She stood and gazed at the large house in front of her. She shivered in the cold night air and took a breath as she stepped forward and walked towards the house, her strides slow. Brooke only came for one reason tonight: to keep Haley company. Never mind that she was walking towards Julian and Haley's house at the moment, the night of Julian's party, that he invited her to…that had nothing to do with her reasoning at all! Her reasons for showing up were simply out of best friend duty to Haley. Julian wasn't even anywhere on her mind, except for the times where she was convincing herself that he wasn't on her mind. Damn him for invading her thoughts at all.

She made her way through the driveway, looking at all the moving figures through the curtains of the windows. She could hear the music blaring, she could hear the guests chattering, and she could hear people barfing in the bushes. Brooke rolled her eyes and walked through the large front door after wiping down her boots on the welcome mat. The aroma of beer and marijuana hit her nose full force and she instantly made a disgusted face as she entered the house. Marijuana should not be mixed with beer. It smelled beautiful all on its own.

She looked around through the crowds of people and scanned around for a familiar face. Haley had also invited Chuck and Blair over to this little shindig, just so she wouldn't be alone. She hadn't invited Chris for the mere reason that he had some gig with his Indie band in the next town over. If Blair and Chuck were no shows, at least Brooke and Haley would have each other. Brooke felt uncomfortable being shoved into various members of the student body that she despised, she felt like a fish out of water, all she wanted to do was find her best friend.

Brooke whipped out her cell phone and texted Haley as quickly as she could. "Where the hell R U?"

Haley would have much rather gone to cheer Chris and his band on as opposed to staying at the house around half the student body that she loathed and despised, but Julian had begged her to stay at the house that night so she would help keep the party in hand and make sure nothing got broken. Like the amazing sister that she knew she was, she reluctantly agreed. Now here she stood, hastily holding onto a vase of her mother's that Jake and Nathan had nearly knocked over with their football. "I don't care how shit-faced you boys are, no ball in the house!" she yelled angrily, bending over to set the vase in a nearby cabinet. She sighed exaughsted. The party had only begun two hours ago and already she was worn out, unable to take much more of her brothers idiotic friends.

Just then, she saw Julian's shoes in her peripheral vision. She stood up and walked towards him. "Julian!" she exclaimed. "Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to keep your dumb-ass friend's paws off of all of my mother's break-able things for nearly an hour!"

Julian grinned and took a sip of his drink. "Aw, thanks Hales," he replied, giving her a side-hug. "I knew you'd help keep the party in line." Haley shoved him off. "This stupid party shouldn't be my responsibility, Jules," she argued, walking away. "Arg, I should have gone to Chris's concert instead. Oh by the way, if you see Brooke, please tell her I'm looking for her." She turned around and her eyes widened. "Nathan, get your hands off of that painting!" she exclaimed walking back into the mess of a party.

Julian's heart froze at the mention of Brooke. She was coming! He instantaneously broke out into a smirk. For the past few days, ever since they got assigned to work on their art project together, Julian had sat at Brooke's art table and they talked and laughed and acted like what he hoped friends acted like. And every day he would ask her to come to tonight's party, to which she would respond, "Eh, I'll think about it."

Now the night was here and she was coming! He looked all around him, hoping to spot her.

Accidentally bumping into a topless girl, grinding with a boy from the basket-ball team, Brooke quickly made a mad dash from the living room into the kitchen. Thankfully, there was no one there. She helped herself to a bottle of water from the fridge and sat in the center island, waiting for a text from Haley.

She tilted her head back and sighed in contemplation. Was Haley the real reason she had come? Or on some twisted level, had she hoped to see Julian as well? To see his mischievous grin and his pathetically annoying charming ways? She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed herself for thinking of him again. How was it that her entire world seemed to have been completely shifted in just a matter of days? How was it that a jock that she never gave two shits about before, now consumed a large portion of her every waking thought? She just didn't understand what was wrong with her! Sitting with him in Art had somehow become a time of day that she most looked forward to now…

She heard the kitchen door swing from behind her. "Jake! Hands off the china, ey?" a voice yelled into the party. The door shut. "Brooke!" the voice exclaimed.

Brooke quickly whirled around in her seat to see Julian standing there with a red cup in one hand, and a surprised look on his face. "You came!" he exclaimed. He'd spent forever searching the party for her it seemed, fearful that she had decided not to show up. It was a relief to have finally found her. His heart started to speed up.

"I came," she replied, unenthusiastically. "For Haley," she replied, making it clear that she was only here for Haley, not him. Still, being in his presence caused her to grin a little.

"Right." He inched over to where she was and took a seat next to her. "So, how do ya like the party?" he asked.

"It's bitchin," she replied.

"Is that why you're sitting in here all by yourself?" he asked amused.

"I'm waiting for Haley, and I just got here, thank you very much. Give me a swig of whatever you're drinking and I'm sure this party will be much more appealing." She grabbed Julian's red cup and downed the liquid into her throat.

