Merry Christmas, guys! Hope your morning went as well as mine did!

Here's my third annual Christmas oneshot, "My Christmas Setback"! It's a lot funnier than my last two, but it has its knot of drama towards the middle/end. Plus, it's shorter than last year's, so...ENJOY!!!

"Oops…"

A pair of cerulean blues looked up at his best friend of sixteen years warily. "Oops what? What'd you screw up no—CHAD!!!"

"I have a feeling that wasn't supposed to happen…" Chad Danforth muttered, not looking up from the floor and keeping the object of his hesitation in his dark hands.

"How could you not have seen the holes in that thing?"

"Hey!" he cut in, "these holes are smaller than-"

"The ones in your pea-sized brain?"

Chad glared at Troy Bolton in a warning manner. "Touché, Mr. I Forgot to Put Gas In the Car Before Cutting School."

Troy narrowed his eyes and challenged him back without an issue. "A: I wouldn't have run out if you hadn't borrowed it the previous night to make a Coco Puff run. B: Thanks to my amazing luck, we cut off right in front of a gas station, so you're welcome."

"Yeah, well you…" Chad stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he had nothing to counter that true statement with. Troy sensed this and cocked an eyebrow. He always won these harmless arguments, no matter who he matched with.

The brunette snickered. "I what?"

The red in Chad's face was bluntly obvious through his flawless chocolate complexion. He knew not to get into fights with Troy for the simple reason that he couldn't remember a time where he actually won. Troy's brain cranked and turned faster than Chad's, which he knew wasn't his fault, but it would still help his self-esteem big time if he could claim a fair victory and not one that Troy had generously given him multiple times in the past. "You need to help me clean this crappy cake mix up before Gabriella gets here."

A wet rag was already in Troy's large hand. "That's what I thought. Next time, check to see that you're actually holding a bowl and not a colander, biotch."

"That was way too easy a win, Mr. Colander…"

Two and a half hours later, a soft and spongy Angel Food Cake was perched atop a red and green stained glass dish. Troy was finalizing the icing design while Chad busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen and putting everything back in its place. A loud clank sounded throughout the room followed by Chad's obnoxious sigh.

"Done," he grinned, taking a look around the spotless area and placing a hand on his hip like his mother when she finished a big chore. The other hand was stuffed inside his hoodie pocket. "Let's see Gabriella try to criticize that!"

Troy looked up and scanned a look across the counter. He smiled devilishly inside his head and felt a plan already coming to form. "Ohh…"

"What?" Chad snapped in a sharp voice that forced Troy to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, "What could possibly be wrong?! I mopped the floor for the first time in my life, for God's sake!"

Troy feigned a sympathetic smile to him and pointed to the heavy appliance on the top shelf. "Cake beater goes on the bottom shelf on the other side of the kitchen."

However, he couldn't help but laugh when a deep rumble began to boil from deep within the depths of Chad's chest, simmering to his throat before it escaped in a huge wail of annoyance. "AHH!" He grabbed two handfuls of his ridiculous afro and glared daggers into the mixer. "Are you friggin' KIDDING ME?!"

"Sorry." Troy chirped teasingly before turning his attention back to the cake. Thank God Chad didn't see his back tremble from his violent snickering.

With clenched fists, Chad stomped over to the cabinet and grabbed hold of the boulder-like mixer. He made a heaving sound when it collapsed into his gut, throwing him back a few feet into the counter. He turned and set it down on the surface to catch his breath. "There is…absolutely no need…to have anything this…huge for a kitchen! Are they out of their minds?"

Troy shrugged with a light grin. "You know Gabs and her mom; always going for the biggest and best things in life."

"Then why is she going out with you?"

Now it was Troy's turn to glare hard at the African American prankster in front of him. "It's kind of like you on the constant search for your balls: you've been looking for them your whole life and can't remember ever being happier now that you've found them."

Chad stayed so silent he could hear the creaking of the obese electronic wavering between his body and countertop. Troy stayed perfectly still and returned the stare with just as much intensity. His hands braced themselves against the edge of the counter and he flexed his defined muscular body, making himself look much more intimidating. It was moments like this that made him thankful for his father's harsh commands forcing him to the gym and basketball court.

"You heartless bastard…"

"Please, I know who my daddy is," Troy flashed another grin and placed the dirty utensils into the sink of dishwater. "18 years of hearing him whine nonstop about how I don't try hard enough will make you pretty damn sure on that fact."

Chad's eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he resumed his journey to the other side of the room with the mixer. "Ladies and gentlemen, I once again give you the man who never shuts up about his dad's strict want for his son's well-being."

Troy turned around and gave his friend the 'not now' glance. "Look, I know he means well and he thinks he's doing what he believes is right, but I'm a legal adult now and yet he still continues to smother me! When is enough finally enough, Chad? Please enlighten me, because apparently, I'm missing something here!"

