An- Sooo umm, new story. I couldn't resist myself, you guys know how my muse works what it wants it gets and its been pressuring my mind to create this story. For those of you who don't know how my muse works, you will get to know how it works soon enough. I'm sorry for the inconvenience for my last story, I really did intend to finish the cure but my muse kind of just lost inspiration on it and I got stuck, I know the ending, but getting there is the whole dilemma preventing me from finishing. I intend to finish it before February of the new year though. 2011 is this close people, how exhilarating and crazy is that!


Prologue: Hardest of Hearts

'There is love in our bodies and it holds us together, and it pulls us apart when we're holding each other...'

.

.

.

Her eyes swept over the whole of the room as she sipped from her alcoholic beverage, the distinct bitter taste wrapping around her tongue. Bittersweet. That was the word for it, and ironically enough, the 11 letter word seemed to define her life. Stupid Sharpay, she mumbled furiously to herself. She didn't want to be here, this wasn't her scene and to make things worse her ride was too engrossed in sucking face with some hormone-crazed guy to notice.

She tensed as she felt the presence of another slide next to her. She knew who it was immediately, how could she not? Tingles shot through her the minute their elbows brushed, her heart beat sped up, she found it hard to breath and her hands shook at the familiarity of it all.

"Gabriella." He whispered, his hot breath tickled her ear and her train of thought led to certain dirty thoughts that haunted her every single night.

"Troy." She spat back icily, downing the rest of her drink in a swift movement before demanding for another. This was going to be a long night.

.

.

.

"If you weren't such a neanderthal incapable of feeling for anyone else other yourself maybe I'd be up to a screaming battle or two but I'm through with it, Troy. We're not children anymore and quite frankly, I've had enough of you to last a lifetime."

"Neanderthal, maybe." He shrugged, leaning closer. "But you're mistaken about one thing, Brie. I make you feel and if you keep looking at me the way you are, I'll take you in this bar right here, right now. "

.

.

.

"Kiss me." She whispered, drawing him in closer.

Troy smirked. " When have I ever been able to say no to a pretty face?"

.

.

.

"You caught me." She giggled, looping her arms around his neck.

"I always will." He whispered, smiling widely as he brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

.

.

.

"Let's get married!" Gabriella exclaimed excitedly, drunkenly pulling him towards the nearest church.

"Gabriella Bolton." Troy drawled, his eyes glinting with satisfaction. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

.

.

.

He stumbled into their hotel room, his hands frantically touching every piece of her that he could as his lips eagerly met hers.

She grinned coquettishly, running her hands up and down his rock, hard, abs. "I'm feeling a little hot, . Wanna help me take this off?"

.

.

.

Sunlight crept in through the blinds and into the somewhat luxurious, large sized hotel room. In it lay two figures tangled in each other as they slept away in bliss; dead to the world and completely unaware of the complexity of the situation. Gabriella groaned, her eyes fluttering open as she instinctively raised her hand to shield herself from the sun. She froze however as she noticed a certain sparkle coming from her ring finger.

A 4-prong diamond situated on a silver ring was the sight she was welcomed with and automatically she felt her breath be taken away into a whole other galaxy, perhaps even a different generation. She was spellbound. It was absolutely beautiful, the exact type of ring that she'd always dreamed a man would get for her when she found her special someone waiting for her somewhere around the world, portraying the unity of man and wife. Elegant yet somehow simple, the ring made the perfect combination and for a minute she blinked in confusion. This definitely hadn't been there yesterday.

Yesterday. Her confusion ran deeper as she tried to recollect her thoughts and memories from the previous night. What exactly happened yesterday?Where's Sharpay? What day was it anyways? Saturday? Sunday? Monday? At the last thought she trembled in fear, she hoped not or she'd be terminated from the one thing that was helping her financially; she could only be late to work so many times.

Feeling like a bunch of tiny men were attacking her head with a hammer, she moaned in pain falling back on the bed. She mentally sped through her brain, trying to make sense of all of this; surely there was an explanation somewhere. Her thoughts however came to an abrupt halt as her pillow shifted beneath her. Pillows don't move...right? Of course, unless you move them yourself. Gabriella bolted upright, her tummy rumbling with nausea. She felt sick, she felt horrified. It felt warm, hard, and smelt unique ( a dash of expensive cologne mixed together with lavender and a scent that she could never really pinpoint no matter how hard she tried.) it smelt, familiar.

