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Peyton slumped over her desk, exhausted. She was exhausted physically, as well as, mentally.
"Will this day never end?" She muttered, as she heard the sound of someone knocking, timidly, at her office door. Since her early morning encounter with Lindsey and Lucas, Peyton had been going ninety miles an hour, throwing herself into her work with Mia, at the studio.
"Peyton, are you in there? It's Haley." Peyton heard Haley call through the door. Peyton stopped short of opening the door. She bit her lip as she considered pretending that she wasn't in her office. Peyton knew that Haley had good intentions, but she wasn't sure if she could deal with Haley's meddling right now.
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I was just going through some songs for Mia." Peyton said, opening the door for Haley.
"Oh, that's great. Have you found anything decent?" Haley asked, sitting down in front of Peyton's desk.
"No, not yet, but I have hundreds to go through." Peyton responded, flipping through a huge stack of papers.
"Anyway, I'm sure that's not why you're really here, is it?" Peyton asked bluntly. Haley opened her mouth, as if to object, then closed it and sat back.
"No, you're right, that's not why I'm here." Haley agreed, as she began to bounce her leg nervously.
"So who sent you? Lucas, or was it Lindsey?" Peyton asked, trying to keep her tone light.
"Neither, although Lucas is worried about you. Brooke called me this morning; she said that you kinda freaked out when you ran into Luke and Lindsey. What's going on, Peyton?" Haley asked, leaning closer to the desk.
"Nothing is going on. Oh, but you can tell Lucas to stop worrying about me. In fact, you can tell Lucas that I don't even want him to think about me anymore, because I sure as hell am not going to waste my thoughts on him!" Peyton replied, her voice growing louder, until she was practically yelling at Haley.
"Wow, okay, um Peyton, can you please just tell me what happened? You say that nothing is wrong, but obviously there is something going on between you and Lucas." Haley argued. Peyton shook her head in frustration.
"Okay Haley, you want to know what's going on, right. Let's start at the beginning. Once upon a time, there were two kids who thought they loved each other. One day, out of the blue, I might add, the boy comes to California and springs a proposal on this girl. This girl is absolutely overjoyed, she loves this boy with all of her heart, but she knows that they're still just kids. She tells the boy that she wants to marry him, but that they need to take it slowly. Well, the boy is having none of it and leaves the girl heartbroken and never comes back. Fast forward, three years or so, and the boy is in love with someone else, but this girl can't seem to get over the boy. So of course, she does something stupid and tells the boy that she will always love him. Needless to say he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. So here I am, trying to pretend that everything is fine, but it's not fine, Haley. I can't stop loving him, and I'm not allowed to love him, so where does that leave me?" Peyton asked, as Haley came around the desk and threw her arms around Peyton.
"It'll be okay Peyton. I know it will." Haley whispered, as she rubbed Peyton's back.
"I don't know how. I know that I said that I didn't come back for him, but I lied. He's the only person that I can imagine spending my life with." Peyton admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes. Haley nodded, sympathetically.
"Are you going to be okay? I have something I have to do." Haley asked, gathering her things.
"Yeah, I'm probably going to stay here and try to find a great song for Mia. Oh, and Haley, please don't say anything to Brooke or Lucas. I don't want Lucas to know how pathetic I am, and Brooke will go on some wild mission to get Luke and I back together." Peyton asked. Haley gave her a small smile and nodded.
"Sure. I won't say anything. Thank you for trusting me Peyton." Haley said softly, pulling the door shut behind her.
Peyton grabbed a stack of songs and began to read through them. After reading a few dozen songs, she tossed down the stack of papers in disgust.
"Why can't anyone write a song about real emotions anymore?" She asked, sitting back in her chair. A small smile grew on her lips. She quickly grabbed one of the songs and turned it over. She rummaged through her desk, until she found a pen, and quickly began to write.