"Would you calm down? Jeez, you're fine!" The last word was exasperated as the anguishing cake mixer was dropped to the floor and shoved into the cabinet. Chad didn't even bother getting back up as he replied breathlessly. "You've always been good enough for him; you've been good enough for everybody. Hell, we've been friends since we were two and I still haven't killed you yet."

Troy smiled sarcastically. "Touching. Still, sometimes I wish I was some kind of animal living in the wild or something. If I got tired of one place, I could run or fly to the other side of the forest and never go back. No one would ever tell me to get up at five in the morning to hit the gym or do ten suicides across he court fifteen times a day. I'd do whatever I want while I'm all by myself. It'd be almost perfect."

Chad snorted. "What more could you possibly want other than that?"

"Someone who wouldn't let him get lost."

Chad jumped in surprise as Troy just peeked up from under his long lashes and chestnut bangs, smirking tenderly. A wave of raven fell down the Christmas angel's back when she removed her beanie cap to place in her coat pocket. She was carrying a white faux leather purse on her shoulder along with a heavy-looking grocery bag. Any other girl Troy knew might've complained about the weight of whatever mystery items she had, but her strength was a slight turn on for him.

"Hey, sweetie, let me help you with that." Troy abandoned the cake and rushed over to his girlfriend of two years with open arms and pursed lips.

Chad must not have felt the love that suddenly filled the warm atmosphere. His mouth fell agape. "Oh, sure! Go ahead and help Gabs with a bag of food but not me with the damn Incredible Hulk of kitchen supplies! I see how it is around here…OW!!!"

Gabriella Montez retrieved her hand from the back of Chad's head with a dirty look. "No swearing in my kitchen during Christmas. And it's not just a bag of food; it's a twenty pound turkey, smarty pants. Excuse me if my arms are a little cramped."

"I thought you'd be used to cramps by now. You're one of the only girls I know that always seem to be living during 'that time of the month'."

Gabriella's mocha eyes narrowed into little slits, much like Troy's when he got determined. "You have a little experience with PMS yourself. Or have you forgotten about your stupid need for Coco Puffs that caused Troy's car to run out of gas? You completely blew up and blamed him when you were in front of a gas station."

She heard Troy's humored bark from the ironic reference. "You tell him, baby."

Chad crossed his arms across his broad chest, averting his gaze from the couple. "That was different…"

"How so?"

It took her opponent a few moments to come up with an answer that didn't make him sound like a complete idiot. "I had to move that stupid cake mixer of yours from the top shelf all the way to the other side on the bottom cabinet! That thing has to be at least fifty pounds, which is more than half the weight of your turkey!"

Gabriella's brows furrowed, looking over at the mixer wire that was still hanging out of the cabinet. Eventually, she rolled her eyes and looked back at Troy who was, again, trying not to laugh. She too crossed her thin arms and sighed. "Chad, the mixer does go on the top shelf. Troy was just being an a-" She cut herself off to follow her own no-swearing rule. "An imbecile."

"So I was right the first time?"

"Yes," Gabriella muttered under her breath. "For once…"

Chad just stood there for a little while, blinking at his best friend who was basically in silent stitches against the fridge. Gabriella's eyes shifted back and forth between the two brothers and a slow grin began to form on her plump lips. This same exact routine had happened enough times for her to say Chad's words along with him in her head as he spoke them aloud.

"I'm gonna take that mixer and shove it so far up your butt, you'll taste rust every time you beg me to stop beating the crap out of you!"

And they were off, tearing through the house so fast Gabriella had no time allotted to scream "Grow up already! You're eighteen, not eight! Act your age!" They never listened. All that registered in their heads was their challenger's screaming either "You're a dead man running!" or "You just had one of the best workouts and you still can't catch me?"

Chad's fist slammed into the wall right after Troy moved his head away from it. "I don't even know you anymore!" The brunette had his back turned for a quick second, but it was a second too long. Chad's arms suddenly groped his strong torso and before it processed in Troy's head, the two teens went spiraling to the carpeted living room floor with a yelp. Gabriella huffed when she heard them rolling around and, once again, yelling opposing commands to each other.

"Get off of me, you idiot!"

"As soon as you carry that mixer around the house three times, I'll be happy to!"

"Then how, pray tell," Troy moved on top of him, "would I ever resist sneaking up on you and dropping it on your fat head?!"

A pair of dainty hands froze her boyfriend into immobilization the second her skin made contact with his. Gabriella's fed-up voice filled his ears. "You know that won't do anything, honey. That's why he grew all that hair, to keep people from hitting him in the head."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah," Gabriella turned back to Chad, who was picking himself off of the floor and backing up a few feet. "Thank you, Chad, for cleaning up the kitchen and at least attempting to put the mixer back in its proper place."

Chad shot a glare to Troy and sneered "You're welcome, sis."

Gabriella grinned sweetly at her nickname and twisted her body to face Troy, letting a finger slide down his broad chest. "And thank you for the Angel cake. It looks gorgeous."

