Finding Home

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OCs.

Ok so this whole story is dedicated to my best friend Lisa who listened to my chapter ideas and helped me out. Thanks Lisa!

Also this story is dedicated to my friend Sarah who also listened to me about my chapters especially this one.

Do you guys imagine what the OCs look like? I mean who would play them?

Jamie sat on the porch seat and sighed.

The sun was rising, casting long shadows across the street. Bright and bold colours in many different shades stained the clouds and the air was crisp and fresh.

It was the morning of the Tree Hill High senior graduation and the beginning of a new life style.

Many students were leaving Tree Hill to go to collage and to see the world. To all of them it was the end of an era.

But to Jamie that era seemed too short.

The many years that he should have spent in Tree Hill had been taken from him and now he was leaving to go to Duke.

He wasn't ready to say goodbye to his family or to this town, even if it was for only five days a week. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to the family he just got back.

He looked down at the valedictorian speech he had in his hands and shook his head at the stiff and bland words. They were all about how good change was and how exciting this new chapter in their lives was.

But although Jamie agreed with what he had written, he thought that something else was more important.

He heard the door open and shut and looked up to see Erica stepping onto the porch. She, Lucas and Peyton had stayed over again and they had all stayed up late. Erica looked like she was half asleep and her eyes were half closed.

"What are doing up this early?" Jamie asked softly.

"Brooke just called me and asked me to come over quickly. God knows why she didn't ask Mom or Haley but all I know is that she has interrupted my sleep!" Erica hissed.

She walked down the porch steps and then turned to look at Jamie. "I would ask what you are doing up this early too…but I'm too damn grumpy so I'll ask later."

Jamie smiled, "You mean if you don't fall asleep on the pavement."

Erica grumbled something as she walked away and Jamie swore that it was something along the lines of "Go fudge yourself."

"She's been spending way to much time with Brooke," Jamie whispered.

-Brooke's house-

Erica walked into Brooke's house using the key that she had been given.

"Brooke?" Erica called.

"In here!" Brooke called back, "Get me a glass of water while you're at it!"

As Erica filled a glass she yelled to Brooke, "Why didn't you call Mom or Aunt Haley? Or anyone else but me?"

"I think it's these fudging hormones! I don't want to wake Peyton or Haley because they went to bed later than you!"

Erica started to walk down the hall but then stopped. "What hormones?!?"

She walked into Brooke and Owen's bedroom and stopped when she saw Brooke leaning against the doorway to the room's en suite. Brooke's hair was in a messy bun, she wasn't wearing any make up and she was still in her pyjamas.

"You look like hell" Erica said.

Brooke frowned and said, "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to piss off a pregnant woman?"

Erica's eyes widened and she said, "You're… pregnant…OH MY GOD!"

Erica dropped the glass and ran over to Brooke, throwing her arms around her and yelling, "My wish came true! My wish came true!"

Brooke smiled and detached herself from Erica.

"What wish?" she asked.

Erica's smile was from ear to ear. "My wish! I wish that you would get what you wanted most and you did!"

"When did you wish this?" Brooke said laughing.

"Last week, after Carrie's funeral."

Brooke raised her eyebrows, "Well, Owen and I were busy that night."

Erica snorted, "Apparently you were very busy!"

Then she scrunched up her nose and added, "But you better not tell the kid that he or she was conceived the night of a crazy woman's funeral. That could mess a kid up for life."

Brooke looked at her and then just laughed.

Then she stopped and whined, "You spilt water on my carpet!"

Erica rolled her eyes, "Carpet is absorbent for a reason! Plus you better get used to it if you and Owen are going to have a kid around!"

-A few hours later at the school-

"OMG, OMG, OMG! EMILY!"

Emily turned as she saw Lily running down the hallway, her blue graduation robe flowing behind her. A few people had already arrived at the school to help out with setting up the graduation.

"What is it?!" Emily asked when her apparently mad friend reached her.

"Kyle asked me out!"

Both girls burst into screams that had most of the people in the corridor holding their ears.

Jamie walked up to them, wearing a robe identical to the one they were both wearing and he winched.

They saw him and stopped the screams of joy, rewarding the bystanders with silence.

