DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: I had an inexplicable urge to write something like this and I gave in! That's about all I can say!

Make or Break

"What?" She stared at him in complete and utter shock. Unable to move, unable to think as he stared back, his face set, the characteristic arrogance and assurance that was always in his eyes, in his face, uncharacteristically not there. She searched his face desperately for a way out of the room, a way out of the present situation and found none. He was standing there offering her everything that she'd always dreamed of and more and she couldn't say anything. Couldn't tell him what she felt, what she'd hidden from both of them. They both heard the head coach shout for him and still neither moved as he took a breath.

"I asked you to marry me." His tone of voice had no confidence in it; in fact she'd heard the tiniest of tremors in there and felt herself melt at it. Willing herself to not give in to those blue eyes, she shook her head as she tried to clear it and heard him take a breath.

"You don't have to say yes straight away, I didn't expect you too anyway, I'm telling you exactly what I want and the only thing I want, right here, right now, is for you to marry me." He said and she stared at him as he turned from her and fished around in his bag. She gaped as he pulled out a small, black velvet box and turned back to her. His eyes no longer on her but on the box he held.

"Why?" She whispered and his eyes snapped to hers, the blue of them boring into her own with such intensity she felt her knees grow weak.

"Because I love you," He replied and then shoved the box into her hand. She looked down at it and than back up at him, her eyes wide, a hint of disbelief in them present as she stared at him. "Yes, I love you Gabriella, whether you believe it or not, I do and because of that I want to marry you. Think about it." He said when he heard his coach's voice yell for him, much more loudly and much more closely. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers forcefully and Gabriella felt her own response to the kiss even before her mind registered what she was doing.

He pulled away from her and left her standing in the LA Lakers locker room alone and weak at the knees. Staring at the small box in her hand, Gabriella sank to the floor and took deep shaky breaths. For the second time since meeting him, he had thrown her world into chaos but this time with something much, much more important than a simple grin. Taking a deep breath, she flipped open the lid of the box, some part of her still believing that this was some cruel joke he'd concocted without reason and then felt even fainter when she saw the gleaming diamond set into the simple white-gold band. God, he'd even known what ring to buy her. This went beyond the simple flirtation, the casual, step-by-step relationship that they had entered into nearly six months before. Love; did he even know how desperately she wanted him to mean that? Did he know that every night she'd spent curled up in his arms she'd prayed and hoped that one day he would love her? Dropping the box and pulling her knees up to her chest, Gabriella took deep breaths, trying to push away the faint feeling he'd evoked in her. When it didn't leave, Gabriella buried her face in her knees and felt the first tears since he'd left burn her eyelids.

Why her? Why did he have to pick her, out of every girl falling over themselves trying to get to him, why the hell was she the one he settled for? They weren't even allowed to be involved, simple flirting was the only thing they had, technically, been allowed. She was the dietitian, part of the team behind the team, she remembered the head coach telling her, on her first day. The team that made sure the LA Lakers were the best possible, her involvement as important as the rest. At first she'd figured that all she had to do was sit at a desk behind a computer and put together meals that would produce the best possible results for the athletes she'd been hired to help, not once did she think that she would be hauled out of that office and told to lecture a room full of men on the best way to eat. All the coaches had thought it was a wonderful idea, some commenting that seeing as she was so gorgeous the players were bound to listen to her. She could clearly remember that as soon as she had entered that room, she'd met striking blue eyes that had, momentarily, knocked any form of coherent thought out of her. She'd known who he was as soon as he'd turned his eyes away from her; you couldn't live in Los Angeles and not have any idea who Troy Bolton was.

And she had an idea. It was hard to ignore someone that was that good-looking, earned millions of dollars a year and had been involved with so many beautiful women that not even the media could keep up with him and had the ability to charm any person with that gorgeous grin that made girls swoon, Gabriella thought with a hint of a smile. Even harder when they took an immediate interest in you. If she'd known that she was going to fall head-over-heels in love with Troy Bolton than Gabriella was almost certain she would never have even considered answering any of his questions about her talk, or laughed at his jokes or noticed the way his grin always made his eyes more compelling. Those questions had turned to conversations and those conversations were the reason that she'd agreed to go out with him. A simple dinner between friends was what he'd told all the coaches when they'd all reminded him of the rule about players and coaching staff becoming involved. Even then Gabriella had been well aware of what was going to happen during that dinner and it had been magnified by the attraction that had boiled over when he'd taken her back to his house and they'd ended up making love.

Their entire relationship had escalated from there and no sooner had the media gotten a hold of what he was up to had she realized that in the short space of time she'd known him, she'd fallen in love with him. The scary realization of it was that she was twenty-four years old, had not planned of even getting involved with anyone, had just starting a job that she'd desperately wanted and had fallen in love with a man that was known for his womanizing and had made it clear that being involved in a committed relationship and love were not for him.