Julian laughed as he watched her.

Brooke made a face as soon as all the liquid was missing from the cup, and making its way toward her stomach. "This is…Dr. Pepper. Plain, no alcohol-induced, Dr. Pepper," she stated, surprised.

"That it is," Julian said.

"What? No getting drunk tonight, Baker?" she asked.

"Nah, someone has to be the responsible one here tonight. Besides, this party idea was Nathan's, not mine."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Sure, blame your buddies." She cleared her throat. "So, where's Haley?"

Julian knew exactly where she was. Last he's seen her she was in the dining room making sure Nathan didn't brake Lydia's vase from India. Nathan sure had a thing with breakable items when he was hammered and Haley was very adamant on keeping every glass piece of art fully intact when the night was over. But if he were to tell Brooke where Haley was, then he'd probably lose spending time with her…

Julian scavenged his mind for a lie to tell Brooke to keep her with him here. "Uh, you know…I think she mentioned something about a concert?" He hoped he sounded convincing.

"Concert? What concert? Chris's concert?" Brooke asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Uh, he's the guy with the spiky hair? Uh yeah, that guy I think. She'll probably be back late." Julian looked around nervously.

Brooke sighed in utter annoyance in disbelief. She'd come all the way to this party just for Haley to bail on her? "Ugh, great. Just great. Well, looks like my presence here isn't needed after-all," she replied as she slowly got up from her seat.

"Wait!" Julian exclaimed. "Where are you going?" he asked, as he saw Brooke slowly headed towards the kitchen door.

"Home. I have better things to do than sit around in a kitchen," Brooke said.

"Well…wait! You uh….you want to smoke with me first?" he asked, frantic to find a way to make Brooke stay. He knew she couldn't say no to that offer.

Smoke?

Brooke paused. "Smoke?" she asked, her interest suddenly peaked. She shook her head. Smoking with Julian wasn't a good idea, she always got a little…horny when she smoked. Mix that with Julian's presence, and it could end in disaster. "Nah, I don't think that's such a good idea…"

Julian quickly stood in front of her, blocking her from the door., her body slightly colliding with his. "Oh come ooooon, it's not gonna kill ya," he urged.

Brooke was too consumed with the feel of his body heat pressed against hers to think coherently. The smell of his black t-shirt was clogging up her mind. "Julian…" she tried to protest.

"And I won't take no for an answer," he continued, pulling a joint from his pocket, twirling it in his fingers masterfully in front of her face.

Brooke sighed. This wasn't a good idea…but what more reason did she have to say no? "Well, I guess I could stay a little longer," she replied, defeated.

Julian grinned.

A little longer turned into a lot longer.

"So about this art project…when do you want to continue working on it?" Julian asked staring straight ahead at the brick wall of the house, all sobriety gone.

Julian and Brooke sat side by side on a swinging lawn bench on the back porch, completely high. Brooke hesitated smoking with him at first, she knew that effect that weed had on her, especially at night time, but she took the chance anyways. It was a Friday night, she was stressed, and there was nothing else better to do. If she happen to make an uncharacteristic move on Haley's brother, Haley's very…hot brother, then so be it.

"Whenever," she replied, also staring straight ahead.

They could hear the noise of the party and the loud music through the wall, it made them feel as though they were less alone together, a feeling that somewhat comforted Brooke. She wasn't sure what may or may not happen. Not like she had any expectations or anything.

"Cool," he replied, too gone to think of a more witty response.

"Cool," she replied back, with the same excuse as him.

Their minds began to wander off into unknown territory. They spent the next hour looking off into different directions and asking each other the most random questions and making the most mundane comments and observations of their surroundings. Their topics ranged from, "Do you ever wonder what happens when we die?" to "What if I were secretly an alien?" to "I swear to God I just saw a ghost!" to "I feel the earth moving beneath my feet."

A few moments later, they busted into a fit of giggles at Julian's last comment which was, "I think the principals tits are made out of vanilla pudding." It was a thought that had came to Julian randomly, and he felt the need to voice it. Brooke gripped his knee for balance and he leaned into her shoulder, still laughing.

They didn't know what they found so amusing, but marijuana had that effect on you sometimes.

"Vanilla pudding?" she asked through a laugh, "Why not…strawberry pudding or chocolate pudding?"

"Do they even make strawberry pudding?" Julian asked.

"I don't know," Brooke said as she burst into another fit of giggles. It was evident that the chill mood from earlier was long gone. "And why, why pudding? Why not, jell-o?"

"Jell-o is too jiggly, honey," he remarked, "The principal has more dignified, stiff-er tits than jell-o would provide, which is why I'm convinced that they're made from pudding."

"Vanilla, pudding," Brooke corrected.

"Now you're speaking my language!" he said as he gave her an overly excited high-five. With just as much jubilance as him, she high-fived him back.

