2016

Tree Hill, North Carolina

(The Night Of The Acquittal)

All murder charges had just been dropped against Jake Jagielski. Just when the case against him looked bleakest, just when the young man had resigned himself to a life behind bars and possibly death for the crime of which he had been accused, he had been saved in the most unexpected and dramatic of ways. It had been only hours before but already it seemed, felt like a dream. Once more a life altering event was a part of the past and he could put it behind him. He wanted nothing more than to go home and see and hug his children…all three of them. Sure biology wasn't on his side with Minnie but as far as Jake was concerned, biology didn't make a real family. But until he could get home, he was content to dribble the ball around and make shot after shot on his home away from home beloved River Court. He went for a basket but it missed and the ball bounced off the rim, falling onto the asphalt as it rolled away. It was stopped by a familiar looking foot.

"It's funny how I'm always saving your game on this court", she sighed. "And you're always saving me in real life."

"Hey, Peyton", Jake said quietly.

She threw the ball back.

"It kind of feels like déjà vu, doesn't it? Like we've been here before. Do you remember that first night…"

"I remember, Peyton. I remember everything. The first night everybody found out about Jenny when I played at open mic night in Karen's Café. Afterwards we all came down here and just played for fun and it was awesome and for one night everything was great and everybody was friends."

She closed her eyes.

"Yeah, that was a great night."

"Before life got hard. Before all the crap we had to go through. Before Jenny died…before the lies and the cheating and all the betrayal."

"I'm sorry, Jake. I know those words, especially coming from me don't mean a whole lot to you by now but it really comes from my heart. I have been a terrible mother and an even worse wife. I don't deserve you or our kids but I love you all with everything I am. I want our family back."

"It's not that simple. I don't know if I can forgive you this time."

"I don't know if I can forgive myself. I didn't want this, not any of it for us. Not for Luke to be dead or for our families and friendships to be ruined. Somehow, it's like if I, if we can get it all back, go back to the way we once were, then this never happened. It'll be okay."

"Peyton…"

"I know you don't want to think about that right now and it's something that will take time but for now, would you come somewhere with me? Please."

He looked around and bit his lip before following his estranged wife to the rental car. He climbed in the passenger seat as she drove the few miles. Within minutes they were entering a cemetery, the lights cast down on the graves to guide the way in the darkness. Jake knew why they were there even before Peyton handed him one of the five single white roses in her hand. Together they got out of the car and walked a few feet to the destination. They weren't alone. Nathan and Haley were there as well. As the couple approached them, there was another car and Brooke stepped out, joining them .

"And then there were six", the young widow stared at the fresh headstone covering her husband's final resting place.

"I can't believe he's really gone", Haley sighed. "This past month has been surreal, like a nightmare."

"It wasn't supposed to end this way", Peyton shook her head. "That's what sucks. I remember the people we once were and the lives we once had and it breaks my heart. What a really shitty, unfair ending for us all."

Nathan stared at his older brother's name, birth and death dates permanently etched in stone.

"Especially for Luke", he said quietly.

Jake shook his head.

"No matter what, it's like we always manage somehow to end up together. Lucas is dead and I still don't know how I feel about that."

Brooke nodded.

"A piece of me is six feet under with him right now. I love him. A part of me always will. I can't help it. Good or bad, for so long he was my whole life, all I knew. Now he's gone. The biggest part of me is gone and I have to move on and learn to live with that."

"I wish he were still here", Haley dabbed at her eyes.

Peyton sighed.

"I wish we were all still here. Not the man buried here and the five people standing around but the six we used to be."

Everyone knew what she meant.

"But it doesn't change the fact that Lucas is still gone", Nathan reminded the crowd. "My brother is dead, I know that. There is a killer among us…I believe that."

"Are you asking for one last chance for a confession?" Brooke inquired.

"Depends. Are you offering one, Brooke?"

The brunette managed a smile.

"It wasn't me. I did not kill my husband. I'm not Luke's murderer."

