Girl Talk - End of November

"No - and I don't see what business it is of yours."

"Come on Gabi, you're telling us you have that hunk of yours all to yourself and all you guys do is talk?" Elizabeth popped rice chip into her mouth as she pushed her books away in favor of a more interesting topic. "I don't buy it."

"Me either." Elaine supplied. "There's no way a healthy, red blooded female wouldn't have jumped his bones by now."

"We're supposed to be compiling a dissertation on the application of the environmental codes and sanctions we saw in action, not dissecting my love life."

Elizabeth snorted. "Honey, you ain't got a love life. Bear or not, if I had that dream to myself all the time like you do, he'd never leave my bed!"

Gabriella colored. "Troy and I aren't... I mean, we don't..."

"Aren't what - human?" Elaine arched her eyebrows. "Gabi, you're not in high school anymore - what's wrong with experimenting a little?"

"We experiment." Just not at the same pace other couples apparently did.

"You're still a virgin," Elizabeth pointed out indelicately. "Which means you don't experiment enough."

"For who?" Gabriella wanted to know dryly. "There are more important things in life than making out with your boyfriend."

"Says you," Elaine returned with a smirk. "There's something very liberating about driving a man to distraction so he loses control - in seducing him to the point of-"

"I'm not going to seduce Troy!"

"Why not? Is he still a virgin?"

"El!" Gabriella rounded on the usually more docile of the two. "I know you guys think it's weird, but it's none of your business what Troy and I do or don't do behind closed doors. Can we please get back to the project?"

Elizabeth reached for another chip. "Actually, since you introduced him to us, it's become our business. Men are men, Gabi; they want one thing and one thing only. That yours is just more patient or calculating about it doesn't mean he doesn't want to nail you."

Gabriella slammed her book closed. "Troy is a gentleman, Liz - and I'm not going to waste my time arguing with the two of you about the merits of waiting until I feel I'm ready for that step when we have a project to finish."

Elaine and Elizabeth shared a look and broke into laughter. "She didn't deny it, notice that El?"

"Sure did. Come on, Gabi, spill - Troy finds you attractive, right?"

"For more than just my body, thank you very much." Collecting her books, Gabriella tossed them a disgusted look.
"He's not as shallow as that football player you dated during the summer."

"Zing, point to Gabi," Elizabeth crowed with a smirk, enjoying the normally docile Gabriella's show of temper. "So your man has scruples - that doesn't mean he still doesn't want to nail you. A guy is still a guy, no matter what manners he possesses."

Stuffing her books into her bag and zipping her bag closed with a vicious tug, Gabriella pushed to her feet. "I'll study at Troy's - at least he doesn't waste my time with useless talk!" Not that he was home at that moment, being that he was in Albuquerque to play the Red Hawks - but that was beside the point.

"Bet he'd like to 'waste' your time doing something else." Elaine shot back. "Troy's no saint, no matter how high on that pedestal you put him."

Gabriella leaned over the table to glare at the two other women equally. "Troy may not be a saint, but at least he trusts me and respects my privacy - just as I do his."

"Secrets are a very bad thing in a long lasting relationship."

"What would you know about them? You go through men like they're towels and brag about it. Have you ever been in a relationship for more than three weeks?"

"For your information," Elizabeth returned smugly. "My high school boyfriend and I were steady over six months."

"And mine," added Elaine, "was my best friend in junior high. You're not the only one with a track record."

"A serious relationship girls." Gabriella scoffed. "Neither of you would know what that was if it hit you in the face. How old were you when your slept with him, El? Fourteen?"

"Fifteen, actually." Was the smug reply.

"And you Liz?"

"The same."

"And where are those boys now?"

Elizabeth and Elaine shared a look and then shrugged nonchalantly. "Who cares."

"Exactly."

"And just what do you mean by that?"

Gabriella's smile turned smug as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Both of you lost your high school boy toys. Was there anything more there than the physical attraction?"

"Is there anything else?"

"I'm serious, Liz. Was there anything more between you and the boy you were with than chemistry?"

"It's called sex," Elaine put in helpfully - and was ignored.

"Of course not," scoffed Elizabeth. "Ryan was nice, but he was better looking than he was smart; and he had the biggest-"

"Stop!" Gabriella slapped her hands over her ears, her face flaming. "I don't want to hear it. There is more to a guy than his looks or what hangs between his legs!"

Elaine snickered. "You couldn't say that without blushing if you tried."

"It's not a crime to be innocent."

"Honey, it should be a crime when you've got that good looking of a man who's not getting any."

"I'd be careful, Gabi - if Troy doesn't get some from you eventually, he'll go looking somewhere else."

"Troy isn't like that."

"He's a guy," Liz answered sagely. "Guys need to get laid or it screws with their heads - both of em."

"You're wrong. Troy was my friend before he was my boyfriend. We have more than just chemistry, more than just physical attraction and that neither of you have ever felt something even remotely close to the way I feel for him is the only reason I'm having this discussion at all. You can't possibly understand."

"What, love?" Elaine arched her eyebrows and waggled them. "Love is an excuse to procreate something guys tell you so they'll get into your pants and forget about once they leave you without saying goodbye. If you're really lucky, they stick around a time or two, try and show you something you've never done before and give you some pretty awesome memories to masturbate to."

