Co-Written with cj10824

Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney!

Chapter 10

Gabriella had experienced the pain of drinking a Slurpee way too fast in the seventh grade and had made sure each time after that she never ignored the sheer torture of brain freezes caused by sucking down the freezing cold contents too fast. She had also had her head hit with a volleyball in junior year in high school during PE and knew how much her head pounded and ached after that. Even now Gabriella made sure to stay clear of any volleyball game, even as a spectator. In freshman year in college Gabriella suffered one of the worst headaches ever when she went days without sleeping or really eating during her first semester's finals, realizing only after she had a good night's sleep and a good meal with lots of water how wonderful it was to not have that piercing pain that threatened most of her thoughts let alone studying.

All that combined was nothing compared to what Gabriella woke to the morning following the party at Zeta Theta Mu. Her mouth was as dry as the Mojave Desert, her throat too. There seemed to be a constant drill and jackhammer at work in her brain. The mere light coming through the closed drapes nearby nearly burned her retinas. 'Wait, I don't have any drapes in my room,' Gabriella groggily thought, instantly sitting up in the bed, wishing with all her might she didn't, not even feeling the arm she had knocked off her midsection in the process.

There was a stirring next to her and to Gabriella's horror she saw Troy laying right next to her in his bed, in his room that she had seen for the first time only the night before, with his naked chest exposed with the sheet covering the rest of him. Gabriella's attention quickly snapped to herself, throwing the sheet off to see herself dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts that she didn't remember putting on and smelled distinctly like Troy. 'Oh my God…'

"Good morning angel," greeted Troy a bit sleepily, knowing Gabriella was awake and probably freaking out before he even opened his blue eyes to see that he was right, the worried expression clearly on her face. Troy cleared his throat a little and ran his left hand through his hair, sorting it out a little so it wasn't so messy looking. "How are you feeling?"

"Can you not talk so loudly?" asked Gabriella, closing her eyes as Troy's voice tortured her mind just a little more.

Troy smirked as he recognized the clear sign that Gabriella was more than hung over, sympathizing with how much pain Gabriella must be in. Without another word, Troy got out of bed and grabbed a bottle of cold water from his mini-fridge and handed it to Gabriella who looked relieved to see he had on at least his boxers before taking the water and greedily sipping it down. "Hey, easy there. You'll make yourself sick again if you suck that down too fast."

Gabriella paused in swallowing the water, reluctantly pulling the lip of the bottle away from her mouth as something in what Troy just said caught her attention. "Sick, again? Did something…What exactly…Did we…ugh, be honest Troy. What happened last night?"

Seeing the door wide open for him, Troy walked right through it as he said, "Don't you remember angel? You were phenomenal, absolutely fucking fantastic and the envy of many girls last night, that's for sure. I think I'm hurt that you don't remember my performance last night."

Swallowing the brick that seemed to be lodged in her throat now, Gabriella's mind began to race, trying to recall any scrap of a memory of what Troy was talking about, panicking when she couldn't recall it. 'Oh great, your first time and you can't even remember?' exclaimed Gabriella in her mind, frustrated with turning up no real memory.

Guilt filled Troy as he watched Gabriella's tan skin get impossibly pale as it lost all pigmentation, swearing that she would fully bite her lower lip and bleed from the open wound as she struggled to remember the night before. "Brie, the way you danced downstairs, man, I know I was the envy of all the guys who watched you move in my arms like that. I had no idea you could move that way baby," added Troy, unable to let Gabriella suffer any more. "That is until you got sick after I dipped you backwards. Luckily I got you to the sink in the kitchen before you started throwing up all that Vodka and Rumple Minze that was freely floating through your body."

The use of Troy's new nickname for her trigged a new hazy memory to start playing in Gabriella's mind, causing her eyes to widen as she recalled clearly now the way her body moved with his, how much she enjoyed the friction between their bodies along with the numerous kisses they had shared. The memory though ended somewhere during the dancing, not remembering herself getting sick as Troy claimed but knowing it must be true since it was too odd of a thing to lie about. The massive headache quickly returned though, showing no mercy as her head began to literally throb.

