After Thanksgiving, Gabriella was pissed off at her parents and even more so at her dad who lectured her the whole ride back to his apartment. She packed up her stuff, packed it in her car, and drove it to the Bolton's. Troy held her until he fell into his food coma. Gabriella wiggled out of his arms and joined Lucille in Black Friday shopping. She was planning on spending many more nights at the Bolton house.

The week after Thanksgiving, her dad called her and gave her a half assed apology regarding Thanksgiving and he wanted her to spend the night at the apartment. She took some clothes and spent the night with him and he pretended like Thanksgiving never happened.

The second to last show was Family night. She got five tickets for her family and everybody was coming- even her mother. They were going to sit next to Troy's parents and the Evans' were going to be in front of them. This combination was bound to be a disaster. Thankfully after the last show, Gabriella, Camilla, Mariella, and their father were flying to New York for the audition and the weekend.

She was back stage, hiding from Sharpay with Troy. They were ready for the show to start, dressed in their costumes. Troy looked nervous. "You okay?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah… I just… I haven't sang in front of my parents before and it's a little weird."

"You're going to do well. You've been killing it on stage. The pineapple song has never sounded better." Gabi encouraged.

Troy took a breath. "That's because singing with you is easy."

"Your dad has also slipped into at least one show already. He just hasn't told you because he doesn't want to freak you out."

Troy looked alarmed. "That is not comforting."

"I'm sorry." Gabriella bit her lip. "If it helps, if the play and after goes well with our parents meeting…. My family and Sharpay's in the same room… without all hell breaking loose… we can buy lotto and flee the country."

Troy reached over for her hand. "What do you expect to happen?"

"Nothing. My mother is in public. She'll be on her best behavior. My dad will be awkward being stuck with his wife, your parents- the people who have taken care of me the last month, and his side piece and her husband." She shook her head. "My mom probably still thinks I'm pregnant… Derby too. Good thing we told your dad and he has a brain and believes us."

"One more show… I'm kind of going to miss copious amounts of quality time with you cupcake."

"You say that like i'm not in your bed every night."

"But like…. Not sleeping or doing homework… just hanging out."

"We're still going to hang out. I'm going to bug the crap out of you until I move to New York this summer."

Troy smiled. "Good." He kissed her hand quickly. "Are you nervous for your audition?"

"That's one word. I keep second guessing myself about the song."

"The song is spectacular, Cupcake. You're going to blow them all away- guaranteed." He squeezed her hand in comfort. "I really want to give you a kiss on the cheek but I don't want to get yelled at for ruining your wrinkles again."

She giggled. "You can ruin my wrinkles anytime."

Troy laughed out loud. "You're gross."

"Shhh!" Somebody shushed them. The show was about to start. A heard of dancers walked by following Ryan Evans in his Emcee get up. The music came on and Gabriella pulled up Troy from the couch so they could watch from the wings like they did most nights.

They did their final bows before running off the stage and wiping the make-up off their faces. The show was really good tonight. Gabriella was happy with her performance and it seemed like Sharpay was too. She wasn't glaring at everybody like she normally did, especially when somebody messed up… which was usually Troy.

Gabriella changed into her normal clothes and pulled the wig off of her head. She let her hair down and grabbed her things. Troy was waiting for her outside the restroom. She hugged him while he took her backpack and slung it over his shoulder with his book bag. He kissed her forehead before reaching for her hand.

She slipped her hand in his and took a deep calming breath. He led her into the room outside of the theatre where their parents were waiting. "Gabi! Troy!" Mariella came rushing over. "That was such a weird show! I liked it." She grinned.

Troy laughed, giving Gabriella's sister the best hug he could. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Come on! Mom and Dad have been waiting for you!" Mariella said, reaching over for Gabriella's hand.

"I'm coming." She said, following her sister.

"Bunny! That was… some show. You did great."

"Thanks Dad." Gabriella said with a tight lipped smile.

"He was really glad you weren't one of the dancers in the fishnet stockings." Camilla said, laughing. "He said oh god about twenty times."

"Only twenty? Good job, dad." She joked. "Dad, I want you to meet my friend and his parents."

"Of course!"

Gabriella led her family over to Troy's who were laughing all together. "Gabi! Great job! You did amazing." Lucille said with a wide grin.

