I just realized Austin's brother has the same name as Deb's brother. That was just a dumb mistake I made, Cooper Lee won't appear in my story, but Cooper Teague is my own character. Sorry for the confusion. I'm also sorry if you guys don't like my story.

Thanksgiving

Austin studies the email Cooper sent him, it's been almost six months since he last heard from his brother. He hasn't seen Coop since and that was two years ago. Pops never forgave Coop for 'abandoning the family' Austin knew why he left; Coop never liked living in tents or shelters. He was always the smartest guy in the room. Austin didn't mind his living arrangements or cared about grades. That was before he moved with the Scotts.

The nine year old re-reads it as he tries to understand what it truly means.

Little bro, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm sorry for that. I just didn't know how to write this. Your social worker called me a few weeks ago and said you got fostered into a nice family. That's awesome. I know Pops told you I abandoned you guys, but I had to leave. College was my only ticket out. I wish I coulda taken you with me, but sometimes things don't work the way we want em' to. But, I'm gonna do right by you, I promise. I'm coming to Charlotte April 11th during my break. Maybe we can meet someplace and talk.

See Yah Soon Squirt

Coop

"Maybe he just wants to talk, like he said" Riley said as she clicks out of the message.

Austin shrugs, he knows his brother and Coop never wants to talk just to talk; it's just the way he is. Like when he got a scholarship to Stanford, he told Austin he wanted to talk. Talks with Cooper are never just talks.

Riley can sense her friend's worry. "Did you tell Peyton or Lucas about Coop emailing you?" Austin looks down and his cheeks burn. "Austin!

Why didn't you tell them?" Riley demanded nudging him sharply.

"Cause" Austin mumbled weakly. "What if Coop wants to take me away? He knows Pop gave up his rights to me and…I don't want to leave, Rye." Because of his tone, Riley takes pity on him and thinks carefully before answer his question.

"He's not gonna take you, Aust" Riley can hear the hesitation in her tone and chews nervously on her lower lip. It's not like she can predict the future or anything.

Austin signs out of his email. "I gotta make sure of that" the boy sounds so sure of himself.

"What are you saying?" Riley asked; not quite sure if she likes where this is going.

"During spring break I hafta go to Charlotte and see him" Riley shakes her head; this isn't going to end well. "Only for a few hours, please Rye. You're the only one; I can do this with" Austin pleaded he can't do this without his best friend by his side.

"Austin."

"You're my best friend" Austin sniffled. "And if we get caught, I'll take the blame. Please, I just…I-I can't do this without you" honestly, Austin doesn't think he can do this without Riley. All through their friendship she's been the tough one.

Riley studies her best friend. He looks so broken; she wishes she could tell someone what's going on. But, she can't. Austin would hate her forever and they're best friends. How can she really say no to her best friend? She can't, damn it, why is Austin doing this?

"Okay" Riley relented as Austin wipes his eyes and forces himself to smile.

Austin praised, "You're the best."

"Dude, you don't hafta tell me that" Riley joked as she saunters out of Luke's study and downstairs.

Brooke glances down at her daughter, mildly concerned. She and Austin went upstairs so he could show her his bedroom. The mother gently lifts up her foster child's chin. "You okay, sweetie?" she asked as Riley nods.

"You sure, cause if you aren't we can leave for awhile" Brooke doesn't look convinced; Riley's wearing the same look she wore during their first day together.

"I'm okay, Brooke. Don't worry" the girl lied; feeling sick, this really sucks. Lying to Brooke makes her feel sick and its all stupid Austin's fault. Why can't he just tell everyone about Coop's message?

"Sweetie, it's sort of my job to worry" Brooke murmured kissing the top of Riley's head.

Riley rolls her eyes, but reluctantly accepts the kiss. "Can I play with them?" she asked looking out the window and seeing a game of football.

Brooke cringes realizing the boys are playing football outside. "Try not to get too dirty" the mother pleaded, she dressed Riley up so the nine year old wouldn't get dirty.

