Bunny Boy, a high school musical fanfic

Bunny Boy © Midnight113.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or have any affiliation to it.

Synopsis: While working at the flower shop, Gabriella has to deal with an unlikely customer the day before Easter Sunday. The worst part? Her ex, decides to stop by the same day. Oneshot. T&G.

Bunny Boy

"~*~"

"-"

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"That'll be twenty-three, fifty-nine please." The brunette requested as the older woman pulled out her purse, searching through her wallet for her credit card. Gabriella Montez thanked the woman once she had placed the card securely in her hand. Ringing up the beautiful spring assortment of lilies and daffodils, she smiled and handed the woman's purchases to her. "Thank you, have a Happy Easter."

"You as well dear." The woman smiled politely as she picked up the vase and exited through the large, white archway at the front of the flower shop.

Leaning her elbows against the counter top, Gabriella smiled, looking around the store and inhaling the relaxing scent of fresh budded flowers. Noticing there were no customers in the store at the moment, she turned around and went back to work cutting the stems off the blue hydrangea she was arranging into a large crystal clear vase with white orchids.

She had gotten the part time position at the flower shop, 'Cora's Garden', at the mall last summer and had fallen in love with the place. It helped that the owner, Mrs. Walters, was one of the sweetest women she had ever met. The two had formed a great friendship built on honestly and trust. They hit it off from the very first day and ever since Gabriella had looked forward to work everyday after school.

She was a senior at East High School in Albuquerque, NM. When she wasn't working on homework or hanging out with her friends, she was here at the flower shop working.

It was the day before Easter and Gabriella had been having an amazing week. She'd passed all of her exams and she had filled out and mailed her college applications with her mother the day before. She was excited about the prospects of her future studying medicine at Stanford, which was her first choice university.

The only thing messing up her week was seeing her ex boyfriend of three years with someone else at school. They had only been broken up for a few days and he was already hanging out with other girls who were flaunting themselves and falling all over him. The thing that upset her the most though, was his sudden distant behavior and the reasons behind it. She didn't know why he had been acting differently, but it had been on her mind ever since. She didn't want to think about that now. No, right now she wanted to make a marvelous spring arrangement for Mrs. Walters.

Taking her scissors in hand, she began snipping the tips of the green stems. Just as she discarded the remains in the waste basket next to her, the bell chimed through the small store. Without turning around, Gabriella greeted the customer. "Welcome to Cora's" She began, wiping off the counter before she turned around. "How may I… help you?" She stuttered slightly upon seeing the figure in front of her.

Dressed from head to toe in a white bunny suit, the person stood there before her and nodded. "Hey." Came the muffled voice through the ridiculous looking head piece.

"Aren't you a little early?" Gabriella asked, placing her hands on the counter in front of her and smiling. "Easter's tomorrow, bunny." She teased.

"I know that, I'm actually on my way to the other side of the mall." The person gestured to their suit. "I've taken the job as the Easter bunny to make all the little kids of Albuquerque happy. I wanted to order some flowers first before I headed off to work so they'd be done by the time I was finished later."

"Ah." Gabriella nodded. "That explains the suit and your uncanny presence here. For a minute there, I thought I was really talking to the Easter bunny. Good to know I'm not losing my mind." She stated, wiping the counter off with the back of her hand.

"Well technically you are talking to the Easter bunny." The bunny rationalized. "So you might be a little crazy. Just don't tell anybody."

Realizing she was flirting with this person, whose face she didn't even know, Gabriella straightened up and blushed the same color as the lilies next to her on the counter. "You said something about ordering flowers?" She changed the subject.

"Oh right." The bunny, whom she assumed was a guy based on the deep tone of his voice coming through the muffled material of the suit, pulled our a piece of paper. "A dozen purple roses."

"Purple huh? What's the occasion?" She couldn't help her curiosity as she grabbed a pen and some paper, writing down the order. Roses were her favorite flower. It was a cliché, she knew, but it was the honest truth. Their fragrance and appearance, not to mention the array of colors and meanings.

"Date with my girl tomorrow, I wanted to give her something special seeing as it's Easter and everything."

"Hence the purple." She looked up at his suit with a smile. "You do know what purple roses signify right?"

"Of course." The bunny head nodded.

Averting her eyes from his costume, she ducked her head down and placed a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear. "I'm sure she'll love them."

