Hello folks! Does anyone even still read HSM fanfiction? It's still one of life's little pleasures for me. Because of that, I'm going to ATTEMPT to create a multi-chapter fanfic – if you know me, you know how that may go.

My intention is to upload every Sunday.

CHAPTER 1

It had been an hour since Troy found Gabriella asleep in his bed. He'd decided to leave her sleeping for the time being. She looked warm and content buried in his old, red comforter and cuddling a soft pillow. She was different. When she was younger, she'd taken naps in Troy's room too. Her little toes barely reaching to the middle of the bed. Now her slim legs filled up almost the whole length. He'd known it was Gabriella, though, because of her mass of shiny, dark curls – shielding most of her face – and her soft, kitten-like snoring. He remembered both well. The struggle of curly hair, my darling, Gabriella's mother had often said while trying to tame her curls, and he remembered the way Gabriella's big brown eyes had always seemed so sad that there wasn't much her mother could do to keep her hair smoothed down. However, Troy had always given her a cheeky grin to make her smile, reminding the little girl that curls weren't meant to be tamed. Troy also remembered that Gabriella snored just loud enough for people to notice. It was soft and light, full of mewls of sleepy contentment. Troy decided to leave her in peace.

…

He looked up when he heard her feet shuffling down the carpeted stairs, "I was wondering who the girl in my bed was." He smiled up from the book he was reading to find her blushing profusely.

"Troy?" She ran her fingers through her tangled curls, and he watched as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite recognizing her, she wasn't the same girl he remembered. She made her way closer to him, and as she approached, Troy realized that this was a Gabriella he didn't quite know. One he had never gotten a chance to know. He hadn't expected her to grow up, especially not into the breathtaking creature he was now staring at. He cocked his head to the side, though, finding things about her that he remembered the most as she approached him – the almost invisible freckles that painted the bridge of her nose; the golden flecks in her pretty brown eyes. As she walked closer and brushed her hair over her shoulder, he noticed more about her, like the sparkle on her little finger.

"That's me." He smirked, happy to see her after so many years. He wanted to reach out and touch her, bring her into his arms, and if she was still fourteen, he would have done just that. He would have wrapped her in his embrace and kissed her forehead like he'd done when he'd left for university, but now was different. She was nearly four years older, practically a new person.

Intimacy filled the room as Gabriella snuggled into the opposite corner of the couch, offering a timid smile, "It's been a long time, Troy." He liked the sound of his name leaving her lips.

Troy had always liked Gabriella. Even as a little girl she was kind and generous. She was smart and inquisitive. He remembered once when she was five and he was nine, she'd looked up at him and asked him if he would be her Valentine. She'd even handed him a big, homemade card that she'd perfected with glitter and scented markers. Her eyes had looked the same as they did now, bright anticipation for what he might say next. When had she become so grown up, though? He wondered. Her lilting voice seemed laced with a new sort of gentleness. Everything about her seemed soft and warm and ready to melt in his hands if he was to touch her.

Troy nodded, "It has." The words were huskier than he'd intended. "The last time I saw you, you were a little girl." Then, like he'd done when she was five, he took her hand in his. As he did so, he looked down to find a tiny, tarnished ring on her pinky finger. "Is this the ring I gave you before I left for college?"

"It is," she smiled, "it happens to be my most beloved piece of jewelry."

"I can't believe it's lasted so many years."

Gabriella smiled even bigger and nodded.

"I'm glad you've loved it so well. I'm also glad to see you, but if I remember correctly, you used to live next door." The pretty blush crept to her face again. Instead of a verbal reply, she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, leaving him with no option other than to embrace her. It was everything he wanted. He had missed her more than he knew. In the manner that they had been sitting, when Gabriella lunged forward, it ended with her practically straddling him. He felt her breath against his neck and her hair tickling his face. He felt her heart beating and smelled her warm scent. Each a new and familiar sensation all at once, but he was surprised to feel the roundness of her body. It was filled with curves. The last time he had held her in his arms, she had been fourteen years old, still in the body of a child – a late bloomer who was all sharp angles and knobby knees. She had changed. He felt the swell of her breasts against his chest, only their shirts acting as a barrier; and he could feel the rounding of her hips beneath his hands. He smiled at the realization that she smelled the same as he remembered.

