Disclaimer - not mine, someone else gets the credit and the money.
Author's Note – Okay, I know I suck. I should have been working on NBFB or something else constructive but I have a confession – I have ALWAYS wanted to write a Halloween fic yet despite the numerous fandoms that I've been involved in, I've never done it. This is partially inspired by watching a kids magician try and keep a roomful of kids amused when we had a fun day at work and I immediately wanted to do a TG fic to something like that but it never really fit so I figure magic and Halloween is pretty damn close and amalgamated the two. I really hope you like. I know it's just a piece of fluff but I hope it's enjoyable fluff if nothing else.
Hope you all have had a nice Halloween and please, let me know what you think.
The first time he met her, it was magical, quite literally. They were always supposed to meet, he knew that – the coincidences in their lives, the almost meetings, the common interests, the common friends, it was all supposed to end with them meeting. Despite that though, he wasn't sure if it was fate or just dumb luck that engineered a meeting that particular day but whatever it was, it was just...magical.
There were a few things that made Troy Bolton nervous. A lifetime on the basketball court, being the go-to guy did that to you. You had a split second to shoot or pass, and if you got it wrong, you lost. Nothing could faze him – hearing hundreds of people cheering for him in High School, hearing thousands of people cheering for him in College – stage fright was never going to be his problem.
Until now.
He wiped his sweaty palms on the hideous green fabric and looked around the room desperately, trying to ignore the giggling and the laughter and the girl crying over in the corner. He was going to kill Chad for this. If he survived this, he was literally going to kill Chad.
"Do you actually do anything?"
He was broken out his thoughts by the sound of the small boy wearing a pirate's hat tugging on his cape. "Are you going to make someone disappear?"
Troy opened his mouth to respond but before he could a small girl was jumping up and down. "You don't look like Harry Potter."
Troy was about to say something when he felt two hands land on his back. "Troy, man – is this not the best job ever?"
Troy turned and glared at the clown who was standing beside him, looking far too smug for a man in purple satin and makeup. He forced a smile on his face so as not to scare the kids and proceeded to drag Chad over to the other side of the room. "Chad – this is the worst job ever! Why the hell would you do this to me?"
"You can't blame me for this!"
"I completely blame you! I cannot believe that I let you talk me into this," Troy hissed in the direction of his former best friend.
"Shhh," Chad said as he adjusted his red nose and his hat. "You said you didn't mind helping out. You said, and I quote 'anything is fine as long as I get paid' and here you are, getting paid more than you could hope to make bussing dishes, and you're complaining."
"I have no idea what the hell I'm doing!"
Chad rolled his eyes and began walking away. "You lived with that magic set as a kid – just...entertain them. It's not hard, they're kids. Say something stupid and they'll find it funny."
Before Troy could say anything, Chad was marching away, singing badly and randomly spraying kids with his fake flower. He hated Chad a little more at that moment. No one would care that Chad was making a fool of himself because he was a freaking clown, but no – Troy couldn't be a clown, he had to be on display with a crappy hat and a crappy outfit and relying on knowledge he had garnered as an eight year old and no doubt one of these children would be related to someone he knew, and photos would be posted online, and if he ever made it to the NBA some reporter would find those photos of him when he was 18 and was the worst ever magician at a kids Halloween party and he'd never live it down.
When he had came to college he thought it would be okay, he had got a full scholarship and he had saved some money so he thought it would be fine. Of course he hadn't counted on there being countless books, and materials, and food, and bills and...well, needless to say costs had mounted so he had been looking to find a way to bring money in that fitted in with his studies and his basketball. Stupidly, he had confided his thoughts to his best friend who had taken it upon himself to find them both a job. A couple of days later Chad had told him how a girl in one of his classes had set up a business and was looking for some people to help out at parties and events and it had all seemed perfect – the rate of pay was good, the hours were manageable and it all seemed too good to be true. He figured he would serve a few lunches, clean a few tables and all would be good so when Chad had come in with the 'uniforms' they would have to wear, Troy had almost collapsed. The 'parties and events' had turned out to be kids parties at schools, and community halls, and the events were at galleries, and shopping centres where actual people would see him being an idiot.
He groaned as he walked back over to his 'magicians table' and waited to be abused by the kids, and the teenagers and the parents who were all already giving him the evil eye. He hated his life.
He had stumbled his way through the first 15 minutes, making bouquets of flowers, making a penny disappear and playing with the 'magic' rings and if it hadn't been for the fact that he knew that every kid in the audience had done the same thing, he would have been impressed by his act so far. His 'wizards cap' had long been discarded and his robe sleeves were rolled up as he had a glance around the room, all he could think was that he was extremely, extremely close to being attacked by a room full of ravenous school children.
"You're the worst magician in the world!"
"Hey – maybe I just want you to think I'm the worst magician!" he countered as he tried to think of something desperately. His 'show' had to last thirty minutes for the 'ghost tour' to be ready and he knew that he wasn't close to having enough material to spin into another fifteen minutes but he was getting desperate. "What do you guys want to see?"
"Fire-eating!"
"Saw someone in half!"
"Read my mind!"
Any lingering hope that he had that they would be content with his lousy attempts at juggling vanished because he didn't know how to do any of that. He hated Chad.
"He can read minds."
