A/N: Hey; after taking a little break from Here I Am, the One That You Love and revising some stories, I really wanted to try revising/editing/rewriting this fic. It's the most popular one, and as I read it I realized that I would've loved to include some more detail.

Trivia: The Tagalog (Filipino) movie Ngayon Nan Dito Ka. Gabriella is a barely-middle-class girl who lives with her mom. Her older sisters, Sandara and Maya, have recently married. To help her mother, she works in an Internet café. Troy is a rich boy. His dad gave up coaching after Troy graduated high school and signed onto a partnership with an old college buddy. The company has grown greatly, but not without a price. Unknown to Troy, Mr. Bolton, whose health is weakening, is deep in debt and has no way to pay the money back. Kayla Bennington can be imagined as a cross between Miley Cyrus and Kay Panabaker.


Twenty-two-year-old Gabriella Montez sighed—contentedly or tensely, she wasn't sure—as she and twenty-three-year-old Troy Bolton strolled along the dark gray sidewalks of New York City. She'd just come back from a reunion party with their East High friends, and guess who was there? None other than Kayla Bennington, the hotel heiress. Troy's parents had constantly been trying to get Troy and Kayla together, although Troy and Gabriella couldn't figure out why, for the life of them. And perhaps that was what was troubling Gabriella so much. Kayla.

She hated feeling jealous when she knew, deep down, that there really wasn't anything worth worrying about. Troy was hers. He'd always been hers, and he had eyes only for her. She knew that. Everyone knew that. Kayla knew that, she was sure. Gabriella, not exactly wanting to meet Troy's eyes just yet, stared at his feet, walking in step with hers. She smiled a little, remembering how long it'd taken them to actually go out, and how they must have frustrated their friends to death. But it was worth it all. It had finally happened. Sure, she fought with him. But making up was always the best part. They'd go out to a fancier dinner than usual and dance the night away, and the next day was better than before they'd fought...

"Gabi?" For some reason, she seemed distant to Troy. That rarely happened unless she was deep in thought—usually pondering something, or just upset, worried, or angry.

"Hm?" Gabriella looked up, and made the "mistake" of looking into his deep blue eyes. They were like shimmering pools—no, seas—of blue that any girl could get lost in if she was lucky enough to hold his gaze. Gabriella's eyes were what gave it away. Some people say you can read a person's mind by looking deep into their eyes with your heart. And Troy did just that.

"Gabi..." Troy repeated slowly, caringly... gently. "What's wrong?" He draped his arm around her shoulder, protectively holding her closer to him.

"Nothing," Gabriella replied through gritted teeth. She tensed her shoulders and the rest of her body underneath his touch. Her voice was cold and Troy backed off a little, sensing the distance that had somehow formed between them.

The couple walked along about a block more in silence before Gabriella caved. "Troy..." she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "your parents... they... they want you to be with Kayla."

Troy sighed and squeezed her hand. "Gabriella... you're the only one I love, you know that? And, since we've been through this so many times, I'm going to prove it to you once and for all." He looked behind them and saw a worn marble wall that separated them from the garden at the front of a museum. He climbed on top of it and stood near the edge, but not far enough to fall down. "Everybody listen up!"

Gabriella pulled Troy's leg, pleading with him to come down. "Troy, people will think you're drunk," she scolded.

Troy ignored her, continuing: "My heart belongs to Miss Gabriella Montez!"

Some people walked on in annoyance, proving Gabriella's theory that they'd think Troy was drunk. A few others smiled and shook their heads, probably thinking, "those crazy kids," and reminiscing on their young and foolish days of youth; and the rest hooted and clapped, egging Troy on.

Troy was encouraged by those who seemed to applaud for him and his "performance." "And she doesn't believe me, so I'm going to have to prove it to her in front of all of you! I love Miss Montez with all my heart. She's the only one who makes me feel this way—like I'm alive, and that every day is worth living just because she's alive, too." He turned to a pink-faced Gabriella, extending a gentlemanly hand in an offer to pull her up on the wall beside him. She held it, but refused to be pulled. Too mortified to look at the growing crowd, she kept her gaze fixated on his blue eyes, twinkling with mischief and triumph.

"Yes," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Now get down before I kill you."

"Thanks for listening!" he chuckled and waved to the curious onlookers. Soon, the streets were only normally congested. "Now, do you see how silly it sounded when you brought Kayla up?"

"Me?" Gabriella looked at him incredulously. "You're the one who just climbed on top of a wall in New York City and assured some people you were drunk. And I'm the one who was silly?"

"Yes... yes, I think you have it right." A smile tugged at the ends of Troy's lips. "You know I love you, right, Gabi?"

Gabriella smiled up at him and continued walking alongside him, her head now resting on his shoulder and his arms draped around her, holding her close. "Yeah... I know. I love you, too."

"Yeah... I know."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Mom, I'm home!" Gabriella said cheerfully, putting her luggage down and slipping her shoes off.

"How was New York?" Mrs. Montez asked. "That was very nice of Troy to pay for your ticket. I was a little uneasy letting you go off all by yourself... but I knew Troy would take care of you. Then again, you might've never come back."

Gabriella plopped down onto the small couch good-naturedly. Her mom never got tired of teasing her about Troy... and Gabriella secretly suspected that her mom was eager for her to get married and become Mrs. Gabriella Bolton. "Well, to answer your first question, Mom... New York was fun. Ryan and Kelsi work at Broadway, and Kelsi's having a baby soon. Sharpay and Zeke flew over all the way from Burbank, where Zeke's cooking show is. Sharpay's the head of the drama institute there and also pregnant. Chad and Taylor are the only ones besides Troy and I that aren't married—although they are engaged."

"Oh, and that's all that happened?" Mrs. Montez pried casually.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, took the remote control from the coffee table, and began surfing channels. "Yes, Mom."

"Oh." Mrs. Montez couldn't help but be a little disappointed. "Well, Gabi, I'll go make some dinner. How does that sound?"

Gabriella smiled. "That sounds great." She got off the couch and decided to unpack before taking a shower.