A/N: Hey everyone, it's been a while! Life's been busy, as I'm sure it has been for all of you, and I've had next to no time to write anything. But obviously times are very different at the moment and one of the unexpected upsides of this pandemic is that I suddenly have a bit of spare time on my hands - not much, as I thankfully still have a job, but enough for me to finish this chapter that's been sitting mostly incomplete on my laptop for the past two years (seriously, hadn't realised how long it had been - so sorry!)

Throughout the long time since I last posted, I've still had this story in the back of my mind and the plotlines running through my brain. It was never my intention to abandon it and leave you without an ending, but life just made it tricky to come back to it. Also, I was certain that by now no one would care about it anymore and so wouldn't mind the fact that the story had been left unresolved.

However, a massive thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed and favourited in the last two years, especially in the last couple of months. It made me realise that maybe people were still interested in finding out what happens next. So, for anyone out there who's still reading and still cares, this is for you. Thank you for all your support.

Previously in Once Upon A Time in Tree Hill: Nathan professed his love for Haley out of the blue. She got mad at him and quit as his tutor. Her horrible boyfriend, Garrett, promised to talk to Nathan about it, as Nathan had just hired him to be his personal trainer. Instead of berating Nathan for his surprise confession, Garrett offered to essentially pimp out Haley to Nathan in exchange for a spot in the limelight. Nathan, of course, refused. Haley found out and finally dumped Garrett.

Julian officially moved into the cottage with Brooke following them seeing a TV interview with Brooke's stepmother, Kathy, in which she made it all too clear that Brooke's dad would be in danger if Brooke reappeared anytime soon.

Lucas vowed to find his mystery girl from the ball and Peyton enlisted Karen's help in keeping her identity a secret from Lucas so that her stepfamily wouldn't lynch her on learning the truth.

Haley had been single and Garrett-free for a week when the knock came at her door one evening.

It hadn't exactly been the easiest week of her life, despite the overwhelming freedom she felt at times whenever she remembered that she didn't have to constantly check in with Garrett, worry about where he was or why he wasn't texting her back, or stress about what she was eating in case she put on weight and he decided he didn't want her anymore because she was 'too fat'.

In part, it had been difficult because she was still adjusting to life without Garrett and the heartbreak that was constantly throbbing away in her chest, reminding her that everything she'd thought to be true for the past couple of years had actually been a lie. No matter how relieved she felt to finally be free from his toxic influence, she was still discovering just how much of herself she'd allowed him to steal and smother. Realising how broken down and faded she'd become was almost as distressing as finding out the true depths of Garrett's betrayal.

However, the overwhelming reason for her need for the large glass of red wine sitting on the table in front of her right now was the recent revelation of what had been the cause of her father's health problems.

It had taken some convincing for Jimmy to allow her to come to the doctor's surgery with him, and even more bribery and emotional blackmail for him to let her come into the appointment. However, Haley knew him well enough to know that if she'd let him go in on his own, she would never find out what had really happened or how much he'd downplayed his symptoms to the doctor.

Jimmy James was never one to allow others to worry or fuss over him.

In the end, Haley had done most of the talking in the appointment, detailing her father's increasing forgetfulness, mood swings, insomnia and occasional blackouts, with Jimmy grunting in reluctant agreement every now and then. The doctor had then done some tests, taken some samples and had told them to come back in a couple of days for the results.

As she'd sat down next to her father in the doctor's office two days ago to hear the results of his tests, Haley been preparing herself for the worst. Alzheimer's, cancer, some terminal illness that she'd never heard of.

No amount of worrying or mental diagnoses could have prepared her for the truth.

'Jimmy, I'm sure you already know this to some extent, so I'm going to address this to your daughter, if that's okay?' the doctor said gently, then turning to Haley when Jimmy gave a small nod of his head, 'Miss James, I'm afraid what I'm about to tell you is likely to come as a terrible shock.'

Haley swallowed nervously, 'It's okay, I'm ready.'

She felt anything but ready. The doctor's previous words were settling in her stomach like a chunk of rock. What on earth could Jimmy possibly already be aware of as the root of his problems?

The doctor paused for a second, then said 'Miss James, the test result show that your father's condition, all the symptoms you described before, are the result of prolonged abuse of a combination of various prescribed and unprescribed medications and, I would imagine, illegal drugs. How long have you been taking these pills, Mr James?'

Haley turned to her father in disbelief, sure that he was about to laugh in the doctor's face and say how ridiculous this whole idea was. Instead, she found Jimmy with his head in his hands, shame practically leaking out from every pore.

'Daddy?' she whispered, 'Daddy, this can't be true.'

'I'm afraid it is, sweet pea,' his gruff voice was muffled by his hands still covering his face. He lifted his head and addressed the doctor, unable to look his daughter in the eye, 'it's been going on for years now. Eight years to tell the truth. Things had been tough at work for a while, and my bosses kept putting pressure on me to take on more work, more responsibility, come up with better ideas, work longer hours. I couldn't keep up with it all and I was burning out. I knew that if I fell behind or said 'no', they'd fire me and bring in someone younger.

'The long hours meant that I wasn't seeing my wife and kids much either, which was causing a lot of arguments whenever I did manage to make it home. It felt like everything was falling apart around me. Then, this guy from work, can't remember what his name was now, told me about these little pills he took whenever he needed to speed up, to get more done or to pull an all-nighter. He said they 'just took the edge off', kept you awake but made you sharper, more focused.

'At first, I said 'thanks but no thanks' and walked away. But then things kept getting worse: every time I finished a project, my bosses would pile another three on me, and I was arguing with my wife every time I saw her. So, I figured, if I just took one, y'know, just to get on top of things at work, then I'd be able to get home in better time and spend more time with my family.

'For a couple of months, it was fine – great, actually. But then I found I needed more than just one pill a day to keep me going,' Jimmy turned for a second to Haley, eyes focused on the carpet under her chair, 'Your mother found out after six months, when I was taking three a day just to stay even. She begged me to stop, to get help, to quit my job, anything.

'But I was stupid, I told her I had it all under control, that it wasn't a big deal. By the time I realised she was right, that I was taking the pills because I physically hurt if I didn't, it was too late. She'd packed her bags, taken your brothers and sisters who were still living at home, and gone. She'd told me if I didn't stop, she'd leave me. I just never believed she actually would. I always thought we'd work through it.

'You refused to go, though, my precious Haley. You had no idea what was happening but you cried so much at the thought of me being left all on my own that your mom couldn't even get you near the door. You staying saved me. If I hadn't had you, I would've given up, spiralled and bottomed out. Nothing left to live for in the mess I'd made. But seeing your face every day made me want to keep going, to try to get your mom and siblings back.

'I gave up for a while, but I'd forgotten how to cope at work without that boost from the pills. I was struggling, falling behind again and I was terrified that I'd lose my job and fail you too. So, I started again. But the guy who'd given me the pills before had left, so I took whatever I could get my hands on. I figured if I could do well at my job, show that I was on top of things, that I could get your mom back and we could be a family again. Well, we both know how well that one turned out, don't we?' He laughed humourlessly.

'I don't understand how you could've hidden this from me all these years. How could I have not realised?' Haley murmured hoarsely, still struggling to comprehend what her father was telling her. Still, as her mind reeled from the revelation, her recollection of the past eight years shifted in light of this knowledge. Her father's erratic behaviour made a lot more sense now.

At first, she'd thought it was grief over her mom and siblings walking out that had caused her father to look so haggard and spaced out all the time. Then, she'd gone to college and, even though she'd been living at home during that time, she'd been paying more attention to her studies, college experience and, later, to her relationship with Garrett, to notice that it was more than heartbreak that was causing the change in her father's demeanour and behaviour.

'I was at work most of the time when you were at school and then, when you went to college, I started working at home but I locked myself away in my study,' Jimmy told her, 'I tried to make sure that you didn't see me for long enough periods to work out things were as bad as they were, are. I couldn't bear the thought of you finding out as well and leaving like your mom did. I'm so sorry, sweet pea. I've lied to you and I've let you down. I was just so ashamed and it's been going on for so long. I didn't know how to tell you the truth.'

The doctor, who had sat with a professional, expressionless look during Jimmy's confession, cut in gently, 'Mr James, the other thing that your test results show is that if you continue to abuse these drugs in the way you have been for the past eight years, you won't have much longer left to live. They've already done extensive, but not irrevocable – yet – damage to your internal organs. There are procedures and treatments we can try to combat this, or at least, to limit the damage done, but these will be of no help if you don't get help and stop taking these drugs. While I'm sure your daughter would support you in getting better and we have rehabilitation courses we can recommend, it really needs to come from you. Unless you want to get help, to give up these drugs, anything I offer you will be ultimately pointless.

'So, my question is, Mr James, do you want to get help, to beat this addiction?'

Haley held her breath, restraining herself from answering for him, that of course he wanted help. Of course he didn't want to die a drug addict with a broken family. She was hurt and betrayed that he'd lied to her for all these years, that he hadn't been able to come clean to her and tell her the reason why her mom had left, why her brothers and sisters barely called, but she would deal with those feelings later.

Right now, she just wanted her father to admit that he needed help and to get him on the right track for it.

'I do,' Jimmy told the doctor firmly. He turned to Haley, the resolution clear on his face, 'I do want to get help. This has gone on for long enough. I can't let you down anymore, or leave you without a father. I've wanted to quit for so long, I've hated myself every time I've looked in the mirror, but I was too proud to admit that I needed help. But I'm ready now, I wouldn't have come to this appointment, knowing what you were going to tell me, if I wasn't.'

'Good, I'm glad to hear it, Mr James,' the doctor smiled.

The doctor had then given them a bunch of pamphlets and numbers for support groups, rehab centres and therapists.

Haley had left the consultation room feeling as though the world had flipped upside-down beneath her. Jimmy had apologised to her and repeated much of what he'd said in the doctor's office during the car journey home but she'd hardly heard him. His voice had faded away as she'd stared blankly at the road ahead.

She still wasn't sure how she'd made it home without crashing the car, but when they'd pulled up on the driveway, she'd quietly asked her father for some time alone to process things.

After she'd softly shut her bedroom door behind her, it had taken another hour of silent staring at the ceiling as she'd lain motionless on her bed before the tears had come.

Her father, the man she'd looked up to her whole life, strong, warm and steady, was not the person she'd thought him to be. Her mother's sudden departure from the family home, which she'd previously never been able to understand, was now painted in a different light.

Haley had always blamed her mother for walking out on a marriage that had been rock-steady for over twenty years, but she was now finally starting to understand. Part of her had wanted to run out too, overwhelmed by the feeling of betrayal flooding through her. She'd briefly pulled out her phone and looked up plane tickets to different places far from Tree Hill.

Five minutes later though, she'd put her phone away, stood up from her bed and cleaned her face, ready to go downstairs and face her father.

The same sense of fierce loyalty that she'd always felt towards Jimmy, but which had increased tenfold since the rest of her family had jumped ship, anchored her to this house, to staying with him, to helping him get through this. In the doctor's office, she'd believed him when he'd said he wanted to get help, to beat this addiction, and she still did.

So, she'd squared her shoulders and gone to sit with her father, holding his hand as she'd told him that she was hurt that he'd lied to her and that she was struggling to come to terms with this revelation, but that she was committed to supporting him if he wanted to change. She'd made it very clear, however, that she would only do so if he was serious about battling his addiction.

Jimmy had assured her that he was serious, but that he was also serious about healing their relationship and the damage that he'd dealt to it. Over the past couple of days, he'd held true to that promise and she'd lost count of the times he'd apologised to her or told her tearfully that he loved her and was so grateful that she hadn't given up on him yet.

Together, they'd cleared the house of all the pills and wiped his phone of the numbers of people who'd supplied him with the drugs. When Haley had conducted her own search of the house earlier that day whilst Jimmy had been out having an initial meeting with a therapist, she hadn't been able to find any secret stashes of pills, which had helped her to feel cautiously optimistic that her father really did want to change.

She'd been coming home for her lunch breaks and checking up on him on the phone throughout the day and they'd been spending their evenings looking at different rehab centres. They'd both agreed that the best way of kickstarting his recovery was to get away from Tree Hill, and all the things that might tempt him to relapse. The problem was the cost of this kind of treatment.

On Haley's suggestion, Jimmy had finally quit his job so that he could focus on his recovery and not have the stresses and pressures of work as a potential trigger. She'd expected some kind of resistance from him, especially considering the arguments it had apparently caused when her mom had suggested it. However, Jimmy had agreed to it immediately, telling her that he wasn't going to make the same mistake again in letting his work come between him and someone he loved who was trying to help him.

While he was going to be paid until the end of the month, it was going to leave them with only Haley's income to live on for the time being. The bookstore and her tutoring sessions made her enough to cover the basics, plus a few luxuries here and there, but definitely not enough to fund a stay at any of the best rehab clinics.

While Jimmy had offered using his savings as a solution, Haley was of the opinion that to give him the best chance, he needed to have the best possible treatment. Having looked at the prices of those packages, even Jimmy's savings only covered half of the cost of a 40-day programme.

Haley had told her father not to worry about it, to leave it to her so that he could focus on taking the first steps, but the worry of failing to provide him with the help he needed was eating away at her. She'd told Brooke and Peyton as soon as she could and, as usual, they'd been supportive, understanding and the source of comfort she so desperately needed. She'd even confided in Lucas the day before, when she'd seen him at the manor after visiting Brooke, though, of course, she'd left out the money troubles part.

