Chapter 13

Lucas and Nathan stood looking out over the yard. On the grass two of Luke's kids Penny and Larry were with Ephraim running around with a soccer ball, both the children faces were filled with laughter, completely oblivious to the all the troubles in the world.

"I can't believe we are actually letting Ephraim teach them soccer", Lucas stated wryly.

"I know", Nathan agreed.

Both shared the same view as Ollie when it came to soccer, neither could really see why it appealed to Ephraim when Nathan had always played basketball with him as a kid.

"The kids are even enjoying it and their meant to be Scott's" Luke chuckled incredulously; no Scott had played anything other than basketball ever so far as he knew.

Chase appeared next to them with a smirk on his face. "Soccer's great isn't it? Rai's gotten pretty good too."

The two rolled their eyes playfully at him.

In High School, Nathan and Lucas hadn't been too close with Chase. When he had arrived in senior year, they never really got to know each other. But now they were all good friends despite not having overly much in common.

Everyone was over at Luke and Peyton's for a big family dinner. They had come over as soon as the bags had been taken inside, Brooke eager and excited as ever to see everyone, despite Nathan being a bit mad after seeing Haley, he calmed dow ok though.

Ephraim, Penny and Larry were outside, Nathan, Luke and Chase were watching them, Ollie and Elise were in the lounge and Peyton and Brooke were in the kitchen.

"So, how long are you and Brooke planning to stay, Chase?" Luke asked him.

"Well considering we own the company we can pretty much stay here as long as we like so I'm not too sure".

Brooke and Chase owned the fashion line Clothes over Bros. Brooke managed the clothing side and Chase the finances. They did have people to run it for them though meaning they could come home if they needed to.

Chase pulled opened the door, nodding to Nathan and Luke, the smirk still on his face then ran out to play with his stepson and the kids.

Luke turned and leaned against the wall to face Nathan. "So she came to see you today, to talk?"

"Yeah" Nathan muttered absently looking in the opposite direction of Lucas, not wanting to talk about it.

"I'm not going to lie to you Nate. She came round here the other day, we talked. She seems sorry and just as broken as you are. I think you need to at least give her a chance."

Nathan just shook his head angrily still refusing to look at his brother.

"That singer you like came round here the other day", Elise Scott said conversationally to her older cousin not really knowing anything about the Haley situation. "It was strange. She wanted to talk to dad, they were all serious and stuff."

Ollie's curiosity peaked, wanting to know what other horrible thing Haley had probably done, "Did you hear what they said?"

"Well dad made me go upstairs but my room's right above where they were so I could hear everything pretty well."

Turning down the volume on the TV they were watching, Ollie's eyes lit up, wanting to know what was said between her uncle and mother. She turned over to lie on her stomach so she was facing her cousin. "What'd they say?"

"I could hear her crying and dad comforting her. Then dad was talking about me, Pen and Larry but he does that with everyone," she rolled her eyes. "But then they started talking about you. It was real strange. They sounded like they were getting real emotional and all, and that's about it." Elise shrugged.

"Did your dad say anything after she left?" Ollie wanted details.

"Not really, just that he used to know her. Why do you reckon she was so curious about you?"

"I have no idea." Ollie lied; she wasn't ready for people to know that the great Haley James was her mother just yet, and living in somewhere like Tree Hill, that news would travel pretty quickly.

Seeing that neither of them really had anything else to say on the topic, Ollie turned the TV back up. She hadn't known her uncle had been close to Haley; it made her wonder who else had been hurt when her she left.

The door opened and Brooke entered, walking with her usual bounce in her step.

"Hey Ells your mom wants you." Brooke grinned to Elise who got up and went into the kitchen groaning a little knowing that she was probably being summoned for chores.

Brooke laughed and took a seat next to Ollie on the couch.

"So, you and my son got together yet?" Brooke joked. When they were little kids she'd always had a fantasy that Ollie and Ephraim would get married and everyone would be one big family.

