Chapter 6:

The trio parted and Karen got a really good look at her grandchildren. They had grown so much in the past two years and she was sad that she missed it, but Peyton always sent pictures and videos of her grandchildren; whether it is a holiday picture, birthdays, school pictures, videos of Leighton's ballet recitals and Preston's band playing.

"Here these are from us."

Preston handed the older women a long thick white envelope that looked like it was about to explode. Karen went to sit at the table and opened it carefully. What she took out had been more than a dozen pictures of Pres and Elle. A couple CD's that was scribbled with a black sharpie indicating what they were; mostly home movies for Karen to watch. It was a touching scene and the adults awed.

"Where's mine?"

Lucas asked hurt. He hadn't seen these pictures of his children before and was surprised that these copies existed. Leighton shrugged her eyes never leaving the contents of the folder.

"I don't know maybe in the box where you keep the rest of our pictures at." She looked up when she heard a couple of gasps and she truly thought she was only thinking it. "Oops. Did I say that out loud?"

But it had been true and Lucas hated himself for that. Well not the box part, there was hardly any pictures of his twins on the walls of his house. The pictures of Elliot outnumbered them greatly. But he knew one place where he had hundreds maybe thousands of pictures of Preston and Elle.

"Follow me."

Pres and Elle looked at each other skeptically, but did as they were told. They followed their father across the yard to what looked like a shed; they had never been in there before. Lucas opened the door and flicked the light on to his first office, a place he still comes from solace almost every day. The walls were filled with pictures of the two. From the time they were infants to ones that were taken last month.

"This is where all your pictures are. I might be selfish, but I never really wanted to share them with anyone because there mine."

He was speaking from the heart. He didn't know what his children would say, if they'd say anything at all. Suddenly he felt the slender arms of his daughter wrap around his stomach. His son thanked his father, because deep down he knew they both needed this, they needed to see that he loved them even though he didn't get to see them every day.

"We have copies for you too, dad."

Elle mumbled into his chest.

The family gathering was moving along nicely after the small incident; the greetings were said and now the sexes were separated into doing their own thing.

The Scott women were sitting around the table that settled upon the balcony overlooking the vast back yard. Chatting around the group and going into their own conversations.

Leighton was talking to both Alyssa and Lily, the youngest girl had mentioned that there was nothing to do in Tree Hill and how she wished she lived in a place like Los Angeles or New York. Elle had agreed saying that it was a great place to live, but she suddenly realized something.

"Hey, grandma." Leighton who sat next to Karen turned her head to look at her grandmother, bringing up her hand to shield her eyes from the intense sun. "Is Tric still open?"

The young teenager hadn't noticed, but she had just interrupted a conversation that her grandmother and stepmother were having.

"Elle that was rude. Didn't you see that we were talking?"

Leighton turned to look at her. Lindsay, who sat across the table informed the girl, her lips turning into a disapproving frown. Her step daughter noticed and tried her best not to roll her eyes.

"Sorry," Her voice was in monotone. "Lindsay."

"No, it's alright." Karen reassured her young granddaughter with a light squeeze of her hand. "And it has been closed for years now. Eighteen years to be exact. Why do you ask?"

The conversation between Karen and Lindsay seemed to be officially over as the grandmother gave her full attention to her granddaughter.

"Well I was just thinking, when we were small mom use to tell me and Pres stories about when she lived in Tree Hill." She was rambling. "And about Tric, how she used to get all these famous singers to play in this middle of nowhere town."

Karen nodded her head; she wasn't exactly sure where Elle was going with this.

"Well what I'm trying to say is that why did you close it? I mean it was the place for everyone to be. Like the coolest place in town. I guess it would have been really fun to check it out and see where my mom used to hang out when she was young."

"Well. To tell you the truth after your mom left it wasn't really the place to be." Elle looked at Karen as she spoke, confused. "She was the person who charmed the bands into coming to this middle of nowhere town." She smiled using her granddaughter's words to describe Tree Hill. "No one after her was able to get the most popular bands to come."

"Well Aunt Brooke did say that mom was the best at everything she did."

Leighton's eyes met Lindsay and she smiled playfully taking a sip of her raspberry iced tea.

"So Aunt Haley do you have any really embarrassing stories of my mom when she was in High School?" Her eyes shifted towards the other brunette. "She really won't tell me any, but mom's told me a lot about you, Uncle Nathan, dad, and Aunt Brooke"

She counted the names on her fingers and Haley looked shocked. What kind of embarrassing stories had Peyton told her daughter? At the same time Haley was racking her brain for interesting stories of everyone's favorite curly blonde.

"Oh did you know that Peyton and Lucas, your mom and your dad, use to…"

James was dribbling the ball along the court; he managed to get away from Lucas and almost made it towards the basket when in a swift motion the orange ball was stolen from him. The noise of ball swishing through the net was heard around as James looked in shock, thinking how that happened.

"You're good."

Nathan glanced towards his nephew.

"I know and J. Luke should be really working on keeping that ball safe, at least from me." Preston joked. "You are supposed to be Yale's best shooting guard."

Preston gave James a smirk and he replicated back. James had insisted that everyone call him J. Luke, but only the Los Angeles twins seemed to acknowledge his wishes. It was Scott against Scott. Nathan and his sons against Lucas and his sons, and so far the game was officially tied now that Preston made a two-point shot.

"Next shot wins."

Lucas spoke. It had been an intense game and he had to keep his heart in check, he was just glad that either of his children hadn't inherited his HCM.

