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

A/N: Hiya guys. Here's the latest chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to all of you reading and especially to you reviewers. You're all awesome!

You'll probably recognize the Lucas/Peyton scene from the show.

"That's really sad," Haley said sympathetically after she and Nathan had sat down and he'd revealed what the next day was for Peyton. "But I'm not sure how I can help?" she phrased as a question.

"You just…you and Lucas…you need to be there for her," he struggled to say.

"Yeah, of course," Haley assured him. "We'll do whatever she needs us to."

"Well, that's just the thing," he went on to explain. "She's gonna tell you she doesn't need anything, that she's fine. But you can't listen to her. You have to…look, she's gonna try to push you away, but you can't let her. Because if she's alone, she could…well, it wouldn't be good. So if you could just…pass this on to Lucas."

"I will," Haley responded, noticing the pain he couldn't hide etched across his handsome face. "I'll let him know."

He nodded thankfully and stood up to leave.

"You really do love her, don't you?" Haley asked, staring at him intently. Never would she have imagined him doing anything for anyone unless it benefitted him in some way, yet here he was doing just that. It couldn't be easy for him to do this – ask Lucas to be there for Peyton, albeit indirectly, but still.

He didn't answer her. What did it matter?

He ran into Lucas on the other side of the door, noticing the blond boy was staring daggers at him. Despite everything, it was kind of amusing.

"Stay away from Haley," Lucas warned, his tone dangerously low. His back had gone up the second he'd spotted Nathan sitting with Haley, deep in conversation.

"We're just talking, man," Nathan replied, his own tone belligerent. But then he smiled because, really, the way Lucas was glaring at him was rather funny. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear the guy was jealous. And because of that Nathan had to push his buttons just a little further. Had to. His trademark smirk firmly in place, he added, "You know, kinda like you and Peyton."

He knew he'd reached the desired response when Lucas' eyes narrowed on him. He gave him another smile for good measure, and walked away, pleased that he'd gotten under his skin – even though Haley would, no doubt, clear it all up within minutes. It was still worth it to know that he'd gotten to him, if only temporarily.

The next day came and Lucas and Haley got a first hand taste of exactly what Nathan had warned Haley about – Peyton's scorn and overall spiteful attitude. They'd both been getting used to her ever changing mood swings in the months they'd known her, but never had they seen her quite so nasty in her comments. She nearly jumped down their throats at anything they said and if it weren't for Nathan's warning and information, they'd still have known something was wrong, but wouldn't have known what.

As it was, they wanted to do as Nathan said and help her through it, but she'd been so adamant that they leave her alone that they really didn't have a choice but to do just that. It was clear they weren't helping the situation any by being there and it even seemed they might be making it worse.

So they'd gone to the café, where they now sat, both unsure of what it was that they should do. They'd let her know they were only a phone call away should she need to talk but she hadn't even acknowledged their offer or said a word when they'd gone.

–––––

Peyton sat in her comet waiting for the light to change, a deep scowl on her face and cars behind her honking their horns and screaming obscenities. But she didn't hear any of it – or at least she pretended not to. Her eyes remained transfixed on that green light and when it finally changed, her foot pressed down on the gas pedal and she went sailing through at top speed.

Nothing. As usual.

Tears streamed down her face as she headed toward the next set of lights.

–––––

"Did you see…?" Lucas asked, gazing out the café window. "That wasn't…?"

"Sure looked like her," Haley replied worriedly.

Lucas pulled out his phone to call her. No answer. Damn it.

–––––

Meanwhile, down the street and across from them, Nathan slapped paint onto one of the centre's walls, wondering why the hell they'd have him paint them the exact same color they already were. But he wasn't complaining. At least they didn't have him mopping floors again like he'd done the past two weekends. This wasn't so bad, he thought. Exams were over, he had the next week off school, and he wasn't pouring over a bottle of Mr. Clean. And tomorrow was Mouth's party. This was good, he told himself.

Except it wasn't. He was worried about Peyton and though it was for the best and basically his own doing, he couldn't get the image of Lucas comforting her out of his head. Besides that, he was closer to the kids' indoor play area now and the incessant screaming was grating on his last nerve. He'd have to remember to bring his iPod tomorrow. To make matters even worse, there was some little kid standing against the opposite wall, watching his every move. Whatever, he tried to blow off. He'd just ignore him.

It was surprisingly easy to do, as was tuning out the screams of the other kids. All it took was his mind to drift back to last year – the day after Peyton had practically bit his head off for even the simplest of things – and he smiled.

Flashback

It was before the first warning bell had even sounded when she'd approached him at his locker.

