A/N: The results of the votes are as follows: Nathan and Haley, and Lucas and Haley were tied for first, and Brooke and Lucas were in second. I will try to incorporate your votes into the story, thanks so much for all your feedback!

You may have noticed that I changed the chapter titles. I wanted the first 5 to be Luke and Peyton-esque. The remaining twelve (if I'm lucky) chapters, I have decided to title them as Kelly Clarkson songs… call me un-original, I don't care. But anyway, enjoy Chapter 9!

And I'd like to apologize for not being on for those 2 weeks. So I'm posting chapters 7, 8, and 9 together to make up for it!

Peyton sat at her artist's table and sketched herself. She had set up ten mirrors all around herself, just so she could catch every angle. She had just finished her nose when the doorbell startled her out of dream land. She stood up from her table and glided over to the door and opened it in a sweeping motion.

"Lucas? Come in." She sat on the coffee table and motioned for him to sit on the couch across from her. "So what's going on?"

"It's probably nothing, but… oh Peyton, can you keep a huge secret of mine?" His eyes washed over and a single tear fell from his eyes.

"Yes, oh my God, Luke, what happened?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed soothingly.

"It's… it's about Haley. She's fine, it's just," he paused, "I'm in love with her. And I know that that's pretty much illegal because I've known her since before I can remember, and she's practically my sister, but she's got me hooked. She's the first thing I think about when I wake up, all I think about all day, and the last think I think about before I got to sleep. She's perfect. I love the way she smiles, the way she laughs. She's so caring and adorable, and she's irresistible to me. But I can't tell her that because she's with Nathan, and this is the happiest I've ever seen her… and I just needed to tell someone, and you are the only person I can trust right now."

Peyton was quiet for a few moments, and then spoke. "Have you forgotten the one reason why little old Tree Hill has motels?"

He was confused. "What? Why?"

"You're dating Brooke Davis!"

Nathan walked into Haley's hospital room and watched as she tried to guess the puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. He noticed that Brooke was sitting next to her on the bed examining her nails, and without looking up, said,

"Electric Bill Gates." She smirked as the contestant on screen solved the puzzle the way she had.

Haley's mouth dropped open. "How did you do that? I'm terrible at 'Before and After'!"

"I'm just talented that way… oh, hey Nathan." She stood up and walked toward him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yea… hold on a sec." He went to Haley's side and kissed her. "How are you, Hales?"

"I'm good… you go on and talk to Brooke, I want to finish writing one of my new songs." She smiled and squeezed his hand.

"What's this one called?" He squeezed back and smiled.

'"You Found Me'. It's a really cute song, if I do say so myself." She laughed and pushed him to the door. "Go!"

"Ok, ok! Love you." One more kiss and out the door he went with Brooke following him.

"What the hell is your problem? Why are you playing her?" She crossed her arms and paced a circle around him.

"What are you talking about? I love her!"

"I saw you and Peyton at the River Court. I saw you two making out, Nathan! How could you do that to Haley?" Her voice was getting louder and louder with each syllable.

"Keep your voice down, damn it. I'll tell you why. Because Haley won't do anything past kissing so I need someone to fulfill my needs until she's ready. And seeing as you're my first choice but dating Lucas, I had to find someone that I knew could do it and do it well." His smug smile was sickening and made her want to throw-up.

"You pig! What is wrong with you that you would even think about doing that to one of my best friends? I mean, you are such a basta---"

And with that he swept her into his arms and kissed her.

Lucas walked the deserted streets of Tree Hill. He was wandering towards Haley's house, and after remembering that she wasn't there, headed over to Brooke's.

As he approached the house with the big red door, he started to think about his and Brooke's relationship. It meant a lot to him in the beginning; Brooke was his first 'triumph' if you will… so they had that bond.

He walked up to the door and rang the bell. He waited for her to open the door, and when she did, he was taken aback by how beautiful she was. Her brown hair was swept into a long braid and pulled to the side of her face. She was wearing little to no make-up, and her skin glowed in the moonlight. Her top was pink and tight, and showed all of her curves.

"Hey, Lucas, what are ya doing here?" She smiled nervously.

"Oh, I just wanted to see you… can I come in?"

"Yea…" She scooted aside to the wall to make room for him to get past her.

They walked into the great room and sat on the goose down couch.

"Listen, Luke, we need to talk about us. Where is this going?"

"What do you mean? Brooke; we're just 17, we're not getting married anytime soon, are we?"

"Lucas, Mr. English, the first rule in grammar is never to answer a question with a question. What I mean, however, is are we still dating? Because I feel like we're changed." Her face was blank, waiting for his response.

"Brooke, what are you trying to say? Are you breaking up with me?"