Troy took advantage of Gabriella's forehead placement on his and leaned his chin forward, letting their lips find each other effortlessly as they've done so many times. "There's something more gorgeous and delicious than this angel?"

"Yes, believe it or not," Gabriella didn't dare to break their romantic gaze as she took her pointer finger and softly stabbed it into his chest, directly over his heart. "I couldn't believe my eyes, either."

Chad hooked his arm around Troy's and pulled to keep him from kissing Gabriella again. "This is all very nice and nauseating as usual, but I believe we have somewhere much more important to be right now."

"Your funeral?" Troy seethed.

"Like I'd give you the early satisfaction of croaking on Christmas," Chad countered easily and for once, Troy didn't return it before he continued. "I meant the cabin, Hoops. Remember, we hid the kids' presents in the supply closet."

The memory dawned over Troy's brain as he replied. "Oh, right. What was the point of that again? Why couldn't we just leave them here?"

Gabriella giggled shortly and adjusted his hoodie zipper, pulling it up a little more as if he were about to step out into the cold. "Again, my little cousin, Sam, can't sit still to save her life and before we can catch her, she's found half, if not all, of her gifts. My mom and I were talking it over and Chad volunteered to hide them up at his parents' cabin." She glanced over Troy's shoulder. "Thanks again, Curly-Que. You didn't have to do this."

Chad shrugged it off as if were no big deal and fingered with one of his tight curls. "No biggie, Gabs," The blush on his face told her otherwise and she giggled. "I'm just looking forward to seeing her face when she realizes that they're not even in the house."

"As is everyone else. They've placed bets on how much she'll kick and scream before we bring them in from your trunk."

"Put me up for $20 in screaming her first cuss word," Troy invaded, placing a deep kiss on her forehead. "Traffic's bound to be horrible; do you have that food list for us?"

Gabriella reached into her pocket and resurfaced with a crumpled sticky note attached to $150. "Here," she placed it into Troy's awaiting hand. "Make sure the milk is two percent and the cheese is organic. Be back by 7:00, not a second later. You know my Grammy."

Troy shuddered, the elderly woman's beady eyes flashing through his head. "That woman hates me, I swear on my life she does…"

"Don't say that, Troy," Gabriella gave him a tight, comforting hug. "She doesn't like anybody I date. Apparently, I'll never be old enough to start seeing anyone and therefore, she tries to chase everyone away."

Troy smirked. "Too bad. Nothing will ever get rid of me."

But, God bless him, Chad tried. "Except me. Like you said, traffic is going to suck."

"Not if I tie you to the bumper and make you scream. That's sure to get everyone out of our way."

"Love you too, bro. Let's go."

--

"Why does it feel like we have more than we should have?"

Chad ducked his head away from Troy. "I might have brought my own personal list…"

"Consisting of what?"

"The usual: chicken, pulp-less orange juice, shampoo…"

"Coco Puffs," Troy finished, taking the brown box out of a plastic bag and giving his best friend a dirty look. "How shocking."

Chad grabbed the box and clutched it to his body. "It's rich in Vitamin D!"

"And full of that good ol' diabetes that everyone's raving about!" Troy squealed sarcastically.

Chad rolled his eyes and shoved a handful of groceries into the back of Troy's rusty truck. Troy followed suit and after they finished, Chad slammed the trunk closed and spun around to face Troy. "So you're allowed to make fun of my love for delicious chocolate balls, but I can't say anything about your Starbucks addiction?"

"First off, say chocolate cereal next time," Troy wrinkled his nose, "And you know that those are for Gabs when she comes over. The woman loves her some overpriced sugar highs."

"You drank an entire eight-pack within buying them. Was that not the weekend that she was visiting her grandma in Puerto Rico?"

"You know what, Chad?!" Troy playfully snapped, jabbing his finger into the man's dark face. "Don't judge me, okay? Coffee is a natural, addicting substance! It's not like I asked for it; it just kept calling me."

"Right. 'Troy, Troy! Come and get me, Troy! Spend the last ten bucks you were saving to buy Chad some food! It doesn't matter that he went 24 hours with just fifty bottles of water in his stomach'!" The teasing voice that he had started with faded into an angry critique towards the end.

"You survived, didn't you?"

By now, the two were starting up the car and pulling out of the parking lot. Chad mumbled "Just barely…"

They drove down the chilly roads of the shopping plaza still barking over Chad's addiction to Coco Puffs and Troy's obsession over coffee. They were so into their rants, they nearly missed the turn that they were supposed to take to get to the cabin.

"Whoa, Chad!"

"What?"

"Take a left; we still have to get the gifts."

Chad slowed the vehicle and quickly changed lanes. "My bad."

"Pay more attention next time."

"Will do, Hitler."

45 minutes later, Chad pulled into the tiny driveway and stared up at the family cabin. It was typical: a small, five-room wooden cabin with two little windows in the front. The porch was about as big as his car and, because of the season, was scarcely decorated with two chairs, a miniature table and a plastic Christmas tree sitting on top. His parents must have stopped by recently.

