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.
Part One: Fifteen
Chapter Two: Kiss the Girl
It's the last weekend of Gabriella's summer vacation, and her parents aren't home. Her mother's in Sacramento, visiting with clients there, and her father's a domestic pilot for American Airways, so he could be anywhere. In any case, they're rarely home, and Gabriella scarcely sees them.
Hell, they rarely see each other, passing through Lima like ships in the night, but it's nothing new, and Gabriella has had many years to grow accustomed to their absence. In fact, all thing's considered, it's okay. She's got her Nonna, who lives in the apartment above the garage, who has always been there - for every scraped knee, for every dance and music recital, and every single spelling bee. She was there when Gabriella received her first period, had been there when Max Miller ditched her for Tara Wallace during her first and last Sadie Hawkins dance, and through it all, She's become the wise, hilarious, unfaltering maternal figure Maria Montez has never been, and she's all the family Gabriella needs.
Nevertheless…
"I thought they'd be here," Gabriella sighs, disappointed, tugs her knees up against her chest, and huffs bitterly, "I don't know why. It's not like they've ever been here before."
When her parents are not home, they make an effort to call a few times a week. They usually alternate days, and throughout the summer, their main topic of conversation has been Gabriella's impending start at William McKinley High. They've expressed their excitement for her, they've listened to her ramble about her class selections, her thoughts regarding extra-curricular activities and the disappointment that all of her friends aren't in all of the same classes as her. In all of that time, they'd never said they would be there for her first day, but Gabriella had hoped, and they'd let her down. And for the life of her, she can't let it go.
Why can't she let it go?
"It's different," Troy reasons. He rubs a hand over her back, and the warmth of his palm is like a hot brand through the cotton of her dress, "This is your first day of high school. They should be here."
Troy doesn't have a particularly high opinion of her parents. He and Gabriella haven't been friends as long as Gabriella's been friends with Santana, Brittany and Taylor, - but their group of eight have been nigh inseparable for three years at this point. If nothing else, it's been long enough to know who raised Gabriella, and it certainly wasn't Carlos and Maria Montez.
Gabriella hums her acknowledgement, tucks herself under his arm, and burrows herself against his side. Troy settles his arm more securely over her shoulders, content to trace patterns into the bare skin of her bicep, or to twist locks of her hair around his index finger. He doesn't feel the need to fill the silence that settles between them, and Gabriella closes her eyes, content to revel in the peace he offers.
"I'm sorry they're not here, Gaby."
"It's not your place to apologise for their failings as parents," Gabriella answers. She attempts a smile, but she mostly fails. "Besides, I've got you, haven't I?"
"Always," Troy earnestly confirms.
Gabriella bites her bottom lip, suddenly hesitant, and glances at Troy through her lashes. His hair looks orange in the light of the setting sun, and his eyes are as impossibly bright as ever. "Always?"
She's liked Troy for a while now, but not in the in-your-face, starry eyed sort of way she'd liked Max. It's a quieter, more subtle kind of thing - one Gabriella hadn't even noticed until Santana had pointed it out to her. She still gets the butterflies, the sweating palms, the racing heart, but there are no initials in hearts in the margins of her notebooks, no outrageous outfits selected to draw his attention, and there are no crazy schemes to hold onto him, either.
Instead, it's better. There are inside jokes, movie marathons and Mario-Kart races and flag football in the park. There's secrets between best friends, and traded lunches and scary stories in the dark. There's blood, sweat and tears, and so much laughter, and the knowledge that a hug from him can brighten the worst of her days. There's Troy, and upon realising it, Gabriella's not sure how she'd ever missed it.
Troy's fingers, tracing mindless patterns into her arm, still in place, and then start trembling. The air between them shifts, somehow, grows charged with nerves and anticipation and something else altogether different. Gabriella's heart pounds in her chest, and it's suddenly hard to breathe.
Troy bites the inside of his cheek, and stares into the depths of the pool they'd vacated hours ago.
He'd come over to hang out, just the two of them, and it's been nice. Of course, she wouldn't have minded if the others had come along, but they're all busy with family things.
In any case, Gabriella can't honestly say the day was somehow less entertaining for their absence. She's had a great time with Troy, talking and swimming and just hanging out, and the time has flown by. His dad's due to pick him up at eight o'clock - it is a school night - and Gabriella doesn't want him to go..
It feels like an eternity before he does, but Troy shrugs, and answers simply, "If you'll have me."
