Somwhere I Belong

Lucas’ POV

So I’m sitting in a classroom with a handful of seniors on a Saturday morning wondering what the hell I did to deserve this.

The teacher, whose name I’ve already forgotten, started out with a lame-ass joke about Uno, then started to label us as either a jock, prom queen, geek, loner, etc. He then proceeded to tell us the reason for us being here. Half of us were to pick out a name from Nathan’s hat and that will be our partner for this project. The point was to show our partners that there was more to us than the labels we are known for in this school by video taping a day in our lives. Even I had to admit that this was a pretty good idea.

Once the rest of us picked a name out of the hat, we were told to call out the name of the person we picked. When it came to my turn, I opened up the slip…‘PEYTON SAWYER’…shit. Apparently Haley saw my face when I opened up the paper, and she showed be hers which read…‘NATHAN SCOTT’. She mouthed ‘take him’, to me, and immediately took the opportunity, and spoke Nathan’s name. I showed Haley the same courtesy and showed her my original chosen person, so she ended up with Peyton as her partner. I felt bad about it decided to make it up to her later.

After the teacher stated that the project was due on Monday, we were instantly paired off. I left to find a more private place to start, and felt Nathan’s presence immediately behind me. I wanted to go to a place that will ensure privacy, and there was no place in school that will give us said privacy. Nathan must’ve sensed the same thing.

“You know, we can do this somewhere else. The teacher didn’t say we had to do this in school. And I have the perfect place in mind.”

“O-okay.”

He leads me out to the parking lot and heads towards his car. I’m unsure of what to do, do I get in the car with him or follow him in my own car.

“We’ll take my car. We can come back here to get it when we’re done.” There he goes with the mind reading thing again. I nod and slip into the passenger seat as he starts the car. The whole ride to wherever he’s taking me is filled with unbearable silence. I don’t even know what to say to him. Suddenly I’m dreading having taken him as a partner. My downstairs brain must’ve had power of attorney when I made this decision. I’m next to the man of my dreams and I can’t even say a damn thing to him. I was brought out of my thoughts when he shut off the engine. I look up to find that we’re at a basketball court by the river. I have to admit that it’s an impressive view, peaceful as well. I had no idea a place like this existed in this one horse town.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“We’re at the river court. I figured that we can start on our project here. Plus I don’t know anyone else who knows of this place so we’ll have privacy.” he answers.

We go to sit on the park bench provided, and once again fall into silence. I don’t even know how to talk to someone like Nathan. This wouldn’t be so damn hard if I didn’t feel like I was practically in heat over the brunette beside me.

“So…” Nathan starts.

“So…”

“Why do you dress like that?” Nathan blurted out.

“What?” I wasn’t expecting that.

“Why do you dress in all that Goth stuff?”

I look at him thinking that he was making fun of me, but his facial expression shows actual interest, so I answer.

“Because, I want to. I refuse to be what everyone wants me to be. I’m comfortable doing my own thing.”

“But you could have lots of friends. People are scared of you or just try to avoid you because of the way you dress.”

“Nathan, the thing you have to understand is that…I don’t care. I don’t try to scare people, I’m just trying to be myself. Because of it, I have true friends. Can you say the same thing about yourself?”

I must’ve said something that struck a nerve with him, ‘cause he looks down in shame. I put my hand on his back for comfort.

“If I upset you, I apologize.” I say sincerely.

“No, you didn’t.” Nathan spoke solemnly.

“Why do you pretend all the time?” Nathan looks at me so fast; I almost had the urge to check for whiplash.

“What?”

“I can tell you aren’t happy. I’ve been able to tell for a long time now. For someone who has everything handed to him, he still isn’t happy. The only thing I can think of is that you aren’t leading the life you want.”

“You don’t understand…”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. It may shock you to know that I’ve been to a few of your home games.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep. And I see the way you and your dad react. I see the way he tries to control every aspect of the team, despite the fact that he isn’t the coach. And…I can see that you hate every minute of it. The game isn’t fun for you anymore, and you want out of it, but you don’t know how, especially with your father constantly breathing down your neck all the time.” I answer.

Nathan gives me a look that is a combination of shock and…relief. It shouldn’t take a genius to realize that he is partly relieved because someone finally understands him.

“Am I that transparent?” he asks.

“Only to those who pay attention.” I reply.

A sly smile appears on his face, “You must pay attention to me a lot then. Why is that Lucas?”

