A/N: Thank you again to everybody who is reading this. Special thanks to those of you who take the time to leave me some feedback. It is very much appreciated. Love you all!!!

Hope everybody likes this chapter. Please let me know.

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

"Where the hell have you been?" Dan demanded to know the minute Nathan walked in the door.

"Nowhere," Nathan answered in a surprisingly even tone.

"Nowhere?" Dan scoffed, coming toward his son.

Nathan noticed, much to his relief, that his father wasn't staggering or slurring. It was a good thing; Dan Scott was a mean son of a bitch when he was drunk on hard liquor. Add to that the suspension and Nathan would have been done for. Of course that didn't mean his dad wasn't angry.

"I guess that explains why I couldn't find you," Dan said critically. "I never thought to look nowhere."

Nathan resisted the urge to mention that had he been looking at all, he could have easily found him. Sure he'd gone to Peyton's but he hadn't even checked Brooke's. It's not like that was such an unlikely place for Nathan to go.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"It was off," Nathan answered.

"Is that right?" Dan asked. "See, I thought maybe you couldn't get a reception from Cooper's."

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. Peyton had informed him that she'd let that information slip, but it wasn't a big deal. He knew where he'd gone wasn't the problem. It was the suspension that had his father in a rage. Anything else just added fuel to the fire. He figured his dad only mentioned it as a way to test his honesty.

"Reception was fine," he said. "I just didn't turn my phone on." With that he attempted to walk past his father, but Dan halted his steps when he grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"Are you forgetting to tell me something?"

Nathan swallowed the fear and answered. "Looks like you already know."

"Don't get smart with me," Dan ordered, tightening his grip. "It might give your brain a complex. Apparently it's gotten used to sitting idle."

Nathan looked away and tried to pry his arm free, but Dan's hold only grew painfully tighter.

"You think you're just going to walk away while I'm talking to you?" Dan said, his voice low and steely. He yanked hard on his arm, pulled him over to the couch and pushed him onto it. He then proceeded to loom threateningly over him. "After Whitey told me about the suspension, I went and took a look at your grades. Real impressive," Dan shot out with disgust. "I always knew you were no Einstein but I had no idea you ranked so low on the intellect scale."

The words were clearly meant to sting, and sting they did. But as always, anger was Nathan's mode of defense. "Is that a fancy way of calling me a dumbass? Cause, you know, my idle brain can't really tell."

"It doesn't need to. Your grades speak for themselves…F's across the board, except, of course, the only subject that doesn't require any brain function.

"What do you care as long as I can handle a basketball?" Nathan muttered spitefully.

He knew it was a mistake before the words even left his mouth. It wasn't a good idea to push his father's buttons when he was already in this type of mood, but he couldn't stop himself despite the consequences he knew would come. The backhand that followed did not come unexpectedly.

"You want to mouth off, huh!" Dan hollered, grabbing Nathan's already stinging face harshly. He squeezed hard, adding to the pain, and forced his head up. "Now you listen to me, and you listen good," he continued in a dangerously low voice. "You can pull this attitude on anybody else, I don't care, but I, for one, am sick of it. I'm your father and you'll respect me. Am I clear?"

Nathan only nodded, knowing better than to disagree at this point.

"Good," Dan said, releasing his grip. "Now where were we?"

Nathan remained silent as Dan pondered where they'd left off. It didn't take long. "How could you just let your grades fall below the required minimum when you know you have to have that to play? I mean how difficult is it to maintain a 'C' average?"

A quiet sigh was Nathan's only response.

"Apparently very," Dan answered for him. "You know Lucas is on the honor roll?"

Nathan's jaw visibly clenched at the mention of Lucas, but still he didn't respond.

"He'll never have to worry about academic probation, now will he? You know what that means."

Nathan shrugged uncertainly, his eyes downcast. The only thing it told him was that Lucas was smarter than him, and he already knew that.

"It means he'll be taking over as star of the Ravens," Dan stated.

Nathan lifted his gaze in wonder. "That's not gonna happen. I'm still better than him on the court."

"Which means nothing if you're not on it."

"Lucas isn't playing either," Nathan told him. "He's…"

"Injured, I know. Whitey told me," Dan revealed. "But injuries heal whereas you can't fix stupid."