He stopped at the sound of the woman's voice and almost felt his jaw hit the floor as he looked up the back to see the single most beautiful girl he had ever clapped eyes on standing there with a sympathetic smile on her face as she looked at him before she turned to the rest of the kids who had suddenly stopped bickering at the sound of the new voice. He couldn't help but trail his eyes over her – she was in costume, which either meant she worked here or else she was a relative and she was small but...perfect. Beyond perfect. He sighed as he looked – he had never been one to be smacked around the face with the effect a woman had on him, but man...
"...I bet you anything that he can read one of your minds right now!"
"No way, he's a squib."
He blinked as he caught onto their conversation as he came out of his daze. He had no idea what a squib was, but he knew it couldn't be good and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be insulted in front of her by a ten year old.
"He's not a squib – he's a great magician!" she said, her voice showing disbelief as though she truly believed her statement as she knelt down and began whispering loudly. "He's in disguise so that evil wizards and witches can't find him and steal his powers. Have you seen any wicked witches or wizards around?"
A group of kids shook their heads, suddenly intrigued and Troy wondered why he hadn't thought to tell them a story like that. "What do they look like?"
"Hmmm," she pretended to ponder before speaking. "They dress in black, wear pointy hats and don't know the magic word."
"You're wearing a pointy hat and black," a little girl exclaimed with wide eyes as she turned to Troy, looking fearful. "Quick, she's going to steal your powers and then eat you!"
Troy couldn't help but start to enjoy the whole thing a whole lot more as he turned to the girl and grinned. "Are you a wicked witch?"
"I could be," she said with a smile. "Someone might be trying to hit me with a house right about now."
He laughed lowly as two of the girls ran to window to see if there was indeed a house flying towards them.
"Well, in the interests of safety as I don't think any of us want to squished by a house, do you happen to know the magic word?"
She blushed and began walking over to him before stopping at the table and grinning as she lifted up the ping pong ball that he had attempted to make disappear earlier before she picked it up and threw it a couple of times before she threw it high in the air, hit it with her had whilst yelling Abracadabra before the ball seemingly disappeared as confetti and glitter seemed to spray from where the ball used to be, much to the delight of the kids in the audience and the surprise of Troy.
"I guess so," he breathed as he looked around at the kids who were clapping loudly. "Whoa..."
"So now you know I don't want to steal your powers," she said with a smile at him. "Can I stay?"
"Oh yeah, you can stay as long as you want," he said as he didn't take his eyes off her.
"Good," she said as she looked on, and Troy couldn't help but grin as he saw the blush on her face.
"Can you do something else," a little girl said as he stood in between Troy and the beautiful girl and Troy was beginning to think he was willing to kick them out the room just so he could talk to her properly. "You're really good and he's useless."
"He's not useless," she defended as she turned to the little girl. "He's going to show everyone how great he is. Wait and see him read someone's mind. Who wants him to read their mind?"
A flurry of hands flew up and the girl pondered before she pulled out a boy and turned to Troy with a smile. "You ready to read his mind?"
Troy panicked – he couldn't do that! She seemed to sense his panic as she gave him a reassuring smile before she walked over to the kids and grabbed the boy's hand. "This is really difficult and if the Great..."
She paused as if waiting on his name and he shrugged. "Troy?"
"The great...Troy," she said, her voice laced with laughter as she turned back to the crowd. "The great Troy can read minds so...if he does this, that means that you guys have to be good the rest of the day."
"Or else what?"
"Or else I'll read your minds and tell your parents about any of the stuff you get up to that no one else knows about," he said with a false smile on, ignoring the boos the kids gave him for that as he shot her his most charming smile, not particularly phased by the fact that he was willing to flirt shamelessly in front of a room of children. "So, what can I call you?"
"I um..." she looked down and blushed a little as she shrugged. "I'm just Gabriella."
He grinned a little wider and took a step closer to her as he stuck his hand out. "Hi, Gabriella."
She shook his hand softly and he resisted the urge to do a victory dance as she smiled up at him. "Hi, Troy."
"Why did you have to ask her name if you can read minds?"
"It's not nice to read people's minds all the time," Troy said as though it was obvious as he watched Gabriella take out the box of cards and hand them to him. "So...pick a card, any card?"
She nodded her head and gestured to the boy and Troy tried to look as suave as possible as he gave the boy the cards and let him pick one out. He waited as the boy took one and then he looked over at Gabriella for assistance. He hated looking like an idiot in front of her, but he figured that she probably had seen his attempts in the first half of the show so he couldn't possibly look any worse than that.
"Okay, have you picked a card?"
The boy nodded and Gabriella grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him back beside her. "Okay, the Great Troy and I are going to turn our backs and when we do you have to show everyone else what card it is, okay? And then, once everyone has seen, you put the card at the bottom of the pile and hold it for a moment."
"Okay."
With that they turned away and Gabriella stood closer to Troy. "When we go over, take the deck off him without turning it over. I'll give you the card box, and you put the cards in. Wave your hand over it then say the magic words. After that you turn the box over and that's you."
"That's me what?"
"We're finished!"