"I hope so." He mumbled. "Is there any chance I can come pick them up later after my shift?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll have them all ready for you. Do you want them in an arrangement with a vase… or in a basket?" She questioned.

The person stood quietly for a moment, pondering her question and yet Gabriella felt like their eyes were searching her body. Feeling self-conscious, she moved her body behind a large bouquet of sage perennials. She listened to the bunny suit chuckle before replying, "What do you think?"

Caught off guard by the inquiry, Gabriella tilted her head and brushed her hand over a petal in front of her. "Um… well, neither."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I think there's something more romantic about a man handing a woman a bouquet of flowers." Gabriella mumbled.

"Hmm." The guy nodded, "I agree. Alright, just the flowers. Do I pay you now or later?"

"Later is fine." She waved him off. "Have fun at work."

"Thanks." The man in a bunny suit nodded before turning and heading to the door. After he exited, Gabriella shook her head and finally let a small giggle out at how crazy the encounter had been. Wait until she told her best friends, Taylor and Sharpay when she spoke to them next.

She was so lost in her thoughts, Gabriella hadn't realized the door had chimed to the front door again. The Easter bunny was walking back into the store. "You know…" Gabriella looked up quickly, startled by his sudden appearance once again. "I think I want to add some more flowers to the order. Is that okay?"

Smiling, Gabriella leaned against the counter with her elbows. "You're too late. There's no changing orders once I write them down on the pad, sorry." She shrugged.

"Ha, ha… funny." The man in the bunny suit approached her. "I know it must be hard to take me seriously in this thing but I am a paying customer after all. You don't want me to call for the manager do you?"

"Go ahead, it's not like she's here anyway. Lunch break." Gabriella explained, secretly enjoying their little banter.

"I see, well in that case maybe I should wait for her."

"You can't, you'll be late for work. You don't want to disappoint all those kids do you?"

"You pay attention." The bunny noted with amusement.

"It's my job." She sent him a small smile before grabbing another piece of paper and a pen. "Alright, what do you want to add for this lucky girlfriend of yours?"

"She's not my girlfriend… not yet anyway. Tomorrow night is all about getting her to agree to be mine."

"Mmhmm, good luck with that." Gabriella teased, loving how easy it was to talk with this person. She attributed the reason behind their effortless conversation to the bunny suit that was keeping him hidden.

"Thanks, I need it."

"Okay, so a dozen purple roses… what else?"

"How about, eleven purple roses instead and six orange." He lifted one of his 'paws' and pointed behind her head. "Can we do six of those yellow ones with the red tips too?"

Gabriella turned around and stared at the picture before nodded and scribbling it down. "This is one heck of a bouquet, and it's going to be pricey." She mumbled, biting the edge of her pencil as she looked over what she'd written down.

"She's worth it." The man commented.

"Must be. I take it you know a thing or two about roses?" She questioned him.

"Just a thing or two. From my mom of course." He laughed and the sound brought a spark to Gabriella's heart.

"I wish my boyfriend would have done something like this for me." Gabriella bit her bottom lip once she processed her words. Blushing at her admission, she kept her eyes downcast on the sheet of paper in front of her. She didn't dare look up at that bunny mask, she knew the man's eyes were studying her every move and the thought alone made her uneasy and not in a bad way either.

"He's never bought you flowers?"

"Well, no, he has it's just… he never put much thought into the process you know? I think he just bought whatever looked nice and never really looked at the meaning behind the flowers." She shrugged.

"How do you know?" The man asked. "Did you ever ask?"

"No. It doesn't matter now, we're… not together anymore anyway."

"Oh." The man asked, his voice dropping or maybe it was her imagination. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Maybe if he'd bought me a bouquet like this though, I would have forgiven him." She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"You would have?"

"Maybe." She nodded, looking up at him as she grabbed a spray bottle and lightly misted the plants near her with water. "One of the major reasons we broke up was because he just didn't seem to care anymore. Who knows, maybe I did something to make him act that way." She shrugged.

Noticing the man's silence as he stood there in front of her clad in his bunny suit, Gabriella blushed again. "I'm sorry, you probably didn't want to hear all that. I know you have to get to work and here I am babbling about my ex." She blurted, slightly mortified with how she had brought up her personal problems with a customer, not to mention a complete stranger.

"No it's okay… really."

