Hi all!
Glad you liked the Naley. Let's have some more, shall we?
Thanks for reading/reviewing!
"There you are." Nathan said to Haley, who was standing by the school entrance.
"I figured you had to sign autographs or something." Haley said, smiling.
"No but there will be a meet and greet tomorrow at the mall if you want to try for one then."
"Shut up." Haley said, rolling her eyes.
"So, pretty good night?"
"I'll say so."
"Me too."
"Does this mean we're officially back together?"
"Wait, was kissing you in front of the whole school not official enough for you?"
"Nope."
"Okay then. Haley James, will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes. Yes I will." Haley said, pulling him into another kiss.
"Avert your eyes!" Brooke teased, covering Lucas's eyes as they walked up.
"Oh please, there are days I forget what your faces look like when they're not attached to each other." Nathan laughed.
"My favorite kind of days." Lucas said.
"Point well taken. I just can't help it." Brooke said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"See you at the after party?" Nathan asked, looking at Lucas.
"You know it. What you did out there…that was amazingly cool of you. I couldn't ask for a better brother, seriously."
"It was my pleasure, man. Truly."
"See you soon." Brooke said, smiling at Haley and Nathan.
"Where were we?" Nathan asked, leading Haley out to his car.
"Right about here." Haley said, leaning against the car as Nathan kissed her once more.
"I can't believe I'm not playing basketball as a Raven anymore." Nathan said the next night at dinner.
"It will be an adjustment. But in a good way." Lucas said, patting his brother's shoulder.
"I hope so."
"It will be. Trust me, little brother."
"Yeah. Thanks for taking us out to dinner Dad." Nathan said.
"My pleasure. Of course I wanted to celebrate your championship, but I have to admit I had another reason for bringing the family out tonight." Dan said.
"What reason?" Nathan asked.
"I have something to ask your mom."
"Really?" Deb asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Really." Dan said, pulling out a box and getting down on one knee.
"Deb, I know we said we were starting over, but I wanted to do more than just say it. I wanted to show you how committed I am to being your husband and being a father to our boys. Will you help me show that by marrying me again?"
Deb nodded silently, too emotional to speak.
Dan slid the ring on her finger and hugged her. Other people in the restaurant were watching excitedly.
Nathan and Lucas stood up to hug Deb and Dan. Lucas grinned at his brother who was smiling with tears in his eyes.
"This is everything I've wanted." Nathan whispered to Lucas as he watched his parents celebrate.
"You deserve it little brother." Lucas said, putting his arm around Nathan.
"We all deserve it." Nathan nodded.
Dan came over hugged both of his sons at the same time.
"I love you both so much."
"I love you too Dad." Nathan and Lucas replied happily.
Lucas woke up on his birthday to the smell of bacon. He looked at his phone and saw he already had a happy birthday message from Brooke. He smiled and got dressed before heading downstairs.
He was surprised to find Nathan, Jake, Mouth, and Skillz sitting at the table waiting for him.
"We thought the smell of bacon might be enough to wake you." Jake said.
"Happy birthday big brother." Nathan jumped up and gave Lucas a hug.
"Thanks man. What's all this?"
"You're being kidnapped." Karen said, coming in and giving him a hug, and a kiss on the forehead.
"Should I be scared?" Lucas asked, glancing at Nathan.
"Not at all. We're going to blindfold you and take you to do a secret activity at a secret location." Jake grinned.
"That's really helpful Jake, thanks."
"Anytime my friend."
"Sit down and eat. I have more coming from the kitchen in just a few minutes."
"Thanks mom."
"So why is this starting so early?" Lucas asked, touching the blindfold around his head.
"No peeking." Nathan said, swatting his arm.
"We wanted to do as much as possible. There's more than one stop today." Mouth said.
"Okay I can tell we're at the beach." Lucas said as the car came to a stop.
Nathan got out of the car and opened the door for Lucas, helping him out of the car.
