A/N: Isn't Shania Twain awesome? I love her music, and like Justin Bieber, she's canadian-ah yes, canada...why do so many singers come from canada? Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, JUSTIN BEIBER! Really? Is the USA really that desperate for talent? hahaha sorry, expressing inner questions. Anyway, I hope you like this story, and be sure to review after you have read it.

Disclaimer: if I had anything to do with HSM or Shania Twains song 'forever and for always' would I be on FF? I own nothing. that says it all.

10 June 1975

"Momma!" screamed an 8 year old Gabriella Montez running down the beach. Her mother laughed, a smile playing at her lips. She had gotten pregnant at 16, her parents had been helping raise her daughter so she could continue her schooling—get a decent career—and raise her daughter by herself eventually. She loved little Gabriella. "Momma! The ocean! The ocean!"

Lola Montez chuckled, "Yeah baby," she nodded, finding the perfect stretch of beach to lay down the picnic blanket and the small take a long radio. "Go play for a while, I'll be here, 'Kay?" Gabriella excitedly jumped up and down, running across the sand to a turned over boat. One thing about Gabriella, she was no girly girl, she liked to hunt for hermit crabs and fight them against each other.

"la-la..la la…la-la-la…" she hummed, crawling on her knees under the boat—the cool shadow of the wooden watercraft feeling good as it touch her skin. As she crawled under the boat further, she bumped into something solid. "oof!" she fell back onto her back side.

"Sorry!" called a voice in the dark, she blinked twice to see against the blackness, she smiled small and shyly.

"That's okay…I'm Gabriella." She mumbled,

"I'm Troy." He seemed to be about her age. "What are you doing here?"

In your arms I can still feel the way you
want me when you hold me

Gabriella smiled, in fact she was grinning, "I'm looking for hermit crabs, want to join me?" little Troy giggled, grabbing her wrist and yanking her down into the sand as they continued their search for hermit crabs.

They shared jokes, they shared their own facts of what they knew. They acted like they knew each other their whole lives instead of those short minutes. It seemed time had escaped them as the sun was setting.

I can still hear the words you whispered
when you told me
I can stay right here forever in your arms

"Gabriella!" called Lola Montez, "honey, time to go!" Gabriella sighed, shuffling herself –all covered in sand from head to know—out from under the boat.

"Coming momma!" she called, beginning to walk back, until Troy grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" she stopped, turning her unforgettable brown eyes on him. Troy cleared his throat and brought his hand out from behind his back to reveal a beautiful blue and green and purple and red shell. It was an oyster shell that had been broken once but it still in the shape of a butterfly. "I…uh….I-I want to give you this…." Gabriella smiled, grasping the shell in her hand and giving Troy a hug.

And there ain't no way-
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way-
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...

"I'll keep it forever." She whispered, turning to leave with her mom as she waved back at him. He shyly waved back, his blue eyes blinking brightly. Wondering when he'll see her again; if he'll see her again.

15 March 1995

'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face-always

Troy Bolton rode his bicycle down the pier, the sounds of the ocean hitting his ears like one of the white noise machines. He kept a steady pace as his feet pedaled not quickly yet not entirely slow. He rode with a smile on his face, he did that a lot these days…actually, he did a lot of things with a smile on his face.

It was hard not to, with the brown eyes of Gabriella burning forever in his mind. When the familiar ache in his legs began again, he slowed down to a stop; looking out at the blue-gray waves and the brunette standing amidst it all. 'She looks strangely…familiar' he thought, staring at her. She filled his vision. True he was a distance away, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a good look at her.

He parked his bike, and swinging his leg over the side. Out of curiosity, he walked down the sandy lane towards her.

It was when the girl had turned around and begun walking toward him that he saw the familiar colours hanging 'round her neck. It was blue…and green and purple…and red. All reflecting in this light. Troy smiled.

"Gabriella…" he called out, she looked up from her various thoughts when she heard him. A small smile appeared on her lips as their eyes connected.

"Troy." She said, walking closer—staring as if she'd seen a ghost.

Mmmm, baby
In your heart-I can still hear
a beat for every time you kiss me
And when we're apart,

"I like your necklace…it looks familiar." Gabriella tittered, clutching it in her left hand as she looked at it. "I can't believe you kept it all this…time."

"Well, yeah….you gave it to me." She said, then she lowered her voice, but Troy heard her. "I didn't want to forget you…I haven't."

"I haven't either." Troy said, closing the distance between them, and interlacing their fingers together as their lips gently touched, but it didn't go anywhere beyond that, they were like that for awhile.

