Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill OR Gilmore Girls…. How sad

A/N: Oh My GOD! I am so BEYOND sorry for how incredibly long it has taken me to get this chapter written. My only excuse? Life has been incredibly insane these past few months, everything seemed to happen at once at the worst possible time. Anyway, this is the last chapter since I decided to stop dragging it out and I can't guarantee I'd get more chapters out any time soon, so I hope it is a suitable ending and that you guys (if anyone's still reading this) feel that it does the story justice. Without further ado, I give you the final chapter!

Chapter 9: Clearing the Air

When Brooke woke the next morning, she took a moment to figure out where exactly she was. She quickly recognised Peyton's living room, then when she rolled over, saw the people spread out around her, all still asleep. Jess was closest to her on her left, next to the wall. Rory was to her right, curled up in a ball, almost hidden under her blankets. Tristan was next to Rory, sprawled out on his back, and up near the couches were Lucas and Peyton, who despite having started the night in their own 'beds' had gravitated towards each, and Lucas' arms were now wrapped around Peyton, holding her close.

Brooke smiled at the sight. As angry as she wanted to be with them both, seeing her best friend happy like that made it really hard to hold onto her anger. She was still angry at Lucas, but she knew he loved Peyton, even if Peyton didn't. Brooke Davis loved love, and she knew how to spot it.

When she looked past Peyton and Lucas, she grinned at the other Scott brother still curled up on the couch with Haley. She'd laughed so hard when they'd first told everyone they were married, but the idea had grown on her quickly, so when Haley had left she'd been so upset. She'd been all set to be able to watch an epic romance, because even though they were married, they'd only been together for like 6 months. Seeing them on the couch like that, and the other two couples, through Rory and Tristan weren't curled up together like the others, renewed her faith in love.

She was so glad she'd come back to Tree Hill early, despite everything.

Haley started to wake slowly, creeping into consciousness. She stirred slightly, and her brow furrowed when she noticed the weight holding her down. She glanced down at the arm draped over her stomach, then back over her shoulder at Nathan's face and smiled. She hadn't planned on spending any time with Nathan this summer, especially considering their last few encounters. Here he was though, curled up behind her on the couch, after spending the night watching scary movies with her and comforting her. It was so easy to just forget the past few months and pretend everything was fine. She closed her eyes and snuggled back into him, content to lay there with him as long as she could.

She drifted off, and when she woke up again, Nathan was moving slightly behind her, and when she looked down, she could see that everyone else was either already up or waking. She turned slightly to look at Nathan.

'Hey.' She whispered softly, unsure what to say, or what would happen. She bit her lip when he only stared in response.

'Hey… uh,' he shifted, moved to sit up and she moved with him. 'I should probably, I should go.' He stood up, began to manoeuvre his way around the makeshift beds towards the front door.

'Nathan wait, you can't just-'

'What Hales? Leave? Sure I can. You showed me how, remember?' She gasped, tears pooling in her eyes.

'Nathan, I…' She shook her head to try and clear her tears and her thoughts, unsure what to say. She wasn't sure why he was suddenly acting like this again, after last night.

'Shit. Hales, look I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I just gotta go right now, ok? I'll… talk to you later, alright?' Before she could get a word out, he'd turned and made his way out the door, closing it behind him. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that her closest friends were standing in front of her. When she opened her eyes, Lucas was standing in front of her, and a quick glance behind him showed her that the others had left. Lucas pulled her wordlessly into a hug, one hand rubbing her back slowly, the other stroking her hair.

'Hales, you know he didn't mean it. You know him, he lashes out when he's scared or confused. It's a Scott trait.' She couldn't help the giggle that escaped, and when he pulled back she could see the smile on his face.

'I guess I should know that by know, huh? Put up with you all these years.' He laughed, and wiped the tears that had fallen from her face.

'Look, I know it doesn't really seem like it, considering Nathan's outburst, but he's coming around Hales. You know he still loves you, you don't need me to tell you that, but you will be together again. Don't give up on that.' She smiled up at him.

'You sound so sure of that Lucas. How can you be so sure.'

'I hoped for Peyton for years, and when I almost gave up on her look what happened. I nearly lost her and hurt a lot of people in the process. You… didn't give up, but you kinda forgot for a while how important Nathan was, but you've got your chance to fix it, and it's working. I got my chance and it was exactly easy, right? I managed to hurt both Brooke and Peyton and make an ass of myself. It's just… the process, I guess. These things don't come easy.' She sighed, moving back in to hug him again.

