Troy arrived back at his house to see the afterparty rolling, his and Chad's dad on the grill, Kelsi dj-ing and a heap of people on the dance floor. His eyes landed on Gabriella talking to Katie and Nina. He took a moment to observe her, she looked happy talking to her cousins, her eyes sparkled as she smiled gently into the conversation. She was dressed in a white dress with white flowers to clip her curls (Right Here Right Now), Troy thought she looked gorgeous.

"Whipped." Chad coughed as he threw an arm around Troy's shoulder, dragging him towards the girls.

"I'm not whipped, she looks happy."

"Whatever you say Hoops, but maybe instead of watching her like a weirdo, go and talk to her."

He rolled his eyes as they walked up to their girlfriends. Troy came up behind Gabriella and grabbed her waist, spinning her around and kissing her cheek. "Congratulations Wildcat." She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thanks Babe, you look beautiful." He whispered making her blush. He turned them back towards the group, keeping his arms around her waist. "Katie, Nina, I'm glad you could make it."

Katie smiled. "Since Nina's too wrapped up in her boyfriend, thank you for inviting us Troy and congratulations on your game."

"Thanks Katie."

"Elle was telling me you played quite the game, the other team was pretty rough."

"Yeah it always is against the knights, they can be a pretty rough team. I'm just hoping I didn't worry this one too much." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"Troy," Gabriella whined, pouting, causing him and Katie to laugh.

"I'm just teasing Baby, it was sweet."

Katie smiled at the couple before speaking up. "Anyway, I should probably get going."

Gabriella turned to her cousin. "But the party's only just starting."

"I know and as cute as you two are, I don't really want to be a third-wheel."

"Katie, we'd -"

"Ellie it's fine, go celebrate with your boyfriend and I'll -"

"Katie?" They looked over to see Kelsi Nielson coming towards them.

Katie smiled at the girl. "Hey Kels."

"I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Yeah well Troy and Ellie invited me."

Kelsi scrunched her eyebrows. "How do you know Troy and Gabriella?"

"Gabriella is my cousin."

Troy spoke up, "sorry to interrupt but how do you two know each other."

Katie turned back to them. "Oh sorry guys, I go to college with Kelsi's sister Sarah."

"Oh ok, are you enjoying the party Kelsi?"

The girl smiled, "it's great Troy."

Katie turned her attention back to the girl. "Hey Kels, would you mind if I hung out with you tonight so I don't third-wheel these lovebirds or my sister and her boyfriend."

"Sure Katie. Well it was nice talking to you two."

Troy smiled, "You too Kelsi."

"Troy, Elle, I'll see you guys later."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah Katie, have fun. Love you."

"Love you too Ellie, enjoy your night."

As the girls left, Troy kissed Gabriella's shoulder and grabbed her hand. "Come with me." He said, leading them to the treehouse. They both climbed up and sat on the edge. (From the movie - credit to Disney (I love it too much not to put it in))

"So another top-secret hiding place?" She said lacing their fingers.

"You're the second girl I've ever had up here." She elbowed him gently to elaborate, curiosity, confusion and a vague hurt shined in her eyes. "The first was my mom, she only climbed up to get me down."

She looked down and giggled, smiling and blushing as she fiddled with the jack around her shoulders. "Well I'm honoured, this place is so cool."

"Yeah me and my dad built it." He said reminiscing before looking at his dad below.

"So is that the coach from U of A down there."

"Yeah, yeah he's at my house." He shifted, "crazy."

"I bet he's already got your name on a locker."

"It's always been my dad's dream, now I'm gonna end up in his alma mater... did I just say that?"

She giggled slightly before shaking her head, sobering quickly. "You know my mom and I have been talking about Stanford University pretty much since I was born."

He gently bumped her shoulder. "Hey you're already in, that's so cool."

She giggled before sighing. "Except she won't stop talking about it, it's embarrassing."

"Come on, she's proud of you." He turned to her. "I'm proud of you."

"The thing about Stanford is that it's 10-"

"and 53 miles from here, I know." He grabbed her hand, bringing her close. "It suddenly seems like the rest of the school year is coming at us so fast."

"Yeah, I wish it would all just stop." She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "At least just slow down."

He turned to kiss her head. "I wish it would Brie but we're going to graduate, that's going to happen, nothing is going to slow down, after -"

"I know, after two weeks we're going to graduate... I guess my heart just doesn't know it's in high school. I don't want it to end yet."

He pulled her into him. "I know Baby, I know it's scary."

"Really scary."

"I know but we can't focus on that or the time is going to go so much faster. I know we only have two weeks left Brie but we've got two months of summer together and I promise we'll make the most of it."

She crawled into his lap and snuggled into his arms. "I love you Troy, I don't want to be away from you."

"I love you too Brie, we'll make the most of it Baby, we'll make it work then we'll be together forever 'cause I can't live without you."

"I can't live without you either Troy, I need you."

"We'll make it work Babe." He looked down at her, brushing the strands from her face. "Now only happy subjects, I don't like seeing my Baby Girl sad."

She giggled then smiled at him. "I'm so proud of you Wildcat, you played so well tonight."

"Thanks Baby, it means a lot." He said, kissing her cheek. She pouted in response causing him to laugh. "You want a real kiss Baby?"

She nodded like a child, making him grin. He twisted her in his lap and cupped her cheek to kiss her. She responded to the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. They spent the remainder of their time in the treehouse enjoying their time together, snuggled up talking and exchanging kisses before they were called back to the party.