A/N

Hello everyone,

A few things: I try to stay as close to the intended story and characters of HSM in this, but that being said all the characters outside the HSM ones are made up (such as the basketball players from Berkeley) and I also cannot vouch for the accuracy of my portrayal of Berkeley and Stanford themselves...so don't bother pointing out the fact that freshmen at Berkeley don't stay in apartment like dorms...I already know! :-)

Lastly, this is just something I started and might continue if people seem to like it. Lemme know! Otherwise...I hope you enjoy!

-Kenzie

Troy was finishing toweling off his hair as he sat down on the stool in front of his locker area. Four of his teammates: Lucas James, Travis McLean, Scott Saracen, and Durrell Allen walked in laughing and joking around. Durrell spotted Troy,

"What ya say Troy, ya in?"

Troy furrowed his brow in confusion before answering, "Depends, whatcha talkin' about?"

"Wicked party tonight off campus, lots of booze and chicks"

Saracen, the junior team captain, rolled his eyes and punched Durrell in the arm, "'Rell give it a rest already…we have another morning practice tomorrow." Luke, Travis and Troy all groan making Saracen laugh, "What's wrong freshmen….can't hack college ball?" Troy threw his towel at Saracen and pulled his shirt over his head. Wasn't it the truth? College ball was kicking Troy's ass…and school hadn't even started yet.

"It's not the ball, it's these 5am practices man…" Travis and Luke nod in agreement.

"All apart of the scene gentlemen," he chuckled and threw the towel back at Troy who sighs, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning.

"So? What you all say?" Durrell coaxed. Troy let out a scoff and shook his head,

"Man….it's all I can do to keep my eyes open, let alone party…"

"I'm with Troy, sorry bro." Luke replied.

"Lame! I'll be the one with all the tail tonight it seems! Saracen? Trav?"

Saracen shook his head, "Nah man, date with Em' tonight…with all these practices before semester I have hardly seen her which is incredibly unfair to her..." This brought thoughts of Troy's own girlfriend to his mind: Gabriella. Over the summer he had had basketball practices so he had to move-in to the athlete housing early. Fortunately Gabi was also in California, unfortunately she was at Stanford and he was at Berkeley…an hour a way. He took comfort in the fact that it was Thursday morning however because she would be up to see him soon since her summer classes were only on Wednesday and Thursday. She spent most of her free time at Berkeley even it meant a lot of that time was taken, regretfully, by her studying.

"Well, count me in."

Durrell slaps Travis hand, "At least one of you guys likes women and beer."

"Hey! Shut the fuck up bitch" Saracen smiled as he punched Durrell playfully. Troy sighed, already worn out for the day, "Alright guys I'm headed out."

Troy walked into the dorm/apartment he shared with the other two freshmen on the team: Luke and Travis. Luke, a 6'10 center from Michigan, followed in before shutting the door as Troy collapsed on the couch.

"You hungry dude?" Troy doesn't answer Luke because he is already falling asleep: one leg hanging off the edge of the couch and his forearm covering his eyes. Troy heard the question, but can't bring himself to answer as he falls into a slumber trying to block out all his stresses clouding his mind: practice, teammates, upcoming classes, the fact that the air conditioning seemed to be broken…AGAIN, and how much he missed his amazing girlfriend whom he would be seeing a lot less of come the start of the fall semester. He is suddenly jerked awake when Luke kicked him. Troy groans, "Ugggh… What?" His voice thick with annoyance.

"Dude. Food?You hungry?"

Troy sighed, "I guess, but I'm too tired to eat."

"Whatever man…I thought you said you were going to clean up when you got back." Troy was angry now, if he weren't so tired he probably would merely be slightly annoyed.

"You're kidding me right? Most of this mess is yours and Trav's and somehow I am always the one cleaning it up."

"Well, the difference is you care if it's a little dirty-"

"A little?" Troy glances around at the array of pizza boxes, Gatorade bottles, dirty dishes, dirty clothes, clean clothes, half-eaten food, and God knows what else.

"Hey man, like I said…I don't really care that much. And besides it's your girl that's coming over." Troy groaned at this because he realized laying there arguing wasn't going to help the mess to be cleaned up. He pulled out his cellphone to check the time: 11am, Gabi would be getting out of her last class at 1:20 which meant she would be here 2:30 at the earliest, if, like he suspected, she already had a bag packed. Drawing off the anticipation he felt at holding Gabriella in his arms he found the motivation to get to work. He sighed and reluctantly started to pick up the nearest trash shoving it into a trash bag.

