DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: Okay, so I said in 'Never Need Anything' that I was aiming to post two one-shots and a couple of chapters, unfortunately I can't actually specify when the chapters are to be posted, so don't hold your breath over any of my stories at the moment! Enjoy!
Remember My Tattoo
The moonlight crept into the room through the crack in his curtains. She followed it with her eyes as it fell over his soft carpet, his school bag, clothes that had been torn off in a desperation that frightened her and finally up to his chest, were her hand was spread over his heart. For a moment, she examined her hand, wondering why out of all places; it had found its way there as she'd collapsed beside him minutes before and then didn't care when she felt him shift, the arm around her waist tightening as he pulled her up onto his chest. Smiling slightly as she slid up onto his sweaty chest, she pulled herself closer to his face as his other arm wrapped tightly around her and she rested her chin where his collarbone dipped. He didn't look at her when she was up on his chest, she doubted whether he would soon and didn't care as his hand began to run up and down her back, letting her know that he was awake. Grinning, she began to kiss along his collarbone, relishing in the salty taste of his sweat as their legs tangled together. Turning her ear to his chest, she wondered how they'd ended up where they were. They'd both known from the very beginning that what they were doing was wrong. Even at the party that had started it all, it had dimly registered in both their minds that they shouldn't even be speaking, let alone in a room tearing at each others clothes. It had always been an unspoken rule that East High's King and West High's Princess, never mingled and yet, West High's Princess hadn't been able to live without East High's King after that one drunken night at a party that he'd gate-crashed.
Shifting her head, to look at him, she jolted in surprise when she discovered his eyes were open and he was watching her with that same charismatic look that had drawn her in the first time she'd looked him in the eye. Pulling herself closer, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips, even though her own were throbbing from the viciousness of his. She was rewarded by a gentleness that never failed to surprise her as his hand ran up her spine again. When she pulled away, his eyes opened and looked at her with an amount of affection that, for some unknown reason, always made her stomach erupt into butterflies.
"Hi." She murmured and he smiled at her lazily, the blue eyes darkening slightly as she shifted to make herself more comfortable.
"Hi." He said, his hand slipping to trace the red number fourteen, encased in the outline of a heart, tattooed on the small of her back as her hand ran up his side.
"You can't leave it alone can you?" She asked softly as his finger traced it again. He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips again as his hand stilled.
"No." He replied simply, rolling over so she was beneath him, her ebony curls spread out over his sheets, the black of them a stark contrast to the light blue. Her own hand slipped to his shoulder blade, where she ran her fingers over the tattoo that read 'Brie', his nickname for her.
"I can't leave yours alone either." She said and he grinned, dropping his head to rest in the curve of her neck. Her other arm slipped around his neck and the silence that seemed to be a trademark of them, fell as he pressed his lips to her neck.
"You're so beautiful." He breathed softly and her arm tightened around his neck as he pulled away to look at her face again. He lifted a hand and ran his fingers down her face, over her jaw as she stared up at him, her eyes gentle as she turned her head and kissed his hand.
"I love you." She said just as softly, watching as his eyes darkened at her words. Letting out a breath, his forehead dropped to rest on hers, his on hers.
"I love you too." He murmured, his lips brushing hers at every word. She made a sound of pleasure that came out as a sigh against his lips and felt him kiss her softly.
"How did we end up here?" She whispered her eyes closed as his lips moved over her cheek and down her neck.
"I'm not exactly sure Princess but, I'm glad we did." He replied as her fingers brushed over his tattoo again.
Gabriella jolted when the bell rang and the hand that had absently been tracing the word 'Brie' on her desk, clenched as her best friend turned to giggle about something that the teacher had said. Forcing a smile and the feeling of his lips on her neck away, Gabriella grinned tightly as her other friends joined them and began giggling over what the teacher had said, some berating her slightly for not paying attention. Gabriella ignored the remarks as she gathered her books and stood up. Almost immediately, three of the girls gathered their own books and followed her out the door. Annoying Gabriella no end as they all chattered about the lesson she hadn't bothered to pay attention to and followed her at the same time, calling out random greetings to people that they believed were worthy of their attention. Gabriella herself automatically smiled and said hello to the people that greeted her, finding the frustration with her popularity grow as two of the girls headed off towards their lockers leaving her with her best friend and a frustration she knew had more to do with her daydream than actual life.