"Hey," she said. "About yesterday…"

He just looked at her, waiting for her to explain. Sure, Brooke had told him everything, but still he was a little put off by her attitude. He was Nathan Scott, damn it! He could have any girl he wanted. They were his for the taking whenever he wanted and he definitely didn't need this kind of bullshit from one of them. He should just cut her loose now if yesterday was any indication of her mood swings.

Except he didn't want to. This was the first girl he'd ever liked this much and, despite his bruised ego, he wasn't ready to let her go just yet. Maybe after he got her in the sack but certainly not before. And when she offered him an adorable sheepish look, followed by an apology in the form of a question, he just smiled and said it was cool.

She didn't explain and he didn't ask her to. He already heard it all from Brooke anyway, but for some reason, it stung a little that it didn't come from Peyton. He didn't want to think about why it stung. He just shook his head. They'd been together barely a month and he was hurt that she wasn't opening up to him? What was wrong with him? He would later find out that, like him, she didn't open up easily.

"Did I freak you out?" she asked him, her expression riddled with guilt.

"No," he denied since she already seemed to feel bad enough. Ok, so now he was worried about her feelings? What the freaking hell? Now that freaked him out. He really should just get out now.

"Liar," she said in amusement. "I talked to Brooke."

He smiled back, unable to do anything else. His instincts might be in complete disagreement but he truly didn't want to get out. "Ok, maybe a little," he admitted. "All right, a lot," he amended when her brows arched in challenge. "Give me a warning next time you wanna go ballistic on me."

"Sorry," she said earnestly, hugging him. "It was a hard day."

He reciprocated the gesture before bending his head and taking her lips with his.

End of Flashback

To his dismay, he was snapped out of his memory by little fingers tapping his leg. Irritated he looked down to see the kid who'd been watching him this whole time standing there, smiling shyly. Apparently watching had gotten boring. Or being ignored had. One or the other.

Nathan turned away to face the wall again, but the boy tapped him again, this time more forcefully.

Nathan sighed impatiently and turned slowly. "Yeah?"

"How come you're painting that?"

"Because I was told to," Nathan replied flatly, returning to the task.

"So you have to?"

"Yeah."

"How come it's the same color?" the boy asked curiously.

And Nathan had to chuckle. Seriously, why was it? Even a little kid could see the sheer ridiculousness of it. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't ask questions."

"Why?"

"But apparently you ask a lot of them," Nathan muttered under his breath. "Look, kid, isn't there somewhere you should be?"

"That's a question," the boy pointed out with a small smile.

"You gonna answer it?" Nathan asked.

"That's another question."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Nathan replied, "Ok, so I lied."

"That's bad. You're supposed to always tell the truth."

"Sorry," Nathan responded before he'd even thought about it. Ok, what just happened? Had he just apologized to this little brat?

"It's ok," the boy returned easily.

'Wow', Nathan thought. If only every apology went over that well. "Where are you supposed to be?" he asked again.

"In there," the boy answered, pointing to a doorway down the hall.

"Well then, you should probably get back in there."

"I don't want to. I want to stay here and talk to you."

"I'm working," Nathan stated. "Besides, didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?"

"My mommy went to jail with a hundred locks and my daddy went to Heaven and God is gonna teach him how to be nice," he said, repeating what he'd been told.

And Nathan felt like someone had just kicked him. Shit. As much as he hated being surrounded by the same kinds of kids that had had his mother leaving him for weeks at a time his whole life, not even he could be so cruel as to throw their unfortunate circumstances in their faces. At least not intentionally. Idiot.

However, the little boy seemed unfazed and just told his story like it was perfectly normal. And then he smiled and said, "And you're not even a stranger anyways. You're #23, Nathan Scott. Me and Brandon think you're cool and he's gonna be just like you and I'm gonna be just like him."

Nathan listened to the little boy's rambling in astonishment. "You know me?"

"Yes, you're #23, Nathan Scott and me and Brandon…"

"Ok, who's Brandon?" Nathan cut in before the kid could repeat the entire story.

"That's my brother. He's big," he stated, his hand rising to show Nathan Brandon's approximate height. "But not big like you," he added, stretching his arm as high as it could go and still not reaching anywhere near the top of Nathan's head.

"Oh," Nathan said, still amazed, yet somewhat honored. Who knew he had strange little kids idolizing him? Well, Cooper's kids loved him but they knew him. "So, your brother's name is Brandon, what yours?"

"Tommy."

"Cool. And you both like basketball, huh?"

