Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.
A/N: Okay, so I was going to update this last week and I ended up not because there were so many other things that I needed to do and it just got pushed to the bottom of my list and sitting down to write always ended with me falling asleep because I'm not sleeping enough and…basically I just can't wait until school is over! I have two weeks left and then basically two months of doing close to nothing. Which is so good in my book! Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter and I will be revealing the Katie factor in the next chapter, probably. So please enjoy!
Your Anything
Chapter Three: Remedying the Title.
Jack and Diane Bolton heard squealing coming from the front of their house and, for a brief second, were worried that something was being strangled brutally on their front lawn. Then they heard the indignant shout of 'Troy!' and knew that their son and his new girlfriend had arrived safely. Exchanging a glance at the faint giggle that was coming from inside the house, both Jack and Diane chose to return to their respective occupations of setting the outdoor table and cooking on the barbeque, knowing that Troy would make an appearance when he felt like it.
"No way! Why would you do that?" They glanced back at the loud exclamation and both watched as their son and a girl they both assumed was his girlfriend tumbled through their backdoor, falling into each other in fits of laughter.
"B-because…I honestly thought that s-she…meant that!" Troy stuttered and the girl grabbed his arm to keep from falling down as they both tried to get down the two steps that led to the backyard without falling down.
"Oh my God, you're such an idiot!" Jack and Diane exchanged another glance as the girl slapped Troy's arm and attempted to stand up straight.
Jack and Diane watched as she wiped her eyes, which then widened as she saw that they were being watched. Coughing she nudged Troy, whose own eyes widened as his parents both smiled at him, almost indulgently, before Diane stepped over to them, offering the girl her hand. Dianne watched as the girl cast Troy a bewildered glance before accepting her hand.
"It's lovely to meet you dear, I'm Diane." Diane smiled delightedly as the girl shook her hand and smiled.
"Hi. I'm Gabriella. Katie's sister." Diane smiled and nodded, confused by the sister part. She exchanged a glance with Jack, whose eyebrows were furrowed, weren't they meeting Troy's girlfriend?
Troy saw the look and blushed. They'd thought Gabriella was his girlfriend, which meant he had to try and make his explanation for why Gabriella was there and Katie wasn't short, simple and not awkward.
"Mom, uh, Katie's…coming. She got held up at her Cheer practice. Hence Gabriella being here." Troy chose to ignore the way Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him. Diane glanced at her husband, who simply shrugged and returned to turning the sausages.
"Oh. Well, hello Gabriella. Will you be staying for dinner tonight?" She asked politely and chose to ignore the questioning look Gabriella threw at Troy. Troy shoved his hands deep into his pockets and wondered how, exactly, his girlfriend would react if her younger sister did indeed join them for dinner.
He looked at Gabriella and then decided it was worth the risk.
"Yeah. She will. Your mom's away right?" Troy asked, turning his eyes to Gabriella who looked shocked for a millisecond before her eyes lit up innocently.
"Yes. She is away. I'm sure Katie won't mind." Gabriella nodded and Troy chose to ignore the sarcasm that tinged her voice as she spoke.
Smiling at his mother, who was examining him closely, Troy chose to ignore the fact that his stomach had completed a funny turn when Gabriella had agreed to stay for dinner. Instead, concentrating on how he was going to tell his girlfriend how her little sister ended up with him and having dinner with his family.
Troy noted absently that that episode was one of the least cringe worthy of all the memories he had of his parents with Katie and Gabriella. If he could remember it correctly, he and Gabriella had both partially forgotten about Katie that night and had been rudely reminded of her when she had arrived at his place two hours after they'd sat down to dinner and nearly thrown a fit at seeing Gabriella sitting next to him where, she had pointed out to him furiously later, she was meant to be sitting.
Troy had chosen to avoid letting Katie know that her sister was perhaps the coolest person he'd ever met and his parents had both gotten along with her like a house on fire.
He hadn't thought she could have taken that as well as she had when his parents had chosen to quiz her about her younger sister the next time they'd met.
Turning into his driveway, Troy knew that he was going to be bombarded with questions the moment he stepped through the door. His father would have told his mother he had not only spent an entire gym session talking to Gabriella but had spent the afternoon with her as well and as much as he loved his parents, he was reluctant to talk to them about Gabriella.
He wanted to keep what had happened that afternoon to himself a little longer.
Sure his parents would find out eventually, but Troy wasn't willing to provide them with how he had accidentally thrown a pickle at her forehead and nearly killed himself laughing at the shocked look on her face or how she had replied by smearing ice-cream across his cheek and giggling as he'd nearly yelled at how cold it was.
