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

A/N: Hiya guys and gals. Thank you as always to everyone who is reading this story and huge thanks to those of you who take time to leave some feedback. I appreciate everything you all have to say. Love you all and hope you enjoy this next chapter.

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"Mommy!" Jordyn shouted as she ran in the house ahead of the others and caught Nathan and Peyton lip-locked. "Them are doing sex again!"

Cooper and Jess, each holding the younger's hand, entered cautiously, almost afraid of what they'd see, and sighed in relief when they took in the two fully-dressed teenagers now disentangling themselves from each other.

"Hey guys," Nathan greeted as he and Peyton stood up. "We weren't…"

Cooper approached his nephew and grabbed him by the shirtfront. "Calling my kid a liar?" he asked, his tone hard and threatening.

Peyton's heart jumped to her throat at the confrontation but she relaxed when a grin appeared on Nathan's face, followed by Cooper's.

"That's no fun anymore," Cooper said. "I remember when you'd practically piss yourself whenever I did that."

Nathan scoffed at the comment. "Yeah, maybe when I was five. You know, when you were bigger than me."

"I'm still bigger than you," Cooper pointed out.

"Oh, by what? Half an inch? What are you, 6"3?"

"Yep, but who said anything about height? And get your warped mind out of the gutter; I'm talking about body weight." He squeezed his nephew's upper arm. "Impressive, kid, but you got a ways to catch up," he said, flexing his own arms.

"In weight maybe," Nathan replied. "But I'd have you in speed, old man."

"Old, huh?" Cooper rebuffed as the two guys started a playful wrestling match.

"Don't mind my husband," Jess told Peyton with an amused eye roll. "He's got no sons to rough house with so he has to pick on his only nephew. Ok, ok," she said to the guys after a while. "Break another lamp and you're both in trouble."

The two males broke apart, both of them breathing heavily.

Peyton smiled in amusement. Apparently rough housing wasn't something guys outgrew.

"So," Jess said, cutting into her thoughts as she looked from one to the other. "Judging by your close proximity when we came in, not to mention your smiling faces, I take it all is good with you two again?"

That's when Nathan stood up and went over to stand beside Peyton. "It's better than good," he replied, lifting Peyton's arm to show off her hand.

"Ok, is that what I think it is?"

Nathan nodded. "We're getting married."

Jess' eyes widened considerably as she glanced at Peyton, who nodded in confirmation. "Oh," she said. "That's uh, that's…"

"Great," Cooper filled in.

"I was going to say unexpected," Jess returned. "You just decide this today?"

"Yeah," Nathan said. "Well, I asked yesterday but she just accepted today," he amended, throwing an arm over Peyton's shoulder as the two smiled sweetly at each other.

"I see. And when's the big day?" she asked, hoping it was a while in the future.

"Next weekend," Nathan replied. "We were gonna do it today but we figured Brooke would kill us if we got married without her."

Peyton felt Jessica's gaze bore into hers and she knew it had to do with their talk the night before. She shifted uneasily and was extremely glad when Nathan excused them under the pretense of packing for tomorrow. Not that it was lie. She may be all packed but Nathan wasn't.

–––––

"No, that's not a disaster in the making," Jess said sarcastically as the two teens disappeared.

Cooper chuckled. "They'll be fine," he said.

"Fine? How can you be ok with this? Honey, they are not anywhere close to being ready for a huge step like marriage."

"Why? Because they're young?"

"No, because they're self-centered, petty, and immature. No offense to either of them but it's true."

"Well, of course they are," Cooper argued. "They're 17. They're supposed to be."

"Not to mention, she doesn't even trust him to be faithful. Entering a marriage without trust is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Somebody's bound to crash to the ground."

Cooper shrugged his shoulders. "It's not really our place to try to stop them," he reasoned.

"He's your nephew. He listens to you more than anybody. With the exception of maybe her."

"I don't want to be the bad guy here."

"Did I mention he looks up to you?"

"And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Great, so being his idol takes priority over being his uncle."

"You know, you're forgetting one thing in all of this," Cooper argued.

"What's that?"

"They love each other," he replied simply.