Gabriella smirked at him as she turned around and gestured with her head to the boy. He had no idea what she was making him do, but he figured she must know what she was doing so he went along with it and did exactly like she asked. He turned the box over and wondered what he was looking for until he saw the small cut out on the corner of the box, just small enough to show the Two of Hearts. She was so sneaky! He lifted his gaze to hers and saw her nodding her head encouragingly as he grinned as he turned to the boy and proceeded to 'guess' the right card. The kids were awestruck as he took his applause like a pro and she giggled as she watched, and he decided that, actually, he might have to thank Chad for getting him this job after all.
The first time he kissed her he had been enchanted. After meeting her at a kids Halloween party when they were eighteen he had been caught in whatever web she had woven. He had discovered, after catching her when the kids left, that they were going to the same college and that they actually shared a class together. Well, together was a loose term – as they were in the same class, but in a different lecture block which meant that she was sat in with a hundred other people in the morning whereas he was sat in one with a hundred more in the afternoon but it hadn't mattered, it had been a sign to them both. It turned out that the company they were employed with was run by her friend, who was apparently involved in a love/hate relationship with Chad who she had already met. She had got her job for similar reasons to Troy, and had been equally as horror stricken to discover that part of her job would be to dress up in whatever theme the party was in. She had initially refused, but as the money was good and she had wanted to help out her friend, she had eventually caved in and had scowered the internet for ideas on how to entertain kids.
She was shy, he had discovered and it had taken a while to get her to open up fully but he had loved the process of getting her to trust him. She was beautiful and smart and kind and he loved the fact that she had forgone her own nature to help him out that day by turning the attention on herself to save him from embarrassment despite the fact that she hadn't even known him.
Their relationship since then had been intense – although there was no official name to it, they were both aware that they were attached and they went on dates, and picked each other up from classes, and studied together and she had even went and saw him practice a few times along with watching as many games as she could. He learned that her dream was to sing, which is why she was studying music, although she knew that her intense stage fright meant it wasn't likely so she was also studying maths and chemistry as the realistic option.
For his part he had confessed to her that out with basketball he had no idea what he wanted to do, and how he feared that the only thing he would be good at was probably a sport he was too short to play. She had listened and when he had finished she had proceeded to list off a dozen careers relating to basketball that didn't involve playing it. She had mentioned everything from nutrition, to coaching, to physical therapy to publicity and being a sports agent and he had to admit, he was intrigued. It had been the first time he had actually spoken about what else was out there as no one seemed to accept that it might not happen for him.
They continued to work – he was for some sadistic reason always cast as the magician and he always had to watch with no small amount of jealousy as the older brothers seemed to get a thrill out of trying to pick her up. He watched and had burst more than a few balloon animals in the process of trying to resist the urge of going over and making himself known, but she would always shoot him a small smile and he would relax. She had taken to teaching him magic tricks so that when the next party came around, he would be more prepared and it had worked – she hadn't had to help out as often and could get along with her own task which was to make things with the smaller children and teach them some songs appropriate to whatever event it was. They scowered the internet together, learning new tricks and practicing them and although it cost them a fortune of packs of cards and fabrics and they had drenched the carpet a few times as they tried to balance water in midair, it had been as enjoyable as anything he could have imagined.
They had been 'together' for almost a month when he had finally got the guts to kiss her. They had been close on a dozen different occasions, but invariably Chad, or her friend Sharpay, or a kid, or one of his teammates, or a kid would all interrupt and they would be left blushing, and looking around as though they hadn't just tried to ravage each other so, around Thanksgiving he had had enough. They had both stayed at school because he had a game, and her mom had gone travelling so they had spent the holiday together and neither of them chose to address the fact that they had despite their lack of history together. It had been a great day, and although it had proven to have been almost disastrous in terms of preparing the meal, it had been utterly enjoyable throughout. Despite that though, he had still found himself going home and calling her up at 1am and asking her if he could see her again. She had yelled at him for not sleeping, before immediately coming to meet him and, as he watched her try and balance as they 'tight-rope walked' along the ridge separating the sidewalk from the grass he had to try and remind himself that he had actually only been aware of her existence for less than a month instead of forever.
"You okay, Troy?" she looked up at him as she kept her arms outstretched while she walked. "You've been really quiet."
He shook his head and shrugged. "I'm fine. I guess I'm just..." he shook his head and stopped to look at her. "Do you think it's weird that we only just met?"
She stopped walking and shook her own head. "Not really – you stayed in Albuquerque and I stayed...everywhere but Albuquerque – it would have been kinda hard for us to meet."
"No I mean...it's just, you know how many days we've known each other? Twenty seven days."
She bit her lip and looked at him and he could see she was confused so he took a step closer to her. "I can talk to you like I've known you forever. I don't get it – but...I'm glad."
"I don't get it either," she said after a moment before she looked down and blushed slightly. "I don't mind though. I...it takes me a while for people to understand me. I think I come across as weird or something..."
"That's just because you study math," he said with a wink causing her to hit him lightly as he caught her arm and pulled her towards him. "Don't worry though; I like you even though you are a freaky math girl."
She rolled her eyes before she looked up at him. "I guess I like you as well, even if you are a basketball playing squib."
He chuckled at the use of the insult that some children still threw at him on occasion and now he knew what it meant. "You know you are secretly dazzled by my magical progress."
"And you know you are secretly enchanted by my ability to correct your numeracy coursework without using a calculator."
"No argument here," he said as he looked down at her and made a decision there and then. "I had an amazing time today, but it's just a little...scary, you know?"
