Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.
A/N: This is my one-shot for the Zaangles Write-Off. So please review. And don't forget to vote on starting December 18. (I think.) Anyways, here we go...
A Thanksgiving Tradition
By AprilMayJune624
"Touchdown!"
Seven-year-olds Troy, Gabriella, and Chad turned away from their toys for a moment and looked up, startled.
"They're loud." Chad complained as he turned back to his Hot Wheels racecar. "I bet I can beat your car, Gabi!" He challenged.
"Don't do that, Chad. She just beat me." Troy warned him.
Ignoring Troy's statement, Chad turned to Gabriella and said, "Come on, Scaredy- Cat." He challenged.
Gabriella shrugged, and Troy shook his head.
"Troy, say go." Chad ordered. His and Gabriella's cars approached the ramp that served as their race track.
"On your mark, get set, slow!"
"Troy." Chad said. "Say go." He insisted.
Gabriella and Troy laughed at him. Chad glared. "All right, Chad. On your mark, get set, go!"
Chad and Gabriella let go of their cars and watched as Gabriella's car gained speed and pulled ahead of Chad to win the race.
"I win!" Gabriella exclaimed clapping her hands.
Chad pouted and was on the verge of tears. "Ah, come on, Chad. Don't be a sore loser." Troy said.
"I'm not a sore loser." Chad whined crossing his arms.
"Turkey's ready!" Maria Montez called out.
"Come on, kids." Jack Bolton said.
"But I want to have a rematch." Chad insisted.
"Sweetheart, you can play after we eat." Chad's mother told him. Chad crossed his arms. "Come on. Troy and Gabriella are going to eat first too." Still, Chad wouldn't budge.
Troy called out to him. "Chad, there's mashed potatoes!"
Chad instantly got up and made his way to the table.
"All right, everyone join hands." Said Lucille.
"Aw, do we have to?" Chad complained.
"Chad, hush!" His mother told him.
"Ew! Why do I have to hold Gabi's hand?" Troy complained.
"Come on, Son. Just do it. She doesn't have cooties." Jack told him.
"Yes, she does. All girls do." Troy said under his breath.
"Before we dig in, let's give at least one thing that we're thankful for." Lucille insisted.
"Do we have to?" Jack asked. A glare from all three women, told him that he had no choice. "I'll start. Um…I'm thankful for this gourmet food that these three beautiful women have prepared for us."
"Suck up." Lucille teased. "Just kidding, Honey. I'm thankful that we're all here together."
The "thanks" traveled all around the circle until it reached the three young children. Chad gave it a little bit of thought. "I'm thankful for my racecar!" He said enthusiastically.
It was Troy's turn next. "I'm thankful for my basketball."
Everyone turned to the last person to be thankful for something: Gabriella. "I'm thankful for Troy."
All the adults 'awwed', and Troy made a face while Chad tried to keep in a laugh. Jack gave grace, and everyone got their food and began their feast.
Troy sat next to Gabriella at the table. "Gabi, what'd you have to say that for?" He whined.
"I'm thankful for you." Gabriella said.
"But why'd you have to say that?" Troy complained.
"Because you're my best friend." Gabriella said.
"But Chad's your best friend too." Troy protested. "Why didn't you say both of us? He's going to make fun of me now."
Gabriella didn't respond but instead gave Troy a quick kiss on the lips. She turned back to her food with blush slightly on her cheeks.
Surprised, Troy looked around to make sure that no one saw. Especially Chad.
"Eat your food, Honey." Lucille ordered.
Eight years later, Troy, Gabriella, and Chad were now fifteen. Troy and Chad were sitting with the guys watching the current football game while Gabriella was in the kitchen helping with the dinner.
"Aw, Detroit Lions, stink." Chad complained.
"Turkey's ready!" Gabriella said to them.
Troy and Chad jumped over the couch and rushed to the food, but before they could put their hands on the food, Gabriella slapped both of their hands away. "Hey, you know the drill."
