"Ava, you can't avoid Mom forever." Lucas told his sister as he parked outside of the house.
A lot had changed over the past several days, he and Ava were still living with their father, Keith had almost gotten married, got left at the altar, and then left Tree Hill without so much as a goodbye, and now Brooke was living with their mom because her parents had sold their house and moved to California.
Ava still hadn't spoken to their mother, but it wasn't because she didn't want to. She just didn't think she could.
The only reason why she was here was because she and her brothers were going on another road trip with Nathan's uncle, and Lucas needed to leave something in his room.
"I'm not avoiding her." She replied softly.
"Then why haven't you talked to her?"
"Cause."
"Cause what, Ava?" Lucas questioned. "You've always been able to talk to Mom about anything, why is this any different?"
"Because what if she doesn't want to talk to me? I yelled at her, remember?"
"Ava, she doesn't care about that. She just wants to talk to you. She's waiting for you." Lucas sighed, knowing that Ava was going to take some time to think about what he said.
She always did that when she had a problem. She pretended not to care or be standoffish about the advice she was given, only to think about it and then do what she was supposed to.
She was stubborn like their mother that way.
"Okay, Ava." Lucas threw his arms up when he didn't get a response. "I'm going inside. You can come in if you want, or you can wait here for Nathan and his uncle. It's your choice."
"I'd rather wait." Ava said, grabbing her bag and sliding out of the car.
"Whatever. Just stay close to the house." Lucas rolled his eyes, making his way up the porch steps as Ava sat down on them.
"If Mama's home.…can you tell her I said, 'hi'?" She requested.
"I will."
"Thanks."
Ava put her chin in the palm of hand and watched as a couple of cars drove down the street.
She would talk to her mother when they got back. She didn't want to open up a conversation that they wouldn't have any time for.
It wouldn't make any sense.
"Hey, kid." A man with pretty blue eyes managed to sneak up on her without her noticing. "This the Roe-Scott residence?"
"Who's asking?" Ava gave him a blank look.
"A friend."
"Not good enough."
The man burst into laughter at how blunt she was. "I'm Nathan's uncle, Cooper."
Nathan told him that if Ava was a little standoffish with strangers and it was a very good thing, too.
Most kids her age would immediately welcome him with open arms just because he knew her last name. Ava was a smart cookie and he totally respected that.
"Hi." Ava looked up shyly as she bit her nail. "Do you really race cars?"
She'd been told a lot about Nathan's uncle and she was fascinated with everything she'd heard.
Especially the parts about the man being a race car driver.
"I sure do." Cooper sat down beside her. "I heard you like cars."
"Yeah!" Ava perked up. "Uncle Keith lets me help him at his garage sometimes. I'm really good at it."
"I'll bet." Cooper smiled. "We'll see just how good you are when we get to the track, huh?"
"Yeah." Ava nodded confidently as Lucas came out to the porch.
"Hey, Cooper."
"Hey, Lucas. Are you ready to go? Nathan's in the car."
"Yeah, let's go."
"So, Coop, how great is it that you get to race cars for a living?" Lucas smiled.
"Oh, you know, fame, money, extremely hot wives." Cooper replied, holding Ava on his shoulders.
She was so excited to be at an actual racetrack that she completely forgot all about the drama from previous days. Ava loved everything about this place! The smell, the cars, the ambiance!
"Ex-wives." Nathan corrected with a smirk.
"Look who's talking." Cooper scoffed. "Check it out."
The race track was huge. Ava had never seen anything like it.
It was amazing!
"I'll tell you what, there's only one view better than this one." He pointed at a car that had just raced by. "That one."
"Cool." Ava breathed out, making the three boys laugh.
"This is Jeff Burton's car." Lucas was clearly impressed as they walked into the garage.
"Yes it is." Cooper nodded. "You guys wanna meet him?"
"Yeah." Nathan smiled.
"Hey, Jeff!"
"Hey, Coop." Jeff turned around as soon as Cooper called him.
"These three knuckleheads are fans of yours."
"Oh, is that right?" Jeff smiled. "How're you guys doing?" He shook Lucas' hand.
"Good."
"Good." Nathan shook his hand, too.
"Hi." Ava waved, still perched on Cooper's shoulders.
