DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.

A/N: Okay, so I'm updating this before anything else. Seriously, I said in 'Remember My Tattoo' don't hold your breath for my stories because I'm getting back into school at the moment and it's hard. Anyway, hopefully I'll get back in routine soon. Keep your fingers crossed! Enjoy this chapter!!

Dangerous Fascination

CHAPTER 9

SURREAL

He had feelings for her. Feelings that he hadn't known existed until she had asked why he wanted more from her. More than he had ever wanted from any other girl that he'd taken an interest in and the fact that he had feelings for her, feelings he couldn't turn on and off the way he usually did with his emotions, irked and confused him. They annoyed him because he had no control over them; no matter what he tried to do he couldn't quite get them under control. They confused him because he had truthfully never had any feelings for a girl that ran as deep as the ones he had for Gabriella. He'd had flings, maybe a girlfriend or two, but he'd never felt more for those girls than a simple attraction, none of them had ever interested him the way Gabriella did and he had never let any of them touch his face the way she had, if someone else had tried to do that he would have jerked his head away. It didn't creep him out when someone touched his face, he just found it to intimate, much, much too intimate. He'd always prided himself on distancing himself from people, both emotionally and physically. Hugs from him were rare; handshakes were more common though only with people he knew well. With girls, he wasn't ever affectionate and he expected them to be the same. He didn't hold hands, he didn't let them sit on his lap…he didn't let them touch his face.

Troy frowned as the memory of her hand against his cheek flooded his mind, the way she had wiped some sweat of his face and the way it had slipped from his face when he'd moved to far away from her. He'd liked it, enjoyed the way her fingertips had slid over his skin. Troy knew he could most likely blame it on the fact that those feelings and need was the reason he'd allowed her it just once, but that wasn't true. It was because it was her. Those feelings most probably had added an element to it, but it was because it was Gabriella that he'd let her do it, because she'd seemed to need it and he'd wanted her to do it. Troy felt his stomach jolt at the thought. How could he want her to do something that annoyed him so much when other people tried to do it? How could he want her to do what she did? Groaning, Troy dropped his head into his heads as the thoughts that had swirled in his head all weekend began to make his head ache.

"Troy, when I told you to shoot some hoops before school, I actually meant do it physically not stare at the court in contemplation." His Dad's amused voice, had him jerking his head out of his hands as Jack Bolton sat himself down beside his son.

"I know. I thought you were working." Troy stated, wishing that his head would stop aching enough to let him have a normal conversation with his dad.

"Well, you seem to need my attention more than the papers on my desk," Jack watched Troy carefully, knowing something was up with him. When Troy didn't reply he sighed. "So, do I need to get pliers or am I going to guess?" He asked and Troy glanced at him, his blue eyes indecipherable.

"Guess." He replied sarcastically, knowing perfectly well that his dad knew what was up with him and wanted to hear it from him.

"Hmm, girl," Jack spooned some cereal into his mouth as Troy tensed slightly. "Small, quiet, smart, brown curly hair, am I getting warmer?" Jack asked and Troy nodded slightly.

"Yep." He replied and Jack grinned at the disgust in his son's voice.

"Hmm, lets think, ah yes, her name would be Gabriella Montez, would it not?" Jack asked and Troy nodded again.

"Yes, that would be here name and let me guess; now you're going to tell me what I've done?" Troy faked enthusiasm as his father ate some more cereal. Jack grinned at Troy before he decided to reply.

"You've gone and fallen for her. That's what you've done." He said and Troy froze completely when the words left his fathers mouth. Shaking his head, he tried to clear it slightly as the words slowly began to sink in.

"Uh-uh. I haven't fallen for her-" he began and Jack cut him off, knowing Troy would bluster before he fell silent and got cranky that he hadn't seen it before.

"Oh yes you have," when all Troy did was stare at him Jack continued. "Lets see, the first sign of you falling for a girl is that fact you're not playing basketball, the second is you've been thinking about her all weekend and the third you were about to bluster before you realized that those 'feelings' means you've actually gone and fallen for this girl." He said pleasantly and was incredibly pleased when Troy's eyes widened slightly before he turned his attention to the half-court that sat in their backyard. There was silence for a few minutes as Troy contemplated what his father had said, wishing that the feeling in his gut that told him his father was right, would go away.

"Dad, no-one falls for a girl that fast. I've known her for what? A month, no-one these days does that." Troy said and Jack let out a chuckle, shaking his head as he finished off his cereal.

"Sure Troy, whatever you say. Let's ignore the fact that you've already done it and don't seem to be very welcoming of the fact." Jack said and Troy's eyes flashed in what Jack knew was anger before dieing.

"I have not! I've only just figured out I have feelings for her!" Troy exclaimed and Jack raised his eyebrows at his son's words.

"Feelings, fallen, it's all the same. If you have feelings for this girl, it means you've fallen for her or you're falling for her. Take your pick, but trust me on this Troy, if you even try to ignore those feelings their going to turn around and bite you when you see her with someone else." Jack spoke wisely and Troy just stared at him, wondering how the hell he was meant to deal with the feelings in the first place.