Witnessing the pain etch itself onto her face, Troy went over to his mini fridge to get two bottles of water and then to his nightstand to get two pills from the bottle there before he returned back to the bed. Troy gently sat down next to Gabriella who now held her head in her hands with her elbows resting on her bent knees of her legs that were curled Indian style. "Here, take these. They'll help with that throbbing," promised Troy, placing the two pills in her hand before he watched her toss them back with the last of the water in her original bottle, seeing her wince from the motion.

"Thank you," she got out, keeping her eyes closed, wishing the pills would work faster. When she felt that everything was the tiniest bit better, her head still pounding but allowing her to think clear thoughts again, Gabriella opened her eyes and met Troy's steady ones. "So, after the dancing, after me embarrassingly getting sick, did we, umm, well, did we?"

Troy couldn't help but chuckle at the nervousness that came wafting towards him from the brunette. He shook his head as he answered her almost fully spoken question. "No, we didn't have sex last night, you can relax. After you threw up again in a bathroom up here you promptly passed out in my arms. Instead of trying to get you through the crowd downstairs as it was still fairly early in the night for the party itself I thought it best to let you just sleep it off. How you managed to last so long with that much alcohol in your system is beyond me. Do you even understand that Rumple Minze is one hundred proof not to mention all the other alcohol you consumed? I never took you for a drinker angel."

"I'm not," denied Gabriella, taking a measured sip this time from the new bottle of water Troy offered her as he did the same with the second bottle. "Last night, that was definitely a first."

"Well then you have my respect because you held it in like a true experienced champ until the end. From what I was able to gather you were playing a game of Never Have I Ever with some of the sisters and then took those last shots of Rumple Minze as a dare. I think we may have discovered a new talent of yours," expressed Troy, smirking as Gabriella began to shake her head only to still her motions and close her eyes again.

"How did I end up in your clothes?" questioned Gabriella with her eyes still closed. The evidence of her embarrassment over the current state of her attire clear on her cheeks that filled with a light pink. "If we didn't do it, how did I end up this way?"

Troy scratched the back of his neck, recalling how changing Gabriella out of her dress and into the first things Troy thought she would fit zapped the last of Troy's self restraint the night before. "I…umm…I changed you. I thought you would be more comfortable in what you have on compared to that dress. I thought about trying to find Sharpay or Taylor to change you but I couldn't leave you here in this room, on my bed passed out, alone in a house full of drinking guys."

Gabriella's eyes snapped back open again as the horror of Troy seeing her naked came to the forefront of her mind. "You saw me naked?" she squeaked.

It was Troy's turn to blush, his eyes not meeting her stare but finding the comforter they were sitting on rather interesting all of a sudden. "I did but only for a few seconds. I promise I didn't look, much, and I left your string bikini on too."

"Oh…my…God," Gabriella got out, mortification over being practically nude in front of Troy's eyes flooding her mind and body.

Quick to try to soothe her panic yet again, Troy volunteered, "Look, Brie, it's no big deal…"

"No big deal? Troy how can you say that?" demanded Gabriella, too outraged with his casual dismissal over seeing her naked breasts while she was unconscious to feel the pain throb through her brain that she would have felt otherwise from the sound of her own raised voice. "It's a HUGE deal to me! God, maybe all those girls you sleep with have desensitized you to the nude body but…EWW!"

Troy watched in puzzlement as Gabriella leapt off his bed, a clear look of disgust now on her face. "Gabriella, what's wrong?"

"Besides the fact that you saw me practically naked? The fact that I slept in the same bed that numerous girls have before, most likely naked, and I have no idea what type of diseases and germs they had especially because I don't know how many of them there are and who they are," stated Gabriella, not seeing the blue orbs that were currently watching her rant lighten instead of darken as they should have at her words. "Troy, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you spared me from becoming another notch in your headboard but, still, eww!"

