Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.
A/N: First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to hollybaggins, Savannah O'Ryan, zettaiyo and kat1estone for nominating DF and Cat and Mouse in the FanFiction awards. I really appreciate it you guys, even though I haven't gotten around to replying to you all personally. Thank you so much for doing that. It's amazing.
Anyway, the other thing is that I'm actually getting on a plane in about six hours to head off to South Africa for seventeen days. I'm really looking forward to that actually. So while I'm gone for that period of time, I'm not going to have internet access although I'm going to have my laptop with me. Hopefully, with my laptop with me, I'll attempt to get a Memories chapter up and running, I've got an idea of where its all going to end and I've actually started a new story using Taylor Swift lyrics. I'm in the middle of writing up part of it. This one-shot is a little different from what I'm used to working with and I hope that it makes sense. The song, if you're interested, is 'You Won't Be Mine' by Matchbox Twenty and is one of my favorite songs.
Please enjoy it.
You Won't Be Mine
The room was darkened. The lighting a subtle interchange of blue and white light surrounded the dance floor and allowed enough light for one to see where they were going but not enough to know a person unless standing intimately close. There was a bar, set to the right of the door. A long, smooth dark mahogany line of wood stretched from one side of the room to the other, manned by barmen who were dressed in a white shirt, dark red vests with a black armband around their right arms. Velvet topped stools ran down the bar, most occupied, with barmen serving their patrons efficiently and offering winks to the pretty girls sitting by themselves.
There was a stage centered by the end of the room, set up for a band and a blues singer ready to pour out emotion that drew in the audience completely. The stage was the only thing which was lit up almost completely and the emptiness of the stage gave it an expectant presence, as if waiting for it to be filled by someone as brilliant as Billie Holiday. The room itself was smoky, completing the dark atmosphere. Adding danger while emphasizing the murmur of voices lost in this smoky dream.
The people only added to the dream. Dressed in the fashion of the 1930s, the men sat and watched the women as the women chatted and watched the men. Some danced on the dark floor, not as conservatively as expected of the time but in a way that invited more than some fully understood. The room didn't feel crowded, yet it was full of dancers, men watching the women while the women waited for them to approach.
It was the perfect scene, with the perfect people and slightly creepy for a high school dance, Gabriella Montez thought as she stepped through the door and was met with a scene so different from East High School's last dance. The last dance had been a rowdy, overcrowded and centered around who could hook up fastest and leave. This was different. Totally different. Instead of feeling overcrowded, the room felt under crowded. Instead of feeling choked with anticipation, the room felt like intimate expectation.
The decorating committee had done well this time, Gabriella thought as she shrugged off her jacket and absently handed it over to the person who had offered. She took a step forward into the room and paused for a moment as she surveyed the people around her. They were all people she knew, she could recognize some from her classes others from the hall and all looked like they were from a totally different world tonight.
It was a strange phenomenon to be confronted with something you never thought could happen, Gabriella mused as she smoothed a hand over the red silk that hugged her curves lovingly as it draped to the floor. Nobody in the room looked like petty teenagers wanting to rage a war on one and other; instead they looked like cool, smoky sophistication as Gabriella took another step forward and wondered what she was supposed to do next.
She hadn't planned on coming. In fact, she'd had this particular Friday evening all figured out. A beautifully written romance novel and chocolate had seemed like a perfect evening after the long, thoroughly exhausting week at school. Until she had gotten the note in her locker that had demanded she come to this dance.
Though she had known who the note was from, she had contemplated ignoring it in favor of the safety of her novel and the comfort of chocolate. Ignoring it would have been the safer option, sitting home and eating chocolate while she devoured the book would have made sense. The fact that she was standing just inside the gym, contemplating the atmosphere and fighting anticipation was as dangerous as being caught.
Troy Bolton, Gabriella thought with a frown, had known exactly how to push her buttons. If he had tugged her into the supply closet and declared his eternal love for her Gabriella would have been less curious. The note in her locker, ordering her to be at the dance, dressed in red had been just irritating enough to have her thinking about it and just tense enough for her to be curious about what he wanted.
She shouldn't have given in to her curiosity, though she knew that, the thought of what he might want from her had been too great for her to ignore. So here she was, standing in the gym, dressed in a red gown that had been hanging in her closet for God only knew how long and waiting for the person that had put the note in her locker.