Gabriella knocked on the door, she was a little late because she hadn't been able to reach Troy on her phone and she didn't want to show up if he was still in practice. She drove slower than normal (which was the actual speed limit admittedly) and had arrived around 3pm. She heard an "It's open!" sounding like Luke, from inside. She opened the door slowly and peered in, she spotted Travis and Luke sitting on the couch playing a video game. She was used to this: Travis and Luke getting into heated NCAA virtual basketball games. She wondered if Troy was even here since he didn't answer his phone. She walked up behind the couch, her bag slung on her shoulder.

"Hey guys."

"Hey." They respond in unison, barely paying attention to her. She half rolled her eyes but smiled and adjusted the bag on her shoulder. She cleared her throat, "Well…uh…Is he here?"

"Ooooooooo!" Luke reacted to a slam dunk, "In your face McLean!" He turned around slightly and smiled at Gabriella, "Nice to see ya Gab…he's in his room."

"Good to see you to Luke…thanks!" she gave him a smile and turned left to walk down the long hallway which lead to the bedrooms. She frowned slightly as she thought about why Troy hadn't answered her calls, to be honest she had been somewhat worried and here he had been in his room the whole time. She was going to give him a small piece of her mind she thought as she reached the last door at the end of the hall. She opened the door expecting to see Troy listening to music or on the computer but instead she saw her adorable boyfriend passed out on his bed clad only in gym shorts: a nod to how hot it was. Gabriella smiled at his position: he was on his stomach, one leg and arm straddling a pillow and hanging off the edge of the bed as a fan blew his bangs away from his forehead. She couldn't be mad at this boy so she softly dropped her bag on the ground and walked over to where he slept. She bent over and kissed his forehead and then his lips, they were so soft. He stirred then, smiling in his sleep. Gabi chuckled softly before kissing his lips again, this time as she pulled away he had a delayed response: puckering his lips, searching for the lips no longer there to kiss. She laughed as his lips turned into a frown.

"Troy?" She spoke softly. He grunted in response, she tried again in a sing-song voice, louder, "Trooooy." This time he just moaned, but clearly more awake. "Troy Bolton wake up and greet me properly, I didn't drive all this way to watch you sleep." She stood up fully and placed her hands on her hips, waiting for a response. Troy took in a deep breath and on the exhale his eyes slowly opened and Gabriella could finally see his piercing blue eyes as he gazed up at her.

"You awake now?"

"MmmHmm" He responded shaking his head and then closed his eyes again.

"Right." She sighed. "Well…I guess I'll just have to go home then…" She said with a smile, teasing him. She started to back away from the edge of the bed but Troy's arm quickly reached out to grab her around her waist pulling her towards him causing her to fall onto the bed seated, she laughed, "Troy!" Troy used his left arm to remove the pillow he had been sleeping with and chucked it across the room while using his right to restrain his girlfriend. Gabriella tried, in vain, to get back up though she did it just so he would hold her tighter, "Let me goooo!"

"Nope," was the response and he now used his right arm to swing her legs from hanging off the bed to laying down beside his. She giggled as he swung his right leg over her hip and held her to his chest with his strong arms. He kissed her neck and she squirmed because it tickled a little. Then he stopped kissing her and just laid there, she couldn't see him.

"Troy?"

His response was merely a closed-mouth moan, "Hmmmm"

"Are you seriously just going to go back to sleep?"

"No…I'm not JUST going back to sleep…I'm going back to sleep much happier because my amazing sexy girlfriend is now here to cuddle with."

"Oh….hmmm..really? Because that pillow looked like a great cuddle buddy…"

Troy chuckled, "Nothing compared to the real thing…"

"Uh huh…I bet… judging from your oh so enthusiastic greeting…" She rolled her eyes.

