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.

Haley sat in the passenger's seat of Peyton's car, looking out the window and feeling anything but comfortable. So much for the initial icebreaker moment at the café. The blonde had barely spoken since Haley had returned with their drinks. She didn't know what she and Luke had talked about, but whatever it was it had rendered the girl silent. Even now, halfway to their destination, Peyton hadn't spoken a single word beyond 'you can pull the seat up if you want'. She simply stared out the windshield at the long stretch of road ahead. Haley sighed. This would be a long ride.

Peyton held the steering wheel loosely as her gaze remained fixed on the car in front of her, wishing it would speed up or that traffic wasn't so heavy so she could pass. Unfortunately she was blocked in on all sides so she was stuck doing the speed limit. Not that she ever went too much over, just a little. She definitely thought people exaggerated when they said she was a crazy driver. She was nothing like Nathan, who would drive at breakneck speed or change lane when he barely had room, cutting off the car behind him, therefore forcing the driver to slam on the breaks. Well, ok, maybe she was a little like Nathan in that respect. But he'd pass on a solid line – ok, she did that too sometimes – but he'd do it even on extra curvy roads. And sure, all right, she did that as well at times, but still, in her opinion, Nathan was a reckless driver who took way too many chances. And then he'd laugh at her when her heart would jump to her throat. Until she would get mad and then he would ease up and drive right, proving he was capable of it when he wanted to.

While the speedometer kept its steady, even pace, her mind ran into overdrive. This should be a thrilling moment for her – it was the night of the concert she'd been desperate to attend, and she was on her way. She should be ecstatic. But instead visions of Nathan's hands kept popping up in her head. 'I punched a wall', he'd said. But had he? She took a deep breath, reminding herself for the hundredth time in the past hour, not to jump to conclusions. Had the last incident not taught her that? She'd gone and accused him of cheating, but Nathan had been innocent in that case, and he could very well be this time too. Just because his hands were bruised, didn't mean he'd beat on Lucas. Hadn't Lucas told her he didn't know who'd done it? She'd just imagined how he'd hesitated to answer her question. Yes, that was it. Entirely possible. There, that was settled and now she could just push it out of her mind and enjoy her evening. Wrong.

Flashback

"Have another drink, old man. Trust me, if I'd beat on him, he'd have a lot more injuries than just a black eye."

End of Flashback

Peyton frowned as her memory replayed the words Nathan had spoken several weeks ago, when his uncle Keith had gone to his house and accused him of attacking Lucas. It was later discovered that it had been Tim, but she couldn't shake those words now. Lucas definitely had more than just a black eye this time. He'd been brutally beaten.

Flashback

"What happened?"

"I punched a wall."

"Geez, how many times?"

"A lot."

End of Flashback

Peyton sighed in aggravation. Why was she so determined to blame her boyfriend for this? Maybe someone else had hurt Lucas. Nathan wasn't his only enemy. He could have very well angered someone else. Maybe Nathan really had punched a wall like he'd said.

Flashback

"My feet are kind of bruised up too," he told her with a smirk. "And my knees. Not as bad as my hands though."

End of Flashback

She shook her head as Nathan's claim became less and less believable. Ok, maybe he'd punched a wall. But had he kicked the wall too? Possible. Kneed it? Unlikely. She wondered why she hadn't questioned this before. She'd been so anxious to smooth everything over that she'd bought his story without question and granted him immediate forgiveness upon his apology for his behavior and accusation.

Still her heart was desperate to absolve her boyfriend of any guilt. And the only way to escape these growing suspicions was to come up with some kind of proof of his innocence.

"When did it happen?" she asked the girl beside her. If she answered any time after Monday, then it wasn't Nathan, since his knuckles were already bruised at that point.

Haley glanced toward Peyton, caught off guard by the sudden dialogue after an hour of silence. "Sorry?"

"Lucas," Peyton said simply, holding her breath as she awaited the reply.

Catching the blonde's meaning, Haley replied. "Umm, Monday."

That didn't help. "What time Monday?" After first bell and Nathan was in the clear.

"Early," Haley revealed. "Before morning practice," she added, much to Peyton's dismay.

'Damnit,' Peyton muttered under her breath.

"He never made it to practice," the brunette continued. "He wasn't in any shape. Instead his mom took him up to the hospital."

