More Than Anyone Chapter 12, an one tree hill fanfic

This is the final chapter. I hope you enjoyed the story. Please tell me what you think, as that was the main reason I posted this. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill. The song More Than Anyone is by Gavin DeGraw.

But two and a half years passed with nothing out of the ordinary. There were fights and laughter and anxieties and tears but slowly the inhabitants of Tree Hill settled back into a normal life and found happiness in it. Then again, happiness is relative.

Lucas tried to put his high school years and those cherished, private months with his brother behind him. He wrote a book that topped the best sellers list and got together with his editor, Lindsay. Nathan and Haley created a life centered on their beloved son. Nathan played for the Duke Blue Devils for a while and even for the L.A. Lakers before realizing that his home was in Tree Hill. He gave up his basketball career and took to coaching instead. He and Lucas became the head coaches of the new Tree Hill Ravens.

Both thought that they had finally found happiness. But something was missing. Neither knew just what it was, but both felt it late at night when they lay in bed, snuggled close to someone else. That something wormed its way into their lives. It left the safety of the dark bedroom and reared its head in full daylight – when Nathan accidentally brushed against Lucas at practice, when Lucas called him "just to talk" or dropped by to watch a basketball game.

Nathan and Haley slowly grew apart as they got older until one day they agreed that it just wasn't working anymore. They had gotten married so young, before they really knew each other, yes, but more so before they knew who they, themselves, were. Their love for one another was just as strong as it had been then, probably stronger, but their dreams in life were too different. After months of talking, debating, hypothesizing, they decided to end it. They accepted the terms – split custody, spend major holidays together, for Tyler, move on with their lives. Their lawyers were bewildered when they both cried as they signed the divorce papers, but Nathan and Haley knew that it was for the best.

Lucas broke it off with Lindsay, finally admitting to himself that she wasn't the one he wanted. He tried to explain, tried to tell her that he loved her, he just loved someone else a little more, but in the end she simply packed her bags and left. He lay on his bed and cried before picking up the phone and dialing his brother.

"Nathan?" asked the sniffling voice on the phone. Nathan knew immediately that it was Lucas. Over the past few years, since Nathan had gone to get Haley, the brothers had stayed close. They worked well together as a coaching team and Lucas had always been there to help with Tyler. He had become the favorite uncle he had once told Haley he would be, and both Nathan and Haley were grateful for it. But the bond the brothers shared had never come close to what it had been just after Haley left. That was a thing of the past. Sometimes it occupied their dreams and they woke up to sticky sheets, but never did they let it enter their conscious thought.

Until now. Suddenly, both brothers were alone again, this time by choice. The fact that they had chosen this loneliness for themselves didn't help; if anything, it made it worse. So they turned to the only person that had always been there when times got rough, who had always listened and never abandoned. Lucas' lost voice on the phone pulled Nathan back through the years, back to a time when he had felt so lost, so desperate, and his brother had been there.

With shaky fingers he picked up the phone again and dialed the number he now knew by heart.

"Hello?" asked the voice that he knew so well. A voice that was always there to help him through the darkest moments, connected to an ear that was always willing to listen.

"Hi. Listen, I messed up. I – I need you. Please?"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

"Thanks, Luke."

"Anytime, Nate."

It saddened him to turn to his brother when who he really wanted was his wife. But Lucas had been an outstanding uncle and a shoulder he could always lean on. He didn't kiss passing-through musicians or join their tours. He was dependable. He was a friend.

Now Lucas needed him. And Nathan knew, knew beyond knowing, beyond thinking of the consequences, or what was acceptable between brothers and what most certainly was not, he knew that he would be there for Lucas. Maybe he would be there to listen if Lucas wanted to talk, to hold him and wipe away his tears if Lucas wanted to cry. Maybe he would do more. But whatever it was, however their relationship would turn out, it didn't matter just then. Luke needed a friend and Nate would be that friend. Maybe all he was trying to say was, "I love you, Luke."

And Lucas replied, "I love you too, little brother." And all the lost dreams, all the tension of the past years when they refused to admit their emotions, all the pain and the heartache and sadness were washed away with those words. Because, after all, they were brothers. And in the end, brothers are always there for each other – no matter what.

You need a friend.

I'll be around.

Don't let this end

Before I see you again.

What can I say to convince you

To change your mind of me?