Taking another step, she raised a hand and pushed her long, ebony curls over one shoulder, a midnight waterfall against her vibrant dress and sighed. "Glad you could come." The whisper in her ear didn't make her jump nor did the sudden awareness of the person behind her, it was the sudden press of a hard male body against her back that had Gabriella taking a quick deep breath and jumping.
"W-where did you come from?" She asked breathily, fighting to keep her voice steady even as he chuckled against her ear.
She thought she felt him nip her ear before he replied. "Around. I figured you weren't coming." There was implication in his voice that had Gabriella rolling her eyes.
"How did you figure that?" She asked and turned slightly to see his profile, only to find that it was shadowed by the lighting. She thought she caught a flash of teeth and forced out a breath.
"I heard your friend mention that you all weren't going to go to the dance. You included." He murmured it; like it was an intimate secret and Gabriella knew that it was.
"You've been eavesdropping, haven't you, Troy?" She asked softly, turning her body more fully as he laughed again.
"No, babe, I haven't been eavesdropping. I just have some very talented sources." Gabriella narrowed her eyes slightly at his words before she pulled away and found enough light to study Troy Bolton's face unashamedly.
Hard, sharp angles, a serious mouth and astonishing blue eyes had come together to make a face that girls sighed over. The sharp angles and serious mouth were intriguing but it was his eyes, Gabriella thought, it was his eyes that made his face dangerously sexy. Eyes that could be as blue as the summer sky before darkening to a stormy sea and shifted to match his mood that made him dangerous to anyone, to look into Troy Bolton's eyes for too long was to get lost in a world where all he had to do was flick them and the deed he wanted you to do would be done even without having been asked.
Those eyes held hers steadily, understanding the observation and appreciating her own looks as someone bumped them. The person's swift, speculative second look had Troy's eyes flicking to them and Gabriella's dropping from his face.
She hoped that they hadn't recognized the girl wrapped around Troy Bolton because if they did, there would be hell to pay. Because if someone had seen Troy Bolton, king of East High, with his arms wrapped around Gabriella Montez, best friend of Sharpay Evans, curiosity would be ripe and drama would follow the curiosity with a deadly accuracy.
"Come and dance with me, Brie." The whisper in her ear had Gabriella's eyes snapping up again and she nodded, knowing that they had less chance of being recognized if they were swaying out on the dance floor than if they were standing by the entrance.
Troy led her out, signaling for a song change with a simple nod of his head before he swung Gabriella in a circle and brought her neatly back up against him. Though she had felt every hard, sculpted plane of his body before, though she had seen it without clothes, Gabriella's still felt her breath hitch at the press of it. It still made her heart flutter as her curves fit so smoothly against those planes.
The music that filled her head as her hand slid to the back of his neck, noting that he had cut the dark hair that only added to his eyes, was slow, sexy and suited the smoky atmosphere that had been created.
Her eyes tilted upwards, towards him and Troy met them. He never had a problem with meeting her gaze, Gabriella thought hazily, he'd never had a problem with watching her the way she had watched him.
"Take your head around the world; see what you get from your mind…" The low, smooth voice of Rob Thomas filled the room and echoed in Gabriella's mind as she found herself remembering the first time she'd met Troy.
The rain was coming down steadily. Steadily enough to keep her undercover and impatient and familiar enough to have that ache she knew only as wishing to well up again.
She wanted to be back in England. She wanted to see the rain from there, remember the way it had felt normal to walk down the streets of Oxford with rain pounding down on an umbrella. She didn't want to be standing under the cover of East High, watching as it fell steadily down in the city of Albuquerque.
Running a hand through the tangled mess of ebony curls that fell heavily down her back, Gabriella considered making a run for her car. Considered it and then began looking for something to cover her hair as she made the dash.
"Don't like the rain?" The voice was quiet, smooth and deep and it shocked her so much that she spun around, nearly slipping on a wet patch of concrete, to see who had spoken.
"On the contrary, I do happen to like rain." She snapped even as she found her breath catch in her throat as she found herself be captured by intensely blue ones.
She didn't know who he was and she had no idea why he was standing there but Gabriella knew that he was gorgeous but it wasn't his looks that had her taking a step closer to him nor was it the way he met her eyes again after she had so unashamedly let them rove over the lean, muscled body and sharp face. It was the sudden pull she felt as she met his eyes again, a deep, sharp tug deep in her belly that Gabriella only belatedly recognized as attraction.
