A/N: Sorry for delay. Thanks to school, I truly suck at this!

Chapter 13

Sitting in the rowdy, cramped dining area of Pizza Hut would probably seem extremely un-romantic for anybody who was sort of familiar with normal relationships. But Gabriella wasn't. As she told Troy (completely honestly, she might add) it had been a while for her but it wasn't just that. She knew that the bond and the relationship which she shared with Troy was extremely different to any relationship she had witnessed in real life.

And when had Gabriella ever been normal?

She had never been in the situations which most teenage girls (especially her girl friends) had been in. She had never, ever, ever spent countless days and nights pining away for some guy. She hadn't drawn hearts around guys' heads in class pictures, she'd never sat drooling in class over the guy sitting in front of her and she certainly never spent her evenings crying over buckets of ice cream because she was the victim of unrequited love. She had never felt that pain and as long as Troy was staying with her, she didn't really think she would ever feel that pain.

However, she was squished in a booth with Amber on her right, against the wall, and Troy on her left and they were sat opposite Zeke, Sharpay and Charlie. It seemed impossible to think that two adults plus a small child could fit on a side of a Pizza Hut booth. But, that didn't matter. It had worked for them and the air around them was filled laughter and jokes and simply relaxation. Gabriella had been under strict instructions by Troy that she was, under no circumstances, not going to think about writing. After a rather loud and long argument which involved having Greg and Maria on Troy's side, Gabriella had left her notebook and purse at home.

Bottom line?

She was loving it.

A waiter appeared with their much anticipated pepperoni pizza with the stuffed crust. After he had left, Troy held his glass of water up. "I'd like to make a small toast," he explained. He cleared his throat nervously and smiled across at Gabriella. "I'd like to thank everybody. I've been a little..."

"Weird, strange, boring?" Gabriella supplied, smiling at him.

"Exactly," he agreed. "And because of this woman, right here, I'm finally feeling something apart from hopelessness and having to force a smile on my face. I feel like I have a family again."

Sharpay touched her glass to his. "You do have a family. And if Gabi ever, which she probably most definitely will, gets on your nerves, you can guarantee that one of the guys or one of us girls will be around to help."

Gabriella and Zeke laughed together. Zeke joined his glass in the clinking. "You're officially one of us now."

Gabriella touched her glass to just Troy's and linked their free hands together under the table. She looked him in the eyes. "Hollywood, you've always been a part of my family. My parents will tell you that," she said softly.

"Wait a minute," Charlie exclaimed as the adults placed their glasses back down.

Sharpay frowned and touched his head. "You alright, Charlie?"

He frowned but nodded. "Does this mean that Troy is another uncle for me? Because that would be really awesome and I'll never have too many uncles."

All of the adults laughed and Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Awesome. He's been hanging around Chad way too much." She turned her gaze to Troy and quirked an eyebrow. She gestured with her head to Charlie.

Troy looked to Gabriella who was looking at him expectantly. This was important to her. Sharpay and Zeke and the rest of her friends were simply an extension of her family, meaning that Charlie was her nephew. He looked back to Charlie and nodded at him. "Of course I'll be your uncle. And, besides, you can't have too many uncles, right?"

"Right!" Charlie exclaimed as he reached over the table to give Troy a high five.

The mouth-watering pizza in front of them slowly became smaller as slices began to take up their individual plates instead. Troy's and Gabriella's hands were still entwined under the table and Gabriella leaned into him comfortably. Troy picked up his slice of pizza and took a bite. He made a noise of appreciation.

Gabriella giggled at him. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Of course. It's just been a while since I had a good pizza like this."

Gabriella frowned up at him. "Have you just been a hermit for the past three years?"

He shrugged. "More or less."

"Anyway," Zeke began pointedly, "how's the book coming, Gabi?"

She shrugged.

"What is it?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella gestured for Troy to talk.

He sighed. "I'm not allowing her to even think about that book. I even managed to persuade her to leave that disgusting notebook at home."

Sharpay and Zeke gaped at him. "That thing has been attached to her since she was born. We hated it when she brought that out because we knew she wouldn't talk to us for about five hours," Sharpay exclaimed. "How'd you manage that?"

"Hey, I wasn't that bad," Gabriella exclaimed. "That was mean." She took a bite from her pizza slice and shot a fake glare in Sharpay's direction.

Troy shrugged. "Let's just say I had to call for reinforcements."

"What does that mean?" Amber asked, turning away from her conversation with Charlie about ketchup.

"It means that I had to ask for help from Gran and Grandpa," Troy explained.