Nathan took a deep breath.

"It wasn't me either. You all might think that but it's not true. I didn't shoot Lucas."

Haley hung her head.

"We had our differences. I always loved him, even the times he made me hate him. But nothing would drive me to take another human being's life. I didn't kill him, not my Buddy."

"The HCM killed Lucas a long time ago", Peyton began. "It took away his hopes, his dreams, his plans…his character. Whoever did this just put him and all of us out of a lot of misery. But it was not me."

"Peyton's right", Jake agreed. "I loved Luke like a brother. We were tight. He hurt me. He's been dead to me for a while now. How do you kill something that's already dead? I did not do it. I'm not the shooter."

Nathan nodded.

"One last chance, huh? So nobody admits it. That's cool. Can't say I expected anyone to. But we know it was one of us and one of us standing here knows the truth. If we can't say it here, just us at Luke's grave, then I guess we'll never say it."

"I say we take a vow of silence", Jake suggested. "From here on out, we protect each other and the truth. I'm off the hook but you can bet the cops aren't too happy about that. They're not just gonna give up. So here on out, the past is the past. We look out for each other, no matter what. United we stand, divided we fall. They can break one of us but not all five."

"It will never be the same", Peyton said. "Looking around it might be hard to trust each other but that's what we'll do…at least on this."

"How?" Haley shook her head. "Luke's still dead and one of us did it. How can we trust each other? How do we forgive?"

"Because Lucas would", Nathan answered.

"What?"

Nathan chuckled.

"That son of a bitch", he shook his head. "It doesn't matter how we feel, Hales. We do what we have to do out of loyalty. Luke had a warped sense of loyalty but it was still there."

"Nathan's right", Peyton added. "And if he were still here and one of us was lying in that grave right now instead, he'd say the same thing. He would agree to keep it quiet. Lucas would protect the remaining five."

Haley was unconvinced.

"I can't. We can't…"

"Yes, we can", Brooke finally spoke up. "We stick together, Haley. Always. No matter what. About a year or two ago, when things were at their worst, Lucas once told me, 'It's us against the world. It always has been. No matter the crime, we protect each other at any cost. That's just the way it is.' He was talking about the six of us. He said that and he meant it and he believed it with all his heart. And it was true. It is true."

"The bond can't be broken", Jake acknowledged. "It's stronger than love or pain or betrayal or heartbreak. It's stronger than life…stronger than death."

He put his hand in and three other hands immediately followed. Haley was last but finally she conceded.

"What did we always say, Hales?" Nathan asked her.

She wiped away a tear.

"Us against the world", she whispered.

"That's right."

"But we'll never know the truth."

"Doesn't matter", Brooke pointed out. "Not now. It won't bring him back. Lucas is dead and it does not matter who did it. What matters now is that we go on with our lives…and that we look out for each other."

Peyton stepped up to grave.

"For Luke", she placed the white rose on it before distributing the rest.

"For Luke", Jake put his down.

"For Luke", a tearful Haley knelt down and kissed the headstone.

"For Luke", Nathan said.

Brooke nodded as she kissed her rose, the memories good and bad of the past ten years playing over and over in her mind. She fought back tears as she gave her husband his final rose.

"For Luke."

Nathan reached for Haley's hand and took it, rubbing it in his.

"I don't know about you but I feel like some champagne", Nathan mentioned. "Enough of this. Let's go celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Jake questioned.

"Hell yeah, dude. You just barely beat that rap by the hair of your chinny, chin, chin. I say that's reason enough to go out and get wasted, you know, for old time's sake. Everybody in?"

They looked around shrugging and nodding.

"We go have a few drinks and the first good night together we've all had in years, then what?" Haley asked. "What happens after that? What happens after tonight?"

Brooke nodded as she walked over and placed Jake's hand in Peyton's. Then she took the blonde's other hand, smiling as she looked at all her friends.

"Simple. We move on."