"How could I forget? You're from England." There was no curiosity in his voice as he stated the fact and Gabriella felt annoyance at it even as she shook her head.
"Technically I'm from San Francisco; I only lived in England for a year." She corrected and he only raised an eyebrow, as if she was stating something he already knew and Gabriella found that he probably did know. There was something about him that told her he didn't miss any minute detail.
"So I heard." He took one step closer to her and Gabriella had to tilt her head backwards to keep the steady gaze. "It's quite a head trip. England one day, America the next. It'll be interesting to find out how your mind works."
Something crackled, attraction, lust, Gabriella wasn't sure but the quiet words that pinned down something she hadn't understood herself had her chin tilting defiantly. Rain pounded down evenly as she considered an answer that would dispel the snap of attraction.
"I think what's going on in my mind if less your concern and more mine." It was evenly said, coolly dismissed and he only lifted a brow. Oh did that look send a shiver down her spine, Gabriella hated that shiver even as the electricity snapped again.
"Maybe. Welcome to Albuquerque, Gabriella Montez. I'm sure I'll see you around." Her name falling from his lips had her jolting even as he stepped back and turned back indoors.
Though she hadn't realized her breathing had been jagged, Gabriella hated herself for having to smooth it out as he disappeared into the school.
The rain continued to pound and Gabriella knew that it was not the last time she would see him.
"You've wandered, Brie." His voice, just as smooth and quiet as the first time and Gabriella tilted her head back to meet the steady gaze. "Are you going to tell me where you went?" He asked as he swayed her to the smoothly sexy music.
"The first time we met." She murmured, knowing she wouldn't lie to him as he spun her in a circle before drawing her back into his arms.
He chuckled at her words as he dipped his head, breaking their gaze again as she felt his hot breath on her ear and stiffened. "It was pouring and you were interesting. You had a look in your eye which was appealing even as you reminded me you weren't from England but from San Francisco." Oh God, Gabriella thought, he remembered. Of course he did, he remembered everything and left out nothing. It was his trait, his way of reminding her of things that she shouldn't be affected by.
"We shouldn't be here." Gabriella whispered and Troy chuckled. "No, Troy, we shouldn't be here." Gabriella repeated with more force and he only choked back the sound of his laughter this time.
"But, babe, you and I both know that you couldn't help yourself. Especially not after last time." He pressed himself against her purposefully and Gabriella fought back a moan as the memory of hot kisses, incredible highs and flesh sliding over flesh invaded her thoughts.
"Take your straight line for a curve, make it stretch, the same old line…"
Gabriella's pressed her face against his shoulder as she concentrated on the song and remembered the day she had found out she couldn't want him.
She'd settled in. It had been difficult at first, her stubbornness, tenaciousness and honesty hadn't made it easy for people to get close or for her to let someone in. But when Sharpay Evans, ice princess of East High and dramatic blonde, had announced that they were going to be good friends, Gabriella had gone with the flow.
It had been simple really, letting her own quite style mesh with Sharpay's flair, their temperaments were similar enough for them to get along brilliantly but different enough for entertaining explosions to ensue. They had become close friends within a matter of weeks and Gabriella had found herself, after nearly a month of friendship, happy enough to follow the straight line Sharpay walked.
She hadn't seen him again and she still didn't know who he was but her mind often wandered to the rain soaked afternoon when attraction had crackled between her and Mystery Man. She hadn't told Sharpay about it, not wanting her friend to know there was someone who had piqued her interest at East High.
The cafeteria was busy as she stepped into it, just a little behind Sharpay who only flicked her gaze over the scurrying students before they stepped towards the lunch line. Gabriella snickered slightly when a student, too young to know how to handle Sharpay glanced up, squeaked and then stepped out of line. Her friend wasn't just the ice princess, she was the most well known girl at East High.
Though she had snickered at the quick getaway the boy had made, Gabriella sent an apologetic grin over her shoulder as he scurried away. The grin froze on her face as she found herself caught by blue eyes she hadn't forgotten in a mere matter of seconds.
"What are you having?" Sharpay asked as the air around Gabriella thickened and he grinned. The flash of cold humor on his face had her stomach twisting and the way he leaned against the railing of the stairs that led to a second level had Gabriella reacting as the electricity once again crackled.
This time she recognized it as pure, animal attraction. She had no idea who he was, why he was looking at her and if he was even interested but Gabriella understood this basic attraction even as it had her stomach twisting tighter.