Gabriella stared down at the stark naked male specimen beneath her. Her eyes took him in, the whole of him, lingering on his six pack abs for a while before she whipped her attention to his face, the face to the man that had affected, influenced and touched her mind, body and spirit in each and every possible way. The face of the man that had left her longing for his touch, yearning for his kisses. The bane of her existence and yet somehow her sole inspiration to keep going, to keep living.

"Troy!" She screamed as she pushed herself off of his well toned and rather comfortable torso, looking at him with a look filled with pure distaste, replusion, shock, disgust. His amused eyes danced as it flickered from her body to her eyes making her hastily cross her arms against her chest as a futile attempt to cover herself. She didn't notice how her actions made her naked breasts look all the more appealing making his smirk get impossibly wider.

"In the flesh." He retorted, his tone dominant, alluring, sexy. She was repulsed by the fact that such great qualities lied in such a pathetic excuse of a man.

Gabriella was livid. She was seething with emotion. She was confused. She was hurt. Every sentiment known to mankind was currently seeking refuge in her body and she couldn't help that strike of irritation crawl through her. Wasn't he a little bit frazzled? Didn't he care? Here she was freaked out of her mind that she'd somehow managed to wake up to the arms of her ex-fiancee and there he lay looking ridiculously smug and not in the slightest fazed. Couldn't he be at the slightest a little remorseful?

Her brain began to go into overdrive. Tantalizingly, the fog that surrounded her memory began to clear and her thoughts and memories of the previous night began to welcome her, envelop her, taunt her. She remembers fishing down drinks and the torturous banter. She remembers seductive glances and frantic touches. She remembers open-mouthed kisses and moans and public exposure. She remembers everything.

"W-we got married." It wasn't so much a question but a statement. They had. She could see the image in her head clearly; the priest, the soft shared glances, the swooning kiss, 'I now pronounce you Mr. And Mrs. Troy Bolton! '

"Looks like it." He responded smoothly, his voice still husky as he briefly glanced at the wedding band around his finger that definitely hadn't been there the night before.

Her throat went dry at the confirmation. It wasn't like she hadn't suspected it, like she hadn't known but there was still that piece of her that wanted to hold on to that hope, that hope that she hadn't let one sudden outburst of stupidity land her in such a position, that she hadn't been so gusty and so hopelessly intoxicated and that everything around her was a dream, a figment of her imagination, some twisted horror movie. She couldn't have...

But she did.

God, she did.

"We slept together, didn't we?" Her head lowered down in shame, in regret as it fell into her hands completely exhausted. How could this happen to her?

"Like rabbits apparently." He grinned, his teeth sparkling underneath the light. "Not that I mind of course, especially if there's a round two in the making."

"Round seven." She mumbled bitterly, provoking his eyes to raise in satisfaction. "And hell will freeze over before I willingly decide to sleep with you again, Bolton." Nothing of that sort will ever happen again. She was determined. She was driven. He wouldn't get to her this time, not more then he already had.

"I don't think that will be much of a problem." Troy leans closer, his lips teasingly close to hers making her head spin at the proximity, he was invading her personal space. He was so close and she could feel herself drown in those indescribable azure eyes of his. "With the vivid images of us having hot, wild monkey sex repeatedly in my head, it's only a matter of time before you become a slave to your temptations."

"Fuck you." Gabriella spat with loathing. She seethed with anger, furious beyond belief. Furious because there was that slight portion of her, that growing portion of her that wanted nothing more then to give in to her temptations and get that release that she so desperately needed. He had always been the one to touch, lick, nip her in all the right places. He had always been the one that could make her breathless, arching her back and grasping onto the sheets with all her might as she came back to life from her euphoria. He had always been the one to make her scream, scream for more, scream for it to never stop.

And she hated him for it.

His hand rose, his fingertips grazing the side of her face, his hand softly caressing her cheek.

"If you keep batting your eyelashes like that." He grinned devilishly, his eyes flickering to her lips in want, frustration, lust. "Maybe I will."

