"What does it say, momma?" Jamie asked as he stood beside his mom, who was in the middle of her two children. They were at Quentin's grave, Jamie and Grace liked to go often so they could speak to Quentin. Claudia did not mind because she wanted to go as well. She didn't want to leave the grave all alone.  

"You will soar on wings like eagles. You will run and not grow weary." Claudia read out from Quentin's tombstone. 

"Do you think there's basketball in heaven?" Jamie asked as he looked up at Claudia. Claudia thought it was just so sweet how Jamie could think like that. She was just scared for the day when they start to slowly forget Quentin, since they were so young when he died. 

"Of course there is basketball in heaven, Jamie. How else is Quentin meant to go to the heaven NBA?" Grace asked and Claudia laughed a little at her cuteness. She couldn't say they were wrong because nobody knew what heaven was going to be like. She was just hoping that Quentin was looking down on them and smiling. 

"You are right, Grace." Jamie replied and Grace smiled to herself proud. 

"How long has it been?" Grace asked, changing the subject. 

"Eight days." Claudia sighed as she looked at the grave, it was such a shame that he had to go so young. He had so much to live for. 

"I miss him." Jamie whispered and Claudia looked down at him. 

"So do I." Grace whimpered and Claudia knew it was time to go, it was to hard for them. 

"Come on." Claudia said as her and her children walked off. They continued to walk down the graveyard, it was giving Claudia the creeps. She has been scared of graveyards every since Lucas scared her and Haley in junior year. Jamie saw something unsettling. 

"Momma! It's grandpa Dan. He's dead!" Jamie exclaimed as he pointed to the gravestone. Claudia looked at in shock, it was covered in lies. "Wonderful Father, Husband, Brother..." He was none of those things. 

"No, buddy, he's not. This is not what it looks like." Claudia explained truthfully. Dan had to make his gravestone bigger than Keith's. Obviously it had to have a picture of him on it. Smiling and everything. 

"But you and daddy said the people in the cemetery are in heaven, like Quentin." Grace stated looking up at her mom. 

"Right, but, uh, some people like to buy their headstones before they die ... like way before. Um, like the backpack that we got you the week before school started. It's like that. Grandpa Dan's just being prepared." Claudia explained, she didn't know how to describe it. 

"To die in a week?" Grace asked and Claudia shook his head. 

"No. He's ... he's alive. Grandpa Dan is alive, I promise." Claudia stated honestly, however, she didn't know herself. But if Dan was dead surely they would have been told. 

"Then can we go see him?" Jamie asked grinning and Claudia sighed to herself. She could not say no as she looked at her children's pleading eyes.

"Why did you have to have such cute faces?" Claudia asked smirking as they walked to the car. Grace and Jamie were ecstatic because they were going to see their grandpa. 

___

"This is where grandpa Dan lives?" Grace asked as they walked up the steps of Dan's beach house. Claudia could remember this house well, she had so many good memories with Nathan and some bad memories with Nathan in this house. 

"Yeah, not bad, huh?" Claudia smiled as they continued to walk up the steps. 

"I think you should let him baby-sit. How come grandpa isn't picking up his papers?" Jamie asked confused as they looked down at tons of papers outside of his front door. Claudia got worried for a moment, what if he actually was dead? 

"I don't know, buddy." Claudia answered honestly. 

"Maybe he doesn't like what's in it." Grace suggested and Claudia turned to face her kids. 

"Yeah, you're probably right. I don't think he's home, bud." Claudia replied and then she thought the worse, what if Dan was really gone. "Hey, will you both wait in the car for me?" Claudia asked smiling sweetly. 

"But I want to see grandpa Dan." Jamie demanded and Claudia nodded her head. 

"I know, buddy. I just need a second." Claudia said. 

"Okay." Her children replied in unison as Claudia walked up to the front door. 

"Okay Dan, please don't be rotting on the floor." Claudia sighed to herself before she opened up the beach house door and walked in. She was not in the mood for finding a dead body. 

___

"Skills came to see me today, and he said that Deb broke up with him. He's pretty upset." Claudia said as she sat down with Nathan at a school lunch table. It was quite surreal being back at school with Nathan. 

"Good. He shouldn't have been sleeping with my mom." Nathan stated bluntly and Claudia gaped at him.