"Gabs? Who the hell are you looking at?" Sharpay made a sound of disgust as Gabriella reached up and tugged at the collar of the jacket she wore. The look in his eyes was both steamy and amusing and Gabriella found herself heating under it. "Fucking Bolton." The two words had Gabriella's eyes snapping away from him.
"What?" She asked, still feeling his eyes on her and knowing that the air around her wasn't going to get any lighter.
"Bolton. Troy Bolton. Stay the fuck away from him Gabriella." Sharpay said it seriously, her mouth set in a stern line as she glared at the blue eyed boy staring at her best friend.
"Why?" Gabriella asked, glancing over and enjoying the delicious thrill that ran through her as his muscles flexed slightly against his shirt as he folded his arms.
"Because the guys a dickhead. I hate him. Have for a long, long time. He claimed to love me then decided to fuck one of my best friends. I hate him for that as much as I hate him for all the other shit he's pulled." Though Gabriella had never heard Sharpay swear so much, she knew nodded. "He's the most popular fucking boy here and if you're not on his side, you're on mine."
Though she had never heard those words before, Gabriella understood what they meant. East High was a war zone and Gabriella was firmly on Sharpay's side.
"Afternoon Evans, San Francisco." The words had Gabriella jumping even as the straight line moved forward and student collected their lunches and kept walking.
"Bolton, what the fuck are you doing over here?" Sharpay hissed it out as Gabriella became aware of how close he was standing to her. She found she was uncomfortably aware of the hard body only inches from hers as he chuckled at Sharpay's question.
"I'm here to see you Evans. Nice try with the rumor. It was well applauded although; don't you think your brother's tape is a better thing to talk about?" Though Gabriella knew the implications of his words, she shivered at the tone and felt another wave of heat crash over her as she felt his eyes roam over her.
"Bastard. Fuck off Bolton; I need to eat lunch without puking." Sharpay had no retaliation until she figured out what Troy meant. Her brown eyes glanced over to Gabriella who was once again watching Troy, heat crackled again and though Sharpay was aware of the attraction between them she shot out a hand and snatched Gabriella's arm, digging her nails in.
Gabriella felt the nails dig into her even as the heat built. She wondered, however briefly, what it would be like to pull his mouth down to hers and let him do the things his eyes seemed to be promising. Even as she was pulled away, Sharpay muttering something about skipping the rest of school in favor of eating and plotting, Gabriella couldn't help but want to wrap herself around him and open herself up to him and whatever he wanted to do.
"Alright Evans." His eyes flicked away from her for a second to mock Sharpay cruelly before they returned, smoldering, to Gabriella. "See you later San Francisco." Gabriella nodded, ignoring the look Sharpay sent her as he walked away and the heat lingered.
Even as she turned back to Sharpay, the heat which had pooled in her stomach making it quiver, Gabriella knew that her straight line existence had taken a turn. It had gone from straight to a curve in only a matter of moments.
Though she knew it was wrong, though she knew she shouldn't let her eyes follow him out of the cafeteria as he snagged a friends, Gabriella couldn't help but wonder if those stares that they shared could be stretched a little longer, if that straight line she'd been walking could curve before returning to the old line.
Gabriella closed her eyes as she became surrounded by Troy's scent and pulled away slightly.
How could she have done this to Sharpay? She wondered briefly, how could she have thought that she could get away with being with Troy? Not that she'd gone ahead with it at first; she'd fought their attraction as hard as she could, avoiding being alone with him when he cornered her and ducking any sort of temptation with a quick retort and a dark glare. It hadn't done them any good though; Gabriella reflected, it had become more of a game than an attempt to not betray her friend. A game that had ended with intense physical satisfaction and an emotional meltdown that hadn't stopped her from doing it all again.
She knew she was a bad friend. She knew that she shouldn't have done something that Sharpay had expressly told her not to do. She knew, too, that she would have done it all again even if Sharpay was still her friend.
And she knew that she was a terrible person.
"Gabriella, you're not a bad person." Troy smiled against her head. "You just couldn't control yourself." Oh she hated that he knew what she was thinking even as they continued to sway, she hated that she would do it all again but the worst part was that she couldn't bring herself to hate Troy.
"Why you're guilty for the way you're feeling now, it's almost like being free…"
Gabriella heard the words, felt the sensual music flow over her body as she squeezed her eyes shut and knew that she would continue to feel guilty even as she attempted to make up what she'd done to Sharpay for the rest of their friendship.
