What Lies Ahead

It had been two days after the birth of their twins, that Nathan was allowed to come home. After going through numerous tests after the birth, Dean and Sam were able to determine that Nathan getting pregnant was a one time deal, and that his body will be back to normal as soon as he is fully healed. Although they were only expecting one baby, twins would still not be a problem for them financially. Since Deb made it apparent that she wasn't going to return to Tree Hill, Nathan managed to find a buyer for his old house, and decided to rent out the beach house to Dean and Sam until both he and Lucas were out of college, and move in permanently. Nathan also managed to sell off the rest of Dan's assets, thanks to his lawyer. It would also be a plus to see the look on Dan's face when he realizes he doesn't own a damn thing anymore.

After three weeks of recouperating, Nathan was back to his original size, and back at school by the start of second semester senior year. No one had any clue that Nathan was preggers. Everyone kept asking him where he was for the past six months, trying to figure out if their own outragious assumtions were true, and were disappointed that they were wrong. Apparently there was a school wide bet going on according to Brooke, and Lucas and Nathan decided to come up with a cover story that matched Brooke's assumtions so that she would win the pool. They figured it was the least they could do for her, since she planned most of their wedding.

Nathan found out that the new girl, Rachel, was making herself known as quite the school slut. And that she has a fetish for causing unessessary mischief. And that it was Rachel who repeatedly tried to steal Brooke's place as cheerleading captain. What was more shocking was the Jimmy Edwards situation. Luckily, Lucas, Nathan and the rest of the gang were at Lucas and Nathan's apartment during the incident. And, the situation ended with no victims, with Jimmy Edwards being sent to a mental hospital.

Lucas knew there might be problems concerning Rachel the moment she laid eyes on Nathan. To Lucas, Rachel seemed like the kind of person who would be relentless until she got what she wanted. And he could already envision the damage Rachel could cause, especially if while trying to get close to Nathan, she stumbled upon the true implications of his and Nathan's relationship. And Lucas would be damned if he was going to allow her to blackmail him and Nathan into getting what she wants.

Thanks to the ever loyal and dependable, Mouth, who happened to tape Rachel, not only busting into the time capsule, but having an affair with a member of the faculty, that Rachel was expelled. Lucas was thankful that he managed to put a stop to problem before it even started.

Thanks to Whitey, Nathan found himself back to his normal jock figure, pre-pregnancy. And that his playing skills were better than ever. So much so in fact that the scouts were more than impressed with his performance and victory at the state championship. Both Nathan and Lucas scored full rides to Duke Univeristy. Once they got their acceptance letters, Lucas scoured for a place off-campus of Duke for him, Nathan, and his sons to live for the next four years. With help from the enormous amout of money gained from selling off everything Dan owned, Lucas bought a modest three bedroom apartment a mile away from Duke. They also found out that Haley, Skills, and Mouth also got accepted into Duke. Peyton was attending a prestigious art school in Seattle, and Brooke was heading to New York to work with Victoria Secret.

Lucas thought it was time to tell Skills and Mouth the truth as to what's been happening with him for the past two years. Both had come to the conclusion that Lucas was hiding something and that only Nathan and the girls knew, and both were feeling a bit left out. So after much discussion with Nathan the previous night, Lucas decided to invite his friends over and reveal everything. He was surprised that both Skills and Mouth had gone for months without knowing the existance of Landon and Ryan. Lucas called Nathan and told him to pick up some Chinese, hopefully offering his friends' favorite food would soften the blow. He was just finishing cleaning when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Lucas yelled.

"S'up Luke?" Skills said as he closed the door behind Mouth.

"Hey guys." Lucas greeted each with a manly hug.

"So I was thinking we would go down to the rivercourt and see if we can't bulk up that skinny white ass of yours." Skills laughed.

"Uh...I'd love to but I can't." Lucas said sadly.

"Is this another one of those things you can't tell us?" Mouth frowned.

"Actually, that's why you're here. I've decided to tell you guys everything."

"Everything?" Mouth questioned.

"Yep."

"So why can't we go down to the rivercourt for this?" Skills asked.

Lucas' reply was interupted by Landon's cries on the baby monitor.

"Hold that thought." Lucas said as he rushed to the twins' room and found Landon needed to be changed. Lucas was focusing his attention solely on Landon that he failed to notice Skills and Mouth's presence in the room. When Lucas was finished, he proceeded to rock Landon back to sleep, it was then he noticed his friends in the room.

