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

A/N: Hey everybody. I know this chapter's up sooner than usual but it's holiday season so I have time. LOL. Thanks as always to everyone who reads and as always special thanks to those who leave a comment. Love you all.

"So you finally bit the bullet and asked her out, did ya?" Keith asked as he and Lucas had their heads bent in the hood of a car.

"Not really," Lucas denied. "I'm just doing her a favor really. It's not like it's a real date."

"Right, right, but hey, you never know."

"She doesn't see me as anything more than a friend," Lucas stated dryly. "Unfortunately she's still hung up on Nathan even though he's apparently moved on."

"Well, maybe it's time she moved on too," Keith said firmly. "And who better to move on with than the guy who's had his eye on her since grade school?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, smiling reflectively. Who better?

"I can't believe you and Peyton are both abandoning me next weekend," Haley whined playfully to Lucas. "All for a school dance that, need I remind you, we used to make fun of."

"You could always join us," Luke offered.

Haley laughed. "Yeah right. And be the third wheel on your date with fantasy girl?" she teased, poking fun at him even more by batting her eyelashes. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh Hales, don't be jealous. You know you'll always be my number one," he joked back.

"Uh huh."

"Seriously though, you could come with us if you wanted to."

"Well, that's very nice but I know you don't really want me to."

"Hales…"

"No, Luke, it's totally fine. I get it. I'll have finals to study for all weekend anyway so don't sweat it."

"You really need to get out and have some fun."

"I will," she replied. "When this semester's over and before the next one starts. Besides what would I do while you and Peyton are up dancing? Face it, dances suck without a date."

"So then get a date."

"Who?"

"I don't know, one of the guys. Or hey, how about Damien? He's free," Luke joked.

"That is so not even close to funny, mister," she shrieked, slapping his arm hard. "I would rather be attacked by…I don't know…a flock of crows, than be anywhere near that creepy guy," she said, unable to suppress a shudder.

Lucas chuckled. "It's a murder," he said.

Haley gave him a strange look and laughed. " Ok, I admit, it would be torture but murder might be a little extreme."

"No," Lucas replied. "More than one crow is a murder. You know, a parliament of owls, an exultation of larks – a murder of crows."

Haley rolled her eyes and smiled. "I think that is why people think you're weird, right there. Point is, I wouldn't go anywhere with Damien."

"I know. I was kidding."

"Speaking of Damien, I told him you were my boyfriend, remember? So now he's totally gonna think you're cheating on me with Peyton. You know what that means? I have to get another fake boyfriend." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, I'm sure Junk'll do it."

"Wow, that was a problem for a whole two seconds. I feel so cheap."

"Sorry, Luke," she said patting his shoulder in a show of comfort. "You're disposable."

"I can see that."

"But you're still up for the movies this weekend, right? I mean, fake exes can still be friends, right?"

"Oh yeah, of course."

Nathan's first day at community service began on Friday night at 6:00 until 8:00. He walked in the center, less than thrilled that it was cutting into his weekend. He'd have to spend most of his day there tomorrow as well. He was approached by a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"You must be Nathan," the man said, extending his hand. "I'm Mitch, head counselor."

Nathan accepted the gesture but he clearly wasn't impressed to be there.

Mitch wasn't surprised. None of the court-ordered workers were ever happy to be there. He gestured toward a closet in the corner. "You'll find a mop and pail in there. You can start with the upper floors for today."

Nathan scowled at the guy. "I'm supposed to be working with the kids," he said. Not that he wanted to, but it sure as hell beat cleaning up after the brats.

Mitch pulled out a slip of paper from his folder. "Nope," he replied. "Says here 200 hours service, meaning you go wherever you're needed in the center – at our discretion."

"Fuck that. You can do your own dirty work, I'm not a janitor."

"Ok, that's fine," Mitch said seemingly agreeable. "I'll mark that on my report and send it off to the judge if you'd like. Otherwise, grab a mop."