"Yes! And I like how you go like this and like this," Tommy began, making like he was holding a basketball and giving a very animated version of getting past defenders.

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle as he went on.

"And then you jump up and put the ball in the hoop and hang on to the net…" he continued, doing every single action. "And then turn around really fast and jump to the ground. And then after when it's all done, the girl with curly blonde hair comes and you both kiss like this."

Nathan laughed harder when Tommy played out that action as well, even going so far as closing his eyes to do it.

–––––

"Mitch," the woman called the head counselor from the doorway of the playroom. "Come take a look at this."

Mitch did as requested. The look of astonishment that crossed his features matched the woman's perfectly. "Well, I'll be," he said as he watched the pair in the hallway.

–––––

The second time it happened, there was no mistaking it. It was Peyton. So by the third time, Lucas was prepared. He and Haley waited outside the café and when he spotted her car sitting idle at the green light, he ran toward it.

"Why do you do this?" he asked, leaning against the passenger side door.

She didn't answer, just kept her eyes forward, so he hopped in beside her.

–––––

"How did you get little Tommy to talk?" Mitch asked Nathan just as he was set to leave for the night.

"What?" Nathan asked, his features marking his confusion.

"He's been here over a month," Mitch went on to explain. "Nobody's been able to get a peep out of him. So how'd you do it?"

Nathan shrugged uncertainly. He hadn't done a single thing. "I don't know. He just started talking and then he wouldn't shut up."

"Interesting," Mitch pondered. "Well, you've connected with him somehow, which is great," he said happily. "You're here in the morning, right?"

"Yeah," Nathan muttered, still not at all pleased with having to spend so much of his weekend here.

But Mitch was glad to hear it. "Ok, good," he said, not really sure what any of this meant, yet knowing this was a major step forward. "Go on, get out of here," he told Nathan, knowing the teenager was itching to leave. He could understand that. He too had been a teen forced by the courts into this centre. And now look at him, 20 years later, head counselor and devoting all his time to the place.

–––––

"If I were you, I'd get out now," Peyton told Lucas, her tone even and cold.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," he argued. He knew but her behavior was irrational and he had to try to calm her down, get her talking.

But she wasn't biting. As soon as the light changed, off she went.

"Come on!" Lucas exclaimed, his heart in his throat and his hand gripping the dashboard. "Slow down, Peyton! Come on! Slow the car down! Peyton?' he said in a softer tone of voice. "Slow the car down," he continued, hoping to reason with her.

It almost seemed like she didn't hear him as she made her way from light to light. But then she spoke so he knew she had.

"She was driving to school to pick me up," she said, her voice tortured, but her eyes dry. "She was late, so she ran a red light. It was one light at the wrong split second and it ended for her."

Even in his panicked state, his heart went out to her. She went through the last of the lights and came to a screeching halt to the side of the road a few feet away.

–––––

Meanwhile Nathan walked down the steps of the centre, a strange feeling upon him. Seriously, the kid hadn't spoken to anyone in the centre until today? To him? He had to wonder why that was. In a way it felt good that he'd been able to help someone even if he didn't know what exactly it was he'd done. In another way it was a bit overwhelming. These counselors were professionals and him, well, he was just a high school student. He felt like he'd just been given a huge responsibility – one way too big for him to take on.

All thoughts escaped his mind when he spotted Peyton's old car racing through a succession of red lights. He could swear his heart stopped. Never in his life could he remember being so terrified. He could literally taste the fear. He held his breath when one car had to swerve to keep from hitting her.

And he didn't breathe again until she'd pulled over.

That's when anger kicked in and he ran.

–––––

"My mom ran one red light," Peyton said to Lucas. "I run them all the time and nothing happens. It's not fair."

"No it's not," Lucas said soothingly, wanting nothing more than to comfort his hurting girlfriend. She wasn't crying but she was certainly on the verge of it.

"You can get out now," she said, seemingly angry again.

"Or I can stay if you want," Lucas offered softly.

She shook her head. "No. You can't."

He didn't want to argue with her so he opened the door and stepped out.

She was about to drive off when Nathan came up beside the car, reached inside and turned off the ignition. Then he snatched the keys, holding them in his hand. All of this before she'd even realized he was there, let alone reacted to it.

"Are you insane!?" he hollered irately, though he was standing right next to her. But he couldn't help it, fury pumped through his veins. "Have you completely lost your fucking mind!?"

She didn't answer him and that didn't lessen his rage any. "What the hell, Peyton? You're always on me about my driving when you're not even any better. But to do this? You could have fucking killed yourself!"

