Warning – some drug use mentioned.

Chapter 7

Twelve Years Earlier

"Peyton," Dan was surprised to see his daughter-in-law at his front door.

"Hi, Mr. Scott,"

"It's good to see you. Come on in. How are you doing?"

"Good,"

She stepped into the house but didn't go any further. Her visit was going to be short.

"Look, I just wanted to let you know that I know why Lucas has let you back into his life and our son's life,"

"Peyton, it's not what you think. I really do love…"

She out her hand up, signaling for him to stop talking, "I know you do. I just wanted to say thank you,"

A small but genuine smile escaped his lips.

"Even though it took me getting sick, I'm glad you two could find a way to work it out. I know you've been trying for years. I also know that he's going to need a lot of help when I…"

"Peyton, you're not going to…"

"No," she cut him off again. "I made peace with it and I'm ok with it now. Well, not really, but I've had a good life. Luke made sure of it," she smiled. "Which is one of the reasons why I'm here. I need to ask you a couple of favors,"

"Anything,"

"No matter what happens, take care of Lucas. Make sure he's ok. Just be the father he deserves. Don't blow this opportunity because if this turns out to be some sort of scheme…."

"It's not. I promise,"

She looked at him for a second. Believing in a Dan Scott's promise was hard to do but Peyton saw something in his eyes that made her believe him. "Ok, but if you hurt him or my son, I'll haunt you for the rest of your miserable life,"

"Good too see you haven't lost your edge," he joked.

"When it comes to protecting my family…"

"You have my word Peyton," he said seriously. "I made a mistake and I know that now. It took me almost thirty years to realize that I missed out on something great. I'm not going to make that mistake again,"

Peyton accepted his answer. "There's one more thing,"

She handed Dan over a manila envelope. "It's for Aiden. There's a few things I need you to do for his sixteenth birthday,"

Dan curiously took to envelope and eyed the cryptic blonde.

Present Day

Aiden Lawerence Scott stormed into his bed room, slamming the door behind him. He had a tough, angry exterior that caused many people to fear him and misunderstand him. He never meant to bottle emotions up or push people away. It just felt natural to him. He was surly his mother's child.

And like his mom, deep down, he wasn't so tough. Angry, maybe; angry that his mother was taken away from him so young; angry that as he grew up, the more he unintentionally forgot what she was like and how soft and comforting her voice was when she'd to sing to him. But it wasn't so much the anger that filled him. It was the sadness and feeling of loneliness that consumed him.

Dejectedly he leaned back against it, hating himself for saying all those things about his mother to his father. He needed an escape.

It was about a month ago when Aiden was first introduced to marijuana. Ricky Jr. befriended Aiden outside the school one day and offered him a hit. Aiden was hesitant at first but once he felt the effects of the drug, he wanted more.

As he fished through his jacket pocket for the small plastic bag, he found something else. Pulling out the small glass vile, Aiden stared at it. Cocaine. Ricky Jr. had given it to him earlier that day and told him that it'd give him a stronger euphoria.

He placed the bottle on his nightstand and began rummaging through the drawer for something to cut it with. At the bottom of the drawer, he found a ruler. A sarcastic smirk fell on his face. Who would have thought that a ruler could help him draw more than one kind of straight line?

The night stand shook when he closed the drawer, causing the bottle to topple over. It rolled off the table top and on to the floor. Still in tact, it rolled under the bed.

"Damnit," he swore as he got onto his hands and knees. Blindly with his hand, he searched for the tiny vile. Deep under the bed, he found it. He was about to pull it out when his hand brushed against something else. Curiously Aiden fished the foreign object out as well.

It was an envelope. He immediately recognized it. Grandpa Scott had given it to him on his sixteenth birthday along with a basketball and a pair of Bobcats tickets. He told him that it was a special present from his mother. At the time, Aiden rolled his eyes, believing that it was some sort of scheme to get him to spend time with his father. So Aiden buried the leather ball in his closet, threw the envelope somewhere in his room and sold the basketball tickets for cash.

He never thought about those presents again until now. Curiously he ripped the envelope open and emptied the contents. It was a DVD. On the disc, written in an unfamiliar handwriting, it read. Happy 16th Birthday Aiden.

