The Definition of Us

AN: I figure because Lay Him Down is not conducive to happy, merry thoughts despite how much I love it, this would work instead. It's been sitting around since the last scene, since I found them both back then, and although I had planned on keeping it for a dry spell, I have enough other things to give you in a pinch. This is the final moment of TDOU and it seems right to end it in the same year it was written. I have this thing for the numbers 5 and 10, so 35 will be the end of TDOU. I want to thank you all for a fabulous year, the fantastic support, and a chance. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and enjoy.

~Van

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.

~*~

The Definition of Us- Deleted Scenes

Define Aggressive

aggressive (adjective): assertive, bold, energetic or hostile; fast growing.

Chapter Twenty-Three- Define Stranded

Darbus had collapsed into a chair in the staff room after homeroom ended where Chad and Sharpay had kept the two from killing each other with a stapler. Jack hadn't believed it at first, but he had seen the marks where Troy had actually attempted to staple her hand to the table 'to see if it would stop Gabriella from throwing things'.

~*~

Jack Bolton looked up from his day planner as the door to the staff room opened to admit Sybil Darbus before closing quickly behind her to block out the noise of the busy East High corridor. In a whirlwind of muted pastel colors, she crossed the tile floor that led passed a small kitchenette, and flopped down unceremoniously in a worn out brown arm chair. She sighed as her silk scarves fluttered around her and Jack noticed that her demeanour seemed a little more frazzled than usual. He let her close her eyes and hum for a few moments before clearing his throat in an effort to gain her attention from his place at the far end of the conference table.

"Rough morning?" Jack suggested, his voice hesitant as he forced false friendliness into his words. It was known that he and the drama teacher were less than cordial most of the time, but they did try to remain professional whenever possible.

"Wouldn't you like to know," the older woman grumbled as the door opened again and three other teachers ducked inside to escape the loud voices and rambunctious attitudes of their students. "Your son is going to force me into early retirement."

"I was saying that to Susan yesterday," Richard Miller, the chemistry teacher, replied to Miss Darbus' complaint as he set his mug of coffee down and took the empty chair beside Jack. "I can't imagine having the two of them in homeroom first thing in the morning."

"I thought having both of them in economics during fourth period after lunch was bad enough," Susan Andrews added, absently patting Miss Darbus on the shoulder before offering her tea in a chipped mug. "They have all lunch to prepare for another round of their sick battle. Half the time, I'm not even sure they know what they are yelling about."

"They're yelling about the same thing they have always yelled about," Cheryl Fredericks snorted, her back to Jack as his eyebrows drew together in a mix of confusion and dread. "They yell about why they are fighting and they fight about yelling at each other. Yesterday, they were yelling about shoes and the day before that they were yelling about soccer balls. Neither one of them even play soccer."

"Jack, how do you even handle both of them in the gym at the same time? Do you have a secret because we'd love some insight on how you keep them from killing each other." Jack suddenly found every set of eyes on him as Mr. Miller doled out the final piece of the puzzle of who they were all discussing.

"I control who feeds them, who lets them drive and who lets them out of the house. It's a privilege few of us possess," Jack drawled sarcastically and won the battle against rolling his eyes. "I know they're a handful, but surely any of you can handle two high school seniors having a love spat."

"You think what's going on between Troy and Gabriella Montez is a simple love spat?" Miss Darbus asked, her voice even and cold as she spoke for the first time since first acknowledging Jack's presence in the staff room. "They have obviously been hiding the worst of it while in front of you."

Jack had first been made aware of Gabriella's explosion in the cafeteria by Zeke who had come running to his office within minutes of Gabriella appearing in front of Troy. They hadn't made it back in time to stop any of the ugly slinging of insults, but he had shrugged it off when he heard nothing of any other arguments throughout the rest of the day. He had pushed it aside and said nothing to the Danforth's or Lucille and Maria, thinking it had been nothing more than a heated disagreement. Given their histories and their temperaments with each other, Jack would expect nothing less than a violent confrontation if their patience were tested by the other.

After dinner on Friday night, and Troy's quiet and sullen attitude all weekend, Jack had come to realize it was more than a disagreement. It didn't change his mind though that their verbal battles at school were nothing more than emerging frustrations with the other when they refused to break. It had never occurred to him until now that what he saw in the gym was a very careful coverup of what was actually taking place. Other than a handful of carefully aimed shots to the head with basketballs and angry challenges offered and accepted, Troy and Gabriella kept their mouths shut and put themselves far from each other. Looking at the haggard and disapproving glances that the teachers were shooting him now, Jack began to wonder with bubbling aggravation just how combative Troy and Gabriella were becoming. Beneath his irritation, Jack felt a pang of regret and disappointment at how broken they must be.