He'd hugged her and offered his help, anything she needed, but she couldn't stand the thought of asking him for a loan when they'd only just picked up their friendship again after a four-year break. She couldn't ask Peyton or Brooke either – Peyton because she had no money to spare, and Brooke because Kathy was doubtless still monitoring her bank accounts like a hawk, waiting for any clue as to where Brooke was hiding.

Haley rubbed her temples, trying to massage the stress of the situation out from her body. Tonight, Jimmy was out at an addiction support group meeting, so she was on her own in the house, marking tutoring papers with her trusty glass of wine within arm's reach at all times. She was trying her best to focus on the papers, but her eyes kept flicking over to the stack of printed pages from various rehab centres' websites, which was sitting on the other side of the table.

When she first heard the knocking, she hesitated, debating whether to answer it. She was so close to finishing her marking and planned to spend the rest of the evening going through her bank accounts, searching for ways to save money.

The knocking came again, and she sighed, setting down the papers on the table.

Hopefully it'll just be something quick, she thought as she padded her way over to the front door in her Elmo slippers.

'Hey,' the person on the other side of the door said in a quiet, nervous voice when she opened it.

'Nathan Scott,' she murmured, eyebrows raised in shock.

It had been twelve days since she'd last seen him in person, yelled at him and quit her job as his tutor. When she'd left him then, her opinion of him couldn't have really been much lower: she'd been convinced that there was no way on earth that he could've possibly meant it when he'd told her he loved her and that he was either mocking her or doing it as part of the TV show.

Even though recent revelations had certainly lifted him in her estimation, he had still insulted her with the way he'd treated her. So, even taking into account that she now knew his professed affections to be genuine (or, more likely, that he thought them to be so) and that he'd stood up for her to Garrett, she still wasn't quite ready to let him off the hook just yet.

So, she folded her arms across her body and kept a foot next to the door, ready to slam it in his face should she need to.

'Good evening, Miss James,' he said nervously, and she was surprised to hear that the formality in his tone was real and not mocking, 'I know I'm probably the last person on earth you'd want to have at your door right now, but do you think I could come inside for a moment?'

Haley regarded him for a moment, 'No.'

His face fell, 'Oh. Right. I guess I deserve that. Bye, then.'

He turned to go, and Haley felt a pang of guilt.

'Nathan?' she called after him.

The expression of hope mixed with trepidation on his face when he swivelled back was a sign to her that she was making the right choice.

'I meant, 'no, you're not the last person on earth I want at my door', not 'no, you can't come in'. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have paused,' she clarified with a half-smile.

Gratitude and relief flashed across the basketball player's face and he took a step forward, but hesitated once more when he was standing on the doorstep. Haley stepped aside and gestured for him to come in.

Once he was standing inside the hallway, he paused again, looking to Haley for direction and she found herself suppressing a smile at how innocent and lost he appeared. She led him through to the kitchen and then, ever the good hostess, told him to sit down and asked him if he wanted a drink. As she asked him, she swept up the papers she'd been marking and dumped them on top of the rehab centre pages, hoping that she done so quickly and subtly enough so that Nathan hadn't had the chance either to read them or to pick up on her behaviour.

'Coffee would be great, thanks,' he replied, sitting at the table.

He didn't seem to have noticed anything suspicious in her actions, so she breathed an inward sigh of relief and turned towards the cupboards to get out the mugs.

Silence filled the room while Haley busied herself by making them drinks – nervous on Nathan's part, quietened curiosity on Haley's – save for the clinking of mugs and spoons.

'So, what did you want to talk to me about?' Haley asked, once they were both seated with their hot drinks – black coffee for him, chamomile tea for her. She caught the slight raise of his eyebrows when he saw her choice and shrugged in return, 'I've been finding it difficult…sleeping lately.'

Remembering that, even if she didn't hate him, she definitely wouldn't want to share all her life problems with him, Nathan refrained from questioning her about it and settled with, 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

She glanced at her phone for a moment when it beeped on the table next to her and he took the opportunity to take her in better: her lack of sleep was evident in the bags under her eyes and the sagging of her shoulders. She looked like she could pass out on the table any second. Her face was make-up free, her hair was pulled up into a messy top-knot and she was wearing a baggy jumper that dwarfed her tiny frame. She clearly wasn't dressed for receiving visitors, but he couldn't help but wonder how on earth he'd ever thought that supermodels in short skirts and faces covered in make-up were beautiful.

Sitting in front of him now, he was sure was the most beautiful woman in the world and she put all those models to shame.

Haley slid her phone away from herself and looked back up at him with an apologetic smile, 'Sorry about that. I've put it on silent now, so I'm all yours.'

They both blushed when they realised the potential connotations of what she'd just said. Ignoring his quickening pulse, Nathan jumped in quickly to save her from any embarrassment, 'I know you're probably really busy and had better plans for your evening than having to speak to me, so I'll cut right to it. First, I'm really so sorry for what I said to you in our last tutor session. I wasn't thinking and then I was a complete asshole and I just need you to know that I'm sorry for hurting you.'

There was a moment's pause, then Haley gave him a small smile, 'Thank you for that, Nathan. I appreciate you giving me space to get things straight in my head and for coming here to apologise in person. I know that can't have been easy. I'm sorry too, if I overreacted in any way. You took me by surprise and I thought you were making fun of me.'

Nathan shook his head quickly, 'No, you didn't overreact at all! I just need to think before I open my mouth and think about how what I'm about to say's gonna affect other people. D-Do you think you could forgive me?'

Haley's smile widened at his slight stammer and obvious nervousness; it was somewhat endearing, especially when compared to Garrett's constant self-confidence.

'Yes, I'm in a place where I can do that now,' she nodded.

'Really?' his whole face lit up, 'That's amazing, thank you so much, Miss James!'

Haley took a breath and then said quietly, now avoiding eye contact, 'I…wanted to thank you too, for standing up for me to Garrett and for not…'

She trailed off and he finished for her, 'Accepting his offer to 'share' you with him?'

He'd said it as gently as he could, and it was obvious that the recollection of that conversation still sickened him almost as much as it did her, but the mention of it still cut Haley like a knife. She'd never been more grateful for anything in her life than that she'd finally seen the light and ditched Garrett, but adjusting to life without him and to the truth of what he was really like was proving to be just about as difficult as she'd thought it would be.

Despite the pain that talking about that moment caused her, Haley still managed to get out a hollow chuckle, 'Yeah, that.'

'One of the shadier business propositions I've heard in my career,' Nathan joked, trying to lighten the mood.

'Really? Only one of the shadier? What kind of business proposals have you heard that would be shadier than someone pimping out their girlfriend to you?' Haley asked incredulously, but the corners of her mouth were twitching up again slightly.

'Oh, you'd be amazed to know the kind of deals that get made behind the closed doors of the basketball world,' he leaned forward conspiratorially.

Haley mirrored him, propping her elbows up on the table, 'Is that so? Are you like the mafia boss of the basketball world, then, Mr Scott?'

He barked out a laugh at that, 'Well, I could tell you, Miss James…'

'But – let me guess – you'd have to kill me?' she finished for him.

'Or worse,' he whispered back, wiggling his eyebrows.

Haley's laugh rang out through the kitchen and suddenly the whole room looked ten times brighter.

'You're scarily good at that, you know,' she told him, once she'd recovered.

Nathan shrugged, 'I've sat in far too many meetings with my Uncle Dan. He can be pretty scary when he wants to be.'

'Yeah, I kinda picked up that vibe from him from the show.'

'He's a good guy, really,' Nathan said, just in case he should be accused of familial disloyalty, 'he just wants best for our family and for the business, but sometimes he goes further to get that than the rest of us would.'

'I think it's nice that you've got an uncle who cares about you that much and who wants to protect you,' she said.

'Yeah, it is,' he agreed, then hesitated slightly before adding, 'and…about the other thing, it was nothing. Garrett was being an asshole and if there had been anyone else there, they would've done a much better job of putting him in his place.'

'I don't know, it looked to me like you did a pretty good job of that yourself,' she smiled.

'Not as good as Peyton or Brooke would've,' he noted with a grin.

'Oh, they would've straight up killed him, no question,' Haley laughed, 'but we settled for swapping all his protein supplements with laxatives instead.'

'Wait, you did what?' Nathan gasped out between laughter.

Haley nodded proudly, 'We snuck into the gym a couple of days ago when he wasn't there and broke into his locker. Peyton may have graffitied over all the posters with him on too.'

'Was Brooke there too?' Nathan asked, once he'd controlled himself.

'She put on a disguise and sat in the car outside the gym as look-out,' Haley replied, 'it took a bit of convincing, but she didn't want to miss out on the plan and, by the time we were done with her, you couldn't tell who she was at all. Peyt and I put on disguises too, so she wasn't the only one.'

'Man, I would love to see the CCTV of that!' Nathan laughed.

Haley shook her head, grinning wickedly, 'Not possible, I'm afraid.'

'Why? What did you do?'

'Turns out one of the women Garrett had cheated on me with was one of the receptionists and she was all too happy to erase the footage when we'd told her about it all. Garrett had flirted with her for ages and told her he'd ditch me for her if she'd dump her boyfriend. So, she did, he slept with her, then told her it wasn't going to work out. After I'd told her what he'd done to me, she hated him almost as I much as I do.'

'Miss James, you dark horse!' Nathan chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief that the sweet woman in front of him could have such a streak in her.

'I think you can call me 'Haley' again, now,' she told him, with a smile.

Nathan was stunned for a moment, 'Wait, does this mean you'll tutor me again?'

Haley nodded, 'If you still want me to.'

'Yes!' he cried immediately, then blushed slightly for sounding too eager, and cleared his throat, 'Ahem! That is…yes, I would appreciate it a lot if you'd agree to tutoring me again. That was the other reason I came round – to beg you to consider taking me on again.'

'I figured as much,' Haley said, 'but I have conditions before I say yes for sure.'

'Anything,' Nathan promised solemnly.

'You might want to hear what they are first before you start making promises like that, y'know. You don't know what I'm going to ask you for yet,' she laughed lightly.

'Let me guess, a starring role on the show and to be paid $1 million for every second you have to spend tutoring me?' he teased.

'Hey, don't give me ideas,' she warned jokingly, 'but no, fame and fortune don't really appeal to me.'

'What does then, Haley James?' he asked, leaning in with genuine curiosity.

'Okay, one: you have to be 100% committed to our sessions, from the second they start, to the moment they end. I don't want any more half-assing it or you getting distracted by…basketball, or whatever it is that goes on in your head.'

You mostly nowadays, actually, he thought.

Speaking aloud, he opted instead for, 'Done. No more half-assing things from me, Scott's honour.'

She burst out laughing again as he gave her a cheesy wink to accompany his terrible pun.

'Okay, two,' she continued, after she'd regained her breath, 'No more being a jerk. I'd like to think that we could be friends at some point, but, at the very least, we can be polite to each other.'

'Done. I really am sorry for being such an ass to you before,' he apologised sincerely, 'and I'd really like for us to be friends, too.'

He briefly thought that he'd like for them to be a hell of a lot more than just friends, but quickly pushed it from his head. If he was going to commit to making this deal work and to getting her to like him, he couldn't risk making her feel uncomfortable in any way.

'Good,' she smiled at him and he felt his stomach flip, 'so…three is a bit more awkward – and I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't necessary – but things have come up recently that…mean that I have to ask you for this-'

'You need a pay rise?' he cut into her ramblings.

'I…Yeah,' she said, looking somewhat startled that he'd guessed so quickly, 'I know that you already pay me more than I deserve and way over the usual rate. And I'm so grateful to Karen for that, but-'

'Haley,' he cut her off again, reaching out a hand across the table to stop her but not actually going so far as to touch her, 'it's fine. Whatever you need, whatever it's for, consider it a done deal. You're worth it.'

She blushed furiously, 'Nathan, I-'

'Don't worry, I'm not hitting on you,' he chuckled, seeing her expression, 'I mean, as a tutor you're worth it. Do you know how many tutors I went through when Luke and I were being home-schooled?'

'A lot, I'm guessing.'

'Yeah, because they were all useless. Eventually, my mom and dad told me I couldn't switch anymore, I just had to do the best I could with the one I had and stick with it,' he told her, 'but I've learnt more with you in the two weeks of session we had than I did with any of them. I've never been good at learning or school stuff; I was always more one for shooting hoops than solving equations. But with you…I don't know, it just seems to make sense. You make it make sense.'

Haley's blush, which had started to recede once she'd realised he wasn't flirting with her, came back at his compliments. She looked down at the table as she replied, 'Thanks. I didn't think I was doing a very good job with you.'

'Well, you got me to sit at a table with a book for more than five minutes,' he smiled, 'that's worth all the money in the world. But we can sort all that out when we sort out your contract.'

'Contract?'

'Yeah, I think it would be good for both of us if all this was down in writing, don't you? You know, just in case something happens.'

'You mean in case I quit again?' she asked, uncomfortable with the idea of her being tied into it in case he decided to act like a tool again.

'Actually, I was more thinking of in case I try to back out of it when things get tough. I need to do this, but I'm not good at sticking with academic stuff when it gets hard,' he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

'Okay, then,' Haley nodded, 'but, first, I have to tell you my final condition.'

'Whatever it is, I'm sure the answer's yes.'

'I don't think you'll be so sure once you've heard it,' she warned him.

Nathan leant back in his seat and nodded, 'Okay, hit me with it, then.'

'I want you to tell me why you want tutoring.'

He hadn't been expecting that.

'Why do you want to know that?' he frowned.

