The Holidays Can Change Everything

by: LunarEclipse360

Disclaimer: I want it for Christmas though I doubt I'm getting it.

A/N: congrats to Lil-Evans for being the first one to get my challenge right. congrats to everyone who guess it all of you guessed right. The song was With You by Sum 41. I made a Troyella video to that song like two days ago and I decided to just use it in my story. Cute Troyella moment at the end.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

December 11; 14 more days until Christmas

The next morning the house was silent. No one spoke, no one laughed, no one made a sound. Worry washed over the house again as they found Troy to still be asleep. Everyone looked to Chad for answers but he refused to say anything.

"Chad you've got to tell us what's wrong with him." Kelsi said as she and the others walked into the living room.

"I'm not saying anything."

"So then you admit that there is something wrong with him?" Sharpay asked.

"I'm not admitting anything."

"Please Chad..." everyone went silent and all their eyes turned to Gabriella "just tell us."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Sharpay screeched.

"Because it's not my place to tell. If he wants to tell you guys then he can go right ahead but if not then I need to respect his wishes and keep it to myself."

"But we're his friends too and we need to know." Taylor said and everyone else nodded.

"I'm sorry guys but I'm not saying a word about it." everyone groaned and Gabriella looked up towards the staircase.

She snuck out of the living room and went up to Troy's room. She quietly walked into Troy's room, gently closing the door behind her, and walked over to his bed. She smiled sadly as she spotted him lying face up, his face looking more peaceful than she had seen it yesterday. She sat on his bed and touched his cheek. His eyes flickered open at her touch and he stared up at her with his blue eyes showing nothing. The look he gave her sent fear through her spine and she quickly pulled her hand away, almost as if she was burned.

"Troy..." she whispered and he got out of bed. He walked over to the closet with her eyes following his every move. "Talk to me...please." he moved away from the closet to walk over to the dresser, not saying a single word to her. "You can't do this."

"I can do whatever the hell I want." he said and walked out of the room and into the bathroom, leaving Gabriella by herself. She put her face in her hands and began to sob. She didn't want to loose him...not again. She screwed things up once already and now she was doing it again.

Troy came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, fully clothed. He was surprised to see Gabriella still sitting on his bed, her face stained with tears. Upon hearing the door close, she lifted her head and her eyes sent a wave a guilt down his back. He knew he shouldn't be mad at her, after all she did have a boyfriend, but she hurt him...badly and it didn't help him with his illness, it just made it worse. She slowly lowered her head and he walked over to her.

He grabbed her hand and she looked up. He pulled her off of the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." he whispered and she returned the hug.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." he said pulling away from her. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that."

"Why did you shut me out Troy?"

"Hey Troy..." Jason stopped in his tracks when he saw the two of them. "Oh...sorry. I didn't realize you were up here." he said to Gabriella.

"What's up?" Troy asked.

"Shar wants us to start heading into the city."

"We'll be right down."

"Okay but hurry, she is extremely impatient." Troy nodded and Jason left the room. Gabriella looked up at him, expectantly, waiting to get her answer. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a loud Sharpay.

"Will you two hurry up." Troy rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Can we talk about this later?"

"As long as you promise you'll tell me?"

"I promise Gabs." she nodded and they left the room. The second they got downstairs Sharpay scoffed a 'finally' and walked over to the garage door. Jason took a turn to drive, giving Troy and Chad a break.

Driving into the city was as quiet as it was the day before. No one knew why they weren't talking, all they knew was that they weren't talking. They were fifteen minutes away from the city when Chad found he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Will someone please say something." he yelled

"Something." Troy responded with a smug grin on his face and Chad glared playfully at his best friend.

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know." Chad rolled his eyes and looked to everyone else.

"Anyway...can we get a conversation started or something."

"What would you like to talk about?" Taylor asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know...anything."

"Let's talk about food." Jason said

"No." they all yelled and he sank a little in his seat.

"Ugh. Just forget it." Chad said and leaned his head against the window.

