A/N: I think you'll like this chapter :) I liked writing it. :P I'm going to be working on the next chapter of 'Royalty meets Reality' now. Follow me on twitter: WiLdCaTgIrL_14
Don't own HSM x
Gabriella swung her legs back and fore. Two weeks. It had been two long weeks without Troy or Carl or Sharpay or Greg or anybody from Albuquerque. Well, she'd been calling and e-mailing the latter three but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to be able to get up and walk downstairs and find her brothers crowded around the island. She wanted to be able to talk to Sharpay and to play some basketball with Carl and to see Greg. After everything that had happened she just wanted to see him. But, his voice had sufficed this long at she could get through one more week, surely.
She shifted carefully and grunted as she clung tightly to the large trunk of the tree she was currently sitting in. Daisy was lying protectively at the bottom on the small patch of grass that surrounded the tree. Gabriella had wanted some peace and quiet. And it was definitely peaceful and quiet. Sure, she'd climbed loads of trees, especially since she met Troy, but she didn't realise exactly how bloody high this particular tree was. Maybe there was something about California that made trees grow quicker or maybe trees in Albuquerque were smaller…Gabriella didn't know. All she knew was that she was holding on to the tree trunk for dear life.
She couldn't deny that she missed Troy. Ever since she'd broken it off with him, she hadn't voluntarily spoken of her own accord. She had only spoken when spoken to and even then, there wasn't the bouncy tone that had been laced into her voice ever since her relationship with Troy had been established. And she hadn't corrected anyone's faults in the classes she was taking, either, which was rare. Gabriella had been widely known throughout West High because of how she would always correct someone, student or teacher, if they made a mistake in class.
Troy had become like a light. After all of her worry over being accepted into Stanford, he'd stepped into her life and comforted her by simply leaving a trace of his scent in her room. Now all she had of him was the locket and his denim jack that he refused to take back. She missed his smell. She liked it. She missed his voice. It had a terrible knack of making her weak in the knees. Especially since their first time making love. All Troy had to do was send her a smirk and talk and she was practically ripping his clothes off. That was another thing: she missed the way he simply held her. The way his muscles flexed was he cradled her tightly to his body. She missed his protectiveness. She missed his eyes, his nose, and his lips…his face. But, she missed the look in his eyes whenever he looked at her. His cerulean eyes were always sparkling, shining with love for her. That was all it took for her to want to kiss him.
She had dreams about him. She'd dream about how it felt when Troy saved her. She'd dream about their first date, when he asked her to be his girlfriend. She'd dream about the many times they'd spent in the field and in her bedroom. But, then she'd get herself in a right state because she'd dream about the morning she broke up with him. She'd wake up in a cold sweat and tangled in her sheets with tears dampening her cheeks.
It was bloody ridiculous, if she was honest. She'd broken up with the most perfect guy in the universe and he never once tried to get her back. He hadn't even called her. He did, however, send her a rather long and rambling e-mail that told her that he was glad she'd chosen her family over him. But, that had been a couple of days after the break up happened, as in a couple of weeks ago. It's as if he didn't want her back.
That was a possibility, considering who he was in comparison to her. She was a small town girl with the big ambition of becoming a paediatrician who only had some status because the men of her family had been West High heroes ever since West High existed. Troy Bolton, on the other hand, not only had status in Albuquerque because of ancestors, he had status because he was the captain of the basketball team. That meant that he had girls throwing themselves at him. She'd known that, of course, when they'd been together. But, she knew he'd stayed true. When it came to her, he was terrible at lying. But, the point was, ultimately, that he could have anyone he wanted. And she was positive that he'd be on Broadway and be an international basketball superstar. Why would he stick to the small town girl that turned him down because she wanted to be her daddy's princess?
She had no idea. But, she'd expected him to at least try to go against what everyone wanted. It wasn't like they hadn't done it before. She wanted him to disobey their fathers again to try to get her back. Although, it was pretty inevitable that he was depressed again. She honestly didn't want that. Of course she didn't. She loved him more than her life. However, she had to thank his screwed up appendix. Without him nearly dying, he'd never had become depressed. Without his depression, he wouldn't have known she needed saving.