"Thank you! I want you guys to meet my family. This is my father, Richard. My mother, Maria is back here with my nanny, Rose. These are my sisters, Camilla and Mariella." Gabriella introduced. "Family, this is my best friend, Troy and his parents, Lucille and Jack Bolton. Coach Bolton teaches PE and is the Athletic Director here at East High."

"Very nice to meet you, Jack." Richard reached his hand out to shake. "I'm looking forward to having more conversations with you in the future. Do you mind if we exchange numbers?"

"Oh god." Gabriella mumbled.

"Camilla, Mariella. It's so nice to meet you both. Gabi talks about you guys all the time."

"She does?" Camilla asked, skeptically.

"Oh yeah. She tells me that you are brilliant and that you are going to beat her record for having the highest GPA at East Jr High. Mariella, she says that you are an amazing artist. She showed me the drawing you gave her. I put it on our fridge so we can look at it all the time."

"Really, Gabi, you did?" Mari asked excitedly.

"Of course I did, I love it so much." Gabriella said, reaching over to squeeze her sister's shoulder. She reached out for Troy who was putting their book bags on the floor. She pulled him close to her.

"I'm still waiting on my sketch we were talking about Mari."

"I'm working on it! You can't rush perfection." Mari said, making everyone laugh.

"It's so nice to meet you all, If you would excuse me." Gabriella's mother said, stepping away and meeting up with the Evans'.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. She slipped her arm out from around Troy and reached over to hug Rose. "You were so good, Gabi."

"Thank you so much for coming." She said, squeezing her caregiver tighter.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose smiled at her.

"How awkward was the show?"

Rose smiled, shaking her head. "Not bad. They say on opposite ends of each other. She was about to go sit with Derby but Vance was here he was just running a little late." She leaned over to me. "Best friend?"

"Yeah, I mean. He likes me and I like him but we are both leaving in less than six months."

"You're being careful right?"

"We're not having sex. We haven't had sex. He's a virgin and I'm pretty sure he is scared of me. He says that if we do have sex then I'll think of him like one of the guys who just wants to be with me for sex. Sex means a lot and he'll get too attached to me." Gabriella said quietly.

Rose was studying Troy. "He's a good boy."

"Too good for me."

Rose shook her head. "Nonsense. He's perfect for you. You deserve a good boy especially with all this other bullshit you have to deal with."

Troy's eyes widened as he turned to Gabriella. "What?"

"Let's see what the kids say." Jack said, as Gabriella walked away from Rose and up to the parents. "Should we all head out to dinner together?"

"I'm sure mom has other plans dad. Don't you have some work to do?" Gabriella said quickly.

"I cleared my schedule for this." Richard said, looking at his daughter in confusion. "Where is your mother?"

"Talking to the Evans family." Gabriella said.

"I should go say hi to Vance and Derby." Jack said, looking at Troy and Gabriella. "You guys decide and let me know."

"Your dad knows them?" Gabriella asked Troy quietly.

"My dad knows everybody."

"Troy! It's nice to meet you. I'm Richard. What are you doing for college?"

"Oh, wow, okay. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Montez. I applied to about six schools; University of California- Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego State University, Oregon State University, New York University, and Columbia University." Troy said.

"What is your Major going to be?"

"I am undecided but I am leaning toward public health, Psychology, or maybe just biology… it depends on the school."

"Well, what do you want to be?"

Gabriella sighed in annoyance. "Dad, stop trying to interview him."

"I'm just trying to get to know him."

"Then ask him his favorite color not what he's expecting his salary to be in fifteen years. This is why we should not do dinner."

"Bunny."

"Shut up." She turned to hiss at Troy as he chuckled.

"Bunny, it's important that we all get to know each other."

" Dad, the Bolton's are good people. I don't want to scare them away with our family drama. We can't have a civil dinner with everybody in our family present. We tried for Thanksgiving and look how that turned out."

"Gabriella!" Sharpay's sharp tone sounded like it was coming closer. "Hi Troy! Your dad was so nice to invite us all to dinner." Gabriella looked up at her dad. She had never seen the man sweat before and he was sweating. Troy looked over at Gabriella. "It's going to be such a nice dinner with everybody!" Gabi looked over at Troy. She swore she might pass out.

Troy slid his hand into hers. "Dad, we're all going to dinner?" He asked.

Jack shrugged. "Yeah, I invited them."

"I've called Garfield's, they will have a table for fourteen waiting for us." Derby said coming over. "Richard! Good to see you! Gabriella, you played such a wonderful supporting role."