He definitely wasn't willing to tell them that she'd missed him.
That, Troy mused absently, as he sat in the car and stared at the back of his mothers Toyota, had probably been the highlight of his afternoon. Not counting when he'd managed to embarrass Theatre Boy and Piano Girl. Just knowing that she'd missed him had reminded him of how many times he'd sat on his bed, staring at her number and trying to summon the courage to hit the green button and how many times he'd opened up a new email and ended up typing nothing because he couldn't think of anything relevant to say to her. When his emails to all his other friends had been full of what he had been doing.
Just trying to type an email to her had made his chest tighten significantly because he'd been so sure she'd forgotten all about him and any feelings he may have imagined he'd seen in her eyes before he'd left, would have faded into the background as soon as she'd gotten back to school.
It had given him some bad moments in the middle of the night until he had reminded himself that they had been just friends.
Which was something that had to be remedied this summer.
At the thought, Troy found it lucky that he was sitting in an unmoving car because he knew if he'd had that thought a little more than five minutes ago, he would have jerked the steering wheel so hard he would have ended up in the gutter and totaled his fathers car.
Remedying his and Gabriella's situation? Why was he thinking like that? He wasn't going to deny that he had missed Gabriella or that part of his reason for coming home early may have had something to do with her but…remedying their situation? He didn't even know if she felt anything for him. He didn't even know what he felt for her. Which was probably why remedying what they were to each other was confusing. Besides, it would be complicated if Katie found out that her ex-boyfriend and little sister had a thing going. Even though Troy was sure that she wouldn't care as much as she had when she was still living with Gabriella.
With a groan, Troy chose to get out of the car before he drove himself crazy thinking about how he was going to remedy his and Gabriella's situation.
Pulling out the car key and opening his door, Troy chose to leave everything in the car and get it later. He got out and headed for the front door, surprised when it swung open before he could even step up onto the front porch. Raising his eyebrows, Troy stopped on the step and wondered why his mother looked halfway between mutinous and ecstatic. He had a feeling she was mutinous because there was a large chance he'd missed dinner and that wasn't something that his mother generally accepted. But the ecstasy on her face? Well, that had him stumped.
"Troy Alexander Bolton did you forget to call and tell me you weren't going to home for dinner?" Diane snapped and Troy found that he wasn't in the mood to cower under the formidable tone of the woman who raised him. So he grinned at his mother and shrugged.
"Yep. That and my cells on charge in my room. Sorry." Troy shrugged, stepping up onto the porch and grinning down at his mother.
Diane narrowed her eyes at her sons tone, apparently not pleased with his tone of voice.
"Hmm. How's Gabriella?" She asked and the ecstatic part clunked into place. His mother had always liked Gabriella and had voiced, at times when he was going out with Katie that she was a much better match for him than her older sister.
"She's good." Troy replied and Diane's eyes softened slightly, giving Troy the impression that the question was asked to make sure he really was with Gabriella and not with anyone else.
"Well…you should invite her over for dinner." The suggestion threw Troy for a minute and it took him a minute to form a response to his mother's proposal. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he decided to take a stab at why she had made the suggestion.
"Mom, don't try and set us up." He was surprised when Diane rolled her eyes at the words. The exasperation in her face gave Troy the impression that she thought he was clueless about something.
"Oh honey, you and Gabriella have set yourselves up since you walked into our backyard laughing your heads off." Diane said dismissively and Troy's mouth dropped open at the words.
"Mom! Seriously, I haven't seen her in a year! What's with the prediction?" Troy exclaimed and Diane laughed at him, patting his cheek in a way that reminded him of a time when he was a little boy and she'd known something he'd done that he had been sure he'd managed to hide.
"Oh Troy, you are clueless sometimes. Whatever was between you and Gabriella when you were seventeen and she was fifteen, isn't going to disappear after not talking to her for a year. Now, if you two have already have dinner, go get your phone and call her to see if she wants to come over for some dessert." Diane ordered and the tone of her voice warned Troy not to argue with her unless he wanted her to ring Gabriella and invite her over. Truthfully, Troy wasn't sure which would be more embarrassing his mother calling her or his mother repeating what she had said to him to Gabriella.
"Fine, fine. Damn Mom, who died and made you God?" He mumbled under his breath as he brushed past her. He didn't realize she'd heard him until he felt her swipe at the back of his head.