Gabriella groaned in embarrassment. "Come on, guys, stop it."

Troy chuckled and kissed her temple. "Alright."

They were quiet for a while, too busy munching away happily on their pizza. "So," Zeke started, "do you guys have any upcoming plans?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Not yet. I think we're just allowing everybody, including ourselves, to adjust to our relationship." She felt a vibration in her pocket and brought out her mobile. She glanced at the screen and gasped. "Guys, I have to take this. Excuse me." She looked expectantly at Troy. "Can I get out, please?"

"Who is it?" he asked.

She sighed. "It's not another guy and it's not my agent now move, please?"

Troy reluctantly slid out of the booth, allowing her to slide out, too. He watched her leave the rowdy restaurant and then sat back down, next to Amber. "Do you guys know who it is?"

Sharpay shrugged. "Why are you so tense? This is Gabi. She wouldn't know how to juggle more than one guy so calm down."

He shook his head. "It's not that. Didn't you see her face? It broke my heart. She looked like she'd seen a ghost."

Zeke sighed. "Troy, you need to be patient with her. She's not going to be an open book. Especially with you."

Troy frowned. He was all too used to people keeping things from him and he didn't want Gabriella to be one of them. "Okay. Right." He pushed his plate away which still had a half-eaten slice of pizza on it. He suddenly wasn't very hungry. He stood up and grabbed his blazer jacket. "She may not tell me what's wrong but there is no way I'm just going to let her go at it alone. Watch Amber, okay?" He leaned down to kiss Amber's head. "Be a good girl." He stepped outside of the restaurant onto the pedestrian part of the town centre. He saw Gabriella sat on a bench a little way away, looking distant and vacant. He slowly headed her way and sat down next to her. Although he hadn't exactly been quiet, she still didn't seem to notice him. The streetlights were on, permitting a little extra light. He hesitantly rested a hand on her thigh and she seemed to jump and turn to him, only relaxing when she recognised him. "Ella," he whispered. He felt the chill of her skin even in the warm summer evening and gently moved her shoulders forward to drape his jacket around her.

She managed a small grateful smile at him and buried herself in his jacket. "Thank you," she whispered. She contented herself with inhaling Troy's scent deeply. She turned to Troy and blushed prettily. "I'm still a little cold. Could you hold me?"

He nodded and opened his arms, welcoming her to his embrace. "We can go inside if you want to," he offered.

She shook her head against his neck. "I can't. Not yet." She fiddled with her phone as if it held the key to life's mysteries.

"Ella, what happened?" he asked quietly. "I'm not mad that you left. I just care about you so much and I want to make things better."

She laughed and wiped the tears that were gathering in her eyes. "Don't say that. It makes it sound like we're in a normal relationship."

He chuckled and kissed her head. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

She rested a hand on his knee and sighed. She straightened up, breaking his embrace. She looked across at him and shrugged. "It was mi abuela," she murmured.

"Mi who-a-what-a?" Troy asked.

She laughed. "My grandmother." Her smile faded slightly. "I thought I could handle this. I almost could." She sighed. "Today was my grandpa's birthday," she whispered.

Troy stared at her but then sat up straighter to gently grip her waist. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged. "I thought I could handle it. I've handled it just fine when I was on my book tours." She paused and wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders. She rested her face in his neck and allowed her hands to feel his eagle wings where she knew his tattoo was. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "I guess that now that I'm back home, my life isn't as hectic as it is on my tours so I've got more time to think." She paused. "My grandma just wanted to know how I was doing, like she does every year, and we got talking about you and how much he would've loved you."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "I know so. I just wish he could've met you." She brushed some of his hair. "This probably seems really silly to you."

He shook his head. "No it doesn't. I just want you to be able to talk to me."

She breathed out deeply. "Do you want to stay at my place tonight? On the settee, I mean. I'm not too thrilled by the idea of being alone."

Troy smiled and nodded. "If that's what you want."

She nodded. "It is." She leaned forward and kissed him softly, gaining strength from his touch. She pulled back and smiled at him. "I guess we should go back in there."

Troy nodded but neither of them moved. He smiled and pulled her closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I know I don't show it that well but I care about you more than anybody else. I'm glad that you're mine."

Gabriella pulled back and blushed. "I didn't think it was possible for someone so irritating to be so corny. You're the second person on my list of people I care about."

He frowned. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Amber?"

He laughed and kissed her chastely. "Don't scare me like that."

She creased her brow. "Who did you think was number one? Zeke?"