'It's what I ask all my students in their first session. I didn't do it in ours because, well, you know why,' she paused for a moment and Nathan grimaced at the memory of his behaviour towards her in that first meeting, 'I need to know what's motivating people so that I can help them. If I know what your goal is, what's driving you, then I know what to focus on for motivation when things do get tough.'

There was a long silence while Nathan thought about it and Haley wondered if she'd overstepped a boundary. Nathan, in the meantime, was genuinely considering just walking out and giving up on the whole thing. He'd rather do that and jeopardise his whole future than see the look of disappointment on her face when she heard the truth.

'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,' she told him gently, 'but you'll have to find another tutor. I'm afraid this condition is non-negotiable. We need to be able to trust each other if this is going to work out. You're trusting me to help you achieve your goal, and I'm trusting you to commit to this.'

'And the money and not being an ass anymore don't count as enough commitment?' he tried hopefully.

She smiled slightly and shook her head, 'Sorry, but no, not for this. You not being an ass is just necessary if we're going to get through this with both of us still alive, and the money is just…because I need it to help someone I love. But trust doesn't come from either of those. It comes from us being open and honest with each other.'

Nathan thought about it for another moment, before nodding in acceptance, 'Okay. I'll tell you.'

'Are you sure?'

'I need you as a tutor,' he said, more to confirm it to himself than as a reply to her, 'but I'm warning you now, it's not a pretty story.'

'I can handle it,' she assured him.

He took a deep breath to prepare himself, then started, 'Okay. I don't know if you remember back in May a story about me and a reporter?'

Haley frowned, searching her memories for headlines. Anything involving one of the Scotts usually made it onto the front-page of at least one magazine or paper somewhere. Then, she remembered.

'Oh yeah, you beat him up, right?'

Nathan's expression turned sour at the memory as he nodded, 'We'd been out as a team, the Bobcats, celebrating a win and we'd all had way too much to drink. When we left, he was outside in the street waiting for us – the reporter. He had a guy with a camera, too, and he started following me, taking photos and asking me questions.'

'What kind of questions?' Haley asked, picking up from his tone that they were unpleasant ones.

'About my family. He started off with my parents, saying all kind of crap about them just to get a rise out of me. All the reporters know I get mad when people go after my family and that I've lost my temper over it in the past. It gets worse when I've had a drink, and he knew that too. He was deliberately pushing my buttons, trying to get me to break and hit him, so he'd get a front-page story.

'When going after my parents didn't work, he started on Luke. I just kept walking and told him to piss off. The rest of the team were with me, too, and they were trying to block him from getting near me, but I could still hear him,' he said, glaring down at the table.

'What happened then?' she prompted softly, when he paused.

He looked back up at Haley, so she could see the anger and disgust in his eyes as he continued, 'He moved onto Lily. He said asked if I thought people would find her as sexy as me and Luke in ten years' time. Then, that he actually thought some people might think that now.'

Haley's expression was horrified as she whispered, 'But she's six! How could he say that, even if he was just trying to get a rise out of you?'

Nathan's mouth was set in a grim line as he replied, 'I don't actually remember hitting him. As soon as he said that, I just snapped and the next thing I knew, my teammates were dragging me off him and he was lying on the ground covered in blood. He needed stitches and I'd broken a couple of his ribs. He got off too lightly, if you ask me.'

'But the papers didn't say anything about any of that. They just said that you were drunk and you'd broken his nose,' Haley said, remembering more of the reported details now.

Nathan gave a hollow laugh, 'That's because that was the only part they could report. As soon as I'd calmed down enough, I called Uncle Dan, 'cause he always knows what to do in those kind of situations. My mom and my dad are great, and I go to them for every other kind of advice, but Uncle Dan knows how to handle the legal stuff. He's been in charge of that side of the business for so long that sorting out legal claims are like breathing for him.

'The guy wanted to press charges and sue to cover his medical bills. He was going to run a front-page article on it too. After half an hour in a boardroom with Uncle Dan and his lawyers, he'd agreed to settle for the article, with only half the details he'd wanted to put in, and a small payout. Dan told him that if he pressed charges or tried to sue, we'd go public with what he'd said about Lily and no one would ever want to hire him again.'

'I can see why he chose that option,' Haley commented, 'but how does that relate to you needing tutoring?'

'I was already on a warning from the Bobcats not to get into anymore trouble for the rest of the season. I'd been in one too many other bust-ups, and they'd told me that they didn't want the bad publicity, so I needed to keep my head down and not cause any more trouble for them. Uncle Dan and I spoke to them and explained what the guy had said, and they said they understood but that I had to learn to control my temper.

'They told me that I was suspended for the whole of next season, but Uncle Dan arranged it so I could play 'til the end of last season, then take time off and we could put a good publicity spin on it. So, the Bobcats agreed to keep it quiet that I was on suspension, and Uncle Dan came up with the idea of Luke and I coming here and doing this season for the show. Luke agreed…for his own reasons, that he'll have to tell you.

'Anyway, the Bobcats told me that I needed to grow up and 'be a mature adult', or they'd have to rethink my contract. They knew I hadn't finished high school, so they said that if I could use the time off to study, get some discipline in and finish high school, that I could start again the following season. So, that's why I'm in Tree Hill – the real reason – and why I need tutoring, 'cause I can't do this on my own, Haley. Luke was always the one who was good at school, and I just goofed around 'cause none of it made sense to me, so what was the point in trying?

'But now, if I don't try, if I don't pass, then the Bobcats won't want me back 'cause they'll think I've just been slacking for the whole of this season and that I haven't learnt my lesson. Playing basketball is all I know, it's the only thing I'm good at and it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Please, Haley, help me so I can get it back,' he finished imploringly.

She let him sweat it out for a couple more seconds before smiling, 'Of course I will.'

'Really? You're sure about this?' his expression was caught between relief, joy and disbelief – a combination which Haley thought was somewhat endearing.

She nodded, 'I'm in. You're gonna smash this, then go back to the Bobcats and smash it there too.'

He laughed, giddy with relief, 'I like your optimism, James.'

She shrugged, 'A positive attitude is always half of achieving anything, as my mom always used to say. The other half is hard work, but you've already got that covered, right?'

Nathan gave her a salute, 'Yes, ma'am.'

She chuckled, before becoming more serious, 'For the record, Nathan, I don't judge you for what you did to that reporter. I mean, I'm not saying that beating him senseless was the right thing to do, but he shouldn't have said that stuff about Lily. Then combine that with alcohol and I think very few people wouldn't have done the same thing if it came to it. I've sure been tempted to do far worse to Garrett at some of my darker points this week, and I know that if anybody said that stuff about Elise, Peyton would straight up murder them. But you're trying to make things right and I want to help you do that.'

'Thanks, Haley, that really means a lot,' he said softly.

She waved away his gratitude, moving them back to the topic at hand, 'So, I'm thinking we should boost our sessions up from two a week to at least three, if you're able to? I just think it'd help you to be ready faster, then you can sit the tests as soon as possible and focus on getting ready for next season.'

'Three times a week sounds great,' he grinned, 'and I'm all for passing sooner.'

'We can fit in more sessions as and when we're both free,' Haley nodded, 'if you want to get the contract ready, then we can sort out a day and time for that third session.'

'And your pay rise,' he reminded her, causing her to blush, 'speaking of, I forgot to mention that I have my own condition for this.'

'For me to tutor you?' Haley raised an eyebrow at him, 'I thought you were desperate for me to take you back and that no one else would do?'

'I am and everyone else sucks compared to you, but hear me out, okay?' he chuckled. She pursed her lips sceptically but nodded for him to continue, 'I want to pay for your dad's rehab treatment.'

Haley was grateful that she'd finished her tea a while ago, otherwise she probably would have spilled it everywhere in her shock.

'How do you know about that?' she gasped, her face colouring.

Nathan looked a little sheepish, 'You told Luke about it when you were up at the house and you know there are cameras everywhere. Julian was on footage-watching duty at the time and I'd gone in to keep him company. Anything with me or Luke in the frame is automatically picked up by the system and flagged as potentially being important. The moment Luke walked into that room, the screen switched to showing that camera feed. I wasn't spying, I swear, but, well, once you've heard something it's kinda hard to unhear it.'

Haley sighed and dropped her face into her hands. It was impossible to tell how mad she was at him from that position, but Nathan just prayed it wasn't so much that she'd refuse to tutor him again.

'I'm really sorry for springing it on you like this and I'm sorry if you feel like I'm prying into your private life and things that aren't any of my business. Honestly, when I saw it, I told myself just to forget about it 'cause I was still sure you were never gonna speak to me ever again. I never would've mentioned it to you, or anyone else, I just…I wanna help. That's what you need the pay rise for, right?'

She was silent, head still in her hands, for what seemed to Nathan like a lifetime. He waited, breath held in his lungs, until she spoke softly.

'I'm not mad at you, Nathan, I'm just embarrassed. I mean, I told Lucas about it in a house that's literally full of cameras, someone was bound to have seen it. It's just so easy to forget that they're there. And it's so sweet of you to want to pay for his rehab, but I can't accept that. It's too much money, it's too much to ask.'

'You're not asking, I'm offering,' he pointed out gently, 'Haley, I swear, I'm not doing this as charity or out of pity. I mean, of course, I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, and that you had to find out about it the way you did…especially after everything with Garrett. But I want to help 'cause I know what it's like to be in that position, at least partly, and how important it is to get your dad the best help possible as soon as you can.'

Haley raised her head from her hands to look at him questioningly, 'What do you mean?'

'My Aunt Deb? She went to rehab a couple of years back. You wouldn't have heard about it in the papers – another one of Uncle Dan's PR cover-ups. He told everyone she was in Africa doing charity work with orphans, even did daily updates about it on her Twitter,' he chuckled, shaking his head at his uncle's schemes.

'Why'd she have to go to rehab?'

'Booze and pills,' he said matter-of-factly, 'it's not exactly easy being part of the media circus that my family's become, especially not when you're married to the ring master. My mom and dad have been able to keep our side of the family out of the spotlight as much as possible, but Uncle Dan invites it into virtually every area of his and Deb's home life. She'd been struggling for years, but didn't feel like she could say anything to Uncle Dan 'cause the family image is everything to him. So, she found a way to cope with it.'

'Booze and pills,' Haley nodded in understanding.

'Exactly. She'd managed to cover it up pretty well for a few years, but it started spiralling out of control. She'd have crazy mood swings and had some pretty weird outbursts at parties. Eventually, at Thanksgiving two years ago, we were all at their house for dinner and she disappeared for a while. A few of us went looking for her and found her passed out in her own vomit in one of the bathrooms. She had to go to hospital and that's when everything came out.

'She was a wreck but that was the first time any of us saw how bad it really was and realised what had been happening. Uncle Dan didn't want anything in the press about her going to rehab, so he tried to help her quit at home but it didn't go well. She'd be okay for a couple of days, then sneak out and binge on whatever she could get her hands on. She was driving back from having raided the local liquor store, bottle of vodka in one hand, steering wheel in the other, when she crashed her car. Thankfully, she was already halfway up the drive at their house by that point, so she only hit one of the trees and got a few cuts and bruises. But that was when her and Uncle Dan both realised that if she was gonna quit, she needed professional help.'

'Did it work?' Haley asked.

He nodded, 'She did a 60-day programme and has stayed sober for two years now. They have a great therapy team who helped her to work through the problems which had caused the addiction. Every day is a struggle, a choice not to go back to how she was, but she said it gets easier.

'The reason I want to help is because I've seen the damage addiction causes to families. We may have been able to keep it hidden from the press, but what happened to Auntie Deb, seeing how much pain she was in, it was awful. It almost destroyed Uncle Dan and Auntie Deb's marriage and my cousins had to see their mom completely broken. You being there to support your dad is amazing, and it's going to make a big difference 'cause knowing you're there for him is going to keep him going. But he also needs professional help, to get away from here and focus on working through all of this.'

'I get that, and I wanna thank you for sharing. It means a lot that you'd share that with me,' Haley smiled, 'I had no idea your family had gone through that. But that place your Aunt Deb went to…I can't imagine it's exactly at the lower end of rehab centres price-wise. Just let me save up the money from the pay rise and I can find him somewhere. I can't let you do this for me.'

'Haley,' Nathan said gently, 'it'll take you months, if not years to save up enough to afford anywhere half-decent, or you'd have to use up all your savings and even then, you still wouldn't have enough. Your dad can't wait that long. He needs help now if he's going to have a good chance of beating this. C'mon, you know I'm right. Let me do this, please.'

Haley dropped her head back into her hands again, trying to think things through without having Nathan looking at her imploringly, in all his handsome generosity. He was right – her father needed help now, she knew there was only so much monitoring and babysitting she could do by herself. But she hated the thought of being beholden to anyone, especially someone as rich and influential as Nathan Scott.

Of course, there was still the lingering thought in her mind that he in all likelihood still had a crush on her and that if she let him do this, he could use it to pressure her into getting involved with him romantically. A week ago, such a thought would never have even entered into her trusting brain, but then the man she'd believed to be the love of her life had tried to prostitute her out for a taste of fame and fortune to the very man who was sitting in front of her now. Even though said man had flatly turned down the offer, her faith in people had taken a hit and was yet to recover.

As though reading her thoughts, Nathan spoke again, 'If you're worried about you 'owing' me for this, please don't. I don't want to sound like a rich ass, but I have more money than I could ever use or need in a lifetime. I've spent far too much of it on stupid, selfish things. Let me use it to help you and your father, to do something meaningful. I'd do it for any of my friends and I know we're not at that stage yet, but I'd like us to be sometime soon. Please, Haley, let me help. No strings attached, I promise.'