"First stop, jet skis! Luckily it feels like summer already." Jake said, ripping off the blindfold.
Lucas grinned.
"You guys are the best. Where the hell did you get jet skis?"
"Your stepdad hooked us up." Skillz said, clapping Lucas on the shoulder.
"Seriously?" Lucas asked, glancing at Nathan.
"Actually the whole kidnapping thing was his idea. Apparently he and his buddies did this for birthdays growing up."
"Oh good, so I get to kidnap you in a few months?"
"I wouldn't mind." Nathan grinned.
"Thanks guys. This is great. Let's get going."
"Holy hell this sunburn is going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow." Nathan said as they headed back to Karen's house.
"It felt like summer out there today." Lucas agreed.
"Did you have fun?"
"This was seriously one of the best birthdays ever, little brother. Thanks again."
"Anytime. Andy helped a lot. It's too bad he had to work this week."
"There's always later."
"So you had a good time?"
"I had a great time."
"Good."
"I think I just want to jump in the shower. Or the pool."
"That sounds really good right about now. I think I'll do the same when I get home. It's ridiculously hot out for March."
"So is there anything else I should know about today?"
"Dad, my mom and I are coming back for dinner in a bit. I imagine Brooke will be there too."
"Sounds good. See you in a little while."
"Hi honey did you have a good day?" Karen asked as Lucas walked in the house.
"It was great, I can't believe they did all that for me."
"You have a great brother and good friends."
"And a great stepdad. Nate says Andy helped out a lot too."
"That he did. He's so sorry he won't be back until this weekend."
"It's not his fault. I hear we're having Dad, Deb and Nate over for dinner?"
"Don't forget Brooke."
"Of course. I'm going to go shower. "
"Go ahead. You look tired."
"Busy day. But it was great."
"You want to lay down for a bit before everyone comes? It should be another hour or so before we eat."
"That's a good idea."
"I'll let you know when they're here."
"Thanks Mom."
Lucas wandered downstairs later that evening. More than an hour and a half had passed.
"Mom?"
"Yes honey?"
"I thought you said an hour."
"I was just coming to get you. They're out on the deck."
Lucas followed his mom outside and saw Nathan standing with, his dad, Brooke and Deb.
And a bunch of other people, including Royal and May.
"Surprise!" They exclaimed.
Karen gave Lucas a hug and Brooke ran up to kiss him.
"This is insane." Lucas laughed.
"Happy birthday sweetie." May said, giving her grandson a hug. Royal clapped him on the shoulder and smiled.
"Thank you so much for coming."
"Well we have a lot of birthdays to make up for." Royal said.
"Starting with this one. Let's party." Nathan said, dragging his brother into the crowd.
"This is for you." Dan said, handing Lucas a small package later that night.
"Thanks Dad." Lucas said, unwrapping the paper.
He pulled out a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, obviously used.
"Figures." Nathan snorted.
"This is great." Lucas smiled, flipping through the pages.
"It's one of mine. I noticed you didn't have it. I wrote some notes in it when I read it in school."
Lucas frowned as he looked at the pages. He pulled out the book he had in his back pocket and flipped it open.
"Oh my God Luke, you brought a book to your own birthday party?" Nathan laughed.
"This one is yours too. The writing is the same." Lucas said in disbelief, holding up the book.
Dan nodded.
"Keith used to give me these every year on my birthday."
"Your dad gave me a bunch of books to give to you. I told him you liked to read, and he gave me those to share with you." Keith said, putting his arm around Lucas.
"You told me that you found these at the used bookstore. I just thought you found a bunch that somebody had donated."
"Not so much. When you told me how much you liked the notes in the margins, I knew this was a good idea." Keith grinned.
Lucas hugged his uncle, and once they broke apart, Dan pulled his son close.
"I love you. I love you both." Lucas said happily.
"I love you too." Dan said.
"I love you too nephew. Happy birthday." Keith said.
"My turn?" Nathan asked. He was holding something behind his back.
"Sure." Lucas smiled.