"I know," she said as she looked down. "I can be less scary if you like? I can pick arguments or deliberately make fun of you or something?"
He laughed as he shook his head. "I like you like this. I said it's scary, but not so scary that I don't want to keep it up. What is it that chick said in that film? Do the thing that scares you? Unless you don't want to of course..."
"I don't want this, whatever it is, to stop," she said softly. "I...I like this."
"I like this to," he admitted before making a decision there and then. He didn't care that it was 27 days, he didn't care that it was 2am and they were both freezing and clearly insane for playing circus games in the park. All he cared about was that this felt right. "What the hell are you doing to me, Gabriella? This isn't something I've ever had happen to me before."
"Me either," she said as he brought his hand to her face and he saw her breath hitch in response. "I can't even think clearly enough around you to be terrified."
"You don't have to be terrified of me," he promised as he looked at her and he was confident that what he was saying was true. She didn't have to be scared of this, of him. He would never deliberately hurt her and he knew that he could make her happy. "You know, I learned a new trick today."
She looked up at him happily, looking infinitely more comfortable at the shift in the conversation. "Really? Is it good? Will it be ready for Saturday?"
"It's great," he said as he stepped closer to her. "It will definitely be ready for Saturday. I need help though."
"I can help," she assured him as she took his hand. "I don't think I have anything planned for earlier in the day as I don't have the group until later so I don't mind helping."
"Good," he said as he stepped even closer. "My trick is..."
Before he finished he leant down and pressed his lips to hers. He almost floated away as he felt her lips on his and he felt himself grip her tighter just to keep her close. The kiss was soft and gentle and the feel of her lips against his was magical and he knew that this was right. He knew that this was his girl and he was going to keep ahold of her, no matter what.
He pulled back and looked at her, her eyes still closed and her arms around his neck and he leant back down and kissed her again before pulling back. "My trick is kissing you without anyone else interrupting. Did you like it?"
"I..." she was breathing heavily as her eyes opened up and met his. "I think it's the best trick I've ever seen."
He grinned as he leant down again. "I wanna practice it though and I wanna do it right. You...would you object to this being more...official? I mean I know it's practically official, but properly official...you know...official where I can actually admit that we're not just hanging out and everyone knows that occasionally we will have ulterior motives when we try and make excuses to be alone instead of deciding they want to suddenly help."
She giggled as her smile turned positively impish as she looked at him and he wondered how he could get her to look like that more often because it was quite possibly the sexiest thing he had ever seen and she hadn't even done anything yet. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. "I am open to persuasion..."
"What kind of persuasion?" he asked as he met her gaze, trying to resist the temptation to kiss her again. Kissing her was almost addictive. "Because I am open to a lot."
She giggled as she shook her head. "What's the magic word?"
He laughed as he grabbed ahold of her waist and pulled her close before kissing her soundly again before pulling back and murmuring against her lips. "Abracadabra."
She nodded her head, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed as she wrapped her arms around him tighter and burying her face in his embrace. "Right answer."
When he had made official even more official he had been irrevocably spell-bound.
It had been three years since they had met although it seemed like much longer to them both. Their connection baffled most, but it wasn't anything that seemed out of place. Meeting each other had seemingly awoken sides of them that they hadn't even known existed and the new facets of their personalities had seemingly been awaiting each other and in no circumstances could either of them envision an existence without the other. They knew their futures were entwined, and while some were wary of making plans too far in the future, they didn't care – they had made the decision that they would be together no matter what. He had just turned twenty-two and was in his last year of college and should have been concentrating on the book he had been reading, but had been unable to do so as he watched his girlfriend bite down on her lip to stop it quivering as she watched the television.
He had no idea why she watched these films that only made her sad, but he hated to see her cry hence him standing up from the table he had been reading at and manoeuvring himself so he could slide behind her on the couch. She moved over to accommodate him and he pressed a kiss to her shoulder as he wrapped one arm around her waist and let her lace their fingers together as he kept his book open with his other and continued trying to read although his thoughts were on much more important things than his coursework.
He had been dating her for three years and bar one biggish fight that had lasted a week in their first year, it had been the best three years of his life. "Why do you watch this when it makes you sad, Ella?"
She shrugged before turning to look at him. "I just...they love each other so much and...it's just...it's sad but it's romantic, you know?"
"There are loads of romantic films that don't leave you in this state," he said as he kissed her neck and leant his chin on her shoulder. "You bought a box full of them."
She smiled as she turned her head and looked at him, her tears still dampening her cheeks. "It's a girl thing. Sometimes we just like to cry."
"You'll give me a complex if you want to cry on the day that we met," he said as he pressed his lips to her chin.
"Never," she said as she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That was the best day of my life."
His stomach flipped at her words – it was the best day of his life as well and he loved to know that it had been the same for her. "Fine – how about next time you wait until I'm not here then, because I hate seeing you cry and it makes me feel like crap."
"Sorry Troy," she said as she reached up and caressed his cheek. "You look so tired. You should have slept later this morning after your game last night."
He sighed and nodded – he was tired and stressed and he knew he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it especially as only a small portion of it was to do with basketball and school, but he couldn't exactly share that with her as he was planning on it being the right moment before he brought that up. "I'm okay. It's just...this is a big year and everything is just so...big."
