A/N: Thank you everyone who read and reviewed. I got less reviews this time. I'm hoping people are just busy, not losing interest. Lol. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters. Neither do I own Sam Winchester.

"Yes!" Haley exclaimed as Lucas got his third strike in a row. They'd reserved two lanes together so that they could play teams. The team with the highest total score by the end of the night got their evening paid for by the losing team. This was a common activity for the group of friends on a Saturday night. The rules were always the same – losers pay, but the teams were determined by drawing cards. First Luke, Haley and Mouth would draw, because they were the only three who played in an actual league on Sunday evenings, so they were the better bowlers. They would all draw a card and the two with the highest were on the same team. Then Skills, Junk, Fergie, and Jimmy would draw. The three highest cards would play on the same team with the league bowler who was alone, while the other one joined the other two more experienced bowlers. So it was 4 people against 3, but the one with only 3 had 2 experienced bowlers, while the team with 4 only had one. They figured it was fair this way.

Tonight the teams were made up of Lucas, Haley, and Junk against Skills, Mouth, Jimmy, and Fergie.

They were all having a good time, as they always did, because they all loved bowling, and the added incentive of their friendly competition made it all the more enjoyable.

"Well, this is a first," Haley said, noticing the large group of teenagers who'd just walked in. "Never seen them here before," she added.

Her friends turned to see whom she referred to. They were all equally surprised.

Nathan, Peyton, Brooke, Tyler, Theresa, Tim, Bevin, Sharon, Vegas, Rick, Rachel, and Jake. Half the basketball and cheerleading squad.

"They must be lost," Fergie joked. "I thought bowling was too lame for the cool kids," he added, making the others laugh in agreement.

–––––––––––––––

"So, you want 2 lanes?" the middle aged woman behind the counter asked.

"Just one," Peyton answered politely. "We're all together."

"The computer only allows 6 bowlers per lane," she explained, even though at first they didn't understand. But they agreed when she offered to give them 2 lanes side by side.

She then took their names and inserted them into the computer. They'd told her they wanted to play the guys against the girls, so on one lane she put the girls' names and the other beside them, the guys'. She explained to them that their names and scores would be displayed on the large screen above their heads, directly in the middle of the two lanes.

"When it's your turn, your name will flash on the screen," she explained further.

It was a fairly slow process but one by one they got their rented bowling shoes, which the lady said was necessary if they didn't have their own, and made their way to the lanes she'd assigned to them.

"Well, aren't these a fashion statement," Brooke commented, wrinkling her nose as she put them on.

"Don't complain," Nathan told her. "It was your idea to come to this gay ass place."

"Well, if someone wouldn't have gotten us kicked out of the bar, we wouldn't have had to change our plans," Brooke countered.

She was referring to the club across the street, where the group had managed to get in by flashing their fake identifications, then subsequently gotten kicked out.

"Hey, all I told that jerk off was to pay attention to his ugly wife and keep his hands off my girlfriend. Peyton's the one who tackled him," Nathan said with amused pride. He loved that his girl was strong and feisty, never one to back down or shrink in the face of danger. Of course, he'd had to step in before the guy actually pushed her back, or worse, but still, she'd shown no fear standing up to a guy, probably twice her size and weight, when he'd disrespected her.

Peyton shrugged. "He deserved it," she stated simply.

The girls laughed and joked about Peyton being their bodyguard next time they went to a club, so that whenever they went to the bar for another drink, or to the washroom, she could protect them from all the perverts whose sole pleasure in life seemed to be to grab a young, attractive girl's backside.

"Forget it, you guys," Brooke chimed in. "Peyton's my bodyguard. Get your own."

"So, how does this work?" Tyler asked, looking down the alley. "Just throw the ball down and get as many pins as you can?"

Nathan shrugged. "Sounds right." He picked up one of the balls, surprised by it's size and weight. "These things are tiny, man. I thought they were supposed to be bigger."

"And have holes for your fingers," Damien added, picking one up himself.

"You guys are thinking of 10 pin," Jake said. "This is 5 pin," he informed them.

"So, it's mini-bowl," Tim piped in, laughing at his own genius analogy. "You know, like mini-golf," he explained when no one else laughed. "You get it?" he asked them.

"We got it, Dim," Damien told him. Damn that guy was annoying. What a fucking dumbass.

"Ok, girls," Brooke chirped happily, clapping her hands. "Are we ready to kick butt?"

