Haley James was just….perfect. Her long brown hair, full and bouncy, her deep brown eyes, and to top it all off, she had the voice of an angel.

"One thing is clear
I wear a halo
I wear a halo when you look at me
But standing from here, you wouldn't say so
You wouldn't say so, if you were me
And I, I just wanna love you
Oh oh I, I just wanna love you."

Lucas was at Tric with Nathan, Peyton, and Brooke and Haley was on stage performing. Lucas watched her in amazement. He had been best friends with Haley ever since he was a tiny child and he had always known about her love for music, but ever since she actually started performing, she had just blossomed. The way she moved on stage, confident and powerful and beautiful…

"Heya Hey... Hey Hey Halo. Halo!"

Haley finished the song and the audience burst into applause. Lucas cheered louder than anyone. Haley just let them applaud with that radiant smile on her face that she always wore after performing.

"Thank you, thank you very much! You guys are awesome." The crowd still cheering, Haley walked offstage, and Lucas's eyes never left her until she was off.

"God, that was awesome," Brooke said emphatically.

"I know right," Peyton said. "That girl is bringing me in more customers than I can serve."

"Of course she is," Lucas said without thinking. "She's amazing."

"Not the mention that song is pretty badass," Nathan remarked.

"Well, of course you think so," Brooke teased. "It was a love song about you."

"Yeah, from my ex-girlfriend."

"Oh shut up," Lucas said. "You know you and Haley are friends now."

"Yeah, yeah," Nathan said. Brooke shoved him playfully as we laughed, but Lucas's mind was stuck on Haley. She'd told them before the show that she would come down and hang with them as soon as she was done performing, but she should have been down by now. He was getting worried about her, although he knew there was probably nothing to be worried about. Plenty of things could be holding her up. Was it even normal for him to wonder where she was? Surely not. She was his best friend, why wouldn't he want her to hang out with them? But what was with that sick feeling that he got when Brooke pointed out that the song was about Nathan. Why should he care?

"Hey, guys I'm gonna go see what's keeping Haley," Lucas said, interrupting whatever it was Peyton was saying.

"Okay," she said as he got up to leave. He thought about that song as he walked back to the storage room that served as a dressing room. If it was about Nathan, then he didn't understand it at all. The song was about how Nathan saw Haley as a perfect angel that she wasn't, but the thing is, she was. Haley James was perfect in every way. She was kind, funny, smart, generous, motherly, brave, tough, and beautiful. In everything she was and everything she did, she was perfect. How could anyone on Earth think anything different?

When Lucas came to the door of the dressing room, he stopped when he saw that Haley was inside talking to someone. He didn't recognize him, just some dude in a suit. But whatever he was telling her seemed to be really big, because her face was a complete jumble of emotions. He must've finished talking because he turned around and started heading for the door. Lucas stepped out of the way as he passed then looked into the doorway at Haley. She didn't seem to see him, just stared into space, lost in thought.

"Hales?"

Her head snapped up in my direction.

"Luke. Hey."

"Something wrong?"

"Uh, no, I mean…yes, I mean….Yes and no."

"Ooookay," Lucas said, confused. "Is it something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure," she said, shaking her head. Looking at the conflicting emotions on her face, Lucas saw amazement, confusion, fear, worry. And he hated it. He hated seeing her feel like that. He had the urge to put his arms around her and hold her tight, to comfort her and stroke her hair and whisper in her ear that everything would be fine. He wanted to make everything okay for her. He wanted to protect her from whatever was making her sad. But surely that was normal, right? To be protective of your best friend. Nevertheless, he didn't do any of those things he wanted to do. However, he did walk across the room to take her hand in his. He took his other hand and tilted her chin up so she would look in his eyes.

"What's wrong Haley?" He held her gaze and silently begged her to confide in him like she always did.

"That was a record producer. He just offered me a contract."

"Haley!" he exclaimed. "That's incredible, how is that a bad thing?" She looked at him for another moment with that same sad expression.

"Lucas, I would have to go to Los Angeles. For three years."

And just like that the excitement and pride that had swelled up inside of him was gone, leaving behind a cold and hollow feeling in his gut.

"What?" was all he could say.

"Three years," she repeated. "Maybe longer." Lucas tried to think about that. Three years without Haley. Maybe longer. The very thought was just too much to imagine. When Haley had gone on tour with Chris it had been torture. He died with every passing day that he had to go without seeing or talking to her, and that was only a few months. How the hell was he supposed to handle three years?

"Well," he said, once he regained his ability to speak. "Um, well that's a great opportunity, Hales."

