AN: So, here it is. My third story on FF. And I know I promised some of you a Greek fanfic but I just couldn't get this one out of my head. So, I might write a Greek one-shot at some point (I do have an idea floating around) but I love the character of HSM and I can't seem to let them go. So, I hope you enjoy this story.

AAN:Oh, we are going on the assumption that this isn't a Disney rated film, meaning that all the couples have been at least kissing for a while. And all those times in the film where, for example, Chad stops Troy and Gabi from kissing, has not been there first attempt at a kiss.

Disclaimer: You know the drill…..

Background: Story begins at the Star Dazzle Talent Show. With Troy and Sharpay singing together….

Gabi wiped away a tear as she stood behind Taylor and Chad watching Sharpay take a bow on stage as she and Troy finished their duet. Or rather, Gabi and Troy's duet that Sharpay had stolen. But Gabi didn't care about that. Kelsi's song was beautiful and Gabi thought it even sounded nice the way that Sharpay sang it. And there would be other songs that Kelsi could write. But she, Gabriella Vanessa Montez would never sing with Troy Zachary Bolton ever again. Not after what he did to her. When he had told her he loved her after Twinkle Town, didn't that mean anything at all? Gabi held back a sniffle. No, she would not let that asshole make her cry. This would be the last time he ever hurt her.

Gabi stiffened as someone placed a comforting hand around her waist. She looked up to see a pair of light blue eyes gently smiling down with her. But these blue eyes didn't hold the same intensity as the eyes of the boy onstage. These eyes were framed with light blond hair and a crooked smile. Ryan.

Gabi managed a small smile before turning her eyes back to the stage. As she saw Sharpay grab Troy's hand and pull him towards her, Gabi's eyes filled with tears again.

"Hey" Ryan whispered in her ear. "You wana get out of here?" Looking up, Gabi gave a small nod as a grateful smile appeared on her face.

"Let me just grab my jacket and say bye to Taylor. Two secs, okay?" she asked him.

"Of course." Ryan replied. "I'll wait for you by the staff entrance."

"Thanks Ryan. I'll be right there." Gabi said softly.

"Take your time. I'll wait for you." Ryan leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her check before turning and walking away.

As Gabi walked over to where Taylor and Chad were standing, she smiled at how sweet he was, at what a good friend to her he had become. She was so glad that Ryan had broken free of Sharpay's shadow. However, she wished Troy could do the same.

"Hey, Tay?" she called out softly as she approached the couple that was standing in the back of the lawn, scowling up at the stage. "I'm going to take off, okay?"

"Oh, sure Gabi." Taylor replied, turning her eyes from the spectacle that was now Sharpay blowing kisses at the crowd while Troy stood awkwardly to the side. "See you tomorrow?"

"Are you sure?" Gabi asked, "I mean, I know tomorrow is staff day here. You don't have to miss it at my expense."

"And get to watch Troy be an asshole or have to see Sharpay make him follow her like a dog?" Chad interjected, not taking his eyes off the stage, still looking furious at the scene on stage. "No thanks."

Taylor gently squeezed his hand, causing his eyes look down at her. Chad's frown softened, the lines on his forehead smoothed down, his eyes crinkled. Only Taylor had that affect on him. She knew just how to calm him down, make him relax, help him focus.

Gabi used to be able to do that to Troy. But now, well she hadn't really seen him in over a week until a few nights ago when she had left Lava Springs. But when Taylor had come to her room this morning, telling her to come see the show tonight, she had been ready to forgive him if he had changed. But seeing him up there on stage with HER, even after everything he had said to her when she left, well Gabi knew she had made the right choice. Sure, she loved him. But sometimes love wasn't enough.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow." she said. "I feel bad, you guys not going to the staff day. How bout my house? Tell everyone that they are invited over to my house tomorrow. We'll do our own poolside BBQ. 12 noon?"

As Chad nodded and Taylor gave her a big hug, Gabi turned and walked towards the staff entrance passing her friends. Giving Martha a kiss on her head, Zeke a quick hug, and Jason a squeeze on his arm after whispering to him to tell Kelsi that she was fabulous, Gabi grabbed her jacket off the back of one of the chairs and made her way towards the door where she could see the light shining off the top of a head of fair blond hair.

"Hey, you going to be okay?" he asked as she approached, her delicate features under the soft light making his heart race and his palms sweat.

"Yeah," she replied. "I should have never come tonight."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize for this, for him!" she said back fiercely, her anger re-emerging at the reminder of what Troy never said. "He should be the one to say sorry, not you."