The girls all started cheering loudly.

"You'd think you already won," Vegas said laughing.

"We're going to," Bevin stated confidently.

"Good luck," Rick teased.

"We don't need luck," Sharon declared. "We have girl power."

"Yeah, in the form of mini skirts and tight tank tops," Nathan pointed out with a smirk.

"You got that right," Tyler said. "But don't think you girls are gonna distract us from our goal tonight."

"Why?" Theresa asked her boyfriend with a smile. "What makes tonight any different than any other night?"

"The fact that we're on to you, that's what," Tyler replied. "We know why you put on all that makeup and perfume and everything else. But all the sexy clothes and exposed skin are nothing to us tonight. In fact, we don't even notice," he added. "Right guys."

"Right," Tim agreed. "I didn't even notice Rachel's headlights are on."

All the guys' gazes instantly went to Rachel's chest. She glanced down and back up, but wasn't embarrassed at all. "What?" she asked simply. "It's cold in here."

Brooke laughed when the guys kept staring. "Guys are too easy."

"And yet, we're winning this thing hands down," Nathan predicted confidently.

"Or heads up," Peyton mocked, giving her boyfriend a playful slap in the ass, yet darting away, giggling, before he could do it back to her.

"Ok, Peyton, you're up first," Bevin said.

"Come on, Nate," the guys encouraged, as Nathan was up first in the other lane.

They both stepped up to their own alley and threw their ball at the same time. Their names continued to flash on the screen above them so they each threw a second ball. Still their names flashed.

"We keep going until we knock them all down?" Nathan asked Peyton, who'd been there one time with her mother when she was a little girl. She couldn't remember so he turned to Jake since he seemed to know more than any of them about the game.

Jake shrugged. He hadn't come since he was a child either, and it had only been a couple of times. "Not sure."

A group of freshmen girls, who attended THH, were all too happy to provide an answer to Nathan Scott's question. "Each player gets 3 balls," one said, blushing profusely when he turned to look at her.

"Ok, thanks," he said gratefully.

"Unless you get a strike," another said shyly. "Then you only get one."

Nathan thought of baseball for a second. He knew little about bowling, but he did know that, unlike baseball, a strike was a good thing in bowling. "That's when you knock all the pins down in one shot, right?" he asked, pretty sure it was.

The three girls nodded in confirmation. "But if it takes 2 balls, then it's a spare," one of them said.

"Got it," Nathan replied. "Thanks," he repeated, turning away from them, as the girls practically fainted with excitement.

Peyton had to laugh. It was pathetic really, to be so ecstatic over a boy speaking a few words to you, but she knew she'd been there too. In their freshmen year, she and Brooke had been on cloud nine the entire year because senior, Sam Winchester, had said hello to them in the hallway. It was only one word, but it had meant he'd noticed them. She shook her head at the memory. To this day, they still occasionally brought Sam up. She stole a glance at Brooke and knew she was thinking the same thing. They shared a secret smile before she went up to throw her third ball.

Once their frame ended, they came down off the approach (the section the bowlers stand to throw their balls), Nathan looking pretty smug. He'd knocked out 3 pins while Peyton had only hit 2.

"What are you smirking at?" Peyton asked him. "We're ahead."

"No you're not," Nathan denied mockingly, looking up at the screen that displayed the scores. His brows furrowed in confusion at the results. Peyton had 8 points, while Nathan only had 7. "What the hell?" he asked. "This thing's cheating."

Peyton giggled at his expression and words. "No. My pins were worth more than yours, that's all."

"What?"

"Some pins are worth more than others," she said. "Look," she continued, pointing to a large pillar that displayed what each pin was worth. The middle pin was worth 5 points, the 2 on each side of it, 3, and the 2 on the ends, 2 points.

"Well, now you tell me," he teased, as though he would have done much better if he'd known before. "I thought they were all worth one."

"Again, that's 10 pin," Jake stated. "The point system's different in 5 pin."

"Hey!" Brooke exclaimed suddenly. "They sell alcohol here."

They all checked the counter and sure enough, Brooke was right. They decided they all wanted a drink, so they walked over and ordered. The lady naturally carded them, but of course, they were prepared. She quickly glanced at their cards, not questioning the authenticity of their identification, and served them their drink of choice.

–––––

"Now, how the hell they be getting served?" Skills asked in bewilderment.