Finally, she raised her head and said slowly, 'Okay, you can help. But if you're gonna pay for the rehab, then I won't need the pay rise anymore and it doesn't have to be anywhere fancy. We don't need some luxury centre for celebrities, just somewhere middle of the range.'

Nathan laughed, shaking his head, 'Sorry, Haley, no can do. You're getting a pay rise 'cause you deserve one. You'll be tutoring me for at least one extra session per week, which is gonna take up more of your time and means you won't be able to take on as many other students. As for the centre, let me take care of it all. The place where my Aunt Deb went isn't some fancy extended vacation for rich people pretending to be dealing with their problems while they sip margaritas by the pool. It's the best out there, but it actually makes a difference, in every area of its patients' lives. I know it works, and if we're gonna do this, we want to send your dad somewhere we know is gonna actually help him, right?'

He could see her still battling with the decision, so he said, 'Haley, I'm not gonna take no for an answer.'

Haley sighed and held her hands up in defeat, 'Fine, I give up. You sort the centre, pick whichever one you think's best. And I guess a pay rise wouldn't be too awful either.'

Her lips twitched up into a half-smile and Nathan grinned in response, 'Great, you won't regret it.'

'Which one – tutoring you again or letting you pay for my dad's rehab?'

'Both,' he chuckled.

'Thanks, Nathan, I really appreciate it. You don't have to do this, but I'm glad that you are,' she said sincerely, her eyes shining.

'To a fresh start,' he said, skirting past her thanks. He lifted his mug up and Haley did the same, before they both remembered they'd been empty for a while now.

They laughed and Haley stuck her hand out across the table after setting down her mug again, 'To a fresh start.'

Nathan reached out and shook her hand. As their hands met, there was the sense of something filling the room, which had been missing from both their lives for some time now.

Hope.

XxX

'Okay…they're walking out the front door now…they're saying goodbye…and they're walking, they're walking…still walking…ugh, she's still talking to them! My goodness, that woman loves the sound of her own voice! They're clearly backing away from you, Margaret, take the hint! Okay, they're at the gate now…and they're waving…still waving 'cause Margaret's still talking…'

'Do they look happy?' Megan asked, craning her neck over her mother's shoulder to try to get a clear view out of the window.

Claudia swatted her away, clearly worried her daughter's proximity might ruin the blow-dry she'd had this morning. Claudia's hair now sat perfectly styled, and almost unmoving, on top of her head.

'Mmm…they look happy in a polite way, like they're just putting on their professional smiles. But they don't look happy happy,' Claudia assessed.

Megan let out an excited squeak, 'Perfect! You know what that means, don't you? She wasn't there, they didn't find her and now they're coming here. It's finally our turn!'

Claudia winced at the shrill noises being emitted by her eldest daughter and shot her a withering look, 'Megan, go sort out your face quickly before they get here. You look flustered.'

'Surely, that's a good thing,' Megan tilted her chin up fractionally and flipped her hair over her shoulder in defiance, 'nice, rosy cheeks and all that.'

'It's only attractive if you're blushing, dear, and even then, only slightly. You just look…blotchy.'

Megan gave another, higher-pitched shriek and ran to the living room mirror. She grabbed her foundation and powder brush and started frantically trying to cover the red patches that had sprung up on her face.

'Ugh, why didn't you tell me?' she wailed, as she dabbed on more foundation.

'I was too busy looking at our, ahem, your future,' Claudia said, already back to looking out of the window with a look on her face akin to a cat watching a bird in a tree.

Suddenly, Claudia gasped, causing everyone in the room to jump.

'They're coming!'

The room fell into chaos, or, rather, Claudia and Megan did. The room's other inhabitants – Elise, Beatrice and Peyton – simply watched them in shock, boredom, or thinly veiled amusement, respectively.

'Okay, everybody act natural,' Claudia barked, striding away from the window and over to the mirror. She nudged Megan aside with her hip and ignored the ensuing protestations from her.

'Mom, I wasn't done,' Megan whined, still with unblended smears of foundation on her face.

Claudia ignored her and continued issuing orders, 'Elise, upstairs, now! Beatrice, sit up straight and put your damn phone away! Peyton, get into the kitchen and stay there until you hear me calling you about drinks.'

Elise, who knew better by now than to argue with or resist her stepmother, slipped silently from the room.

Beatrice rolled her eyes and put her phone reluctantly in her pocket, 'I don't get why I can't have my phone out. You said 'act natural'; this is what's natural for me.'

'Yes, well, when I said 'natural', I meant be a better version of your usual self for our guests,' Claudia sniffed distastefully as she eyed her younger daughter.

'Ugh, why does it matter what I'm doing, anyway? We all know I'm not the daughter you care about them seeing. I don't even know why I have to be here, anyway, I'm too young for this stupid thing,' Beatrice muttered, going to reach into her pocket for the safety blanket of her phone, before remembering that she couldn't and retracting her hand.

'Because, dearest, first impressions are everything and we need to look like the happy, wholesome family that we are for them. Also, he's not going to be interested in your sister if he gets distracted by you slumped like a sack of potatoes on the sofa,' Claudia said in a sickly sweet tone that held an edge of the punishment that would come if her words were not heeded.

'You already met them at the ball,' Beatrice pointed out, whilst straightening her spine obediently.

Claudia dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand, 'That doesn't count. There were so many people there, he didn't have a chance to fully take Megan in.'

'Yeah, that and she had her tongue stuck down his brother's throat,' Beatrice mumbled under her breath. Claudia shot her a warning look but otherwise ignored the remark.

Beatrice settled into sullen silence, knowing that she'd already pushed back more against her mother than she should have done.

Peyton quickly left the room and went into the safety of the kitchen before her stepmother's attention could shift to criticising her.

No sooner had she retreated to the far side of the kitchen, then the doorbell rang and the sound of further scuffling from the living room was followed by Claudia shouting out of habit, 'Peyton, get the door!'

Before Peyton had even had a chance to move towards the front door, Claudia remembered herself and the impression she wanted to put forward to this particular set of guests. She appeared at the kitchen door, 'On second thoughts, you'd better stay in here. After all, in your father's absence, I am the head of this house. And, anyway, we wouldn't want them being scared away by that sad, ugly face of yours.'

With that, she disappeared from the doorway, shutting the door firmly behind her for good measure. Claudia strode down the hallway, stopping only to check her reflection in the hallway mirror one last time.

Having smoothed out every possible crease from her dress and adjusted her pearl necklace a fraction, she turned and opened the front door, a beaming smile fixed onto her face.

'Gentlemen, welcome,' Claudia greeted the men on her doorstep, her voice marginally lower than its usual register – presumably in the hope that it sounded huskier, sexier.

Stood outside smiling back at her, was none other than the Lucas Scott, accompanied by two cameramen (both of them had strange names that she'd heard her neighbours mentioning but couldn't remember – Lips and Spills, or something like that) and The Scott Life's rather handsome director (Julio or Juan, maybe?). Their cameras and microphones were at the ready and Claudia felt her fifteen seconds of fame beckoning to her.

She shifted so that the sunlight fell on her more flatteringly, highlighting her still relatively wrinkle-free skin. This was it.

The search for Lucas' mystery girl was well and truly underway. While there might have been far more practical solutions to the problem of discovering her identity, Dan had, in typical fashion, chosen the option which would attract the best audience reaction for the show. It also happened to be an option that would take some time to see through properly, thus meaning that he could spin the story out hopefully for as long as possible.

To say that the public had responded well to the story would be the understatement of the century. The nation's interest and heart had been captured by the romance which had blossomed before their eyes onscreen and then by Lucas' vow to find the woman. Social media was full of theories, and newspapers and magazines had been running the story for days, each proposing different women for the role.

Dozens of experts had been interviewed for the show, each coming up with something different. One was certain that the woman's hair had been a wig, so the search shouldn't be confined to blondes only; whereas the next one had staked his career on her hair being natural. Another said that it was her real hair, but that it had clearly been dyed. One had claimed the woman had been wearing green-coloured contact lenses, while another scoffed at that theory, insisting her eye colour was natural. Two sketch artists had come up with images of what her face might have looked like underneath the mask, but had somehow come up with the faces of two entirely different women.

When that approach had shown itself to be fruitless, Dan had pounced on the information that the shoe the woman had left behind was completely unique.

Lucas had then found himself, and half of the show's crew, flying out to meet with the shoe's creator. The revelation that the shoe's glasslike appearance was activated only when fitted to its rightful owner's foot through the magic of DNA proved to be a PR dream come true for Dan Scott when he'd heard the news. The shoes were incredibly expensive due to the technology and so the creator had only made five fully-functioning pairs to date.

Onscreen for the interview for The Scott Life, the creator had told Lucas that he couldn't possibly give away the names of his clients, even for the noble purpose of uniting two lovers – client confidentiality, etc. (Unbeknownst to anyone else there, Karen, the original recipient of the shoe, had called the designer earlier that afternoon. Mindful of Peyton's previous pleas to her to keep her identity a secret, Karen had taken it upon herself to contact the creator and had sworn him to secrecy.)

This was, of course, a blow for the whole amateur investigation, but Dan was never one to accept a setback as a reason to quit, especially when there was money and publicity involved. Consequently, he had directed Lucas to take the shoe and try it on the foot of every woman in Tree Hill.

He had not been deterred from this course of action by his nephew reminding him that they already knew that the mystery woman had used an invitation with an alias on it and so they could already eliminate any woman on the guest list who had checked into the party using her actual name and official invitation. To have crossed all those women off the list would have meant far less of a search to go through and, therefore, less footage obtained for the next week's episode.

That was how Lucas, Mouth, Skills and Julian had found themselves trekking from house to house over the past few days, with said 'magical' shoe in tow. The shoe had graced the foot of nearly every woman who had been invited to the ball, over the age of 18 (even publicity-hungry Dan Scott could see that any implication of his nephew being romantically involved with a minor would be a bad idea).

They just had a few more houses left, including the one that they were now standing in front of: the Sawyer residence, which also happened to be the only one that Lucas actually cared about visiting. He had endured hours of various women, who even at a casual glance clearly could not possibly have been mistaken for his mystery woman, whilst all the time, his mind had been on this moment.

Well, not exactly this moment – whilst the woman standing in the doorway in front of them now was doubtless very beautiful, albeit in a cold, hard way - she was not the woman he had been daydreaming about seeing again. Her long, glossy dark brown hair fell over one shoulder and her piercing grey eyes assessed them with a calculated look, even as she maintained her fixed, slightly too-wide smile at them. She was probably in her mid-40s, yet could have easily passed for late-30s, but had the decided air of someone who was all too aware of their own beauty and the effect that it might have on any nearby unsuspecting men.

So, this must be the stepmother, Lucas thought to himself, even as he extended a hand to her in greeting.

'Mrs Claudia Sawyer, I presume?' he asked.

She stepped forward and grasped his outstretched hand in the same overly-firm, overly-eager manner that every other mother had at the other houses when they had greeted him.

'That I am,' she said, not breaking her smile or eye contact with him for a second, which was a little disconcerting, 'no need to introduce yourself, Mr Scott, of course, everyone in the country, the world, in fact, knows who you are! It's a pleasure to have you as a guest in our humble home.'

'Lucas, please,' he smiled in response as they shook hands, hoping that he didn't look as tired of all the forced pleasantries and fake flattery as he felt. He'd heard all of it by now and, while his parents had raised him to be a polite, Southern gentleman, the introvert in him yearned for an end to the stream of small talk and sycophants of the past few days. Nevertheless, he persevered, freeing his hand from her grip, 'And I don't know about the whole world knowing my name, but, even if it was, here are three people far more deserving of that privilege than me.'

Lucas turned to introduce the three men behind him, 'Mrs Sawyer, please may I introduce our cameraman, Skills, our tech guy and all-round genius, Mouth, and our fearless leader and director, Julian.'

Each of the men waved, smiled and gave their greetings to Claudia, who had already forgotten their names (she knew two of them had weird names). She smiled, slightly less widely, at them and murmured a quick, general 'hello' in their direction before stepping back and ushering them into her home with exaggerated gestures.

'My girls are just in here,' she told them as she led them through the hall and into the living room.

Megan, who had been doing her best to look 'natural' by holding a book open on her lap in an approximation of reading (Lucas Scott liked books, so of course she must too) as she sat by the fireplace (where the lighting was best), stood slowly and gracefully as the group entered. She mimicked her mother's too-wide, fixed smile and held the book (upside-down) in her hands in front of her.

Beatrice, who couldn't care less about the whole affair, grudgingly got to her feet from the couch where she'd been ensconced. She gave a small, brief half-smile at their guests before moving into the nearest corner. She made herself as small as possible and pushed her back against the wall, as though if she did so hard enough, she might be able to melt into it and disappear.

'This is my youngest, Beatrice,' Claudia said, gesturing to the nearer of her daughters vaguely, before quickly moving her hand to the fireplace, 'and this…is my eldest, Megan.'

She paused for dramatic effect, as though she expected someone to start up a drum roll or a fanfare.

When no such sound occurred, Megan stepped forward and held out a hand to Lucas, palm-side down as though she thought he would bow over it and kiss the back of her hand like a knight.

Instead, Lucas took her hand, turned it to the side and shook it normally, briefly. He gave her a thin smile, 'I believe we've already met once, when you were seeing my brother.'

Megan had the good sense to blush and at least look abashed, although she felt no shame whatsoever. Apparently, neither she nor Claudia saw any issue with the fact that she had dated, and been dumped by, one Scott brother and was now attempting to seduce the other.

