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

A/N: Hey all. Was this fast enough for you? I hope you enjoy it. You know the drill…thanks to all readers and especially reviewers. You all rock!

Now that I've hit the big 100 chapters, in case any of you are wondering, this story ends at approximately 115 chapters, give or take 1 or 2. So no, it's not the never-ending story…lol. The story itself last to approx 113 chapters and then there are two sort of epilogues where it goes into the future. I'm doing two of them because I can't make up my mind which one to do so I'm just going to do them both. LOL.

….

"We're so gonna be late," Rachel said as they drove back to the school.

"Since when do you care?" Brooke asked.

"I don't. Just saying."

"Well, it's your fault. You're the one who wanted to stop at the deli."

"Hello, it's lunch time and I was starving. And I wouldn't have had to go to a deli if you hadn't dragged me off to the hospital."

"Oh right," Brooke returned, rolling her eyes. "And what exactly was the plan for lunch while you were flirting with Craig Bennet? Extra small sausage? Like I said, I saved you some major disappointment."

"I'll take your word for it," the redhead replied. "So what's up with you and the clean teen these days?"

"First of all, you know his name, Rachel; second, you also know he's no longer a clean teen; and third, what do you mean what's up with us?"

"I sensed some tension between you in first period," Rachel answered with a shrug.

Brooke shrugged in turn. "He's mad at me and I deserve him to be."

"What'd you do? Cheat on him?"

"No. Why is that your automatic assumption?"

"Just asking. What is it then?"

"It's not important," Brooke replied dismissively. "Right now I have to focus on telling Nathan and Peyton what's going on with Damien."

"Uh huh. And what is that exactly?"

"Rach, you agreed back there that something's up with him."

"Yeah, something. Is that what you're gonna tell them? Because it's not like we know much."

"They should still be told what we do know so they can keep their eyes open."

"You want to know what I think?" Rachel asked, but didn't wait for Brooke's response. "That you like to dwell on Nathan and Peyton's problems so you don't have to deal with your own."

"Yeah, I think you've mentioned that once or twice," Brooke returned dryly. "But you're still wrong. They're my best friends…"

"With minds of their own and, like I said earlier, the ability to handle things on their own. You can't keep babying them…"

"Save it, Rachel. I don't want to hear this again."

"Brooke, at some point, you have to focus on your own life. You have Chase mad at you for whatever reason and instead of working on fixing that you're stressing over something Nathan and Peyton could work out themselves. You deserve to be happy too, Brooke. It's not always about them even if they like to think so."

"Well guess what?" Brooke scoffed. "It's too late to fix things with Chase. I blew it."

"So you're not even gonna try?"

"What's the point? It doesn't matter anyway. We were doomed from the start."

"Ok," Rachel responded, leaning back in her seat. "In that case, you won't mind if I try a go at him."

"What! You can't do that."

"Why not? Like you said, he's not a clean teen anymore."

"That doesn't give you the right to go after him. Ever hear of the girl code?"

"Oh my bad. I thought it didn't matter," Rachel said smugly. "Relax Brooke. I'm not gonna hit on him," she added when the brunette shot her a heated glance. "Just proving that it does matter, whether you want to admit it or not. But ok," she said in bemusement. "Let's just worry about our helpless friends' relationship instead."

….

"You all better hope I don't meet up with you alone in a dark alley some time," Nathan sputtered as he took another punch to the gut.

He sucked in a breath and instinctively wanted to crouch. Unfortunately, the two guys—Jimmy and Fergie—pinning his arms back prevented him from doing so, leaving him wide open to Skills' and Junk's angry, punishing blows.

"I don't think you're in any position to be uttering threats, my friend," Junk said as his fist smashed into Nathan's face, busting his bottom lip.

Nathan groaned as the pain shot through him. Struggling in vain to break free, he let out a string of curses. He hated this powerless feeling. It reminded him all too much of the beatings he'd suffered at his father's hands. Beatings that had only ceased recently since his dad had volunteered to join him in anger management classes. He didn't care for the reminder one bit. If he could just cut himself loose, he'd show these bastards what he was made of.

But he couldn't, and after several more minutes of Skills and Junk taking turns hitting him, he quit trying, finally accepting that his efforts were pointless.

That didn't stop his mouth from running though. He looked up at Mouth through already swelling eyes. The guy stood off to the side, neither participating in the fight—if one could call it that- nor doing anything to stop it. "What's the matter, Mouth?" he goaded. "Don't wanna share cheap shots with your buddies?"

