Everyone has that one TV show or movie they can watch countless times over. It’s comforting, familiar, and always there to take you away. You can see the characters, you see their visible emotions and reactions, and it’s like you’re there with them. You cry for them during their downfalls, and you cheer for them when they finally get what they’ve been working for. Through character development, and seasons upon seasons, you get to know them and see them grow and mature. You become so invested in their scripted lives, it’s like you know them personally. But of course, they’re just fictional characters and they can’t impact people that much, can they? It’s just a TV show, people say, but for some people a TV show is so much more than just a TV show.

For me, that one TV show is One Tree Hill. The small town setting, the basketball playing half-brothers, the countless plot twists and drama, what isn’t there to love? I can watch half a season in one sitting; the show is just so captivating that you cannot simply watch one episode at a time. I quickly fell in love with the city of Tree Hill and its residents, and even though I only finished season four (so far), One Tree Hill has been such a comfort to me. The perfectly placed background songs, the relatable characters, the all too common teen drama; it is just so comforting and reassuring to watch a TV show like that.

The character development that has happened with the first four seasons is incredible. We’ve seen heartbreak and tragedy, along with joy and happiness. We’ve seen characters go from immature, careless jerks to mature, caring young adults, all while falling in love during their last two years of high school. While all of the characters have gone through character development, Nathan Scott and Brooke Davis are the two who have changed the most for the better, and the two who I have become so invested in. Brooke went from the preppy, b****y cheerleader captain to the student body president who is fiercely protective of her friends.

Nathan, on the same hand, goes from the stereotypical high school jerk to a person who would do anything for someone they loved. Nathan Scott is the person I want to have in real life; someone who is so in love with me and so caring that they would do anything to keep me safe and protect me. Nathan Scott is the fictional character I crave so much in real life. He’s the fictional character that manages to make me cry because he isn’t real. The emotional connection I feel for a fictional character is overwhelming. My heat aches because of that character, played by the ever talented James Lafferty. Seeing the character hurting and upset, tugs at my heartstrings and I cry, just like I get smiley and cheery when he and his wife work things out.

Even though Nathan Scott is a fictional character apart of a teen drama TV series that stopped airing five years ago, he gives me hope. Hope that someday I will find a guy like that. Hope that someday everything will work out. So here’s to you, Nathan Scott...