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 Eleven: Autumn

Gabriella's trainer at Tom's Diner is named Stella. She's 20, an alum of McKinley High, and studying a Bachelor's of Nursing at Lima's OSU campus. She's friendly, quick to laugh and even quicker to smile, and Gabriella gets along with her well.

All the same, though, she's glad when her first shift is over. It's surprisingly exhausting, waiting tables, interacting with the customers, staying on her feet for the better part of eight hours, and Gabriella leaves with a newfound respect for workers in hospitality. Ryan - and his driver - is waiting for her outside, and upon sight of Gabriella, he grins.

"How'd it go, Gina?"

Gabriella pulls a face at the Bon Jovi reference, but she offers him a tired smile all the same. "It went well, I think. NO catastrophes, so that's something. I apologise in advance, though. I probably stink of grease."

Ryan waves off her apology, opens the back door for her, and queries, "Are you still up for studying, or would you rather we dropped you home?"

"I'm good," Gabriella assures him. Ryan nods, and clambers into the front seat. Gabriella continues, "Besides, I don't really want to go home right now. Mom and Dad are in town, and it's… Weird."

Ryan grimaces sympathetically. "I feel your pain."

They haven't spoken much about it - or at all, really - but from what Ryan and Kelsi have mentioned, Ryan doesn't have the best relationship with his father. Nothing criminal or anything like that, but rather, it's the age old thing about parental expectations and the failure to meet them. Ryan isn't the hyper-masculine son Mr Evans had always imagined, or some such, and it probably doesn't help that Sharpay is the apple of their father's eye.

Gabriella sort of wonders what it was like to grow up in an environment like that.

Not pleasant, presumably.

Gabriella hums her acknowledgement. "They're never around, you know? But they wanted to surprise me with family time or whatever, and they just expected me to change my plans to accommodate them. But they gave me no notice, so why should I? I mean, it's not my fault they're never here."

"No, it's not," Ryan agrees, "They shouldn't have just dropped it on you like that."

"Yeah," Gabriella acknowledges on an exhale. "Anyway, I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow morning; Maybe just pretend to sleep in until it's late enough for me to go see Troy. I don't know, I'm just so… Angry, I guess? I didn't even realise it until last night."

"I mean, they practically left your nonna to raise you, didn't they? That's what I've gathered."

"Pretty much," Gabriella confirms. "I mean, Nonna's amazing, and I love her like crazy, but she shouldn't have had to take care of me full-time. That wasn't her job."

"No it wasn't," Ryan agrees, "And you have a right to be angry about it. Your Nonna does too, really. What does she think about it all?"

Gabriella shrugs. "I don't really know. If she talks about it, then it's not with me."

Ryan hums his acknowledgement, and the conversation tapers off into an easy, companionable silence. It's accompanied by the sounds of Iron and Wine filtering from the car's speakers, and Gabriella tunes out until they reach Kelsi's place.

"Thanks for the lift, Alfie," Gabriella acknowledges the driver as she clambers out of the SUV. Ryan follows suit, and they don't tarry in approaching the front door, "I guess you've come here a lot?"

Ryan nods. "It's more comfortable than my place, so yeah, a fair bit. Plus, Sharpay doesn't like to come here, so…"

"Are you two close?"

"Not, like, best friends or anything," Ryan shrugs. He knocks on the door, and steps back to wait for someone to answer, "She doesn't have many friends though,so she sticks close at school and stuff."

"You two are very different."

Ryan's smile is mirthless, but before he can answer, Kelsi pulls the door open. She's dressed comfortably, in a pair of leggings and a tunic-style blouse, and she greets Ryan and Gabriella each with a hug.

"Hey, come on in. I've set us up in the dining room."

Kelsey's parents are out at some sort of function for her mother's work, and her younger brother is spending the night at a friend's place, so they have the place to themselves. They spread their books out across the six-seater dining table, put Kelsi's iPod on shuffle and plug it into her docking station, and fill themselves up on junk food as they begrudgingly get started on their respective homework.