Nathan glanced away, trying to ignore the hurt and anger his father's words elicited.

"But I checked your attendance while I was at it," Dan continued to speak. "I know how much you like to skip. Imagine my surprise to discover you're absent as much as you're present, if not more. You lost a lot of marks for that alone so it may not be completely hopeless to bring your average up to par. And you will. You hear me? You can't afford to be off the team for too long. Not with Lucas lurking around the corner, waiting to outshine you."

"He can't," Nathan said smugly. "He sucks."

"No, he did suck," Dan contradicted. "Until you went and screwed that up by showing him where he was going wrong. Now he's second only to you. His average may be lower than most of the others but that's only because he had a rough start. It's only going to go up from here on out. I guarantee it."

"Whatever, I'm still better than him."

"I agree," Dan complied. "Which is why you need to get back on the court before he does. I hired you a tutor to get things moving faster."

"I don't need a tutor," Nathan responded, rolling his eyes. "Peyton said she'd help me."

"Peyton?" Dan scoffed. "The girl who lets you walk all over her? No. I hired someone a little less…distracting. His name is Marvin McFadden."

"A guy?" Nathan asked sourly.

Dan let out a sardonic chuckle. "Relax. He's your tutor, nothing more. You think I trust you to do school work within a two-foot radius of a female? No. I want you studying something other than anatomy," he stated wisely, knowing his son's affinity toward the opposite sex. "Now, his credentials were good. His success rate is second among all the tutors in the school, so if he can't help you, then you're pretty much a lost cause."

Nathan frowned, yet wondered at the oddity of his father choosing second place over first. First must be a girl, he figured.

"Your sessions start on Monday after school," Dan informed him. "They'll be held here at the house. No point letting the whole school know you're failing by having them in the tutor center. Plus I can keep an eye on you here, make sure you're doing the work and not giving the tutor a hard time."

Nathan sat back against the couch. He hated this whole tutor idea. If he just had to have one, at least give him a cute girl. This Marvin Mcwhatever was probably a real loser.

"Also," Dan continued, cutting into Nathan's sulking thoughts. "I made you out a schedule for the next month so if you've made any plans within that time, start canceling.

He handed the sheet of paper over to his son.

Nathan glanced over it, frowning as he did so. From the moment he rose, which was set for 5:00am, to the time he called it a night at 11pm, there was not one hour unaccounted for. From morning runs, to school, tutoring sessions, weight training and home basketball practice, his entire day was covered. Even the weekends were completely mapped out for him.

"Dad, are you serious?" There was no time set out for any kind of fun or even to just kick back and relax. "I don't get any time with Peyton at all?"

"You'll see her at school," Dan replied firmly. "And yes, I'm dead serious."

"Dad…" Nathan began in complaint.

"I don't want to hear it Nathan," Dan cut him off. "If you didn't want to face the consequences, you should have kept your grades up. At least enough that you weren't kicked off the team."

"I wasn't kicked off, I was suspended."

"Exactly, and the sooner you reach the minimum grade requirement, the sooner you'll be playing again."

Nathan shook his head. "Actually that's not true," Nathan admitted as he stood up angrily. "It wouldn't matter if I got straight A's because that's not even the real reason I got suspended."

"What are you talking about?" Dan questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Whitey didn't suspend me for my grades," Nathan revealed. He didn't know what possessed him to express this truth, but the schedule his dad had come up with, along with everything else he'd said and done, was fueling his anger to the point where it overtook his sense of caution. "He suspended me because I got in a fight with Lucas."

"You what?"

"Yeah. This whole academic probation thing is just a bullshit cover because Whitey didn't have any proof that I did anything."

"Did you win?" Dan surprised him by asking. "The fight I mean."

Nathan shrugged nonchalantly. "Punk didn't even take a swing."

"I see. So, it wasn't so much a fight as an attack."

Nathan shook his head. What Tim had done, that was an attack. He hadn't done that. "He saw me coming. It's not my fault he was too chicken shit to throw a punch."

"Nathan," Dan started with a sigh. "Do you realize how fast a suspension or bad reputation can ruin your prospects?"