A few minutes later, they were driving through mid-town looking for a close place to park that was near Radio City Music Hall. After finding parking, they walked over to Radio City on 50th street. A long line await them but they stood patiently, waiting to be allowed in.

"So how good are these seats?" Zeke asked Sharpay.

"Front row, of course. Only the best for my friends."

It wasn't long before the line moved and everyone started going inside. All but two of the group of friends looked around at the interior of the building.

"Seventy-five years has got nothing on this place." Chad said and Kelsi nodded in agreement.

"Come on guys. We gotta go find our seats." Sharpay led the group into a doorway that revealed the stage in all it's glory. Sharpay showed their tickets to the usher and she led them to the front row, handing them a program.

They all took their seats and waited for the show to start. About ten minutes later, the lights went dim and everyone started to quiet down as the curtains opened. As Wintuk had, the show captivated them, keeping them until the very end.

The second the show ended, everyone was cheering, calling for an encore. They walked out of the theater, talking non-stop about it. The only one that stayed quiet was Gabriella. Troy noticed her serene stated and lagged behind just to ask her about it.

"Hey." he said and she looked up. "You okay?"

"Yeah just thinking."

"About the show?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Did you like it?"

"It was amazing." he smiled as he saw a soft smile playing on her lips. "I can't believe that show's been around for this long."

"Same here."

"Hurry up you two. Some of us want to go ice skating." Sharpay yelled and they went to catch up. The walked around the corner to Rockefeller Center, where a giant Christmas tree stood, overlooking the skating rink below.

They made their way downstairs where the rental booth stood. The guys rented hockey skates and the girls rented figure skates. They all walked onto the rink except for Gabriella. She stood off at the entrance, staring at the frozen rink with horror.

"Gabs what's wrong?" Troy asked as he skated over to her and she looked up.

"I-I've never ice skated before." she bit her bottom lip and looked back at the rink.

"Here." he said outstretching his hand. "Take my hand." she slowly grabbed his hand and he helped her onto the ice. She slipped once both feet were on the ice but he caught her in his arms. "You okay?" she nodded and tried to stand up. As he helped her regain her balance, she kept her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn't slip again and looked up at him once she was standing upright.

"Troy...I can't do this. I'm scared."

"Just relax." he said taking both her hands in his. "I won't let you fall, I promise." she nodded and he slowly, began skating backwards. She tried to move her feet as he did but she was too nervous to get control of her feet. She kept her eyes on her feet, wanting to make sure she didn't trip over her feet. "Gabriella" she looked up at him, his blue eyes making her feel safe "don't think about it. Thinking about it just makes it worse." she nodded and took a deep breath, letting her feet guide her. Soon she found herself skating perfectly well and she smiled brightly.

"I'm skating. I can't believe I'm actually skating."

"Then you wouldn't mind me doing this." he let go of her hands and let her glide on her own, moving so he wasn't in her way. She panicked for a little but relax when she got the hang of doing it on her own. But she got a little too confident and made a wrong step. She squealed and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. She felt herself falling but didn't feel herself hit the ground. "I told you I wouldn't let you fall." she opened her eyes and looked behind her. Troy had caught her at the last minute. She hadn't even realized he followed her but was glad he did. He helped her stand up straight but made no move to remove his arms from around her waist. To him, it felt right having her there.

"Um...Troy." Gabriella motioned to his arms still around her and he cleared his throat before removing his arms. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem." she smiled and gave him a gentle hug. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.

An hour passed by and the group left the skating rink. They headed over to the Olive Garden in Times Square to eat dinner. It was the first time since the day before that they didn't eat in silence. They talked about everything they could think of. After dinner, they went to find their cars and headed back to Long Island.

Once they got back to the beach house, they played a few games before finally turning in.

A/N: I know it's short but it's a weekday and I don't have much time to type it. For all who do not live in New York or have not been to NYC, Rockefeller center is a real place that actually does have an ice skating rink that's overlooked by a giant tree for Christmas. I think the tree this year is like 80 feet tall and decorated with over a thousand energy-saving lights.