Shit. How the hell am I suppose to answer that? Anything I say can and will be used against me in the court of law. Or at least reveal my feelings for him. I can tell my impression of a fish out of water amuses him. But then Nathan’s expression changes; he’s now staring at my mouth. Our eyes suddenly meet and we gaze at each other for what seems like an eternity, before feel this strange sense of courage envelope me. I want to kiss him, badly. I want to taste him. I’m inching closer and closer to him, and he’s doing the same. Closer. Closer. Just a bit more and…

…Nathan’s cell phone goes off. We backed off so fast, we could have whiplash.

A huge scowl covers Nathan’s face the moment he checks to see who’s calling. He instantly shuts the thing off and stairs at the ground beneath his feet. I decided a much needed distraction is in order, anything to take Nathan’s mind off of who ever called.

“You know, we should get started on our project.” I say as I pull out the card the teacher passed out to all the groups.

“Okay.” Nathan said as if glad to have a distraction from his thoughts, “What’s that?” he pointed to the card in my hand.

“It’s a list of five topics we’re suppose to tell each other We were given this to help complete our project.” I responded.

“What’s the first topic?”

“Uh…it says…‘Tell your partner something personal about yourself’.” I read off.

Nathan and I sat there for a moment, both of us deciding on how to answer, at least that’s what I think he’s doing. I was going to answer with the whole ‘I’m gay’ response, but I think he already knows, what with the whole us almost kissing. And I’m assuming he’s gay too, since he was leaning into that kiss as well. I want to tell him something that has meaning, something that will hopefully open the floodgates and have him confess his love for me. I’m about to answer, but Nathan cuts me off.

“I hate my life. As you’ve already said, I’m not leading the life I want. I feel the very short leash my dad put on me, tighten, with each passing day. He’s already sent my tuition to Duke University, as well as chosen all my classes. Business classes, in case basketball falls through. I’m sure it’s to make it so that I take over the dealership, as a back-up plan. My dad has made it so I have no choice in education, occupation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if finds a wife for me…if he hasn’t already.” Nathan said sourly, “He’s made it so he can control every aspect of my life, even after I leave Tree Hill.”

“I know what he’s doing.”

“Really? Cause I’d love to know.” Nathan commented sarcastically.

“He’s trying to create the perfect image for when you become a successful NBA player. And he’s going to take all the credit. Show everyone what a good father he is.”

Nathan laughed, “Yeah, that sounds like him. In fact that make’s perfect sense. But I could just as easily bash him in interviews and press stuff.” Nathan humored.

“Chances are he’ll grab a copy of your schedule and suddenly show up just before the interviews and press conferences start and make sure you don’t get a word in edge-wise.” I joked.

We chuckled again as we joked back and forth about Dan. Nathan suddenly sobered up when a thought struck him, “What am I going to do?”

“You’ve applied to other colleges, right?”

“You bet your ass I did.”

“Good. You’re covering your bases. Has Dan found out?”

“Surprisingly, no. Or else he would’ve already yelled at me for ruining ‘the plan’.”

“Have you gotten in any of the one’s you applied to?”

“Columbia and a full academic scholarship to Boston University.”

My ears suddenly perked up at his answer and I stared at him dumbly, and it apparently caught his attention.

“What?” Nathan asked.

“Boston University?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I got into Boston as well.” I said softly.

“Are you going?”

“Yeah. Boston has this great English program that will definitely help me write that great American novel.”

“You want to be a writer?”

“A famous one. I want to be the person who inspires people to want to read.”

“Was that you confessing something personal to your partner?” Nathan smiled.

“I guess it was. Unless you were hoping for something else.” I gave him a sly look.

“Just you confessing your undying love for me.” Nathan teased.

I paused for a moment. I was biting my tongue, to keep myself from revealing the almost truthfulness of that statement, but I realized that Nathan wasn’t going to take that first important step, that the ball was effectively in my court, and I would have to make the first move towards something that could possibly be the greatest thing to happen in my life.

“I wouldn’t call it love.” I knew I had Nathan’s undivided attention now.

“What would you call it?” He asked slowly.

“It’s too early to call it love, that takes time to make that kind of statement.” I took a deep breath to get out the last part of my thought, “I would call it a crush, or a deep infatuation, whichever you would prefer.” I said as I stared at him, letting him know that I’m completely serious.

Nathan’s POV

The moment Lucas announces that he’s picked my name out of my hat, I gave a loud ‘whoop’ inside my head. As we were finally paired off, I followed Lucas as closely as possible, ogling him from behind. Suddenly I realize that Lucas is looking for a private place for us to do our project. And the school provides no such place, and I’m sure he’s realized that.