"Wow. Didn't change a bit." Troy's voice broke through his revere. Chad had almost forgotten that they had spent multiple weekends up here, just chilling out and spending time by the lake or walking through the woods making different observations about everything in sight. The days flew by quickly. Too quickly.

"I know," Chad grinned, "Come on, we have to hurry. Looks like a storm's coming up."

Chad fished out his key and unlocked the creaky door, immediately becoming hit with the musty scent of old wood and cinnamon. Yup, his mother was definitely here, lighting so many candles and spraying so much air freshener, he was surprised that she came home sober and not sky high.

"Holy crap!" Troy's nose pressed against the window along with his hands. His eyes nearly popped right out of his skull as he wailed. "Dude, get the stuff and let's go!"

"What's wrong now?"

"Look at that!" Chad shuffled over to the window and once he saw what Troy was looking at, his reaction beat Troy's right out of the park.

"WHAT THE F-"

They knew that it had already started snowing when they were about ten minutes down the road, but never before had they ever seen the speed increase this quickly. There was already about two or three inches on the ground, doubling since they set foot in the cabin. The truck's windows were caked with snow and it was already white, so it blended into the scene perfectly. How long had the boys stood there, admiring the old hut and reliving ancient memories? Troy checked his watch. Fifteen minutes?

"Oh my God, where did you put the presents?" Troy rushed, scanning the entire room for a hint of bright pink paper with green elves.

"Uh…umm…"

"Damn it, Chad, think for once in your life! How can you not remember a bunch of hot pink boxes with fat midgets?!"

Chad's default reaction to stress—balling up his fists and letting his body tremble—came to play and his eyes squeezed shut. "The bedroom, the bathroom, backyard…CLOSET!!! THE SUPPLY CLOSET!!!"

They made a mad dash for the old door and threw it open, revealing an ocean of blinding fuchsia piled and piled on top of each other.

"Arg!"

"What?"

"Gabby said that most of these are in cardboard boxes and the back of the truck is already covered in snow! If we don't put these in some kind of plastic, they'll get soggy."

After a second of thinking, Chad snapped his fingers. "Mom always keeps tarp in their room just incase the roof leaks! Let's wrap that around them!"

"Then why are you still standing here?!"

Chad raced to the tiny room and tore the closet door open. He smiled at the heavy blue plastic that greeted him.

He matched the rate of a champion track runner running the cover back to Troy, who was already stacking the boxes according to size in the middle of the floor.

"Okay," Troy started with a chief look across his striking face, "I'll lift this up and you slide the tarp under it. Then after I wrap it up, go hold the front door open for me while I carry it to the truck."

It took a few minutes to get this accomplished, probably because Chad's hands were shaking too much to get the ballpark measurements right. Whenever the two would go to wrap it like one huge gift, one of the sides wouldn't match up with the rest and they would have to start all over again. Eventually, they managed to cover and secure the entire load and attempt to continue Troy's plan.

"Go hold the door."

Chad sped ahead of Troy, his heart beating faster than his feet were running. He's never prayed so much in his entire life for some kind of miracle to occur; the truck would turn into some kind of monster truck that could plow through an hour's worth of still-falling snow, a helicopter, maybe, sent by Gabriella who always seems to be completely in sync with her boyfriend. Maybe they could mysteriously develop some sort of superpower that could allow them to fly with mounds of weight attached. How kickass would that be? Gliding through the air with your best friend…carrying hot pink boxes with deformed people on them while freezing your ass off. And what if only one of them would get hit with the kryptonite or whatever? Then it would be one frozen man carrying hot pink boxes with another man hanging off of him…

Maybe not so kickass…

"No…"

Chad shook his head free of the gay thoughts and stared over at Troy. His face had iced over and he could tell that his hands were about to drop the important load in them. It didn't matter how scared he was; Chad knew that he had to look over at whatever was troubling Troy.

"What is i-"

And there it was. Two tall, flimsy trees pathetically framing the cabin had its branches filled with snow ever since the truck pulled into the anorexic driveway. Chad should've noticed that they hung a little lower than usual, but was too busy scattering around the rooms trying to find the gifts and tarp. He should've known that whenever there's snow, there are naked branches waiting for it. Where there's branches, there's a driveway that is now blocked with at least seven feet of snow, the only way out of the cabin clearance.

And where there's a blocked, one-way driveway, there are two teenagers with their hands full of Christmas presents, mouths wide open, realizing that they've just become trapped in Chad Danforth's cabin.

--

"Do me a favor."

"What…Chad?"

"Breathe."

It's always interesting to see someone so angry, you're sure that they've just had a brain hemorrhage and are now hallucinating random things to destroy in their tirade. Perhaps their worst enemy's face suddenly appeared on the wall and they lashed out at it, punching a hole straight through without an ounce of difficulty. Or maybe a pink box as big as a flat screen flashes to their favorite basketball team losing and they toss the package across the room like it was a feather.

