I don't own One Tree Hill and Supernatural.

Yay, 100+ reviews! I'm so happy. Anyway, thanks to all those who read this and to all those who reviewed and will review. Your reviews make me really happy. Much love. :)

Note: Keith didn't die in this story (the Jimmy Edwards event didn't happen). He married Karen after Lucas graduated high school and they're now living in New Orleans with their daughter, Lily. Karen's Cafe is now under Lucas and Haley's management.

21: Dreams and Budding Friendships

A month and a half had passed since Dean and Brooke came back from Hawaii. Since then, the two of them went out every day, walking around the park, having dinner in a nice restaurant, and doing stuff they haven't done together before like rollerblading, and Dean even let Brooke drive the Impala once. They even attended a baby baptism of one of Dean's friends. To the public eye, they were the happy newlyweds. In private, they were happy with each other's company as well.

Today, they haven't planned anything; Brooke wanted to stay at home and relax with Dean. Brooke was busy updating her scrapbook, putting pictures of Dean and her during their trip to the bar last night with Sam, Jessica, and Castiel when the phone suddenly rang.

Dean, who was watching TV beside her, got up and answered it. "Yeah?"

After a few moments, he looked at Brooke and whispered, "its Cas," and then lessened the volume of the TV.

Brooke couldn't help but watch her husband as he spoke to Castiel on the phone. The first time Brooke saw Dean, he was smirking and he looked like he didn't care about anything at all. He had a lot of issues, like womanizing, alcohol, and short temper. He usually bossed Brooke around and often argued with her. But now, after he confessed that Brooke had changed him and that he loved her, Dean became much better. He also looked younger because of the seemingly permanent smile on his face; he was always happy whenever he was with Brooke. The way he talks to Brooke, the way he looks at her, the way he touches her - those were the things that made Brooke like him more.

Dean unexpectedly took a glance towards Brooke and saw her staring at him with a small smile on her face. As if on cue, he stopped listening to whatever Castiel was saying and focused all his attention on Brooke; he wanted to etch her face - the way she looked at him, the smile on her lips, how soft her skin looked - into his memory. As if etching that moment into his mind wasn't enough, Dean grabbed the camera on the table, mouthed the words 'Don't move' at Brooke, and then took a photo of her. Before he returned to his conversation with Castiel, he smiled at Brooke in return.

The conversation with Castiel lasted for about half an hour, while Brooke focused on the scrapbook she was working on again. Once Castiel ended the call, Dean placed the phone back to its stand and was about to go to Brooke and kiss her when the phone rang again. He sighed and grabbed the phone once again and answered it. A moment later, he handed the phone to Brooke. "It's Haley. I think she's crying," he whispered.

Brooke's eyes widened; she grabbed the phone from Dean and jumped off the sofa. "Hales? What's wrong?"

Haley sniffed. "B-Brooke...it's Nate."

Bad thoughts suddenly flooded Brooke's mind. "What's wrong?"

"Chris Keller," Haley croaked.

Brooke didn't need to hear more from Haley; she knew very well how much trouble Chris Keller is. "I'll be there," she gushed and then told her best friend that she will arrive in Tree Hill the next morning.

When Dean asked her what the problem was, Brooke told her that Haley and Nathan had a fight. Dean insisted on going to Tree Hill with Brooke, not because he wanted to guard her, but because he wanted to help her friends. While they were on the road, Brooke explained everything about Haley and Chris Keller. She told him that when they were in high school, Haley and Chris worked together for quite some time, and that Haley went on tour with Chris. Dean quickly guessed that Chris became a huge problem for Nathan and Haley, and he was right. Brooke went on and told him how torn Nathan was when Haley left him to go on tour with Keller.

Dean and Brooke arrived on Tree Hill around midnight, and they were exhausted from the 10-hour drive from New York to Tree Hill. Fortunately, Victoria wasn't in the house when they arrived; she was out of the country, as well as Brooke's father. Brooke called Haley to check if she was still awake, but Haley didn't answer, so Brooke decided that they should get some sleep first before they handle Haley and Nathan's problem.

-----

"Run! Daddy's coming!" yelled a little boy with a huge grin on his face. He was hardly older than six.