Mouth didn't reply. This whole situation was far too unsettling for him. He'd stood by the wrong friend and he was angry about that. At himself and at Nathan. Yet he couldn't bring himself to partake in his other friends' vengeance. He understood it though, which is why he didn't attempt to stop them from inflicting their punishment. Even if he did wince at every blow they delivered upon the defenseless Scott brother.

"Now ain't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Skills jeered with another painful slam to the face.

"Just taking a lesson from your playbook, pal," Junk added.

Nathan coughed as once again a hard fist connected with his stomach. Damn, how long was this gonna take? Even he would have been bored by now. But they seemed intent on going on.

His body went limp and he would have fallen if it weren't for the strong hold they had on him, keeping him upright. He was drained of energy, the fight completely out of him. Maybe they'd stop soon. They were bound to get tired eventually.

Or not, he thought as it continued for several more minutes. It felt like an eternity, but he took it silently. Only when he heard Jimmy suggest they ensure he couldn't rape anybody else did his fight pick up again—feeble as it was. Whatever he meant by that, it couldn't be good. "No," he protested weakly, his breath coming in short, uneven gasps.

This is what Lucas and Haley walked into.

"Oh my God! Stop!" Haley shrieked, her hand covering her mouth in horror.

"He's had this coming for a long time, Hales," Fergie told her.

"He ain't never gonna hurt you or any other girl again," Skills said with assurance.

"Let him go," Lucas barked, taking the whole gang by surprise. They'd expect Haley to be opposed to their actions, despite what the guy had done to her, but Lucas, though not generally prone to violence, could be provoked into it in special circumstances. And Haley being sexually assaulted and harassed was on top of the list of special circumstances.

"Yo, Luke," Skills began. "You can't be serious…"

"He didn't do it," Lucas said in reply. "He didn't rape her," he clarified.

"What? What are you…?"

"We'll explain everything. Just let him go," Lucas repeated. "Now."

Their hesitation lasted long enough for Haley to have to plead with them to listen, but once she did, Jimmy and Fergie released their tight grips. Without the support, Nathan instantly dropped to the ground, his body slumping over in pain as he tried to catch his breath.

Lucas went over to him and crouched in front of him. "Nathan," he said and waited for his brother to look at him. When he finally did, it was through bitter, hateful eyes, but Luke wasn't concerned about that right now. His only concern was getting to the truth. "How well do you know Damien?" he asked.

Nathan's swelling eyes narrowed all the more and he scowled at his much despised half brother. Hating the vulnerable position he was in, he tried as best he could not to let the pain he felt show. "We're friends," he answered hoarsely.

"You sure about that?" Lucas questioned.

…

"Looks like he's not coming after all," Damien said smugly. "Guess Shelly's keeping him occupied."

"He'll be here," Peyton returned flatly, tired of Damien's insinuations. Damn it, where the hell was he?

"When?" Damien replied. "Lunch is over in two minutes."

"Oh wow," she exclaimed. "We should get to class then."

"Not so fast," he said, once again blocking her way to the exit.

Peyton sighed and threw her hands over her hips. "What, are you gonna hold me hostage in here indefinitely?"

It was clearly the wrong thing to say. She realized that as soon as his face turned red. "I'm trying to spend time with you," he snapped. "Like we did when Nathan was in jail. Is that so wrong?"

She looked him over a while, trying to figure out what she should say to him. Obviously anything but what he wanted to hear was going to aggravate him further. That cancelled out her first instinct of saying that he completely creeped her out and she wanted nothing to do with him. "No, of course not," she said instead. "And I…I want that too."

"Do you?"

"Of course. It's just…you know…not the best time right now…with class starting and everything."

"Right," he scoffed. "Nothing to do with Nathan. Do you even miss us, Peyton?"

"Us?"

"You and me and our time together."

She stared at the doorway, longing for nothing but escape. But she had to appease this guy before he really snapped. God, who would have thought he would turn all Norman Bates on her. She nodded her head. "Sure I do," she told him.

"More than you missed him?"

"Nathan?"

"Of course Nathan, who else?"

It was in that moment that Peyton finally came to the conclusion that her best chance at getting out of this situation was to tell Damien precisely what he wanted to hear. She didn't want to. She'd much rather Nathan swept in and saved her, but apparently that wasn't happening. She had to wonder if he was really talking to Shelly like Damien said, or if Damien had done something to him. Hesitating for a second, she nodded her head. "Yeah. More than him."

"Really? Is that the truth?"

"Scout's honor," she said. "Ok, listen," she said reluctantly. "The truth is I asked Nate to meet me in here so I could dump his ass."