"Well, well, well, look who's shown up." The party raged around them, the rain pounding down and clashing with the music as Troy Bolton finally trapped her in the middle of the raging party she had sworn to Sharpay she wouldn't go too.
Gabriella felt the sizzle in her toes as she turned to meet Troy's eyes. He was eyeing her amusedly, watching as she glanced around to see if they were being watched by anyone at the party. It was well known that Sharpay had made it clear both to Gabriella privately and Troy publicly, that if she found out that they had been seen within even a few feet of each other the war would escalate to a totally different level.
But if they did what Gabriella had found herself imagining on the odd occasions she could feel his eyes on her, the war, so to speak, would become more than an insistence to hate each other it would become more than personal.
"Ah, but I won't be here for long. Especially now that you've shown." Though her eyes betrayed the dismissive tone she used, Gabriella knew that it hadn't bothered him. Troy Bolton never responded to insults, she had never seen him start a fight with words choosing to insult someone subtly instead of directly.
In the short time she had been at East High, Gabriella had discovered that Troy Bolton was an enigma. He understood so much without being understood. He was the person who people gave too much to without thinking and gave too little back. He was the one person that terrified Sharpay and, while Gabriella understood that Sharpay had hated him at one point for cheating on her, she knew that it was the fact that she was scared of him that made Sharpay hate him even more.
Even though her best friend hated him, Gabriella found she couldn't shake the attraction, that basic, primal attraction they'd felt from day one. It was infuriating and deliciously hot when she allowed it to take her over. Their conversations, sporadic, confusing and secretive, only added another layer to the animal physical attraction they shared.
"Gabriella Montez, I think I need to kiss you." The words jolted her out of her thoughts, the way he knew they would. Gabriella felt a curling of lust in her stomach even as he took a step toward her and she took a step back.
"We shouldn't. Seriously, Troy, we shouldn't." Gabriella took another step back as he took another step forward. He grinned at her, liking the flash of fear in her eyes as he took one more step and trapped her neatly against the wall.
"Why shouldn't we?" He murmured, caging her between the wall and his body with little more than resting his hands on the wall. "Should we ignore the fact that I think about you in…interesting ways ever since you arrived? Should I feel guilty because I might be betraying my friends? Should I feel guilty that the only thing I think of when I see you with Evans is how much I want to fuck you, anywhere and everywhere?" Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat as his mouth moved towards hers. On instinct, she turned her head and fought the moan that came when Troy's mouth connected with her ear.
Her hands found his hips and dug in, fisting in the black shirt he wore as he nibbled. "I shouldn't be doing this. Sharpay's my best friend. She expressly told me to stay away from you. You shouldn't be thinking about me in anyway, you shouldn't be betraying your friends the way I betray mine every time I look at you. I shouldn't want you this way Troy, not like this." Her mouth turned and found his.
It was like being hit with a lightening bolt. The sudden, shocking flash of heat, the lust that curled as she wrapped herself around him, clinging to him desperately as he groaned against her mouth.
His mouth assaulted hers brutally and Gabriella was hardly aware that they were moving. He had lifted her, she thought as his mouth continued an assault on her senses. She felt sharp pain as he dug his teeth, viciously, into her neck. Even as the pain subsided and the pleasure of it continued, Gabriella was moving against him, her mind refusing to remember why this was wrong and only wanting to feel.
She heard a door bang shut, had no idea where it had come from as they tumbled onto something soft. The sounds of the party were far away now, in another land, instead there was the hammer of rain on the roof as she felt his hand slide up, pushing her skirt to her waist. His mouth took hers again and the sound of something tearing was lost in her moan and the pouring rain. His mouth left hers and he nipped at her jaw as his fingers found her, hot and wet and he began to stroke.
"Oh God. Oh my God." She choked it out as he drove her ruthlessly towards her peak. She arched his mouth busy at her pulse point and she cried out as she hit her peak hard. The sound of her throaty groan had him swearing viciously and Gabriella barely registered the words as she began to tear fiercely at the snatch of his jeans.
"Jesus, Gabriella." He groaned out the words as his jeans dropped and pooled around his feet. Gabriella arched, wrapping her legs around his waist even as he stood slightly and yanked her up to crush her against his upper body.