Ryan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to keep the grin off his face. This is what he had wanted for the past month. Gabi, without Troy, coming to him for comfort and support. He hadn't pushed, well not too much, instead letting Troy get swept up in Sharpay's game and promises of a college scholarship that she could give him. And that part wasn't even fully true. The Red Hawks had heard about Troy long before their dad had introduced him to the team. But the way Sharpay made it sound was if this was all her doing. And that only she could give him the one thing he was so desperate for. But in doing that he had lost the one thing that meant more to him then the scholarship. And Ryan was here, ready to pick her up. Thank God Ryan was an actor or else this would have been harder.

"Lets get out of here." Gabi said, sweeping past Ryan and through the door.

Ryan followed, softly closing the door behind them.

'What have I just done?' Troy thought to himself as he felt Sharpay's vice like grip on his arm tighten as she swung forward, taking her 3rd bow. AS Troy was pulled forward he saw Chad, Taylor, Jason, Kelsi, Zeke, and Martha, standing in the back, behind the tables. 'Shit.'

"Oh, Troy that was amazing!" Sharpay squealed as she flung herself into his arms. Troy winced a she squeezed his waist. "I always knew we were meant to sing together!"

"Uh, yea." Troy muttered as his eyes searched the crowd for his friends. Finally he spotted them walking away from the lawn, towards the parking lot. "I'll see you later Sharpay." Troy said as he untangled himself from her grasp and jumped off the stage.

"Troysie!" Sharpay called after his retreating back. "Where are you going?"

"Troy!" Jack Bolton called as he saw his son jump off the stage and head towards the back. "Hang on a second son!" he lightly grabbed Troy by the arm, bringing him to a stop next to the table.

"Oh Troy." His mother said softly. "I thought you were going to sing with Gabi tonight."

"Me too." Troy muttered back.

"What was that?" Lucille asked.

"Um, nothing." Troy quickly replied.

"Where is she?" Jack asked, turning to look around. "Where are Chad, Jason, and Zeke and all the girls you boys are permanently attached to at the hip?"

"Um, they're in the back. Waiting for me." He answered. "So I uh, better go. See you later Dad!" Troy sprinted towards the back, to the spot where his friends had just been standing.

"Yo! Chad!" Troy called out as he ran through the crowd. He could just barely see the top of Chad's hair walking away. "Chad!"

Troy entered the clearing in the back, behind all the people and tables to see Chad slowly turn towards him, his hand interlocked with Taylor's as the rest of the group walked towards the parking lot.

"Where they going?" Troy asked looking at the retreating figures of his classmates.

"They're leaving." Taylor replied coolly. "As were we." she gave a small tug n Chad's hand but he shot her a pleading look. She rolled her eyes but didn't tug again, instead opting to stare at the space above Troy's head.

"So, uh," Troy stammered a little. "Where's Gabi?"

Taylor's head shot up. "Why do you care?" she asked, a bitter edge clearly heard in her voice.

"Tay…" Chad said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked, his voice laced with hurt.

"You, Troy Bolton, are such an as-"

"Tay!" Chad exclaimed. "Chill." Turning towards Troy, Chad looked his best friend' shocked face. "She went home man."

"Wait, you mean she was here?" Troy ran his fingers through his hair, taking a deep breath. "Shit. Well, why didn't she wait?"

"Are you kidding?" The look on Taylor's face made Troy take half a step back. "Would you wait? Would you want to see your ex, the only person you ever loved, sing the song that was meant for the two of you, sing that song with the one person you hate more then anyone else, the person who broke the two of you up?"

Silence followed Taylor's outburst.

"Is that what she sees?" Troy asked, his eyes on the ground, afraid to look up, not wanting his best friend to see his eyes fill with tears and regret.

"Yeah." Taylor answered. "That's what she sees."

"Shit. I didn't kn-"

"Don't say you didn't know. She shouldn't have to see that. You should know that. You should know better than that."

"I should go over there. To her house."

"Yeah, you should." Chad said. "Go man, it's the right thing to do."

"Okay, I'm going. I'm going." Troy turned and started to walk towards the exit.

"Wait." Taylor grabbed his arm. Troy slowly turned back towards her. "Is this what you want? Do you mean this? Or are you going to break her heart again? She isn't as strong as she pretends to be."

"This is what I want. More than anything else in the world."

'Then go." Taylor said gently, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

Troy turned and ran towards the exit, never looking back.

"That was sweet." Chad said, gently taking Taylor's head between his hands.

"Was it?" Taylor asked, biting her bottom lip.

"Of course." Chad gave her a puzzled look. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Do you know who took Gabi home?" she asked, placing her hands over his, not meeting his eye.