"So, what do I do?" He asked and Jack let out a laugh at Troy's frowning face, no matter how smart Troy was, Jack had to admit, he really could be clueless when it came to girls.

"Do what you think you need too." Troy rolled his eyes at his fathers reply, how was that meant to help him? He'd never actually experienced anything like this before, he really hadn't and he didn't like it at all.

Getting up, Troy threw the basketball onto the court and headed into the house. As he did, he wished he could be angry again. It was easier to be angry with Gabriella than it was to sort through things he'd never felt before and it would probably be even easier to do that if his mind stopped replaying the way she'd reacted to what he had done to her on Friday. Even now, Troy probably wouldn't have been able to stop himself from showing her exactly why he hadn't kissed her. She'd asked, he'd given an answer. It really had been as simple as that. He wished it had been as simple as that. He wasn't used to regretting things he'd done to girls before and he didn't plan on getting used to it either, the way she had whimpered when his hand had slipped beneath her bra had made him want to be gentle and he regretted the fact that he hadn't gone with that first instinct. Because he'd known that what had happened, the way he had touched her, had been a first for her, everything he wanted to do to her would be a first and Troy wasn't sure he liked that fact. He'd known from that kiss in the park she was innocent, it was the reason he'd been so furious afterwards. Because if something happened between them, and up until then he'd been making damn sure something was going to, and he took that from her, he'd hurt her and contrary to popular belief, Troy didn't particularly like hurting someone, especially someone who had slowly begun to mean something to him.

Troy let out another loud groan at the thought, here they were again. The thoughts that went in circles and all led to one thing, he had feelings for her. Troy was trying to force the thoughts away as he headed out towards his car and knew it wouldn't work. His father had confirmed it, his gut had confirmed it and the only thing that refused to let him believe it was his brain because it was always set to freeze. He always froze emotions before they took hold and it was one of the things that annoyed him the most, these feelings he had for Gabriella had snuck up on him. He hadn't been given the opportunity to freeze them or push them away and now, well now they had roots and Troy was pretty damn sure that something was going to come out of the feelings. Opening his car door, he threw his bag into the passenger's seat and slammed the door. Starting the car, he nodded at his Dad as Jack waved goodbye and backed out of their driveway. Putting the car into gear, he took off toward the school, hoping that a fast drive would stop the thoughts rolling through his head and allow him to be calm enough to enter the school without someone seeing that something was wrong.

It didn't work. No matter how hard he tried, Troy couldn't get rid of the thoughts as he pulled into the student parking lot. They were still there, admittedly not at the front of his mind but they were there and Troy began to feel irritated as he got out of the car and swung his bag over his shoulder. Locking his car, he headed towards the doors and ignored students that shouted out greetings towards him. Glaring at a freshman that didn't move fast enough, Troy shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and followed a group of students into the school. At a pace that let people know something was annoying him, Troy headed for his locker as usual and wasn't surprised to find Zeke, Chad and Jason waiting there for him. Ignoring them, Troy spun the dial and yanked his locker open with more force than intended. Throwing his bag into it, Troy glanced at Chad who had coughed slightly.

"What?" He asked and Chad's eyebrows rose. Troy rarely, if ever, used any other tone with him than mild amusement.

"Okay, you're either annoyed because we won against Jefferson High or something's happened and you're not happy about it." Chad said, shooting Zeke and Jason a look to get out of there as Troy shut his locker.

"Now, what would make you say that?" Troy asked, forcing his tone into one of mild amusement that had Chad rolling his eyes.

"Because, unlike the rest of the student body who think you're simply being you, I actually have a little bit of insight to you and right now, something's annoying you." Chad replied and Troy rolled his eyes at the words.

"Mild irritation." He replied coolly and Chad just nodded disbelievingly.

"Sure it is." He replied and Troy rolled his eyes again as Chad leaned against the locker waiting for him to talk.

"Chad, I'd advise you to leave it alone." Troy's voice was ice as he spoke and Chad studied him intently before deciding to notice the tone of his voice and nodding.

"Whatever dude. Let's get to homeroom, so you can take this 'mild irritation' out on Darbus." He said and Troy shot him a smile that Chad took as a warning.

"Alright." Troy nodded at the reluctance in Chad's voice before they began to walk towards their homeroom. Chad nodding at people, Troy merely watching them, turning a corner, Chad glanced at Troy in time to see his eyes narrow slightly.

"Dude, go ahead of me." Troy said and Chad just looked at him, wondering why his friend was sending him ahead. One look from Troy was all it took for Chad to begin to walk again, following the rush of students as they began to move slowly towards their own homerooms.

