Chapter 38

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy dropped his stuff inside, put a load in the washing machine and headed over to see Gabriella. Kelsi was leaving as he arrived and Troy immediately offered for himself and Gabriella to walk her home. "No thanks Troy. It's still early I'll be home before it starts to get dark" Kelsi said cheerfully. "I'll let you two have some time alone. Bye Gabriella. Bye Troy. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Kelsi" Gabriella replied still smiling at Troy.

"Bye Kelsi" Troy said glancing over and smiling at the composer. He turned his attention back to Gabriella. "Is your Mom not home?" he asked remembering Kelsi's comment on being alone with Gabriella.

"No she's gone to work to prep for a big meeting tomorrow" Gabriella replied.

"I can't be here then. Would you like to come for a walk?" Troy asked. "We could go to the mall and get coffee or something if it's too cold" he suggested.

"A walk sounds good let me just write Mom a note" Gabriella said ducking inside for a minute.

They sat off and Gabriella noticed Troy was walking a little strangely. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt? We could go to your place and hang out if it hurts to walk" Gabriella said concerned.

Troy turned towards his house. "It's not that but I think I need a change of clothes" Troy admitted. "I wore my last pair of underwear in the bath with Jakie after lunch today and these jeans are a little uncomfortable to walk in without any."

Gabriella blushed and giggled. "Okay" she said slightly embarrassed.

They walked towards Troy's house and Troy let them in through his window. "Do you leave it open all the time? That's a huge security risk" Gabriella scolded. "Do you parents know?"

"Relax Gabriella I came out this way this afternoon I suppose I should find a key so I can lock it. It's locked at night and when I'm at school" Troy said. "Sometimes it's just easier not to deal with Mom and Dad." Troy went through his drawers and got out clean boxerbreifs and track pants before turning away from Gabriella and unzipping his jeans.

Gabriella shrieked. "Troy what are you doing? You could have warned me or gone to the bathroom or something"

"I told you I was going to change my pants. Close your eyes if you don't want to look" Troy said unrepentantly.

Troy laughed as Gabriella slammed her hands over her eyes dramatically. He quickly changed and said "okay it's safe to look."

"What do you want to do?"Gabriella asked. "Did you get all your homework done?"

"Most of it. I'll do the rest later" Troy said dismissively. "Come and cuddle up I'll put a movie on" he suggested picking up his laptop. He sat up on the bed and Gabriella gingerly sat up beside him. She groaned at Troy's collection of action movies.

"I watched 'Pride and Prejudice' with you" Troy reminded her.

Gabriella laughed. "You enjoyed it" she accused.

"And can you honestly say you're 100% sure you won't like any of these" Troy demanded.

Gabriella chose a movie that Troy had seen many times before and to be honest it didn't hold his attention. He was very aware of Gabriella pressed up against his side. He wrapped his arm around her pulling her close careful to keep his hands to places Gabriella wouldn't object to. He turned his head and kissed her cheek nibbling along her jaw line. Gabriella moaned and turned her head to kiss him and Troy kissed her passionately.

His sweat pants tented as he became aroused and Troy hoped that Gabriella wouldn't notice. He lifted one knee to try and hide it which turned him further towards Gabriella. As the kiss became more heated she rolled towards him one of her legs inadvertently sliding between Troy's. Troy moaned and thrust involuntarily against her. Gabriella stiffened and tried to pull away. "Sshh it's okay. There's no need to panic" Troy murmured. "We're just kissing. We don't need to do anything else just enjoy it."

"But..." Gabriella began.

"Gabriella do you want to do more than kiss?" Troy asked.

"No but you..."

"Sshh. You're in charge here. I'm fine, just ignore it. You wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't brushed against it and my pants were so loose I couldn't hide it" Troy said trying to reassure her.

"You mean it happens every time we kiss?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah" Troy admitted. "Don't worry about it"

"Isn't it uncomfortable?" Gabriella asked.

"Not really. If I'm wearing tight jeans it can be" Troy said not wanting her to feel guilty for making him uncomfortable.

Gabriella thought for a moment then hesitantly kissed Troy gently. Troy ran his tongue over her lips and she opened her mouth letting him in. She continued to kiss him but held herself stiffly careful not to brush against his erection again.

"Relax" Troy murmured bringing his hands up to massage her shoulders. He'd just got Gabriella to relax against him when his mother knocked on the door.

"Troy, dinner's ready" she said.

"Be there in a minute" Troy called out. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" he asked Gabriella.

"No I couldn't, your mother has already dished up. What if you're having steak or something" Gabriella protested.

"Okay, I'll walk you home" Troy said.

"No Troy your dinner's ready you go and eat with your family. I can walk myself home" Gabriella said.

"Or you could stay here and watch the movie and I'll walk you home after dinner. Please Gabriella, it's dark outside I don't like the idea of you out on your own" Troy countered.

"Okay Troy. Go before your dinner gets cold" Gabriella said. Troy got up and put his hand down his pants to adjust himself. "Troy" Gabriella said scandalised.