Chad and Troy groaned and held hands with everyone else. "As always, I'm thankful for this gourmet food." Jack said wanting to get this over with.
"Jack, you always say that." Lucille said.
"I do not." Jack protested. "Last year, I was thankful that the 49er's played instead of the Detroit."
"Pick something else." Lucille said resolutely.
Jack rolled his eyes and said instead, "I'm thankful that the Troy made starting varsity. There happy?"
Lucille nodded. "I'm thankful that we were able to get this turkey on the table. It took forever to find one." Everyone looked at Jack.
"I wish you would just let that go. I found one, didn't I?" Jack said.
Lucille laughed. "I know, but if you do that again, you're not going to be getting any turkey."
Jack rolled his eyes but nodded.
It was Maria's turn. "I'm thankful that although, this hasn't been the easiest year for us, you've all been there for our family."
Early in the year, Gabriella's father had gotten into a car accident and had been killed. It had been a hard year for Gabriella and Maria. It was the first year without him for the holidays.
Unconsciously, Troy gave Gabriella's hand a quick squeeze. Gabriella gave him a shy smile.
It went around the circle until it reached Chad. "I'm thankful for this gourmet meal. Yada yada yada. Let's hurry up. I'm starving!"
"I'm thankful that I made varsity." His mom was about to protest, but Troy countered with, "You never said we couldn't copy others."
Lucille rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Well, don't forget these rules next year. All right, Gabriella. What are you thankful for?"
Troy knew what she was going to say. She'd been thankful for the same thing—person since they were seven.
"I'm thankful for Troy." The reaction she got was always the same: "Aww."
"Hey, why does she get to repeat?" Jack said.
"Because hers is always cute no matter what." Lucille said. "Let's dig in."
When Troy and Gabriella sat down, he always asked her the same question. "Gabi, what'd you have to say that for?"
She shrugged. "I'm thankful for you."
"Well, why couldn't you be thankful for Alex?" Alex was her boyfriend.
"Because you're my best friend."
"You always—" He was cut off by a quick kiss from Gabriella.
She turned back to her food leaving a very bewildered Troy looking at her. She had not done that since they were seven. He made sure that Chad had not seen. She had just kissed him. "Eat your food, Honey." He heard his mother say.
Seven years later, Troy and Gabriella were waiting in their plane to Albuquerque. Nowadays, they were seniors at New York University. In their freshmen year, each had realized that they wanted to be more than best friends, so they began dating.
In their sophomore year, they had said "I love you" to each other. In junior year, Troy gave Gabriella a promise ring. Now, Gabriella was just waiting for Troy to propose.
Gabriella's head rested on Troy's shoulder, and her hand was linked with his.
"So are you going to be carrying on this tradition of yours?" Troy asked her.
"Tradition?"
"Yeah, the one where you always say that you're thankful for me."
"Why? Would you like me to choose a different thing to be thankful for?"
"It would be nice to have a little variety once in a while." He teased. "By the way, you never did tell my why you always said that you were thankful for me."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Hm…I would've thought that I would've told you sophomore year or even junior year."
"Well, are you going to tell me this year, or am I just going to have to wait until next year?"
"No, I can tell you now if you want."
"Really. You'll tell me right now?"
"Yup!" She said smiling up at him.
"All right, tell me."
"I did it because I always liked you."
"You've liked me since we were seven?" He asked skeptically.
"Why? Too farfetched?"
"No, that just seems like a long time to like one person."
"You never got the hints when I kissed you?" She asked.
"Brie, I'm a guy. We don't pick up on that stuff right away. It takes us a little while."
"Fifteen years?"
"Hey, we can be slow at times."
"Oh, I don't doubt that." She said teasingly.
"Hey."
Troy and Gabriella set down their stuff in the guest bedroom at Troy's parents' house and went outside to greet everyone.
"Hey, Hoops. How are you?" Chad said.
"Hey, Chad. I'm doing great."