“You know, we can do this somewhere else. The teacher didn’t say we had to do this in school. And I have the perfect place in mind.” I said, knowing that would ease the blond.

“O-okay.” he answers.

After I lead him to my car, we take off. I have the perfect place in mind that will ensure the privacy we both crave.

Just sitting next to him is invoking feelings within me that I’ve never experienced before. Unfortunately, neither of us managed to full the uncomfortable silence that was hanging over us the entire ride to our destination. But I will tell you this, my jeans are becoming tighter and tighter. I’m silently praying to my cock to behave himself around this unbelievably attractive specimen sitting in the passenger seat of my car. Thankfully we arrived at my favorite place in Tree Hill…the river court. I thought it fitting that I bring Lucas here, to share my sanctuary with him.

“Where are we?” Lucas asked.

“We’re at the river court. I figured that we can start on our project here. Plus I don’t know anyone else who knows of this place so we’ll have privacy.” I answer.

We weren’t even looking at each other after moments passed. And his presence was doing nothing to tell my dick to calm the fuck down.

“So…” I start.

“So…”

“Why do you dress like that?” I blurt out.

‘Oh, good one Nathan, great way to start a conversation.’ I though.

“What?” Lucas said, looking at me weird.

“Why do you dress in all that Goth stuff?” I ask, I truly wanted to know. Well, I wanted to know everything about this guy.

“Because, I want to. I refuse to be what everyone wants me to be. I’m comfortable doing my own thing.”

“But you could have lots of friends. People are scared of you or just try to avoid you because of the way you dress.” I try to reason, which I have no idea why.

“Nathan, the thing you have to understand is that…I don’t care. I don’t try to scare people, I’m just trying to be myself. Because of it, I have true friends. Can you say the same thing about yourself?”

I admit, he got me there. I wish I could be just like him. To have real friends, not fake ones. People who you can trust. I trust Haley, I just wish I was friends with more people like Lucas and Haley, instead of people like Tim. It would have made my life more bearable. All of the sudden I feel his warm hand rubbing my back.

“If I upset you, I apologize.”

“No, you didn’t.” I can tell Lucas is sincere, and I fall even harder for him.

“Why do you pretend all the time?” I instantly look at him in shock, never expecting a question like that.

“What?”

“I can tell you aren’t happy. I’ve been able to tell for a long time now. For someone who has everything handed to him, he still isn’t happy. The only thing I can think of is that you aren’t leading the life you want.”

Boy is this guy really hitting the nail on that one.

“You don’t understand…” I start.

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

“Oh, really?” I challenge him.

“Yes. It may shock you to know that I’ve been to a few of your home games.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep. And I see the way you and your dad react. I see the way he tries to control every aspect of the team, despite the fact that he isn’t the coach. And…I can see that you hate every minute of it. The game isn’t fun for you anymore, and you want out of it, but you don’t know how, especially with your father constantly breathing down your neck all the time.” Lucas responds.

My God, Lucas understands me better than anyone ever has. How is it that he can figure it out, but no one else can?

“Am I that transparent?” I ask.

“Only to those who pay attention.” he replies.

I can‘t help but respond to that, “You must pay attention to me a lot then. Why is that Lucas?” I smile.

I see him start to panic, and my head is screaming at me to do whatever I can to stop it. I have to admit, his expression is amusing, that is until his lips catch my attention. And suddenly my amusement turns into curiosity. Curious as to how soft they are, and how they would feel against my own. I look into his eyes, and I feel like I’m stuck in a trance. An unknown force is pushing me towards him, towards his lips. I’m finally going to experience a true, meaningful kiss…

…and my fucking phone goes off. Son of a bitch. We back off like we were just caught with our hands down each other’s pants.

I check to see who was cruel enough to ruin the perfect chance for me to kiss Lucas. My cell displays ‘Dan’ as one missed call. Fucking figures. And it’s ironic since he would be cruel enough to ruin a perfectly good opportunity to kiss Lucas.

“You know, we should get started on our project.” He says as he pulls out a card from his bag.

“Okay.” I adore Lucas more now. I know he‘s trying to distract me, and it‘s working, “What’s that?” I ask, pointing to the card in his hand.

“It’s a list of five topics we’re suppose to tell each other We were given this to help complete our project.” I responded.

“What’s the first topic?”

“Uh…it says…‘Tell your partner something personal about yourself’.” he read off.

