Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

A/N: Wow, the big 50 chapters! Can't believe it. LOL. And it's not even close to finished yet. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this and to those of you who take the time to send me some feedback, big hugs. Love ya!

In case anyone's forgotten, the locker scene Lucas refers to in this chapter is from way back in chapter 14.

To iloveyou123: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it. As for your questions, I don't mind answering if you really want to know, but there's no way to reply to a review unless it's signed and I can't really answer in an A/N without spoiling the surprise for everyone.

Karen stood with her arms folded across her chest, her feet planted firmly on the floor, when Lucas entered their home after closing the café. He was still reeling from Peyton's outburst earlier. Here, he'd thought he'd done a good thing by submitting her sketches and she acts as though he'd burned them or something. Women.

He took in his mother's stance, knowing instantly that she was pissed about something. Just great. "What's going on?" he asked needlessly, considering his mother was never one to hold her tongue.

"Did you suffer some sort of brain injury or memory loss the day of your attack?" she spat.

Taken aback, Lucas narrowed his eyes in wonder. "Uh…"

"Because that's the only way you could have mistaken Nathan for a short, blond, fat guy with grubby clothes," she yelled.

The color draining from his face, he shifted uncomfortably as she listed off the physical traits he'd given the police of his attacker. "How did you…?"

"Somebody had sense enough to send a tape…to me and to Whitey!" she hollered louder. "Not that you know anything about good sense!" she went on. "Explain!"

For a minute he was rendered speechless. Two tapes? Mouth never said anything about there being two. And it hit him suddenly that he'd accused Nathan of attacking Mouth prematurely. It didn't make sense now that it could have been him. But he'd been so sure. Who else would have benefited from stealing that tape? He didn't have time to dwell on it as his mother pressed for answers. "I didn't want Nathan to get in trouble with the law," he answered earnestly.

"Well, Nathan should have thought of that before committing a crime," Karen shot back unsympathetically.

"Come on," Lucas argued. "He made a mistake and he should have to pay forever for it?"

"I hardly think he'd get a life sentence," she pointed out sarcastically.

"The cop who interviewed me said the guy responsible could go to prison and he'd have a criminal record. That's a life sentence right there."

"And that's your problem? Do you have any idea how serious it is to send the police on a wild goose chase? Do you know how many resources you've wasted? How much man power could have gone toward something else."

"Yeah, I'm sure the donut shops must have suffered a massive financial loss," Luke returned caustically.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!"

"What? Ma, it's Tree Hill. What else do the cops have to do?"

"Gee, I don't know. I guess you can ask them that tomorrow morning when I kick your ass all the way to the station!"

He chuckled softly at her comment until he realized she was serious.

"That's right," Karen stated. "They want you in for questioning. Funny, they don't take so well to a person interfering with a criminal investigation."

He swallowed hard, fear beginning to stir within him.

Karen was glad to see it. Maybe that fear would knock some sense into him. She knew his heart was in the right place, but after what Nathan had done, no way she would allow Lucas to shield him from punishment.

"I was just doing what I thought was best," he muttered.

"Well, you thought wrong," Karen said sternly. But her voice softened at the despondent expression her son wore. "I know you can't see it right now," she said, putting a comforting hand on his arm. "But this was a brutal act of violence that needs to be addressed."

"It's not his fault though," Lucas tried to argue. "I mean it is," he amended when Karen shot him a contradictory look. "But…"

"But what?" Karen pressed when he fell silent.

"I think…What if? Remember when I told you I saw Dan shove Nathan against a locker?"

Karen nodded in memory.

"Well, I haven't been able to get that out my head ever since it happened," he confided. "I mean, Dan, he threatened to beat him right then and there."

"And you're thinking Nathan's taken on the behavior he learned at home," Karen guessed.

"Yeah. That's not so unusual, is it?"

"No, it's not. Listen, my boy, if you suspect abuse, that's something you ought to be reporting to the authorities."

"But I could be way off," he reasoned. "I don't know. But I do know what I saw in that locker room. And if I'm right, Nathan doesn't deserve to be crucified for something his own dad taught him."

"On the other hand," Karen countered, "if there are never any consequences for his actions, the behavior will continue. It'll be a never ending cycle."

Lucas, unsure of how to respond, kept quiet.

"But this conversation is moot in any case, considering the police already have him in custody."

"You turned him in?"

"No, someone else beat me to it," she replied, going on to explain how the original tape had been sent to the police station.

His jaw dropped in disbelief. Somebody obviously had it in for Nathan. But who could it be? He wasn't so naïve that he assumed his brother hadn't made any enemies, but to take things this far?