"Is that right?" Damien said in disbelief.

"Yeah," she insisted. "I'm tired of all his crap so…"

"So you ask him to meet you in the boiler room…"

"I figured it's as good a place as any," she attempted to explain. But seeing Damien's distrustful face made her change her tune. "I knew he'd make a scene and I didn't want that. I just want it to be done."

"Uh huh. And clearly you're dressed for the occasion," he scoffed, his eyes raking over the ample amount of leg that her tiny skirt exposed, not to mention the midriff that her tank top didn't cover.

She shivered at the lust in his eyes, but had to come up with something fast. "Well, I wanted to show him what he'd be missing out on."

She held her breath, hoping he'd buy it. Unfortunately he wasn't as gullible as he was crazy and he saw right through her. He came up to her and grabbed the chain off her neck.

"Why you still wearing his engagement ring then?" he asked pointedly.

"I was gonna give it back."

"But you're still wearing it!" he thundered. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No. I…"

"You think I don't know what you're doing here? You're never gonna dump Nathan no matter how much he cheats and lies. At least not for real, so do me a favor and stop trying to humor me."

"Ok, ok, calm down. Let's just talk rationally, ok. Can we do that?"

"Until Nathan gets here, you mean? And then you can go back to ignoring me, pretending we never had anything?"

"No," she denied. "I don't want to do that. I don't want to pretend anymore," she said, swallowing back the bile that threatened to come with her words.

"All right," he conceded, though he clearly still doubted her. "You wanna talk, let's talk."

She nodded her head and sighed as he appeared to calm. "Think I could get a drink of water first? I'm dying of thirst."

"Sure. I got a bottle in my bag," he said, already reaching for the bag.

"You know what? I'm really not big on bottled water. I prefer tap…"

"Which explains why I see you and Nathan sharing water bottles all the time," he snapped sarcastically.

"Yeah, Nate likes the bottled stuff…" she began before giving up on that approach. It obviously wouldn't get her anywhere. "Oh, whatever, I'll take it. It's wet, right?"

He nodded before turning his back slightly from her and fiddling with something in his gym bag. She pondered taking that as her opportunity to bolt but he was clearly watching her from the corner of his eye. She watched him suspiciously, trying to figure out what he was doing, but she couldn't tell.

When he faced her again just seconds later, his expression had changed drastically. It took her a moment to read it, but she was sure it was anticipation she saw on his face. It both confused and troubled her. What was he up to?

She was fairly certain she'd figured out the answer to that when he handed her an opened bottle of discolored water. She eyed it suspiciously. "Did you put something in here?" she asked him.

"Flavored tea powder," he answered easily.

"Oh hey, you know what? I don't drink tea," she began, already handing it back to him.

"Why do you keep lying to me?" he raged. "You have a cup nearly every day with your lunch."

Her brows quirked and she was suddenly more nervous than ever. "You noticed that?

"You'd be surprised what I notice about you," he replied.

"What, are you watching my every move?" she asked nervously. "Stalking me?" She meant it to come off lightly so he'd take it as a joke, but she couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Drink it," he ordered.

….

"This is a load of crap," Nathan fumed from the ground as Lucas explained to the guys what was going on. "You're all seriously fucked up! You know that? First me, now Damien. Who's next, huh? Maybe one of you guys," he said to the group in general before fixing his burning gaze on Haley, who stood quietly. "Who's next on your list to fuck over, bitch?"

"Hey," Lucas jumped in instantly. He could understand the disbelief all around. He too had been reluctant to believe when Haley had told him what she'd realized about the night of the rape. He at first thought she was just afraid and wanted to shift the blame away from Nathan, but she'd managed to convince him with her persistence and level headedness. However, even though he could understand it, he wasn't about to let Nathan, or anyone else, call Haley a bitch. "Don't talk to her like that."

Nathan scoffed at the order. "You're really something else. One of these days you'll get yours, man, and I'm gonna be right there to make sure you go down hard."

"Keep talking if you want me to let these guys loose on you again," Luke threatened. "I won't stop them next time."

"Oh, what a threat," Nathan jeered. "Big brother's not gonna protect me next time. Like you ever fucking have. Was this all a set up too? So you could show up and pretend to be a hero? Fuck you, man. I don't need you to save me."

"Yeah, I could tell by how well you were fending them off on your own," Luke returned sarcastically.

"Fuck you," Nathan repeated. "I've had worse beatings than this. Where were you for those? When I couldn't even catch my breath cuz it hurt so bad? Where the hell were you then? Out conspiring against me, that's where. Pouting cuz you think you somehow got screwed, like you weren't the lucky one all along."