But, that didn't mean she wanted him to get depressed again. She really appreciated the comforting – "Ah!" Gabriella screamed. She was brought out of her thoughts when there were two simultaneous, rather loud, barks. She fell backwards, her eyes squeezing shut in fear. Maybe hurting herself wouldn't be so bad in comparison to how she felt. She felt terrible for lying to Greg, although he's told her he'd forgiven her. But, she was heartbroken without Troy, especially since she was the one who broke it off.
She grunted at the feel of two familiar arms, arms she'd been craving for the past few weeks, and her eyes flung open, immediately drowning in the distinctive sapphire eyes she'd fallen in love with. "Troy!" she exclaimed before she wrapped her arms around his neck and crashed her lips onto his.
He moaned against her at the sudden contact. He responded eagerly, holding her firmly against his body like a bride. He felt her tongue dance hurriedly with his own. All of the pent up love, passions and sexual frustration was all being released and they hadn't said two words to each other yet. He was feeling her. Oh, god, he was kissing her. He really was. She was here, in his arms. The kiss was more hurried than ever before but neither of them complained.
Gabriella suddenly pulled back, her chocolate eyes going wide with shock. "Troy!" she repeated as she clambered down from his arms scurried back a few feet. She glanced over to Daisy who was being happily greeted by Blitzen and then she turned back to Troy. "What the hell are you doing here?"
He shrugged sheepishly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I came to rescue you."
"So, you knew, a thousand miles away, that I'd fall out of a tree?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged. "I told you to be careful!" he exclaimed. "I knew you'd need rescuing."
"It was Blitzen that startled me," she muttered. "I was fine up there."
"You looked kind of tense," he said slowly.
She rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "I didn't realise how high it was." She sighed and walked over to him to wrap him in a tight embrace, her left cheek pressed against his cheek. "I've missed you," she admitted quietly.
Troy wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. He ran his fingers through her hair and then ran his hands down her back. "I've missed you, too." He suddenly frowned as he held her tighter to his body. "Brie," he muttered, "you've lost weight."
"I know," she cringed. "I didn't feel like eating and because my mom isn't here," she paused to pull back to look at him, "I just…didn't."
"Oh, baby Brie!" he exclaimed. "Don't go anorexic on me. You're small enough as it is."
She rolled her eyes tiredly. "I know. But, I felt so lonely here. It's been awful," she admitted as she moved away from Troy and sat on the low wall that surrounded the tree.
Troy sat down next to her. "It was? I never thought I'd hear you say that."
"You know what I mean," she whispered. "How are you?"
Troy shrugged. "Bored, depressed, bored, tired, bored and…lonely. I've barely talked."
Gabriella looked across at him. "I didn't want to walk away. But, I felt I had to. I felt like I didn't have a choice. I'm so sorry."
"It's not just you," Troy admitted quietly. "We were both stupid. You just gave up and I wouldn't run after you."
"That's why you're here," she realised. "Right?"
Troy chuckled quietly to himself. "You know, maybe I just thought I'd drive a thousand miles in my truck, almost killing her in the process, just to wander aimlessly around Stanford's campus."
Gabriella leaned against him, snaking her arms around his muscular arm. Her head fell lightly onto his shoulder. "There's that sarcasm."
Troy smiled to himself. "They're okay with it, you know," he whispered.
Gabriella sighed and let go of him to move away from him. "Troy, please," she whispered.
"What?" he asked. "They practically begged me to come up here!"
Gabriella's brow creased as the cogs in her head whirred to life. She lifted her head, staring straight ahead. It made sense: why he'd waited so long to chase after her. He didn't want to. If Greg had told Jack that she was depressed and then asked Troy to make it better… "Get into your truck and drive away," she said lowly.
"Excuse me?" Troy asked.
Gabriella threw her hands up and turned to him in disbelief. "Is that the only reason you're here? Because everyone actually wanted you to? That makes no sense but, whatever."
"Why would you think that?" Troy demanded.
"It took you this long to come and find me!" she yelled.