"Didn't Ryan take her home?" Chad asked, puzzled by her question.

"Yeah, Ryan did."

"And?"

"Do you know how Ryan feels about Gabi?"

"Wait, you mean that Ryan and Gabi, that Gabi and Ryan-?"

"No!" Taylor exclaimed. "Gabi would never cheat on Troy. Never. But Ryan, well he likes Gabi. Has for a while. And as more then a friend."

"Why that little sneak! What a douchebag. When I get my hands on him-"

"No! You wont do anything. He hasn't done anything wrong." When Chad didn't answer, "Please, Chad. Promise me."

Chad sighed. "I promise. But, if he does anything-"

"He has every right to. She isn't with Troy anymore." Taylor reminded him. "He broke her heart."

"But he loves her."

"And she loves him. But that doesn't matter right now. Right now, they aren't together."

"She's worth more then this stupid scholarship." He muttered.

Taylor held back a smile, touched at how her boyfriend knew right from wrong, good from bad. In this school, you need to know that. "Of course she is. He just needs to figure out how to show her that he knows that too."

"Thanks so much for driving me home" Gabi said as she and Ryan walked into the kitchen of the Montez household.

"Thank you for letting me come in to get some of your mom's famous chocolate chip cookies." Ryan said as he sat comfortably at the kitchen table. "Where is your mom anyways?"

"Out of town." Gabi replied as she brought the cookies and milk to the table. "She left yesterday for Mexico. For work. For a couple of months."

"For a couple of months?!" Ryan exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice. "That's long time, especially at the beginning of Senior Year."

"Yeah, well, she needs to. And I'm used to being on my own." Gabi relied, slightly defensive. "And besides, it isn't like I'm going to be in any sort of trouble if I stay home alone. Not even an evil West High Knight like Tony would be that mean." Gabi sat down next to Ryan, leaning comfortably against his shoulder.

After a few minuets of sitting there in compatible silence, Gabi smiled slightly.

"Wow, I can't believe school starts on Monday." She said. "Our senior year. Wow."

"I know," Ryan replied. "It's insane. But after such an amazing summer, I'm actually looking forward to school this year for something besides drama. I can't believe things changed so much."

"Oh, yeah." Gabi replied, getting up from her seat. "It's been great." Her voice was filled with sarcasm, a bitter edge evident as she now paced around the kitchen, fiddling with different things.

"Oh, c'mon now." Ryan said, panicking a little at the way that Gabi refereed to his best memories. "These last few weeks, with me ad you. It's been really great."

Gabi stopped playing with the rubber bands in the drawer, her back still turned towards Ryan. "Yeah," she said softly, a smile evident in her words. "It has been great."

Ran stood up and walked towards Gabi, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. Gabi flinched at the contact.

"Gabi-"

"I'm fine." She said, trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

"No, you're not fine." Ryan said, no wanting to let this opportunity slip away from him. "Troy" Gabi flinched at his name "Hurt you badly. Worse then anyone should ever treat you. Don't ignore what he has done."

Gabi nodded, tears splashing on the counter in front of her. Ryan squeezed the hand that was laying on eh shoulder. H turned her around, taking his other hand and placing a finger under her chin, lifting it up wards so that eh was looking right into her chocolate colored eyes.

"Don't let him hurt you anymore Gabi. You're too special."

At those words Gabi flung herself into his arms, wrapping her hands around his waist, burying her tear stricken face in his shirt. Not exactly the reaction Ryan was going for, wishing that she would have realized what he was trying to say, kissing him instead of hugging him, but this was better then nothing. Each of them were so involved in their own thoughts that neither of them heard the door close behind them or the footsteps leading towards the kitchen.

"What the fuck is this?" Troy's voice broke through the silent kitchen, causing Gabi and Ryan to jump apart. Troy stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a look of fury and disbelief etched across his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gabi asked. Ryan looked at her from the corner of his eye, surprised that so much anger could come from such a little person.

"I came here to talk to you." Troy replied, with just as much anger in his deep voice. "I didn't think you would have 'visitors' at this hour."

"Don't you dare take that mocking tone with me Troy Zachary Bolton!" Gabi replied, standing with her feet shoulder length apart, her eyes blazing. "And how the hell did you get in?"

"With my key!" Troy shouted back. Ryan cringed inwardly at the fact that Troy had a key to her house. "And what the hell is he doing here? At this hour?"

"What are you doing here at this hour?" Gabi said, not backing down from a fury that few rarely saw and no one else would deal with.

