"Claudia?" Nathan called as he wheeled into their bedroom. 

"Hey, I'm in here. How'd it go at the doctor's?" Claudia asked smiling as she turned around to face Nathan. Her smile fell once she saw Nathan in his wheelchair. Nathan laughed before he stood up.  

"That is so not funny..." Claudia laughed in defeat and Nathan nodded his head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm fine. I'm supposed to take it easy for a few days, that's all." Nathan explained and Claudia nodded her head. "So you're excited for the USO show?" Nathan asked grinning and Claudia shook her head.

"Honestly, no. I had this nightmare last night, that I got un on stage and I forgot the words of my song. I completely forgot. I just stood here. What am I gonna do if that happens tonight?" Claudia asked worried.

"Do you have any instrumental hits?" Nathan asked jokingly and Claudia wasn't impressed. "It was just a dream, Claudia. You're gonna be great, okay? And I can't wait to see my sexy girl on stage." Nathan smirked and Claudia shook her head.

"Not a chance. The doctor said you should stay home and relax, and you need to listen to him." Claudia replied as he pointed at Nathan. 

"I think I can handle a concert." Nathan argued and Claudia shook her head.

"Not gonna happen. Besides, I don't want to overwhelm you with my sexiness...when I'll throw up all over the stage." Claudia smirked jokingly.

"Come on. Do you remember the first time you sang to me at the cafe? Well, if you get nervous, just close your eyes, and pretend like you're back there, and it's just you and me, all right?" Nathan explained comfortingly and Claudia smiled at her husband.

"Yeah. I like that. Thank you. I love you, Nathan Scott." Claudia grinned before she kissed Nathan. 

"I love you." Nathan mumbled before Claudia walked away from her husband grinning. 

___

"Claude, tell him!" Nathan shouted.

"What?" Claudia asked as she walked into the living room. Lucas was there too.

"I had to have a little talk with her about walking away, too." Nathan said to Lucas as Claudia sat down beside him.

"Oh, you're just full of funny today, aren't you?" Claudia asked sarcastically before she saw the ice on Lucas' hand. "What happened to you?" Claudia asked confused.

"He decked Julian." Nathan answered and Claudia looked at Lucas shocked.

"Why?" Claudia asked intrigued, she was kind of excited.

"He was dating Peyton in L.A." Nathan answered and Claudia grinned.

"Really?" She asked, grinning like the cheshire cat.

"Yeah, apparently, they were in love..." Lucas mocked. He hated how Julian and Peyton knew each other.

"Get in!" Claudia exclaimed as she high-fived Nathan. Lucas gave them a confused look. "First of all sorry I just really appreciate when the drama's not about us, second of all he is quite hot." Claudia explained and Nathan turned to face Claudia. "Not as hot as you though." She smiled as she touched his face.

"Yeah, you guys suck right know. You know that?" Lucas asked jokingly and Claudia grinned as she turned to face Lucas.

"All right, I'm off. Jamie, Grace and Orval are at Andre's for the night." Claudia replied like it was nothing and Lucas looked at her confused.

"Who's Orval?" Lucas asked and Claudia laughed a little.

"Orval is Jamie's imaginary. Well, he's technically Chester's imaginary friend, but Jamie takes him places. Grace isn't really interested in that." Claudia explained and Nathan was confused.

"Seriously?" Nathan asked and Claudia nodded her head. 

"Yeah. oh, come on, if Orval's the worst of our worries, I think we're doing pretty good." Claudia answered and Nathan nodded his head. "Okay, wish me luck!" Claudia smiled at the brothers.

"Good luck." Nathan grinned before he kissed Claudia. Claudia stood up and walked away a little. Lucas walked up to Nathan. 

"Mmm wish me luck too." Lucas joked as he leaned forward to kiss Nathan. 

"Ugh, get out of here!" Nathan groaned as he slapped Lucas' leg. 

"Thanks for the ice, and...No, actually, just thank you for the ice." Lucas replied and Nathan laughed a little.

"Come on, punchy, you can tell me all about it." Claudia teased before her and Lucas left. 

"Imaginary friend...I knew my kid would end up weird." Nathan sighed as he shook his head in disbelief. 

___

Claudia was standing backstage at the USO show waiting for Peyton. Peyton was walking towards Claudia but didn't see her.

"Oh, Peyton, hey!" Claudia exclaimed nervously giving Peyton a fright.

"Ah!" Peyton screamed, she got a fright from Claudia's erratic behaviour. Level one of Claudia's nervous scale.  

"We just have a small problem. I can't perform tonight." Claudia stated smiling weakly, deja vu anyone? 

"What? Why?" Peyton asked confused and Claudia sighed a little.

"Because, listen, I'm rusty and they're gonna hate me, and I'm gonna ruin the show." Claudia explained smiling.

"No, no, you're not gonna ruin the show. You're gonna be great." Peyton replied encouragingly and Claudia shook her head, she was not buying it.

"No, I'm gonna ruin the show because I'm nervous. And I can't even remember the lines to my own song." Claudia explained all stressed out and nervous. She had gone into that mode and it was scary to anyone who was in the firing lines. Level two of Claudia's nervous scale- self doubt.

"Well, well. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Someone's a little nervous?" Mia asked smirking and Claudia was not amused to say the least.