"Because I didn't want to interfere anymore," he shot back and got to his feet. "You chose to break up with me and do you know what I thought? I thought how it must've been terrible for you to do that. You gave up your happiness for your family. I didn't run after you right away because I will never be able to do something like that." He shrugged sheepishly. "I'm a guy and you're incredibly beautiful and amazing…I'm weak. But, you deserve so much more than me and I didn't want to force you to make that decision again. I became depressed again because I thought it was right."
Gabriella looked up at him and sighed as tears trickled over her cheeks. "I didn't know. I waited all of this time, expecting you to just fight for me and chase me like you did after the paint. But, you didn't. I thought, well, I'd convinced myself, that you didn't want me anymore."
Troy frowned and sat back down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Gabriella, don't ever think that. I've told you before: I'll always love you. I love you more today than yesterday and I know I'll love you more tomorrow than I love you today. I'll always want you in my life. I mean, if you don't want me that's totally cool because-" he was cut off by two lips hurriedly pressing themselves against his.
Gabriella giggled against him at his lack of response. She pulled back when he completely failed to return the kiss. "You okay? You've never been one to refuse a kiss. Usually," she started softly as she snaked a hand subtly under his shirt, "you're the one to…further it."
"God, I've missed you," he muttered. "Does this mean we're together?"
She removed her hand from beneath his shirt and sighed. "Are you sure my dad's okay with it?"
Troy nodded. "Yeah. Would you like to talk to him?"
After a moment of thinking it over, Gabriella nodded. "I think I will." She rested her hand on his neck and leaned closer to kiss him. "I love you."
Troy nodded. "I love you, too."
Gabriella gave him a genuine smile as she got her phone out and she pressed speed dial number two. She held it to her ear and sighed with contentment as she leaned against him. His hand slipped from her shoulder and dropped down to her waist. She felt him move the white material of her tank top aside and dipped his thumb beneath the waistband of her capris pants. She rolled her eyes to herself and released a quiet giggle. The dial tone suddenly stopped and she swallowed hard. "Daddy?"
"Princess?" Greg whispered. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm really excellent, actually. You see, I had an interesting visitor just now. He said that you're okay with us being together," she said softly. "Is that true?"
Greg sighed. "Well, if I'm honest, not the part where you have been inappropriately intimate with a Bolton."
Gabriella groaned. "Dad! Back on track, please. I swear, I'm not pregnant. Do I have your blessing or not?"
Greg cleared his throat. "Yes. Not because of who he is but…because he'll make you happy. Remember this night, okay? I love you, princess."
Gabriella smiled to herself. "I love you, too, Daddy. This blessing, though, it includes everyone else, right? And on the East side of Albuquerque."
"Yes, sweetheart, everyone wants you together. Just enjoy tonight. I'm not going to bother to tell you not to have sex because you'll just-" He was cut off when Gabriella slid her phone down, effectively hanging up.
She suddenly released a giggle. "My dad…My dad is going crazy. But, I'm not complaining." She suddenly looked at Troy and stood up. "You do realise we have almost three weeks to catch up on."
Troy smiled to himself as he stood up and they both walked over to get their dogs. Troy picked both leashes up and handed Daisy's to Gabriella. They linked hands and began to stroll aimlessly around the quad. He subtly put his free hand into his pocket and felt the weight of the little square box. He had Greg's blessing. Greg had assured him that everyone would be behind them a hundred and ten per cent, too. Now, he just needed to get it out in the open.
"You're deep in thought," Gabriella commented as she stopped them by a wall and pushed Troy up against it, grinning up at him. "Anything interesting?"
Troy groaned at the feel of her body pushed up against his. He took his hand from his pocket and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and smiled down at her. "Only about you."
She giggled. "I'm flattered."
"Are we, you know, officially back together?" he asked.
She reached up to run her fingers through his bangs. "I wouldn't have it any other way," she whispered before she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips across his.
"Baby, will you do me a favour?" he asked quietly.
She nodded as she stepped away from him. "I'll do anything for you," she said softly as Daisy's leash fell to the ground.
