Tree Hill
(based on season 2)
Emma and Brooke were with Peyton near the girl's locker.
"Jimmy Eat World. That's a great idea!" Brooke cheered.
Peyton was leaning against her locker, the girl looked at Brooke.
"Brooke, it'll probably never happen." Peyton said.
"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you got The Wreckers and Pelt Head to come and play. You totally land Jimmy Eat World." Brooke hyped Peyton up. "And when you do, I promise I won't break up with you to run off and join their tour." Brooke said.
Peyton's face changed, sadness taking over. Brooke and Emma quickly exchanged glances.
"That's it, isn't it?" Emma asked, knowing that Peyton was heartbroken about Jake's situation.
"That's why your heart's not totally into finding a great band for the end of the school year?" Brooke questioned. "Haley and Nathan." Brooke added.
Emma looked at Brooke, wondering if Brooke really thought that Peyton was almost crying because of Haley and Nathan, and not because of Jake.
"That and..." Peyton trailed off thinking about Jake.
[....]
'There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire, the other is to gain it. Now, little did Shaw realize at the time that his words would be the basis of your final. I'd like you to write an essay on the meaning of Shaw's quote. It's due on Monday and then your school year will be over.' The teacher explained.
Emma left the room and waited for Ethan in the corridor, as the boy had arrived a little late.
"Hey, Pompoms." Ethan greeted his girlfriend, holding the girl's hand.
"Hi." Emma kissed the boy and they started walking down the corridor hand in hand.
"Emm's, I got the test results..." Ethan muttered.
Emma looked at the boy and pulled him to lean against the wall, leaving the corridor clear.
"Well?" Emma asked, feeling anxious to know the result.
"I haven't opened it yet." Ethan replied.
"So, do you want me to be there when you open?" Ethan shook his head.
"Andy said he needed to talk to me later, and I've gone over everything I've been doing and I can't think of anything I've done wrong." Ethan recounted.
Emma smiled at her boyfriend.
"Huh, are you sure?"
Ethan nudged the girl, smiling.
"Absolutely."
[....]
Ethan arrived at Andy's house, calling for the man. Andy shouted from his office to let him know where he was. Ethan walked with his backpack slung over one shoulder, worried about what Andy might want to talk to him about.
Ethan entered the man's office, and Andy gestured for the boy to sit down.
"It wasn't me." Ethan blurted out.
Andy frowned.
"Ethan, what wasn't you?" Andy asked without understanding the boy's statement.
Ethan stared at the man.
"You said you wanted to talk to me, but I didn't do anything wrong. So it wasn't me." Ethan explained.
Andy started laughing at how serious the blond boy had been. Andy sighed, knowing that the conversation was going to be a bit heavy.
"No, Ethan. It's nothing like that." Andy assured the boy. "My mom called me, she's hurt. I need to go home." Andy told him.
Ethan nodded.
"Will it take you long to get back?" Ethan muttered.
Ethan didn't want Andy to leave, but since it was for something important, he just wanted Andy to come back as soon as possible.
Andy didn't want to leave Ethan behind, but the circumstances didn't favor them at all. Despite only being with the boy for a short time, Andy had formed a bond with him.
"Ethan, there's a problem. Dan is trying to deport me, so.... I might have trouble getting back."
Ethan let out a sigh, knowing what that meant. He would be left, again. The boy just nodded and pulled out the envelope containing the test results.
"I haven't opened it yet." Ethan confessed.
Andy held up the envelope, knowing that Ethan had changed the subject because he didn't want to question or talk about it.
"Do you want to open it together?" Andy asked.
Ethan looked at the man as he fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket.
"Can you see the result and tell me?" Ethan asked and Andy nodded.
As Andy read the results of the test, it seemed that time passed too slowly. As if it took hours for Andy to understand and explain it to the boy, when in reality it only took a few seconds.
[....]
Andy had gone to Karen's house, and Ethan....
Well, the boy could no longer explain what he was feeling. The boy had taken his motorcycle to go to Dan's dealership. As soon as the boy arrived, he didn't do the usual polite thing of knocking on Dan's door. Ethan just walked in and left the door open.
"Ethan, what are you-" Ethan interrupted him.
"Why do you hate me?" Ethan asked the man.
Dan frowned, not understanding where the boy's question was coming from. The man didn't hate his nephew, and now possibly his son.
"Ethan, I don't hate you." Dan said.
Ethan shook his head and laughed humorlessly.
"You can only hate me. You hired a woman to hurt my father, and obviously that was going to hurt me. My father left because of the stupid thing you did to him, leaving me here. And now you're trying to get Andy deported." Ethan listed off on his fingers everything Dan had done.
Dan got up from his chair to walk towards the boy. But Ethan pulled out an envelope, from a distance Dan could recognize the lab's logo.
"By the way, you're not my father." Ethan's hands were shaking with anger at the man, so he opened the envelope and reached over to show him.
Dan gently took the boy's hand and read while Ethan mussed his hair. The blond boy fought back the tears of anger he felt towards the man in front of him. Dan read the results, and the man didn't know how he felt. Relieved? Happy? Disappointed?
Dan looked into Ethan's face and he pulled the envelope out of the man's hand. Ethan was already leaving the man's office, Dan was standing paralyzed in the same place.
Ethan stopped at Dan's office door and looked around quickly.
"You should thank your God that I'm not your son, Dan. Otherwise, you'd have three children who hate you."
[....]
Emma was in her room scribbling words and writing others down in her songwriting notebook while she found a melody. Emma heard a knock on her bedroom door, and as soon as she turned around she saw her boyfriend leaning against it.
