A/N: Okay, I'll be honest. I loved what HSMandChelseaFCfan did. But, I hated mine :P Don't own HSM


Chapter 27 – Meeting again

Walking into the noisy cafeteria at lunch, Gabriella clutched onto Troy's hand tightly, nerves trying to take over. She and Troy would be revealing their secret in just a matter of minutes. Yes, she knew Sharpay knew about their relationship and it was obvious the others could see just how she and Troy felt towards each other, but how they would react to them actually being together scared her.

Troy noticed she was shaking and her palms were sweaty. "Hey, calm down. Everything is going to be fine." Troy assured her.

She shook her head. "But what if they act all weird around us like they've been doing about everything that has happened the weekend?"

Troy smiled at her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "They won't. They wanted us together before and they've been pushing us to admit our feelings so I have a feeling they won't be surprised."

Knowing Troy was right, Gabriella took a deep breath before heading towards their friends, dragging Troy behind her. "Hey guys."

Everyone turned and smiled as Gabriella sat down and Troy followed suit. "Hey, Gabs. What took you guys so long to get here?" Taylor asked as Sharpay smirked at the two, giving them a knowing look which Gabriella just rolled her eyes at.

Troy placed his hand over her knee and ran his fingers softly up and down the inside of her thigh making her squirm a bit. This was not the time or the place for him to do that. She took a silent deep breath and prayed he wouldn't come out with another 'sweetheart' comment. "We just had to drop our books at our lockers, Tay. We weren't that long. Besides we need to talk to you all."

"What's up?" Chad asked as Gabriella looked at Troy.

Troy knew she was telling him to do it since he'd stayed quiet. "Well, we're kind of together now."

All the girls squealed – even Sharpay who already knew but just wanted to celebrate the fact it was finally out in the open - and got up to hug Gabriella while the guys congratulated Troy for finally getting his act together and all slapped him on the back. "Took you guys long enough." Taylor commented laughing.

"Guys, guys, you're bruising me!" Troy exclaimed as he pushed all of his friends away.

"Fine." Chad grumbled, turning back to his lunch.

After the girls all settled back down, Gabriella leaned into Troy as he wrapped his arm around her and placed a kiss on her lips. "Told you they would be happy about it."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I should listen to you more and have faith in what you say but you gotta see it from my view…it's you."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Miss Montez?" Troy whispered, as the two focused their attention only on each other; completely forgetting about the others.

Gabriella leaned closer to his face, smirking. "Nothing."

Nodding as a grin covered his face, he looked at her intently. "Try again, that wasn't the correct answer."

Biting her lip, she looked at him innocently. "I love you?"

Troy shook his head. "Better."

Chad cleared his throat. "Just because you guys finally got your acts together doesn't mean you guys can flirt like crazy in front of us. Some of us actually want to eat lunch and keep it down."

Troy glared at the big haired boy for interrupting but couldn't help the smile that came over his face knowing everything was looking up. "Oh, like you're any better, Danforth. You act like a lost puppy with Taylor around."

***

Troy and Gabriella walked hand in hand on their way to pick up Devon. Lucas had offered earlier on – he'd spent the night at the house, sleeping on the sofa of course, so he could help Maria and also keep an eye on her for Gabriella who was worried about leaving her alone – but the two insisted they would be fine collecting Devon. They wanted to keep things as normal as possible for the young boy who had been very quiet that morning. One thing Troy and Gabriella had picked up on over the last twenty four hours was that Lucas and Maria seemed to be growing closer; it was as if Lucas was the missing piece to help her get over the heartache Aidan had caused. And truth be told, Gabriella hoped that maybe there was something still there between her mother and father.

"Someone's deep in thought. You thinking about that gorgeous man you call your boyfriend?" Troy asked as he squeezed her shoulders affectionately.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. He was so egotistic. It was amazing his head hadn't swelled with his huge ego. "Why would I be thinking about him? He thinks about himself enough to cover for the both of us."

Troy stuck his tongue out at her. "I feel really unloved by you."

The playful banter was cut short by a loud voice. "TROY!"

Devon ran across the playground after being let out the door by his teacher and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm the one unloved now." Gabriella moaned as Troy lifted Devon into his arms.

"Well we all have favourites, don't we, Big D?" Troy asked the small boy, ruffling his hair.

The boy shook his small head. "You and Gavvy are both my favourites!"

Gabriella rubbed her ear; her brother almost deafening her. "What's up with the yelling? And you said, Mister, that I was your favourite." She whined as she linked her arm through Troy's and they began walking.