"But honey, love doesn't make them ready for marriage. I'm not saying they shouldn't be together, but where they should be taking baby steps, they're jumping in head first. Do you really not see the problem here?"

"Ok, ok, don't get yourself worked up over this," he advised. "It's not like they can actually get married next weekend."

She glanced at him quizzically.

"They're 17," he explained. "State law says you can't marry under the age of 18 without parental consent. And I don't know about her parents," he went on, "but good luck getting Deb and Dan on board."

"Oh good," she said, visibly relieved. "How long does that buy?"

"Well, Nate's birthday isn't for another eight months and I'm pretty sure hers comes after his."

Jess nodded. "Ok, I feel better with those numbers. That gives them time to get their acts together. But, umm, do they know about this law?"

"Apparently not," Cooper replied. "But I'm not telling them."

"Well, I'm not."

"Let their parents do it," Cooper suggested. "It's their job."

"Yeah, we'll just be the cool, supportive aunt and uncle like we've always been."

"Exactly," he said, kissing her lips. "I like the way you think, Mrs. Lee."

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"Talk about shock value," Peyton said as she and Nathan fell onto the bed. "You coulda been a little more subtle about it instead of just dropping the bomb on them like that."

He shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like it was bad news."

"From the look on her face, you'd think it was," Peyton countered. "I don't think she approves."

"She doesn't have to," Nathan replied. "Besides, that's just Jess. She worries too much, but she'll come around."

"I hope so because I really like her. Both of them, actually. And the kids are great too. I wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow."

"Yeah, me too. And they all like you too, by the way. If I remember right, I'm pretty sure they both gave me hell last night for being a bad boyfriend."

"You're pretty sure?" she scoffed in amusement.

"Well, it's kinda hazy since I was…"

"Wasted."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Which part?"

"All of it."

"It's ok, Nate. But speaking of, when we're married, if you come home that trashed, you can go straight to the couch."

He chuckled. "What if I'm only half trashed?" he asked, pulling her on top of him.

"Hmm, I'd have to think about that one," she replied sensually before leaning over to kiss him.

He smiled against her lips. "It's cute how you pretend you could ever resist me."

"Even cuter is how you say that as if I never have."

He laughed now, a deep and hearty laugh that reflected true happiness. "Yeah well, just you wait till we're 30 and I'm the one saying 'not tonight, honey. I have a headache.'

She pulled back with raised eyebrows as she looked at him with amusement. "Ok, first of all, I've never used that excuse. And second of all, like you ever would," she scoffed playfully.

"Hey, you never know," he argued. "They say guys are at their sexual peaks in their teens and early twenties, but women don't hit theirs until their thirties and forties."

"Who says that?"

"I don't know. I read it somewhere."

"Uh huh," she laughed. "I'm not even gonna ask where. But I think that's a load of crap. At least I hope it is."

"Why?"

"Because," she answered with a frown. "By the time I reach my prime, you'll need Viagra to keep up. Literally," she deadpanned. "That's not good. If you're right about this, I might have to trade you in for a younger model by then," she said, her face and tone sounding serious. Until she caught the evil glare he sent her and she burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding, baby," she said, running a flirtatious finger up and down his chest. "I'll still keep ya around for old time's sake. But you'd better make it worth it," she teased.

"Don't I always?" he asked cockily.

"You're seriously asking me that after last night?" she pointed out jokingly.

"Last night doesn't count," he argued playfully. "I can barely remember it."

"Neither can I," she countered.

"You're just hilarious today, aren't you?" he said, his hands coming to rest at her hips.

"What can I say? I guess I'm in a good mood."

"Are you?" he asked, suddenly serious.

"Yeah," she replied genuinely. "I am."

He smiled and took her hand to gaze at the ring on her finger. "Good. I am too. We're gonna be really happy, Peyt," he said with assurance. "I know it."

She smiled at him. "Me too," she said, hoping he was right. "You should pack your stuff," she added.

"Later," he said before taking her lips in a passionate kiss. It wasn't long before he was pressing her down harder against his growing erection.

"You really should do it now," she said.

"I'm trying to," he returned hoarsely.

"I meant packing."

"Me too," he said with a smile. "Oh, you mean the clothes?" he added innocently. "That can wait."

