Always Love
Full Summary: Nathan and Jake's new assignment finds them undercover at Nathan's cousin Lucas' school. With Jake posing as a teacher and Nathan as a student, they thought keeping their identities a secret would be hard enough, but things become even more difficult when they find love at Tree Hill High - especially since in Nathan's case it's with his teacher! NH JP LB
A/N: I got the idea for this story while I was writing my first OTH fic, Why Don't You and I, but it was only in February that I started to storyboard the whole thing. I'm not going to give much information away as it is explained in the story. I'd like to give a special thanks to Siriusgirl1 who loved the idea immediately and kept on bugging me to sit down and write it.
Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me (unless it's someone who's not on the show); they belong to Mark Schwahn and all the rest of the OTH team. The title of this story, 'Always Love', is taken from the song by Nada Surf.
Chapter One
Nathan Scott closed his suitcase, having unpacked the last of his clothes. He then moved the suitcase, so he could lie down on the bed of the guest room of the Scott House. That is, his Uncle Keith Scott's house. His real home, back in Charleston, was his mother's, Karen Roe's house. The short of history of his life so far is this: his father Dan Scott left his mother after they graduated from high school when he found out she was pregnant. Dan's elder brother Keith, however, helped Karen through her pregnancy, and once she moved to Charleston he supported them whenever he could, even after he and his wife Deb had a son of their own, Lucas, when Nathan was seven. After Nathan graduated high school he joined the police academy and for the past 4 years had been working as a police officer in Charleston. He and his partner Jake Jagielski had already been on two undercover assignments, but this was their first outside of Charleston.
Two weeks ago their boss had told Nathan and Jake that they were going to be sent to Tree Hill to uncover a major drug dealer. The police in Tree Hill had recently discovered that the dealer they had been after for a while went to Tree Hill High School, but they couldn't send one of their officers undercover as they'd be recognizable. As a result, it ended up that Jake and Nathan were given the assignment. The police weren't sure whether the dealer was a student or a teacher at the high school so, since Nathan was younger by two years, and Jake had gone to college before joining the academy, Nathan would be posing as a student and Jake was going to be the new history teacher.
Jake had been provided with an apartment, but Nathan would be staying at Keith's house. His story was that he was 19 (and not 25) and had been sent by his mother to live with his aunt and uncle and repeat his senior year of high school in Tree Hill. Lucas was now 18 so for him tomorrow really was the start of his senior year.
"Hey, Nate?" Lucas knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" Nathan answered.
Lucas opened the door and poked his head inside. "My Mum's calling us."
Nathan glanced over at the clock. "Isn't it kind of early for dinner?"
"I don't think its dinner. She didn't say; she just said for us to come downstairs."
Nathan got up and followed his cousin downstairs into the kitchen where his Aunt Deb was making dinner, and his Uncle Keith was looking over some folders.
"Boys," Deb said when she saw them, "I was wondering if you could do something for me."
"What is it mum?" Lucas asked.
She left the fridge, and went over to her handbag, which was on the kitchen counter. She pulled out a piece of paper from it, and then handed it to Lucas. "I need a few things from the supermarket," she told them. "I know you only arrived last night Nathan, so if you want to rest –"
"I don't mind."
"Thank you, Nathan. You can take Keith's jeep."
"They can?" Keith said, finally looking up from his work.
"Yes. Dinner will be ready by the time you get home."
Nathan nodded, and reached for his jacket, as Lucas whined, "But then if you have what you need for dinner why do we need to get them tonight?"
"So I don't have to go tomorrow," Deb said impatiently.
"Why; you got a hot date?" Keith joked, causing Nathan to chuckle.
Lucas grudgingly took his jacket and he and Nathan headed for the front door, after saying goodbye to Keith and Deb. Lucas took the car keys off the front table and commented, "At least, I get to drive the jeep."
Before Nathan could reply, Deb appeared from the kitchen, "Oh, and Lucas? Nathan will do the driving."
"How's Jake doing?" Lucas asked Nathan, as neared the supermarket.
"Not bad. I spoke to him about an hour ago."
"How does he feel about having to be a teacher?"
Nathan laughed. "The same as he did when he first heard our assignment; somewhat unenthusiastic."