Peyton nodded in understanding, her heart going out to the mother who'd had to see her son so battered and bruised. Even now, five days later, his face looked like it had just been through a meat grinder, so she could only imagine how it had looked the day of. And his face only covered the superficial injuries.

She hated to think that Nathan was responsible, but she couldn't ignore the facts. All the memories she had, including multiple instances when he'd threatened physical harm to his brother, pointed right to him. Not to mention the fact that he'd done it before. It wouldn't be the first time he went after some poor guy for simply showing an interest in his girlfriend. But after their huge fight the last time when he'd broken the nose of a guy who'd asked her to a movie, she'd thought he'd settled down. Yeah, there was the incident with Brent at Tyler's party, but even though she couldn't condone his violent reaction to that, neither could she put it in the same category. Brent was his friend and he'd thought he'd slept with Peyton. Had he had any right to pick that fight? No. But Peyton could understand it. As humans, we didn't always behave the way we should and, right or wrong, often times our emotions controlled our actions. However, as far as she knew, other than Brent, Nathan hadn't threatened or hurt anyone for making the mistake, or so he called it, of paying too much attention to his girl. He still didn't like it and would grumble about it, but as long as he didn't turn violent, or threaten to, Peyton didn't mind so much and actually found it kind of cute.

But with Lucas it was different. She knew that. Nathan already hated him and got more agitated than usual when he was the one eyeballing Peyton. When it was Lucas, Peyton could literally feel the intensity of Nathan's immense bitterness and loathing toward his much-hated half brother.

"Do you know who did it?" Peyton finally asked, even though she really didn't want to know.

Haley took a deep breath, pondering her reply. She was 99% sure that Nathan was to blame, but unless she were 100% certain, she wasn't going to point fingers at him, especially not to the guy's girlfriend. Not while that 1% chance that she was mistaken hung over her head. "Lucas doesn't even know," she responded reasonably.

Peyton took a quick glance at her companion before returning her eyes back to road. Did he really not know? Because if that were the case, it didn't sound like Nathan at all. Nathan would ensure that Lucas recognized him or else the point of the beating would be lost. He may hide his guilt from her and everyone else, but to Lucas he would reveal himself. This was the last shred of hope she had in Nathan's innocence. "Do you think that's true?" she asked skeptically. Lucas really had hesitated to answer when she'd asked him.

"I can't really say," Haley replied.

"But you're his girlfriend, right?" Peyton questioned.

Haley shook her head in denial. "Best friend."

"Oh. But still, you'd know if he were lying. Or at least suspect if he were?"

Haley wasn't sure what the other girl was getting at, but she was clearly looking for answers. "Not to be rude, but is there a, I don't know, a point I guess, to this line of questioning? Because if there is, you might want to…" She made a popping noise with her mouth to emphasize the last words… "get to it."

Peyton smiled at her. "Not into the whole beating around the bush thing, huh?" she asked lightly.

"Not so much, no," Haley answered with her own smile, glad Peyton hadn't taken offense to her remark. "The direct approach is the way to go."

"Right. Ok, so here's the thing," Peyton began hesitantly. "I just really need to know if Nathan was involved," she said, deciding to take Haley's advice on the direct approach front.

"Oh," Haley gasped in surprise. "You know, it's not really my place to speculate one way or the other."

"But if you did?" Peyton pushed.

"If I did, then I'd have to say that Lucas is definitely lying and knows his assailant."

"Nathan?" Peyton asked.

Haley shrugged her shoulders. "You tell me," she said. "You know him better than I do."

"Yeah," Peyton acknowledged. "I do know him. Which is why I don't put it past him. I mean, I hope he didn't do it, but..."

"You think he did," Haley finished for her.

Peyton nodded, her blonde curls bouncing as she did. "That's horrible, isn't it? To say that about your boyfriend?" She didn't know why she was revealing so much about herself and Nathan, but it felt good to have someone other than their group of friends to talk to about this. And Haley just seemed so nice and willing to listen without offering up an excuse for Nathan's behavior as many of their friends would do, or condemning him, as others would do.

"Not if it's true," Haley pointed out compassionately. The girl obviously knew what her boyfriend was capable of and hated it. In that moment, she silently took back every false statement she'd either spoken or thought of the blonde girl beside her. Guiltily she acknowledged to herself that she'd formed her judgment on the basis of appearance, public opinion, and maybe even a little jealousy.

