I awoke the next morning exceptionally refreshed. This was only the second time I'd slept in Troy's arms, the first time had been when he had gone up to Stanford to bring me back to Albuquerque for graduation. We had stayed in Flagstaff, Arizona, in a Holiday Inn Express. I had never slept more contently than that night before then, and last night I had slept just as contently. But I was more than content. Laying in Troy's arms was the happiest I'd ever been. He made me happier than I'd ever been, and being able to stay with him throughout the rest of my junior year and through my senior year, I knew that was the reason why Troy and I were so close. He was the closest person I'd ever been to. Not even Taylor and I were as close as Troy and I were. I loved Taylor. She was my best friend, but sometimes I felt that I couldn't tell her things. She was so opinionated. But that's what I loved about her. I knew there were times I felt I couldn't tell Troy things I was feeling, things that were happening, but every time I had felt like that, Troy had made me see that I didn't have to. He was the most understanding person I'd ever known. There were so many reasons I was in love with him, and I was so grateful for him.
I looked up at Troy, laying so close to him, his face was mere inches from mine. I smiled, lifting my hand, softly brushing my fingertips over his lips. They twitched slightly and I pulled my fingers from them before running my fingers through his hair. His eyes slowly opened and I smiled softly at him. "Good morning, Wildcat." He smiled back at me, closing his eyes again as he pulled me closer to him. "A guy could get used to this." I giggled softly, resting my head against his chest. "Did you sleep well?" he asked me, kissing the top of my head. I smiled, letting my fingers run lightly over his chest. "Perfectly." I looked up at him, smiling softly at him. "You?" He nodded, tucking my hair behind my ear. I hadn't unbraided my hair from yesterday, but more strands had fallen out while I slept. "Perfectly," he repeated my answer. I smiled more at him, leaning closer to him and pressing my lips against his. I pulled back, looking at the time on the clock. 9 a.m. I never slept this late. I guess it must be because I had only ever slept in Troy's arms once, and we set the alarm to wake us up that time. I had been so peaceful throughout the night. I hadn't even woken up once.
"We should get our day started, Troy." He tightened his hold on me, shaking his head. "Can't we just enjoy this a little longer?" I laughed, shaking my head. "Come on, Troy. There's a lot to do and only a day to do it in." He laughed with me, kissing the top of my head. "Ok, what do you want to do first?" he asked and I shook my head. "Uh-uh. Nope. This is your first time here. What do YOU want to do first?" He thought about it for a moment before answering excitedly. "The M&M World!" I laughed more, shaking my head. "You are crazy, Wildcat!" He laughed, nodding his head. "I know! Don't you love it?" I laughed, sitting up and sliding off the bed. "I'm going to take a shower. You can think about where you want to have breakfast while I'm gone." I grabbed my bag, pulling it into the bathroom with me and shutting the door behind me. I showered quickly, but not so quickly as to mess up my regular routine. I washed my hair and my body before putting my moisturizer on and turning off the water. Stepping out, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. I stepped over to the door and opened it just a sliver so the room could dehumidify.
The door opened to the bathroom and I looked in the reflection of the mirror on the closet door beside the front door across from the bathroom to see her walk out, ready to go, but the door was only open a crack. "I'll be out in a minute, Troy. I just need to get dressed," she told me and I relaxed back against the bed. "Take your time, baby," I said, closing my eyes, smiling. "I'm in no rush." With my eyes closed, I went back to imagining what I had been thinking about before the door opened. I knew I shouldn't, but I was thinking about Gabriella in the bathroom as she showered. Now that she was out, I was picturing her in her towel. I had to stop thinking about her like this. We had never had sex, we rarely made out. The most we did most often was kiss, sometimes heatedly and passionately, but that didn't mean I didn't want more. But I never going to pressure her or push her farther than she was willing to go. We'd never even talked about it. When we made out, one of us would pull away when it got too intense for one of us. I've had my share of dreams about her, but nothing compared to actually touching her and every time I did, it was completely chaste. Even when we made out, I never touched her anywhere too intimate. I didn't even thrust my cock against her. Sure, I'd laid beside her on our beds, kissing her intensely, but sex was never a topic of conversation. We knew we were both virgins and we were both waiting for the right time, that's as far as the conversation went. I'm sure we'd have to have it sooner or later, the conversation, but it wasn't something that really bothered either of us. It was just something we knew we would do when the time was right and it hadn't come yet.