"Baby you know I love you but damn you are too loud sometimes!" Jamie said.

Emily laughed and kissed his pout away.

Lily smiled, "Aw, you two are too sweet. And now I have a boyfriend to be sweet with!"

Lily let off another scream and a string of giggles.

Jamie's eyes grew slightly wider, "Were you like that when we started going out?"

Emily shook her head, "No…I was jumping up and down too!"

Parents of one of their classmates walked by and looked at Lily strangely.

Jamie said with a straight face, "She's high."

Emily elbowed him in his chest and tried not to laugh.

The parents walked away and then Jamie's phone beeped. He flipped it open and frowned at his message.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Just have to finish up some business. I'll see you before the graduation," he said as he walked away.

"But the graduation is in 2 hours!" Emily called to him.

"I'll be there!" he called back.

-J & E's old neighbourhood-

A knock at the door woke Richard up from his sleep on the couch.

He walked slowly to the door and opened it. "What are you doing here, Ryan?" he asked.

"You arranged Carrie's death," Jamie said flatly.

Richard smirked and said, "Then you should be thanking me. You would have done the same thing."

Jamie glared at him, "You have no idea what I would have done. But I'll tell you this…I wouldn't have got caught."

With that he turned and walked away from the house as two police officers came up to the door.

Jamie walked to his car and sat in it for a moment. His blue robe sat in the passenger seat beside him.

No matter how fast he ran, he kept getting pulled back to his old neighbourhood. Even now he was still going to have to set up the clubs here and that meant he would have to come back now and then.

But as Jamie watch the police cars drive off, he realized something important.

His old neighbourhood was part of his life, part of him. The experiences that he had there and the things he had gone through help make him the man he was today.

Jamie smirked. This place had actually helped him. He never thought that something good would come from it.

Then he started the car and drove back to Tree Hill.

-Tree Hill Gym-

Erica looked around the gym and searched for Jamie again.

Everything was all set up and all the students and their families were getting ready for the graduation to start.

And Jamie was no where to be seen.

Erica, Lucas, Peyton, Brooke, Owen, Skills, Mouth and Karen were sitting behind the students while Nathan and Haley were up on the stage with the other teachers. Charlie was sitting on Peyton's lap, playing with one of his toys.

All their friends were buzzing about Brooke's pregnancy and everyone was so happy for both Brooke and Owen.

Erica saw Emily, Lily, Kyle, Rick and John sitting beside each other and she caught John's attention.

"Where's Jamie?" she mouthed to him.

He shrugged and shook his head.

Erica looked around and again but stopped when she saw Jamie's head poking out around the gym door.

He waved at her to follow him and then disappeared behind the door.

Erica stood and walked towards the door.

When she walked out the gym door and into the hall the noise level dropped. The hall was quiet and all you heard was the muffled voices from the gym and Jamie's footprints as he paced up and down the hall.

"What are you doing?! You have to go in there and make a speech!" Erica said.

"I know! I know! I just…my speech isn't right. It doesn't talk about what's really important, it's just about change." Jamie leaned up against the wall and slide down to sit on the floor.

Erica sighed and sat down beside him.

"You're sitting on my graduation robe," Jamie said.

"Ya, don't care. Listen, if you don't like your speech then just change it. It's all up to you," Erica replied.

Jamie sighed and said, "When did you learn to have an answer to everything."

She smiled and said, "Somewhere between being kidnapped by a mad woman the first time and hitting said mad woman with a metal pipe. It's really toss-up."

Jamie smiled sadly and said, "We've been through a lot, haven't we?"

Erica smirked and replied, "You just figured that out now?"

Jamie laughed slightly and looked at the cards in his hands.

Erica bit her lip and then said, "Ya, we've been through more then usual people. But we had each other though everything and now look at us. We have a lot of family and friends and we're happy. It has all worked out."

"And when you're up on that stage, I'll be thinking one thing…please God don't let him trip!"

Jamie laughed and the two of them stood up. "So any more encouraging words before I go in there and embarrass myself?"

Erica looked up at him and replied, "That hat makes you look like a dork."

Jamie messed up her hair and she smirked at him.

"You'll do great," Erica said sincerely.