"Thank you Mrs. Evans." Gabriella said with a polite smile.

"Troy, darling, you have a wonderful tone to your voice. If you and my princess sang together, it would sound fabulous."

"Thank you, Mrs. Evans. Unfortunately, my singing career ends tomorrow with Cabaret." Troy said with a polite smile.

"We will all meet up at Garfield's." Jack said with a wide smile.

"Thank god I brought my car." Gabriella said to Troy. "I'll meet you there."

"I'm riding with Gabi." Troy said to his parents.

"Daddy, can I ride in your car again?" Mariella asked.

"Me too, I'm riding in the Aston Martin." Camilla said.

Their families started walking toward the door. Troy picked up their book bags. "This is going to be terrible." Gabriella said, holding her stomach. "I can already feel my vomit slowing coming up."

Troy made a face. "Don't talk about puke, I will actually puke." He kissed her forehead gently. "It's all going to be alright, cupcake. It's just two or three hours tops."

"It's my own personal form of hell."

He chuckled. "Come on, before we get yelled at when we get there."

"We're getting the death stare regardless." Gabriella tugged on his hand. "If I veer off the road-"

"You can't be suicidal, you have an audition to kill this weekend."

"You're right." Gabriella sighed. "I have to focus on that, not this other bullshit."

Troy followed Gabriella out to her car. He put their backpacks in the back seat before he walked around to get in the passengers side. He leaned over to kiss her cheek gently. She leaned against him and he kept pressing kisses to her cheek. "We can make fun of Sharpay the whole time in secret."

Gabriella sighed. "I swear if her mom brings up the pregnancy rumor, I'm going to pour my hand sanitizer in Sharpay's drink. That will give her the runs if it doesn't kill her."

"If we make it through this dinner without any arguments or you running out… I'll go down on you."

Gabriella's head flew over to his. She let out a short laugh. "Wait, really?"

Troy's cheeks flushed. "With your guidance, I could probably figure it out."

She giggled. "Wow, you're bribing me to behave with sexual favors."

"If I'm really bad, I'll use my fingers."

She leaned over and kissed his mouth firmly. God, he was her favorite person. She smiled at him as she pulled away. "You are amazing. But this dinner is going to be a disaster… I won't hold my breath for oral. I have a short fuse."

He leaned over, kissing her lips firmly. "You can do it, I believe in you."

She groaned aloud as she started her car. He rubbed her thigh slowly as she drove to the restaurant. The drive across town was quicker than she would have liked. She parked further away from the entrance. She let herself take a couple deep and calming breaths as Troy came around and opened her door. He reached out for her. She let out a sigh as she held on to him. She locked the car and they walked into the restaurant together.

The group got seated after a minute of chatting. Luckily she was near the end with Troy's parents. Troy was on one side of her and Camilla was on the other. She was away from Sharpay, her mom, her dad, and all of that drama. Darbus joined them for dinner as well. She sat with Sharpay and Ryan next to their parents.

She made normal conversation throughout their meal with her sisters and the Bolton's. Troy had his hand on her thigh, rubbing in comfort at every uncomfortable silence. It was the most well behaved her parents have been in a long time. Maybe the trick was bringing them into public with other people to enjoy having a meal with them.

Either way, she was glad the meal was over when it was. Mr. Evans picked up the check despite her dad's arguments. She escorted her mother, sisters, and Rose to the car. She hugged her sisters and Rose and waved goodbye to her mother. She gave her dad a hug and told him she'd see him tomorrow. She thanked Mr. and Mrs. Evans for dinner. She said her goodbyes to the Evan's twins and Ms. Darbus, letting them know she was going to see them tomorrow.

Troy waited for her patiently next to her car while she was making her rounds. She skipped happily over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He kissed her lips slowly before his lips curved into a smile. "That went well."

"That is only because my parents were nowhere near me and there were other people present." She leaned into him, burying her face in his neck. "I'm going to miss you this weekend."

"It'll only be three days."

"Three terrible, awkward, long days."

"You'll survive." He said, making her scoff. "What?" He asked with a quiet chuckle.

She tried to pull away from him but he just held her close. "Troy."

"Nope, you're not going anywhere." He grinned, pulling her closer to him. He covered her lips with his, kissing her firmly. He pulled away from her. "Let's go, before my dad calls and asks where we are."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at him. He climbed in her car, buckling the seatbelt as she walked around. She climbed in and started the car without saying another word. She wondered if he was going to keep his word. She didn't want to bring it up and put him on the spot. She also wanted to be naked in his bed as feel his lips on her body. She hummed quietly to herself as she pulled out of the driveway.