We were once again engulfed in silence. How can I answer this question without scaring him away. I don’t think it took a genius for him to realize that I like him, considering the almost kiss, damn you Dan. I suddenly hear Haley’s words from yesterday, telling me to get to know each other. I quite a bit about my partner, unbeknownst to him, and he seems to know me just as well…if not more. But I should probably fill in the blanks for him. Help him have a better understanding of me.

“I hate my life. As you’ve already said, I’m not leading the life I want. I feel the very short leash my dad put on me, tighten, with each passing day. He’s already sent my tuition to Duke University, as well as chosen all my classes. Business classes, in case basketball falls through. I’m sure it’s to make it so that I take over the dealership, as a back-up plan. My dad has made it so I have no choice in education, occupation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if finds a wife for me…if he hasn’t already.” I say sourly, “He’s made it so he can control every aspect of my life, even after I leave Tree Hill.”

“I know what he’s doing.”

“Really? Cause I’d love to know.” I commented sarcastically. But I really do want to know, then maybe I can find a way to help myself be free of Dan.

“He’s trying to create the perfect image for when you become a successful NBA player. And he’s going to take all the credit. Show everyone what a good father he is.”

I had to laugh, “Yeah, that sounds like him. In fact that make’s perfect sense. But I could just as easily bash him in interviews and press stuff.” Nathan humored. Dan does have the ego to pull something like that off.

“Chances are he’ll grab a copy of your schedule and suddenly show up just before the interviews and press conferences start and make sure you don’t get a word in edge-wise.” Lucas said.

Lucas and I find ourselves joking at Dan’s expense, and I loved every minute of it. I already feel so free with Lucas here with me. I would do anything to make this feeling last forever, but I don’t know how to go about it.

“What am I going to do?” I ask myself.

“You’ve applied to other colleges, right?” Lucas answers, obviously thinking I was asking him.

“You bet your ass I did.” Even I was smart enough to apply to other colleges.

“Good. You’re covering your bases. Has Dan found out?”

“Surprisingly, no. Or else he would’ve already yelled at me for ruining ‘the plan’.” It was easy to hide the college acceptance letters. Everyday for the last couple months I would immediately go home after school to rail the mailbox in search of those letters. And I beat my dad home a good couple of hours, I wasn’t too worried. When the day came when I got the confirmation and acceptance of two out of the five colleges that I applied for, I was ecstatic. I quickly hid the brochures in a place I knew Dan wouldn’t find them. Of course, it helped that he was so confident that I would be attending Duke that he didn’t even bother to check.

“Have you gotten in any of the one’s you applied to?”

“Columbia and a full academic scholarship to Boston University.”

Apparently my answer intrigues him, if his expression has anything to say about it.

“What?” I ask.

“Boston University?” Lucas repeats.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I got into Boston as well.” he said softly.

“Are you going?”

“Yeah. Boston has this great English program that will definitely help me write that great American novel.” And suddenly I’ve confirmed exactly where I’m going to college.

“You want to be a writer?” I question.

“A famous one. I want to be the person who inspires people to want to read.”

“Was that you confessing something personal to your partner?” I grinned.

“I guess it was. Unless you were hoping for something else.” I was hoping for something a little more personal, but I decide to tease him.

“Just you confessing your undying love for me.”

Lucas got quiet. And I’m suddenly wishing I kept my mouth shut. But stupid me, I think before I speak sometimes. I hope I didn’t upset him. The fact that he hasn’t left is a good sign though.

“I wouldn’t call it love.” I hope to God this is where I think it‘s going.

“What would you call it?” I ask slowly.

“It’s too early to call it love, that takes time to make that kind of statement.” He took a deep before continuing, “I would call it a crush, or a deep infatuation, whichever you would prefer.” Lucas said as he stared at me. Lucas was dead serious. The one person I have dreamt about for the longest time had openly confessed to me that he likes me. I know that whatever I say next will determine the course of my future.
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A/N: I apologize for the long wait. First, I am planning on doing an update marathon all next week. An update on each day, in celebration of both One Tree Hill and Supernatural being renewed for another season in the fall, with the exception of OTH. Season 5 will start in mid-season. Second, if there is anyone who knows how to create a website or knows someone who does, myself and a few others will really appreciate it. I'm trying to create a site dedicated solely to Lathan fiction. Similar to "The Sam & Dean Slash Archive". More details will be given when I'm contacted on the matter. You'd be doing me a huge favor.