A/N: Hi, hello. I thought I'd bring this over here from AO3... After the Jake/Amy proposal on B99 (which was absolutely wonderful and perfect) aired, it made me wonder how Troy would propose to Gabriella and then this happened. This is shameless tooth-rotting fluff, but I'm leaning into it, because Troy and Gabriella are tooth-rotting fluff. I hope it's enjoyable fluff, though!

Feedback is always appreciated! And you can find me on Tumblr at gabriellabolton (my main blog) and bisexualsharpay (my HSM sideblog).

My Whole Heart Will Be Yours Forever

Ever since he heard her voice for the first time, Troy Bolton has known that he would one day ask Gabriella Montez to marry him. Call it what you want – fate, love at first sight, naivety, sheer stupidity – but it has become an inevitability, carved into his mind, buried in the deepest corner of his heart, interwoven in his entire being.

It's a universal truth, a fact of life. The sky is blue, peanut butter and jelly go together and Troy Bolton will someday ask Gabriella Montez to marry him.

He has imagined so many different scenarios. Taking her back to the ski lodge in Colorado, kissing her at midnight as a diamond glistens on her finger. Bringing her up to his treehouse at his parents' home, professing his everlasting love for her under the stars. Climbing up to her balcony at her mother's house, serenading her with the music that brought them together. Setting up a nice dinner in their apartment in California, her eyes shining with tears as he gets down on one knee.

The most real scenario, the one he has actually planned out, is returning to the rooftop at East High, back to the spot where they first bonded, where they danced, where they found their home. He would take her to East High under the ruse of picking something up for Jack and then he would take Gabriella up to the roof to relive the old times. He would ask her to dance with him and then he would ask her to marry him. It would be the perfect grand proposal.

However, as much as Troy Bolton asking Gabriella Montez to marry him is a certainty, it turns out that how he asks her is not.

As Troy's eyes flutter open and adjust to the light in the room, there's three things that immediately spring to mind. One, it's Sunday morning and he has no obligations today. Two, the curtains are open and Gabriella's side of the bed is awfully empty. Three, he smells pancakes.

He yawns and runs a hand through his ruffled hair before throwing on his boxers and pyjama pants and stumbling towards the kitchen. The sight he finds there makes his heart burst.

Gabriella is dancing around the kitchen, wearing nothing but an apron that is much too big for her petite frame and his favourite plaid shirt – he doesn't think he'll ever get used to seeing her wear his clothes –, humming a melody that he immediately recognizes as Kelsi's newest song as she pours orange juice into two glasses.

"Looks delicious," he interrupts her, smirking and leaning against the doorpost as she rolls her eyes playfully in recognition of his presence and his thinly veiled innuendo.

He chuckles and steps forward to scoop her up in his arms, pulling her close and squeezing her waist as he nuzzles his nose into her hair. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Gabriella shrugs against him as she circles her arms around his back and sighs in contentment. "I know you've had a busy week at work, so I thought I'd help you unwind."

Troy holds back a snort as she pulls away from him and smiles up at him innocently – she's helped him unwind plenty last night and she knows it –, before being overwhelmed with affection for her as she leans up and pecks his nose.

She stares up at him with those big, brown eyes when she hands him his glass in his juice and he can't help the words that tumble from his mouth. "Marry me."

He's said those words to her many times before. Sometimes he's meant them a joke, sometimes he's intended them to be an assurance that he would ask her earnestly one day. One time, he asked her to marry him while he was high on painkillers after a particularly excruciating sports injury, but he prefers to never speak of that again.

And every time he's said those words, she's reacted the exact same way. She would smile bashfully as a delicate shade of pink faintly covers her cheeks, but he'd see the same inevitability in the stars in her eyes that he feels inside his heart; as much as he is determined to ask her to marry him when the time is right, she is determined to say yes when he does.

She's reacting that same way right now – with that same smile and that same blush and that same glow in her eyes – and that should save him, that should be a good reason to wait until his perfect plan has played out.

However, he doesn't want to wait. He's overwhelmed with love for this beautiful, smart, kind, perfect woman in front of him and he needs her to know that he's serious about this, that it's not a joke or a promise of a distant future. He wants her to marry him now.

"No, I'm serious," he therefore states and he barely registers the confusion that settles on her face before he dashes out of the kitchen towards the bedroom.

Frantically, he opens his socks drawer and he ignores how much his hands are shaking as he grabs the velvet box that has been hidden at the bottom and rushes back to the kitchen, where Gabriella is still in the same position he left her in, eyebrows furrowed adorably in confusion and her cheeks still slightly pink.