Devon shrugged as Troy carried him towards his car. "I'm bored."

"Well what do you wanna do?" Troy asked.

Devon placed his hand on his chin, his tongue sticking out slightly as he thought. "Can we go to the park? I haven't been in a long, long time and I don't want to go home yet."

Gabriella shot a confused look at Troy. "Don, why don't you want to go home?"

His voice changed to barely a whisper as he looked down. "Everybody is sad. I don't like it when everyone is sad."

Hearing his reply, Troy and Gabriella shared a concerned look but knew what they needed to do. They were going to cheer Devon up no matter what so he would hopefully forget for a little while everything that was going on. If anyone was suffering the worst at the minute, it was Devon. He loved Aidan immensely and didn't understand, really, what was going on.

***

Walking in that evening, after walking in the park and having some ice cream, the three were surprised that the house looked in near enough darkness. There was a faint light coming from behind the closed kitchen door as well as hushed voices.

Edging closer, the three youngsters intriguingly moved towards the room wondering what was happening. Gabriella opened the door quietly and the three stood there in shock at what they were witnessing. Maria was sat down at the island with Lucas next to her. To Troy and Gabriella, it was obvious what was about to happen but not so much to Devon. Lucas had leaned in and kissed Maria.

Gabriella hurriedly pulled Troy and Devon out of the room and shut the door, wanting her parents to have some privacy. She planted a hand over her mouth to cover her squeal and jumped excitedly into Troy's arms. "It's really happening." She whispered softly.

Troy set her on the ground and nodded. "Yeah it is."

Gabriella picked Devon up and kissed his forehead. "Don, listen, I know you love Aidan, I mean your dad, and all but I think Mom might love someone else."

"You mean Uncle Lucas?" He asked slowly.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. She needs some comforting right now, okay? I know you're hurt, too, but Mom needs this okay, Don?"

Devon nodded and rested his head on his sister's shoulder. "I know, Gavvy. I want her to be happy."

Gabriella held him in an even tighter grip. "But, if you're not happy, tell her. Don't close up like you did with me." She kissed his cheek and then set him on the ground.

Troy placed a hand on her lower back and smiled proudly down at her. "I told you things would look up." He whispered, kissing her temple.

She giggled softly and rested a hand on his arm. "You did." She whispered. She glanced down at Devon before standing on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "You know we'll have to cut back on sex now, right?"

"Hey, you were the one that suggested it every time." He exclaimed quietly.

"Like you complained." She muttered. "But, I'm serious."

He gave her an evil smile before leaning down to her. "But, how are you going to thank me?"

"I'm sure you can wait until my parents take Don to visit my grandparents, Romeo." She teased.

Devon rolled his eyes as he was once again shut out of the conversation. "Can I please go and see Mommy now?"

The hall door opened and the three looked over to see Maria standing in the doorway, evidently happier than she had been previously. "Oh, hey, I thought I heard you. Why didn't you come in?"

Gabriella walked past her into the kitchen. "Remember that rule Troy and I have about Devon? About not doing stuff that a six year old shouldn't see?"

Lucas turned to his daughter and raised his eyebrows. "Why should we need that rule?"

Gabriella opened the fridge and threw a bottle of water expertly at Troy before she grabbed one for herself. "Don't be so innocent." She muttered.

"Like you're any better." He shot back.

"Anyway," Troy exclaimed, "you guys want to fill us in on your relationship?" He grinned at Maria as he used her own words from when she asked him and Gabriella about their relationship. He picked Devon up – still clutching the water bottle - and raised his eyebrows.

Maria turned to Lucas and shrugged. "Well, we're kind of together. I say kind of in the loosest term possible. It's just…We're giving it a shot, at least." He lip trembled and looked at her feet. "I still love Devvy's father a little bit but," She turned to Lucas and smiled bravely at him, "I love Lucas a whole lot more." She suddenly turned back to her children – and Troy – and shrugged. "Are you okay with it?"

Gabriella stepped forward and jokingly hit her mother's arm. "Took you long enough. I'm not the one you need to ask, though." She said softly, turning to her brother who was in her boyfriend's arms.

Maria took her son off of Gabriella and pushed the dark bangs out of his eyes. "Are you okay if Uncle Lucas is my, um, partner?"

"You mean like Troy is Gavvy's boyfriend?" Devon asked innocently.

"Exactly like that." Maria confirmed. "I'm not replacing your father, I promise. Are you okay with it?"

"Will it make you happy?" Devon whispered.