It was so great being up there. At first, she was a little hesitant around the man. Sure, he was Nathan's uncle, but he didn't have any obligation to her. But as soon as they arrived at their destination and got out of the car, Cooper got behind her and scooped her up so she wouldn't have to walk.
They'd been buddies ever since.
"Hey, your car was really fast out there. Who's driving it?"
"That's my crew chief, Ray Green."
"Oh, yeah, I know Ray. He's a good man. It's a shame what happened."
"Yeah….it is."
"Look, you guys stay out of trouble." Jeff told Nathan and Lucas, before turning to Ava. "Keep them in line."
"Okay." Ava giggled.
Oh, she really liked this place.
"So, Jeff Burton mentioned Ray Green." Lucas opened up a conversation. "Isn't he the guy that took a swing at his team owner?"
"Yeah." Cooper answered him. "That team owner was my dad. He couldn't get a sponsor to touch him after that. I found him about five years ago down in Florida. He was trying to drink all the scotch in South Beach!" He laughed.
"It was bourbon." Ray corrected, making his way over to them. "If I knew what a pain you were gonna be, I would've finished the job."
"Ray, let me ask you a question, I mean, I'm not a really smart guy, but if you're not in my car and I'm not in my car, who is?"
"Hey, Tony?!" Ray called out to the driver, who was just getting out of the car.
The mystery person pulled their helmet off, freeing their long, blonde hair, before turning around.
"No way!" Nathan's jaw dropped.
"It's not right, Dad." She spoke. "Tight in, loose off."
"Nate, you remember my daughter, Daytona?"
"You got your braces off." Nathan word vomited.
'Yeah." Daytona took it with stride. "Like four years ago. It's good to see you." She pulled him into a friendly embrace.
"It's good to see you, too."
"Uh, this is my brother, Lucas." Nathan introduced. "And that's my sister, Ava."
"Hi, nice to meet you." Lucas shook her hand.
"Same here." Daytona smiled, turning to Ava. "Hi, Ava. Havin' fun up there?"
"Yeah. I like it up here." Ava smiled and accidentally pulled on Cooper's hair, making him wince.
"Take it easy, Wiggle Worm." He said. "That stuff doesn't grow as fast as it used to."
"Oops, sorry." Ava giggled, releasing her grip and resting her hands very lightly underneath his chin.
"So how long has it been since you've seen Nate?" Lucas asked.
"Well, I think, last time I saw him, he was shorter than me."
"By like half an inch." Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Shorty."
"Ha!" Ava pointed a finger at her brother. "You were short, too! That means you can't make fun of me!"
"I was not short."
"You were in your pictures!"
"What pictures?" Nathan questioned.
Ava cringed thinking about how she hadn't told Nathan that she found all the letters he wrote to her over the years. It wasn't exactly something to bring up in normal conversation.
What was she supposed to say?
'By the way, I read all those letter you wrote when you were a kid? Thanks for thinking of me. While we're at it, can we stop by the store and get some sour gummy worms?'
Not a chance.
"Never mind."
"What pictures are you talking about, you little brat?"
"Nothing!"
"Hey, hey, we don't let visitors in here." Ray joked as Cooper approached with the kids. "Uh uh, this is all high tech, you know, complicated, secret stuff."
"Guys, this is my little brother, Garrett." Daytona introduced the kid standing next to Ray.
"What's up?" Garret greeted politely.
"Hey, I'm Lucas." The blonde smiled. "Nathan's brother."
"Hey." Garret fist bumped him. "So, like, your mom's Cooper's sister?"
"Oh, my mom was with Cooper's sister's husband." Lucas explained it awfully, making Nathan laugh. "And that little monkey, is our sister, Ava."
"Hey, kid." Garret high-fived her.
"So, you wanna hop in a car?" Ray asked.
"Can I?" Lucas grinned.
"Yeah."
"Wow, man." Nathan turned to Garret as Ray and Lucas walked away. "I haven't seen you in forever."
"I know. How's that, uh, marriage thing going?"
"Not so good." He blew out a long breath, watching as his older brother hopped into a car to see how it felt.
He thought that with every day that passed, it would get easier to handle the fact that Haley left.
It was only getting harder. Sometimes it felt like he was carrying a weight so heavy that one morning he'd try to stand up and get crushed underneath it.
"That sucks."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"Oh no, I mean you're gonna be like, divorced before I even get a girl to date me."
"Very funny."
