2004 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Brianna Davis-Scott was surprised when Lucas Scott texted her saying that he was back in town and wanted to throw a party to celebrate her and Nathan getting married. He did call her when he came back, so she was happy about that. She was still getting over the shock of Lucas leaving and not being around all the time, so she was glad she no longer had to worry about it.

Brianna was in the school parking lot and she read Lucas' text he sent. She found, who she believed to be Lucas, walking. The clothes looked like Lucas, but the buzzcut hair was throwing her off. She approached him and looped her arm through his.

"Excellent right back at you, BIL," Brianna said. Lucas laughed.

"Okay, I've been gone for what, a few days, and you've already forgotten my name? Who's Bill?" Lucas asked and Brianna rolled her eyes while gently shoving him.

"I said, B-I-L, you idiot. It means brother-in-law because that's what you are now!" Brianna exclaimed.

"Oh crap, I'm related to you?" Lucas teased and Brianna laughed.

"Only by law, not by blood. But it is weird to think that when Nathan and I have kids, they will be biologically related to me and you, even though you and I aren't biologically related. Genetics are interesting," Brianna said as she laughed. Lucas smiled.

"Look, I know... I was sketchy when I left, but... just, you know, you surprised me and I just want you to know that I'm happy for you, Bree," Lucas said and Brianna smiled.

"I know. Nathan told me about you calling and asking about Dan and us. It's cool. Thank you," Brianna said.

"How did Beck take it?" Lucas asked.

"Well, he got mad... and then he got less mad... but I think he still needs to get used to it," Brianna said.

"Sounds like him... what about Brooke?" He asked.

"Well, her first question was, "Why the hell wasn't I there?" And then her immediate follow-up before I could answer the first question was, 'Wait... Brianna, you better not be pregnant." And that was Brooke," Brianna said and Lucas laughed.

"Sounds like her," He said.

"I really missed you, Luke. I'm glad you're back," Brianna said.

"I missed you too, kid," Lucas said as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side. Brianna smiled as she wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed him back. Then she felt herself being pulled away from Lucas. When she looked up, Nathan was pulling her to his side and she smiled.

"Hey, get your own wife," Nathan teased him. Lucas and Brianna laughed while she squeezed her husband. Lucas shook his head.

"Okay, that just sounds weird," Lucas said.

"Oh, look! It's our very own Britney Spears and whoever she married this week," Brooke Davis said as she and Peyton approached the trio as they were walking through the parking lot. "I have a question for you guys... what do you think? Pink booties or blue?" She asked.

"Booties? For the last time, Brooke Davis, I am not pregnant," Brianna said.

"No? The only way this isn't totally screwed up is if you're knocked up, but don't worry... Your secret's safe with me," Brooke said. Brianna rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.

"What's this lame-ass joke about you guys getting married?" Tim asked when he approached everyone and slightly pushed Brooke out of the way so he could stand in front of Nathan and Brianna.

"He's in shock now that you're officially off the market," Peyton said and Brianna started laughing because she was talking to Nathan.

"It's true, Tim. Brianna's preggers," Brooke said.

"Stop saying that," Brianna snapped at her sister.

"Right, and Lucas moved away. You guys gotta do better if you're going to get one over on the Tim," He said. Peyton and Brooke shoved him away and Brianna shook her head.

"The Tim."

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After school, Brianna went to pick up some flowers. She knew it was a dumb idea, but she was trying to extend some type of olive branch to Dan and Deb. She knew Dan was still in the hospital, so she took the slowers to the house after school. When she knocked on the door, nobody answered, and then she heard a car coming in from behind her. When she turned around, she saw Deb getting out of the car. Brianna softly smiled as Deb approached her.

"Hi... these are for Mr. Scott, uh, Dan... I'm not sure what to call him," Brianna said with a nervous laugh.

"You can take them to him yourself," Deb coldly snapped.

"Nathan said that probably wasn't a good idea," Brianna said.