"No promises" Riley dashes out the house causing Haley, Quinn, Peyton, and Karen to erupt in laughter.

The mother turns and rolls her eyes. "I swear she gets dirty on purpose, just to annoy me" she joked; Riley is incredibly clumsy and can't do anything without tripping over her shoelaces.

"It must be so hard on you to have such a klutzy kid" Peyton remarked remembering when they were teens and Brooke vowed her daughter would wear stylish clothes at all times.

Riley's very stylish, she's just so clumsy, it's hard for her to keep her clothes clean. Brooke and Julian know it's only a phase, but at times it does get irritating to scrub a mud stain out of a new top.

"Oh come on, she's cute" Haley stated wondering what Lydia will be like when she's Riley's age.

Karen glances outside watching her daughter and Riley. She swears Lily, Riley, Austin, and Jamie are the best of friends. Of course, the girls tend to rule whatever they do, but none-the-less this visit was an excellent idea. Perhaps they could make it a bit more permanent.

"Where's Austin?" Karen asked glancing around for her 'grandson' who appears at the door.

Austin bounds into the room with a smile. "Here Granny" he stated causing Haley, Brooke, Quinn, and Peyton to laugh.

"Granny?" Karen raises her eyebrows, playfully. "Is that who I am now?" she asked reaching over and tickling the boy who giggles.

"Uh-huh, you're my Granny" he said, his thoughts tangled around his family now and his family before.

Peyton puts her hands on her hips. "Now, young man is that any way to speak to your grandmother?" she asked smiling at her foster son.

"I think it is" Austin answered cheekily.

"Oh really, guess we'll have to teach him a lesson, Granny" the mother said helping Karen tickle the nine year old.

As the other moms' are about to join in, Austin finally manages to make a break for it. He looks back wondering if this will be his first and last Thanksgiving with the Scotts.

Lucas studies his son's face; Austin doesn't look like his usual chipper self. He looks preoccupied and nervous about something. "Hey A-man, you okay?" the foster parent asked running his hand atop his hair.

"Yeah" the nine year old lied feeling guilty. He's never lied to his father's face before and he hates it. Lily frowns, she can't tell if her cousin is lying or not, but it sounds like he is.

"Good, cause your on my team. Apparently, Julian has some kind of injury. What's it called, Julian?" Nathan asked curiously, Clay looks over wearing a lighthearted smile.

"Uh Athlete's…shut-up. I could make the actor who plays you pregnant or something" Julian retorted jokingly as he takes a seat on the porch chairs beside Andy.

"If you say so" Lucas laughed as he and Nathan start picking teams; so far it's Lucas, Skills, Austin, Jamie and Nate Smith against Nathan, Clay, Logan, Lily, Sawyer, and Riley.

In the midst of the game, Riley glances over at her father. He looks kind of disappointed or something. The curly headed child stops midway and walks over to him smiling crookedly.

"What do you want, Rye?" the father asked winking playfully at his daughter who sits in his lap.

"Just to sit with you" she answered resting her head on his chest as Julian ruffles her hair.

"Oh really, well I want to sit with you too" Julian said knowing he and Riley are having a moment. They don't happen often, but when they do, Julian doesn't turn them away.

"Nathan, we lost Riley" Lily said sounding aghast.

Nathan glances at Julian and Riley, he chuckles softly. "Don't worry, we'll still dominate" he answered knowing Julian and Riley are having a father-daughter moment.

Karen lifts Lydia into her arms; she breathes the baby in. Babies have a special smell to them. Holding Lydia reminds Karen when Lily was born, she was the best baby.

"Gramma" the year old said as she bounces up and down, her eyes full of excitement.

"Yes, sweetheart, I'm your gramma" Karen cooed softly at the child before her; she looks a bit like Lucas did when he was a baby, only a bit, but enough for Karen to remember him as an infant.

"She's adorable, Haley" Peyton watches Karen with Lydia; she still thinks it was just yesterday when Soy-Bean was born. It's hard to believe it was six years ago. Time really does fly.