"Yeah it could," she agreed, grinding against him, eliciting a deep groan in response. "Then again," she said, hopping off. "Why leave it to last minute?"

He grunted in complaint. "Come back," he called. "You know, it's not nice to tease your future husband like that," he added when she ignored him.

She turned around and fixed him with a sweet, innocent smile. "Consider it payback for last night," she teased.

He huffed. "Well, that's not fair. We weren't engaged last night."

She shook her head at him and hauled out his gym bag.

He smiled as he watched her, allowing his mind to wander to earlier this afternoon outside the bar. He figured that moment would be forever ingrained in his memory.

Flashback

"It was only one drink, ok," he told her. "It didn't go any further than that…"

"Well, that's gonna have to stop," she said.

"Nothing happened, Peyt. She just asked for a drink and I said ok, and…." he stopped abruptly as she continued to stare at him. "It won't happen again," he said with finality, really wanting this conversation over and done with. Hell, they'd barely just made up and now this?

"Good," she said, smiling now. "Cuz I don't particularly like my fiancé flirting with other girls."

"I wasn't flir…" He glanced at her sharply, her words just registering in his mind. "Ok, look, I only told her that because she was hitting on me and….well, I wanted her to back off…"

"Yes," Peyton said.

But he didn't miss a beat, just kept on rambling as though she hadn't spoken. "Except, she wasn't so I figured if I told her I'm engaged…"

"Yes."

"Then maybe she'd let up, which she did, by the way. And after that we just talked. I know you probably don't believe that…"

"Nathan, yes."

"But, that's what happened, I swear. Well, ok, that's not exactly true. There was another reason I told her that. Don't get mad, ok, but I also wanted to, I don't know, kid myself, I guess, into thinking you didn't flat our refuse my proposal…"

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. "You know, for a guy who wanted to hear 'yes' so badly, you sure make a girl repeat it enough times."

His eyes narrowed and he looked at her suspiciously, and a little confused.

She smiled at him and met his gaze directly. "I'm saying yes, Nate," she told him. "I'll marry you."

She expected him to smile but instead he just stared at her in awe. He heard her but it took a minute for it to sink in. "You mean after college?" he asked, not wanting to get his hopes up. Of course that's what she meant. Hadn't she already said that?

She shook her head. "That's five years away," she said, repeating what he'd said to her yesterday. "We could be celebrating our fifth anniversary by then."

"You mean it?" he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded and finally he smiled and pulled her in tightly against him. It was the best moment in his young life.

End of Flashback

He hadn't asked why she'd suddenly changed her mind. He didn't care why, as long as she didn't change it back. And when they'd stopped at an ice-cream parlor on their way back to the Lee's, he'd made her stand in the line up for their orders while he claimed to hit the men's room.

But instead he'd snuck out the back door.

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Meanwhile, Peyton absently folded his shirts and set them carefully in the bag as her own mind went over the same things.

Flashback

She sat in the booth, tapping her fingers impatiently, waiting for Nathan to return from the men's room. What was he doing in there? Their ice-cream was starting to melt. When he finally came back, she cocked an eyebrow at him. "It's about time. I was starting to think you'd crashed on the throne."

He smiled. "Funny."

"Wait a minute," she said, it suddenly hitting her that he'd walked through the front door – opposite the men's room. "Where did you go?"

There was a glint in his eyes as he smiled brightly and reached into his pocket. "To get this," he said, pulling out a small box.

"Nathan…" she objected, guessing what it was.

"Open it," he encouraged.

She did so and just as she expected, it was an engagement ring.

"It's 18-Karat white gold," he said of the band that framed the delicate cluster of diamonds. "And the diamonds are real too if you're wondering," he added when she didn't respond. After several minutes of silence, he continued. "If you don't like it, I can take it back and get a different one. They have all kinds…"

"No, Nate, it's beautiful. I love it," she said earnestly, inspecting it closely. "But I can't take it," she added. "This is too expensive. How did you even pay for it?"

"Credit card," he answered blithely.

"Your dad's?"

"No, mine. He gave it to me."

"For emergencies."

"For whatever I want."