"I knew your mom wasn't home, I figured it would be alright to come visit, up till two weeks go I cam here all the time at this time!" Troy shot back, hurt replacing the anger in his voice. Troy took a deep breath before continuing in a much calmer voice. "But you still didn't answer the question. What is Ryan doing here? What is going on?"

"Not that it's any of your business what he is doing here, but Ryan drove me home. Because you were to busy."

Ryan saw Troy pale a little at the hidden jibe, knowing that she was referring to him singing with his sister. After a slight hesitation, Troy looked at Ryan then back at Gabi.

"Of course it's my business!" he shouted at her. "You're my girlfriend!"

"Was." Gabi said, her voice hard like steel, her feature expressionless. "Was your girlfriend." Gabi looked away, knowing that if she continued to look at Troy, Troy who looked like a lost hurt puppy at those words, she knew that seeing his heart getting ripped out of his chest just might make her change her mind. But she was better then that. She had to be. "And don't look at him like that. Nothing happened. Unlike you."

The accusation hung in the air, the silence in the kitchen no long comfortable or sparked. It was now heavy, like a canvas drape encircling the three of them. Ryan looked towards Troy, waiting for the immediate denial of the claim, waiting for him to show the shock of the accusation. But all he saw was the shock on his face of being confronted with the truth. Ryan gasped silently, unwilling to break this moment.

"How did you find out?" Troy whispered, his voice carrying across the kitchen like an arrow to Gabi's heart.

"It's true?" Gabi's knees buckled, her hand coming out to grip the counter. Both boys moved towards her but her out stretched hand stopped them both in their tracks. "I thought she was lying. I thought she was saying it just to make me angry."

"It was only once!" Troy screamed, pleading with her to understand. "I had to! The scholarship, the team, Gabi you know I need the money!"

"So, you traded me, our entire relationship, the trust I held in you, for that? For some money?" Gabi felt like she couldn't breath, her voice cracking with the effort to just draw gasps of air through her lungs.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." Troy said, his heart pleading with her to forgive me, to even just look at him.

"I know." She replied. "You said that two weeks ago. I didn't fully understand it then. Now I do."

No one spoke, both of them acting as if Ryan wasn't there, Ryan unable to tear his eyes away from the moment in front of him.

"Well Troy, you win." Gabi's voice no longer had emotion in it. It wasn't cold, or hard, or angry. It was dead. "You win again. You get the scholarship, the basketball stardom, the adoring fans, and now you get the girl. Maybe it isn't the first girl, but it's the pretty one, the rich one, and the girl that looks like every guy's dream. Rich, pretty, blond, good connections to the boy's dream for the future. Congratulations Troy." Gabi's eyes were closed as she sat on the floor where she had fallen.

"She isn't the right girl Gabi! She isn't my dream girl! You are, you are my girl!"

Gabi took a deep breath. "I think you should go." A tear escaped, breaking her emotionless façade.

Troy started towards her; his eyes filling with unshed tears at the scene unfolding in front of him. But, Ryan who was closer to the dark petite girl crumbled on the floor, got there first. He pulled her up, crushing Gabi into his arms, burying his face in her hair.

"You should go Troy." Ryan said, his voice muffled as he pressed his lips to her skull.

"Stay out of this Ryan." Troy spat, his anger refueling at Ryan's intrusion.

"No."

"Ryan, get out of here!"

"No Troy. I think it's time for you to go."

"This has nothing to do with you!"

"This has everything to do with me! That's my sister you're sleeping with and the girl I love that you're hurting."

Silence meet Ryan's outburst, broken only by the stifled sounds of Gabi's cries. Then, as if something had fallen into place for Troy he gave a strangled cry, somewhere between a wounded animal and an enraged monster.

"You asshole." Troy said as he made his way toward Ryan. "You fucking-"

"Wait!" Gab's voice ran gut as she pushed herself away from Ryan, throwing her hand on Troy's chest, restraining him from coming any closer to Ryan who he was throwing murderous looks. "You should go. I'm serious Troy. Leave."

Troy tore his eyes away from Ryan and looked down at the eyes of the girl in front of him. He raised his arm, wrapping his hand around the wrist of the hand pressing into his chest. Gabi quickly backed up, making sure to avoid bumping into Ryan.

"Gabi-"

"Leave your keys on the front table. The balcony one too."

Troy stood there for a second as if unable to move. Then, he slowly turned and walked out of the kitchen. They could hear him chuck his keys at the table and the sound of the door slam.

Gabi waited until the sound a car peeling away was heard before she started to cry again.

"I'm sorry." Ryan said from behind her. His voice made her jump, as if she had forgotten he was on the room.

