Forever and A Day | one tree hill

sixteen.

Three people, I have to admit that's kind of sad and I think I'm starting to know who you are. You wouldn't happen to be blazing things up under the bleachers would you? (That was totally a joke) and I think I'd miss a lot of people, I mean yeah I'm ready to leave but this is my home, you know? This is where all the people that I care about coexist in a weird way.

Valentina was sitting at lunch with a textbook open before her and across from her, she saw her older brother attempting to open a bag of chips. Valentina looks back at her textbook as she solves the math problem before her.

"Need some help with that?" Valentina asks.

"I got it," Lucas tells her. Valentina listens some more as Lucas struggles with the bag of chips and finally she can't take it anymore as she drops her pencil and snatches the bag from Lucas, tearing it open and placing it before him.

Lucas looks up at his sister and then back at the chips, "Thank you?"

"I know you're a man with a man ego but it's okay to ask for help," Valentina tells him.

Lucas chuckles, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," Valentina says with a small smile as she looks back down at her notebook.

"Heyo," Haley says as she takes a seat at the table with a smile on her lips.

"Hey Hales," Lucas greets.

"Hey," Valentina says, as she turns her textbook toward Haley, "Want to do my math homework?"

Haley scoffs as she turns the textbook back toward Val, "You're smart enough to do your own homework."

Val pouts, "Not as smart as you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Haley says, leaning toward Val as she speaks the words. Valentina smiles at Haley as she looks back at her math homework.

Since the Peyton cloud of confusion and the Nathan cloud of confusion had cleared, Haley and Valentina had been spending more time together. Lucas was there mostly but there was always a flirty comment here and there and in a weird way it felt like they were getting back on track.

"Boyfriend!" Brooke says happily as she takes a seat beside Lucas, a wide grin on her lips.

"Hey," Lucas greets.

Peyton, who was trailing behind Lucas, offers a tightlipped smile to the group as she takes a seat on the opposite side of Brooke, which also happened to be the seat right beside Valentina. Val looks up from her math problems and over at Peyton a small smile on her lips.

"Hey Peyton," Val greets.

"Hi."

"So," Brooke says as she surveys the table, "How are everyone's days going?"

"Awful," Valentina says, "Haley won't do my homework."

Haley rolls her eyes but there's a smile on her lips as she snatches the pencil out of Valentina's hand, "You can do your own homework."

"But I'd much rather you do it," Valentina says as she looks at Haley, "Please? Can you really say no to this face?"

"Yes I can," Haley says as she leans close to Val, "No."

Valentina frowns as she sits back in her seat. Peyton watches the two of them before deciding to do her homework as well and as she opens her notebook a piece of paper falls on the table. Brooke is quick to act as she grabs the paper.

"What's this?" Brooke asks and Peyton snatches it out of Brooke's hand before she has a chance to respond.

"None of your business," Peyton replies.