His sudden chuckle stopped Gabriella's venting, making her eye Troy suspiciously. "You are too damn adorable when you get mad like that. First, I luckily changed my sheets yesterday to my second set because I usually don't make my bed and Chad was in here eating spaghetti at lunch. Needless to say the idiot managed to drop a huge glob of the sauce and some noodles from his fork onto my sheets forcing me to do laundry so technically, you slept in a clean, germ free bed with the exception of your own and mine. Second, I don't always have girls stay in my bed. Sometimes it's the floor or the couch or the chair…"

"Stop, right there! I don't need to know any more of what I think you are about to volunteer. I am currently too grateful for the fact that your best friend is a messy eater all the time to listen to your sexcapade stories. I'm also just glad I wasn't one of those girls you just described," stated Gabriella, this time triggering something within Troy that made his eyes darken a few shades.

"Would that have been so terrible Gabriella? Do you really not like me or my touch that much? Your groans from when I made those little marks on your shoulders and that one especially on your neck seemed to prove otherwise," returned Troy, feeling his pride bruised by Gabriella's obvious relief that they hadn't had sex.

The sharp retort Gabriella was about to deliver stopped behind her lips as Gabriella saw not only Troy's anger at her words but more so his hidden pain that was barely visible. Instead, Gabriella softened her words, reminding herself that Troy took care of her the night before when he could have easily just left her to the whims of a far less honorable guy. "Troy, listen, I'm sorry, okay? I'm very grateful to you for everything you did for me last night, taking care of me and caring enough to make sure I remained safe in a fraternity house where I could have ended up in a far worse situation than just sleeping in the same bed as you. And no, that's not so bad but it just, it is just a big surprise to me is all, especially knowing you didn't take advantage of me in probably the most vulnerable state I could be in."

"I'm not a monster Brie, as much as you may think it. I know I have a reputation that precedes me but reputations aren't always true," replied Troy, getting up from the bed and walking closer to her, putting his bottle of water on his dresser nearby. He took the bottle of water Gabriella still held in her hand and put it next to his, holding both of her hands in his in a relaxed hold she could easily get out of if she wanted to. "If they were, there's not a chance in hell you would have been at the party last night, having drank as much as you did, dressed up the way you were. I know you said that Taylor and Sharpay basically forced you to but the Gabriella Montez I've heard about likes being invisible, puts studying above all else, and detests the Greek life. Oh, and she also hardly speaks. Now I don't know about you but that sounds rather false to me in every way. I wouldn't use those words to describe you, that much I know."

"Yeah but most people don't see the real me, at least they don't make the effort to. To all those people like Chad and the rest of your frat brothers besides Zeke I'm just this girl who is part of the sorority but not really there. They don't know me. They don't know I can cook just as well as Zeke, they don't know that I work at the athletic center, they don't know that I'm graduating this year as a technical senior when I should be a junior," returned Gabriella, looking straight into Troy's eyes. "What do you see?"

Troy closed his eyes for a moment, searching for the right words that would give Gabriella the proper image of what he saw in her, what he wondered if even Gabriella herself realized was there. Upon opening his eyes, Troy returned her gaze and said, "When I look at you, I see an outer beauty that radiates sexiness, compassion, and confidence. What intrigues me though is your inner beauty, the strength that you have, the sharp tongue you use only when someone deserves it, and the passion you have about life. You seem to be a faithful and steady friend to those that are close to you and you are definitely one amazing dancer. From the study sessions we have had too I can tell why you are ahead of your class and graduating with us. In summary, you intrigue me Gabriella, in a way no other girl has before."

Gabriella couldn't help but stare at Troy as he spoke, his words surprising her, forcing her to wonder if he really did see all that or if Troy was just being his charming self. "Do you really think all that?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't," he assured her, running a slightly calloused hand over her soft cheek. "You make me feel so strange but a good strange when I'm with you. The closest I've felt like this was back in high school but even then, it still wouldn't quite reflect how I feel now. Tell me Brie, do I live up to my reputation?"