"Hm," was the just as un-climatic response from him. Except so suddenly that she didn't have time to react, he had shifted his weight, letting his right leg slide from overtop her hip to the side of it so that now he was straddling her. Just as quickly he bent down and caught her lips in a passionate kiss breathing in through his nose as he did. He captured her hands in his, interlacing their friends together as he placed them on either side of her head. She sighed as she kissed him back, she had really missed him. His tongue darted out, licking the line between her bottom and top lip, asking for entry which she willingly granted. His tongue invaded her mouth, massaging hers causing her to moan. Her moan elicited a response from him to dig deeper, with penetrating strokes as he released his hold on her hands to grasp her hair and cradle her face. He finally, to her extreme dismay, released her lips from his which left them both breathing heavily and he softly kissed her lips once. Twice. Three more times before smiling down at her. Her eyes connected with his stunning blue ones as he flicked his head to get his hair out of his face. She didn't want him to stop, she had been so lonely since the last time they were together, she could feel her insides turning with anticipation.

"Better?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"You said I didn't" he kissed her forehead, "give you" he kissed her left cheek, "an enthusiastic enough" he kissed her right cheek, "greeting" he kissed her nose. She giggled before responding,

"Yes…much better." She pulled his face down to him to give him a kiss on the lips.

"I'm glad." He stared down at his girl taking in all her beauty, "Sorry I fell asleep…I missed you so much Gabs."

She smiled and bit her lip, knowing his reaction before she answered, "Hm…wish I could say the same."

The look on his face was priceless, his mouth opened in shock as his eyes widened but then a devilish smile came to his face, "Take it back Montez…" She giggled in response and before she could think of a clever retort he started to tickle her. She moved to bring her arms up to try and stop him but he restrained both of them in one of his and clamped his legs down on either side of her hips to keep her from moving too much: she was caught. Troy smiled as he watched her thrash around from his attack at her abdomen.

"Troy!...Troy!...Please!...OH!...PLEA-!...No,no,no!Stoooop!..." Gabriella managed to blurt out as she was mercilessly tickled. In her worming and squiggling she had somehow scooted up. Now Troy kneeled above her, straddling her legs, rather than sitting on her hips, loosening his hold on her unintentionally.

"I told you to take it back!" Troy giggled and tickled a tad harder which triggered an involuntary jerk of her right leg. Troy stopped immediately, releasing his hold on her, Gabriella opened her eyes to see Troy's face scrunched up and eyes closed; he was holding his breath. Concern came over her,

"Troy?...Troy what's-" She realized what she had done when he rolled off her and groaned going into the fetal position and holding his groin. "Oh Troy…oh babe I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just—you were—awww, are you okay?" She whined.

Troy, eyes still closed, started to breathe evenly in and out, taking deep breaths as he did. "Yeah, it's okay…my fault…just gimme a minute." He said through a clenched jaw.

Gabriella frowned, upset with herself for hurting him, even if she didn't do it on purpose she still didn't like seeing him in pain. Not sure what to do she settled for rubbing his back with her hand, "I'm really-" she started but he cut her off,

"Gabriella, it's fine…it was an accident." Feeling better he opened his eyes and took one last breath before letting it out quickly. He stretched out beside her, wincing a bit, and propped himself up on his elbow, smiling up at her. She wondered if he knew how much her heart melted every time he smiled like that at her, "Feelin' better?...If it helps I really really missed you!" She bit her lip. He chuckled and reached up with his finger to dislodge her lip from her teeth.

"I'm glad to hear that, but don't look so upset sweetheart…I'm fine. Promise." He smiled at her again. "That was a heck of a way to greet your boyfriend though!"

She hit his shoulder, "Oh you!"

He laughed as he spoke, "Hey! Don't you think you've done enough damage young lady!" She knew he was teasing her so she struck back,

"Men are such babies!"

Troy's eyes widened at the retort, "Oh really?" She nodded in response. "At least I'm not scared to death of spiders," he said shrugging.

She gasped, "I am NOT scared of spiders….I just…don't particularly like them is all."

He nodded, pursing his lips as he considered this. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before answering, "Well, that's good because me and the guys have seen A LOT of spiders around here lately…we thought about telling the building manager but-" Gabriella gasped, cutting him off.

"What?" She said quickly glancing around, checking for spiders, "How come you didn't tell-" She stopped because Troy was laughing. He thought he was so funny tricking her like that. She smacked his arm again, which only made him laugh harder much to her displeasure. She scoffed and then pouted, feigning being upset which she knew would bring him back down to earth from his laughing high.