He smiled in amusement when Nathan stalked over to the janitor's closet in a huff. "Kids," he mumbled to himself. This one, as many did, had come in already in need of an attitude adjustment. In that single moment, Mitch had already sized Nathan up enough to know that he was mad about being forced into this situation, and that was why he couldn't put him to work directly with the other, younger kids who stayed at the center. Those kids had been victimized enough without being subjected to some pissed off teenager who was only there because he'd gotten in trouble with the law.

A petite blonde came to stand beside him. "That our latest voluntold?" she asked.

"Yep," Mitch replied, nodding his head.

"What's your take on him?"

"Arrogant, spoiled, probably never had to lift a finger in his life. Typical rich kid."

"Nothing a little toilet-scrubbing and the likes won't fix," she replied in amusement.

Mitch chuckled. "Hard work always brings them down a notch, doesn't it?" he said with amusement. "So, any headway with little Tommy?"

"No," she replied regretfully. "I still can't get him to say anything or leave his brother's side. Poor Brandon can't get a minute to himself."

"It's natural to cling to an older sibling in these situations."

The woman nodded in agreement and vowed to keep trying to get through to the child. "It's got to work sometime, right?"

Mitch nodded back. "I hope so."

-- -- -- -- --

"See you tomorrow morning," Mitch said when 8:00 rolled around. He wasn't at all surprised that Nathan hadn't stayed a minute longer than dictated.

Nathan muttered a silent oath and exited the front doors, glad to be finally done. That had to have been the longest two hours of his life. Only 198 to go, he thought dully.

He drove home for a quick shower and change before heading out to pick Shelly up for their movie date.

They spotted Haley and Lucas at the concession stand while they stood in the ticket lineup.

"Isn't that your brother?" Shelly asked casually.

"I don't have a brother," Nathan replied sourly.

"Oh, but I thought…" She fell silent when Nathan shot her a look that clearly indicated it was a sore subject.

She didn't mention Lucas again.

Nathan led her to a middle row – though he generally tended to bring girls to the back – and they shared a bucket of popcorn.

Haley and Lucas sat off to the side and they noticed that about a quarter way through the movie, Nathan had slipped his arm around Shelly's shoulder and she leaned into him.

When the evening ended, Nathan took Shelly home and asked to see her again the next night, to which she agreed.

Nathan was able to make it to the basketball practice on Monday morning since his case had been settled out of court and there was no need for a trial. It felt good to be back in the gym with the team again, despite the fact that he was irritated that Lucas was assistant coach. He was even more irritated by the fact that Lucas had come up with some good, solid plays, proving he had a mind for the game and the team's strengths and weaknesses. He'd even gained the respect of, not only whitey, but most of the team members as well. Dammit! Why couldn't Lucas go back to being the loser that nobody knew?

Even worse than his proven coaching abilities, Nathan had just discovered that Lucas would be taking Peyton to the dance on Friday. Bastard just had to come and take his place in everything. He could handle the basketball but Peyton? Why couldn't the guy go after someone else? And more so, why did Peyton have to agree to go with him? Did she like the guy after all?

He forced himself to concentrate on basketball. It had never been a problem to do so before but Lucas's presence made it difficult. All he wanted to do was pound him to the ground again. But he resisted and managed to get through the practice without an altercation. At the end Whitey patted him on the back and told him he'd done well. Nathan understood the old coach wasn't referring to the game alone, but also the fact that he hadn't started anything with Lucas.

––––––––––––––

That same evening, sitting on the beach with Shelly, he made his first attempt at getting under her top. She pulled away and he apologized lightly before taking her hand for a walk along the shore, where he ended up making her the happiest girl in the world by asking her to be his girlfriend. She nearly squealed in delight right then and there but held off until she was back home and out of his view.

––––––––––––––

The news reached Peyton's ears the next day at school and she broke down in the girls washroom because of it; Brooke, Rachel and Haley all by her side. "I thought he just wanted to sleep with her," she sniffled and took the tissue Haley offered her. She could handle just about anything but the thought of Nathan moving on. "I didn't think he was serious about her." Sure, Damien had said so, but she hadn't fully believed it.

"My guess," Rachel said, "is he does only want to sleep with her and made that commitment to boost his chances."

"You think so?" Peyton asked.

