I got into his car and immediately checked my texts.

One from Mouth, the other from Peyton.

I read Mouth's first.

"Luke, I'm sorry that I upset you earlier outside of the theater. I didn't mean to, honest. I thought about calling you but I wasn't sure that you'd pick up. I'm coming to the concert tonight, and I'll leave you alone during it. – Mouth"

I sighed as Nathan climbed into the car.

"What's up?" He asked.

I massaged my temple. "Dude, I gotta make a call."

"Ok, that's fine. Talk as I drive. Oh, but one thing before you do." He said.

I turned to look at him.

He was holding out a key.

"What's this?" I asked, taking it from him.

"The key to the fight club, as you so blatantly called it." He smiled.

I laughed. "Yeah, well, call a spade a spade."

"Anyway, make your call." He started the car and I dialed Mouth's number.

It rang twice before he answered.

"Mouth." He said.

"Hey, it's Lucas." I said.

He was silent for a moment. "Hey Luke."

I didn't say anything for a second.

"If you're still mad, I just wanted to tell you that I really am-"

"Mouth, I'm not mad." I said, cutting him off.

A slight pause.

"Really? You're not?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, I over-reacted. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Well...apology accepted then." He said.

I laughed. "We're cool again?"

"Definitely." He replied. "See you at the concert?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"I'm in the car with Nathan." I said. "I'm coming home to change and head to the concert."

"Dude, you're going home to shower, then come to the concert." Nathan interrupted.

I laughed.

"Cool. I'm almost at Tric." He said.

I closed my eyes. "Tell me a gorgeous brunette named Brooke Davis is in your passenger seat."

"Dude, shut up, she can hear everything you're saying." He said.

I heard Brooke laughing in the background and I smiled to myself.

"You're hilarious." I said.

"Yeah, sure." He replied.

"I'll see you at the concert." I said.

We hung up and I checked the other text.

It was from Peyton.

"Ok, major crisis. The band that was supposed to play tonight cancelled because they're having their diva moment. I lost all my numbers last week, and I only remember yours and Brooke's. Could you please get a hold of Haley and ask her if she would mind singing tonight? I called Brooke and she's not answering...call me if you get a hold of Haley." She said.

"Crap." I mumbled.

"Uh-oh, putting out more fires?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, Peyton want's Haley to play Tric tonight, but she can't get a hold of her or Brooke and I just now saw this message..."

Nathan let his breath out. "Uh-oh."

"Yeah." I replied, shifting in my seat. "I think I'm going to call her."

"Yeah, just explain to her that you didn't even hear your phone. She'll understand."

"Maybe." I replied and pressed send on her number.

It rang three times, and thankfully, this time she answered.

"Luke?"

"Hey Peyton," I said slowly. "I'm sorry, but I just now saw your text. I'll call Haley if you still want me to, but I don't know if she'd be ready in time..."

"No. Um, thanks though. I got a hold of Brooke about an hour ago and she gave me Haley's number, so it's not a big deal." She said.

I sighed with relief. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm headed home." I replied.

"Yeah? From where?"

I shrugged. "Nowhere important. Sorry I missed your text, I didn't even hear it go off."

She was silent for a moment. "Luke, what were you doing?"

"Nothing. I was just...out with Nathan." I said. At least that was partly true.

"Lucas, I don't like to be lied to."

"Peyton, I'm not lying to you. Nathan's sitting right beside me." I said.

"He is?"

"Yeah, you want to talk to him to prove it?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment so I sighed and held the phone out to Nathan.

"Hi Peyton." He said.

"Umm…hey." She replied.

I held the phone back against my ear. "Believe me now?"

"Yeah...sorry, I just get worried about you. You know, ever since you came home, I've just been worried that you're going to do something stupid." She explained.

"Like what?"

"Like nothing. Are you still coming to the concert?"

"Of course." I replied. "I wouldn't miss it, Pey."

"Good. Because I could really use a night with my boyfriend." She said.

"Well I'll be there as soon as I can. Nathan's dropping me off at my house then I'll drive over there as soon as I can." I said.

"Why can't you guys just come together?" She asked.

"We could, but I still have to go home and shower. I'm in my workout clothes." I said.

"I happen to find workout clothes very sexy." She whispered.

I laughed. "Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm." She laughed too. "Were you playing basketball with him?"

"Not exactly." I replied.

"What does that mean?" She laughed again.

"It means that he lost." Nathan said.

I guess Peyton heard because she laughed again.

"It doesn't mean that. It just means that we weren't playing basketball." I replied.

She was silent for a moment.

"Look, I'll be at the concert as soon as I can be ok?" I asked.

"Ok. See you in a little while." I replied and hung up.

Nathan dropped me off at my house, and I got into the shower. Letting the cold water run off of me like I did earlier with the hot water, I was able to think clearly.

Why had I been so angry with Mouth earlier? Was I really angry with him or was Nathan right about the emotions being just below the surface.

Groaning, I gave up on thinking about that and went back to focusing on showering.

I showered as quickly as I could, wanting to see Peyton.

After I got out, I was almost finished getting dressed when I saw Dan out of the corner of my eye.

"Whoa." I said and took a step back.

I tripped over something and looked back to see what it was.

When I turned back around to face him again, he was gone.

It was only my imagination.

I sat down on the toilet and put my head in my hands.

I drove to Tric with the radio blaring and my windows rolled down.

The cool night air blew in through the windows and I let my hand drift outside of the window.

When I got to Tric, I had to wait in line for a few minutes, until Peyton came to the door and called me ahead of the others who were still in line.

I tried not to look at any of them as I climbed the stairs, purely because I was almost positive that most of them were glaring.

Hey, I would be too. No cut's in line.

And here comes my beautiful girlfriend to give me one anyway.

No way was I passing that up.

"Hey." She rubbed my shoulder as we walked into Tric together.

"So Haley's playing tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah. Which is great, considering that my main act flaked on me. And I had to call in somebody else too." She said.

"Oh yeah? Did Pete Wentz pull some more strings to come and see you again? Because I believe you're taken now." I said.

She laughed. "No, I didn't call Pete Wentz. God, can you believe I dated him?"

"I wouldn't call it dating but whatever."

She laughed. "Whatever."

"So who did you call?" I asked.

Her silence made me wonder even more so I looked to the stage.

He was already on stage with his guitar slung around his neck, checking his hair in a hand mirror.

Chris Keller.