"Said the man who slept with my best friend, I mean Taylor has been like a sister to me." Claudia explained jokingly and Nathan sighed a little. "I remember the first time I saw you. I was sitting at the geek table, and you were sitting over thereat the jock table, and if we had played by the rules of high school, we wouldn't be sitting here at this table." Claudia explained and Nathan nodded his head. 

"Okay, all right, I get it. You and I weren't the most conventional couple, either. Are you ever gonna stop trying to make me into a better person?" Nathan asked and Claudia grinned at him. 

"It's not likely." Claudia sang a little laughing and then she realised she had to tell Nathan something. "Speaking of exiled parents, did you know that Dan already has a headstone at the cemetery? It makes Keith's stone look tiny by comparison." Claudia asked annoyed. Keith deserved so much more than Dan. 

"Leave it to Dan Scott to get into a pissing contest with Keith even after he's dead." Nathan replied as he unraveled the sandwich. 

"Yeah, well, Jamie and Grace saw it, and they freaked out and insisted on seeing Dan. I didn't know what else to do. I ... I took them over to the beach house." Claudia slowly and painfully said. Nathan was not happy. 

"Claudia..." Nathan sighed. 

"I'm sorry, they were doing the eye thing again." Claudia argued and Nathan nodded his head.

"The eye thing they get from you." Nathan stated pointing at Claudia. "You of all people should be able to get around it." Nathan explained and Claudia pointed. The 'eye thing' was a trick their kids have, nobody can say no to their pleading eyes. They are just so cute.

"Anyways, Dan wasn't home, though. In fact, it looked like he hadn't been home in a few days. When was the last time you saw him?" Claudia asked a little concerned. 

"I don't know. A few weeks ago? He's playing mind games again. I basically told him to go off and die." Nathan explained honestly, Nathan seemed like he couldn't care less if Dan was dying or not. It did not seem to faze him. 

"Well, I'm worried about Jamie and Grace. They're ... they are still trying to get over the death of Quentin, and now Dan's disappeared. I know we didn't want him around, but Jamie and Grace both did. It feels kind of selfish." Claudia admitted truthfully and Nathan could tell that Claudia was getting all worked up about it and that was annoying him. That Dan was worrying everyone when he wasn't even with them. 

"Well, remember who we're talking about." Nathan replied and Claudia nodded her head. Dan  was a murder, he murdered his brother in cold blood. 

"Yeah." Claudia sighed as Nathan continued to open up their lunch. 

The married couple finished lunch together and said their goodbyes before walking the opposite way. Claudia was on her way to her classroom before she heard chanting. She knew there was a fight going on, I mean Claudia has had a lot. She quickly ran over. 

"Why don't you come on in?" Sam tauntingly warned as some girls were trying to fight her. Claudia gave running through the huddle. 

"Get off me! Enough! okay?" Claudia screamed as she broke up the fight. "I'm gonna see every one of you in detention." Claudia warned as she pointed at all the girls. "Hold on. Hey, are you okay?" Claudia asked Sam sweetly. "Congratulations on your first tree hill cat fight. I've had a few in my day." Claudia laughed as she folded her arms over. 

"Spare me the female bonding, okay?" Sam snapped angrily and Claudia was taken back by it. "I may be new, but I've heard all about Mrs. Scott, a cheerleader who dated the star of the basketball team. That is, when you weren't on a rock tour. Your life must have been really tough." Sam continued sarcastically and Claudia didn't know what to say. "So just don't pretend like you know anything about my problems, okay? See you in detention, Hannah Montana." Sam finished off rudely before she walked off. Claudia was speechless and that rarely happens. 

___

Nathan was making lunch for his kids, they were sat up on the stools waiting patiently. Nathan took the too hot bowls out of the microwave and quickly carried them over to his children. 

"Microwave soup?" Jamie asked unimpressed as he looked at the food, Grace had the same reaction. 

"What's the problem?" Nathan asked confused, he was doing a lot more now that Deb was gone. Nathan kicked her out of the house because he was annoyed with all of the lies. 

"Nanny Deb always makes us sliders on game days." Jamie explained and Nathan raised his eyebrow. 

"Oh, she does, huh?" Nathan asked smirking and Grace leaned on the counter. 

