Disclaimer: Why, yes I do own One Tree Hill and Jack's Mannequin... Just kidding.

Haley sat with her hair put into a lazy ponytail, and her fingers playing random chords on the keyboard in front of her. She sighed, unable to find the perfect combination of sounds, or at least a combination that was appealing to her, and placed her hands on her lap. On her keyboard were blank sheet papers and a pencil, in the trashcan next to her were the various discarded songs that she had started, but couldn't bring herself to finish.

Guess what, I'm done
Writing your songs
You give up your job at the bank
Proving money's not fun when you're gone
So this is the first verse
It's not very long, but I'm ready to move on

La La Lie
Chapter One - Sad Songwriter

After a week of writing - or at least attempting to write - songs, she just couldn't find the right words, or the right sounds, or ... whatever. She kept trying to come up with excuses to keep writing. This was supposed to be the one song that had to be just perfect. She needed to win him back.

Nathan Scott and Brooke Davis. They'd never had anything to do with each other before... but now they did. Something had happened when Brooke went to talk to Nathan for Haley, or maybe something had been going on already prior to that event - Haley didn't know exactly what to believe anymore. Well, whatever it was, it brought her to this state: sad, alone, and ready to sign the divorce papers.

She should've known; it was too good to be true. Happily married at such a young age? Insert scoff here.

Standing up, she walked over to her drawer, for she was staying in her old room. Inside, she found the manila folder holding the dreaded papers. She'd rather they burn, but for some reason, they now seemed appealing. Maybe it was a sense of freedom that she sensed hidden; with a flick of her wrist and just a bit of ink, she would be free from all this heartache... Or maybe she would be more susceptible to it.

She needed to talk to Lucas.

--

"Hey," Lucas said, as she walked through the door of his mom's café. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I can talk about it here," she whispered to him. He nodded and they quickly exited to go somewhere secluded, namely, the back of the building. When they reached the back of the building, they stood there for a while, just quiet. It was Haley who spoke first.

"Luke, I'm going to sign the papers." Lucas looked up at her, eyes manifesting an amalgamation of surprise and concern. His hands were in his pockets, and his back was against the wall - typical brooding pose. His companion, however, was standing upright in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Aw, Hales," Lucas finally said. When tears finally escaped her eyes, that's when it hit him that she was serious. She was going to sign the divorce papers and there would be no turning back. He enveloped her with his arms and he shushed her, telling her that everything would be alright. He was surprised, however, when Haley looked up at him, breaking free from his grasp, then kissed him softly on his lips.

"Tell me why I didn't fall for you first, Luke," she said softly, looking up into his eyes. A few moments later she shook her head and quickly backed away from him. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that. You're such a good friend - my best friend and... Sorry."

Lucas merely looked at her, surprised. She was looking at him sheepishly, eyes still moist and red from crying. He smiled. She smiled in turn, and the two headed back to Karen's Café.

"I wonder, should we really be doing this?" Brooke said angrily at Nathan, who was sitting down on the couch of his apartment. She was standing, bending over slightly to emphasize each angry word.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do? I thought we liked each other," Nathan spat back.

"I do like you... a lot. But Haley's my friend and you're still married to her. I just can't stand being with you right now when it means that you're technically cheating on her."

"She knows, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but," Brooke's voice softened. "But, you know how I get with this kind of situation."

Nathan looked up, finally making eye contact with her. Her eyes showed sadness, vestiges of the pain she felt when Lucas cheated on her with her best friend. She continued, "I don't want us to be Haley's Luke and Peyton."

"We're not," Nathan assured her, getting up. He pulled the now crying Brooke onto the couch with him, and he started hugging her and stroking her hair. "We're not."

She looked up at him, looking sadder than ever. "Then what are we?"

Just then, the phone rang. Brooke got up and walked over to the phone, which was in the kitchen.

"Hello?" She said, answering it. Nathan looked over at Brooke, who seemed to be frozen while leaning on the counter. Her eyes were expressionless, and her body language disclosed nothing. He looked over at her questioningly, and she looked back. Finally, she walked back to him, handing him the phone. "It's for you," she whispered. "It's Haley."

A/N: Yeah, I know, it's kind of short. I'm actually supposed to be getting ready for school right now :P My first One Tree Hill fic. Actually, I 'ship Brathan, Jeyton, and Caley(?) XD I don't really support Naley, since it's too cliché, but I like them. I don't know what I was thinking when I was writing this, 'cause I screwed up my favorite pairings XD This fic has Brathan, Laley, maybe Jeyton; and one-sided Naley, Brucas, and... Yeah. Anyways, song-credit to Jack's Mannequin's "La La Lie." Reviews appreciated, thanks for reading.