Smiling politely back at the bunny face, Gabriella placed the spray can back on the counter and gabbed the pen. "Would you like anything else or is that all?"

"Yeah, could you… could you add a red rose to the center of it? With a red bow tying it all together?"

Gabriella nodded. "Sounds perfect. I'll start working on it right now and it should be ready when you get here."

"Awesome, what time do you close?"

"Eight."

"Great, thank you."

"Have fun Bunny Boy."

Giving her a wave, the man in the bunny suit chuckled before disappearing through the door once again, leaving Gabriella to her thoughts. Staring down at the order, she contemplated just how beautiful the arrangement would look when finished. She knew she wanted it to be perfect for him because in those few minutes of just talking to him, her day had suddenly brightened. Who knew that a man in a bunny suit would turn her day around?

The sun was finally setting as Gabriella fiddled with the phone in her hand while finishing off the final preparations of the rose bouquet that the Easter bunny had ordered.

"I'm serious Shar, he was in a full out bunny suit from head to toe.

"Even with ears and a tail?" Her friend asked in disbelief.

"Yes, everything. It was the funniest thing ever."

"What exactly was this guy doing dressed like this in the middle of the afternoon?"

"He said he was heading to work at the other end of the mall." Gabriella commented while grabbing the long, red thread and tying it into a pretty bow in the front of her creation.

"Jeez Gabs, and he was flirting with you?"

"Well, kind of… I mean, I guess he was."

"You should take a break and go track him down! But wait, he said he has a girlfriend?"

"No, he said the flowers were for a girl he was planning to ask to be his girlfriend."

"Hmm… interesting. And he knows a lot about roses huh?"

"He seemed to, he knew exactly what roses to put together and he said he knew their meanings. He even knew the right amount to do. It was amazing, for a guy at least."

"Don't you mean a bunny?" Sharpay joked, giggling on the other end of the receiver and Gabriella couldn't help but join her friend.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Just as she responded, she heard the door chime behind her and smiled. "I gotta go Shar, I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, please give me a call so you can tell me more about this mysterious Bunny Boy encounter. I want details."

Shaking her head at her friends antics, she smiled. "Yes Shar, I'll tell you and Taylor everything later and don't call him Bunny Boy, that's my name." A second later, she hung up and turned around, preparing herself to greet the customer who had just walked in. Her smile fell from her face however when she noticed the person who was now standing in front of her.

"So who's Bunny Boy?" The deep voice asked, striding towards her with confident steps.

"Uh…" Gabriella was speechless staring at the figure in front of her. "No one, just this guy… what are you doing here?"

Troy Bolton, stared at her with those light blue eyes that looked like the crystal clear oceans of the Caribbean. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans as he tilted his head at her. Feeling her stomach flutter at his unexpected appearance, Gabriella did her best to not let him see her flustered state.

Sending her his trademark smirk, he smiled showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth. His blue shirt made his eyes pop out at her and she found herself gripping the edge of the counter to keep her balance. "I'm here to pick up an order actually."

"Oh… I don't remember your mother calling or coming in today." Gabriella commented.

"She didn't." Was all he replied.

Lifting her eyebrow at his answer, Gabriella moved to her order sheet and took out the sheet of paper. "What did you order?"

Troy smiled, taking another step forward until he was against the counter, leaning on his elbows. "You look beautiful today Gabi. You always look beautiful."

Swallowing, Gabriella tilted her head down and cleared her throat. "So, what did you place any order for again? Carnations or… um…"

"I miss you."

She let out a small scoff at that. "Didn't look like it yesterday at school." She looked up when Troy remained silent, his eyebrow quirking. "It looked like Tanya was doing a fine job of helping you get over missing me." She mocked.

"Jealous?" Troy asked, leaning forward to grab a chocolate Easter egg out of the candy bowl on the counter.

"Yeah right." She scoffed again.

"You know, Tanya has one major thing going against her." Troy began, unraveling the wrapper and popping the candy in his mouth before rolling the garbage into a ball and making a basket as he threw it into the can.

"She does huh? What might that be?"

"She's not you."

Gabriella barked with laughter as she moved around the counter, cleaning up the small remnants of stems and ribbon pieces that she had cut earlier. "Nice line, you use that on all the girls?"

"Just the one that counts." He admitted before lowering his voice in a pleading whisper. "Come on Gabi…"

"I don't want to hear it Troy."

