The Lights Shine, Just For Me and You

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or High School Musical. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Together, childhood friends Gabriella and Troy experience the trials and tribulations of high school, growing up, and falling in love. OOC. Glee x HSM Crossover. Extremely AU.

Rating: M for language, violence, and mild adult themes.

Author: tlyxor1.

Part One: Fifteen

Chapter One: At The Beginning

It's nearly the end of summer. It's hot, the midday sun is sweltering against her skin, but the pool is refreshing, the lemonade is more so, and Troy Bolton's hand in her's is all the distraction from the oppressive heat Gabriella Montez needs.

They're not alone though. They're at Chad Danforth's house, actually, enjoying one last pool party before the week comes to an end, and with it, their summer vacation. It's just them and their closest friends, free from the pressures and the overbearing expectations of their parents, teachers, and classmates.

Here, Troy isn't the basketball star, expected to fulfil his father's dreams. Gabriella isn't at the top of her class, expected to follow in her parents' footsteps to an Ivy League college. Chad isn't trapped in the shadow of his brilliant sister, nor Santana her fiercely independent, ambitious mother. Brittany is exactly who she wants to be - rather than the airhead blonde everyone assumes she is - and Zeke, Taylor, and Jason can escape everyone's narrow-minded expectations of their inevitable failure.

Gabriella sighs, wistful. She would gladly freeze this moment, right here and right now, and live in it forever. She has Troy, they have their best friends, they have the summer sunshine and a world full of possibilities. What more do they need?

"Are you having fun?" Troy asks her. He's had a growth spurt recently, taller than her and ganglier than he's ever been. He's 5'9" now, destined to grow even more over the next few years, and Gabriella will be lucky if she reaches 5'4".

In front of her, he swings their linked hands between them, and shows no intention of letting them go. In truth, Gabriella doesn't want him to.

Excepting the time he and the boys were away for a three day intensive skill development camp in Coshocton, it's been like this all summer: holding hands and lingering hugs and his arm over her shoulders. They haven't talked about it, however. They're constantly surrounded by their friends, or by their families, so there hasn't really been an opportunity to. They probably should, though.

"I am," Gabriella replies. She squeezes his hand, reaches for her lemonade with the other, and sips it slowly. "Are you?"

"I'm with you," Troy answers, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Gabriella tries, but she can't suppress her smile for the life of her. She's convinced Troy was born with a silver tongue, because whether it's classmates, teachers, or their parents, he always knows the right words to say. If she's not hopelessly charmed by it, then she's endlessly amused instead. This time, she's a bit of both.

"That's sappy," she informs him.

Troy shrugs. "True, though."

"Whatever, sweet talker."

Troy gives her a lopsided smile, entirely unapologetic. "Please, you love it."

"Maybe," she concedes. He briefly tickles her side, she squirms, and they both laugh. "All right, all right, you got me. I love it."

Troy smiles, satisfied by her 'admission', but he doesn't bother dragging out the teasing. He doesn't need to.

In the pool, Chad, Zeke, and Jason take turns dunking each other in the water. Taylor, Santana, and Brittany hang off the edge, drinking sodas and gossiping. They're all smiles, and none of them pay Troy and Gabriella any notice. It seems they're finally used to the sight of them, together - or whatever it is she and Troy are these days.

It's a welcome change from the endless teasing from earlier in the summer. Chad and Santana had been the most vocal, predictably, but even the unflappable, unassuming pair of Jason and Brittany had contributed their own commentary, and although Gabriella and Troy had tolerated it, it had quickly grown old. it's nice to know that none of them could care less about the inevitable shift in dynamic within their tight-knit group, of course, but Troy and Gabriella are both fundamentally private people, and neither of them have particularly enjoyed the attention on (and regarding) what is, at the end of the day, a personal matter between them..

"Are you ready for next week?" he asks instead.

"As I'll ever be," she answers on an exhale, "I can't believe we're finally starting high school."

