This is kind of a little drabble that I thought of just now. It's a short and sweet two shot. Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical.

"I really don't understand. You are sweating profusely, I can literally see your heartbeat in your neck and you just dragged me into the bathroom immediately after your incredibly sweet, amazing, gorgeous boyfriend proposes to you at your grandmother's 70th . What is wrong?"

Gabriella sighed, stopped pacing and leaned her back against the bathroom wall. Sharpay just did not get it. Maybe she never put the pieces together. How Gabriella intentionally fell asleep every time they saw Sharpay's favorite movie 27 dresses. How she never liked white dresses. How at prom she insisted that her date not wear a black tux. Even when a number of friends sent out their wedding invitation, Gabriella wouldn't be able to make it.

"Gabriella.." Sharpay started as her best friend slid down the wall until Gabriella was a little ball looking up at her. "Do you not want this?"

Then, she huffed, collapsing her forehead on her knees.

"You know, you have to come out of this bathroom sometime. And, there is a whole crowd of people waiting for your answer out there. Not to mention, Devon who you just skedaddled away from while he was down on one knee" Sharpay knelt next her. "You're gonna have to explain to someone at some point. Might as well be me"

For the hundredth time, Gabriella sighed. She lifted her head up from her knees and caught Sharpay's hazel eyes. Sharpay could tell something was up. It was definitely not that Gabriella didn't love Devon, not that she didn't want to be his wife. Sharpay couldn't count the number of times that Gabriella gushed over how much she wanted to grow old with him and have his kids.

Gabriella, on the other hand, was just as frustrated that Sharpay couldn't realize what was bothering her so much. She's never verbalized this but it was very prominent in her life. The two had been best friends since high school, why the hell couldn't Sharpay help her out this one time.

Staring at her more intensely than ever, Gabriella decided that she had to spit it out. And, she was about to. Just a couple more seconds. Unexpectedly, she gasped for air through her nose and with an exhale she said:

"I hate weddings".

Sharpay blinked. "What?" she asked, now more confused.

"Sharpay" Gabriella whined. "How could you not know this? We are best friends. You should know this!"

"No, wait. You hate weddings?" Sharpay was utterly bewildered. This revelation never hit her before.

"Yes!"

"Weddings. You hate them?"

"Sharpay!"

"What?"

There was an awkward silence. This silence hadn't come between Sharpay and Gabriella since freshmen year of high school when they had just met. They have been the closest friends for almost ten years now and neither of them can remember the last thing they found out about each other. They were taken for granted. No one had changed. Suddenly, this pops out of nowhere.

"Is that why-"

"Yes, Sharpay it's why I refused to be your maid of honor" Gabriella picked herself up from the corner of the bathroom and then sat again on the edge of the bathtub.

"So 'all that your cousin deserves it more' stuff that you were talking about was a bunch of shit"

"Yes-but your cousin is an awesome person"

"Gabriella, please, it's my cousin. We both know who she is"

"Yeah, apparently more than you know me"

"Oh, come on,"

"Shar, when is the last time you remember me going to a wedding?"

She instantly remembered one but Gabriella beat her to it. "Except yours-that doesn't count"

Sharpay thought hard to come up with something. She was dumbfounded. It was right in front of her eyes the whole time.

"Yeah, okay, fine. I'm a stupid blonde" she admitted. "But I still don't get it. You love Devon. You guys are the perfect couple. But, now you don't want to get married?"

"No…I mean, I want to be with him. Forever. But it's the whole 'I do' stuff that I despise"

"The 'I do' stuff?" Sharpay questioned, not sure what Gabriella meant by it.

"You know; white dress, chapel, kisses, guests, priests, vows, answering very hard questions, asking if anyone opposes, the whole shebang" Gabriella answered, not making eye contact with Sharpay at all.

"Oh-that shebang"

Another, awkward silence. Sharpay's head was reeling. Gabriella, her best friend, hated weddings and she had never known this. It was completely ballistic. Wait. Sharpay looked up at the nervous brunette in front of her.

"Gabi, you do know that you don't need to have a wedding. You can go to city hall and do it simply"

"You still have to make vows"

"So, it's making promises that's your problem?"

"No-"Gabriella hesitated. "That's not the point. The point is that even if I want to go do in city hall, you know Devon. He loves parties. He'll want to invite the world to it. And, what am I supposed to tell him now. Sorry, hon, I hate weddings so maybe we can talk about this later?"

"Well, you kind of messed that up with the whole locking yourself in the bathroom thing" Sharpay retorted.

"Sharpay, you're not helping!" Gabriella whined again.

"Okay, lemme think about it"

Sharpay looked down at the floor of the bathroom and thought about it while Gabriella waited for her answer.

In the middle of the thinking, a knock resounded against the door.

"Sharpay? Gabriella? Is everything alright?" It was a deep voice on the other side of the door. It was a voice both of them recognized.