Taken aback, Lucas stared at his brother a long while before finally responding. "I tried to help you, Nathan. You wouldn't tell the authorities the truth about what our father was doing to you," he said, instinctively knowing he was referring to Dan. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Gee, I don't know. Give up, I guess," Nathan returned hotly. "Not that it matters anymore," he continued. "Since it's all good now. Yeah, me and my dad fixed everything without your help."

"Good. I hope that's true," Luke said earnestly. "But this, right now, is not about Dan. It's about Damien. If you'll listen for a minute, you'll realize that he's not your friend. We're not making this up. Haley was drugged, but you didn't know it. Think back, man. Damien was there before you. He gave her a soda laced with liquid ecstasy just before you came up and sent him on a beer run."

"Yeah," Nathan scoffed. "Or she spiked it herself and can't make up her mind who to pin it on."

Luke shook his head in frustration and opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Brooke and Rachel came up.

"God," Brooke said, rushing to his side and crouching beside him. "What did you do to him?" she asked irately.

Despite the situation, Nathan chuckled at the question. "Isn't it obvious?"

She shook her head and glared at the guys who stood around. "You proud of yourself?" she asked Haley. "You got them all believing he actually raped you?"

"Nah man," Nathan scoffed. "It's Damien's turn now."

"What?"

"Go ahead, tell her," Nathan told Lucas.

So he did, hoping he'd get through to Brooke better than he had Nathan. To his relief, she seemed to believe him.

"Are you serious?" she asked to which Lucas nodded.

But Nathan scoffed at her. "Come on, Brooke. Don't fall for this bullshit."

"No, Nate," she countered. "I think he might have something here."

"That would explain Katie's freak out," Rachel stated.

"You think he's the one who tried to kill her?"

"Maybe, if she knew too much and threatened to talk."

"What are you two going on about?" Nathan asked. They all wanted to know but he was the one to pose the question.

Between them they explained what had happened at the hospital and Katie's reaction to learning of Damien's presence.

Nathan seemed less than impressed. "So Katie's a freak on top of a liar," he stated dully. "What does that prove?"

"He could be the one who set you up," Brooke said, making Luke and Haley glad they weren't the only ones putting two and two together. "You said Damien gave you a can of coke, right?" she asked Haley as though she hadn't just verbally attacked her.

Haley simply nodded, satisfied to let go of the other girl's previous comment.

"There you go!" Brooke exclaimed. "He put the ecstasy in the drink and let you take the fall for it. Mystery solved."

"And why would he do that?" Nathan questioned.

"Duh, to get you out of the way so he could have Peyton to himself," she concluded. "You do know he wants Peyton, right? Tell me you're not actually that blind that you can't see it, even though you act like it."

"I'm not," he said, not bothering to admit that until recently, he was. "But that doesn't prove anything," he insisted. "Every guy with half a brain wants her. Isn't that right, Lucas?"

"What about the tape of you beating on Lucas?" Mouth came up with, realizing that Luke, Haley and Brooke had a point. He always knew Damien was bad news but could never put his finger on it. He'd thought he was just bitter that Damien refused to accept him in their group, but he could see now that wasn't it. "Or Luke's room being trashed?" he added.

Nathan frowned at his tutor. "Come on, Mouth. I know he's your friend, but get real, he made that up."

Luke shook his head but didn't respond.

"And me being held at knife point for that tape?" Mouth continued. "Was I making stuff up too? Remember what you said you'd do if you ever found out who did that?" He waited for Nathan to respond, but when he didn't he supplied the answer. "You said he'd be a dead man because no one messes with your friends, or something like that."

"Yeah well, I never found out who it was, did I? And I said that before you turned on me."

"I didn't turn on you, Nate. I just didn't think what you were doing was right."

"Oh bullshit, Mouth! You thought I did it. That you made a mistake vouching for me. I'm not an idiot."

"Then stop acting like one and listen to what we're telling you. Someone made mass copies of that tape and sent it not only to the cops, but to Peyton, your dad, Whitey and Karen. You recall me asking you if anyone had a grudge against you?"

"Yeah, and I said Lucas, but let me guess, you're gonna say it was Damien."

"Besides the fact that he'd never put a knife to my throat, why would Luke send the tape to his mom?"

"Why would Damien?" Nathan countered. "Look, I don't know why you're doing this, but…"

"Nate," Brooke began. "Where's Peyton now?"