She gazed back at him, wondering exactly what she really thought about Troy now. "You do and you don't. I've seen you in action with numerous girls Troy, flirting with them, charming them. You've even been late to a group meeting because you were messing around with one. You have more hickies than anyone I know but yet, I see this other side of you that isn't CP, that is really smart and considerate, the man who looked after me last night when he could have easily taken advantage of the situation. Troy, you're almost like a puzzle or maybe even like a coin with these two definitely different sides. I've seen the hot, sexy womanizer but I've also seen the charming, sweet guy, both of which live inside of you. Perhaps the reason why I still react the way I do around you, with so much distrust sometimes is that I don't know which side of you really is real."

Troy studied Gabriella for a few moments, letting her confession soak into his mind. "I think you know who I am more than you give yourself credit for but you have trouble believing it because of what you've seen in the past, maybe even last night. As I said about you also applies to me though. Things are often not what they appear to be and you've seen something that not many have for many years. You've brought him out. Look, all I ask of you is to keep an open mind and decide for yourself which side of me is true. I think you already know the answer but are struggling against all the other stereotypes and things you've heard."

All she could really do was nod her agreement to do so, knowing that she owed Troy at least that much after what he did for her the night before. Suddenly, her head began to hurt again, forcing herself to close her eyes as she steadied her breathing. Troy saw the return of the headache and gently pulled her body towards him, wrapping her in his arms and letting her head just rest against his chest, laying a kiss on the top of her head. He ran a hand through her dark locks, untangling hairs as he went, knowing his instinct to do so were right as Gabriella instantly relaxed in his hold.

They stood there for minutes, neither saying anything as they just remained in that simple yet meaningful embrace. After some more time though, Troy heard both of their stomachs grumble, looking over at a clock to see that it was still early on Friday morning but not too early that the brothers who weren't too hung over wouldn't be poised to do what they always did the morning after a big party on Greek Row. "Gabriella, we should get something into your stomach. It will help you feel better. Do you have work today?"

"No," she murmured, her face buried in his chest, finding comfort in the beating of his heart and his intoxicating smell. "I have to call Kelsi to give me my key to my room. She has it as I didn't have a purse last night."

'Wise girl, locking up her room when she isn't there, especially on party nights,' thought Troy, reaching for his cordless that was nearby. "Here, why don't you call her room? Maybe ask her to bring some shoes or something for you. I don't think my tennis shoes will fit."

Gabriella picked her head up and gratefully took the phone, dialing Kelsi's extension. "Kelsi? Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I was already up and getting ready for class. Are you okay? Where are you? I still have your key," answered Kelsi, relieved to hear that Gabriella was all right after disappearing the night before.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks in large part to Troy. Can you meet me and bring my key with you before you head to class? Or is that too much trouble?" asked Gabriella, not wanting to make her friend late for class.

"No, not a problem. I'm ready now so I can head over. Should I meet you at the sorority house? Wait, did you say Troy took care of you?" questioned Kelsi, suddenly realizing what Gabriella had said moments before.

"Yes, I'm actually still here with him and we'll talk about this later, between just us. And, sure, in front of the sorority house works," returned Gabriella, giving Troy a confused look as he shook his head. "Why are you shaking your head?"

"Trust me, you want her to come here with some sandals or something. Actually I'll go meet her at the end of Greek Row on the South end while you stay here," stated Troy, a knowing look on his face.

"He probably has his reasons Gabriella, listen to him. Tell Troy I'll meet him there in ten minutes, okay?" added Kelsi, hearing Troy's words of caution.

Gabriella sighed, giving Troy a curious look. "All right, I will. Thanks Kelsi, you're the best."

"No problem. See you for lunch," replied Kelsi, hanging up her phone.

"She'll be there in about ten," Gabriella said, turning off the cordless and setting it down next to the water bottles before she looked back at Troy, some part of her mind surprised that neither of them seemed to be anxious about leaving each other's embrace, Gabriella's left arm still around his waist with both of his around her. "What exactly are you trying to protect me from now?"