After setting up the disc in his DVD player, Adien sat down on his bed and turned on the TV. The black screen suddenly lit up. He saw himself, as a toddler running around. From what he could tell, it was the Rivercourt.

A two year old Aiden ran gleefully away from the camera and straight into his father's arms. Lucas picked up the boy in one swift scoop. He turned his son around to face the camera.

"Wave, hi to mommy," Lucas said.

"Hi, mommy!" little Aiden screamed happily.

Off screen, Peyton's voice sang, "Hey, baby. Happy Birthday,"

Suddenly, the camera shook and a close up the ground was shot. A muffled, "Thanks, Haley," was then heard. Seconds later, his mother appeared on screen beside little Adien and Lucas. The happy family smiled for the camera.

Up on her toes, she planted a kiss on Aiden's forehead and then one on Lucas's lips.

"Kissy!" Aiden said, causing the adults to laugh. He then lunged for his mother's arms. Peyton took her son into her arms. Forehead to forehead they smiled, whispering and planning something secretive. With one last nod, the two stared mischievously into the camera. An innocent Lucas leaned in and kissed his son and wife.

"Wave bye-bye," Peyton said.

Aiden waved, "Bye! We have to tickle daddy now,"

Lucas's eyes peeled open in surprise before running off from the tickling hands. Aiden shrieked in delight as he and Peyton started chasing him. And just like that the screen went black again.

Seconds later, the screen lit up again. They were no longer at the Rivercourt, but in a room somewhere in the house. Aiden couldn't believe his eyes when his smiling mother appeared front and center.

"Hey, it's me, Peyton Scott, your mom. Wow. This is weird. I didn't plan on doing this but I saw the video camera and… well I just thought…well I wanted you to see what I used to look like and what I sounded like. Just in case you forgot me,"

She paused for a moment, collecting herself before continuing on. The last thing she wanted was for her son to see her cry.

"If you're seeing this, you're sixteen now," Peyton let a proud smile show, "Happy Birthday, Aiden. I wish I could be there with you. See how you are and see how much more of a man you've become. If you're anything like your father, then I know you'll be alright. Grandma Roe did a great job raising him,"

"But if you're anything like me, then God help your father," she laughed. "Seriously though, if you're like me, you don't have to worry either because your father will take care of you, like he took care of me,"

"I guess I didn't want you to see this till you were sixteen because sixteen is a big turning point in your life. At least it was for me. Umm…you see, I lost my mom, your Grandma Sawyer when I was nine and for a long time I couldn't get over it. So on top of missing her, I was also growing up and trying to figure out who I was. And it's hard you know. I mean here you are trying to figure out who you are on the inside while still trying to fit in at school,"

"I um…your father is gonna go crazy if he finds out I told you this but I think you should know so you can learn from my mistakes,"

Aiden watched the screen intently. He noticed his mother nervously fidgeting with her hands. A habit that he apparently had inherited from her.

"When I was your age, I did a line of coke. You know I was stupid and young and I got pressured into it. To make matters worse, I started to feel like I was slipping away from everyone. I just felt alone and like I had no one to talk to. So, one night I drew some lines on a CD and as I peered down over it, I caught I glimpse of my reflection. I didn't like what I saw. I didn't like who I was becoming,"

As Peyton continued with her story, Aiden stared at his own vile of white powder. He played with the bottle in between his fingers. His lips pressed together and his eyes narrowed, refusing to cry. The lonely, confused teen momentarily stopped listening to his mother, but the important words of guidance somehow made it through.

"I realized that it didn't have to be that way. I wasn't alone. I never was. I did have people to talk to. I just wouldn't let them in..."

That was enough for him. Aiden wiped his tearstained face with his sleeves. He stopped the player and left the room, vile in hand. Moments later, the toilet flushed the contents of the vile down to the sewer system.

Aiden Lawrence Scott entered the room. He felt different from the boy who left the room minutes before. He didn't know exactly who he was yet, but he knew who he didn't want to be. Sitting comfortably again, Aiden played the rest of the video.