"With two pickles for good luck." Grace added grinning. 

"Well, daddy Nathan makes you soup." Nathan smiled and Grace stirred her soup with her spoon. 

"When is she coming back?" Jamie asked curiously. He missed his Nanny Deb. 

"I don't know, buddy." Nathan sighed. 

"Is it because she was kissing uncle skills?" Grace asked bluntly and Nathan was shocked. 

"You knew about that?" Nathan asked confused and his children nodded their heads. They say them kissing one morning. 

"Yeah. They tried to pretend he was getting something out of her eye, but they were just being all mushy." Grace answered. 

"Yeah. And how does it feel to be scarred for life?" Nathan asked a little quieter and his children shrugged. They were actually okay with it all. 

"Fine. I like Nanny Deb. I like uncle skills. So what if they like each other?" Jamie asked honestly. Nathan was expecting a different reaction. 

"It's a little more complicated than that. Your Nanny Deb is also my mom." Nathan explained and both of his kids knew that. 

"Yeah. But I let you kiss my mom." Grace asked grinning and Nathan was speechless. He kept on squinting weird because he didn't know how to reply. Jamie and Grace were both laughing to each other. 

"Eat your soup." Nathan stated before he walked off. He couldn't believe he got outsmarted by his daughter. 

___

"As you all know, tonight's basketball game is dedicated to Quentin, and I think it would be great if you could all be there, so no homework. But don't worry. We'll make it up next week, though. I promise." Claudia explained to her class before they packed up their things. Claudia could see that Sam was away to leave with the rest of her class. "Sam. Stick around. I want to talk to you." Claudia smiled and Sam walked over to her. "Um. I read your paper that you wrote on Quentin. It was very good, and I think you should spend some more time writing and maybe a little less time shoplifting." Claudia continued pointedly. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam lied nervously. 

"Relax. One of my best friends, Brooke, owns clothes over bros, and she's not gonna press charges. Actually, she sent you a gift." Claudia grinned as she lifted a giant bag full of Clothes Over Bros clothes. Sam was not happy with the gift. 

"You know, I'm not homeless, okay? Tell your friend I don't need her charity." Sam replied angrily as she stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder. 

"Sam. I don't know what you're going through. I don't know anything about your life. But if you want to talk, I am here to listen. Great." Claudia replied, she didn't know how to break down Sam's walls. Sam walked over to the classroom door, without the clothes. 

"That's nice." Sam stated sarcastically. "Stop being nice, because you don't know what it is like." Sam snapped and Claudia was no longer speechless.

"Everybody knows about Mrs Scott who went on tour and got married to the most popular boy in school" Claudia started to say in a mimicking voice. "But nobody seems to speak about Mrs Scott, the new mother who nearly lost both of her children because of a car accident, or Mrs Scott, the teenage wife who nearly lost her husband as he jumped into the water to save people on their wedding day." Claudia explained and she could tell now that Sam was speechless. "Would you like me to continue?" Claudia asked as she walked over to Sam who was at the door. 

"No." Sam muttered and Claudia nodded her head. 

"If you need anything at all, then my door is open. Even if you want a gossip because my daughter Grace could tell you anything. I swear to god she has an eighty year old women living inside of her." Claudia joked and Sam stiffled a laugh. The bell rang. "If a teacher asks why you are late just tell them I was giving you extra homework." Claudia winked and Sam nodded her head before she left the classroom, still without the clothes. Claudia was pretty happy with herself. 

___

"Every day, we face the same truth, that our time here is short." Lucas started off saying. He was standing in front of hundreds of people, they were all at the basketball game to support Quentin's family and the Ravens. Claudia was standing at the side next to Quentin's mother and brother.  "And to honor the fallen, we must live our own lives well. We must take the high road when we can and allow our common loss to bring us together. I think that's the way Q. Would have wanted it. And while tonight we miss our fallen teammate. Friend. Loved one. We commemorate him for all time." Lucas explained and Claudia watched him with such love and admiration. She couldn't have done what Lucas was doing. "No raven will ever wear the number 44 again." Lucas stated and Claudia moved out of the way so she was out of the shot. Quentin's mom pulled down a drape that hid Quentin's jersey in a case, he was next to Nathan and Whitey's. He took the place of Dan's jersey. "And for as long as this gym stands, Quentin Fields will be here with us. No one can take his place on this team. And no one. Can take his place in our hearts. Moment silence for Number 44, Quentin fields." Lucas finished and they all took a moment of silence for Quentin. Claudia was getting nervous because she was on next. "Now words from Mrs Scott." Lucas smiled and Claudia walked onto the court. All you could hear was the sound of her heels clicking and clacking along the floor. She hugged onto Lucas tightly before she walked over to the microphone. 