"One more question," Karen broke into his line of thought. "Why didn't you fight back?"

"Well, I was already grounded for fighting with Damien at the cafe…"

"Stop right there," Karen cut in with a deep sigh. "Lucas, if you're going to lie to me, then please, at least make it plausible."

"Ma…"

"I know that you know I do not condone violence, but I also know that you're perfectly aware that under such circumstances that I wouldn't expect you not to try to defend yourself. Not to mention I don't believe for a second that I even crossed your mind in that moment. So, I'll ask you again…why didn't you fight back?"

He shrugged his shoulders. His mother knew him too well. "Because I knew that's what he wanted. He was itching for a fight and I didn't want to give him the satisfaction," he replied. "I thought he'd get bored after a few punches, but I was wrong. I think it just made him madder."

"Well then, he's exactly where he should be," Karen stated, her opinion reaffirmed.

A short while later, she went to cooking dinner while he went to his room to call Mouth and let him know they were wrong in assuming Nathan had stolen the tape.

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Nathan sat on the cold concrete floor of the tiny cell, wondering what the hell was going on. The cops who'd picked him up said they'd received a tape of the beating, but how could that be when the tape was at Peyton's? He'd seen it himself and he knew neither Peyton nor Brooke would ever turn it in to the police, no matter how mad they were at him. And even if they had, it still wouldn't make sense. He'd gone home straight from Peyton's and the police were already there. So apparently there was more than one tape? Mouth hadn't said anything about that.

The police had questioned him in Dan's presence, asking for details of the beating and whether or not he plead guilty. Naturally, he'd 'smarted off', as one of the officers had disdainfully put it, by pointing out that they had the tape.

Now he was in a cell and his dad had gone to call his lawyer and see about bail. He wished he'd hurry up and come back, even though he'd probably only rebuke him some more for his 'stupid and reckless stunt.' Still, his dad knew what to do and he'd help him out of this. The last place he thought he'd wind up on his first night of freedom in a month was in a jail cell. He'd laugh at the irony of it if it were even remotely funny.

They said they were charging him with Assault and Battery and that he could be facing several years prison time due to the extent of Lucas's injuries. And they hadn't exactly been nice about it either, which in turn, Dan had halted interrogation by mentioning getting a lawyer. Nathan had later asked his dad how many several was and he'd just told him not to worry about it – that the police were just trying to scare him.

He rubbed his hands roughly over his face. He was scared. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't. Where the hell was his dad? How long did it take to make a phone call?

When he did finally re-appear, the look on his face was less than promising. Still, Nathan sprang to his feet – only to learn the police hadn't granted bail, but rather were leaving it to the courts at a bail hearing scheduled for Monday morning.

"What does that mean?" Nathan asked shakily. "I have to stay here?"

"For now," Dan answered. "But don't you worry," he went on, his earlier irritation seemingly gone in his quest to free his son. "I meet with the lawyer tomorrow. We'll do whatever we have to to get you out of here."

"Dad…"

"In the meantime, you hang tough. Don't wuss out on me now. You hear me?"

Nathan nodded. "Kay," he said assertively, not wanting his father to see how weak and afraid he felt. He needed to be strong or his dad would never let him live it down.

"That's my boy," Dan said with pride. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright."

"You're leaving?"

"You want me to stand here and hold your hand till Monday?" Dan scoffed.

Nathan's shoulders slumped at the prospect of being left alone, but he wouldn't voice that fear. "Like I'd even let you," he scoffed back.

After Dan left, Nathan went and sat on the bed and stared at the pay phone in the cell for a long time. He wished he could call Peyton to come down here, or even just to talk to her over the phone. And he cursed the fact that he couldn't.

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Mouth hung up the receiver after talking to Luke and glanced over at Skills, who'd dropped by about an hour before. "You have your parents' car?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I need a ride to the police station," he replied, already standing up. "I'll explain on the way."

Skills didn't ask questions. They'd all been trying to get Mouth to step foot out of the house since the incident on Wednesday so he wasn't going to attempt to stop him, no matter how piqued his curiosity was.

–––––

"So, let me get this straight," he said as he drove along. "The dude finally gets what's comin' to him and you're feeling sorry for him? Ain't that a little messed up?"

"Look, I don't expect you to understand, but I just spent the past three days blaming him for what happened to me when he obviously had nothing to do with it."

"Don't sweat it, dawg. It ain't just you who thought it. And you weren't up in his face with it or nothing."