As soon as she spots the item he's holding, her entire face heats up and turns a much darker colour, her mouth falling open slightly as she stares up at him in shock.

Suddenly, he feels incredibly awkward. He's half-naked, in his pyjama pants covered with cartoon basketballs, and he's about to ask her the one question that will change their lives forever, the question that he's been prepared to ask her since he was sixteen.

But as he sees the unadulterated love in her eyes as she stares at him, her body still frozen in place, he knows that he has nothing to lose.

She gasps quietly as he shakily drops down to one knee and opens the box, showing her the ring that will soon be on her finger, and he takes a deep breath before starting to speak.

"I was planning to wait a little longer to do this," he admits, letting out a tiny, nervous laugh, "But I can't wait anymore."

It's then that he realizes he hasn't prepared a speech yet and a tiny bit of his resolve breaks at this notion. He's Troy Bolton, who sneaked up to Gabriella's balcony to give her a grand apology, who surprised her by bringing their prom to Stanford. This is not perfect enough, not grand enough.

Yet, the words start spilling from his mouth naturally.

"I knew this was day was coming since the first time I heard your voice. I've always known that I want you forever. We've been through so much together, but you've always been the one who pulled me through. You're the person who keeps me grounded, you're the person who inspires me to be better, you're the person whose hand I want to hold when things get rough. You're the only thing I've always been sure of, even when my entire life was in pieces. You're the kindest, most beautiful, most inspiring person I know and you mean everything to me."

He hears and feels the tremors in his voice as he speaks the words, every single one of them ringing true, and he can see the same overwhelming emotions he feels reflected in her eyes, that have started watering as her lip quivers almost invisibly.

"I love you, Gabriella Montez," he continues, and he swallows, smiling weakly as he finally utters the words he's been meaning to voice for so long. "Will you marry me?"

For a moment, she doesn't respond. She doesn't move, doesn't say anything. In that moment, Troy feels like he's made a mistake. They've discussed marriage before, they've alluded to it, and everything had pointed to her wanting it just as much as he does. What if he misinterpreted everything? What if he didn't pay enough attention to her wants and needs? What if this is not the beginning, but instead the end?

In that moment, he feels so small.

But then, she drops to her knees so that they're at the same level. She smiles at him adoringly as her hand comes up to gently comb through his hair and he closes his eyes in bliss at the feeling.

"I've known this day was coming too," she whispers, her voice barely audible, "And I've known what I would say."

She leans in to press a kiss to his mouth, passionate yet gentle, and she beams as she pulls away.

"Yes."

And with that, he feels like the biggest, happiest, most fulfilled person in the world. He feels a grin mirroring her own breaking on his face as he grabs her waist with his free hand and pulls both of them up to a standing position, clutching at her – his – shirt as he kisses her, the tears beginning to roll down his face.

He can hear her sob quietly through the kiss and laughs elatedly as he releases her lips from his and fumbles to retrieve the ring from the box and shove it into her finger. She holds her hand up to inspect the diamond as it catches the light brilliantly, but the only light he cares for is the one dancing in her eyes.

"I love you," he murmurs again as he grabs her hand and places it on his heart – the cold metal of the ring feels exhilarating against his bare chest –, Gabriella giggling at she softly strokes his skin with her thumb.

"I love you too," she says and she sighs happily as she lets her forehead rest against his.

Somewhere, in the back of mind, he remembers that there's still a breakfast waiting for them, and that they will probably have to call their parents and closest friends soon to inform them about the news. But he doesn't want to leave their blissful bubble yet.

He is going to marry Gabriella Montez. Gabriella Montez is going to be his wife. He is going to be Gabriella Montez's husband. Gabriella Montez is going to be his forever and he is going to be hers.

He doesn't want this moment to pass. Ever.

"You know, I think we have no obligations today," Gabriella reminds him, as if she can read his mind, and Troy smirks as his hand slowly dips below her waist.

"Well, maybe we can unwind a little more," he drawls, raising his eyebrows. Gabriella smirks back at him and the fire in her eyes makes him want to explode, so he grabs her hips and lets her wrap her legs around his waist as a delighted giggle tinkles from her lips.

As he carries her to the bedroom, he briefly thinks about what is going to come for them. The stress of wedding planning, the nerves of the wedding day, the uncertainty of what is to come after.

The future is unpredictable and a part of him is just as scared of that as he was when he was seventeen, but just like then, there's one thing he's sure of – he wants her and he will have her, forever.