Hate That I Love You

Gabriella's POV

Troy Bolton is the only man I will ever love. I know that seems unrealistic because I'm only a high school junior, but it's true. I wish it weren't though. I wish with all my heart that I could meet another guy and magically, all the pain searing my heart would go away. As a matter of fact, I could be on a date right now. Right this very second I could be being whisked away by some strong and handsome, green-eyed brunette. My best friends' Taylor McKessie and Sharpay Evans decided that in an effort to get over Troy I needed to go on a date and 'unravel my captured spirit.' Taylor's words not mine. Long story short, they set me up with Adam and I flaked out. I know, I'm a horrible friend for putting them through the trouble then backing out. In my defense, I didn't want to do it in the first place, and I also think it's wrong to use somebody to get over someone else. If this were a movie, I'd be on that date and eventually I'd marry Adam, have kids, then we'd turn old and wrinkly together. I'd live happily ever after with my soul mate, and I'd forget all about Troy. Unfortunately this is not a movie, and I will never forget Troy Bolton. He was my forever, we were deeply in love, but I guess love isn't always enough. At least it wasn't enough for Troy.

If Troy hadn't cheated on me, I wouldn't be lying on my bed eating Ben&Jerry's ice cream, while watching 'He's Just Not That Into You' with a tear-stained face and my bunny pajamas on at ten pm like I am right now. Trust me, watching a movie that's basically telling me to get over him because obviously he didn't love me as much as I thought, does not help. I strongly do not recommend watching this movie after a break-up. Talk about depressing.

"Troooooyyyyyyyyyyyy!" I wail out into the open air.

Grrr…that little son of a booty head. Haha. Booty head. No one but me uses such language. If Troy were here and could read my thoughts, he'd be teasing me. People don't get why I refuse to curse, but I find it perfectly understandable. I'm a strong believer in Christ, and the bible says to keep corrupt talk far from your lips, so that is exactly what I'm doing. Apparently Troy couldn't accept that I plan on staying a virgin till marriage, so he just had to do it with Amy Phillips. I can't stand that chick. If there are three things in this world I can't stand they're bananas, coconuts, and Amy Phillips. Because of her, the days of Troy's teasing me are over. I think that's one of the things I'll miss most about him. I remember all those trips to McDonalds, the absolute best fast food joint in the world. We used to fight about that all the time.

Flashback

I giggled at Troy's off-key singing, as the wind whipped through my hair. Its midnight and me and Troy are on one of our fast food stake-outs. Right now, we were singing along to 'Hate That I Love You' with the windows down. I'm probably the only person who knows he can really sing, and when I say really sing I mean he can really sing!

I smiled at Troy while I belted out Rihanna's part of the song, "But I hate it...you know exactly what to do, so that I can't stay mad at you, for too long, that's wrong."

"But I hate it...you know exactly how to touch, so that I don't want to fuss... and fight no more, said I despise that I adore you," Troy sang while caressing my skin with his free hand.

"And I hate how much I love you boy
I can't stand how much I need you (can't stand how much I need you)
And I hate how much I love you boy
But I just can't let you go (but I just can't let you go no..)
And I hate that I love you so"

I couldn't help but close my eyes contently as our voices collided into a graceful harmony, "And I hate that I love you so…so..."

I squealed as the song ended, "That is so going to be our song!"

He chuckled, "Oh yeah? Well, as long as you don't tell anyone I was actually singing our song..."

I raised an eyebrow as his voice trailed off, "What happens if I do tell?"

"I'm sure you don't want to go there."

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "That's just your way of trying to sound tough. Heaven knows you wouldn't hurt me if your life depended on it."

"I'm beginning to think you know me a little too well," He said while glancing at me before fixating his gaze on the road again.

I giggled, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. So where exactly are we going?"

I patted Troy's arm, "My dear boyfriend, have you not yet learned? I swear I've told you this a gazillion times. We are headed to the absolute best fast food restaurant to reach planet Earth, Mickey D's!"

Troy rolled his eyes, "Yeah and every time you tell me that I say we're going to Burger King. Which by the way is the most bestest, awesomest, and amazingest fast food restaurant to reach planet Earth! That's why it's called Burger King!"

"Well at least I don't have to make up words to make my favorite fast food place sound as fantastic as it is. Besides, where do always end up going?" I shot back knowing that I'd won.

He pouts, "That's not fair. I mean I'm the one who's paying. Shouldn't I get to pick where we go to?"