"Elaine!" Gabriella's face burned even hotter.

"Don't be such a prude, Gabi; masturbation is perfectly normal."

"I'm not getting into this."

"I bet Troy would like to get into you."

"I've had it with you two!"

"Aww, come on, Gabi, don't be like that. We just don't want to see you get your heart broken when Troy finally moves on. You're a Cardinal; he's a Bear - it can't work."

Gabriella was at the door when Elaine chose to get in her parting shot. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Gabriella turned with a surprisingly controlled smile on her face, her eyes glittering with suppressed anger. "Whatever happens between Troy and I is between Troy and I. Any parting we might face in the future will be mutual - it's what friends do - and not because of what school we attend! When the two of you are ready to study Law again, let me know."

Leaving the dorm, Gabriella walked swiftly to where she'd left her bike locked up. Troy was in Albuquerque for his game against the Red Hawks and wouldn't be home until early morning and she'd intended to finish off the last of the dissertation they'd been working on as a joint project. She'd already handed in the other three major projects she'd needed for her classes and if she'd managed to get this one done tonight, her time would be her own until exams - which meant the possibility of more time with Troy even if it meant they were just studying for finals together.

Unlocking her bike with swift, jerky movements, she couldn't believe her study group; how did they even think what she did or didn't do with Troy was any of their business? She was seventeen - eighteen in less than two weeks - and it wasn't as if she was in any rush to explore the pleasures of the flesh Elaine and Elizabeth seemed to put so much stock in.

The wind tugged at her hair and her clothes as she rode away from Stanford, keeping to the well lit pathways that would take her either home - or to Troy's. The breeze caressed her face, cooling heated cheeks, and doubt was given time to creep in as her feet pedaled rhythmically. Could her study buddies know something she didn't? College changed people every day and they knew about men in general - at least, the men they'd been involved with - and she knew very little beyond her experiences with Troy.

Her minimal experiences with Troy.

Could they be right? Could they know something she didn't or was it just a jaded view of things their experiences dictated they know? Was what she had with Troy so abnormal, so beyond the realm of understanding that their age group couldn't hope to accept it? Was it something so... strange? In High School she hadn't thought so, but then everyone had been so accepting, so supportive - so understanding. Here, they lacked that support structure and had only one another to lean on.

Since hitting college, anyone who found out about her relationship - be it study partners, focus groups or just acquaintances - only seemed interested in what they did between the sheets. College was like one big cesspool of tips and hints and secrets about how to please your partner. Sex chat disguised as school work. And if they found out - like Elaine and Elizabeth - that there was nothing happening, it was met with blatant disbelief or scoffing. She couldn't count the number of times she'd been accused of being a liar or, worse, hanging out with him to hide her true orientation.

Normally she could brush off the comments, but since the last time she'd spend the night at his place, Troy hadn't so much as kissed her and she'd been questioning the wisdom of her actions. It felt as if he was distancing himself, intentionally or not, from what had happened; as if he didn't want it to happen again.

Could it be that was the case?

Her heart ached thinking it as she rode past the turn off that would take her to Troy's empty apartment, and headed instead for home. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but surely the physical aspects of it weren't intimidating to him – he had said he was looking forward to the day they would do more, but not until they were ready. Could it simply be he wasn't ready, or that he wasn't ready to take that step with her? Confused and silently cursing herself a fool for even considering Elizabeth and Elaine's comments – for letting them affect her when they shouldn't be able to - she tried to push them away.

Yet they refused to go. It wouldn't be bothering her if there wasn't something to it, and until she knew exactly what, she couldn't bring it up with Troy.

----------

Early that morning as Gabriella was re-writing the end of their dissertation, she received text message from Elaine that read:

Google the "Golden Kissing Bear"

We didn't want to hurt u, but how much proof do u need?

It makes 2 - and who knows how many others since the season started

Lips thinning, Gabriella glared at the message, wondering what exactly they were getting at. Despite the tight feeling in her stomach, she opened her browser and Googled the phrase. The links appeared swiftly, including a video on You Tube, but she clicked on the first link - and sat back in surprise.

Photos glared at her from the computer screen.

One was of her and Troy at the first game of the Bear's season when he'd kissed her in front of everyone. Her own features were indistinct but the number on his jersey was clearly visible. That her friends didn't know it was her in that photograph was obvious and she spared it barely a look. She well remembered how that kiss had made her toes curl and didn't need photographic evidence to revisit it. Just thinking about that night was enough to make her ache - and not all in good ways.

Scrolling down, she stopped, her finger poised over the mouse wheel as the second photo held her attention and everything Elaine and Elizabeth had been trying to tell her suddenly ricocheted around inside her head.

A red headed cheerleader from Albuquerque clung to Troy, her legs around his waist, her hands wrapped around his head - and her lips glued to his. Troy's hands were on her back, fisted in her jersey.

It took mere moments of looking at the picture to push those thoughts to the recesses of her mind. Gabriella closed the window with a deliberate click; there was an explanation for it - a good one, she was certain. Despite her doubts about certain aspects of their relationship, she didn't even consider what the picture implied; she trusted him implicitly.

Troy would never, ever cheat on her.