Two other little boys - twins - ran after the older one.

"Hey!" Dean yelled as he searched for the boys. "This is not funny anymore!" He knelt down in front of the little girl beside him, who had mud on her face. "Who did it, honey?"

The little girl sniffed. "Sammy."

Dean shook his head and stood up once again. "Go to your Momma and wash your face." He then turned around and scanned the garden, in hopes of seeing his eldest son. "Sam!"

Dean's eyes fluttered open. To his relief, he was only dreaming. It looked quite real; Sam, the oldest of the boys he had dreamt of, looked a lot like him, while the little girl looked like Brooke. As he sat up, he couldn't help but think of his future family with Brooke.

"B?" Dean asked.

Brooke, who was tying her hair into a neat ponytail, looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Um, how many...kids do you want?"

Brooke chuckled and brought her attention back to her reflection in the mirror. "I don't know. The more the merrier. Why?"

"Just asking," he replied with a shrug.

"Look, I gotta go and check on Haley," Brooke said as she turned to face him. She grabbed her bag, which was sitting on the edge of the bed, and then kissed Dean. "Don't go around messing with other people."

With that, she left the room. Dean looked around and noticed that he was in a different room; he forgot that they weren't in New York. He got up from the bed and took a shower. When he got downstairs, he saw that Brooke didn't bother to cook breakfast for him. So he went out and roamed around until he spotted Karen's Cafe. Once he got inside, all eyes were upon him. He tried to ignore them and went straight ahead towards the counter. To his surprise, Lucas came out of the kitchen at the back.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Dean suddenly remembered when Lucas came out of his hotel room hours before his wedding. Though Brooke told him that nothing happened, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Lucas felt the same.

Right then, Haley came out of the kitchen, holding a plate of pancakes. She noticed the way Dean and Lucas looked at each other and then sighed.

"Luke, get this to the table near the door," she said as she handed the plate to Lucas.

Lucas didn't seem to hear Haley.

"Lucas," she said firmly.

And as if he was poked or something, Lucas walked away.

Haley, who looked like she had cried all night, walked over to the counter. "Dean, what're you doing here?"

Dean let out a small smile. "Well, Brooke wanted to go here to talk to you. She might be at your house right now," he added.

Haley sighed; she looked like she was going to cry.

"Do you want me to call her?" Dean asked, in hopes that it would prevent Haley from crying.

"No," Haley said. She heaved a sigh. "Are you gonna order anything?"

Dean looked at the menu board and then cleared his throat. "Uh...the breakfast special."

"Right," she murmured. She then went back to the kitchen.

Dean looked around and saw Lucas talking to an old man in a nearby table. Somehow, he knew that Lucas heard everything he told Haley. Before he could think of anything else, Haley emerged from the kitchen with another plate of pancakes. It was only then when Dean realized how big her belly was.

"He doesn't like me here, does he?" he asked as Haley set the plate on the counter in front of him.

Haley glanced at Lucas. "Yeah; he probably thinks I'm betraying him by talking to you."

Dean fell silent for a moment. When he looked up, Haley was still looking at him.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him," she said as she rubbed her belly absentmindedly.

Dean tried to think of something to say. "Brooke told me about Ch-"

"She did?" Haley cut him off. She suddenly looked at him with more attention.

"I just wanted to help," Dean blurted out; he didn't want to have a row with Haley in case she misunderstands why he brought up the topic. He then took out his phone. "I'll call Brooke."

Haley put her hand on his arm. "No, don't." After a moment's hesitation, she said, "I think it's better if I talk to you."

-----

"Hales?" Brooke called out for the third time. She pressed the doorbell again.

Finally, the door opened. Nathan was standing right in front of her. "Brooke, what're you doing here?"

"Is Haley there?"

Nathan sighed and then shook his head. "I just arrived here. She's not home."

Panic overwhelmed Brooke. "I told her to stay here."

Before Nathan could answer, her phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket and opened the new message.

I'm with Haley, the message read. It was from Dean.

Brooke sighed in relief and then looked at Nathan. "We need to talk."