He pushed her a little bit away so that he could look at her. He smiled in her face and tucked her hair behind her ears. She was still the Gabriella he adored – even if a bit different. Her nose still curved, and her eye lashes still fluttered shyly. They stared at each other for a long time, Troy's fingers running affectionately through her hair. He'd done this when she was little, but now was different, more intimate.

"I've missed you," Gabriella finally mumbled, pulling away slightly, leaving Troy's hands aching for her. Her cheeks were still pink, and Troy couldn't help but think about how beautiful she had become in the years he'd been gone. "Sorry I was in your bed."

He moved just slightly closer to her, eradicating the space between them as their knees touched. His fingers continued to brush the curls out of her face. Again, his heart jumped at the nostalgia of it all, relishing in the memory of doing this when she was young as he was comforting her. "I've missed you too. You're the same, but I can tell some things have changed."

"Is that bad," her breath hitched as he began to twirl a curl between his fingers, not able to give her up just yet.

"No," he smiled largely, "I guess I've changed too."

She nodded.

"So why were you sleeping in my bed?" Troy asked after a few moments of silence.

Gabriella was sitting next to him still, her legs tucked beneath herself, a large shirt – one Troy suspected was his – pulled over them. "My parents are out of town until tomorrow, and your parents insist I don't sleep next door all alone…just in case."

"Well, you were a nice surprise. I'd forgotten that it has been so long. Glad to see you still snore."

Troy watched as she bit her lower lip, "I do not snore," she replied indignantly after a moment, but the shine in her eyes told him that she was trying hard not to smile. She didn't acknowledge his comment about not seeing her in a long time. He wondered why.

"What are you doing back in Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked him.

"You don't know? I'm surprised my mom hasn't been telling everyone. I was accepted to grad school at U of A. I'm studying nutrition, and I'll be doing some research with East High's Family and Consumer Sciences department."

She smiled, "Imagine that. Troy Bolton a graduate student and researcher? What happened to the boy that was only interested in flinging basketballs?"

Troy shoved her playfully, "Ha ha. Someone has jokes. What happened to that sweet little girl I remember?" He retorted.

"She grew up," Gabriella said it so seriously that Troy was taken by surprise. Sadness flitted across her face, but before he could question it, she was up. "I'll make us some lunch to make up for all the times you had to make me mac and cheese."

Troy followed her into the kitchen, and he watched as she rummaged through the refrigerator. She knew more about his kitchen than he did, "Your hair's gotten really long."

"Yeah," she looked over her shoulder, and Troy was caught off-guard by how easily she took his breath away, "I started growing it out a couple of years ago."

"What made you decide to do that?"

"It's easier to hide behind," her brown eyes went large, "I don't know why I told you that."

"What do you mean? Why would you need to hide?" He took the sandwich supplies from her hands, their fingers brushing, and sat them on the kitchen table.

She shrugged off his question, "I'm sure you remember high school. What would you like to drink?"

"Water is fine." He didn't press her anymore, but he did think seriously about what she said, and he was disheartened to realize that he wasn't surprised. He knew Gabriella's tender heart: the way she cried at hearing Aesop's fable of the lazy grasshopper destined to freeze to death in the winter, the way she had sat for hours at the park, picking flowers and humming quietly to herself – other children ignoring her. Troy knew what it meant to survive in high school. Popular students were often callous and sometimes even a bit cruel. Troy adored what made Gabriella Gabriella but he knew that her natural tendencies were not the typical qualities of a popular high school student. Although, he was surprised to learn that her beauty had not shot her right to the top of the hierarchy.

"Here you go," Gabriella handed Troy a sandwich with the works.

"Thank you."