Gabriella found her swollen mouth captured and her cry swallowed as he thrust into her, filling her completely as she surrounded him. The pace was hard, fast and brutal and Gabriella felt his fingers dig into her as she moved against him, meeting every bruising thrust with one of her own.
She barely realized what was happening when he pulled away from her mouth, buried his face against her neck and bit into her skin. The orgasm rushed through her fiercely and Gabriella cried out, gripping his hair as their movements slowed to a stop. Gasping for air, they fell back onto the soft landing which Gabriella only vaguely recognized as the landing from earlier.
For a moment, it was silent the only sound that broke it was the rain pounding on the roof and the faint thump of music from the party a world away.
"See? This isn't something which you should be feeling guilty about." His lips raced over her face even, his words quicker than her mind. "It's a freedom you've never had before and that, Gabriella, if why shouldn't feel guilty about what you're feeling." Gabriella closed her eyes at his words, acknowledging that to be wrapped around Troy Bolton, after acting upon an attraction she had fought for nearly two months was almost like being free of the life she had found herself living.
"Troy? Why did you want to meet me here?" Gabriella spoke before he asked where her mind had gone.
She couldn't tell him she was remembering the way he had taken her that first time without thinking about the way it had led to the countless trysts which had quickly grown more dangerous as the longer they spent in each others company, the more Gabriella found the attraction growing into something she'd found herself desperately fighting even as she revealed more to him about herself than she'd ever thought was possible.
Even as she'd revealed herself to him, given him more than she'd ever thought she could, Troy had remained an enigma. He'd only ever let her know part of what he was thinking, part of the reasons behind his actions, she'd only ever known part of Troy. The part of him that was available to her in the few moments after they'd finish and before his mind caught up with him and his actions. Every time he pulled away from her, after answering a question a little too honestly, a little too openly, Gabriella found herself back with the enigma who only served as a reminder of her betrayal.
"I wanted to meet you here, Brie, because it's time you learnt a few things." Before Gabriella could ask what he meant, Troy spun her around gently. Gabriella twirled her body gracefully, the skirt of her dress flaring as she spun. Troy pulled her back in towards her and Gabriella couldn't help herself, her head settled in the curve of her neck and she breathed him in gently.
She felt him tense, felt the muscles in him turn hard before he relaxed. "Just…hold me. For a second." Before you tell me what you need to tell me, she added slightly, knowing that what he was going to tell her was going to shatter her. Shatter whatever attachment she had to him with quick easy words.
For a moment, Troy did as she asked. His arm tightened around her waist, their hands intertwined and became trapped firmly between their bodies. He lowered his head towards her bare shoulder and Gabriella closed her eyes.
For a moment, on a smoky dance floor, at a high school dance, Troy Bolton was hers completely and nothing was ever going to change this moment.
"Take yourself out to the curb, sit and wait, a fool for life…"
Gabriella felt him pull away from her and looked up at him. His eyes had darkened, turning almost black as he let go of her hand and took a hold of her wrist. His grasp was firm and the tug on her wrist insistent.
Gathering her skirt in her hand, Gabriella followed him off the dance floor. She chose to ignore the looks she was receiving from the people sitting at the bar, sipping the non-alcoholic drinks. Troy didn't stop as he stepped out of the gym, he didn't stop until he was completely out of the building, standing in the parking lot.
He let go of her wrist, leaving her on the curb as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of the dress pants he wore. His back was too her as he tilted his head back and looked up at the dark, threatening clouds that promised rain.
"You said you had something to say to me?" Gabriella spoke first, knowing that he wasn't going to broach the subject unless she was truly curious.
Troy was silent, as if contemplating his answer before he turned back to face her. His face was set; his mouth was set in a straight line.
"I used you." Quick, easy words, Gabriella thought as they hit her like a blow to the stomach that she felt in the heart. "I used you to get at Evans. Initially at least. Do you know how much it pissed her off that I could tell her that one of her closest friends was so fucking gorgeous it was only a matter of time before I fucked her?" Gabriella shook her head, not knowing what to say and ignoring the quiver in his voice as she felt the lie strike deep.
"So if it was to get at her, why didn't you tell her the moment after you'd left me at the party?" Gabriella's voice was surprisingly strong as the first of betrayal slammed deep into her.