That was when Nathan realized why Brooke was standing in front of him. Haley probably told her that they had a fight. Nathan let Brooke get inside the house and led her to the kitchen.

Brooke sat on the breakfast bar and watched as Nathan poured coffee into two mugs. "Haley called," she said and tried to read Nathan's expression.

"Yeah," Nathan murmured and then handed Brooke a mug. He sat beside her and sighed; he could still remember the look on Haley's face when he left the house last night.

"You shouldn't have fought because of Keller," she said. "That was a long time ago."

Nathan took a sip from his mug. "I came home yesterday and found him here, talking to Haley."

"What did he want?" asked Brooke. Though a part of her thought that there was nothing wrong with Keller coming over to visit Haley, Brooke couldn't shrug the feeling that it wasn't really a good thing.

This time, Nathan looked straight into Brooke's eyes, and before he knew it, he blurted out all the things he heard the day before. "He asked her to work with him again. He made it sound like last time didn't do us any damage. He even asked her who the baby's father was!"

"What?!"

Nathan shook his head and scoffed. "Apparently, he and Haley saw each other six months ago."

"So?" Brooke asked, still shocked with what she heard. "It's not like they slept together, right? I know Haley. She wouldn't do that."

"Haley told me that nothing happened between them, but Keller was just silent the whole time we argued in front of him."

Brooke scoffed. "He's a huge pain in the ass. But still, Nate, you don't believe Haley?"

"I do," Nathan replied quickly. "But I can't believe she didn't tell me that she met Keller back then."

"Why did she meet him, anyway?"

"He wanted to talk to her about the same thing - working together again." Nathan took another sip from his mug to calm himself. "Haley knows how much I hate Keller, and yet she didn't tell me that."

Brooke patted Nathan's shoulder. "Nate, maybe that's the reason why Haley didn't tell you. She's afraid that you might get worked up like this."

-----

"What did Chris do?" Dean asked.

Haley had just told Dean what happened the night before, and to her surprise, Dean listened attentively. She tried hard not to cry again, but her hormones got the better of her. Dean escorted her to his car; he didn't want other people to see Haley crying. When they were about to leave the cafe, Dean saw Lucas tense up and watched them intently as Dean and Haley went out. Dean comforted her and told her that everything is going to be okay every now and then. When Haley finally stopped crying, Dean found the courage to speak and voice out the question that ran inside his head.

Haley sniffed and looked at Dean. "He just stood there, didn't say a word. It made things much worse, his silence. Nathan must've thought that Chris's silence meant something. After Nathan left, he wanted to stay, but I sort of kicked him out of the house."

Dean chuckled softly and looked outside. The cafe was still in sight, and though Lucas was not looking at their direction, Dean knew that Lucas was keeping a close watch on them. "Well, don't worry. Everything will be okay," he said in an assuring tone. "Anyway, Nathan seems to be a good guy. I'm sure he'll calm down sooner or later."

"You didn't see him last night. He was mad." Haley looked out the car window and tried not to think of the way Nathan yelled the night before.

"Well, you couldn't blame him," he said with a shrug. When he saw the look on Haley's face, he held up his hand. "I'm not taking his side," he said quickly; Haley obviously looked like she was going to ask him if he agrees with Nathan. "But I'm not taking your side, either. Look, Brooke's with him right now. I'm sure he's okay now."

When Haley first heard that Brooke was dating Dean, she couldn't believe that Brooke preferred to go out with him rather than maintain her relationship with Lucas. She knew what Dean was like; it was all over the news. But she opted to keep silent and just be happy for Brooke. When she found out that her best friend's relationship with Dean was just an arrangement, Haley was sort of devastated; she knew how that would affect Brooke's life. She even felt sorry for Brooke because Brooke had to endure Dean's vices as long as the agreement is on. But when Dean comforted Brooke when the brunette found out about what happened between Lucas and Peyton, Haley realized that there was something good inside of Dean. Then there was the way Dean looked at Brooke during their wedding ceremony; Haley knew at that moment that there was something going on between Dean and Brooke. And now, Dean was sitting beside her, saying words of comfort and telling her that he wants to help.