"Hey guys," Lucas whispered, "meet Landon Michael Scott."

Both Skills and Mouth approached silently and got a good look at the baby in Lucas' arms.

"Who's is he?" Skills asked, looked at the infant, already knowing the answer, seeing that the baby had most of Lucas' features.

"He's mine."

"Who's the mother?" Mouth asked.

"He doesn't have one." Lucas answered.

"Some chick just left you to take care of your baby alone? Dawg, this is just like the Jake situation all over again." Skills sighed.

"No. I mean, that biologically, Landon doesn't have a mother." Lucas said.

"How is that possible?" Mouth was baffled.

"In order for you to understand, I need to start from the beginning." Lucas said, "First things first...I'm gay."

"Gay? But I thought you and Peyton have been dating all this time?" Mouth asked.

"That was something Peyton and I came up with so that no one would figure it out." Lucas responded.

"Wow." Skills spoke.

"I fell in love with this guy two years ago. The night of the Boy Toy Auction to be precise, and we got married last summer."

"Married! You're married!" Skills said a little loudly, but not enough to wake the babies.

"Shh. Keep it down." Lucas said, gesturing to Landon.

"Sorry." Skills said.

"Yes, married. And thanks to unforseeable circumstances, my husband was able to give birth to our twins."

"Twins?" Skills and Mouth replied in unison.

"Yes." Lucas answered as he put a now sleeping Landon back in his crib next to Ryan. Skills and Mouth peered over Lucas' shoulder and indeed saw another baby next to Landon, "That, is Ryan James Scott." He said pointing to his dark haired son.

"Wow. That's...wow." Mouth said.

"How come you couldn't tell us all this before? It's not like we would have thought of you differently." Skills asked.

"Yeah." Mouth said.

Lucas led his friends back to the living room and prepared himself for his toughest revelation yet.

"I realize you guys would have accepted the fact that I'm gay, married, and a father of two. But there's more to it than that."

"Like what?" Mouth asked.

"It's who the person I'm in love with is, that I didn't tell you."

"Do Haley, Peyton and Brooke know?" Mouth asked.

"Yeah. Haley and Peyton were the ones that actually set us up together. And as for Brooke, well...she caught us making out in the janitors closet." Lucas replied sheepishly.

"Does your mom know? Or Keith for that matter?" Mouth questioned.

"Yeah. They weren't too thrilled at first, especially my mom, but in time, they accepted it."

"What about Nathan? Did you tell him?" Mouth asked.

"Hey guys." Nathan greeted, after he bursted throught the door, as if he were summoned, with several bags filled with Chinese food. The guys quickly helped Nathan put everything on the counter.

"S'up Nate." Skills greeted in the same manner he did Lucas.

"Nate, did you know Lucas' secret this whole time?" Mouth questioned.

"Yes." Nathan said.

"I don't get it. You didn't have a problem telling your brother, but you couldn't tell us?" Mouth was clearly hurt.

"I told you it's not that simple." Lucas said.

"Hey Luke, did you feed the kids?" Nathan interupted.

"Uh, Landon yes. Ryan wasn't hungry at the time."

"I'll go see if he is by now." Nathan said as he left towards the baby room.

"You'll even have him help take care of your kids." Mouth was getting a little upset.

Skills on the other hand was keeping quite, only paying half attention the Lucas' and Mouth's conversation, ever since he laid eyes on Ryan. He couldn't figure out why Ryan looked so familiar, he barely snapped out of his thoughts when Nathan arrived, only to plunge right back into them, when Nathan announced he was checking up on Ryan. The moment Nathan returned with baby Ryan in his arms, the connection finally came to him. It was obvious that Landon was Lucas' kid, and it looks like Ryan has almost all the physical characteristics that Nathan possesses. He just needed to reassure his suspicions.

"Hey, Luke?" Skills asked.

"Yeah.

"You said you had twins, right?"

"Yes." Lucas was pretty sure Skills was putting two-and-two together.

"And you're sure you're the biological father of both Landon and Ryan?" Skills asked, still looking at Nathan and Ryan.

"Yes."

"Oh." Skills said as he finally got it. Even though Ryan looked more like Nathan, he could still see some of Lucas in the infant. And he was sure there was some of Nathan in baby Landon as well.

"What?" Mouth asked, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"Mouth, Nathan and I are married. He gave birth to our sons."

Mouth looked at Lucas like he grew three heads, than turned his attention to Nathan, who mearly nodded a yes in response. Mouth took a closer look at baby Ryan and saw what Skills saw.