"Maybe; I don't know… I've got to tell you something about me. And Nathan. You see, today, I went to go see Haley, and while she was in the bathroom, I saw a little piece of paper on her nightstand. So I picked it up and it was this really sappy song about her changing him or something. And I couldn't let her feel that way when I knew the truth about Nathan. And then he walked in to her room, so I took him out side and confronted him about me seeing him and Peyton at the river court last week, kissing and holding hands, and he told me that he was sleeping, that's right sleeping, with her until Haley could do the same! And I was calling him a pig and stuff like that, and then he… kissed me." She whispered 'kissed' like it was poisonous, then she sucked in breath after realizing that she had spoken her whole speech without breathing.

He was quiet for a few minutes and his eyes glistened with red. "Brooke, how could you do that to Haley?"

"Do what?" Haley? What about Haley? This was about Brooke and Lucas, not Little Ms. Perfect, wasn't it?

"First, invade her privacy by reading her song, second, by thinking that Nathan would cheat on her, although it was true, and trying to ruin her happiness by allowing Nathan to kiss you. You didn't exactly stop him, did you? In fact, I'll bet that you wanted him to kiss you, didn't you?"

Gulp. "Maybe, a little."

"And I'll bet that you kissed him back."

Bigger gulp. "Yes… but Luke…"

"And I'll risk my life on saying that you wanted him, don't you?"

Biggest gulp. "And so what if I do! You want Haley, Lucas. Don't even play Mr. Innocent! I know that you want her! Peyton told me!" Tears were flowing now from both of their eyes.

"Brooke. This isn't going to work if we're both going to hide our true feelings from each other. So you like Nathan and I like Haley."

"Yea… so what are we going to do now?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

"I guess… I guess this is the end."

"Oh, God." She leaned over and hugged him, and sobbed into his shoulder. And at that moment, Haley's song was running through her head.

Nathan walked back into Haley's room and heard her singing what he assumed to be a line from her new song.

"Is this a dream? If it is, please don't wake me from this high. I'd become comfortably numb, until you opened up my eyes to what it's like when everything's right, I can't believe…" she was mumbling but it still sounded beautiful.

"Hey, Hales… that's a great song."

She jumped when he spoke; she was startled. "Um, hey! You weren't supposed to hear it yet!"

He smiled. "Well now that I have, can I hear the rest?"

She frowned. "Well… okay. But it's not totally finished, and you can't laugh, because I'll have to hurt you."

"I won't, I promise. Just sing it."

"Okay, you've already heard the first verse," she drew in a deep breath.

"Mhm. Sing."

"La la la, I can't believe. You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know just where I would be? Yeah you broke through all of my confusion, the ups and the downs, and you still didn't leave, I guess that you saw what nobody could see, you found me."

Her eyes closed and she flowed with the music.

"So, here we are, and that's pretty far when you think of where we've been. No going back, I'm fading out all that has faded me within. You're by my side, now everything's right, I can believe. You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know just where I would be? Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion, the ups and the downs and you still didn't leave, I guess that you saw what nobody could see, you found me, you found me, and I was hiding till you came along, and showed me where I belong."

They opened up again and she was piercing each word.

"You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know? How did you know? You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know just where I would be? Yeah you broke through all of my confusion, the ups and the downs and you still didn't leave, I guess that you saw what nobody could see, the good and the bad and the things in between, you found me." And she let out a deep breath.

"Haley, you need a record deal, I'm telling you. You've got the most gorgeous voice and you're so beautiful. You're song is saying a lot of things that people can relate to."

"Ha. Thanks, but no thanks. I can't sing in front of people."

"Well what do I look like?"

"That's not it. You're not 'people', you're my Nathan… 'people' would be critical, and hard to convince… I'd probably die of fright without ever singing on note."

"Whatever you say. But I really think you should. Hey, I have to go talk to your doctor to see when I can come pick you up; I'll be back in a few minutes. Love you." He stood and kissed her cheek then walked out the door.

Once he was outside, he touched the pocket of his red jacket and pulled out an envelope. He ripped it open and read the first paragraph out loud.

To: Nathan Scott

From: The High Flyers Florida Division Admissions Office

Nathan:

We are pleased to inform you that we have reviewed and accepted your application and scholarship form submitted by Coach Durham of the Tree Hill Ravens. The 2005 season starts as of June 25th, and we are expecting you to be at the orientation on the 24th at the Wyndham Resort in Palm Beach at 8:00 PM. If you do not attend, your scholarship will be terminated.

The letter went on to describe what would be expected of him, the things he needed to bring, and things like that. He knew that he should go because his future was depending on it, especially if he was hoping to get a basketball scholarship into college. He knew all that, but he also knew that he couldn't leave Haley.

Run, just keep running, you're almost there! Run!

Suddenly, Lucas surrounded Brooke. Thousands and thousands of Lucas's formed a circle around her and were laughing and pointing. She collapsed on the ground in tears, screaming as their laughs got louder. She looked up at them, and then Haley came up to the Lucas right in front of Brooke, touched his shoulder, smirked at Brooke, and grabbed Lucas into a kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist and ripped off his shirt.