Reaching her locker, Gabriella spun the dial and yanked it open, depositing her books in it and picking up her bag. Looking at it for a moment, she wished it didn't look as bare as it did and then sighed. Who was she kidding? She couldn't put up the picture she wanted to in it, no matter how badly she wanted too.
"Gabs, what's up with you?" Gabriella's wishing came to a halt at her best friend, Amanda's, words. Glancing at her friend, Gabriella sent her a small smile, almost like a peace offering when she saw the annoyance on her friends face and shut the locker.
"Nothing. Why would you think something's up with me?" She asked as Amanda moved a few lockers down and opened her own. Gabriella looked into her friend's locker and sighed, there were pictures plastered all over it, most noticeably pictures of her and her boyfriend.
"Because you do that every time you see my locker," Amanda said dryly and Gabriella snapped her head away from her friends shoulder at Amanda's words. "And there's been something…off about you for the past couple of months." She said and Gabriella took a deep breath, forcing a smile at her friend's words.
"Nothing. Things have just been piling up lately and I guess its put me off." She lied, praying slightly that she was convincing as Amanda raised her eyebrows at the words. Apparently, the lie paid off as Amanda laughed at her words and shook her head, shutting her locker door.
"Gabs, you really need to get yourself a guy," she said, missing the way Gabriella winced at the words. "Actually, you don't need to get one. Why don't you just go out with James? He's been after you for months and months." Amanda said and this time noticed the way Gabriella cringed at the mention of West High's resident popular boy.
"NO!" She exclaimed vehemently as they were approached by the rest of her friends and Amanda raised her eyebrows at the outburst. "Never in a million years will I go out with James. He's a jerk!" She finished and ignored the way some of the girls twittered at the words.
"Yeah, a jerk that's headed this way." Amanda said and Gabriella made a face at her as she turned and caught sight of the majority of West High's basketball team, headed by James, their captain, who was nodding every once in a while at people that called out to him. Forcing a smile that everyone could tell was fake, Gabriella folded her arms tightly across her chest as they reached the group of girls surrounding Amanda's locker, most of the guys taking up positions next to the girls. Gabriella rolled her eyes as James came and stood next to her, stepping away from him when he attempted to slip an arm around her waist.
"Ladies, we were planning on heading to the mall." James addressed the group of girls while keeping his eyes on Gabriella, who had managed to arrange her face so that it looked uninterested in everything that went on before her.
"Really? Mind if we come along?" Amanda asked, glancing at her boyfriend Will, who kissed her nose and caused her to giggle. Gabriella felt something inside her wrench at the way the two acted and quickly ignored it as James spoke again.
"Not at all, we wanted you guys to come along." James said, glancing at the brunette standing beside him, his eyes narrowing at the uninterested look on her face.
"Fine. I'll come." Gabriella said, examining a nail as out of the corner of her eye she watched James's face twist triumphantly before he controlled it into a grin. Rolling her eyes, she glanced at Amanda who was too wrapped up in Will to bother to acknowledge her friends decision. As soon as she'd spoken, the large group that had formed began to break off as they all shouted they'd meet in the food court. Gabriella just nodded and pushed off the locker she'd been leaning against, grateful that Amanda was too wrapped up in Will to notice her walking off. Feeling someone fall into step beside her, Gabriella rolled her eyes again as she realized it was James.
"So, need a ride to the mall?" He asked casually, choosing to ignore the way Gabriella worked her jaw in a circle at his question.
"No." She replied shortly, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she felt him brush against her in a deliberate move she knew put nearly everyone else off balance and annoyed her.
"No. Are you sure, because I was thinking-" Gabriella cut him off, stopping dead and turning to face him, annoyance written all over her face.
"James the answers always going to be no. Just deal with it." She snapped at him and felt her annoyance grow as he merely looked amused at her outburst.
"Its not always going to be no. I mean, you can't deny there's something between us." He said and Gabriella just stared at him.