"Fake ID," Mouth informed him. He'd seen them flash their cards.

"Man, I got to get me one of those."

"Why? So you can be just like them?" Haley scoffed.

"Nah," Skills denied. "Then I couldn't hang out with you losers."

Lucas wasn't paying attention. His eyes, as they had since they'd arrived, kept wandering over to Peyton and his brother.

"Close your mouth, Luke," Haley teased. "It's embarrassing."

–––––

Nathan pulled Peyton closer to him possessively. Since Tim had informed the group that Pucas was in the house, Nathan noticed that he kept watching Peyton. Not that that was any surprise. He was always watching Peyton. "I'm gonna beat that guy," Nathan mumbled threateningly.

Peyton rolled her eyes. Not this again.

Though Nathan normally liked to showcase his beautiful girlfriend like a trophy, enjoying the envious looks of other guys, this possessive behavior wasn't completely abnormal either. Two things made him this way; when a guy crossed the line from looking to actual physical contact, and when he'd had a few drinks. He wasn't drunk, but he'd had a few at the club, and he was nearly finished his second one here.

Peyton couldn't deny that a part of her reveled in Nathan's jealous side, but she also knew from experience that he didn't utter empty threats. He would, indeed, follow through if Lucas continued to ogle her, which, she also couldn't deny, he'd been doing since they'd arrived.

"Just ignore him, Nate," she pleaded. "He's harmless."

"I don't like him looking at you like that," he stated sourly.

"He could be looking at any one of us," she tried to reason.

"No," Nathan argued. "It's you, trust me. And if he doesn't fucking stop…"

"I'm going to the washroom," Peyton interrupted, pulling out of his grasp in annoyance.

Noting Lucas's hungry eyes tracing her steps, Nathan clenched his fists and took a step forward, intent on causing bodily harm to one said bastard brother.

Jake put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. "Easy, pal. You're not starting a fight here. Not with all these kids around."

Nathan inspected the room, noticing there were a lot of children. He pulled back with a deep sigh. "Bastard's fucking lucky," he muttered.

"Nathan," Rachel said, coming to stand in front of him. She put both hands on his shoulders and looked up to meet his piercing blue gaze. "You're our friend and we love you. But I'm sorry, you need to grow up." She ignored his eye rolling gesture and continued. "Guys, even hot guys, like Lucas, are going to notice her. You know why? For the same reason you did. Because she's gorgeous. Take it from all of us," she went on, indicating herself and the other girls, "when guys stare at us, it's no big deal. Ok? As long as they're not being all grab ass like that guy in the bar, then whatever. Take it as a compliment; you have great taste in girls. You can't go beat up every guy who glances her way. That's just stupid and never-ending. There will always be another guy looking at her."

When she finished her speech, he stared hard at her, saying nothing at first, and she worried that she'd crossed the line saying all those things to him. But someone had to. Yeah, she knew he wasn't always this way, that the alcohol played its part, but it happened too often for her liking. It probably wasn't her place to say anything, but everyone else just kept their mouths shut.

When he finally spoke, his simple question took her by surprise.

"You think Lucas is hot?"

"Are you kidding me?" she asked incredulously. "That's all you heard? Out of everything I just said?"

"I heard you, all right", he said with displeasure. "Now answer the question."

"Ok. Yeah, I think he's hot. Almost as hot as you," she added with a wink.

"Does Peyton think so too?" he asked, ignoring the latter part of her remark.

"I don't know. Probably," Rachel admitted. "I mean the girl's not blind. Although, with all the crap she puts up with from you, I do wonder sometimes."

"Rachel!" Brooke stepped in.

"What? I was just joking," she said. "Nate knows that. Right, gorgeous?" she asked him.

He stared intently for a moment before mumbling that he did know.

"Ok, seriously, where does that girl buy her clothes?" Brooke asked, changing the subject. "She's in serious need of a makeover. And what the hell is up with that hat?" she continued with a look of disdain.

"That is one ugly ass hat," Nathan agreed, glancing over at Haley.

"But looks like she's got us beat as sluts of the school, Brooke. Check it out. One girl, six guys," Rachel stated.

"Seven," Nathan contradicted. "Fatass practically counts as two."

"I'll bet she's doing them all," Brooke guessed.

Tim laughed. "Tutor girl does geek squad. Get it? Instead of Debbie does Dallas?"

Nathan chuckled and knocked fists with his friend. "Good one," he said, honestly thinking it was funny.

