A/N: Some of the fanfics I read had Troy not being able to fully express what he felt for Gabriella. The Troy Bolton I saw in the movie knew exactly what he wanted. I tried to portray this in this quick and fluffy piece. Troy and Gabriella. One-shot.

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah… Disney owns it… Blah, blah, blah…

Reach the Stars

Cheers and shouts of excitement continued to reverberate throughout the crowd as the masses swarmed through the exit of the gym. Lead by the new basketball champions of East High School, the students spoke of nothing but the highly anticipated after-party ensuring that the glorious night would not end too soon.

The captain of the basketball team, Troy Bolton, looked over to his teammates as they strolled as a group down the corridor towards their locker room. Chad Danforth was whispering conspiratorially in Taylor McKessie's ear with his arm wrapped possessively around her waist. Kelsi Nielsen and Jason Cross walked close together, shoulders barely touching, making shy glances at one another. Zeke Baylor was grinning ear to ear at having Sharpay Evans receiving a piggyback ride from him. Sharpay's brother, Ryan Evans, was still dancing in the distance with fellow drama club members.

Smiling broadly, Troy looked down to his own overly warm hand which tightly held the hand of his new co-star, Gabriella Montez. Without breaking the couple's stride, Troy moved his gaze up her honey-colored arm, finally stopping at Gabriella's face. She was distant; focused completely straight ahead nervously chewing her bottom lip. The firm pressure of her small grasp, however, gave Troy the much needed confirmation that she was well aware of him being there.

Feeling liked she was being watched, Gabriella glanced to the side catching Troy looking at her. Slowly, his smile disappeared and a look of determination was in its place. Butterflies exploded in her stomach when she recognized unfulfilled longing in his expressive blue eyes. The normally bright hue was three times darker than usual and she felt herself drowning in their depths.

Before they realized it, the locker room was in view and the players started saying "See ya later" and "Wait for me" to their respective counterparts. Troy broke the gaze to glance at the locker room door. It took him a split second to decide that he could not wait any longer. He had to finish what he tried to start moments earlier in the gym before Chad interrupted.

"Can we go somewhere right quick? Just down the hall?" Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear.

"Okay," Gabriella replied timidly. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all. Please… come with me."

Gabriella nodded and allowed Troy to lead her further down the hall away from the group. The pace he set was swift and with purpose. Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at the way Troy was pulling her along. He must have been anxious to reach their destination.

Troy heard Gabriella laugh and smiled back at her. She was walking fast with her high heeled shoes trying not to stumble along the way.

"You have to be the slowest person I've ever met!" Troy teased.

"Hey! You know what? Just for that…" Gabriella pulled her hand out of Troy's grasp and reached down to remove her inhibiting shoes. After collecting the shoes in her hands, she broke out in a full sprint down the corridor.

Troy's mouth fell open as he watched Gabriella take a sharp left into one of the building's many wings. If she wanted to play hide-and-seek, he was more than happy to oblige. He proceeded to jog in her direction.

"Gabriella?" Troy called out after reaching the wing she turned into. "Where did you go?"

"Are you saying that the slowest person you've ever met just left you in the dust?" Gabriella smirked from her hiding place.

The sound of her melodic voice carried over from the left side of the hall. Troy took quiet steps towards the location intending to sneak up on Gabriella. As he reached the first door alcove, he felt himself being pulled into the shadowed niche.

"Gotcha," Gabriella grinned. She stepped backwards until her back came to rest against the wall.

Troy moved directly in front of Gabriella and gathered her hands in his. She looked up at him expectantly waiting for him to say something. However, he was at a sudden loss for words. He struggled in his mind trying to figure out how to tell this girl what he was feeling inside. With a sigh, Troy closed the distance between him and Gabriella and rested his forehead against hers. The couple stood that way for few moments before he spoke.

"I… I just wanted to thank you. For everything," Troy began. "For once, I feel like anything is possible. And really, it's all because of you. And I am so sorry for saying this while I'm still sweaty from the game. I wanted to wait, but I couldn't…"

Troy's short ramble lost steam when he saw the small smile on Gabriella's lips. At once, he knew that all doubts he had about her feelings for him were unnecessary. With one last soul-searching gaze, Troy finally kissed Gabriella.

Gabriella had been kissed before, but nothing whatsoever could be compared to what she was feeling right now. Every nerve tingled and her stomach fluttered deliciously. However, to her extreme disappointment, Troy ended the kiss all too soon.

"Why did you stop?" Gabriella pouted.

"I didn't want to get you all sweaty," Troy answered. "I thought girls didn't like that."

"We usually don't. But for you, I'll make an exception."

Grinning, Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist as she glided her hands over his tone shoulders to rest against the back of his neck. He kissed her again. Troy loved how soft her lips felt against his own and soon wanted more. He tentatively deepened the kiss tasting Gabriella's strawberry lip gloss. The soft moan of pleasure from her throat made his heart practically leap out of his chest. As Troy felt Gabriella's fingers weave through his hair, he knew that he could not let this girl go. He ended their kiss once more.

Taking a deep breath, Troy took a leap of faith and asked the question that had been burning in his thoughts. "Gabi? Will you, um…go out with me?"

Gabriella thought his nervous expression was the sweetest thing ever. As if he had anything to worry about.

"Of course, I will."

"Yeah!" Troy beamed, kissing Gabriella yet again.

And together, they somehow reached the stars for the second time that night.

A/N: I'm a fluff-aholic. Can't you tell? Please review and make my day :)