I was patient and Gabriella was … innocent. It's not that I didn't think she didn't think about it. She was a young adult just like myself. She had hormones too. I'm sure when we were making out, she thought about it, even if she didn't, I knew subconsciously it was at the back of her mind when we made out and we were both getting turned on. I knew because, there were times she pulled away just as frustrated as I was, sexually. But it wasn't a problem. We knew that things would happen when they did. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I figured we should probably talk about it. But it wasn't something I could just bring up. I couldn't say, "Gabriella, I think we should talk about sex." Nope. That would mean I was pressuring her for it, which I wasn't. I was just as content to wait as she was, but we'd never actually discussed how long we wanted to wait or until when. I would find a way to bring it up, most likely the next time we made out or something. Shrugging it off, I looked up as she came out of the bathroom, dressed in blue cut off shorts and a white tank top. She had her hair braided back again and I smiled up at her. She looked stunning. I stood, walking over to her, taking her hand and pressing a soft kiss to the top of it. "I'll be out soon," I told her, grabbing my bag and walking to the shower. I didn't bother closing the door all the way. If Gabriella needed the bathroom for any reason, she should be able to get in.
I quickly showered and got dressed in the bathroom before coming back out. She was putting her suitcase away in the closet. "Here, lemme help you," I told her, taking the bag from her and putting it up on the shelf before throwing my bag up on top of it. "You ready to go?" I asked, turning back to her. I wore a pair of jean shorts and a blue T-Shirt. We were both ready to go out and have fun in the City of Sin. Not that we would be doing anything but having fun with all the rides and buffets and all that good, clean, wholesome stuff. I grabbed my wallet and keys and sunglasses from the dresser top and turned to take her hand. "Buffet for breakfast. I called down and they serve until eleven and then they bring out lunch, so we'll still have about a half an hour when we get down there. And maybe, we'll even get lunch if we're down there long enough." I laughed, leading her out the door and she shook her head at me. We ate in the buffet in the casino. It was really good. I had pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham and a donut. Gabriella had Belgian waffles with strawberries and whip cream, even though she had told me her mom had made her the exact same thing yesterday. I knew they were her favorite, so I wasn't going to say anything about it. I wouldn't anyway. I loved watching her eat it. She was so content with every bite. Why would I ruin something so perfect?
Our first stop of the day was the rides on top of the Stratosphere. They had four rides up on top at the needle: SkyJump, X-Scream, Insanity and Big Shot. You had to take the elevator up the long tower to reach the top, and the only way you could get on the elevator was if you bought tickets for the rides. The Big Shot was probably my favorite. You sit in this harness and it shoots you up to the top of the needle, then it drops you back down and you shoot back up again. It was definitely a blast! Gabriella's favorite ride was Insanity. She loved the view of the Strip as we hung over the edge of the tower. After we rode all the rides on the tower, we headed down the boulevard to the next hotel on the Strip. The casino itself had a rollercoaster that wrapped around the building. They called it Speed. It travels forward at a top speed of 70 miles per hour and after traveling up to the top of the track, it goes in reverse throughout the rest of the ride. It was awesome! Circus Circus was the next stop down the boulevard. They had an entire theme park in a dome in the back of the casino. It was probably the most kid friendly place in the whole city. They also had circus acts upstairs in the casino rotunda area of in the center surrounded by the arcade. We spent a few hours there before deciding to head on down the Strip to New York, New York. There was one ride there, and it was basically a taxi cab that traveled out and around the hotel and casino that was set up to look like the city of New York. It was really cool. We had passed a casino on the way called Treasure Island and they had two pirate ships out front. The electronic display board on the casino sign showed that they had shows nightly with the boats and pirates. Gabriella said we HAD to come back to this. She had gone when she was younger and she absolutely loved it. Hey, who wouldn't love Pirates, I said.