"Gabs!" Chad said hugging Gabriella.
"Hey, Chad." Gabriella said.
"Still dating this lunkhead I see."
"Well, I sadly had no choice in the matter." She received a look from Troy. "I'm just kidding, Wildcat. You know I love you."
"Whatever." She didn't notice Troy's hand fumble in his pocket. "So how's U of A going for you and Zeke?"
"It's going good. The Redhawks are scheduled to play NYU sometime next year for the playoffs I hear."
"Same here." Troy said. "Are you guys ready to lose?"
"Dream on, Bolton."
"Hey, the game is on!" Chad's father yelled.
"Who's playing?" Chad asked curiously. "Because if it's Detroit, I'd rather help in the kitchen."
"It's Vikings and Green Bay." Jack answered.
"Well, that's way better than Detroit. Are you coming, Hoops?"
"You go ahead, Wildcat. I'll go help in the kitchen. I'm sure they wouldn't mind some extra help."
Around an hour later, all of the men stood up saying, "Touchdown!"
"Turkey's ready!" Gabriella yelled.
All of the guys got up and practically ran over to the dining table. After over twenty years of this routine, Chad and Troy wordlessly joined hands with everyone else without going for the food straightaway.
"All right, Jack. You can start us off again." Lucille told him.
"I'm thankful that Troy and Gabriella have gotten here safely from New York."
"You took mine." Lucille said.
Troy turned to Gabriella. "Brie, switch with me this year."
"Why? I'm always last."
"Just do it, please."
Gabriella rolled her eyes and reluctantly switched places with Troy.
It was Chad's turn. "I'm thankful that U of A is going to the playoffs this year."
Everyone ignored the fact that Gabriella was not last this year. "I'm thankful that it's finally senior year." Gabriella said.
This time, no "Awws" followed her statement. She noticed all of the curious, confused eyes watching her. "Troy dared me to do something different this year." She explained.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a dare. More of a challenge." He said cheekily.
"Troy, just go." Chad told him.
"Well, I'd hold off on that appetite of yours right now, Chad."
"Why?"
Troy didn't answer him. "Well, there's a lot to be thankful for this year, but I think that thing…person, I'm thankful for is Gabriella."
Gabriella didn't hear any "Awws" from everyone else. Instead, when she looked around, everyone, except a confused Chad, had smiles on their faces.
Troy turned to look at her and took her other hand from Chad's. "Brie, I am the luckiest guy in the world. I am so thankful that I found such a smart, talented, caring girl. You are the only person I can think of, who I want to spend the rest of my life with."
He reached into his pocket and retrieved the small velvet box that he had been playing with. He knelt down and opened the box revealing an engagement ring. "Will you marry me?"
Then everyone "Aww'd".
Gabriella smiled widely and nodded frantically. "Yes. A thousand times. Yes."
Troy smiled and slipped the ring onto her finger. When he stood to his full height, Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, while the family started clapping.
"All right. Can we get crackin' now? I'm starving." Chad said. His mother smacked him upside the head.
"No wonder Taylor gets mad at you." She scolded.
Troy and Gabriella laughed. Once grace had been said, Gabriella and Troy sat down at the table.
"Surprised?" Troy asked.
"Yes. Of course I am. I had absolutely no idea that you were going to do this." She told him with shining eyes.
"I've been planning it for a little while." He confessed.
"You do know that I have to keep tradition right?" Gabriella said teasingly. Troy gave her a nod. "Well, I am thankful for you, Troy." She gave him a kiss and then turned back to her food.
Troy stared at her with a smile that stretched across his face. By this time next year, they would be married. That's something to be thankful for. In two years, they might have their first child. Another thing to be thankful for. Troy thought about all of the future Thanksgiving's he'd have with Gabriella and their soon-to-be family.
His mother pulled him out of his thoughts when she said, "Eat your food, Honey."
A/N: So there it is. Please vote on . Thanks. Please review!