"Don't even start with me, you little brat." Claudia hissed over at Mia. Level three of Claudia's nervous scale- angriness. 

"Nice. Is that how you speak to your students?" Mia asked jokingly and that was when Sam piped up.

"Yeah." Sam stated honestly and Peyton grinned over at her.

"Mia, this is Sam. She's gonna be your assistant tonight. So, anything you want, ask her. She has a debt to pay off." Peyton grinned jokingly as she placed her hands on Sam's shoulders.

" Hey, Sam, how about we just hang, though? I don't think I'm a diva enough to have an assistant." Mia joked and Sam laughed a little.

"Hey, thank you again for being a part of all this, Mia." Peyton smiled over at Mia.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything. And, besides, if Claudia's gonna suck, I wouldn't miss that for anything, either!" Mia replied jokingly as she placed a hand on Claudia's shoulder. She could tell Claudia was freaking out, I mean everyone could. "You're gonna be fine, Claude. Besides, if you're not, who's even gonna notice?" Mia asked and Claudia glared at her.

"Them." Claudia hissed as she pointed to the crowd. There was a lot of people. "Why is there so many solders?!" Claudia asked loudly. 

"Wow, look at the cry out loud there, they're all waiting for you!" Mia exclaimed excitably and that wasn't helping Claudia.

"Yeah, kind of like all the people waiting for your second record, huh?" Claudia asked harshly but Mia knew she didn't mean it. 

"Right. It's gonna be fine." Mia said honestly as Peyton walked onto the stage. Claudia was panting backstage because of her nerves.

"Hey, marines ! How's everybody doing tonight ? The crowd screams. Peyton : All right, that's good to hear! I got to tell you, I am so excited to be here tonight, and it's such an honor to be able to do this for my brother and his family! Thank you guys for having us!" Peyton shouted on stage to the crowd. Claudia could hear her slightly as she blocked everything out backstage due to nerves.

"Mia, I forgot the first line of my song! Tell me what the first line of my song is!" Claudia ordered all stressed out. She was away to be sick, she had never been this nervous before. Not even the first time she performed at TRIC or the benefit concert at TRIC. This was nerves she has never experienced before. Level Four of Claudia's nervous scale- forgetfulness.

"Baby, baby, baby. Tell me, do you really love me?" Mia replied and Claudia tried to remember it but she was getting all stressed and flustered. "Now, go get them!" Mia shouted encouragingly as she pushed Claudia closer to the stage.

"Please give it up for the one and only Claudia Scott!" Peyton exclaimed as Claudia walked onto the stage waving all the fans. She could feel the buzz and it was magical. Level five of Claudia's nerve scale- nerves gone. Happy Claudia. The world is now safe.

"Hey everyone! I have an old song for today!" Claudia grinned to the audience before the song started to play. Claudia hit every note perfectly.

https://youtu.be/I5At1qaehac

After Claudia was doing singing, she waved good bye to everyone before leaving. Peyton introduced Mia as Claudia reached Derek, Peyton's half brother, who was back stage.

"You were great." Derek grinned as him and Claudia hugged.

"Oh my Gosh, it's so good to see you! Hi!" Claudia exclaimed excitably.

"Are you going on tour anytime soon?" Derek asked and Claudia shook her head sternly.

"Oh, no, no tour for me, not since I had my baby boy and girl." Claudia answered and Derek gave her a sadden look.

"Must have been a tough decision for you." Derek replied and Claudia shook her head.

"The rush you get from the crowd is amazing and so humbling but it doesn't come close to my family. That's what I want the most." Claudia explained honestly.

"Well, your kids's lucky to have a mom that chose them over her career. I wasn't so lucky." Derek admitted.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Claudia replied sympathetically. "I know how you feel." Claudia added, because she did. Her parents were touring with her brother and they never really had the whole family thing down. "We...We all make different choices, and different things. I think eventually we learn to define happiness for ourselves on our own terms, in spite of the pain other people have caused to us, you know?" Claudia continued and Derek nodded his head in agreement before they turned to watch Mia perform. 

___

Claudia walked into the living room, to see that it was all lit up beautifully with candles. 

"What is all this?" Claudia asked smiling and then she saw that the furniture was moved around. "Nathan Royal Scott, you better not have done this with your back." Claudia warned motherly as she walked up to her husband.

"My back is fine. How'd you do today?" Nathan asked as Claudia hugged him. She couldn't stop grinning.

"It was amazing. Of course at the start I was bloody terrified but then it started to feel normal, I haven't felt that way in years and it was awesome." Claudia explained with pure bliss as she looked up at Nathan.

"I'm so bummed that I didn't get to see you." Nathan replied and Claudia pouted as she nodded her head.

"I know. Me too, baby." Claudia said.

"If you're not to tired, I was hoping for an encore." Nathan smirked and Claudia giggled happily.

"Let's do this." Claudia grinned as she sat by the piano, Nathan came over beside her.

"Claudia..Let's promise never to be too scared to live our dreams." Nathan stated and Claudia nodded her head.

"I promise." She grinned honestly, looking into Nathan's brown eyes she realised how much she loved him.

"Me too." Nathan replied and the married couple sealed that promise with a kiss as they sat by the piano lit with candles.