Waiting

Brathan
Beginning of Season 3
Like An Arsonist
Rating: PG-13

He was waiting for her to call. He always waited for her to call.

Haley had left midway through the year, Peyton had left just as the summer started to catch up with her birth mother, Ellie who had left Tree Hill on the orders of as Brooke would call her “Peyton Marie Sawyer” after she barked she never wanted to see her again.

Nathan had never met Ellie but Peyton had cut her hair just to make sure she didn’t look like her, so he assumed she must have had some resemblance. Lucas had taken a road trip he wasn‘t exactly sure where he was going but he texted something about “Finding himself again, and being sorry for betraying his trust” the great thing was he ended up finding Keith in the process, finding Keith, Nathan was happy about whether he had forgiven Lucas was an entirely different matter.

Brooke’s parents changed their mind about having Brooke for the summer and sent her on a roundtrip from California straight back to Tree Hill. It’s funny of all people who stuck around this summer he didn’t think it would be Brooke.

They had spent all summer together, Brooke had refused to let him morph into Pod Nathan permanently and he refused to let her fall back into her old ways of boys and booze, they had both been each other’s support barriers. Brooke had been amazing.

Knock, knock.

“Rise and shine sleepy head.” Brooke beamed.

“Davis, it’s six o’clock in the morning.” He groaned.

“Scott, you used to wake up at five for Whitey’s drills, so a B. Davis morning special isn’t that bad.”

He moved aside and gestured for her to make her way inside. She daintily skipped in.

“We have bagels, doughnuts, croissants, coffee and a frap just for me.” She said placing the huge Karen’s Café bag on the counter. “It’s funny you know,” she said whizzing around “I have never seen you with a shirt on in the morning.”

Nathan looked down at his bear chest and blushed. “I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?” He said folding his arms across his chest.

“Just an observation Scott, keep your shirt on,” She said slumping down in the couch with her frap. “Oh wait, I forgot, that’s physical impossible for you.” She flashed him
another one of her winning smiles and began to sip her frap.

Slipping his shirt over his head he laughed dryly. “You think your so funny.”

She shrugged. “I humor myself.”

He sat down next to her and switched on the TV.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She questioned.

“It’s Tuesday, highlights for last night’s game.” He said trying to find the right channel.

“We watched the game.” She huffed.

“Correction,” he said turning to her “I watched the game, you cheered on the sidelines of this very couch. You’re just lost without your squad aren’t you?” He smiled.

She nodded innocently.

“Spoke to Haley?” She asked bluntly.

“Spoke to Lucas?” He darted back.

She gave him a don't-even-go-there look and said, “So the highlights?”

“The highlights.” He said pleased with himself.

After that morning they rarely spoke about Haley and Lucas again that summer, only on the odd occasion would his Mom ask him about Haley and even then he avoided the question like the plague.

This was usually when Dan would weigh in and hound him for answers but not now, never would he have to worry about that again…

They stood outside Dan’s Motors as it went up in the flames, the smoke rising high and polluting the air.

“Nathan, your father’s car still here.” Deb said franticly.

He stood there not sure what to say, his father, dead?

“Are you Mrs. Scott?” The fireman asked Deb.

“Yes, I am, my husband?”

“What, they haven’t told you?”

She shook her head, there was indistinct chatter between the men.

Nathan was now shaking.

“Come on. Come on. Come on.” Nathan muttered so silently, not sure whether it was for Dan to be ok or for them to hurry up and tell them he was dead.

He felt someone’s arms brush beside his and slowly but surely interlink their’s with his, he looked down to see Brooke’s tiny soft manicured hand enfolded in his and they stood there hand in hand, waiting.

For that day onward he always waited for her.

More to come....