"Great," he mumbled before he discreetly took the box from his pocket. He dropped Blitzen's leash and smiled at her as he got down on one knee, hearing a soft gasp escape the Latino girl in front of him. He brought the box out for her to see and snapped it open, revealing a silver engagement ring with a reasonable looking diamond placed in the centre. "Marry me, Gabriella," he murmured.
Gabriella frowned. They'd only been back together for ten minutes, give or take a few! Now, he was proposing? What about college? Their futures? Although, marriage didn't sound all that bad. Mrs Troy Bolton… It had a certain ring to it. And Blitzen and Daisy would be ecstatic. Not to mention that he'd be officially off limits to every other female. Maybe it was a good idea. There wouldn't be a fear of him getting depressed and they'd never be lonely ever again. Their families were okay with everything now. Or were they? Maybe Troy hadn't told them… Maybe they were only okay with them being boyfriend and girlfriend.
"My dad," she muttered almost silently.
"He knows," Troy whispered. "I asked him for his permission to ask his only daughter to marry me. He said yes. What about you?"
Tears coursed down her cheeks and a sob escaped her lips that sounded vaguely like a 'yes'. Troy couldn't be sure but the vigorous nodding of her head confirmed it. He slipped the ring onto her delicate finger before he stood up and kissed her passionately as he encased her in his arms, spinning her around. He set her back on the ground and saw her looking at her new ring. "Is it okay? Do you like it?"
She giggled and nodded. "I love it. I do. How long are you here for?" she asked, her smile slipping slightly.
Troy smirked and backed them up until her back was pushed up against the wall. "Well, you see, Brie, my truck can only cope with so much. I don't think I should drive her for a week."
"A week?" Gabriella exclaimed excitedly. "Until the end of the programme?"
Troy nodded. "Yes. My dad's sorting school out."
She pulled him down to give him a kiss. "I love you so much," she muttered against his lips as the kiss became deeper and more heated. Their tongues battled furiously for dominance and Troy's hand had already brought her bra strap away from her shoulder. She pushed him away breathlessly and he stumbled back slightly.
"What?" he released, halfway to a whine.
She giggled as she picked the two dog leashes up and gripped his hand, leading him towards a large building to their right. "I guess you have to stay with me."
"My stuff," he said and gestured half-heartedly at his truck that was still producing smoke in the distance.
Gabriella released a groan. "Get it in the morning," she decided as she pulled Troy and the two dogs into the building and up two flights of stairs.
"I can't believe they let dogs in this place," Troy mumbled.
Gabriella stopped outside of a door at the end of the corridor and released Troy's hand to dig into the pocket of her pants. She pulled out the key to her door room and fumbled with the lock and finally pushed the door open. She unhooked the leads from Blitzen and Daisy and ushered them both into her dorm room that was surprisingly large. She turned to Troy and pulled him inside. She swiftly shut the door and flicked the lock before swivelling around. Somehow, Troy wasn't exactly sure how, Gabriella managed to slip her shoes off, shut the curtains and switch her cell phone off at, more or less, the same time. She threw her cell phone down onto the bedside locker before rushing back over to the door to turn the lights on low.
"Can we get on with it now?" Troy asked impatiently. "My pants are getting uncomfortable." He grunted to himself and began unbuckling his belt.
She giggled and suddenly appeared in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled coyly up at him. "Just think…three weeks…"
Troy suddenly caught on and grinned. "We are not leaving this room all week."
"I have a class on Monday!" she exclaimed. "You can come."
A look of pure horror pasted itself on his face. "School? I come to win you back and spend a whole week with my new fiancée and suddenly I'm in Stanford's classes."
"You don't have to pay attention…just sit there with your arm around me," she whispered before she kissed him deeply, walking backwards until they fell onto the bed.
They made love slowly, a stark contrast to the hurriedness behind their kisses. Gabriella assumed that had Troy not have proposed, their lovemaking would've been hurried, too. However, Troy had proposed and they had simply been overwhelmed with their pent up love and passion they had for each other. Gabriella had told Troy that they had to be quiet because she didn't want to get caught by the dorm advisor. Surprisingly, Blitzen and Daisy had been so caught up with seeing each other again that they'd basically ignored their owners. Gabriella had blushed profusely throughout the whole thing when the realisation of how much she missed making love to Troy washed over her.
