The song is Taylor Swift, the rest is mine (apart from Troy and Gabriella Obviously!

I'm only me when I'm with you- Taylor Swift

Friday night beneath the stars,
in a field behind your yard,
you and I are painting pictures in the sky.
And sometimes we don't say a thing;
just listen to the crickets sing.
Everything I need is right here by my side.
And I know everything about you
I don't wanna live without you.

Gabi lay on her back against the grainy ground under her and the blanket and played dot-to-dot with the stars

She could feel Troy's arm every time she shifted even the tiniest inch and he was pressing blades of grass between his lips and blowing air through them in an attempt to make it sing but mostly so far, he was failing and Gabi kept giggling which made her lose her place in her game.

"What's funny, Montez?" he asked, mock hurt

"How you sound like you're blowing raspberries and we came out here for the peace and quiet away from the world!" she laughed gently

"I'll show you about blowing raspberries" he grinned and Gabi didn't roll quickly enough away from his hands because he tickled her sides and pressed his lips into her tummy as her vest rode up.

"No!" she squealed as he did it again and then he lay over her, smiling, his hair flopping in his eyes as he watched her watching him.

She thought he was surely going to kiss her, or was it more like hope? Either way he flopped back next to her and sighed deeply.

"I'm gonna miss our little chats 'Brie" he admitted

"You have your other friends" she said of the basketball team

"They're not quite the same" he mused "They don't listen like you do"

"That's because they haven't seen you turn green after eating too many limesicles" she giggled and they played this little game often.

"Ah and what if Math club saw you singing Britney Karaoke; jumping on your bed with your hair all crazy?" he asked back, his voice warm with a smile

"You weren't meant to see that either, you broke in on me" she blushed at the memory

"Sure put paid to my Britney fixation" he muttered and Gabi swiped at him playfully

"I'm not that bad" she complained "Anyway you did that fantastic impression of N'Sync when you stole your dad's beer stash"

"Aww man, you had to go and bring that up didn't you? I thought we swore never to mention that, or your flash, again" he teased

"I did not flash!" she argued hotly "My boob tube merely feel down at an inappropriate moment and you happened to be perving on me at the time" she defended

"Perving? We were playing volleyball in my back yard. Where was I meant to be looking?" he wondered as they giggled at their memories.

"Troy?" Gabi asked softly, tipping her head so it rested on his shoulder and these were the moments he loved, when he could slip his arm around her shoulder and hold her and feel like they were an item even though they weren't.

"Mmm?" he asked

"Promise me we'll always be friends." she asked

"I promise, 'Brie" he said and hugged her a little as the sky twinkled above them

I'm only up when you're not down.
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.
It's like no matter what I do.
Well you drive me crazy half the time;
the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.
And I'm only me when I'm with you.

Gabi could see Troy wasn't himself as they met the following morning. They'd been together practically since they were babies and their friendship went beyond words. Gabi knew every time she looked at him and her tummy did that funny turn; that she was in love with him. And that feeling was becoming stronger every day that they spent together.

"You should let up on those desserts at lunch Montez, I'm sure your butt is even bigger than yesterday" he teased from behind her and she rolled her eyes. Did she mention that he also made her mad frequently?

No-one else saw her like he did. He saw her in her sweat pants with her hair all scooped up, before make up, after make up, sick and most of all he saw her being silly and crazy and she never let anyone see her like that. Gabi Montez had huge prospects and next term they wanted her to go to 'Xavier's Boarding School for the gifted'. But she didn't want to leave Troy. He was the only thing that kept her sane in her crazy world of school work upon schoolwork upon schoolwork.

"You don't like my ass? You can kiss it" she suggested sweetly as they fell into step and made their way to school.

"I was only kidding" he said to make sure he hadn't really upset her. God but her ass was perfect and it was his defence mechanism that made him insult her, so she wouldn't know how he really felt.

Their Friday nights out in the field were the only thing that stopped him freaking out about basketball and his future. And he only had a limited number of those nights left before she was taken away to another school where she could forget all about pathetic idiots like him and really make something of herself.

"You won't get a girlfriend by insulting their weight" she said matter-of-factly

Troy cringed. She must be on her period, she normally just insulted him right back or dug an elbow in his ribs in revenge.

"Girls are way too much hassle" he announced "But I think your weight is perfect. I'm sorry if I upset you" he added and Gabi turned to him, surprised at his concern

"Wow. I think Troy Bolton just apologised. I might have to ask for a re-wind so I can record it!" she joked and he smiled with a little blush, his freckled nose crinkling a little and she was awed at him once more.

"So the end of year dance…" he said and Gabi's heart pounded painfully in her chest.

"Mmm?" she asked, pretending to be distracted by a tree in the distance.

"Well do you have…uhh…like you know?" he coughed and Gabi looked at him with a frown

"Like a what?" she asked

Troy felt the sweat bead on his lip as licked it away and watched as Gabi's eyes followed the movement, resting on his lips. He was pretty sure she would go with him if he asked her but those words were proving hard. She could so easily shoot him down and he didn't know if he could cope with that rejection.