"Yeah. We're okay" Sharpay told her husband and she got up from her crouched position and unlocked the door to let him in. Gabriella opened her eyes wide and waved her arms to let Sharpay know she wasn't comfortable with anyone knowing about this yet. Too late.

A head of very bushy hair entered the room. "Shar- what's wrong? Everything is really awkward outside"

"Yeah tell me about it" Sharpay said rhetorically.

"Gabriella, are you okay? What happened?" Sharpay's husband now found an interest in the real dilemma.

"I'm okay, Chad. How's Devon? Did he say anything?" Gabriella answered.

"Well, um that's kinda why I came in here. You see, he ..uh.. He was really surprised by your reaction so he-"

Gabriella's heart started pacing again. "Chad, where the hell is Devon?"

"Well, you know,…he.."

"Baby, where is Devon? What did he say?" Sharpay encouraged him.

"Chad!" Gabriella scolded.

"He left!"

A moment of dead silence passed while it hit Gabriella like a train. "What?" she gasped.

"He left" Chad said it so innocently, like it was nothing, and with a slight shrug in his shoulders. Gabriella almost leapt to strangle Chad right then and there.

But a single thought stopped her from doing anything. "Oh my god! It's my fault isn't it? I just ruined everything! Shit! I am so fucking stupid! Shit!" she swore and chided herself.

Sharpay left Chad's side and engulfed Gabriella in her arms. "Gabriella, come on, it's okay. You have your reasons. He'll understand"

"But, I ruined it. He proposed and I ruined it!"

It took a whole hour for Sharpay and Chad to give Gabriella the courage to face her boyfriend. Her grandmother's treated the guests of her party nicely as they left. Gabriella's mind couldn't stop haunting her with her prediction of Devon's hurt face after what she had done. She had to see him. After Sharpay calmed her down, Gabriella changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. She had Sharpay drive her to their apartment. The door was locked so Gabriella got out her own key.

"Devon" Gabriella whispered, sniffing back fear as soon as she entered the apartment. His name on her lips felt like a sin to her. The guilt was like tar in her veins, weighing her down intensely.

There was an open suitcase in her bedroom. It was filled with neatly folded clothes. The yellow light of the closet was on.

"Gabriella?" It was him. He stepped out of the closet, his tall figure shadowed by the light. A hanger and a shirt were in his hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked blatantly.

"Packing" he said simply.

"Packing?"

"Packing" he repeated.

"Packing for what?" Gabriella questioned, fearing his answer.

"Gabi, you clearly rejected my proposal back at your grandmother's. I would think this is the end of what we have" he reasoned.

"That's it? You're just going to pack up and leave? We are not going to talk about it?" Gabriella was angered at this. He wasn't going to ask her why? He wasn't going to reason with her 'rejection'?

"What's there to talk about?"

"About why I left, Devon! You're not curious?"

"Well I just assumed-" he paused. "Gabriella, are you saying that you leaving wasn't your way of saying no to marry me?"

She bit her lip at this. Weddings. It rung in her ears with detest. Like a disease. "Kinda" she said.

"Kinda?" Devon repeated after her. "What does kinda mean?"

"Kinda means that I don't want to get married" she said slowly and cautiously. "But, it also means that I want things to stay the way they are"

"What way, Gabriella?"

"The way we are now. I want to keep dating you, and living with you and I want to wake up with you and eat with you"

"I thought that you wanted to grow old with me, Gabriella. You said you wanted kids, you love them" Gabriella could hear the heat of anger in his voice.

"I do, Devon! I just can't get married! I...I don't want to get married" their voices were rising and both Devon and Gabriella were aware of it.

"What's the difference? Growing old together, or growing old married? What's wrong with getting married?" he was yelling now.

"I just can't!" she roared back.

"Maybe I should leave, Gabriella. If you can't just give up one thing for me. If you can't just say yes the first time I ask, maybe we aren't supposed to be anything!" he threatened.

"Devon, please, just listen" Gabriella begged walking towards him now and taking his arm trying to make him stop packing furiously,

"Listen to what? You aren't saying anything to me right now!"

She stood her ground looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to get married" she stated, plainly. "I don't want to have a wedding".

Devon was staring into her eyes, now, a mix of hurt and confusion slapped across his face.

"Why?" he demanded an answer with his deep, serious voice.

With that, Gabriella stopped to put her words together. She struggled against his gaze, trying to remember what everything was about. What was beneath her hatred for weddings? How come she couldn't get over it for someone that she loved? She stopped thinking for a second and let her eyes stray away from his gaze. Nothing came to her. It was like a blank black screen in her head. Devon lost his patience.

"You know what? Forget it. I can't believe I wasted my time with you!" he seethed through his teeth, picked up his suitcase and stormed out the front door.

"Devon!" she yelled following him out but his quick strides couldn't match up with her calls. It was too late and he was gone.

