DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Alright, I figured you all deserved something from me before you forgot I existed, so here it is!

Trust Me

She curled up on the bench, moonlight shining down and illuminating her as her head dropped into her hands and she wished for tears that weren't going to come. A gentle winter breeze brushed over her as she sat there, the fragrance of the flowers that surrounded her washing over her as she drew in a shaky breath. She felt so, so stupid and gullible. How could she not? She'd believed every word that had come out of his mouth and now, now it felt like everything he'd ever told her was a lie, lies that had been so transparent to everyone but her. Looking back, she could see why she'd believed them. She'd been too caught up in the very idea that someone other than the boys she usually hung out with was interested in her, too caught up in blushing and feeling shy whenever he was around her, much too caught up in falling for a guy she thought she knew. Feeling hot tears burn; she fought them and shivered slightly at the breeze, the cold brushing over her bare skin. This wasn't fair, why couldn't something for once in her life be what she thought it was? Why couldn't he have been what she thought he was? It hurt. Knowing that something she had been so sure she knew had turned out to be nothing like what she'd thought. It hurt more than when her parent's marriage had broken up and less than when she'd had to move for the first time and leave everything behind her. Because she'd been so sure that he was what he'd said he was, so sure that he liked her the way she liked him and right now, she hated herself for thinking that, she despised herself for even considering that maybe she meant more to him than every other girl that he'd gone after.

Slowly, one tear slid down her cheek at the thought and she wished that she hadn't decided to come to the stupid dance, wished that she could rewind and be a few minutes later so she could have avoided crashing into him altogether. It would have saved her from becoming involved with him all together. If she had been those mere minutes later, or even earlier, the heartache she was suffering now wouldn't even exist. The hurt she felt because she'd been so blind, wouldn't be swirling inside her, waiting for her to feel it. But she couldn't go back and make herself late; she couldn't go back and warn herself that he would be the one that hurt her even when she swore that she wouldn't get hurt again. She could warn herself that all that was going to happen was a bunch of lies woven so intricately the even though they were transparent she couldn't see them. She could warn herself that the kisses they'd exchanged in the park hadn't meant anything to him and when she'd curled up beside him that night she'd stayed over at his place so late she'd had to sleep there, had only been one step closer to were he really wanted her or even better, she could warn herself never to go to the stupid Winter Formal when he'd begged her to come or not to go into the bathroom only to overhear those girls speaking about him. Oh, she could do all of that, but she knew that it wouldn't change anything. Because she couldn't go back in time and warn herself and she couldn't stop herself from leaving that bathroom when she had, only to find him sitting in a chair, that girl on his lap their lips meshed together.

The image was so vivid, the way he'd pulled away only to look at her, caused her to let out a choked sob and tears to begin to fall like a torrent. Sob after sob tore from her throat and she curled up tighter, shivering slightly when the breeze washed over her again. She wished it didn't hurt, she didn't want it to hurt, she hated the fact that it hurt. Shivering violently again, she closed her eyes when she felt something warm fall over her shoulders. Sniffling, she pulled her hands away from her face and grasped the warm object tightly, pulling it more securely around her shoulders. Slowly her eyes opened when she felt another warm object fall onto her knee and fresh tears gathered in her eyes when her brown eyes met worried blue ones. She suddenly realized that it was his jacket that was keeping her warm and let go of it.

"Go away." Her voice trembled and she bit her lip when his thumb began to stroke soothing circles on her knee.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly and she saw his eyes change when her own turned cold.

"Just, go away." She said coolly, trying to control the tremor in her voice as he continued to look at her, his thumb still tracing circles on her knee covered by the silky material of her dress.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." He said and white hot anger flashed through her at his caring tone. How could he not know what was wrong? How could he honestly be kneeling there when he knew exactly what he had done?

"You. You're what's wrong Troy! Did you enjoy kissing that girl? Did you enjoy having her on your lap? Did you enjoy being able to feel her up the way I never let you do?" She snapped and immediately his eyes lost all worry and horror took over as she glared at him, ignoring the hurt and concentrating on the anger.

"Gabriella I –" She cut him off, her eyes still furious and her mouth trembling slightly as he rocked back onto his heels.

"You what Troy? Forgot to mention to me that I mean about as much to you as the girl that was all over you before? Oh wait, no you just forgot to mention that you're known as the schools biggest player and that you really don't care about any of the girls you've ever had. Including me." She yelled at him and his eyes widened at her words. Another tear fell and she wiped at it furiously, hoping he wouldn't notice it.

"Gabriella, I had my reasons for you not knowing." He said seriously and she snorted, watching him as she stood up took a few steps backward.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did and I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact if I had known, you wouldn't get what you wanted." She snapped and watched as he rubbed a hand over his face, obviously trying to think of a retaliation to her words.

"No. That's not one of the reasons, that didn't even cross my mind." He spoke quietly and she shook her head.

"Of course it did. Why else would you be talking to me? Why else would every girl at this school see me and laugh out loud because of how stupid I was? God Troy, you had me completely fooled." She said, this time hurt finding its way into her voice and causing him to cringe.

"Gabriella, I didn't have you fooled." He stated and, once again, her temper flared at his words, at the way he was looking at her, so softly and so caringly.