"I'd put money on it. Just as I'm willing to bet that he's gonna cheat on her too."

"He better," Peyton choked out, not missing the surprised expression on Haley's face. But she didn't care if she sounded like a bitch. Why should she wish Nathan to be faithful to another girl when he'd never been to her? Just the idea of it was heartbreaking. Because that would mean he loved that girl more than he'd loved her.

––––––––––––––––

When Brooke caught up to him after school, Nathan confirmed what they'd heard earlier. When she asked him why, he told her because Shelly was the next best thing besides Peyton, who'd made it clear ten times over that there was no chance for them.

"I'm just trying to get over her, Brooke. I've tried partying, sex, hell, even studying. What else is there?"

As much as she wanted to come up with an answer for him, she couldn't so instead she dropped it. They talked a few minutes longer before Nathan told her he had to go since his first anger management class was to start in twenty minutes.

"Think your dad will show?" she asked.

"I hope so," he replied. He wanted to believe his father had been sincere and would be true to his word, but a part of him doubted and wondered.

He was more than happy when he pulled into the lot where the meetings were to take place and found Dan already there waiting for him.

"Ready for this, son?" Dan asked as he reached for the glass door.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Nathan replied, unsure if these classes would really do any good. "Are you?"

"More than I've ever been."

"Are there any good articles in here?" Shelly asked as she picked up one of the Thud magazines from Nathan's dresser and began flipping through it.

"Not sure," Nathan replied with a shrug from his place on his bed.

She quirked an eyebrow and took in the small collection he had going. "So you keep buying them but never read them?"

He shrugged again. "I just look at the pictures," he responded.

A small giggle escaped her lips. "Let me guess, the swimsuit section?"

He chuckled and she took it as an admission, which was fine. She didn't need to know the real reason he purchased that stupid magazine every week.

"I hear the comic strip's pretty entertaining. You ever check it out?"

Every day. "Not really."

"Don't enjoy the funnies?"

He lifted his shoulders in reply and she went back to fidgeting with the stuff on his dresser because, truthfully, she felt nervous being alone with him in his bedroom. She'd assumed when she came over that his dad would call him down but instead he'd given her directions to Nathan's room and told her to go on up. Nathan had opened the door when she'd knocked and closed it after she was inside.

She hadn't said anything but she worried about sending him the wrong message. She also worried that now that they were dating exclusively that he would take that to mean she was ready for more – that he would forget that she was still a clean teen who'd sworn herself off sex until marriage.

But what scared her the most was that she would forget. She'd been firm in her belief until he'd come along and shown interest in her. Now, every time he got near her, every time she looked at him, every time he touched her, kissed her, smiled at her, anything, she felt her resolve weakening. It certainly hadn't taken him long to have her questioning her own rules and wondering if creating clean teens had been such a great idea.

She picked up the silver necklace that lay on the dresser and ran it through her fingers before holding it against her neck. "This is gorgeous," she said in awe. It would actually go perfectly with the dress she'd bought for the dance.

Nathan bolted up, marched over to her and practically yanked the piece of jewelry from her hand. "Don't touch it!" he snarled. The very idea of any other girl wearing that necklace did not sit well with him.

Taken aback, it took Shelly a second to find her voice. "Umm, ok, I'm sorry…I…"

He sighed deeply. "No, I'm sorry," he said, setting the necklace back in its place. She was staring at him and he knew he had to come up with some sort of explanation for his abrupt behavior. "It's a present for my mom," he came up with. "It's her birthday next week and…I just don't want it to get broken."

She pursed her lips and nodded slowly, slightly offended that he'd assume she'd break it. "You might try putting it in a case then," she said dully.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out. I'm really sorry. Ok?"

She suddenly felt guilty for getting angry. What was her problem? The gift was obviously special and, considering what he must be going through with his mom, it was no wonder. Besides, he was apologizing so how could she fault him for anything? She nodded her head. "Ok."

He smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. Several seconds into it, his hands found her hips and he pulled her flush against him so that she could feel his increasing desire.

She struggled to pull away and was surprised when Nathan did it first.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not trying to push you. It's just that you're hot so it makes it hard."

