"... Troy," Gabriella whispered in a soft voice, gently nudging him unaware he was finally on the bridge of sleep after a hectic living nightmare of a day of which, he'd endured. His emotions shot.

"Hmmm?" He murmured keeping his eyes closed and his back to her.

"I know this probably isn't the right time to ask but..." Gabriella stuttered, the idea having been on her mind for the past few weeks but, unsure where she had stood wih him until now- when she had slightly more clarity, she had left the idea alone.

"What?" Troy asked turning to look at her.

"I was wondering whether you would come to my prom with me?" Gabriella queried.

There was a short silence which, befell the room.

"Brie, prom's aren't really my kind of thing..." Troy started. "The only one I went to, I got kicked out off..."

"What for?"

"Some fight," He yawned. "Sleeping with someone's girlfriend.

"Oh... Well I guess it's ok you don't want to come," Gabriella told him. "... I mean I just thought I'd asked."

"Brie..."

"No it's ok," Gabriella assured him.

"Brie, you didn't let me finish," Troy chuckled doing his best to put the day behind him, helped by the fact he didn't need to see John Evans- Sharpay's father for another few weeks at one of his Dad's business meetings. Gabriella frowned in response studying his features.

"I meant that proms aren't really my kind of thing but, I'll go with you," Troy informed her softly.

"You would?"

"As long as my Dad never finds out," Troy replied.

She grinned and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him tightly before sensing how uncomfortable Troy had become at the sudden pressing attention, quickly pulling back.

--

During the next week Gabriella had managed to drag Troy shopping, even after discovering it was his most hated thing to do but, a simple smile and fluttering eyelashes had seen Troy's reluctance waver much to Gabriella's delight. She saw their shopping expedition as their first sign they were a couple despite his whining.

"You done?" He queried from the other side of the cubicle door, leaning against it as he glanced at his watch.

He'd already endured 2 hours worth of shopping and Gabriella had still to find her perfect dress. Troy, himself had not seen anything wrong with the array of colours and designs he'd encountered but, he was not an expert at this. This was Sharpay's expertise, after all he just picked up and wore whatever was clean on a daily basis and then discarded when the day was out.

"Hold your horses..." Gabriella giggled from the other side of the door.

"Brie..."

"Ok, ok..." Gabriella laughed pulling the door open where she stood in her shimmering blue dress, it fell to cover her kneecaps and fitted perfectly to her curves. She spun round on the spot she stood, nervous of his opinion to it as Troy hadn't uttered a word since she'd drawn open the door. "Well. What do you think? I mean..."

She was cut off by the feeling of his lips on hers and he forcefully pushed her back into the cubicle kicking the door shut behind them.

--

The next week was swift to occur, Gabriella had had to lie to Gina Montez and tell her that she was heading over to Taylor's to get ready for the Prom there knowing that her mother wouldn't allow her within visual distance of Troy. It was the excuse she had used everytime she visited Troy and stayed over and Gina was none the wiser.

"Troy will be here soon," Sharpay informed her letting her into the flat. "Just had some stuff to do."

"Yeah?"

"Errands or something," Sharpay shrugged. "Come on then, let's see this dress!"

Gabriella giggled and pulled the dress from her bag, it was the last dress she had tried on when Troy and her had ended up having sex in the changing room. She had loved his reaction and therefore hadn't bothered looking for another shape or design but, instead subjected Troy to another hour looking for the matching shoes.

"It's beautiful..." Sharpay smiled caressing the fabric.

"Thanks, I wish you were coming," Gabriella told her.

Over the past few weeks, Sharpay and Gabriella had become closer because of the one thing that seemed to bond them- Troy. Sharpay soon learned that Gabriella could be trusted and was glad to have some proper female company around, even if Gabriella did spend the majority of the time with Troy. Gabriella on the other hand envisioned Sharpay as her first proper friend that she actually truly cared about, she had even managed to convince the ice queen to give her a make over for the upcoming night.

"Ready?" Troy yawned leaning against the doorway, in a situation vaguely familiar to the changing room incident. He had got home to the flat twenty minutes prior and it hadn't taken him long to change into his tux, that Sharpay had gone out to buy for him after some constant whinging on his part. The bow tie had irritated him however, and he'd left it undone and hanging round his neck when he couldn't work out how to fix the accessory.

"Just a minute," Sharpay called adding the finishing touches to Gabriella's make-up. They'd forced Troy to wait outside- Sharpay's idea, having wanted the impact of Gabriella's transformation to be as prominent as possible with her usual shy characteristics painted over in favour of a bolder personality.

"Wow..." Gabriella smiled. "Thankyou."

"It's your beauty," Sharpay shrugged. "Didn't do much..."

"Brie..." Troy whined interrupting them.

"She's coming!" Sharpay exclaimed.

"About bloody time!"

"Go..." Sharpay urged. Gabriella swung the door open and was immediatley met with piercing blue eyes, his lips gently brushing hers.

"You look beautiful," Troy whispered.

"Mind the make-up!" Sharpay smirked interrupting the moment.

"Shar..." Gabriella giggled.

She kissed Troy once more before he entwined their hands together and headed out of the flat towards his car, leaving Sharpay to have a night in on her own. Troy ignored the aching pain in his side where he had fallen on the wrong side of his father, just a few hours previous- a habit that seemed to be easier to do these days as Jack Bolton took out most of his frustration on his son. He wanted to focus on Gabriella. For tonight to be about her.

--

"Looks like I'm going to be fighting off a few girls," Gabriella giggled upon their entrance to the East High, recognising a few stares in their direction. The first noticeably from Lucy, who was envious on who was flabbergasted to how bookworm Gabriella Montez had managed to secure the son of the biggest mafia boss as her date.

"As long as no-one asks whether I've killed anyone, we're fine," Troy smiled ignoring the looks they were recieving.

"I think they're too scared of you," Gabriella laughed pulling him to the dancefloor.

"Hmm..."

They found a spot in the middle and Gabriella turned round and wrapped her petite arms around Troy's neck, and he guided his hands to her waist.

"Thanks for doing this for me," Gabriella told him sincerley once their eyes had connected once more. "I know how you hate being centre of attention."

"It's fine," Troy insisted and Gabriella returned his smile resting her head against the thin white fabric of his shirt listening to the steady heartbeat omitting from him. And they danced.

--

"You know... I think I'm in love with you," Troy admitted quietly kissing her on the forehead.