She nodded, 'Yeah, I believe we met very briefly one morning at your place. Hopefully, we'll have the chance to get better acquainted soon.'

Lucas gave her a hard look that told her he wasn't being taken in by her fluttering eyelashes or hair twirling for one second. Then, he turned and introduced his crew again, all the while wondering where Claudia's stepdaughters were.

'Please, do sit, gentlemen,' Claudia simpered, gesturing to the various seats in the room in case they were incapable of seeing them unless pointed out to them.

As they sat, Julian began to explain the procedure for the shoe-fitting. Clearly oblivious to Lucas' disdain for her, Megan perched on the arm of the couch where he sat and crossed one of her legs on top of the other. Her skirt hitched up slightly with the action, revealing a larger portion of her tanned thigh than had previously been on display. Lucas barely glanced in her direction and turned in his seat so that he was facing the rest of the group, with his back to her.

'So, the idea is for this whole thing really not to take up much of your time at all,' Julian was explaining, 'as you can imagine, we've had a lot of houses to get through and a few more to go after this, and the next episode airs tomorrow, so we'd like to keep this quick, if that's okay. We just need all of the women in the house over the age of 18 to try on the shoe and we'll just take a few wider shots and then some close-ups of the shoe going on the foot. Then we'll be out of your hair. Is that okay for everyone?'

There were over-enthusiastic agreements from Claudia and Megan, and a soft grunt from Beatrice.

'Great, so is this all the women in the house?' Julian asked, looking around the room. He already knew, of course, the answer. He'd seen Lucas getting increasingly jittery as the day had progressed and they'd got closer to visiting this house in particular.

Claudia's smile wavered for just a millisecond, then she recovered herself and cleared her throat, 'Ahem, well, there are actually my two darling stepdaughters living here as well, of course. But the youngest, Elise, is only eleven, you see, so she's playing upstairs – she's not really one for TV, you know? And the eldest, Peyton, is just getting some drinks ready for all you lovely young men. You must be parched and we've got every drink you can possibly think of.'

'Oh, that's very kind of you, Mrs Sawyer, but–,' Julian began, thinking of the countless cups of coffee and tea that they'd forced down in every other house they'd visited that day.

'No, no, really, I insist,' Claudia waved her hand at him, 'you've been working all day and you must be exhausted. You need to have a little pick-me-up before you go on your way. We also have freshly baked, homemade chocolate chip cookies.'

Julian glanced around at his three friends for any kind of support in his resistance to the offered hospitality, but they all remained silent and shrugged, knowing as well as he did that saying no was futile.

Julian forced a smile onto his face and turned back to Claudia, 'Well, in that case, then, how could we say no?'

Claudia clapped her hands in delight, 'Perfect! Peyton!'

Peyton, who had been standing by the door to the living room with a tray laden with drinks and a plate of cookies listening in for her cue, waited a couple more seconds before stepping into the room.

'Hey,' she said quietly, walking forward and setting the tray down on the coffee table in the middle of the room, 'I didn't know what you guys would want, so I brought coffee, tea and water, but there's loads more out in the kitchen if you'd like something else.'

She kept her eyes down, not looking directly at anyone in case Claudia accused her of stealing focus away from Megan later on.

There was a chorus of greetings directed at her from the men in the room, all of whom she knew far better than her stepmother or stepsisters could claim to. She risked a smile at Skills and Mouth, who were closest to her, but didn't dare glance in Lucas' direction.

It was the first time she'd seen him since the ball; she'd steadfastly avoided him during each of her days up at the Manor, unsure of how to act around him now. As far as he was aware, the last time they'd seen each other had been when she'd been working at the house on the afternoon of the ball and she'd promised him that she would come that night. He must think that she had flaked on him and turned down the invitation.

Every time she'd been working at the Manor since then, she'd wanted to apologise to him for not being there. Then, she'd remember the feeling of his arms around her as they'd danced, his eyes staring back at her as he'd taken off his mask and his public vows to discover her identity, and she'd retreat to the safety of her cleaning supplies.

Lucas, however, couldn't help but look at Peyton. He was all too aware of the weeks that had passed since he'd seen her last and his stomach flipped at the sight of her now. Nevertheless, he noticed the way her eyes were fixed on the floor, the way she hugged her arms around herself as though she was trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible, and the general air of profound sadness that seemed to hang all around her.

Claudia looked expectantly from her guests to the tray, until they each had picked up a drink and cookie from it. There were murmurs of thanks from each of them, which quickly turned into sounds of awe and delight as they started eating the cookies.

'These are amazing, Peyton,' Mouth grinned at her, as he clutched the remainder of his cookie to himself possessively as though someone might snatch it from him any second.

'Seriously, did you really make these, P?' Skills asked, 'You didn't, like, get them from a box?'

Julian just gave her a thumbs up and made a noise of contented approval, as his mouth was still full.

'You should make some to sell at the café, people would go crazy for these,' Lucas agreed.

'Thanks,' Peyton said softly, blushing faintly.

It had been a long time since she'd heard anything close to a compliment being directed towards her in her own house (except from Elise, of course). She knew she was a good cook and baker – she'd had to be, having to learn fast after her mom had passed away. Claudia didn't step foot in the kitchen unless it was to find wine and her daughters were the same, only substituting snacks for wine, so she cooked and catered for everyone's tastes. Of course, the customers at Karen's Café showered her with praise for her food, but it still stung a little more than it should after all of these years that the only time she ever heard her stepfamily mentioning her cooking was when they had found something to pick fault with in it.

Nevertheless, despite the faint warmth that their praise had brought to her, she wished they weren't being quite so enthusiastic. She could see Claudia side-eyeing her and she felt a cold sweep of anxiety replace the warmth. Peyton knew that, even though she had maybe been in the room for only a couple of minutes maximum, she had already outstayed her welcome as far as Claudia was concerned. Their guests were looking at her, rather than Megan, which was unforgiveable. There would be hell to pay later if the rest of this meeting didn't go well. However, if the cookies had been disgusting and their guests had spat them out, she would've been in trouble too, so really, she'd been screwed from the outset either way.

'I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me, I've got a pan on the stove that I need to get back to,' Peyton said quickly, backing away towards the door.

'In that case, you'll have to be the first to try on the shoe,' Julian said, getting to his feet as he settled into 'business-mode'. He caught the look of panic on her face and smiled, 'don't worry, it'll only take a second so your dinner will be safe.'

'Oh, no, it's not that,' Peyton laughed nervously, still backing away slowly whilst trying to look normal and non-panicked, even as her heart threatened to break through her ribcage, 'it's just, I don't need to try it on. I wasn't at the ball. I was invited and I was all ready to come, but I got hit by this weird bug that just wiped me out for the night.'

'Really? That's funny 'cause I think I remember you, Claudia, telling my parents that Peyton didn't feel like coming, that she was too busy in the kitchen,' Lucas half-smiled as he directed his comment in a pointed tone at the matriarch.

Claudia let out a forced, shrill laugh, 'Did I? Well, you must have a better memory than I do! I think what I probably meant to say was–'

'Just that,' Peyton said, cutting across Claudia's fumbled excuses, 'you see, it wasn't a very pretty bug, let's just put it that way. And I was embarrassed about it, so I asked my family to cover for me 'cause I know how kind and caring your mom is and I was worried that if she heard that I was sick, she might leave the ball to check on me. I didn't want anyone seeing me in that state.'

Claudia shot Peyton a very rare look of gratitude and laughed again, 'See, there you are then. No mystery, just an upset stomach. But the main thing is that Peyton wasn't at the ball, so there's no need for her to waste your time trying on the shoe.'

'I understand that, Mrs Sawyer–,' Julian began.

'Claudia, I insist,' Claudia interrupted him with a supercilious smile.

Julian nodded in acknowledgement, and then began again, 'I understand that, Claudia, but Dan has been very insistent in his instructions that we get every woman in Tree Hill to try on the shoe who was invited to the ball. We've already tried it on a few women who weren't able to make it that night for various reasons. Please, I promise it will only take a moment of everyone's time.'

'I really think that it's just unnecessary,' Claudia frowned, her fake smile slipping slightly and a dangerous edge creeping into her voice with which Peyton was all too familiar. Peyton knew, there was no way in hell that Claudia would allow Peyton's foot to go anywhere near a shoe that Megan would be trying on later, especially not where there were cameras and a TV show involved. Claudia continued, 'I mean, really, if you'd seen her that night – she was in no fit state to leave the bathroom, let alone go to a ball!'

Julian started to protest again, calmly explaining that he understood that, of course, but he had his instructions and it really would only take a minute.

As he was explaining, Peyton took a deep breath and forced herself to look across the room to where Lucas was sitting. She caught his eye almost instantly and gave him a pleading look, shaking her head almost imperceptibly so as not to alert Megan behind him. She silently prayed he would hear her begging him in her mind to intervene.

If it had just been the two of them, she might've been able to go ahead with it and tried on the shoe. She could have pleaded with him after the shoe had turned glass-like not to reveal her identity to the world. She might even have explained to him the reason why that would be so catastrophic for her.

However, if she had to try on that shoe here, now, with her stepfamily watching, that would be it. Claudia would sooner die than see Peyton running off into the sunset with an international superstar. Or, more accurately, she would sooner that Peyton died.

Mercifully, Lucas caught her silent pleas and interpreted them correctly in less than a second.

'That's okay, Julian, Peyton doesn't need to try it on,' Lucas interrupted his friend and got to his feet, holding the shoe in front of him, 'we've tried it on more than enough women over the past few days. I think we can let Peyton off the hook.'

'But, Luke, Dan said–,' Julian protested, frowning at Lucas in confusion.

'Uncle Dan doesn't need to know,' Lucas stopped him again gently, 'we've got more than enough footage to use for the episode and the whole point of this is to find the girl, so it's pointless making someone who wasn't even there try it on.'

Julian and Lucas stared at one another for a moment, before Julian sighed and relented.

'Fine, Peyton, I guess you're free to get back to tonight's dinner,' Julian smiled at her wearily, 'if it's any bit as good as these cookies are, it'd be a shame to ruin it standing here arguing over this.'

'Thank you,' Peyton whispered, her eyes locked onto Lucas' so that he would know she was directing her gratitude solely at him.

She all but ran from the room and into the kitchen, terrified that someone would change their mind any second and call her back, or that Claudia would suddenly start to question whether there was another reason why Julian was so insistent that Peyton tried on the shoe. It was only after she had shut the kitchen door behind her, that she felt her heart rate start to slow. Her hands were clammy and shaking; she pressed them against her jeans to try to stop the tremors.

Peyton took deep gulps of air to try to calm her breathing, as she listened to the sounds of Claudia trying on the shoe – shockingly, the shoe neither fitted to her foot nor turned to anything resembling glass.

As Beatrice was only 16 and, therefore, too young to qualify for the shoe fitting, Megan was the next and, in Peyton's absence, the last eligible female in the Sawyer residence. Peyton moved away from the door in disgust as she heard her stepsister drawing out the process as much as possible, doubtless getting in a few 'accidental' grazes against Lucas as she did so.

Peyton rolled her eyes as she removed the lid from the pot on the stove and stirred the mixture within it, before reminding herself that she shouldn't care about Megan flirting with Lucas. It wasn't like she liked him, not in that sense, anyway.

Instantly, her brain conjured an image of Lucas' smiling face and his eyes staring deeply into hers as though to disprove that point. Peyton's stomach swooped and she felt her face heating slightly, which she told herself was just the steam from the pot.

She focussed steadfastly on her cooking after that, trying to shut out all of the sounds coming from the living room, and all thoughts of Lucas Scott, from her mind. She had almost succeeded until a soft knock on the door broke through her concentration.

Her head turned towards the door just as Lucas opened it gingerly, poking his head through the gap and giving her a lop-sided grin that almost made her drop the spoon she was using for stirring.

'Hey, sorry for interrupting,' he apologised, 'I just wanted to return these to you before we go.'

He nudged the door open wider and stepped into the kitchen, holding the tray she'd brought in earlier. Peyton noted that the drinks had gone mostly untouched but that there were only minuscule crumbs left on the plate where the cookies had been.

'Thanks,' she smiled, stepping away from the stove to take the tray from him, 'you didn't need to do that, I could've brought it out after you'd gone.'

Lucas shrugged as he handed the tray over to her, 'To be honest, I was just being nosey. I wanted to see what you were cooking in here and if it was as amazing as those cookies.'

She laughed, and nodded over at the simmering pot on the hob, 'See for yourself, if you want.'

Lucas' face lit up, as he stepped towards the stove and lifted the lid off the pot. He put his face closer to it and inhaled deeply. He sighed appreciatively.

Noting his reaction, Peyton held out a spoon to him and he grinned, 'Seriously?'

She nodded, 'Go ahead.'

He scooped out a spoonful and blew on it to cool it. He groaned in pleasure as he gulped it down and gave the chef a nod of approval, 'Honestly, Peyton, that is amazing! You're seriously gonna have to give me some of your recipes, starting with that cookie one. You're a great cook.'

'Well, it's all thank to your mom. Everything I know, she taught me – when it comes to cooking, and a lot of other things, when it comes to it,' Peyton smiled, before turning away from him and back to washing up the cups and glasses he'd brought out to her.

As she went to place the first mug onto the drying rack, she was surprised to see Lucas standing next to her, dishcloth in hand, ready to receive it.

'You really shouldn't be doing that, you're our guest,' she told him. She smiled as she said it, but kept glancing at the now open door to the kitchen. Claudia and Megan would notice his absence any second now, if they hadn't already, and they'd go mad if they found him out in the kitchen, speaking to her and helping out with the dishes.