"B-but you're..." Mouth started.

"We know. And we don't care." Lucas finished.

"Luke and I are in love. We've had feelings for each other even before we got together." Nathan said, as he was feeding Ryan.

Skills finally understood why Lucas has been so secretive all this time. Openly admitting that your lover is your brother, is not a wise thing to do. And with that information in the wrong hands could prove dangerous. Another thought entered his mind.

"Dude, was that why you helped get Rachel expelled?" Skills asked.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"It was because she was lusting after Nathan wasn't it. And if she found out about you two white boys going at it like monkeys, it would be disasterous." Skills surmised.

"Yep." Lucas answered, "We got rid of Dan and Tim too for the same reason."

"Shit, you got rid of bastard daddy too?"

"Skills! Not in front of my son." Lucas warned him, pointing to Ryan.

"Sorry, dawg."

Nathan noticed Mouth was quiet, "You okay, Mouth?" He asked.

"Uh...I'm not sure."

"It's okay if you're not. It's a lot to take in. Brothers being in love with each other isn't exactly normal." Nathan said.

"I...I think I need time to adjust." Mouth said quietly, mot looking anyone in the eye.

"Take all the time you need." Lucas assured him.

"Listen, I gotta' go meet my old man at the factory. Come on, Mouth, let's give them some quality family time." Skills pushed Mouth to the door, waving goodbye to the Scott brothers.

As soon as Skills and Mouth left, Nathan put Ryan back in his crib next to his brother, and joined Lucas on the couch.

"Did that go as you expected?" Nathan asked.

"Sort of. They're not angry anymore...I don't think." Lucas answered.

"Skills seemed to accept us."

"Yeah. But Mouth, I'm not so sure."

"Like you said, give him time. I'm sure he'll come around." Nathan said as he placed a soft kiss on Lucas' lips.

- - - 000 - - -

Nathan finished giving Landon a bath and dressing him, when he heard knocking at his door. He picked up Landon and put a pacifier in his mouth, and carried him to the door to answer it. Nathan opened the door, fully expecting to find the one or more of the girls at the door. But he was shocked to find Deb at the door. He immediately wanted to shut it in her face, but part of him was curious as to why she was here. He noticed that his mom's sight never left Landon.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I want to know why there's another family living in my house." Deb was clearly pissed.

"Well, if I remember correctly, you made it perfectly clear that you weren't coming back. So I sold off all of Dan's assets, with exception to the beach house, which I own now."

"You had no right to do that!"

"Keep your voice down!" Nathan whispered harshly, gesturing towards Landon, "And for your information, I had every right to do that. Dan's incarcerated for a very long time, and you were MIA for over two years, that left me and Lucas to deal with the property and everything. So we did."

"Lucas?" Deb spit out.

"Yes, Lucas. Since he and I are Dan's sons, everything was left up to us to do with it as we wish. Thanks to our lawyer, we were able to liquidate everything Dan owned, and used the money as we see fit. And right now, all we used was enough for our nessessities, and we bought an apartment for the four of us."

"What you are doing with Lucas is wrong. I won't accept it!"

"I didn't ask you to!"

"You married your own brother! Do you know how sick that is?!" Deb yelled.

At this point, Landon started to cry because of all the yelling. Nathan quickly took action to calm him down. Slightly rocking him back and forth. When Landon finally calmed down, Nathan grabbed a pacifier, put it into his son's mouth, and put him back into his playpen, and gave Landon his favorite teddy bear, before confronting his mom again.

"If you've come here for a fight, you can just leave." Nathan glared at her.

"You're ruining your life, Nathan."

"How so? I'm in a loving family. I was able to raise my grades well enough to be graduating with my class. Lucas and I have been accepted to Duke University on full ride scholarships. How am I ruining my life?"

"I only wanted what was best for you."

"Says the woman who demanded I get an abortion." Nathan sneered.

"What?!" Both Nathan and Deb turned to the door to see Lucas with Ryan and a bag of food in his arms. Nathan quickly took the food and allowed Lucas to put Ryan next to his brother in the playpen.

"This conversation doesn't involve you." Deb said scathingly towards Lucas.

"Anything that involves Nathan is my business." Lucas matched her tone in a more quieter voice.

"Don't you talk to me like that."

"I just heard that you demanded Nathan get an abortion. You demanded our boys be killed. I will talk to you in whatever manner I feel like." Lucas replied coldly

"You have to admit, he has a point, mom." Nathan said, in a tone just as cold as his brother.

