"You know what I hate more than chemistry?" She asked as he joined her in walking up the stairs.

Nathan shrugged, pretty sure he already knew her answer. Brooke Davis and chemistry was like Haley trying to make a basket, not good.

"Nothing?"

"Exactly." Brooke replied, leading the way into the classroom. "I mean, I don't need this to become successful as a fashion designer! Can't we just ditch today, Nate?"

"Not during basketball season." Nathan replied, shooting her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Davis, but Whitey will kill me if he finds out that I ditched. Let's just get this morning over with, alright?"

She dropped down beside him, crossing her arms and pretending to pout. He laughed and elbowed her.

"C'mon, Brooke." He said, still laughing. "We've got a killer party this weekend at my house, alright? We'll have our fun then."

Julian walked in, Tim right behind him. There was an awkward silence as Brooke caught sight of the new boy's black eye.

"Nathan..." She drew out, her eyes narrowing. "You're worried about Whitey finding out that you ditching class, but not about this? Nate... What did you do?"

"Hey." Nathan snapped. "I didn't do anything, alright? So why are you jumping to conclusions, and giving me the third degree, huh? In case you were wondering, that was Tim, not me."

Tim held his hands up in surrender. "That loser was asking for it."

"That loser." Julian replied. "Is sitting right next to you, dumb ass."

Brooke snorted, earning a glare from both of the basketball players. She blushed, flipping her notebook open to a fresh page so she could doodle.

"That's what I thought." Nathan muttered. "Hey, Tim, wanna come to the River Court with Luke, and some of the guys tonight?"

"I'm in it to win it!"

He rolled his eyes. "Just say yes, Tim."

Julian blinked and leaned forward slightly to get a better look at Brooke's picture. She was sketching a dress, with a full skirt. It was beautiful.

Their teacher walked in moments later, announcing that it was yet again time for another lab assignment. Brooke glanced at Nathan and sighed.

Just like the day before, Julian was left out of the conversations. It did surprise him that Nathan Scott was actually doing the work, making little to no mistakes. Brooke, on the other hand, seemed to be completely lost.

His theory was confirmed when she went to pour their chlorine bleach into the ammonia.

"Brooke!" Julian snapped, his fingers locking around her wrist. "Stop! Don't mix those ones!"

She looked up at him in alarm, as Nathan stared him down, his expression dangerous.

"I..." She managed to get out. "I... I'm sorry... I don't know what I..."

"No." He replied, placing the beaker back on the table. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you... It's just that, if those two chemicals are mixed, then it causes some pretty nasty fumes."

Nathan began to mock-applaud, his eyes still dark. "Great, the dork saved the day. Now let go of her."

Julian realized that he was still gripping her arm, but she had wrapped her hand around his own wrist after becoming frightened by his tone.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, releasing his grip on her all together.

"Yeah." Brooke muttered, glancing back at Nathan. "I... Umm... Thank you, Julian... That could have been really bad... Look, I'll admit, I'm not the smartest girl in this school. I'm sorry... I'll try to be more careful next time."

"Stop apologizing, Brooke." Nathan reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "It's not like you were about to blow up the school, or something."

For once, Julian actually agreed with the jock. No one could be good at everything, and it had just been an accident. No one got hurt, and yet, here was this beautiful, intelligent girl, acting as if she had just set the school on fire.

"Don't apologize." Julian echoed. "Honest mistake. Look, if you ever need help, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to tutor you, or whatever."

"Yeah." He said, crossing his arms. "I bet you would be."

The bell rang, and as he always did, he waited for her to collect her belongings and fall into step beside him.

But Brooke stayed where she was, reaching out to hand Julian a spare beaker to be put back in the cupboard. He grinned at her, and much to his surprise, she smiled back.

"Yo, Nate." Tim tugged on his Letterman jacket. "You comin? Let's go find the gang and kick it before next class."

"You go ahead." Nathan replied distractedly. "I'll catch up."

"Nate-"

"Tim." He snapped, tearing his gaze away from Brooke. "I said: I'll. Catch. Up. Now get out of here, and let me deal with this."

Just like with Peyton, and Haley, Nathan had always felt responsible for Brooke. She was an only child, and her parents were never around to give her a second thought. Her heart was so easily breakable, and he just wanted to be the one to keep her from getting hurt again. Brooke Penelope Davis deserved someone who would give up anything to be with her.

Julian Baker was not the guy for Brooke Davis. Nathan would have rather seen her with Tim before he'd ever give his consent to the Brulian relationship.

He didn't like the look the new boy was giving his friend. He swung his backpack over his left shoulder and cleared his throat.

"Brooke." Nathan said, nodding towards the door.

Brooke hesitated, glancing back and forth between the two boys. Finally, she sighed and grabbed her backpack, turning to give Julian one more small smile.

"Brooke." He said again, hooking his hand around her upper arm. "Come on."

She allowed her long time friend to drag her along behind him, only slowing when they neared the stair case.

"Nate..."

"Brooke." Nathan mimicked. "What the hell was that? Do you like this guy, or something? Huh?"

"Of course not!" Brooke snapped, but she felt like she was lying. "God, Nate, he was nice to me, so I was just returning the favor."

Nathan Scott was smarter than people gave him credit for. He'd seen how Julian stared at Brooke, longing for her to notice him. And for the first time, it seemed that the most popular girl at Tree Hill had.

"I hope that's all it was." He replied. "Cause if it's not, then things are gonna get ugly. Listen to me, and listen good, Davis. Stay the hell away from that guy. I don't have a good feeling about him."

She held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, Nate. I promise."

Satisfied, Nathan grinned and slipped his arm around her shoulder, leading the way down the stairs. He had meant what he'd said, things would get ugly if he caught Julian Baker around one of his girls again. He was the type of guy who protected the people he loved.

Julian had knocked Peyton on her ass, strike one.

Julian had made his Hales cry, strike two.

Julian was flirting with Brooke, a girl who was clearly out of his league, strike three.

Nathan had told Brooke that things would get worse if she continued to even acknowledge the new boy's existence. He'd keep his promise, but he was currently thinking that it wouldn't hurt to give Julian Baker a little warning.

He had a plan, now he just needed his boys to back him up.