Troy breathed out visibly. "Because I wanted to keep you to myself for a couple of weeks before I severely hurt Sharpay. Tormenting you seemed like a good idea, especially seeing as I could hold it over you for a little while, make you stew about it, rub it in a little. Then I ran into you after school was over and that one time thing became a two time thing. A very nice two time thing." Troy sounded thoughtful as Gabriella willed herself to stay standing, to not sit on the curb and wait for the rest of what he had to say.
"But it wasn't, right?" She whispered and Troy shrugged his shoulders.
"Nope. Became a month, then another and now here we are. A three month thing with the best friend of the girl I hate. I've never been with anyone that long and I've never thought I could be." Troy rubbed a hand over his jaw as he said that and Gabriella found her knees buckling. "You changed something, don't ask me when, don't ask me why or how but you changed something in me Gabriella Montez and while I could say it pissed me off, it didn't." Gabriella found herself lowering to the curb, sitting on it as she stared up at him.
"And now what? You ask me to meet you at the dance, so you could what confess your undying love to me?" Her voice was as strong as it was sarcastic and Troy didn't wince at it. Instead he chuckled and shook his head.
"No. That's cliché and idiotic of me. You won't abandon your best friend for a guy you fuck behind her back and I won't ruin everything I have going for me for you." Gabriella fought tears at his words and nodded, he was right. Of course he was right. That didn't mean that it hurt any less.
"Alright. So what? That's it? You're going to walk away, ending it and we're never going to think or look at each other again?" She congratulated herself on keeping her voice steady even as he ran a hand through his hair and knelt down to face her.
"No. I'm going to tell you that I used you. I lied to you because I'm going to use this against Sharpay, not that she's ever going to know it was you though." He traced his finger down the side of her face gently as he spoke, his voice low and determined. "You won't be mine, Gabriella. You won't ever be mine because you were never mine in the first place. You were friends with Sharpay first and you'll be friends with Sharpay last." If she thought his smile was sad, Gabriella didn't say anything. Seeing him smile instead of smirk was rare, seeing him smile as he was doing something she didn't understand was painful.
"So I've been a fool then? A fool." Gabriella whispered, closing her eyes as his words washed over her.
Gabriella felt the first drop of rain as Troy shook his head. "No. We're both fools Gabriella. Fools for life." Troy sighed and trailed a hand down to catch the raindrop on her bare arm. "I lied to you, babe, used you and I'm going to dump you right now. All because you won't be mine."
"I know soon you will be, over the lies, you'll be strong, you'll be rich in love and you will carry on…"
"I can't believe this. I can't believe you." She whispered it, wanting to close her eyes even as she fought to keep them open and trained on him.
"You don't have to." Troy replied and Gabriella started to shake her head. "You don't, you're stronger than this and you're stronger than whatever happens next. You will find someone else Gabriella and it won't be me. You'll fall in love and you will never think about me again." Gabriella wanted to shake her head and deny what he was saying. She wanted to tell him he had no idea what he was talking about and she wanted to pretend that everything he was saying wasn't true.
But she couldn't. Because he was walking away from her even though they hadn't shared anything more than steamy, passion filled nights where conversations on existed in her dreams. He lifted her chin even and Gabriella found herself meeting his eyes evenly. If this was it, she wasn't going to cry over losing him.
"You won't be mine. Ever." He leaned forward, another rain drop falling between their lips just before he connected them gently. Gabriella kept her eyes open, steady on his as he pulled away from the short farewell kiss.
The rain began to fall heavily and Gabriella closed her eyes as Troy stood and turned, flipping the collar of his jacket up to cover his neck. She opened her eyes and watched as he walked away, his black blazer becoming drenched as he walked away from her.
Gabriella let her head fall to her knees as the rain streamed over her and down her back. He had lied. He had used her. He was going to use the past three months against her best friends. He wanted her to be his.
Tears, though Gabriella had fought them earlier, didn't come. Instead, she raised her head and gazed out at the hazy parking lot. She was never going to be Troy's because he was right. She was Sharpay's friend first and Sharpay's friend last and though she doubted that they had felt anything but attraction, even thought that small part of her was already mourning what could have been, Gabriella knew that she would never be Troy's in any sense and Troy would never be hers.
"But no – oh no, you won't be mine…"
A/N: I hope that was alright. I'm nervous about this and the storyline and the fact that the flashbacks and the present day all intertwines quite heavily. So please, let me know what you all think because it would be nice to know. I hope that you enjoyed it. (And I highly recommend that song. The whole bar scene thing came from the music.) I hope you enjoyed!