And what if they were so pissed off, they saw a small, dark brown puppy sitting in front of them on a rocking chair with a huge afro atop its head, telling them to calm down and breathe? How much blinding fury is necessary before they rip its tail off and watch it bleed out on the floor, saying "Why don't you calm down and breathe?"

But Troy gathered the remaining common sense that was left within his cluttered brain as his fist came down on the wall again. "I know you failed your first year of Algebra, so I'm going to break this down for you as simply as I can: It is 5:45, Chad. There is seven, maybe nine inches of snow blocking the only driveway out of this antisocial place."

"No need for name-calling…"

Troy ignored him so well Chad was unsure if he had heard him or not. "Add all of that together and divide with the curfew of 7:00, what does that equal for us?"

"…um…"

"catastrophe, CHAD!!! WE'RE SCREWED!!!"

"Now, now," Chad stood and straightened out his coat, "I don't think we should resort to the C word quite yet. At least the snow's slowing down."

Troy stormed over to the door and twisted the knob. "Look," It looked like he tried to push it open, but it was like someone was on the other side preventing him from doing so. Troy shoved most of his weight against the door, but that only made it open about another inch. When he gave up, the door was slammed shut from the other side.

"Isn't that just dandy?" He sarcastically shrugged, "Who cares about the snow slowing down? What are we supposed to do about those hurricane winds?!"

Chad positioned his hands on his hips again, looking up at the ceiling. "Call Gabriella,:" he answered. "At least if we're a little late, she'll understand and won't think that we just ran off."

"Yeah, and leave your ass here…" Troy whipped out his phone and pressed Gabriella's speed dial number. She picked up a few rings later. "Hey, did you leave yet?"

Troy sighed, running a hand through his shag. "N-not exactly, um…we're still here."

"What are you guys doing, making snowmen up there?"

Troy chucked dryly at her nervous humor. He tossed Chad a look before replying. "No, and even if we wanted to, we kinda…can't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Her tone had changed, from sounding nervous to giving a hint of anger and impatience. He checked the window again; the frozen branches of other trees outside were swaying like it was summer time. "You've been up here before, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You remember how narrow the road is?"

"Where are you going with this, Troy?"

Troy took a deep breath and, with closed eyes, blurted "Babe, the only driveway out of here is blocked with at least seven feet of snow and the wind is blowing so hard, we can't open the door to start shoveling. I'm sorry, but I have no idea when we'll be able to get back."

Gabriella was silent on the other line, pondering her lover's words quietly. Troy could hear her mother in the other room making last minute calls to relatives, which was never good. Maria Montez was one of the quietest people he knew.

"Gabby?"

"Yeah?"

"Say something, please."

Gabriella giggled. "Sorry, I just took some pain pills for my headache and I think it's messing with me, because I know you're not stuck in Chad's cabin until God-knows-when. Crazy, right?"

Troy smiled sheepishly, somewhat thankful that she couldn't see it. "Yeah, it's pretty wild. But, um, I distinct fully remember you saying something about the world getting crazier and crazier with every day and-"

"TROY!!!"

"Yes, sweetness?"

"I KNOW I'M NOT STUPID OFF OF PILLS!!! HOW COULD YOU TWO BE SO CARELESS?!?!"

Troy flinched away from the chair in front of him, not finding any time to criticize himself for being an idiot. It wasn't like she was there in person. "I know you're not stupid, care bear, you're the only reason that I passed Calculus last year. Remember those late night…study sessions?" Chad heaved from behind him as he remembered walking in on one of their little equations. Troy's handsy self minus Gabriella's sweater equaled Chad screaming his head off in Troy's basement. He was officially scarred for life.

"DON'T TRY TO SUGARCOAT THIS WITH OUR PAST MAKE-OUT SESSIONS, BOLTON!!!" She was so furious, she didn't seem to care that her mother was listening in on her outburst from only a few feet away.

"Yes, ma'am…"

Chad tapped him on the shoulder. "How's it going?"

Troy ground his teeth and clenched his fists, imagining that his best friend's throat was within it. "Shut up, asshole…"

"EXCUSE ME?!?!"

Troy's eyes widened again. "Not you, love, Chad! He's not taking this as seriously as he should."

"Why the hell would you drag me into-"

Troy held up a finger to Chad's flapping lips and listened to Gabriella for a second. A faint blush crept up his cheeks. Chad knew him well enough to know that this only happened when he was extremely embarrassed or anxious.

Troy slowly moved the phone from his ear and held it out to Chad, smiling slyly. "She wants to talk to you."

Chad's blood ran cold the second Troy's grin directed towards him. He had heard her terrifying screams through the phone from a few feet away; what was he supposed to do now that they were about to bust his eardrums? There was only one way to find out.

With trembling hands, Chad reached for. Troy's phone and put it to his ear. "H-hello?"

"Chad?" Her voice was sweet. Too sweet. "Would you care to explain something to me?"

Chad gulped. "I-I guess it depends on what you're-"

"DAMN YOU, CHAD, HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO BE THIS STUPID?!?!"