"Literally."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he repeated sheepishly.

She gave him a genuine smile, suddenly wondering why he had such a reputation for only wanting sex from a girl. Sure, he wanted it, but that was normal. What guy didn't? But he was very respectful of her choices as he'd just shown. "You're pretty generous with the apologies," she joked.

He shrugged. "Maybe I have a lot to be sorry for. So, you want to, maybe, go downstairs and grab a bite to eat? I'm kinda hungry."

"Sure."

So that's what they did and they watched TV until she had to get going.

While Nathan went up to get the jacket she'd left in his room, Shelly and Dan engaged in some small talk.

"So I hope your wife has a good birthday next week," she said sincerely.

"Next week?" Dan asked, clearly puzzled. "She was born in July."

"Oh, well, Nathan said…"

"Here it is," Nathan said, coming down the stairs, jacket in hand.

In that split second Shelly decided against confronting Nathan on his lie. She was disappointed and even a bit angry, but they'd already gotten in a sort of minor argument tonight and she didn't want to rock the boat. So instead she just kissed him goodnight and went on her way. She didn't find out any more about the necklace until she was home going through last year's yearbook to show her mother his picture, and saw it lying around Peyton's neck.

After Shelly left, Nathan went out, telling his dad not to wait up for him. Five minutes later he was ringing a doorbell and waiting for it to be answered.

"Well, well," Katie Sanders said when she saw Nathan standing there. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come back around."

"Your parents home?" he asked her.

The pretty brunette shook her head. "They're working the night shift."

He smirked before walking past her inside the house. As soon as she closed the door, he pinned her against it and brought his lips down to hers, his hands already fiddling with the buttons of her blouse.

She smiled against his mouth. She was so glad he and that bitch had finally broken up. As for the clean teen, she was definitely no threat. However, she was a little less smug when Nathan was dressed and gone just fifteen minutes later.

-- -- -- -- --

He went home, took a quick shower and went into his room. He took the necklace from the dresser and sat on his bed, staring at it and allowing his mind to wander.

Flashback

"You're still wearing it," he said on the Monday morning, two days after he'd given it to her.

She fingered the delicate silver. "Oh, it's a permanent fixture now," Peyton told him. "It ain't coming off."

"Not even to shower?" he asked her in a teasing manner.

She shook her head.

"To sleep?"

"Nope, not even when we're having wild, crazy sex."

"Ok, what about when you get pissed at me?" he joked. "You gonna rip it off your neck and whip it at me?"

"Oh no," she replied with a laugh. "Why should I lose out because you're being a jackass? Besides it's not nearly heavy enough to be worth throwing at you."

He chuckled because she did tend to choose the heaviest objects to send sailing his way when she was mad. It was a good thing her aim was off most times. "Assuming you'd be the innocent one, of course."

"Oh, of course."

"So you really like it?" he asked more seriously.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Baby, I've told you countless times how much I love it in the past two days."

"I know," he admitted. "I just want to make sure. I never bought jewelry for a girl before."

"And it was really sweet to get this for me, but how many times do you need to hear the same answer before you believe it?"

"I don't know, maybe a million or so," he joked.

"Oh," she laughed. "So just a couple more times then."

"Funny. But ok, I get the point. Stop asking."

She nodded. "Because?" she said with an arched eyebrow.

He sighed. "Because you love it."

"Uh huh," she responded in a sultry tone. "And?" she went on as her arms slid around his neck.

"And you're never taking it off."

"Exactly," she replied before she kissed him on the lips. "No matter what."

"You promise?"

"I promise," she whispered.

End of Flashback

He dangled the necklace in front of him and took a deep, shaky breath, knowing she'd have kept that promise had he only kept the ones he'd made to her.

When he picked Shelly up for the dance on Friday, he was pleasantly surprised. She wore a dress that, although didn't reveal any skin, clung to her body, emphasizing her womanly curves in a very appealing way – certainly sexier than her normal clean teen wear. He whistled at her. "You look hot."