"Dad, he was hitting on my girlfriend! What do you want me to do?" Ok, so he wasn't technically hitting on her, but he wanted to.

"Your girlfriend?" Dan sneered. "Nathan, if you're going to get in a fight, get in a fight over something important."

"Peyton is important," Nathan shot back irately.

"Ok, I'm not saying she herself isn't important, but the concept itself. You know she's not going anywhere, so what's the point of risking a suspension because some poor shmuck has a crush on your girl?"

"I don't like it," Nathan mumbled disagreeably. "And I didn't risk anything. It didn't even happen at school; it was at the rivercourt before school even started. I don't know how Whitey found out it was me. There was nobody else around."

"Well obviously Lucas had to have told someone and then it got back to Whitey."

"According to Whitey, he hasn't told anyone."

"You believe that?"

"I don't know," Nathan responded. "But there aren't any cops beating down the door so maybe."

"You're damn lucky. Stupid but lucky. What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing! He can't prove anything anyway even if he did call the cops. It would just be his word against mine. But Whitey says I'm off the team until Lucas comes back."

"How long is that?"

"A few months apparently."

"A few months!" Dan thundered. "What the hell d'you do to him?"

Nathan shrugged, unsure of the extent of Lucas's injuries. "I'm not a doctor."

Dan sighed deeply and shook his head.

"Dad, you're the one who told me to get Lucas off the team," Nathan stated defensively. "And now I did."

"Temporarily," Dan pointed out. "And I didn't tell you to get yourself kicked off in the process."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be. But if Whitey thinks you're gone for a few months, he's got another thing coming. You're on academic probation so as soon as your grades are up he'll have to put you back in."

"But he said…"

"It doesn't matter what he said. He won't have a choice. So the schedule is as it stands."

Nathan nodded. He didn't mind so much if it meant he would be back on the team soon.

"Go on to bed, son," Dan said. "You leave Whitey to me. I'll take care of everything."

Nathan made his way upstairs, thinking this could have gone a lot worse. His dad had only hit him once. The comments he'd made had hurt worse than the physical blow, but it's not like he didn't speak the truth.

Dan plopped down on the couch once Nathan was upstairs. "I'll take care of everything," he repeated softly.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Lucas Scott!" Haley screamed the next day. "What are you doing here?"

Lucas gave her an innocent look as he slowly made his way to a nearby table. "What? I'm hungry and I heard this café was the best in town."

"Uh huh. Not to mention that there would be a certain blonde arriving in…" she glanced at her watch. "Ten minutes or so?"

"Oh, is that today?" he asked in his best-surprised voice.

Haley threw him a mocking glare. She'd just left his house an hour ago after telling him all about the concert. "How did you get here anyway?"

"I walked."

"Three blocks! Luke! Your mom is gonna have a fit."

"As opposed to you having one?" he teased. "Actually she already did. I came in the back door. But she's letting me stay to have dinner."

Haley shook her head. "Where's Skills? He's supposed to be taking care of you."

Lucas frowned at her comment. "I sent him away. I outgrew babysitters last year," he said with a smile.

Haley ignored his joke. "And he just left? Because you said so?"

"Hales, relax. He's gonna check in periodically to make sure I'm not in one of those, you know, I've fallen and I can't get up scenarios."

"Luke, this isn't funny. And even if he does check on you, what does it matter? You're not there. You're here."

"Once I've eaten I'll go back."

"Ok, I'm canceling for the concert. You're not supposed to be alone and walking around."

"Uh no, you're not canceling," Lucas said firmly. "And the pamphlet they gave me says I can be alone and walk around as long as I feel up to it and don't overdo it."

"But you're still hurt," she argued.

"Hales, come on. I'm fine, ok. I go back to school in two days so I think I should get used to making my way around before then."

"Oh fine," she conceded. "But aren't you supposed to start slow?"

"I did. I walked real slow," he teased. "In fact a turtle passed me on the way. At least I think it was a turtle, but it zoomed by so fast that I can't be sure."

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful slap in the stomach. He immediately slouched over in agony.

"Oh Luke, I'm sorry," she gasped.

"I'm fine," he squealed, once he'd caught his breath.

"I'm so so sorry," she repeated as she helped him sit.