"Him being unaware that I blamed him doesn't change the fact that I did," Mouth argued. "Nor does it make it right. But that's not so much why I want to talk to him anyway," he admitted. When Skills just waited for him to elaborate, he went on. "You see, I know I had good reason to assume it was him who stole the tape. And I can't help but think that he has just as good a reason to assume I sent it."

"How do you figure?"

"I didn't tell him what happened because I thought he did it. So as far as he knows, I had the tape, I ditched our tutoring sessions, and now he's in jail," Mouth reasoned. "I want him to know it wasn't me – that I didn't back out of our deal."

"You really care what he thinks?"

"Would you want someone seeing you as a traitor?"

"Alright, well, I'll just wait out here," Skills said as he pulled up to the curb and parked across the police station. "I like to avoid any and all contact with the devil incarnate."

Mouth shook his head. "He's not that bad," he defended. "He can be a decent guy when he wants to be."

Skills scoffed at the comment. "Then apparently he don't want to be too often."

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Peyton, Brooke, Rachel and Bevin swayed their hips methodically to the upbeat tempo of the music as several pairs of eyes, both male and female, fell upon them. The minute the luscious beauties had entered the popular nightclub, they'd been the main focus of nearly every patron in the bar. The men gawked with undisguised lust, whereas many of the women eyed them with resentment and jealousy, seeing the girls as a quadruple threat.

None of them were surprised by the attention. It was always this way wherever they went. Brooke and Rachel reveled in it, Bevin dismissed it as common occurrence, and whereas Peyton would have normally done the same, tonight her vicious scowls nearly bore a hole into any male that looked her way – and worse for those who actually summoned up the courage to approach her.

"You know, P.," Brooke began. "Just because you're totally pissed at the Scott brothers…"

"Damn!" Rachel snickered. "Better not let Nathan hear you say that."

Brooke just waved her hand dismissively. "Doesn't mean you have to take it out on every guy here," she finished as though Rachel hadn't interrupted.

Peyton shot her best friend a mock death glare. "I wouldn't be talking, miss 'oh guy in need of a clue, women send signals and that was a brush off…'" she said, imitating Brooke's earlier harsh comments to a particularly obnoxious admirer.

The impression caused the girls to giggle loudly. Truth was they found it quite entertaining and comical to watch all these men puff themselves up only to be shot down before they even had a chance to speak. No one did blatant rejection better than Peyton, Brooke and Rachel – it was simply too much fun to resist – and Peyton, largely due to her sour mood beforehand, was on top of her game tonight. Bevin was much kinder when rebuffing advances, hating to hurt anyone's feelings, but still couldn't help find amusement in her friends' attitudes.

–––––

"So, did it hurt?" one guy who'd approached their table later that evening, asked. He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but to the group in general.

Peyton rolled her eyes. How many times had she heard that one? She knew exactly what followed, as they all did.

"When you fell from Heaven?" he went on.

"Original," she muttered before catching the eye of the guy standing silently beside him, shaking his head at his friend's cheesy, overused pick up line.

"Sorry," the man said, smiling sheepishly. "We don't let him out often. You can guess why."

Peyton chuckled at the comment and then he asked her to dance. She agreed. Brooke was right. Her issues were primarily with Nathan, and as of today, Lucas, not the entire male population. This guy seemed nice enough, unlike most of the pervs in this joint, so why take out the Scotts' assiness on him? Anyway it was just a dance.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

"I actually didn't think it was you," Nathan said after Mouth revealed his reason for the visit. "I figured Lucas…"

"It wasn't him either. He wouldn't do that."

Nathan sneered as he recalled his earlier exchange with his hated half brother. This is exactly what Lucas had said would happen if he got hold of the tape. "You sure about that?" he asked. But even as he spoke, he began to doubt his first instinct. Lucas had seemed genuinely pissed off when he'd made that threat. Why would he have been so angry if he had the tape all along?"

"I'm positive," Mouth declared firmly. "First of all, he wouldn't hold me at knife point, and second he wouldn't send a copy to his mom and Whitey. What would be the point in that?"

Nathan's eyebrow shot up. So far he'd learned the cops, Peyton and his dad had been sent the tape. And now Karen and Whitey too? Whitey? Next to Peyton, he was the last person he wanted to see that. Sure, the old coach had already suspected and pretty much tricked him into practically confessing the whole thing – hence the real reason for his suspension from the team – so he, just as Peyton did, already knew. But still. Knowing about it and seeing it were two different things."How many fucking tapes are there?" he asked in dismay. And then the beginning of Mouth's statement hit him. "Wait, knife point?" he asked before Mouth was able to respond to his first question. "Are you serious?"

"To the throat," Mouth confirmed with a nod. "And as for the number of tapes, your guess is as good as mine. I only had the original."