"James, just because I'm West High's Princess and your West High's-" James cut her off before she could speak, his face twisting in annoyance as he realized what she had been about to say.
"King." He said and Gabriella shook her head in growing anger, her loose ebony curls swaying at the movement.
"No. East High has a King and West High has a Prince." She shot at him, her frustration with him getting the better of her as she watched his eyes flash at his words.
"Troy Bolton is not a King!" He snapped at her and Gabriella just rolled her eyes at the words.
"He's more of a King than you are." She shot back without thinking. Before he could retaliate, Gabriella had stormed off; furious that she had said that and knowing that saying something like that to James would have serious consequences and she hated the fact that it did. God, she hated the fact that the conversation she was just in had been so stupid and shallow and she especially hated the fact that she'd referred to herself as West High's Princess.
Yanking open her car door, Gabriella slid in and slammed it shut. With a sigh, she let her forehead drop to rest on the steering wheel. She supposed that at some point in her first year of high school, being popular had mattered, what everyone else had thought of her had mattered and then it had gotten old. Unfortunately, by then, she was popular and though it was a nice feeling, the expectations of being part of the 'popular' group had weighed down upon her, especially the main three. Date the most popular boy, fit yourself into the pretense that had been created for you and hate East High with everything you were. Those three expectations weren't really expectations, more like ground rules that had the people in the group set for their high school life and Gabriella had obeyed them in a round about kind of way. She had never gone out with the most popular boy in school, instead settling for someone less known, she'd managed to create a pretense about herself that involved more her personality than her looks and she'd only ever bothered with the East High thing when someone called for it and now every single one of those things had crumbled because of something she couldn't even consider a mistake. Because Gabriella knew she'd be lying to herself if she said being with Troy Bolton was a complete mistake.
Troy Bolton had, after she'd recovered from the initial shock of having slept with him, thrown every single thing she'd ever thought or believed in, including the ground rules, out the window. She could remember the way he had watched her when she'd woken up the morning after the party, with those calm blue eyes that she could get lost in even then. He'd watched her as she'd first panicked about being where she was and her parents not knowing, and then about being with him. When the panic had subsided, he'd slipped one arm around her waist and offered to buy her breakfast. Gabriella still wasn't quite sure what it was about him that had made her go weak when he'd offered to buy her breakfast but she hadn't objected to it and had found that East High's King, someone she had perceived to be as arrogant, shallow and all round stupid as James, had, in fact, turned out to be exactly the opposite. Through out the entire breakfast, Troy had been charismatic, unpretentious and clever and every ground rule crumbled when he'd asked her if he could see her again. Because as soon as he'd asked, she'd nodded shyly, the pretense of who she was falling away in those few moments and showing him the shy girl that was hidden beneath the girl she'd created for everyone else. As soon as she'd nodded, the unspoken rule that said she had to go out with the most popular boy at West High had been broken and any hatred she'd felt towards East High had been drained.
Gabriella jolted when she heard her phone go off. Swearing under her breath, she quickly found it and groaned when she saw the message from Amanda that told her to hurry up. She'd forgotten all about going to the mall and wished her mind hadn't turned to Troy as she started her car, almost as much as she was grateful that no-one had been in the car with her. She knew she got a look in her eyes when she thought about Troy. A wistful look her mother had called it when she'd caught her watching him as he'd driven off in his car. Wistful was a good word for it, Gabriella had to admit as she pulled out of the student lot and turned in the direction of the mall. She hated the fact that she couldn't tell anyone about Troy, she especially hated the fact that she couldn't flaunt their relationship a little. They'd both agreed that they couldn't tell anyone about their relationship, when they'd realized that they were in one, nearly eight months ago and as far as Gabriella knew, five other people knew about their relationship. Their parents, Gabriella's had found out due to her lack of a lock on her bedroom door and Troy's had found out because Troy casually mentioned things like it to his father, and Troy's best friend Chad. Who had put two and two together when he'd seen them together at a basketball game and was about as bothered by it as a teenager was when told to clean up their room. Which meant Chad really hadn't cared.