"Yeah, it is," she agreed. "It's…amazing. Opportunity of a lifetime. They're saying they could make me a huge star."

"Haley James, the next big thing," Lucas said, trying to keep hidden how terrified he felt.

"Yeah but…three years." She let go of his hand and sat down on the couch. Lucas followed her and took the seat next to her. "I mean, what about school? And what about all my friends and…I mean this is my life. How can I just pick up and go to L.A.?" Lucas had no answers, mostly because he didn't want her to go. In fact, he could not stand the very thought of her going.

"Do you want to go?" he found himself asking.

"I don't know," she said, confused. "Maybe. It's all just so confusing and so…scary." Lucas could see that. The enormity of what was being offered to her was terrifying her, and he couldn't stand to see her scared. He wanted nothing more than to just protect her from all of it, to be her white knight, to make sure she was never scared or sad ever again. He just wanted to wrap his arms around her and use himself as a shield against the entire world.

"It's okay, Haley," he said, wrapping her in a hug and placing a kiss at the top of her head as she buried her face in his chest. He tightened his arms around her and felt the warmth of her body against his and found himself breathing in the cherry scent of her hair...God, what was happening to him?

"God, Luke," she said as she pulled back to look at him. "You're such a good friend." He knew that shouldn't bother him. He was Haley's friend. Her best friend, and she was his. But something in him didn't want that. He didn't want Haley to look at him like she was now, with that fond look. He didn't want to be her white knight, protecting the fair princess, and he wanted her to look at him like that. Like her knight in shining armor. Like her fairytale prince. Like…like…like she used to look at Nathan.

"Haley, don't go," he said.

"What?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"Don't go," he repeated. "I don't want you to go." He knew he shouldn't be saying this. He should be supportive and tell her to go and follow her dreams. But he already made that mistake once. He understood now why the thought of losing Haley killed him so much. He understood how he felt about her now. And he had felt that way before too, but he never said anything. Through their whole childhood he let her believe that he was crazy about Peyton, but that simply wasn't true. It never was.

When she left to go on tour with Chris, he let her go without telling her how he really felt, and it had torn him apart. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

"I don't want you to go, Haley."

"Lucas-"

"Sh. I need to say this. I don't want you to go, because the very thought of not seeing you everyday, of not waking up to you texting me in the morning, not walking to school with you, not hanging out with you in the café, of not even seeing you face or hearing your voice every single day, is just too much for me to take. I need you to stay because I need you. I love you, Haley James. I'm in love with you. I want to be with you, and more than any of that, I wanna hear you say that you want to be with me." Haley looked absolutely shell shocked, but before she had the chance to say anything else, Lucas leaned in and kissed her.

She froze, but he kissed her with everything he had, begging her with his lips not to leave him. After a moment, he felt her body respond to his. Her lips began to move against his, her hands moved up to wrap themselves around his neck. And she was kissing him. She was actually, really kissing him. Her lips against his were more amazing than he ever imagined. All the times he had dreamed of what it would be like to kiss her and hadn't known he was doing it, none of them could possibly measure up to this. Her kiss was electric and blissful at the same time, pure and utter…perfection. God, even her kiss was perfect. Lucas found his arms winding themselves around her waist, pulling her in closer to him, but it wasn't enough. He wanted her to stay in his arms forever.

All too soon, she pulled away and whispered something in his ear.

"Halo."

"What?" he asked.

"Halo," she repeated, her breath tickling his ear. She pulled back to look into his eyes with her gorgeous brown ones. "The song wasn't about Nathan. It was about you." The way she was looking at him, that loving expression, that warm glow in her eyes; this was how he wanted her to look at him. She was looking at him like she loved him. "I love you, Lucas Scott."

"I love you too, Haley James." He pulled her back to him and kissed her again, a long, sweet kiss that made his mouth tingle. She pulled back and reached for her cell phone. "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling that producer and telling him that I appreciate the opportunity, but I'm gonna have to pass. My boyfriend doesn't want me to go. And I don't want to leave him."

Lucas smiled so wide it could've split his face. This was everything he had wanted ever since his was a kid, he just never knew it. He never admitted it. He was in love, the girl he loved was in love with him, he was holding the most perfect girl in the world in his arms and kissing her. Haley made the call, and as soon as she hung up, he grabbed her and started kissing her hungrily. He made a decision right then that he was going to hold onto this girl and never ever let her go. Because Haley James loved him. His best friend in the entire world was also the girl of his dreams, and he was in love with her. In love with his best friend. And he would love her until the end of time.