"Hi." Claudia smiled at everyone. She was wearing a black dress with a Raven's jacket around her shoulders, it was Nathan's old one. She wanted to show her support for the Raven's and Quentin. "I was Quentin's teacher, I tutored him as well. Quentin was something special." Claudia whimpered trying to hold back her tears. Her children ran up to her and placed their hands in hers.  It meant the world to her, her children their supporting her. Nathan gave her a encouraging look and Claudia sighed before she continued. "To me, Quentin was a lot of things. But he was a friends to my children, he was helping my husband. I will never be able to thank him enough for all that he did." Claudia explained as a tear fell out of her eye. "He used to always tell me, Mrs C.S, do what you do best. If you can never find the words then you sing." Claudia smiled to herself as she looked down at the ground. "So, this is for number forty four." Claudia said before they music started to play. 

https://youtu.be/YlGSHcdYqjg

___

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked as he walked over to Claudia after the game. Claudia had just gotten off of the phone from Dan's doctor. Claudia didn't know how to tell Nathan that his dad was going off to die. Alone. She turned to face Nathan. 

"Uh. That was Dan's doctor." Claudia stuttered nervously as she placed her phone in her back pocket. "Apparently, they had a heart for him and he never answered their call." Claudia explained but didn't seem to faze Nathan. 

"Then he really has gone off to die." Nathan sighed and Claudia nodded her head. She couldn't believe that Dan was really going to be gone. She just doesn't ever expect to see the day this soon. She didn't know to tell their kids, it would destroy them. 

___

"Want to hear a secret?" Claudia asked as Nathan walked out to the back garden. Claudia was standing outside looking at the water.

"Yeah." Nathan sighed as they sat down on the steps. Claudia turned to face him, she had been crying.

"When my dad died and I went out for that night by myself, want to know what I did?" Claudia asked and Nathan could remember that night. Claudia was on the phone to her mum when she was told the news. Her mum was still on the phone and Claudia dropped it on the floor before she ran out of the house. Nathan remembered picking up the phone and listened to Josie cry her eyes out.

"What did you do?" Nathan asked intrigued and Claudia sighed a little. Only Haley knew about this little secret, she couldn't even tell Lucas.

"I got stoned." She stated bluntly and Nathan looked over at her in shock. "Oh come, don't act surprised. I used to do it all the time when I was in freshman year." Claudia laughed, Nathan had no idea.

"You're a stoner?" He asked shocked and Claudia shook her head.

"I was a stoner." She replied correcting him and Nathan couldn't believe it. "Everyone used to call me Claudia Stoned. This must be a Scott thing because Lucas still doesn't know." Claudia laughed to herself. Nathan couldn't believe it.

"Why?" He asked and Claudia shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. When I was younger I would always crave it." Claudia explained, little did she know that Taylor and Quinn used to give her pot brownies. 

"My girl is a stoner." Nathan sighed to himself as Claudia placed her head on his shoulders. "Do you still do get high?" Nathan asked and Claudia shook her head.

"I haven't had since that night so, three years." Claudia explained in shock. "I also didn't do it when I met you, or when we went out. I did do it a couple of times when you wanted the divorce because I wanted to forget about it all. It was stupid and reckless. I am never doing it again." Claudia explained honestly. She didn't get high because she wanted too. She isn't planning to get high ever again. 

"Good, because I have to deal with one junkie in my life, not wanting another one." Nathan laughed and Claudia slapped his shoulder playfully.

"I mean come on, my persona in high school was hippie. I had to get high." Claudia teases and Nathan rolled his eyes. "I mean I would walk around the school going, hey man." Claudia joked pretending to be high. Nathan stood up.

"I am going to bed." Nathan sighed as he walked in the house, Claudia chased after Nathan laughing. She loved teasing him, Nathan, however, did not.