Afterward, they lay entangled together under the thin sheets. They were both still sweaty but their breathing had evened out. They'd been lying together, with Gabriella's head on his chest and his arms holding her protectively to him, for roughly half an hour and they hadn't said one word. They were happy to simply hold each other and bask in each other's afterglow.
Gabriella was drawing invisible patterns on Troy's chest and she released a sigh. "Wildcat?"
"Yeah?" he whispered.
"When you're at Berkeley…Will you call me?" she asked quietly.
"Everyday," he murmured.
"Will you visit me?"
"Whenever I can."
"Will you always love me?" she whispered, tilting her head to look at him.
"Hey, when I'm an international basketball superstar, I know where my biggest fan is," he said softly before giving her a gentle smile. "Will you come to my games?"
"Every one."
"Will you be my doctor if I hurt myself?" he asked quietly.
Gabriella paused. "Troy, if you're an idiot and break your leg, yes. But, if something's really wrong, something internally, then no. My mom has this thing about operating on her family. She doesn't. She'll fix wounds and broken limbs. But, she'll never operate. I don't want to, either. The thing is, if I get upset during the surgery and something goes wrong, I'd never forgive myself."
"It's okay, baby. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. As long as you're there, holding my hand through everything, you don't have to do anything," he murmured.
"And if I happen to just be sitting there in my underwear…" she finished sarcastically.
Troy laughed. "Well, I mean, it's all to make me better, right?"
Gabriella rolled onto her stomach and propped her chin up on his chest. "I've missed you so much. I knew I'd miss you but I didn't realise how much." She suddenly flushed a light pink and hid her face in his chest.
"Baby," he murmured, stroking her hair. "What's wrong?"
She lifted her head and sighed. "Nothing's wrong. Far from it. I was just thinking about how much I missed making love to you. I never thought I'd miss it so much. But, I did," she admitted shyly.
"My, my," Troy exclaimed, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when Gabriella Montez-soon-to-be-Bolton was considered to be a nymphomaniac."
"I am not. I'm just saying I missed being close to you like this," Gabriella protested.
Troy laughed again. "Well, as long as you're my nymphomaniac."
"I'm not a nymphomaniac," she whined. "My dad would kill if he found out."
"Ha! So you admit it!"
"No," she muttered, "I was talking about how I missed it. For the last time, I'm not a nymphomaniac!"
"Hmmmm…I suppose. But you are a kleptomaniac. I still don't have my jacket back," he teased.
She blushed and sighed. "It smells like you," she admitted.
Troy tightened his arms around her. "But, now, you're marrying me. My smell will be all over the place."
"Hmmm…" she agreed. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he murmured, kissing her hair.
"I can't believe everyone's okay with this. Well, not this but…you know what I mean. Have they seriously called a truce?" she asked.
"Well, a half-ish truce. More of a 'we're doing this because our wives told us to so that our kids will be happy'. It was quite funny, actually," he admitted.
She giggled and nodded. "I can imagine."
"I bet you never thought you'd have sex on Stanford's campus," he mumbled.
"I never thought I'd be at Stanford," she confessed. "I especially never thought I'd be making love to Troy Bolton at Stanford."
He chuckled. "True. You know, our families might not get along but our friends do. And I know that they've seen the light. They know that we're happy together. They're not going to let us even consider breaking up now."
"Hmmmm…You know, I've always been a little different. I liked to do things my own way. I was the first girl to be born into the family, you know. It's always been sons. And only one at a time. So, when the doctor told my mom she was expecting twins, she was surprised. When she gave birth and I came after Carl, everyone was surprised. They'd never asked for the sexes because they'd taken it for granted that we'd both be boys. And then, my interest in basketball has always been limited. I'm not super obsessed like the rest of my family. I preferred science and English and school classes. Then I fell in love with you. I guess I've always liked to break tradition." She giggled.
He raised his eyebrows. "I'm glad you did."