Her face shone a bright red but still she rather enjoyed his response. She decided she wouldn't bring the necklace issue up even though she'd thought of little else in the past few days. What did it matter anyway? He was with her now, not Peyton. "Thanks, so do you," she said earnestly.

-- -- -- -- --

Meanwhile Lucas waited downstairs with Larry while Ellie helped Peyton get ready upstairs.

"Get used to it, rake boy," Larry joked. "It's a girl thing."

"I don't mind," Lucas stated politely. "We get there when we get there, right?"

The older man laughed. "That's a very wise attitude to take," he said. "One I probably should have taken with her mother, but I never had the patience for waiting. I admire any man who does."

-- -- -- -- --

"Peyton," Ellie said with amusement. "Your makeup is fine, your hair is fine. Everything is fine. Do not touch up anything else. You look gorgeous and your date awaits."

"It's not a date," Peyton declared.

"Oh, really?" Ellie scoffed. "Well, you sure seem to be going all out to impress him."

"No, I'm not," Peyton defended. "I always take this long."

"Is that right?"

"Yes." Ok, maybe not quite this long, but she had her reasons that she would not tell Ellie, mostly because they were stupid. But, in her own mind, she had to look better than Shelly Simon tonight. It might be petty but she didn't care. It was important that she did. "Ok, done," she said five minutes later.

"Finally."

She got downstairs to find Lucas and her father deep in conversation about some poet she'd never heard of.

Luke's breath caught in his throat when he took in the sight of her. "You look beautiful," he said sincerely, to which Larry agreed.

Peyton smiled, a blush creeping to her cheeks as the two males continued to stare at her. "Shall we go?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Lucas said, breaking out of his stance.

"We'll see you there in a bit," Larry said. When Luke raised a questioning eyebrow he revealed that he and Ellie would be chaperoning for the evening.

"Oh yeah?" Lucas said. "My mom and Uncle Keith too."

Peyton couldn't hold back a laugh. "You get the impression the school doesn't trust its students? Seriously, how many chaperones do we need?"

"If they're anything like I was in high school," Ellie piped up. "A lot."

Everyone laughed and then Lucas turned to Peyton and asked if she was ready to go.

She nodded, indicating she was.

Larry and Ellie watched as Lucas opened the car door for Peyton and then went to the driver's side once she was in.

Larry smiled approvingly. "My future son in law right there," he said.

Ellie chuckled. "Funny, last I heard fathers didn't choose their daughters' husbands anymore."

"Well, they should," Larry stated in mock protest. "That way their daughters end up with true gentlemen instead of these trouble-making punks they tend to go for when left to their own devices."

"Every girl loves a bad boy," Ellie said with humor, slapping him good-naturedly in the back.

"Yeah, that's the problem. And why is that anyway?"

She laughed but ignored the question and headed toward the car. "Come on, daddy, let's go be party poopers by checking the punch bowls."

"Oh, you're one of those strict chaperones, are you? I always hated those."

"So did I."

-- -- -- -- --

Lucas could barely focus on the road. He kept stealing glances over at Peyton. She really did take his breath away. "You really do look beautiful tonight," he said. "Not that you don't always, but especially so tonight."

Good. "Thanks, Luke. You don't look so bad yourself," she said honestly. "And thanks again for coming to my rescue with Damien."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was happy to do it," he responded just as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

Nathan was already there, Peyton noted silently as she spotted his car. She probably shouldn't care and she definitely shouldn't want to show up his new girlfriend. But she did.

And she had to suppress a satisfied smirk when Nathan spotted her almost immediately and his eyes showed clear male appreciation at her appearance. Of course that meant she'd also spotted him right away and he looked great as expected.

She saw his expression turn dark as soon as his gaze darted from her to her handsome blond companion, and for a second she thought he might start something. But instead he threw an arm over Shelly's shoulder and turned the other way.

And Shelly looked amazing too. Damn her.

A/N: Just to clarify, for anyone who doesn't remember Katie Sanders, she's the girl Nathan was messing around with way back in chapter 10 and 11, and she was irritated that Nathan kicked her out when Peyton was coming over and also that he wouldn't leave Peyton for her.

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate!!!