...Brandon...

"MOVE!!!" Brandon screamed to a random boy in the hallway. He was just informed in what happened to his sister and to be totally honest, he couldn't remember when he was so angry. This time, he would give all of his anger to Troy, no matter how much trouble he got into.

FLASHBACK (5 Minutes)

Brandon closed his locker with a sigh. He hated staying late for class during lunch. He needed to be with Gabriella as much as possible. At least, that's what she said during third period. She was about to explain why, but it was then time for their gym class, which they had separately. Even with no explanation, Brandon agreed with no hesitation. He had a feeling that something was wrong anyway.

Halfway to lunch, Brandon's friend Michael ran up to him with a paper in his hands.

"Hey Mike. What's the rush?" Brandon greeted curiously.

"Dude, you're not gonna be happy when you see what I have for you." Michael answered nervously.

With narrowed eyes, Brandon quarried "What is it?"

"Uhh... here." The blonde haired boy whispered.

Brandon slowly took the paper from his friend's hands and gazed down at the result. Michael could no longer see Brandon's rosy cheeks due to the drain that had occurred. He then saw it come back, only it spread to his entire face.

"Where did you get this?" Brandon seethed. His voice was low and dangerous with rage. Michael knew what was coming.

"I-in my locker. E-everyone has one except you and Gabriella." Michael replied quietly, staring at the ground, trying to avoid Brandon's strong, hateful glare.

Brandon didn't say anything else. He just slowly balled up the paper in his hands and tossed it to Michael. He let out a deep throated growl and stomped down the hall, thinking "I'm gonna kill you."

END FLASHBACK

The lunchroom silenced when Brandon came crashing through the doors. He ignored the whispers and rumors that were starting to form as he scanned the cafeteria for the obvious culprit. He caught him sulking out of the janitor's closet after Gabriella, who was in tears. This just made him angrier. He ran over to him and screamed "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"What's what?" was all that Troy could muster. He really wasn't in the mood for talking.

"What's with you making her cry?! Huh?! What did you do to her?!" Brandon shouted back. He could hear the students starting to get anxious behind him, but he didn't care about them. All he wanted was Troy to get what he thought he deserved. And that was a lot in his book.

"I didn't do anything to your precious sister. She just started crying for no reason." Troy said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really?" Brandon said calmly, but was the farthest from calm. He grabbed a flyer out of someone's hand and held it up to Troy's face. "This is what you call nothing?! Is that it?"

"I really think you're over reacting to this, Montez. I didn't do that." Troy replied, backing up.

"Yeah, the Tooth Fairy did, I know that Bolton!" Brandon said sarcastically. Anyone could see the fury building on his eyes.

"I'm not the one who scanned it! And when will you ever grow up and stop being so damn immature Montez?! We're not in elementary school, so you can stop with your stupid jokes." Troy spat.

"The day you stop remember what a liar you are." Brandon growled, staring Troy square in the eye.

"That a threat?" Troy seethed.

"No, it's a promise." Brandon shouted, throwing his fist at Troy, who fell back, clutching his face. Brandon followed him and immediately kicked him in the shin, sending him to the ground. Troy cried out in pain and looked up at Brandon. He never saw him this angry. He prepared for the stomach kicks that he saw coming.

All through the fight, Troy stayed on the ground, wall, or wherever Brandon hurt him. He didn't fight back. This didn't go unnoticed by Brandon, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything except the image of a teary Gabriella that never left his mind. With every punch and kick that he threw at Troy, the image faded more and more until he couldn't see it anymore. He took this as a sign to stop.

He gazed down at his work. Blood everywhere. Troy couldn't even open his eyes. He grinned in satisfaction and bent down to Troy's level, whispering "Next time, I'll kill you. Stay away from my sister. That's the last time I'll say it. Stay away from her." With that, he wiped his bloody hands on a spare napkin and ran to the bathrooms, ready for the tears.

----

...Gabriella...

Gabriella watched Troy sink to the floor again. She was watching her brother fight Troy and truthfully, she wasn't sure what to feel. She knew that she should be cheering Brandon on, but she just couldn't. She wanted Troy to get what he brought among himself, but she didn't want him to get hurt. She didn't know what she was feeling, but she didn't like it.

This had to stop. She couldn't watch this anymore. She ran from behind the wall where she was hiding and tore down the hallway to the bathroom. She locked herself in a stall and started crying more and more.

What was happening to her? Was she already starting to forgive Troy? She couldn't. At least, not so soon. What if Brandon caught wind of this? How much trouble would she be in? He was the oldest twin anyway. He could do pretty much anything he wanted. She didn't want to disappoint him after all that he's done for her. He stood up for her after what Troy did and warned her about his actions. Just when she thought she could make friends with a popular jock, her spirits fall and she felt that not even Brandon could pick them up.

"Gabby! Gabriella, come out here! I need to talk to you!" someone yelled outside the door. Gabriella knew that it was Brandon. Who else would it be?

"Leave me alone!" Gabriella screamed while crashing into more tears.

"Gabby, I know that what he did hurts, but you have to come out sometime. Me, Taylor, and Sharpay are worried about you. Please? Come out."