Brooke stood up and pushed past them and saw her house, the red door swung open, and she sprinted toward it. She wasn't moving!

"Help! Help me!" She screamed but her voice was swallowed up into the wind. Peyton came up behind her. She was speaking but Brooke couldn't hear her. Peyton soon became annoyed and left her, running into Haley and Lucas. They all laughed at Brooke and then walked into her house.

She was crying big fat tears. The wind was blowing her hair into knots; her skirt was billowing up into loops. Somebody touched her shoulder, and she spun around so quickly that she tripped. She looked up and it was Nathan. He lifted her up and brushed her hair out of her face. She touched his face, but her hand went right through his cheek. He stepped back and turned around, then ran to someone who Brooke couldn't identify. Then it dawned on her; it was Haley.

She was alone, all alone, while all the boys she loved, including her best friend were being seduced by the unfairly beautiful Haley James.

"Mr. Scott? Dr. Williams will see you now," the receptionist said.

"Thanks." He walked into the doctor's office and sat on the ugly blue chair in front of her desk.

"Hello, Nathan, how have you been?" She sat back in her chair and laced her fingers.

"Good so far. I wanted to know when I could take Haley home?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask. There's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you can take her home anytime you'd like. The bad news is that she has to come back every week for the next month to make sure her medication is taking its effect. But other than that, she's doing exceptionally well; we didn't expect her to heal so quickly. You've got a great little fighter wife, Mr. Scott."

"She's not my wife, we're just dating… I mean, I'm only 17…"

"Oh, sorry. Well anyway, her medications will be available for her to pick up in about half an hour." She stood and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Dr. Williams, I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you for saving her life."

"Don't even worry about it. She's made all of us doctors feel like our work is worthwhile. She's a sweet girl, Nathan."

"I know. Anyway, see you next week."

Peyton and Lucas sat at the edge of the last dock, the one with the least light. They sat in silence observing the black water swish against the wooden columns. Peyton was wearing her Backstreet Boys top with the blue mini shorts Brooke got her for her 13th birthday. Sure, the outfit was old, but it was vintage-esque. And it amazed her that she still fit in it! Lucas was decked out in, what else, his gray hoodie and baggy jeans.

"I can't believe Haley's coming home tomorrow. I can finally take her to that new music museum in Charleston. You can come too, you know." She smiled and leaned her head back, then lay down on the wooden planks and studied the stars.

"Thanks, but I don't know if I can hang out with Haley anymore. At least, not while she's with Nathan. It would be too hard for me." He propped himself up on an adjacent pole so he was across from her.

"Oh come on! Ok yea, Nathan's pretty tough competition, but you can still win. You've been friends with Haley since before dinosaurs existed, and you're not that bad to look at. Your sweet and funny and any girl would be lucky to be with you." She used her arms to pull herself up and sit cross-legged facing him.

"Thank you, P. Do you think I need to talk to her?"

"Definitely tell her how you feel. Find out how she feels, and if she feels the same, great. But if she doesn't you have to fold like a cheap hooker that got hit in the stomach by a drunk fat guy."

They laughed and looked back up at the stars.

Nathan had gone back to Haley's house to fix up her room, so Haley was left alone to watch yet another game show. This time it was 'Who wants to be a Millionaire'. She was in the middle of a 50/50 when Brooke waltzed into her room with tear stains streaking her perfect complexion.

"Brooke! What's wrong?" She leaped up from her bed and gave Brooke a hug.

She shrugged away from Haley. "Don't touch me. I just wanted to let you know that you won, alright?"

"What did I do? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You won over Nathan, Lucas, and Peyton. Are you happy now? You know, I befriended you when you were nothing and now look at you! Is that any way to repay me? You are selfish, a liar, cheater, and a bitch, Haley. I hope you know that." She slapped Haley across the face and ran out the door, her stilettos clinking across the linoleum floor.

Haley shuffled back to her bed and sobbed. What did she mean 'won over?' Weren't they all friends? Sure, she was dating Nathan, but he was still friends with her… and what did that have to do with Lucas and Peyton?

Speaking of the devil, Lucas walked into her room. "Hey, Hales. I brought you your all-time favorite food, quote unquote "Food of the Gods", Macaroni and Cheese--- what's wrong?"

She spoke with the sobs still taking over her voice. "Apparently I've won over you, Nathan, and Peyton, and I'm an ungrateful liar, cheater and a bitch!" Her sobs grew louder.

He pulled her into a hug. "Aw, Hales, who said that about you? I'll take care of it for you so don't even worry. Who said it?"

"Brooke." Lucas' mouth dropped open and hugged her tight again. "I'll take care of this, Haley."

A/N: Ok, as you may have noticed, I used another Kelly Clarkson in this chapter, and the title of the chapter is a KC song, as well. I'll probably continue doing this, but if anyone has any comments about it, let me know. 3200 words, I am exhausted! The next chapter will probably be out next week. Read + Review, it really helps!