Troy slowly stopped laughing as he took in his girlfriend's adorable face, "Awww…come oooon…it was just a joooke…" He reached over then and pulled her over to him. She continued to pout and he took his index finger and coaxed her chin up before kissing the frown on her lips away. She smiled a small smile as he pulled away.

"Now that's what I like to see" He winked at her and then leaned in again to kiss her more fully this time. He couldn't help it, she was too irresistible and it had been 4 days since he last saw her and even longer since they had proper time together. She had spent much of last weekend holed up in his room studying for an exam and much as he wanted to spend time with her both in his bed and out of it he had to respect her schooling before his own…needs…first. He didn't even want to think about the stretched of time they would spend apart once the semester started.

He deepened the kiss, taking his hand which had been by her face and dropped it to her shoulder running it down the bare skin of her arm. She was wearing a low cut tank top and when he glanced down he had a clear view of her red laced bra which held her supple breasts up. He groaned as his fingers made their way to her elbow and then to her side, meeting bare skin due to her top riding up a tad at the bottom exposing part of her midriff. She sighed as he drew light patterns on her skin and then grabbed his face with her hand, pulling him closer to her.

He took that as an invitation and rolled her onto her back, adjusting himself so he hovered above her. He broke their kiss only to replant his lips on her neck. He suckled and kissed around until finding her sensitive spot, making her moan softly. Her legs opened up to him as he settled between them. His hand played with them hem of her tank, slowly lifting it up before delving his hand completely under it to attend to the breasts that had been taunting him before. At the same time he reconnected their lips, and she moaned into his mouth. He massaged and stroked her cloth covered breast with his large hand. His tongue fought his way into her mouth as hers tried to keep it out, he smiled and chuckled slightly at her little game. Determined to win he deliberately moved the fabric of her bra away so he could rub a hardened nipple with his thumb. She moaned deeply, distracting her long enough for his tongue to gain entrance and penetrate deeply into her mouth: Victory.

Her hands caressed the hardened panes of his abdomen. Her fingers gently ran up and down his torso, sending spikes through his system. He shivered slightly as they then made their way to his waistband. She teased him, tracing the line of skin where the elastic clung to his hips, before circling them both around to the skin just below his belly button. The tips of her fingers lightly picked at the elastic barrier. He groaned, feeling his already aroused member harden further in anticipation.

"Gabriella…" He sighed. She dared his control further by ever so slowly sliding her thumbs fully into both his shorts and boxer waistbands. Tugging slightly at them, they slid ever so slightly down as her thumbs caressed the sensitive skin there causing him to break their kiss with a hiss. He looked her in the eyes as she bit her bottom lip before he lowered his head to kiss her abdomen. He pulled the waist of her shorts down slightly to blow air along the line the barrier he tested and as he did he felt her muscles jump. He smiled as he trailed kisses up to her belly button which he delved his tongue into before continuing upward. When he reached the bottom of her tank which hovered just below her breasts he used his hand to pull it up further, exposing her bra covered breasts. Her back arched up as he placed a kiss right between her mounds and as he licked the inside swell of her right breast he began to pull off her tank completely. Her arms lifted above her head as the top came off and Troy threw it to the floor. He then planted kisses all over her chest and stomach. She tasted SO good, too good for him to not remove the last barrier between him and her naked flesh. He slid his arm around her back, lifting her slightly as he attacked her lips with his. Finding her bra clasp he fumbled with it before it finally came undone. He sighed in relief as he laid her back down and grasped the article of clothing, sliding the bands off her arms and discarding it. He groaned at the sight of her, immediately kissing around her bare breast before taking her hard nipple in his mouth. She gasped and moaned as he sucked and licked,

"Oh…Troy…" Her words lit a fire in him as his hands trailed to her shorts, unbuttoning them. Her head flew back and arched into his touch as he slowly unzipped her zipper. His fingers trailed her exposed panty line as she bucked her hips off the bed, too impatient for his teasing. His mouth left her nipple only to trail down to her navel as his hands tugged her shorts free of her hips, sliding them down her legs and off. He ran his fingers back up the smooth skin of her legs, rubbing them before letting his thumbs slide inward to stroke the insides of her thighs. She groaned impatiently as he slowly let one of them trace the line of her panties covering her very wet center. He watched her face as she bit her lip, anticipating his next move.