The ball passed between each team ending up in the hands of the smallest Scott boy.

"Make the shot, Eli."

Lucas spoke to his son encouraging him. The young teenager threw the ball into the air, but missed the hoop, just rimming it. It was quickly swept up by Brody who dunked the ball. The game was over. Team N. Scott was the winner and the boys all high-fived each other. Admitting it was a good game.

"Next time bend your legs. You probably would have made the shot and we coulda won."

Preston patted his brother on the back as he walked passed him walking towards the table filled with food, grabbing a white paper plate and adding a hamburger and hotdog. He didn't hear the mumbling that his brother spoke under his breath.

The sounds of all the girls laughing caught the attention of the men as they joined them.

"What's so funny?"

Lucas asked looking around the table, the youngest of the women were still in a fit of giggles unable to talk and probably unable to breath.

"Just reminiscing about your younger years in life."

Haley informed her best friend. Alyssa was finally able to talk, but not without every other word cut off by laughter.

"The chocolate chip cookies fight. I can't believe you and Aunt Peyton fought with cookie dough."

"Yeah and they were the best cookies I've ever tasted."

Lucas smiled as he remembered the memory.

"I thought you said they were salty."

Nathan joined the conversation.

"Dude, mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever."

Preston informed his family as if they were clueless while taking a bite from his hotdog.

The chatter went from chocolate chip cookies to Haley talking about dare night and her husband wearing a girl scout's uniform. The table roared into laughter and Nathan quickly piped in talking about Haley's fashion sense by wearing an ugly poncho. The laughter kept going, but not about the poncho. Nathan literally told him that it was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, but when he noticed that it didn't work he quickly talked about Lucas and wearing women's clothing. And now the laughter was for the newest story.

"Hey, hey, hey." Lucas protested trying to cover his daughter's ears. "Not in front of my kids."

"Well if my kids can hear about dare night and my embarrassing stories," Nathan smiled at Lucas. "So can yours."

"Uh, dad, you're not allowed in my closet, okay."

Everyone was in tears now; Leighton's request was the point that got it there. Karen was wiping her wet eyes. This was the first time she's ever heard these stories and she wondered what kind of life her children had lived; it was true she considered the group of five high school students her kids.

"We have some crazy parents, huh, J. Luke? Hopefully we don't inherit any of those genes."

Preston held out his fist and James met his fist against his indicating that he agreed. Haley looked at her son her eyebrow raised halfway up and asked.

"J. Luke?"

"Yeah at least some people respect my wishes."

James smiled at his mom.

"Well yeah they hardly ever talk to you anyway. They've only seen you like twenty-times in their whole life. So they're not use to calling you Jamie because they don't constantly see you."

All eyes on the table traveled to the brown-haired sibling of the blonde-haired twins. Leighton's eyes rolling. Preston's eyebrow arched. The awkward silence began to fall around the table.

"So J. Luke you leave for college in a couple of days. Are you excited?"

Elle really hated the silence. There was never this kind of awkwardness when she was around her mother's side of the family, which basically only included her Uncle Derek and Aunt Brooke's families.

"Yeah, Yale's an amazing school. Do you know where you want to go? I know you guys still have like two years left, but you gotta start early."

"Tell me about it. The acadamy already wants us to start our college applications. Anyway I'll probably go to Brown. It's an amazing campus. Plus me and Lauren want to go there together."

"And it's only a couple of states away from Dartmouth. I can still keep an eye on you."

Preston looked down at his younger sister who only a couple minutes younger than her, but he never let her forget it.

"And here I am trying to get away from you." Leighton joked. "Mom says that since we're moving across the country she might move back to the east coast. But she's still trying to convince us to go to Stanford or Berkeley."

The adults smiled. It seemed that Peyton still had a problem with people leaving, but who where Nathan and Haley to say anything because they're feeling the same about Jamie leaving for college.

"So how about we all get together without the rents tomorrow and we'll show you the real Tree Hill."

Lily informed and all cousins nodded their heads vigorously.

The conversation went more smoothly talking about James' college and starting summer courses soon. The young Scott boys excused themselves as they went to play another game of ball. As hours passed and the sun began to set Lucas called all the children and said that it was time to go. James and Brody were the first ones up the patio, but the sound of water splashing made all heads turn and the boys to freeze.

What their eyes came across was the splashing waters, Preston standing at the edge his hands in tight fists and his breathing ragged; seconds later Elliot's head surfaced.

Lucas ran down the few steps from the balcony to the swimming pool. He tried to get Preston's attention, but his son's eyes never left the swishing water.

"What the hell happened?" No answer and Lucas shouted angrily. "Preston Luke Scott, you tell me what happened right now."

Lucas knew he sounded like he was yelling to a four year old, but his son wasn't giving him any answers. Elliot made it out of the pool and the water dripping from every inch of his clothes. The blonde hair boy squinted his eyes at his younger brother for a second before finally turning his attention to his father.

"Nothing."

Preston shoved past Lucas, into the house, and out of the door not bothering to say a word to anyone. Leighton quickly waved bye to her family and followed her brother grabbing his arm.

"Pres, what was that all about?"

The twins were more than brother and sister. They were best friends, the connection they had was not only unspoken, but nothing could match it.

"He called her a slut."

And she knew who he was talking about. She only wished she was the one who pushed Elliot in the water.

"And here I thought we were being the perfect family."

A/N: So that's chapter 6! What do you think? I wasn't too sure about it…idk I guess I just want more drama lol. This chapter just needed to happen so the next chapters would add up! So push the review button and make me smile :D