Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of it characters places or such. I am simply borrowing them.
AN/ Here is the next chapter. I am sorry that this update has been so delayed. I am already working on the next chapter and hope to have it up soon. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me. Thanks for all the reviews and all of the encouragement. Please don't forget to review for this chapter.
As always suggestions are welcome!
"I WON" Haley shouted as she and Nathan came running through the back door of the Scott house.
"Whatever" Nathan said walking towards the refrigerator for a bottle of water
"Sore loser" Haley said still smiling
"He always was" Brooke said coming around the corner from the living room
"Hey Brooke" Haley said walking towards her friend.
"Did pigs grow wings?" Nathan asked
"What?" Brooke asked confusingly
"You are up before 9am, just wanted to know if pigs had grown wings"
"Whatever, Nate" Brooke said lightly slapping him the arm
"Lucas back yet?" Haley asked
"Yea, he was in the shower" Brooke answered
"I need one of those." Nathan said before leaving the kitchen and walking down the hallway
"He left before I could make a comment" Brooke said laughing
"Yea, sorry Brooke. Make one when he comes out." Haley said laughing, "I am going to run home really fast and take a shower myself. I will be back," Haley said
"Okay, I will tell Nathan" Brooke replied as Haley walked out the backdoor
"Thanks" Haley called back
"I guess I should call Skills and tell him to come over for a few minutes," Theresa said pulling out here cell phone and walking towards the kitchen
"So, Peyton, Jake and Theresa tell me that you are an awesome artist" Trent said
"I guess" Peyton replied
"She is just being modest. She is amazing. Those are her work over there" Jake said pointing at two pictures of the beach and ocean on either side of their brick fireplace.
"Those are really good"
"Thanks" Peyton said
"He is around the corner. He will be here in a few minutes," Theresa said returning to the living room
"Okay" Trent said
"You know, if you tell Peyton what kind of painting or drawing you want, She will do one for you" Jake said
"Really?"
"Yea, all of my friends have stuff that I have done. It is mostly a hobby not something that I can make money off of" Peyton said
"She did a garden scene for me. It is hanging in our living room " Theresa added
"If you can do me a carnival scene. I will pay you for it"
"A carnival?" Peyton asked
"Yea, when we were growing up there was this carnival that would come to our town every September. We used to love going there" Trent said, "I miss it"
"He used to have to take us with him when we were younger." Theresa said
"Yea, and you were good for getting girls to talk to me," Trent said laughing
"We noticed." Jake replied
A knock was heard at the door, Jake stood to answer it and let Skills into his house.
"Trent, Hey man" Skills said spotting Theresa's older brother and walking over to him
"Hey Skills. Good to see you" Trent said shaking Skill's hand.
"Good to see you too. What brings you to our part of the world?"
"I am on assignment and decided to stay with Jake and Peyton"
"Awesome. How long are you here for?"
"Not sure yet. However long it takes to complete my assignment"
The bell over the café door rang as John and Larry walked in. Karen who was standing behind the counter greeted them as they walked towards her.
"Hey guys. Aren't you suppose to be at work?" Karen said laughing
"Business meeting" They both replied
"Of Course" Karen said as poured coffee for the two old friends. At least once every couple of months, Larry and John would wander in to her café claiming they had a business meeting together. It was their time to sit and talk about anything and everything without someone bothering them such as their wives or children. Yet, they came into Karen's café knowing she would hear their conversation.
"Thanks Karen" John said as he poured sugar into his coffee
"Do you guys want anything to eat?"
"If you could fry me up some bacon, I would love it" Larry said
"Sure. Don't tell Anna though," Karen said laughing as she walked towards the back
"Should we tell her?" John asked when Karen disappeared
"Not until we know more. Jake was suppose to call, but I haven't heard from him"
"He might not have been able to find out anything"
"That or he can't tell us" Larry said as Karen returned with a couple pieces of bacon.
"Here you go"
"Thank you, Karen"
"You guys need anything else?"
"No, we are good. Thanks, Karen" John said
"What are you watching?" Lucas said as he entered the living room and sat next to Brooke on the couch.
"Not sure yet. Something on animal planet. Did you see Nate?"
"He is home?"
"Yea, he was going to go take a shower"
"I didn't hear the shower, but I wasn't really listening for it"
"So, what are we going to do on our date tonight?" Brooke asked
"What do you want to do?"
"Anything really. It doesn't matter as long as I with you"
"What do you say to dinner and a movie and then a stroll on the beach?"
"Sounds perfect" Brooke said as she leaned into to kiss Lucas
"Aww...Kodak Moment" Nathan said as he came down the hallway carrying his tennis shoes and socks
"And you ruined it" Brooke said turning to look at him
Lucas laughed at Nathan's face and watched as his brother sat down in the older lazyboy. No one had brought himself or herself to sit in Keith's chair yet
"Where's Hales?" Nathan asked
"Haley was here?" Lucas asked
"Yea, we met on the beach. We were both out for a run and we raced back here"
"She beat him" Brooke said to Lucas before turning to face Nathan again, "She went home to take a shower. She said she would be back"
"Oh okay" Nathan said slipping on his socks, "What are we watching?"
"Something on Animal Planet" Lucas replied
"There has got to be something better than this on"
"Deal with it Boy Toy. I was here first," Brooke said using a nickname from high school
Nathan laughed, "No one has called me that since graduation. When mouth recapped our four years of high school"
"I remember that. He had the highlights. Didn't he have a video for that?" Lucas asked
"Yea. I wonder what happened to it?" Brooke said
"He probably put it somewhere to laugh at later," Nathan said as he sat back in the chair to wait for Haley
"Karen, how much do we owe you?" Larry asked as the guys stood deciding to head back to their offices
"You know better than to ask that" Karen said walking back behind the counter
"And you know better than to not charge us" John said
"Here" Larry said holding out a ten dollar bill to Karen, "That should cover it"
"Keep your money, Larry" Karen said
"Put it in Meredith's piggy bank" Larry replied before sitting the money on the counter.