Minutes later the pain had passed but Haley continued to apologize repeatedly.

"Apology accepted," Lucas stated. "On one condition."

"Name it," Haley told him.

"You never do that again," he replied as he tried to refrain himself from laughing.

"I promise," she responded with her right hand raised.

"So, you excited for the concert?" Lucas asked.

"For the concert, yes. But is it weird that I'm nervous? It's not, right? I mean, it's Peyton Sawyer, one of the most popular girls in school."

"It's not weird," Lucas assured her. "I think it's normal."

"So do I," Haley agreed. "It's like, what if we don't get along, and she like, throws me out of her car in the middle of nowhere…?"

"Hales…"

"Or, or, she forgets me at the concert so I'm stuck there…?"

"Hales…"

"Or we get there and she all of a sudden remembers she only has one ticket so I have to wait outside?"

Haley stopped, as Lucas appeared to be trying to keep from laughing. Was he making fun of her?

"Don't worry," she heard from a voice behind her. "I promise I have two tickets. I won't forget you at the concert and I'll only throw you out of my car if you try to change the CD."

Haley turned around slowly, her face a bright shade of red.

"Oh, but I'll try to make sure there's at least a gas station around," Peyton continued. "Well unless you refer to my music as loser rock, in which case you're out on the spot. Oh, and last but not least… hi!"

"Hi," Haley responded, her hand covering her flaming cheeks as Peyton simply laughed.

She took a seat at the table. "Do I seriously come off as such a bitch?" she asked lightly.

"No, I'm sorry," Haley replied. "I'm just nervous."

"Well don't be, ok," Peyton told her. "I'm just a regular girl, you know."

Haley smiled at her. In no way was Peyton Sawyer just a regular girl, but it was the icebreaker Haley had needed.

"Hey, Luke," Peyton greeted.

"Hey, Peyton."

"Looks like you got in another fight," she mentioned as she took in his appearance, not to mention his cast. "What does the other guy look like?" she joked. "Ten times worse?"

He gave her a smile but she cut off the reply he'd been ready to make. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. Just like the fight with Damien was not my business either. I'm sorry for that one too. That I went off on you, I mean."

"No, you were right," Lucas said. "I shouldn't have started a fight in my mom's café. It was stupid and childish and she deserved better from me."

"Hey, you think we have time for a soda before we go?" Haley asked.

Peyton checked her watch. "Hmm, let's see. It starts at 9:00. It's a two hour drive, well, an hour and a half the way I drive, so yeah," Peyton answered, amused by Haley's horrified expression.

"Ok, I'll go get them," Haley stated, rising from her seat.

"So seriously, dude, what does the other guy look like?" Peyton asked once Haley had gone.

"Honestly, he hasn't got a mark on him. Not counting his knuckles, of course," he joked. "Now they've got to look as bad as my face."

Peyton stared at him quizzically for a moment as her mind suddenly went back.

Flashback

"Hey," Nathan said, coming over to lean on the locker next to Peyton's. "Still mad at me?"

Peyton looked at him with confusion. "I'm not the one who took off," she countered. "I tried to call you."

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "I'm sorry I didn't pick up. I was pissed off," he admitted to her.

"I know. And now?" Peyton asked him.

He shrugged. He was still mad about it all, but he was pretty sure he'd gotten his point across to Lucas. "What can I do about it, right?" he said reasonably. "I mean, you're your own person. I can't tell you what to do. And I'm sorry for what I said," he continued. "I know you're not sleeping with Lucas. I was an ass for saying that. Do you forgive me?"

She smiled brightly at him and leaned over to give him a sweet kiss. Everything had worked out after all. "If you don't do it again," she couldn't resist warning.

"I won't," he said, shaking his head. "I promise."

She grabbed his hand to hold it as they walked down the corridor together. Noticing the heavy bruising on his knuckles, she frowned. "What happened?" she asked suspiciously.

"I punched a wall," he claimed.

Her eyebrows rose. "Geez, how many times?"

"A lot."

She shook her head but smiled. She couldn't really say much, considering her own knuckle she'd broken doing the exact same thing. At least it was a wall he hit, and not a person.

End of Flashback

Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, signaling a new text. She opened it and glanced at the name. Nathan.

It was Nathan.