right, so i've been thinking long and hard during my really boring lessons and prayers about how this stupid, annoying triangle could be solved. and this is the solution that i found. it's not a happy ending, really. i guess i should warn you that you might not like it...in fact there's a very good chance that you might hate it...you can risk it or not. it's a two-parter

if you do read it, i hope you enjoy it...at least the writing if not the plot

Part One

He stood before them and felt like their angry, pained stares might break his heart into then and there.

"You have to chose" His favourite blonde told him

"Yes" His favourite brunette agreed, "Luke, you've got to pick once and for all and put us out of our misery"

"Your misery?!" he protested, "Your misery? Do you think this easy for me? Do you think I want to have to choose between the two of you? Do you not think I'd rather there were any other way that I could get over this?"

"We are not considering polygamy" one of them said

He couldn't help but smile

"No!" the other protested "And stop making light of things, Lucas, this is serious, God, this is as serious as hell….you…you…ever since you and Lindsey broke up, it's been back and forth between the two of us for you….do you have any idea how many times you've broken up this friendship? For Gods' sake, Luke, just PICK"

"It's not like I'm ordering a pizza, you can't just say pick and oh, look, I've made a choice, wasn't that easy? NO…I'm choosing between the two main loves of my life"

"There should only be one, Lucas"

"So, who's it going to be?"

He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands, eventually, he voiced a tearful, "I don't know"

Brooke and Peyton sat down opposite him and he looked up and smiled. Peyton was amazing, she really was. She was his first crush and he loved her so much. And then there was Brooke, he was his first, you know, his first. But also, she was his first love, she was the first person he'd ever felt feelings for that he had only imagined feeling beforehand. With Peyton, he could talk about all his interests and hers because they were mainly one in the same and with Brooke he could revel in their differences and learn something new about life everyday. He sat there for what felt like forever.

Brooke voice broke the silence, "It's Jamie's first Junior League game in half an hour, we should get going…I'm not going to miss my godson's first big moment"

She stood up and Peyton followed suit.

He looked up at them, tears in his eyes, "Please don't be mad, Brooke, Peyton"

"Oh, we're not mad, Luke, we're not mad at all" Brooke told him and his mind fell back to Nathan and Haley's second wedding day.

Standing up, he followed them to the car and watched as they both got in the back, neither were going to be the one in the front, not until he picked.

XXX

As they drove back from the game, his mind was spinning. He had to pick. He had to make a choice once and for all. He knew that, he did. But knowing it and actually complying with it are two very different things.

"When we get back, you've got to choose" one of them said

He looked at them in the rear-view mirror.

"What if I don't want to choose? What if I want to wait and see?"

"You can't"

"It's been too long…it's not fair to any of us"

"But I can't just pick…."

"Lucas, WATCH OUT!"

He looked at the road again and saw a car heading their way, he swerved and heard the tires screech as he hit the brakes and suddenly he felt like it was tipping. And then everything went black.

XXX

When he came too, he was lying out of the car on the road. Somehow, he must have got out before the car had turned upside down.

He stood up and dashed over to the car. One of the girls was lying with her head out of the car slightly. Her hair was matted with blood and she didn't seem conscious but as he noticed that as he neared her she started to open her eyes.

"Hey, hey" he said gently, "How are you feeling? Is everything Ok? Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere" she answered back, pain evident in her voice, "But I think I'm doing better than she is"

She pointed to the other girl on the other side. Lucas couldn't see her very well from where he was but he ran over to check on her.

"Hey, hey, wake up" he told her, repeating her name at least a hundred times. But she didn't.

"Lucas, I'm scared"

"Don't worry, I'm going to call 911" he told the girl he loved

"What if she doesn't wake up? Lucas, she has to…this can't be happening…why does this always happen in this stupid town?!" It seemed that her emotional pain now far excelled her physical pain.

XXX

6 years later

Lucas climbed out of the car and went round to open it for his wife before getting their daughter out of the back. He picked her up in his arms and she wrapped her little arms around her neck. She looked so much like her mother it was scary.

"Why are we at the scary, sad place on my birthday, Daddy?" she asked

He took his wife's hand in his spare one and they began walking towards the grave they knew well. "Because, baby, today isn't just your birthday" he told her, "And you probably don't remember but we come here every year"

"We do?"

"Yes, sweetie" his wife said, taking their daughter into her arms as they reached the grave. They crouched down on the ground.

The little girl reached out and touched the big, bold letters on the gravestone, she traced the first of three names and said, "That's my name too"

"That's right, Peyton, honey, it is" Brooke replied, "It is"

A tear fell down her face.