"Baby… you know you're the only one I want." He pleaded seriously, giving her an intense stare.

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella scoffed again. "Please… if that were true then you would have fought harder to stay together."

"You're the one who broke up with me." He nearly shouted in frustration.

"Because you kept missing dates and not returning my calls. What the hell did I do Troy?"

"Nothing, it's not like that." He desperately stated, pushing himself off the counter and moving to follow her around the store as she continued cleaning. "If you'll just give me a minute to explain-"

"Oh you mean pretend that you suddenly care again?" She threw back at him, turning her head to glare at him. "For the last week you kept breaking dates and ignoring me… I've been trying to figure out what I did wrong but when you didn't even defend yourself when I confronted you about it… I figured you must just not care anymore. What did you expect me to think?"

Lifting his hands up in defense, Troy shook his head. "I was, I was busy. I had a lot on my mind."

Shaking her head, Gabriella didn't even bother to look at him as she responded, "What? Did you really just say that to me Troy?"

"Will you just listen." Troy ran a shaky hand through his chestnut hair and took a breath. "My dad was having surgery on his heart Gabi."

"What!" Gabriella turned around and widened her eyes. "The Coach… Is he okay?"

Troy nodded, "He's fine now. He had a clogged artery, they cleared it."

"That's why he hasn't been at school." Gabriella realized with a frown. "I was wondering why the substitute was showing up everyday. Why didn't you say anything?" She turned towards him quickly.

Sighing, Troy shook his head. "He asked me not to. He didn't want anyone from school to know until he knew he was going to be up and running again. I wanted to tell you but… I guess I just ended up pushing you away instead. I'm so sorry Gabi."

Not knowing how to respond or deal with the sudden revelation, Gabriella nodded her head quietly before walking back over to the counter. "What kind of flowers did you order?" She repeated.

Troy's posture dropped, his body slouching in disappointment as he walked over to the counter keeping his eyes on her. "Roses."

Gabriella's brown eyes slowly lifted from the paper until they met his dazzling azures. She could read every expression on his face, every emotion he displayed to her through his eyes and she knew he was doing the same. "You." Was all she felt the need to say as the shock she had felt simmered away.

Troy nodded. "Is my order ready yet?"

Gabriella wordlessly nodded, turning her back to him to retrieve the bouquet of roses she had worked all day on. Placing the flowers delicately on the counter, she rattled off the total, "That'll be fifty-nine dollars please."

Troy quietly pulled out his wallet, fishing though it for the bills he had to dish out. He placed them down on the counter. "Keep the change."

"Thanks." Gabriella murmured, keeping her eyes on the register while trying to maintain her professional appearance even though her heart was shattering on the inside. "I'm sure Tanya will love the flowers."

Troy watched her intently before looking over at the flowers. "Do you mind writing on the card for me? My handwriting sucks."

Gabriella nodded, even though it killed her she had to remind herself that he was a paying customer. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled and picked up her pen. "What do you want it to say?"

Troy continued to watch her as he spoke, "To my girl, who I care more about than anyone. I'm sorry I made you doubt that. Love always, your Wildcat." Troy paused before adding, "Aka, Bunny Boy."

Gabriella had begun writing the card but once his words had processed fully in her brain, the pen had slowly stopped as she just listened to him. Once he was finished, she slowly looked back up to find one of the most genuine looks she had ever seen cross his face.

Taking a moment to recompose herself, Gabriella bit her bottom lip. Looking down at the counter she began in a steady voice, "I don't think Tanya will appreciate-"

"Will you stop talking about her?" Troy cut her off. "She was asking me for my notes for Chemistry, that was it." He explained, tilting his head down to get her to look at him. Troy shook his head, picking up the bouquet of flowers and walking around the counter until he was facing her.

Gabriella watched him as he stared down at the flowers in his hands. "Purple roses are for love at first sight, which I knew was true for us from the moment you walked into homeroom at East High." He nodded, continuing, "Orange is for desire, something I have always felt whenever you're involved." He looked up at her and smiled. "The yellow ones are for friendship and their red tips mean 'falling in love' which I think applies to us." Gabriella's eyes began to water as she blinked back tears from Troy's incredibly romantic gesture. She listened and stared at him as he finished. "And a single red rose, because I love you."