"Sorry buddy! It all comes with the 'I get to be Gabriella's boyfriend' package!"

"Fine, we'll go to McDonalds. No one else in the world could get me to cave like that," He mumbled.

I smiled giddily, "I know! It's a gift! Feel it, cave into it, and embrace it! Now gun it baby, I have a Big Mac calling my name!"

Troy laughed, "I love you so much, you know that?"

I smiled, "Yup! You tell me like fifty times a day, and every single time I respond the exact same way. But just to set the record straight, I love you too."

Troy pulled his black G-Force into the McDonalds drive through and I turned the radio down as we reached the intercom.

"Hey, Troy, make sure you remember the cheese. Okay? I repeat remember the cheese on my Big Mac this time."

He waved his hand distractedly as he scoped out the menu, "Yeah, yeah, don't I always."

I rolled my eyes, "No. I'm serious Troy."

"Yeah, babe, I got it."

I know he's going to forget it. He always does. That's one of the major differences between me and Troy. I always get the exact same thing at McDonalds, whilst Troy gets something different every time. Okay, it's not that major of a difference, but when his un-decisive mind makes him forget the cheese on my burger, it reaches a new level of importance.

When we finally got our food I reached in the bag for my burger, and discovered Troy did indeed forget the cheese.

"You forgot my cheese again," I whined.

"Oh, I did? Sorry babe, I could've sworn I remembered this time."

I frowned, "No, you didn't."

"Well I'm sorry. You still love me don't you?"

I crossed my arms.

He poked me gently, "Come on!"

I shook my head.

He poked me again, and again, and again.

"Okay! Fine, I forgive you for forgetting my beloved cheese!"

He laughed, "I knew you'd give in"

"And I hate that I love you…," I sung.

"Sooooo…," Troy finished.

Flashback End

I wiped the tears that had escaped my eyes while recalling the memory. If I were to say I didn't miss Troy, I'd be straight lying to your face. I don't understand why I can't let him go. I mean he cheated on me for goodness sakes! When Debby McCloud came up to me and told me she heard that Troy and Amy did what they did, I was in utter disbelief. But the more I thought about it, the more it added up. Debby and Amy weren't exactly friends so she wasn't scamming me, and they're both cheerleaders so she could've easily overheard in the locker room. Despite all the stares and whispers practically confirming Troy cheated on me, I still wanted to ask him. I guess I was desperate. When I approached him I knew the minute I looked at his face that he had cheated on me with Amy Phillips, so when he said "I guess you heard" I just darted off down the hall.

I heard my phone ring and sighed in frustration. This has to be the fifty-seventh time Troy has called me since I found out about his little affair.

Weighing the consequences I decided to answer the phone.

"Look Troy, I don't want to talk so just leave me alone."

"Troy? Um…this is Adam," Replied a confused voice.

I stared at the phone in shock before quickly responding.

"Oh! A-Adam! Sorry about that! What's up?" I looked at my nails nervously.

"Well, I just wanted to see if your mom was feeling better and maybe reschedule that date?"

I slapped my forehead. Yup, I was stupid enough to lie to the poor guy. I just couldn't turn him down. He is so sweet.

"Look Adam. I think you're an amazing guy, and I really wish I were ready for dating right now. But I can't. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, uh yeah. No problem," He said in a dejected tone.

I sighed, "I'm sorry! Truth is, my boyfriend, or whatever he is just cheated on me three days ago. I think you're a great guy, but I'm not ready."

"Oh, wow! No rush! I'm real sorry. He must be a really stupid guy if he let you go."

I looked at the movie on pause, "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'm the stupid one here."

"Nah, you're to smart to be stupid." He laughed.

I smiled, "Ah, funny too. Can't believe I'm letting you go! You seem like quite a catch."

"No worries, I'm just one of those fish lurking in the pond. Feel free to reel me in whenever you want," He laughed. "But seriously, if you ever need me I'm a call away. That is if you save my number."

I laughed, "It crossed my mind once or twice."

He chuckled, "Alright. Goodnight Gabriella."

"Night Adam."

I smiled as I hung up. Why did I just turn down such a great guy? Oh yeah, Troy!

As I pressed play on my movie, I eventually drifted off into a deep slumber with my phone by my ear.

