A/N: So here's chapter 2, its a little longer then the first one. Hope you enjoy!

Inspired by the article 'How I Knew I Wanted To Marry Her'

Chapter Two
She Never Guilt-Tripped Me

"Oh come on man, you are so whipped, we haven't had a guys weekend in like forever," Troy smirked at the whining tone his best friend was using.

"Look Chad I told you, Ella has Friday off too, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I left her alone for a long weekend to go to Vegas with my friends?"

Chad groaned, "Can you at least ask her if you can go? God I feel like we're back in elementary school when you had to ask your mom for permission to do stuff. I gotta ask does Gabriella put you in time-out when you're a naughty boy?"

"No she spanks me, and I kind of like it." Chad groaned loudly again through the phone, "okay dude, I SO did not need that image in my head to carry around all day. Will you please just ask her?"

"There's no point in asking her, she won't want me to go." "I won't want you to go where?" Troy turned at the sound of Gabriella's voice as she entered the apartment carrying grocery bags.

"Look Chad, Ella just got home with groceries so I have to go, I'll talk to you later." Chad made the sound of a whip cracking just as Troy hung up the phone.

"Here babe let me help," He grabbed the biggest bag that Gabriella was carefully balancing between two smaller ones. "Thanks Troy, now where won't I let you go?"

Troy busied himself with putting away the groceries trying to avoid the conversation and impending guilt-trip of why he should stay; he really wished Gabriella had walked in during the spanking comment instead.

"It's nothing Ella, Chad just invited me to go to Vegas over the long weekend with the guys, no big deal." Gabriella put the milk in the fridge and turned to face her boyfriend, "well do you want to go?" He shrugged, "maybe, it might be fun, Jason is coming down from Seattle and meeting them there, and I can't even remember the last time I saw him." Gabriella nodded, "it doesn't matter though because we both have the long weekend off and we're going to spend it together."

"I think you should go."

"And I told Chad that long weekends are rare and we… what did you say?" Gabriella smiled and walked over to Troy wrapping her arms around his neck. "I said I think you should go, you haven't hung out with just the guys in what two years?" Troy smirked, "two years and eleven days." Gabriella couldn't help but beam at his correction.

"I think it will be good for you, you've been working so hard lately and a weekend away with the guys would be fun, but not too much fun though okay?" Troy chuckled and leaned down to kiss her, "have I told you how unbelievably awesome you are?" he asked, making Gabriella stroke her chin in thought, "hmm, not recently but it's always nice to hear."

Troy smiled and leaned down to kiss her again. "I love you," Gabriella's face softened at his sweet tone, "I love hearing that even more," she whispered kissing him again, "and I love you too."

Gabriella sat at the foot of the bed watching Troy as he packed his stuff. "So what do you have planned for this weekend while I'm gone?" she heard him call from the bathroom. "Oh you know catch up on my reading, Sharpay has an extra ticket for the Backstreet Boys concert on Saturday night, so I think I might go to that."

Troy laughed as he reentered the room holding his toiletry bag. "The Backstreet Boys concert? Seriously?" Gabriella threw a pair of rolled up socks at his head. "I happen to like them and I know you do too, I know you have them on your iPod." Troy scratched the back of his neck, "I, uh, put those on there for you." "Really? Which one of your girlfriends is Miley Cyrus for?" "One song, I have one song of hers and you won't let me hear the end of it."

Gabriella stood up on the bed, grabbing Troy's brush from his bag and using it as a microphone, "So I put my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away, come on Troy you know the…" she didn't have a chance to finish as Troy tackled her to bed, both of them laughing.

"Oh Montez what am I going to do with you?" "Oh you know you're going to miss me while you're gone." He kissed her nose then made his way down to her lips. "I am definitely going to miss you, even if you do make fun of my music." Gabriella managed to roll out from underneath Troy and made her way to the door, "it's not my fault there's so much to make fun of," she then walked out of the room, but not before popping her head in one last time, "it's a party in the USA."

She then ran and squealed as Troy jumped off the bed and came after her, laughter filling the entire apartment.

Troy sat on the bed of his hotel room, similar to how Gabriella had a few days before. It was a little after one in the morning and he was exhausted.

After having drunken himself into an alcohol induced coma the night before he decided to hit the sack early but was avoiding the inevitable of having to sleep alone, he had grown quite fond of Gabriella's warm body curled up to his during the night. He was seriously considering calling her just to talk until he drifted off to sleep but she had gone to the concert that night and then was spending the night with her friends at Sharpay's place.

At the beginning of their physical relationship Troy had avoided spending the night, making excuses about work, this stalling tatic had not been lost on Gabriella but she went along with it knowing Troy's reservations about a serious relationship but also with the assurance he wasn't sleeping with anybody else. He could still remember their first entire night they had spent together.