"Isn't it a bit strange that the two of you aren't undercover at the same job?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're a student and Jake's a teacher. You're not supposed to know each other; how are you guys gonna talk about the case?"
"We discussed that; we just have to keep it covert. We'll only be able to meet at the police station, 'cause it'll be kind of weird if he shows up at your parent's house and the same if I go to the apartment."
Lucas nodded and decided not to ask any more questions; he and his parents were to be kept informed strictly on a need-to-know basis. Nathan and Jake's boss would have preferred it if they hadn't been told at all, but the fact that they were such close relations meant they had to know something. Plus, they helped with Nathan's cover story.
Nathan pulled up in front of the supermarket and parked his uncle's jeep outside. As the two descended from the jeep and walked to the entrance, Lucas pulled the list out of his pocket and tore it in half. Handing one half to Nathan he explained, "It'll be faster this way." Both picked up a basket each, and went down different aisles.
Having had to do groceries back home, Nathan managed to get around the supermarket pretty quickly, despite never having been there before. As he put a loaf of bread into his basket, he re-checked the list and found the only thing he had left to get was ice cream. He looked up, and saw a sign for dairy products. He followed it, and saw that the ice cream freezer was just behind it.
As he neared the freezer, its huge size struck him and he wondered why such a small town would consume so much ice cream. The second thing he noticed was the variety of flavours: every flavour possible was in there, including ones he had never seen before, like avocado! Nathan wasn't sure what his Aunt Deb would want, so he stuck his hand in and picked up a tub, hoping that it wasn't wood apple or something else equally disgusting. Before he had a chance to read the label he heard a voice say, "Good choice."
Nathan looked up and saw that there was a girl standing next to him, also buying ice cream. He raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly.
"The ice cream," she smiled. "Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip."
"Oh," Nathan looked at his hand and saw that was what it was. "I've never had it before," he admitted.
"Well, it's great. You should try it."
"So you recommend it?"
"Absolutely. And I consider myself something of an expert in the field," the brunette said with the same smile.
Nathan could only look at her, intrigued. At first he had thought it was some weird attempt at flirting with him, but now he realized she was just being friendly. And she had never even met him before. He couldn't work out whether he was more intrigued or confused, but she was definitely beautiful…Just because she wasn't flirting with him, it didn't mean that he couldn't start…But then he remembered.
One of the first rules he and Jake had been given by their boss back in Charleston had been, "Don't form attachments". Since they couldn't reveal their true identity without risking the case, they weren't supposed to date anyone.
Nathan smiled back and told her, "Well, then I'll try it," and walked away to look for his cousin.
He found Lucas in the pasta section, taking a packet of spaghetti off the shelf. "Luke, you finished?"
"Almost," he frowned. "Just got two more items to go."
"Well, tell me one of them and I'll get it."
Lucas looked at his list. "Eggs."
Nathan then went to get them, leaving Lucas to wonder whether spaghetti was better than pasta shapes, or if he should just choose fettuccini instead. And who decided to come up with so many different types of pasta anyway?
Lucas was on the verge of calling his mother and just asking her what she preferred, when he recognized the person who was now coming down the aisle. He tore himself away from the pasta debate and was surprised to see one of his teachers from school. "Hi, Miss."
"Hello, Lucas. How were your holidays?"
"Okay; not very interesting though. Yours?"
"The same. So, are you looking forward to school starting tomorrow?"
"Yeah!" he said excitedly
"Really? I meant it sarcastically," she laughed.
"Oh. Well, I guess I'll miss the holidays, but I am looking forward to being a senior."
She smiled. "Well, I'll let you get back to your pasta. I'll see you in school tomorrow, then."
"Yeah. And my cousin," Lucas added before he could stop himself.
"Your cousin?"
"Yeah. He's…" Lucas quickly remembered Nathan's cover story, "from Charleston, but going to be repeating his senior year at Tree Hill."
"I see. Well, that's nice; you two will be in the same class. Unless, it's a cousin you don't like."
Lucas laughed. "No, we're good friends really."
"That's good. See you, Luke."
"Bye, Miss James."
A/N: The next chapter will introduce Haley and Peyton and their background in the story. Don't forget to review:)