"No," he exclaimed. "We've been down that road before and I have no wish to visit it again."

"For once we agree on something," she laughed.

He stood up, breaking their embrace. He held his hand out and gestured with his head to the restaurant. "Come on, you deserve some desert with me."

He was about to pull her towards the door but Gabriella stopped them. "Can you not tell them what happened out here?"

He frowned. "They're your friends."

"Exactly. And you're more than that. They don't need to know. I don't think they'll ask. They know what today is," she explained.

He nodded. "Okay then. If that's what you want, okay."

She smiled up at him. She paused and looked at their feet.

"What is it?" Troy asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're special to me. I want you to know that. Nobody has ever made me feel this way before."

He stepped forward and kissed her beneath the pool of light that the streetlamp was providing. He rested his hands on her waist, on top of his jacket that she was still wearing. He rubbed her arms comfortingly. He looked deeply into her eyes. "You feel it, too? I've been with a fair few women, not in recent years, I might add, but I've never felt this way."

She smiled up at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Troy. The resident American horse guy?" he said it as more of a question.

She laughed. "No. I mean, I've been so guarded about anything relating to my grandpa and with you, everything comes out."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't see that as a bad thing. Now before anyone sees us being almost nice to each other, let's get back inside. Sharpay will send out a search party if we're not back soon. Besides, I promised you desert. And, yes, I will pay for it."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's not start that again. It lasted long enough before."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Aw, Ella, haven't you learnt by now that arguments can never be too long."

"Do you want to go home and get anything?" Gabriella asked as she unlocked her front door. Amber was dozing on and off on her shoulder and Gabriella stepped inside.

Troy shook his head. "Not if you have a spare toothbrush."

Gabriella smiled. "Alright then. Well, as you're staying here, would you like some wine?"

"Merlot?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She giggled quietly and nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes. It is Merlot. Can you do that while I put Amber down and change into my pyjamas? If that's okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Of course it is. Where's the wine?"

"The pantry. The glasses are in there, too. I'll be upstairs if you need me," she murmured as she climbed the stairs with Amber in her arms.

Troy headed into the kitchen and opened the pantry to find, as promised, a bottle of Merlot with some wine glasses on the shelf below in the pantry. He set them all on the kitchen unit and then sighed, running a hand over his face. What was he doing? Honestly. Not all that long ago, he had been what many musicians would call 'comfortably numb' and moving through life with his day-to-day routine, depending on his shift at the ranch. He'd go to work, visit his mother at the home and spend some time with his dad, too, and then take Rain for a walk or a run. He'd never considered going out to look for a woman. He didn't really think a woman was what he wanted. What he wanted was for his mother to never have had her stroke.

But now, he had Gabriella. And that changed things. It changed things a lot. Although he still obviously wanted his mother to be better, he couldn't help but feel like he'd been wrong all of his years. He didn't expect to feel so good to have a woman to call his own. He knew their relationship was complicated. They yelled at each other every chance they got, Amber was involved, she was his boss' daughter and there was the possibility that she'd just leave again for another book tour. It wasn't the simple, care-free relationship he'd been accustomed to throughout secondary school. Back then, the only things that complicated matters were exams. This, though, was a whole other story.

So why was he setting himself up for the possibility of a broken heart?

It didn't make any sense. When they first met, Troy had honestly found the sheer sight of Gabriella repulsive and he was so adamant that he had hated her. And yet, he didn't. He doubted whether he ever had. The way he felt around her was almost surreal. He hadn't known what love was. He'd seen his parents experience it but how could he possibly understand how it actually felt to them? He hadn't ever known what to expect. He didn't know if it was like the Disney films but the way Gabriella made him feel was beautiful. It was indescribable.

Shaking the inner-babble from his mind, Troy began rummaging through the nearby drawers, searching for a corkscrew. Drawing a blank, he began climbing the stairs. He made his way across the landing towards the open door and was about to open his mouth when he just...stopped. Words escaped him. It was so simple. All he had to say was, "Ella, where is your corkscrew?" and that would be that. But his voice box seemed incapable of voicing anything.

He probably should've turned away and given Gabriella her privacy. But he was mesmerised by the way Gabriella moved in a pair of lilac shorts and a matching tank top. Her back was to him and he stared at her as she brushed her hair. The movements were slow, allowing the knots to unravel from her thick hair. Her shoulders were slim and the same dark skin tone as the rest of her. It was hard to think that someone who looked so calm and serene before him could exhibit such anger towards him.