"Excuse me! What about your 'no swearing during Christmas' policy?"

"That doesn't apply to total dumb-shits who own a cabin in the middle of nowhere!"

Chad paused, pursing his lips. "Well, technically, this thing isn't in my name and we have plenty of neighbors who lend us sugar cookies if we-"

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!"

"Okie dokie." He muttered quickly.

Gabriella's sharp breaths huffed in and out of the phone speaker, letting Chad know that she was at least attempting to clam herself down. There was a good sign. "Look, Chad," On the other hand, her voice wasn't getting any softer. "Can't you shovel a trail a few feet wide for the truck?"

"You heard Troy. The wind won't let us open the door. We're stuck in here."

"Didn't anybody call a plow truck?"

"The nearest one is three hours away," Chad answered dejectedly. "It would be faster to just wait for the storm to pass and then shovel."

Gabriella growled a short string of profanities under her breath before refocusing. "You're making me resort to the unmentionable, but this is an emergency."

"What's unmentionable?"

"My dad has a plow that can handle up to 25 pounds of snow at a time. From his house, he can probably be out there in about an hour and a half, if not faster, okay? I'll call him in a second."

"Thanks, sis."

"Chad…"

He chuckled teasingly. "See you in a jiffy, Gabs."

"Unless he leaves your ass there…" She hung up before Chad could retaliate.

"How do they do that…" he whispered to himself while handing the phone back to Troy.

"Do what?"

"Nothing. Her dad's gonna be here in a little while."

Troy rolled his eyes and shoved the phone into his pocket, muttering "Splendid…"

Chad sighed, backing up a few inches into the rocking chair once again. "I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this, man. Gabby's old man is coming, he'll get us out, and we'll be back in no time."

Troy snickered without a hint of humor and buried his face in his cool hands. "No, the thing you're not understanding is why she's hesitant to call her father. Do you know why he and Maria divorced ten years ago?"

"Should I?"

Troy didn't even roll his eyes at Chad's brainless quirk, knowing that he didn't understand the severity of what was about to happen. "Chad, Marco Montez is one of the most soulless, sinful, evil men you will ever meet. He was a careless drunk who used Gabriella to cheat on his wife and then verbally abuse the both of them when he was completely smashed. Gabby almost killed herself because of that monster."

"It was that bad?"

Troy's ashen face had a sickly shine to it, like that of a flu victim who was about to be sick. Chad could tell that he was staring at the disturbing images in his head right now. "I don't shave with razors anymore for a reason, Chad. Even though she never used it, it still scares the hell out of me when I…"

The words were jammed in his throat like super glue. He didn't even try anymore; he knew that he'd gotten his point across. "I've never even met the guy and I already hate him. If he comes up here, I swear I'll hit him, Chad, I swear to God I will. No one hurts Gabriella and gets away with it."

Chad became speechless. Troy was rarely this passionate about anything except his family and Gabriella. Why didn't he ever get those kind of loving words directed at him? The two have known each other since they were two years old, but Troy still chose to put his girlfriend before his brother.

He ignored the slash through his chest and replied quietly. "I know. Remember that dude you beat up because he asked her to Prom after she already said yes to you?" He smirked weakly.

Troy nodded, still not cracking a grin. "Yeah, I remember that." He lifted his head to let a glare loose on Chad. "You lost your grip and let him get away. I remember that part very clearly."

Chad bowed his head, the curls hovering over his face. "Sorry about that…"

"Yeah, I bet you are." Troy turned his back and stomped over to the window, peering out at the violent winds of the snowstorm. The sky was about as dark as Troy's eyes, which also matched the ice that was freezing over everything in sight. His breaths were getting deeper and harder to exhale. Pressure was building in his brain. Chad knew him well enough to see that.

"Troy…"

Nothing.

"Troy, are you okay?"

His pale fingers were curling around the window pane, even though there was no shape for them to fit around. His jaw was locked as tightly as all the muscles in his body.

"Come on," Chad scooted a little further back in the chair in case Troy decided to explode anytime soon. "Everything's going to be okay. We've got a roof over our heads, a rescue on the way, and heat. We'll be fine for another hour or two."

And he believed it. He was fairly confident that this bad situation would turn out the way he hoped and prayed it would because, as Troy had said earlier, he carried that kind of luck around with him most of the time.

That was until a deep thump protruded through the wooden walls, shaking them like they were printing paper about to cave in. Following that was the abrupt darkness that then overtook them, along with unusual silence from the heater on the wall.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus, you're kidding me…

The brown eyes that lifted to the ceiling curiously didn't dare come back down. Chad could feel the thin rope of Troy's sanity suddenly snap, seemingly to help the winds chill the cabin air that Chad was breathing. Troy wasn't. He appeared to have lost track of every single bodily function on his person—including his heartbeat and self-control. At first he didn't turn around.

"That's not good…" Chad barely whispered, mostly talking to himself and looking around the room.