"And you thought coming here was?" Deb snapped. Brianna frowned. It was clear Deb no longer liked her, which made her sad because they had always gotten along pretty well. Brianna doesn't regret her choice to marry Nathan, and no matter how badly Deb treats her, she won't regret it.

"Mrs. Scott, I'm not going to apologize for marrying your son, but I will apologize for how we ambushed you with it. I know you're dealing with a lot. Anyways, uh, Lucas is throwing us a party, and we'd... Well, I would love it if you came," Brianna said.

"Nathan's father nearly dies and you want to have a party...-" Brianna was starting to get irritated with Deb yelling at her so she cut in.

"...-Well, Lucas is the one who wants to throw us the party and we know how much of a father Dan was to him," Brianna snapped back. Deb was stunned to silence for a moment before she regained her composure, and venom dripped from her voice as she spoke.

"Even if Dan were fine, I would not and will not give you my blessing for destroying my son's life, or, and you can trust me on this, your own," Deb snapped before she walked into the house and slammed the door in Brianna's face. Brianna sighed as she looked at the flowers.

"Well, that didn't go as planned,"

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Brianna went back to her house, to her old bedroom, and called her eldest sister Stephanie, sobbing on the phone. Brianna told Stephanie when Nathan wanted to marry her. Stephanie told her sister that she and her husband Daniel were in the process of moving back to Tree Hill because Daniel got a job transfer, but Stephanie came in for the weekend to sign consent forms for Brianna to marry Nathan since Brianna is still 17. Since Nathan is legally emancipated, he didn't need consent even though he's also 17.

"Bree, honey, you gotta breathe so you can speak clearly," Stephanie's voice came through the phone. They had already bought a house in Tree Hill, but they were finalizing the sale of their house in Charlotte.

"Did Nathan do something?" Daniel asked. Brianna, Amber, Brooke, and Beckham all loved Daniel. Stephanie and Daniel got married young when they were 20 and 21, the Davis triplets were 10, and Amber was 13. In a way, they were surrogate parents since their actual parents didn't care.

"No... not Nate. His mother, um... she said...-" Stephanie and Daniel both cut in.

"...-You were ruining her son's life?" They said simultaneously and Brianna laughed a little.

"Yeah, basically," Brianna said.

"Of course she did. Daniel's Mom told me the same thing, even though I was the younger one out of the two of us. She just doesn't like me," Stephanie said.

"Younger by one year," Daniel teased and Stephanie laughed. "And that's why we no longer keep in contact with my mother," Daniel said. Brianna always thought it was admirable that Daniel didn't tolerate his mother disrespecting Stephanie.

"I would've done the same to Mom, but I did no contact with her a while ago," Stephanie siad, and Brianna laughed.

"Look, Bree. In-laws... they're like the FBI, sweetie. They have a system and they follow it. The first maneuver is you're ruining their child's life," Daniel said.

"Yeah, then it goes to, she can't cook," Stephanie added and Daniel laughed. Brianna figured that one was probably something Daniel's mom said to her. "Her house is dirty," She continued.

"We found some hash in the guestroom," Daniel said. The Davis sisters laughed while Stephanie shook her head at her husband.

"There's only one way to deal with them, Bree," Stephanie said.

"Screw 'em. I mean, you know, don't actually have sex with them," Daniel said and Brianna laughed while shaking her head.

"Danny," She said between her laughs.

"What Danny is saying is, if you're gonna go home crying every time you let them get the best of you, yes Beckham text us too, then you might as well move back in the house now before Brooke gives your stuff to charity," Stephanie said and Brianna laughed.

"You wanted this, kiddo. It's time to grow up," Daniel said and Brianna sighed. She knew they were right. Brianna didn't know it, but they were on their way to Tree Hill for the party Lucas was throwing. Lucas called Stephanie a few days ago, and Stephanie said it was perfect timing because they've completed the sale on their house and they've already hired moving companies to start moving things to their house in Tree Hill.

So they had a double surprise for the siblings.