After riding rides, it was almost four in the afternoon and we decided to get lunch. We had eaten so much for breakfast we weren't really in the mood for another buffet, so we found a little Chinese restaurant off the strip and sat down for a quiet meal. He had ordered Beef and Broccoli and I ordered Peking Duck. "We can go see if your friend still lives here in town now, baby," Troy suggested as we finished eating, and I nodded. "I would love that! I haven't seen Danica in years! I hope she's still there." Troy reached across the table taking my hand. I smiled over at him, standing up. "I'm done. You ready?" He nodded, standing as well. He pulled out his wallet and left the tip on the table before taking the check and walking up to the cash register. He paid and we left, his arm wrapped around my waist as we walked out to the truck. Opening his side of the vehicle, he lifted me from around the waist and up into the truck. "Thank you," I said, sliding over into the middle. Usually I sat on the other side, but that was when he helped me up into that side. Sitting in the middle beside him would be nice for a change. I pulled on the middle belt and smiled over at him after he climbed in and fastened his belt. "How do we get there?" He asked, and I looked up at him, pointing to the left of the parking lot as we sat at the exit. "Turn left." Troy pulled out into the media before pulling onto Flamingo Road and heading East. "So do I get to see where you lived too?" Troy asked and I smiled up at him, catching his smile before he looked back over at the road. "Yes," I smiled, leaning my head against Troy's shoulder.
I hadn't lived here for that long, but I had loved living here, unlike some of the places I lived. Danica had been my best friend. She lived right down the way from me but we had gotten as close as I had let anyone in when I had lived elsewhere from Albuquerque, almost. We had stayed in touch briefly over the years, mostly on FaceBook, but still. I told Troy to turn left onto Eastern Avenue before telling him to turn right onto Viking Road a block later. "It's just three more blocks," I told him, undoing the clasps of my bag before reaching in and pulling out my compact, looking in the mirror. I still looked good despite all the rides we had gone on today. I put the compact away and fastened my bag again, pulling the strap over my shoulder. "Turn right here on Royal Viking Way," I told him just before he turned down the road. I laughed slightly. "We were one of only two houses on the block that didn't have a pool," I told him, pointing to the second house on the block. It wasn't the smallest house, but it was one of the smaller ones. Troy drove by slowly, looking around the house. "No balcony," he remarked. "No wonder you moved away." I giggled, slapping his arm playfully. "What? No pool and no balcony? I'd be gone." I shook my head laughing as we came down the block more. "Danica had the biggest house," I told him and Troy continued to laugh and I pointed to the house near the end of the circle. "That's the one," I told him and he pulled up in front of it, turning off the engine. "Ready?" he asked, opening the door and hopping out. I let him help me down and I took his hand leading him to the front door. I rang the doorbell, holding his arm close to me. "I hope she still lives here," I told him, waiting for the door to open.
A few moments later, the door opened and Danica was standing on the other side. She looked at Troy a little confused and then over at me. "Gabby!" she screamed, holding her arms out and I screamed back, stepping into her hug. "Dani!" We hugged tightly for a moment before I stepped back, still smiling brightly. "What are you doing here? Who's this?" she asked, looking over at Troy. I smiled up at Troy, taking his hand back in mine, and looking back at Danica. "This is Troy. I think I told you about him on FaceBook." Danica looked him over before smiling even brighter back at me. "He's much cuter in person!" We giggled and she looked over at Troy again. "The picture she has on her page does you no justice, Troy." She held out her hand to him and I introduced them, "Danica, this is Troy Bolton. Troy, this is Danica Montenegro." They shook hands and Troy nodded, "It's nice to meet you, Danica" Danica shook her head, smiling up at him. "You can call me Dani! Come in, come in!" she told us, stepping back. I led Troy inside and Danica shut the door behind us, leading us into the living room. "I just got back from finalizing all my classes at UNLV. Five minutes sooner and you would have missed me." She gestured to the couch and we all sat down. "So, what are you doing here, Gabby?"