Unaware of her inner fears, Lucas shrugged happily, 'I quite like doing the dishes. I find it quite calming, y'know?'

'I guess,' Peyton said softly, although she couldn't really relate. Doing the dishes for her was usually anything but calming. Normally, she'd be shoving various items into the dishwasher as quickly as possible so that she could catch up with the mountain of chores ahead of her. She rarely had the luxury of standing at the sink to handwash items and contemplate life.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between them, which was then broken by the sound of Julian wrapping up the conversation in the living room.

Peyton glanced quickly at Lucas, 'Did you have any luck here? With finding your mystery girl, I mean.'

He caught her eye and half-smiled, 'With your stepmother and stepsister? No, funnily enough, not. Still, there's a few more houses to go.'

'Well, good luck,' she smiled back, fighting a sudden feeling of breathlessness that was threatening to overcome her as he held her gaze, 'it sounds like it's time for you guys to go. I can finish up in here.'

'You sure? There's only a couple more to go,' he gestured at the remaining cups in front of him.

She took the cloth from him and nodded, 'Yeah, I've got it from here.'

'Okay then, I'll go say bye next door,' he said, still holding her gaze as he strolled towards the kitchen door, 'I'll see you tomorrow, right?'

Peyton scrambled momentarily as to whether there was some kind of event happening the next day that would mean she'd be seeing him again so soon. Then, she remembered, 'Right, tomorrow – Friday, my full day for cleaning. Um, yeah, I'll see you then.'

She hastily turned away, flushing as she realised she was rambling like an idiot.

'Great, see ya then,' he grinned goofily at her and have her a half-wave, half-salute.

Peyton found that, without her knowing it had happened, her face was turned towards him again and she was grinning back at him. Similarly, without meaning to, she heard herself calling out to him as he was heading through the door, 'Lucas!'

He paused in the doorway and turned back towards her expectantly.

'Thank you,' she blurted out, 'for earlier, for not making me…you know…'

He nodded and shrugged off her gratitude, 'No problem.'

Peyton's head was screaming at her to just shut her mouth, to leave it there and let him walk out. She could hear the voices in the living room getting closer and she knew that she maybe had seconds before they came out and Claudia saw them talking together.

The smart choice was to do what she always did: keep her head down and her mouth shut.

Somehow, however, she found her mouth saying to him, 'I can explain.'

Lucas looked a little surprised, but recovered quickly and shook his head, 'There's really no need to.'

Her brain had caught up with her mouth now, but, impossibly, even being completely in control of her faculties again, she still said quietly, 'I want to, though. Just…not here, not now.'

Lucas followed the line of her nervous glances towards the living room door and seemed to understand, 'Okay then. Bye, Peyton.'

'Bye,' she replied weakly, feeling a little faint as she realised the gravity of what she had possibly just agreed to do.

Julian appeared in the hallway seconds later, quickly followed by the rest of the group. However, thankfully for Peyton, Lucas had left the kitchen by that point and had picked up on enough of Peyton's tension to have the good sense to shut the door behind him as he went.

Peyton let out a long, shaky breath that she hadn't even been aware that she'd been holding. She heard her stepfamily drawing out their goodbyes even more than their neighbours had when Claudia had been judging them from the front window.

She flinched as she heard the front door shut, anticipating Claudia's wrath to come barrelling through the kitchen door any second. However, mercifully, she heard the three women go back into the living room and start to discuss the visit in detail.

Good, that'll keep them going until at least dinnertime, Peyton thought with a relieved sigh.

Now, she had a few minutes alone to berate herself for potentially just agreeing to share some, if not all of the shameful misery of her life with international star, Lucas Scott.

'What was I thinking?' she groaned out loud, hitting the heel of her palm against her forehead.

Of course, you don't have to tell him the actual truth, you know, a voice in her head told her, not about you being his mystery girl, of course, there's clearly no reason whatsoever to tell him that much of the truth. But for the other stuff, he doesn't need to know that your stepmother's an abusive bitch, who treats you like her slave and blackmails you to keep you trapped with her, and that her daughters aren't much better. You can just make up some other reason, something a normal person would have as an excuse for not wanting to try on a stupid shoe that every other woman in the country would probably kill to get a chance to wear, even for just a second.

Yes, that was it, she nodded to herself. She'd clearly experienced some kind of temporary insanity when she'd said that to him. After all, he'd said it himself: she didn't need to tell him.

So, she'd could up with some excuse, some story, and he'd never need to know the hideous truth.

Yet, as she pushed herself away from the sink and went about preparing the rest of dinner, Peyton found herself being surprised by one, simple realisation.

No, she didn't need to tell Lucas the truth. But, inexplicably, she wanted to.

The next morning, Peyton was back up at the manor, scrubbing and polishing as though her life depended on it. Her frantic cleaning was helping to ease some of the knotted tension in her stomach.

She'd been awake half the night, talking herself in and out of telling Lucas the truth about her homelife. Every time she'd resolved to do it, she'd been overcome with anxiety at the thought of sharing her secret with him. Outside of the Sawyer household, Brooke, Haley and Karen were the only people who knew the reality of her situation. She'd trust each of them with her life if it came down to it.

So, she asked herself, why was she even considering sharing something so deeply personal with someone she didn't really know that well at the end of the day? The sensible option was to make up some story to tell to him and then get out as quickly as possible.

Yet, something in her kept telling her that she could trust Lucas. And, despite all her misgivings, she still found herself wanting to tell him, to share the weight of her secret with someone else.

A few fitful hours of sleep later, and she'd woken with the decision that she was going to tell him. And, after a couple of hours of frenzied cleaning, she was still determined to do so.

Well, mostly, anyway.

There was a part of her that was still not entirely certain that she wouldn't baulk out of it when the moment eventually came.

At that moment, Lucas was in the editing room with Julian and Nathan, getting the latest episode of The Scott Life ready to air that night. She'd catch him when he was finished and tell him then.

The problem was that there was no telling how long they might be and, with every minute that passed, Peyton felt her resolve wavering.

A sudden knock at the front door broke through her anxious thoughts.

She waited a moment to see if anyone else was around to answer it. It wasn't really her place to be answering the door and granting potential strangers access into her employers' property. However, seconds passed and no one else appeared.

The knocking came again and Peyton sighed, lifting herself wearily from her knees. Whoever it was would have had to have been allowed in at the main gate by the security team anyway, so they were unlikely to be a passing salesman trying their luck or a local teenager delivering takeout flyers.

She opened the door, remembering too late that she was still wearing her rubber gloves and apron for cleaning. When she saw the person on the other side of the door, she'd never been more aware of her torn jeans and battered Converse, or the wisps of hair that had come free from the messy bun she'd shoved her curls into, that were now sticking to her forehead and neck from the exertion of her vigorous scrubbing.

The woman standing in front of her now, looking at Peyton impatiently and judgementally, needed no introduction. Peyton recognised her from countless magazines and TV appearances.

It was Lindsey Strauss, Lucas' now ex-fiancée.

XxX

Brooke was pacing again. She had been doing so for the past half an hour, and sporadically earlier during the day. She was biting her thumb distractedly, while her other arm was wrapped around her waist so that she was half hugging herself in unconscious comfort.

Julian watched her wearily from his seat at the kitchen table. His laptop was out in front of him and he was meant to be finishing an email to Dan about some ideas for The Scott Life. However, his concern for the pacing brunette on the other side of the kitchen meant that he hadn't got past the opening greeting for the email. Onscreen, the cursor blinked at him accusatorily, as though reprimanding him for his unfinished work.

Julian sighed and shut his laptop. Enough was enough.

He was never going to get any work done until he'd helped Brooke resolve whatever it was that was bothering her.

She'd been like this for the last couple of weeks, ever since they'd seen Kathy's veiled death threat masking as a TV interview. The attack in New York had, understandably, left her jumpy and anxious, but she'd been starting to show signs of improvement before seeing Kathy's message.

For the last two weeks, Brooke had been coming into a room to do something, forgetting what it was that she was meant to be doing and then pacing nervously until Julian asked her what was wrong.

He could tell that something was eating at her, visibly gnawing away at her strength like some invisible parasite. She'd lost several pounds in a matter of days, not that she'd had any spare weight to lose to begin with. She was barely sleeping; he could hear her tossing and turning during the night, tangling the sheets around her. Her face was pale and had a gaunt look to it.

More than anything, Julian just wanted to help her, but, frustratingly, she wouldn't let him. Every time he asked her, she'd say that it was nothing and then find an excuse to leave the room or change the conversation.

He knew that she was beating herself up over what she perceived to be weaknesses, but were actually the side-effects of the trauma she'd experienced. He heard her berating herself when she jumped at unexpected noises or when she had to get up for the tenth time during the night to check that all of the windows and doors were locked. He saw her frustration with herself after she had another panic attack.

Julian, Haley and Peyton had all tried to tell her that her reactions were normal, that it would be far more worrying if she were able to slip straight back into her previous life. Whenever she became annoyed by a perceived setback, they reminded her that it would take time for her to heal – months, years maybe – and that, even then, she might not ever be completely whole again. There would still be a part of her that was a little bit broken - not a gaping wound, but a scar.

However, Brooke was stubborn, impatient and desperate not to be a burden to anyone. So, she pushed herself to try to get back to her former self, the one he'd glimpsed briefly on the night that they'd first met in the park and the one that her best friends knew and loved so well. No matter how many times they told her that they loved this part of her too, she would just dismiss them and go back to trying to appear strong.

But now it had been two weeks of her pushing him, and her friends, away and Julian couldn't cope any longer.

This time, he wasn't giving her a choice. He was going to help her.

Julian stood from the kitchen table and walked over to Brooke, who was, in that moment, apparently oblivious to his presence in the room with her.

The mug that she'd got out of the cupboard when she'd originally entered the kitchen to make herself a herbal tea, sat dejected with a dry tea bag inside. Julian filled the cup using boiling water from the tap that the Scotts had had installed in the sink for just such a purpose.

He placed the mug back onto the counter and stepped sideways to block her path as she swung around to complete the next lap of her pacing.

Brooke jumped a little and blinked up at him dazedly. He smiled down at her, concern filling his face.

'Brooke, what's wrong,' he asked softly, gently placing his hands on her shoulders, 'and don't say 'nothing' 'cause we both know that's not true.'

She stared up at him, mouth open as though she wanted to start speaking but was unable to find the words.

'C'mon, Brooke, let me help you,' he pleaded with her, 'you don't have to go through this on your own. Let me in, please.'

It was the 'please' that broke her. She could see the worry etched on his face and the desperation in his voice.

And, suddenly, she couldn't hold it back anymore.

'It's my dad,' Brooke whispered, her voice breaking as tears started to build in her eyes, blurring her vision, 'I just…I'm so scared. Ever since Kathy did that interview…all I keep thinking about is him all alone in that apartment, in his bed, with one of her hitmen watching him all the time. He's so weak, if anything happened – if anyone tried to–'

'Hey, he's gonna be okay, alright? I know it's tough him being there with Kathy and you being stuck hiding out here, but he's safe there, remember?'

Brooke nodded through the tears that were now flowing freely down her face, 'I know, I know – Kathy needs to keep him alive so that she can still use him to blackmail me. And I keep telling myself that to keep from going insane, but he…he doesn't know I'm okay. There was so much blood in my apartment after the attack. He probably thinks I've been kidnapped or that I'm dead and I can't tell him that I'm here, that I'm safe, without putting both of us in danger.

'I just can't stand the thought of him not knowing that I'm okay, of him thinking that I'm…that I'm–'

She broke off, unable to complete her sentence as her eyes widened and her breathing became shallower until her chest was heaving and her whole body was shaking.

Julian had seen a fair few of her panic attacks by now. Even so, it still physically hurt him seeing her so vulnerable and panicked.

He kept his hands on her shoulders, squeezing down on them in short, firm pulses.

'Hey, it's okay, Brooke, it's okay,' he reassured her, 'look at me, it's gonna be okay. Look at me, Brooke. That's it. Okay, now breathe with me. In…out…in…out…'

Julian kept inhaling and exhaling deeply, maintaining eye contact with her. He nodded at her encouragingly as her breathing started to slow a little.

'That's it, perfect. Keep looking at me, keep breathing. It's okay, you're gonna be fine. Keep going, in…out…in…out…'

Her breaths were still coming out in short, shaky gasps, but they were definitely slowing. Her eyes were calmer and some of the tension had eased from her body.

They kept going until the attack passed and her breathing was back to normal, albeit still with the odd shaky inhale and exhale.

When he was sure that it wouldn't make her feel claustrophobic, Julian stepped into the small gap between them and wrapped his arms around her small frame, tucking her head under his chin.

Instantly, he felt her arms come up around his waist and her face burrow into his chest. He could feel his shirt dampening as she cried silently into the fabric, but he couldn't care less.

'It's okay, Brooke, I'm here. You're not alone, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. You're safe,' he whispered to her.

Some time later, which could've been minutes or hours, she drew her head back enough to look up at him and give him a small smile.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to cry all over you. I'm such a mess,' she let out a short, shaky laugh, clearly embarrassed by her actions, 'that's why I didn't want to tell you. I figured you'd probably had enough of me being…well, this. And I wanted to try to sort it out myself, but the more I kept thinking about it, the more I realised there was nothing I could do and then, well, then that happens.'

'Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry about,' he shook his head at her, 'I want to help you, Brooke; I want you to cry on me, if that's what you need to do. Ruin a hundred of my shirts, go through fifty boxes of tissues – I don't care as long as you're okay. It kills me to see you hurting.'