"I know, you guys are right... How much longer until you finalize things with the house? I miss you guys and want you here," Brianna said and Stephanie laughed.

"Almost time, baby sis. We should be able to be back in Tree Hill officially by next week," Stephanie said and then she turned to her husband with a smile, knowing they'd be in Tree Hill for good when they arrived today.

"Okay, I guess one more week won't kill me. I love you guys, see you soon," Brianna said and Daniel smiled, even though Brianna couldn't see them.

"We love you too, kiddo. Hang in there and keep your head up."

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[Bree's outfit, but her hair is down and wavy]

Later that evening, Brianna and Nathan Scott walked hand-in-hand into the venue, that would eventually become TRIC, while all their invited guests cheered for them as they walked through, and sprayed them with silly string. Brianna thought the venue looked amazing, and she was so overwhelmed with happiness that so many people showed up for them. Nathan kept a tight, but not harmful grip on his wife's hands as they maneuvered through the crowd. When Nathan saw Stephanie and Daniel, he stopped. He also knew they were surprising Brianna.

"Nate, are you...-" She cut herself off when she looked up and saw why they stopped. "...-Oh my god!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, kiddo!" Daniel exclaimed. Nathan gently let go of her hand, and Brianna ran to her sister and brother-in-law, hugging Stephanie with so much force, she almost fell back, but Daniel had his hand on her back to stabilize her and she laughed as she hugged her sister back. She already surprised Beckham and Brooke since they arrived at the party early. The triplets were so happy to have Stephanie and Daniel close again.

After she hugged Stephanie, she launched herself at Daniel and he spun her around a few times, making Stephanie smile. When she and Daniel were still dating, she knew she wanted to marry him the minute she saw him interacting with her 10-year-old triplet siblings. Daniel was so good at handling their pre-teenage hormones and emotions they were feeling from being in the midst of puberty, plus being abandoned by their parents the minute Stephanie turned 18 and could legally take care of them. She knew from watching him, he would be an amazing father. They've been trying for the last two years to conceive.

But they haven't had any success.

"You said next week!" Brianna exclaimed when they were all done hugging.

"We couldn't ruin the surprise. Lucas called us when he was planning the party. We finalized everything with the house last week. We're in Tree Hill for good, baby sis," Stephanie said. Brianna's smile widened. She turned around and gestured for Nathan to approach, which he did, slowly.

"Steph, Danny, this is my husband, Nathan Scott. Nate, this is the eldest of the Davis clan, Stephanie, and my brother-in-law, Daniel," Brianna introduced. Stephanie and Daniel smiled warmly at Nathan.

"As much as Brianna used to vent about how horrible you were... I take it you've done a complete 180 since you somehow convinced her to marry you," Stephanie said. Nathan laughed as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

"She did the 180 in me," Nathan said and Brianna's face flushed.

"I only pulled out what was already there, underneath all the defense mechanisms," Brianna said as she smiled. Nathan kissed the top of her head and the adults smiled at them.

"Once we get the house put together and clean, we'll have you guys over for dinner, how does that sound?" Daniel asked. Brianna smiled as she nodded.

"That sounds great, thank you," Nathan said.

"Definitely looking forward to it," Brianna said and then she was surprised when she saw Deb come in. "Hey, Nate... your Mom is here, should we go say hi?" Brianna asked.

"If she's not going to be the bigger person, you guys should be. We'll be around if you need us," Daniel said. Brianna smiled as she hugged him again and Nathan smiled as well.

"We really appreciate that," He said. Stephanie and Daniel smiled and then Brianna and Nathan walked away to greet Deb. Nathan approached her with a smile.

"Mom?" He said. He had gone by earlier and kind of told her off after Brianna recounted to him what happened when she tried to bring Dan flowers. Just like Daniel did for Stephanie, Nathan stood up for his wife against his Mom.

"Mrs. Scott. I'm so glad you came," Brianna said.

"Yeah... I thought I should," Deb said.

