Author's Note: I was hoping for more reviews on the first installment, but hey, you win some you lose some. (Sorry this took a little long to post, I was in Florida on vacation, and I've been busy trying to get things ready to head back to college.) This vignette takes place still in the present, but fast-forward a year. The next couple chapters will actually go back in time to some of Troy's best memories of the two while they were still together before flipping back to the present, and then repeat the pattern. On to vignette numero dos!

Disclaimer: HSM doesn't belong to me. Zac I would love to put a claim on, though. That boy is fine. ;)


Vignette #2 – Taking Love's Place

You can lie and tell yourself
You're over it and someone else will take love's place
And this is for the best
You can lie in that bed
In a stranger's arms reachin' for comfort
Close your eyes and still get no rest


One Year Later.

-

"Troy, your place is incredible. I'm just surprised you aren't living in a mansion like the rest of the NBA players." Claire Laughlin's brown eyes traveled along the walls of Troy's bedroom as she hung her shawl over his upholstered desk chair and kicked off her ridiculously-high black stilettos.

He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt as he sat on the edge of his bed. "It's not like you haven't seen it before."

"I know," the strawberry-blonde replied, ignoring the slightly irritated edge to his comment, "but every time it just strikes me as being different, I guess." The woman's short black cocktail dress slid from her body to the floor, leaving her clad in nothing but a satin slip that would have passed for something in a Victoria's Secret catalogue. She made her way over to the bed where Troy was laying atop the covers in a pair of his boxers, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head, his mind apparently a thousand miles away. Claire crawled across the bed toward him and straddled his lap. Her fingers traced along the defined muscles of his abs as she contemplated the far-away expression on his face.

"You all right, Troy? You're really tense." Her hands now moved along his abs into a full-blown massage, trailing their way up to his chest and shoulders to work out the kinks.

He slightly twitched his head in her direction, as if snapping out of a daydream. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine Claire. Just…a little stiff from the game tonight is all."

"Well, you're lucky that I'm great with my hands." Claire smirked and leaned forward, capturing Troy's lips in a searing kiss. His returning kiss was guarded, but he didn't stop her. Her long manicured fingers massaged his tight shoulders as her lips worked in a similar motion. She could feel the muscles around his clavicles loosen up slightly, but he seemed to not be letting himself relax. Something was wrong.

"Troy," the blonde said after pulling her anxious lips from his, "are you sure you're okay? You've been edgy all evening, and you even won the game tonight. You should be excited and relaxed, not tense and have your mind off in Neverland. What is up with you?" Claire crawled off of Troy from her straddled position and onto the other side of the bed, her brown eyes searching his blue ones for answers.

The basketball star sighed before sitting up against the headboard of his bed and running a hand through his disheveled sandy-brown hair. Did he really feel like he should tell her? After all, Claire did know that he had a long history with someone he'd met in high school, but it ended just before he'd begun his training with the Lakers. Although, he'd never really felt obligated to tell the blonde woman—whose eyes always reminded him of his lost love's own set—all the details about his entire relationship with Gabriella Montez-Would-Have-Been-Bolton. It was too personal for him to share with his current girlfriend, and broke his heart even thinking about it.

Should he tell her that he'd sent tickets for tonight's game against the Knicks to the last address Gabriella had left for him? And tell Claire that when he checked with the ticket office after the game, they told him that those tickets hadn't been scanned in? He knew if he told Claire that the reason he was distant and a little touchy tonight was because the ex-love of his life didn't show up to his NBA game, she wouldn't be too happy about it. Sure, there were probably many legitimate reasons why Gabriella didn't come, but Troy couldn't wrap his head around the idea of Gabriella being completely over him. He wasn't over her yet, that was for damn sure.

"Do you remember me telling you about my high school sweetheart?" Troy began, finally deciding to tell Claire the reasons behind his mood.

The strawberry-blonde nodded, a slightly apprehensive expression present on her pretty features.

"Well, I don't know what compelled me to do it, but… I sent tickets for the game tonight to the address she left me with the last time I heard from her. But she didn't come." He noticed Claire's eyebrows raise up in shock, and her mouth dropped slightly. He added as an afterthought, "Just hear me out, okay? Before you say anything. You have a right to be mad at me, but you wanted to know." Claire snapped her mouth shut and relaxed her face, but nodded for him to continue.

"Anyways, she didn't come. There was no way I'd have been able to spot her in the crowd anyway, so I went down to the ticket office after the game and they said those tickets had never been checked in. She'd promised me that she would come to a game just once, and I knew that she was going to be in the area this weekend. So I sent her the tickets hoping to see her. But I guess she changed her mind about coming to a game."

Claire just sat there quietly opposite Troy on his queen bed, reflecting on what Troy had just told her. She'd always had a gut feeling that he wasn't over his ex of who he seldom spoke, but she never really questioned it until now. Whenever he did speak of her, his eyes lit up and it was like he was a completely different person. Maybe she was just his rebound after the hard breakup. Claire really couldn't blame him though. She knew how hard it was to get over someone you loved, even after they broke your heart, whether it was intentional or not. Before Troy, she'd been in a similar situation with someone she'd met in college.

She lowered her head as her eyes traced the golden paisley pattern on the burgundy comforter, her fingers toying with a hanging thread from the seam. "You still love her, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question, and Troy merely nodded. She paused for a minute and continued. "I never thought I would ask this, but… Can I see what she looks like? I'm just curious of how beautiful the woman who holds your heart is." A faint smile graced her lips as she turned her attention back to Troy. He didn't say a word, but he reached over to his nightstand and dug to the bottom, where a framed photo of the two of them rested.

"This is me and Gabriella Montez, the night I asked her to marry me." He handed the picture to Claire who took it carefully and examined it closely.

"Wow, Troy. She is really something."

"Yeah, she is."

Claire handed him back the photo. "Then what are you doing with me, Troy? Go out there and find her. Go tell her why you still need her in your life."

Troy's expression was skeptical. "My current girlfriend is telling me to go out and find my ex-fiancé? What is this world coming to?"

She stifled a laugh. "If she really means that much to you, then do it. I know what it was like to be in love once, so don't miss your chance before it becomes way too late and you're stuck being a very eligible bachelor."

"Bachelor? What?"

"Yes, Troy." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to be the one stopping you from finding the one your heart sings for. But I'll always be here if you ever need anything. Seriously Troy. Get out there and win her back." Claire climbed out of Troy's bed and walked over to where her black frilly cocktail dress was still resting on the floor. Troy watched her every move as she pulled it over her slip and strapped her shoes back on her feet, grasping onto the idea of what was happening with him and Claire. He couldn't believe how cool she was with all of this. He guessed that because she had once been in his situation, she understood completely. With her shawl and purse draped over her arm, she walked back over to Troy's side of the bed and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Good luck, Troy. Gabriella will be one lucky woman when she's back in your life."

Troy stood up and pulled Claire in for one last hug. "Thanks, Claire. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Don't you worry about me. Promise me you'll call if you find Gabriella, or anything of the sort. I want to know how this all turns out."

"Promise."

She waved goodbye with a smile before striding out of his bedroom as fast as high heels could take her, leaving Troy to comprehend everything that had happened in those few short minutes since he told Claire why he was a bit upset. He was going to find Gabriella, no matter what the stakes would be. But for now, his exhausted mind told him, he could find her in his dreams as he curled back into his—and Gabriella's—four-poster queen bed.


At first I wasn't pleased with how this started out, but then I revised it a bit and I loved it! :) PLZPLZPLZ review. I love them, and they really motivate me to get the next installment up. Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D