Lucas came around the other side, wanting only to defend his girlfriend. "Hey, back off, Nathan," he warned.

"No, you back off, man," Nathan spat viciously.

"Look, she's going through enough right now."

"Don't fucking tell me what she's going through, all right," Nathan shot back furiously. "I know what today is. I'm the one who told you so just shut the hell up. I should have known you wouldn't be able to deal with this anyway."

It was a shock to Peyton's ears to learn that Luke had gotten his information from Nathan. He'd already known before she'd told him, as had Haley, but she'd assumed her father had said something to them. But to find out it was Nathan was infuriating.

"Why would you do that?" she turned on him as she stepped out of the car to stand in front of him. "Why would you tell him? Or anyone?"

"Cuz you're a crazy bitch, that's why," Nathan said scornfully. "As you've just proven."

"You know what Nathan? Screw you! This is none of your damn business."

"Oh, whose is it then? His?" he mocked, gesturing toward Luke.

"Mine!" she shot back. "Yeah, so why don't you go harass your new girlfriend and leave me the hell alone."

"I can't do that," he responded. "Thanks to you, I don't have a girlfriend anymore."

"Like there aren't a slew of next contestants lined up at your doorstep," she replied dryly.

"You know, you can try to change the subject all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that you just risked your life and everyone else's on the road, all because you're feeling sorry for yourself."

"Oh, like you should talk, Mr. 'I'm gonna drive drunk because my mom attempted suicide and it's all my fault. Boohoo. Poor me."

As soon as the words escaped her lips she wanted to take them back. She could see the pained expression cross his face and in that moment, she hated herself far more than she pitied herself.

He turned around and started walking away, clearly hurt.

"Nathan…"

"You know what?" he said, spinning around. "At least I was drunk. What's your excuse? Besides self-pity and stupidity?"

"Hey, take it easy, man" Luke cut in. "She doesn't need this today."

"Right," Nathan scoffed. "Much better if we coddle her instead," he added snarkily. "Oh, I know you could have killed yourself and a bunch of other people," he began in an exaggeratingly soothing tone. "But you've had a bad day so it's ok. Don't even worry about it." He frowned at the absurdity of it.

But it was all it took to get Peyton fuming again. "I never asked you or anyone else to feel sorry for me. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've told everyone to leave me alone today."

"Yeah, I can see why," Nathan responded. "Any sane person might have put a damper on your evening plans."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, just give me my keys and go on our merry way, ok."

He actually laughed at that. A tight, dry, non-humorous laugh. "Right cuz I'm just gonna hand them back to you after all this. Nah, I think I'll do everyone a favor and hang on to them for the night. I'll drop them off in your mail box in the morning."

"You can't do that!" Peyton exclaimed. "Not only is it none of your business but it's also stealing!"

"So call the cops."

"Nathan, come on," Lucas said tightly. "Give her her keys."

"Stay out of this, Lucas," Nathan warned him. "Or you will get hurt."

He started walking again and Lucas started to follow when Haley, who no one had noticed come up, grabbed his arm to stop him. "He's right, Luke," she spoke softly so only he could hear. "She shouldn't be driving right now. And who knows? Maybe he just saved some other eight year old from losing her mother."

He sighed in resignation, knowing Haley was right. He just hated that it was Nathan to act on it. It should be him. He certainly wouldn't have been so harsh about it.

Peyton was absolutely livid. How dare he just take off with her keys like that? Who the hell did he think he was? Well, if he thought she would let him away with it, he had another thing coming.

But he had already reached his own car and was driving away.

So she started walking.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lucas and Haley called out.

"Don't you people get it?" she fumed. "Is there some confusion about what 'I want to be alone' means? No?" she pressed when they didn't respond. "Good. Glad we understand each other," she said before falling back in step. She knew she'd have a round of apologies to make tomorrow but right now she just didn't care.

Lucas sighed deeply as he watched her go.

"Well, we were warned, I guess," Haley said. "You know, when Nathan told me, I thought he must be stretching it a bit, but now I see he didn't even cover the half of it."

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "I just wish there was something I could do for her. You know? Make all this easier on her."

"Yeah. Me too."

–––––

Nathan flopped down on his bed, the night's events taking its toll. He pulled Peyton's keys from his pocket and shoved them under the mattress. As mad as she'd been, he half expected her to come storming in in search of them.

He wasn't wrong. A half hour later she was bursting through his bedroom door.

"You're wasting your time, Peyton," he told her upfront. "You're not getting them."

"Have you made it your life's mission to torture me or something? You do understand that we're not together anymore, right? That you no longer have a say in anything I do?"

"Right, like I ever did."