"And you thought it was me?" Nathan asked, dismissing the latter statement. "That I could actually take a knife and…? Fuck, I can't even gut fish," he continued. "Ask my grandpa. He calls me a wuss for it. Says I need to man up. And freshman year, I almost passed out in Biology when it came time to dissect the frog. The only reason I passed that assignment is because I talked the geek they paired me up with into doing all the work."

"Bullied him into it, actually," Mouth corrected. "I remember."

"You were in that class?"

"I was the geek."

Nathan scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry."

"No problem," Mouth said. "I kind of got a kick out of how squeamish the mighty Nathan Scott was. And I'm sorry too. For jumping to conclusions."

Nathan shrugged it off as though it were no big deal. "It's cool. I'm used to people assuming either the best or the worst about me," he said honestly. There never really was an in-between. "Besides, I did it to you too with that English paper, so we're even."

Mouth accepted the logic even though he himself could never be so offhand over how people perceived him. It would bother him if others were always making assumptions about him, whether good or bad. It seemed being invisible had its advantages over popularity. "So, I was thinking, if you still want me to tutor you, I can," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Mouth responded decisively, even though the knowledge that his assailant was still out there scared him beyond reason. He'd have to get past it sometime. And seeing as the tape was all he'd been after, it wasn't likely that he'd come back. Or at least he hoped he wouldn't. "We both messed up, right?"

"Right," Nathan agreed. "Ok, cool. As long as I get out of this, that is," he remarked apprehensively.

"I'm sure you will," Mouth said with assurance. "Is this your first offense?"

"Yeah," Nathan replied with a nod. " Well, that I've been caught for," he added as an afterthought.

Mouth chuckled. "No doubt. Anyway, my ride's waiting for me so I'm gonna head out."

"Alright, man," Nathan said, sticking his fist through the bar to knock with Mouth's. "Stop by anytime," he tried to joke. "I'm thinking of staying a while."

"Just one more thing before I go," Mouth said. "In case you're not quite convinced that Lucas isn't responsible for this, you should know, before tutoring ever started, Jimmy and I wanted to turn the tape in. The only reason we didn't is because Luke asked us not to."

Forehead creasing, eyes narrowing, Nathan stared in wonder at the boy in front of him. "Why?" he asked, too baffled to say anything else.

"You'd have to ask him," Mouth answered. He'd already revealed enough.

"Hey Mouth," Nathan called out when the other boy had started walking away. "I can call you that now, right?" he asked when he turned around.

"Yeah, I guess," Mouth replied with a slight smile.

"Ok, just making sure. Anyway, I just want to say that whenever I find out who jumped you, I'm gonna break his face."

Mouth glanced around nervously to make sure no one had heard the remark. "I wouldn't say that too loud in here," he advised. When Nathan simply shrugged indifferently, he shook his head. What was he thinking shouting out threats from a prison cell? "Anyway, I think you're in enough trouble as it is."

"Whatever," Nathan replied. "No one messes with my friends."

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Several hours into the night and half a dozen margaritas in her system, Peyton found herself enjoying the company of her new friend. She couldn't help but think that if every guy was this well mannered, charming and unassuming, that relationships would be a hell of a lot easier. Or safer at least – on the heart.

"So, I never caught your name," he said as they slow danced, his hands resting respectfully and never straying from her waist.

"That's because I never gave it to you," she joked sarcastically. "It's Peyton," she said. "Peyton Sawyer."

He sent her a charming smile. "Lovely name for a lovely lady."

Her eyebrow lifted mockingly. "Your friend called. He wants his cheese back."

"You always counter compliments with sarcasm?" he asked lightly.

She pondered the question a moment. "I don't know," she said. "They're kinda few and far between."

"I find that hard to believe."

She gave him a genuine smile. Was he for real? Because guys didn't come this polite. Or maybe some did, but she'd been too blinded to notice. "So what's yours?"

"Scott," he replied. "Scott Teel."

She froze instantly. Scott. Didn't that just figure. The next second she was pulling away, leaving him standing in the middle of the dance floor wondering what had just happened.

"The perv's totally married anyway," Brooke stated with distaste once Peyton had told the girls what had happened.

"He's not a perv," Peyton defended. "He's a gentleman." He just had the misfortune of bearing a name she literally loathed at the moment and though she knew it was completely irrational to fault the guy for that, it was how she felt nonetheless. "And what makes you think he's married?"

"Pale, white circle around his ring finger," Bevin answered, to which Brooke and Rachel nodded.

Peyton stared her friends down. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you were having fun," Brooke said.