"Eww", Ollie looked at Brooke wondering where the question had come from, "He's practically my brother." She had no idea how much that statement was just like something Haley had said years ago. Brooke noticed the uncanny -ness of it but brushed it off.

"Oh well, you'd be so cute together though."

Ollie rolled her eyes and laughed scrunching up her nose, "That'd be like you hooking up with dad".

Brooke shrugged "Well actually in high school... " she didn't deny it knowing in high school that her and Nathan had indeed hooked up.

"Gross Brooke" Ollie shuddered laughing as she covered her ears.

Chuckling at the girls antics, Brooke pulled her hands away from her ears, "Don't worry I wont give you nightmares" Brooke joked.

"Too late."

Ollie knew that Brooke was just winding her up but the thought of her dad with, well anyone just seemed strange to her. She had never known him to have a girlfriend. As far as she knew, the last person he was with was probably Haley.

"So, how you holding up buddy?" Brooke asked her.

"Alright". Ollie knew what Brooke was asking about and didn't want to talk about it.

"Come on, we tell each other everything, remember." They both chuckled remembering when Ollie was younger and the two talked about absolutely everything. Well what was appropriate to talk with a young kid about.

Ollie rolled her eyes good naturedly, "I'm not a little kid anymore Brooke."

"I know, I didn't say you were."

"I'm fine Brooke" Ollie told her convincingly hoping she wouldn't push it.

"Ok, but when you're ready to talk about it, so am I. Oh, and not that I don't love the whole Brooke Adams hair look you've got going on, but don't stop being you just because of her."

Ollie was shocked. Somehow Brooke could always read her. "How'd you know?"

A small but sad smile passed over Brookes face, "Trust me kid, I know exactly what's it like to want to be nothing like your mother. Remember Victoria." Brooke said talking about her own mother.

"Yeah" Ollie said wryly knowing exactly what Brooke meant. "So, what's up with Tutorwhore?"

Brooke laughed mysteriously, "Oh that, just something else from High School."

The dining table was crammed. At the head sat Lucas, to the side of the table on the right were Larry, Peyton, Penny and Brooke. On the tables left side sat Elise, Ollie, Ephraim and Chase. Nathan sat opposite him at the foot of the table. While dining with the last generation of Scott's, including Royal and Dan hadn't been a very pleasant experience that usually ended with someone storming from the table, that wasn't the case with the new large eclectic mix of Scott's, Davis' and Adams' that were now gathered around Luke and Peyton's table.

Everyone was chattering with someone as they ate their homemade roast.

Chase and Nathan talked of the Ravens who Nathan had returned to coaching the day before. Ephraim and Ollie listened as little Larry, who in an excited childlike way, told them a story of how he'd saved some worms in the garden today from the hose, ecstatic to have the big kids listening to him. Lucas and Elise, who had inherited his love of reading, chattered about the latest book she was reading. Peyton sat laughing as Brooke gushed over Penny who was a little girly girl, just like Brooke was at heart.

There were no arguments, no fights at this table tonight, Nathan was avoiding Lucas but that was all. Probably because everyone knew better than to bring up the dark cloud that was currently hanging over their heads. The cloud that left 15 years ago and only recently returned to rain on their happiness.

Meanwhile, that particular dark cloud that they happened to be avoiding speaking about back at the Scott house sat on the wharf near the river court.

Haley felt like shit. She knew that it would probably be better to avoid this place, the place where she fell in love with Nathan. But even though it hurt to come to this wharf and to the river court, she kept coming back.

In her hand she fiddled with two things. The first was her wedding ring. Even though the paparazzi had never found out about the ring, it had never left her, whether around her neck on a chain or on one of her other fingers. She'd had it with her every time she performed, everywhere she went. Not once had she ever even thought about taking it off.

The second thing she held was new, something she only got given recently. It was also from a Scott brother, but not the one she was married to, the other one, Lucas. It was a photo of a young girl and her father, both wearing party hats smiling into the camera.

From the scene earlier that day, Haley knew for sure that Ollie knew and hated her, as did Nathan. But she still loved them and Haley James Scott never gave up on something she loved.