Troy shrugs, gestures for her to take hold of her drink, and then lightly tugs her hand. She follows where he leads her, and they settle at the deep end of the pool. They both drop their feet in, drinks by their sides, the sun on their shoulders.. As they do, the others take turns to see who can hold their breath under water the longest, and so far, it seems Brittany is winning. .

"I don't know, I guess we've waited long enough," Troy ponders, "It'll be weird, though, being the youngest again."

"I guess so," she concedes,

He nudges her lightly. "We're in a lot of the same classes though, so that's cool."

They'd all attended their class registration together, and since Troy's grades in middle school were as good as her own, it had been a cake walk to sign up for most of the same subjects. The exceptions are their Physical Education, Art, Science and Foreign Language requirements, but as far as Gabriella is concerned, what they've managed to score is a pretty good deal.

Better yet, in the classes she doesn't have Troy to keep her company, she has someone else. SHe's got Taylor in Honours Biology, and Santana in the study period they've both received in place of the Foreign Language requirement they'd both tested out of. Lastly, all three girls - Taylor, Santana, and Brittany - are in her Gym and Health Education class with the infamous Coach Sue Sylvester, and therefore, her schedule is the best she could have possibly asked for.

"It is," Gabriella agrees. She drains the last of her lemonade, pushes herself into the water, and then splashes Troy with an impish grin, "Are you going to join me, or what?"

While she treads water, Troy pretends to consider it, but he's beside her a moment later, smile bright, blue eyes even brighter. His hair is plastered to his sun-kissed skin, and he brushes it aside with a careless swipe of his hand.

"I guess we should join the others," he says, though he doesn't look particularly eager to follow through. It's kind of flattering, that he just wants to spend time with her today, but it is Chad's house, and the others are their friends.

"We should," she agrees, "We can, I don't know, play Chicken Fight or something."

Troy's face lights up like a Christmas tree. Gabriella tries not to think about why, exactly, Troy is so enthused by the prospect. Her face may just stay red permanently. "Let's!"

Perhaps predictably, the suggestion is received with enthusiasm, and they spend a good forty minutes duking it out in pairs. Eventually, the indomitable duo of Chad and Santana are named champions, though no one's particularly surprised by it. They're as competitive as each other, and they both hate to lose.

Admittedly, Gabriella had been laughing too hard at Santana's trash talk to give their fight her all, but all's well that end's well, and it's a fun way to pass the time. Alas, it's such that all good things must eventually come to an end, and as the sky is painted orange with the approach of evening, the group reluctantly part ways. Gabriella's having dinner at Troy's, before his parents drop her home, and the others have their own plans and arrangements. Zeke and Santana are off to hang out on their own, and Jason's staying at Chad's for dinner and video games. Brittany and Taylor are expected at their respective homes, and the next time they'll all be together again, it will be their first day at William McKinley High School. Despite all of her talk these last few weeks, however, Gabriella's not sure she's ready for it.

-!- -#-

Gabriella isn't a stranger to the Bolton household. She and Troy have been friends for a few years now, and along with the others, she's frequented his place often. His house is one of the more central among their group - alongside Chad's and Gabriella's - and as such, it's become a regular hang out for those days they've not wanted to spend money, or make nice with other people, or have simply been too lazy to make the commute. It's not quite a second home, but she's never felt unwelcome by Troy or his parents, and this particular occasion is no exception.

"Mom must be working late," Troy observes. Her car isn't in the driveway. "Come on, we can hang out in my room. I just have to let Dad know I'm home."

"Sure," Gabriella acquiesces.

Troy's dad is in the kitchen, part way through dinner prep. They chat briefly, about their day and the things they'd done throughout, but he sends them off with a couple of bottles of water, and with word that dinner will be ready in an hour, and also a reminder for Troy to keep his bedroom door open.

Yeah, Dad," Troy rolls his eyes, "I got it."