'Sorry, I just don't want you to worry about me all the time. I want to be strong.'

'Brooke, you are strong,' he caught the brief shake of her head, so he persisted, 'hey, you are, okay? Look at everything you've been through and yet you're still here, you're still fighting. Most other people would've given up, but not you, Brooke Davis. You're friggin' Superwoman.'

She laughed and rolled her eyes, 'Thank you – for just being here, all the time. For helping me.'

'Hey, what else are friends-slash-housemates for?' He shrugged, 'Now, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna make you another tea, 'cause this one's gone cold. Then, we're gonna go next door and sit down somewhere a bit more comfortable than this kitchen. And then I'm going to tell you my 'Help-Brooke-Let-Her-Father-Know-She's-Okay-And-Hasn't-Been-Killed-By-Her-Crazy-Stepmother' plan – it's a working title.'

So, a few minutes later, when they were both sitting on the couch in the living room cradling fresh mugs of tea, that was exactly what he did.

'I'm gonna go to New York and get a message to your dad to let him know you're okay,' Julian revealed.

Brooke instantly began to protest, but he reached across the couch and squeezed her hand gently to stop her.

'Just, hear me out first, okay?' he said, to which she nodded, 'Right, so I was meant to have a meeting with some movie producers the day after tomorrow, who want to speak to me about directing their film. I was gonna do it over Skype, but they're based in New York, so I'll call them this afternoon and tell them I'm coming there in person.

'Then, either before or after the meeting with them, I'll arrange a meeting with Kathy – at home – so that I can get close enough to your dad to get the message to him. I'll tell her I've been approached by some documentary producers, who want to do a piece on her career – you know, chuck in a bit of flattery about how much of an icon she is, throw in the old Julian Baker charm, and get her so she's all happy and unsuspecting.

'Then, once I'm in her apartment, I find some excuse and slip into your dad's room, give him the message and get out again before Kathy notices I'm gone. I make my excuses and get out of there, and onto a flight back to you.'

'Julian–,' Brooke started to interject when he paused for breath.

'Just wait one more moment,' he said quickly, and she nodded again, 'I won't use my real name, so she won't be able to link me back to the Scotts or Tree Hill and work out that you're here. And I'll get Mouth and the other techies to put together a website and a Wikipedia page for me so I look like the real deal, in case she decides to do any digging.

'And, you probably wouldn't know this, but Lucas and Nathan have a bunch of disguises that they use for when they want to go out in public without being recognised. So, I'll use one of those and I won't even look like me. Okay then, I'm done now. So, what do ya think?'

Brooke sighed and shook her head, 'It's too dangerous, Julian. What if she works out that something's wrong and has you followed? Or what if you can't get to my dad on your own? And, even if you do, how are you going to get a message to him? Kathy has a bodyguard in the room with him at all times! If something goes wrong – if something happened to you, I couldn't…I can't lose anyone else I care about Julian.'

'Hey, it'll be okay, Brooke,' he reassured her softly, moving closer to her so that he could hold her hands in his, 'I'll be fine, I promise. We've got enough time to get everything sorted and to work out a backstory for me. We can even run scenarios if you want so I know exactly what I'm gonna say. I'll ask Dan to lend me one of his blacked-out cars with a driver. If he can shake off a dozen paparazzi in one of those, then I can ditch anyone Kathy might've sent to tail me.

'And, as for the message, I'll find a way to get to your dad and we'll just give him a written message so the bodyguard doesn't realise what's happening. Please, Brooke, we've got time to sort out all the details, just trust me, okay? I can do this; I want to do this.

'This is the only way I can think of for getting a message to your dad while keeping you safe. I know it's a risk, but I can't take another day of seeing you so torn up about this. And, be honest, you probably can't take another day of stressing about this. Let me help, Brooke, please.'

She chewed her lip anxiously, avoiding his gaze. Julian reached out and gently lifted her chin so she had to look at him, 'It's gonna be okay, Brooke. I'll be fine, just trust me.'

Brooke took in a shaky breath and met his gaze, 'Okay.'

'Yeah?' he raised his eyebrows, surprised that she was allowing him to go ahead with the scheme.

She bit her lip again and nodded, 'Yeah, let's do this.'

'Come on up,' Kathy's voice trilled over the intercom.

There was a brief pause and then a harsh electronic buzzing sound as the door to the apartment complex released, allowing Julian inside.

He headed across the plush lobby to the nearest elevator. Everything around him seemed to be either gold or marble. He'd been to enough meetings with Dan Scott and spent long enough staying at Hillcrest Manor to have become accustomed to stupendous wealth by now.

However, the luxury of the building he was currently in felt rich in a different way to anywhere he'd ever been with any of the Scotts. The places they'd chosen to live were expansive mansions, doubtless, but they always still felt homely somehow. With the exception of a few rooms in Dan's home, it never felt as though the Scotts were trying to rub their affluence in anyone else's face.

As he stepped onto the deep carpet that covered the floor of the elevator, Julian was hit by the overwhelming sense that he didn't belong in there, or anywhere in the building for that matter. The feeling was accompanied by the distinct impression that this was exactly the intention of the architects and designers who had crafted the building, and that it was one that its inhabitants were all too happy to preserve.

He caught his first good look at himself since he'd stepped out of the car Dan had let him borrow for the trip, and he almost did a double-take at his reflection.

Staring back at him was the embodiment of a hipster director. Julian's natural hair was covered with a long wig that had been pulled back into a messy manbun. His now blue eyes (thanks to the magic of coloured contact lenses) blinked back at him from behind large, round wire-framed glasses, while the lower half of his face was obscured by a bushy beard and moustache that almost seemed to be screaming out for someone to thread flowers through.

He was wearing a floral-patterned shirt, topped with a long, baggy cardigan, the sleeves of both of which were rolled up to his elbows. His wrists were adorned with various leather straps and knotted scarves acting as bracelets. His legs sported a pair of sandy chinos, again with the hem rolled up to show a fair portion of his ankle down into his sockless feet encased in a pair of brown loafers. He even had a temporary tattoo of the peace symbol on the inside of his left ankle.

Julian was certain that even his own mother wouldn't recognise him if she encountered him right now. It felt strange, and a little exciting, as though he were an undercover agent.

However, as the elevator ascended towards the penthouse, he reminded himself that he wasn't playing dress-up. Brooke's life depended on him remembering his cover story and pulling this whole charade off. Before he'd left, she'd made him promise countless times that he'd stay safe and wouldn't take any unnecessary risks.

His stomach churned and beads of sweat started to form on the back of his neck as he reached his destination. The elevator doors opened with a soft chime and he stepped out into a lobby area that was probably larger than the whole of the first crappy apartment he'd ever rented back when he'd been starting out on his own in Brooklyn.

The front door to the penthouse was open and Kathy was standing in the doorway, ready to greet him. She looked every bit as glamorous as she did whenever he'd seen her on TV.

She smiled as she stepped forward to greet him, 'Hi, I'm Kathy.'

Julian smiled in return, shaking the perfectly manicured hand that was offered to him, and said in the Southern accent that Brooke had taught him how to use, 'Linus Reinhart; it's a pleasure to meet you, Kathy.'

'Come in, please,' she ushered him into the main part of her home.

Julian held in a sigh of relief that he'd been able to remember his alias and to use the fake accent.

The inside of the penthouse was mostly open plan, with only a few doors leading off from the main section to what he assumed were bedrooms and bathrooms. The entire apartment was decorated using monochrome colours, with the odd feature piece of furniture in bold red. Floor-to-ceiling windows surrounded him on all sides and gave impressive views out over the city.

'You have a lovely home,' Julian drawled, looking around him. He meant it too, but he held back from saying that it wouldn't be his choice of places to live, nor his choice of interior design.

'Thank you,' Kathy smiled again, leading him through the apartment and towards one of the doors off to the side, 'I hope you don't mind, but I thought we'd have our meeting in with my husband, Ted. He's not been well for a while, as you may know, so he can't leave his bed. But ever since Brooke…well, I'm sure you've seen it all on the news…anyway, we're all worried sick, of course. But Ted's taken it particularly hard. He hasn't been eating and he barely talks anymore.

'I'm trying to spend as much time with him as possible to try to get through this together, to remind him he's not alone. And, anyway, he's always been so good when it comes to business, so I thought maybe him seeing a new face and hearing some ideas, well…'

She trailed off with a sad shrug and a half-smile. For a moment, Julian found it hard to believe that she would do anything to harm her husband, Brooke, or anyone for that matter. She seemed to be so genuinely devastated and concerned when she was speaking about her husband.

Then, she opened the door to what turned out to be Ted's bedroom (although it looked more like a hospital room, given the amount of wires and monitors that filled the space).

She walked slowly over to the man propped up on a mountain of pillows on the bed in the middle of the room, 'Ted, darling, this is Linus. He's the director I was telling you about.'

Ted, who had been staring blankly out of the windows, turned his head slowly to take in his visitors. Kathy began fussing over him and rearranging his pillows, acting every inch the caring wife.

However, Julian noted the look of surprise on Ted's face as he took in his wife's presence in the room, as though he hadn't seen her in days. Knowing what he did of Kathy from Brooke, Julian guessed that this was exactly the truth and that the display being acted out before him now was solely for Julian's benefit. Doubtless, she imagined he would now go back to his producers and tell them that they had to feature Kathy's altruism in the documentary.

The fact that she was going through all of this effort to pass herself off as the selfless, devoted wife was encouraging, though. It must mean that she believed his story. If she'd suspected he was not who he claimed to be, Julian imagined he'd have been given a five-minute meeting out in the lobby – if he'd even been allowed into the building, that is.

'Mr Davis, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir,' Julian said, remembering to keep up his Southern drawl.

He stepped forward and offered a hand out to the man in the bed, who looked him over sceptically before folding his hands decidedly in his lap. Julian smiled awkwardly and lowered his hand.

'You'll have to excuse my husband, Linus,' Kathy gave a light laugh, 'like I said, he's not been himself lately.'

'That's alright, ma'am, it's perfectly understandable given the circumstances,' Julian replied, before directing his gaze to Ted, 'I hope you get some good news about your daughter soon, sir.'

Ted let out a gruff 'humph' in response, then turned back to staring out of the window.

'And this is Hans,' Kathy said, turning to a hulking man sitting in the far corner of the room, who was so quiet that Julian hadn't noticed him before, 'he watches over my Ted when I'm not here.'

Julian offered Hans a smile and a 'hello', both of which were ignored by the bodyguard.

'I'm so sorry, I haven't offered you a drink,' Kathy gasped, 'where are my manners? Would you like something?'

'A coffee would be great, thanks,' Julian smiled, and Kathy motioned for Hans to fetch it.

Hans skulked off to the kitchen, looking more like a mountain on legs than a man. Julian swallowed a little drily; he didn't fancy his chances against Hans if he got caught in his ruse.

Kathy motioned to two chairs at Ted's bedside; she and Julian both sat.

'So, tell me, why does an indie director like you want to do a documentary on someone like me?' she asked, turning in her seat to face him, with one leg crossed elegantly over the other and both her hands clasped on top of her knee.

'I see you've done your homework on me, then,' Julian chuckled, mentally thanking Mouth for setting up the website and sufficient internet search hits for 'Linus Reinhart' in time for the meeting.

'I always like to know who I'm working with,' she replied, 'something my dear Ted taught me the importance of.'

They both glanced at Ted, who remained unmoved from his window-watching at the mention of his name.

'Well, as you've probably seen from my bio then, up 'til now I've done mostly arthouse indie films. But, well, I got married to my lovely wife a couple of years back,' he waved his left hand to show off the wedding band on his ring finger (another prop borrowed from Lucas and Nathan's stash of disguises), 'and shortly after that, we got pregnant. After our little boy was born, I stopped directing films for a while. I wanted to be present as a father, y'know?

'But he's a little older now and the missus and I are both starting to look at getting back to our careers. And, well, as much as I love arthouse indie films, they don't really put food on the table, do they? So, I called in a favour with a buddy of mine from college who works at the production company and convinced them to give me a shot for this.

'I figure, sure, it's a change in direction for me. But, no matter what I've worked on, my interest's always been people, you know? And that's how I see this documentary – a chance to show someone as they are, explore their history and relationships and help other folks who might want to someday follow along the same path.'

'Very good,' Kathy smiled, clearly impressed, 'so, tell me, what's the plan for this documentary? What's the vision?'

At that moment, Hans reappeared with two cups of coffee, clearly well-trained on his employer's tastes, as he handed one to Julian and the other to Kathy. They both thanked him and he returned to his corner in silence.

'Well, as you know from when we spoke a couple of days ago on the phone, the big bosses at the production company were all tied up in meetings for the next few weeks, so I offered to set up this meet with you and sound out whether or not you'd be interested.

'So, it's still very early days yet and this is really just a preliminary meeting to see if both sides are interested. If you're happy to go ahead, I'll go back to the producers and they should give the documentary the go ahead. Then, there'll be plenty of meetings between all of us so we can scope out exactly what it'll look like.

'But I can tell you from what I know already, the idea is for it to be three-parts – part one for your childhood and early career, part two to focus on your success and how you built up your name in the industry, and then part three for your family life and who you are now. Each part will probably be around 40 to 45 minutes, to allow for adverts, depending on which platform it airs on. I have a few ideas for how I'd like it to look, but I want to work with you on it so you absolutely feel that it reflects you and your story,' Julian finished neatly, taking a moment to mentally congratulate himself on remembering everything he'd rehearsed with Brooke.