I smiled over at Troy and then back to Gabby as she quickly asked, almost out of nowhere, "Oh, my God! You two aren't getting married, are you?" My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. I looked over at Troy who was trying not to laugh. I took a deep breath, turning back to Dani, smiling as I shook my head. "No, we're not getting married. Troy and I were heading up to set up housing at Stanford and Berkeley." Danica nodded, sitting back more against the arm of the couch as she sat facing us, one leg curled up under the other. "You got into Stanford! I always knew you would. Congratulations!" She said, smiling brightly. "Yeah," Troy said beside me and I turned to look at him as he told her, "We're all very proud of her."
We spent the next few hours talking to Danica before her alarm went off on her phone and she pulled it out to look at it. "Oh, snaps! I almost forgot. I have a date with David in an hour and I haven't even picked out what I'm going to wear." Troy and I both stood up. "That's ok, we should be going anyhow," I said as she stood. "Oh, I feel so bad now!" she said, wrapping her arms around me to hug me once again. "I'd invite you with, but we're meeting with his family tonight." I pulled back, looking at her, eyes wide. "Really? Are things serious?" Danica smiled brightly, nodding her head. "I think so. We've been briefly talking about marriage, but I don't know. I just graduated from high school. I don't know if I'm ready to get married so soon. If he does ask anytime soon, you an guarantee we will be having a LONG engagement!" The two of us giggled for a moment before I turned to look at Troy, smiling softly, before looking back at Danica. "Ok, we'll go so you can get ready for your date." We hugged again and she showed us to the door. "It was nice to meet you, Troy," she said as we walked down the steps and down the sidewalk toward the car. We both waved back to her before Troy helped me up into the truck and got in beside me. "Now what did you want to do?" he asked after we were back on Flamingo and heading back toward the Strip. I looked at the time and then back at him. "We could go see the pirate show, if you'd like?" He nodded, wrapping his arm around me. "Sounds great."
He parked the truck in the parking garage and helped me out. "Oh, we need to walk through the casino!" I told him. "They've got this really pretty jungle type theme inside in surrounding this restaurant. You walk over a bridge to get from one end to the other. It's GORGEOUS!" He laughed, kissing the side of my head. "Sounds great!" We walked through and Troy was actually surprised at just how much it was like an actual jungle, well, as close to any jungle that we'd ever actually seen before. We got out to the front of the casino where the show was and shuffled into the audience. "You have to stand to watch the show," I told him as we stood waiting for the show to begin. Shows began ever hour and a half with the first one starting at 7, which was the one we were waiting for that started in 15 minutes, and the last one showing at 10. As we were standing, Troy wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing the side of my head before he started singing, "Bright light city, gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire." I giggled, looking back at him. He was loud enough for people to hear him, but I was pretty sure he didn't care. "Gotta whole lotta money that's a ready to burn, so get those stakes up higher." I giggled a little more, singing along with him. "Viva Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas." I giggled and he stepped back from me, gesturing to me with his hands for everyone to pay attention to me. I continued to sing, shaking my head at him and blushing extremely. "How I wish that there were more than twenty-four hours in a day. Even if there were forty more, I wouldn't sleep a minute away!" I giggled as he took my hand, pulling me to him, starting to dance with me, sped-up ballroom style in the tiny space we had, singing along with me again. "Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!" I stopped singing as he spun me around, giggling a little bit more as he continued singing. "Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin' and your armbandits crashin all those hopes down the drain. Viva Las Vegas turn the day into night time," and I started singing along with him again, "turn the night into daytime. If you see it once, you'll never be the same agaaaain!" He pulled me into his arms, and we sang as we rocked back and forth in each others arms. "Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva … Viva… Las Vegas!" Everyone started applauding and cheering for us and I giggled, as he pressed his lips to mine, kissing me passionately for a moment before nodding and thanking everyone for their applause. "Thank you very much," he drawled in his best Elvis Presley impersonation before looking back down at me, laughing slightly. "Good job, baby! That was really good!" I giggled more, looking up at him, shaking my head slightly.