He glances at her, his cerulean eyes hesitant and hopeful and nervous, and Gabriella offers him a tremulous smile. "I'd like that, Troy."
As he shifts to look at her properly, Troy clears his throat, but his voice is raspy regardless, and oddly breathless. "Yeah?"
She nods, and ducks her head to avoid his gaze. "Yeah."
Troy lightly traces a trembling thumb along her jaw, and Gabriella wonders if he's about to kiss her. There have been a number of 'almost' moments throughout the summer, the disruptions intentional and accidental both, and in some respects, Gabriella's been waiting - hoping - for ages.
"I'm really glad," Troy says softly. He tips up her chin, and his gaze traces her face, her eyes and nose and lips and back to her eyes again, "I really like you, Gaby."
"Likewise," she murmurs. She has no idea what to do with her hands, and it's still hard to breathe. "For a while now."
"Not as long as me, I bet." Troy huffs a laugh, self-deprecating. "I juts didn't realise it. I could have killed Max Miller, though, the dickhead."
Gabriella doesn't ask for details. That can come later, when her heart isn't thundering in her chest, when her skin isn't covered in goosebumps, when Troy Bolton hasn't just inadvertently admitted he's had a crush on her for at least a year. She will ask, of course - she's too curious not to - but for now, there's something else Gabriella wants to do.
She kisses him.
Troy's surprised - he's just about to say something, actually - but he catches up with the program only a moment later, and it's soft and sweet and he tastes of the peach ice tea they've both been drinking, and it's everything.
Gabriella's kissed Troy before. In sixth grade, when they were 12 and curious, and in the seventh, at someone's Halloween party, during an ill-fated round of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Those kisses hadn't felt like this, though.
Maybe it's because the feelings hadn't been there yet, maybe because they'd both just gotten better at kissing in the interim, but whatever it is, Gabriella could probably sit here and kiss Troy all night.
"Wow," Troy mumbles, breathless, when they eventually (and reluctantly) part for air, "Just… wow."
He drops his hand from where he cups her face, and honestly, when had he done that? Gabriella hadn't noticed.
"Wow is right," she agrees, and she can't stop smiling for the life of her. She reaches up, tentative, and cups his cheek in her hand. Troy leans into it, his eyes half-lidded as he watches her, and Gabriella musters up all of her courage for one last question. "Does this mean you'll be my boyfriend, Troy?"
It would probably be weird to ask so soon in any other circumstance, but Gabriella's pretty sure she and Troy have been (unofficially) dating all summer. There have been group outings wherein they've snuck off for some alone time, there have been hours upon hours of late night phone conversations, there has been an endless thread of text messaging between them. And then, of course, there has been the cuddling, and the holding hands, and the countless almost kisses…
In that regard, Gabriella doesn't think it's too soon at all.
But then, maybe Troy does? Maybe he's not on the same page as her, and she's just completely blown it. Maybe she's jumped to the completely wrong conclusions about them and assumed there's more to them than there actually is.
Before Gabriella can work herself up into a panic, however, Troy beams, and it is beatific. She doesn't know how else to describe it. "As long as you'll be my girlfriend."
Gabriella huffs a laugh, and slumps against him. Her heart is racing again, and she's pretty sure it's more relief than anything else. She's excited, of course - almost giddy, even - but that moment of uncertainty had strained her nerves like nothing else. "I like the sound of that."
Troy hugs her tight, and presses a kiss into her hair. "Me too. So much."
They cuddle after that, and kiss sporadically, but they're both careful to keep it tame. Not only are 'they' new, but Gabriella's grandmother also has a tendency to check up on them every now and then, and they'd both prefer that she not catch them in the midst of anything remotely compromising.
Gabriella, who has already endured three discussions with her grandmother regarding the facts of life (there are different versions, who knew?), would prefer not to risk the possibility of another. Moreover, Valentina Russo is completely shameless, and Gabriella would receive no end of teasing from the woman if she was caught in the act, so to speak.
And so they cuddle, and they kiss, and they chat idly as the Beatles filter quietly from her speakers. Gabriella fiddles with Troy's hands, traces patterns into his palms, quizzes him about the scars she finds on his fingers, and teases him about his tendency to bite his nails. Eventually, though, Mr Bolton arrives to collect Troy, and they reluctantly part ways until morning.
As she retreats upstairs to bathe, Gabriella wryly reflects on how she's never looked forward to the start of school so much in her life. It's going to be a long night.