She couldn't help it then, the tear she was holding back fell and she gave a light laugh as she wiped it away. "Troy…" Her voice was shaky and coarse from her emotional state.

"I have always cared and I always will, no matter what. I won't ever make you feel like you're not special or important to me ever again, because you are. No one else compares to you Gabriella and I'm sorry I ever made you feel like you weren't enough anymore. I won't ever do that to you again... never." He finished looking down at the flowers and handing them to her. "I love you, please forgive me?"

They stood quietly for a moment, the only sound was Gabriella's sniffles as she wiped her eyes. Troy studied her, the look on his face depicting that of a sorry man who would do anything to make it better. After what felt like an eternity, Gabriella finally nodded. "How can I not after that? After all, I did say I would forgive you if you had given me a bouquet like this." She motioned with her head at the beautiful floral arrangement in her hands.

Troy's face broke out in a large smile as he swooped forward and captured her in a large, tight hug. "I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to." She replied, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"It's okay." Troy responded, rubbing her back as he pulled away. "I really did miss you."

"I missed you too." Before she could say anything further his lips were on hers, their bodies crushing together as the flowers in between them crinkled from the force. Pulling back with a large grin, Gabriella giggled and looked down at the flowers in her hand.

"So… what do you think of the flowers?" Troy asked with a cheeky grin, moving forward to plant another quick peck on her mouth.

"They're beautiful, where'd you get them?" She sarcastically responded, lifting her head up to meet his lips again.

"Mmm… this cute girl down at the mall put them together for me. I think she's got a thing for me." He teased, wrapping his arms around her body as Gabriella placed the flowers on the counter to keep them safe and sound while she got reacquainted with Troy.

"You think?" She questioned, looping her arms around his neck as he swayed them.

"Yeah, but I told her I was taken. In fact I've got a date tomorrow night with the love of my life. If she'll have me that is." He cocked his head to the side adorably and smirked. "What do you think?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe she'll have you. As long as you don't have her slave for hours over her own bouquet of flowers, I think it should be just fine." She grinned, her eyes lighting up.

"Ha, yeah." Troy looked over at the flowers on the counter. "You did a good job babe, but sixty dollars for some flowers, that's more than half of what I made today dressed as a freakin' bunny." Troy rolled his eyes.

Gabriella gave him a playful smack on the chest, "It was worth it though, right?"

"I don't know, I could have gotten a lot of candy for what I spent on those flowers. Plus I had to memorize all that stuff about the different meanings and the colors which was hard, you know I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff." He mocked. "I am a guy after all."

"True." Gabriella nodded. "But you paid attention today."

"And will everyday for the rest of my life, if this is what I get out of it."

"I love you Troy." She murmured against his lips as he kissed her soundlessly. Pulling back, Troy's face turned serious.

"You should, I dressed up like a bunny and withstood a mob of screaming kids just so I could make extra money to buy you flowers so you'd forgive me and let me take you on a date for Easter."

Letting out a light giggle, Gabriella scrunched up her face. "Is that why you were parading around in that hideous getup?"

"It wasn't that hideous." Troy shrugged. "But yes, I did it all for you because I care about you… and I got free candy while I was at it. It's in my truck and I would be willing to share it with you if you agree to go out with me tomorrow night." Troy suggested.

"How did you know I would forgive you anyway? That was a pretty big assumption to make considering."

"I had a rabbit hunch, I am the Easter bunny after all."

"Yeah, my Bunny Boy."

"You know, the nickname's kind of growing on me. Although, I do still prefer Wildcat." Troy admitted. "I guess you'll just have to alternate between the two."

"I guess so."

Troy's eyes sparkled as he leaned forward and planted an affectionate kiss on Gabriella's forehead. Pulling back, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms as he regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "So is that a yes?"

Gabriella nodded. "Definitely. You've made this one hell of an Easter weekend Troy Bolton."

"Just call me, Bunny Boy."

A/N: Man, I haven't written a oneshot for a long time... it feels good. I have an idea for my next one though, so hopefully I can get it written and out soon. I was going to write something more family/Easter related, but then I thought this would be cute, different and more springy. This was also inspired by my recent trip to find flowers for Easter, although there were no full size bunny costumes involved. ;) I hope everyone has a nice Easter and enjoyed this little holiday piece. As always, my apologies for any grammatical errors.