"Yes you did. I honestly thought you were a nice guy, I honestly thought that maybe I meant the same to you as you did to me!" She let out a choked laugh at her thoughts. "I thought maybe you really did like me." She continued and anger flashed through his eyes at her words.

"I do like you Gabriella." He said and she shook her head, a cynical laugh escaping her lips as tears became more and more apparent, to him and to her.

"No you don't. Why would you? I'm the brainiac who accidentally ran into you and laughed at your joke. I'm the idiot that thought maybe you were actually a nice guy, maybe you wouldn't hurt me. God, I wish I could go back in time and change everything that happened." She said as tears began sliding down her cheeks. Carefully, she averted her gaze from his shocked one and wiped at the tears. Silence encased them as she fought with the tears that were still trying to escape and he watched on, his mind working to make her listen to him.

"Gabriella, don't think that –" she cut him off before he could start, her eyes wide and hurt as she looked up at him.

"I hate you so much right now Troy." She whispered and watched as he froze at her words. Curling her bottom lip inward, Gabriella chose to ignore the way he was standing frozen and stood up. Slipping the jacket from her shoulders, she felt another tear fall as she carefully placed the jacket down onto the bench she was sitting at before crossing her arms over her stomach and heading towards the steps that led to the rooftop. Walking past him, she caught his scent and blinked away tears as he barely acknowledged her as she walked past. She was only a few steps away from him when he spoke, his voice quiet and firm.

"Well, it's too bad that you hate me because I love you." Her heart stopped completely at his words, every muscle in her body froze and her quick intake of cold air hurt her lungs as she spun around to face him, her brown eyes once again connecting with his cobalt blue ones.

"W-what?" She choked out, unable to believe what he had said, once again seeing the girl draped across his lap, once again hearing the girls voice snigger quietly at how naïve she was being to actually think he wanted to be something more with her.

"It's too bad you hate me right now because I love you." He repeated quietly, his blue eyes taking in the shocked expression on her face. "Do you really think that I would have spent all that time with you just for sex? That girl spread across my lap? She's a cheerleader and when it all happened, it happened so quickly that I didn't know what was happening until I saw you standing there watching me. Do you really think that I begged and pleaded for you to come to this dance with me just to hurt you?" He asked quietly and her breaths began to come out in short gasps as she looked at him, her head reeling from what had left his mouth.

"I don't know." She whispered, the tremor in her voice obvious as he took a step toward her, his blue eyes boring down into her brown ones.

"Don't you? Yes I'm a player Gabriella, in fact, I was probably the biggest heartbreaker in this school and I didn't really care about any of the girls that I was with, that's until you came along." He said, taking another step towards her and she bit her lip at how close he was becoming.

"That's so cliché Troy." She said and he shrugged at her words, not caring about what she had said.

"So what? It's true. Do you know how many girls I've been with since you got here?" He asked and Gabriella bit her lip even harder as he came closer. She tilted her head to look up at his face and had to fight not to reach up and brush away the fringe that was falling into his eyes.

"No." She whispered and he smirked slightly at her words, taking one of his hands out of his pocket and trailing his fingertips over the smooth skin of her arm, down to where her hand was resting.

"None. I've been too busy concentrating on you to give a thought to any other girl that even looked at me. Whatever you heard tonight, it's probably all true," he heard her quick intake of breath and hurt flash through her eyes as he laced his fingers through hers, "about every other girl I've wanted or been with. It's just not true about you and what I'm feeling, right here, right now." He said quietly and she swallowed hard, not knowing how to respond to his words.

"Troy, what they said, the way they said it–" He cut her off with a soothing sound at the back of his throat.

"I know. I know what it sounded like, because I've heard it all before. But you've got to believe me Gabriella, nothing I've said was a lie, I never told you the truth because I was afraid you were going to react that way you are now." He told her quietly and Gabriella was silent as she stared up at him. Biting her lip as she studied his gorgeous face, she suddenly realized that he was telling the truth. Looking away, she felt his other arm slide around her waist and she sighed at the feeling.

"Troy, how do I know this isn't just another lie? How do I know that what happened isn't going to happen again? You hurt me and-" Troy cut her off quickly, knowing that she was going to talk herself out of whatever it was that he was offering.

"Trust me. Gabriella, just trust me. You have to trust me." His voice was firm as she looked up at him. Biting her lip, she squeezed his hand and suddenly wondered where all the hurt had gone, all the anger, all the tears. They had all seemed to evaporate so quickly she'd barely noticed it happening. Slowly she nodded her head, swallowing lightly and looking up at him timidly.

"I guess I have to trust you." She whispered and his eyes widened at her words. "After all, love and trust run hand in hand." Her voice was barely audible but he heard it and let out a quiet sound of relief. Leaning down, he kissed her softly holding the relief he felt within him as she responded shyly.

"I love you Gabriella." He said, pulling back to look at her, she smiled at him.

"I love you too Troy." She whispered, pulling him down for another kiss and knowing that right now, she trusted him more than any other person in the world.

A/N: Well, I hated that. Sorry too anyone that liked it, but I really didn't like this. However, I think you guys deserve something from me so I'll restrain myself from hating it. I'm actually probably going to write something similar to this after my school certificate exams are over, so if there are similarities sue me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!