"Well, uh... my parents have pretty much always been negligent, but my eldest sister and her husband are here. I'd love to introduce you to them," Brianna said. She could see Deb looked physically uncomfortable and was looking for any excuse to get away.

"Um, oh...-" Deb trailed off and took her phone out of her purse, even though it wasn't ringing. "...-Oh, this is Dan," She said and walked away.

The pair didn't stop her.

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Later during the party, when Coach Whitey Durham gave Brianna a baby blanket as a gift, she was fed up. She walked over to her sister, Brooke, roughly grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the side. "Okay, Brookie... this needs to stop. Do I need to pee on a stick?" Brianna asked.

"Um... if that's your kicks... do I know what we're talking about?" Brooke asked.

"Brooke, I am not pregnant," Brianna snapped. She opened her purse and grabbed her birth control pills before shoving them into her sister's hands. "You know what those are, right? Well, I take them every day, and I have for years because of my periods, which you know. So can you please stop telling people I'm pregnant? I'm your sister, why the hell would you spread rumors about me?" Brianna asked.

"So it really is just above love?" Brooke asked. Brianna rolled her eyes as she took her pills back and put them in her purse.

"Yeah. What other reason do we need? Please shut the rumors down. It hurts that my own sister would do that to me. By the way, Stephanie and Daniel are here and they're home for good, in case you didn't know," Brianna siad.

"Bree, wait...-" Brooke called out after her, but it was too late.

Brianna had already walked away.

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Brianna was greeting other guests at the party, but she saw Stephanie and Daniel were nearby and she saw Nathan approaching them with his mother. Brianna took a bit of a step closer so she could listen and intervene if she needed to.

"Mom, have you met Bree's sister?" Nathan asked.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie, and this is my husband, Daniel," Stephanie said in a pleasant tone.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Daniel said in a polite tone.

"Hi," Deb said. Brianna could hear she had no enthusiasm in her voice at all.

"I'm sorry to hear about your husband. How is he doing?" Daniel asked. Of course, Brianna had kept them updated about everything including Dan's heart attack. Brianna stepped further away from the conversation happening around her and closer to her siblings and husband.

"He's uh... he's struggling with the new reality, I suppose we both are," Deb said.

"Well, I look forward to the day when we can all have dinner together and argue about religion and politics," Stephanie joked. Daniel laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "His parents tried to tell us how to raise the children we don't have," She said. Daniel looked directly at Nathan.

"No rush on the kids' part, by the way," He said and Brianna smiled. She loved to see that they were getting along with Nathan. She was glad to have their support. Stephanie nudged her husband and he turned to Deb. "Well, you've raised a fine young man," He said.

"He's not a man," Deb immediately snapped back.

"Sorry?" Daniel asked.

"I said he's not a man. He's a boy and none of this would have happened if you people had enough common sense to stop this! Or Stephanie, maybe if your parents weren't so negligent, this could've been prevented," Deb snapped. Brianna's eyes widened.

"Mom!" Nathan snapped at her.

"No! I am not going to stand here and make nice and pretend this is all okay when it isn't," Deb snapped. That's when Brianna decided to join the conversation.

"Then don't," Brianna hissed as she stepped up beside her husband. Stephanie, Daniel, Nathan, and Deb turned to look at her. "It's one thing for you to raise your voice at me, but you are not going to come here, and disrespect my sister, her husband, and my parents, I don't care if they are negligent. That's better than what Dan Scott had to offer," Brianna snapped before she could stop herself. She gave Nathan an apologetic look and he shook his head. She was right. "Nathan and I made our decision. We're married and we're happy. If you're not here to celebrate with us then you should go home because I don't want you here anymore," Brianna continued when she turned back to Deb.

Nathan wrapped his arm protectively around his wife and pulled her closer. The couple stared his mother down. Brianna didn't appreciate her coming to their party and yelling at her sister and Daniel, ruining the mood. When Deb saw that Nathan wasn't going to say anything in her defense, but was sticking by his wife, she turned around and left without another word.