Taking a deep breath, Gabriella pulled into the mall car park and quickly found a space beside Will's car. Grabbing her purse, Gabriella got out of her car and headed for the elevator. Stepping in one, she pressed the level for the food court and waited patiently as it smoothly made its way upwards. She smiled at the baby who grinned at her, showing two bottom teeth and a lot of gum as the elevator doors slid open and Gabriella stepped out. Making her way to the food court, Gabriella took a deep breath as her eyes searched for her friends. Her eyes moved over the various teenagers before she let out a gasp at the sight at the far end of the court. Feeling her heart begin to pound, Gabriella took deep steadying breaths as she weaved her way through the tables towards the stand off happening. Reaching it, Gabriella glanced at Amanda who was standing behind Will, a look of slight fear one her face as James as she stepped towards the two boys glaring at each other ferociously.
"Guys, what's going on here?" Gabriella spoke loudly, sparing a quick glance at Chad, who was standing behind a coolly amused Troy. He winked at her, a sign she knew meant that Troy was in control. Glancing at James, Gabriella swallowed slightly at the look of intent fury on his face.
"Bolton decided to show up." James spat and Gabriella raised her eyebrows at his words, it was stupid reason for him to get so riled up, but Gabriella had learned very early on with James that any sign of East High and the unwarranted hate he had for the school showed itself.
"So? It's a free country." Troy replied, allowing a quick glance at Gabriella who was continuing to stare at James.
"This is our turf." James shot at him and Gabriella just rolled her eyes at the words.
"James it's a mall. It isn't anyone's turf. Now back away before you do something you're going to regret." Gabriella snapped at him, placing one hand on his chest and one hand on Troy's. With as much strength as she could muster, Gabriella pushed against them, glaring at James when he barely moved.
"It's ours and Bolton knows it too," James spat at her and Gabriella just rolled her eyes at his words.
"James, stop being a complete jerk. They're allowed to be here, the mall isn't anyone's turf!" Gabriella shot at him, glancing around at the other shoppers in the food court who were shooting them curious looks.
"Your wasting your breath, he's not going to listen to you." Gabriella glanced at Troy as he spoke, noting the disgust in his eyes and letting out a quiet sound of relief when she realized he was going to be the one backing off. "Your lucky your little girlfriends here James, otherwise I would have flattened you." Troy said and Gabriella winced at his words, knowing how much it cost him to say something like that.
"I'm sure you would have attempted it." James said, his eyes flicking down to Gabriella's hands, both which were still placed resolutely on either one of their chests. Troy laughed at his words and then, with one last glance at Gabriella, stepped away, raising his hands in a mock surrender that had James's mouth twisting in fury. Gabriella's hand dropped away from James's chest as she turned to watch the East High boys walk away, Troy didn't glance back once, but Chad did and he winked at her, Gabriella shot him a small smile before turning around to look at James in disgust.
"God, you really are a jerk, you know that? I bet you anything you started that!" She snapped at him, ignoring the way Amanda looked at her curiously. James just stared at her as if she was stupid.
"Yeah, I did. Do you have a huge problem with that?" He shot at her and Gabriella groaned and ran a hand through her hair.
"James, last time you bothered to get into a fight with Troy Bolton, you ended up knocked out for an entire day! For God's sake, ignore East High for once in your life!" Gabriella snapped at him and threw up her hands when she saw shocked looks on everyone else's faces. Letting out a breath, Gabriella had a sudden need to be wrapped up in Troy's arms as she watched the people she considered friends whisper things about what she had just said.
"Ignore them? Why should I ignore them?" James asked as Gabriella heard her phone go off. In a deliberate move to show that the conversation was over, Gabriella reached into her bag and pulled it out. Raising it in front of her face, Gabriella opened the message and bit her lip when she saw who had sent it. She ignored the way James stormed past her and instead lowered her phone and her eyes flicked around the edge of the food court. Her eyes landed on Troy, who lowered his phone, turned around and walked into the clothing store behind him. Glancing back at the message that said 'follow me', Gabriella shoved her phone back into her bag and began to walk towards the store.
"Where are you going?" Amanda's voice rang out suddenly, causing Gabriella to stop and turn around. The strawberry blonde broke away from her boyfriend to walk over to her best friend. Her expression suspicious.