She nodded as she immediately switched the television off before twisting her body more fully so she was completely facing him. "This year is just the exact same as every other year. You're going to be amazing and, if by some miracle you're not, I'm still going to be here."
"If I mess up this year, I definitely won't get drafted. If I don't get drafted and I mess up my finals, I won't graduate with anything that I can build a career with and...I want more than that for us."
She cupped his face in her hands and smiled. "I can't guarantee about the basketball thing, as that's kinda all in your hands but you have a good enough reputation that I think you'll be fine and if not, then it's not the end of the world," she leant forward and kissed him softly before pulling back. "There's more to you than basketball. So much more and you'll see that one day if I have to live to a hundred just to get it through your head."
He smiled as he saw the utter conviction in her face as she continued.
"What I can do though is guarantee that you won't fail everything in terms of coursework. Even if I have to be the bitch from hell I will study with you, and make up timetables and study questions and everything else to make sure you pass if you want. I don't think that will be necessary though, because I have complete faith in you."
He knew she was telling the truth and couldn't help the goofy grin emerge on his face. He had never had someone that had such utter faith in him. There had always been provisos and what if's attached before, but with her it was unwavering and in return it made him determined to prove her right. He made a move to attach their lips, his book and studying forgotten but before he could she had got up off his lap and was holding out her hand. "You know what we need to do? We need to get out – so I'm not crying at the TV and you're not stressing about something months down the line. We're going to Sharpay's party. If we leave early we can grab something to eat beforehand and, I think we both deserve something ridiculously gooey, don't you?"
He almost groaned – he didn't want to go out. He just wanted to spend the night with her. He really didn't feel like going to Sharpay's party where their friends would be in various degrees of drunken stupor and the pair of them would be forced, no doubt, to look after them. "I don't want to go to her party. I'm fine here," he tried to charm. "I'd be even better in bed though."
"Its 7pm," she said with a false scandalised tone as she put a hand on her hip.
"Yeah, because God knows we've never done that before, right?" he snorted. It was true – moving in together last Christmas break had made great financial sense but it had, for a while, led to a severe decline in their social lives as they made great use out of the freedom they had without fear of anyone walking in or disturbing them. It had been great for them, but not so great in terms of making them productive members of society and it had taken them a while to get the right balance back.
She giggled then and he could see the way she shook her head that she was trying to clear her thoughts. "That is not the point. It's Halloween and kids will be here soon so it's not like we would have an uninterrupted night even if we stayed in."
"We'll leave the candy bowl at the door and I promise I will clear up any mess they make of the door," he said as he sat up and smirked at her. "I'll make it worth your while."
"Oh, I have no doubts about that," she said as she backed away, almost cautiously and he smirked even more as he watched her cheeks flush. "Come on. It will be fun – you'll like my costume, I promise."
"I always like what you wear," he said as he looked at her. "Or don't wear."
"That look's not going to work," she warned. "This is the best costume I've ever had."
"Baby..."
"No. No 'Baby' – I will not fall for that, again," she said with a nod as she backed away. "You can stay here if you like, but I'm going to the party."
"You hate parties!"
There was no answer and he waited a few minutes on her to come back out and tell him to get ready before he realised that maybe she was serious about going by herself, so he stood up and headed to their bedroom only to almost stagger back as he looked at her. "Holy shit."
She lifted her gaze to meet his and she giggled as she turned around in a small pirouette, his mouth open as he looked at her in her figure hugging black, sparkly cat suit. "Do you like?"
"Do I even wanna know how long you've had that in there," he gasped as he walked over, slightly impressed that he was even forming words. "Because...if that's been in there a while and you're only just wearing it now, you are a cruel, cruel person."
"Sharpay bought it for me – the party's theme is heroes & villains and she said she wanted to do the whole Charlie's Angels thing."
"Yeah, I'll wish her good luck with that," he said as he ran his hand from her shoulder, slowly down to her hip whilst his other clenched uselessly at his side as he tried to restrain himself from just throwing her on the bed. "There is no way you are leaving the house wearing that."
"Why, does it look bad?" she asked as she turned back to the mirror and looked at herself. "I made sure I got the black one because it's more flattering – she wanted me to go with red but I thought that would look really awful on me..."
His head tipped back at the idea of her in red as he struggled to keep his thoughts clear.
"No," he breathed as he looked her up and down, and up and down again. "No, it definitely doesn't look bad. It looks..." his brain failed him and all he could do was spin her around and bring his lips down to hers, kissing her furiously as one hand found her hip again and the other found the back of her head and held it in place as he tried to drink his fill of her. Tongues met and danced, she nibbled his lip and he responded by pulling back and sinking his teeth into her neck, delighting in the gasp of pleasure she emitted at that.
"Troy..." she murmured as he continued his assault on her throat. "It's Halloween."
"I really couldn't care less," he said as he pulled back. "Sharpay will get over us not showing up at her party since we were at the one last week."
"I want you to have fun tonight," she said as she pulled back. "Chad lost the bet and is to go as the Ant guy from Monster's vs. Aliens..."
He groaned as he leant his head on her shoulder, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to change her mind when she was in this sort of mood.
"All the guys are going to be checking you out," he complained as he wrapped his arms tighter around her. "Wouldn't you rather stay in and I'll be the only guy checking you out?"