Reluctantly, he backed away and she fluttered her eyes shut, outraged with the fact that she was disappointed. Disappointed that he hadn't kissed her, disappointed that he hadn't acted on his threat and fucked her; rough, soft, back, front, every sexual position that she could think of. He twirled around and she shook at the intensity, the passion swirling around those eyes of his; she's always been powerless when it came to them.

"I'll be back." He told her, noticing the sigh of relief that parted her kissable, plump lips. "Don't be relieved sweetheart, I won't be gone for long. I figured you'd want to bitch, scream, and throw a temper tantrum to whoever it is that is responsible in peace before you exhaust yourself from over analyzing your pretty little head off in regards to our situation. "

"We're married, Gabriella. You're mine, I'm yours and I plan on keeping it that way. " Elated at the sight of seeing her speechless, he slowly changed- just to tease her of course- before winking at her and walking out the door.

Gabriella slid down the bathroom door, completely and utterly defeated. Her spirits crashed to the ground and smashed into itty bitty little pieces. She'd gone from hopeful to furious to crestfallen and back in seconds. She was screwed, literally and a bitter laugh escaped her lips at the thought.

How could this have happened to her? Why had this happened to her? She's always been a good girl, she's always followed the rules, hell she lived on respecting it! It's who she is and for some unexplainable reason here she is, in some hotel room, lost and confused and shattered. It felt familiar, it felt like deja vu and its then that the memory sparked her mind and she realized it was. History had repeated itself and she was suffering the consequence.

A flurry of emotions passed through her at the moment. What was she supposed to do? Stay? Go? Run? She's been running for her whole life, running from him, running from everything that involved the two of them that came with emotions and feeling and yet that only led to her running back into his arms. She could always go with the second option, she figured. Go. File for a divorce, maybe something will even spring up and they'll realize that this whole ordeal was a scam, fake, unreal, that the priest hadn't even been a licensed one.

It was the rational thing to do. Except she's never been rational when it came to Troy Bolton.

Sexy. Confident. Funny. Charming.

Tempting. Wicked. Quick-witted. Intriguing.

He was everything she'd ever wanted. He's all that she's ever wanted yet she hadn't ever been able to have him, not completely, not fully. He evoked emotions within her that she hadn't even thought she'd ever be capable of feeling, he'd sparked a fire within her that obviously hadn't died out as she had previously thought; the raging banter between them was proof of it, the sexual tension, the heated glances, the provocative images of the previous night.

She shook her head violently, not wanting to head down that road. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Images of that night would only make it harder to let go. She slumped on the ground with a slight pout. How could something that feels so right, tempting, scrumptious, ravishing, enticing be so, so wrong?

She could leave. She could run. She could walk away. It'd be closure to that part of her life, closure from him, a beginning to a new start. She could be free.

She discovered she couldn't leave. Gabriella had always been faithful to her promises, faithful to her commitments. Once she made a commitment, she fell through with it no matter how difficult the situation or commitment might be. She'd never been one to back out, ever;. Call her stubborn, but its just who she is and she wouldn't change that strong quality about herself, her morals, her beliefs and her routine just because of an egotistical bastard that gained pleasure in her discomfort, seeing her suffer.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction, not this time. She'd suck it up. She'd pull it together. She's a Montez ( well Bolton, now.) if she could handle three near death experiences, one actual death and heartbreak for the last couple of years she could certainly handle being married to her arch nemesis for a whole eternity.

Could she really? She wiped all thoughts of doubt out of her mind, setting her jaw in determination. She wouldn't fall for him, not again. She wouldn't get too close. She'd pick a fight and be harsh and throw spiteful insults at him to shelter herself from being wrapped up in those emotions again, from being wrapped up in him.

She'd failed to notice however, that she'd already fallen.

She'd never stopped.


An-I hope you liked it. I really don't know where the inspiration for this story came from, especially considering the fact that Zac and Vanessa had apparently broken up. Maybe it's some twisted hope of wanting them to get back together? They had been cute, I'd had so much belief in them. It was a shame to see them end, if they really ended. Anyways, I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas! Please make me the happiest person in the world and review, I'd highly appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Nicki M.