"He's done it before, you know?" Peyton said.

"I heard. Not that I believe everything I hear."

Peyton chuckled. "It's ok. Most rumors have a bit of truth to them. Emphasis on bit and most," she said in amusement. "Some are just way out in left field. But the ones about Nathan's temper, they're true. It's horrible. No guy can look at me for an extended amount of time."

"Sounds more like jealousy to me," Haley commented.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "No, jealousy's too mild. And possessive's too strong. It's more like a cross between the two."

"Territorial?"

"Yes! What's so funny?" she asked when she noticed Haley chuckling.

"Nothing, I just had a vision of him peeing on you to mark his territory."

This brought forth a hearty giggle from Peyton's mouth. "He better not, but I swear sometimes he's going to."

Both girls shared a laugh at the ridiculous turn in the conversation.

"He's never been this bad though," Peyton said once they'd caught their breath. "I mean normally he just throws a couple of punches and he's good. But from the looks of Lucas…"

"Remember we're not sure Nathan did it," Haley, for some reason, felt the need to point out.

"Yeah, I know. I don't doubt it though. He hates Lucas so much."

"Why is that anyway?

"He's just threatened by him," Peyton replied with a shrug.

"Why?" Haley asked, confused.

"Back to the territorial thing. He thinks Luke's out to get what's his. Basketball. Me. His world. And he's not the only one who thinks that either. It makes no sense to me, but a lot of our friends feel Nathan's justified in his belief and think that's why Lucas joined the team."

Haley shook her head. "I can see why they might feel that way, but it's just not the case. Lucas joined the team because he wanted to get closer to Nathan."

"What do you mean?"

"Umm, Luke's probably gonna kill me for telling you, but he's always wanted to get to know Nathan, ever since he found out they were brothers. He always wanted a little brother," Haley said with amusement. "Anyway, he hoped that by joining the team that their common love for the game could somehow form a bond between them that would eventually be strong enough to help them build toward a real brotherly relationship," she revealed. "It was a high expectation to place on a game, and obviously it just made things worse, but he never wanted anything from Nathan's world except to be a part of it."

"Wanted?" Peyton questioned. "As in past tense?"

"As in he's accepted that Nathan doesn't want to be brothers and honestly I can't say that I'd blame him if he didn't want to anymore either."

"I wouldn't either," Peyton admitted. "Nathan's been a real ass to him."

"Yeah, and if anyone doesn't deserve that, it's Lucas. He's a really great guy who'd do anything for the people he cares about."

"You know, Nathan's not all bad," Peyton replied, feeling the need to defend the guy she loved with all her heart. "He can be really sweet sometimes. A lot of times, actually."

Haley noticed how Peyton's eyes lit up as she spoke of her boyfriend's sweet side and she just knew it had to be true. "I'm sure he can," she responded with a smile.

"So, you realize we're going to be the youngest people at this thing, right?" Peyton remarked to lighten the mood.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Hey Mouth," Lucas greeted from his position on his bed.

"Luke," Mouth returned.

"What brings you by?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Ok shoot."

"I was asked by your dad…"

"Dan," Lucas corrected. "He's not my dad."

"By Dan," Mouth corrected. "to tutor Nathan."

"Yeah, Haley told me."

"He offered to pay me three times as much as the school pays to have these tutoring sessions at their home."

"That's great, Mouth," Lucas replied, his expression showing no emotion. "You could use the money."

"Yeah, I accepted but I thought I'd run it by you to see how you felt about it."

"Why would I have anything to say about it? You're a tutor. It's your job."

"I know what he did, Luke."

"What are you talking about?"

"You remember when Nathan and them trashed the Rivercourt?"

"Yeah, of course," Lucas replied. It wasn't that long ago.

"Well, me and Jimmy decided afterward that, were they to pull that again, there would be proof next time."

Lucas frowned, not understanding where he was going with this.

"So we installed a hidden camera," Mouth explained.

Lucas's heart skipped several beats as he realized what Mouth was saying.

"Yesterday, we felt like commentating, but there wasn't a game, so we went and got the camera and planned to put it back today."

Lucas sighed, but made no comment.