"There are going to be girls in mini-skirts, spandex and Wonder Woman outfits, I somehow doubt that I'm going to be in high demand," she said and he didn't have to be looking at her to catch her eye roll. "I'm practically covered from head to toe."
"Fine," he said as he pulled back. "I will not point out that, as you know, many guys find the idea of 'unwrapping' a girl sexier than just seeing her naked so the idea of seeing a beautiful, sexy, unattainable woman in skin tight, glittery fabric and heels whilst totting a gun is like...you know."
She blushed as she looked at him. "No, not many guys – this guy."
He shrugged as he pulled her close again. "Guilty. Baby, you don't want me to spend our anniversary being all miserable because other guys are undressing you with their eyes, do you?"
"You don't want me to be miserable because my best friend holds a ten year grudge because I didn't show up at her party even after she bought me an outfit, do you?"
And he couldn't argue with that as he reluctantly let her go. "Fine – but we're only staying a couple of hours and then you're solely mine."
She grinned happily as she jumped up and kissed him before turning back to the mirror and grabbing her hair brush. "Thank you, Baby. I promise you'll have a good time."
He just watched her as she tied her hair up in a slick pony tail stating that the sooner they left, the sooner they would be back so she wouldn't bother putting the flicks in her hair and began applying her makeup as he dressed in a black suit and started playing with his sunglasses that would complete his Men In Black outfit. She chattered away happily and he just watched and imagined how this could be them for the next fifty years and smiled as he suddenly knew that he couldn't wait any longer.
His intention had been to wait until Thanksgiving – he would help her with dinner, they would go for a walk in the park and he would do it right and it would be romantic and perfect, yet he knew now he couldn't wait any longer.
He went to his desk and pulled out a box that he had been practicing with for weeks and started turning it one way and opening it to show it empty, before turning it another and opening it only to show the item within it. He wanted it to be romantic and perfect but he knew that it wouldn't be like that now, and part of him worried that he was doing it wrong yet a larger part of him knew that this was fitting. All he could do was hope that she thought the same. He waited for her to and tried to talk himself out of it as she emerged from the room, smiling happily as she reached out for his hand. He allowed her to pull him towards the door before he stopped and looked down and she stopped and seemed ready to chastise him before her eyes filled with concern as she cupped his face. "Troy, are you okay?"
He nodded but she didn't seem convinced as she tilted his chin up to look at him. "You're not okay – what's wrong, are you tired? If you really want to stay in we can stay in..."
"I'm fine, Ella," he said as he took a deep breath and brought his hand up to take hers, and placed a kiss on her knuckles, which caused her to smile at him. "You know I love you, don't you?"
She nodded. "I love you too."
"You know, the best thing that ever happened to me was Chad making me work at that stupid party three years ago so we met," he said as he looked down and took a deep breath.
"I'm glad, because it's the same for me," she responded as she brought her free hand up and traced her fingers over his cheek.
"I haven't just been stressed about basketball and school," he admitted as he looked at her. "I've been thinking about the future, about us and...you know, its weird how no matter what I see about my life five, ten, fifty years down the line, I see you there. I want you there."
He saw her eyes water as she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off first, needing to get it out at once. "I've been thinking about it a lot and...I learned a new trick," he whispered as he looked at her, a smile gracing her face as he stroked her cheek tenderly. "Wanna see it?"
"You know, we hardly ever do kids parties now..."
"I know, but it's a good trick, I think and I think, no I hope, that you'll like it."
She nodded as he took a deep breath. There was no going back now and even though he was nervous, he didn't want to go back as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and opened it up to show that it was empty. Her brow furrowed as he looked at her and bit down on his lip. "The box is empty, right?"
She nodded as he closed it up and took another deep breath and looked at her. "You need to say the magic word..."
"Abracadabra..."
He shook his head as he closed his eyes and took another deep breath before he spoke. "That...that's not the magic word for this trick. First...first I have to say," he made a show of waving his hand over the box as he turned the box around and dropped down in front of her. "Will you marry me?"
He kept the box closed as he looked up at her hopefully as he hands flew to her mouth in shock as she gazed at him. "The...then the magic word is something you have to say..."
Tears began falling from her eyes as she nodded her head inaudibly as she dropped down in front of him and cupped his face as she nodded again. "Yes. Yes. God yes."
He almost didn't hear her over the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, but he couldn't miss the way she smiled, or the feel of her lips against his, or the way her happy tears were rubbing against his cheek. She had said yes and he pulled back and brought the box over and opened it up to reveal the ring which caused her to cry some more as she looked at him happily. He grabbed her hand and pushed the ring on her finger, causing her to giggle happily as she looked at it and the overwhelming relief struck him more than anything else.
"I love you," she said as she looked at him before looking back at the ring. "I love you so much."
"I can't belief that worked," he breathed out as he looked at her. "Did...did you like it? I know it wasn't very romantic but..."
She giggled happily as she crawled over to him and laid her head on his shoulder, pressing a kiss to his neck, his chest, and his shoulder before lacing their hands together. "It was perfect. God, I love you..."
"I love you too," he vowed as he pulled her close, and closed his eyes. "I guess we better get up and go to the party huh?"
She looked up at him and shook her head, her eyes twinkling as she bit her lip and stood up, grabbing a bowl of candy and walking to the door and sitting it outside before she closed the door and locked it. "I think we should show up late, don't you?"