Ryan started making noises that commanded attention, and Lucas quickly took him into his sons' bedroom to attend to his needs. Lucas came back and picked up Landon to do the same. Lucas figured that he could keep the boys and himself out of Deb's sight while Nathan deals with her.

'God, the fucking nerve of that woman!' Lucas thought.

Nathan was glad that Lucas took the boys away, it only meant that he didn't feel the need to hold back anymore.

"Alright, what's the real fucking reason for you being here, and don't tell me it's about the house, 'cause I won't buy it!" Nathan narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you dare talk to your mother that way."

"I think it's best that you leave our home now," Nathan suggested.

"This isn't over," Deb threatened.

"Yes it is," Nathan said. "If you can't accept our relationship. Or our sons as your grandsons. Then you're not welcome here. Ever." Nathan's voice was strong and confident.

"I'll never condone or excuse this... whatever you call it," Deb couldn't bring herself to say the words. Her son and his brother were lovers and she couldn't and wouldn't understand it or forgive them for it. "And I will never be a grandmother to your... your...," he waved a hand in the direction of where the babies were.

Nathan scowled at his mother. "I'm sorry that's the way you feel," he said. "We never meant to hurt you. But the fact is that we love each other. And it doesn't matter to us what you or anyone else thinks."

Deb looked at her son and saw a determined expression and knew that this was one battle she was never going to win. It was obvious even to her that Nathan and Lucas really loved one another and only wanted to be a family with their sons. She had to leave. Leave them to live the life they had chosen. She hardened her heart with the fury and anger she felt towards her son and his relationship. "I guess this is goodbye then," Deb turned. "I won't be back," she walked out of the door slamming it behind her.

Nathan sighed at his mother's narrow-mindedness. He instantly felt better as soon as two arms wrapped themselves around his waist, and a chin propped up on his right shoulder.

"I'm guessing it didn't end well?" Lucas murmured.

"Nope." Nathan said sadly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Nathan turned in Lucas' arms until he was facing his older brother, "She made her choice, and I made mine."

"Did she really tell you to get an abortion?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"The day I gave birth."

"Huh."

"It doesn't matter, I have everything I could possibly want in life." Nathan smiled.

"Of course you do. Two great kids, an athletic scholarship, and the sexiest husband in the world." Lucas smirked.

"Wow, someone sure is full of themselves."

"Have you seen me naked? I have every right to be." Lucas grinned.

"Smartass." Nathan smirked.

- - - 000 - - -

Nathan was sitting in the visitors center of the Arc State Penitentary where Nathan finally relented to Dan's persistant request for a visit. After a long discussion between the two brothers, Lucas felt that once Nathan granted Dan a visit, he would be reluctant to ask for one again, especially since he planned on telling Dan everything that's happened to him ever since their father's inprisonment. He was banking on Dan being too horrified and disgusted with him to ask for any more visits. Nathan pleaded with Lucas to come with him for support, and Lucas wouldn't be one to deny his husband, which is why he was sitting next to Nathan right now, awaiting the arrival of the one man they both despise with a fierce passion.

As if on cue, the devil hath appeared, being led by two prison guards. Lucas was amused with the expression on Dan's face once his father, correction...convenient sperm donor, laid eyes on him. The guards left Dan to sit with his sons.

"I believe I asked for only Nathan to visit." Dan snapped towards Lucas

"And he asked for me to join him, sorry to disappoint." Lucas snapped back, "Besides, what does it matter? Both of us are responsible for you being locked up here." Lucas smirked.

"Why did you want me to visit, Dan." Nathan asked, clearly annoyed with his father already.

Dan quickly took notice of how Nathan addressed him, and filed it away for later discussion, "I wanted to see how you were doing. How's your..."

"...scoring average?" Nathan finished for him, "As usual, all you can think about is basketball!"

"Basketball is important, son. If you want to play in the NBA, basketball has to be your primary focus. Nothing else matters."

"Nothing else matters to you, you mean." Nathan spit out.

"Don't you take that tone with me, you ungrateful little shit!" Dan hissed.

"Ungrateful? I have done everything you told me to, in hopes of receiving some kind of praise, some gratitude. But all I got was more comments on how I'll never be as good as you, all the harsh training, going running before it was even fucking dawn. Everything I did for you in the name of basketball, wasn't to improve my game, it was to make yourself look better. You were using me to relive your glory days. I should have emancipated myself a long time ago. Hell, I should've had Karen adopt me, at least then I would've been around a loving family instead of a fucked up one!" Nathan growled. Nathan knew what buttons to push to piss off his father, and mentioning Karen was one of them.