"They grow up, fast; too fast if you ask me" Karen can feel her eyes start to water.

Brooke lifts Jude into her arms while Peyton takes Davis and tweaks his nose. Haley looks around and nods, sadly. She still can't believe Lydia's a year old and Jamie's nine. Little James Lucas Scott is nine; it hurts to think that he's going to be a teenager soon.

Haley checks the turkey for Peyton. "We should call everyone in, it looks like this bird's ready" Haley replied as Brooke opens the back door and shouts for everyone to come inside.

Riley waits impatiently for everyone to get their food. When she lived with Grams, they didn't really have Thanksgiving. One year they had chicken from KFC and strawberry yams. Most years Grams went out with one of her boyfriends while Riley stayed home with Austin.

"Patience, young grasshopper" Julian advised causing Riley to roll her eyes, but grin at him.

Julian helps a grumpy Davis into his high chair. "What do we do, next?" Riley asked looking at the two boys sitting beside her; Austin shrugs while Jamie stares at them, stunned.

"We all say what we're thankful for, then somebody says Grace, and after we eat. Haven't you ever had Thanksgiving before?" the dark blonde asked causing everyone to glance at Riley.

Austin and Riley share knowing looks. "Grams didn't think it was real important, so we just didn't. Most of the time, she went out and Aust and I did our own thing" the child explained wanting to remain truthful with her new family.

Brooke glances over at her daughter, concerned. "Well, it's important to us, how about you think of something you're grateful for? I'll be right back" she wipes her eyes and excuses herself from the table.

"Did I do something wrong?" Riley asked feeling hot tears form on the walls of her eyes.

"No, Riley" Peyton shakes her head; the little girl doesn't look quite sure, she glances down at her hands feeling guilty.

Karen reaches over and gently pats her cheek. "Don't worry, hon, you didn't do anything wrong" she assured the child.

Riley's lower lip wobbles, "I didn't mean to make Brooke sad" she sounds heart-broken.

"Oh sweetie, she's not sad because of you" Haley honestly wishes she had met Riley's grandmother.

"Okay" the little girl doesn't sound like she believes them. Haley looks at Riley and Austin wondering what their lives were like before they moved to Tree Hill.

"It's not you, Rye" Julian promised ruffling her hair. His childhood might not have been a fairy-tale, but every time Riley brings up her past; it hurts to hear. Every child should have a Thanksgiving and experience family moments.

The girl nods and waits for her foster mom to return. When she does, she sees that Brooke's eyes are a bit puffy. "Okay, everyone, it's time to say what we're thankful for" Haley announced trying to lighten the now saddened mood. "Nathan, you start."

"Umm, I'm thankful for my family and our great friends who could make it" Nathan said as his wife goes, basically saying a similar phrase as her husband.

Jamie chews on his lower lip, nervously. He's been thinking about this speech for a few hours and he doesn't know if he should add Riley in or not. "I'm thankful for my family, basketball, new friends, and…Riley" he mumbled Riley under his breath.

"Airplanes, cause they're awesome" Logan announced as Nate Smith agrees causing Bevin to shush them.

Bevin said she was thankful for her family and friends. Skills said his sexy-ass girlfriend and friends. Quinn and Clay said they were thankful for each other and their family. Peyton, Lucas, Karen, Andy, and Lily said they were thankful for Austin. Sawyer said she was thankful for a bag of candy, her stuffed animals, and the majority of toys until Peyton stopped her.

"I'm thankful for my family; my parents are really cool and even though she looks through my stuff. I'm thankful for Sawyer too and Riley, Lily, Karen, Andy, and all of you here" Austin nods causing Lucas and Peyton to smile. He called them his parents.

Brooke clears her throat. "I'm thankful for, Riley" Riley opens her eyes and looks up at her mom who's staring at her. "I'm thankful, she's part of our family now" she said her eyes focused on her daughter who closes hers, grinning.

