign off on it. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing they don't have any relatives out here."

"See?" Haley snickered, "Now your stuck. You'll just have to suck it up and be nice."

"Fine," Brooke pouted, but didn't make a move. Haley gave her a stern look and then proceeded to push her back towards the group.

"Hi guys," Haley waved slightly, "I'm Haley, and I'm guessing your all pretty hungry by now, so, if you'd like, we could take you over to the café for something to eat- on us."

"Free food?" Seth raised an eyebrow, "Count me in."

"I could eat," Marissa sighed, still looking un-amused. The rest of them followed suit, all admitting that they were hungry, or "totally famished", according to Summer.


"So this is Karen's Café," Haley stated as they finished the short walk to the café. "I work here and Nathan's brother's mom owns it."

"Nathan's mom?" Seth inquired after they had entered the restaurant. Haley shook her head and in her husband's absence attempted to explain his family, "Nathan and Lucas are half-brothers. Same dad different mothers."

"Yup, I definitely get that," Lindsay laughed instantly, thinking about her own family.

"Tree Hill has a lot of weird family connections, you probably won't be able to make sense of most of it," Peyton stated, a sleeping Jenny nestled in her arms. Summer couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Seth and Ryan are adopted brothers, because Seth's parents took Ryan in off the street when he stole a car. Marissa is Seth's step-aunt because her mom married Seth's grandfather. Lindsay is Seth's half aunt and Coop's step sister because Seth's grandfather, the one who married Marissa's mom, had an illegitimate daughter nobody knew about until Chrismukkah, which is a weird holiday Seth created. Oh and by the way Lindsay and Ryan are dating which is kind of sick because technically Lindsay is sort of Ryan's aunt, "Summer let out in one long breath. Both her friends and the strangers gaped at her with astonishment, "What? It's just like an episode of "The Valley"."

"You watch The Valley?" Brooke arches an eyebrow, "Bush Mountain is so much better than The Valley. The characters are much more believable."

"Bush Mountain? Ew, I mean seriously, a town whose entire focus is golf?" Summer smirked, "Yeah right, totally believable." Brooke shot a side ways sneer at Haley, silently cursing her for suggesting she be nice.

"Do you think you can suggest any good hotels in the area?" Zach questioned, changing the subject before Summer could get any more hotheaded.

"Yeah, there's a Motel 6 in town if you want to rough it," Haley replied, "But if your looking for something a little more upscale, there's a Hyatt just outside of town."

"We'll go with the Hyatt," Marissa said evenly, remembering the disgusting place they got stuck in in Tijuana. "Anyways, since we'll be stuck here a couple days, what is there to do?"

"There's really not a whole lot," Brooke shrugged, "It's summer so there aren't any school events. Mostly everyone hangs out here, or at TRIC, which is Peyton's club."

"No, it's not really mine," Peyton waved her off, "It belongs to Karen, the same woman who owns this place."

"Don't be modest," Brooke laughed, "You totally own that place. It wouldn't be there if it wasn't for you. You guys have to see it, it'll blow you away."

"Alright," Lindsay grinned, "Sounds like a plan."

"Tomorrow night then," Brooke finalized the plan. "We should probably get you guys to the Hyatt though, so you can rest up."


"Okay, so how in the hell are we going to make this work?" Summer asked as the 6 of them stood at the entrance of the room. They had just finished booking a room at the Hyatt, and were now trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements. Seeing as the hotel was mostly booked (go figure), they ended up booking a suite. The bad thing was, the room only had two beds.

"Well you couples can share, I'll take the couch, and Marissa here can have the floor," Seth joked, patting Marissa on the back.

"I don't think so," Marissa laughed, "You take the floor! In fact, shotgun!"

"Come on, you can't shotgun a couch!" Seth argued, racing her to the couch. He got there first, and stretched himself out so she couldn't push him off.

"No fair!" Marissa pouted, "But fine, whatever, I'll take the floor. Even though I think someone should be a gentlemen."

"Chivalry is dead, sugar," Seth replied, snuggling his face into a throw pillow, "We're all set then."

"Wait a minute," Lindsay squeaked, "I can't sleep in a bed with anyone else. I talk in my sleep, and snore, and I don't know, I'm just impossible to sleep by."

"Um, Lindsay, we're all in the same room," Ryan pointed out awkwardly, "No matter where you are, and we're all going to hear you."

"Your right about that," Lindsay's eyes widened, "But uh…I kick too. It's horrible, really."

"Okay," Zach shrugged, "Well Summer kicks too, so you can sleep with Summer then, because she sleeps like a rock, and I'll just take the floor as well."

"No, man, you can have the other bed, I'll take the floor," Ryan responded, "I'm used to it anyways."

"No, it's all yours, " Zach shook his head, "I'll be fine."

"I insist," Ryan replied, motioning towards the bed.

"In a minute I'm going to take the damn bed," Seth shouted from the couch.

"Fine, I'll take it," Ryan laughed, throwing his bag on the bed, "But only to piss you off."

"Real funny, Ryan, real funny," Seth muttered, already half asleep.


"Hey," Peyton knocked on Jake's door as she let herself in. It was nearly 8pm, and the sun had only just started to set.

"Hey," Jake quickly kissed both Peyton and Jenny, "You guys are okay?" Peyton nodded, she'd called Jake earlier to explain why she was late in dropping Jenny off.

"We're both fine. Jenny was kind of shaken up but she settled down quickly," Peyton replied as Jake took Jenny from her.

"How's Brooke?" Jake inquired, rocking his daughter in his arms. Her eyes instantly began to flutter shut and she was no longer able to fight off sleep.

"Pissed as hell," Peyton laughed, "But it's them I feel bad for, they're supposed to be on their way to Miami but now they're stuck here for at least another two days. Great summer vacation, huh?"

"They have a place to stay?" Jake asked, before laying Jenny down in her crib.

"Yeah they're staying at the Hyatt, I guess they're coming to TRIC with us tomorrow. Which will be...interesting...."


A/N: First off,we want to answer a couple questions. Yes this will continue to be Naley, and Jeyton too, just because we love those couples. As for Lucas and Brooke? Sorry, this isn't a Brucas fic. Give it a chance though, we promise it'll be interesting. As for the OC pairings, we can't really say anything for sure. Currently, as you can tell, it's Lindsay/Ryan and Summer/Zach. It may or may not stay that way, you'll just have to wait and see.

Autumn Sunlight- Zach and Lindsay are characters from the second season of The OC. I hope you don't mind spoilage, because there's already been a little bit in here. Sorry!!!

That's all for now! Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means a lot!!

Love Always,

Ali and Stephanie