Troy lay on his back, the sound of Gabriella attempting to catch her breath was the only sound that filled the room. He turned on his side to see her already looking at him, a content smile on her lips. "That was amazing," she whispered, "It always is with you," Troy agreed leaning over to kiss her. Gabriella rolled over and looked at the clock. "I better get going, but I'll call you tomorrow."

Tomorrow

Never had anything ever sounded so far away in his life. He didn't want her to go.

"Wait," he said, gently grabbing her wrist as she started to make her way out of his bed, "stay." Gabriella looked at him in shock, "what?"

"I said stay Gabriella, I want you to stay here tonight."

She bit her lip and examined his face, as if she was trying to determine whether his offer was genuine or he was just hoping for another round, but the validity of his request shone in his eyes and told her otherwise.

She cautiously made her way back into the bed, Troy reaching down and pulling the covers up and around them, making sure they were both covered in their entirety. "Good night," he said as she laid her head on the pillow next to him. "Night Troy" and the two slowly drifted off to sleep.

Troy was the first to wake the next morning, the first thing he was aware of was something warm sitting in the middle of his chest, as he further approached consciousness he realized it was a hand. He opened his eyes to see Gabriella next to him still asleep.

She was lying on her stomach, his sheets tangled loosely around her and her arm was draped lazily across his chest. The feeling of weirdness or awkwardness that he had been expecting never came, instead he felt very content and happy.

He could easily get used to her being the first thing he saw everyday.

He wasn't sure if this same satisfied feeling would fill Gabriella so he found himself thinking of ways to get her stay a little longer after she woke up. Slowly easing her hand off his chest he made his way out of the bed, picking up the boxer briefs he had been wearing the previous night and made his way into the kitchen.

Being a single man living alone his kitchen didn't exactly scream 'varied balanced meals', but he did have a few breakfast type items including juice, bagels, and fruit loops. He got everything out that he needed and placed the items on the tray. He did have a fleeting thought that Chad would be mocking him mercilessly if he could see him now, but he quickly shook the thought and instead thought of Gabriella. He was becoming rather attached to her and hoped that she was feeling the same.

Meanwhile Gabriella began stirring in the bedroom, she was immediately aware of the fact that she was not in her own room but was quickly calmed when she realized she was in Troy's. She reached her arm out in search of the warm body next to hers but felt nothing. The sheets were still a bit warm so he hadn't been out of bed for long. She didn't have long to contemplate where he might be as he entered the room carrying a tray.

"Hey, you're awake," he said, smiling down at her.

He placed the tray on his bedside table and leaned down to connect their lips, an action which she quickly reciprocated. Okay, so far so good, nothing awkward. "I brought breakfast, you hungry?" Gabriella nodded, wrapping the sheets around her a little tighter as she sat up. Troy took notice and reached down on the floor, grabbing one of his shirts and tossing it to her, she smiled gratefully and pulled her it over head, taking a moment to note that it smelled like him.

"What's on the menu?" she asked, scooting a little closer to Troy who had returned to his spot in the bed. "Let's see orange juice, no pulp, and plain bagels with a little cream cheese and of course my specialty fruit loops." Gabriella smiled, "those just happen to be my favorite." Troy smiled as well as he passed a bowl over to Gabriella who took it appreciatively and began to eat. "Mmm, you know, these may be the best fruit loops I have ever had."

Troy laughed and leaned over to kiss her, "I'll make sure I have them available for next time."

After that morning, nights were rarely spent apart, except for this weekend of course, which to Troy felt like it would never end.

Sure he had fun, catching up with his friends, gambling a little, and nearly passing out doing the rides at the Stratosphere, but he missed Gabriella.

Everything they did he couldn't help but have thoughts like how Gabriella would have loved the restaurant they went to or how loud Gabriella would have screamed on the rollercoaster. Chad and Zeke were no help, ragging on him every chance they got, Jason on the other hand got it, he confided in Troy that he was planning on proposing to his girlfriend Sarah shortly after they got home, and he too missed her like crazy.

Maybe this was a sign; maybe Troy was finally ready to settle down.

"Baby I'm home," Troy called into the apartment, tossing his bag carelessly into the entryway as he sought out his girlfriend. He didn't have to search long as she came bursting out of the kitchen, a big smile adorning her face. She ran into his awaiting arms, he spun around a couple of times before placing her back on the ground.

"I missed you," she said, running her hand down the side of his face, Troy leaning into the loving act that he had missed so much over the last few days. "You don't even know how much I missed you, I thought of you the whole time."

Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows slightly, "but you had fun didn't you? That's what the whole point of this trip was." He nodded, "I had a blast, it was so good to catch up with the guys, oh by the way Jason is proposing to Sarah." Gabriella gasped happily at this bit of information, "he is? They are so adorable together."

Troy nodded, agreeing with her, "the trip was great, but nothing beats coming home to you." Gabriella leaned up and kissed him, "well nothing beats having you come home to me either."

A/N: So what did you think? Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Anything is welcome! Thanks for reading!