X . O . X . O

Thought I couldn't live without you
It's gonna hurt when it heals too

Ohh yeahh
It'll all get better in time
Even though I really love you
I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to
It'll all get better in time

I stirred awake as I heard Troy's ring tone fill my ears. I had changed it when I found out he cheated on me, because I felt it fitted really well.

"Hello?" I grumbled.

I glanced at the clock. 12:36 it read. What in the heck was Troy doing call me at this hour?!

"Gabriella? I need you to go out to your balcony."

"Troy? Why are you calling me at midnight? In case you haven't noticed, I don't want to talk to you right now. Actually, I don't ever want to talk to you." I spoke impatiently into the phone.

"I know, but you have to let me explain. Please, just come out to the balcony."

I glanced out to my balcony, and couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that he wasn't standing there like usual.

"Listen. It is 12:37 and I am not going outside for a twisted jerk-wad like yourself, got it?! So if you wouldn't mind letting me go back to sleep, I—" I stopped when Troy cut me off.

"Just come out, god dang it Brie!"

I sat up wide awake with anger bubbling over in my chest.

"Excuse ME?! Don't get mad with me 'Mr. ILoveGabriellaButTakeCareOfMySexualNeedsWithAmyPhillips'! I'm doing you a favor by even listening to your disgusting voice!"

Troy sighed. "I know, and I'm s—wait what?!" He asked confusingly.

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me. "You heard me!"

"Look I don't know what you're talking about, but can you just come out on your balcony? Please. That's all I'm asking."

I sighed, and despite all the anger and resentment I felt towards him, I got off my bed and made my way to the balcony door.

"Why?"

"Just…please."

I opened the door and walked outside. When I walked to the railing and looked down, I saw he wasn't on the ground. Anywhere.

"Troy, why did you make me--," I began to turn around then let out a piercing scream before I felt a hand cover my mouth.

"Shhhhh! It's me." Troy said while trying to cover up his laugh.

I frowned and walked away from him. "That is not funny! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Oh it so was! You should've seen your face!" He said while doing a mock impression of a terrified Gabriella.

"This is a waste of sleep. I'm going inside." I walked around Troy and to the door.

As I tried to turn the handle on the only entry to my room, I realized it wouldn't open.

"What the…" I said as I tried again.

"It's locked." I heard him say behind me.

I whipped around, only to come face to face with a smirking Troy dangling the key.

"You didn't." I said with narrowed eyes.

"Oh yes, I did," He replied haughtily. "But only because we really need to talk, and you won't answer my calls."

"Yeah, well this is called kidnapping. And I have a pretty darn good reason as of to why I shouldn't answer your calls."

Troy rubbed his forehead exasperatedly, "I know. I should've pulled away when she first tried to kiss me, and I'm sorry. I just really needed to talk to you. I haven't been able to sleep, and I figured if we talked this out maybe we could fix this."

With my mouth hanging open in shock, I finally noticed how disgruntled he looked. His usually combed out chestnut hair, was sticking up in all directions in a bed head look. The gorgeous cerulean eyes I find myself lost inside had dark purple bags resting under them, and it looked like he didn't take much time to getting dressed, which is kind of surprising for a pretty boy like Troy. He wore an old red t-shirt with white wildcat lettering on the front, along with that he had indigo basketball sweat shorts on. Heck, he didn't even have socks on. But despite all that, he looked hot. Really hot.

"We will never fix this. Got it? So you mines well go, because I can tell you right now you're wasting your time." I answered in low and fierce tone.

"I—I just thought…" He looked shocked.

"You thought what Troy?!" I yelled.

He looked down, "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be this mad."

My mouth literally dropped open, "You didn't WHAT?! Troy just GO!"

"Please Brie, can we at least talk this out. I have my car waiting. I'll even take you to McDonalds." He looked at me pleadingly.

"If I go, will you leave me alone?" I shut my eyes after realizing I'd just caved.

Troy looked at me uncertainly, "Uh, I—I don't know Brie."

"Well then you can unlock this door, and forget about me going."

He sighed in despair. "Fine. If you come and we don't work this out, I promise to leave you alone."

"Okay then. I guess we have a tree to climb." And with that I put my legs over the railing and hopped onto the tree I was expected to climb down.

Soon after, Troy landed on the ground with a thud next to me, and we ran to his car.

Once we got inside, I put my seatbelt on and stared straight ahead. I heard Troy turn the radio on and just to my luck 'Hate That I Love You' came on. I almost cried, but managed to hold back my tears in fear of Troy seeing them.