He grinned and nodded as he stood and let her step in towards him as she pushed his shoulders against the wall. "I knew there was a reason why I want to marry you."
"I love you," she whispered. "I will always love you, Troy Bolton."
He couldn't help the giddy feeling at her insistence on repeating those three words to him as she brought her hands up to his hair and held it tightly and all he could think was that this is the way it was always supposed to be. He was going to marry her, and all he could think was that this is exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his life – with her.
He had always been bewitched by her, but never more than the day he had woken up alone in a hotel room and was cursing his job and everything else for the fact.
He had blinked as he heard the knock on his door because he wasn't expecting anyone, and anyone who would want to talk to him wouldn't knock his door without calling first. He sighed as he thought about whether or not to open it – it could be anyone. It could be a crazed fan, or room service, or press or someone else he really didn't want to deal with.
He hated living in a hotel, and although he was only going to be here three days, he wanted to be at home. Travelling around the country wasn't as much of a novelty as it used to be, not that he had ever been particularly enthusiastic about it before either. The phone call from home with the little boy telling him about how much he was looking forward to going Trick or Treating for the first time had really put him in a foul mood as he chalked it as one more thing he was missing out on due to his absence. Never mind the fact that it was a pretty important day for a completely different reason and although he knew that the flowers that would arrive at the door would make her smile, he wanted to be there to see it. Stupid basketball.
His self pitying rant was interrupted again by a knock on the door and any thoughts he had of ignoring it evaporated as he realised that whoever it was really wasn't going away. He took a deep breath and opened to door, only to find a very small vampire, complete with cape, smoothed down hair and fangs holding out a bag. "Trick or Treat?"
He blinked as the boy looked up at him and Troy's eyes widened as he looked at his son standing there expectantly. "Jake?"
"Daddy!" with that the little boy had launched himself at Troy and wrapped his arms around him.
"What...how...I mean, where's..." before he could even formulate the right question to ask, his son pulled back and looked at him.
"Trick or treat, Daddy?"
Troy couldn't speak as he laughed at his little boy who was very close to pouting after his initial excitement wore off. Troy couldn't remember being four, but he figured that at that age candy probably was more exciting than seeing his dad as well.
"Jake, I don't think daddy has anything to give us," Troy's head snapped up at the sound of the sweet voice and he found his eyes meeting those of his wife as she stepped away from the wall beside the door to stand in his eye line. Her long hair was tied up and she was wearing jeans and a shirt he suspected may have been his. She was always stunning to him, so the fact that she looked beautiful wasn't a surprise, but the fact that she was actually standing there when she was supposed to be over a thousand miles away made her even more enchanting. God he loved that woman more than life. "Maybe we should go try one of the other rooms?"
Troy's grin got so wide that it got painful as he stood up, his eyes never leaving hers as he reached out for her hand and pulled her towards him. "Jake, I have some candy in my bag – it's all yours buddy. As for you, Mommy – you don't have a costume on so you don't get any candy."
She grinned as Jake ran into the room, allowing Troy to pull her into the room so they could close the door. "Hey, Handsome. How you doing?"
He closed his eyes and pulled her into his arms, mindful that their son was in the room. "A million times better than I was before I opened the door. What are you doing here?"
"It's a Friday – we had a weekend off so I kinda decided to keep Jake today and caught a flight. I thought it would be a nice surprise. I didn't want you to miss out plus...you know, today's important and I wanted to spend it with you..."
"Thank you," he whispered as he pressed his lips to hers. "God I love you."
"I love you too. So much," she responded just as softly as she put a hand on his cheek. "So, you want to come trick or treating with us?"
Troy laughed and nodded. "Yeah, definitely. I need to call downstairs first and see if they can get us a bigger room though but then, I'm all yours."
"No, Troy – you don't need to get a different room. I don't want to cause any problems, we can all fit here."
He shook his head and smirked. "No, I want Jake to have his own room...I really, really want Jake to have his own room tonight."
She blushed as she looked up at him in understanding and he saw her turn to see what Jake was up to before she turned her gaze back on him. "You have a game tomorrow."
"I don't care," he murmured as he leant down and kissed her softly, breathing in her sweet scent as her hands found his neck and began caressing it gently. "I've missed you so much."
"Me too and it's only been three days," she sighed as she pulled back, her eyes never leaving his. "We're hopeless."
"Just a little bit," he agreed causing her to smile. "You know what today is?"
"Yeah," she smiled as she looked up at him. "10 years."
"10 years," he agreed as he stroked her cheek. "You saved me from a rabid pack of children."
"It wasn't the kids I was scared of, it was what Sharpay would have done to you if you had let them out early," she responded with a giggle. "I had never done anything like that before. I was so nervous and I thought you would yell at me for interrupting but I wanted to help."
"And seven years ago, you said yes..."
"There was never going to be another answer," she smiled. "Ever."
"And look at us now," he said as he pulled her closer. "You should have brought that costume."
"Which one?"
"Either one – the witch or the cat suit," he murmured. "You were unbelievable in them both."
"I don't have the same body I did then," she laughed. "I don't think I could get away with it."
"No, you don't – your body is even better now," he whispered as he heard her gasp before she smirked up at him, and he met it with one of his own.