He slowly stepped away from the doorway and walked back across the landing and sat down quietly on the top step. There was no way he'd get down the stairs given the way that his heart rate had increased dramatically. There was no doubt that she was beautiful. Nobody could deny that. And that's what had his heart racing and his palms sweating. His father always said that even now when his mother had grey hair, had a speech impairment couldn't use the right side of her body and her face was contorted because of her stroke, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to his father.

Troy sighed and wiped his hands nervously on his jeans. There was no way...right? Love didn't happen that way. It took time, something that he and Gabriella hadn't shared yet. It had only been a matter of weeks. He couldn't. Not yet.

But did he?

Is this what it felt like? To feel sick to the stomach with butterflies? To have your hands ever-so-attractively sweaty? To have his heart racing so fast that it felt as if he'd just done a hundred suicides?

Troy buried his face into his hands and only then realised that he'd been crying. He assumed that it was because he was happy. After all, he had just concluded that he was in love with his girlfriend. But, through the jumble of his mind, he struggled to actually find the source of the crying.

He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He swiped his hands away from his face and sighed with relief when he saw Gabriella sat beside him. He swallowed nervously and felt the tears continue to drip down his cheeks at the sight of her.

"Hollywood?" she whispered. "What is it? Is your mum okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he breathed. "She's fine as far as I know."

"Do you want to go home? You don't have to stay here," she offered.

He shook his head frantically. "I can't leave you. I need you," he admitted.

Gabriella glanced at the shut door to their left. "Hey, listen, do you feel okay? Like, can you make it downstairs? I don't want Amber to wake up."

Troy wiped his cheeks and nodded. "I think so."

Gabriella stood up and held her hand out. "Come on, Hollywood, you need some wine." She wrapped an arm around his waist and began helping him down the stairs.

"I couldn't find your corkscrew," he sniffed.

"That doesn't matter. I know where it is," she murmured. She led him into the lounge and set him down on the settee. "Stay there, okay? I'll get us some wine and you can tell me what's bothering you, okay?"

"You're not mad?" he asked.

She frowned and opened her mouth before she closed it again. "Why would I be mad?"

"Didn't I ruin the mood?"

"I don't care. There'll be plenty of other nights that will have the right mood. I'm more concerned about you," she admitted before she disappeared back into the kitchen. She returned a couple of minutes later with two glasses of wine and she handed one to him as she sat down next to him, tucking her legs under herself. She took a languid sip from the Merlot and rested a comforting hand on his thigh. She felt his muscles tense beneath the denim of his jeans. "Please talk to me," she pleaded quietly.

Troy wiped his eyes and placed his wine glass on the windowsill to his right. "I went upstairs to find you because I couldn't find the corkscrew. I went to your bedroom, I saw the door open, and was about to ask but I saw you. Not naked or anything. But I just watched you brushing your hair and I thought about how beautiful you are."

In his moment's pause, Gabriella leaned across him to place her wineglass next to his. "Take your time," she encouraged.

Troy nodded and reached for her hand, finding comfort from her touch. "I thought about my dad because he still says, after all of this time, that my mom's the most beautiful woman in the world." He turned to her and pulled her closer. "Ella, I think I've fallen in love with you."

Gabriella stared into his blue eyes. "You mean that?" she whispered.

Troy nodded solemnly. "I've never been so sure about anything before. I mean, it scares the hell out of me."

She cracked a smile. "You'll be okay." She paused. "Troy, I know that you're hoping for me to return it and I want to but can I take a rain check on that? I want to be sure of what I feel before I say it."

Troy sighed and brought her into his arms. "Take your time," he murmured. "I just needed you to know how I feel."

Gabriella rubbed his leg and tilted her head to look at him. "I hate to break the whole this-is-how-I-feel thing but who knew that Troy Bolton could cry?"

He smiled down at her and kissed her resolutely on the lips. "Hey, feel privileged. I don't cry over every daughter of my boss."

She poked his chest. "Good. Because I don't let all of my dad's employees sleep over and confess their love for me."

"I'm glad to hear that, Ella," he whispered. "I don't want to share you in that way."

She shook her head. "You don't have to."

"Sharpay said that you wouldn't know how to juggle more than one guy," he mumbled.

She pulled a face at him as she snuggled into his strong embrace. "I probably couldn't. For one thing, I'd have to lie and I can't do that. For another thing, let's face it: I have you, Amber, my friends, my family and my agent to juggle. Could I really cope with hiding another guy?"

Troy chuckled. "That's true." He reached for his wine and took a sip before he replaced it.

Mi abuela – my grandmother