Despite how hard I tried to fight it, I glanced at Troy and he smiled weakly back at me.

Not long after, I couldn't stand it any longer, and I turned the radio off abruptly. Troy didn't say anything. It was so quiet, the only thing that could be heard was the hum of the ground below the driving car.

I felt Troy quickly glance at me before speaking.

"So…"

I took a deep breath before asking the question that had been bugging me for the past three days.

"Why'd you do it Troy?" I questioned softly.

"Why'd I do what?" He responded ignorantly.

I closed my eyes in order to hold back the anger before responding. I figure yelling at him won't make this go any faster. "Why did you sleep with Amy Phillips?" I repeated in an edgier tone.

His eyes bugged out and his mouth fell open in shock, before his face twisted into a horror-stricken look. "What are you talking about Gabriella?"

This time I couldn't hold my anger inside, "What am I talking about? What are you talking about? Don't play dumb Troy! If you think I'm the type of girl who just sits back and let's guys walk all over her your wrong!"

He closed his eyes in pain, "I--,"

"No! Let me finish. Why would you do that? We were so good together Troy! I thought you loved me! I—I thought we would last f—forever." I said as my voice cracked.

The tears welled up in my eyes as I continued, "Was I really that bad of a girlfriend?"

"No! Y--," He hastily replied before I cut him off again.

"Then what?! Was I not worth waiting for? Was it that hard to except that I wanted to wait till marriage? You even went to church with me! Y—You said that maybe God could work for you. You had me fooled! I thought we would really work Troy." By now a few tears had escaped and I was wiping them away quickly, in a desperate attempt to hide them from Troy.

"Brie! I didn't…you weren't… I just….why do you keep saying 'was' we're not over yet." He asked in horror.

I crossed my arms, "In my book we are."

"Nooooooo! Brie, you don't—"

"We're here." I said softly, and then reached into my pajama pockets only to find my i-pod inside.

I shrugged my shoulders and popped them in.

After we got our bags, I took the earphones out, and noticed that instead of driving back toward my house, Troy parked in an empty space.

Troy sighed before shifting in his seat so that he was facing me. "I—Where did you hear, about me and Amy." He winced when he said her name.

"Debby." I said while playing with my fingers.

"McCloud?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"Why does it matter who I heard from? You did what you did; it's plain as white and black."

Troy rubbed his forehead in frustration, "I didn't sleep with Amy Phillips. Or anybody for that matter."

I whipped my head around faster than Flash on the Justice League, "WHAT?! Don't kid around with me Troy! I'm not in the mood for games."

"I'm not kidding! I just can't believe you believed that garbage! You didn't even ask me about it!" He said angrily.

"I tried! I walked up to you, and then you said 'So I guess you heard.' Besides, if you didn't sleep with her, why would you keep saying sorry?"

Troy groaned. "Amy kissed me. I was shocked so I didn't pull away immediately, but I pushed her off. I swear I didn't kiss her back though!"

I gaped at him in shock. The honesty written across his face, and laced into his voice was impossible to ignore.

"You didn't?" I asked fearfully.

"No Gabriella. I would never. I love you. Really. I would wait an eternity for you if I had to. With you it's more than that. You're like no one I've ever met and I'm sorry you ever doubted that. I was serious about God working for me. I mean, I can't be sure and it's not going to work like magic, but when I see how happy you are when you talk about Him…I just can't help wanting to share that happiness. But Brie, you should know I love you too much to sleep with Amy." He said with a loving gaze locked on me. ME!

I didn't know what to say, so I reached inside the bag and grabbed my burger. As I took a bite, I realized he remembered my cheese. He finally remembered the cheese on my Big Mac. Before I knew it I burst into sobs. It was all too much. The news was overwhelming.

He reached over and wrapped me in a hug. When my tears finally subsided, I glanced up at him, "I love you Troy."

He smiled, "I love you too Brie."

"And I hate that I love you…" I sang.

He grinned as we sang together, "So……"

Then I leaned in to kiss him slowly and passionately.

I guess I wasn't wrong after all. He really is my forever and always.

AN: What did you guys think? Was it good or suckish? I really hope you guys liked it! Please don't read this and not review, because if you don't review I'm going to think it was horrible. If it did suck, bare with me because this was my first one-shot/fanfic. So, I hope you liked it! Anyway, review!!!!! :D

-- Gracie Marie x3