'No, they really don't.' She leant her head back slightly. 'Or maybe, it's just the Scott men who make these things difficult. I think I'm sensing a pattern.'

'Really, that's how you wanna play this? Oh, and since you're smiling again, I think this is an appropriate time to ask… why the HELL you told Peyton my middle name? Honestly Hales, that was supposed to go to the grave!'

'Uh, Luke, you do remember that Peyton middle named you at like, the beginning of the summer right. Rory and Tristan heard. She was yelling it pretty loudly.'

'She… oh, yeah, the car keys. I forgot about that. And forgot to ask her at the time how she knew that. Hang on, Rory and Tristan were acting like they didn't know my middle name last night…'

'Well, you know Tristan, he tends to forget things easily, and Rory's a pretty big distraction. As for Rory…'

'Well, following your line of thought, I'm pretty sure Tristan was pretty distracting himself last night.' They both smirked, and he sighed.

'That still doesn't explain why you told her my middle name in the first place, or get you off the hook. Don't think I'll forget this, Haley James Scott.' She smiled. 'What?'

'Haley James Scott. It's a nice reminder that he's still my husband. It was weird, being Haley James again on tour. It didn't feel right for some reason, and I understand why now. I screwed up so bad Luke.'

'Hey, like I said, he'll come around. He already is. This morning was just… I'm sure he freaked cause he thinks he needs to be angry at you, but he loves you and he's happy spending time with you. He's confused. Don't worry.'

Nathan was silently swearing at himself as he made his way through the quiet streets of Tree Hill. He was standing outside Karen's Café, staring through the windows, when someone stepped up beside him.

'I'm gonna make an educated guess, and go with Nathan Scott, right?' He turned his head, eyes wide.

'Um… do I know you? How the hell do you know who I am?'

'My daughter has an excellent way with words, her descriptions are usually spot on.' His eyebrow rose, still confused over who this woman was and how she knew who he was. 'Well, and she sent me photos. I'm pretty good with faces.'

'Uh, that still doesn't explain who you are… or why your daughter has photos of me.'

'Lorelai Gilmore.'

'Huh?'

'Lorelai Gilmore is my name. It's also my daughter's name. Though she's most commonly known as-'

'Rory. Rory Gilmore. Right. I should've known.'

'Well, in your defence from what I hear, you haven't exactly spent a lot of time with my daughter. Actually, from what I got out of her and Jess, surprisingly, she hasn't spent a lot of time with anyone other than Tristan DuGrey.'

'Yeah… Well, probably, but I haven't spent a lot of time with any of them really.'

'Mmm, so my daughter says. Your wife Haley, right?'

'Uh, yeah.'

'Alright, I've been driving all night and I'm starving and really, really need some fresh coffee, so you're gonna come have breakfast with me.' She grabbed his arm and began to drag him into the café, ignoring his protests.

'Uh, look Ms Gilmore…'

'Oh for the love of God, if you know what's good for you don't ever call me Ms Gilmore again. Lorelai. Call me Lorelai.'

'Sure… Lorelai, what are you doing?' She pushed him into a chair at a table in the corner, and sat opposite him, picking up a menu.

'Well currently I'm deciding what to have for breakfast.' She answered without looking up at him.

'Well yeah, but I meant-'

'You meant why are you here with me? Well, one so you can eat because you don't look like you've been awake for very long or even thought about breakfast. And two, because I need to talk to you.'

'Talk to me? About what?' He asked, confused as, even as she thrust a menu into his hands.

'Pick what you want, then we'll talk. And trust me, we have things to talk about.'

Peyton exited her bathroom to find Rory, Brooke and Haley spread out in her room, talking softly.

'What's with the girl hangout in my room all of a sudden?' She asked, moving into her closet to grab her hoodie. Haley shrugged, and looked at Brooke, who also shrugged.

'It seemed like a good idea?' She asked, trying to look innocent.

'It seemed like a good idea? Who're you trying to fool, Davis. You're looking for dirt, aren't you? Well, it went well. That's all you're getting out of me.'