"What's Troy up to tonight?" Ryan asks during a break from his Algebra to demolish a handful of potato chips.

"He's hanging out with his parents," Gabriella replies. Specifically, he's got a cooking lesson with his mom, but Gabriella's not sure Troy wants that advertised, so she doesn't mention it, "He and the guys went to the skate park this afternoon, so he wasn't really interested in doing much tonight."

"That's understandable," Kelsey concedes, "But you guys have your Sunday date thing tomorrow?"

Gabriella nods her confirmation. "We're going on a hike and having a picnic lunch out by one of the Appleseed trails."

"Sounds uncomfortable," Ryan quips.

"Well we've done the roller rink and the bowling alley and the mall, so…"

"You guys try to do something different each week?" Kelsi wonders. "How long have you two been together, anyway? I don't think I've ever really asked."

"Since just before term started," Gabriella replies, "So it's still pretty new. And I guess we're just trying out different things together; Seeing what works for us as a couple? Like, bowling kind of sucks with just two people, so we probably won't do that again.

"It's kind of cute," Kelsi says. She's smiling, and Gabriella blushes despite herself, "And he's not one of those asshole jock types, which is cool."

"Tell me about it," Ryan grimaces, "They all think they're just top shit, but they're just… Not. It's pathetic."

"At least you don't have to get slushied, or tossed in dumpsters, or whatever else," Kelsi reasons.

Kelsi, herself, hasn't been slushied, or generally bullied. She prides herself on her status as a wallflower, skating under the radar of those whom would otherwise tear her down for having the audacity to not follow the crowd. It probably helps that despite thinly veiled criticism from her Cheerio teammates, Gabriella is unapologetically and unabashedly her friend, but it's not like either of them are going to complain about it. Others in their class - Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry, and Mercedes Jones, to name a few - aren't so lucky.

"Only because a good percentage of their parents work for mine, and no one wants to risk us tattling to Mommy and Daddy," Ryan says snidely, "I guarantee, if we weren't Evans', we'd be targeted just as often as the other 'losers.'"

"It's horrible," Gabriella sighs wearily, "I hate it, but there isn't much I can do. The entire JV squad follows Quinn around like mindless ducklings, and since she thinks it's the most entertaining thing imaginable, they all think it's the 'cool' thing to do."

"We understand," Kelsi says, a sympathetic smile on her face, "Besides, it's not your job to reign them in. THey're old enough to know better."

"They'll all get what's coming to them," Ryan says confidently, "What goes around, comes around, and they'll all be sorry one day."

Gabriella's smile is tired. She's only been a Cheerio for six or so weeks, and she's already over it. "That day can't arrive soon enough."

-!- -#-

It's a pleasant, autumn day, perfect for hiking. The sun is bright, the blue sky clear of clouds, and the air is refreshingly crisp. For safety reasons, Troy's parents join them on the hike, though they walk ahead enough to offer Troy and Gabriella some privacy.

Troy and Gabriella, meanwhile, talk as they hike - about the scenery, about school, about Troy's coaching job and Gabriella's first day at Tom's Diner - and all though the exertion is tiring, Gabriella enjoys herself. She takes photos with a camera she's borrowed from her nonna, Troy surprises her with a plethora of random facts regarding the flora and fauna they pass by, and Gabriella learns about her boyfriend's childhood summers spent hiking, camping, and fishing with his dad and grandfather.

Eventually, they return to the picnic spot they'd started out from, Troy and Coach Bolton go to the car to retrieve the food and drinks, and Gabriella chats idly with Troy's mom about school, about her classes and extra-curricular activities and the new friends she's made.

Gabriella's known Mrs Bolton for a while now; since she'd become friends with Troy, really. She works as an Estate Agent, but she also has a couple of novels published, and Gabriella can't fathom how she balances her work and home life. She doesn't ask, of course, but she wonders, and sometimes, she's painfully, hopelessly bitter.

She doesn't resent Mrs Bolton, but for the love of God, why couldn't her own mother manage her home and work life balance so gracefully?