Emma patted the bed as a gesture for Ethan to sit next to the girl, the blond boy lay down on Emma's bed and closed his eyes.
"Have you seen the test results?" Emma asked as she closed her notebook.
Ethan nodded and looked at the girl's face.
"Yeah, Dan's not my dad." Ethan said with relief.
"That's good news, isn't it?" Emma asked, and Ethan nodded.
Emma looked at her boyfriend, and even though Ethan had just told her something he was anxious and afraid about, he didn't look entirely happy.
"Hey, did you find out what Andy wanted to talk to you about?" Emma asked, wondering if perhaps the sadness that appeared on the boy's face could be related to the conversation with Andy.
"Yeah, I found out. Andy will have to go home, which is in another country. And Dan's making trouble, so Andy might take a while to make it back or never make it back at all." Ethan muttered.
Emma pushed her guitar to the end of the bed and lay down next to the boy, hugging him.
"I'm sorry, E." Emma whispered.
"Me too, Emm's." Ethan said.
The blond boy turned his face towards Emma and stared into those clear blue eyes.
"Can you sing a little for me?" Ethan asked.
Emma sat down on the bed and pulled out her guitar.
"Always."
[....]
Ethan had left his things at Karen's earlier, as Andy was leaving tonight. Ethan was still at Andy's house, the boy was getting his bike keys to go straight to Tric, where he would meet Emma.
Andy saw the boy picking up the bike keys and called out to him.
"Ethan, be careful." Andy pointed to the helmet in the boy's left hand.
Ethan gave a weak smile.
"I always am."
Ethan felt Andy's arms wrap around him in a hug, and for a second the boy froze. Until he hugged the man back.
"Andy, thanks." Ethan sighed.
Andy moved a little away from the boy and frowned, not understanding what the boy was thanking him for.
"For what, Ethan?" Andy asked.
"For being a father when I needed one." Ethan whispered.
Andy didn't want to cry in front of the boy, but to hear that? Andy felt that Ethan deserved much more than the people around him were giving him.
"My pleasure, kid." Andy ruffled the boy's hair, making him smile again.
"Bye, Andy." Ethan said.
"Bye, Ethan." Andy replied.
[....]
As Jimmy Eat World played, Ethan felt suffocated inside the Tric. He stood between Brooke and Emma, both girls worried about the blond boy. Emma could see on Ethan's face how upset the boy was.
The band had started playing Hear You Me, Ethan needed to get some air. Ethan went to the fire exit, the boy saw a person on a motorcycle looking in the direction where he was, the boy looked to the side and saw Peyton leaning against the wall crying.
Ethan had a cigarette in his mouth and a lighter in his other hand. The boy finished lighting the cigarette and stopped next to Peyton.
"Was that Jake?" Ethan asked.
Peyton had been startled and hadn't even noticed the boy's presence before. The girl wiped her tears and nodded.
'May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads, the sleepless go
May angels lead you in'
The two teenagers could still hear the music. Peyton explained why Jake was leaving.
Ethan stubbed out his cigarette and Peyton stared at him, seeing that the boy seemed to be fighting the urge to cry.
"What happened to you?" Peyton sniffled.
Ethan looked straight ahead without looking at the girl.
"People always seem to be leaving me." Ethan whispered, the boy then looked at Peyton. "Andy's gone."
"I'm sorry, Ethan." Peyton replied.
"Yeah, me too."
The two teenagers hugged each other, seeking comfort. But the comfort only appeared for the two teenagers when they felt a hand smoothing their backs. The two teenagers disentangled themselves and found Emma, using her two hands to smooth their backs.
"Why are my two favorite people hiding crying?" Emma asked in a soft but concerned voice.
Peyton sniffled and looked at her sister.
"Jake left." Peyton confessed.
Emma hugged her sister, saying she was sorry. Peyton told her what had happened with Jake, that Nicki had shown up with Jenny and Jake had followed. A terrible mess.
"Do you want me to go after Nicki and beat her up, and Ethan can punch Jake for making you cry?" Emma asked.
Peyton laughed and shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Ethan nudged her, making Peyton smile weakly.
"Yeah."
Emma turned to her boyfriend, already aware that Andy had left.
"Do you want to sleep over at my place?" Emma offered.
Ethan was already holding the girl's hand.
"Oh, Karen would love that." Ethan said sarcastically. "I'll try to sneak out." Ethan kissed the girl's cheek.
Ethan was opening the door to go back to the show, but Emma noticed that Peyton was still standing there.
"Shall we go, sis?"
Peyton looked at her sister.
"In a while." Peyton replied and then saw the concern on the girl's face. "Go enjoy it, Emm's. I'll be there soon, I promise."
"Okay." Emma nodded.
'I imagine that George Bernard Shaw never got what his heart desired, because for me it wasn't a tragedy, at least not to get what my heart desired. But losing what your heart desires is a tragedy. But what are we supposed to do when faced with tragedy? To allow ourselves to be consumed by the darkness as we deteriorate from the inside out? Stop fighting? No. Some people make it all worthwhile. They help ease the pain and appreciate the things we've forgotten.' Ethan Charles Scott
'We are the villains of our own story. We create unrealistic expectations of things, and when the unrealistic expectations we've created aren't met, we become disillusioned. But it's a real tragedy to see how foolish we are. I got what my heart desired, and it was incredible, but I lost it. It wasn't a tragedy, but if Shaw thinks that getting what your heart desires is a tragedy, I'll accept that. Because right now what my heart desires is for the hearts of the people I love to be healed, and not getting that would be a genuine tragedy.' Emma Violet Sawyer