"Over to that store," Gabriella pointed vaguely in the direction of the store Troy had walked into.
"Why?" Amanda demanded and Gabriella just rolled her eyes at her friends tone. Not impressed with it.
"Because I want too." She snapped and Amanda glanced back at their group of friends, before grabbing Gabriella's hand and dragging her off towards the store.
"Gabs, what is up with you? You've been acting so weird for the past couple of months, and I know it's not schoolwork or your parents! I'm your best friend, why can't you tell me what's wrong with you?" Amanda pleaded, her face close to Gabriella's as she searched it for something that might give her a hint towards her best friends behavior. Gabriella swallowed at the plea in Amanda's voice, wondering what would happen if she told.
"Because nothing is wrong," seeing her friend about to argue, Gabriella just raised her hand. "No, listen to me Mands, nothing is wrong, if there was something wrong, do you honestly think I wouldn't have told you already?" Gabriella asked and Amanda just looked at her, her eyes continuing to search the brunettes face as Gabriella felt her phone vibrate in her bag, a signal that Troy was waiting impatiently.
"No." She answered honestly and Gabriella nodded as if satisfied with her answer.
"That means that whatever's making me act weird is making me happy okay? Now, I really want to go into that store, I can see a really cute miniskirt." Gabriella said, feeling slightly desperate to distract her friend so she could see Troy.
"Oh, come on then, I see the one you're talking about." Amanda said and Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief, following her friend into the store. Walking into the store, Gabriella caught sight of Troy, who met her eyes and then turned around and walked into the change rooms. Very quickly, Gabriella grabbed some clothes as Amanda wandered over to the dresses. Showing the clerk what she had compiled, Gabriella walked into the change rooms.
"Troy?" She whispered, looking around at the two rows of changing cubicles. Immediately, one of the doors swung open and Gabriella slipped into the cubicle. She dropped her clothes and wound her arms around Troy's neck as his lips met hers in a desperate kiss. Troy backed her into the wall as their tongues dueled and Gabriella pressed herself as close to him as she could as his hands slipped to her thighs and he lifted her up. Her legs wound themselves around his waist on instinct as his lips raced over her face, down her neck were Gabriella gasped when she felt the scrape of his teeth, her hands gripped his shirt as his hand slipped to her back to trace her tattoo. Wanting to make the most of having him with her, Gabriella yanked Troy's lips up from her neck and kissed him hard, his hand resting itself just under her bra clasp. Dropping her legs from his waist, Gabriella dropped to her feet, her lips still attached to Troy's as her hands worked their way down to the hem of his shirt. Tugging on it, Gabriella took a breathless moment as it came off and dropped to the dressing room floor before his lips descended on hers again, his fingers loosening the buttons of her shirt as her back hit the wall again. A moan erupted from her lips when she felt his hand brush her breast and her fingers wound their way through the contours of his body as his hand slipped towards her bra clasp, the feel of his hand running over her body causing her to moan again.
"Excuse me? Are you alright in there?" The sound of the sales clerk's voice had them pulling apart, breathless and embarrassed as Troy coughed slightly.
"Yeah, everything's fine," he turned his eyes to Gabriella, who was leaning against the wall, trying to control her breathing. "Why?" He inquired, reaching over and pulling Gabriella back towards him.
"Someone heard something bang in here. Well, if its not you than I'll go check the others." Gabriella listened as the clerk walked away from them and checked the remaining change rooms.
"I can't believe that just happened." She whispered and Troy let out a burst of laughter as he ran a hand through her hair.
"I can. You make a loud noise when you bang against the wall." He replied and Gabriella sighed at his words. Resting her head against his chest, she kissed his chest before turning her face up towards him.
"When was the last time I saw you?" She asked quietly and Troy shrugged, his eyes darkening slightly as he looked at her.
"Last week? I think I came over and then had to climb down your tree because Amanda came in." He replied and Gabriella closed her eyes at his words, her arms creeping around him.
"Oh yeah, I remember now, she asked me why my shirt was on backwards when she saw me." Gabriella said and Troy chuckled at her words, placing a kiss on her head.