"Even though I'm not there with you, you'll be ok. You'll be better than ok. Aiden, you are surrounded by the best, most kind and loving people you'll ever meet. And I know that they'll take care of you. If there is anyone you need to talk to, you can talk to Uncle Nathan or Aunt Rachel. They'll give you nothing but honesty. If you need relationship advice, stud," She grinned. "Talk to Aunt Brooke. No scratch that. Talk to Aunt Haley or Uncle Jake, yeah, they're much better. You can talk to Aunt Brooke when you're older. Much older,"

"But if you want the ultimate advice – on anything at all – your dad is the one to go to. Peyton paused for a moment, letting smile creep onto her face as she thought about her husband. "Your father is...your father is a smart man. Now he may get all deep and philosophical on you but he'll say exactly what you want you to hear. Or make you read it from some book," she added with a smile.

"Just promise me one thing: if you ever find yourself in a difficult situation, take a step back and think…think about what you want for yourself, what you want for you future and hold on to that. No matter what you do, I'll always be proud of you Aiden, remember that. Well, I guess that's all I need to say for now. Aiden, I love you,"

"I love you so much. I wish you were here," he whispered softly, "I don't know what to do anymore. I tried so hard to be the best man I could, but I can't help but think that I failed you. I need you now more than ever,"

"Dad?"

Lucas turned around to see his son standing behind him. He quickly wiped his eyes, "Aiden. What are you doing here?"

"I um…I wanted to visit mom,"

"I didn't know you still came out here,"

Aiden just shrugged. He was here on most nights. Often, when he couldn't sleep, he'd sneak out of the house and just sit here, but his father never knew that.

"I'll um…I'll give you some time with her then," He stood up and started to walk away.

"Or you could stay,"

Lucas stopped, unsure of what he heard. He looked back and saw his son staring back at him. For the first time in a long time, Lucas didn't see the anger or bitterness in his son's eyes. He just saw his son. His little boy who needed his help.

They sat down together beside her tombstone. Aiden opened up his backpack and took out a single forget-me-not.

Lucas smiled, surprised by the gesture. "That was your mother's favorite,"

Then it suddenly donned on him. All those times he'd come to visit his wife, Lucas would always find a single forget-me-not by her tombstone. He always wondered who was leaving flowers behind for his wife and now the mystery was solved.

"Yeah, I know. I remember you telling me," Aiden explained. "I don't remember much else, though,"

"Your mother loved you so much. And had the biggest heart. Always taking care of others before herself. She was…she was a lot like you, actually,"

"Really? How?"

"Stubbornly independent and guarded but deep down, she was a good person. It took me a while to get past her icy exterior, but when I did it was worth it. You know, she was the person to go to when you had a problem,"

Aiden threw his father a peculiar look. He found it strange that his mother told him that his father was the expert in advice.

"What?"

"Nothing," Aiden decided to keep the video his mother made a secret between him and his mom, for now. "So um, I was thinking that maybe in the fall, I'd try out for the Ravens," Aiden took out the basketball he got for his birthday from his bag and tossed it to his father, "I was wondering if we could go to the Rivercourt and shoot around. Maybe you could give me a few pointers,"

"Yeah, I'd like that,"

"We could play a little one on one. I mean if you're not too old,"

Lucas laughed, "I may be your old man, but I still got game,"

The two Scotts stood up. A warm, gentle breeze blew around them.

Lucas stopped. The younger Scott looked up at his father.

"Mom?"

"Yeah," he smiled.

They knew she was there with them. They felt her love. She was there watching over them, just as she always had been.

A/N: I apologize for the lateness of this final chapter. I actually had Peyton's video written last January when I first started this fic because this was ultimately how I wanted to end it. But then I guess with school, life and other fics, I kinda put it on the back burner and eventually forgot about it. It wasn't until I read the last three reviews I got in my mailbox, did I remember and find the motivation to finally finish it off.

Anyways, thanks to everyone who left a review and to anyone who is still reading this story. It is now complete :D And for those who read my other fics that I haven't updated in months either, I will be finishing them up because I hate leaving things unfinished, but it's a just a question of when…