Troy had no room in his brain to decide whether or not Chad was talking to him; he didn't truly care. He, too, felt his sanity string break into many frayed pieces and flutter down all over Chad's self-esteem. The heat from deep within his conscious was rising fast, ready to explode to the surface, and he felt there was nothing he could do about it.

He didn't care. As always, it made him feel on top, dominant…powerful. This made it easy to turn around and show Chad what he had just unlocked.

"Are you calling me stupid, Danforth?"

Chad's eyebrows came together, completely bemused. "No, I never said-"

The walls shook harder than they did when the pile of tree snow had fallen on the power cable. Troy's bass nearly cracked them entirely. "I KNOW THIS ISN'T GOOD!!! FOR ONE, I'M STUCK IN A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A CABIN WITH NO ELECTRICITY AND NO HEAT WITH ONE OF THE MOST brainless DUMBASSES THAT I'VE EVER MET!!! I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU'RE SO SLOW ON GETTING BACK!!! IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE SO nauseating TO EVERY GIRL THAT THEY CAN'T STAND SAYING MORE THAN FOUR WORDS TO YOU: 'Sorry, I'm not interested'."

Chad's body was having a little snowstorm of its own; his lungs were freezing and becoming unusable for God knows how long. His thoughts started swirling around in his head so fast he had no idea how to decipher which was which or where they were coming from. Troy didn't give him any time to try before attacking again.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOUR USELESS IDEA TO KEEP THE PRESENTS HERE, I WOULDN'T BE TRAPPED WITH A PERSON WHO LOWERS MY IQ EVERY TIME AN IDIOTIC WORD LEAVES HIS FAT MOUTH!!! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, CHAD!!! YOU'RE WORTHLESS!!!"

Troy's words hung in the air like deadly poison, frozen into sharp daggers. They expanded over the short amount of time that they stood in silence, pushing at the walls so forcefully they were both sure another explosion would take place. It was as if Troy's wasn't enough.

Chad felt like a witness to a bull rodeo gone wrong, awfully wrong. Irony took another slap at his face when he realized that he was sporting a red hoodie with matching shoes. He just stood staring at his best friend, pale and embarrassed beneath his shady skin tone, with trembling legs.

Troy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, chiseling him out of his icy condition and breaking his focus on Chad's broken form. He split his gaze and answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID. "What…sorry, I didn't know it was you…don't have time for this, Gabs, what'd you call for…mhmm…okay…are you sure he won't…fine, I believe you…thanks. I love you, too."

It never took too much for Troy to calm himself, especially when Gabriella was involved. Just the sound of her engaging vocals was enough to smash his walls into dust and lift his spirits back up from fury. This was one of those times.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…" Troy tried lifting his eyes from the ground with great difficulty. "I know I lost it for a second, but you know I didn't mean it. Sometimes things just build up and you can't hold back from letting it out, even if it doesn't make any sense. You know how it is."

"Yeah, I know a lot of things," Chad nodded slowly, swallowing the nonexistent saliva in his mouth. "I just never knew you had the ability to make someone feel so worthless."

With that, Chad's back turned and he shuffled away into the bedroom, leaving Troy alone to deal with the shame seeping into his gut. His shoulders drooped and his frown deepened to an even worse scowl.

"Chad," Troy called after him, "Dude, come on, I'm sor-"

The subsequent locking of the door made it very clear that he wasn't listening.

--

"Thanks, Mr. Montez," Troy yelled out the door flatly, "We really appreciate it."

The plural form was used, even though Marco hadn't been able to lay an eye on Chad. He still refused to leave his parents' room in the hour that it had been since the fight.

After revving the truck up to much-missed life and loading the gifts into the trunk, Troy scuffled back to the cabin entrance with many confusing thoughts running through his mind: Had Gabriella's father made a trip to rehab and gotten his act together, becoming a caring human being? He was nothing like Troy remembered, for he had only met him once before this, and he had never been more scared for his life. Marco had been drinking and let himself give a monstrous rant on what he would do to Troy if Gabriella ever turned up pregnant. Gabriella had to follow him back to his house driving his truck; he didn't bother to waste any time in his marathon out of her door.

But he had come through for the boys, even though he hardly knew them. He'd plowed as much as he could with the time limit, but nothing could help their punctuality. They would still be 45 minutes late to the dinner, if not longer because of traffic.

This wasn't the first thing that was on Troy's mind when he thought about all the events that had gone down during the day.

He had hurt Chad's feelings before, so many times, but they had always been resolved either moments or even seconds later. Troy had constantly been joking when saying rude or hurtful comments, but assumed that Chad knew he was kidding. That what brothers did, right?

He couldn't answer the question before the door swung open and a tired-looking Chad stepped out of the bedroom. Troy stood stricken with shock and confusion, wondering how he knew that it was time to go. He then remembered that the muffler was still waiting to be checked.

"Come on," Chad broke the silence with his raspy whisper. "Let's go."