"Like…a…a…a dress?" he said, closing his eyes as he wimped out

Gabi looked kind of disappointed but she kept walking beside him just the same.

"I do." She confirmed

"And uhm…" he rubbed the back of his neck as he came to a stop and turned so he was facing her and she had to do the same. "Do you have a date?" he asked bravely, his blue eyes timid under his brown fringe

"Nope. Apparently there's a rumour that I'm boring and no-one wants to ask me" she repeated some words that she had overheard from a boy at school and felt the little slice of pain go through her again.

"Are you kidding me?" Troy asked, angry that anyone would think that of Gabi. Then he remembered this ray of sunshine that she cast on him whenever they were alone and he didn't want anyone else to see it. He wanted to keep her all to himself.

"Troy, we're going to be late" she said gently, not sure why they were still standing.

"Wait…Would you…err…would you go to the dance with me?" he asked and Gabi's brows lifted in surprise.

"What, no Evelyn Monk?" she checked, knowing she had been his date to the Christmas ball and the Spring dance too.

"I'm asking you" he said then and Gabi knew it was his choice. Evelyn Monk was sitting at home waiting for her invite from Troy and she wasn't getting one because he was asking her.

Gabi reached out her hand to take his fingers in hers gently "I'd love to" she said tentatively and was about to drop his hand when he twined their fingers together and they walked the rest of the way to school hand in hand.

Just a small town boy and girl
livin' in a crazy world.
Tryin' to figure out what is and isn't true.
And I don't try to hide my tears.
The secrets or my deepest fears.
Through it all nobody gets me like you do.
And you know everything about me.
You say you can't live without me.

Gabi sobbed on her bed at the impending thought of leaving East High to attend the new school her teachers had found. Her mom hadn't even asked her if she wanted to go and now she felt like her opinion didn't matter one little bit. It didn't matter that all of her friends and the life she loved would diappear. They all thought she would just snap right into the new school like a stepford girl.

There was a knock at the door and her mom appeared

"Gabi, Troy's here…oh my, what's wrong?" she asked as she came in and Troy hovered in the hallway with his books in his hand, seeing Gabi's tears, his gut wrenching at the sight of her upset.

"I'll- tell –you- later" she said between gasps of breath and sat up, furiously wiping her eyes

"Are you're sure?" she said concernedly

"Mom, please" Gabi begged as she hiccupped and Maria touched Troy's arm before she left

"Take care of my baby" she said to him and he nodded, his blue eyes not having left Gabi since he'd come to stand here.

He came into the room and closed the door, throwing his books down as he sat next to her on the bed and pulled her into his arms, taking her small, pained body and wrapping her into his strong one as her sobs expelled against his chest.

"Shh 'Brie" he soothed "It's gonna be okay"

She cried out all of her hurt until she was limp and weak with tiredness from the effort and Troy didn't let go of her for one single moment.

He stroked her hair and her back and murmured cute things and she wondered why she had taken so long to realise that he was everything to her.

She looked up and he wiped her tears, his mouth twisting with his pain at seeing her hurt.

"I'm sorry you're upset" he husked

Gabi sniffled and dried her eyes, pulling away for a short minute to recover.

"Hold me?" she begged and his heart soared at her words. He never thought he'd get to hear them, that he would be the one lucky enough to be her rock, her shoulder to cry on, but here she was, asking him if he would hold her.

He nodded and lay back on the bed as he kicked off his converse shoes, holding out his arms as she lay into them, her head against his chest as she breathed slowly to calm her frazzled mind.

He kissed the top of her head without even thinking and was surprised to see Gabi looking up at him. She leaned onto her elbow and reached up to kiss him, her lips laying against his in a sweet, short kiss that thanked him for what he was doing right now.

He smiled as he stroked a strand of hair back and tucked it behind her ear, gently running a finger down her delicate cheek.

"So what's your dress like?" he asked to break the spell between them

"I'm not telling you" she said

"Ah but I need to know what colour so that my tie doesn't clash and I can get the right corsage" he argued lightly, rubbing her arm with his warm hand as he spoke.

"Oh…I forgot about that. Well, it's dark blue" she shared

"Blue, okay, that could work. My tie will match my eyes anyways" he said and she snuggled into him so he tightened his arms around her.

"I'm going to miss you" she said as tears slipped silently from her eyes

"Me too" he returned as he kissed her hair again "I don't know what I'm going to do without you" he whispered

When I'm with anybody else it's so hard to be myself.
Only you can tell.
That I'm only up when you're not down.
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.
It's like no matter what I do.
Well you drive me crazy half the time;
the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.
And I'm only me
Who I wanna be
Well, I'm only me when I'm with you
With you

Gabi lay down on her bed as she waited for her mom to pick her up for her first weekend home. She stared at the poster on the ceiling of her dorm room and smiled at the picture of the night sky with stars that Troy had given her before she'd left. He had markered around one star and told her that was the star he would look at every night through his telescope and if she did the same then they wouldn't be that far apart.