"Now?" he repeated. "Probably in class, considering the bell rang like, five minutes ago."

"You don't know? Did you meet her in the boiler room?"

"Is that where I was supposed to go? She never told me where to meet her, and I couldn't find her or the nerd I pawned my phone off on. I figured she probably texted…"

"I texted her three times," Brooke cut him off. "We figured you two were busy so she shut her phone off."

"She probably did," Nathan said. "I texted her too, on Bevin's phone, but she didn't reply."

"Ok, something's not right about that," Brooke said apprehensively. "She wouldn't shut her phone off is she was expecting to hear from you."

"She wasn't," Nathan responded. "I only texted her to find out where she was."

"And when you weren't showing up, she would have had her phone out texting you."

"Or shut it off cuz she's pissed at me," he countered.

"Yeah, that's possible," Brooke agreed. "But I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about this. Something tells me P. Sawyer's in trouble."

"Brooke, you're just being paranoid," Nathan told her. "I'm sure Peyton's fine."

"And if she's not?"

"Then she'll tell us."

"Nate…"

"For once I agree with Nathan," Rachel piped up. "Even if Damien is up to no good, doesn't mean Peyton's in trouble."

"Thank you," Nathan responded. "Finally someone who makes sense."

Rachel chuckled. "Funny how you appreciate my opinion when it matches yours," she said sarcastically. "But my suggestion, so Brooke can rest easy, is to check the classroom and see if Peyton's in there," she added lightly.

"Fine, let's go," Nathan said as he stood to his feet.

He was already walking away before anybody could suggest he clean up beforehand. It was almost as though he half believed what Brooke and the others were saying.

…

"Do we really need an escort?" Nathan scoffed as Lucas, Haley, Mouth, and the others followed them. It's not like any of them were in the class with them.

"Just wanna make sure Peyton's okay," Luke replied. He didn't underestimate the instincts of a best friend. If Brooke sensed Peyton was somehow in trouble, then she probably was. And if not, then he could go to his own class without worrying that she was.

"That's not your job," Nathan sneered.

"No, well apparently you don't want it," Lucas countered.

"Still got a thing for her, huh?" Nathan accused. "And see I thought you were hot for Haley these days."

"Do you always have to be such an ass?" Luke asked irately.

Nathan simply shrugged. "It's in the genes, I guess. You should know something about that even if you are the bastard of the family."

"She's not in there," Brooke, who'd run ahead, stopped any comment Luke was about to make.

"She's not?" Nathan asked with a frown on his face. "She probably went home," he reasoned. "Call her house," he said needlessly since Brooke was already on that.

"Answering machine," she said moments later. "Damien's not in there either," she said, panic seeping in her voice.

"He cut out before lunch," Nathan informed her.

"Yeah, to go to the hospital," Brooke replied. "But he came back."

"You sure? Cuz I haven't seen him."

"His car's in the parking lot," Rachel said.

"What are the chances of both of them missing class together?" Brooke asked.

"Let's check the boiler room," Nathan said, already leading the way.

….

He was the first to arrive, fueled by adrenaline alone. He still bore doubts about this whole thing, but he needed to make sure just in case. When he opened the door to find Damien draped over Peyton and her showing no resistance at all, his heart dropped, the pain far greater than that of the beating he'd just endured. He rubbed his eyes as though he weren't really seeing this.

But he was. He couldn't believe it. Never in a million years did he think Peyton would do this to him. With his friend no less. But there it was, right in front of him.

He wasn't sure how to react. In one way he wanted to hit them both and in another he wanted to run away from the painful image before him. He chose the latter, but as he made to get through the crowd behind him, Peyton's bubbly voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey baby," she welcomed with a bright smile. "I was waiting for you. What took you so long?"

His eyes narrowed and right then he knew Brooke was right. No way would Peyton ever cheat on him, despite his momentary lapse in judgment, let alone act so carefree when he caught her. "You son of a bitch," he roared as he took a threatening step toward Damien. "I'll fucking kill you."

He stopped dead when Damien raised his right hand, revealing a gun, and held it against Peyton's temple. "It's about time you show," he said smugly. "We were expecting you an hour ago. Not so much the entourage though. Was this gonna be a group thing or what? I didn't know Peyton was into that."

"What did you give her?" Brooke demanded to know, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Just a little something to help her relax," Damien replied before gesturing the gang inside. "Lock it," he said to Fergie, the last of them to enter. "Now," he began. "This was meant to be for Nate's eyes only, but what the hell. A live audience to witness his downfall doesn't sound so bad."