The ride back was silent, save for the occasional directions from Chad on how to get back to Gabriella's. Troy quietly followed orders. He didn't ask if they were going the right way at all; Chad always had a good sense of direction.

They got back ten minutes quicker than it took them to arrive at the cabin, thanks to Chad's secret shortcuts. Gabriella's driveway was already filled to the neighbor's driveways with family cars, so the boys were forced to park about five houses down and walk. Oh joy.

Chad went to the trunk and lugged the sack of presents out, letting it drop to the ground gently. With a firm grasp, he dragged the tarp bag behind him.

"Need any help with that?" Troy generously offered.

Chad shook his head. "Wouldn't want you to pull a muscle."

Troy sighed and sped up his pace, grabbing him by the arm. Chad immediately stopped but didn't turn around.

"Chad, I'm sorry for what I said. The last thing you are is worthless and stupid; I was just mad and needed to let it out on something. You weren't an option but I didn't see that in time. I'm sorry, I really am."

Chad slowly, but surely, spun around and gazed up at Troy with curious eyes. "What could I have done that got you so pissed-off? Was it because I didn't seem to be in the biggest rush to come back? Because I was, but panicking wasn't doing anything but making it worse."

Troy let his eyes flutter shut and a small smile creep on his face. "Yes," he chuckled. "I realize that now. And no, I don't think it had anything to do with you."

"Than what was it?"

Troy's smile faded into a blank, indifferent expression and he broke his eye contact with his best friend. "It started when Gabriella told you that her dad was coming to get us out. When I remembered how big of a monster he used to be to her and her mom…"

His voice was becoming weaker with emotion, but he swallowed the small lump in his throat and continued. "I was mad at Marco, not you. I was imagining all the things I would say and do to him if he showed up at the cabin without changing from who he was. You know me, Chad: If anyone messes with someone I love, they won't live to explain themselves."

Chad returned to the dark sensation that his mind was enthralled in before. He kept dragging the presents along to the Montez front door. "Yeah, I know. Heaven forbid something happens to Gabriella and your parents…"

Troy stopped dead in his tracks. "That was a rather short list, wasn't it?"

Chad shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

"Where was your name in that?"

"I don't know. I guess I have to look out for myself."

Troy's eyebrows furrowed together while his cobalt orbs widened. He grabbed Chad by the arm again. "Are you implying that I'm putting Gabriella before you?"

"I never said that."

"Chad!"

Chad turned at Troy's sharp tone. The freezing wind was blowing his wild hair in all sorts of directions, hanging in front of his face and shielding his eyes from the breeze. That pretty much stole his excuse for why there was moisture in them.

Troy took a step forward. "What could possibly make you think that my girlfriend of two years could replace my brother of sixteen? You are aware that it's moments like that that make me call you stupid, right?"

"What about the cake mixer incident? What was the point of making me haul that thing around the whole damn kitchen?"

"For the same reason that you…" Troy stopped himself mid-comeback. He pulled back from his instinct argue stance and crossed his arms with a smile across his face. "You're right, there was no point in that and I'm sorry."

Chad found it hard to do anything other than stand there like an idiot and blink. He nearly let the sack fall from his hold before remembering that it wouldn't end well for him if he let that happen. "So does this mean that I…"

Troy smirked. "Yes, Chad. You win."

Chad beamed brightly at him and didn't hesitate to let a teasing sneer break free on his mouth. "Then say it."

Troy rolled his eyes and sighed again. "I'm your biotch."

"And don't you forget it."

The rest of the night went just as smoothly from that point on. Sure, they received some hell from Sam and Gabriella's grandmother, who had seen the boys talking outside with the gifts. But this was easily brought to a halt by giving grandma some organic cupcakes and letting Sam unwrap her new Hannah Montana DVD. The three teens tried their best not to puke on it.

A few hours later, the kitchen was pretty much back to normal and clean. Chad was taking out the last round of trash when Gabriella turned and found the last item needing to be put away. When she burst out laughing, Troy joined in when he saw the source of her giggles.

"Hey, Chad!" she yelled, trying to sustain herself from giving the joke away. "Can you do me one more little favor?"

Chad came trotting through the room a few seconds later with a friendly grin. "Sure. Need help putting something away?" He took one look at the counter top and the smile immediately fell from his face before Gabriella even replied.

"Well, this cake mixer is just so heavy…"

And there you have it! Hope you liked this one because it took me a week or two to get done.

And another thing: Some of you know that my first option was to write a story called "My Christmas Song" but that one didn't happen. It was too hard to write with this time limit I had, so I'm writing it over the course of next year and doing it NEXT Christmas, okay? It's depressing anyway, so I'm sure you can manage to wait :]

REVIEW!!! Thnx :]

~Rachel :)

FOR THOSE OF YOU READING "HAUNTING MEMORIES": I'm extremely ashamed for my sucky updating, but I've just been so swamped with trying to get this done on time. The next chapter's halfway done and I have the major chapter conversation already pre-written on paper, so all I have to do is write it out on the computer. It should be up and posted within the next week and a half.