And here she was sitting on the floor of the LA Lakers locker room, hugging her knees to her chest and crying because that man, the arrogant, charming, wonderful man, who'd, told her he wouldn't fall in love at all with her or any other girl, had just proposed to her and told her he loved her. Right before the championship game that could make or break his career. Letting out a tiny sob, Gabriella buried her face into her knees deeper.

"Gabriella?" Her head snapped up and she sighed in relief when she saw her best friend standing in the doorway of the locker room, looking around it with a certain apprehension, before looking at her friend.

"Taylor, oh God, Taylor," Gabriella whispered and Taylor slipped into the room to kneel beside her best friend, worry etched across her face as Gabriella took deep shaky breaths.

"Sweetie what's wrong? Troy was late out to warm-up and you've missed the first quarter of the game, they're winning by ten," Taylor informed her and Gabriella shook her head slightly. Leaning down, she grabbed the small box Troy had given her and shoved it in front of Taylor's face.

"He asked me to marry him Tay. He wants to marry me." Gabriella whispered as Taylor's face went from worry to shock as she stared at the contents of the box. Her dark eyes snapped back to her friend and Taylor almost smiled.

"He loves you then, Troy always told Chad that he would never marry unless he really loved the girl," Taylor said referring to her own boyfriend as Gabriella wiped away the tears on her cheeks.

"I know. He told me he loved me, he loves me Taylor," Gabriella half-whispered, still unable to believe what he'd said and Taylor smiled at her friend.

"I know sweetie, it's written all over his face whenever he's with you," Taylor said, rubbing Gabriella's arm comfortingly and Gabriella closed her eyes. "Gabi, why are you still here? Having Troy love you is the only thing you've wanted for a while now, why are you so afraid to believe it?" Taylor asked softly and Gabriella looked at her friend.

"Because I don't want it to not be real." She whispered and Taylor fought a smile, Gabriella had always been so afraid of believing in things that were right in front of her and right now was a textbook example, presented with the only thing, Taylor suspected, she'd ever really, truly wanted it wasn't surprising that she was sitting in the room in tears about the fact that she was afraid it wasn't real.

"Gabs, its real, it's always been real with you two." Taylor said softly and Gabriella looked at her. Chewing her bottom lip slightly, she let out a breath and then gave a watery smile.

"I love him Tay; I want to marry him, why couldn't I say yes?" She questioned and Taylor smiled at her friend.

"Because you were too busy being shocked and afraid to realize that it was real." She replied and Gabriella looked at the ground. They were silent for a few moments before Gabriella spoke again.

"Is he playing alright?" She asked softly and Taylor smiled at her.

"He could use a pick up, come on; I think I know just what he needs." Before Gabriella could say anything Taylor had shoved the ring back at her and yanked her off the floor and out the door.

The two entered the stadium and Gabriella felt like her eardrums had broken at the screams and shouts of fans as the two teams battled it out for ultimate glory. Allowing Taylor to lead her to the courtside seat that had been reserved for her, Gabriella sat down and looked at the scoreboard, shocked that there was now only one point separating the two teams and that it was the third quarter. Turning her attention back to the game, Gabriella watched as Troy's eyes flicked over to her and instantly became lighter. Smiling slightly, she watched as all his concentration returned to the game at hand and he threw the ball to his teammate.

He was the only thing she concentrated on as the game went on. She knew that it was intense, scary and physical by the way he moved. Every point he or his teammates made, the Chicago Bulls had an answer for. Gabriella was well aware of Taylor next to her and much to aware of the velvet box in her pocket as she yelled and encouraged. Shouted and cursed. She glanced at the clock as Troy went flying down the court and froze when she saw the three seconds remaining as he reached the three pointer line and shot the ball. The crowd screamed as the ball sailed in and the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game. For a moment, Gabriella watched in complete awe as the entire LA Lakers team surrounded him and he was engulfed by them.

"He scored, Gabriella, your man scored!" Taylor yelled into her ear and Gabriella shook her head. Looking around wildly for a moment she saw the fans screaming and gulped.

He could see her in his minds eye as he detached himself from every hand that had to touch him. He really couldn't care less about the game or the championship or the glory that came with it all. All he cared about was her answer. Pushing his way through the crowd, ignoring the whispers that all but said they knew who he was looking for, Troy saw her and was there in two strides. Before she could say anything he'd yanked her to him and kissed her, lifting her off the ground as her arms wrapped around his neck and his tongue invaded her mouth. He didn't care that he was hot, sweaty and he could tell she didn't either as her legs wrapped tightly around him and the second he'd let her have for air was cut short as she kissed him again.

Feeling dizzy, Gabriella drew away from him, her mind flashing as she rested her forehead against his and he kissed her chin.

"Yes," she breathed as he kissed her again quickly. "Yes I'll marry you." She finished and their lips crashed together as Gabriella felt everything slide into place and Troy suddenly understood that whatever he had believed in before, her answer was the one that would make or break him.

A/N: So, that may have been slightly cough, cough incomplete and not brilliant. But I felt like writing something like this, so I did!