"For what?" she asked, not turning around, her tears cascading down her checks in unchecked rivers. Ryan stepped closer to her, his hand stroking her hair. Gabi let herself be pulled into his arms.

"That you have to go through this."

"It isn't your fault."

Ryan swept Gabi into his arms, carrying her shaking body up the stair, into her bedroom. Gabi smiled up at him, happy in the feelings of his arms.

"It was nice what you said." She told him as he lay her down on her bed, sliding her shoes off her feet.

"What thing?" Ryan asked, hesitating a little.

"The thing you told T- what you told him. To protect me. About how you loved me. That was sweet." Gabi smiled.

"It was true." Ryan whispered.

"What?"

"It was true. What I said. It was all true."

Gabi sat up quickly. "Ryan-"

"I'm sorry if you don't want to hear that but it's true. Ever since the Twinkle Town auditions, I've been falling in love with you."

Gabi stood up, sliding off her bed, walking away from where Ryan sat on the bed.

"Ryan-" Gabi said as she turned around, turning to face him. Bt she never got eh chance to finish her sentence. Ryan was standing right behind her. He wrapped one hand around her waist, pulling her right into his side. The other hand he placed gently on her neck. As Gabi stared up at him, her dark coffee colored eyes staring into his light blue ones, he lowered his head and gently laid his lips on hers.

As their lips touched, Ryan felt sparks explode in his stomach and was seized with intense desire. He crushed his body into hers, possessively kissing her lips, his tongue begging entrance.

When Gabi felt Ryan's lips touch hers, she couldn't deny the spark she felt. It wasn't the same as Troy, it wasn't anywhere close to what she felt when she was even near Troy. But, because she was lonely and sad and desperate she let him kiss her. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pretended that she was happy, that this is what she wanted. She could feel Ryan get excited as she kissed back, kissing her harder, as if trying to convince her that this was what she wanted.

'I could learn to love him.' She thought.

Ryan slowly pulled away, a huge smile spread across his face. "Come to Chad's party with me on Saturday."

Gabi nodded slowly. "Okay."

Troy drove in silence; zooming down streets he had known all his life. As he neared his house he had to pull off the road because his hands were shaking so badly.

Troy sat there for a few minuets thinking of everything that had just happened. He had lost her. The one person that meant more to him than anyone else in his life. But did she have to run to Ryan? He had made a mistake with Sharpay, he knew that. But why did she have to go straight to Ryan. Before this summer, Ryan had never even registered on his radar as a threat. He had always had girls throwing them selves at him. And Ryan had always just been there, in the background, Sharpay's twin. He remembers the first time he slept with Sharpay, back in 8th grade. How she had come up to him at lunch and dropped a note in his lap, telling him how much she wanted him, how her parents were away, and how he should come over after school. He had just broken up with -what was her name? Mallory?- and was pissed off because he was so horny, whatever, it didn't matter now. He remembers how when he had left her room in the middle of the night, Ryan had been sitting in the living room watching TV. Troy had been embarrassed at first but then remembered that he was Troy Bolton, basketball god. And who was Ryan anyways? Drama King? What a laugh. So he had walked past Ryan, barely concealing the fact that he had obviously just slept with his sister and was now leaving her in the middle of the night. Ryan had barely acknowledged him, he remembers how that pissed him off. No one ignored him!

That's right, no one ignores him. And just because Gabi ran straight to Ryan didn't mean that he had to mop around the house. Girls still wanted him. Hell, Sharpay still wanted him. That's right, Sharpay still wanted him. Troy started the car and made a U-turn, heading towards the Evan's house. He would show her what he would do when she broke his heart. That Gabriella Montez, who did she think she was anyways? He was Troy Bolton, basketball god, and musical star, golf pro.

After a quick stop at the liquor store, Troy pulled into the Evan's driveway. He got out of his car, clumsily making his way towards the front door.

"I'll show her." He muttered to himself as he reached the front door, banging on the wood. "Who is she anyways?"

The door swung open to reveal Sharpay, standing on her doorstep in the same outfit she had worn for the show, pink tulle train and all.

"Troy! What are you doing-" she started to ask but didn't get a chance to finish as Troy's lips crashed into her own, pinning her against the wall. He slammed the doors closed behind him as he ran his hands all over her body, pulling at her cloths.

Sharpay responded eagerly, tugging at his pants, pulling out his shirt from where it was tucked in.

Troy pulled back, looking at the panting blond girl in front of him. The one girl that would hurt Gabi more then anyone else in school.

"Let's go upstairs." He said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her to her bedroom.