She could still remember the night of the dance just a few weeks ago. Troy had worn a black suit with a white shirt and blue tie that brought out his eyes. His trademark converse shoes had looked strangely sexy with his suit and his eyes shone excitedly as his mouth curled into a little grin when she had opened the door.

**

"Wow 'Brie you look beautiful" he said as he took in her midnight blue strapless gown. Her hair was twisted up on her head and her eyes were sparkling.

She smiled shyly "And you look very handsome" she returned as he stepped into the hallway and stroked her cheek

"I have your corsage" he said and pulled out a box which opened to reveal an exquisite mauve coloured arrangement of intricate flowers that included her favourite lilacs. He pulled it out and carefully put it onto her wrist.

She met his gaze and leaned up to kiss his cheek "It's perfect, thank you"

"Oh my gosh just look at you two" Mrs Montez said as she cried and Gabi blushed

"Mom!" she complained

"Shush, I'm taking a hundred photo's and you know it" she said "Sorry Troy" she added

"It's fine" he smiled and Mrs Montez smiled at him

"You look very handsome" she said as Gabi latched onto his elbow and she took pictures of them before they escaped, giggling as they headed down the path toward the limo.

"Troy! It's amazing!" she gasped, awed

He linked their fingers as he helped her in, and then followed her.

"I wanted tonight to be perfect" he said softly

"I want tonight to never end" Gabi murmured back

The rest of the dance had passed in a whirl and all Gabi remembered after arriving was when the music had started and Troy had asked her to dance.

It felt weird in his arms. She wasn't used to being all dressed up and feeling so formal when she was with Troy. She loved their slouchy Sundays when they would pig out in sweats or when they played baseball in the garden.

"Hey, relax" he murmured in her ear and she smiled nervously

"Everyone is looking" she murmured back, curling her hand around his neck so that she could feel the soft hair at the nape of his neck and found that strangely comforting.

"They're looking at the most beautiful girl here" he said as he pulled back to look at her and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"That's not helping me relax" she said as his arms held her and her body tingled at his touch.

"Just think, this is us playing dancing with the stars like we did that time we stayed home together when our parents wanted to get us a babysitter and we 'borrowed' my mom's dress and I wore my dad's jacket with my jeans and Spiderman t-shirt" he whispered and she giggled, immediately relaxing against him

"Oh my god! We had way too much cola that night, we were bouncing off the walls" she remembered

"Never stop being that girl, 'Brie. Promise me"

"I'll never stop being that girl with you" she promised as their lips met and Gabi shared her first real kiss with Troy in front of the whole of East High.

**

She hadn't wanted the night to end, but it had ended and she had packed up her stuff and bid farewell to her friends with many tears and a whole lot of heartache and every time she looked at the picture of Troy on her nightstand, she felt his lips on hers just as she had the day she had left when he had kissed her like his life depended on it.

She got up from her bed, knowing her mom would be here any minute to collect her and she headed out to her mom's car, hugging her as she met her and as they sat in the car on the journey home, Gabi couldn't even find it in herself to ask about Troy because she just knew it would just send her tears over the edges of her eyes and she didn't want to be upset. She wanted to be happy and for him to see her smiling.

When they pulled up outside her house, Troy was there, leaning on the porch jamb. He was wearing his military shirt and jeans and converse and looking all cute with his fringe over his eyes and she gasped, running over to throw herself into his waiting arms where he caught her and grinned with absolute abandoned joy at having her back.

It felt like he was going to hold her forever as Gabi stood on the veranda and let Troy's arms soothe her, comfort her and keep her safe.

"I missed you" he said, forcing her tears from her eyes as she barely kept her hurt inside as she burrowed into his chest.

"I missed you more" she said eventually, her voice tight with tears.

"Remember that time I went on holiday with my parents to Cuba for two weeks?" he asked and Gabi had to smile as she pulled back and looked into his face.

"I sulked the whole time and wouldn't come out of my room" she smiled in memory

"And my mom called your mom because I was miserable and they thought we had started dating…" he smiled as he stroked her curly mane of hair.

"..but we were like, eleven and we hated the thought of kissing" she giggled, seeing his eyes light up as they remembered together.

"Even though I stuck my tongue down your throat at the school disco" he chuckled.

"And we had our first argument after I told you never to touch me again!" she remembered fondly.

Troy stroked Gabi's arms as he tipped his head and smiled.

"You were always the one, 'Brie. Even then" he said nervously, licking his lips like he always did when he was nervous.

"I was yours the day I came to Albuquerque and you threw your ice cream in my hair" she offered gently as his hands framed her face.

"Promise me you'll never stop being my girl 'Brie" he begged

She leaned up and kissed his mouth gently, missing everything about him "I promise" she said as they walked into the house hand in hand.

---