𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 | 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭

𝟐𝟑 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

The cheerleaders are cheering and the game is about to start. The guys are wearing a jersey with KS on it. Lucas walks over to Whitey. "I can't play tonight." He says and than he leaves. "Dustin, you're in." Whitey says. "Coach, we're in this together. That's what you taught us, right?" Nathan says and he leaves as well. "I'm afraid that's a forfeit, ref." "Okay, Ravens forfeit." "Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the Ravens are going to forfeit the game." Mouth announces. "Ravens forfeit. 

***

Nathan and Elena are lying in bed. "You know, now that we're living here we should probably try unpacking at some point." Elena says and Nathan chuckles. "Yeah, well, uh, we've been a little busy.. doing this." Nathan replies as he kisses Elena's neck and she giggles. "So much better than.. moving in." Nathan adds and they chuckle. 

"I can't wait to renew my vows with you." Elena says. "Me too. I want that second chance, Elena. I want to give you that wedding you always dreamed of." Nathan replies. "I already had a dream wedding." "No, but you told me how you saw it.. in the church gardens, where your parents got married all the bridesmaid and groomsmen flowers everywhere." "Only good thing form their marriage." Elena says and Nathan laughs. "I want that for you." "Mmm. Okay, I guess unpacking can wait." Elena chuckles and they're about to kiss when they hear clattering from the living room.

Elena sits up straight and Nathan gets out of the bed. "What is that? Do you want me to call 911?" Elena asks. "No, no, shh. Just wait there, okay?" Nathan replies and he grabs a baseball bat. Nathan gestures for her to be quiet and he goes out to the kitchen leaving Elena in the bedroom. "Nathan?" Elena asks. "Who wants breakfast?" "It's okay. Come on." Nathan says. "What's going on?" Elena asks as she comes out in Nathan's shirt. 

Cooper is making scrambled eggs and Elena and Nathan are sitting next to each other on stools. "So, it's Elena, right?" He asks. "Mm-hmm." "I always wanted to meet the girl who made my nephew crash a perfectly good race car." Cooper says. "And I always wanted to meet the uncle who let Nathan crash a race car." Elena replies with a smile and she hands him a napkin. "She's tough, Nate. I like her."

"You know, your mom's back in town." Cooper says as he walks over to the pan. "Yeah, she called, actually. Unlike you, she had the decency not to storm our apartment at one in the morning." Nathan replies and Elena chuckles. "Hey, give me a break. I was hungry, alright? Oh, by the way, I met this smoking-hot girl. She's 26. She's a model. You know, my type. She's home from New York. She's house-sitting for her parents. I'm telling you God loves me." Cooper tells as he turns off the stove.

"So, you're staying for a while?" Nathan asks. "Absolutely. If you saw this girl, Nate, you'd know why too." Cooper laughs. "Sorry." Cooper says directed to Elena and she makes a gesture like 'I don't care'. "This does look really good." Elena says as Cooper scoops the scrambled eggs onto her plate.

"Well, it helps if you're a little buzzed." Cooper replies and Elena chuckles. "So, Nate.. listen, I'm sorry about Keith. How's Lucas taking it?" "Not good." Nathan replies. "He walked off the court tonight, actually. We had to forfeit the game." Elena says. "Well, you know what? He'll.. he'll be okay. Now eat up. It's gonna get cold."

***

Elena and Nathan are walking together, his arm wrapped around her."I'm so glad you're happy." Nathan says. "I am happy. It is everything that I dreamed it would be. And I'm, I'm just so happy to be renewing my vows with you. Uh! Huh! Thank you for this. It's so beautiful." Elena says as she looks around her.

"There is one catch." Nathan admits. "What?" "Well.. the church will only allow us to have the wedding on their grounds if we agree to take their premarital counseling class. Even though, technically, we're post marital." Nathan says. "Okay, what is that?" Elena asks. 

"We have to take a test.. to see if we're compatible. And then, I guess, get some tips on how to not pull each other's hair out. It sounds like the basics." Nathan explains and Elena chuckles. "Okay. Well, how hard can one test be? I'm a tutor, after all. Besides, I'll do anything I have to to marry you again." Elena says and they hug as Nathan plants a kiss on the top of her head.

"This test will determine whether you're really suited for each other." The priest says as he hands them the tests and Elena sighs. "I know you're both married. This is just a requirement, okay?" "Okay." "Thank you." "Well, come on. It'll be fun." Elena says and Nathan sighs.

***

Elena and Nathan are back at the church gardens. "I'm sorry, I don't quite know how to tell you this but you failed." The priest says giving them back their tests. "You're kidding." Elena says. "I'm sorry, no. According to the test, the two of you are highly incompatible." He replies and Elena scoffs. "It's been a long time since I failed a test." 

"Father, can I ask you a question? When you decided you wanted to be a priest how did you know it was the right thing to do?" Nathan asks. "I had a divine belief in God." He replies. "Can you prove that to us? With some sort of test, I mean." "Of course not." "Just like you can't prove love with a test. I mean, this is just a score on a sheet of paper. Sure, Elena and I have our differences but this test doesn't show how hard we've worked to keep this relationship together. Or that I can't stand it when we're apart. Or that every time I look at her.. I know that I'm gonna be with her for the rest of my life. We love each other, father. No test is gonna show that." Nathan explains.

"Let me see that test." The priest says and Nathan gives him the test. He looks at it for a brief second and than rips the paper in half. "Thanks.. for passing the real test." He says and they sigh in relief. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful ceremony." The priest says and he shakes Nathan's hand. "Thank you." "Congratulations." "Thank you." Elena replies and she shakes his hand as well. Elena pulls Nathan closer by his tie, smiling, and he wraps his arms around her.

***

Elena and Nathan are sitting on the couch, Elena's legs over Nathan's, eating ice cream. "Forty six points? That's, like, really good, isn't it?" Elena asks before she takes a bite of her ice cream. "It's not bad." Nathan replies chuckling. "Well, you were amazing. And you looked pretty amazing, too." "Thank you." "Where was Luke tonight?" Elena asks.

"Lucas has a heart condition, Lena." "Uhm, don't-don't be mad at me. I kind of already knew about his HCM, and so did Haley. He made us promise not to tell anybody. Sorry. Isn't he taking his medication?" Elena asks. "No." "Great. So he lied to us." "Well, now, I think he lied to everyone including himself." Nathan replies. "Is he gonna be okay?" "Yeah. We're all gonna make sure he's okay, promise."

"Mmm. Thank you for being such an amazing guy." Elena says and she give shim a kiss. "And thank you for having the right answer with that priest the other day. God, for a minute there I thought we weren't gonna get our big wedding." Elena says. "Hey, you know, we don't still have to do that if you don't want to." "No, I really want to. Hello, I love weddings. I-I've just been trying to think of, uhm.. a way to make the day really memorable and I had an idea. You ready?" Elena asks.

"Yeah." "Okay. Uhm, what if we don't have sex until we get married again?" Elena smiles and Nathan just looks at her for a moment. "Do you still love me?" "What, are you kidding?" Nathan asks and Elena shakes her head. "Uh... yeah, okay. But does that mean that I can't still kiss you, like this?" Nathan asks and he kisses her neck. "Mmm. No." "Or like this?" "Okay, maybe we''l just start with the no-sex thing tomorrow night. You know, that's fine." Elena says and she grabs his shirt as they kiss.

***

A/N:

CUTIES! Next chapter cotillion!