A bit unnerved that Gabriella saw right through him again, Troy tried shrugging, cringing as he heard the distant chanting he was trying to save Gabriella from. Her ears instantly picked up the sound, hearing the words "Walk of Shame!" being yelled. Whatever color Gabriella had regained disappeared again as she realized exactly what her fate would be as soon as she left Troy's room. "Oh my God, what am I going to do?"

Troy smirked a little, thinking momentarily how cute Gabriella was in that moment before he answered. "That is exactly why you are letting me meet Kelsi and come back with your key and some sandals for you before I take you to the best breakfast you are ever going to have hung over. Consider it our first date, of sorts."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow at this, touched that he did care about her, more than she thought he did, yet a bit shocked at his high confidence level. "A date? With you?"

"Consider it my reward for watching over you last night," replied Troy, knowing she would agree after he used those words. "Besides, I want to make sure you have the best hang over remedy ever created besides some medicine and lots of water. Don't worry about what you're wearing either. It's far off campus grounds and is a small diner I found my freshman year after coming back from another college party somewhere else."

"You had me at 'best hang over remedy'," remarked Gabriella, smiling up at him. "Seriously Troy, thank you so much for everything."

"Thank me later once we've gotten you to feel better and I know it isn't the drugs talking," Troy replied, realizing that he had to toss on some clothes himself but enjoying the feeling of her arms around his naked back. "I better get dressed."

Gabriella too realized then how undressed Troy really was in that moment. "Well, umm, yeah," she managed to get out, instantly dropping her arms from around him, blushing yet again that morning, feeling only the drill in her head, grateful the jackhammer had stopped.

Troy chuckled before he dropped his arms from around her as well, kissing her forehead before turning and opening a nearby drawer for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Once those were on, Troy went to his closet and grabbed two sweatshirts, tossing an old East High sweatshirt at Gabriella who easily caught it. He pulled his own over his head, taking a quick glance at himself in the mirror and grinned as he saw a new mark on his neck, one that Gabriella had given him the night before. As he turned around to tease her about it, Troy stopped as Gabriella stared down at the sweatshirt in her hands. "What is it? I promise that too was cleaned."

Gabriella's eyes rose up to his, wonderment there in her brown orbs. "You went to East High too, with Zeke and Chad?"

"Umm yeah, why?" answered Troy, puzzled by her question. "You knew I did, didn't you? That I know Zeke, Chad and Jason from high school, some of them way before then?"

"I remember knowing that at some point but I honestly forgot, sorry," she apologized, slipping the sweatshirt over her head. "I guess I just didn't ever think about where you actually came from, where your hometown was. Who would have known we'd share the same?"

"Wait, you are from Albuquerque too? I don't remember you," returned Troy, feeling a bit foolish for his words.

Gabriella laughed a little, shaking her head a little, careful not to disturb the pain in her head that was getting a bit quieter, taking a drink from the nearby water bottle as she heard another round of chants going on in the hallway. "Well considering you haven't really seen me before this year I don't think you would. I actually went to West High, you know, the arch nemesis of East? Went there with Taylor."

"Oh my God, I slept with the enemy?" exaggerated Troy, putting a hand over his heart and making the best shocked look he could. "I slept in the same bed as the enemy…remind me to burn the sheets later!"

Gabriella just rolled her eyes while Troy found a clean pair of socks and put them on before slipping his feet into a pair of tennis shoes. "So how are we going to pull off this secret mission of yours, to get me out of here without having to suffer the 'Walk of Shame'?"

Troy grinned at her, standing up after tying his shoes. He grabbed his sunglasses laying on his desk and handed them to her to put on before he opened the drapes to reveal his balcony again. "Be grateful I have a fire escape rope ladder and the cover of one very large tree that is right next to the balcony. I'll call my phone twice when I come back so you can lower it back down."

"You're crazy, you know that?" replied Gabriella, smiling back at him.

"Perhaps but that's part of my infamous charm," he returned, opening the door and giving her one last look before lowering the ladder, climbing down, and throwing it back up before walking to meet Kelsi.