He knew that look. That look was the look that only he ever got to see and it almost made him wish that he was home so their friends could look after their son for a few hours while he spent time alone with his wife. "Maybe I might have brought one of them..."
His grip on her hips tightened as she moistened her lips seductively before she leant in and kissed him, her hands tugging his hair gently before she pulled back from him and gave him a coy look. "I am definitely getting another room and, after Jake is asleep, you are definitely not being allowed to leave it until tomorrow morning."
She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could their son walked over to them and tugged on her shirt. "Mommy, when are we going trick or treating? Daddy doesn't have anything good."
"Your dad's just got to make a call," Gabriella said with a wink at Troy who was already envisioning how quick he could take his son out, eat, trick or treat, get him to sleep and then get his wife alone. It was only 3.30 in the afternoon, which meant there was a good five or six hours before Jake would be tired, but he could live with that. It was pretty much the perfect scenario – some time with his family, before some more time with his wife.
Gabriella reached down and picked their four year old son up and smiled at him. "Was this a good surprise?"
"It was the best surprise," he said as he nodded. "Was it a good one for you, Daddy?"
Troy nodded as he walked over to his family and he wrapped his arms around them, supporting his son's weight a little as he pressed his lips to first his sons head, and then his wife's. "How about, I go see about getting a new room while you two relax then I will take you both for something to eat, and by that time it will be late enough to go trick or treating?"
Jake looked like he was sceptical, but Gabriella nodded and leant her head in towards him. "That sounds great, doesn't it, Jake?"
"Can I have pizza?"
"I don't know, Jake – what do you think, Mommy?"
"Hmmm," she said as she looked at their son and smiled playfully. "I don't know – I think you'll be eating so much candy that maybe you should have pasta or something instead."
"But..."
Troy turned and winked at Gabriella before looking at Jake again. "Yeah – or salad."
"I don't like 'alad!"
"But it's good for you. You want to grow up big and strong, don't you?"
"I want pizza."
Gabriella paused for a moment before she looked at him with a smile. "I guess, maybe one night. If you promise to sleep when we come home..."
Jake bit his lip before nodding eagerly. "I promise."
Troy couldn't help but chuckle as she kissed his head before letting him down and he ran off to the sofa leaving him to stand there with Gabriella.
"That was sneaky," he said with a grin.
She shrugged as she looked at him and he sighed as he made to move. "I better go and get the room changed. I'll be back soon."
She smiled and nodded before she grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "Wait - before you go. I learned a new trick yesterday, that's one of the reasons I decided to come today."
He blinked as he looked at her and his heart began to race. Generally they only ever pulled this out of the bag now when they were attempting to seduce the other, and as their son was in the room he doubted that was the case here so his curiosity was piqued. "Really? Um...can I see it now, or do we have to wait...because if we have to wait then please, please don't tell me until Jake is in bed or its going to be the longest night ever..."
She bit her lip and leant up to his ear. "You have a one-track mind. It's nothing like that..."
"Damn," he breathed as he looked at her. "So...?"
"Okay," she walked away and grabbed her purse and pulled out a pack of cards and spread them out in front of him. "Pick a card, any card."
He did so, looked at it before she stuck her hand out to take it and put it back in the pack before shuffling them and putting it back in the box and sealing it. She looked up at him and smiled. "Say the magic word."
"Abracadabra."
She smiled as she turned the pack over and pulled a card out and looked at it before handing it over to him. "Is this your card?"
He turned the card over and his jaw dropped as he looked at it and a smile formed as he looked up at her as she stood there, biting her lip as she looked at him with a smile.
"Seriously?" he asked as he lifted the card up that had the words, 'We're having a baby' written on it and walked over to her with a grin. "Seriously?"
"Surprise," she said with a smile. "I was thinking about coming anyway, but when I took the tests I had to come because...because this is our day and...you know. I couldn't do it when we found out we were having Jake because we found out together at the hospital so..." she took a deep breath and grinned at him. "Did you like it?"
He nodded as he gripped the card with one hand and pulled her to him with another, his lips finding her ear as he leant down. "I don't think it would be possible to outdo this one."
She giggled as she pulled back. "That's what I was aiming for."
He was about to connect their lips until their son called from the sofa and they could only meet each other's gaze as they grinned. "Go sort the room out, Daddy and I'll deal with our son."
He nodded as he pressed his lips to hers briefly before pulling back. "I will be ten minutes – do not go anywhere without me."
She nodded as she kissed him softly before pulling back and backing off. "Never. We'll see you when you get back."
He nodded as she pushed him to the door and as the door closed he couldn't help but wonder how he had ever got this lucky. It had been ten years earlier when his best friend had come to him, holding a wizards hat and robe and in that moment as he plotted ways of killing Chad, he had never thought it would have been the single most important thing that could have happened to him in his life. It was funny how quick his life had changed for the better – as quick as it had taken for her to save his embarrassment and utter one word.
He thought back to that day ten years ago when he had first fallen under her spell and smiled as he grabbed his phone out his pocket and sent off a message.
'Chad – thanks for getting me that job in college. I owe you one.'
He had barely put his phone away when there was a buzz in reply and he could only chuckle as he opened it.
'U actually owe me 10, but who's counting. U 2 have fun 2nite.'
He grinned as he put his phone away. There was no doubt about that happening. No doubt at all.