"Nathan, I don't want your dad paying for my ring," she objected.

"I'll work it off at the dealership. It'll be ok."

"But I don't want you to have to do that."

"Well, that's too bad. It's my decision. And I want you to have it, ok?"

"What are you gonna do when you can't rely on your parents' money anymore?"

He shrugged carelessly. "They have a trust fund set up for me for when I turn 21," he told her. "Plus I'll be making my own millions once I make the NBA. Hate to break it to you but you're marrying into money."

"Yeah," she acknowledged. "I just don't want you or anyone else to think that's the reason."

"I don't think that, Peyt. And no one else will either," he assured her. "You've put up with too much of my crap for it to be just about money."

"That is true," she agreed.

"But if it really bothers you that much, I can get you a cheaper ring."

She shook her head. "No, I want this one," she said, sliding it on her finger. "What?" she asked when he frowned at her. Was that the wrong answer? Did he actually want to get a cheaper one?

"I wanted to do that," he told her.

She chuckled. "Aww, I'm sorry," she said, starting to remove it.

"No, don't take it off," he stopped her. "Never take it off. I'll just have to wait for the wedding ring to put on you."

End of Flashback

She smiled bigger the more she thought of it. He was so unbelievably sweet sometimes. But then it dawned on her that he was still sitting on the bed. She turned around and found him leaning back into his hands, watching her. "Let me ask you something," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you not helping me pack your stuff because you're sad about leaving tomorrow or because you're a lazy pile of crap?"

He threw her his infamous Scott smirk. "Please, enough sugarcoating. Just tell me what you're really thinking," he joked without budging. "Come on," he added when she just glared at him. "Have some pity, I'm hungover."

"No, no," she returned. "You don't get to use that as an excuse."

"Kay, then how 'bout I'm enjoying the view?" he tried. "Every time you bend over, your skirt hikes up and…"

"Wow, why does that not surprise me?" she scoffed.

"Gee, I don't know," he answered. "Maybe because it's so short that you know it's bound to…"

"Not what I meant," she cut him of. "Do I seriously have to put on some old jogging pants to get you to help me here?"

"If you think that's gonna make you less sexy, you should know I think you look hot in anything."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "And if you think flattery's gonna get you out of helping, you might want to think again. Get over here."

He chuckled and did as she said. In a few swift movements, he'd gathered all his clothes, thrown them in the bag, and zipped it closed.

"There," he said. "Packing's done and…" He turned to her and put his hands on her hips. "You still look hot."

"Nate, your clothes are going to be wrinkled."

"So what?" he countered, bringing her in closer. "Lucky for you, I look hot in anything too," he boasted.

She could do nothing but agree when his lips crashed down onto hers. Yes he did.

"You should call him back," she said when his cell rang out his dad's ring tone, interrupting their intimate moment. "It could be important."

"I doubt it," he said, glancing through his phone at the missed calls. He shook his head. "Can you believe he's called 17 times since this morning? That's obsessive, even for him."

"All the more reason to call him back," she urged. "Maybe something happened."

"Nah," he brushed off. "He probably just wants to make sure I'm not slacking off with training while I'm here. I think I'll spare myself that lecture for now. I'll see him tomorrow anyways."

"Ok, it's up to you. But speaking of lectures, we should head downstairs. It's kinda rude to hide out up here when your family's down there."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed. "And we should get used to the disapproval now, cuz we'll probably get a lot worse when we get home."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "No probably about it," she said as she pictured her father's reaction.

Their eyes locked and he smiled at her, taking her hand in his. "We can do this," he assured her.

She smiled and nodded in return. "We can do this," she repeated firmly.

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To their surprise, no lecture was forthcoming. Just a lot of congratulatory hugs and wishes and a promise of a celebration dinner. They caught each others' eyes and silently asked what was up with their hosts, but they both shrugged uncertainly, neither willing to question it. Maybe they really were happy for them.

Minutes later, Jordyn dragged out the hairbrush, along with various hair clips, barrettes and elastics, deciding to play hairdresser with Peyton.

Nathan could barely contain his mirth as the little girl created her own style among Peyton's already unruly curls. When she was done about a half hour later, she ran off to get a hand mirror for Peyton to look in.