Lucas watched smiling, proud of Nathan for once again standing up to Dan. It was the trial all over again, except this time, Nathan's doing it face-to-face with the asshole, and never wavering in his resolve.

"What so you could end up with a poor, worthless mother?" Dan sneered, then turned his attention to Lucas, "You mother should have aborted you like I told her too."

Unfortunately, Dan knew very well how to push everyone past their breaking point, but neither Lucas or Nathan would allow Dan to get the upperhand.

"You really want to know basketball is going, Dan?" Nathan asked, knowing his father's beloved topic would always distract him from the task at hand.

"Of course I do, it's important to keep up my legacy."

Lucas snorted, "If you think three pathetic years in high school constitutes as a legacy, then you're more fucked up than I thought."

"Also, I've been given an athletic scholarship to Duke. And I got it all by myself." Nathan smirked, "Even after I quit basketball for nine months."

"You what!" Dan yelled.

"Yes. I quit basketball. And once I started again, I became better than ever. The scouts were pleased with our victory at the state championship." Nathan said with a smug look on his face.

"Hey, Nate?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, Luke?"

"Didn't Dan reach the state championship game, only to lose?" Lucas smirked at Dan, who was seething.

"Why yes, Luke. Apparently, daddy dearest couldn't accept the fact that it was Whitey's team, not his. In the end, it was his ego that cost Whitey the game. He just quit. Stopped playing, thinking he was making a point." Nathan grinned, continuing to play Lucas' game of verbally bash Dan.

"And what was that point?" Lucas asked.

"That he was a cry baby, throwing a massive tantrum when he didn't get his way. I mean, when we reached the championship game the first time, we lost, sure, but at least neither of us quit. We played through the entire game, because WE never gave up. Unlike some people." Nathan laughed.

"I quit basketball?" Lucas said, out of the blue.

Dan just about lunged out of his chair to throttle his sons when Lucas' comment froze him in place.

"What?" Dan asked.

"Basketball. I quit basketball." Lucas said.

"Is that so?" Dan smirked.

"It's not what you think. You see, I have HCM. It's a heart condition, and medication I take slows me down so that I am only allowed to play at half strength.

"So I guess there is justice in the world." Dan smiled.

"Yes there is. You being locked up where you belong is proof of that." Lucas laughed, not missing a beat, wiping the smile right off Dan's face.

"HCM is hereditary. Recieved from the father's side. Keith and I don't have it, but you and Lucas do. And because of it, you'll never be as good of a player as you once were. Which means that I'm already a better player than you." Nathan smirked.

"Well it looks like your dreams of becoming a professional NBA player are over even before it even began. What ever will you do?" Dan laughed.

"Oh, I'm going to be a writer. I too got accepted into Duke." Lucas said casually.

"It's a shame you won't be able to go. It's expensive to go to a college like Duke, and I'm sure Karen doesn't make enough from her pathetic cafe' to come up with the tuition cost." Dan smirked.

"Oh it's not problem, I also got a full ride to Duke, but on an academic scholarship." Lucas smiled as Dan's smirk faltered, "And even if I didn't, money wouldn't be an issue. I mean, Nathan and I are practically loaded thanks to all the money we got by liquidating all of your assets."

"YOU WHAT!!" Dan roared.

"Yep. We sold everything you owned. The house, the dealership, in fact the only thing we kept was the beach house, which both Lucas and I now own." Nathan said, enjoying Dan's reaction.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT!" Dan yelled.

"I am going to tell you what I told mom, I did have every right. You'll be locked up for a very long time, and mom's been gone for over two years, and everything was just sitting there, so Lucas and I took care of it."

The boys could practically see the red in Dan's eyes, and that he was shaking with fury. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by the guards.

"You want to know why I stopped playing basketball for nine months?" Nathan knew it was an abrupt change in topic, but it was the opportunity to catch Dan off guard once again.

"What?" Dan was confused.

"Come on, Dan, I told you I quit for nine months before starting up again. Aren't you curious as to why?" Nathan asked.

"I'm am curious why you would jeopardize your game like that." Dan glared at Nathan.

"Something more important came up." Nathan stated matter-of-factly.

"What could be more important than your future."

"Simple. And it's funny you should mention my future, since what happened to me during those nine months is an important part of my future. Do you remember when I took performance enhancing pills that one time?" Nathan asked.