"I'm thankful Riley's apart of our family and even though she's a trouble-maker, I'm glad she's my daughter" Julian said causing Riley to grin softly.

The last one left is, Riley. "Umm, I'm not used to this. I'm not used to doing this stuff, but I guess, I'm thankful for everything. Like everyone here, it's been awesome with everyone and I can't imagine what it'd be like without you guys, now and…yeah that's it. Everything" the nine year old said feeling tears fall down her cheeks.

Peyton quickly wipes her eyes. "Okay, everyone let's start eating before it gets cold" she said as Austin opens his brown eyes.

The rest of dinner is delicious. Skills, Bevin, and Nate were the first to leave cause Nate had to see his father. Bevin was a little more than pissed about that. Little Nate seemed excited about the prospect about seeing his father and meeting his father's new friend.

Riley worriedly tosses Austin the football. "Aust, are you sure you wanna do this? Can't you just tell Coop to come to Tree Hill?" Riley dared to ask while Jamie and Lily went to get sodas.

"We have to" Austin answered giving Riley a pleading look. Before, she would've understood what this meant. Now it's like they're all changing.

Jamie and Lily walk right on time to overhear him. "What do you hafta do?" Lily asked curiously as she slurps on her Sprite.

"Nothing."

Lily pleaded, "Come no, tell me."

"It isn't even good, Lil" Riley lied; she loves Lily, but bringing her in on something like this isn't her idea of fun. Lily's a good kid, she does as she's told and almost always behaves.

"Now you hafta tell us; we're intrigued" Jamie said using one of his vocab words; he's certain, he got a great grade on his test.

"Sorry" Austin shrugged; if he tells them, then there's a bigger change his secret will get discovered.

"But, I wanna know. Come on, we can keep a secret" Lily said pleadingly, she wishes Austin and Riley would let them in their little club too.

Austin looks at Riley who shrugs as though to say it's your secret to tell, not mine. "My big brother, Cooper is gonna go to Charlotte for spring break to see me" Austin admitted not sure if he should trust them with this secret.

"That's great" Lily didn't even know Austin had a brother. Yet alone, that he wants to see him. "Why was that a secret?" she asked frowning unsurely.

"Cause he wants to see me in Charlotte" Austin reiterated slowly and deliberately, Jamie's eyes widen. He suddenly understands what Austin's saying and he isn't sure he likes it.

"So?" Lily looks around as Jamie and Riley refuse to meet eye contact.

"Lil, I'm gonna cut class and go to Charlotte to see him" Austin runs a hand through his dark blonde hair.

"Won't Peyton be pissed?" Lily squints, she knows her older sister and Peyton tends to be terrifying when she's mad.

"He's my brother."

"We're your family too" Lily stamps her foot, angrily. Austin quickly looks at Jamie for help; he finally has a male ally.

Jamie thinks about it. "Yeah, but…why can't you tell them?" he asked causing Riley and Austin to share a look. Jamie tries not to look annoyed, how come Riley and Austin are always sharing looks?

"Cause" Austin answered sourly.

"Cause why?" Lily pried wanting to get to the truth of it all. Normally, Jamie would pry too, but he can tell Riley doesn't want them to, so he won't.

"Cause Austin thinks Coop might wanna take him back" Riley blurted as Austin nudges Riley sharply. He doesn't want to worry Lily over stupid things like that.

Lily's eyes widen. "Can he do that?" she asked glancing at the pair for an explanation.

"He's old enough to adopt me" Riley shoots Austin a look. "What? Nat told me that somebody only hasta be eighteen to adopt me, Coop's nineteen…I think" Austin said softly, he wonders if it's bad he doesn't know his own brother's age.

"How can you not know?" Jamie asked curiously, he knows how old is little sister is.

"I haven't seen him for awhile" Austin said in a quiet voice. The same voice he uses when he feels worried or scared.

Jamie asked, "How long is awhile?"

"I dunno…two years, maybe more."