It's irrational, perhaps, particularly because Gabriella's stopped expecting anything from either of her parents, but feel it she does, and Gabriella can't let it go. Not yet.

"Here we are," Coach Bolton approaches, sets the picnic basket on the bench they've claimed as their own, and starts distributing dishes across the table. "Hummus, cheese, crackers, and vegetables, courtesy of Luce, assorted sandwiches, courtesy of Troy, fruit salad and delicious looking brownies from Gabriella-"

"The brownies are courtesy of NOnna, actually," Gabriella interjects, "I just made the fruit salad."

Coach Bolton grins. "Courtesy of Mrs Russo and Gabriella, then, and lastly, lemonade, courtesy of yours truly. And of course, plates, cutlery, and some cups, for our convenience…"

They tuck in, and conversation drifts between the food, between the hike, between the other amenities and opportunities Appleseed Metropolitan Park offers them. Troy's parents are easy to talk to, genial and kind, and despite the anxiety she'd felt earlier - they are her boyfriends' parents, after all - Gabriella enjoys herself.

"How did the cooking lesson go?" Gabriella asks Troy over brownies, "I haven't asked yet."

"Um, it was edible?" Troy shrugs.

"It was good," Troy's mom assures him, "He made beef stir fry. It turned out well."

"I'll have to practise it a bit more," Troy says. He doesn't seem convinced that his mother's telling the truth. "Get used to it or something."

Gabriella nods her acknowledgement. "Makes sense."

"Troy says your nonna's teaching you to cook?" Mrs Bolton queries.

"She is," Gabriella confirms, "I'm supposed to learn how to make homemade pesto tonight, so that should be good."

"She's Italian, I'm assuming?"

Gabriella nods. "She and my Nonno moved here before my mom was born. They co-owned this little Mediterranean restaurant in Brooklyn, so she's learned a lot of Spanish and Greek dishes over the years. Some Turkish and Lebanese, as well, but I think she's most familiar with Italian and Spanish food, so that's what she's been teaching me."

They've learned to cook Mexican dishes together, as well, the recipes courtesy of Gabriella's Abuela. Both women are determined to ensure Gabriella knows her heritage in all of the important ways - food, language, music and dance - and as she's grown older, Gabriella's only grown more interested in where her grandparents had come from. Neither of her parents are as invested - in many ways, they are the quintessential children of immigrants - and it's sad.

Gabriella tries not to dwell on it.

"That's lovely," Troy's mom acknowledges, "You two must be very close."

"We are," Gabriella confirms, "It's usually just the two of us, so…"

"Well I'm glad you have her," Mrs Bolton says, "And that she has you."

Gabriella smiles awkwardly, unsure of what to say to that. She's rescued, however, by Coach Bolton, who turns the conversation to Troy's upcoming birthday, and to his plans for the occasion.

"I wasn't going to do anything," Troy informs them. He picks idly at the crusts of his second sandwich.

"You don't want to do anything?" Mrs Bolton clarifies.

"Not really," Troy confirms, "Maybe just go out to dinner or something."

"No party?"

"Uh, no?" Troy replies. The parties their peers attend have become an overwhelming, uninhibited blur of alcohol and EDM and sex, and anything other than that is soundly considered 'lame'. Troy's parents aren't about to let anything like that happen in their house though - particularly when Troy's dad is a faculty member of McKinley High - and as such, a party isn't an option.

"Dinner, then," Mrs Bolton concedes, "Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?"

Troy shrugs. "I guess I'll think about it?"

Both of Troy's parents accept that answer, and the rest of the picnic is fairly unremarkable. Gabriella takes more pictures, Troy produces a picnic blanket, sprawls across it, and reads a book. Troy's parents wander off down another hiking trail, Gabriella joins her boyfriend on the picnic blanket, and produces a novel of her own. They share headphones, listening to Bon Iver and Death Cab for Cutie and Iron and Wine. They graze on the carrot and celery sticks and hummus, on the cheese and crackers and the leftover fruit salad, take turns making up shapes in the clouds, and it's peaceful.

It's such that she's disappointed when they have to leave, and she's not the only one.