Minutes later, Gabriella heard the phone ring two full times without answering, interrupting her review of the marks Troy had told her existed, that he had left last night. With a groan, Gabriella pulled the t-shirt and sweatshirt back on, trying to cover up what she could before she went outside with the sunglasses on, peeking over the side to see Troy waiting down there, a pair of sandals in one hand. She tossed over the rope ladder before going back inside, not wanting to chance anyone else seeing her standing there, grateful it was still quiet out there.

Soon Troy was standing in front of Gabriella again, laying the sandals at her feet for her to slip on and handing over her key. "Kelsi said to say hello and to tell you that I score brownie points for even thinking about your reputation."

Gabriella laughed a little, knowing that Kelsi probably had a lot more to say but would lay that on Gabriella directly during their preplanned lunch. "Thanks," she murmured, slipping the key into one of the pockets of the basketball shorts she was wearing. "So I guess now is the time you sneak me down to your car?"

"You read my mind," he grinned back at her, taking her hand in his before checking to make sure he had his wallet, keys, and cell phone. Troy led her out to the balcony, checking around first to make sure there was no one in sight, realizing it was too early for a lot of people to be up and around, hearing a new chant reach them from inside. After quietly closing the balcony door, Troy climbed down the ladder first, spotting Gabriella in case she fell, lifting her down from the last few rungs and keeping his hands there on her waist for a few moments longer than necessary, letting go to toss the ladder back up. Looking around, Troy took Gabriella's hand in his as they darted across the lawn and managed to make it to his car parked a little down the street, hearing a similar Walk of Shame chant come from a neighboring fraternity house as the front door opened and closed to reveal an unfortunate girl who still wore a dress from the night before.

"Oh crap, Taylor's dress," murmured Gabriella as she buckled her seat belt.

"Don't worry, I'll drop it by later today. Now, let's get you feeling better and fed," replied Troy, starting his car and driving off to their destination.

A few hours later after a very nice, easy going conversation that allowed both Gabriella and Troy to learn more about each other over some of the least likely food Gabriella thought she would have ever ate together on a breakfast pizza, Troy pulled back onto Greek Row and parked. He ran over to the other side and opened the door for Gabriella, giving her one of his charming smiles as they walked together towards the Kappa Phi Sigma house.

They stopped in front of the walkway up to the house, Gabriella realizing she was actually reluctant to say goodbye to him now. "Thank you Troy, for breakfast, for taking care of my well being and my reputation last night and this morning. Perhaps you aren't as bad of a guy as your reputation says you are."

"Told you," replied Troy, smiling back at her. "You better get going. Make sure to drink lots more water today and rest. Should keep that pain from coming back."

"Yes Dr. Bolton," answered Gabriella, giggling a little as he rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the gym like usual?"

"Definitely," said Troy, raising his hand to the side of her face before he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I'll see you later Brie."

A blush crept onto her cheeks as Troy pulled away, Gabriella feeling the warmth there before she saw his grin. "Goodbye Troy."

She reluctantly pulled away from Troy, giving him one last look before heading into the sorority house, knowing that she was walking through the front door with more knowledge than she had twenty-four hours before. Gabriella now knew what it felt like to be drunk and hung over but also what it felt like to be truly attracted to a guy who made her feel safe and better about herself. Gabriella still felt the confusion over the situation and what she felt for Troy but to her, it was that much clearer to her that she was actually falling for him, against her better judgment, somehow not all that regretful that she was.

As Gabriella walked up the stairs towards her room, mulling over these thoughts, she was unaware of a pair of eyes watching her from a distance. Nicole had caught sight of Troy and Gabriella talking yards away from the house before she witnessed Troy kiss Gabriella in that tender manner, feeling a mix of emotions travel through her body.

After witnessing the kiss, Nicole shook her head and walked out of her room to watch as Gabriella came into the house, observing the subtle change about Gabriella. Giving Gabriella one last look, Nicole returned back to her room before she could be seen, a sadistic smile on her lips as she picked up the phone.