Then they heard someone walking down the hall. They turned and saw a young woman dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and an army style jacket walking towards them.

"Excuse me," she asked, "Do either of you know if Brooke Davis is here?"

"Ya, she's in the gym. She's here for Jamie's graduation," Erica said pointing at Jamie.

The woman frowned slightly and looked at Jamie.

Then she broke out into a smile and she said, "Oh my God…"

Jamie rolled his eyes, "Yes, we are James and Erica Scott, the kids that went missing and found our way back to our parents."

The woman just smiled again and replied, "You must not remember me. But I guess is has been years since you pulled me around on my skateboard."

Then it was Jamie's turn to frown before he smiled as well.

"Sam?"

Sam laughed and replied, "The one and only!"

They hugged and when they pulled away Sam looked at him. "Wow, things have changed. This time around it's me looking up at you! You're so tall! And handsome! Damn you must be beating them off with a stick!"

Jamie laughed and said, "No my girlfriend is enough warning."

Erica cleared her throat and they looked at her. "Um, someone mind telling what's going on?"

Sam replied, "I'm Sam Walker, one of Brooke's first foster kids. I knew Jamie when he was running around with ice cream all over his face!"

Erica laughed and linked arms with her. "I would love to hear all the embarrassing stories you have about Jamie!" she said as they walked towards the gym.

"No you don't!" Jamie called walking behind them.

They entered the gym and while Jamie went with his friends, Erica and Sam went to the others.

Brooke spotted them before they got to the seats and stood up to meet them.

"Sam?" she asked, hardly believing her eyes.

Sam nodded and hugged Brooke warmly. Tears came to both their eyes and it was a wonderful scene to watch.

They pulled apart and Sam said, "Brooke you have no idea how much I owe you. When I graduated high school, I thanked you. When I graduated collage I thanked you. And when my boyfriend proposed I thanked you."

Brooke was speechless as Sam pulled a red wedding invitation out of her bag. "Please…will you come to my wedding?"

Brooke just screamed and hugged Sam again.

"Don't burst my ear drums! I need them for picking the band!" Sam joked.

-The graduation begins-

The minutes went by awful fast for Jamie and before he knew it, it was time to give his speech.

He stood up and walked to the podium.

When he looked out at the crowd, the gym seemed a lot bigger and all he could see was the huge crowd.

Playing basketball in front of big crowds was different to giving a speech. At basketball you had a whole team to back you up, but in this he was alone.

Then his eyes found his family and when he saw Erica nodding encouragingly at him, his nerves melted away.

He smiled and put his speech down on the podium, forgetting about it.

"I'm supposed to give a speech about how great change is and how this is a whole new start for all of us. But although that is true, I want to talk about something else. I have more to say but I think I'm having my baby-oh wait that's my mom's line!"

The room burst into laugher and Haley smiled at him but he knew she tell him off about it later.

Jamie waited for silence and continued, "Whoever said the world is a small place must have never had a family, because the world can seem like an awful big place when you are away from the people you love. Ten miles can seem like ten thousand miles and the further you away get the more you miss them. Despite what you might think, when you are away at collage or in another country, you will miss your family."

"The world holds many wonderful and beautiful things. But what those other places don't have is what Tree Hill has. Tree Hill has memories of playing in the park, going to school or having a bite to eat at your favourite café. Tree Hill has your friends that will always be there for you and most importantly, Tree Hill has your family, the greatest gift you have."

"No matter how far you travel or how long you stay away. No matter what wonderful and amazing things you see and no matter what great people you meet, promise yourselves something. Promise that you will never forget the small town in North Carolina that holds the most important things to you."

"And I'll tell you something that I was told just a few days, something that my family was told before me. Something that a very smart mother told her very stubborn son."

"There is only one Tree Hill and it will always be our home."

With that the crowd was up on its feet, cheering and clapping for Jamie.

He smiled and thanked them.

He saw Erica standing in the crowd and she mouthed to him, "I'm proud of you."

He mouthed back, "Thanks."

-Graduation party-

Tric was filled with the graduating class and the noise level was louder than normal.

The adults were upstairs in Peyton's office and Erica was going between there and the club.

