Gabriella shuffled out of bed and made her way down the hallway. She heard a voice in the kitchen and then hid a smile as she recognized it as Troy's voice singing. She quieted her steps and peeked around the corner of the wall to see Troy standing at the stove over a pot of something. He was in a good mood and she realized that this was his way of making up for their disagreement the night before.

"A little bit of salt. A little bit of pepper." He sang. "Add a little bit of…" he paused and reached for another bottle. "…parsley and a little bit of…whatever this is." He added shaking yet another bottle over the boiling pot. Gabriella pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing and continued to watch his animated cooking. "Then next on the menu is a whole wack of broccoli. Next comes the potatoes." He instructed throwing handfuls of food into the pot. 'This will be interesting.' She thought. He stumbled over to the right and grabbed a hunk of meat, which he began to cut into small pieces. "Oh I'm cutting my meat to add to my soup." He sang "I'm going to make some soup." He took the hunks of meat and dropped them into the soup. "Oh I'm making my soup. Making my soup. OH! I'm making my soup for my Gabi, dear." He wailed. Gabriella bit her lip to keep back the giggles. 'He's really getting into it.' She thought. He began to do a little dance as the soup simmered and then took a wooden spoon to stir it. "Oh soup, soup. Glorious soup. Now it's time to taste my soup." He sang and slurped some of the broth off of the spoon. "Oh soup, soup, glorious soup so tasty and…hot oh god that's hot! HOT SOUP HOT SOUP!" he screamed and she couldn't help it as she watched him dance around fanning his mouth she burst out laughing and used the door frame to support herself. He whipped around and his eyes widened with shock when he realized she had seen him acting like an idiot. "Gabi? I didn't know lu were up whis ewarly." He said thickly. Gabriella, still laughing went over the freezer and handed him an ice cube. He smiled gratefully at her and stuck it in his mouth, sighing in relief as the ice cooled his mouth.

"So how's the soup coming?" she asked and collapsed into giggles again as he glared darkly at her.

"It was coming along fine until I decided to taste it." He muttered when he was able to control the swelling of his burnt tongue. Gabriella nodded and patted her upset companion on the shoulder.

"It looks fine Troy. Nice dance by the way. I loved the lyrics… making my soup la la la." She mimicked. Troy gave her a dirty look and then winked at her. She grinned and then got up and went over to the stove. She stirred the soup which looked pretty good. It was just about finished so she took it off the burner and dished it into two bowls. She gave one to Troy and kept one for herself.

"This is actually really good Troy, great job!" He grinned at her comment and ate his eagerly. When they had finished she put the dishes into the dishwasher and turned it on. Then before she could do anything else Troy slipped his arms around her waist and lifted her up carrying her to the couch. She smiled and then gasped as he turned around so he fell onto the couch with her on his lap.

"So Gabs. What are we going to do today?" he asked. She thought for a moment.

"Well when are we-you leaving?" he pretended not to notice her slip up.

"Dad said about a week or so." Gabriella nodded and bit her lip, a habit she had when she was thinking hard. Troy watched her and read her expression easily. "We still have a while before I go sweetie. It's not time to worry okay?" Gabriella looked at him surprised. He winked at her and she rolled her eyes playfully. Gabriella shifted in his arms so that they were facing each other and studied him.

"Well how about we get together with the gang and tell them?" she suggested.

"I thought you already told Taylor?" he asked. Gabriella nodded and then grasped what he was saying.

"Oh they probably already know what's going on…" she realized. He nodded and then shrugged.

"Oh well it's probably a good idea to get together with the gang anyway. I haven't seen them in a while." Troy told her. She nodded and then got up from his lap.

"Well I'm gong to go and get a shower." she informed him and skipped off towards the bathroom. Troy shook his head in amazement and then headed toward the bedroom to get dressed.

Half an hour later the two of them stood in the park waiting for the others came. Gabriella reached out and began to trace a pattern on the tree trunk beside her. Troy placed his had over hers and smiled at her when she looked questioningly at him.

"Why are you nervous?" he asked quietly. She shrugged.

"I'm just curious about how the others will react, that's all." she said, avoiding looking in his eyes. He continued to look at her and she sighed. He pulled her against his chest and stroked her hair, knowing very well what the real reason was.

"Gabi I know you don't want me to go, but the others are going to go through the same thing you are. Please don't mention that you're not going. I just want to work this out between the two of us. Please?" he begged, knowing that if she got the other girls on her side he's have no choice but to take her. Gabriella sighed and nodded before pulling away from him as Taylor came bounding up to them.

"Gabi!" she squealed and hugged her friend tightly. Gabriella laughed and forgot her troubles for the moment.

"Sheesh Tay, it's not like I've been gone for a million years!" she teased but hugged her friend back, pleased. Then she turned around and was engulfed in another pick hug. "Hey Sharpay." she said with a grin.

"How's it going girlie?" Sharpay squealed.

"Good." Gabriella said and then hugged Kelsei too. The 8 of them started to walk around the park, catching up on things while Gabriella stayed close to Troy and kept quiet. Troy tried unsuccessfully to get nr into the conversation but she pulled herself out of it every time. He gave up and talked to the guys. Holding her hand tightly in his own. Gabriella was upset and it was his job to fix it.

AN: So there you go. Another chapter for you. I know this one was kind of boring but it is going to get better as it goes. Right now I'm killing time until he leaves. R&R please!