"What do you think, Luke?" Cooper asked the teen who was practically beaming behind the wheel.
"This is awesome!"
"You guys wanna drive 'em?"
"Are you serious?" Nathan asked.
"Yep. Take a crash course today, you learn about the cars, the track..…spend the night, you can race tomorrow. How about it?"
"Dude, I am so there!" Lucas agreed.
"Nathan?"
"Yeah!"
"Me, too?" Garrett piped up.
"No." Cooper didn't even dignify him with a look. "But you and I can go for a safe little spin around the track." He set Ava back down on the ground and tousled her hair.
He was the fun uncle, but he wasn't crazy enough to bring Ava out in a car that was moving at those kinds of speeds.
But he also didn't want her to feel left out. He'd go as fast as safely possible to give her that adrenaline rush, but he wouldn't push much further than that.
"Really?" She beamed.
"Sure, I said so, didn't I?" He smiled.
"Sweet!"
"So, did you have fun today?" Daytona asked Ava as the two sat under the stars near a tent and a little fire.
After driving around all day, it was time for everyone to relax and get some shut-eye in preparation for the next day's events.
Daytona thought that it would be the perfect time to set up a little campfire.
"Yeah, you're really cool." Ava accepted the marshmallow on the stick that the teen was handing to her. "I've never seen a girl drive a race car before. That's awesome."
"Thanks." Daytona smiled. "It's my favorite thing to do. It's something me and my dad do together….what do you want to do when you grow up?"
"I don't know." Ava shrugged.
"You don't have any idea?"
"Well…..sometimes I think I wanna play point guard in the NBA….I don't know. Most of the time I don't."
"Wow, the first girl to be in the NBA, that'll be something special." Daytona listened.
"Yeah…but sometimes…I think I want to be a dancer. I didn't tell anybody, but my teacher says that I'm really good and I might be able to dance for a living if I keep working hard at it."
"That's awesome, Ava. You know, I tried dancing when I was little younger than you, but it didn't work out. I have two left feet." She laughed. "But you're talented, I can see that. If this is something you really want, you have to go for it."
"I guess….." Ava shrugged, looking at the fire.
"Why do you play basketball?"
"Huh?"
"Why do you play basketball?"
"I don't know, I always play basketball. I'm good at it. Lucas and I do it together."
"But you don't like playing, do you?" Daytona questioned. "You never mentioned that you liked it. I saw the way your eyes lit up when you talked about dance. That spark wasn't there when you talked about basketball."
"I do like to play…I just…." Ava sighed. "My grandpa played, my uncle played, my daddy played, and my brothers play…..I like basketball, I do. I just don't like what it did to them. My grandpa is always angry, my daddy's always sad, it's all Nathan thinks about besides Haley, and Luke wouldn't take the HCM test because he was afraid he wouldn't be allowed to play anymore…"
"You like the game, but that's all you see it as." Daytona summarized for her. "A game to play and have fun. But you'd rather dance, huh? It's okay to admit that you like dance better. You can even love it."
"Yeah, but what if—"
"—They don't understand?"
"Yeah."
"You know, I don't know Luke, but I do know Nathan. And from the time that I first met him, he talked about you….a lot. He talked about when you were born, how he found out about you, the letters he wanted to write to you, how much he wanted to meet you. I mean, don't tell him I said so, but when it comes to you…he's kind of soft."
"Yeah." Ava giggled. "He is soft."
"Right? But whenever he talked about you, he didn't really mention basketball all that much. He just talked about how great it was to have a little sister out there somewhere. I don't think he'll care very much about what you want to do with your life…as long as you're happy. And I think Luke will feel the same way. Don't sell them short."
Ava nodded and leaned her marshmallow into the flames. Daytona was probably right. She was thinking far too much about something that wouldn't matter for a few more years.
"Tell me you don't live in a tent all year round." Nathan spoke as he and Lucas made their way over, successfully ending Ava and Dayton's conversation.
"No." Daytona laughed. "It's just nice to get out under the stars sometimes. Plus, Garret hates it, so, that's a plus."
"You gonna play something?" Lucas asked, referring to her guitar that was laying around, as he and Nathan sat down.
"What do you wanna hear? NWA? Maybe a little Tupac?"
"Surprise us." Nathan pulled Ava onto his lap and took a bite of her marshmallow.