'Well, Linus, I can tell you right now that I'm very much interested in this little project,' Kathy told him, 'I've always tried to be a role model for other women and girls trying to make it in the industry and I like the fact that this series will give me the opportunity to share some of the things I've learned along the way. So, you can tell the big bosses at the production company that I'm good to go ahead, if they are.

'I do have one condition, though. I'd like there to be an appeal for information on Brooke somewhere in each episode. In a way, it seems so wrong to be thinking about planning a documentary celebrating my life when such an important part of it is missing at the moment. But at least I can use this to try to keep her case in everyone's minds. And I know that Brooke would want me to keep going; she was always so encouraging when it came to my career.'

The fact that Kathy was referring to Brooke in the past tense was not lost on Julian. Nor was the fact that she'd said the whole of the last part with Ted's hand clasped in hers, which again appeared to be more to give a display of unity for Julian's sake than an act of genuine affection.

Kathy glanced at her husband again, clearly hoping to hear some form of praise or gratitude on his part that she was so selflessly using this opportunity to further his daughter's case. Once again, however, Ted stayed as he was and gave no indication that he had even heard his wife's plan.

Nevertheless, Julian knew that flattery would be needed on his part if he wanted a shot at getting Ted on his own, so he smiled admiringly at Kathy, 'That's really great of you to think of using this to help Brooke. I'll definitely let the producers know and I'm sure they'll be on board too. She's lucky to have a stepmother like you.'

Kathy preened under his adulation, beaming smugly even as she tried to pass it off as some semblance of humility, 'Well, Brooke's always been the daughter that I never had to me. It's the least I can do and, of course, I wish I could do more.'

'Of course,' Julian sympathised, while he wondered how exactly he was going to get her to leave the room long enough for him to get the message to Ted.

As if by magic, Kathy's phone suddenly started to ring. She glanced down at the screen and sighed, 'I'm so sorry, Linus, it's my accountant. I really need to take this. I'll try not to be too long, but would you mind keeping Ted company while I'm gone?'

Julian said a silent prayer of thanks as he said, 'No, of course. You take it. Ted and I will be fine.'

'Thanks so much,' Kathy said. She'd answered the call and was already halfway out of the room before Julian had even had a chance to blink.

He waited until the sound of her voice had receded far enough into the apartment, before moving into the chair she'd just vacated next to Ted's bed.

'Hi, Mr Davis,' he began awkwardly, given the older man's obvious disinterest in him, 'I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what's happened to your daughter. I don't know if you heard me saying just now, but I've got a little boy and I can't imagine what you're going through right now. I'd be a wreck if anything happened to my boy.'

Ted rolled his head to look at Julian tiredly, with the expression on his face decidedly telling him to shut up.

Ignoring this and reminding himself that Brooke was counting on him to weather her father's disdain, Julian took out his phone, 'I've got some photos of him, if you'd like to see?'

Julian glanced over at Hans in the corner to see if he had any objections to this, but the man-mountain merely gave a single nod in response.

Julian hastily tapped through the applications on his phone until the right screen appeared, fully aware that Ted was either going to turn his head away again or, worse, yell at him to get out of his room any second.

'Here he is when he was born,' Julian said, turning the display to face Ted.

He saw the man's eyebrows shoot up and the faintest noise of surprise emitted from his throat, though his voice sounded creaky from lack of use.

Onscreen was a picture of Brooke holding up a large piece of card with the following message written on it: Dad, no matter how difficult it is, don't react to anything you're about to see.

Ted looked up at Julian questioningly, fear and confusion etched across his face.

Julian gave Hans another quick look, but the bodyguard had clearly lost interest in watching them the second Julian had started speaking about baby photos.

Nevertheless, Julian kept up the charade, certain that Kathy was paying Hans for far more than just sitting and watching her husband.

'Here's him and his mom, my wife, just after they'd handed him to her for the time. I was one of those crazy dads who took photos of everything – drove my wife insane,' he chuckled loudly, just in case Hans was listening.

He swiped to reveal the next photo of Brooke with the second part of her message.

Don't worry, the man showing you these photos isn't some crazy kidnapper. He's my friend, who's helping me, only he normally looks a lot different from how he does now. To keep both of you safe, I won't tell you his real name, but you can trust him, Dad. I trust him.

Ted looked back at Julian after he'd finished reading and gave him a small, grateful smile and a firm nod of approval. Tears of relief were forming in his eyes and Julian wished Brooke were there in person to tell her dad it was going to be okay.

'You wanna see more?' Julian asked, to which Ted nodded again, also playing along now, 'Okay, just stop me if I'm boring you, though. I've got a million photos of him and we could be here all day.'

So, they carried on in that manner for the next few minutes. Julian continued to chatter on inanely about his fictional wife and son, making up random pieces of information about whichever photo he was meant to be showing Ted at that point. Meanwhile, Ted read each part of Brooke's message, giving a subtle nod to Julian whenever he was ready to move onto the next picture.

The rest of Brooke's message read in full:

I just want you to know I'm okay, Dad, I'm safe. I can't tell you where I am, what really happened to me or why I had to leave. I can't tell you why I can't come back and tell you this in person, or even when I'll be able to see you again.

I am safe now, but I'm still in danger. I'm hiding from someone who wants to hurt me, maybe even to kill me. I don't know who it is and, other than you, the man next to you right now and a few other people, I don't know who I can trust. Just know that I'm keeping you safe too by staying away and by not telling you too much.

I just had to let you know that I'm okay so you could stop worrying about me. You need to focus on getting better. Promise me that you'll do that for me. Stay safe and don't tell anyone else about this, not the cops, not even Kathy. I love you, Dad. B xxx

Brooke had agonised over what, and what not, to include in her message as she'd been writing it. She knew it couldn't be too long – there was no telling how long Julian would be able to steal to get it to Ted.

She'd also wanted to warn him about Kathy, to tell him that he was in danger too, but if she did that then he might try to go to the police, thinking that he was helping both of them. However, there was no way of knowing which officers were in Kathy's pocket and which ones weren't. A casual word to the wrong person could alert her and put both of their lives at risk. The fact was that there was no need for him to know the full truth, as there was nothing he could do about it anyway and it would only weaken his already frail health to find out and have to live day-to-day in that knowledge.

Thankfully, Julian and Ted just managed to get to the end of Brooke's message before they heard Kathy's heels clacking against the floor as she made her way back to them.

Hastily, Julian tapped through to a folder in his phone's gallery that he'd set up for the trip. It contained baby photos of himself that he could pass off as being of his imaginary son in case Kathy asked to look at any of them. Mouth had done some touch-ups to the photos so that the quality didn't show that they were over twenty years old and Julian had carefully selected the photos so that his hair or clothes wouldn't give away their age either.

Kathy swanned into the room, phone still in her hand with the call screen lit up and the hold tone beeping softly, 'I'm so sorry, Linus, this is taking longer than I'd thought it would. I think we'd already gone over everything we could at this stage though anyway. Are you okay to see yourself out? You're more than welcome to stay here with Ted if you want to, of course, but I'm sure you have plenty of other things you need to be getting on with.'

Julian smiled at her, relieved that he'd be able to give up his whole act soon, 'Sure, that's fine. I'm sure Ted's probably had more than enough of me by now. I've been talking his ear off showing him photos of my boy.'

'Oh, how lovely,' Kathy said, her tone giving only the barest hint that she thought it was anything but, 'go on then, show me one before you go.'

Julian again felt immense gratitude that they'd planned everything out so meticulously beforehand as he stood and showed the photo on his phone to Kathy. It was of him when he was about 18 months old in a bathtub covered in bubbles.

Kathy's eyes glazed in disinterest as she looked at the photo, but she still smiled and made appropriate cooing noises, 'He's gorgeous! He's definitely got your eyes, hasn't he?'

Julian suppressed a laugh at the accuracy of her comment and simply nodded, smiling like the proud father he was pretending to be. He pocketed his phone again and turned back to Ted.

'It's been a pleasure to meet you, sir,' he said to the older man, and meant it.

He felt a warm pressure on his hand and looked down to see that Ted was grasping it as tightly as his weakened body would allow.

'Likewise, young man. Thank you,' Ted said earnestly, his voice hoarse but still clear.

Julian squeezed Ted's hand back and resisted the urge to hug him on Brooke's behalf.

Kathy smiled at the two of them as she raised the phone back to her ear, 'See, I told you seeing new people would help you, dear. Bye, Linus, it was lovely meeting you. Speak soon.'

She'd resumed her phone conversation and left the room before Julian was able to say goodbye in return.

Ted thanked him one more time, fighting back tears, and Julian said his goodbyes before heading back through the apartment to the safety of the lobby and the elevator.

Outside, Dan's private car whisked him away to the airport, twisting and turning through the back roads en route just in case anyone was following them. By the time Julian stepped out of the car at the airport, his 'Linus Reinhart' disguise was gone and he was back to being Julian Baker again.

Of course, it would raise Kathy's suspicions if she never heard from the director of her documentary again. So, he'd give it a couple of weeks or so before 'Linus' called Kathy to deliver the tragic news that the production company had gone bust and that he was going back to his true love: indie arthouse films.

For now, though, he had a plane to catch and Tree Hill was beckoning him home.

It was early evening when Julian pulled into the driveway of Hillcrest Manor. He parked his car in the garage with the rest of the vehicles belonging to the house's various inhabitants and headed straight out into the gardens towards the woods containing the cottage.

He knew that everyone in the manor would be eager to know how his trip had gone, but all he could think about was getting back home to Brooke. It surprised him a little that, after not much time at all, he was thinking of the cottage as 'home', but he figured that it had more to do with his housemate than anything else.

He'd only been gone for two days, but he physically ached from missing her. He was desperate to see her again and to tell her all about her father so that he could see some of the tension lifting from her.

Julian wasn't sure exactly where they stood in terms of their relationship. The fledgling romance that had bloomed between them when they'd first met in the park had been understandably overshadowed by everything that had happened since.

If there was one certainty that Julian had, it was how he felt about Brooke and what he wanted them to be; that had only grown stronger with every day that he'd spent with her since they'd met. Of her feelings for him, however, he was less sure. Since they'd started living together – informally at first and then formally over the last couple of weeks – there had been moments between them when he'd felt that maybe there could be more than mere friendliness to their exchanges on her part.

However, at other times, he'd convinced himself that her warmth towards him was nothing more than a reflection of her kind-heartedness in general and, perhaps, gratitude for his friendship towards her. It could be that they'd missed their brief opportunity to be something more and that that small shoot of romance had been smothered under the weight of Kathy's betrayal and the subsequent trauma it had dealt Brooke.

Whatever they were now, Julian was determined that it wouldn't change the friendship they'd built up. He had no right to expect anything more from her at all, and, if all she wanted to be was friends now, he wouldn't and couldn't begrudge her for that. While he was certain that his feelings for her weren't going to change anytime soon, especially not with them now sharing a house, he'd keep his unrequited emotions to himself and wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable or as though she needed to reciprocate in any way.

That didn't stop his heart from pounding in his chest, however, as he found the small path into the woods that led to the cottage. He'd texted Brooke the second the plane had landed and multiple times since to assure her that he was safe and on his way back. He pictured her sitting in the cottage now, watching something trashy on TV and wrapped up in a blanket, and he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face as he unconsciously quickened his pace.

The sun was setting through the red and gold Fall leaves of the trees that surrounded him, bathing the floor of the wood and the path ahead of him in deep amber hues. He rounded the final bend in the path that would take him to the last few metres leading up to the cottage and his breath caught in his lungs.

There, standing on the other side of the gate to the cottage, was Brooke waiting for him. Relief and joy flooded her face as she saw him and Julian could only imagine that the same emotions were reflected tenfold on his own face.

Surprising them both, she flung open the gate and ran out of the safety of the confines of the cottage straight towards him. Before he even had time to match his own pace to hers, her body collided with his as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his neck.

Chuckling deeply as he enfolded his arms around her in return, Julian whispered, 'Hey to you too.'

'I missed you,' she mumbled into his skin, not wanting to move away from him for a second.

'I missed you too,' he murmured, unable to even describe the tingling warmth that was spreading through his whole body at being reunited with her and hearing her say those words.

'I shouldn't have let you go; it was selfish. It was too dangerous,' she said, burying herself further into him.

'Hey, no. Stop that,' Julian admonished her softly, drawing his shoulders back from her slightly so he could hold her face in his hands and look at her properly, 'I wanted to go, remember? You didn't make me do anything and I'm fine, I'm okay. And so is your dad.'

She half-sobbed in relief at the news, 'He's okay? You got the message to him?'

Julian grinned, glad that he was able to set her mind at peace at last, 'Yep, it wasn't easy – your dad's quite scary, even in a hospital bed, and he wasn't the biggest fan of 'Linus Reinhart' to begin with. But he saw your message, Brooke, he knows you're safe.'

'Thank you so much,' she whispered, tears slipping down her face, 'thank you for doing that for me.'

'I'd do anything for you, Brooke Davis,' he told her earnestly.

Brooke was so overwhelmed by emotion for the man in front of her that she didn't know how else to express to him that the gratitude she felt in that moment was like helium filling her body, lifting everything in her with the sheer joy and lightness of it all.

So, she did the only thing she could think of to do – something she'd wanted to do for a long time even before that moment.

She pushed herself onto her toes and kissed him.

A/N: Thanks for reading and I'll try to update again soon. In the next chapter, we'll find out the reason why Lindsey's back, Brooke and Julian go on a date, and Nathan and Haley get closer as they start to build up a friendship.

Until next time, please follow, favourite and leave a review. And, of course, stay safe.