"She won't go out with me, though," Damien finally piped in angrily. He could improve her social status by a mile, yet she chose to hang out with the nobodies.

"You asked her out?" Nathan asked in surprise.

Damien nodded. "She's actually pretty cute. I'd tap that."

Nathan took a good look at her for the first time and agreed. He chuckled. "Not so smart for a tutor though."

"What do you mean?"

"She turns you down for those sorry losers? Isn't that kind of like turning down steak for macaroni and cheese?"

"My thoughts exactly," Damien replied. Sometimes Nathan wasn't so bad.

"You guys are mean," Bevin told them. "Nate, you're up."

He went up to take his turn, wondering what was taking Peyton so long.

"She's probably just fixing up her makeup," Brooke assured him nonchalantly.

But a few minutes later, Haley, who'd just exited the ladies room, came over to them, a little skeptically, as though she wasn't sure she was doing the right thing. To everyone's surprise, she went directly to Brooke and whispered something in her ear.

Brooke stood up immediately, concern marring her pretty features. "I'll be right back," she told the group.

"Brooke, what is it?" Nathan asked.

"Peyton," she said only before walking away.

Nathan's face visibly paled at her single word. Something happened to Peyton. "Wait! What about her?" he asked, but Brooke was already gone. He turned to Haley before she could walk away too. "What's wrong with Peyton?" he demanded to know.

"I – I don't – it's not …"

Nathan rolled his eyes in aggravation. "What, you have a stuttering problem? It's a simple question."

Haley recovered her composure at his snide comment. "I don't think it's my place to say," she told him, refusing to show how intimidated she was.

"Too late for that. You already told Brooke."

"I don't know what's wrong, ok," Haley said honestly. "She's clearly upset, but I couldn't tell you why," she finished, then returned to her own alley.

–––––

"I'm fine, Brooke," Peyton told her best friend.

"No, you're not. Why are you crying? What did Nathan do now?" she half joked.

"It's not Nathan. It's…" She choked up as she explained to Brooke what had happened. She couldn't remember much about that day her mother had taken her bowling; she'd been so young. But when she'd come to the sink to wash her hands, she'd looked up into the mirror and had a clear memory of her mother picking her up because, at the time, she'd been too little to reach the tap.

"Oh, Peyton," Brooke whispered consolingly, putting her arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

Despite the circumstances, Peyton managed a small giggle. "What a memory, huh? It couldn't be of the actual game. No, it has to be of the freaking bathroom."

When Brooke laughed at her tone, Peyton too broke out in laughter, then tears, then laughter again. Brooke held her until both subsided.

Afterward, Peyton felt a lot better. Memories of her mother were always emotional for her, but she wouldn't trade them for anything. She was so thankful that Brooke had been there. She knew she always would be.

She washed her face, feeling strong now. Brooke helped her reapply her makeup and the two exited the washroom together.

Nathan was by her side so quickly that she had to laugh. "You ok? What's wrong?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He knew it wasn't his earlier threats against Lucas that upset her. Sure, it had annoyed her, even made her a bit angry, but not enough to cry over. And he knew she had been crying; her eyes were all glossy and a little puffy still, despite the makeup she'd applied.

"I'm fine," she told him. "I was just having a moment. A memory, actually," she confessed.

"About your mom?" he asked.

She nodded and nearly broke down again when he wrapped his strong arms around her. Until he spoke. "What was it? A pissing contest?"

She giggled and leaned into his embrace. "Girls don't have those."

He smiled and rubbed her back soothingly. "Do you want to go home?"

"No. I'm fine now. Really. And I want to stay."

"Ok. Whatever you want," he said. "And Peyton, I'm sorry about before. Ok?"

She nodded. "Ok."

"I love you."

"I love you, too," she responded.

–––––

After they'd finished their first game, Tyler suggested they play couples vs. non-couples.

"There are only 2 couples," Tim reasoned. "You and Theresa, Nathan and Peyton."

"Ah, come on, Tim," Nathan said. "You and Bevin are practically a couple. We all know you'll be getting married one day," he predicted. "And naming your first born son after me," he concluded with a grin.

–––––

"Hey, stud," the girl flirted once he'd momentarily pulled away from the group. "Still coming over later?"

"Actually, I'm going to stay with Peyton tonight," Nathan replied.

"Yeah, I figured," she said, before walking away.