A few moments later after some more light-hearted conversation, the laughter died down some.

"So ah, Haley's been telling me all sorts of ridiculous things lately," Brooke laughed.

"She's always saying ridiculous things," he replied, amused.

"Yeah well, what she told me was super ridiculous," Brooke replied.

"Yeah, what's that?" he asked, looking over to her, interested.

She shrugged. "She just told me, that you had a 'thing' for me," Brooke stated, a nervous laugh followed after it.

"A 'thing'?" Julian laughed. "What the hell does she mean by a 'thing'?" he laughed.

Brooke chuckled. "I have no idea. See, heh, ridiculous!"

"Pffft, I'll say," he said. A silence followed. "I mean, what is a 'thing', anyways?"

"Exactly! I mean, a 'thing' could be like, anything really." Brooke responded.

"Chyeah, anything," Julian agreed.

Brooke nodded.

Julian looked to his hands, that were fiddling the bottom of his t-shit, feeling like a coward for not saying what he was really thinking. He cleared his dry throat. "But I mean, maybe her comment wasn't super ridiculous," he remarked.

Brooke's face turned somber. "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, a 'thing' can be subjective sure, but I think there may have been…some sort of truth in her statement."

"How so?" she asked, pegging him on. Did he really feel something for her, just like Haley suggested? Brooke began to feel herself sobering up some.

"Well I mean…" Julian began, thinking of something to say. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and words. How could he put this without scaring her away? Without sounding too forward? Without making a fool out of himself? The impertinent look on Brooke's face somehow made him feel like opening up to her, like revealing himself to her, and quite frankly, that scared him. He felt out of his element, like his façade was cracking and she was close to unveiling the real Julian Baker, the one no one saw or even cared to see. Never had he felt such a feeling from a person before…

He looked back up at her. "Brooke…do you ever wonder if…." he paused, trying to gather his thoughts and decipher what exactly it was he was trying to say.

"Wonder what?" Brooke asked, inquiringly. Something about Julian's expression as he spoke to her made her curious. The mood had quickly shifted from lighthearted to serious. She turned to face him, her knee brushing up against his, bring sensations through her veins.

Brooke continued to stare at him as he seemed lost in his thoughts. He then shook his head and dejected his previous state of wonder. "Nah, forget it," he shrugged and chuckled, "Forget it, I don't know what I was talking about." He straightened up in his seat and began fiddling with the bottom of his shirt again, failing to look Brooke in the eyes.

Brooke sensed that he was holding back from whatever he was about to say, and for whatever reason, she wanted him to know that he could open up to her.

"Look," Brooke began, "I know I'm not the easiest person in the world to deal with but…I'm, a pretty good listener…you know, if you need to talk about anything….or whatever."

In just a simple sentence, Brooke had managed to light his bones on fire and steal a piece of his heart. Brooke Davis, with her tough shell and fierce personality, was showing warmth to him, Julian Baker, cliqued brain-less jock.

He faced her and looked into her eyes, which seemed vulnerable and momentarily softened, as if he was looking at her for the first time. As if she were seeing him for the first time…

Brooke couldn't explain the look on Julian's face, but her mind didn't give her a lot of time to ponder what he was feeling when she saw his head slowly inching forward towards her. Was he going to kiss her? She found herself torn, but inching towards him as well…

"Brooke?" Haley yelled out from the sliding porch door. "Where the hell have you been? I've been texting you for nearly two hours!"

Julian bit his lip and internally cursed his sister for ruining the moment.

"Huh?" Brooke thought aloud. She then dug into her pocket to find her phone, and low and behold, there were nine missed texts from Haley. She must have had her phone on silent.

"But, but, I thought you were at Chris's concert right now?" she shot back at her.

"Chris's concert? What? Who told you that?" Haley asked as she got closer to Julian and Brooke's spot on the bench.

Brooke shot Julian a look. He failed to meet her eyes, he looked at the sky, at the ground, anywhere but at the two girls next to him. His ass was as good as busted.

"Julian?" Brooke asked in an angry tone. "Did you happen to know that Haley was inside this whole time?" she asked, her teeth gritted.

Haley looked to him with her hands on her hips and waited for a response. "Julian…?"

"I…may have had a slight idea that that was a possibility," he replied slowly and cautiously.

Brooke rolled her eyes and quickly got up from her spot next to him. Julian instantly looked up at her, missing her presence by him. "I cannot believe you tricked me into getting high with you! You, you, you…jerk!" Brooke scolded him, hitting his shoulder. Her brain was still fuzzy and disoriented but she was doing her best to form coherent sentences and thoughts. Haley, with an angry look attached to her face followed in Brooke's footsteps and also hit him in the shoulder. "Asshole," she remarked, linking arms with an angry Brooke. A weak 'Hey!' was all Julian could mumble out as he held the now sore spot on his shoulder. The girls shot him a dirty look and walked away and back into the house.

If looks could kill…