Nathan pulled out Lucas's jersey and handed it to him. It was now covered with signatures.
"Everyone signed it?" Lucas asked, reading all of the signatures.
"The whole team. Plus Whitey."
Lucas was looking intently at one of the signatures.
"And the guy from Duke?"
"He was really impressed with the plays you came up with. He was at the last game."
"This is amazing. Thank you. All of you."
"Happy birthday big brother. I love you." Nathan said, giving his brother a quick hug.
"I love you Nate. I can't imagine having a better brother or best friend."
"Me either. I'm really glad we're going to school together next year."
"Wait, what?" Dan asked.
"We're both going to Duke." Lucas said.
"Oh honey, that's amazing! That's great!" Karen exclaimed, hugging both of them.
Later than evening, most of the adults were sitting around talking while the kids jumped into the pool.
"Hey." Haley grinned as she walked up to Nathan.
"Hello yourself. You're looking pretty good in that swimsuit." Nathan said, giving her a kiss.
"Lucas said he had the best time today."
"It was really fun. Andy's idea was really great."
"I'm glad. So can I talk to you about something?"
"Go for it."
"I heard you and Lucas say you're going to Duke."
"Yeah…"
"I just wanted to say that I'm going to Stanford still."
"I know, Haley. I wouldn't ask you to change your mind."
"Stanford is my dream. It's been my dream for a very long time."
"Of course."
"I just wanted you to understand that. It's not that I want to be away from you or anything like that."
"No, I understand. I really understand now."
"Good. I'm going to miss you like crazy though."
"Me too. But you're worth the wait."
"You too." Haley said, kissing him.
"Get a room." Brooke yelled from across the pool.
"You're worse!" Nathan called back, splashing her.
Brooke shrieked and started splashing back.
Lucas was too busy laughing to help his girlfriend out.
"Boyfriend you're no help!" Brooke complained.
"Sorry Cheery, I'm just too entertained."
"Happy birthday, best friend." Haley said, taking advantage of having a moment alone with Lucas.
"Thank you best friend."
"So, Duke with Nathan. That's going to be interesting."
"I'm really excited. It's going to be amazing."
"I told Nathan I'm still going to Stanford."
"Of course you are. Once Haley James puts her mind to something, watch out world."
"I'm going to miss you. And your stupid jokes."
"Right back at you Hales."
"My jokes aren't stupid."
"If you say so." Lucas grinned.
"Hey!" Haley laughed, splashing him.
"Oh no, not you too!"
Later that week, Lucas and Jake walked up to Karen's house to find a sign taped to the front door.
Boyfriend,
Please come into the kitchen as soon as you see this.
Jagielski, go take a walk around the block or something.
Love,
Brooke.
"How did she know I was with you?" Jake asked, laughing.
"I don't know."
"I'm going to take that walk. Have fun, whatever this is."
"Thanks man."
Lucas opened the door and walked into the kitchen slowly.
"Surprise!" Brooke exclaimed.
The kitchen was filled with balloons and Brooke was standing with a plate of cupcakes. Written on the cupcakes was PROM?
"Oh my God. You baked?"Lucas teased.
"Very funny. What do you think Broody?"
"Of course I want to go to prom with you. Is that even a question?"
"I wanted to do something nice for you."
"You're amazing, Brooke Davis. And a little crazy."
"I love you, Lucas Scott."
"I love you too."
"That sounds really cool, Luke." Nathan said on the phone later that night.
"It was incredibly sweet. I can't believe she went to all that effort."
"She loves you man. Of course she would."
"That's true."
"So were the cupcakes edible?"
"Yes." Lucas laughed.
"Did she actually make them?"
"She finally admitted my mom helped her."
"It's the thought that counts."
"Definitely."
"I want to do something like that for Haley."
"You should. She deserves it."
"Would you help me figure something out?"
"Of course."
"Thanks Luke."
"Always."
Fun stuff ahead. Prom, graduation, the works.