It was dark outside as she looked around the apartment complex for a retreating figure. All the while, Gabriella still racked her brain for the answer to his question. Tears welled up in eyes and flowed down her cheeks. Devon was gone. The love of her life slipped out from her grasp for no reason whatsoever. And she let it happen.

It was later than midnight when Gabriella found herself at a bar. The bar was a late night one that was just across the street from her apartment. She sat there, staring at the counter, no thought entering her brain. The day had gone by so fast. So much happened and it all overwhelmed her. She thought that a couple shots later, she might be loose enough for the answer to come to her. But it hadn't. She was the same. Just a little bit drunk.

"Bad day?" someone next to her said. The bar wasn't empty. It was actually pretty full, considering how late it was. Then again, it was a Saturday night.

Gabriella looked up to meet a pair of soft blue eyes. It was a man, a very handsome one with caramel colored hair who looked the same age as her. His jaw was square and mouth in a small recognizing smile. His eyes were waiting for answer. Gabriella realized she might have been staring at him too long.

"You can say that" she responded.

"Boss or boyfriend?" he asked.

"Boyfriend" she said. "He dumped me".

Gabriella never talked like this to people at bars. It was abnormal even for her, being very aware of it. She must be really drunk after all.

"Ouch" he said. "That sucks"

"Yeah". She said, looking down.

"I'm Troy, by the way" he put a hand out for her to shake it. She took it.

"Gabriella"

"Gabriella…"he repeated. "Wow, that's really pretty"

The way he said her name reverberated in her ears. "Thanks" she said, shivering slightly.

"So, Gabriella" he said, leaning on the bar counter. "Do you mind telling a stranger what happened? Or do you just want to kick my ass right now and tell me to get the hell out of your sight?"

A hearty laugh surprised Gabriella as it came through her throat.

"I don't mind" she said softly. "But it's a long story"

"Oh" he said with a smile. "My favorite"

She giggled again. Troy waved his hand at the bartender, signaling for more drinks. The bartender put two glasses in front of them and poured it with a copper colored drink.

They both took a sip of the beer not breaking eye contact. As Gabriella let the beer kick in to her taste buds, she started.

"I hate weddings" she said. Troy's eyebrows narrowed and he chuckled at her first words.

This is it. Gabriella thought. He's going to ask me why and I'm not going to have anything to say to it.

"Oh, me too" he said. Gabriella's train of thought stopped. "Weddings are the worst" Gabriella couldn't tell if he actually meant it or if he was encouraging her to go on.

So, Gabriella told him. She told him everything that went on the whole day. She told her about her grandmother's surprise birthday party, how Devon proposed to her, how she dragged Sharpay to bathroom to make her confession, how she ruined it with Devon and how she ended up here. And, through it all, Troy listened.

Troy had first spotted her when he entered the bar. The first thing he noticed- along with the fact that she was absolutely beautiful- was her hair. The way it framed her face and the way it cascaded down her back. Troy came here to meet a friend. They conversed but the whole time he couldn't let his eyes off of her. The second thing he noticed was that she was alone, and that she had an incredibly sad expression on her face. A strong urge exploded in him at that moment, something that told him to make the expression disappear. So, even after his friend had left Troy stayed back and took a seat next her. He waited a whole 15 minutes making side glances at her before actually speaking to her. It was hard the first words he said because once Troy sat down on the stool next to her, he soon realized that Gabriella was even more stunning up close.

Throughout the whole conversation, Troy absorbed everything. There was something about Gabriella that drew him in. The way she smiled and laughed for the first time made his heart thump like never before. The way her facial expressions changed so fast, with practically every sentence she said. He was completely enthralled by Gabriella until he hit dead end.

She was taken. There was a bittersweet feeling in his heart most of Gabriella's explanation to him. He knew he had wanted her, he was attracted to her and now that he knew that she had a boyfriend, one that was ready to get married to her, he wanted her more. But he couldn't. And, it killed him. All he knew now was that it would take a lot to get Gabriella out of his mind.

"So, now I'm here" Gabriella finished. "At a bar, drinking up all my self -hate"

"That's it? You just can't remember?"

Gabriella smiled, knowing what he was thinking.

"That's stupid" he said. But, that wasn't it. Gabriella's eyebrows furrowed. How could he say that? This wasn't stupid. It was a dilemma. A legitimate dilemma.

"What's stupid?"

"Gabriella, do you love Devon?"

She nodded, yes.

"Do you want to live with him the rest of your life?"

She nodded again.

"Then, what's the problem. The wedding is just a small passageway into what you really want. Hold your breath, close your eyes and it will be over with. You can live happily ever after that"

Troy said it so simply that Gabriella could digest it all.

"You're right" she said. She lifted her feet to the ground , standing out. "You're so right".

With that, she turned and ran out the door and left Troy at the bar alone. She didn't think at all that it was important to thank him. But she didn't think that he was going to be back in her life so soon, either.

That's the beginning. The whole thing is a little bit of Grey's Anatomy and a little bit of my own little thing, really.

With love, cheers.