"Well I can't go out there with it poking out like that" Troy said.

Gabriella laughed. "I suppose not" she agreed.

"If we're having something with enough food for four I'll come get you" Troy said.

"But then your Mom will know I'm here and you weren't planning on feeding me" Gabriella protested.

Troy shrugged. "Yeah but your Mom feeds me all the time" he said.

"Your Mom will be angry" Gabriella warned.

"Who cares" Troy said dryly. "It's not like she's in the running for mother of the year either."

Unfortunately they did have steak for dinner so Troy ate as quickly as he could and excused himself.

Gabriella was on the phone talking to her mom when Troy got back. "I'll be home soon" she promised. "She turned to Troy "Mom wants me home" she said.

"I'll walk you" Troy said smiling. They left through the window and hurried to Gabriella's house.

"Was your Mom upset you were at my place?" Troy asked surprised by the pace Gabriella was setting them.

Gabriella shrugged. "She wasn't exactly pleased" she replied evasively.

They arrived at Gabriella's and Troy insisted on accompanying her inside. "It was my decision to go to my house. If she wants to tell you off about it then I'll take the blame" he said.

"Troy, Mom's not going to tell you that my visiting your house isn't acceptable" Gabriella said.

"Exactly! If she doesn't want me here when she's not home she's got to give you a reasonable alternative" Troy said.

"Since when do mothers have to be reasonable" Gabriella grumbled.

Troy laughed. "Well my theory is they can't blame us for ignoring them if they're being unreasonable" he declared.

Gabriella laughed. "And how's that working for you?" she asked.

"It works pretty well with Mom because I can make her feel guilty about the hours she works but not with Dad" Troy admitted.

"Hello Gabriella, hello Troy" Maria said seeing the two of them. "Have you eaten?"

"Troy has but we arrived at his place right on dinner time and his Mom had cooked steak" Gabriella explained.

"So your mother was home then?" Maria said relaxing.

"Yeah both Mom and Dad were home" Troy said not mentioning that Gabriella hadn't seen either of his parents.

"I want to have Gabriella over and cook dinner for her one night this week. Is there a night that's convenient for you?" Troy asked.

"Your parents would be there?" Maria questioned.

"Probably, Dad would be at least" Troy replied frowning at the obvious lack of trust and the reminder that he couldn't count on his Mom to be around.

"I have a late meeting on Wednesday" Maria said. "It would be good to know Gabriella wasn't home alone fending for herself."

"Dinner on Wednesday then?" Troy said to Gabriella.

"I'll look forward to it" Gabriella said smiling.

Troy grinned "I'd better go" he said.

"Goodnight Troy" Gabriella said hugging him and kissing his cheek.

"Goodnight Gabriella" Troy kissed her cheek in return. "Goodbye Ms Montez" he added politely.

"Goo night Troy" Maria replied.

Troy pulled his phone out as he walked towards his house and sent Gabriella a quick text. "U OWE ME A PROPER KISS. SEE YA 2MORROW".

-o0o-

Troy and Gabriella walked straight to his place after rehearsals on Wednesday and he started cooking dinner. Gabriella helped a little but Troy soon lifted her up and sat her on a clean section of the counter. "Just keep me company" he said.

Gabriella watched him efficiently prepare the meat and vegetables for roasting while they practiced their lines.

Jack arrived home and stuck his head into the kitchen. He smiled to see Gabriella sitting on the bench and Troy with dinner well in hand. "Good afternoon Miss Montez" he greeted her.

"Hello Mr Bolton" Gabriella replied smiling nervously.

"Hi Dad" Troy said.

"Hi Troy that looks good. Are you staying for dinner Miss Montez?" Jack said pleasantly.

"Yes Sir. If that's okay with you" Gabriella said.

"Of course. You're welcome to visit Troy anytime so long as you don't interrupt his training" Jack replied.

Troy groaned. "Dad the season's over" he reminded his father.

"Unless you're chosen for the state squad" Jack said enthusiastically.

"Dad it's been three years since they picked a junior" Troy said patiently. It was obviously a conversation they'd had several times before.

"I'll leave you two to rehearse" Jack replied not wanting to restart this argument.

"Thanks Dad" Troy said. "Dinner will be about an hour."

Troy finished organising the roast and pulled out ingredients to throw together an apple crumble. "What about your diet plan?" Gabriella asked.

Troy shrugged. "Apple crumble is Dad's favourite" he said grinning cheekily.

Gabriella laughed and turned back to her script. Troy was getting his lines much more easily but she wanted to make sure they knew them well enough to remember them no matter how nervous they were on the night of the performance.

"We should have invited your mom to dinner too" Troy said as they finished the final act. "Maybe we should call her?" he suggested forgetting that she'd told them she would be working late.

"Maybe you should warn your mom before you do that. It would be embarrassing if you invited Mom and then your mother decided to work late" Gabriella reminded him.