"Don, remember what I said? Don't do what you did with me." Gabriella whispered.

Devon turned back to his mother and finally nodded. "I'm happy."

"You sure?" Maria asked sceptically.

Devon nodded. "Yeah."

Maria kissed Devon's head before setting him on the ground. "Honey, go into the lounge and watch some T.V. okay? Uncle Lucas and I need to talk with Gabby and Troy."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows as Devon walked into the lounge. "We do?"

Maria nodded as she walked back over to sit next to Lucas. "Take a seat, guys."

Gabriella and Troy glanced at each other. "Mom, if this is about us having sex, it's something we both wanted. You can totally ground us."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "You're not grounded but it is kind of about that."

Gabriella and Troy sat opposite the two adults and Troy ran his hand over Gabriella's thigh under her skirt, much like he had been doing all day whenever they sat next to each other. "What's up?" Troy asked.

"Well, now that we're together and you are, too, there has to be ground rules." Maria started.

"I agree." Gabriella breathed softly, staring at the island counter. "I don't want Devon seeing too much PDA."

"Great. We're on the same page." Lucas exclaimed.

"Basically, no sex while Devon's awake. Lock doors when anything explicit is going to happen and only pecks on lips when Devon's around, agreed?" Maria asked.

"And use protection." Lucas put in.

"We're covered." Troy assured him.

"Positive?" Lucas asked.

Gabriella blushed and buried her face into Troy's neck. "Dad, I'm on the pill." She pulled back and sighed. "I have been since I was fourteen because I faint when uh…yeah. You get it."

"So, the rules are understood?" Maria asked, getting back on track.

Gabriella and Troy glanced at each other and nodded. "We understand them but what about you?"

"We came up with them." Lucas exclaimed.

Gabriella shrugged. "Doesn't mean you'll abide by them."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Go on. Go and do some homework."

Troy frowned at Gabriella, his hand still stroking her thigh. "We don't have any homework do we, Sweetheart?"

She threw a glare in his direction. "Well, I don't. But we all know how you leave things until the last minute."

"Hmmm…Well, I don't have any homework. But, don't you need to finish colouring that chart in for math?" He frowned down at her.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I can cope with that." She stood up and grabbed her bag from the floor. "Call us down for dinner?"

Maria nodded. "Of course."

Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and pulled him into the hallway. He only just managed to pick up his bag before Gabriella dragged him away. He stumbled after her, praying neither of them would fall down the stairs. "Bella, Sweetheart, what's the problem?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. She threw her bag to the side and shut the door, locking it as well. She pushed him onto the bed and glared. She slowly climbed over him and pushed the sleeves of his shirt so she could feel his arms. "You know, Wildcat, you need to stop it. Especially now that my daddy is in the house."

"He knows I'm screwing you." Troy muttered.

Gabriella suddenly rolled off of him and walked back over to her bag. She picked it up and opened it, rummaging around for her math book. She smiled smugly as two hands rested on her hips and his thumbs dipped under her skirt to make circles on her bare skin. "Couldn't resist me, Wildcat?"

"Now what was that?" He growled into her ear.

"What was what?" She asked innocently. "I'm just going to finish my math chart, just like you suggested." She took her math book out of her bag and then dropped the rucksack to the ground. She turned in Troy's arms and smiled up at him. "I mean, you wouldn't have a problem or anything, would you?"

He sighed and kissed her softly. "Baby, I love you." He breathed.

She giggled against his lips, her arms winding around his neck. "I know. I love you, too."

Troy pulled back and pressed his lips to her cheek. "I'm sorry, Baby, you're just so hot when you're frustrated."

She pulled back and sighed. "Well, you can make me mad when we're at home, after Don is in bed and on a weekend. I'm not making love on a school night."

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Okay. I promise I won't do it anymore."

"Thank you." She whispered. "Everything's falling into place, huh?"

He nodded and lifted her hand to look at her ring. "It seems that way."

She looked at her ring and kissed Troy's neck. "Troy," She took a deep breath, "Troy, I want to do something this weekend but I don't know how you'll react to it."

"Go on." Troy whispered worriedly.

"I want to go back to California and throw some flowers into the ocean." She whispered tearfully. "Troy, I want to do this. You don't have to come but I think it would do you some good if you did."

Troy nodded silently and kissed her fervently, pushing her into the wall. "I'll go. I want to. I want you to meet them again. I've met your mom and dad again. It's your turn."

"There's still someone you haven't met again." She whimpered. "Cody. I want you to meet him tomorrow."