"Okay." Daytona shrugged and began to play a very familiar tune. "Dancing when the stars go blue. Dancing where the evening fell. Dancing in your wooden shoes, in a wedding gown."
That was obviously the last song Nathan wanted to hear. He went on this trip to avoid all his feelings about Haley and the tour, but it seemed like he just couldn't escape.
Ava whined when he lifted her off of his lap and stormed away, unwilling to listen to any more.
"What? It's Ryan Adams? Did it suck that bad?"
"No, it's…..it's not that. It's a Haley thing."
"She sang that song with Chris Keller before she left." Ava muttered.
"I wish there was something I could do to help him." Daytona spoke sadly, hurting for her friend.
"What was he like when you were kids?"
"He was…..kind." She smiled. "Just a really…sweet guy. And a good friend..…pre basketball."
"Yeah."
"By the way, your marshmallow's on fire." She told Ava.
Lucas chuckled and grabbed the stick from his sister, blowing the flames out of the treat while Daytona laughed her head off.
The next day was supposed to be a great one. The guys would finally get to race, and it would probably get Nathan's mind off of his troubles.
Cooper had taken Ava out for a quick, yet perfectly safe spin around the track and the nine year old thoroughly enjoyed herself.
She had no problems with speed.
And she didn't mind watching everyone race from the stand with Garret and Ray. Ray even gave her a headset, so that she could listen to what everyone was saying.
It was beyond cool.
Cooper, of course, finished first, with Daytona in second place, followed by Lucas and then Nathan.
And that's when Ava felt it. That awful nagging in her chest that went all the way down to her stomach, that screamed something was wrong.
Everyone pulled into the pit stop except for Nathan.
Nathan decided to keep driving.
Why? Ava had no clue.
But she knew in her heart that it wouldn't end well.
She was getting pretty good at that.
"Nathan, that's the first victory lap I've ever seen for last place; I like it." Cooper joked, but Nathan only drove faster. "Hey, Nate...…are you alright?"
The lack of response set everyone on edge as Cooper rushed up to the podium and grabbed a headset.
"Nathan, you reduce your speed and you come in!" He ordered.
"You know what I need, Coop?" Nathan finally spoke. "Some of that two hundred mile therapy we were talking about."
Two hundred mile therapy? What two hundred mile therapy?
Ava had no idea what her brother was talking about, but it didn't sound safe.
"Nathan!"
"Nobody goes past seven on the tack, right?" Nathan asked. "Let's see about eight."
"Too fast!" Ray hollered as Nathan continued to accelerate.
"Nathan!" Ava shouted into the microphone of the headset she was wearing. "Come back!"
"You're right, Coop. It does feel pretty good."
Everyone watched with their stomachs in their throats as Nathan kept driving.
And then it happened.
The car crashed right up against the wall and spun out of control, hitting another wall, before coming to a stop and bursting into flames.
Ava thought she screamed. She couldn't hear. She couldn't really remember. Her heart was beating so hard against her ribcage, that it hurt. Her ears clogged and rang painfully as she watched Cooper and Lucas run as fast as they could to get Nathan out.
She could've sworn she hadn't moved, but she guessed she had when Daytona stopped her just as got close to the car.
The only thing could remember clearly enough, was Cooper and Lucas pulling Nathan out of the car right before the flames engulfed the entire vehicle.
She remembers how still he was. How broken he looked. She remembers the ashes on his body and the blood on his face.
She would always remember.
"Lucas!" Dan raced through the hospital with Deb.
Ava turned in the direction of her father's voice and ran to him, prompting him to lift her up and hold her tight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and remained silent, wanting to know what was going on with her brother.
So far, no one had told them a thing. She was hoping now that their dad was here, the doctors would give them something.
"Where's Nathan?" Deb asked, frantically. "How is he?"
"Deb, I'm so sorry." Cooper apologized.
He felt as if her were to blame for this whole thing. If he hadn't let Nathan get in the car to race, none of this would've happened.
"Mrs. Scott?" The doctor that Lucas and Cooper had been speaking to interjected.
"Yes?"
"Your son had some severe blunt trauma to his chest, and it was caused by a high speed collision. His right lung has collapsed and he's losing a great deal of blood."
"Is he in surgery?" Dan asked.
"Well, we're prepping him, but the antigen in his blood…..it's rare."