"Why do you have to be such a jackass all the time?"

"Call me whatever you want, Peyt. I'm still not giving you the keys. And who's the jackass? I'm not the one who put people's lives in danger tonight."

"Nothing happened, all right!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, luckily nothing did. But you should know better than anyone that not everybody gets off so easy."

"Easy?" she scoffed. "You think my life's been easy?"

He rolled his eyes. "If you're looking for sympathy, you're at the wrong Scott house."

"Oh, don't I know it," she yelled. "Because you don't have a single sympathetic bone in your body unless it's for yourself."

"You done?" he asked cooly. "Cuz I'm getting kinda tired."

"Right, at 9:00 on a Friday night. Tell me another one."

"Fine, how about I really don't want to be around you right now?"

"Well give me my keys and you won't have to be."

"Stop, ok. I told you I'd drop them off tomorrow so just deal with it."

Her mouth formed a tight, rigid line until she spoke again. "Well, I'm not leaving until I have them," she said stubbornly.

"Fine. You can sleep on the floor. And I hope you brought ear plugs cuz I have company coming."

"Of course you do. I guess you got over Shelly fast. But then you were probably screwing around on her the whole time anyway."

"What do you care?"

"I don't."

"Oh right, cuz you're with Lucas now," he grumbled.

"Yeah, I am. And you know what? I should have done it a long time ago. He treats me a lot better than you ever did."

"Yeah? Well Shelly treated me better so I guess we're even. And if Lucas is so great, why didn't you tell him about your mom?"

"Why didn't you tell Shelly about yours? She had to read it in the newspaper. And why didn't you go to her that night instead of me?"

"Maybe I should've," he replied snidely. "She probably wouldn't have thrown it back in my face."

"Well I should have told Lucas too. That way it would have saved you the trouble of doing it," she returned bitterly. When he didn't respond, she went on. "I know I spilled the secret about your dad but you knew that was an accident – that I didn't mean to let it slip. And you said you weren't mad about that anymore."

"I'm not," he told her. "I got over that the same day."

"Then why would you turn around and tell Haley and Lucas my secret? That was up to me to tell them when and if I was ready."

Nathan shrugged in response. "I didn't know it was a secret," he said.

"Well, it's not public knowledge, is it?"

"Actually, it is. A lot of people know…"

"That she died, not the circumstances surrounding it or how it affects me every year. That part is private, Nathan. You knew that and yet, out of spite, you went and talked to Haley and told her everything," Peyton shouted, cursing the tears that started spilling down her cheeks.

"Spite?" he asked incredulously. "You think I did that to get back at you? Wow, you just think the worst of me in everything, don't you?"

She didn't understand. "Well then why, Nathan? Why would you take something so personal to me and share it with others?"

"Because," he began. "You weren't talking to me and Brooke said she had to go and we both thought…" He lifted his hands and dropped them again in defeat. "We just didn't want you to go through today alone…I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said anything…I just didn't know what else to do…" He trailed off as Peyton just stared at him intently, not saying a word.

The day had been emotional havoc for Peyton, as this day was every year. But to listen to Nathan's reasons for talking to Haley touched something deep inside of her. The pull she'd always felt toward him suddenly became stronger and blindly she reached out to touch his face. Before she could even think about it, her feet had her taking the few steps that separated them until they were mere inches apart. She knew she must not be thinking straight when she leaned forward and kissed him ever so softly.

At first he kissed her back but then he pulled back and stared at her, his eyes penetrating hers.

"Is this you snapping?" he asked, remembering all too well that comment from the dance. All Peyton would have to do is snap her fingers and he'd come crawling back to her.

She wanted to scream at him that she hadn't been the one to make that comment. She wanted to say that he had no right to be mad, that he was the one to ruin their relationship. She should say that she had a new boyfriend now and that they shouldn't be doing this.

But she didn't say any of those things. Instead, she simply whispered, "What if it is?"

He stared at her longingly, wishing he could say the hell with her. That she was with Lucas now so he wanted no part of her. Isn't that what he'd been telling himself repeatedly all week? He wanted to say that if she thought he'd come crawling when she snapped that she had another thing coming. He should say that she was just upset right now and that he didn't want to take advantage of that. That they shouldn't be doing this.

But he didn't say any of those things. Instead his mouth took hers hungrily. It wasn't soft this time. It was feverish and passionate and all-consuming, sparking instant arousal within them both.

While her arms circled his neck, one of his hands tangled in her mass of curls while the other shut the bedroom door, his tongue sliding into her mouth to re-explore its crevises and make contact with hers.