"And it's not like you were going home with the guy," Rachel added reasonably.

"Plus you got free drinks half the night," Brooke teased.

Peyton could only laugh. Yes she had. "You guys are horrible," she tried to say sternly but failed.

–––––

By closing time, nobody was sober enough to drive, but rather than calling a cab, Bevin had drunkenly insisted she call Skills, confident that he'd come pick them up and drive them over to Rachel's where they planned to spend the night. She wasn't wrong. Ten minutes later he pulled up in the bar's parking lot and they all climbed into his parents eight year old Honda Accord – Bevin naturally riding shotgun.

It was quite an interesting ride for Skills, having four hot, giggling and singing girls all piled into his car. And though he was completely smitten with Bevin alone, he was going to be the big man on campus – well, the rivercourt – when he boasted to the other guys about this.

It wasn't until Bevin casually asked him what he'd done that night that the news of Nathan's arrest came out. Frankly he was surprised when they all gasped in shock and began speaking all at once, voicing their surprise and throwing out a million questions. Seeing as how they were close to Nathan, he'd assumed they'd already known.

"Well, we have to go see him," Bevin said with concern.

"Can't tonight, doll," Skills replied. "Visiting hours are closed now."

As her friends' curious and worried chatter rang in her ears, Peyton sat back against the seat, trying to wrap her head around it all. Hundreds of scenarios swirled around her alcohol-impaired mind, making rational thought nearly impossible. Only one of those thoughts penetrated the hazy cloud and she spoke it softly. "He just got off house arrest."

Minutes later she had tears streaming down her face. Brooke hugged her tightly while Rachel patted her leg gently.

"It's gonna be ok, P.," Brooke said soothingly.

"No, it's not," Peyton replied with a sniffle, shaking her head vigorously. "How could I not know he was married?"

"Hon…"

"I mean, you all knew. But me? I just bought his bull like an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Rachel countered. "Just a little gullible sometimes."

The blonde continued to sob until they were in Rachel's driveway and the three in the back shuffled out, while Bevin lingered behind to kiss her boyfriend goodnight.

"Thanks for picking us up," she said sweetly and he nodded. "I'd invite you in, but…"

"Girls night, I got it," he returned with a chuckle. "She gonna be alright?" he asked as he watched Peyton stumbling her way to the front door, Brooke and Rachel on each side of her, barely able to walk a straight line themselves.

"I hope so," Bevin answered sympathetically.

"That married guy musta hurt her a lot."

"Oh, this isn't about him," Bevin stated knowingly before giving him another quick kiss and joining the others.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

Nathan shut his eyes tightly, willing himself to sleep, trying desperately to escape the non-stop buzzing in his head. His mind was in overdrive, processing everything that had happened today. The two things he'd earlier thought to have gained back – Peyton's affection and his freedom – he'd lost again, just like that.

Add to that Mouth's claim that Lucas had wanted the tape buried and his brain was one big jumbled mess. It didn't make sense. Lucas hated him as much as he hated Lucas so he wouldn't have done it for him. He'd probably just wanted to spare himself the humiliation of anyone seeing him get the beating of his life. That had to be it, Nathan reasoned.

One thing was clear; if Lucas had only stayed at the rivercourt where he belonged, if he'd just left Peyton alone, none of this would have happened.

His thoughts drifted back to his gorgeous ex-girlfriend. He'd been so sure that that status was about to change any day, but with all that had gone down at her house earlier tonight, the reconciliation he'd hoped for suffered a serious setback. That stony expression in her eyes had told him he'd really done it this time. Damn it! Why couldn't things ever just run smoothly for once?

Not that it would even matter if he were given the sentence the police had taunted him with. He punched the hard pillow, feeling more alone and powerless than he'd ever felt.

If scaring him had indeed been their goal, as his dad had suggested, then they'd certainly succeeded. Because he was terrified.

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"How ya feeling, Goldilocks?" Brooke asked as she sauntered into the Gatina's spare bedroom that Peyton was currently occupying.

The blonde groaned softly. "Like a freight train ran over my head."

"Lucky for you I'm already on that," the brunette said, handing her friend a glass of water and two Tylenol.

Peyton took it appreciatively and tilted her head back to swallow the pills down, hoping they kicked in fast.

"So," Brooke spoke again. "Bev and Rach are gone to get Rachel's car and then we were gonna head out to the police station to see Nate." She watched as Peyton visibly stiffened at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. But she had to ask. "What do you say? You in?"

A/N: I apologize for the absence of Nathan/Peyton interaction. It just has to be this way for now. Hope you all don't hate me.