Hunching his shoulders, Troy practically ran to his room, ignoring the strange look he received from his father, who was standing in the kitchen doorway. Reaching his room, Troy glanced back to see his parents watching him. Rolling his eyes, Troy stepped into his room and grabbed his phone off the desk that was the cleanest it had ever been in his life.
Flopping on his bed, he scrolled through the contacts and prayed that Gabriella hadn't changed her number since he'd left. Holding the phone to his ear, he examined the ceiling and frowned at the spot of brown on the white roof. How on earth had it gotten there?
"Missing me already?" Gabriella's sweet voice floated through his phone and Troy grinned at the teasing note in her voice.
"You bet. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I dropped you off." Troy teased, purposefully not reminding himself that in all actuality, she hadn't left his mind since he'd dropped her off.
"Oh really? Well, well, well, I never thought I'd hear that." Troy frowned at the shade of disbelief in her voice.
"Uh-huh. Anyway, mom told me to call and invite you over for dessert. Seeing she thinks we've already eaten dinner." Troy added as an afterthought. Gabriella giggled and Troy grinned, wishing he could see her giggling instead of just hearing it.
"Ooh. Sounds fun. What's for dessert?" Gabriella asked and Troy made a noncommittal sound.
"I have absolutely no idea. Probably something to do with chocolate. You know what my moms like." Troy said and then wondered how Gabriella was going to respond to his comment. It was something that he hadn't said to a lot of people before, seeing as he had never introduced a lot of people to his mother or that his mother had liked the many people he had been introduced her to.
"Yeah. I do, actually. Anyway, what time should I come over? 'Cause mom'll want to talk to me." Gabriella asked and Troy shrugged before he realized that Gabriella couldn't see him. Glancing at his closed door, Troy decided that he didn't really want to go out and ask his mother what time she should come over.
"Uh…half an hour? Its six-thirty now so lets say seven." Troy said and could just see the thoughtful look on Gabriella's face as she thought over his suggestion.
"Okay. That works. Um, I'll guess I'll see you in half an hour." Gabriella said quietly and Troy was about to speak when she spoke again. "You still live in the same place right?" Her worried voice caused him to chuckle and he swallowed another one when she let out an indignant breath.
"Yes Gabriella. Same place. Maybe the house is a different color but I'm pretty sure they didn't pick it up and move it to another street while I was at college." Troy said and Gabriella giggled again.
"Whatever Troy. I'll see you in half an hour, okay?" She asked and Troy laughed again, wondering how he could laugh more in one day than he had in a year.
"Sure. Can't wait." He added teasingly and could just imagine her blushing on the other end of the line.
"Me neither." She admitted softly and hung up before Troy could say anything more.
Troy lifted the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen, which was still alight with the last call.
Had he just been imagining the intimacy in her tone? The way she had said that made Troy wonder if he was being too quick to assume that Gabriella didn't have any feelings for him. Because the way she had said that made him really wonder if remedying their status of just friends would be as hard as he had first thought.
He told himself that he had changed because his other clothes had held a funny smell. So what if he had changed into a better, cleaner pair of jeans and a collared shirt that hadn't been found scrunched up at the bottom of his bag. The fresh clothes, shower and cologne had nothing to do with the fact that Gabriella was coming over. It just made him feel better to feel cleaner.
So his parents could stop exchanging amused glances.
"You know, I am completely aware of what you two are doing." Troy commented carelessly, not glancing up from the newspaper he'd been reading since he had come back downstairs from his shower.
His parent sputtered for a second and despite his internal insistence that he had showered and changed for Gabriella, Troy couldn't help but feel proud at being able to read his parents reaction to it.
"We weren't. We were just…" Jack trailed off, glancing at his wife who seemed unable to fill in the blank with a reasonable excuse. Troy chose to do that himself.
"Planning ways to excuse yourself when Gabriella gets here, so you can listen in on our conversation in the hope that we declare our undying love for each other." Troy stated and was curious to see the blush that spread across his mothers face at his words. "Honestly, you two, its not going to happen!" Troy exclaimed and was surprised when his mother huffed and folded her arms.
"Why not?" Diane asked and Troy looked at her incredulously, as if trying to find the mature woman who he'd lived with his entire life instead of this very strange teenager persona.
"Because we're friends. Because I've been back for a day and haven't spoken to her in a year," Troy was interrupted by the doorbell and rose from his seat, heading out of the kitchen. "And because I used to date her sister." He threw over his shoulder as he stepped out of the kitchen.
The doorbell rang again as Troy approached the front door. Reaching out he grasped the doorknob and swung the door open, grinning at Gabriella who looked startled for a moment before grinning back at him.