Taking a deep breath, Troy moved towards were Gabriella stood at her locker, a tall blonde boy standing next to her, speaking earnestly as she hunched away from him. Looking at him, Troy placed him quickly and smirked when he realized that Doug would be scampering the moment he spoke. Turning his attention to Gabriella, Troy wasn't sure what to expect from her and knew he had to risk it if he wanted to talk to her. Casually, he slipped past a group of cheerleaders before grabbing hold of Gabriella's locker door and swinging it so it was against the locker next to hers. Almost immediately he got a reaction, Gabriella glanced at him and froze as Doug let out a strangled sort of noise as Troy raised his eyebrows at him and smirked, his eyes holding nothing but calm amusement.

"Doug." The sound of his voice had Doug making the strangled noise again and Troy held back a laugh, God this was amusing.

"Bye Gabriella." The words were spoken quickly and Doug took off as Troy let out a snort that he knew Gabriella would take as disdain for Doug's actions before he turned his attention to the girl next to him.

"Gabriella." His voice had her snapping to life and Troy searched for a smile and found a smirk as she spun to look at him, her eyes wide with a hint of fear that had him wondering as she looked at him.

"I – what do you want?" Her voice trembled slightly as Troy felt amusement drain and coolness find its way into him as she tried to glare at him.

"I need to talk to you." He replied and watched as her eyes filled with tears that she quickly pushed away. Troy wasn't sure why, but it was like a punch in the gut as he watched her get a handle on her tears.

"Its okay Troy, nothing happened on Friday, I know that." She whispered as the bell rang and the feeling in his stomach faded to be replaced by confusion. Gabriella made a movement to walk away and Troy grabbed her arm, keeping her in place as everyone ran to their homerooms.

"Whoa, back up, who said that nothing happened on Friday?" Troy asked incredulously and she looked up at him, her own eyes filled with confusion as she stared at him. Troy knew it was partly because he was displaying an emotion that wasn't amusement and looking at her, could tell it wasn't what she expected from him.

"I – I thought-" Gabriella stammered slightly and Troy pushed away incredulity, running the hand on her arm down to her wrist so he could pull her closer.

"You thought that I wanted what happened on Friday to be ignored right? You figured that it was a one off and once I came back to my senses, what I did and said on Friday will be something that happened in a fit of rage isn't that right?" As he spoke in dry amusement that had her stiffening, Troy was slowly bringing her closer to him. His eyes flicked to her neck and Troy wet his lips slightly when he saw the bruise that he'd left on her neck, before his eyes returned to hers. Gabriella nodded slowly.

"Wh-" Troy cut her off before she could continue and his hands found her hips as she tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes confused, curious and still slightly afraid.

"I've got a news flash for you Gabriella, what happened on Friday did happen. I want more than you can give remember?" Her eyes flashed with uncertainty as he brought his face close. "Besides, if it didn't happen on Friday, don't you think I'd still be angry and if it didn't happen, I definitely wouldn't be about to kiss you now." The amusement he had controlled his voice to had her eyes widening as he pulled her as close as he could. Before she could speak, Troy touched his lips to hers and grinned against them when her eyes drifted shut, very carefully, Troy guided her so her back was pressed up against the locker next to hers before kissing her.

Very slowly, he felt her respond to the kiss as his own eyes closed. She was hesitant as he kissed her slowly as the need that had coursed through him on Friday slowly began to build. Gently he took the kiss deeper and knew she was confused. The gentleness was a stark contrast to the roughness on Friday and Troy enjoyed her confusion as his tongue met hers. With a flash, Troy's stomach clenched slightly when he felt her hand on his face, her other hand slipping around his neck so that it could tangle in his hair. Slowly, Troy pulled away from her lips and pressed kisses from her mouth down her neck, tilting his head to the other side as he placed a trail kisses back up her neck, allowing himself only a moment to linger on the mark he'd left, before his lips reached her own to find them parted and willing as he captured them again. With much more reluctance than he showed, Troy pulled away from her, his eyes opening as she rested her head against the locker, her lips swollen slightly from his mouth. Letting his hands drop away from her hips, Troy smirked as her eyes opened and she looked at him.

"I…um…that was…nice." She stammered as the hand in his hair untangled and slipt from his neck and the hand on his face dropped, Troy watched, still smirking as her hands found their way behind her back as she slowly turned red.

"I'll see you around Gabriella." Unable to resist, Troy leaned down and pressed his lips to hers again before he pulled away, smirking and headed down the hallway, leaving her leaning against her locker, confused.

As he walked, Troy wasn't sure what had happened. He'd been confused, annoyed, amused and then…he didn't know how to explain how he had been feeling when he had been kissing Gabriella. It hadn't been amusement, or coolness or anything he'd ever felt before. It had been something calming, something that felt nice, which had let him be gentle without the need to make up for it somehow. Turning a corner, Troy stopped and rubbed hand over his face. Those thoughts were just a little too surreal for him.

A/N: So did that make any sense at all? I was aiming to make Troy just that little bit more human and show the relationship between him and his Dad, I'm sort of working of HSM2 when he and his dad had all those talks. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!