Standing in the chilly March air as the sprinkles of ocean spray hit them. Suddenly Gabriella reached into her bag, and pulled out a Polaroid camera. "Let's take a picture together!" she suggested, Troy chuckled, somehow she remembered him having a more high pitched giggle.

Then again, he was younger back in those days. "Yes, we should." They cuddled together, Troy wrapped his arms around her waist as Gabriella grasped the shell necklace with her hand and held it between them. They smiled and the flash went off, the cerulean blue eyed wonder-man turned to her and kissed her cheek.

I know how much you miss me
I can feel your love for me in your heart

Whispering against the skin, he murmured, "now people can see what a beautiful woman you grew up to be." She turned her head to him, her lips instantly captured by his.

And there ain't no way-
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't now way-
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...

Her arms latched around his neck and her fingers twisted in his hair as his hands played at her waist, suddenly they were going down in the sand on to their knees. Gabriella dropped her camera as his hands—magic hands—traveled under the hem of her shirt, tickling the skin underneath.

"I never…forgot you." Troy breathed, pulling away to breathe when air became a necessity. Gabriella leaned her head against his chest as they were still kneeling against each other in the sand.

'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face-always

25 April 2025

In your eyes-(I can still see
the look of the one) I can still see
the look of the one who really loves me
(I can still feel the way that you want)
The one who wouldn't put anything
else in the world above me

Gabriella, her chocolate locks speckled so slightly of pepper coloured grays, walked down the road with her purse firmly on her shoulder under grip. The gold wedding band glinting in the sun as the scent of carnations and tulips surrounding her. La-la…la la la…la-la…." She hummed,

The bags of groceries on her arms weighed heavily as she walked up the steps to her porch. She fumbled for her house keys that were in her back pocket. "Damn…." She muttered, trying to juggle the groceries as she tried to grab her keys.

Suddenly fingers—warm and soft—covered her eyes and the familiar timber of her husband's voice thrummed in her ear. "Looking for something, love?" he asked, kissing her ear and her neck. She sighed, leaning against his chest and inhaling his scent.

"I am looking…for my…keys….can you…" his lips touched her collar bone.

"Sure, where are they?" he pulled away, but his arms were still tightly wound around her. Gabriella lifted her left back pocket up—which also rubbed against his groin. He groaned lightly, she just giggled. "No teasing…you'll be 'punished'."

"I think I can with stand one of your punishments." She waggled her eyebrows as Troy just reached into her back pocket and grasped her keys, and a little bit of her derriere. She squealed. "No FAIR!"

"Who said I was fair?" he asked, smiling cheekily. Gabriella merely laughed and blushed as he spun her around while keeping his hold.

(I can still see love for me) I can
still see love for me in your eyes
(I still see the love)

Troy scooped the groceries out of her arms and placed them on the counter as she slipped off her shoes, and placed her purse on the hook behind the door as she shut and locked it. Troy went back and tugged her to him and started kissing her all over, she moaned as she walked them to the couch—normally they would use this word called 'modesty' when it came to love-making, but today they just weren't gonna make it that far.

She turned in his arms and her fingers found his still-there hair, sandy blonde with specks of glittering peppered grays and whites. Troy smiled into the kiss, pushing her back to the couch until her legs bumped into the arm and they both went tumbling onto the soft cushions.

His hands roamed over her until they found the hem of her shirt, and slipping underneath; teasing and tickling the skin under the blue fabric; inching closer to her breasts. She groaned as her left hand continued to entangle itself in his hair and her right hand slipping over his shirt and feeling over his hard abs. When she stuck her hand under the cotton fabric, her fingers found the top of his jeans.

She quickly undid the buckle. "Brie…" he groaned, but it just a breath that escaped him as he captured her lips again.

Slowly she removed his jeans and his boxers along with them, he undid her hot pants with expert finesse, her shirt forgotten as he threw it blindly at the television. "Troy…" she breathed,

And there ain't no way-
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way-
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...

Troy tickled her cheeks with his long lashes and pushed his hardness into her underwear clad pelvis. Soon the couch became small, so they switched positions, Gabriella was now on top; slipping his shirt off. "I Love you…" she purred, placing kisses along his chest and stomach, her tongue teasing his belly button.

He groaned when she giggled. "Un…fair." He retorted.

"who said I was fair?" she asked, quoting what he had said moments ago. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up so he could stare into her baby browns. She gasped,

"I love you, love." He whispered, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes and relaxed against her husband.

"I'm in your arms," she murmured, closing her eyes as they both fell asleep in each other's embrace. The air, warm and full of the love that's been building since that day they first met…on that beach under that rickety boat.

I'm keeping you forever and for always
I'm in your arms