"Well, well, look who it is. Can't get enough of me, Montez?" Troy asked teasingly and Gabriella narrowed her eyes at the tone before shrugging.
"Keep dreaming Bolton. I came here for the chocolaty goodness of some of your mothers desserts." She shot back good-naturedly and Troy held back laugh.
"Oh and, let me guess, the stimulating conversation provided by both my parents as well, right?" Troy asked, his eyes twinkling in amusement as Gabriella shrugged, pretending to think it over before nodding enthusiastically.
"Oh definitely." She said sarcastically and Troy laughed, stepping back and gesturing with his hand.
Gabriella grinned and stepped into the house. As she brushed past him, Troy inhaled and was overwhelmed by her scent of vanilla and something unique, which seemed to be just Gabriella. It went to his head and Troy allowed it to swirl before he very carefully took how it smelt and tucked it away into a corner of his mind, to remember when he had nothing else to do.
"You had a shower." Gabriella's observation stunned him for a moment as he closed the door. Deciding to treat it lightly while wondering why it was such a big deal that he'd had a shower, Troy shrugged.
"Yep. I smelt of McDonalds and sweat when I got home. It didn't suit me." Troy said and Gabriella raised her eyebrows, as if trying to decide whether or not to believe him.
"What do you smell like now?" She inquired curiously. A slow, male smile worked its way across Troy's face and he moved his shoulders lazily.
"Why don't you tell me?" He offered, not bothering to wonder how she was going to react to the offer.
Gabriella hesitated for a second. Just a second. Before she stepped closer to him. Troy forced himself not to hold his breath when he felt her breath on his neck and her nose brushing across his cheek as she breathed him in, much the same way he had not ten seconds before. He lowered his gaze from the wall to her ebony one and held it as she smiled at him.
"You smell really good." Her voice was just above a whisper and the husky timbre of it sent something reeling somewhere in his midsection. For a second, one tiny mad second, Troy found himself wanting to remedy the 'just friends' label desperately. By kissing her senseless.
Before he could act on the impulse, or Gabriella could say anything more, they both heard his mother call out from the kitchen.
"Is that you Gabriella?" Diane appeared just as they pulled apart, Gabriella greeting his mother nervously and Troy rubbing the back of his neck as if they'd been caught doing something dire.
"Yeah. Hi Diane." Gabriella greeted his mother easily and, as he watched his mother hold her arms out to Gabriella wanting a hug, Troy wondered why Gabriella was the only girl he'd ever brought home to meet his parents that was allowed to call them by their first names and enjoy a warm greeting.
"Its wonderful to see you. How have you been?" Troy watched amusedly as Gabriella was led into the kitchen. Deciding he could let his parents monopolize her for a little while, Troy followed the two and fought the grin that wanted to spread as he watched her greet his father and then be seated at the kitchen table, a plate of his mothers Mud Cake placed in front of her with a fork.
Walking in, Troy settled himself in the seat beside her and accepted the cake his mother offered him, watching as both his mother and father asked questions which Gabriella answered politely. He liked her voice; there was a lilt to it that was almost musical. He hadn't realized that he'd missed hearing her talk almost as much as he had missed everything else. Gabriella was probably the only girl he had ever met that he could sit and listen too without the need for interrupting her or steering the conversation in a different direction.
It was something he needed to add to his growing list of everything he had missed about her.
Troy came back to reality at the lull in the conversation that had flowed between his parents and Gabriella. Looking up from the half eaten cake, Troy decided that Gabriella had been monopolized enough and chose to speak up.
"Hey, you want to go out back? Its warm enough." Troy asked and Gabriella's eyes lit up at the suggestion. Nodding, she picked up her plate and stood up.
"Send a search party if were not back in an hour." Troy told his parents, standing up and opening the door that led to the backyard. Gabriella stifled a giggle as she ducked around him and stepped out into the warm Albuquerque night.
Troy followed her, shutting the door in his parent's delighted faces. Following her, Troy grinned as she sat crosslegged on the half court that was the main feature of the Bolton backyard. Following suit, Troy settled himself opposite her and watched as she dug her fork into the cake and popped some of it into her mouth.
"Yum. Your mom really knows how to make cake, Troy." She said as soon as she'd swallowed. Troy laughed, taking a bite of his own cake and shrugging.
"Yep. I think her chocolate obsession began when I started playing basketball and she'd thought she'd lost the chance to turn her son into something that she wanted." Troy said good-naturedly and Gabriella laughed, though her eyes were alight with curiosity.