"I am so sorry about that. She had no right to say any of that to you," Nathan apologized as soon as Deb was gone. Daniel shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry, Nathan. It's not your fault. Plus, I think Bree handled her pretty well," Daniel said. Brianna's face flushed as Nathan smiled.

"I'll be right back, I need some air after that," Brianna said. Her sister nodded and Brianna left the venue and went out onto the stairs that were outside. Nathan followed out behind her and he sat down next to her on the step.

"As Daniel said, it was nicely played," Nathan said. Brianna turned and looked at him before laughing a little.

"I'm so sorry, Nate. As if things weren't bad enough with your family," Brianna said as she shook her head.

"You couldn't make it any worse," Nathan said as he shrugged.

"You know what's weird? Even though my parents aren't here... two of my siblings came back to town, I have you and our friends... I've never felt safer," Brianna said as she leaned against him. Nathan smiled as he kissed her forehead.

"You know what's weirder? Seeing you take my mom's head off back there actually kinda turned me on," Nathan said. Brianna laughed as she lifted her head to look at him.

"Five minutes in an elevator?" She asked.

"How about right here?" He said as he lightly tickled her side before leaning in to kiss her. Brianna gently cupped his cheeks while laughing against his lips as she kissed him back. Her fingers slowly ran through his hair and when they pulled away, she was smiling widely.

"I love you, Nate," Brianna said.

"I love you more, Bree."

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It was time for the speeches. The Davis siblings were up first.

"So... I guess some people would criticize our parents and call them unfit, especially since they aren't here," Stephanie said. She was on stage with Beckham and Brooke, giving the first toast to Nathan and Brianna.

"They'd be right," Brooke said. Everyone started laughing, thinking she was joking, but all the Davis siblings knew she wasn't joking at all.

"But, for those people saying our sister is too young, let's think about it like this; you can drive at sixteen, go to war at eighteen, and drink at twenty-one. So, how old do you need to be before being in love with someone is real? My husband Daniel and I got married when I was 20 and he was 21. We were high school sweethearts, and so many people told us we were too young and it wouldn't last. We've been married for nearly a decade, now. Can you really put an age on love?" Stephanie asked. Daniel was in the crowd, standing with Brianna and Nathan. He blew his wife a kiss and Brianna smiled.

"So, here's to you, Brianna Nicole. I know we're triplets, but you were technically born last, so you're still my little sister. Even though the news of you getting married was and still is a shock, I'm so happy for you because I know that you're happy and in good hands. Nathan, if my sister ever comes home crying because of you, you'll have me to answer to," Beckham said and Nathan laughed.

"Noted," He said.

"You know... at first I thought this whole thing was only happening because Brianna was pregnant, but she's not. You know, when I asked her was this wedding really about love, she said, yeah... what other reason do we need? Like it was the most obvious answer in the world, and in a way, it was. A love that pure can serve as hope for us all. Here's to you, Bree," Brooke said and Brianna smiled and mouthed, 'thank you,' to her sisters. 

When the Davis siblings left the stage, Lucas went up.

"I think everybody knows that Nathan and I got off to a pretty sketchy start. Nathan; mutual hatred sounds about right?" Lucas asked.

"Worse!" Nathan exclaimed and everyone laughed.

"Yeah... you see, then a funny thing happened; Brianna. She showed me that you can find the good in everybody if you just give them a chance. The benefit of the doubt. Sometimes people disappoint you and sometimes they surprise you. But you never really get to know them until you listen for what's in their hearts and that's exactly what Bree did with Nathan. That's what we should do for them. So, you skeptics out there, prepare to be surprised. So this...-" Lucas trailed as he held up his bottle of water. "...-Is to my brother, and my little sis, in law... and in love. Cheers," Lucas said.

All the minors drank from their water bottles while the adults had champagne. Brianna looked around at everyone and smiled.

She felt so loved and appreciated.

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so so cute. so the reason brianna leaves will be different from haley, you'll see. 

hints will start coming up in the next few chapters.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.