The narrator began speaking, signaling the beginning of the show, "Good evening. Glad you're here. We've been calling for you. And now that you've been summoned, a bit of song and dance awaits you, but be warned, there is also danger in the sky. For a siren's song can summon a tempest, a storm of mythical scale that even the bravest of pirates cannot escape." I pointed to a man on a tiny sailboat in the water for Troy as the narrator continued, "Listen as our voices dance on the wind, luring another this way." Troy turned, looking down at me. "Get up on my back," he said against my ear, "so you can see better." I shook my head, talking against his ear, giggling, "That's not necessary, Troy." He pulled me closer to him. "Come on. You'll get a better view." I giggled a little more as he helped me climb on his back. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, kissing the side of his head, "Thank you, Wildcat." He rubbed my legs softly, nodding his head. "Anything for my favorite girl," he said as we both continued to watch the show.
Once the show was over, we walked down the sidewalk a little way into the Mirage casino, Gabriella still on my back. She had insisted I could put her dow, but I didn't want to. "We're having too much fun," I argued, laughing and holding her legs more around me. She laughed, and I could feel her shaking her head at me, but she stayed up. She wanted to show me the white tigers at the Mirage. As we were walking by the front of the casino, the Volcano started to erupt and I looked up in amazement. "That is sooooo awesome! Why didn't you tell me it did that?" She had shown me the volcano earlier when we were driving past, but she hadn't said anything about it erupting. "I'm sorry, I think I forgot," she told me, hugging her arms more around my shoulders. "Well, that is really awesome!" We walked into the casino and followed the signs to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. When we got there, it was closed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Troy. They are really amazing though!" I shook my head, pulling her legs more around my waist. "It's ok. We can always come back. Anytime." She laughed as we turned around to leave. "We can go in the gift shop now though," I suggested as I turned around, seeing it in front of us and walking in. "Come on. I'll buy you a tiger," I said, walking over to the stuffed animals on display, picking up a mama and a cub stuffed animal set. "Here, I'm buying you these!" She giggled, "Troy, you don't have to buy me stuffed animals!" I laughed along with her, nodding. "I want to." She laughed, agreeing. "Ok, but the baby is yours." I nodded, "Fair deal. I'll call her Gabriella." She laughed, hugging me, "And I'll call the big one Troy." I laughed, shaking my head. "I am NOT a mother tiger." She laughed even more, hugging me tighter as I walked to the register. "There's no law that says all baby parent combinations HAS to be baby/MOTHER." I laughed, nodding my head and taking out my wallet from my pants under her ass. "True, true," I laughed some more, taking out my debit card after the cashier told me the price. "Would you like a bag?" the cashier asked and I shook my head. "No, we're good to carry them." She giggled some more beside my ear as I put my card back, signing the receipt and putting my wallet back in my pocket after putting the card back in it.
We headed back to the Stratosphere, getting there just after ten o'clock. "Are you hungry?" I asked as we rode in the elevator up to our room. "We can call room service, if you'd like, or order in a pizza," she suggested and I nodded as we walked out of the elevator and down the hall the short distance to our room. "Sounds good. All the good stuff?" I asked, and she nodded back up at me. "Pepperoni, sausage, bacon, olives, mushrooms and extra cheese," she confirmed, walking in after I opened the door. She sat the stuffed animals on the table, turning back to me and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Thank you, Troy," she spoke softly, hugging me tightly against her tiny frame. "For what?" I asked, wrapping kissing her forehead softly. She smiled up at me. "For today. For taking me to see Danica. For the stuffed animals. I loved every bit of it." I shook my head, tucking some hair back behind her ear. "You don't need to thank me for that, but you're welcome." She smiled softly, taking my hand and walking me over to the closet. "Can you get my bag down?" she asked. "I'm going to change into my pajamas while you order the pizza." I nodded, letting go of her hand and reaching for both of our bags. I sat hers down on the floor beside her and tossed mine on the bed. She kissed my cheek and pulled her bag into the bathroom to get changed. I ordered the pizza from Pizza Hut and changed into my ball shorts and Wildcats T-shirt just as she was coming out of the bathroom in her same pajamas from last night. It wasn't long before our pizza arrived and we ate it while watching The Pink Panther on TV before climbing in bed to go to sleep, my arms wrapped around her just as they had been last night. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow and we needed to get an early start. We both set our alarms on our phones so we wouldn't sleep in. I kissed the top of her head "Good night, Gabriella," I whispered in the darkness. "I love you." I felt her smile against my chest as she whispered in return, "I love you, Troy. Goodnight."