"At least you had a shirt on. I got a weird look from your neighbor when she saw me in the front yard." He said and Gabriella giggled slightly at his words.
"I know. She came over to speak to Mom about it," she told him and Troy let out a breath at her words.
"Great. Now I've lost your mom's trust." Troy ran his hand through her hair again as he spoke and Gabriella shook her head, placing another kiss on his chest before replying.
"No. She just laughed it off and said that all teenagers were going to do something like that, no matter what she does." Gabriella closed her eyes briefly as she spoke, enjoying just being close to Troy.
"Lucky for us your Mom's so cool, huh?" He asked thoughtfully and Gabriella laughed at his words.
"As long as she doesn't find out about your number tattooed on my back, she'll be the coolest mother in the world." She said and Troy just shook his head.
"Probably. The guys were asking about you the other day," he said and Gabriella pulled back to look up at Troy inquisitively.
"Why?" She asked and Troy shrugged, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at the wall.
"Because of my tattoo. They all wanted to know who Brie was." Troy said and Gabriella bit her lip slightly.
"What'd you say?" She asked and Troy turned his eyes back to hers, smiling slightly at the worry in her eyes.
"I told them that you were the luckiest girl in the world," he informed her and Gabriella's eyebrows rose at his words.
"Yeah?" She asked and Troy nodded somberly.
"Yeah, I told them you were lucky because I couldn't think of anything else to tattoo on my back." He said and laughed when Gabriella pinched him.
"Ha ha. You are just the king of sarcasm aren't you?" She asked dryly, pulling away from him and beginning to button up her shirt. Troy nodded his head, leaning down to pick up his own shirt. Gabriella's breathing hitched slightly when she saw her name on his back, the tattoo rippling slightly as he picked up his shirt.
"You betcha Brie." He said, straightening and stretching as she leaned against the wall he'd had her pinned against only minutes before. Gabriella continued to watch him as he pulled his shirt on, scratching his head as the shirt fell down. With a flash of sadness, Gabriella suddenly realized that they needed to leave. Biting her lip, she averted her eyes from Troy and focused on the floor, trying to fight the sadness that coursed through her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Gabriella ignored his gentle voice as she continued to fight the sadness. Swallowing slightly, Gabriella allowed him to tilt her face towards his, his hand on her chin. She continued to fight as his eyes swept over her face, before settling on hers. "I know you hate it." He spoke softly and Gabriella bit her harder at his words.
"I hate it so much." She whispered and Troy smiled sadly at her words. Leaning down he pressed a gently kiss to her lips and pulled back.
"I know baby, but no-one gets hurt this way. You know how much your school hates us." He said and Gabriella nodded at his words. They both knew that announcing their relationship would end with one or both of them getting hurt, physically or mentally.
"I know. I wish they wouldn't. I'm sorry about James." She whispered and Troy just moved his shoulders.
"I'm sorry I called you his little girlfriend." He replied and Gabriella let out a weak giggle at his words.
"I know. I love you." She said softly and Troy grinned at her words.
"I love you too. If you need proof of that, remember your name is tattooed on my back." He said and this time the giggle that escaped her wasn't weak.
"And if you need proof of mine, remember your number is tattooed on my back as well." She replied and Troy let out a chuckle.
"I'm not going to forget that. I need to go. Chad can only make up lies for a certain amount of time." Troy said sound regretful and Gabriella smiled at his wistfully.
"Tell him I said hi." She said and Troy nodded, leaning down to kiss her goodbye for several long moments before he pulled away. Gabriella still had her eyes firmly closed when his mouth moved to her ear.
"Remember my tattoo." He whispered, kissing just behind it gently and Gabriella nodded as he kissed her once more before stepping out of the change room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Gabriella took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, hating the fact that he had just left. Closing her eyes, Gabriella's mind flashed to his tattoo and she suddenly realized Troy was right, all she needed to remember was his tattoo and how much he loved her, the words he'd never said, came back to her in a rush and for that one moment, nothing but the tattoo she knew was on his back and the love she knew he felt for her mattered.
A/N: So probably not one of my best one-shots, or well rounded, but oh well. I think it would have turned out differently if I hadn't written it over a few days. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!