They shuffle to his room, where Troy haphazardly deposits his backpack by the open door with an exasperated sigh. He connects his iPod to his small speaker system, flicks through his iTunes library until Death Cab for Cutie filters through his bedroom, and then flops gracelessly across his bed.

Gabriella, meanwhile, sits up against his headboard, tugs her knees up against her chest, and takes note of the changes throughout his room.

"You took down all of your posters," she observes.

Troy's bedroom had practically been a shrine to basketball before the summer. He'd had posters of all his favourite players, pennants and ribbons and trophies on the shelf space not taken up by novels, but most of it's gone now. The only indication he's a basketball player at all is the worn out basketball propped on top of his gym duffel, and for the life of her, Gabriella can't make sense of it.

Troy shrugs, but he's careful to avoid her gaze. "I needed a change."

"Okay?" It sounds like a question, but it's not. Not really. SHe's still confused, but Troy has no intention of explaining further, and it seems like an inconsequential thing to prod him over. After all, who is she to question him over the decor of his own bedroom?

Her gaze wanders to Troy's battered guitar, a hand-me-down from his older cousin, with pride of place on a stand beside his desk. He'd started teaching himself around the same time he'd befriended Gabriella, Santana, Brittany, and Taylor, and he's gotten pretty good in the years since. He doesn't play in front of people much - he doesn't think he's particularly talented, or something - but Gabriella's enjoyed those few occasions he has; Perhaps more so than she would otherwise, for their rarity.

Troy follows her gaze, clears his throat uncomfortably, and admits, "I decided to stop taking piano lessons."

"Why?"

Troy's been playing since he was five. He's made it to Grade Eight in Piano and Music Theory both, and he's excellent. He enjoys it, too - beyond the lessons, exams, and recitals, anyway - and it seems a shame to give it up.

Troy sighs. "It's not what I want to do as a career. I like music, and I have fun playing music, but I don't want to be a career musician. I just figured it would be better to focus on school and basketball, for college, you know?"

"And you're not doing this because your dad wants you to focus on basketball?"

"No," Troy denies, "I'm doing this because McKinley High has a piece of shit Arts program, so I'm more likely to get a basketball scholarship than one for the Arts."

Gabriella can't argue against that logic. She'd used it as her own justification for quitting her own piano (and dance) lessons, more or less, and even then, both of her parents had been reluctant to okay it. It had taken her nonna pointing out that it would be a waste of money if Gabriella didn't give her all to the lessons for them to accept her decision, and they'd still needed time to discuss it.

Gabriella sighs. "It's crazy that we're already thinking about this stuff. It feels like ages away."

Troy rolls over to lie on his stomach. "You've heard Dad. It's all important from now on. Our grades, our extra-curricular activities, our behaviour…"

"I know," Gabriella replies, "And I believe him, too. It just… Doesn't feel real, I guess."

Troy huffs a laugh. "Tell me about it."

They slip into a companionable silence as Troy's iPod plays. Troy starts to sing along to 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark', and Gabriella smiles. It's a shame Troy's decided not to pursue music more seriously, but it's nice to know he still loves it all the same. He doesn't need lessons and recitals to prove it, and actually, neither does she.

-!- -#-

Author's Note: Way back in 2009, before I started watching Glee, my brother described it to me like this: "It's like High School Musical, but less Disney..

He didn't use those exact words, but that's pretty much what I took from his description.

A couple of years ago, in 2018, I started reading HSM fan fic. Mostly, it was the Zac Efron nostalgia after watching the Greatest Showman, and as it turns out, There's actually some pretty good stuff out there, I enjoyed it, and I found myself inspired. I wanted to write a story in which Troy and Gabriella were already an established couple - mostly, I can't be bothered with the build up - but I needed/wanted more characters than just the HSM cast, and so this happened. I've been working on it on and off ever since. I was going to hold off on posting Part 1 until it was all completed, but I need to cull my documents for space purposes, so I hope you like it. Thanks for reading. Until next time, -t.