"I never thought that I'd be in a situation like this with you," Haley said and then chuckled softly.

Dean raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

Haley let out a small smile. "I thought you were..."

"Is there anybody who doesn't think that I'm not good for Brooke?" Dean asked in an amused way.

"I have to admit, you seemed like you weren't good for her at first. But now I think you're pretty cool," Haley said. "You love Brooke, don't you?"

Dean looked at Haley and then smirked.

Haley thought that it was good for Dean and Brooke to fall in love and not be together just because of an agreement, but she also knew that Lucas will be torn once he finds out that Brooke's in love with Dean. A little voice inside her head told her that Lucas deserved it; he slept with Peyton behind Brooke's back.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

Haley looked at Dean intently. "Promise me that you won't break my best friend's heart."

The request was both fierce and sincere. Dean knew that Haley meant what she asked him to do, and he knew that the moment he breaks Brooke's heart, Haley will surely kill him. "I'll do my best," he said.

"Good," Haley replied with a nod.

-----

Lucas Scott could not believe his eyes. Haley was talking to Dean inside his car. He saw her crying and he saw the way Dean listened and talked to her. First, Brooke, and now, Haley; who's next – Nathan? For some reason, Lucas felt like Dean wanted to steal everyone close to him.

The sound of the chimes above the front door pulled him back to reality. Haley had just walked in, and she looked much better than the way she was when she came there this morning to help him open the cafe. She walked straight to him and let out a small smile.

"I know what you're thinking," she said before Lucas could say anything. "Dean's nice."

Lucas squared his shoulders. "I don't care, Hales. And what's up with you, getting friendly with him and all."

Haley scoffed. "What're you trying to imply, Luke? Like I've said, Dean's nice. I think he's far from the Dean we've read in the newspaper before."

"Just because he sat there and listened to your problems doesn't mean he's entirely nice," Lucas retorted.

"Can you hear yourself, Lucas? I can't believe you could be so biased." Haley looked at him like a mother scolding her son. "Dean's trying to befriend us, he wants to get to know us better so someday he could sit with all of us and join us like he's a part of the gang."

"He'll never be."

Haley shook her head and sighed. "Luke, drop the attitude. You're just jealous and scared that he might steal us from you. Maybe Dean does want to get to know Brooke's friends, but I'm sure it's not because he wants to piss you off."

Lucas looked intently at Haley and wanted to admit that he was jealous, but he couldn't admit the fact that Haley has a point; he was a bit biased. Before he could say a word, though, Haley let out another sigh.

"Dean's going to give me a ride home," she said.

-----

Now that Nathan was calm and composed, and when he was sure that he's not going to get mad at Haley again, Brooke called Dean and asked him to bring Haley back to her house. And because Tree Hill wasn't that large, Dean and Haley arrived within a few minutes.

"Nate," Haley murmured the moment she saw Nathan, "I'm sorry."

Nathan wrapped Haley into a tight hug and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Yeah, me too. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"Our job's done here," Brooke said and then winked at Haley and Nathan.

Brooke smiled and looked at the couple in front of her. She then grabbed Dean's hand and they silently walked out of the house, hand in hand, to give Nathan and Haley some privacy. When Dean and Brooke got inside the Impala, a sudden thought came across Brooke's mind.

"Dean," she said.

Dean looked at her and saw fear in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Brooke bit her lip and then looked down; she knew that the look on her face was a giveaway. "What if they find out about us? What if the public discovers that this was all just a..."

Dean held Brooke's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. The moment Dean's hand touched Brooke's skin, she felt a tingling sensation and felt a notch better.

"Whatever happens, I'll never leave you," he said sincerely.

"But -"

"I don't really care what the public thinks, Brooke," Dean cut her off. "Who cares? Sure, our relationship was arranged. But we fell in love, right? That's what matters."

Brooke felt silly for bringing up the topic; Dean was right. But she couldn't get rid of the fear that their secret would be revealed someday. But then again, Dean was right. She shouldn't worry because they were in love after all. She smiled at her husband and gave him a kiss.

This is just a filler chapter, but still, I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.

And I have a little question for you guys: What's your favourite chapter so far and why?