"Really? Your mom didn't influence you at all?" She asked and Troy made a face before shaking his head.
"Nah. She did. I am studying psychology, which gave her some relief. Especially when it was one of my best grades." Troy said and Gabriella raised her eyebrows, unable to believe that Troy was seriously taking psychology and doing well at it.
"I honestly wouldn't have picked you for psychology. Sociology maybe. Psychology? Never." Gabriella said and Troy nodded his head in agreement with her words.
"I know, right? But its really fascinating. Especially with all the Freudian theory thrown in. The man was an odd genius." Troy said and Gabriella furrowed her brow. She didn't understand how Sigmund Freud was an odd genius. A genius definitely, he had, after all, revolutionized psychology. But odd, Gabriella didn't know enough about Freud to make that judgment.
"How was he odd?" She asked and Troy paused midway through his chewing, shrugging slightly.
"His Oedipus Complex is just…never mind. I'll explain later. But his recognition of the subconscious and his steadfast belief in id, ego and superego is fascinating." Troy said and Gabriella nodded, pretending that she knew exactly what he was talking about.
Silence fell between them as Troy watched Gabriella; not being able to ignore the way the moonlight bounced off her hair, enchanting it with a blue hue that made Troy want to touch it so much it was an ache.
"Hey? Can I ask a question?" Gabriella asked hesitantly and Troy grinned at her, placing his now finished cake on the ground next to him.
"You just did." He pointed out and Gabriella glared at him playfully before putting her plate down as well and playing with her fingers.
"Whatever. I'm going to ask anyway." Gabriella said and Troy nodded, holding back a chuckle. "What happened between you and Katie? You never told me and of course she wouldn't. But nobody could figure out what happened." Gabriella asked and Troy started when he heard the question. He gazed at her wondering how long she'd been thinking about it before wondering how the hell he was meant to tell her that the break-up had really occurred because of her.
"We just…I don't know. There were different factors I guess. We'd been together for a year, which was a record for your sister and we were both feeling the pressure of being the 'golden couple' so to speak. Not to mention she thought senior year would be so much better if we weren't tied to each other." Troy said, purposefully leaving out the part where his feelings for her had been accidentally revealed to Katie during the argument that had ended their relationship. He was never going to forget the way her eyes had leapt in fury or her demand to stay well away from Gabriella.
"Oh." Gabriella murmured, for a moment Troy thought she was going to say something more before she surprised him by laying down on the concrete and wordlessly motioning for him to lay down next to her.
Troy shifted so he could stretch himself out and he gazed up at the stars that sparkled like hard diamonds against the midnight blue backdrop. Feeling his hand brush her side, Troy swallowed slightly.
"So…how is Katie? I know she went off to NYU but that's about it." Gabriella smiled at the questions, finding it just like Troy to inquire after someone he had ended up not liking very much at all.
"She's good. Content is the word I'd use, I guess. She's majoring in English and loving every minute of it. New York is the place she's always wanted to go to and it suits her." Gabriella replied and Troy smiled hearing how happy Gabriella sounded talking about her sister. A year ago, the subject of Katie was a sore one and Troy had learnt not to push it.
"Its easier getting along with her when she's not living in the room next to her, right?" He asked, his hand brushing against her wrist as Gabriella turned her head to look at him a small smile on her lips that told him he'd guessed right.
"Yeah. It really is. I talk to her once a week and she's always full of news of things she's done and who she's seeing. Its nice." Testing, just testing, he told himself, Troy slipped his hand into hers, waiting for her reaction as she spoke about her relationship with her sister. Her eyes darkened as a blush spread across her cheeks before she responded by lacing her fingers through his.
"That's good. That's really good, Brie." Troy murmured and Gabriella smiled at him before she once again tilted her face to the sky.
Troy stared at her for a moment longer, taking in the beauty of her face bathed in moonlight noticing for the first time that her face had matured in the year he had been gone. His eyes lingered on her full lips for a moment and he wanted nothing more than to prop himself up and kiss them softly and gently, a kiss reserved for someone special.
Troy turned his head away from her profile at the thought, suddenly realizing that being just friends with her wasn't going to cut it at.
Because laying side by side, on a concrete basketball court, their hands intertwined and her face bathed in moonlight made Troy not only want to remedy their title of just friends, but to correct it.
A/N: Well, I really like this chapter! Troy's going to make his move soon too. Which is really exciting, anyway, I know I said that I would update during the week but its easier now. I hope you all enjoyed!