Jamie was in the club getting ready to play onstage and Erica got all of the adults including Sam to come and watch him. Not that they needed encouragement.

They stood near the bar and watched as Jamie got ready with the band.

Haley bit her lip with worry. "What if he gets nervous?" she asked.

Erica laughed, "Jamie only gets worried when it comes to speeches. When he plays basketball or the guitar, he's completely relaxed."

They watched as Jamie went up to the microphone and said, "Hey everyone, are you having fun tonight?" The crowed cheered happily.

"Ok well here is one of Erica's favourite songs. I promised her that I'd play it tonight and I don't want to know what will happen if I don't."

The crowd laughed and Erica said smiling, "He is in so much trouble when gets off that stage."

Jamie smiled at her and said, "You all might recognise this one."

They started playing and the crowd cheered. Jamie went to the microphone and sang.

I don't need to be anything other

Than a prison guard's son

I don't need to be anything other

Than a specialist's son

I don't have to be anything other

Than the birth of two souls in one

Part of where I'm going, is knowing where I'm coming from

I don't want to be

Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately

All I have to do

Is think of me and I have peace of mind

I'm tried of looking 'round rooms

Wondering what I've got to do

Or who I'm supposed to be

I don't want to be anything other than me

I'm surrounded by liars everywhere I turn

I'm surrounded by impostors everywhere I turn

I'm surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn

Am I the only one who noticed?

I can't be the only one who's learned!

I don't want to be

Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately

All I have to do

Is think of me and I have peace of mind

I'm tried of looking 'round rooms

Wondering what I've got to do

Or who I'm supposed to be

I don't want to be anything other than me

Can I have everyone's attention please?

If you're not like this and that, you're gonna have to leave

I came from the mountain

The crust of creation

My whole situation-made from clay to stone

And now I'm telling everybody

I don't want to be

Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately

All I have to do

Is think of me and I have peace of mind

I'm tried of looking 'round rooms

Wondering what I've got to do

Or who I'm supposed to be

I don't want to be anything other than me

I don't want to be

I don't want to be

I don't want to be

I don't want to be

The cheering was deafening and Haley clapped in amazement at her son's talent.

Nathan leaned down and spoke in her ear, "He gets that for you. Music must run in the family."

Haley smiled and wiped away the happy tears.

Jamie finished the rest of the songs and walked off the stage. He got together Emily, Lily, John, Kyle and Rick and told them to wait for him outside.

He walked over to Erica and said, "Come on, we're going to the river court."

Erica shook her head and replied, "No this is you're graduation. Spend it with you're friends."

Jamie smirked and said, "You are my friend. We may fight, call each other names and annoy each other but we're still friends as well as family."

Erica smiled and as she walked out the door with Jamie she grabbed her bag from the closet.

-River court-

Erica sat on one of the benches and sketched on her drawing pad while everyone was having a huge basketball match.

"Hey Erica!"

Erica looked up to see Jamie standing there with the ball while the other walked over to the bleachers.

"Ready for a one-on-one game Baby Scott?" he asked.

Erica quickly finished her drawing, put it one the bench and jumped up to grab the ball.

"Bring it on, old man!"

Their friends watched not knowing that something like this had happened before at the exact same place. The ball was thrown up and the game started.

The drawing lay on the wooden bench and the colours stood out against the white background. Erica had defiantly inherited her drawing style from her mom.

The page was split in half from the left side to the right side.

On the top half were sketches of Nathan, Haley, Lucas, Peyton, Brooke, Mouth and Skills.

Across the bottom were sketches of Jamie, Erica, Emily, John, Lily, Kyle, and Rick.

The drawings were simple but meaningful as where the words written on it.

One sentence written across the top while the other was written across the bottom.

This where it began…

…and this is where it continues…

That's it! The end of the story! I hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you all for reviewing!

I would love it if you guys reviewed. I want real feedback about the story. You can tell me your favourite chapter, your favourite OC, your favourite quote and stuff like that. If you have any favourites that is.

And if you can't be bothered than just tell me your favourite quote. Mine is anytime that Brooke said fudge instead of a swear word because I do that so many times as well.

You guys are great reviewers and readers and I can't thank you enough!