'Really? It went well? That's all you're saying. Come on, Rory's already told us her end of the story, now we need yours to get the full picture.' Brooke whined from the bed, and jumped up quickly to block the door when Peyton started towards it. 'Nuh uh, P. Sawyer, you are not leaving this room until you spill, so spill.'

'Alright Nathan, I'm just gonna lay it out for you alright? Oh, and when I speak, you listen, I don't like to be interrupted.' Lorelai smiled at the confused boy sitting across the table, and leaned forward on her elbows. 'So, Rory's given me a pretty detailed account of the story behind you and Haley, and when I say detailed I mean detailed, that kid thinks tellmeaboutyourday requires a three hundred page response. Anyway.' She paused, and considered him over the table as Karen brought over the pot of coffee to refill their cups.

'Look kid, the people we love, they're gonna make mistakes. It's part of life. Sometimes the mistakes are small, sometimes they're really big. But trust me, as someone who had a kid at 16, I've seen a lot of mistakes, made most of them myself actually. The biggest mistake I made? I pushed Rory's dad away when we were kids, I didn't think he was ready, and then after I pushed him to be a kid he, well, took that to the extreme. It took him a long time to grow up, but by the time he was ready to, when we could have been together, been the family Rory wanted, I got scared and I pushed him away cause all I could think about was all the other stuff, and then he met someone who didn't push him away and I missed out on what could have been the best thing in my life. Maybe in the end, it would have crashed and burned anyway, I don't know. But rather that then never have it.'

'So what's your point?' Nathan cut it, leaning back from her as their food arrived.

'My point, oh young one who interrupted me, is that Haley made a mistake, but she's back, and she came back pretty quickly for someone your age. Oh, and you can never have too many people who love you in your life. Some of them may not always show it, or show it in the right ways, but, from what my daughter tells me, Haley loves you and is definitely someone you want in your life. So don't screw it up. Don't be the one sitting here in twenty years feeling stupid cause you held on to the past too long.' She stared at him until he squirmed and looked down at his plate, picking up his fork and playing with his food. Lorelai smiled to herself before getting started on her own meal.

Karen looked up as the door to café swung open, and seven teenagers walked in. Lucas was in front with Peyton and Haley, followed by Tristan and Rory, and then Brooke and Jess. She watched as they made their way to a table, before Rory spotted her mother and squealed loudly, causing Lorelai to look around and smile.

'Hey Gilmore!' Rory ran over, leaning down to hug Lorelai in her chair.

'Mum, what are you doing here? When did you get here? How long are you staying? Am I coming home with you?'

'Woah, calm down Rory. I got in about an hour ago, I'm not staying long, I need to get back to the inn, you are staying here and coming back with Jess, he got you here he can get you home, preferably with time for us to hang out before the evil school begins again. And lastly,' she paused to take a deep breath, 'I came down to meet the people you've been telling me about, get to know them a bit, you know.' She smiled down at Rory, who glanced at Nathan still sitting at the table behind her, and then back up at Lorelai.

'Mum, have you been meddling again?'

'Me? Meddle? Never!' She responded, eyes wide in shock.

'Give it up mum.' Rory teased.

'Oh alright, I may have meddled. Speaking of which, Nathan off you go. I believe you need to talk to Haley.' At that, everyone turned to look at first Nathan, then Haley, who was looking beyond confused. Nathan stood slowly, throwing one more look at Lorelai, before nodding and heading to Haley.

'Hales, can we talk?' She nodded eagerly.

'Of course, lets go upstairs.' She led out the back, and up to the roof, leaving the rest of the group standing around.

'Alright guys, I'm guessing you came here to be fed, so grab a table, I'll be over in a minute.' Karen broke the silence, stirring the kids into movement, as Lorelai sat back at her table. Karen made her way over to her, and smiled down as she poured more coffee into Lorelai's cup.

'Bless you.'

'I think you may a slight coffee problem, Lorelai. Whatever you said to Nathan, thank you. It looks like you really got through to him, something we've all been trying to do for months.'

'Well, sometimes an outsider's view really helps.' The two women shared a smile, before both looking over to their kids, talking happily with their friends. 'She's going to be devastated when she has to leave Tristan' Lorelai commented, looking back at Karen, surprised to find her smiling at her daughter.

'Oh, I don't know about that. She might be pleasantly surprised.' Lorelai considered her words for a minute, and grinned.

'Do I take your words to mean I'm not the only one who has meddled?' She asked, looking back at the kids.