"Aust and I are gonna see what he wants" Riley stated firmly, knowing she has to stand strong beside her best friend.

"When?" Jamie's eyes widen; he knew Austin was going to go, but Riley shouldn't go. What if she gets hurt? It's not that he doesn't care about Austin, but Riley is…she's different.

"April" Riley replied as Lily purses her lips together wondering if this is the best choice for her.

"We're going with you" Jamie said looking at Lily who's nodding, seriously. There's no way she's going to let Austin go without giving a proper fight first.

"You'll get in trouble" Austin doesn't want Lily or Jamie to get in trouble cause of him. It wouldn't be fair. Course, he and Rye will probably get in trouble, but they get in trouble all the time.

"So?" Lily asked, as far as she's concerned; she and trouble might as well be old friends.

"I don't want you guys to get in trouble cause of me" Austin said shaking his head; it's okay for Rye to come, cause he's known her longer, but not these guys. Unlike them, they actually have families.

"Dude, we get in trouble cause of you all the time" Jamie laughed causing Riley to grin at him.

"Okay, all we gotta do is keep this a secret till April then we take the train to Charlotte."

"Train? How will we get tickets?" Jamie raises his eyebrows and for a brief moment, Riley thinks he looks like Nathan. Then the eyebrows go down and he doesn't look like him anymore.

Riley said, "We can borrow cash from our parents." This time Lily's eyebrows go up, she's never stolen anything before.

"You mean steal?" Jamie asked, he doesn't know if he really likes the idea of stealing off his parents.

"Only enough to get us there and back" Riley cautioned, she absolutely hates the thought of stealing off Brooke and Julian. But, Austin needs her to do this and she's his best friend.

"How will we get on? Don't we hafta be with parents?" Lily asked giving the trio a look of doubt.

Austin looks to Riley for the answer. "We'll tell them we're brothers and sisters meeting our parents someplace" Riley can already tell this back-story doesn't make much sense.

"What if they don't buy it? I'm nine and I don't buy it" Austin replied as Lily and Jamie chuckle.

"Then we sneak on" Riley answered cockily.

Jamie shakes his head. These two are crazy, but he has to admit, this is the most fun he's had in weeks.

"We gotta leave on April 11th" Austin said quietly; Lily and Jamie are such do-gooders this might not work. "It's a school day" he added keeping his eyes cast downward.

"We're cutting school!" Jamie raised his voice slightly causing blabber-mouth Sawyer to glance over at them, curiously.

"Shh" Riley puts her finger to his lips and glances over at Sawyer who's across the yard, playing with Logan. "We have to, okay?" she said as Lily smiles at them.

"You don't hafta come" Austin retorted, he's getting really sick of Jamie's always do good attitude. Sure, he likes to behave himself too, but Jamie never wants to do anything fun.

"I'll come. I just don't think we should steal and lie, isn't that wrong? Maybe we should tell our parents" Lily pondered, not feeling right about this.

"I just wanna see what Coop wants" Austin sighed, finally letting his walls down around Lily and Jamie. "I don't want him to take me away, okay? I like it here."

"Okay, fine. We'll do this, but we gotta be back before school ends or we're all toast" Jamie warned as Riley nods and begins saying how they'll take a few dollars a day, so it won't arise suspicion.

Brooke watches the children, curiously. "They look kind of suspicious, don't you think?" she asked as Haley looks outside as well; she doesn't think the kids look at all suspicious. Maybe a little secretive, but nothing more than innocent children having fun.

"You worry too much, Brooke. I'm sure all they're talking about is school and stuff" Haley answered giving Brooke a look to cool her jets.

"I don't know" Peyton looks outside and winks at Haley, letting her know she's messing with Brooke. "Maybe, they're plotting to overthrow the government" she said causing Haley and Quinn to snicker.

"Very funny, but really I think they're up to something. They're too quiet and quiet kids is never good" Brooke murmured squinting at her daughter. The children are most defidently up to something, they look too guilty not to be.