"No son of mine would take pills." Dan stated harshly.

"Why can't you accept the fact that I took drugs, and nearly killed myself for you!" Nathan yelled.

"Nathan." Lucas said calmly. Nathan took one look at Lucas and instantly relaxed before turning back to his father.

"Taking those pills started a change in my body. Not permanent, but a one time change." Nathan stared directly at Dan to emphasize his next point, "I became pregnant."

Dan stared at Nathan for a bit before cracking up.

"Oh come on Nathan, you can come up with a better excuse than that. And I'm pretty sure I told you the story about the birds and the bees. Guys can't get pregnant. You don't have the right equipment."

Nathan reached into his wallet and pulled out a photo that was taken by Haley of him in the hospital, hours after the birth, holding the twins in bed, and slid it across the table towards Dan. Dan picked up the picture and glanced at it. His eyes were instantly drawn to the dark haired baby in Nathan's arms. There was no denying that it was Nathan's kid.

"I gave birth to twins as you can see." Nathan said.

"How." Dan whispered as he continued to stare at the photo.

"I already explained it to you. And I was told that when I have sex again, I won't get knocked up again."

"If what you tell me is true, the only way you could get knocked up, is by another man." Dan narrowed his eyes at Nathan.

"How perceptive. And yes, I had sex with a guy, and nine months later, I had twins." Nathan said cheerfully, "I'm gay, Dan." he stated with a smile on his face, "I'm gay, a father of two, and married."

"No." Dan said.

"No, what?" Nathan asked.

"No son of mine is a fucking faggot!"

"How about two sons?" Lucas piped in.

Dan turned his attention to Lucas with disgust, "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to say this as clearly as possible...Nathan and I...are gay." Lucas stated.

"That's right, Dan. Both your sons like banging monkeys." Nathan laughed, "Actually, we like banging each other."

Dan got wide-eyed.

"And I got to tell you, Danny boy, there is a lot of dude sex involved." Lucas chuckled.

"You're fucking with me aren't you?"

"Nope, 'fraid not. In fact, if you take a closer look at both babies in the picture, you'll see for yourself that Lucas is indeed the biological father of my children." Nathan pointed to the photo in Dan's hands.

Dan eyed the toddler in the picture and his dropped after a couple of moments. The blond looked a lot like Lucas. When he looked up, he saw twin smirks.

"Lucas and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary as husbands in a couple months." Nathan smiled at Lucas, who in return smiled back.

"This is some fucked up joke isn't it." Dan said, hoping to god that it was. He didn't want to believe that his acknowledged son and his bastard son were in a relationship together.

"Nope." Lucas said without breaking eye contact with Nathan.

In order to prove once and for all that this wasn't a joke, Nathan grabbed Lucas by the back of the head and pulled Lucas against him roughly, kissing him with all the passion and love he had in his body. It took Lucas a moment to react to his motions, but soon his arms were around Nathan's neck as he responded just as fiercely.

When they pulled back slowly, they turned to a shocked and discusted expression on Dan's face.

"Well, Danny boy, it's time for us to go. We'd like to get back to the kids as soon as possible." Lucas said as he and Nathan stood up, gesturing to the guards that they were finished.

Nathan leaned in close to his father, "This is the last time I will ever see you again." he whispered, snatching the photo out of his hand.

The last thing Dan saw was his sons walking hand in hand out of the room, without so much as a second glance, before being led back to his cell.

"You know, that went a lot better than expected." Nathan commented as they drove away from the prison.

"I'm proud of you, you know." Lucas said, taking hold of Nathan's hand again.

"I really needed that. I needed that closure with him. And so did you."

"Yeah. It feels good. After everything we've been through, we finally have everything we've ever wanted."

"It'll be great to finally show affection in college, no stares, no whispers."

"Well yeah. The real world isn't like high school. It's far more grown up. And if we do manage to run into a speed bump or two down the road, we'll be ready."

"Really?"

"Of course, I mean, we took down Dan, got rid of Tim, eliminated the threat of Rachael before she could cause any damage. Compared to them, anything else would be a piece of cake." Lucas assured him.

"I guess." Nathan smiled. His brother always had a way of comforting him.

"Tell you what, how about instead of picking up the boys from my mom's the moment we return to Tree Hill, we go straight home and I have my way with you." Lucas smiled.

"Oh hell yeah!" Nathan laughed as he pressed his foot on the accelerator.

The End.