A/N: I've always loved soulmate AUs, and I don't think I've ever seen one for Troy and Gabriella, even though their meeting is perfect for one of these AUs. So, I've decided to write five different soulmate AUs, which I will post over the next couple of days leading up to New Year's Eve. It was quite hard to write the same scene, which already exists in canon, in five different ways, but I hope it turned out to be enjoyable!

As always, please leave a review. And you can find me on Tumblr at gabriellabolton (my main blog) and bisexualsharpay (my HSM sideblog).

it's like catching lightning

the one where you know when you first kiss them

Troy Bolton has kissed girls before.

Being the most popular guy in school, he's never had a lack of romantic attention. However, kissing has never been something he's enjoyed. He's always found it uncomfortable and he's never understood why everyone in the movies always speaks about fireworks.

His lack of enjoyment of kissing might have something to do with the fact he hasn't met his soulmate, and thus has never experienced that apparently mind-blowing feeling of kissing the person he's destined to spend the rest of his life with yet, but his point still stands – kissing is overrated.

Therefore, he really doesn't understand why he's so desperate to kiss this girl he has only met less than an hour ago.

Deep down, he's aware that there is a good possibility that this strange desire to kiss this girl has nothing to do with rationality. It's caused by something more inexplicable, something to do with fate. It's caused by the very idea that his mom swoons about whenever she recounts her first kiss with his dad – why she'd think her teenage son would be interested in hearing that story is beyond him – and the very idea that he and Chad always feel repulsed by whenever someone alludes to it.

There's a distinct possibility that this girl is his soulmate and he's not quite sure how to deal with that knowledge.

Part of him wants to give into his emotions and his attraction to her, but another part of him is also deeply afraid. What if this girl he barely knows is his soulmate? What if she lives on the other side of the country? What if she's not as great as she seems? What if he can't live up to her expectations of what a good soulmate should be?

Therefore, he's decided to force himself to remain as calm as possible, and to fight this urge to press his lips to hers. She doesn't seem like the type of person who would want to be kissed by a random stranger anyway, judging from her shy demeanour.

Except, they're not complete strangers anymore at this point, since they have been chatting for what seems like hours, even though it has only been fifteen minutes tops in reality. The longer they talk, the more comfortable she grows around him, and the more he learns about her, the more infatuated he becomes.

So far, he's learned that she really likes reading – she even took a book with her to the party, which he finds strangely adorable –, that she really appreciates a good cup of hot chocolate, that she's an only child, and that she's been here for seven days without them somehow bumping into each other.

He has also learned that her eyes, a deep brown colour that he could easily get lost in forever, sparkle brightly, that her cascading black curls frame her heart shaped face perfectly, and that she blushes very easily.

He wonders how much she would blush if he were to kiss her.

No. He should stop those thoughts.

"You're a good singer," he comments as they walk onto the patio, both carrying a mug with hot chocolate, and Gabriella smiles as she shakes her head.

"I'm not a singer. I did try church choir once, but when I saw all those people staring at me, I fainted from stage fright. It was very embarrassing."

It makes him feel warm inside as he realizes she didn't seem to mind all those people staring tonight, as her attention was only focused on him.

"Well, I never would have thought that when we were up there," he compliments her, and watches as she blushes before tucking a dark curl behind her hair.

"I know, it was so cool!" she responds, her voice filled with unbridled excitement, and he can't help but grin and nods furiously in agreement.

He doesn't know if it was the fact that he was with this exquisite girl or something entirely different, but he's never imagined singing could be so much fun. Being on that stage, he felt free to be himself without any pretences, and the feeling was exhilarating.

He can think of something else that might also cause such feelings of utter euphoria, but he's trying to push those to the back of his mind.

"You sound like you've done a lot of singing too," she returns his compliment, and Troy's hand flies up to his neck and rubs awkwardly in response as he shrugs.

"My showerhead is very impressed," he retorts sarcastically, feeling warmth rush through his veins as she bursts into giggles at his lame joke.

If he thought her singing voice was beautiful, it's nothing compared to the sound of her laughter. He doesn't want to hear any other sound ever again.

However, her laughter is cut short when booming voices fill the air, counting down to the new year in synchronisation.

Their laughter dies down as they share an embarrassed smile and both look away, one thought lingering on Troy's mind that he tries to push away.

A kiss at midnight would be perfect.

However, as much as he tries to ignore that thought and that urge, he can't help but turn back to her, feeling a small flutter of excitement as their eyes meet, before she quickly averts her gaze.

The countdown is quickly coming to an end as he keeps his eyes firmly trained on the stars in the night sky, watching as the fireworks explode in a flashing array of colours to ring in the new year.

As cheers erupt around them, he can feel her leaning closer to him, her shoulder tentatively brushing against his. He remains still in his position, continuing to stare at the fireworks displayed before them, but he can feel her eyes drifting back to him and instinctively, he turns his head to lock eyes with her.

Without realizing what he's doing, his gaze has flickered down to her glossy lips, and he slowly starts to lean in, unable to fight the magnetic pull that attracts him to her.

Before their lips can meet, however, she pulls back, blinking in shock before muttering, "I have to go find my mom to wish her a happy new year."

No kiss.

Maybe it's for the best, though, he reckons, because he's still too terrified to find out if his hunch is right.

If the way he was just caught up in the moment is any indication, it probably is.

"Yeah, I'd better go find my parents, too," he chokes out, and he feels strongly disappointed as he realizes that he's going to have to let her go now. He doesn't want to.

An idea comes to mind, and he quickly retrieves his phone from his pocket. "Put your number in!"

She lights up at the notion, smiling brightly as they exchange their phones to put in their contact information.

As she hands back his phone to him, there's a contemplative look in her eyes.

"It was nice to meet you, Troy," she whispers, and before he can open his mouth to reply, she has suddenly leaned up and her lips are pressed firmly to his.

And all he can feel is fireworks.

The feeling of euphoria is spreading through his entire body, setting off all of his nerve endings, as their lips move against each other in perfect harmony. Her lips are soft, so unbelievably soft, and her hands are tenderly threading through the hair on the back of his neck, and with a sigh, he pulls her in closer by the waist in order to diminish the distance between them.

It feels like his entire world has shifted, like every puzzle piece that's been missing has fallen into place, like everything makes sense. There's nothing that matters except her. Her. Her. Her.

His hunch was right. This girl he's been paired up with randomly for karaoke is his soulmate.

As they pull away for air, her eyes are wide with shock, and he can imagine his own shock must be evident as well.

He already found her extremely beautiful before, but everything has somehow exemplified now. The shine of her hair, the sparkle in her eyes, the red blush on her cheeks – her perfection is too much for him to bear.

How did he get so lucky?

"Please stay with me," he begs her quietly after a few moments of utter speechlessness, and Gabriella's blush deepens at the implication.

He doesn't mean just now, but forever.

She doesn't seem to mind, though, for she bites her lip and then smiles tenderly, before reaching up to place another short kiss on his lips.

It's just as mind-blowing as the first one.

He could get used to this.

He softly takes her hand in his, and she squeezes, as they grin at each other happily.

"Gladly."