"Yeah. Maybe I should offer to cook dinner at your place one night" Troy suggested.

"You can if you want" Gabriella said surprised.

Troy was dishing up by the time Lucille arrived home. "She came in not seeing Gabriella who'd offered to set the table and said. "Hi Troy I'm not really hungry. I'll help myself to something later."

"Okay Mom. Do you want me to make you up a plate" Troy replied looking at Gabriella who was standing embarrassed just the other side of the open doorway to the dining room.

"No thanks. I'm going to go up and take a bath" Lucille replied tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Troy asked.

"Today has been absolute hell" Lucille complained.

"All right I'll see you tomorrow" Troy said.

"Tell your father that I'm going to bed" Lucille said walking towards the stairs.

Gabriella came in and laid her hand on Troy's shoulder. Troy turned to her and smiled. "It's okay" he said. "It's you I want to have dinner with anyway."

Gabriella smiled. "It smells wonderful" she said admiringly.

"I'll just call Dad" he said going to the study door. "Dinner's ready" he told him. "Mom's gone up to have a bath."

Jack sighed "Isn't Gabriella staying for dinner?" he asked.

"Yeah but she was setting the table for me and Mom didn't really give me a chance to tell her about having guests" Troy replied.

Jack sighed "Did you even try?" he asked.

"Mom was going on about her day being hell she didn't let me get a word in edgeways" Troy said defensively.

"Let's go eat" Jack said heading into the dining room. Troy collected the plates from the kitchen and joined him.

"Hello Miss Montez" Jack said politely. "I'm afraid Lucille is not able to join us this evening" he added smoothly.

"It's alright Mr Bolton. I'm well aware of how often your wife is kept late at work. Troy invited me because he wanted to cook for me not to meet his mother" Gabriella said bluntly.

Jack pinched his nose "I see" he said. "Troy has been very candid with you" he said.

"Troy and I are both very open with each other. We have a lot in common" Gabriella admitted.

"And how are you settling in to Albuquerque and East High Miss Montez? You have seemed to set the status quo on its ear since you arrived" Jack said changing the subject.

"East High is one of the best schools I've been to. I've never been able to make friends like this before thanks to Troy. Meeting him in Breckenridge on New Year's Eve has been a godsend" Gabriella admitted smiling at the boy in question. "This is amazing Troy" she complimented.

Troy blushed pleased.

Gabriella found it difficult to enjoy her dinner, the food was wonderful but the tension around the table made her feel uncomfortable. It was clear that Jack Bolton was angry though he was doing his best to remain polite but Gabriella wasn't sure what he was angry about.

"Great meal Troy thank you" Jack said as he stood to leave the table.

Troy smiled at the rare praise from his father even if it was prompted by Gabriella's presence. "There's enough leftover meat and roast potatoes and crumble for tomorrow" Troy said.

"You're not going to be home?" Jack asked.

"I'm looking after Jakie tomorrow" Troy confirmed.

Jack nodded. "Goodnight Miss Montez" he said. "Night Troy"

"Night Dad" Troy echoed. He got up and started to clear the table. He accepted Gabriella's offer to help clean up and thanks to Troy's habit of cleaning up as he went along the two of them made short work of stacking the dishwasher and washing up the pots and pans.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Troy said leading her into the lounge. "Mom's DVD's are on this shelf you can choose" he offered.

Gabriella chose a comedy and Troy put it on before throwing himself on the couch next to her and pulling her close. The movie wasn't as funny as she thought it would be and she easily gave in to Troy's encouragement that they spend their time kissing. Getting a sore neck from the awkward angle Gabriella swung herself over so she was straddling Troy's lap. Troy sucked in his breath hoping she wouldn't freak out again. In the position she was now in it was almost impossible for her not to have noticed his erection bulging the front of his jeans. He kept kissing her hoping to distract her.

Gabriella had noticed Troy's arousal now pressed up against her core but felt that seeing she was the one that put them in this position it would be unfair to Troy to make a fuss about it. Troy had proved that he could be aroused without pressuring her to do more than she was comfortable with so she decided to trust him. She gradually relaxed enjoying the feel of him pressing against her and the heat it was generating in her private places. They kissed until Troy's phone alarm went off. "Time to go" Troy said sadly.

Gabriella smiled. "Walk me home?" she asked. It was not really a question she knew Troy would never let her walk alone in the dark.

Troy smiled and tried to lift Gabriella off his lap. "You need to get up" he said.

Gabriella pressed herself hard against him for a second making Troy groan before she climbed off his lap. "Tease" he mockingly complained not really upset. He got to his feet and adjusted himself while Gabriella watched blushing. "Let's go" he said taking her hand. They walked home chatting about various things that had happened at school and rehearsals that week and Troy kissed her chastely on the doorstep waiting until she'd let herself in before turning to return home.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Ceciliaa93, stordec23, LaueeeCarter Thereadella, Bethypie1998, HarryPotterTwilight and guest for your support.