"I would have thought Danforth or Evans' would have informed you of the situation," Mrs. Richards noted, stirring her tea while shooting Jack a look of concern.

"Not a chance," Jack said while shaking his head. "I'm a last resort when they think Matsui will get involved, otherwise, Chad and Sharpay will protect their friends' backs like mother lions."

"Well, I thank God for having them in homeroom right now. It took Miss Evans and Mr. Baylor to hold back Miss Montez from gouging Troy's eyes out with her pencil. I'm fairly certain she would have blinded him given the chance." Miss Darbus looked mildly appreciative of her drama star and her charmer.

"What did he do this time?" Miss Andrews asked with trepidation and moderate curiosity.

"Oh, he slammed a stapler down on her hand," Miss Darbus informed them, her eyes boring into Jack's while she said it. "While it was open."

"He did what?!" Jack roared above the snickers of the staff.

"He said it was to stop her from throwing things. She had already relieved her hands of a text book, calculator, water bottle and a cell phone which I believe belonged to Mr. Cross. Your son thought that stapling her hand to the desk would work after she beat him over the head with said stapler." Jack was already rising from his chair when she cocked her head and gave him a somewhat sarcastic glare.

"Where are they?" A vein in his temple pulsed and his knuckles cracked as he leaned on the table.

"I believe Troy is in Vocal class while Mr. Danforth escorted Miss Montez to the nurse's office." At the questioning look from Jack, Miss Darbus continued. "Jack, this is not a lovers' spat. Whatever it is over, if there is an actual cause, it's past being mere bickering. He jammed three staples into the back of her hand."

Jack didn't reach down to pick up his chair when it toppled over from him rising too quickly.

\\\

Troy felt his spine prickle as he jumped and released the ball with perfect precision. It still bounced off the rim, its arc falling short and allowing it to hit the floor and bounce against the wall. Troy watched it roll under the bleachers before turning to see his dad striding across the gym. He had ditched vocal class halfway through by asking for a bathroom pass. The teacher had obviously not heard of the incident during homeroom as he handed the pass over without a question. Glancing around, he noticed that Jason had disappeared back to his own class. Biting back a string of profanities that threatened to spew from his lips, Troy tensed at the angry expression on his father's face.

"S'up, Pop?" Troy chirped obnoxiously, his arms hanging loose at his sides.

"What's up?" Jack asked. "You want to know what's up?"

"Well, not rea-," Troy slammed his mouth shut as the twitching nerve by Jack's eye. Never a good sign.

"I just saw Gabriella in the nurse's office. She was yelling about tetanus and gangrene and other lovely things. She told me to tell you that if she had the stapler handy, she'd make sure your manlihood got so infected it turned green and fell off."

"Dad, you can't seriously be siding with her," Troy interrupted.

"I'm not siding with anyone," Jack roared. "I'm not relaying her message because it's witty or funny, but because I was appalled that she even said it to me and I have to think of what amount of rage would cause the Gabriella I know to say something like that." Jack paused but Troy dared not interrupt. "And then I remember that my son slammed a stapler on her hand!"

"After she hit me over the head with it!" Troy insisted angrily. Reaching a hand up, he pushed his hair back to bare his forehead and pointed to a dark discoloration. "She hit me in the head with it, Dad. Don't act like she's innocent."

"I know she's not, but Troy, what were you thinking? You could be expelled. So could she, but she's not my child and despite how much I love her, I need to worry about you first. If Matsui gets wind of this- or decides to pay attention to it- Troy, you would be off the team. And that would be the minimum damage. Just," Jack licked his lips and shrugged in defeat, "Try to let it go. Don't let it get to you."

Silence hung in the gym as the clock ticked by seconds. Troy felt the exhaustion of the continuous battle weighing on his shoulders, and the smothering sense of always being on the defensive and the guilt of the consequences of taking the offensive. He was tired, but he was angry. His nerves buzzed with the adrenaline of fighting with her, but it was wearing off the longer the span of quiet stretched and guilt ate at him slowly for what he and Gabriella were doing to their relationship and their friends. Looking at his father, Troy sighed and shrugged his shoulders. His hands gripped the muscles between his neck and shoulders.

"It's not that easy, Dad," he said quietly. "They say the higher you go, the harder you fall. And we're falling hard."

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Five- Define Morning

"Everything I said to you this week, it doesn't matter if I meant it at the time or if it was true, I shouldn't have said them. God, Brie, I attempted to staple your hand to the desk."

"Okay, that may have been a little extreme," Gabriella admitted.