The next morning as the alarm clock sounded, Troy and Gabriella both opened their eyes and climbed out of bed. Overnight, they had slept cuddled against one another; that was Troy's way of saying 'I'm sorry' to Gabriella yet again for going in his room without knocking while she was changing clothes. Gabriella had accepted it and been grateful for the comfort she had felt while sleeping.

"So, are you feeling better than you were yesterday?" Troy wondered.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied. "Much better. And if Chad doesn't tease me at school today or bother us both, everything should be perfect. Though I kind of doubt that he will stop with all he does."

"That's good; I'm sure our cuddles was what made it all better, right?"

Gabriella giggled. "Well, they helped."

"Gabriella, can we sit back down on my bed? I want to talk to you about something."

"We just got up," Gabriella reminded Troy.

"I know, but I really, really wanna talk to you." Troy took a seat on his bed, his back leaning against his pillow, and held out his arms in an indication that he wanted to hold Gabriella close.

Gabriella decided to give into Troy's request and climbed onto the bed next to him, snuggling against his side and resting her head on his shoulder. "So, Wildcat. What do you wanna talk to me about?"

"Our future."

Gabriella gave Troy a questioning look.

"For our freshman year of college, we'll both be required to stay on campus. However, in sophomore year, I don't think I'll want to deal with a roommate and all anymore. So I was wondering if maybe when that time comes, if you would wanna look at some apartments in between our schools and pick one to move into."

"So in other words, you want to live together?"

"Yeah."

Gabriella giggled. "Well, I accept the offer, but I thought you just got finished saying that you didn't wanna put up with a roommate. I'll be like a roommate if we're living together."

"It'll be different. You're my girlfriend." And probably will be my fiancé by that time, if I'm brave enough to propose to her during this college year....and if Chad doesn't keep interrupting, Troy added silently.

"That sounds great, though. It'll be good practice for when I'm married and need to cook and take responsibility for housework."

"Gabriella, you're talking like you're thinking of moving out after college is over."

"Troy," Gabriella began, looking straight into her boyfriend's eyes, "The person I would marry would be you."

Troy smiled and leaned down to kiss Gabriella's lips.

Gabriella eagerly returned the kiss.

As Troy and Gabriella kissed one another, they heard a crack of thunder outside, followed by the sound of rain falling onto the rooftop.

Chad can't come over, Troy thought excitedly. And my parents will probably think we're getting ready for school; the time is perfect, too. The moment is so right. Then, as he pulled away from the kiss, he connected his eyes with Gabriella's and told her, "I love you."

Gabriella felt her eyes become glossy with happy tears. She never thought that the day would come. The day when both she and Troy could finally let their feelings out. "I love you, too," she said.

Troy leaned over and kissed Gabriella's lips again.

Gabriella kissed back before wrapping both of her arms tightly around Troy's waist and placing her head against his chest. "Just so you know, Wildcat, I would never dream of marrying anyone except you. You're the only one I ever considered good enough to be my husband."

"Well then, you're lucky because during this college year, I have a surprise for you," Troy spoke while returning Gabriella's embrace.

"You're thinking about proposing, aren't you?"

"I can't tell you the answer to that. You'll just have to wait and see."

"You know, I just realized that we just had an entire conversation without any interruptions."

"Well, it's raining and thundering. Chad wouldn't be stupid enough to try to come here in the rain, would he? Well, maybe he would. He doesn't think through things sometimes."

Gabriella giggled slightly. "I agree."

Troy placed a kiss onto the top of his girlfriend's head and then looked over at his clock. It was twenty after six. "We have twenty-five minutes until we need to leave," he announced.

"Can't we just stay here all day?"

"I wish," Troy murmured.

"Wildcat, how many kids do you wanna have?"

"Kids? Sweetheart, as much as I would be thrilled to have babies with you, that's still a long way off. Don't you think we should get through college before any children are born?"

"Of course. I guess I'm just getting a little ahead."

"That's okay. We do have an exciting future coming up. Well, it looks like we do, anyway. Though when the time comes, I would like to have a minimum of two. A son and a daughter. How many do you want?"

"As many as we end up with. As long as you're the father of them, I'll have any amount-even ten."

"Sweetheart, we are definitely not having ten kids. I would go crazy. Especially if one was like Chad."

"You really think we would have a mini Chad?"

"Well, my dad gets like Chad sometimes, and since he would be the baby's grandfather, some traits from him might get into our son or daughter."

"I hope not."

"You know, it's six-thirty now. We have fifteen minutes until we need to leave for school. Are you going in your pajamas?"

"No. I don't feel comfortable wearing them around people I'm not close to. The shorts are ripped and the top just looks old. I don't wanna get teased."

"Alright. Well since I have on shorts and a t-shirt, I'll probably just go like this to school. I don't have time for a shower. I guess I'll need to get one when we get home."

"I don't have time to shower, either. I'm just gonna go in the bathroom, get dressed, then quickly comb through my hair."

"Sounds good. I'll grab some granola bars to eat in my truck on the way to East High."

"Okay; you go do that. I'll meet you downstairs in about ten minutes."

"Alright."

Troy and Gabriella then both went to do what they needed to do, their thoughts filled with the things they had just discussed with one another that morning, especially the 'I love yous.' They thought it would never happen, but it finally did. And there wasn't a more perfect moment for it, either.

Sorry this was so short. Anyway, I want to thank writingnut2010 for giving me the idea of how to get rid of Chad (LOL) so Troy and Gabriella could finally tell each other how they felt:)