"I'm the same." Deb spoke without hesitation. "I'll donate."
"Good." The doctor nodded and led her away.
"You better pray he's okay." Dan growled at Cooper, before following after his wife, worried about his son.
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?"
Ava lifted her head from her father's shoulder as he and Deb rushed over to the doctor.
"Nathan is in surgery. We were able to locate an additional supply of his blood type."
"He needed more than what I gave?" Deb questioned.
When the doctor looked at the two adults, Dan set Ava back onto her feet and cupped her chin. "Go with your brother."
"Okay, Daddy." She nodded, knowing not to put up a fight in a situation like this.
Walking over to where Lucas was sitting, Ava moved to stand between his knees and leaned on him, a little tired from the excitement of the day, but still too worried to actually go to sleep.
"Are you hungry, Babygirl?"
Though, Ava didn't want to admit it, she was very hungry and could use a snack or something to tide her over. "Yes."
"Alright. We'll go get something, okay?"
"But what about Nathan?
"Sweetheart, he's in surgery right now. All we can do it wait."
"Can we bring him something?"
Not having the heart to tell her otherwise, Lucas nodded his head. "Yeah." He placed a hand on the back of her head. "We can bring him something."
"Lucas!"
Lucas tapped Ava's back so she would allow him to stand up and greet Brooke, who was rushing over to them.
"It's okay." She immediately wrapped her arms around him. "I'm here for you."
When the two pulled away, she lifted Ava up onto her hip and lightly bounced her.
"How are you guys doing?" She could see that Lucas was trying to hold back tears while Ava had the remnants of tear tracks on her cheeks.
"We're alright. We're just waiting for news. He's in surgery right now."
"How long have you guys been here?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "I was just gonna get Ava something to eat…..it's been a while."
"I'll come with you."
"Okay, let me just let my dad know."
Ava watched as Lucas walked over to Dan and whispered something in the man's ear. Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing him his credit card to use to get something to eat.
"Ava, c'mon, the food is gonna get cold." Lucas rolled his eyes as his sister looked at all the candy in the local sweet shop that Ava begged him to stop in. "Pick something and let's go."
"No, I have to find blue lollipops!" She insisted.
"Why do they have to be blue?" He asked. He was obviously under a lot of stress, so the fact that Ava was kicking up a stink about the color of the candy she wanted was frustrating to him.
But he still had enough patience left to figure out why she was acting like this.
"Cause they have to!" The dam broke once again and she started to cry. "They have to be blue! They have to!"
"Havana-Rose Scott?" Lucas grabbed his sister by the arm. "I'm running out of patience with you."
And in response, Ava just whined and allowed herself to plop down on the ground, giving her brother all her weight.
"I've had it." He growled, reaching down to pick her up.
"Wait, Luke." Brooke stopped him, sensing that this was about more than a flavor of candy. "Let me try."
"Fine."
"Alright, Bunny. I know you're upset and I know this is really important to you, but can you tell us why?" Brooke knelt down to speak to the child.
"B-Because Nathan l-likes b-blue lollipops a-and I w-want t-to g-give him one when h-he wakes up!"
Lucas' features softened at the confession. Right then and there, it was decided that no matter how long it took, they would find exactly what Ava was looking for.
Ava's fingers twirled nonstop as if they had a mind of their own.
She was sitting on her own in the waiting room, doing just that.
Waiting.
She had never experienced someone she loved getting hurt this way, and she didn't really know what to do, so she opted to sit alone and gather her thoughts.
It would've been peaceful had it not been for the thoughts scattered throughout her brain.
"Look, man, I was just trying to help, alright?" She heard Cooper say to her father.
Dan pushed him in a fit of anger. Twice.
"Hey!"
That caught Ava's attention. They were a few feet away and she could see them clearly.
"Dan!' Andy pulled him away. "Calm down!"
Ava had no idea when he had gotten there, or why he had come at all, but she was glad to see him.
Cooper wasn't going to entertain a brawl anyway, he was too worried about his nephew.
"There's your karma, Dan." Andy told him simply.
Ava tore her eyes away from the two and found her mother standing behind them.
"Mama!" She stood up and ran right to her, their past problems long forgotten. "Mama!"
Karen wasted no time in lifting her up onto her hip and holding her close.
None of the secrets and the lies mattered anymore.
She had her baby back in her arms.