'Well, I wouldn't call it meddling, per se, more like giving my brother-in-law a piece of my mind and some very frank advice.' She paused, considered, then laughed, 'and one or two well phrased threats, which ended in his excellent decision to remove Tristan from military school and re-enrol him at Chilton for his senior year.'

'Look Hales, I just… can I just get this all out, not interruptions and then we'll discuss?' Nathan looked over at his wife, who was sitting on the bench, watching him pace. She nodded in response.

'Ok so, when you left I was like seriously hurt. Well, first I was mostly pissed, but then I was just hurt. After all the crap last year, you were suddenly there, amazing and helping me and loving me, and so when you left I really wanted to hate you for taking away the only good thing I had. When you came back at the start of summer, I was still holding onto all the hurt and hate, and I just refused to let it go and look at the fact that yeah you left, but you came back. The thing is, we're still really young, as everyone pointed out when we got married in the first place. But I know that I married you for the right reasons, and those reasons, they all still exist. So you made a mistake, god knows I've made heaps of my own, and you always forgive me. So why shouldn't I forgive you? Cause I love you, and at the end of the day, I still really want to be married to you. It was stupid of me to ever think otherwise.' He stopped, and Haley watched him, wondering if he was done. 'So I guess, this is me apologising, and asking if we can just stop this and just… be married again?' He finally looked directly at her, and she nodded slowly, before grinning and leaping up, jumping on him.

'I love you too Nathan, I always did. Always and forever, I promise you.' She leaned in a kissed him, feeling a bit stupid for thinking that it felt like coming home. She never wanted to have to go so long without kissing her husband again.

A week later found the group of eight at the river court, Nathan and Tristan playing Lucas and Jess as the girls cheered occasionally from the stands. Peyton's comet was parked beneath a tree, and Jess' car was behind it, packed for the trip home.

'So Tristan's coming home, huh?' Peyton asked, looking over at the guys. Karen had given them the news last night, after receiving the confirmation from Tristan's dad.

'Yeah, I still can't believe Karen did that. I mean, I don't really know him and he scares me.' Rory said, also watching the guys play. Jess wasn't really a basketball kind of guy, so Nathan and Tristan were winning easily.

'Of course she did, she's Karen. It's in her nature.' Haley put in, looking over at Rory. 'She picks her battles well, and she nearly always wins.'

'Dude, no offence, but you really suck at this game,' Lucas told Jess as they moved back to the centre of the court.

'Shut up Scott, it's so not my fault we're losing.' Jess shot back, scowling.

'Oh yeah, and who's fault is it?'

'Yours, Scott. You can't keep your eyes off Sawyer long enough to play.' At that, both Nathan and Tristan started laughing, until Jess turned to them. 'You guys are only marginally better, so I don't know what you guys are laughing at.'

'Alright boys, it's almost time for the Connecticut group to head off, so stop… well, whatever it is that you're doing since you're no longer playing any form of basketball. Get over here.' Brooke called the guys over to where the girls were now standing.

'Alright, so now what?' Tristan asked once they were standing next to the girls, and Brooke rolled her eyes.

'Boys are so dumb,' she whispered to Peyton, who smiled and nodded. 'We, my fine friends, are playing one last game for the summer, boys versus girls, before these three hit the road back to stinky old Connecticut. So come on, let's get moving people! Time is wasting.' Brooke ushered them all back onto the court, and the girls and boys got themselves into position to start the game.

'This is humiliating,' Jess muttered, 'next summer you guys can come to Connecticut and there'll be no basketball whatsoever.'

'Alright, we'll see you next summer then. But for now, shut your mouth and watch the ball,' Peyton responded before moving towards Lucas and whispering in his ear, smirking as he handed over the ball to her. The guys groaned, and the girls cheered as Lucas looked sheepish until Peyton winked at him over her shoulder.

'Sorry guys, Peyton trumps basketball any day.' The guys rolled their eyes while the girls smiled, and Peyton passed the ball to Haley before making her way back to Lucas.

'Nice save, Scott. Very nice.' Lucas wrapped his arms around her, and leaned in to kiss her.

'I was wrong at the start of summer.'

'Were you? What about?'

'This summer was interesting. But not cause of Tristan.' He leaned down to kiss her, ignoring their friends as they continued to play around them.