"Okay" Karen said reaching for the ten dollar bill and putting it in a can on the shelf below the counter, "The way you two are by the time Meredith knows about this can she is going to have a couple of hundred dollars in it."
"Good. She can use it to buy her first car," John said laughing
"Thanks again Karen" Larry said as the two started towards the door
"Your welcome. Bye guys"
"Bye" John replied as the door shut behind them
"Are we all still meeting at the café for lunch?" Theresa asked after a few minutes
"Yea, Sam and Chris are suppose to be here about noon" Peyton replied
"Well, I am going to go home and take a shower we will meet you guys there"
"Okay, remember. No one knows that I am FBI, I am here for visiting from Jersey" Trent said
"Don't worry. We know" Skills said as he also stood to his feet. "We will see you guys in about an hour"
"Okay. Be careful," Jake said as their friends let themselves out the front door
"Are those two ever going to get married?" Trent asked as the door closed
Peyton and Jake laughed
"We hope eventually" Peyton answered
"What is Skills waiting for? They have been together since high school. They live together. What is the problem?"
"We don't know. You will have to ask him" Jake replied
"Oh, I will. Before I leave, I will"
"The big brother has been released" Peyton said laughing
Mouth walked up to the Marsh's door and rang the bell. Erica opened the door and smiled when she saw who it was.
"Hey Mouth"
"Hey"
"I thought we were meeting at the café"
"Yea, Well, I figured we could walk there together"
"Okay. Let me get my stuff" Erica said before disappearing back into the house leaving the door open. She returned a few minutes later with her jacket.
"Ready?" Mouth asked
"Yea" Erica said slipping on her jacket as they walked down the stairs. Mouth reached over and took Erica's hand as they both smiled.
The back door of the Scott house opened as Haley walked in.
"Hello?" Haley called out
"Living room" Came Nathan's reply
Haley walked into the living room and looked at her three friends before walking to sit on Nathan's lap.
"What are we watching?" Haley asked
"Animal Planet" All three replied
Haley laughed as her friends continued to stare at the TV. She turned herself so that her head was resting against Nathan's shoulder and also began watching the television.
The room was silent for fifteen minutes before the sound of a ringing cell phone was heard. Lucas pulled his phone from his pocket, checked the caller id and then flipped it open.
"Hey, where are you guys at?"
"Getting off of the interstate" Came Sam's reply
"Okay. We will meet you at the café. Remember the directions I gave you?"
"Yea, I wrote them down"
"Okay, see in a few minutes" Lucas said
"Okay, bye" Sam said before hanging up
"Sam?" Nathan asked
"Yea, they are getting off of the interstate now"
"Guess we better head to the café then" Brooke said reaching for the remote to turn off the TV
"I can't wait to meet them," Haley said jumping out of Nathan's lap
"No embarrassing stories, okay?" Nathan said as the group walked through the kitchen towards the backdoor
"Why? They are so fun to tell. I know Haley has some" Brooke said
"Oh, I have a lot" Haley replied
"And we have a lot about you to, Hales" Lucas said reaching for Brooke's hand as they walked down the sidewalk towards the café
"So, most of mine are not as embarrassing as you twos"
"What can we say, we were crazy kids" Nathan said taking Haley's hand in his own
"Yea, and you did some pretty crazy stuff." Haley said
"What was that one that Karen told us? Something about trash bags and trying to fly" Brooke said looking at Lucas
"That was all Nate's idea" Lucas responded
"Yea, but you did it" Nathan countered
"Because you and Skills said you dared me."
The girls laughed at Lucas's comment. "To them anything that was dared, had to be done" Haley said
"I can only imagine what kind of dares they used to come up with," Brooke said
"They were pretty creative" Haley responded as the group neared the café. A green Colorado was parked at the curb. The passenger side door opened and Samantha stepped out.
"Hey Sam" Lucas said startling her
"Hey guys" Sam said as she was pulled into a hug by Lucas and then by Nathan
"Hey Chris" Nathan said shaking his brother's hand
"Hey guys"
"Sam, Chris. This is Brooke my girlfriend and Haley, Nate's girlfriend"
"Nice to meet you both" Brooke said.
"We have heard a lot about you" Haley added
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Chris asked
"Good thing" Lucas quickly responded
"Let's go inside. The rest of our friends should be here soon," Nathan said grabbing Haley's hand and leading everyone into the café
Karen looked up as the bell rang and smiled as her sons walked in.
"Hey guys" Karen greeted them
"Hey mom" Lucas said
"Mom, we would like you to meet Sam and Chris, guys this is our mom, Karen Scott"
"Nice to see you two in person" Karen replied, "I have seen so many pictures"
"Yea, it is nice to meet you too. Mom has spoken about you" Sam said
"How is Georgia?" Karen asked concerned
"She is okay considering she recently found out her beloved brother is a murderer. She is holding up okay. I think she is still in shock though," Chris said
"I am sorry to hear about that. Tell her I am thinking about her"
"We will" Sam replied
"Do you guys want anything or you want to wait until everyone else gets here?"
"We can wait" Lucas said as the group began pulling some tables together. The group sat down as Nathan and Lucas caught up with their siblings. Haley and Brooke watched and smiled. The guys looked so happy. They had found a piece of the puzzle that they didn't even know was missing.