"It's all there, Luke. The whole thing, clear as day. And I know you saw him, so why are you saying you didn't?"

"Listen to me, Mouth," Lucas said firmly. "I want you to destroy that tape."

"It's the only proof there is," Mouth argued. "I think we should turn it in to the police."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Lucas scoffed. "Because he's my brother."

"He doesn't act like your brother."

"Sure he does," Lucas came back with a slight grin. "Don't brothers fight all the time?"

"Not like that."

"Mouth, as your friend, I'm asking you to please destroy that tape.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

"That was awesome!" Haley exclaimed as they stepped outside at the end of the concert. "Thank you so much for bringing me! I owe you big time!"

"Are you kidding? I'm just glad to find somebody who appreciates music as much as I do."

From the moment they'd stepped in to the concert hall and the first band played its first song, Peyton knew she'd finally found someone who shared in her love for music. Yeah her friends liked music as much as the next guy, but they didn't have this deep emotional connection and appreciation for the words that brought forth so much power and significance. They didn't care about the lyrics as long as the song had a good beat. But Haley understood, and felt the exact same exhilaration she felt when listening to music.

Surprisingly there had been quite a large amount of younger people at the concert. Peyton hadn't expected that because although there were a few current bands, most of them were retro. The older generation had definitely made up most of the crowd, but still there were more young ones than she'd counted on. It felt good to know that she wasn't alone, that others, even though she didn't know them, felt as she did. Now when she listened to her songs, she could imagine that someone out there was listening to the exact same song and feeling the exact same emotions as she was.

"I can't believe there's another music fanatic living right in Tree Hill," Peyton said excitedly. "I think this is the beginning of a very solid friendship." She said it as a joke but she meant every word.

"You might want to add Luke to the list of Tree Hill fanatical music lovers," Haley joked. "Although he's not as bad as us."

"Oh, he has to be hardcore to be added," Peyton joked back.

Haley giggled at the comment. "I am so pumped," she said. "I doubt I get a wink of sleep tonight."

"Me neither. I can never sleep after a concert," Peyton told her. "Hey, why don't you stay at my place tonight? We can listen to our new albums," Peyton suggested, referring to the albums sold at discount price to all audience members.

Both girls were still so keyed up that neither wanted the night to end.

"Sounds great!" Haley responded, eager to listen to the new music. "I'll have to call my parents though."

She used Peyton's phone to make the call and soon thereafter they were on their way back, their conversation much more energetic and animated than it had been on the way down.

It was almost 3am by the time they got to Peyton's house. For two hours they listened to music and talked but by 5am, Haley, despite her vow of not sleeping, had crashed on Peyton's bed, leaving Peyton to her own company.

An hour later Peyton jumped, as she felt strong arms wrap around her waist from behind. She turned to find Nathan standing there.

"What are you doing here at 6 a.m.?"

"I figured you'd probably still be too wired to sleep. I'm supposed to be out running, so I only have a few minutes, but I thought I'd drop by and see how the concert went."

"It was awesome," she said honestly.

"Good," he said, once again wrapping his arms around her and lowering his head for a kiss.

She kissed him back until his hands made their way inside her t-shirt. She pulled away from him, glancing over at the sleeping figure in the bed.

"Who's that?" he asked, just noticing they weren't alone.

"Shh," she said, pulling him out of the room. "You don't know her," she said once in the hallway. "I thought you only had a few minutes," she added when he once again pulled her close and his hands traveled her body.

"I do," he replied huskily.

"So, what is this? A five minute bootie call?" she asked, getting upset.

"Pretty much," he answered. "My dad's got me on a tight schedule for the next month so we probably won't have much time to spend together."

"So you chose to spend the few minutes we do have having sex? Yeah, that ought to be great for me," she commented snidely.

He pulled back slightly. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be in a good mood after the concert."

"I was," Peyton told him.

He sneered at her response. "Oh, until I showed up, right? Because God forbid I should want to have sex with my girlfriend. Sorry if my attraction to you ruined your day," he said heatedly as he started toward the stairs.

"I need to ask you a question," Peyton responded, stopping him in his tracks.

He turned around to face her and lifted his hands in irritation. "What?"

She took a deep breath, willing herself to go ahead and ask, but not accuse. "Did you assault Lucas?"