Gabriella thought it over for a second. She really wanted to face her friends, but what would they say to her? What if she said something that would make Brandon get angry all over again? She decided to at least take a chance. She slowly stood and pushed her way through the door, revealing a worried Brandon, Taylor, and Sharpay, just like Brandon promised.

"What?" Gabriella whimpered. Brandon sighed and pulled his sister into a tight hug, letting her sob into his chest.

"Gabby, I'm sorry," Brandon started "I should've seen this coming. I'm sorry I didn't protect you enough from him. He'll never come near you again."

"That's okay Brandon." Gabriella reassured "It's my own fault. I'm the one who pushed him into the lake. I knew that he gets back at people like me. And you know that's not possible. He'll try to apologize and what if you're not around?"

Brandon tucked a stray hair behind her ear and replied "I promise if there's anyone that can convince him to stay away from someone, it's me. I think I've done that already."

Gabriella laughed into his shoulder and said "I don't think he'll ever stop until he gets what he wants. He's persistent. You know that."

"I know, but you're always worth one more try." Brandon replied, rubbing her back. Gabriella smiled and hugged him closer, loving the fact that she would always have him to turn to.

"I love you Brandon." Gabriella whispered.

"I love you too Gabby." Brandon replied with a smile.

----

1 week later, Gabriella found herself in her room doing her homework with her iPod blaring from her iHome. Just as she was about to figure out a problem, she heard a loud knock on her balcony door. She jumped in surprise, but calmed when she saw who it was. She rolled her eyes and walked to her doors. She stood limply and, with bored eyes, mouthed "What do you want?"

Troy breathed deeply and tried "Gabriella, I'm sor-"

"Goodbye!" Gabriella shouted. She pulled down the blinds and walked back to her bed, rolling her eyes. "He's way too desperate." She thought to herself.

Troy started knocking on the door again, this time pleading "Gabriella, please open the door! I just want to talk! I'm sorry about last week! Please open up! Gabriella!"

"Go away Troy!" Gabriella called, making sure that Brandon didn't hear her. That would get messy.

"I'm not going anywhere until I talk to you." Troy stubbornly said.

Gabriella groaned and pulled herself off of her bed again. She walked over to the door and pushed it open, taking Troy by surprise. He sheepishly grinned and looked at his feet. Gabriella looked him over. He had healed from the fight, but you could still tell that he was in one. He had scars and scratches all over his face and arms. It looked like he didn't even try to fight Brandon off.

"What do you want?" Gabriella asked in a bored tone. Troy cleared his throat and said "Hey. Listen, I just want to say that I'm so so sorry about the nude picture. It was my idea, but I didn't really do anything. I made it on my computer, but Chad's the one who copied it and handed them out. I was just watching him."

"But was he the one who printed it out in the first place? And you were just watching? You didn't stop him? Don't you see something wrong with that?"

Troy tried to defend himself by saying "I can't risk my reputation by doing stupid stuff like that. Chad always does the dirty work for me. His reputation is doing stupid stuff like that."

"Again with your reputation! When will you realize that the whole world doesn't revolve around you?! Are you really that self centered?!" Gabriella spat.

Troy shouted "Maybe I am! Have you ever thought that I hung around your brother too much and now his prissiness has rubbed off on me?!"

At that moment, Troy felt a hand make painful contact with his face. He fell back and clutched his face while Gabriella, hands on her hips and walking toward him slowly, seethed "How's that for prissy?"

"Gabby-"

"Don't ever call me Gabby! Only Brandon, my mom, Sharpay, and Taylor can call me that! Now get out before Brandon kills you!"

"Gabriella-"

"Get out before I push you off the balcony!" Gabriella threatened. She felt powerful. She hadn't felt that way in a long time.

Troy sighed and whispered "You know you're going to talk to me eventually. I waited 7 years to play on a basketball team without Brandon and I can wait for you to talk to me. Bye." With that, Troy hoisted himself over the railing and climbed down the balcony, his head low.

Gabriella grinned to herself in satisfaction and headed back inside her room. But before she could reach her bed, she felt arms wrap around her and stroke her hair. She knew who it was and what they wanted, but she still said "What's that for?"

Brandon replied softly "You stood up for yourself. You don't need me after all."

Gabriella smiled to herself and hugged her brother back. It felt good to be in protective arms. He was right. She didn't need him to protect her from the big, bad Troy Bolton.

"I'm proud of you Gabby. You really have changed. But for the better."

Gabriella grinned wider, but it faltered a bit.

"You know you're going to talk to me eventually."

Troy's words clung to her like a cactus. She knew he was right. She was already longing to stare into his intense blue eyes and have him explain, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. She wouldn't be weak. She had to be strong.

For Brandon.

Aww! So cheesy! lol! Seriously, are you happy that Brandon didn't beat Troy off the balcony or did you want him to? And what's with Troy's sudden attitude change? Not fighting Brandon off? What's with that? If you're getting a little tired of the Gabriella/Brandon lovey dovey stuff, just hang in there. There's a REALLY bad time for them coming up towards the middle of the story and you'll hate Brandon again. Okay, REVIEW!!! Thnx :)

Rachel :)

P.S: 9 chapters plus the trailer and almost 200 review??? That's insane! Thanks people! Keep them coming :)