"Good look," Nathan teased.

"You think?" Peyton asked him with a chuckle. "I'm glad you like it cuz I'm considering wearing it like this for the wedding."

He laughed too. "Ok, well, you know how earlier I told you you look good in anything?"

"Uh huh? You lied?" she guessed.

He shook his head. "No. But now I know it's really true, cuz even with all the alfalfa sprouts growing out of your head, you're still freaking hot."

She slapped him playfully.

"That's because she has a nice oval face and good high cheek bones," Jess explained.

"Oh, is that why?" Nathan joked.

"Well, partly. The big, green eyes and flawless complexion don't hurt either. You ever think about modeling?"

Peyton turned red and shook her head. "No. I'm not into being center of attention. That'd be Nathan or Brooke," she laughed.

"Hey, you wouldn't see me strutting down some runway," Nathan protested.

"Oh no?" Peyton countered. "What do you think you do at the boytoy auction? Oh right, you strip, not model."

Nathan chuckled but before he could respond, Jordyn was back.

"Here it is," she shouted, holding the mirror.

"Oh, awesome!" Peyton exclaimed when she looked in it. "Great job, girly! I look rad!"

The house phone rang and Jordyn ran to answer it. "Hi?" She giggled into the receiver. "No, this is Jordyn, silly. I'm not a boy." She listened a while. "Uh huh, he's just doing nothing on the couch." She giggled at something the other person said and then listened again. "Ok." She took the phone off her ear and looked straight at Nathan. "Your daddy said get off your lazy ass, but don't say ass, and get on the phone, right now," she said dramatically, mimicking a male voice.

Peyton chuckled at the kid's wording, but quickly suppressed it behind her hand when both her parents chastised her. Nathan stood reluctantly and sighed, catching Peyton's eye. "Guess there's no avoiding him now."

"Maybe you shoulda listened to me earlier, huh?" she joked.

"Probably," he agreed, going to the phone.

"Yeah, Dad, I was gonna call you," he said first thing, causing Peyton to roll her eyes. "Yeah, I know, we're all set to leave tomorrow…" "What do you mean?..." "Now?" He glanced over at Peyton and she and the others looked at him curiously. "What kind of new information?..." "You're kidding, right?..." "Uh, yeah, I guess," he said, not sounding too thrilled. "Ok, we'll head out now, I guess. You're gonna be there, right? Ok…yeah…I'll see ya." He hung up the phone and Peyton was immediately at his side.

"Nathan, what is it?"

"We have to go back to Tree Hill right now."

"Why?"

"Police found some new information during their investigation."

"Well, that's good!" Peyton remarked enthusiastically. "Isn't it?"

"There's a warrant out for my arrest," he told her.

"What?" everyone gasped.

"What's the information?" Cooper asked.

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. That's all they told him, and that if I don't turn myself in within the next 24 hours, I'd be making it worse on myself." He felt Peyton's hand slide into his in a show of support. He smiled down at her as he felt the cold band against his fingers. "That was this morning," he revealed.

Peyton didn't utter another word, just wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him as tightly as she could.

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"And you're positive he'll only get a few months in juvie, right?" Katie asked. "Just enough time for him to forget Peyton?"

"And to realize he's in love with you," Damien replied in a bored tone. "Yes, of course," he assured her.

"I don't know about that," she said. "He was pretty clear on the phone that that would never happen," she argued. "Did you know he asked her to marry him?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, he did. She turned him down though, thank goodness for that. But still, he asked her."

"All the more reason to get him away from her," Damien stated. He didn't even know anymore what her motives for helping him were. Did she still stupidly believe that Nathan possibly loved her, or did she finally realize it would never happen and wanted revenge? Either way it didn't matter. She'd already given her statement and there was no going back now. Whatever her reasons, she'd played right into his hands.

And Nathan was finally going down for good. Well, for ten to fifteen at least. Plenty of time for Peyton to get over him and start anew with a real man who actually deserved her.

The fact that she'd turned down his proposal was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Definitely a bonus in his favor.

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A/N: Yep, so next chapter, they'll be back in Tree Hill. But you all knew the fluff couldn't last forever, right? LOL.