"So…" He started then he started chuckling. She was immediately nervous. "Your dad calls you bunny."

She should have known he was going to bring that up. "Yes."

"Can I call you bunny?"

"No!" She screeched. She shivered in discomfort. "If you call me bunny, I am never ever kissing you again."

He laughed loudly in her car. "I like cupcake better anyway."

She sighed, turning down the street the Bolton's lived on. "It's an annoying childhood nickname that I can't get rid of. He calls Cami camipillar and she gets angry. She would probably stab him if he ever called her that in public."

Troy chuckled. "What about Mari?"

"She's baby because she's his baby."

"How did the whole bunny nickname come about?" Troy wondered.

"I had a Peter Rabbit blanket attached to a stuffed animal that I took everywhere. Somehow it got lost and to make me feel better he told me that bunny lived inside my heart then he just kept calling me bunny." Gabriella smiled before she giggled. "Cami was as really chunky baby will like rolls on rolls. She looked like a caterpillar so she was camipillar. By the time Mariella was born, he just called her baby because every time he went to call her Mariella he'd say Gab-Cam-Maria- Mariella… go through all of our names just to get to hers."

"I don't have any fun nicknames."

"Be glad." Gabriella said, pulling up to his house. She parked her car on the street. "I'm just going to leave my backpack in here."

"Good idea." Troy said, climbing out of the car.

Gabriella walked past Troy who was waiting for her before taking off in a sprint to his house. She hopped over the gate and went inside the front door, closing it behind her. She rushed up the stairs and slid under his bed to hide from him. She covered her mouth to stop her giggles. She heard the front door shut.

"Troy, you better not be running in my house." She heard Lucille say.

"Sorry, Ma." Troy said as his heavy footsteps came up the stairs. She saw him stop in the doorway. "What the- Mom have you seen Gabi?"

"Where's Gabi?" Jack asked, concerned. "Weren't you with her?"

"Yes… but she hopped over the fence like she was doing a freaking hundred meter hurdle race and ran inside. I don't know where she is."

Jack laughed. "Oh, she's hiding from you. I thought you guys got separated or something."

"No… she's in here somewhere."

"I just heard you… maybe she's still down stairs."

Troy hummed. "Huh, maybe. I'm going to go look." She watched Troy's feet move away from the door then thump down the stairs.

Jack was still standing in the same spot. He chuckled. "Gabs, he's down stairs. Hide behind his door and scare the crap out of him." She let out a little giggle, rolling out from under the bed. "You're brave for going under there."

"I cleaned his room the other day. It's tissue free."

Jack snorted. "Goodnight."

"Night." She said quietly, moving behind his door.

Jack walked away and she heard his feet thumping up the stairs. "I don't know where she is, Troy." Lucille said. "Go to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"I know." Troy said with a sigh. "Night, Mom."

He let out another breath as he walked in the room. She pushed the door closed and jumped out at him. "Boo!"

"Fuck!" Troy jumped, making Gabriella burst into laughter. She wrapped her arms around him as he clutched his chest dramatically. "You were there the whole time?'

She giggled. "No, I was under your bed."

He reached out for her, picking her up and making her squeal. "Shh." He tossed her on the bed before climbing on top of her. He leaned down, kissing her lips firmly. She smiled against his lips, wrapping her arm around his neck to pull him closer. They repositioned their lips and her tongue reached out for his. She coaxed his tongue into her mouth before sucking on it gently. He moaned quietly against her lips before he pulled away.

"Troy." She frowned as he got off her. She sat up and watched him lock his bedroom door. He made his way back to her. He climbed up on the bed, leaning down to kiss her lips slowly. She felt mildly uncomfortable that his parents were on the other side of the wall. She smiled into the kiss when she got a bright idea. "Do you want to go take a shower?" He frowned. "Together?"

"Oh," He whispered with a small smile. "I thought you were telling me that I smelled bad."

She giggled. He was so sweet and innocent that just made her want to get naked with him even more. She pulled his lips down to hers. "So… yes?"

"Hell yes."

Happy February. This is nuts. I hope you are all well! I wrote a new story in just a week that will probably go up after this story is finished.

Don't forget to review! :)